The Soldier's Goddess
An Old Face
"Is it true? They've really found him?" Pepper was asking Tony. It had been six months since Kari had basically moved into Stark Tower, and began working closely with Pepper. In fact, she was so close to Pepper, that she was granted the same level access as her.
"What's going on?" yawned Kari.
"Morning chick," smiled Pepper. "You remember me saying about Captain America, the world's first superhero?"
"My dad was always going on about him, how amazing he was. Dad worked really closely with him during the First World War," said Tony. Kari nodded, sitting down at the table with them with a plate of freshly made Pop Tarts, a Midgardian breakfast she had grown rather fond of.
"Well it looks like they have found him," said Pepper, drinking a cup of coffee. She couldn't function without that first cup of the day. "He went missing in 1943, the plane he was on went down in the sea, or the ice, we don't know. Howard Stark spent months and months looking for him, but had to give up in the end. It seems as though he has come down in the edge of the North Pole."
"How did they not see him before?" Kari asked.
"The landscape there changes so much, with the ice melting, snow storms and so on. Well a plane has been uncovered by the latest snowstorm and the rumour is, not that I am meant to know of course, when they opened it and went in to explore, he was just led there, in ice. Still alive!"
"Oh wow, so what does this mean?" Kari asked. Pepper shook her head.
"I don't know yet, but Coulson rang me this morning to tell me he was heading over to New York to get things set up for the Captain's arrival. He also said they need you to go over -"
"Don't you need me here?" Kari interrupted.
"Nah it's ok, there isn't much to get on with today - a quiet one," grinned Pepper, shaking her head.
"Oh if there isn't much to do today, then maybe we could -" Tony said, nuzzling into Pepper's neck.
"Okay, I get the hint," laughed Kari, "just do me a favour and wait till I've left the room, or possibly the building." She picked up her phone to ring Coulson, but he got there first. He said he would pick her up from Stark Tower in fifteen minutes, so she ran to get dressed properly, and do her hair, only just making it before he arrived.
"Ready?" he asked. "Come on, I'll brief you in the car. You'll need to change though." Kari looked down at her clothes. "Oh no, there's nothing wrong with them, but we want anyone who interacts with him, or who he may see, to be dressed in clothes from the 1940s."
"Understandable," smiled Kari. "So what do you need me for?"
"You will be the one working with him closely. You know what is it like to be from another time, another place, we thought you would be the best choice." Kari blushed. She was honoured to be chosen for such a job. When they arrived, she was quickly bustled into a changing room with one of the women there and shown what clothes would have been worn back in the forties. They also showed her how to do her hair and make up like a military nurse would have done back then. An hour later, she emerged, looking as though she had stepped righ out of 1943. Her olive green pencil skirt, which was made out of rough fabric, clung to her every curve, and the white, starched cotton shirt was pristine. She was briefed on what she needed to do, how she should speak, what to say if he woke up and so on. Once she was confident she could do it, she placed her hand on the handle of the door and took a ddeep breath. Coulson was stood at the one-way window, watching the Captain as he lay on the bed, wearing tan coloured trousers, a white t-shirt with a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it and army issue boots. His blonde hair was slicked back, with the fringe hanging down over the side of his face a little. Kari could see how tight the t-shirt was, how it clung to his chest as though it were painted onto the very toned torso muscles. She bit her lip, then walked through the door. The room was simple, but detailed. Everything had been created so that the Captain wouldn't be shocked initially when he awoke. There was even a radio on the side, playing commentary from baseball games. She did what she needed to do, then left, but before she closed the door, she took one last look at him. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place his face. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her.
Later that afternoon, she made her way back into the room. As she opened the door, she found the Captain sitting up on his bed, looking around.
"Captain, you're up," she smiled, in her American accent, that Natasha had been helping her with.
"What's going on?" he asked, a little forcefully.
"I don't know what you mean," Kari said, shaking her head, trying to feign innocence.
"This game. The one on the wireless. I was at that game, in April of '42. What's going on?" When Kari failed to answer him, he panicked and ran out of the room, pushing past her. She tried to follow him, but he was too fast. He ran into a corridor filled with S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers dressed in black from head to toe, which seemed to cause more panic in him, and he ran out of the door into the busy New York street. What he saw shocked him; the cars were different, the big screens weren't there before. The soldiers must have radioed ahead to say he had escaped, as Kari watched, while three or four very sleek, black cars pulled up blocking both his exits. Nick Fury calmly walked up to him. Kari couldn't hear what was being said, but she watched as the Captain walked back into the S.H.I.E.L.D. building with Fury, his head low.
