Chapter 3
When Lee woke up the next morning, Steve was nowhere in sight. His bedclothes were folded neatly on his already-made bed, and the room was silent. Lee decided to follow suit, and he poked his head out the door, searching. He walked into the corridor, and decided to head to the lab to see if that was where everyone went. He knocked on the door, waiting. Erskine’s gray hair appeared in the tiny window, and he opened the door for Lee. Lee entered the hallway to the lab, Steve still nowhere in sight.
“So, change of plans, sort of,” Erskine rushed out as he led Lee to the main lab. The lab had changed overnight, the experiment tables missing and a huge tube-like chamber in its place. “Steve is doing his procedure in Brooklyn, where a separate chamber is waiting for him. We’re going to do his procedure first, and then we’re coming back here to do yours. Does that sound alright?”
“Shouldn’t I be there to watch?”
“Actually, you will be there. You’re coming to the lab with me. Steve already went with Agent Carter.”
Hoo boy, thought Lee, I’m sure she terrified him. He followed Erskine out the back door, where a dark vehicle was waiting for them.
०००
Brooklyn hadn’t changed in the few weeks Lee had been gone, but it was still a sight to watch as they drove through the streets to the other lab. People milled about, headed to their jobs, running errands, children playing in the alleys. The car didn’t stop until it pulled up to an inconspicuous-looking antiques shop. Lee got out of the car and followed Erskine inside, coughing a little at the dust inside. Knick-knacks and baubles were strewn about, and Lee was getting more confused by the second until Erskine and the guard that was behind him stopped at a back door.
“Wonderful weather this morning, isn’t it?” Said the shop owner settled at the counter.
“Yes, but I always carry an umbrella,” Erskine quipped, opening the door to the back room. Lee looked down at Erskine’s hands, and realized he didn’t have an umbrella. The back room led to a quaint little break room, and an old, rustic elevator with a keypad. They stopped at the elevator and the guard punched in a code in the keypad. The doors opened, and they stepped inside.
०००
The lab was in the basement, a similar setup to the base’s lab, the same cylindrical chamber settled in the dead center of the area, scientists and technicians milling about. Lee finally spotted Steve, at the bottom, speaking to Agent Carter, and felt a little relief.
Erskine made his way to them, and Lee followed.
“Good morning!” He shakes Steve’s hand and somebody takes a photograph. “Please, no photos right now. Are you ready?” Steve nods, determination set in his eyes. “Take off your shirt, your tie and your hat.”
Steve did just that, and handed them to Lee. Lee gave him an encouraging smile, and took a breath of his own to calm his nerves. Another man, dark haired and mustachioed, walked up to Lee.
“Howard Stark. You are?” Lee remembered to state his brother’s full name, he still hasn’t gotten used to using it as his own.
“Charles Leigh, but call me Lee.” Howard nodded, and smiled.
“So you’re the other test subject. Nice to finally meet you. Abraham here has been telling me a lot about you. And Steve, of course,” he continued. “If this goes right, you two will be marvels to the country, hell, to the world!” He turned to Steve and Agent Carter. “Shall we, Steve?”
Howard led Steve to the chamber--pod, Lee heard someone call it-- and helped him step up into it. The entire thing dwarfed Steve, who was already tiny. Erskine stepped up to the pod.
“Comfortable?” He asked.
Steve shrugged. “It’s a little big. You save me any of that schnapps?”
Erskine chuckled at him. “Not as much as I should have. Sorry. Next time.” He turns to Howard, who is manning the control panel. “Mr. Stark, how are your levels?”
“Levels at one hundred percent.”
“Good.” Howard continues, smirking.
“We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we’ll ever be.”
Erskine turns to Agent Carter and Lee. “Agent Carter? Lee? Don’t you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?”
“Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry.” Lee leads Agent Carter to the booth at the beginning of the room, where they had first entered. A group of officials, photographers, and Colonel Phillips were gathered in the wide booth, watching through the windows facing the pod.
“Good.” He takes out a microphone from his pocket and taps it. “Do you hear me? Is this on? Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro injections into the subjects major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays.”
A scientist brought up a syringe filled with a clear liquid, and injected it into Steve’s bicep. Steve winced, then relaxed. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Erskine smiled gently to Steve. “That was penicillin. Be ready, here we go.” He raised his voice and turned to the others. “Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three, two, one.”
The serum is injected into Steve, who makes a face, but seems otherwise fine.
“Now, Mr. Stark.” Howard lowers a lever at the control panel, and the pod moves upright and encloses Steve inside. Erskine knocks on the pod. “Steven, can you hear me?”
Steve’s voice calls out, a little unsteady. “It’s probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?” Lee rolls his eyes.
Erskine turns back to Howard. “We will proceed.”
Howard continues watching the dials on his panels. “That’s ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty. That’s forty percent.”
Another scientist speaks up. “Vital signs are normal.”
Howard continues. “That’s fifty percent. Sixty. Seventy.” A pained noise sounds from the pod, then breaks into full on screaming. Lee’s breath catches, and all he can do is stand and watch.
Erskine yells out in alarm. “Steven!” Peggy turns to the officials next to them, alarm in her voice.
“Shut it down.”
Erskine rushes to the pod. “Steven!” He starts banging on the pod, panic in his voice.
Agent Carter’s voice is more panicked now. “Shut it down!”
Erskine frantically turns to Howard, “kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!” Lee is frozen in shock, his brain can’t seem to process what’s going on, Steve’s in there, Steve’s in there--
“No! Don’t! I can do this!” Steve’s voice screams from the pod. Howard turns back to the panel.
“Eighty. Ninety. That’s one hundred percent.” The dials all move to the maximum level, before powering down, overloaded. Howard turns away from the panels and walks up to the pod. He grabs the door handle before turning to Erskine, expression unreadable.
Erskine gestures for him to continue. “Mr. Stark?” Howard opens the pod, Lee can’t seem to breathe, Agent Carter is silent and stoic next to him.
The door opens.
“Steven. Steven .” Steve opens his eyes, and everything is much lower than it was when he climbed into the pod at the beginning. Colonel Phillips let go of the breath he was holding, and wiped a hand at his face.
“The son of a bitch did it.” The group piled out of the booth, and gathered at the bottom of the pod, surrounding Steve and Erskine.
Steve stumbles out of the pod, supported by Howard and Erskine. “I did it.”
Erskine chuckled and patted his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. I think we did it.”
Howard is beaming, ecstatic. “We actually did it.”
Agent Carter turned to Steve, who was now much taller than her, and beefy. He was fucking huge , Lee noted. “How do you feel?”
“Taller.” He took a breath, chest rising, and didn’t feel the same at all. His breath was clear and his sinuses were clear and-- he smelt perfume? He can smell! He looked around, and his sight was sharp and clear. Lee whistled, and he turned bright red, which earned a wicked grin back from Lee.
“You look taller,” remarked Lee, and gave his bicep a squeeze. Steve squirmed out of his grasp.
Colonel Phillips turned to another official, standing next to him. “How do you like Brooklyn now, Senator?”
“I can think of some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous. Congratulations, Doctor.” He turns and shakes hands with Erskine. Erskine beams, and shakes his hand enthusiastically.
“Thank you, sir.” He turns to Lee. “Well, I think it’s better to go ahead and use the resources we have here for our second test. Are you ready, Lee?” Lee’s face pales as more than five faces turn to him.
“Uh…. right. Of course. Let’s do this.” Erskine leads him to the pod, and instructs Howard to begin preparation for the second experiment.
“Alright, take your tie off, belt, and your shoes. We’ll keep the shirt on for now.” He winked at Lee, privately, and Lee did so. He helped him climb into the chamber, which was warm from Steve’s body heat. The metal steamed at Lee’s touch cold, a sharp contrast to the actual padding that Steve had been laying on. He settled himself in, and a technician strapped him in, leaving the straps snug, but not too tight. He focused on his breathing, nervous. Erskine leaned back into the pod, and met eyes with Lee. “Remember, this is make or break. It all ends or begins here, for you. You’ve got this.” Lee nodded, and leaned back against the cushions attached to the pod. He closed his eyes, breath in, breath out.
Erskine’s voice sounded from outside the open pod. “I need everyone back into the booth. Steve, you too this time.” He turned to Lee. “A technician is now going to inject the penicillin.” Lee opened his eyes, and a technician lifted up his sleeve, and injected the liquid. Lee didn’t move, he felt frozen again, like it wasn’t even happening to him, he was detached. It was like he was floating outside the pod, watching from outside his body. Erskine was calm, and locked eyes with Lee, who was still frozen, numb. He nodded, and opened his mouth.
“The serum will now be injected into Test Subject Number Two, in three, two, one.” Another technician, the same as the one who injected Steve, stepped forward. Lee closed his eyes, again, and waited for the injection. The sting in his arm was quick, and he could feel the liquid going into his arm. It was ice-cold, and burned. The door was closed, the latch clicking in place. This is it.
A muffled voice began to speak. Erskine. “Once again, Mr. Stark.” A whirring noise made Lee’s eyes open, and he turned his head towards the sound. A light began pulsating inside the pod, and Lee’s breath began to pick up. He closed his eyes again, and tried to regulate his breathing. He counted to ten, slowly, focusing on each number. He focused hard, then opened his eyes again after hearing Howard’s voice.
“...Forty percent. Fifty. Sixty. Coming up to seventy.” The burning he first felt when the serum was injected began to spread through his body, settling into his arms, his legs, and got worse in his torso. It burned, white-hot, in his chest, and it felt like the peak of the fire was in his heart, his lungs, it was so hot, Lee couldn’t take it, he’s never felt this kind of pain, this isn’t how he wanted to die, it’s too much-- “Ninety…. Almost to one hundred.” He could hear a keening sound, it hurt his ears, as if he couldn’t hurt more, he realized it was his voice, he’s screaming, throat raw, burning… and it stopped.