a/n: Thank you to the new followers: Ash1276, RxchelMalfoy and artemis7448, as well as Blackraven777 for favoriting!

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive

~ Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

*~ June 1943 ~*

Bucky had been gone for almost entire month and Ellie had yet to hear from him. Every client that came in to speak with her, had experienced horrible trauma that forced them to come stateside. The psychological dramas they were experiencing just made her think of the traumas that he had to be experiencing.

Without realizing what she was doing, Ellie had zoned out in the middle of her office when someone set a pile of files on her desk causing her to jump.

"Barnes, focus"

Ellie looked up at her boss and stood up, "Yes sir, what do you need sir"

"I need you to go through these files. They are prospective candidates for the new project that Colonel Phillips is working on. After you get familiar with these candidates, tomorrow we are sending you to Wisconsin to actively inquire about your top picks. We want to make sure that we will be satisfied with their physical as well as mental abilities. You have two weeks in Wisconsin to interview and observe, before we make our decision on the project. You leave tomorrow morning from here at 0800 hours"

Ellie nodded, "Yes Chief Dooley sir"

As soon as he walked away Ellie sighed.

"Well I see you were assigned to Wisconsin, I am assigned to Jersey"

Ellie turned her chair and looked at the desk behind hers, "Peggy, at least that's not far"

"Read your files, at least you got files" Peggy said as she took a file to the filing cabinet and filed it away, "They would not even give me files on my candidates. There are only two of them. Colonel Phillips is adamant on one of the privates, but Dr. Erskine found someone he believes in"

Ellie flipped through her stack, "Six… there are six here"

"Take off and go study them back at home" Peggy told her.

"You are probably right. Good luck down here" Ellie told her grabbing her purse.

"It will be fun to get back on base and whip some of them into shape" Peggy said with a grin.

Ellie shook her head, "You're so bad. Bye Peggy"

"Bye Elizabeth"

~*~*~* June 1942 * ~*~*~

Ellie had been at Camp McCoy for early two weeks and was not confident that any of the candidates that had been picked were adequate for Dr. Erskine's experiment.

She was sitting in her tent pouring over her notes about each subject when the tent door opened.

"Barnes"

Ellie stood up when she saw Captain Charles, "Yes sir"

"Is it, or is it not true that you are married to one James Buchanan Barnes?" Captain Charles asked.

Ellie bit her lip as she reached up to touch the rings around her neck, "Yes sir I am"

Captain Charles' face cracked into a smiled for the first time since she had arrived, "Your husband is an amazing marksman with a rifle"

Ellie beamed proud, "Thank you sir"

"Where is James now?" Captain Charles asked.

"Somewhere in England, he was shipped out shortly after he arrived home, sir" Ellie informed him.

"Barnes never spoke about you being involved in the government" The captain mentioned.

"Because Bucky doesn't know exactly what I do sir. I work for a top secret organization within the government. Plus, if he knew that my work was sometimes dangerous, he wouldn't like it" Ellie told him.

"Well he is a lucky man" Captain Charles told her.

"Thank you sir, I appreciate the compliment" Ellie said as Captain Charles decided to leave.

Ellie sighed as she sat down and got back to work.

"Knock knock"

Ellie looked over at the man at the entrance to her tent and frowned, "What are you doing here?"

Howard Stark waltzed in and sat down in one of her patient's chairs, putting his feet up on her desk, "I'm here to bring you home"

"Get your feet off government property. What do you mean bring me home?" Ellie asked him pushing his feet off her desk.

"Erskine made his decision, Colonel -stick up his butt- isn't happy about it but Erskine is for sure that this kid is who he has been looking for" Howard told her, "He is doing the experiment in two days"

"Two days!? I haven't even been able to analyze him yet" Ellie said as she started collecting her things.

"Don't worry about it" Howard said as he saw her tin of cookies that Bucky's mom had sent her and went to grab them, "They sent Stewart to- OW!"

"Hands off my cookies, my Mother-in-law sent those" Ellie told him taking the tin and putting it into her bag.

"I keep forgetting your maaa-rr-ied now" Howard said dragging out the syllables, "So does hubby know about all this?"

Ellie sighed, "No, not even my family. I have enough trouble with my brother thinking he is bigger and tougher than he really is and trying to get himself killed every alley he goes down"

Howard snorted, "Thinks he is a tough guy?"

"Yes and no. Our dad was in the service in the Great War and died right after I was born. He just idolized Dad… didn't even remember him it was just the… thought of him. He was born with all these disabilities though. Didn't stop him from being a punk" Ellie told him as she got her tent packed up, "let me just go get my personal tent packed then I'll be ready to head out"

"10-4" Howard said saluting her, "I'm going to go check out the med wing… see if there are any new single ladies"

"You are disgusting Howard" Ellie said shaking her head as she walked away.

"You sound like Peggy!" Howard called after her.

After being grounded in Ohio for a day because of bad weather, Ellie and Howard finally made it to New York. They took a taxi to a small store front that had antiques called Brooklyn Antiques.

Ellie looked around frowning, "I don't remember this"

Howard paid the driver and grabbed her bags, "Follow me"

Ellie followed him inside the store.

"Wonderful weather this morning isn't it?" She asked.

"Yes, but I always carry a poncho" Howard told her as he glanced back at Ellie, "She's with me"

Howard led Ellie to the backroom and a bookshelf opened up to reveal a secret area.

Ellie shook her head, "Sometimes working for this organization, really surprises me"

Howard laughed, "I need to check the equipment. Don't you have an apartment here in town?"

"Yeah, my brother, husband and I share it" Ellie told him looking at the room in awe, "Wow"

She followed Howard down the steps to the lab, "So this is where it's going to happen"

"Hopefully if all goes to plan. Subject will be laid on the table, major muscle groups will get the serum then I hit the switch then pod closes around him. I turn the vita-rays on and as long as we don't fry the circuits and the power grid… hopefully we have us a super soldier" Howard said, "And as long as they don't die"

Ellie looked at him, "Die?"

"Stress on the body. Going from a normal human to a super soldier… hell this is literally the first experiment. We don't know what is going to happen. The kid could have a heart attack, stroke… who knows" Howard told her.

"Why would someone sign up to do this?" Ellie asked confused.

"Kid wants to do the best to serve his country" Howard told her checking all the inputs.

Ellie sighed, "Sounds like my idiot brother"

*~*~*~*June 22, 1943 * ~*~*~*

The next day Ellie arrived at the same Antique shop and said the same code words.

"Agent Barnes"

Ellie stopped in her tracks and saluted, "Colonel Phillips sir"

"At ease. Senator Brandt, I'd like you to meet one of my best agents outside of Agent Carter herself. Only two women I trust in my business, this is Agent Elizabeth Barnes" Colonel Phillips introduced.

"Hello Senator Brandt, pleasure to meet you" Ellie told him as he kissed the back of her hand.

"Pleasure is all mine" The senator said.

"Barnes, when this is over with if the kid survives, I want you down there checking on his mental capabilities. This serum is going into his muscles but we don't know what it will do to his brain" Colonel Phillips told her.

"How old is this guy? You sir and Howard keep calling him a kid. We aren't experimenting on children are we, sir?" Ellie asked.

"The kid isn't really a kid, he just looks like one" Colonel told her as Peggy came into the viewing booth.

"Howard is ready to start" Peggy told them as the speakers squealed.

"Do you hear me? Is this on?" Dr. Erskine asked.

Everyone crowded towards the observation window and Ellie tried to look over the shoulders of the men in front of her.

"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." He narrated.

Ellie moved down the window and found a spot to watch. Looking down into the lab, she looked at the table.

"Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three, two, one." The doctor said.

Ellie squinted trying to get a better look but the glass was shaped funny on her side, which made the appearance on the floor, obscured slightly. She could make out a skinny blonde lying on the table.

Ellie's heart jumped into her throat, "No" She forced out.

"Now, Mr. Stark."

Ellie watched in horror as Stark lowered a lever, the pod moved upright and enclosing the man inside. As the pod reached height and was about to fully closed, she got a good look at his face, "NO!"

"Agent Barnes!" Colonel Phillips said glancing at her, "What is wrong with you!?"

Dr. Erskine knocked on the capsule that they'd locked Steve in for the procedure to change him, "Steven, can you hear me?"

Ellie was torn between fear and relief when she heard over the speakers, "It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?"

Peggy walked over to her, "What's wrong Elizabeth?"

"Why the hell did you pick Steve!?" Ellie looked at her.

Peggy looked at her wide-eyed then gasped, "Oh my god… Steve Rogers is your brother"

Ellie's forehead hit the glass as she watched in horror down below as the light in the pod got brighter.

"I'm so sorry Elizabeth… I didn't know!" Peggy told her.

"That's ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty. That's 40 %" Howard read off from the controls.

"Vital signs are normal." One of the doctors told them as Peggy took Ellie's hand.

"That's 50 %. Sixty. Seventy" Howard read.

Steve started screaming and Ellie wanted to break the glass and jump down below.

"Steve!" She cried against the glass.

"Steven!" Erskine yelled.

"Shut it down!" Peggy yelled as she ran over to the staircase, "SHUT IT DOWN!"

"Steven!" Erskine yelled as he knocked on the pod.

"Shut it down!" Peggy yelled again.

"Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!" Dr. Erskine yelled.

"No! Don't! I can do this!" Ellie heard Steve said as she collapsed sobbing.

"Eighty. Ninety. That's 100 %." Howard yelled.

Ellie gasped as everything started overloading and the reactor shut itself down, "Steve!"

Peggy ran over and took her hand, "We're going down"

Ellie followed as Peggy pushed past the guard and opened the door.

They ran down the steps as smoke filled the air.

Peggy pushed them through and froze.

Ellie looked around her to see a man, a muscular man being held up by Howard and Dr. Erskine.

"Steven. Steven" Dr. Erskine said.

"I did it" He said breathless.

Ellie pushed through everyone and started nailing on him, causing Howard to pull her away.

"Barnes!" Howard said shocked.

The familiar blue eyes widened, "Ellie?!"

"Wait you two know each other?" Dr. Erskine asked.

"This asshole is my brother!" Ellie said, "God Steve"

Peggy cleared her throat, "How do you feel?"

"Taller" Steve said staring down at the top of Ellie's head for the first time in his life, "El"

Ellie wiped her tears, "I thought I was watching you die and I didn't even know it was you at first"

"How-" Steve said as there was an explosion and Steve pulled Ellie to the floor with his body on top of hers, "Stay down!"

"Stop him!" Erskine yelled.

Peggy drew a gun out of her stocking and shot at the man.

Ellie poked her head up just in time to see Dr. Erskine get shot and screamed. Steve knelt down next to the doctor and he pointed at Steve's chest then lost consciousness.

Peggy got up and ran after him.

"Steve! No!" Ellie yelled as he ran up the stairs.

"My god" Howard said in shock as he looked around him then helped her up, "Are you okay?"

"I…what the hell just happened?" Ellie said in a daze.

*~*~* Wednesday, June 23, 1943 *~*~*

Ellie stood in the background glaring as they took another vial of Steve's blood at the SSR compound the very next day. That night had been a sleepless night in their old apartment and Steve had never came home.

Steve glanced over at her. Since he had came back after chasing the hydra agent, they had yet to be able to talk. Howard and Peggy had pulled him away with help from Dr. Erskine's assistants to do blood workup. Ellie was slightly glad because as upset as she was currently, she knew the conversation would not be cordial.

Steve cleared his throat, "Think you got enough?" He asked rolling his sleeves back down.

"Any hope of reproducing a program is locked in your genetic code. But without Dr. Erskine it would take years" Peggy told him.

"He deserved more than this" Steve said sadly.

"If it could only work once, he'd be proud it was you" Peggy told him looking over his paperwork.

Steve looked over at Ellie, "So… I know you are dying to say something"

"Yeah but I'm holding my tongue before I kill you with it" Ellie told him.

Steve sighed, "Ellie"

"No Steve, why the hell did you think to do this?" Ellie asked, "It could have killed you"

"It was the only way-"

"Jesus Christ Steve! The only thing in life that is important isn't the damn war!" Ellie yelled as she threw her file down on the table, "I was up there and I thought I was watching you die! I know the risks of what could have happened. I was part of the briefing of this project and… oh my god… that's why Phillips sent me to Wisconsin! He knew!"

"So this is what you have been doing?" Steve asked, "Are you really even a psychologist?"

"Yes I am for SSR amongst other things" Ellie told him as she sighed, "I wanted to tell you and Bucky but I couldn't Steve. You see what I deal with. Veils and secrets. We still can't tell Bucky"

Steve sighed, "We'll talk more later"

Ellie shook her head and followed Peggy out to Howard's lab that had the Hydra submarine that Steve had shockingly recovered on his own.

"Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this technology" Howard told the room full of people.

"Then who is?" Senator Brandt asked.

"Hydra. I'm sure you've been reading our briefings." Colonel Phillips told him.

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel" Brandt told him.

Peggy led them up to the group crowded around the sub, "Hydra is the Nazi deep science division. It's led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions"

"Hydra's practically a cult. They worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible" Col. Chester Phillips told them.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Senator Brandt asked.

"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being retasked" Phillips told him as he walked over to the girls.

Peggy and Ellie stood taller.

"Colonel?" Peggy asked.

"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agents Carter and Barnes. You too, Stark. You're flying to London tonight"

Steve looked over at Ellie then back at Phillips, "Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in."

"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo" Colonel Phillips told him.

Ellie's eyes widened. She knew Alamogordo was their top secret facility in New Mexico for their bigger experiments.

"The serum worked" Steve defended.

"I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough" Phillips told him as he left the room.

Ellie sighed as Steve tried not to look as if he had been smacked in the face.

Senator Brandt looked at Steve, "With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it" He glanced over at his aide, "Paper"

Senator Brandt's aide showed them the New York Examiner with the headline, "Nazis in New York - mystery man saves child"

"The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands. You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab. Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?" Senator Brandt asked him as he put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Sir, that's all I want" Steve told him.

"Then, congratulations. You just got promoted" Senator Brandt told him as he looked at his aide, "File the paperwork, Private Rogers has been promoted to a Captain"

"Captain sir?" Steve asked surprised.

But Senator Brandt had already walked off.

Brandt's aide walked over to them, "It's a USO show, gain attention and become an American hero that everyone knows and loves… you'll get to the front lines"

Steve sighed as the aide left then looked at Peggy, "What do I do?"

"Go with Elizabeth. We have the address of your apartment; I assume that is where the two of you are going?"

Ellie nodded, "if I am leaving tonight I need to freshen up and pack a bag"

Peggy nodded, "I'll pick you up at 1800 hours"

After a silent car right home, Ellie unlocked the door to their apartment.

As soon as the door shut, which Steve shut hard enough to rattle the frames on the wall as he was still not used to his strength, he walked over to her grabbing her arm lightly, "El"

"Don't El me damnit!" Ellie said as she punched him as hard as she could in his chest, "God Steve… of all the stupid things in the world that you could have signed up for ..."

"Okay then if you want to play it that way, what is your real job? I'm technically part of the SSR now… I assume you work for them" Steve said.

Ellie sighed as she went to the couch and sat down smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress, "Its… kind of hard to explain. I did get hired into the government before I graduated. Colonel Phillips was in charge of the SSR. He pulled me after a couple months and asked me if I was willing to retask then told me about the SSR. Has anyone told you what it stands for?"

"Actually no" Steve said.

"The Strategic Scientific Reserve" Ellie told him, "Roosevelt ordered it to be formed in 1940 because he saw the work that Hitler was doing in Germany and he knew that yes, we didn't have a reason to be up against them yet but it was looming. Howard was pulled in when Hydra tried to kill him over his weapons knowledge"

Ellie sighed, "Johann Schmidt is the leader of Hydra and Peggy actually was sent in to rescue Erskine from Schmidt. Erskine had an idea for a formula to create a super soldier… Schmidt stole the formula before it was ready and… from what Erskine told me, the results weren't what he wanted. Erskine was about to be killed before Peggy saved him"

"So when you are being retasked?" Steve asked.

Ellie sighed as she looked at him, "We have a London office. Hence the reason I got my wedding dress in London. I'm there frequently. Actually… more than I am here"

Steve frowned, "But when we call you-"

"Headquarters is run through a phone company's back room, so they receive the call and transfer it to the London office" Ellie told him.

"Are you going to tell Bucky?" Steve asked.

"Eventually" Ellie told him, "Not now though. He has enough on his mind and I don't know what I'll be involved with over there" Ellie took his hand that was suddenly double hers, "Look Steve… I know you had this grand idea of what Project Rebirth-"

"Project Rebirth?" Steve asked.

"That was the name of your project, anyways I know you thought it would make you into this super soldier and you could join right up with Bucky and be done…but I'm glad that Colonel Phillips isn't letting you… just yet" Ellie told him as she looked at him with tears in her eyes again, "Every night I have nightmares of getting a knock on that door saying that Bucky is gone. I couldn't handle the same visit for you"

Ellie watched Steve and shook her head, "This is all just surreal"

"What is?" Steve asked.

"Have you really truly looked in the mirror? Took a shower? God Steve… your face is nearly the same and your voice but…it's like your head was put on someone's body and its freaking me out" Ellie told him as she took his hand and led him to her and Bucky's room then shut the door behind her.

She reached up and pulled his shirt up over his head, "Look Steve… your ribs aren't showing… you aren't struggling to breathe"

"I will say that is the first thing I noticed. After the pain stopped… I could breathe" Steve told her as he looked down at her, "It's going to take some getting used to though"

Ellie chewed her lip and shook her head, "Can't wait to see what Bucky thinks"

Steve effortlessly lifted her up into a hug, "God… suddenly I can feel all your muscles"

"So I know that you've done some work with Peggy… have you seen some of the stuff she can do?" Ellie said as he set her down.

"Yeah… the general…um… as Bucky would put it badass woman" Steve said.

"Peggy and I had the same training, it's how we met. She just started a year before me" Ellie explained.

"So that's why when Bucky was teaching us how to fight…" Steve said with a laugh.

"Well I did take self defense in college but I'd already started my training at that point so yes" Ellie told him.

Steve pulled her to him, "I love you Ellie… I am sorry that I didn't tell you about this earlier. I just… didn't know how"

Ellie sighed into his body and smiled at the change in his heartbeat, heart arrhythmia was gone. For the first time in Steve's life, he was healthy.