Steve Rogers

---

Kai left the company and walked alone through the streets of New York.

Now that he thought about it, he had never really taken the time to explore the city or experience its energy since arriving.

As he strolled along, lost in thought, he noticed a man sprinting toward him from a distance.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in New York, Nick Fury had just returned from the Arctic, where S.H.I.E.L.D. had spent a long time recovering a man trapped in the ice. Now, that man—Steve Rogers—had been brought back, and S.H.I.E.L.D. was attempting to carefully wake him.

A few dozen minutes earlier, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters…

Since his rescue, Steve's vital signs had been improving. Tests showed he would wake up soon. To ease his transition, Fury had an exact replica of a 1940s-style room built, where Steve was placed to wake up naturally.

As planned, Steve eventually regained consciousness. A nurse entered, pretending to check on him while subtly reinforcing the illusion that he was still in the past.

At first, Steve believed it—until he heard a radio broadcast about a football game. He immediately recognized the game; he had already listened to it before going into the ice.

Realizing something was wrong, Steve rushed out of the room. The moment he stepped into the hallway and saw the modern décor, the truth hit him—this wasn't a hospital ward. It was a staged room, and he had no idea where he really was.

Security personnel quickly moved in to contain him, but Steve reacted on instinct. He pushed forward at full speed, breaking through multiple obstacles and bursting onto the streets of New York.

Now, standing at an intersection, surrounded by towering skyscrapers and futuristic advertisements, he was frozen in shock.

As Steve stood there, struggling to process what he was seeing, a young man with black hair and dark eyes approached him.

Kai.

Steve noticed the way Kai looked at him—his expression shifting from surprise to understanding. Then Kai spoke:

"Steve?"

Steve, still dazed, turned toward him. The fact that this stranger recognized him at a glance was unsettling, but he didn't sense any hostility. He was about to ask a question when—

The screech of tires filled the air.

Multiple cars surrounded them, and men in suits quickly moved into position. From one of the vehicles, a bald man with an eyepatch stepped out and strode toward them.

Nick Fury.

Kai instantly grasped the situation—he had just run into Captain America at the exact moment of his awakening.

Fury, meanwhile, sighed inwardly when he saw Kai. He already had enough on his plate dealing with Steve—now Kai was here, too.

But for now, he ignored Kai and focused on calming Steve.

"Relax, soldier," Fury said.

Then he continued, "I apologize for the little performance back there, but we thought it was best to ease you into things."

Steve frowned. "Ease me into what?"

"Getting ready for a new era," Kai answered before Fury could. He took a step forward, his tone firm. "I really don't like the way you deceived him, Fury. Even if you meant well, it was still deception."

Then Kai turned to Steve and said plainly, "Captain, you've been asleep for nearly seventy years."

Silence.

Steve's expression shifted from confusion to disbelief. He turned again, taking in the city around him with a new understanding.

Fury let Kai's words sink in before asking, "Are you okay?"

Steve took a deep breath. "Yeah… yeah, I'm okay. It's just… I missed a date."

Fury, more focused on debriefing Steve than sentimental details, didn't dwell on the comment. He was already thinking about how to get Steve back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters for further orientation.

Kai, however, wasn't having it. He crossed his arms and said flatly, "You don't seriously think you own Steve, do you, Fury? You want him to go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. like he's some kind of asset? That's disgusting. This is his choice, not yours."

Then, turning to Steve, Kai said, "Listen, I'm Kai. You've just woken up, and everything must be overwhelming. But if there's something you want to do first—before getting involved with S.H.I.E.L.D.—I can help. Do you want some time to adjust first, or do you want to go straight to whatever it is you had in mind? Either way, I'll take you there myself."

Steve hesitated. He appreciated Kai's offer, but in the end, he knew he needed time to learn about this new world before he could do anything else.

"I think I should get my bearings first," he finally said.

Fury took the opportunity to step in. "Then let's go. We have a lot to catch you up on."

Before leaving, Steve turned to Kai. "Can I get your number?"

Kai nodded and handed over his phone.

"Once I've caught up on everything, I'll call you. We should grab dinner."

Kai smirked. "Looking forward to it."

With that, he watched as Fury led Steve away.

---

Two days later, Kai's phone rang.

It was Tony.

"Hey, Lee, get over here. You need to see what Yinsen and I just made!"

Kai heard the excitement in Tony's voice and immediately guessed that their research had made a breakthrough. Wasting no time, he headed to the villa.

When he arrived, Tony practically dragged him inside.

"Come on, come on, take a look at this!"

Kai approached the worktable where a large, processed piece of Uru metal sat. Tony gestured at it like a proud inventor showing off his masterpiece.

"Go on, hit it with some magic."

Kai raised an eyebrow at Tony's mysterious tone but didn't hesitate. He took out his wand and cast a freezing spell at the table.

The spell should have encased everything in ice—but instead, only the table froze. The Uru metal, however, remained almost untouched.

Almost.

Kai narrowed his eyes. A thin layer of ice crystals had formed on the surface of the metal, but the effect was minimal. The metal had resisted the spell almost entirely.

His interest was piqued.

____