Hahahahaha

I'm not dead.

It's been a year since I updated...
But I'm not dead!

So... uh... here's the next chapter...

~TH~

Day 17

Tony

He was brought to awareness by a slow beeping noise. He reached to his right, silently cursing his alarm clock. Instead of the noise stopping, he felt a pinch in his arm and his hand fall through nothing.

He jerked awake, sitting up and looking around. He was in a hospital room, alone. An IV was attached to his right arm and he jerked it out, doing the same for all of the various wires.

He was fine. He felt fine. Why was he here?

He stopped what he was doing, suddenly remembering with perfect distinction what had happened at the Hydra base.

Oh.

That was why.

He remembered his anxiety attack, though he wasn't completely sure why he was in a hospital bed and not some random couch. That was what usually happened. He was still on the helicarrier, so he couldn't have been out for too long.

Steve.

He was dead.

Tony hurried out of the room feeling light-headed.

Steve had flatlined, and Tony had been there. He had heard it.

Steve was dead. Again.

This was like the Avengers Team and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month.

How many times could their leader, their friend, die before they finally lost it? Before the team finally fell apart?

He stepped into Steve's room, hearing a heart monitor beeping. A moment of relief washed over him as he walked up to the bed. Steve was alive.

He took a sharp breath. Steve was bad. He looked pale and small. His upper body was wrapped tightly in white bandages, and his head had been shaved.

That was what surprised him the most. Maybe the doctors had... No, it looked like there were a few razor scars along his head. The doctors would have been more careful.

Hydra, then? It wasn't like Tony had seen Steve without some form of headgear since Hydra had taken him. But why? It wouldn't have been just for fun, Tony knew that.

"We found this in his brain." Bruce came up behind Tony, startling him.

In Bruce's hands was a small disk. It was fried. "In his brain?" Tony repeated, taking the small piece in his hand.

"Looked to be some form of memory inhibitor."

"And a punishment," Tony decided, rubbing it between his fingers. "Anytime Cap didn't something Hydra didn't like: tzzz." He made a zapping noise. Bruce nodded.

"How much damage?" Tony asked, turning back to the doctor. He tried to sound casual, but failed miserably.

Bruce shrugged, "We won't really know until he wakes up. There was severe damage to his hippocampus. We're not sure how much it's going to affect his memory."

"Do you think..." Tony trailed off. He tried again, "Do you think there's a possibility he won't remember any of it?"

Bruce sighed, "I don't know, Tony. He could only remember parts, or all or none of it. For all I know he could wake up and think it's 1945. I just don't know."

"But he... but he will wake up, right?"

"He should. But he's a mess. His vitals are insane. It's like one minute he's completely normal and then he has the machines going crazy! He's fighting something. Physically, he's not too bad off, especially with his enhanced healing, but mentally, something's going on and we're just going to have to wait to figure out what it is."

Tony nodded, then remembered something else that had happened. "How's Natasha?"

"She's fine, a broken rib, but nothing too serious. What Steve did to her was no worse than a knockout hold. Didn't really hurt her, but caused her to pass out."

"Barton?"

"With Nat."

The beeping monitor began to speed up. Both men turned just as the super soldier's eyes blinked open. They both sprinted to his side.

"Steve?" Bruce said quietly, "Steve, can you hear me?"

The captain blinked, his eyes finding the man in front of him. "Bruce?" his voice was hoarse. "Wh-what happened?" He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Steve, can you tell me if anything hurts? How do you feel?'

He blinked again, "Head hurts. Don't feel much else." He slowly brought his hand to the side of his head. "What happened?"

Tony was standing behind Bruce, not sure if the super soldier would really want to see him.

"Why don't you tell me the last thing that you remember."

Steve seemed to really be searching in his mind, then his eyes opened in panic. "Tony!"

The billionaire flinched at his name, but Steve went on,

"We were in a battle and Clint said that Tony was missing! Then- then the building collapsed! We have to find him!"

Tony stood frozen in place. That was not what he had been expecting to hear. He knew Bruce said there might be memory loss, but this... this was too good to be true.

"It's okay, Steve. Tony is right here."

Tony regained his composure and stepped out from behind his friend. "Uh, hiya, Cap. Good to see you awake."

Cap immediately relaxed. "You're okay."

"Yup, right as rain. It's you who's in the hospital bed."

"Where were you?'

Tony looked at Bruce for help. The doctor nodded, "Steve, the battle you were talking about was a couple of weeks ago."

Steve's brow furrowed and he looked concerned.

"You and Tony were captured and... a lot happened. But you're both back now."

"And everyone's okay?"

"Everyone's great, Cap. As soon as you're feeling up to it the whole gang will be back together." Tony smiled.

Steve offered a tired smile in return, his eyes beginning to flutter closed.

"Get some rest, Cap. Someone will still be here when you wake up."

The soldier nodded tiredly before his eyes slipped completely shut.

Bruce motioned with his head for Tony to move away, and they both stepped out into the hall.

"So?" Tony asked, crossing his arms. "What's your prognosis, doc?"

"He doesn't remember anything."

"That's good, right?"

"Maybe," the doctor looked unsure.

Tony didn't understand. "He doesn't remember all of the bad things that were done to him. Better yet, he doesn't remember the stuff that he did! Isn't that a good thing?"

"It just depends, Tony. He might still remember. If he was a normal patient I'd say it would take months, maybe years to regain the memories, but with his advanced healing... anything is possible."

"What happens if he does remember?"

Bruce shook his head, "We'll just have to deal with that as it comes. For now, we'll have to keep an eye on him. Especially when he's sleeping. The human brain is a strange thing, Steve's more than most. Even if he doesn't consciously remember what happened, he still might have impressions in nightmares. Stuff can hang around in the subconscious for a long time."

"But he's going to be okay?"

Bruce gave a hesitant nod before breaking into a full smile. "It looks like he's going to be okay."

~TH~

As always, thanks to my AMAZING beta Mellpen00.

I really appreciate the way she picked it back up after... a year.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter after all this time.

I'll try to update sooner rather than later. But I actually have no clue what I was originally planning, so I'll be making it up as I go lol

Let me know what you thought, or what you want to see!

(On a side note, if you're into Newsies, that's what I'm writing for now.)

Check out my Tumblr Trekkiehood and my Instagram Trekkiehood3000

Stay safe my friends.

God bless,
Jamie