I wake up in my room, completely confused and dazed. As I start to slowly wake up, memories start flooding my mind.

Immediately I look at my hands. The glow. It's gone. Did I dream it? Was any of it real. I start to rise slowly from my bed, my body feels heavy and sluggish. Finally pulling myself to the edge of the bed I take a look around my room.

Nothing out of place. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I step off the edge of the bed, making sure I can hold my own weight. Then I slowly, sluggishly start making it to the door. I reach for the handle and turn to open the door. I immediately realize that its locked. From the outside.

I knock on the door, "Hello? Hello? Any one out there?" I beg, I plead. No answer.

I continue knocking on the door, trying to get any one's attention for what seems like hours. I eventually give up and sit up on the bed, tucking my legs to by body. I feel as if the walls are closing in on me. What's going to happen to me?

My mind wanders to Steve and Bucky. Will I ever see them again? I remember Bucky promised to send me letters. Will I ever get to read them? To write back. Will I ever be able to tell you that when I thought I couldn't take anymore I saw you. Only you.

As my mind raced with thoughts of uncertainty, the door opening jolts me back.

"(Y/N)..." I heard as I peek from my position to see Howard standing at the door frame. Behind him I notice two armed guards.

"Howard!" I instantly leap to my feet and run to hug him, finally happy to see a friendly face. But before I can reach him, a guard pushes him aside and knocks me back. I hit the floor; shock clearly written in my face.

"That isn't necessary!" Howard snaps and runs to my side, glaring at the guards. "Leave me alone with her. She's fine. Wait outside!"

The guards look at each other uncertain, shrug and close the door behind them.

"Howard? What's going on? I don't understand..." I say as I take his hand to stand.

"(Y/N), Phillips has ordered you to confinement in the room. He wants to run tests. We're trying to get him to loosen the restrictions on you, but no matter what Peggy, Erskine or I say he's not budging. We won't stop trying (Y/N). I promise." Howard says leading you to your bed, taking a seat next to you.

"Tests? I don't understand..."

"(Y/N) do you remember anything?" He said looking at me intently.

"I remember a glow... but I must have been imagining that right? Right?" I repeated as I searched his face.

"You weren't imagining that. I promise we will figure this out (Y/N), I promise." He stated as I'm sure my expression of shock displayed at his words.

-.-.-.-

Days blurred after that moment Howard came into my room. Test after test were administered. Endurance tests. Strength tests. Phycological tests.

After a while they started to see the reactions the serum had on my body. Erskine said I did become that "super soldier" they were looking for, although no visible physical changes in my body had taken place. But the yellow serum, once exposed to the vita rays also had an unwanted reaction.

They first saw the yellow glow again during a strength test. They kept pushing my limits. Seeing how far I could go. When they asked me to lift 4 times my weight, I felt like I couldn't go on, but then almost instantly I felt another burst of energy and was able to lift it with ease. The yellow serum ran through my veins, it made me glow again, gave me the strength to keep going.

They had no way of knowing if that yellow glow had any other reactions. It only seemed to appear whenever I was in extreme duress, when I felt like I couldn't go on anymore. Erskine said there was still so much to study about it.

After days of fighting Phillips... Howard, Peggy and Erskine were able to convince him to let me out of confinement.

My days were now filled with training in hand-on-hand combat and working alongside Howard, practically as his assistant as the new candidate would be arriving soon for his procedure.

"Are they going to lock this one away like me?" You nudge Howard as your helping him tinker with one of the many devices in the lab.

"Maybe. If they start glowing like you, I'm pretty sure they'll lock him up, and Erskine too" he chuckled as he started twisting and turning knobs here and there.

You shake your head. Like I'm a threat to anyone here. Please.

Erskine enters the lab in a flurry. Spotting you he makes his way towards you without hesitation. "(Y/N) my dear. How are you today?" You know he's hated the way they've been treating you lately. He really has tried to look out for you.

"I'm fine. When's the new star coming? I'm dying to meet him. Warn him to run for the hills." You say chuckling, yet there's some sincerity in what you're saying.

"Agent Carter is bringing him in soon. I believe this will be another success." He says taking my hands.

"You mean your first success Doctor. I'm not really looked at as a success around here." You say patting his hand in yours.

He lets a small frown form on his face, "you my dear are not a failure. You have so much potential in you. Don't let others fear ever cloud your judgement. You have truly become something more. More than I could have ever dreamed. You have made what I even thought was impossible. Possible."

"And what's that Doc?" you say to him, knowing he was going to say the same thing he's been saying to you for days.

"You've become an angel." He said with conviction. He strongly believed those words with every fiber of his being. His belief was that your glow was something more, something unique. Otherworldly even.

You laughed as you usually do when he says it, "I'm just a patriot Doctor. Nothing more." He winked at you, knowing he always pressed a nerve when he said that.

As Erskine went to set up his blue serum for the new candidate. I turned back to Howard to see if he needed any more assistance.

I was caught by surprise when I heard my name called out by a familiar voice, "(Y/N)?"

Steve? I turn around, and there he is. Standing next to Peggy. I forget everything and just run to hug him with all my might.

"Steve!" I say as soon as I tug him into my arms. I then immediately pull him back, the sight of him there finally registering. "Wait, what are you doing here Steve?"

"I can ask you the same thing (Y/N)... what are you doing here?" He said looking at me with confusion clearly written on his face.

Then it hits you. He came in with Peggy. He was the candidate. You glare at Peggy then turn around looking for Erskine. I'm going to kill him.

"Erskine! NO! Don't you fucking dare!" you scream as you feel the rage in you start to build. You want to run to grab him, but feel a hand hold you back. Steve. You immediately calm down. You almost let the glow come out. Thank god Steve didn't see that.

"(Y/N)? Calm down. What's wrong?" You see Steve looking at you worried.

"You can't do this Steve." You say coldly. I won't let you. They won't hurt you. Not if I have anything to say about it.

"(Y/N) talk to me. What's going on? Why are you here?" He says calmly searching my face for answers.

I grab him by the arm, and start walking towards a corner of the lab. "Give me a second alone with Steve please" you say to all those around you. Finally, you look at Steve, he's patiently waiting for you to speak up.

"How much do you know about what you're here for?" I ask Steve.

"Enough. I know this isn't the first time Erskine has tried this experiment. He tried once before he came here to the states, and then once here with another candidate. His first experiment failed, the second he said was a success. I'm going to be the third try, with a different formula from the other two. So there's no guarantees how it will react." He stated nonchalantly.

Your mind raced. There was an experiment before you? I didn't know that. He called it a failure. And he calls me a success? If I'm a success I don't want to meet the other guy.

"And you still want to do that? You don't know what you're getting yourself into Steve. You don't need to do this." You say to him, sadness making themselves known it your words.

Steve looked at you for a good second and then it hit him. "You? Did you?"

Not finding the words, you nod.

Steve's eyes widened, he grabbed you by the arms and started looking at you searching for injury. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why did you do this? What were you thinking (Y/N)? If Buck finds out, he's going to kill me for letting you do something so stupid."

"Dr. Erskine approached me in the hospital after our fight in the ally. Offering me to be stronger. To be something more. I thought nothing of it. But then after Bucky left, after you left. He came back to see me, reminding me of his offer. You guys had left me behind to go to war. I couldn't stand it. We always did everything together. So I said why not this too? And accepted his offer. And here I am." You motioned to yourself and your surroundings.

"Are you okay?" He said worried, not for himself. Not for the outcome of what his procedure could bring. But for you.

"It's not all that it's cracked up to be Steve. I haven't been able to leave this place since. I was worried I would never see you guys again." You look at him, hoping this would change his mind.

Steve looked at you pensively. He looked like he was searching for the right words to say.

"Then if you're okay. I'll be okay. And once this is said and done, we will both go find Buck. We will do our duty and come back home. We'll look back at all of this and laugh." He gave you his classic Steve smile, like if everything he said was a done fact.

"Steve..." you sigh. But you could tell his mind hadn't budged.

"Come on, I have introduce you to a great gal." Steve says, a smile on his face while he grabs your arm and leads you back to Peggy.

"Miss. Carter, this is one of my best friends (Y/N), (Y/N) this is Miss. Carter. She's been helping me train." Steve said, a cute grin on his face. Oh my... I think Steve has a crush!

"Peggy good to see you again. Although I'm not too thrilled about the circumstances right now." You say as you roll your eyes and shake your head at her.

"Wait... you two know each other?" Steve said looking back and forth between us.

Peggy just chuckles, a little blush showing up in her cheeks. Oh yeah. There's something going on here. I'll try to figure that out later.

Before any one of us could speak again, Erskine began to motion Steve to his spot on the table. Peggy and I were escorted to the viewing box above.

Upon entering the box I see Phillips and his crew of uppity men. "Colonel Phillips" I say in a serious tone, outstretching my hands to his. He shakes it mutters my name and continues talking to all of his invited guests.

I turn back and sit next to Peggy, who I can tell is visibly nervous. "He'll be okay" I find myself saying, not knowing why I felt I had to comfort her and assure her.

"Yes, yes. I'm sure he will be fine. Thank you (Y/N)." She looks back at you with a small smile. You know she's seen what this did to you. The worry hasn't left her mind about what it could do to Steve. It hadn't left your mind either.

At that Erskine tapped the microphone in his hand and began to speak to those up in the viewing box.

"Ladies and Gentleman, today we do not take another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro injections into subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subject with be saturated with vita rays." You see him step back from his position to speak to Steve.

Your guts tense, hoping and praying this goes well. You see them position and place the blue serum, and you pray you don't see a blue Steve soon.

"Serum infusion beginning in 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.." You see Steve's sudden reaction to the serum and needles, much like your own.

"Now Mr. Stark..." Erskine says looking towards Howard. With a pull of the lever you see Steve being encapsulated just like you were in the pod. Your breath hitches, you begin to feel knots forming in your gut.

You see Erskine approach the pod and ask Steve if he can hear him. You swear you hear him ask if it's too late to go to the bathroom and you can't help but form a small smile on your lips and sigh. Oh Steve.

"We will proceed" says Erskine towards Howard. With that Howard begins to work his magic on his computers.

"That's 10%" you hear Howard say. Deep down you know Howard was affected by your procedure. He's starting off slow this time.

"20%... 30... that's 40%." He states. "Vital signs are normal" says an assistant. Thank god.

"That's 50%. 60... 70..." You hear Howard. Then all of a sudden you start to hear noise from the pod. Steve. He's yelling. He's in pain.

Erskine runs up to his pod "Steven!"

While Peggy and I run down from the viewing area. "Turn it off!" I scream as I'm running down.

"Shut it down!" I hear Peggy yell.

"Kill the reactor Mr. Stark, turn it off. Kill it!" You hear Erskine yell and say as he's running to Howard.

Howard makes a beeline to turn off the reactor when all of a sudden Steve yells "NO! Don't! I can do this!"

Howard then goes back to turning up the reactor. "Stop it! Don't listen to him! Please!" You hear yourself pleading, crying.

"80... 90... that's 100%!" you hear Howard yell. Steve had gone quiet. Tears were welling up in my eyes. No Steve, no. Please... My mind immediately thinking the worst.

They left it running, blowing the power, my mind couldn't take the fact that Steve might not be okay. He needed to be okay.

As the pod powered down and opened, I could see Steve. He was breathing. He wasn't blue, he wasn't glowing. He was big. Woah this is not the Steve that just went into the pod.

I run to his side and find that Peggy has also ran beside him.

Erskine and Howard were helping him off the pod. "I did it" I heard Steve say. I sighed a breath of relief as I heard him speak.

"I think we did it" said Erskine with a smile on his face. "We actually did it..." said Howard, some disbelief in his face.

I finally reach Steve's side with Peggy in toe. Before I can get a word out she asks "How do you feel?"

"Taller." He replies steadying his breath.

I let a chuckle escape and quickly grab him in a huge bear hug. "Steve. Thank goodness. You had me worried there for a second."

"(Y/N) I did it." He says with a stupid grin on his face.

"Yes you did... scared me half to death. Don't ever scare me like that again." I say hugging him again.

Before I know it Phillips and his goons are all over us. Congratulating Erskine, patting each other on the back. As if they had done so much as an inch of work.

It was at that moment I noticed Erskine looking at the one solidary man from Phillips' group staying back. He looked out of place. I had a bad feeling wash over me.

All of a sudden a blast in the viewing room threw us all down. Erskine immediatly got up and saw the man reaching for an unused vial of the blue serum. "Stop him!" he shouted.

The man pulled out a gun. What happened next felt like it was happening in slow motion. He aimed for Erskine and shot a round. Then saw me and Peggy at our feet. He aimed the gun towards us. Like instinct my body took over. I shielded Peggy, hugging her, my back to the shooter. I felt a rush of power, an explosion of instinct. I waited for the bullet to hit me. But it never did. I opened my eyes to see two gold wings hugging me and Peggy. Golden wings made purely out of light. My light.

With that the shooter ran away. I immediately let go of Peggy and ran to Erskine's side. Steve was already there. Peggy had taken off after the shooter.

He was saying something to Steve when I got there. Once he saw me at his side, my golden wings, somehow still there he whispered "my angel". And with that he closed his eyes.

"No, no don't do this to me Doc..." You hear yourself say. The glow finally fading, and with it the wings as you take him into your hands.

You are too focused on Erskine to even see Steve leave your side, out the door, after the gunman.

You stayed there for what seemed like forever. Cradling Erskine in your arms. Crying at the man who believed you were something more than just a failure here. Howard came up to you, holding your shoulders. He tried to make you let Erskine go. But you couldn't find the strength to do it.

After what seemed like forever, they take his body away. Howard takes you to the infirmary where you find Steve, blood samples being collected from him.

You can't speak. You're exhausted. You just look at him as Peggy explains why they were taking samples.

"He deserved better than this." You hear Steve say.

"I will make them pay for this." You are surprised to hear yourself say. Steve looks back at you, concern in his eyes.

Before he can speak Colonel Phillips enters the room. "As of today the SSR is being re-tasked. We are taking the fight to Hydra. Agent Carter pack your bags. You too Stark. We're flying to London tonight"

You look at Phillips expecting him to tell you the same. He never does.

"Sir.." you hear Steve speak up. "If you're going after Schmidt I want in."

"You and (Y/N) are an experiment. You both are going to Alamogordo." Phillips replied.

"The serum worked" you said pointing at Steve, not even caring to mention yourself. "Use him, since I know you won't even look at me."

"I asked for an army. And all I got was you Rodgers, and a failed experiment." He spat, that last part looking straight at you. "You are not enough."

My temper flared, while one of the men with the Colonel approaches Steve. Telling him he may have a job for him yet.

I walk away, but I feel someone stop me from going too far.

Howard looks at me and then says "You are not going to get stuck in some lab. I'm going to make sure of it okay? I saw what you did today. There's so much more to your gift than we know. You're going to do wonderful things (Y/N)."

"Thanks Howard. I'm going to go pack up my things..." you take him in a quick hug. "Have fun in London."