London, England Late January 1944
The new year of 1944 started off with the coldest winter on record so things all over the warfront for the European campaign were halted but they were better than they were a month ago in December. The Allies secured the French Riviera and its ports so now were able to move men and supplies from mainland Italy to Southern France. The entire Riviera was secured and the Germans had been pushed back. Clark's expedition throughout France to reunite with his team and the Howling Commandos in country taking out the Hydra facility aided as well. All those efforts along with some assisted sabotage by the French Maquis and Clark's liberal use of his heat vision before he met up with them, the German's in France were stagnant. A lot of their artillery and tanks were taken out which left their army forces forced to defend what they could without them. As a result, many forces pulled back from the coastal areas as far back as Toulouse so they could consolidate their lines which allowed the American, British, and Free French Forces to prepare. Thanks to the efforts of Clark in securing the Riviera, they were able to quickly set up and fortify their bases and forward operating positions so they began sending recon and scouting forces into German-occupied territory as military command began making their next move.
Thankfully, conditions in the Riviera weren't as bad as near the mountains or further inland as the temperatures were cold but not freezing. The Germans had secured the inland of France but in doing so now had to deal with the colder weather and heavier snow fall. While the passage from Italy to France via the Alps was densely packed with heavy snow and normal travel was impossible, the securing of the ports allowed Navy ships to ferry men and supplies back and forth though the seas could be rough so extra care was taken and planes were used as well though with the surge of bombings and air attacks by the Luftwaffe those were in extreme cases. The RAF and US Army air force were in constant engagements with them and on bombing missions into German territory.
That was the bad news and thankfully the good news outweighed it. Among the good news was the work of the Howling Commandos and Taskforce Vanguard in their special operations behind enemy lines. They took out Hydra facilities and sabotaged the German war machine by hitting outposts, depots, and supply lines along with gathering intel. Their most recent mission in Belgium took out a special Hydra compound and chemical weapon facility preventing the use of a deadly gas known as Nova 6 in a special V2 rocket that would have hit London. The Commandos and Taskforce Vanguard had retreated back to Allied territory after their success and were preparing for their next assignment. Many of the generals in the Allied command groups were quick to want Superman back on the front lines as they figured he could make the same quick push into central France that he did when he helped them take the Riviera. With his abilities he could give them the push through the winter that could help them liberate all of France by Spring. Even the Supreme Allied Commander for the European theater of the war General Dwight D. Eisenhower agreed that it was a solid enough plan to at least take France during the winter months. Once France was secured the army groups could continue the rest of the way. That never happened as while it wasn't widespread news, Superman had returned from being MIA after taking out the Nova 6 V2 rocket destined for London. Colonel Phillips reported to General Eisenhower that Captain Elbert was enjoying some well-deserved R which was partially true but not the entire truth.
The actual truth? The Superman was recovering from a cold and Colonel Phillips would let him fully recover because the cold inadvertently revealed a new ability. How was a new ability for the Superman revealed by a cold? Because he sneezed and blew a hole in a reinforced concrete wall of the SSR base. So, to avoid any more collateral damage of friendly fire Colonel Phillips authorized Clark to rest and recover until he was back to 100%.
"Ugh…"
Clark was seated at the small table of the hotel room he was staying at for his recovery. He had a big fluffy blanket wrapped around him, a bowl of hot steaming water laid out on the table so he could breathe in the steam and a thermometer stuck in his mouth. He sniffled a bit before wiping his nose with a tissue and threw it in the trashcan next to him where it joined the other used tissues. Howard paid for him to get a grand suite complete with room service since he couldn't stay in the barracks or near the SSR because of his cold for risk of him getting others sick. Clark's toughed through bullets, bombs, tank shells, Kryptonite-powered battle suits and an evil speedster from the future but a common cold made him wish for all of that again. It sucked. For so long a part of him was always curious what it would be like to be human and now he was regretting it. Being sick was not fun.
Clark just sat there and inhaled the steam from the bowl, letting it fill his lungs when his hotel room opened and in walked the doctor and nurse assigned to help him. The nurse came in and put down a new hot water bowl before leaving with the old one while the doctor checked on Clark. Heartbeat, pulse, and blood pressure were normal…well, normal for Clark so he took the thermometer from Clark's mouth to check.
"98.6 so no fever." The doctor wiped the thermometer and put it away before checking over Clark some more. He took out a syringe and tried to extract a sample of blood for testing but it bent against his skin. "Ok, so your sickness isn't affecting your powers. How are you feeling?"
"Tired, my body's sore, I have a scratchy throat, my head feels congested, my ears are plugged up and my nose is dripping mucus." Clark wiped his nose again. "Ugh, this feels like death."
"Well, this isn't death, just the common cold." The doctor informed him, jotting things down on a clipboard.
"Well, I'm not exactly common. What's the cure?" Clark asked, wiping more snot from his nose. All the doctor did was give him a shrug.
"The common cold doesn't have a cure. You just have to let it run its course while your body heals. Luckily your symptoms aren't severe so it's just a mild condition. It should be over in a couple of days." The doctor replied and Clark just slumped his head down closer to the bowl of hot water and groaned in annoyance.
His hotel room door opened and in walked Peggy, Howard, and Colonel Phillips. Clark wiped his nose and quickly stood up but the doctor pushed him back down into his chair. Clark was feeling so bad that he didn't fight it. "At ease, Elbert. How are you feeling?" Colonel Phillips asked.
"Like my head is stuffed with cotton and my throat feels like I've got a porcupine stuck in it. Ugh…" Clark put his face back in the steam. "I can't take days of this."
"Sorry but that's the science of it. Your body just needs time to recovery. Get plenty of rest, stay hydrated and drink a lot of fluids so your body can heal. If your symptoms get worse or something else happens then let me know." The doctor told him and Clark nodded. The doctor bid everyone goodbye and left the room just as the nurse returned with a small cart.
"Oh, look at that. Room service. Glad to see I'm having a positive effect on you, Kal." Howard quipped with a smirk on his face but Peggy, Colonel Phillips, and Clark just rolled their eyes. Howard, being extra himself today took a tissue and walked over to Clark where he wiggled it at his nose to try and tickle a sneeze out. In response, Peggy smacked him upside the head.
"If I wasn't feeling bad I would throw you out the window." Clark told him.
"Well, then I'm fortunate that you're still suffering from the cold." Howard remarked as the nurse placed down a bowl of hot chicken soup, a bowl of fruit, some yogurt and a cup of hot lemon ginger tea.
"Here you are. Are you sure you wouldn't like me to set up a hot foot bath?" The nurse asked.
"I'm fine, thank you." Clark replied and the Nurse nodded before placing down some more tissues and a new small waste bin after taking the one currently filled with the used tissues and put it on the cart.
"If there's anything else you need then just call the lobby." The nurse bid everyone goodbye and left.
"Are you sure you don't want a hot foot bath? They can do wonders…" Howard's smirk dropped when he saw the look Clark was giving him. He wasn't in the mood. "…I'll stop now."
"A smart decision." Peggy remarked before looking at Clark. "Feeling any better?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I've never had a cold before so I've got nothing to compare it to." Clark felt a tickle in his nose and so he quickly grabbed a tissue and rushed out of his seat to the window which he quickly pushed open. "Achoo!"
Clark's head was out the window just in time and he avoided making a giant hole in the room he was staying in. Thankfully his sneeze wasn't as aggressive as the first one which blew a hole in the wall of the SSR base but it was still powerful as he blew a gust of wind from his mouth that easily blew the falling snow like London was experiencing a blizzard. The room he was staying on was on the top floor so the gust of wind from his mouth didn't hit any buildings.
"Ugh…" Clark let his head hang out the window for a bit in both exhaustion and annoyance. Since the whole power sneeze incident in the SSR base, he's had to rush to a window every time he felt a sneeze which had been a total of ten times since yesterday when he got back from his extra-planetary excursion. "I hate this."
"Which is the shared sentiment by everyone who gets a cold, I'm afraid." Peggy said as Clark closed the window and sat back down in his chair.
"I'm just astonished. Bullets, grenades, and artillery you're fine but the great Superman gets taken down by the common cold. So funny." Howard remarked. "With how indestructible you've been since Project Rebirth I'm still confused as to how you got sick in the first but with everything you said you saw at Castle Caldera and the kind of weapons on the rocket, guess it was enough to tax your healing."
"And the ice-cold plunge in the Atlantic ocean for two weeks likely didn't help either." Colonel Phillips added. That was the official story as how the SSR and everyone who wasn't Clark understood it as. When Clark disabled the V2 Nova 6/Tesseract rocket it exploded and he got caught near the blast radius and was adrift in the ice-cold Atlantic ocean for two weeks, unconscious until he was rescued. The cold was a result of Clark being in the ice-cold water for so long after being weakened by the explosion from the rocket. It was proven that the Hydra weapons could hurt him so it was easy for Howard to make that assumption. As for the whole being on another planet thing, they just chalked it up to Clark having a bad dream while unconscious.
Clark blew his nose into his tissue with everyone wincing in disgust and he quickly tossed it in the trash. "Don't worry, sir. I'll be back on my feet soon, I promise."
"Rest easy, Elbert. That's what you can do. You'll be no good to anyone if you head back into the field when you're not 100%. You already did enough by helping to secure the French Riviera and the lines have solidified with the winter snow allowing General Eisenhower to fortify our bases and prepare for a spring offensive. Just focus on getting better and that's an order." Colonel Phillips told him.
"Yes, sir." Clark nodded and Colonel Phillips walked to the door.
"If you need anything, Kal then don't hesitate to ask. The room and everything are covered and I've got my butler Jarvis working on a patented cold cure-all for you so don't worry. Just get better." Howard patted him on the back.
"Thanks, Howard." Clark replied before he left with Colonel Phillips while Peggy stayed behind. The two took the elevator down to the lobby and then exited the building where Howard's private car was waiting for them. They got in but didn't leave right away until the doctor who just checked on Clark walked out. He went to the car and handed them a medical bag which Howard opened revealing a brown paper bag containing all the tissues Clark had used for his nose. Ample samples of Clark's DNA.
"I wasn't able to extract a blood sample. The needle bent against his skin but the bag contains all the tissues he used." The doctor reported.
"Well done, Lieutenant." Colonel Phillips replied and the doctor saluted.
This revealed two things. One, that the doctor who was looking after Clark wasn't a regular doctor but an army doctor. Two, that Colonel Phillips was using Clark's cold to get information on what Project Rebirth did to his body. To this day, it still bugged the Colonel how closely guarded Dr. Erskine was about the adjustments to the procedure Clark went through. Because of the attack and Dr. Erskine not writing that information down, all they had was the data on Steve's procedure that turned him into Captain America. They tried to gather data but couldn't extract samples of DNA from Clark such as blood. While they weren't able to extract blood here either all the tissues Clark used had ample genetic material mainly saliva and mucus so it could be enough for their scientists to get some information.
Howard looked at the bag of tissues and the expression on his face began as intrigue and scientific curiosity but also confliction. "Colonel, I have to admit I'm a little conflicted going behind Kal's back like this."
"We're not doing anything wrong, Stark. Kal's wellbeing is at stake and with his skin still bulletproof we can't extract blood. Who knows what else is going on with his body after Project Rebirth so the only way we can make sure nothing else is going on with him is to test what we can. And in this case, his used tissues is the best we have." Colonel Phillips informed him and it was a solid point. That likely was part of it but no doubt Colonel Phillips also wanted to figure out more about what was going on with Clark's body. Howard nodded in agreement and the driver took them back to the SSR base.
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