O5-1's mention of the Tesseract immediately focused Steve's attention. The Tesseract had been a source of significant power and conflict during the war, and its name brought back a rush of memories and concerns.
"The Tesseract?" Steve repeated, his tone shifting from frustration to keen interest. "What about it?"
"What would you think if I said that there are thousands of objects out there that had the same potential for evil in the wrong hands?"
"That's impossible."
The way O5-1 leaned forward was enough to tell Steve that he had a massive smile on his face under that mask.
"Maybe, but what about thousands of dangerous objects or beings like 2430 over there?"
Steve paused, processing the magnitude of what O5-1 was suggesting. The world he knew was complicated enough with just one Tesseract. The idea of thousands of similar threats was overwhelming but not entirely shocking, given what he'd already seen and experienced.
"So, you're saying the world is filled with items, creatures, maybe even people with powers or dangers equivalent to the Tesseract?"
"That's exactly right Captain, some more dangerous, some less so. Yet all capable of doing great harm in the wrong hands."
Steve had to admit that his words painted a scary picture. "How come I never heard of those things? Surely, someone would have found and used them by now. The world has plenty of bullies like Redskull in it."
To this question O5-1 spread his arms wide open. "That's because of us; we gather those objects, we capture those beings, we lock them up and hide them away."
"Securing, Containing, Protecting. That's what we do at the SCP Foundation," O5-1 elaborated with a solemn tone, acknowledging the gravity of their mission. "We ensure that humanity remains oblivious to these threats, to maintain global normalcy and prevent widespread panic. All while ensuring that they also remain safe from the unknow."
"And who decided that you were the right hands to deal with these items and people, and why should they be kept secret? People have the right to know." Steve did agree that someone had to keep objects like the tesseract out of the wrong hands, but it shouldn't be done in secret by people like these.
O5-1 met Steve's challenging gaze with an unwavering steadiness, understanding the depth and importance of the questions being posed. "The inception of the SCP Foundation predates any government in the world. We have been doing this since before the birth of Christ!"
"And our legitimacy isn't derived from public election but from the sheer necessity of our mission! Our mandate comes from our never-wavering determination to do whatever it takes to do what is right. And if knowledge of our mission and the objects we work with is made public, it could lead to mass hysteria, widespread panic, and potentially, the end of societal order as we know it."
He continued, emphasizing the delicate balance the Foundation must maintain. "The secrecy isn't just a preference; it's a necessity. Imagine if every government, every terrorist group, every individual with ill intentions knew of objects that could warp reality, grant immortality, or unleash unspeakable horrors. It wouldn't just lead to chaos; it would be the end of the world as we know it."
Seeing Steve's still skeptical look, O5-1 leaned in slightly, his voice taking on a persuasive edge. "You've seen firsthand the dangers of powerful objects falling into the wrong hands during the war. The Tesseract, under Hydra's control, could have changed the course of history for the worse. Now multiply that risk by thousands, and you'll begin to understand the stakes we're dealing with daily."
O5-1 paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing. "This is why the Foundation operates in the shadows. Not out of a desire for secrecy or power, but out of a solemn duty to protect humanity from threats they cannot begin to comprehend, let alone confront. We're the last line of defense against the anomalous, ensuring that the public never has to face the nightmares we secure and contain."
Steve processed the explanation, the weight of the Foundation's burden becoming clearer with each word. He understood the need for secrecy in military and strategic contexts, but the scope of the SCP Foundation's mission was beyond anything he could have imagined.
"But why me? Why all this? And what about Bucky?" Steve asked, he felt like he had learned a good amount about his host, but he still hadn't answered many of his questions.
"Why you? You are a soldier, Mr Rogers, but one without a war. What is a soldier without a war? He is nothing, you, you are lost, Captain; you just don't know how lost you are just yet. What I am here for is to offer you a new, better purpose."
"And Bucky?" Steve pressed, unwilling to consider any proposition that didn't include his friend.
"Your friend… is a very different case than yourself. He was not found by us, but by Hydra; they messed him up pretty badly and brainwashed him to become a too. He made an enemy of us, so we don't like him much. He lives only due to you."
Steve's jaw tightened at O5-1's words. Learning that Bucky had fallen into the hands of Hydra. He didn't want to even begin to imagine what they might have done with him.
Yet O5-1's words painted a vivid image of it. How his friend had been forced to work towards something he hated, something he had almost given his life to stop, now forced to work towards that goal.
"It's not his fault," Steve found himself saying, the words fueled by a mixture of anger and determination. "Whatever Hydra did to him, it was against his will. Bucky's one of the strongest, most resilient people I know. If there's a chance for him to fight back, to regain control, then he deserves that chance. We owe him that much."
O5-1 nodded, his silhouette somehow conveying a sense of understanding. "I appreciate your perspective, Captain Rogers. It's clear you see the best in people, even when they themselves cannot. It's a rare trait."
"The reason we are talking right now, Captain, is that I want revenge against Hydra; they killed someone important to me, and I want them gone, entirely dismantled. And if you help me, I will be most grateful."
"I understand wanting revenge," Steve admitted, his thoughts drifting to the battles fought, the lives lost, and the deep scars left by Hydra's cruelty. "Hydra needs to be stopped, completely. If they're still out there, then the fight isn't over. And I can't stand by knowing they're still causing harm."
"But I won't work for you, I have my own friends, people who I trust to work with. I will help avenge the person you lost, but I will do it my way." Steve's voice contained his determination. Strong and firm, unwavering.
"I respect your choice, Captain, but I'm afraid that my deception has been hiding a rather large detail from you, one that I am sure will make you rethink my offer." O5-1 said as he pushed over the small pile of folders.
Steve eyed the folders with suspicion, his senses heightened by O5-1's ominous statement. Slowly, he reached for the stack, his movements deliberate, as he prepared himself for whatever revelation lay inside.
He opened it, and as he flipped through the documents, photographs, and reports, Steve's eyes widened. This file seemed to be filled with information about everything that had happened after he had cashed the plane.
He eagerly looked through them. Reading about everything that had happened, he saw mentions of some of his friends, plenty about himself and his selfish sacrifice, and pictures of Peggy and Howard.
It was far from good news, all of it. He was glad to see the war had ended, but seeing the true horror that had been uncovered from camps in Germany was sicking. He couldn't help but look over at Hitler.
He was horrified as he read about how the US had dropped some massive super bombs on cities filled with civilians. Not military targets, but men, women, and children. Entire cities were reduced to burning rubble and to do so twice.
Steve's mind reeled as he processed the full weight of the atomic bombings, the images and descriptions stark against the backdrop of his own wartime experiences. It wasn't just the scale of destruction that shook him, but the realization of how warfare had evolved in his absence, reaching new levels of devastation. The lines between combatants and civilians, once blurred, were now obliterated.
He continued to flip through the files, each page revealing more about the world he had left behind and the one he had awakened to. The Cold War, the rise of new powers, the space race, and countless conflicts around the globe painted a picture of a world perpetually on the brink of disaster, yet always pulling back, always surviving.
A heavy weight settled in his gut as he read on. He was reading about events that had happened over the years, decades; this couldn't be possible. Surely he couldn't have been unconscious for that long.
He once more looked at Bucky; he might be a few years older than the last he saw him, but even that was a stretch. He seemed to have changed very little, so it was impossible that so long could have passed.
Steve's attention snapped back to O5-1, a new resolve hardening his features. "There's something you're not telling me," he stated, more assertion than a question. "How is it possible that so much time has passed, yet Bucky... he hasn't aged like he should have? What's really going on here?"
O5-1 just pointed at the remaining pile of folders. "Keep reading. All the answers you seek are there."
Steve didn't want to keep reading, but he still did so anyway, intent on finding answers.
The first folder just continued to showcase all the wars happening since his apparent time. It was horrible to see that the US he knew had changed and to read about how they started wars around the world.
It took down governments and caused chaos and death everywhere, how profit seemed to have become everything, and the number of war crimes happening around the world, often with the shadow of the US close by.
If these documents were true, he had been away for more than fifty years. The next folder was all about Hydra.
It detailed their resurgence in the shadows, infiltrating the very institutions that were meant to protect the world from threats like them. Hydra had evolved, becoming more insidious and dangerous than ever before. Their tendrils had wrapped around governments, intelligence agencies, and powerful corporations, manipulating global events to serve their nefarious ends.
Steve felt a chill run down his spine as he read about Hydra's involvement in conflicts around the globe, their experiments with anomalous objects and entities, and their relentless pursuit of power. The organization he had fought so hard to defeat during the war had only grown stronger in his absence, a hydra indeed, regrowing its heads no matter how many times they were cut off.
The final folder contained information on Bucky's fate after falling into Hydra's hands. The details were grim: brainwashing, memory wipes, and physical enhancements turning him into the Winter Soldier, Hydra's most effective assassin. Bucky had been used as a weapon against his will, his humanity stripped away bit by bit with each mission he was forced to undertake.
This revelation hit Steve harder than anything else. The guilt and sorrow he felt, knowing what his friend had endured, were overwhelming. But there was also anger, a burning desire to right the wrongs that had been done to Bucky and to bring those responsible to justice.
He looked over at his friend, now knowing what kind of horrors he had gone through and how he could still look so young if all this was true.
A/N
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