Chapter 2
"General Patton has said, wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best... men. And because they are going to get better... much better. The Strategic Science Reserve is an allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history but every army begins with one man. At the end of this week, we will choose that man. He will be the first of a new breed of super soldiers. And they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of hell." Colonel Chester Phillips told the men lined up in front of him. I listened to his speech off to the side with Dr. Erskine and Agent Peggy Carter. The doctor had requested that Peggy train me personally for however long we would know each other. And several days passed until the time Steve's brain would prove that he was better than the other soldiers.
"Pick up the pace, ladies! Let's go! Let's go! Double time! Faster! Faster! Moove! Squad, HALT! That flag means your at the halfway point! First man to hand it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter!" The drill sergeant informed the men. I snorted and hopped out of the car to help Steve out. Meanwhile, all the other "perspective" soldier candidates tried to climb to reach the flag.
"Hands up, Stevie." I said gently pushing his hands up and behind his head.
"Uh? Oh." He said as he was finally able to get a nice breath of air.
"No body's got that flag in seventeen years! Now fall back into line! Fall in!" Steve glanced at the soldiers as he moved to stand by the flagpole and the drill sergeant yelled, "Rogers! I said Fall in!"
Steve looked up the pole and at the bottom of the pole, because he looked down he found the two pins that kept the flagpole up. He pulled them out letting the pole fall over so he could grab the flag and handed it to his sergeant and climbed into the truck next to me. I grinned at him and Steve just flopped his arm around my shoulders, his hand flimsily patting my arm.
"Faster, Ladies. Come on. My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul. Move it." Peggy sneered at the soldiers. I was practicing the hand to hand combat I had learned so far with Sergeant Michael Duffy. The man was very intelligent and wasn't as biased as I had expected him to be.
"Eyes off of Rogers, Avaline." He snapped at me. I flushed scarlet. The man smirked kindly at me. I had confided in him the major crush I had on Steve, and Bucky, and that I was hoping to help Dr. Erskine with his serum. Michael in turn had confided that he was fearful of combat even though he had already served one tour. I looked up and saw Dr. Erskine and Col. Phillips were approaching us, arguing.
"You're not REALLY thinking about picking Rogers, are you?" The Colonel objected, looking over the men.
"I wasn't just THINKING about it. He is a clear choice." Dr. Erskine said with resolve.
"When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought "What the hell, maybe he'd be useful to you like a gerbil." Never thought you'd pick him." Chester Phillips said annoyed.
"UP!" Peggy snapped at the soldiers doing push-ups. The men switched to jumping jacks.
"You put a needle in that kid's arm it's gonna go right through him." Col. Phillips said in a slightly joking manner.
"Come on, girls!" Peggy called to the soldiers doing jumping jacks.
"Look at that. He's makin' me cry." Col. Phillips said mournfully, watching Steve's best effort but belabored execution.
"I am looking for qualities beyond the physical." Dr. Erskine said sagely.
"Do you know how long it took to set up this project? Of all the groveling I had to do in front of Senator What's-his-name's committee?" Col. Phillips griped angrily.
"Yes, I'm well aware of your efforts." Dr. Erskine said.
"Then throw me a bone. Hodge passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's fast, he obeys orders - he's a soldier." Col. Phillips bragged.
"He's a bully." Erskine said, pulling a mildly annoyed face.
"You don't win wars with niceness, doctor. You win wars with guts." Phillips retorted. The Colonel picks up a grenade, pulls the pin of a grenade and throws it among the recruits.
"GRENADE!" Col. Phillips yelled. All of the soldiers scattered and take cover behind anything that could offer some kind of protection. All except Steve, Peggy, and I. Steve was the first to reach the potentially live grenade. I reached it just as Steve lashed out crying out, "Get Away!"
I curled around the grenade giving even more protection to those around us. Steve curled back around me before lashing out again.
"Get Back!" He cried. We stayed curled around it for a few more seconds before the call, "Dummy Grenade!", let us relax our ball. Slowly we sat up. Steve looked at Peggy and asked, "Is this a test?"
Hodge and the other soldiers began to creep back into formation. If Hodge thought he was cool for picking on Steve, he realized now that Steve could have just saved his life at the cost of his own. Colonel Phillips reaction was the best though, he looked disgruntled before saying, "He's still skinny."
I looked over at Dr. Erskine, who was smiling at Steve and I. That is when I made up my mind about him. Dr. Erskine's work had to be preserved and kept away from those who would use it for their own gain.
"Dr. Erskine! It's good to see you again!" I called after I had regained my footing and had pulled Steve up beside me.
"If it isn't the little spitfire warrior!" Erskine commented jokingly. I grinned at him and followed after him while Steve went back to training.
"Dr. Erskine?" I asked.
"Yes, Miss Emerson? How may I help you?" He asked.
"May I help you with the serum?" I asked. Erskine paused, I had probably taken him by complete surprise.
"I don't know much about biomechanics or things like that but I was hoping that I could protect your formulas?" I asked explain my question a little bit. Erskine looked at me, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Come with me." He said. I trailed along behind him until we reached one of the many temporary tents on base. He motioned for me to enter, I complied and he entered after me.
"Could you explain exactly what your idea is Miss Emerson?" Erskine asked.
"Of course! I'm going to let you in on a secret Doctor. I'm not from here. I'm not even from this time period. Where I'm from, we have already fought and won this war; however, for morale purposes several comic artists and story makers created a man who became a super human with the help of one doctor Abraham Erskine. I know that you are being targeted by HYDRA. If something was to happen to you, Steve would become nothing more than a lab rat. I don't want that for him. My hope is to keep a small amount of the serum in a necklace and either memorize the formula or copy it down in my own code." I responded explaining everything I could to the best of my ability.
"Did something happen to me?" The doctor asked.
"I can't tell you. Not even Steve knows everything." I said. Erskine looked closely at me and asked, "Does it work?"
"Yes, it brings Steve into his body's best potential. The only side effect is that others want to replicate it and those go wrong." I answered.
"Did they have my notes?" He asked.
"I'm not sure but I know that they had some of Steve's blood. I don't want them to even have the chance of getting your notes." I told him. Erskine looked at me thoughtfully before nodding.
"You bring up good points and I would be comfortable with you having my notes and the serum." Erskine admitted. I grinned, quite proud of myself for having his trust. We spent the rest of the day talking through my plan and the memorization of part of the formula.