Chapter 1

~June, 1943~

~Camp Lehign; Wheaton, NJ~

Agent Carter let out a slight huff as she looked over her clipboard while sitting in her jeep. After she had finished her mission to rescue Dr. Erskine from Germany, she spent over two years with Colonel Philips, the leader of the SSR, in helping push forward a super soldier project as Dr. Erskine had wished. Years of gaining funds and building up the project had led to this moment; choosing the first of super soldiers to lead a new army and change the world for the better.

At this point, the SSR had a week to go through testing for twelve select army recruits and pick one to start the project. There were many tough recruits that had passed the tests with flying colors and superb skills but one of them stood out; a skinny, short young man by the name of Steve Rogers. He was not particularly strong, nor was he fast, but he seemed to have this dedication to his position and determination to keep trying. Something about that behavior stood out to Peggy and told her something about him; he was something special, just as Dr. Erskine had said.

"Pick up the pace ladies! MOVE!"

A yell pulled Agent Carter from her thoughts as she turned to look behind her to see the drill sergeant commanding the trainees to run as part of their test. As expected, Gilmore Hodge was at the front of the pack; Colonel Philips would be thrilled to know his highest prospect for the project was improving quickly. What Peggy also noticed was that at the back of the pack, lagging sorely and gasping for breath, was Steve Rogers and he was trying to keep up so badly.

The drill sergeant pointed to the flagpole next to them when they stopped and shouted, "That flag there, means we're only at the halfway point! First one to bring it to me, gets a ride back with Agent Carter!" Without warning, all the soldiers rushed to climb the pole and retrieve the flag, climbing over each other, yet no one could reach it.

"No one's gotten that flag in seventeen years!" The drill sergeant continued to pester the group to try harder, only to see no one able to succeed. So, he called them all back into formation as Peggy turned back to her clipboard to take some notes. "ROGERS! I said FALL IN!" The command grabbed everyone's attention as the skinny young man stared up at the flagpole; surely, he was not about ready to try what others could not do.

Steve looked up at the flagpole for a moment, ignoring all others around him in order to focus. He leaned down to take out the screw and support handle at the bottom of the flagpole and the entire pole came down with a BANG. Steve walked over to the end of the flagpole and untied the flag from the string before handing it off to the drill sergeant. He was completely oblivious to the bewildered stares of the others that had just witnessed this, but he did give a small nod to Agent Carter when he saw the smile on her face as the jeep drove off back to the barracks.

When they got there and they got out of the jeep, Agent Carter stopped to talk to Rogers for a moment. "That was rather interesting what you did back there. No one else seemed to think of what you did. Did it cross your mind that maybe others would have considered that cheating?"

Steve was a bit surprised that Agent Carter had stopped to say anything to him in the first place. He was not exactly one to be popular, or even noticed, with ladies. It would, however, be rude not to talk with her since she initiated the conversation. "Well ma'am, I know my limits, so I do my best to find different solutions; work smarter, not harder. Technically, it wasn't cheating since drill sergeant didn't say how to get the flag to him."

She smiled at him and agreed, "No, you certainly didn't cheat…and it was rather smart." She went quiet for a moment as she thought to how Dr. Erskine said he had a feeling about Rogers. He had told her that this young man was going to make a difference in many ways and maybe change the lives of others along the way and maybe change the lives of others along the way, even in ways no one would expect. Peggy did not understand that at first until now; there was only one other being of sorts that Erskine felt the same about. Looking back to Steve, she gestured to direct his gaze to a munitions shed nearby. "Later tonight, meet me by that shed; I have something to show you."

Later that evening, Rogers had left the sleeping quarters to meet Agent Carter by the shed as she had asked. She was standing by the front door that was marked with a sign saying, 'No Unauthorized Entry'. Steve looked around nervously, fearing he would get into trouble, as he followed Agent Carter into the shed and closed the door behind him. There were many crates stacked about, file cabinets filled with crucial documents, and very little ammunition in this shed. "This way," Steve heard Agent Carter say as she led him through rows of stacked crates and such until they came to a spot in the row and knelt before a small cage. Steve watched as she pulled out a key from her pocket and unlocked the bolt lock on the cage before opening the door. Peggy extended a hand towards the darkness and gently said, "Hey there little guy; come on out. It's alright." Small whimpers could be heard from the darkness of the cage as Peggy coaxed whatever was in there. "It's quite alright now. This is a friend…. Steve Rogers: he will not hurt you. Come on out now."

A small sound like footsteps was heard after the whimpering stopped and Steve was surprised as out of the cage came a small dog that acted very much like a puppy, yet at the same time was unlike any dog he had ever seen. He noticed that comparing size, this dog was about two feet tall and came up just below his hip. The dog had orange fur with black stripes along its back and legs. The fur on its muzzle, chest, belly, and tail was a soft cream-color, as well as an additional tuft of fur on the top of its head. Its coat looked to be incredibly soft and seemed to be noticeably longer on its chest and tail. It also had gray eyes, a black nose, and large, round ears. Its forepaws had two visible claws, while its hind paws had three toes each, and each paw had a brown pad. The dog calmed and rubbed its head into Peggy's hand as she pet him.

"Unique, isn't he? Dr. Erskine brought him here when we got him into the United States. Dr. Erskine told us of this group HYDRA, a fanatical science division under Hitler, had mutated animals to use as biological weapons in the war. Dogs, cats, birds, anything they could get, they mutated the animals with abnormal science to give them strange abilities. Erskine said none of the animals survived, they all died…except this one, and that is mostly because Dr. Erskine was forced to work on him and make him survive. He did it and saved this creature's life, but at the cost of it being used for destruction, so when I rescued the doctor, he took this little guy with him."

Steve carefully looked at the dog before questioning, "What can he do? What makes him so dangerous?"

Peggy smiled and rubbed the puppy's back saying, "Let's just say things grow rather hot around him when he is nervous." At that, the dog hiccupped, and a small flame spit out, causing Steve to jump a little in surprise. Peggy continued while she fed the dog some treats stored near the cage, "Yes, all the others had the same reaction, but he only does this when he gets too nervous or excited. After a few accidents of setting things on fire, no one knew how to control him or interact with him, so the Colonel had him kept in here locked away and contained, only to feed it and take walks. Dr. Erskine continued to care for him, and I felt for the little thing, so I decided to give him the love and care he deserves. He is only a puppy, after all; but he is very smart and seems to understand what people say more than others. Would you like to pet him?"

Steve looked at Agent Carter for a moment when she offered for him to interact with the dog. Sure, Steve felt awful that such an innocent creature suffered so much, and he knew the dog deserved more than that, but even he felt a little scared that his hand could get burned if the dog did not like him. Pushing away his fear, he looked down at the dog sitting before him and outstretched a hand to pet him. Slowly, gently, as to not startle him Steve lowered his hand until it hovered just over the dog and he dared not to scare him.

The puppy looked up and sniffed the hand of the young man before him and closed the distance between them as his head pushed up into the hand. Steve let out a sigh of relief as he pets the puppy's fur back and forth, relishing in the soft feel of the fur. The puppy licked Steve's fingers and let out a happy 'yip' before climbing up into Steve's lap, curled in a ball as it nudged his hand to continue petting him. "See? You aren't so bad, are you?" Steve looked to Peggy's smile as he said, "You know, he sort of reminds me of myself. He has an image that makes others doubt him, and what he is truly capable of. What is his name?"

Peggy was astounded at how quickly this dog seemed to become attached to Rogers and her smile grew when Rogers explained how the two were similar. When Rogers asked about his name, she shrugged her shoulders a little and replied, "I don't think he has a real name. Dr. Erskine said that back in HYDRA, he was labeled 'Experiment 058', but he had no other identification."

Steve looked back down to the dog and thought for a moment about naming this puppy. "Well, I'm not the best with names but I'll think about it. For such a special dog, he deserves the best name." Steve was about to hand the dog back to Peggy to put in his cage, but the puppy became tense and whimpered, looking up at Steve with those puppy-dog eyes and Steve felt something; a connection with this dog that could not be pushed aside or ignored. "Agent Carter…. I do not suppose he could stay with me, could he? He doesn't deserve to be alone anymore. Please?"

Steve opened the door to the barracks late that night and noticed the others were not around to hassle him. He came in, opening the door for the puppy to follow him, and closing it behind them as he led the puppy to the floor next to his bed. Steve rummaged around and found a few extra blankets to create a makeshift bed. "Alright little pup; this is where you sleep, and I'll be right here, okay?" The puppy looked at the small bed, walking into it and sitting in the blankets. The bed was nice, but something was missing for this pup as he watched Steve climb into his own bed. After Steve settled in under the sheets, the puppy hopped up onto the bed and curled up in a ball next to Steve between the crook of his arm and his side. Not having the heart to move him, Steve pet the dog once more before drifting off to sleep.

Meanwhile, before Peggy could sleep, she visited Dr. Erskine to tell him of what happened. "Dr. Erskine, it was amazing; the bond between these two is phenomenal. I mean, sure the dog was happy to see me when I would visit him, but with Rogers it is as if two kindred spirits met for the first time. I can't help but think you were right when you brought that dog with you from Germany."

Dr. Erskine looked from his mirror at the young agent and smiled wistfully. "I knew that that little hound would be capable of so much more than what he was originally created for, and now I see it working. Rogers has done what none of those other recruits did; he looked past his potential fears and rather than see a monster capable of destruction, he saw a dog searching for a friend." He looked over some of his notes about his formula before continuing, "This proves it even more; Rogers is the clear perfect choice for this project. Both those little guys will change so much for the better."