Death or Paradise: Behind the Scenes

been searching for a trail to follow again

L.A. - 2011

"Our breaking story tonight concerns American hero and WWII veteran Steve Rogers, known more famously by his moniker Captain America, who we are told has been found in the Arctic today," the news report was saying on the tv that had been playing in the background.

Your head shot up towards the screen. Steve had been found?

"Sources say the American hero appears to be in a coma but is otherwise stable," the news reporter continued. "As most people know, Steve Rogers was the world's first and only super soldier thanks to the work of Dr. Abraham Erskine to aide American efforts in WWII against the Nazis. Sources say they believe it was the serum Dr. Erskine invented that has since been lost to time that accounts for this miraculous discovery. For more on this, we turn to Jody Rivers, expert on Captain America and curator of the Captain America exhibit in the Smithsonian in New York. Jody, happy to have you here today."

You tuned out the rest of the broadcast. You didn't care how it was possible. Steve was alive. You hadn't seen him in decades, not since his plane crashed in the Arctic. You had been too slow flying there. His ship had already disappeared under the ice, nowhere to be found. You had spent years helping Howard try to find him. But your search had come up empty. It was one of your greatest regrets, not being able to bring him home. But he was alive. He could finally come home.

You knew the report said he was in a coma, but you wondered if you should visit him. If you should let him know that you too were here and okay. But you couldn't. You weren't the same person he had known all those years ago. Lifetimes had passed since then. Your eyes were no longer veiled and you knew the truth that was to come. He had survived the ice but he would die in the Emergence. You weren't sure how to hide that from him.

Once long ago, Steve Rogers had pulled you in from the darkness. He had given you a purpose, fighting for the humans, protecting them, saving them. But now, you were floating in the abyss, no longer an Eternal in self imposed exile. You weren't sure what you were anymore. You had lost all sight of any purpose or meaning. Your entire life had been a lie. And you knew that if you saw Steve, he would ask you questions you knew you couldn't answer.

How do you tell someone their world is going to end? How do you tell someone that you had played a hand in their demise? More than that, how do you tell Steve Rogers, Captain America, hero to all, your friend, that you were inadvertently responsible for his upcoming death? Especially after what he had just survived?

No, it was better to keep your distance, you realized. Let him live what he could of his life in as much peace as he could. He had fought for an entire lifetime. He deserved that peace. And you would not be the one to break it for him.

——

Upstate New York -2015

"Thanks for coming," Steve said as drove you to the compound. He had called a few days ago, asking you to come help the newest member of their rag tag team of superheroes. She had powers like you, he said.

"I told you I would come if you needed me," you reminded him.

"Truthfully, I wasn't sure still," he said, looking over at you. "You withdrew from the world."

"Not anymore," you promised.

"And you're not gonna tell me what happened, are you?" he asked.

"You're not supposed to ask questions, remember?" You knew you couldn't tell him. You could never tell him. Once, when he had awoken from his icy slumber, you had wished him peace after a lifetime of war. But it seemed he had been thrown back into battle no sooner than he had thawed out. You couldn't tell him that all his actions were futile, that the world would end.