Chapter Text
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
-- "Iris", The Goo Goo Dolls
There are no cheers when the vita-ray chamber opens. There are no handshakes, no backslaps, no smiles or relieved laughter.
There are only a few gasps amid the echoing, horrified silence.
What lies in the chamber is no longer recognizable as Steve Rogers—it is no longer even recognizable as human. The cheeks and eyes are sunken, the nose and ears devoid of cartilage, the skin—if it is skin—blood red, stretched over muscles that no longer have any covering of flesh to soften their shapes.
“Is he…” someone whispers, but before the word dead can be uttered, the creature that was Rogers heaves a sudden, gasping breath, lashless eyelids twitching.
It is Erskine who finally steps forward, Erskine who lays a hand on the red, melted skin, Erskine who fully breaks the silence.
“Steve, my boy, can you hear me?”