I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 3

Rachel stops in the doorway to the gym as she watches Steve Rogers punch a punching bag. She observes as he seems to be completely lost in his thoughts as he throws punch after punch at the bag. He finally punches the bag so hard that it's sent off the hook and across the gym, the sand spilling out of a hole created by Steve's fist. Rachel's eyes widen in surprise as she stares at the broken bag then back at Steve as he lifts another bag onto the hook and starts punching it again. "Trouble sleeping?" she assumes as she enters the gym and Steve raises his head at her. "I slept for 70 years, I think I've had my fill" he replies as he continues punching. "Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world" she suggests as she makes her way towards him. He looks her up and down as he breathes heavily and walks towards the bench while removing the wrappings around his hands.

"I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost" he states and Rachel watches and listens intently. "We have made some mistakes along the way, some very recently" she replies as she brings the file out from behind her. He looks at the file in her hands before looking back up at her, meeting her eyes. "Are you here with a mission Rachel?" he asks her. "Yeah, I am. I wish I wasn't" she replies, disappointed that that's the reason to be visiting him. "Trying to get me back out in the world?" he questions, seemingly unimpressed. "We're trying to save it" she responds and hands the file to him, now open revealing the first page. He notices the picture of the familiar blue cube he dealt with 70 years ago. He takes the file from her hands and stares at the information on the tesseract.

"Hydra's secret weapon" he states as he sits down on the bench. "Howards Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought that the tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That is something the world sorely needs" she explains, trying to convince him that they need his help. "Who took it from you?" he asks knowingly while handing the file back. "He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll need to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know" she explains to him. "At this point, I don't think anything would surprise me" he responds while rolling his eyes. "Ten bucks says your wrong" she bets as he stands and grabs his bag. "There's a debriefing packet at your apartment. Is there anything you can tell us about the tesseract that we should know now?" she asks him as he picks up a punching bag. "You should've left it in the ocean" he responds as he starts to leave the gym.

Rachel chases after him and reaches him as he's exiting the building. "I'm sorry Steve. I hope you know I'm under orders" she tells him, hoping he'll understand. "I know" he sighs as he looks at her. She only nods in response. "Call me when you've decided if you'll help. I hope you will" she says with a small smile before leaving. After a few hours, Rachel receives a call from Steve claiming he'll help get the tesseract back. She tells him she'll pick him up and take him to Shield HQ the following day.

Steve sits in the back of the jet, watching videos of Dr Banner's transformation while Rachel and Phil Coulson stand in front of him. "So this Dr Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve asks. "A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation may be the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula" Coulson answers. "Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve responds, staring at the footage if the Hulk. "Not really, no" Rachel replies. "When he's not that thing though, he's like a Stephen Hawking" Coulson adds and Steve raises his head at the name in confusion. He looks at Coulson before looking at Rachel. "He's just a really smart guy" she explains simply with a smile and Steve nods his head.

"I've gotta say, it's an honour to meet you" Coulson says with a proud smile and Steve responds with a small smile. "I sort of met you. I watched you while you were sleeping" Coulson states and Steve simply lowers his head with an awkward expression while Rachel releases a small laugh. "I mean, I was present while you were unconscious, from the ice. It's just a huge honour to have you on board" Coulson says, trying to save himself and quickly change the subject while Steve stands from his seat. "I just hope I'm the man for the job" he states hopefully. They both stand behind the pilots and Rachel stands just behind them. "Oh you are. Absolutely. We've made some modifications to the uniform, I had a little input" Coulson explains proudly. "The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little old fashioned?" Steve questions. "Everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light. People might just need a little old fashioned" Rachel answers with a nod.

The jet becomes silent as Coulson returns to his station, in front of the computer and Steve has taken his seat. Rachel sits beside him before asking "Are you ok?". He looks over at her and nods with an assuring smile. "Thank you Rachel" he states. "For what?" she questions with a frown. "For helping. You've been very kind and honest with me and I really appreciate that. I feel like everyone else tiptoes around me" he explains and she smiles. "You're welcome. It'll get better" she replies before thinking about her secret and feeling guilty about keeping it from him. She's not as honest as he believes she's is.