Chapter 21
“Why isn’t Selvig wearing any pants?”
Betty, who had been busy collating data for the trio of Selvig, Banner and Darcy, shrugged over the laptop she had set up, evidently past the point of being concerned by the quixotic behavior of her former colleague. “He says it helps him think.”
Peggy stared blankly at the man’s long, thin, paste white legs and felt only a deep well of pity for him. “What did Loki do to him?”
“I suppose this is why Barton is still on leave,” Betty observed. “What Loki did to them isn’t something you just shake off, I imagine.”
“No,” Peggy admitted, though she couldn’t say she understood.
“Speaking of, where are Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff and Tony Stark?”
“En route, they should be here within the hour.” Peggy had expected the sooner, but Stark was coming from the west coast of America and they had been delayed. “For now, it’s fine while the scientists work.”
“Don’t let Stark hear you say that,” Betty teased.
“Yeah, well, I am actually here to hopefully ask you for your expertise.”
The scientist looked intrigued. “On what?”
“The super soldier serum,” Peggy offered, quietly, so as not to attract the attention of the group working at the kitchen island, specifically Banner. “And just who is doing work on it?”
Betty arched a dark eyebrow, quizzically. “You found something?”
“Maybe,” Peggy hedged, jerking her head towards the back door and the garden beyond. “Come outside and chat.”
It was overcast and cool but relatively dry as they both moved outside. Betty took an appreciative look about her as they wandered to a bench that Peggy’s father had installed years ago, a place where he used to like to sit with her mother on summer evenings.
“It’s lovely out here,” she exclaimed, smiling. “Like a real yard, not just some patch of grass and some trees.”
“Thank you, it was the pride and joy of many a Carter bride for over a century. My mother was particularly fond of it. She spent a lot of her time out here when the weather was up for it. I did not inherit her green thumb, however, and since everyone lives in America now, they hire someone to keep it up.”
“That’s a lot of work to keep up a house no one lives in. Why don’t they sell it?”
Peggy shrugged. “It’s been in our family since the 18th century. I suppose they don’t want to give that up. But I believe that sooner or later it will likely be sold. The new generation are all Americans with very few ties to the old country. I don’t know, perhaps they can find something to do with it, donate it to someone, turn it into something useful.”
They settled on the iron of the bench, chilly even under layers of clothes as Peggy cut to the point. “I spoke to the head of MST Pharmaceutical about the serum. He admitted that they were interested in Erskine's formula and had asked around. He said that they received notes and a sample of blood from a test subject given the serum, but that it had broken down too much in the version they received. He claimed it was unstable and so they never ended up using it.”
For a moment, Betty’s expression turned inscrutable, like her father’s. Whether that was because she was thinking or because it had caught her out, Peggy couldn’t tell. For long moments, she was quiet before speaking. “Who gave it to them?”
“They CIA, so they claim, though we don’t know who the CIA got it from.”
“I have an idea,” she growled, softly, running a hand through her long, dark hair.
“Do you think your father was careless enough to hand out samples to everyone and hope something usable would turn up?”
Betty rolled her eyes. “My father has cronies in every corner of the military industrial complex. Name a department in the government and he’s gone golfing with someone in it. Honestly, if he was working with the CIA it would explain how he got away with funding the program Bruce and I were on and how it got away from Congressional oversight. Claim national security and hide it under layers of bureaucratic red tape and only the most tenacious senator would try to figure it out.”
That did make a certain level of sense. “Well then, my next question is where did he find that sample. I was told all of the blood they took from Steve was gone, used up seventy years ago. How did they find another sample?”
Betty shook her head, wonderingly. “It’s not Captain Rogers’ blood. It can’t be, there were no samples of it out there. I know, after Bruce’s incident I looked, hoping to find some and see if I could compare it to his.” She frowned, looking troubled. “That said, you know the reason they didn’t have any more samples of Rogers’ blood is because they used it all in making versions of the serum, right?”
“I had presumed as much, but Howard had said none of them were viable.”
“As far as he knew they never managed a viable version,” she returned, darkly. “Howard Stark may have been selling the Army weapons, but he wasn’t on the inside with them. The whole incident with Russian spy and his weapons vault made a lot of people at the Defense Department nervous.”
That Peggy remembered well enough. “So you're saying they did have a viable serum and lied to him and to SHIELD about it?”
Betty sighed, closing her eyes as she rubbed at the bridge of her nose fretfully. “It’s complicated, and I only know parts of it. I know that sometime after the war, they set up a program to test and create special weapons. It was supposed to be the continuation of the SSR’s research, things like Project: Rebirth. Captain Rogers was called Weapon I and was the first, successful creation of a super soldier. But, like you said, they used up all of his blood trying to isolate the serum. So they were left with only copies of Erskine and Howard Stark’s notes and the memories of the few other scientists who were in the room with them when they came up with it. They tried to piece together what they had and began trying to recreate what he did. The trouble was, Erskine deliberately didn’t keep exacting details of his notes, not after HYDRA, so everything they were doing was at best hypothetical guesswork. But they did what all scientists do when they are trying to figure out a new medication, they try a bit of this and a bit of that and run medical tests to see what works.”
A sick, horrified suspicion began to creep through Peggy as she thought through what Betty was telling her, of the things she had hinted at, and the fact that the CIA had given MST Pharmaceutical a human patient’s blood sample. “They experimented on living human beings.”
Betty nodded, her expression grim. “In fairness, Erskine hadn’t done a battery of simulations before trying his serum on Steve Rogers. He had no idea it would work with any certainty.”
“Yes, but he still ran non-human trials.”
“Well, I would like to think that some general in the army back then thought they could skip that step, but I fear it was much, much worse.” Her full mouth pursed into a hard line as she swallowed. “The Army decided to test these serums on an African American unit of soldiers. They were told they were getting a tetanus shot, standard protocol. They were then each broken into groups and given a different version of the serum that the Army had created based off Captain Roger's blood samples and then run through a modified Vita-Ray projector and told it was being used for germ sterilization. After their injection, they were each carefully monitored to see the effects. Of the original unit, half died within weeks. Of the other half, they lasted a few months. Many soldiers that lasted that long were actually deployed in the Korean War. But the serum caused biochemical issues: rapid and uncontrollable cellular mitosis, loss of mental acuity, emotional instability, mood swings, anger control issues….many of the things you see with Bruce, actually. With these patients, though, they had no stabilizing agent, the way Bruce does. I am guessing it was the poor quality of the serum they received and the Vita-Rays, it caused deformations and the body, especially the brain, wasn't able to keep up.”
She trailed off, then, glancing to the house where Banner was working beside Erik, Darcy, and Ian. For now, he was stable and calm, the brilliant scientist she loved. It took so little to change that.
“Of the men who received the serum in that unit," she continued, sadly. "Only one of them was successful. He was the only one to survive. The rest died, even the ones sent into action.”
Silence fell between them for a long time. For Peggy, the story...the truth of it was too horrible for words. The idea that Erskine’s work, the project that he had hoped would save the world, would be turned and twisted like that. After Johann Schmidt and all the horror that was born out of that, Erskine had been so careful about how his serum was made and who got it. To know that innocent, unknowing men had been given some poor substitute, condemned to die horribly while their own officers watched, left Peggy feeling cold and sick, rage turning her knuckles white.
“What happened to him,” she finally asked, softly, her voice surprised even, for all of the ire that raged within her.
“The one success?”
“He had a name, didn’t he,” Peggy bit out, more angry than she had intended.
“He did, I am sure, but I don’t know it, no one does. He was only ever referred to as ‘Weapon II’ in the record. They deployed him for a couple of missions in Korea, top secret. I never did get access to them. All I know was that afterwards he was arrested and held in prison for the rest of his life. He died sometime in the early 80s. The death certificate said he died of acute encephalitis, which was the catch-all term they used on most of the rest of the men that had died. They did no autopsies, so I don’t know with any certainty what the problem really was. The program was supposedly scraped after that, especially because the military was afraid that if it got out, there would be an outcry. After the Tuskegee Experiments got leaked in the 1970s, the classified all the information on the program so no one could find out. It was like they never even existed. I only found out because I used my father’s name and connections to blackmail people into giving it to me. That was after everything with Bruce.”
Some of Peggy’s raw rage faded, slightly, in the face of Betty’s sadness and frustration. “The samples your father was using for your work…”
“All came from this Weapon II,” Betty confirmed, nodding towards the window where they could see Bruce inside. “Reading the symptoms for the other subjects, the deformities they developed, the brain chemical imbalances, the uncontrollable rage, it all fits. Whatever the Army developed and gave those men is what we used on Bruce. If MST Pharmaceutical had an old sample from a human test subject, my guess is that it came from Weapon II as well. Whatever the case, it’s a good thing they didn’t use it, because it’s not stable. I don’t know how it worked or why it worked in that man, or why his symptoms didn’t appear till much later, but for whatever reason they did. He is dead now, and I suppose we will never know.”
A new sense of sadness mixed with the outrage Peggy already felt. So many lives ruined, all to try and recreate Steve Rogers, a man whose most special characteristics weren’t even given to him by Erskine’s serum. How did none of them see that?
“I am so sorry,” Peggy finally choked out, reaching her hand out for Betty’s slumped shoulder. “I am so sorry for how they lied to you and how your father treated you both.”
An unexpected tear streaked down Betty’s face, her expression crumpling for a second, before she gulped a deep breath and steadied herself. “I...thank you. You know, I have spent so long being angry with him for all of it, for what he did, for the lies he told, but you know, my father was just one of a long line of people who did it. I tried finding out more about those men, but I was lucky to get the information I did. No one wanted to talk about it. Somewhere out there they had families; wives, kids, parents, siblings, friends, none of them ever learned the truth. I think that is what makes me the angriest in all of this, all of the lies told because they were too ashamed to admit how wrong they were. At least with Bruce...with him, I know he’s alive. And so far, this time, he hasn’t run away again.”
Peggy nodded, slowly, watching Banner through the window. “You know...you do know the truth about what they did. You could tell someone, start an investigation.”
Betty hummed, sniffing softly. “I thought about it, especially when I first found out. I might, still, I don’t know. At the time, it took me so long to even get it, and I had to swear on my soul to keep it quiet just to get access. I suppose I was afraid that if I did, the doors would be shut to me, and any hope of getting anything to help Bruce at all would be lost.”
That unfortunately made sense, even if Peggy didn’t agree with it. “I understand why you’ve kept it secret, but those men...their families...they deserve to have their truth be told.”
“I know,” she replied, her voice cracked and watery. “And you’re right.”
“Maybe,” Peggy hedged, carefully, "once we handle this business here we can discuss it with Stark. He has contacts with the government. He may know the right people to address this to.”
Betty snorted, eyeing Peggy dubiously. “Tony Stark, the man who got rich off of doing this sort of thing, would agree to doing this?”
“He would if he knew the truth of what the government did. Besides, his father worked on this serum first, and as complicated of a relationship as Tony had with Howard, he does value his father’s legacy. I think he will be less than pleased to hear how it got used behind the scenes.”
Betty didn’t look as certain of that. “You clearly know him better than I do. I’ll trust you on that.”
Peggy would take that answer as her agreement. “Let me talk with him, then, see what he says.”
As if by divine miracle, the air overhead thrummed, the noise the Peggy now associated with modern jet planes. Both she and Betty turned up, looking towards the sky as in the distance overhead the distinctive blue lights of a quinjet could be seen heading their way. On instinct, Peggy’s heart gave a bit of a leap, a grin spreading across her face despite herself.
“Looks like the rest of the gang has finally arrived,” Betty said, smoothing her hands over her knees and standing. “I wonder how Stark is doing. Bruce has said…”
She trailed off with a worried expression, as if fearful she had spoken too much. Peggy had a feeling she already suspected what Betty was getting at.
“Bruce has said what?”
She shrugged, wringing her hands, slightly. “Bruce is just concerned is all. He mentioned Tony was keyed up, hyper focused on projects, a lot of avoidance, a lot of not sleeping.”
All of the things that Peggy had picked up on as well. “Anything Bruce could put his finger on.”
“He’s not a psychiatrist, not even close to a therapist, but with his own anger issues he’s hyper aware of everyone else’s emotional states. He’s worried is all. I mean, after what Stark has been through...what most everyone has on this team, I suppose...just...well, let’s be honest, Tony Stark hasn’t precisely been known for handling emotional stress in the most healthy of fashions.”
“No,” Peggy agreed, softly, standing herself from the bench, slightly stiff with cold. “Thanks for letting me know. Maybe I will bring that up to him, too.”
“Maybe it will be easier coming from you,” Betty offered, hopefully. “You two already have a relationship. He looks to you as family, I suppose.”
“I don’t know if it’s easier or worse coming from someone you see as family,” Peggy replied, making her way to the house as the quinjet came overhead, briefly, before moving to land beside the one that Betty and Bruce had arrived on. “Honestly, it’s sometimes worse when you realize someone you love sees you being weak.”
Betty’s soft, exhausted sigh spoke to the fathomless depths of her understanding on that subject.