Work Text:
Flowers of his lungs (and his love)
Steven G. Rogers lies in bed after another long, horrible day of basic training at camp Lehigh.
The only happy part of his day was the ride back with Agent Carter. God, he was falling for her. Of course, she could never love him, skinny as a rail, barely able to keep up with everyone else, but he knows he feels...something.
Oh my God...
He feels his lungs tighten. He thinks he's having an asthma attack, but then he starts coughing and hacking. He sits up in bed, trying to breathe, and coughs into his hands. Blood and something silky and smooth to the touch lands in his hands.
Rose petals? What the hell...
there's a knock at the door. Agent Carter is standing on the other side, waiting to tell him the good news. After he jumped onto that dummy grenade, he was chosen to be the test subject for project rebirth.
He gets up and gets to the door. He's still coughing and hacking like his lungs are filling with dirt. And he's still coughing up flowers, this time daisies.
"Steve? Are you alright? I can get a doctor." She says, sounding concerned. He throws the flowers into a trash bin and wipes his hands on his pants. He swallow, and then says, his voice strangely scratchy, "Come in,"
He hears the door open and he blushes from his cheeks to his ears, in seconds, his whole face is a brilliant shade of red that rivals Peggy's lipstick. "Steven, I came to tell you good news, but it can wait. Are you alright?" He tries to nod but instead coughs up more flowers, this time tulips coated in blood. She screams for someone to get help.
A doctor named Henry comes in, followed by Howard Stark and Colonial Phillips. Henry sighs. "This is a rare condition called hanahaki disease. It's happens when a person is so in love with another person, but that love is one-sided, so they have flowers growing in their lungs. The flowers will stop growing either when the one he loves loves him back or when he chokes to death on the flowers. There is a procedure you can undergo that will make the flowers go away, but its illegal in this part of the world. And we're at war with the country its legal in. The problem with it is you can never love anyone again."
"Well, who is he in love with?" Peggy asks. Howard and Colonial Phillips exchange a look, then leave the room with Henry and lock the door from the outside. "What the bloody hell are you doing? Let me out!" Peggy shouts. "Confess, Stevie! Before its too late!"
Peggy turns around, back to the door, facing Steve. "Confess what, Steve? What aren't you telling me?"
"I-I'M..." he coughs again. "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, PEGGY CARTER!" He shouts.
Peggy blushes now, her hands going to her mouth. "I-I...I feel the same...I have good news for you, actually." She takes a deep breath. "You were chosen by doctor Erkskine. You were chosen for project: rebirth." She steps forward, taking his face in her hands and kissing him gently on the lips. He starts to return the kiss, his lungs returning to a relatively normal state.
She pulls away. "Is the hanahaki disease cured, darling?"
"Yeah...it is."