Currently on the docks on a local bay in Florida and hiding behind a barrel of fish fillets, Steve’s keen green eyes scanned the immediate area. He was already covered behind him, as he was practically up against an old brick wall of a souvenir shop so he had no risk of being taken by surprise from behind. Still, Steve’s strategy was to be quick. If he was ever to make it on time to Cuba, then he had to act now. Wearing nothing but a simple white-T and light brown khakis, a ball cap for the Florida Dolphins and a pair of cheap sunglasses, those who knew Captain America would have to look twice before recognizing him, which in this situation could only help.

“Okay…1…2…3…” Steve jumped out from his place of hiding, a rather large and torn backpack strapped to his shoulders with his glorified Captain America shield strapped on underneath that to keep the famous logo hidden. With cat-like tread he quickly moved across the docks, moving past the charter boats that were either busy loading or unloading those who had paid a ridiculous amount to go catch some fish at the bottom of the ocean. Finally, he reached his destination of a smaller boat near the end of the dock that he had been watching for hours and found no one to be on board. Jumping aboard the boat, he quickly untied the rope keeping the boat secured to the docks and with a mighty push of his leg on the dock, cast the boat out to the open sea.

For the first time in days, Steve felt like he could finally breathe. Sliding both his shield and backpack off of his back, he headed below deck where he planned on taking a look at the map he had packed and then to steer the boat, but once he got downstairs, he found two men sleeping in their respected beds below deck, making Steve stop dead in his tracks. What could he do? He had never attacked a potentially innocent sleeping man before…

Steve didn’t have to make the call though, as the familiar sound of a helicopter sounded overhead, and then after a few seconds, the boat started to shake from an unnatural wave of water. The two men were startled awake, finding Steve down below staring at them just as confused as they were. The first man gathered his senses quickly and reached under his pillow where he kept his pistol and aimed it at Steve.

“No no no, wait!” Steve called out but the man’s finger twitched and the bullet whizzed through the air, only to be stopped immediately by Steve’s shield that he held out in front of him, the patriotic colors and lone star sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Yo cool it man! It’s Cap’n America!” The other said as soon as he saw the shield, but the first man looked unappeased.

“Yeah, and he’s trying to steal our boat.” He grumbled and shot again, letting the sound of ricochet metal clang through the small lower deck.
Steve popped his head over his shield to look at the two, his mind racing for something he could say to the two to keep them from trying to kill him, but the boat once again rocked and rolled, sending Steve flying to the floor until his back hit the wall, with the two other sailors on top of him. With quick thinking, Steve pulled the two men off of him and raced back up on deck and looked up at the helicopter having to shield his eyes from the harsh rays of the sun. 

“Steve Rogers, please surrender the boat or we will have no choice but to blow it up.” A booming voice came from the helicopter. That made Steve raise his eyebrow. How did that even make any sense? Before he had time to answer though, the helicopter dropped something that looked like a small backpack into the water next to the boat, and then the water began to rise and shake once again.

“They really aren’t fooling around…” Steve said as he ran back down below deck, pushing past the two confused looking men to take a look at the controls. He flipped a few switches, pressed a few buttons and the small ship rocketed forward, cutting through the sloshing waves like butter. Steve clasped his hands tightly on the wheel and looked back to the other two men.

“You two want to live to see tomorrow?” He asked them.

“Yeah…” They both said in unison.

“Then shoot that helicopter down.” Steve replied with a voice that came off as both demanding and full of experience.

“They are dropping bombs down on us, if you aim just right, the next time they drop it shoot right away, it should dislocate their main engine but give them enough time to strap on parachutes. Then I want you gentlemen to jump overboard. I will have called the coast guard and they will come pick you up. Any questions?”

The two men stared at one another, unsure of what to make of this whole situation but one followed the other as the clambered up the stairs to reach the upper deck. Steve returned his attention to the waves in front of him and began a zig-zag like motion to keep the helicopter from hitting them. Not moments later, Steve heard gunshots…but not those from a semi-automatic pistol the man had tried to shoot him with earlier…no…this was a turret sound. Clenching his teeth in frustration, Steve yanked the wheel hard to the left and grabbed for an old mop in the corner, jamming the wheel so that it continued to bank left in a wide circle and ran above deck with his shield. Right away he spotted the two sailors on the deck, gunned down from the helicopter above, and another parcel was on it’s way down.

Steve ran and slid on the deck, picking up the man’s discarded pistol and took aim, shooting the bullet both as quickly and accurately as he could. The bomb erupted, having been exactly between the distance of the helicopter and the boat and both were quickly engulfed in a hot flame. Steve jumped back to his feet and put his shield in front of him, using it as a barrier as she ran through the fire and jumped overboard into the sea. Not seconds later, the helicopter itself crashed about half a mile away from the boat.

Steve didn’t stop though, that boat had fuel and fuel was flammable. He stayed underwater, strapping his shield back to his back so he was able to use both arms to power his way through the water and didn’t surface again until he needed a breath. By the time he had broken the surface, the boat and helicopter were both completely out of sight, only a small indication of smoke on the horizon indicating where he had once been. He turned his head in the other direction and found nothing but horizon as well.

“Looks like I’m swimming to Cuba…” Steve mumbled to himself and began a father fast-paced stroke headed towards the small land mass.

The second Steve was able to touch his feet down onto the solid surface of the earth, his knees buckled and the tide quickly swept him up onto the beach in a crumpled heap, gasping for breath. Looking up at the sun, he noted that at least six hours had gone by since he first tried to borrow that ship, and his entire body was screaming at him in pain from the long swim. Steve sprawled out on his back, finding it a bit awkward since the shield was acting more like a turtle shell now but he didn’t bother with it as his only thought right now was to let Tony know he was here. Searching through his soaking wet khaki pants pockets, Steve found what he was looking for in a small sealed plastic bag.

He sat up, opening up the bag and stared down the rather odd looking black device in his hand. There was only one button to push…and so he did.

“Uh…Tony? Hello? Iron Man? It’s Steve…I’m um…here…” Steve said into the blue-tooth headset, but the idea never struck him to actually put this strange object in his ear. As far as he knew…it worked like a radio.