001 - recalled to life

[believinginheroes]

"It's okay, boss. This was never gonna work if they didn't have something to..."

[The world got dark just then, everything getting suddenly dim and distorted. For a split second, Phil was afraid. He wasn't scared of dying, he wasn't even scared of Hell or hopeful of heaven...he just needed to finish that one stupid sentence. He needed to make his point...he *needed* them to know why it was okay for him to go.

He hallucinated before the end. He had to be hallucinating, because the cold cement floor and chrome surfaces were something...much different before he died.]

* * * * *

[Through the journal, there's a muted noise as Phil stirs, making a soft, drowsy sound as he opens his eyes and rubs his face. He's flat on his back and staring at the ceiling of a room he didn't recognize. Blinking, he sits up and looks around...and oddly enough, the carpet catches his eye. He remembers it from his dim fever dream...]

What...

[He rubs his chest, and finds no sign of injury. Did he lose some time in there? Maybe he'd been transported to another SHIELD facility where they worked on him. It didn't feel that way, though...no pain, no tenderness, he'd been shot and stabbed in the line of duty before. Kind of came with the job description.

So the question remained...]

Where the hell am I?

Comments

[valuedstrength]

... That's me. [Luckily Steve's got a little more experience with dealing with people who know him from a possible future so we can skip the 'what' portion of this.]

This is going to sound a little funny, but bear with me. You wouldn't happen to be from a time where we fight aliens together, would you? Maybe Agent Barton and Tony Stark ring a bell?

[believinginheroes]

[Fortunately, despite his confusion, Phil is every inch the good soldier...and hell if he's going to make demands of Captain America! All things in time, that's how it usually works anyway.]

Yes, sir. [a pause as he blinks and rubs his face] Last I remember, you and Mr. Stark had been dispatched to repair the dead engine on the helicarrier. I was...Loki escaped, sir.

[valuedstrength]

Don't worry about that. Both Banner and Stark told me it's going to be taken care of. [Steve knows an explanation has to follow that. He's just hoping he won't be accused of being crazy outright.]

I'm going to need you to stay with me on this because it's very hard to believe. Time works differently here. Right now everyone from our world has a different point where time stopped for them. Agent Barton still thinks we're fighting, Stark is from right after the fight, Banner is from whatever happens after we eat Shawarma...

[Honestly he doesn't sound like he's entirely convinced this is the truth either after the Shawarma part.]

I'm not sure about Miss Potts, but time stopped for me in 1943. I've been catching the story from the new arrivals for the past couple of months.

[believinginheroes]

[Phil is silent, patiently digesting everything, and when Steve is done, he's frankly more concerned about Captain America than he is about the weirdness of the whole thing. That much he can cope with.]

If you're right about all this, sir...and I'm not saying you're not, I can confirm some of what you've told me...when exactly did time stop for you? Were you still in New York when you were taken? Or were you overseas?

[valuedstrength]

Overseas. I just got back from a rescue mission. We got four hundred out of a prison camp.

[Steve imagines he didn't pull that trick twice in a row so hopefully that narrows it down.]

[believinginheroes]

[Phil makes a noise of confirmation, nodding to himself...then falls silent as he tries to figure out just how to phrase his next question.]

Banner and Stark...[Thank God those two are here, and Coulson smiles a little at that thought, kind of hard pressed to believe he'd ever be *glad* that Stark was around]...have they told you anything about...how they came to know you?

[Because if Steve doesn't know what happened between liberating those troops and meeting people from the future, Phil wants to make sure. He is NOT breaking his childhood hero's heart, thank you very much.]

[valuedstrength]

They gave me an idea. [His tone should suggest there's more to it than that. Steve fills him in shortly after.]

Respectfully, I don't really need to know all the details. I'll get there when I get there. [Aka they already broke his heart.]