Power
Amy looked at the map in her hands, kicking a pebble with the toe of her boot. She wore a pair of tan pants, a white button-down shirt, and a brown leather jacket. She had a satchel around her body as the other archeologist looked over her shoulder. "It should be this way," she told him, walking towards a temple. She thought it would be easy, but as soon as they landed, they knew that the Nazis were already there and searching. She walked towards the temple, turning to face her companion. "Stay here." She stepped into the temple, coming face to face with a native. "Excuse me...I'm with the Allied forces. We know you have the Tesseract. We can't let the Nazis get it," she said in fluent Norse.
"You're too late, madam...They're already here."
"They have come for it!" shouted another.
"They have before."
"Not like this," the man said.
"Let them come. They will never find it. Come with me, madam...We must hide you!" The town keeper grabbed her arm, shoving her inside a closet. "Stay here, Miss..." he whispered, running off. From her hiding spot, she could see anything. Something broke down the door, the stones killing the man that alerted the town keeper. She covered her mouth to hide her gasp and her screams in shock.
"What did I do?" she whispered to herself, taking a couple of steps back. She was met with an opening in the ground, falling, until her back hit the cold, hard ground.
Sitting up, she groaned as she took her surroundings. She found that she was in an old tomb with skeletal remains, protecting a glass case. Turning around, she could hear people coming, most importantly, people with a Geman accent. Seeing a mural of Yggdrasil, she gasped as she touched it. Finding a button, she pressed it, revealing a glowing blue cube.
"Hello, Frauline," came a sickening voice. Grabbing her gun, she aimed at the man.
"Who the fuck are you?" she growled.
The man grinned, giving her a deep bow. "Johann Schmidt. May I ask who you are?"
"Amelia Rogers for the U.S.," Amy greeted, backing up towards the wall.
"Well, Frauline, you are guarding something that we want."
"Well, you can't have it."
"It’s not for the eyes of ordinary men. None of you should have it," the town keeper protested.
"Exactly. Give the order to open fire."
"Jawohl," one of the officers said in German.
"Fool! You cannot control the power you hold. You will burn!" the town keeper yelled.
"I already have," the man smirked. Amy screamed as Schmidt shot and killed the town keeper. "Now, Frauline...Are you going to give me the Tesseract?"
"Over my dead body," she growled, backing up.
"With pleasure."
As he raised his arm, Amy panicked, turning to place her hand on the device, with Schmidt yelling at her to stop. The moment she touched the Tesseract, it was like she could see the whole universe in her head. Something exploded in her head, sending her flying back. She could feel the power coursing through her veins, as she struggled to get up. She could hear Schmidt's voice and his footsteps as he walked towards her, and took something. He was taking the Tesseract! He was gonna kill the whole village!
Her eyes opened. Unknown her to, when her eyes opened, they were a sparkling electric blue. Getting up, she staggered over to the opening of the temple, seeing that the Tesseract was missing. Staggering out, she saw people running and screaming. Seeing a small child about to be executed, she shouted out, running over to her. Waving her hand, she was surprised to see a blue type of energy that crackled like electricity coming from her hands, causing the man to fly away. Taking a couple of steps, she felt like she was jumping and landed ten feet away. As she continued to stagger through, she waved her hand, causing several more Nazi shoulders to fly away. Finding a gun, she picked it up, seeing it turn a bright blue. Aiming at a soldier, she shot it, ending his life. Finally, in the carnage of her wake, many soldiers were dead. She looked over to see Schmidt staring at her in disbelief. Aiming the gun, she shot a blue blast of energy, but it missed.
The last thing she saw before she collapsed was the surviving townspeople crowding around her.
Gasping awake, she heard a slight beep and a slight hum of machines next to her. "Easy," she heard a soft British tone.
Groaning, she turned to see her best friend next to her, dabbing her head. "Peggy? What happened? Where am I?"
"Back in the States. New York. We flew you home to get the best care. Philips wants to speak with you."
"What happened?" she repeated, groaning as her body protested in pain.
"We don't know. We're hoping you'll tell us."
"Dr. Rogers," came a new voice, a German one.
It brought back fears and seeing so many dead bodies, that she brought her hands up, sending a blue blast toward the voice.
Seeing the burning hole in the wall, she looked at her hands, seeing them crackle with electricity. "What just happened?" she asked.
The man smiled kindly at her. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. Dr. Abraham Erksine. Sorry for startling you, frauline."
"It's fine...Just don't call me that. What's happening to me?" she asked.
"What happened in Tonsburg?"
"I would like to know as well," Philips ordered, walking in. "Dr. Rogers."
Amy sucked in a breath. "I found the Tesseract. But the Nazis beat me to it."
"Hydra..." Peggy corrected. "Our sources tell us that they have a special division called Hydra. It's lead by Johann-"
"Schmidt...Yeah. He was there. I got to the church before he did. The town keeper hid me away. I accidentally discovered it actually. Before I could retrieve it, he was there. He killed the town keeper. He was gonna kill me too, but I grabbed for the Tesseract. It was like I could see all of space and time. And then I woke up."
"Here?"
"No...In Tonsburg. The Tesseract was gone, so I went after it. But I saw a small child about to be executed, and I just got angry. I tried to get Schmidt, but I collapsed and woke up here." She looked around the room. "So, what's happening to me?"
"The village took you in until we could get there. Your partner radioed and we came to get you. The villagers were calling you a Valkyrie."
"That doesn't explain what's happening to me."
"The Tesseract is a weapon with otherworldly powers. Our guess is that when you touched it, you inherited those powers...Somehow," Dr. Erksine explained.
"You think or you know."
"We're not exactly sure. But this can be to our advantage."
"How? They won! They got the Tesseract."
"We've been working on perfecting a formula to turn an ordinary man into a super soldier. With him and you...We have what we need," Dr. Erskine explained.
"So you want to use me and another person as secret weapons." Their silence gave her the answer. "Okay...Can I just...Can I just have a minute? I'm exhausted. I have a headache. And I've seen a lot of bad shit in the past 24 hours."
"Of course...Get some rest, Dr. Rogers," Erksine said, leaving the room.
"I'll bring you some clothes," Peggy told her.
Soon, they were gone, leaving her and Philips. "What you did...It was very brave. Good job," Philips told her.
"Thank you, sir," she said, a bit shocked.
Getting up after he left, she walked over to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. To her surprise, her hair turned white-blonde. After taking a shower, and dressing in comfortable clothes, she ventured out. "So, what's going to happen now?" she asked when she met up with Philips and Peggy.
"We begin your training. You and Agent Carter are close. so she'll be your trainer. We'll explore your new abilities."
"Okay," she nodded.
Training began the next day and a month after that. Her abilities, as Philips called them, were something of an adventure. She already knew that she could control the blue energy that manifested inside of her body. Her speed and strength increased where she could take on a whole army, and even flip over a car. She could outrace anybody. She also had to suffer through many blood tests and physical tests. What she could understand is that the energy that made up the Tesseract was now infused into her DNA. That energy could be transferred to different objects that she touched like guns. She could alter that energy to cause her to transport her body into another location, and almost become invisible. With her past history of gymnastics, her hand-to-hand combat was impressive. As her training increased, she became more powerful.
"Are you writing to James?" Peggy asked at dinner one evening.
"Yeah...I'm trying to tell him what's happened to me. But there's no way to say, 'Hey, baby...I went on a dangerous mission to find a weapon from outer space. I touched it and got new abilities, and my hair is white. By the way, I nearly died. Love you'."
"Sounds complicated," Peggy giggled.
"Ladies," came a smooth voice.
"Mr. Stark," Peggy groaned.
"I don't think we've been introduced. Howard Stark."
"Stark as in Stark Technologies?" Amy asked, surprised.
"The very same."
"Amelia Rogers. I went to your expo...the one with the flying cars?"
"What did you think?"
"I wasn't impressed. But my boyfriend was."
Stark looked very deflated at the mention that she had a boyfriend. "So, you're the little firecracker that everybody keeps talking about."
"That's me," Amy sighed. "So, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to fix your flying cars?"
"I'm actually here helping the army. Just like you."
"So, you're trying to turn an average man into a super soldier?"
"With my technology and Erkshine's formula, it will perfect everything."
"Interesting."
"What will be very interesting is that we'll have a brother-sister duo on our side both with powers."
Amy looked confused. "Excuse me?"
"Steven Grant Rogers...Isn't he your brother?"
Amy's heart quickened. Steve?! He was the chosen secret weapon?! "Howard...You weren't supposed to tell her," Peggy chided.
"Tell me what?! Peggy...Is Steve here?!"
Peggy sighed. "Yes."
"For how long?!"
"Since you left. He enlisted when you were out with your boyfriend?"
"But we were with Steve the whole time, until...Oh god...When we left to go dancing. But he's a 4F! He's always a 4F! Who enlisted him?!"
"Dr. Erkshine. He has a thing for the small guy."
Amy was out of her seat, and the next thing she knew, she was in Erksine's office in a ball of blue energy. "Did you know who Steve was to me?! Did you know that he's my brother?!"
"I knew he had a sister...He told me. I didn't know it was you until you became my patient," Dr. Erksine said calmly.
"You're gonna get him killed! He's not fit for duty!"
"Not yet...Please...Have a seat," Erksine said, indicating to the chair across his desk. Amy sat down, still feeling angry. "My formula will make him stronger, healthier..."
"Why him?" Amy asked in a small voice.
"I saw something in him. Determination, passion. He wants to join all for the right reasons."
"Steve...He's the best person I know. Did you know that he's the older one? But I've always been one to protect him. He's my best friend..."
"I assure you that I will do everything in my power to help him."
"Can I see him? I haven't even told him all about me, yet. I planned on it next dinner. But now I know why he's been calling it off."
"Of course...I think it would do him some good before he goes through this change."
Erksine led Amy to where Steve's small room was. "Private Rogers? You have a visitor."
The moment Steve laid eyes on Amy, he looked relieved and happy. "Amy?!" Amy walked over and punched him. "Ow!"
"That's for not telling me you enlisted, you stupid asshole!"
Steve rubbed his arm, face red in embarrassment. "Sorry...Amy, not to be rude, but why are you here? And did you bleach your hair?"
"I have a lot to tell you..." Amy sighed, sitting on his bed. Amy began to tell him about the Tesseract, her mission, going to Norway, and everything that happened. "So, now I have these abilities...I'm stronger, faster, can manipulate this blue energy, turn myself invisible, teleport short ways...Dr. Erksine's been studying my blood and my cells. He says that they're still changing. Plus, my hair is this new color."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Steve asked.
"Because I can barely get my head around everything. I don't even know how to tell Bucky. I didn't ask for this Steve. But the things I saw...The things they did to that poor village...It's heartbreaking."
"I know...Which is why I kept trying to join the war. And now you're here."
"Do you know what they want to do to you? They want to make you into a weapon, Steve."
"I know."
"Steve...What happened to me, I had no control over it. But you...You do. Do you really want to do this?"
Steve nodded. "I do, Ames...I want to fight. I want to make things right. I want your support."
Amy nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay...You have it because you're my big brother and I love you. I have a feeling that they're going to push us together. The infamous Rogers."
Steve gave his sister a hug, which Amy returned. "I already warned them that if they kill you, I'll murder them all. But if you die on my Steve...Then I'll bring you back someone and murder you."
"Got it," he chuckled.