Hello again everyone! I'd like to start with another round of thanks to all of you who haven chosen to follow along with this story! It just makes me so happy seeing those numbers go up everyday! You're all the best! I'm going to keep doing my best to keep updates on a regular basis, but I also have lot going on. With that being said, here comes the disclaimer train to tell you that I still have no rights to anything Marvel! Alright? Alright. Hope you enjoy this next bit! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Rose had a hard time sleeping that night. She tossed and turned restlessly, not being able to stop her mind for spiraling into all of the 'what ifs' that could happen tomorrow. So many conflicting emotions swirled inside her, leaving her feeling exhausted by the time the sun began to rise over the horizon. She let out a groan as she rolled over on her cot and sat up, rubbing the palms of her hands into her eyes. She pulled her watch off of the side table, squinting down at in in the darkness until she made out the time. It was just before five. She still had a couple hours before she was supposed to be meeting up with Abraham, but she knew she would not be getting any more sleep, so reluctantly she pulled herself out of bed.
Rose got dressed as quietly as she could, careful not to wake Peggy as she did. After she was dressed and had her hair pulled back in simple ponytail, she slipped her jacket and shoes on and made her way out of the tent, glad she would not have to spend another night sleeping on the uncomfortable cot. She stretched out her back as she watched the rays of the sun begin filling the camp with color and made her way over to the mess hall to fill up on a large cup of coffee.
As she walked into the kitchen area, she was surprised to find that Abraham had already beaten her there, a large steaming cup of coffee already in hand. He looked over at her as he heard her heels echoing through the otherwise empty room. "You couldn't sleep either?" he asked her, taking in the dark circles under her eyes.
"Nope." She sighed. "Too many nerves keeping me awake." She told him, walking over to the fresh pot of coffee and pouring herself a cup.
"You and me both." He said before taking a sip of his coffee.
"You ready for this?" she asked him, walking back over to where he sat at one of the tables.
"I think the question is, are you." He countered, looking over his cup at her.
Rose filled her lungs with a deep breath before letting it out slowly. "As ready as I'll ever be." She told him. "I suppose since you're already up we should get heading out soon. God knows Howard could use all the help he can get to finish setting everything up for today."
"I'm ready if you are." He told her, pushing up from the table.
The two of them loaded up in one of the military vehicles they had been approved to take and set out towards Brooklyn. Just over an hour later, Abraham pulled them to the side of the road in front of the antique shop and shifted the car into park. They both swung open their doors and walked up the sidewalk, pulling open the door of the fake store front. A set of bells chimed above them as they walked into the store, drawing an elder woman out from the back. "Lovely weather this morning, isn't it?" the woman asked them, using the codewords that had been set into place.
"Yes, but you never know when you need an umbrella." Abraham said in response, walking up to her with a smile. "Good morning." He greeted her.
She cast them a friendly smile, having been used to them coming in and out over the last few weeks. She moved over to desk at the side of the room, pressing the button underneath, to buzz them in. They walked in through the back doorway, coming to a stand in the back room in front of the fake bookshelf. After a moment, the shelves swung open, revealing the long corridor behind them. They walked down the hall, passing a few military personnel on the way until they come up to a set of large double doors at the end of the hall. The two guards stationed there pulled them open for them, revealing the large, open lab within.
Rose and Abraham walked into the bright lab they had been working on creating over the last couple of months, Rose's heels clicking loudly against the white tile. Rose looked down over the railing and found Howard in the process of setting everything up. He looked up at them as they entered, and Rose noted the dark circles plastered under his eyes as well.
"Need some help?" she called down to him.
"You betcha. Get down here and help me with these wires!" he called back, focus turning back to the control board he had pulled apart in front of him. Rose quickly made her way down the stairs, pulling her jacket off and trading it for a white lab coat on the wall as she went. She walked up behind him, pushing her arms into the sleeves of the heavily starched fabric.
She looked around at the empty coffee cups scattered throughout the lab and raised her eyebrow at Howard. "Have you been here all night?" she asked him.
"Of course not." He said, turning to face her. "Just most of it." He admitted.
Rose shook her head at him. "Well, just tell me what you need help with, then." She told him, stepping forward. They spent the rest of the morning making the final touches on everything, and as the hours ticked by the lab began to fill with more and more bodies, everyone having a job in getting things prepared for Steve's arrival. After Rose helped Howard with the technical end of things, she made sure Abraham was all set with the serum and that IV lines were all running smoothly. Before long they were up and ready to go, the only thing left being their soldier.
He arrived with Peggy shortly after noon and when they walked in, everyone stopped and looked up at them. Steve was casting his eyes around the room, looking at all the machinery in wonder, before his gaze landed on his sister. She held the clipboard she had been running through the checklist on to her chest and gave him a smile. Peggy finished leading him down the rest of the way and he came to a stand in front of Abraham. He reached out to shake the doctor's hand. "Good morning." He said quietly as a camera flashed next to them, a photographer capturing the history moment.
"Please, not now." Abraham told him, ushering him away. The man scurried away as Steve looked over at the chamber that was meant to hold him in nervousness. "You ready?" Abraham asked him.
Steve looked over at him, nodding his head determinedly. "Good. Take off your shirt, your tie and your hat." Abraham instructed.
Steve looked around unsurely for a moment, before reaching up and pulling the hat from his head. Rose stepped forward, taking his hat from him, and holding out her hands for the rest of his clothes. Once he had them off Rose took the pile and set it on the table next to her and turned back to Steve. "We'll need you to get up in there." She told him as he returned his gaze to the intimidating chamber. She pushed a metal stool over to the side of chamber, giving Steve something to use to step into the high opening.
He stepped up onto the metal frame, sitting down on the cushion on top. "Lay back." She ordered, gesturing to where his head was meant to go. Steve did as he was asked, laying back on the device, shivering as the cold seat touched his back. Rose stepped up to the side of his head as Abraham walked up to his other side. "Comfortable?" she asked him with a smile.
"It's a little big." He told her with a small laugh, feeling his nerves kick into overdrive.
"Don't worry. I think you'll find that you will grow into it soon enough." Abraham told him with a chuckle.
"You save me any of that Schnapps?" Steve asked Abraham, looking over at him.
"Not as much as I should have." He answered truthfully with a tilt of his head. "Sorry."
Rose turned around, looking over to Howard who was walking over to them from the controls. "How are the levels doing?" she asked him.
"They're holding steady at a hundred percent." He told her, coming to stand over Steve with them. "We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we'll ever be." He said, looking just as nervous as Rose felt.
"Dim them?" Rose scoffed. "I bet we blow the entire grid." She said honestly, looking over at him. They shared a small laugh before he moved back to the controls.
Rose turned back to Steve as Abraham asked Peggy if she would be more comfortable in the booth. Peggy took the cue and turned to leave, looking back at Steve for another moment and Rose swore she seen something pass between her and her brother in that moment before she turned and walked back up the stairs.
Rose began gathering the supplies and setting out the antiseptic and needles as Dr. Erskine took hold of the microphone that had been set out for him so those in the booth who has come to observe the historic moment could be communicated with. He looked up at the faces of Colonel Phillips and other important men and women. "Do you hear me? Is this on?" he spoke into the microphone, his voice echoing around them through the speakers.
Rose slipped on a pair of gloves before reaching up and brought the metal extenders down onto each of Steve's pectorals. She muttered an apology as he flinched with the sudden coldness of it. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Abraham's voice floated around the room as she pulled a large strap across Steve's body, holding him down onto the metal frame tightly. "today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace."
"We begin with a series of microinjections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change." Abraham continued as Rose pulled the vials of blue serum from their container and slid them into the corresponding places in the machine, making sure they clicked into place.
"And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays." Abraham finished explaining, setting the microphone back down. Rose reached out for the antiseptic, soaking a gauze pad into the liquid before wiping Steve's shoulder down with it, cleansing the area. She grabbed the syringe full of antibiotics from the tray beside her and carefully slid the needle into her brother's shoulder.
Steve's face scrunched up in pain she pushed the medicine down into his mass of muscle. "That wasn't so bad." He said, letting out a relieved sigh.
Rose looked down at him with a raised brow. "That was penicillin." She told him, not being able to help the smirk that pulled up the corner of her lip.
Steve looked up at her, his heartrate tripling. "Serum infusion, beginning in…" Abraham said, starting the countdown.
Rose looked down at Steve, giving him the most reassuring smile that she could muster. "I'll see you on the other side." She told him, giving his hand a quick squeeze.
"Five…four…three…" Abraham began counting down as two pads began to lower down onto his upper arms, sharp needles protruding from them and sliding into his flesh as they were pushed down by the automatic levers. "two…" he continued, placing a hand down on Steve's shoulder in comfort. "One."
The controls were flipped and the serum began pumping through the tubing, slowly inching closer and closer to Steve as it went. When it finally did enter into him, Steve's face drew in with agony and he let out a pained groan, clenching his teeth tightly together. Suddenly his eye's snapped open as the serum began attack his cells. "Now, Mr. Stark." Abraham called out.
Howard flipped the switch and the table motor whirred into motion, bringing Steve up vertically. Rose and Abraham took a step back as the outer walls began closing in around Steve, enclosing him a capsule. Once the pieces stopped moving, Rose stepped up to the door and looked down into the small window where his face was sitting inside. "You okay in there Steve?" she asked through the metal.
"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom." She heard his muffled voice say and she let out a laugh.
"I think we can proceed." Abraham said, letting out his own laugh at Steven's attempt to lighten the mood.
Rose gave one last pat on the glass before stepping down and looking over at Howard. "You ready to start this party?" she asked him, drawing in a deep, steadying breath. Howard reached over and began manipulating the dials. The machinery powered into life as he stepped over to the other controls and began twisting the wheel, bringing the amount of Vita-Rays flowing into the chamber up little by little. Rose had to cover her eyes as the glass began emanating with a bright, white light.
"Twenty percent." Howard called out as he kept turning the control. "Thirty." He called as the light grew steadily brighter. "That's forty percent."
"Vitals are normal." Rose said, looking over at one of the screens next to her.
"That's fifty percent….sixty…seventy…"he kept counting at the light grew brighter to the point that Rose had to completely turn to head to the side. Her head quickly shot back over to the chamber though as Steve's pained scream could be heard coming from inside. The scream went was pain to agony and Rose rushed up to the capsule, her heart beating erratically inside her chest as her ears were filled with the loudest scream she ever heard from tearing from his throat.
"STEVE!" she yelled, trying her best to look inside the machine, but not being able to see past the light. "SHUT IT DOWN!" she bellowed back to Stark, not being able to listen to his agony a moment longer.
Abraham whipped around to Howard as Steven kept screaming. "Kill the reactor Mr. Stark!" he yelled out. "Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!" he ordered.
"Hold on Steve!" Rose shouted through the metal wall. "We're getting you out of there!" she told him.
"NO!" came Steve's strained voice. "Don't! I can do this!" he bellowed out.
Rose and Abraham shared a look before Rose nodded, taking a step back down from the chamber. She walked backwards, until she came to a stop in front of Abraham. He brought his hands down on her shoulders comfortingly as Howard stepped back to the controls and kept increasing the levels. "Eighty…ninety…that's one hundred percent!" he called out.
Rose hide her eyes under her hand as the light filled the room so brightly that she feared she'd go blind if she continued to look at it. The whirring of the machine became deafening as sparks began shooting out around the room, circuits being blown by the incredible surge of power. Suddenly, the power to the chamber cut and the room grew darker…and much quieter. "Open it up!" Rose called back over to Howard, worried over her brother's silence.
The doors pulled open with a hiss and when they pulled back, they revealed Steve, lying unconscious, but he was practically unrecognizable. Where only minutes ago, a small, frail boy had been laying, now was a tall, healthy man who's body was defined in thick, protruding muscles. The breath caught in her throat as she realized that the serum had worked. She rushed forward, pulling the strap and metal bars away from him before smacking against his cheek slightly, trying to rouse him. "Steven! Hey, Steve, can you hear me?" she asked him, worry filling her to the brim.
His eyes began to flutter open, his head rolling to the side. "Is it over?" he mumbled out.
"Yeah. It's over Steve." She said with a breath of releif as Abraham stepped forward and helped bring him out of the chamber with Rose. They held onto either side of him and guided him down the steps, holding up his weight to keep him from falling.
"I did it." Steve said, beginning to put more weight on his own legs.
"Yeah, yeah we did." Rose said, the largest smile of her life plastered on her face as she looked over at Abraham. Their years of hard work had paid off. They actually did it!
Abraham looked over at her with his own smile. "I think we did." He agreed with a tilt of his head. Howard rushed over to them, looking over at Steve in wonder before looking down at Rose and Abraham. "You actually did it." He said in disbelief.
The room began buzzing with excitement, everyone talking amongst themselves, everyone struck with amazement and the realization that they had just made history. Peggy rushed down to them, looking over at Steve in concern. "How are you feeling?" she asked him, looking over him.
"Taller." He said, removing his arms from Rose and Abraham, being able to support his own weight now.
"You look taller." Peggy responded, having a hard time not staring at his impressively chiseled chest. A nurse handed him a shirt to slip on as the room full of people descended upon the group of them. The Senator came up to give Dr. Erskine a congratulations and as after they shook hands Rose couldn't hold back anymore and practically threw herself onto him, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. She was filled with so much elation that she couldn't help it. "Thank you, Doctor." She whispered into his ear, hoping he knew just how much this meant to her. This was everything she had worked for. A weight suddenly lifted from her shoulders and she had never felt so happy.
That happiness was quickly snatched away from her as the sounds of bullets ripped through the air and she felt Abraham surge forward, falling into her and sending them falling to the ground in a heap. An explosion swept through the air as they landed on the ground, sending flames and glass shards flying everywhere. Screams tore through the room as people ducked in cover. A man who had been holding a gun snatched up a vial of the serum in all the chaos before turning and making a run for it.
Rose untangled herself from Abraham and sat up, only to notice the large pool of blood forming under Abraham's body. She realized, in horror, that he had been shot. She found blood streaming from two bullet holes in his chest and quickly threw her hands onto of them, trying to stop the flow. She heard more shots being fired before Steve dropped down on Abraham's other side. Rose watched as the attacker took off out the door, quickly followed by Peggy. "GO!" she yelled at Steve, knowing it was more important to stop the assailant. "I've got him, go!" she told him.
Steve looked down at Abraham for a moment, before nodding and taking off to chase the gunman. Rose looked back down at Abraham and yelled out for somebody to call an ambulance. She knew that based on where the bullets had hit, he was more than likely to bleed out before an ambulance could even get there, but she was filled with the overwheling need to do something. She watched as his eyes began to droop heavily and the tears began to burn in her eyes. "Stay with me Abraham!" she told him, pressing down at tight as she could on his wounds, desperately trying to keep any more of his blood coming out.
Abraham slowly reached a shaking hand into his pocket before sliding it back to Rose's hand, pushing an object into her hold. "Don't let them m-make it a weapon." He whispered to her weakly.
She closed her hand around his hand and the object within as she watched his eyes begin to drift shut. "No! Abraham!" she yelled, the tears falling from her cheeks like waterfalls. His eyes sealed shut as his chest stopped moving and a sob tore from her throat. "NO! WAKE UP!" she pleaded, shaking him. "PLEASE!" she sobbed, her vision blurring with all the tears flowing from her. Her pleas went unheard, it seemed, as he refused to open is his eyes again and she realized he never would.
She felt someone pull her back off of Abraham and turned to find Howard wrapping his arms around her as he knelt down next to her. She threw herself in his embrace and let the sobs rake through her. She lost total control of her emotions as she fell apart, being held together by nothing but Howard's grip. Eventually, her sobs began to subside as a cold, emptiness began to set in. By the time Steve made it back, the tears had stopped falling. She sat there, staring at the white sheet covering her friend and felt numb.
"Did you stop him?" Howard asked Steve after he returned and saw for himself the damage that had been done.
"He killed himself before I could get anything out of him. Cyanide." Steve told them, his voice low as he felt the weight of his failure.
Rose tightened her fist as she pictured the death of Abraham's murderer and knew he got off easy. She felt something in the palm of her hand and looked down to find the object Abraham had given her still clenched in her grasp. She opened her fingers and looked down at the little black notebook that was now stained with blood. She felt her throat begin to close up as she realized that he had given her the one thing that meant the most to him. In her hand sat the little notebook that Dr. Erskine had written all his notes and formulas for the serum in. He kept it always on his person, never trusting it anywhere outside of his constant protection. She looked down at the bundle of pages and his last words drifted back to her. Don't let them make it a weapon. A weight she had never felt before fell around her as she realized what he had entrusted her with. She tightened her grip back around the notebook and began to wonder how today she had gone from something so joyous to so devastating, in such a short amount of time.
She was certain one thing only: today would be a day she would remember for the rest of her life.