It's been three weeks since June got taken by HYDRA. After realizing she had been injected with a serum that made her body regenerate faster than a normal human she had taken some days off to think about the offer Fury had given her.
Everyone knew the story of 'The Avengers'. The real-life superheroes who had saved the world from the alien invasion some time ago. Why would S.H.I.E.L.D want anything to do with her? She was a regular soldier before this all happened. It didn't matter if she would heal if all she did was get hurt, she would never be able to contribute to a force like that. Bruce Banner had his amazing intelligence and the hulk to back it up. Tony Stark was incredible smart and rich, and used it all to build technology to save the world. Thor was literally a god, and Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton were people she knew little about but she understood they were special agents for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Steve Rogers was a whole different league to her though. She'd grown up with the stories of the American hero's adventures. And when she came to know he was alive and a part of the people saving the world she didn't know how to react. He was a role model to her, someone she looked at for inspiration when her training got tougher that usual. She didn't belong with them.
She had spent sleepless nights thinking about John and the other soldiers who got killed by HYDRA and her sorrow soon turned to anger. John had been one of her closest friends in the field, like a brother and she couldn't save him, even though she had trained for it. The small mission was her first where she was the highest ranked and in command and she had failed.
She'd get up every morning, believing it was all a dream and going to see if she could hurt herself in small ways and not heal by the day. But every time she burned herself slightly on the stove the blister would be gone by the time she went back to bed.
It had been a week since she got back to her flat and it was the first time she left it. She had finally made an effort to put on some decent clothes, feeling sick of sweats and sports bras.
"Right." She said to herself. "I need food and I need fresh air."
She had gotten a flat in New York a year after the invasion. Some parts of the town were still being constructed but her part was ok and near some few coffee shops and stores, it was the best she could do on her salary, and she didn't need much seeing how often she was at the base and on missions. She locked her front door and went down the stairs, but she excited the back door and down the fire escape. To keep her safe, S.H.I.E.L.D had been keeping a close eye on her. Hidden of course, but she knew they were there.
Her blonde ponytail was bouncing furiously as she walked in a speedy pace through the alleyways, hoping the people tracking her would lose sight. She was heading towards a store she never went to, knowing well that S.H.I.E.L.D probably knew about her favorite grocery store. As she entered she scanned the shelfs, quickly finding what she needed. June had always taken care of her body trying to eat healthy, but after joining the army her awareness of feeding herself a nutritional and balanced diet became a great key to her progress. She stocked her basket with oatmeal, fruit, veggies and lentils knowing that she hadn't been good at eating the couple of days and desperately wanted some minerals.
"I'm more of a pancake kind of guy." A voice came from behind her.
June turned around and was met by a dark man dressed in black.
"Director." June frowned slightly as she placed some bananas in her basket.
"Lieutenant." He nodded back. "I haven't heard back from you about the offer." He continued.
June stiffened. "I'm not what you're looking for, sir." She answered uncomfortably.
"And what makes you qualified to point that out?" He asked, still with a serious expression.
June shrugged. "What makes me qualified for-" she looked around, noticing they were the only ones in the store, even the workers were gone. "S.H.I.E.L.D?" She finished.
"This is not an ego boost, lieutenant. We would not be offering you this if you weren't qualified. The world is growing more and more dangerous, and the more people with special abilities like yours on our side, the bigger chance we have of keeping it going." Fury crossed his arms and looked at her with determination. "We already know you were working towards becoming a special officer, this is your chance to become exactly that, only in a more… Creative way."
June stared at him. She couldn't find anything to answer back, but she still knew she had to think about the offer. It was true, her goal was the special force, even if she was a woman she was planning on getting there. Maybe he was right, maybe this was her chance, and maybe she could contribute in a way.
After a week, she called agent Coulson to take the offer and start a life working with S.H.I.E.L.D, despite her doubts. She gained a pass to the Stark Tower and came daily to let Bruce and Tony run tests on her and train.
"Let's call it the day. There is really so much you need for each session" Natasha pulled June out of her thoughts.
June had been training for four hours every day, sometimes alone, sometimes with Natasha.
"Okay, I'll go and shoot some bullets then." June nods walking over to her water bottle and gulping it down.
"Don't strain yourself, June, it's only been a couple of weeks. You need time to rest." Natasha says, determined, but she still had some type of 'concern' in her voice.
"I'm fine." June states, not wanting to talk about the issues that's going on inside her head.
June adds another case to her gun and aims at the carboard shaped as a human. She shoots the person two times in the chest and once in the head, repeating it until she runs out of bullets and adds some more.
"Mozambique?" A voice came from behind her.
June quickly secured her gun and turned around, taking her earplugs out.
Steve was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Captain." She greets him with a nod and straightens up.
Steve nods with a slight smile and pushes of the wall.
"Lieutenant, I don't know how many times I need to tell you this. It's Steve. I know it's hard to adjust after a couple of years, and what's been going on, but you're not at the base now." He positions himself in the booth next to her and draws his own gun.
"You're still a captain outside the base, sir- eh, Steve." June frowns a bit. She still hasn't gotten used to meeting a national hero like Steve daily.
"That's true. But it's pretty tiring having to salute and march every single minute of the day." He answers while loading his gun. "I've read your shooting scores. I'm impressed." He states before shooting the same pattern, Mozambique, two in the chest finished by one in the head.
June watches how the ricochet of the gun barely touches his shoulder, he stands still like a rock. "Thank you. But I'm hardly the best, I still need to train." She replies, not fully taking the compliment.
He turns his head to her and gives his small, but warm, smile again. "I like your drive, lieutenant."
"June. Call me June."
6 am a few days later June is sitting on the sofa in the common room. She's holding a cup of black coffee while reading a newspaper.
"You're up early." A tired voice states from behind her.
She turns around and smiles weakly at the yawning Bruce Banner. His hair is slightly messy and he doesn't look like he's gotten too much sleep.
"Good morning. I needed a cup of coffee before you and Stark started to treat me as your lab rat." June answers with a slight smirk on her face.
She felt more comfortable around Bruce. He was calm, a bit awkward, and as far as she knew a good guy. She'd spent countless hours with him in the lab by now so she'd learned to be more open to him and less of a soldier. Natasha, Clint and Steve were all nice too, but she still felt slightly intimidated and out of place due to their years of experience and authority. And well, Tony was a whole other case.
"Tony's got some stuff he wanted to test out today so I'm sure that's a smart move. You're also not our lab rat." He says while grabbing himself an apple.
"And you're not up early, you haven't slept." He adds before he takes a bite of his apple.
June ignores his comment and keeps eating. It was true. She hadn't slept, but it wasn't anything she wanted to discuss with him, or anyone.
"Well, look who it is, my little lab rat and assistant." Tony walks into the room with a big grin. He too probably hadn't slept tonight, but that was a usual thing.
"See, I told you. I'm a lab rat." June sighs towards Bruce who continues to bite into his apple, not wanting to waste his energy on the matter.
They had been looking for other possible super human abilities in June since she got to the tower, but so far, regeneration seemed to be her only change. They'd done speed tests, making her run 60 meters again and again to see her speed or if she kept the same speed despite getting tired, but the results were as of a normal and athletic soldier. They had done strength tests, lifting heavy objects, hitting stuff and even arm-wrestling Steve, she had failed that too. But today they were only interested in watching her body heal itself.
The rate of her healing all depended on the seriousness of her injury. So far, she'd only gotten some slight paper cuts, but it seemed that for every time she got a cut her body would remember the healing process and heal faster than before. This time, Tony wanted to take it a step further.
"I mean, in the spirit of protecting the world and dangerous battles, we could shoot you and see how you react to that." Tony thought out loud, not really talking to either June or Bruce.
"Tony…" Bruce said warningly. "We're not shooting her."
June sat on a chair between them, looking back and forth depending on who was talking.
"We could drop you off a building and see if your bones would heal." Tony kept on suggesting.
"No." Bruce replied dissatisfied.
"Alright, alright, we'll give her a slight burn on her arm and see how that works!" Tony finally suggested pulling out a lighter.
June frowned. Even though she healed she still felt the pain as normally. And she'd already done that several times in her own flat before coming to the tower.
"I've tried it, it still heals, though it takes some more time than the papercuts." She declares while crossing her arms.
Tony's eyebrows shoot up. "How long?"
"About 12-14 hours." She answers sounded bored.
"Well, we haven't seen that, I want to see it!" Tony exclaims standing up to find something he can heat up with the lighter.
"Would you be ok with it?" Bruce asks her with concerned eyes.
June shrugs. "I guess so, it's all for science." She replies with a sarcastic undertone.
Eventually, Tony finds a piece of metal and heats it up with the lighter. June braces herself as she lets him hold her arm and places the hot piece on her arm. She curses under her breath but stays still. As he removes it a red and angry mark appears on her skin. It doesn't take long until all three of them can see her skin react and try to heal itself. It's surreal to watch, but they all have sort of gotten used to it by now. Although, June hadn't experienced the burn to heal as quickly as it seems to heal now.
"I thought you said this took longer?" Tony asks fascinated.
"It did the last time." June answers, just as amazed.
"It's the same pattern as the cuts, your cells are learning to heal themselves faster." Bruce states.
"But I still wonder if it does the same with your bones." Tony hums.
June is silence for a while. "If it'll help you with your research I'll do it." She finally states.
Both Tony and Bruce turns towards her with raised eyebrows.
"What?" Bruce asks surprised.
"I said yes to joining and I'll do whatever needs to be done." June answers with a determined look on her face.
Tony smirks. "You heard her Banner, let's give the lieutenant what she wants."
"Fuck." June mutters under her breath as she realizes what she's said yes to.
"I'm not going to break her leg, Tony!" Steve exclaims and refuses to take the baseball bat Tony is trying to give him.
"It's for science, Steve. We can't bring her on a mission if all we know she can take is some papercuts and burn marks." Tony explains as he still tries to hand the bat to Steve.
"There has to be other ways of doing it!" Steve groans clearly frustrated by the whole situation.
Steve, Tony and Bruce are standing in the lab around June. The room is filled with tension and they are all clearly unsure of what will come out of the situation.
"Just get done with it." June breathes as she tenses all muscles in her body.
Steve sighs loudly as he takes the bat. "If this doesn't work, I'm very sorry." He says before he swings the bat to her leg.
June cries out in pain and let herself fall to the knee on her now good leg. "Holy shit!" She yells.
Steve instantly drops the bat and helps her up. "Are you ok, was it too hard?" He asks almost in panic.
"Well, it's broken alright." June breathes heavily.
"Get her to the MRI scanner." Bruce instructs before walking ahead.
Steve places June's arm over his shoulder and leads her towards the MRI scanner where she is set to lie for at least a few hours.
"This is amazing!" Tony half yells in a pleased tone. "One week and you're walking just fine!"
One week was all it took for June's leg to completely heal. It was, as Tony stated, amazing.
"And the MRI scans are showing changes every other hour." Bruce adds, just as surprised as Tony.
"What do we do now?" June asks eagerly. She's eager to know the full limit of her body.
Bruce frowns. "I don't think there's much more we can do other than taking some samples and see how they evolve, and try to figure out exactly how HYDRA made you this way."
June's eagerness disappeared. "I guess I'll go back to training then."
"Twenty!" June grunts as her head crosses the pullup bar. She'd been training for two hours now, relieved she was back at the gym again. Her body was covered in sweat and she'd taken off her shirt a while ago.
She lets go of the bar and lands on her feet with a thump before walking over to catch her breath and get some water.
"I thought only I worked out at this hour." Steve walks in carrying a boxing bag while looking her up and down.
June blushes and finishes her drink. "I didn't know you trained in the tower, Captain?" She asks while wiping the sweat off her forehead.
Steve shrugs. "I don't, but the gym I go to was closed for maintenance today." He hangs up his bag as easily as if it was a pillow.
"How come you pay for a gym and not just train here?" June asks, amazed by his strength.
"I like to get out of the Avengers bubble sometimes." He answers turning towards her. "How's the leg?"
June bends her knee as if testing it. "It's all healed." She says with a smile.
Steve raises his eyebrow. "I'm impressed, and glad." He adds.
June nods quietly and thinks for a while before she speaks. "Captain, can I ask you something?"
Steve starts putting bandages around his knuckles. "Ask away."
June thinks again. "How did you know you were the right guy for the serum, to become Captain America?" She asks in a low voice.
Steve pauses. "I guess I wanted to do what was necessary to help others. I didn't do it to become a hero, I did it because it was the right thing to do."
June stays silent and looks down at her water bottle.
"There is no shame in having doubts, June." Steve says after some time. "But the only thing you can do is follow your instincts." And with that he starts hitting the bag with full force.