Steve woke up with a burning in his lungs and a pounding in his head. Which wasn’t necessarily an unfamiliar sensation, but it was certainly happening in an unfamiliar place. He got to his feet, and tried to take in his surroundings, looking for assets and resources. Shelter. He would need shelter, and water, and probably food at some point. His shield lay at the ground at his feet, and could hardly help with any of those.
Darkness was the last thing he remembered. Darkness that felt like a weight, like everlasting night, like failure. But it wasn’t dark here. Here everything was golden-orange, a perfect warm twilight. Steve kicked at the ground that seemed to be ever-shifting beneath his feet, as much liquid as it was solid.
He couldn’t see anyone or anything, no matter which way he looked. He was alone. His chest seized with panic. He had no memories of being trapped in the ice, but sometimes he almost thought he did. He thought he could remember being frozen, an eternal wasteland, a world of silence and nothingness and no one, no one. He would wake up drenched in sweat, as if he had indeed been in the ocean, on the nights that particular haunting visited him.
He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. It hadn’t happened again. It couldn’t. Not even their broken world could be so cruel. “Okay. Everything’s fine.” The sound of his own voice, any voice, began to steady him. “We just need a plan.” He turned in a slow circle again, and his heart thumped painfully at the sight of a person-shaped blob on the horizon. He picked up his shield and began to run.
“Excuse me,” he called out as he got closer. “I’m looking for a plan.”
thor immediately swung around at the familiar voice and let out a loud cheering yell. steve rogers was here, which meant that the original three were together once more. “steve!” he called out, trotting towards him, his axe by his side as he did so - dropping it momentarily to pull the other avenger into a tightened hug. “it is good to see you, again.”
thor had wondered if steve would ever return from the world he had went to. and seeing him here it was a delight. still, a part of him, a deepened part felt sadness and a lonesome line of longing that his friend had wanted for so long. pulling away, thor picked his axe back up and stood in thought. “a plan?” he asked, raising a brow as he used his free hand to stroke his beard.
“worthy thought, but i do not believe any of us have one as of yet.“ he glanced around and gestured towards the emptiness that surrounded them. “have you met stark yet? natasha? they’re alive and well, they’ve just been hiding out in here and waiting for us to find them.“ at least that was what thor had convinced himself of - they weren’t dead. his friends, his family could not be dead. he could not be dead. “what about you? are you well?“