Frozen mind

By: MysticFantasy

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Disclaimer: (I own no part of this awesome movie or the awesome characters in it.)

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Chapter 1

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Captain Steve Rogers burst through the side door and into the dark and snow filled air just as an explosion took place behind him. He nearly tripped from the energy the explosion gave off but he managed to keep his balance as he ran for the distance.

He has to get out of here. Has to make it back to the helicarrier. Has to tell Fury what he found out.

Running to the slope side, Steve tossed his shield to the ground and jumped on as another explosion happened with guns being fired and just barely missing him. He flew over the cliff side and began sliding down the snow covered hill at an incredible speed.

Steve heard a third explosion as he flew around snow covered pine trees along with various other noises. The building he just escaped out of should be completely destroyed by now.

"Tony would love to see me doing this." he muttered to himself trying to keep his footing on his shield as he continued to fly down the mountain side while dodging trees and rocks. It wasn't an easy task considering it was night and hard to see anything in front of him.

Distant shouting could be heard and Steve knew that he was being tracked by the guards of the factory he'd just discovered and destroyed. It wouldn't be long before the enemy agents somehow managed to find him.

But he wasn't going to let them catch him. He has big news that Fury and the rest of the Avengers need to know. He'd managed to destroy the factory but he knows what their next move will be and when. He knows their entire plan.

He needed to get this information to his team so they could make a plan of attack to prevent it from taking place.

While the cold air blew past him Steve wondered how Fury was going to take this news that he discovered. He knew that no one was going to handle it very well. He knows he sure didn't and almost thought that he had gone insane for a moment after seeing and learning what he had in that building.

Steve whirled around a tree and gasped when he saw he was heading to a cliff edge. He wasn't able to stop in time and flew over the edge.

Twisting his body, Steve pulled his shield up to cover himself as best he could as he fell into the pine tree forest.

He grunted as his body made contact with tree branches and tree trunks. He fell to the ground as snow fell from the trees above him. He landed on the ground and rolled from the speed with his shield flying from his grasp. He almost came to a stop when his back side suddenly collided with something strong.

Steve felt his head explode from the collision and saw lights flashing before his eyes. He heard ringing in his ears as his head swam in circles.

He moaned in pain as darkness started to engulf his vision. Something fell over him but he wasn't able to tell what it was. It covered his entire body as the last of his consciousness faded.

No. he thought weakly. If I get caught then I can't tell...can't tell...What was I doing?

His final thought remained unanswered as he fell into blissful unconsciousness with the snow continuing to fall on and around him.

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Tony Stark flew over the snow covered forest in his famous Iron Man suit with the early morning light bouncing off the armor. He'd spotted a destroyed and smoldering factory building only a few seconds ago and was now on the search for his teammate who was responsible for the demise of the building and who was now missing.

"Will someone please explain to me why Fury thought it would be a good idea for Cap to do this mission alone?" he demanded over the communication line.

"Fury thought this might be a mission that called for someone like the Cap since he knows the most about this enemy." Clint answered.

"He said something about a weapons factory making certain weapons. Might be related to the ones Hydra had tried to make back during Steve's day." Natasha added.

"So why didn't Fury send any of us with Steve?" Tony questioned as he tried to pick up any sign of their missing captain. "This seemed like too much for one person to do."

"He said that Steve asked to do this alone." Bruce answered. "Said that Cap didn't want any of us to see what Hydra was capable of if these guys are anything like the real one."

"He really does have issues with the past still, doesn't he?" Tony asked.

"Can you blame him?" Clint asked.

"Not really." Tony answered. "I know the stories of what he's done. So, no, I can't blame him. You guys pick up anything yet?"

"We spotted what looks like a crash in the trees." Natasha answered. "We're right above it."

Tony flew in the direction of the jet where his three teammates were landing the SHIELD jet. He quickly spotted the mass of trees that were bent and torn down. It was small in size though. Like it had been something small that crashed into the trees.

Possibly their missing Captain if he had been in a hurry to get away from whatever happened with the factory.

"Let's get down there and find out what happened." Tony said as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Copy that." Natasha said as Clint landed the jet in a clear enough spot for the flying machine. Once the jet had landed and everyone was wearing thick warm jackets, they stepped off the jet and met with Tony on the ground.

"Let's fan out and look for him." Tony said. "He has to be around here somewhere or at least clues to tell us what happened. He's probably hurt considering how bad this crash sight looks. Everyone meet back here in ten minutes."

The group quickly broke apart and began looking for any signs of Steve.

Natasha scanned the area she was walking in with careful observation. Something had definately gone through here. The snow was heavily disturbed and footprints could be seen almost everywhere.

It was a definate sign that someone else had been looking for the super soldier and that didn't sit well with the Black Widow.

"Steve!" Natasha called out in some hope that the said soldier would hear her voice and answer back.

Had Steve been spotted during his mission and tried to escape only for persuers to chase him? Had Steve managed to escape? What if he was hurt? What if he was...

Natasha stopped her train of thought when her foot hit something strong. She winced at the pain but ignored it when she heard the echoing sound. She knelt down and brushed the snow away from what she had struck her foot on.

She lightly gasped when she saw a familiar paint pattern. Quickly, she uncovered the rest of the object and was now faced with the famous shield of Captain America.

"Guys! I found Steve's shield!" she announced over her earpiece.

"We're on our way Nat." Clint replied.

"Is there any sign of Steve?" Tony asked.

"Still looking." Natasha answered as she scanned the area.

It was tricky to tell if Steve was even in the same area. It was obvious there had been others here, possibly doing the same as them in looking for the world war two soldier.

If they had been after the super soldier, then that would mean that Steve was successful in his mission. But it seemed that something had gone wrong. That something had prevented him from escaping.

What if he had been captured long before they had even gotten there?

Natasha looked over to a large rock when she noticed that something didn't look right about it. The snow on top looked uneven. Like some had been knocked over. The snow under the rock also looked uneven.

Without another thought, Natasha rushed over and dropped to the ground. She began to brush snow away from the mound and gasped when she uncovered a red gloved hand. Hastily, she began removing the snow.

She finally got all of the snow off and discovered an unnaturally pale and injured Steve Rogers. He looked almost exactly like he had when he'd first been found in the ice by the SHIELD team only just last year.

"Steve." she said trying to get him to wake up. She moved her hand behind his head when she felt something warm and sticky. She slowly pulled her hand back and looked at her hand in horror.

Blood covered her fingers.

"I found him!" She shouted into her earpiece. "He's hurt! He needs help!"

"Nat!"

The female Avenger looked up in time to see her teammatees run over a hill and hurry over to her and the fallen soldier.

"We need to get him to SHIELD. He's got a head injury." Natasha declared.

"How bad is he?" Bruce answered kneeling next to his friends and began to look over the captain.

"He looks like he's been like this for a while." Natasha answered. "Probably all night and his wound is still bleeding."

"Let's get him out of here then." Clint declared ripping off a sleeve of his jacket, wadding it up and pressing it against the bleeding head wound of the older man.

"Natasha, we'll get him back to the jet. Go back and let Fury know that we found Steve and tell him to get the medical team ready for our arrival." Tony said.

The red head woman nodded and quickly got to her feet. She ran as fast as she could through the snow to make it to the jet. Her breathing became heavy from running through the snow, something she wasn't really use to but the burning image of Steve lying unconscious, injured and nearly frozen in the snow was driving her to the best of her abilities.

She reached the jet at last and went straight for the radio.

"This is Agent Romanov. We've located Captain Rogers. We are returning to the helicarrier. ETA about twenty minutes. Be advised he is injured and requires medical attention upon arrival."

She panted, trying to catch her breath from both running and contacting the helicarrier.

"Copy that Agent Romanov. Medical team will be waiting upon your arrival."

Natasha sighed in relief which grew more when she saw the men bring Steve onto the jet and lay him on the black leather bench.

"How is he?" she asked as Bruce wrapped two blankets around the soldier and carefully strapped him down with Clint still holding his torn sleeve to the head injury.

"Not good." he answered.

"Nat, take this. I gotta get this jet moving." Clint declared.

The female agent quickly hurried over and took over Clint's task. She held back a shudder as she felt Steve's blood cover her hands.

"Tony, get me that oxygen tank." Bruce declared. "His breathing is labored. It's like he's going into hibernation again."

"He won't though right?" Natasha asked grabbing a towel and pressed it against the wound.

"If we get him help in time I don't think he will. Even then, I don't think this is serious enough to make him sleep for another seventy years." Bruce answered as the jet started to lift into the air.

"Better make sure of that Bruce." Tony said handing the doctor the oxygen tank. "We can't let Cap wake up in another world he doesn't understand."

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There were hushed noises coming from around him. He wasn't able to tell where they were coming from since his eyes were still closed.

His body shivered even though he felt warmth all around him. Then the pounding started. Every pulsating pound hit harder and harder. Pounding against his very mind and seemingly through his entire body.

A soft voice spoke just now.

It sounded so familiar but he wasn't able to pinpoint who it belonged to. He wanted to say that it belonged to a woman but his hearing wasn't clear enough yet to tell if he was right or not.

At last he found enough strength to open his eyes. His vision was clouded at first but finally started to clear until he was able to see perfectly.

And the first thing he noticed was a beautiful red haired woman sitting on a chair next to his bed looking down at him with concerned eyes.

"Hey there." she greeted warmly. "How do you feel?"

"I, uh...a l-little cold." he managed to answer with a raspy voice.

"We've already got three blankets on you but I think one more won't hurt." she said standing and grabbing another blanket which she used to cover him with.

"Better?" she asked with a small smile.

"Y-yes. Thank you ma'am."

"Steve, how many times have I told you to just call me by my name?" she said with a smirk on her face.

Natasha felt her smirk fade when she noticed the look on Steve's face.

"I'm sorry but...do I know you to know the answer to that?" he asked.

"Steve, you know who I am." Natasha said.

"I don't mean to argue with you ma'am but, until you said it just now, I didn't even know who I am."

Natasha felt her breath still inside her upon hearing his words.

"You...you really don't know who I am or who you really are?" she asked trying to keep her voice from shaking.

Steve slowly shook his head.

"Does the name Captain America sound familiar?"

"No ma'am. It doesn't. Who is this Captain? Am I suppose to know who he is?"

Natasha didn't answer as she quickly stood from the chair and rushed out of the room.