I woke up again, still in the same room as if it were a cage I couldn't free myself from. Tethered back to a new IV now, it's clear liquid pumping into my veins. Rejuvenating my body with all of the nutrients that I had been in poor lack of for the past seventy years. 

My head still felt foggy like steam had condensed inside my brain, but I no longer felt like each muscle, tendon, bone, and joint in my body was being pulled apart like taffy. The formulas of salts, glucose, amino acids, lipids, and added vitamins flooding through my system apparently working well for me. 

I was alone again in the room, no Tony, no Steve, just various machines, and hospital equipment keeping me company. 

Gingerly, I got out of bed, swinging my legs over the side of the mattress, and walked over to the ceiling high row of windows, spanning an entire wall amount. With the IV pole shackled to me, following closely behind like a ball and chain, I whipped open the velvet drapes, the silver hooks gliding across the rod in one swift motion. 

Exposing the mysteries that lie in wait outside, I dropped the veil, and the secret staring back at me was the city that I knew all too well, but that now looked all too different. 

Swelling grey pollution from the various factories, plants, and laboratories hovered up into the sky like smoke from chimney flues, soiling the horizon with an inky black curtain. Not a single star could be located in the night sky, and I couldn't even spot the moon, the glow of an overpopulated island casting out any natural wonder in the atmosphere. 

The city was so compressed, jammed with far too much, and it was lit up like a jewel, but not a pretty one, least not to me. The blinding lights seemed more like the sun in my minds eye, best not to look directly at it. 

Skyscrapers, high-rise buildings, and towers stood high, spanning miles. Piling on top of each other in an obnoxiously thick, compact fashion. Each one looking like lofty giants, looming above everything, and silently mocking anything that was smaller. 

Billboards broadcasting foreign, strange things to me plagued each corner, crevasse, and nook. Leaving nothing untouched, unsullied. 

Traffic lights reflected in my tired gaze, and the noisy irritation of it all was devastating, too much. All the flashing headlights from the congested streets, the building upon building, the city practically eating itself apart... It was all so different, and so much had changed. So much outside, beneath the Avengers Tower that I was in, was going on all at once that it mentally hurt to try, and take it all in. 

I never once felt tiny in New York in the 40's, but now seventy years later I was a mere ant amongst a whole coliseum. A city that once held a million, now held eight million. 

I suddenly heard the door open, and in a preventative stance I already squeezed my hands into fists, snapping my head around to fight, but I was met with a dear friend, his blue eyes reminiscent of the past, and he walked over to me, a glass of water in his grasp. 

I turned my attention back to the city, and took the crystal clear cup from him. 

"Remember when there were dim-outs to conserve energy, and shield the city in case of an enemy attack? At the time it was a horrid thing that happened so frequently, but now I think I miss it. New York is too bright." 

"I know," Steve replied, staring out at the never ending sea of brightly lit skyscrapers. "When I first woke up I thought the same thing, and I woke up unaware that you were still alive yourself, and could be found, so I felt more alone." 

"How long have you been up?" I asked, his face silhouetted by the city's illumination. 

"Long enough to be used to the brightness, but not long enough to move on from the past." 

"I'm glad you're here, Steve." I admitted, drawing his attention away from the window. 

"Are you? Or, are you mad that I had you taken out of that chunk of ice? Because I happened to want a friend." 

I looked away from him, the unavoidable heaviness weighing me down, needing to be uttered despite me not wanting to even form the words. 

"Is he still dead?" I let spill out from my mouth, a cold tone eminent in my voice. "Can we find him in a block of ice too, or has technology advanced so much that we can bring him back to life?" 

"I'm afraid not, for both of your questions." Steve answered, and I stared down at my wedding ring. 

"Do you hate me now, Becky? Should I really have left you in that suspended stage of neither dead, or alive?" 

"No," I quickly retorted. "I would of done the same thing with you had it been me who woke up first. It's still good to see you dear friend. It's just... I'm nothing special, I'm not the heroic Captain America who will always hold a purpose in life, no matter the time. Why am I even needed to be alive anymore?" 

Steve grabbed hold of me, pulling me closer to him so that I was staring at him, anxiousness stitched across his countenance. 

"I need you, Becky. Everyone from our time is either dead, or dying. You're the only one I have. You have a purpose." 

I half smiled, and stood up on my tiptoes to hug him as tightly as I could. 

"I missed you. Even though to me it hasn't felt like seventy years I still missed you greatly." 

"I missed you too." I heard him whisper back, his arms wrapped securely around me. 

We reminisced for hours afterwards, chatting well into the night, us being the only two awake in the Avengers Tower. We filtered through so many memories, topics, and stories. Our mouths wearing out, but never failing to discuss the next thing. Us being some of the last rememberers of our time, the memories of so much probably going to die with us. 

The nostalgia thick like a humid summer day, and some of the things we talked about hurt even to bring up, yet we pushed through, grateful to at least be able to have the memory of them. 

Then around four in the morning Steve brought me into the Cryo-Chamber facility, switching on a few of the up-lights. 

"You were technically here less than a day ago. Getting defrosted." 

"I feel bad for hurting Mr. Stark." I confessed, looking around the pristine, futuristic lab. 

"Understandable though. I hurt a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents when I first woke up as well. I was just so confused that I ran out into Times Square in the middle of the day. I'm actually surprised that I didn't get hit by a car. What a story that would of been. Captain America wakes up after seventy years only to be killed by a car a few minutes later." 

I stifled a laugh. 

"I doubt you'd die from a simple car. It'll probably take more than that to do you in." 

My joke brought a smile to Steve's face, and for some reason it relieved me more than anything else had. 

"Well, I brought you here because I thought you might want this." 

I was handed a clear container, the Howling Commandos combat gear that I was wearing on that day inside. 

Staring fondly at the clothes that were in all fairness mine, but no longer felt like it, I unbuttoned the hidden compartment in my bulletproof vest, my lips curving upward when I found the three most important things to me. Meaningful belongings that I was worried I had lost within the snow, or during my seventy years in ice. 

"Good, they're here." I murmured. 

"What?" 

"Nothing, Steve." 

"Okay, anyway if you don't want to stay here in the Avengers Tower then S.H.I.E.L.D. can get you a safe house. I had one for a little bit, and generally they're nice apartments. I'll make sure that yours is close to mine so that I can check in on you." 

"Thank you," I said. "For everything." 

His blue eyes bore into mine, remorse swirling around. 

"I'm sorry my selfishness made you have to relive that day." 

I shook my head, fighting back tears while holding the three items in my hands. I had to pretend to be more okay then I actually was in order to not create more for Steve to most likely blame himself for. 

"It's okay, Steve. I'm okay. Are you?" 

He nodded. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Better now that you're here, Becky."