2014-07-17 - Captains Assemble

Steve Rogers has a lot of things on his mind as he looked at the pictures of the various teams of Avengers that had come and gone over the years. The original team, the one he lead, on and on in a history of Avengers that he was supposed to know. And sometimes if he really thought hard... he could recognize one or two faces, he wasn't sure if that was just him recognizing them from a TV report or something though. It was very frustrating to him.

He reached into his pants and pulled out the Avengers ID card that he was given, apparently it was always his. The little Captain America picture on it made him smile but only because only his dreams did he actually think he was Captain America.

He looked at the ID card deep in thought, not even thinking about anyone who might be coming and going from the Mansion.

And right then was when Captain Marvel entered the mansion. She contemplated leaving him alone when she first saw him, but screw that two Captains make a right, right?

That's not a saying.

Captain Marvel shifted from her uniform, and into some regular civvies. A NASA tank top tucked into a pair of high waisted jeans, with black boots. Today her hair was worn long and in a loose ponytail. Suddenly she was right next to him and looking at his card, "I don't think I've ever seen you take a bad photo. Well, except for that one time Tony...you can forget that memory, actually."

Steve actually jumped a bit when that happened, "Oh! Sorry Carol, I was just thinking about everything. Guess I sort of forgot that other people come through here every so often. My place doesn't get many visitors."

He looked at Carol and smirked a bit, "Air Force girl, right? So is the Captain your rank? 'Cause that means I don't have to call you, sir unless you're leading the mission."

Carol Smirked, and crossed her arms just underneath her chest. "Million miles away? And lucky guess, but I'm a Colonel Now. Captain Marvel just...is an honor. On top of that, glad to be a little more than just Ms. Marvel. Still...could be worse could be Marvel Girl. Don't tell Jean I said that."

She laughed a bit and looked to the side, "Right you probably don't know, one of the X-men. Good people, really."

Steve indeed only caught a bit of that. He had no idea who Jean Grey or the X-Men were (even though at this point he'd met two of their members) but he recognized that she was a Colonel which meant... superior officer. He smirked. He had read his service record at this point and was starting to believe what it said as it correctly identified his parents and a lot of other details that fit his memories. He threw a salute to her and said, "Sir, yes sir."

He then looked back at the group photos of the Avengers, "Wait, Ms. Marvel?" he looks over at the pictures and points to Carol in one with Beast, Cap, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Thor, Vision and Wonder Man. It was Carol in her first costume with her 'Farrah hair,' "Meaning this was you too?"

With a smirk she responded, "At ease, soldier. At least you remember how to salute properly."

She looked over the picture he had pointed out. Carol always loved this costume, but Jessica Jones always gave her shit about the haircut. "That was me."

A couple of frames over, there was another of her in the Black and Gold costume, with the long blonde locks, "And this was me for the longest time. But ah, switched to the red and blue recently. Can't let you guys hog these colors."

Steve laughed a little, "And I apparently never saw any need to update at all." He looked over all the pictures he was in, every single Avengers team except for the first one had pictures of him in it.

He shook his head and said, "It's funny, I look at all these pictures and I know some of the names: Thor, Wasp, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk. And it almost feels like I should know each and everyone of you. But I don't."

He looked over at Carol and said, "Like I'm looking at you right now and I'm going 'She's an Air Force girl, stubborn as hell, ready to prove herself. And I don't know if that's because I know you... or that I'm Army and that's how us Army grunts view those Air Force brats."

Carol grinned and tilted her head to the side as her eyebrow quirked just so, "That so tough guy? I always think that army grunts that keep this rivalry going /way/ too long just can't see the view from the ground."

She wasn't actually mad, but she did like to poke the bears. Carol turned to look at one of the pictures, specifically at Cap's costume, "Some costumes don't need an update every year. But you know what always surprised me about your uniform? The boots without laces. Maybe you're just really into pirates."

Steve raised an eyebrow, "You are honestly going to talk to me about practicality of uniforms when you used to dress in a swimsuit with a lightning bolt on it and six inch heels?"

Steve then added, "My uniform was given to me by President Roosevelt, I think that beats who every designed your costumes. Doesn't matter that they didn't have laces they fit well and they never tripped me up while I ran."

Steve looked a long while at Carol. Like he was trying to remember and then said, "We used to be close, didn't we? We did this a lot, right?"

Carol got straight into his face, looking like she was ready to get into a yelling fit, "Yeah? You're just mad you couldn't wear heels and show off those quads of yours."

She just burst out laughing and stepped back, covering her mouth, "Oh god, yeah we did. I bust your chops all the time, and you lose that whole 'Oh gee I'm super nice Steve Rogers' and actually get a bit rude and indignant. It's fun. It's really fun."

She smiled a bit, but her eyes looked a bit sad, "I know you don't /really/ remember most of this. But we all missed you. I missed you. This whole...spandex thing we do, not right without Captain America around."

Steve nods, "Yeah, Jarvis has been nice enough to show me the media reports of when I died. He didn't like it, but I when I insisted he showed them to me."

He looked at Carol and smiled, "You know out of all the Avengers and people I'm supposed to know. You are the first to just accept who I am, and that I can't remember. Hank, Jen, Janet and Reed. They just wanted to put me under a microscope and make me prove who I am."

He put a hand on Carol's shoulder and said, "I'm really glad that you accept me as Steve Rogers first... the rest of it can come with time."

She looked about to see if any of the other Avengers nearby, but it seemed like it was just the two of him. So she stepped forward and brought Steve in for a close hug, and let out a sigh as she did so, "You know I've always got your back, Steve. Maybe that'll be one of the first things you'll re-learn."

She held onto the hug for perhaps a moment too long, and suddenly she had an itch in her eye, "Even if in the end you don't remember being Captain America, Steven Rogers is still needed in all of our lives...mine especially. So you take things at your own pace, okay?"

Steve hugged her back, honestly it was a true hug. He was glad that Carol accepted him for who he was, not who he had been. That was an extremely lacking point in his life at this juncture. Even the Project: Lazarus team, that was lamenting not being able to listen in or view their target while he was inside Avengers Mansion didn't understand that maybe they needed to let go of Captain America to let Steve Rogers come out.

After the hug ended, "I don't know if I can be Captain America." he looked over at those pictures, remembered all that he could about it all, "That man... that man was amazing. But if me, as Steve Rogers can be even half the man you all remember...."

He doesn't finish what he was saying he doesn't even know how to finish it. How does any mortal man compare himself to Captain America.

Carol smiled, and touched lightly at his upper arm, "...then Steve Rogers will be exactly what we need."