Good evening all, I'm sorry that I'm a tad late in updating, it is just half past nine in the evening where I am!

In this chapter, you do find out more about Elizabeth's past so, make sure you pay attention!

Thank you to those who have read, reviewed, favorited and followed the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters that may be used, or any of the Marvel storylines or arcs.

Claimer: I only own the character, Elizabeth Jones and her story, past and present.


Elizabeth was up for another hour or so before retiring to bed, in the morning she had a quick wash and she dressed in her service dress uniform and had breakfast alone, she was the earliest there and she wrote a letter to her friend Kathleen.

Peggy joined her not long after she had written her letter and they made their way out to the parade square together.

The men began their drill once more and Sergeant Duffy led them through quickly. "How do you think they're doing, Ma'am?" Sergeant Duffy asked.

"They're doing good. They've improved. Run them through an about turn and their salutes." Elizabeth said, "They don't need to worry about the slow march yet but you can tweak their wheels." She let her eyes lance over the men as they stood at ease, all watching her and Sergeant Duffy.

Sergeant Duffy and nodded his head, "Yes, Ma'am." He turned from her and began ordering the men in a loud and echoing voice. Elizabeth stepped back and watched keenly with Peggy as the men carried out the drill commands.

They were certainly much better, but they only did two hours' worth of drill before moving onto the training grounds where the men were given all sorts of situations where they had to use their minds to get out of, and then they were given leadership exercises so their individual leadership style would be revealed.

Elizabeth noted all of the results down and retired to her office as it neared dinner time, for the rest of the day, the men would be doing PT training and then dinner and then they have free time. Elizabeth had made loads of notes this day and she needed an early start on her writing.

The book was getting pretty full by now and she knew she would be finishing her report on scrap paper.

After all she's seen in the past few days, she's leaning towards picking Rogers for the job, none of the men she had selected were showing the right traits needed.

During the leadership exercises, Rogers showed the most initiative when it came to solving the situations. He's got the right mindset for a leader, always thinking of the team and how to get everyone through before thinking of himself.

Elizabeth went to Colonel Phillips' office with Doctor Erskine on the evening of the sixth day with her finished report to tell them her final choice.

Colonel Phillips sat at his desk and Elizabeth sat beside Doctor Erskine on the other side of the desk. She handed the book over to Colonel Phillips and he held the book in both hands.

"I was warned that you were very thorough, and I can see that they weren't lying. How many pages is this?" He asked, holding up the book.

"I lost count after ten." Elizabeth admitted. She watched as Colonel Phillips flicked through the book, glancing at some of the pages and he finally flipped to the end page.

"You chose Rogers?" He snapped, he looked up at her sharply and for a moment, Elizabeth felt like a spotlight was on just her.

She nodded her head and regained her composure, "Yes. From what I've seen, he has most of the traits that Doctor Erskine wanted and he's made the most progress out of all the soldiers." Elizabeth said, she leant forward and Colonel Phillips raised an eyebrow at her.

"Most progress?" Colonel Phillips asked sarcastically, "Duffy reports that the man is still lagging behind on all physical exercises, he is still unable to finish a run around the base without stopping to catch his breath at least three times. You know fitness is an important part of being in the army. He's not the right man." He insisted.

"I believe otherwise, Colonel." Doctor Erskine put in, "I am looking for someone strong and able yes, but that can be looked over if needed, I am looking for someone who does not know strength personally, someone who doesn't know the power that this strength has, someone who would use his own strength for others and not against others."

"Let's take a walk." Colonel Phillips said curtly. He rose to his feet pretty sharpish and Elizabeth and Doctor Erskine followed suit. Colonel Phillips stalked from his office with the other two following behind him, they shared a look of agreement. Both of them think that Rogers is the man.

They reached the outside and began walking towards the training ground, still in silence. The men were participating in PT with Peggy standing over them, bawling out commands.

"I am more than just thinking about choosing Steven Rogers, he is the clear choice." Doctor Erskine said firmly as they weaved through stationary vehicles, still making their way towards the soldiers of the SSR.

"When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide, I thought what the hell, maybe he'd be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him." Colonel Phillips said. They reached the training grounds and Elizabeth looked down at the men, Rogers was desperately trying to keep up with the soldiers, he looked breathless and red in the face, but he kept going.

"You stick a needle in that kid's arm, it's gonna go right through him. Look at that." Colonel Phillips said, he pointed at Rogers, "He's making me cry."

"I am looking for qualities beyond the physical." Doctor Erskine replied simply.

"Do you know how long it took to set up this project? All the grovelling I had to do in front of Senator What's-His-Name's Committees?" Colonel Phillips asked, "Do you know how long it took to co-ordinate with Britain to get her?" he gestured at Elizabeth.

"I am well aware of your efforts-" Doctor Erskine began.

"Then throw me a bone." He pleaded, "You and Miss Jones seem to have already decided on him, you have this… this understanding. Well the light hasn't shone on me. Hodge has passed every test we gave him. He's big. He's fast. He obeys orders. He's a soldier." Colonel Phillips said.

"He may have passed every test, but something is not right with Hodge being selected. Do you remember that incident earlier in the week? A soldier should not be so brass like that. All of my instincts point towards Rogers. Do you trust me, Colonel?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm not so sure at the moment, Miss Jones." Colonel Phillips asked quickly. Elizabeth wanted to step back but she didn't want to let him know that hurt.

"Hodge is a bully." Doctor Erskine put in, Colonel Phillips practically rolled his eyes at his words, he turned to the truck beside him and reached in.

"You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor." Colonel Phillips said, he brought his hand back and he turned to them. He opened his hand to reveal one of the practise grenades. He unpinned it. "You win wars with guts." Colonel Phillips said, he launched the grenade right into the midst of the squad still doing their jumping jacks.

"Grenade!" Colonel Phillips yelled, Doctor Erskine and Colonel Phillips took a step backwards, leaving Elizabeth in the front. The men displayed various ways of saving themselves. Most of them dove to the side and tried to find cover with something stationary, but one man darted forward and threw himself onto the grenade to cover the explosion and to take the brunt of it.

But there was none since the grenade was only a practise grenade, a trick to prove Colonel Phillips' point but that fell through as soon as Rogers threw himself onto the grenade.

Elizabeth found herself breathing harder and shallower than she should have been, seeing Rogers react like that brought out something in her that she had long buried deep inside of her. Worry for a man. She knew it was fake, but seeing him risk his life so thoughtlessly stayed with her.

"It's a dummy grenade. All clear." Peggy announced, she held a hand to her stomach, "Get back into formation." The men slowly peered around their protections and spied Rogers still lying on top of the grenade. Some had an envious look on their face when they realised that they had behaved incorrectly.

Rogers slowly sat up from the grenade and picked it up, as if to clarify that it is a dummy grenade, he looked up at Colonel Phillips, Doctor Erskine and Elizabeth with a strange look in his eyes.

"Is this a test?" Rogers asked slowly. No one answered him, but he looked directly at them. He made eye contact with Elizabeth and she felt that tug at her stomach, she gave a small nod, barely even moving but it satisfied him. He slowly got to his feet and dropped the dummy grenade at his feet.

Colonel Phillips turned to Doctor Erskine and Elizabeth, he scowled. "He's still skinny." He muttered before stalking off angrily, leaving Doctor Erskine and Elizabeth.

"He knows what we know, but he is very stubborn." Doctor Erskine said slowly. He smiled at her, "Do you see why I chose Steven?"

Elizabeth looked back over the group, contemplating her decision. "I think I do. His actions just now highlighted it, didn't it?" Elizabeth asked, she looked back over at Doctor Erskine and he nodded his head.

"I've told you about Johann Schmidt, haven't I?" Doctor Erskine asked.

Elizabeth nodded her head, "Yes, on my first night here and we got rather tipsy." Elizabeth admitted.

"Ah yes. Well, after the failed experiment with Johann Schmidt, I worked and worked on the serum to work out the kinks that made him so… different. At this point, I realised that the serum drew out the bad in someone who is driven by badness and multiply it. But, my theory is that the serum would bring out the good in someone and multiply it in someone who is driven by goodness. Steven is a good man. He doesn't know evil."

"And because Rogers is a good man, you think the serum will multiply the goodness in him and the experiment will work?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes." Doctor Erskine said, "Steven does not know strength, and because of that, he's the perfect man for this project."

"Read what I've written, Doctor, I think you'll enjoy it." Elizabeth said. Doctor Erskine nodded his head and he retreated from Elizabeth, he walked away with his hand clasped behind his back.

Elizabeth turned back to the men and kept her attention on the troops. She was more than sure that Rogers is the right man. That thing with the grenade tipped the edge of the iceberg, even Colonel Phillips could see.

About half an hour later, she was summoned back to Colonel Phillips' office and she sat down opposite him.

"I don't agree with your decision and I don't like it. But, since you've already picked the man, I'm giving you a day off tomorrow. Instead of being with the men, you can go out into the local town a few miles from the base." Colonel Phillips said.

Elizabeth leant back in her chair and a surprised look came onto her face, "Really? A day off? I don't think I've had one of those since before the war started in 1939." Elizabeth said.

"Well, you'll be leaving at 0900 hours and a car will be driving you. I think it's about time you left that office of yours."

"Thank you, sir." Elizabeth said with a smile.

"There's some collapsed boxes outside your billet, all the personnel files you have in your office, you'll have to pack them away so they can be shipped out to their different bases." Colonel Phillips said.

"I'll do that now." Elizabeth said, Colonel Phillips handed her a list of different bases and a list of men going to them, she took her leave and headed out to her office. The boxes were waiting for her and she took them into her office where she assembled them and began stacking away all the personnel files from the men she had rejected and the men she had selected for the training phase of the project.

She had left her office door open to let the breeze flow through, "Hello?" Peggy called from the hallway.

"I'm in here." Elizabeth called as she moved another stack across the room. Peggy popped her head around the door and looked in, she pulled a face. "Phillips' orders."

"Ah." Peggy said, she moved into the room and perched on a spare table.

"And, I've actually been given a day off." Elizabeth said, she flashed a smile at Peggy who gave her a smirk.

"A day off?" Peggy asked, "How lucky."

"I'm not needed tomorrow, so Phillips has given me a day off. I've already given in my verdict, so I'm going into the town a few miles away." Elizabeth said. Peggy picked up one of Elizabeth's notebooks and peered inside.

"Will you be wearing your uniform?" Peggy asked, she flicked through the book almost eagerly.

"I don't think so. It'll be too much of a hassle, I think I'll just wear my civilian clothing." Elizabeth answered.

"Elizabeth…" Peggy said slowly, she held the book her hands but her posture had changed completely, Elizabeth looked up quickly. "What does this mean? 'During this year, I've achieved more than what I dreamed with modern technology, think of it, in 1839, they never had this! I have yet to tie together my 'gifts' and my new role, but with this war, who knows what will happen. Mother and Father would be proud of me, if only they knew. Life then was simpler, but now it is much more exciting. How wonderful it is that I've lived long enough to see all this change in the world!' What does it mean?"

Elizabeth bit down on her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest. "That… that's…" She trailed off. She dropped her arms and shifted weight on her feet. "Um. It's hard to explain."

"Well, you've got all day." Peggy said sharply.

"Fine." Elizabeth said, she paced to the door and closed it, "But you're going to have to settle for a half an answer because I don't understand all of it myself." She said as she crossed to the window and closed it tightly.

Peggy raised her eyebrows and put Elizabeth's notebook down.

"Okay. Okay, uhhh. Um." Elizabeth began, "I'm one-hundred-and-twenty-four years old."

Peggy was stunned into silence and her arms that had been crossed, fell into her lap and her mouth fell open.

"You what?" Peggy asked.

"I was born in 1818." Elizabeth said, she reached for the book beside Peggy. "This is my personal diary, alright? I've been alive for a long time and I don't even know why."

"So… you're old?" Peggy asked.

"I stopped aging when I was twenty-one. But I was eighteen when things began happening to me." Elizabeth said.

Peggy looked confused, "And you don't know why you just stopped aging?"

"Nope. Doctor Erskine wants to run a few tests on me after the war to see if he can figure out why I'm not aging." Elizabeth added.

"Doctor Erskine knows?" Peggy asked, "Why did you tell him but not me?"

"I didn't have a choice." Elizabeth replied. "Doctor Erskine's uncle fell in love with me during the first World War. He has a portrait of me with his uncle."

Peggy raised her eyebrows but she was reacting in a way that Elizabeth hadn't expected, Peggy was looking at her, as if deciding if she was telling the truth.

"Why does your hair dry so quickly?" Peggy asked slowly.

Elizabeth knotted her eyebrows and looked up at Peggy, "Is that what you really want to know?" She asked, Peggy nodded her head firmly. "Okay." Elizabeth said.

She held her hand out between them, palm facing upwards and she concentrated for a second before looking up and locking eyes with Peggy. As Peggy looked into her eyes, a small but bright flame sprouted from Elizabeth's hand and danced along her skin. Peggy dropped her eyes to the flame and a shocked look came onto her face.

"What the- Does that hurt?" Peggy asked.

Elizabeth let out a laugh and she kept the flame alight in her hand. "No. I can control fire. Somewhere, probably deep down in my genes, they're mutated. Doctor Erskine doesn't know about this. Only you."

"Peggy jumped down from the table. "Can I touch it?" She asked, she reached for Elizabeth's hand, but Elizabeth closed her hand into a fist and yanked her hand away and she extinguished the flame.

"Are you crazy? It's real fire. It will hurt. I'm immune to it, somehow, I don't know. This is what I meant by half an answer, I don't know all of it myself, only what I've learned over the years." Elizabeth said, she dropped her hand beside her.

Peggy nodded her head slowly and pressed her lips together. "Okay."

"I'm still a human being, but I'm not dangerous. I've had this for years and years." Elizabeth said quickly.

"I wish you'd told me straight away instead of letting me find out." Peggy said. "When did you find out about that?"

"I was eighteen. In 1836." Elizabeth said.

"And can you only set your hands-on fire?" Peggy asked.

"No, all of me can be lit on fire. I've developed my own fire resistant material, I can make my skin warm, I can dry my hair quickly. I never catch the common cold. And I can control any fire. And I can fly, using the fire, of course." Elizabeth said.

"So, a fire in a fire place?" Peggy asked, Elizabeth nodded her head, "A forest fire? A fire in the kitchen?"

"Yeah. And, other than not aging and able to control fire, I have this fast healing rate. But no one can know about it, I mean, you're pretty accepting of me but not everyone is. Please, don't tell anyone." Elizabeth said quickly.

"Your secret is safe with me." Peggy said firmly.

Elizabeth felt as though a weight had been lifted off her after speaking with Peggy. She tidied all of her personal diaries into her luggage and put everything else into the boxes and sealed them up.

Over dinner, Peggy began a conversation about Elizabeth's days in the WAAF, asking what aircraft she's flown, where to and about her responsibilities as an officer.

"I was in Bletchley Park before my brother recommended me to go out into the field, and my superiors loved it. I could use my gender to get past different situations." Peggy said.

"It's good in that way, but other times it can hold you back. Before… I was sent out just on the basis of my gender." Elizabeth said.

"So, why did you join the WAAF?" Peggy asked.

"I love aircraft. I love flying. But the WAAF do no flying, but they do so much more. So, I stayed. But I don't have my own office like I do here." Elizabeth said with a laugh.

"Why?" Peggy asked.

"I'm not a baby rank but I'm not to the top either. There's loads of flight officers milling around throughout the entire WAAF. I had my own desk. Sometimes, when my OC wasn't there, I would be the IC, but I was always the 2IC." Elizabeth said.

"You're 2IC in this division. Did you know that?" Peggy asked.

Elizabeth shook her head, "No. I did not know that."

"When I arrived, Colonel Phillips said that you were his 2IC and he was glad of the change from a 2IC, otherwise Duffy would have been 2IC and we all know how that would turn out." Peggy said.

Elizabeth pulled a face, "Disastrously of course." She laughed. Their conversation lasted through dinner and right up until the point when Peggy fell asleep. Elizabeth rested back against the pillows, feeling at ease but there was something nagging at her. She felt the urge to go for a run.

Even though it was dark, and nearing midnight, she still wanted to go. She quickly pulled on her pair of battledress trousers and she used one of the regiment's top that she had pilfered from stores. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and tugged her boots on.

She began her run as soon as she hit the dirt track outside her billet door, she was so happy to feel the breeze whipping past her. She ran on the outskirts of the parade square and through the training grounds until she reached the dirt track that ran along the outskirts of the base.

She pushed herself, she ran until her feet hurt from hitting the dirt track, she ran until her chest was aching from the lack of oxygen, she ran until she felt satisfied that she had done enough.

She ran that track three times and was only stopped by the patrolling guard on the second go, she showed her military ID and once the guard was happy that she was simply a nutter from the WAAF, she was free to continue her run.

Elizabeth began jogging back to the billet at a slower pace and when she reached the inside, she collapsed on her bed with her boots still on.


Reviewed & Edited: 09/04/2018