Title: New Boy, New School, New Time
Rated:PG-13 for now
Pairings: Pre-Steve/Tony (SuperHusbands) and some other ships.
Warnings: AU, cursing, Tony being Tony and violence. After being unfrozen, Steve was immediately brought in for testing. Not put in a stage room. AU, remember?
Disclaimer: I swear on all the Avengers comic books, may they set aflame if I'm lying, that I do not and will not own the rights to The Avengers in any way.
Summary: In 1941, Steve Rodgers is 15 when he enlists in the army and still as scrawny as ever. He catches everyone's eye with his stunning bravery and compassion, thus making him the prime candidate for a highly experimental procedure. It works and the story plays out how we all remember, Steve on ice. But when he wakes up he finds that because he's only 16 he still has to go to school.
Chapter 1
Growing up, Steve Rodgers had always been a bit fidgety. He'd wring his hands when he was nervous or bite his lip in front of a crowd. Despite the confidence the serum had given him back in 1941, these habits had stuck with him. They had been obvious when he had faked each and every enlistment form to join the army. Not only was he too young, he was sick and scrawny. Many people had told him that the best place for him was a sterile white room, not a battlefield. Steve just gave them his disappointed smile as usual and wrung his hands. He'd watch men who passed hug each other in a warm gesture with large smiles on their faces while he sat there winging his hands and putting on a brave face. Steve Rodgers was and always will be brave, but being brave didn't mean he didn't get sad, nervous or jealous. Oh no, he felt all of that and more when he watched people wave around their papers with the glaring '1A' stamped upon it, silently laughing at the teen. There were several times when he was the only one to be rejected, sitting there like a sad chihuahua in a stampede of happy elephants. Times like that he chewed his lip, sometimes until it bled.
Even now these habits stayed with him. When he was being poked and prodded by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and looked over every which way. Though admittedly, he was hardly scrawny and small now, it was still unnerving to be glanced at like that again. These scientists testing him held pity in their eyes, pity Steve didn't want. He didn't need their pity. He was Captain America. He was a hero, gosh dangit and they should be treating him like one. Not like he was their own child who had just scraped his knee in a bike accident. His hands were unwringable since he hand to keep them straight outwards so he just chewed on his lip. His bite was quite a lot stronger than he remembered and he almost bit through his lip completely on the first chomp. He controlled his chewing carefully after that, not wanting the scientists to scold him for it. Not that they should, but Steve was smart enough to know they would anyway.
"The ice helped you in more ways than one," A scientist with a shock of black hair on his head spoke, snapping Steve from his nervous habit. "I'm surprised, not entirely however, that you have no signs of frostbite. But any bruising you may have had is gone thanks to the ice and that serum in your veins. I can't find anything wrong with you." He flipped through his green clipboard and Steve caught glances of X-Rays. When did they take those? "Perfect condition physically. Though I can't speak for mental health, I'm no psychiatrist."
Steve gave a small nod, trying to keep up with all of it. He'd just woken up about three hours ago and was promptly rushed off to have all these tests done to him. He was given a few minutes of break here and there, but hardly enough time to adjust to what had happened. He didn't want to begin to try and understand anything, even the simply parts. He just wanted to rest.
"You'll be meeting with the psychiatrist next, Mr. Rodgers. " The scientist informed him before setting all his papers back into proper order within the clipboard and giving a small waving motion to the others in the room. "I'm very sorry about this. Just wanted to let you know."
As Steve was ushered from the room by a petite blonde he bit his lip once again, but this time to hold back a deep frown. The blonde was stronger than she looked and easily led Steve through the complicated hallways with a good tug here and there. At least she wasn't looking at him with pity, not that she was looking at him at all. Her blue eyes were set straight ahead and she never made a move to talk to Steve or acknowledge him as anything other than a delivery.
She sure was quick to deliver her 'package'. Bringing Steve to the white door labeled 'Nancy Watson, Psychiatrist.'. With one more tug and push Steve was inside, alone with who he assumed was Ms. Watson and several couches. Even a pink beanbag in the far corner.
"Steve, Steve." Nancy spoke, pushing up her glasses lightly. "We do have several things to talk about, don't we?"
"Yes, Ma'am." The first time he had spoken since being 'un-iced' aside from a few mumbles here and there, his throat felt foreign. At her motion, he took a seat across from her on a pale blue couch. The whole room seemed to be pastel themed.
She gave a small smile, not one of pity or even happiness. It was rather fake. "Call me Nancy, Steve." It was painfully obvious she didn't want him to call her Nancy. "Now, you were just unfrozen a few hours ago, how are you holding up?"
Steve tried to smile back, wringing his hands lightly in his lap. "I'm swell. I mean, swell as I can be considering it all. It's all real confusing though, all this technobabble they speak. I mean, they have things moving around on their own from the ceiling! It's like something from a story."
Nancy's lips twitched into a real smile for a moment. Though it quickly went back to being fake. "You're completely aware of the situation then? Why everything is different?"
"Oh yes. Got it all explained to me during the tests. It's the year 2011, no 2012. People dress a lot differently now and talk strange too. We got our first coloured president and I hear he's doing a good job so far. I missed a lot of wars and they told me not a lot of people remember me."
"Once you disappeared," She began to explain. "It was all over the news. You were, are, a hero. Everyone buzzed about and looked for you. But it began to fade like all things do. They don't mention you in history books, though that's mostly on our part. We don't need kids asking question, now do we?" Nancy cracked a small laugh and crossed one tan leg over the other.
He laughed lightly with her. "Sure as heck don't. I remember when I was a kid, before joining the army and that fiasco." After those words left his mouth, he quickly regretted them. Nancy's fake smile fell completely and her lips set into a thin line.
"You're still a kid, Steve."
That shocked him a bit. He had been through war, he was put through experiments. Surely he was a man, not a kid. Steve had seen things the brunette in front of him couldn't dare to dream of and he had defeated them with justice. He had been a kid before the army, but now he was a man.
"You're still a kid, Steve." Nancy repeated, shuffling through manilla folder that was laying on the table between them. "See?" She pulled out the paper she was apparently looking for and slid it across to him. "You were born a long time ago, yes. But as we see it, the years on ice don't really count. You didn't age. Steve, you're still 16. In the eyes of the government you're still a child."
Steve read the paper with a mix of anger and confusion. It was a paper with all his information, but it wasn't right. None of it was. A picture of him sat in the top left corner of the paper (When were they taking these damn things?) and everything else was printed neatly into the designated boxes. His birth date, school records and legal guardian had been changed. "What is this?" He asked in an almost whisper, finally pulling his lips into a frown for the first time that day. "It's all wrong."
"No Steve, it's all correct. Your name is Steve Rodgers and you just moved from Brooklyn. You have been in foster care for most of your life, but you don't like to talk about it. The various homes kept you closed off from the world so your knowledge of technology and current pop culture is outdated. You live in an apartment with your legal guardian, Me, on Main St. I'm your aunt by blood and have finally found you after years of searching. Your parents, my brother and his wife, were murdered when you were very young. Again, you don't like talking about it. Because I finally found you, I took you to my home. The reason for your late transfer."
Bringing his eyes from the paper to his new 'Aunt', Steve cautiously asked, "Transfer for what?"
"Oh, Steve. I thought you would have picked that up by now. Starting this Wednesday you are an enrolled student in MacField High School."
So what do you guys think?
I hope you could all keep up and I didn't make it too confusing.
Any questions, love or critiques should go in a review! 3
-UnderConstrunctionAvenger