( the shield doctors are all baffled. the serum shouldn't have sterilized him — if anything, it should have made him even more virile. it heightened every other aspect of his body to its peak, so why not this?
steve knows. he doesn't want to talk about it, so he hasn't explained to the doctors, but he knows.
he hadn't realized at the time, of course. you don't think a person would do that to another human being — certainly not a doctor. doctors are meant to heal, not hurt. not cause damage the patient will be dealing with seventy years in the future, suddenly unable to breathe for the first time in two years. he's read enough history books, though, to realize what must have happened. forcible sterilization was a common enough procedure when he was growing up, and he would have been a prime candidate. whatever doctor did it genuinely thought he was doing a good thing, preventing steve from spreading around his shitty genes.
it's a strange thing, accepting the loss of something you never expected to have anyway. kids were never going to be in his future, but the idea that he just... can't. even if he wanted to, it's physically impossible. that's something he's still reeling from, still trying to parse.
he's sitting in central park, staring at his hands, when he hears footsteps coming his way. when he looks up and sees natasha, his expression jumps between a frown and a tight smile, and he scoots over on the bench. she's welcome to join him, if she likes. )
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like a week after the chitauri invasion or sth who knows
steve knows. he doesn't want to talk about it, so he hasn't explained to the doctors, but he knows.
he hadn't realized at the time, of course. you don't think a person would do that to another human being — certainly not a doctor. doctors are meant to heal, not hurt. not cause damage the patient will be dealing with seventy years in the future, suddenly unable to breathe for the first time in two years. he's read enough history books, though, to realize what must have happened. forcible sterilization was a common enough procedure when he was growing up, and he would have been a prime candidate. whatever doctor did it genuinely thought he was doing a good thing, preventing steve from spreading around his shitty genes.
it's a strange thing, accepting the loss of something you never expected to have anyway. kids were never going to be in his future, but the idea that he just... can't. even if he wanted to, it's physically impossible. that's something he's still reeling from, still trying to parse.
he's sitting in central park, staring at his hands, when he hears footsteps coming his way. when he looks up and sees natasha, his expression jumps between a frown and a tight smile, and he scoots over on the bench. she's welcome to join him, if she likes. )