WOO! I can't believe we're already at chapter 11! I want to start with another quick thank you for all the new follows since my last update! Seriously guys, you have no idea how much I appreciate you all! I hope you are enjoying Rose and her story as much as me! Big things are happening and it's been so fun getting these chapters done! Here is your mandatory disclaimer that I still have no rights or ownership over Marvel! And now I'll let you get to it! Hope you enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Rose knew it was a mistake to let Abraham's formula….the formula he trusted her with…. be handed over to the German forces. But no matter how many times so told herself that, her decision never changed. The desire to protect Bucky outweighed her desire to protect the formula every time she would weigh her decisions. And even though she knew she was making a terrible mistake, she at least wouldn't do so foolishly. While Schmidt had wanted her to hand over the formula outright, she had refused. Rose knew that the formula was her only leverage and she would not give it up so easily. She would help recreate the serum, but she would be the one doing it. She would reproduce the formula alongside the Hydra scientist named Arnim Zola, but she would only do so as long as Schmidt kept his word and let Bucky live.
So, Rose worked with the short scientist who would question her about every movement she made and why she did it, finding his constant questioning maddening to say the least. While he was brilliant in his own right, he also seemed wholly wrapped up in the fantasy Schmidt and Adolf Hitler held such a strong belief in. She found it hard to believe someone who held so much scientific belief, could be swayed so heavily by something as fictitious as ancient myths and legends of old. But he did as Rose bid, doing his part in the creation of the formula without complaint.
With the vast number of supplies and help at her disposal, Rose was sure she could have recreated the serum within a couple weeks-especially with their insistence of not letting her sleep longer than five hours at a time, hoping to rush her into completing it. But, she knew once they had the serum in hand, she and Bucky would become collateral, and so she stretched out her time as much as she could. She bid her time as best she could and prayed for a miracle in the meantime.
Unfortunately, there was only so much stalling she could do and after the fourth week without divine intervention, it seemed that she was out of options. She stared down at the three vials of blue liquid, knowing that she had played a part in altering history for that moment on. She stared up as the door to the lab she had been basically imprisoned within swung open and in strode Johann Schmidt. He looked over at her with so much triumph on his face that she was tempted to take hold of the vials and throw them against the wall in retaliation.
"Congratulation, Ms. Rogers." He said, coming to a stand in front on the metal table she had been sitting at. He pulled one of the glass vials from it's holder, rolling in in between his fingers as he studied it. "It seems that you are a woman of your word."
"I still need to see the energy source you plan on using." She told him, crossing her arms. "Without the use of Stark's VitaRay Chamber I'm not sure how to stabilize the formula."
"Yes, well based on what you have told me of these Vita Rays, I'm sure we will be able to stabilize the substance with the Tesseract." Zola said from her side, causing her attention to be pulled over to him.
"Well, you haven't been very forthcoming when it comes to this 'Tesseract', so I have no idea if it will work or not." She argued. "I need to see it." She stated again.
"Oh, don't worry Rose. You will see it for yourself. Come, I shall show it to you now." Schmidt said, depositing the blue vial into his front pocket.
Rose was surprised by his easy acceptance of her request, but slide off the stool, none the less, following closely behind him as he made his way out of the lab. Schmidt, Rose and Arnim all walked down a few halls, until Schmidt led them into a large, open room, with a massive, reclined chair sitting directly in the middle. It was metal and had all sorts of extenders and wires coming off of it, making it look less like a leisure device and more like a torture device. The wires all wound along the floor like long snakes, leading across the room to what Rose assumed was the energy source.
Her eyes were drawn to the energy source in both confusion and wonder. It emanated a strange blue glow, bathing the area in a disquieting aura. She walked up to it, finding herself drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. "This is the Tesseract?" she asked, looking back over at Schmidt who quietly watched her.
"It's the power of the Gods." He said back to her.
She looked back down at it, reaching out to feel the air around it. The power it emanated was….. palpable. She could feel the steady hum of it under her fingertips, and it sent the hairs on her arms standing on end. "Where did you even find this?" she asked in wonder, knowing there was no way in hell something like this could be created in a lab.
"Would you like to see how it works?" Schmidt asked her with a smile.
She pulled her hand away from the blue light, walking back over to Schmidt who was standing over the chair. Now that she was closer, she looked down at the machinery of it, inspecting it and comparing it to the chamber used on Steve. "First, our patient sits here." Schmidt said, brushing his hand along the cold metal. "Why don't you have a seat, see how it feels." He then said, motioning towards her.
Rose looked from his smiling face to Zola who stood off to the side, smiling as well. Knowing he posed the question as more of an order rather than a request, Rose obediently slid onto the metal frame, leaning back into it's cold embrace. "Comfortable?" Schmidt asked her and she was suddenly filled with a sense of déjà vu to when Abraham had asked Steve the very same thing.
"Not in the slightest." Rose replied, sitting back up from the relined back. "I know it's not my place to ask, but….who do you even plan on testing this serum out on?" She asked, looking up at Schmidt. "I mean the serum is accurate, but there's no guarantee that this Tesseract of yours will work." She said.
"That is why we plan on using someone expendable." Schmidt revealed. Suddenly, a set of metal brackets flipped out from the arm rests of the chair, snapping down onto Rose's wrists, pinning them in place. A wave of fear washed over her as she looked down at her arms in alarm. She tried futilely to pry her hands from the metal holding her down, looking up at Schmidt in confusion.
"You can't mean to test this out on me!" she said, sure he was playing some cruel joke on her. "Why not?" Schmidt asked her with a shrug. "You're young and healthy….a perfect candidate for it. And if anything should go wrong, then we will not mourn the loss of one of our own. Besides, it's rather poetic, don't you think? A sort of Frankenstein being destroyed by it's creation symbology." He said amused, pushing her by her chest back down onto the back of the seat. When her back hit the metal, another metal lever whirred into life, wrapping itself around her midsection, keeping her from sitting up once again.
"Wait! No!" she yelled, struggling against her confines.
"Zola, is it ready?" Schmidt asked, looking over to the scientist.
"Yes, of course." He said walking over to the opposite side of the chair. He moved around a few parts of the equipment, adjusting them before stepping back with an excited look upon his face. A part of the chair moved along side her arm, pressing up along it and as it, too, wrapped around her body, she felt a sharp pain pierce into her flesh.
Zola walked over to where a slot in the machinery sat empty, waiting for the serum to be inserted into it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue vial, before pressing it into the awaiting slot. "Zola, please don't do this!" Rose pleaded. Her pleas fell on deaf ear as Zola turned to look at Schmidt with a nod.
"Administering serum in three…two…" he began counting down.
The panic inside Rose flared. Death she could handle, but this…..well, they didn't even know what would happen to her once they saturated her in the Tesseract's power. The alien power scared her more than anything and she was absolutely terrified. "PLEASE!" she begged again, thrashing against her restraints.
"One." Finished Zola as he flipped a switched. They all watched as the blue liquid emptied out of the vial and was pushed through the tubing of the chair, until it came out of the needle that penetrated her flesh. She felt the pain as soon as the serum entered her system. She threw her head back against the metal, her teeth clamped tight as she fought the yell that threatened to burst from her. All at once, she realized that this is what she had subjected her own brother to and was struck by the irony of it all. She knew that what came next would be worse yet…..so much worse. She held her breath as Zola said, "Begin Tesseract saturation."
What came next was worse than she even imagined. As the power from the Tesseract flowed from it's housing unit, through the wiring, and into her body, she was filled with a type of pain there were not even words she could think to describe it with. She screamed. She screamed so loud that she wondered if Bucky, in his cell below them, would be able to hear it. It felt like she was on fire, but yet, at the same time freezing. The power flowed through her veins, tearing her cells apart as it went. Her whole body became bathed in the same blue glow as the Tesseract, and when she opened her eyes again, they were glowing just as bright as the rest of her. She screamed as the power ripped through her body, and she briefly wondered if this was the fitting punishment she deserved for her terrible mistake. The immense power coursed through her, building and building until it all became too much. She thought her body would be destroyed by the sheer amount of pressure she could feel pushing out and pulsing under her skin. She felt like a balloon ready to burst and with the loudest scream of her life, the energy building within her flowed over the edges and burst out of her in an explosion of blue. The burst of energy shot through the room like a tidal wave, sending everyone and everything in it's path back several feet. The scream died on Rose's lips as she fell into what she assumed was the cold embrace of death.
Johann Schmidt looked up to the now silent woman from his spot on the floor, having been sent rather forcefully back by the blast. "Turn it off!" he yelled over to Zola, who was also struggling back onto his feet. Zola ran back over to the controls, before killing the power. The Tesseract's power stopped being directed into the machinery of the chair, yet the room still held the eeriy glow of it's strange color. Schmidt rushed over to Rose, hoping the test had been successful and she was sill alive. When he looked upon her though, new thoughts poured into his mind. Her chest rose up and down in a steady rhythm, but that's not what surprised him. It was the drastic difference in Rose's appearance. Her once meager body was now both taller and held an impressive mass of well-toned muscles, and her long hair no longer held it's dark shade, but lay around her head in a tangle of white, almost silver, strands. And the thing that surprised him most of all was the fact that the thing that seemed to be illuminating the room in the strange blue light, was Rose herself. Her skin radiated the same blue aura of the Tesseract and it fascinated him.
Schmidt brought his gaze up to Zola, who was also staring down at Rose in wonder as well. "I believe we have just made a discovery greater than that of the Allies, Doctor."
Arnim looked up at Schmidt, the reflection of Rose's glowing body reflecting off his glasses. "This will change the war." He said breathlessly.
"No, Doctor, this will change everything."
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Steve sat on the back of the empty stage after the disaster that was his last performance, drawing in his little sketch book an image of a monkey, balancing on a unicycle while carrying an umbrella and his Steve's iconic shield. As he sat scribbling on the paper, he couldn't help but feel that this monkey was the perfect symbol for how he had been feeling lately. Nothing but a dancing monkey. Doing his dance and entertaining the crowds, while do absolutely nothing at the same time. The rain poured down around him, while he sat under the protection of the stage's cover, helping play into the misery that he felt.
"Hello, Steve." A feminine voice said from behind him, causing him to turn around at the sudden intrusion. He turned to find Agent Carter standing on the stage behind him, holding a wet jacket draped over one of her arms.
The surprise took over his features as she was the last person he had been expecting to see. "Hi." He replied, in shock. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.
Peggy took her jacket and set it down on the wooden floor, using it to sit on so she didn't dirty her uniform. "Officially, I'm not here at all." She told him as she sat herself down next to him. "That was quite a performance." She commented.
"Yeah." Steve said, feeling embarrassed that she had seen him doing his dancing monkey act while she fought the real battle. "I had to improvise a bit. The crowds I'm used to are a little more, uh…" he trailed off, motioning with his hand as he tried to find the right word. "Twelve." He finally finished with a sigh.
"I understand you're 'America's New Hope'." She said, looking from him to the drawing pad he was holding.
"Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every state I visit." Steve said, recanting the fact that had been drilled into his head countless times.
"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?" Peggy said, not liking hearing the words fall from his mouth.
"At least he's got me doing this." Steve responded. "Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab."
"And these are you're only two options?" she asked him. "A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know." She told him, still upset that all the hard work of Project Rebirth had went to waste. Which brought her right back around to the topic of her visit. She opened her mouth again but the loud sound of a honking car and shouting men drew their attention across the distance to an ambulance screeching to a halt in front of the medical tent. The visual only served to further Peggy's dismay.
"Have you heard from Rose?" Steve asked, pulling her out of her revie. "She used to send letters, but between her moving around so much, and me moving around so much, I haven't heard anything for a few months." Steve told her.
Peggy's mouth dropped open. "They haven't told you yet?" she asked, surprised. Truthfully, she had sought him out to offer her sympathies to him, she wasn't expecting to be the one to relay the terrible news.
"Told me what?" Steve asked her seriously, sensing something was wrong.
Peggy looked over to Steve, licking at her lips nervously. "Schmidt sent out a force to the base Rose was stationed at. More than two hundred men and women were stationed there, and less than fifty made it out, the rest were killed or captured. Your audience contained what was left of them. The one-o-seventh." She explained.
Steve's throat went dry at the news, for in one brief moment, he was told that not one, but two of the people he cared most about had been there at the attack. "Rose?" he questioned, barely able to hear beyond the blood pounding in his ears.
Peggy just shook her head remorsefully. "No one's seen or heard from her since. We believe she was taken captive for her knowledge on the serum. I'm sorry Steve."
Steve shook his head, unable to accept the news. "No." he said before pushing himself up and taking off through the pouring rain towards the base tent where he was sure to find the man he was looking for.
"Steve, wait!" Peggy called after him, chasing him through the mud, with her jacket held over her head to protect herself from the rain.
When they made it to the tent, Steve found Colonel Phillips behind a desk, writing on the endless paperwork laid out before him. "Phillips!" Steve shouted, storming towards him.
Phillips looked up to see Steve and Peggy coming to a stand above him. "Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan. So, what's your plan today?" he asked, not being in the mood for any interruptions.
"I need the casualties list from the attack on the one-o-seventh." Steve told him, needing to know if both Rose and Bucky had been taken by Schmidt.
"You don't get to give me orders, son." Phillips said in annoyance.
"I just need one name: Sergeant James Barnes." He insisted.
Phillips looked up to Peggy who stood behind Steve. "You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy." He told her, pointing his pen at her.
"Please, I just need one name. B…A….R…" he began before Phillips cut him off.
"I know how to spell." He bit out before letting out a sigh and coming to a stand. "I've signed more of these condolence letter than I care to admit." He said, turning around, with his hands on his hips. The truth was he was exhausted. Exhausted by this never-ending war and the seemingly endless lives it took. "But the name doesn't sound familiar." He said, turning back around. "I'm sorry."
Steve stood in silence for a moment, processing the revelation he had been given. "Are you planning a rescue mission?" he asked, trying to keep his emotions from consuming him.
"Yeah, it's called winning the war." Colonel Phillips retorted.
Steve looked at him, shocked. "But if you know where they are, why not at least…" Steve began to question before Phillips once again cut him off.
"They are thirty miles behind enemy line through some of the most heavily fortified territory of Europe." Phillips explained, looking over the map that was pinned up behind him. "We'd lose more men than we'd save. But I don't expect you to understand that because you're a chorus girl." Phillips said, taking a dig at him.
"And Rose?" Steve asked, crossing his arms. "You're just going to let Hydra have her?" he asked in disbelief.
Phillips looked over at Steve in silence for a moment, his jaw twitching. "Rose understood the dangers that came with war. She knew the risks involved. Now, if I read your posters correctly, you've somewhere to be and I have work to get back to." He said, brushing past Steve and moving back towards his desk in an angry huff.
Steve stared at the map which marked the base in Austria where his family was being held captive, making a decision in that moment that he knew there would be no turning back from. "Yes, I do." He said, storming out of the tent.
He made is way to where he was being housed, throwing all his belongings together in a hurry. Peggy rushed into the tent shortly after him, having sensed his motives. "What are you going to do, walk to Austria?" she asked him.
"If that's what it takes." He said resolutely.
"Steve, you can't just march in there. Phillips is devising a strategy…" she began before Steve cut her off with his voice raised.
"By the time he's done that, it could be too late!" he shouted, throwing his leather jacket around his shoulders, and taking hold of his bag before marching out of the tent.
"Steve!" Peggy shouted, following behind him. She caught up to him as he threw his bag and shield into the back of one of the military Jeeps he planned on taking. "Look, I know how much Rose and Bucky mean to you. She was- " She began before he, again, cut her off.
"No! No, you don't! I owe everything to Rose and Bucky! Hell, I'm only here because of them! I'm not going to leave them in enemy hands!" he shouted back before his temper simmered down and he looked at Peggy imploring, trying to get her to understand that this was something he just had to do. "Rose and Bucky have saved my life more times than I can count. It's about time I returned the favor." he said with a shake of his head, dropping his gaze down to the ground. "You told me you thought I was meant for more than this." He said casting his arm out back towards the stage. "If I can't even save my family with these powers, then what good are they?" he finished, looking back up at Peggy's understanding gaze.
"You really think I'd let you go into enemy lines with no plan, and no backup?" she asked him incredulously.
"Peggy, you gotta let me do this." He pleaded.
"Of course I don't." she rebuffed. "That's why you're not going alone." Steve looked up at her in surprise. "And I know just the man who can get us in there."