The Men Behind the Mask

Part 1

"Here comes the sun - Here comes the sun, and I say It's alright - Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter - Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here - Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's alright - Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces - Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here - Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right - Sun, sun, sun, here it comes - Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes Sun, sun, sun, here it comes." -The Beatles

He was breathing.

It was as though he were waking up from a long sleep, except he was acutely aware of his body, the press of the mattress against his shoulder blades, and the low murmur of voices.

Steve Rogers open his eyes only to quickly shut them closed an instant later. The light was so bright he could still see it burning through his eyelids. He slowly blinked them open again, squinting until they adjusted.

He was in a hospital room the window open the sun shining on him. In the corner, a radio blared, the voice of a sports commentator describing a baseball game- a game that Steve recognized.

What happened? Where was he? The last thing he remembered was crashing Hydra's plane into the ice, so how did he end up here?

Steve sat up quickly, his heart pounding in his chest. Something was not right. He glanced at the window his brow furrowing. Somewhere outside the window, a horn blared.

A nurse walked in and she too was off. Steve gave her a once over, noticing the odd way her hair sat, the foreign make of her shirt and the way she moved. She dressed in a similar fashion to Peggy, but somehow not quite hitting the mark. He could hear her heart beating a staccato nearly as loud as his own. She was nervous, but why?

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice surprisingly even.

She cleared her throat. "In a recovery room in New York City." Her hands twitched as she spoke, clasped in front of her.

What was she hiding? Was she part of Hydra?

He listened to the radio recognizing the commentators' voice, he knew he recognized that game.

"Where am I really?" he asked a note of anger in voice. Her clothes were all wrong. It was like she was trying to look like the girls from the war office, but there was something so wrong, so out of place.

She looked panicked before quickly masking it with a confused smile. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"The game it's from May nineteen forty-one. I know cause I was there." Steve stood, squaring his shoulders - ready to fight.

"I'm going to ask you again, where am I?" He looked down at her. Her heart was beating so loud he was almost surprised she couldn't hear it.

"Captain Rogers-"

"Who are you!" he demanded. The door burst open and men in black charged in, weird looking guns in their hands pointing at him.

He ran.

................

Tony walked off stage, a fake smile stretching across his face.

He slipped behind one of the many curtains and pulled out a small silver device. This was becoming a daily routine now, and every time the small spark of hope in him was dimmed.

Tony Stark placed his thumb on the small protruding needle and grimaced as it pricked him. His grimace turned to a scowl when he saw the number appear on the small screen.