Chapter 4
He couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see. The door opened, the colder air of the outside steaming on his overheated skin, felt freezing compared to the heat he had just felt. His eyes opened, and he squinted. Everything's clearer, more defined. Focused. He blinked and rubbed a hand against his face. He felt feverish, everything around him was cold and his body was too hot, overheated. He was taller, too, everything smaller than he remembered. He looked lower, and Erskine and Howard were standing at the foot of the pod, concern on their face.
“How do you feel?” Erskine asked, unstrapping the straps and helping him out.
“Well,” Lee said, voice hoarse, but strangely deeper, “I get why Steve feels taller.”
Cheers broke out as the group of officials and Steve crowded back to the bottom area. Lee ignored the small crowd and instead focused on his own body. He felt leaner, less soft. He mentally braced himself, and looked down. Where he expected breasts, he found flat chest. He looked at his hands, his arms. They were bigger, more muscled, but not as much as Steve. He flexed carefully, noticing the way his muscles moved. It all felt so … different. But the same, it's still him. It's still Lee.
Lee was too busy focusing on his own body that he didn't notice the body standing in front of him. He looked up, and Steve's new bulky body looked back. Steve looked into his eyes, searching for any signs of anything wrong, and was met with absolute joy in Lee's face. Lee broke into a huge smile, and Steve wrapped him into a brief, but extremely warm, embrace.
“We did it Steve,” he whispered into his shoulder. “We fucking did it.”
“I know,” he whispered back, “our beginning starts today.” Steve couldn't see Lee's cheeks heat up at 'our beginning.’ And it really was , he thought. It's our beginning.
°°°
A few more tests between Steve and Lee and the entire official procedure was almost done. Erskine took one more blood sample from Steve, and decided to call it a night. Lee helped him pack up the samples carefully into suitcases that were padded heavily with foam. Steve grabbed two suitcases, tucked one under his arm, and then was reaching for the third when he noticed a weird beeping sound. He couldn't quite place it. He turned to Lee, who looked confused, as if he heard it too, and opened his mouth to say something, before the entire room exploded.
Lee's ears rang, and he felt something hot pouring out of them, possibly blood. He couldn't see. from the smoke, and he was laying flat on his back, against some debris, possibly the wall. He sat up slowly, and looked around. Steve was already standing, staggering to Erskine, who was near Lee. Lee looks around, and spots another man grabbing the suitcases.
“Steve, wait!” Lee points to the man, who points his pistol at Erskine, shoots, and takes off running. Steve swivels and begins chasing after the man with the suitcases. Agent Carter, coming out of seemingly nowhere in the smoke, takes off running after him as well, jumping over rubble and flying through the debris.
Lee crawls over to Erskine, who points at his chest, and tries to draw a breath. He pulls in one shuddering breath, and goes limp. Lee checks his pulse, to no avail. He's gone. Lee looks back at the rubble, and begins searching for survivors, anyone who could be under the shattered bricks and concrete. He finds two scientists, and eventually Howard, who was stuck under the pod's mass of destroyed metal.
“Where's Abraham?” He asks, still disoriented. Lee shakes his head, and turns to Erskine's limp body a distance away. Howard shakes his head and puts his head in his hands.
°°°
After Steve returns empty-handed, Lee and Steve are bustled into a waiting taxi, and are driven back to the base. The drive is silent, and Lee can't stop looking at his hands. He sees Erskine's face, watches the life leave his eyes, over and over again. He didn't feel tired, didn't feel anything. He just felt warm. He glanced over at Steve, whose face was blank, deep in thought. He had the urge to grab his hand, to give him a hug, to do something, anything to help them both. He hadn't had a chance to really study what changed in Steve, let alone truly see himself, so he just watched. Sure, he muscled up, but something else was different. His jawline wasn't so thin, it wasn't malnourished the way it used to be. His neck matched his head, finally, his body in better proportion than when he was so skinny. Steve looked up, locked eyes with Lee. He gave him a small smile, reassuring, I'm okay, it's okay.
°°°
Back at the lab, scientists took samples, again, from Steve and Lee, and Lee's arm was finally starting to feel the effects of all that blood being removed from his system. Steve must have been feeling the same way, because he remarked, “Think you got enough?”
Agent Carter, standing nearby, answered. “Any hope of reproducing a program is locked in your genetic code. But without Dr. Erskine, it could take years.”
Steve looked distraught. “He deserved more than this.”
Agent Carter smiled, gentle. “If it could only work once, er, well, twice, he’d be proud it was you two.”
Colonel Phillips entered the lab, holding a dossier. He handed it to Agent Carter, who opens the folder and begins to read.
“Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being retasked.” Agent Carter stopped reading, and looked up at Phillips, concerned.
“Colonel?”
“We are taking the fight to HYDRA. Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too, Stark. You’re flying to London tonight.”
Steve spoke up. “Sir, if you’re going after Schmidt, I want in.” Lee voiced his agreement.
Phillips shook his head. “You’re an experiment. You’re going to Alamogordo.”
Lee spoke up this time. “The serum worked!”
Phillips shook his head again, frustrated. “ I asked for an army and all I got was you. You two, are not enough.” With that, he turned on his heel, and left.
°°°
Italy, November 1943, 5 miles from the front.
Lee watches as the crowd of soldiers heckled Steve and made fun of him. He stayed silent until one of them decided to turn around and pull his pants down, but a hand on his arm made him stop. Agent Carter stood next to Lee, who had begun to sport a mustache from the months on tour with the musical number.
“Nice to finally see you again, Mr. Leigh.”
“You as well, Agent. Are you here to watch Steve be booed off stage?”
Agent Carter chuckled, shaking her head. “Call me Peggy. And no, quite the opposite. I've heard he puts up quite a show.” Lee turned red in the cheeks, but Agent- er, Peggy, didn't seem to notice. Steve finally walked off stage, and Lee left the crowd with Peggy in tow behind him. “So what have you been doing while Steve takes the spotlight?” She asked, trailing behind Lee as he headed towards backstage.
“Well, I'm sort of his guard, in official terms. Unofficially, though, I keep him from getting into trouble. Idiot always has to start something.” They walk into a tented area behind the stage, where showgirls decked in red, white, and blue are getting ready for their dance. Lee turns a corner, and finds Steve pacing angrily just outside the tent area.
Peggy opens her mouth. “Hello, Steve.”
Steve turns and looks up at Peggy, pacing forgotten. “Hi.” Wow, Shakespeare, thought Lee, and he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
“Hi."
“What are you doin’ here?” Lee took that pause to leave, giving them privacy. He knew Steve was going to tell him what she said anyways, as all he every talked about was Peggy this, Peggy that, when they have free time. He didn't mind, but it got repetitive after a while.
Steve’s voice got louder in shock, and Lee heard the change in tone immediately. “The-oh-seventh?” Lee walked back to where they were standing, concerned.
Peggy looked at him quizzically. “What?”
Steve turned and started running in the direction of another tent. “ Come on!” They get to the tent, where Phillips and his crew are writing paperwork. “Colonel Phillips.”
Phillips looks up from his paperwork, then continues signing forms. “Well, if it isn’t the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. And what is your plan today?”
“I need the casualty list from Azzano.”
Phillips scoffed. “ You don’t get to give me orders, son.”
“I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the hundred and seventh.”
Phillips points an accusing finger at Peggy. “You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy.”
Steve’s voice turned pleading. “Please tell me if he’s alive, sir.”
Lee interjected. “That's B-A-R-N-”
Phillips glared at Lee. “I can spell.” He turned back to his paperwork. “I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I’m sorry.”
Lee spoke up. “What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?”
Phillips scoffed again. “Yeah! It’s called winning the war.”
Steve frowned. “But if you know where they are, why not at least…?”
“They’re thirty miles behind the lines. Through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We’d lose more men than we’d save. But I don’t expect you to understand that, because you’re a chorus girl.”
Steve’s jawline hardened, and his mouth pulled into a straight line. “ I think I understand just fine.”
Phillips waved his hand, dismissing them. “ Well then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got some place to be in thirty minutes.” Phillips gets up from hs seat, and begins to walk away. Lee bumps Steve with an elbow, and motions to the map on the table next to Phillips's desk. Steve looks at the military map, memorizing it.
“Yes, sir. I do.” Steve begins to walk away, with Lee in tow.
Phillips's turns to Peggy, watching them go. “If you have something to say, right now is the perfect time to keep it to yourself.”
Peggy turns and follows Steve to his tent, where he starts to change. Lee is helping him pack some things, packing both their bags. “What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?”
Of fucking course he is. “If that’s what it takes,” he says, helping Lee pack their things.
“You heard the Colonel, your friend is most likely dead.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Even so, he’s devising a strategy. If he detects--”
Steve cuts her off. “By the time he’s done that, it could be too late!” He walks out, where a Jeep was waiting earlier. “You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?”
Peggy looked proud at him. “Every word.”
Steve jumps into the Jeep, Lee in tow. “Then you gotta let me go.”
Peggy turns to Lee, who is buckling his seatbelt. “And what about you? I expect this from him, but why aren't you stopping him? You're supposed to be watching out for him!”
Lee turned to Peggy, shoulders high, eyes defiant. “I am watching out for him. Where he goes, I go.”
Peggy nods, and begins to leave in another direction. She stops, and instead turns and hops on into the Jeep. “I know a way to help. Let's go.”
°°°
Howard piloted the plane as Peggy was huddled in with Steve and Lee, poring over a map. “The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It’s a factory of some kind.”
Howard’s voice calls from the cockpit. “We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.”
Steve nods. “Just get me as close as you can.” He glances at the two, then glances in the direction of the cockpit. “You know, you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble at the lab.”
Lee rolls his eyes. “And you won’t? Plus what's this 'me’ business? I'm coming too, Stevie!”
Steve ignored Lee’s quip. “Where I’m goin’, if anybody yells at me I can just shoot ‘em.”
Peggy smiled at him, fond. “They will undoubtedly shoot back.”
“Well, let’s hope it’s good for somethin’.” He picks up his shield, and Lee grabs his parachute pack.
Howard’s voice came from the cockpit again, arrogant and playful. “Agent Carter, if we’re not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late night fondue.” Lee nearly facepalmed, and Steve glared in the direction of the cockpit and began readying his own parachute pack.
Peggy looks almost sheepish, or embarrassed, Lee couldn't tell. “Stark is the best civilian pilot I’ve ever seen. He’s mad enough to brave this airspace, we’re lucky to have him.”
Steve turned to Peggy, a little red on his cheeks. “So are you two…? Do you…? Fondue?” This time, Lee really does facepalm, and Steve elbows him.
Peggy ignores Steve’s awkward and confused rambling, and hands Lee a device. “This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lead us straight to you.”
“Are you sure this thing works?” Lee asked, turning the tiny box in his hands.
Howard speaks up. “It’s been tested more than you, pal.” The plane shakes in turbulence as enemy lines attack. Steve moves towards the opened door of the plane to jump, and Lee gets into position.
Peggy tries to stop him. “Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in.”
Steve shakes his head. “ As soon as we're free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!”
Peggy looks furious. “You can’t give me orders!”
Steve grins. “The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!” He looks back and jumps, Lee following close behind.