My brother was an idiot. Really, he was.

James Barnes, also known as 'Bucky' by most, was my older brother by two years and probably one of my best friends aside from Steve Rogers, my brother's scrawny 90 pound best friend with a serious lack of self-preservation. Us Barnes' had known Steve and his mother for as long as I could remember and when she died, Bucky and I were there to hold him up and our mother graciously took him in. His father had passed away when he was four so he had nowhere else to go. Our father had died of cancer when Bucky and I were young too and it seemed like that was the start of a friendship that would never die. Despite Bucky's popularity with women and whatever else, he always made time for me, the stubborn quiet little nerd, and Steve, the shy asthmatic artist.

To most the differences between Steve and Bucky were as plain as day; Bucky being obviously stronger and more handsome than Steve and Steve never backing down from a fight he knew he could never win. I knew better though; growing up with the duo I knew that both of the most important men in my life had a loyalty that would rival any lion and were more stubborn than rocks.

Oh, I'm sorry; I completely forgot to tell you my name. It's Victoria Barnes, but my friends call me Vicky. I'm a bit of a nerd, according to my brother, Steve and past high school peers. And I won't deny it because it's true. Almost right after I graduated high school, when I was 19, the war against Germany was already going on for a year and it was then that I was approached by a Dr. Abraham Erskine. He somehow heard of my astounding grades in not only sciences, but in my extra vocational courses that included languages such as German and Latin.

He invited me to join a crew of his working for the government to help the army. I was a little surprised that a German would be fighting against his own country, but it didn't so much matter to me considering he was on our side. But as thrilled for the offer as I was I argued with Erskine that I had only finished high school a few months prior and hadn't even applied for any post-secondary education yet, therefore I would hardly be of any use to him. The good Doctor had simply smiled as if he had a secret and shook his head at me saying, "I believe you're intelligent enough as it is. I'm actually glad that you're head hasn't already been filled with the nonsense they teach in those Colleges."

If you could imagine, I was extremely confused, but I went with it. It was a once in a lifetime thing he was offering and the nerdy little girl inside of me just couldn't pass it up. Sure I'd be leaving my family and what few friends I had, but I was about to become part of something much bigger than that and selfishly that's what I wanted.

I took Erskine's offer with hardly a second thought and the next two days was spent saying goodbye to everyone I knew. When they asked why I was leaving and what exactly my job was going to be I had to bite my tongue from proclaiming that I would have a somewhat significant part in bringing down the Germans. Erskine had told me that this was top secret and that the littlest amount of information given was strictly necessary.

So, my reply became robotic; "Nothing special really, just helping out with some stuff for the army. I'm probably going to end up sewing uniforms together and writing down equations for artillery or something."

I thanked my lucky stars for being the weird one because no one questioned my explanation.

But when telling Bucky and Steve… Boy, that was the hardest thing ever. Bucky had immediately went into a fit, yelling at me telling me how stupid I was and that I had no idea what I was doing –he even had the gall to say that our mother, who had died of the flu a few months before, would not approve; I almost socked him one just for that. Steve stayed quiet, keeping his mouth shut as he let Bucky spout curses and have enough rage for the both of them. Even though Steve was one of my closest friends we had never actually talked much after he and my brother grew into teenagers, he always seemed to get so tongue tied when it came to girls and honestly it was just adorable. Whenever I tagged along with them he mostly stayed glued to Bucky's side as if he thought I had a communicable disease or something.

When we were younger, it was easy to talk to Steve because while Bucky was busy being dragged off by the other kids who thought Steve and I were nuts; no one wanted to pay attention to the awkward boy and strange girl so we spent a lot of time together talking and laughing, but as we got older Steve almost seemed to make a switch into being even more awkward and stuttered often. I thought it was cute. I had always thought Steve was cute despite his lack of height and physical appearance that most thought as unappealing because I saw Steve for what he truly was; a real swell guy.

But again as we got older and the boys started becoming interested in other girls… Well, needless to say my childhood crush developed a hankering jealousy as I watched Bucky attempt to match Steve up with all of his dates' friends. It was almost as if I became invisible to the two and eventually had to move on to find new friends even though I still regarded them as my best ones.

But anyways, back to the story.

Where was I? Oh yes.

Well, as I said before Bucky was pretty furious, but it was obvious he had no choice but to let me go and live my new dream. Of course this was before Hitler's Third Reich started becoming a serious problem and we figured the war would be over soon enough.

Boy, were we ever wrong.

Because along with Adolf Hitler there was another threat and his name was Johann Schmidt. He was the big cheese of an organization called Hydra. But more on that later.

It turned out that the project Erskine needed me for required certain training as a precaution. In just one year I was converted from a quiet nerdy young woman pulled fresh out of a high school from Brooklyn into a scientific researcher with the double status as an American Agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, or simply just the SSR. That one year changed my life as I became harder, more mature and self-assured with the help of Dr. Erskine and the rest of the SSR team including the tough Colonel Chester Phillips, the handsome charmer Howard Stark and British Intelligence Agent Margaret Carter, also known as Peggy. But during that year as I helped Dr. Erskine with his serum, and a numerous amount of other projects he was working on, I never lost my stubbornness or my happy-go-lucky demeanor.

Most of my time was spent with Dr. Erskine in the labs, but there was the rare occasion when I was ordered for training and the like and even got some free time to myself once in a while. Of course those free times were few and far in between considering the escalating importance of the war and I usually spent it reading or catching up on sleep. There wasn't much to do on an army base or a secret lab besides that so I did what I could to stay entertained.

Did I ever miss Steve and Bucky though.

Dr. Erskine had told me everything. Being part of the SSR I was informed of Hydra, of Johann Schmidt and his crazy ambitions to become a god, but it was the doctor that had filled me in on his story and why Schmidt did what he did. To be honest I was horrified, but also fascinated and honored that Erskine trusted me enough to help him create the serum as well as share these secrets with me, even if it wasn't all of them. If asked to, I wouldn't have been able to recreate such a complicated composition, but I didn't mind; the less I knew was probably for the better. Regardless it gave me more cause to respect the doctor and his efforts.

I wrote to my family often, keeping quiet about the specifics of my job of course and I was happy to find out that Bucky still hadn't made good on his promise to join the war if things got too hairy. Unfortunately during the summer of 1941 he informed me that not only him, but Steve too wanted to get in on the action. I wasn't too worried about Steve joining, especially after Bucky told me he had been rejected three times already, but I was worried about my brother. He was big and strong, there was no doubt that if he were to try he would be enlisted.

Little did I know that on the night of Stark Industry's Science Expo my worst fears came true when both Bucky and Steve were accepted into the US Army. Dr. Erskine and I were both in attendance, accompanying Howard of course. We were all to return to base for recruit training in the morning and while Dr. Erskine and Mr. Stark were going to be holed up in their labs pretty much the whole time, I was assigned to help Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips break in the rookies just for the morning and then I would continue to help Dr. Erskine in the lab.

I had no idea that both Steve and Bucky were also at the fair and as I roamed the grounds I happened to spot my brother amidst the crowd with two women, a blonde and a brunette. I thought it strange that Steve wasn't at his side, but thought nothing of it as my excitement at seeing my brother the first time in a year and a half caused me to throw any other care I had at the moment away. I could see him perfectly, his teeth dazzling in the fair light as he grinned charmingly, his matching nose to mine flaring slightly as he smiled. His mischievously sparkling eyes just a shade lighter than my ocean blue ones, his short light brown hair tucked perfectly under his army cap and his-

Wait, army cap?

My excitement immediately disappeared when I finally noticed my brother in the uniform of a soldier. My steps that I had been taking toward him slowed to a halt as I stared at him from several yards away. At my sudden stop a few people ran into me, cursing me in mumbled tones, but I could care less as I watched my older brother laugh with the brunette he currently had on his arm and her blonde friend. They were heading towards the exit, no doubt to go dancing, which was Bucky's favorite date idea.

Seeing him was what brought me to my first thought; my brother was an idiot. I guess some would call him patriotic, brave, loyal or other such words, but the only one that had registered in my mind was idiot. As awful as it sounded, I had told my brother that I didn't want him to enlist ever because he had no idea what exactly he was up against. Of course when he questioned how I knew that I had to say that the Germans didn't look as strong as they really were, which I guess wasn't a complete lie. Apparently he didn't listen to a word I said. Typical.

Watching them leave I resisted the urge to run after him and rip the cap from his head and yell at him until my throat was sore, but it would be no use. Not only would it be hypocritical, but Bucky was just as stubborn as I was and would definitely shout back effectively turning the argument back on me like he did when we were kids only this time he would be right.

Finally he disappeared and I sighed, turning back to the building where new eager soldiers were being enlisted and getting physicals. Dr. Erskine and I were there not only there for Stark's Expo, but to find new possibly worthy recruits for the serum that was perfected only a month ago. How did I know it was perfected? Because I had volunteered myself, much to the Doctor's disapproval, to receive minimal doses every day to see if there would be any unsavory side effects of the serum on the human body for when the true test was to be taken. It was risky and Erskine reminded me of that every time he injected the small amount of blue liquid into my arms or legs, but I held fast and each time countered with an 'I volunteered remember?' He would give me that disappointed look any father would give their disobedient child, but continued as requested. As expected, the only side effect was muscle soreness and constant aching, but I learned to live with it. Now the only thing that was missing was the Vita-Rays that would stimulate the enlargement of muscles, but Erskine insisted that I was not to be the intended experiment. Women weren't allowed on the battlefield, after all, much to my disappointment.

I wasn't going to lie, I was ecstatic that we were finally done and to see the result of it on a real soldier would pretty much blow my mind away, but this recent development with Bucky troubled me and at the moment, excitement was far from my mind.

That was until I rounded a corner and promptly ran into someone causing me to stumble back unsteadily on my slightly heeled shoes and blink in surprise. The person I had run into wasn't so lucky and had fallen flat on his rear, the file he was holding skidding a foot or two away from him on the floor. Immediately I fell to my knees to grab the folder, thankful for my skirt covering my knees as they met the cold floor, an apology instantly on my lips.

"Goodness, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry; I should have been watching where I was going."

We had spoken at the same time and I had no problem recognizing that voice. As I looked over at the man I was shocked into silence yet again when I was met with none other than Steve Rogers himself. An excited grin graced my red tinted lips when our eyes met, blue on blue, disregarding the shocked and confused look on his slim pale features.

"Steve!"

"Vicky?"

We had spoken at the same time again and I practically giggled with happiness as I stood and offered my hand for him to stand as well, my other clutching the file he had been carrying to my chest. He took it with a grateful nod and with our combined strength –which was more from me –we pulled him up to stand and instantly he moved to pat the dust from his clothes almost shyly. Once again I was reminded of our noticeable height difference; even without my heels poor Steve was at least five to six inches shorter than me.

"It's great to see you," I said, my grin still in place and my body practically vibrating with joy. "How are things?"

"Um…" Steve mumbled, glancing up at me before looking down at my outfit and looking away again. Confused, I looked down as well wondering if I possibly had a stain or something on it, but there was none. I was in the uniform an SSR female Agent would wear that was similar to a regular troop's. Instead of wool slacks I had a skirt that went a few inches below my knees and a white blouse and black tie beneath a matching brown blazer that buttoned down the middle tightly, slightly accentuating my waist line. Oh, I guess I could see why Steve was flustered.

Before I could speak again Steve lifted his shoulders in a shrug, still looking away. "Oh, you know, the usual."

Looking at him again I noticed his lip split at the corner and couldn't help the sigh that escaped me. "Got in a fight again, huh? You've got to have hit some sort of record by now, Steve. Seriously, I think you actually like getting hit or something."

Steve let out a deep chuckle, a sound that almost seemed foreign coming from a man so small and finally lifted his head to look me in the eye, a small smile on his lips that caused mine to widen. "Funny. Bucky said almost the exact same thing."

At the mention of my brother my smile faltered slightly and Steve noticed though he didn't say anything as I sighed. "So, he got enlisted, huh? Good for him," I said with a slight nod.

"Yeah," Steve replied while shuffling his feet. "The 107th."

My smile was gone completely by now as I dropped my eyes from his almost sadly. Being my older brother it was Bucky's job to be worried for me, especially when I was just a teenager when I happily accepted my role into the war as a secret Agent, but I couldn't help it. Bucky was the one that was supposed to go on dates, have fun dancing, and go to the movies with Steve, not die on the front lines.

"Um, Vicky?" Steve asked, breaking me out of my thoughts and I looked back up at my long-time friend. "Can I have that back?" He lifted a hand to point at the folder I still had clutched to my chest and I blinked before looking down at it then gave him a smile.

"Sorry, Steve. Just got a little distracted is all," I chuckled and held out the folder to him.

But I stopped as I noticed the letters stamped on the cover. United States of America Enlistment Form was at the top and directly beneath it read STEVEN GRANT ROGERS. Immediately I thought he had tried and failed again to join the army, but something at the back of my head was telling me that it wasn't. I tensed and my bottom lip tucked between my teeth in worry. Ignoring Steve's feeble pleas not to, I opened the folder and my gaze was drawn to the black stamp at the bottom right corner. IA.

My breath hitched and I snapped the folder closed, handing it back to Steve with a frown. The blonde man who I considered to be the closest thing to a best friend I could get almost looked guilty as he took the folder back.

"You too," I stated with a shake of my head, disappointment clearly showing on my face as Steve's guilt seemed to almost disappear as determination took its place.

"Yep. I'll finally be able to make a difference," he said, his bony shoulders squaring with the bravery that I always knew he had. Sighing yet again I gave him a sad smile.

"Well, then I guess I'll be seeing you in the morning, Soldier," I quipped almost snappishly even though I smiled and watched as Steve's face contorted in shock once again.

"What?" he asked, almost stuttering.

"That's right. I'll be at your boot camp tomorrow morning for your first day of training." As cruel as it might sound, I almost laughed as the shocked expression on Steve's face intensified and I gave my friend a pat on his shoulder that was half a foot lower than mine. I offered another small smile as I began to walk away. "I really have missed you, Steve. Good luck." With that I passed him by to make my way to the examination rooms where I would no doubt find Dr. Erskine, my low heels clicking on the hard floor and Steve staring at my back as I left.

Luckily it didn't take me long to find the doctor as he was sitting in the waiting room reading a pamphlet with interest. Storming toward the man I thought of as another father I placed my hands on my hips and glared half-heartedly at him. To his credit he didn't cringe or even look up and at me as he casually tapped his foot that was crossed over the other to a slow beat.

"Did you accept a scrawny asthmatic kid named Steve Rogers, Dr. Erskine?" I asked bluntly, no longer waiting for him to acknowledge my presence.

"I assume by you immediately coming to me with such a question you already know the answer," replied the good doctor with a smile as he finally folded the pamphlet and set it to the side while looking up at me. My glare deepened and a frown began to take place. "I also assume that you know him."

"Yes, he's an old friend of mine," I confirmed.

"How did you know it was me who stamped his papers?" he inquired and I finally allowed a small smirk to come across my lips and my hands dropped from my hips only to cross smugly in front of my chest.

"I only know one Doctor that's wacky enough to enlist a man like Steve Rogers."

Dr. Erskine chuckled and stood from his chair, grabbing his coat from the back of it. "You disagree?"

Frowning again I followed the doctor as he made his way out of the waiting room and into the crowds toward the main building where we were to be meeting up with Stark. "Yes and no," I finally admitted. "Steve's a good man. Actually he's probably the best man I know. Never backs down from a fight, even inadvertently starts a few that he can't finish, but he's got the biggest heart I've ever seen. I swear it's made of gold or something." Looking at the doctor out of the corner of my eye I spotted his knowing smile and sighed in acceptance. "I understand why you chose him."

"As I've told you, and I'm sure you're aware, physical capabilities are not the ultimate goal," he said cryptically and I rolled my eyes, turning back to the path in front of us. I was aware that we were no longer talking about Steve being accepted into the army, but something else entirely.

"I know," I sighed again, almost hating that he was right. "He's going to need some work though. We can't just send him in blind."

"Oh no, of course not," agreed Dr. Erskine as we finally broke free of the patrons in the main courtyard and entered the building only few trusted members were allowed in. "There is much work to be done still, but you are right. He is a good man."

"He sure is," I said with a nod. Silence reigned between us, but I felt less angry towards both Steve and Erskine although the worry still remained.