So, guess what! I actually decided to try to pick up this story again.
I'd like to apologize to everyone who was reading it.
I feel horrible that you had to wait so long.
My entire life has been completely turned upside down recently.
Last thing you guys knew, my family was preparing to move.
Well, a little update, they finally moved back in February.
I'm now renting the house that I grew up in with my brother.
Adult life sucks...
I visited my family over the summer for two months.
It's absolutely beautiful, but I'm glad I live in the South.
Two whole months without sweet tea and buscuits about killed me.
I'm now in my second year of teaching 5th and 6th grade and I have 15 students.
I recently had the opportunity to be an assistant coach for our high school's girl volleyball team.

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep this story going, but I can't promise when the updates will be.
Please hang in there with me if any of you are still following this story.

-oOo-

The next few weeks saw Stark and Andy setting up the final phase of Erskine's experiment. One day, as Andy was going over the numbers for the vita-rays, she heard Stark mention that Erskine had chosen a candidate.

"Who did Abraham finally choose?" she asked as she handed her papers to Stark.

"Apparently," Howard began as he thumbed through the papers, "it's some skinny kid from Brooklyn. Phillips isn't to happy about it though. The guy goes by the name Steven Rogers."

Andy smiled broadly and turned back to her work. Tomorrow would be the big day. Tomorrow they would take one of the greatest scientific steps forward.

Howard glanced over at Andy when he heard her begin to whistle. Andy was whistling softly and bouncing around as she worked. She checked and rechecked all of the instruments. By the time Howard left, Andy was still working. She worked through the night and well into the next morning.

When Howard returned, he found Andy dozing in a chair with her head resting on her palm. He silently walked over to her and nudged her arm. Andy groaned slightly but did not wake up. With a dramatic sigh, Howard pushed Andy's hand that was holding her head up and Andy's head dropped to the console with a thud.

"What?!" Andy cried as she shot up straight. One glance at Howard's face told her everything. With a grumble, she stood and rubbed her forehead. "You are a real jerk, you know?"

Howard moved away with a laugh and said, "Everyone is starting to arrive. Brandt would probably have a fit if he saw you sleeping."

Andy nodded her head in agreement and stretched her back. Hearing footsteps approaching, she quickly threw on a white lab coat over her rumpled clothes and turned to greet the other scientists. She smiled when she saw Doctor Erskine enter the room. She gave him a small wave before moving to help Howard.

The final preparations were almost done when Andy heard the room go silent. Glancing up in confusion, her eyes found the person everyone was staring at. At the top of the stairs, standing beside Agent Carter, was Steve Rogers.

Peggy led Steve down the stairs and over to Doctor Erskine. Erskine greeted Steve and a photographer snapped a picture. "Please, not now," Erskine said before turning his attention back to Steve. Steve was looking at the machine that would be used for the procedure and Erskine asked, "Are you ready?"

When Steve nodded, Erskine continued, "Good, take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat."

As Erskine walked away, Andy stepped up with a smile. "I told you we would see each other again," she said as she held out her hands for Steve's clothes. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit nervous," Steve said with an attempted smile. "Why are you here?"

"I work with Stark," Andy said as she pointed to the dark-haired man. "I have an extremely high I.Q. I've known Stark for awhile now and I was brought in on the project when he was. He'd be nothing without me."

"I heard that!" Howard yelled without facing them.

Andy and Steve chuckled and Andy motioned to the device. "Go ahead and lay down," she said as she took a step away. Steve climbed up onto the machine and tried to get comfortable.

"Comfortable?" Erskine asked as he walked over to Steve's side.

Steve smiled and said, "It's a little big. You save me any of that Schnapps?"

"Not as much as I should have," Erskine replied hesitantly. "Sorry. Next time. Mr. Stark, how are your levels."

Howard walked over to the two and said, "Levels are at 100%. We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready - as we'll ever be."

At this comment, Andy and Peggy shared a look and Andy was about to reassure her when Doctor Erskine walked up. "Agent Carter," he said gently, "don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?"

Peggy looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Oh, yes, sorry." Andy noticed when Peggy looked back to Steve. A smile formed on her face as she glanced between the two.

Suddenly, two thumps and the sound of feedback were heard over the loudspeakers and everyone turned their attention to Doctor Erskine who was holding the microphone. "Can you hear me? Is this on?" he said to test it. "Ladies and Gentlemen, today, we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin the series of micro-injections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change; and then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with vita-rays."

As Erskine talked, Andy and a nurse moved to place three vials of the serum each into their spots on either side of Steve. Andy moved out of the way as Erskine finished his speech and came to Steve's side. The nurse injected Steve with a shot of penicillan before moving away.

"That wasn't so bad," Steve said softly.

Erskine looked down at him and said, "That was penicillan." Andy couldn't stop the unladylike snort that came out as she tried to stifle her laughter. Erskine gave her a disapproving look before saying, "Serum infusion beginning in five... four... three... two... one."

Andy moved then and flipped the lever that began the injection. Everyone watched as the blue liquid in the vials was pumped into Steve. They saw the grimace that crossed Steve's features and Andy felt sorry for him.

"Now, Mr. Stark," Erskine said as he looked to Howard. Howard pulled a lever and the machine that Steve was laying on began to rise and fold up. With a clank, the capsule sealed and Andy moved to connect a tube to the side of it. Once it was in place, she nodded to Erskine and Stark. Erskine walked to the front of the machine and knocked. "Steven," he called, "can you hear me?"

"Probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" Steve asked in response.

Erskine turned away with a slight smile and said, "We will proceed."

With that, Stark moved into action. He powered up the machine and began to turn a wheel. The levels of vita-rays began to climb. "That's 10%," he said, "20%. That's 30. That's 40%."

Another scientist looked up then and said, "Vital signs are normal!"

"That's 50%," Stark continued, "60, 70!"

Just then, Steve began to scream and Andy rushed forward. "Shut it down!" she yelled and was echoed twice by Peggy.

Erskine, who had rushed forward, turned to Stark and demanded,"Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill the reactor!"

Then, Steve called from inside the machine, "No! Don't! I can do this!" The pain was evident in his voice. Stark began to turn the wheel faster in hopes of hurrying the process.

"80," he called, "90, that's 100%!" The light in the machine grew to a blinding brightness and the consoles began to spark. Andy jumped away from one console just as the power in the machine died. Everyone looked to it expectantly.

"Mr. Stark!" Erskine yelled and Howard moved to the controls. As he hit the button, the machine opened to reveal a tall and muscular Steve Rogers. He was breathing heavily and both Doctor Erskine and Andy rushed to steady him. Stark came over and took Andy's place and she moved away from them.

Andy walked over to a printer in order to read the results and allowed the others to pass around congratulations. She caught Peggy become flustered as she talked to Steve. Andy just shook her head and smiled. She turned back to the printouts that were still coming from the console and began to scan the data. Stark called to her and she turned just as a massive explosion happened into the booth. People panicked and Andy was knocked to the ground by a scientist as chaos broke out.

Suddenly, two gunshots rang out and Andy's head snapped up. She couldn't see anything throught the crowd and was forced to crawl around a scientist who was huddled beside a console. More gunshots sounded and Andy pushed people aside to see what had happened. A man was fleeing up the stairs and Peggy was firing at him.

Then, a scientist stepped aside and Andy saw Steve kneeling over Erskine's body. Eskine had two bullet holes in his chest and wasn't breathing. "Abraham!" she cried as she raced to his side. Her fingers moved to his neck in search of a pulse but she couldn't find one. "No!" she screamed as she searched for a pulse on his wrist.

Andy never noticed when Steve left Erskine and raced after the man who had shot him. Fat tears slid down her cheeks as she placed a hand over Erskine's eyes and said, " Bealtaine an aoibh gháire Dé solais tú a ghlóir (May the smile of God light you to glory.)"

Andy looked around the room and surveyed the damage. Her gaze connected with that of Howard's and she immediately rushed to him. As her tears flowed down her cheeks, Howard gently rubbed Andy's back in an effort to be comforting.

"Andy," Howard whispered into her ear, "we need to move. We can't stay here."

Numbly, Andy allowed Stark to steer her out of the room. Howard kept Andy's head against his chest so as to block her view of the other bodies that they passed. Once they were outside, he put her in his car and drove to his home.

Upon reachin his residence, Howard rushed Andy inside, all the while calling for his butler. "Jarvis, come quickly!" he shouted just before the man came rushing into the room. Howard turned to the man and ordered, "Look after Andy. I have to go back. There was an attack and Erskine is dead."

Howard left quickly and Jarvis helped Andy into the sitting room. He did not say anything as he left, but returned a few minutes later with a tray of tea. Andy accepted the cup of tea from Jarvis and sipped at it absently.

"That's a good cuppa," she said with a deep sigh as she inhaled the pleasant aroma. "Thank you, Mister Jarvis. I appreciate this."

Jarvis smiled at Andy but did not speak. The two sat in silence as Andy tried to not think about what had happened. Hours passed and Andy had only moved to retrieve a book to read as she waited for Howard.

Howard arrived home the next morning to find Andy curled up on a sofa in the sitting room with an open copy of Don Quixote in her lap. Howard bent to retrieve the book when a hand clamped around his wrist. He glanced up to see Andy watching him with questioning eyes.

"Steve got the guy," he said before Andy could ask, "but he took a cyanide capsule before we could question him. He had a submarine built by Hydra that I was working on. We are now officially taking the fight to Hydra, as Phillips put it. Peggy and I were ordered out. Phillips wanted to ship Steve to a laboratory, but Brandt has other ideas."

Andy sat up immediately and said, "I'm coming, too."

Howard shook his head. "It's dangerous, Andy. I can't let you get hurt."

"I don't care that it's dangerous!" Andy pushed herself off the sofa and stared into Howard's eyes. "I can help. I can make a difference!"

"I know you can, Andy," Howard sighed. "Have Jarvis take you to your apartment to get some of your things. We'll talk when you get back."

"Thank you, Howard!" Andy gasped. She ran to fetch Jarvis and within minutes she was seated in the back of Howard's car on the way to her apartment. Within an hour, she was completely packed and arriving back at Howard's. She rushed into the house and called for her friend. "Howard, where are you? When do we leave?"

Andy paused when she received no reply from her friend. The house was completely quiet. Andy walked into the sitting room and found an envelope with her name scrawled on it. She picked it up and tore it open. The note inside read:

Dear Andromeda,
I know that you will be angry with me when you read this, but I need to keep you safe. This is my way of doing that. Stay in the house. I care too much to put you in harm's way. Stay safe for me, Dromie. I'll send you news as I can.
With regret,
Howard

"That little snot left me!" Andy bellowed. The note crumpled as she fisted her hand around it.