Savage

by awalkerlifeforme

She was everything people feared. She wanted to defend the world but also wanted revenge on those who wrecked hers. The ones who forced her to leave Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Now she's back and while Steve attempts to get back the woman he's always considered his sister, Bucky hopes to thaw the ice that has formed around her heart. A heart that he had always believed was his.

18. Chapter 18

The alarm echoed throughout the room and I groaned, sending it a small shock. It short-circuited the alarm clock and Peggy threw a pillow at me. I knew that it was her alarm and that I had just destroyed it. It was the third or fourth time that I'd destroyed one of them. I gave Peggy a bashful smile and she rolled her eyes as she jumped from her bed and began to get ready. I knew that I should get up and start getting ready, but I couldn't drag myself from the lumpy cot.

Zero Week had passed without incident, something that made Peggy and me extremely grateful. I knew that we were both sick of training the recruits. We wanted to get to dealing with the real reason that we were here, Operation Rebirth. While Peggy had been working on recruit files and dealing with the logistics behind Operation Rebirth, I'd been dealing with the practical recruit welcoming.

Over the past week, we'd given them their uniforms and ID tags, along with the haircuts. We'd also made them sign the confidentiality paperwork. After doing their inoculations and blood work with me, they'd undergone the eye and dental exams. They'd done the one mile, physical assessment test. Steve was, of course, the only one that had failed. The mile time was eight and a half minutes. He'd done it in just over nine and a half minutes. The recruits hated going through the barracks upkeep classes, but they wouldn't enjoy being shouted at for keeping a messy place to live. They'd met the Drill Sergeants two days ago, and yesterday we'd sat down and spoken about the potential candidates. Of course, Steve had been widely ignored.

Today was the start of the shortened training that they would be getting. It wasn't really enough to teach them about fighting in the war, it was more just enough so that we knew what they were capable of. All I knew was that I would be exhausted by the end of the week. We would have to be working together the entire time, and not just with each other, but with the recruits as we watched them prove themselves to us. I knew that just because it was annoying though, it would be worth it. Because we were close to the end of this. In one week we would have our Soldier picked out, and a few days after that, hopefully the world would have its first super-soldier.

Just across the room from me, Peggy was also getting ready. She wasn't dressed up at all today. Well, considering it was Peggy, she was still somewhat dressed up. She always was. It was just the way that she was. I knew that she would be spending the next week helping me mark off what the recruits strengths and weaknesses were. We would be taking notes of everything about them, not just the physical. The recruits needed to know that, too. They needed to know just how important this next week was. These next few days would determine the man that would change the tide of the war.

Once Peggy had walked out of the bathroom, I slipped in. I pulled on a beige jumpsuit that was designed for training. My black boots went on my feet and I smiled. I didn't look that great, but I knew that this would work for all of the moving that I had to do. I sighed as I brushed my hair back and pulled it into a bun. Maybe in twenty years the styles would be a little shorter. It was way too damn hot to be working in crap like this... And I knew that Peggy agreed with me.

After I'd brushed my teeth and washed my face, I walked out of the bathroom and sat sadly at my desk as Peggy finished lacing up her boots. My desk was mostly empty - I tried to keep in clean - but there was one thing that sat in the middle of it. My letter from Bucky last week sat there, almost like it was mocking me. I'd yet to hear from him and it was making me more and more nervous as the days ticked by. He'd told me that he was going on a mission. He'd told me that he would be fine... I was terrified for him, but I refused to try and connect to his mind. If something was wrong I wasn't sure that I wanted to find out that way.

Peggy's voice startled me away from the harsh thoughts. "Victoria, you ready?" she asked softly. She knew that without knowing what had become of Bucky, I was a little distracted.

Smiling at her, I nodded. She didn't need to walk on eggshells around me, but I did appreciate it. "Yeah. Come on," I said, pulling her from the room. "Let's see what we've got to work with," I half-spoke and half-groaned.

"Probably not much," she said.

We both laughed as we walked through the halls of the building. We chirped halfhearted hello's to the receptionists that nurses that lived in the barracks. We were the only women that actually worked directly with the recruits. It meant that most of the other women looked down on us. They thought that we were just trying to be 'one of the boys' which was not particularly false, but we had every capability to do it. We headed over to the recruits, who were all standing around and talking, and we came up to stand next to Chester.

He gave me a little nod and I sighed, knowing that I had no option but to speak to the recruits myself. I always hoped that it would be one of them. "Time to get started. Call it," Chester told me.

Nodding, I took a step forward. "You got it, old man. Recruits!" I called out. They all fell into line and snapped to attention. Clearing my throat, I walked up and down the line. "Welcome to the only week of formal combat training that you will have. Make it work. Show us what you've got. Whatever you can do, give it one hundred percent, and then give it another fifty. Every day this week you'll be demonstrating why we should pick you. At the end of the week we'll sit together and choose one of you. The others will be sent through basic training. Do you understand?" I asked them.

They wouldn't dare say no. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am," the men all said together.

"Good. Get moving!" I barked, the men immediately turning to meet the Drill Sergeants. "Follow the Drill Sergeant orders!"

For a long time I watched the men run back and forth. They were doing a reasonably good job. Well, they were almost all doing a good job. Of course, Steve was always the weakest link. I kept trying to convince myself that he would be just fine. But the doubt had begun to seep into my heart. I had promised Bucky that I would keep Steve safe. Was there a chance that I was sending him to his doom? If that was the last promise that I would ever make to Bucky, I wanted to keep it. I wanted Steve to be just fine until the day that he died - from natural causes.

As the week passed I found myself watching fewer and fewer of the men. Most of them would fall in the middle of the pack. None of them were particularly weak, other than Steve. They would become good foot soldiers. Hodge was very clearly the best of the men. Physically, he was the prime example. And that was exactly the reason that I didn't want him to be the one that was chosen. He didn't have that much to do to him. We needed someone that would make an actual, impressive, physical change. Someone that we would be able to look at and tell that we had changed their molecular structure.

None of them were fascinating me. I knew that it would all change once someone went into the chamber. But, as of right now, nothing seemed to be any different from the last bunch of people that I'd trained. It was so strange to think that Bucky had been so close to being one of the candidates for Operation Rebirth. But he'd been recruited before we'd started electing options, and I would have never let him try. He could be a soldier anyways, this was Steve's one chance.

And speaking of Steve, the entire time that I watched him I wanted to keel over and die. He was horrible. The entire time I wanted to laugh when I watched him. He was so bad that it would almost seem like he was trying to make everyone laugh. But that wasn't the truth... He was really that weak. Everything that he did, he failed, and he progressively got worse and worse. If he was picked, it would take me a long time to get used to a stronger Steve. I knew that none of the other Drill Sergeants were impressed with him.

In the meantime, Hodge was actually doing a very good job. No one liked Hodge, but everyone agreed that he was the best of the recruits. Peggy and I were the only ones that directly worked with the recruits that frequently voiced our opinions that Hodge was worthless, merely a grunt. Abraham was still rooting for Steve, even after seeing how weak he was. I knew that his preference was all based on Steve's mind and attitude. It was the only thing that he had going for him. He was clearly the weakest of the bunch and very clearly having a hard time keeping up with everyone else. The other men all thought that he was here for comic relief.

Nerves has seeped into my stomach that there was a chance that Steve might not be picked. I knew that Chester was constantly putting him down - as were the other Drill Sergeants - and they were all praising Hodge. It hadn't helped is attitude towards the other recruits or himself. I was about ready to gouge out his eyes. But Steve had managed to keep a positive outlook. I knew what he was thinking. That even if he wasn't picked, he wanted to go out proud that he had done everything that could.

While we watched the men train over the long week, Abraham and Peggy hung around and watched them. It was one of the rare times that I actually saw Abraham around the recruits. People always shot him a second glance when they saw him. Abraham was still agreeing with us that Steve was the perfect man. No matter how many times he messed something up, it didn't bother him. Peggy seemed a touch hesitant to put Steve in the chamber, but I knew that she was warming up to him and agreed that it would be whatever Abraham wanted. It helped that I also believed that Steve was the right choice. Chester constantly got into arguments with me about how Hodge was the right person for it. I'd eat my own foot before I let Hodge become the super-soldier.

Currently the men were attempting to climb up a rope net over one side only to get to the top, swing their legs over, climb back down over the other side. I could remember Bucky doing it without a problem. He had flung himself up and over the net and jumped over most of it. I remembered being very impressed as I watched him.

To say that I wasn't impressed by Steve's attempt at the rope course would have been an understatement. Steve was in the middle lane. The men on the right and left of him were speeding up and over the netting. Steve was attempting to pull himself through the netting but his foot kept slipping and his arms were too weak to hoist himself up. Each time he would take a step, he would stumble and collapse back onto the ropes. He was holding up the men behind him, who kept trying to climb around him.

About halfway up the course, to my horror, his right foot ended up getting caught in between two of the ropes. His foot slid through and he was unable to catch himself. I placed my hand on my forehead as he fell from the ropes that the sudden movement ripped his arms free from the ropes above him. He tried to catch himself when he was on his side, but it was too late. He collapsed and fell backwards. His legs were caught in between the ropes and trying extremely hard to not fall and smash his head on the ground. He looked somewhere in between shocked and horrified at his current predicament.

I groaned and pressed my hands to my temples. "He'll manage," Peggy tried to reassure me.

"Don't you patronize me. He's pathetic," I growled at her.

Sergeant Duffy - one of the head Drill Sergeants - saw what had happened to Steve and rolled his eyes. "Rogers! Get up from there," he shouted, marching over to the course.

I didn't bother saying that there was probably no way that he could get up by himself. Chester came up to my side and crossed his arms over his chest. "You honestly think that there's enough serum in the world to make him a real soldier?" he asked me.

"Shut up," I snapped.

Crossing my own arms over my chest, I glanced back and forth to see what was happening. My gaze narrowed when I saw that Hodge was at the very top of the first half of the course. He glanced back and saw that Steve was hanging upside down. I saw the grin spread over his face and I ground my teeth together. We'll see who's laughing in a minute. I brought up a gust of wind and sent it through the course at him. He was unable to hold himself onto the ropes and I watched as he was knocked to the ground. The wind was knocked out of him and he rolled over, coughing and trying to get air back into his lungs. Chester was glaring at me.

The other men were laughing and trying to figure out what had happened. Drill Sergeants began shouting at him to get back up. I shrugged at Chester. "What? They need to be prepared for anything to happen," I said.

Before he got the chance to say something back to me, we were drawn back to Hodge beginning to climb again. Unfortunately, his weight shook the net a little too hard. I was right about Steve not being able to right himself. His legs finally gave way and he was unable to catch himself. He went falling to the ground and splayed out over the ground. His face was already going red as everyone else around the area laughed at his misfortune. He tried to right himself, but I could tell that he wasn't feeling well afterwards.

That wasn't nearly the last unfortunate mishap that Steve had encountered over the past week. There were plenty of little ones; everything from hitting himself in the face with a rifle during a run, to being beaten easily during a combat scenario, to being unable to do a proper pull-up, to falling from a raised log. It wasn't just the physical either. His clothes had been stolen from him, he'd been late because he wasn't able to get ready fast enough, and his bed had been moved from the barracks at least once.

But those weren't nearly as bad as what happened two days later. It was the middle of the day and I'd just come from the labs, ensuring that all coding sequences were correct. As I made my way out to the field yard I noticed that the men were doing the low wire crawl. It was definitely not one of my favorite things to do. Once more, Steve had been placed in the middle row. Two lines were on either side of him. The men were able to quickly crawl through in the other four lanes. They weren't having a tough time. But Steve was barely able to crawl through the mud due to his low muscle mass. And the rifle in his hands wasn't helping.

All of the men were moving very quickly. They were using their elbows and knees to move quickly, barely keeping their stomachs on the ground. That was Steve's problem. He was trying to drag his entire body weight, rather than getting up and shoving himself forward. Steve was barely moving and I knew that the men behind him were trying to shove him along. While he was moving so slowly, they were unable to move too. I rolled my eyes, wishing that he would move just a little bit faster.

Hodge was in the left lane next to him and I watched as he momentarily stopped moving. I watched him curiously to see what he would do. He turned back to stare at Steve and I watched as he kicked the wooden post next to him once. Sparks flew over my hand as I debated stopping his heart. A second kick brought the barbed wire down on top of Steve, very nearly injuring him. My teeth ground together and I started to march over, drawing the attention of Peggy and Sergeant Duffy.

Steve was trying to move, but he was trapped now. Sergeant Duffy stiffened and began stomping over to Steve. "Rogers, get your ass out of that line," he barked.

My blood began to boil. I was so sick of men like him. When I watched someone like Hodge it reminded me of the days that I'd spent hiding in the bathroom from Johnathan Harper. He was always the bully that had made me feel like I wasn't worth anything. But I'd hidden more because I was afraid of what I might do to him. I knew that I could kill him. It was why I'd always avoided him. I was able to defend myself, way too well. But Steve... He was hopeless. And that was the reason that I hated Hodge so much. He prayed on the weak.

"Squad halt!" I shouted. The men that were already done with the course paused and I waited for everyone else to make their way out of the crawl. They were all looking at me curiously. No one ever stopped them in the middle of training. "Hodge, come forward, please." With a typical grin, he moved forward towards me. "Care to explain to me how that post came down?" I asked him.

Hodge shrugged his shoulders at me. "World's an imperfect place, ma'am," he said.

"Really? Because I could have sworn that I saw you kick it," I growled. He was giving me a grin and I sighed, knowing that I couldn't let this one slide. So I grabbed the edges of his shirt and yanked him into me, tearing the stitching slightly. The tension in the area rose dramatically. You could have heard a pin drop. "You listen to me, and you listen to me damn well. Recite the Soldier's Creed to me," I ordered.

He clearly expected me to let go, but I wouldn't. Hodge cleared his throat and awkwardly began. "I am an American Soldier. I am a member of the United States Army – a protector of the greatest nation on earth. Because I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways..." he trailed off and I knew that he had forgotten it.

I also knew that Steve knew it by heart. "Have you forgotten?" Hodge didn't answer. "I haven't. Let me remind you," I said, clearing my throat and speaking loudly, my voice echoing throughout the camp.

"I am an American Soldier. I am a member of the United States Army – a protector of the greatest nation on earth. Because I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation it is sworn to guard. I am proud of my own organization. I will do all I can to make it the finest unit in the Army. I will be loyal to those under whom I serve. I will do my full part to carry out orders and instructions given to me or my unit. As a soldier, I realize that I am a member of a time-honored profession—that I am doing my share to keep alive the principles of freedom for which my country stands. No matter what the situation I am in, I will never do anything, for pleasure, profit, or personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my unit, or my country. I will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and to the uniform. I am proud of my country and its flag. I will try to make the people of this nation proud of the service I represent, for I am an American Soldier."

It was very obvious that Hodge hadn't known it. "Now, you haven't done a damn thing that I believe falls under the Soldier's Creed. It is my mission to ensure that you are not the recruit that we take for Operation Rebirth. You are not a Soldier, you're a bully. March back over to your place, do that crawl another twenty times, do not whine, and do not irritate me again. You think what I did to you before was impressive? You haven't seen a thing yet. Get back in your rightful place and keep yourself together. Do we have an understanding?" I shouted.

Hodge gulped and I felt the fear begin to roll off of him in waves. "Yes, ma'am," he said back, his voice unsteady.

"Not ma'am," I corrected.

I was more than just a woman. I worked in the military and I held a rank that I was very proud of. Hodge cleared his throat and ground out, "Sergeant."

"Damn straight," I hissed back at him. "Get back there." With one, last, snarl, I shoved him back away from me and he stumbled back into his place. I glanced around and saw that everyone was staring at me with wide eyes. "What are you all staring at? Get back to work!" I shouted.

That was all that it took. Everyone immediately began running, trying to get back to whatever it was that they had been doing beforehand. "Move! Now!" Sergeant Duffy barked.

Peggy moved forward to stand next to me. "You should have hit him," she said.

I spoke through gritted teeth. "If I did, I don't think that I would have stopped. Can you take care of things here? I need to take a walk or something," I told her, feeling a little bad.

Peggy nodded at me and motioned me away. "Go ahead. I'll handle things."

Thanking her, I moved off into the woods. Knowing that I was too close to the actual camp, I started off in a dead sprint. I'd been running for about twenty minutes when I finally came to a stop. It hadn't done a thing for me, other than put me in the middle of nowhere. I was now about twenty-two miles away from Camp Lehigh. The woods were silent all around me and I turned back and forth, trying to find an outlet for the energy that had built up around me. Running wasn't enough.

So I turned to the only other thing that I could think to do. Letting out a piercing scream, I allowed the energy to travel from my arms over my hands and out of my fingertips. The electricity shot across the trees, burning and charring them. Two were cut through almost completely and I hissed, running over to one. Giving it a hard kick to the center, the tree snapped and fell to the ground, shaking it. Levitating the trunk, I allowed it to drop, catching it, and tossing it. The three trunk shot up into the air and traveled about fifty feet before colliding with another tree, snapping it in half. As the two trees fell to the ground, the third trunk that had already been sliced by the electricity fell.

Chest heaving - not from exertion but from pent-up energy - I turned and slammed my hands against the trunk of another tree. My vision clouded yellow and I immediately saw the effects. The grass underneath me began to die as trees were broken from the shock of the blast, falling away from me. The blinding flash shot across the clearing and the heat - very briefly reaching fifteen million degrees, the temperature of a nuclear blast - charring everything near me. As I managed to calm down, I realized that plants and animals around me were all dead. Everything around me. Gone.

A sickness fell into my stomach and I backed away, seeing all of the damage that I had caused. It looked horrible. It looked like someone had dropped a bomb. I conjured up as much water as I could and saturated the ground before backing away and swallowing one of the pills that Howard had created for me. I swallowed it quickly and backed away. It had been a long time since I'd taken one of them. Far too long. I took a deep breath before turning and running back to camp, desperate to forget the destruction I'd left behind.

Thankfully the next few days passed without incident. I tried to stay away from the recruits as much as I possibly could. It wasn't because I didn't want to see Steve - I did - but I didn't want to be anywhere around Hodge. Although I did feel much better once I'd taken the pill. I would have to thank Howard the next time that I saw him. Those pills were one of the very few reasons that I managed to pretend to be normal.

Of course my luck ran out when the next three days passed. We finally got to the point where we had come out and watch the men do their two mile run. Not just that, but the flag pole. That was one of my favorite parts. It made me feel better. And I really did want to see if Steve could figure it out. I'd thought that there was a chance that he could. They were about halfway through the run right now. I could see them running over the ride right now. They'd be here soon. Sergeant Holden was driving Peggy and I over to them.

She was in the front reading through papers as Holden stared at the recruits. I was in the back, cleaning some of the handguns that the recruits had been using for firearm practice. "What do you think? Someone gonna make it?" I asked them.

"No," Holden said.

"Never," Peggy added. She then turned back to me. "Do you think so?"

Grinning at her, I nodded. "I have faith," I said softly.

Sergeant Duffy was running next to the two lines of recruits. "Pick up the pace, sweeties," he yelled. I could see that Steve was trailing way in the background. We all turned back to see what was going to happen. "Let's go, let's go. Double time. Come on, faster, faster. Move. Move. Squad halt." All of the recruits stopped running. Steve lingered in the back slightly and I saw that he was leaning over with his hands on his knees. Duffy pointed up to the flag. "That flag means you're only at the half way point. First man to bring it to me, gets to ride back with Agent Carter and Sergeant Phillips," he said.

That was all that the recruits needed. Peggy and I exchanged a smile as we watched. "Move, move! Come on, get up there." One man jumped up a few feet onto the pole but he immediately fell and was pulled back. "That's what you got? This army is in trouble." Two of the men made a step slightly as Hodge climbed on top of them. "Get up there, Hodge." I growled as Hodge managed to get up a few feet. Thankfully he slipped down and hit the ground. "Come on, get up there. Nobody's got that flag in seventeen years." A few men managed to get up but none of them could actually make it up the pole. I noticed that Steve was the only one not trying. "Come on, come on, fall in. Let's go, get back in formation," Duffy called. As they began to walk away, Steve walked over to it. "Rogers! I said, fall in," Duffy ordered.

Steve ignored the call and I smiled. Maybe this was his chance to prove that he could actually do something worthwhile. He pulled the first lock out of the pole and I nearly laughed. He had figured it out. Of course he had. He pulled the other one out of the center of the flag pole and I watched as he stepped back, letting the pole collapse. He tossed the pins to the side before moving over and grabbing the flag. As he walked back to the shell-shocked Duffy, I saw that the recruits were staring at him like he'd lost his mind, and Peggy was smirking at him.

"Thank you, Sir," Steve said, handing Duffy over the flag. He climbed up into the truck, using the spare tire to actually pull himself into the back of the truck, taking a seat beside me. Peggy gave him a quick smile.

As we started driving off - leaving the rest of the platoon looking absolutely shocked - I turned over to Steve and patted him on the knee. I knew that he wasn't completely useless. "Not bad," I told him.

Steve looked thrilled that he'd finally managed something. "Thanks, Vic," he told me brightly.

Unfortunately, Steve's luck didn't last for very long. The next day - the last day of physical training - the men were out in the yard performing a fitness test. Today we would debate and decide who would be the world's first super-soldier. Tomorrow we would announce it to everyone else and let the recruits know who would be moving on and who would be moved through to basic training. The next day would be the day that we would send our choice into the Vita-Ray Chamber.

It was going to be a busy next few days. I was walking with Chester and Abraham over towards the fitness testing. They had been arguing back and forth all morning about what was more important - the attitude of the soldier or the capabilities. I argued that we could give someone the skills of a real soldier, we couldn't change their personality. That had ended in a shouting match, and now the three of us were glaring at each other, no one wanting to be the first one to speak.

Up ahead of us, Peggy was watching over the recruits as they performed basic calisthenics. It looked like they were doing push-ups currently. I grinned as I remembered training the previous recruits in push-ups. They had been surprisingly weak. This time most of the men were doing just fine, but Steve was barely able to move. He would get up a few inches - not in the proper form - before collapsing back to the ground. He looked more like he was trying to do the cobra pose in yoga. I grimaced as we walked over, hoping that Chester wouldn't point him out. I knew that he was still against letting Steve go into the chamber.

Peggy was walking back and forth and wrapping her hands around a pocket watch. "Faster ladies, come on. My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul. Move it!" she shouted.

I grinned at her as I walked in between Abraham and Chester. "You're not really thinking of picking Rogers, are you?" Chester asked, starting the conversation all over again.

"I am more than just thinking about it. It is a clear choice," Abraham said.

Chester glanced over at me, probably thinking that out of the two of us, I would be the one that would bend. He was dead wrong. "You can't pick him just because he's your friend," Chester told me.

"I'd pick him even if I'd never met him before in my life," I argued back.

Chester groaned at me before turning back over to Abraham. "When you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my Army base, I let it slide. I thought what the hell. Maybe he could be useful to you, like a gerbil. Never thought you'd pick him," Chester said.

Once more, I rolled my eyes. We were not going to do anything to Steve unless we were sure that he was the one that we wanted. "Up," Peggy ordered the recruits.

They all jumped upright and stood at attention as we arrived at the training site. Steve was the slowest to stand, looking like he'd much rather lay down and take a nap. Abraham, Chester, and I stood near the back of an open air truck. One older later and the recruits began doing jumping jacks. Steve already looked exhausted and I cringed. He really didn't make things easy on us.

Chester was watching Steve closely as he jumped. Each time that he jumped I thought that he would fall to his knees. "Stick a needle in that kids arm, it's going to go right through him," Chester said.

"Come on, girls," Peggy encouraged in the distance.

"Look at that. He's making me cry," Chester put in.

Rolling my eyes at Chester, I had to resist going into his mind and forcing him to agree with us. That wouldn't go over well. "I am looking for qualities beyond the physical," Abraham told them.

"Do you know how long it took to set up this project?"

Abraham was barely able to get out, "Yes," before Chester continued to speak.

"All the groveling I had to do in front of Senator whats-his-name committees."

"Yes, I know," Abraham said, trying to stop Chester from continuing to tell us all of the reasons that it shouldn't be someone weak. "I am well aware of your efforts."

Chester and Abraham were leaning very close to each other so that no one else could hear the private conversation. I'd somehow managed to get stuck in the middle. "Then throw me a bone. Hodge passed every test we gave him," Chester said, motioning over to Hodge, who was having no problem with the supersizes. "He's big, he's fast. He obeys orders, he's a soldier."

This time, I had something to say. I couldn't stand Hodge. He was the type of man that kept women at a lower status than men. "You put Hodge in that chamber, we're going to end up with another Red Skull," I snarled.

Abraham stepped forward, sensing the mounting tension. "She's right. There's no way that we can pick someone like Hodge. You've seen what he does. He's a bully."

Chester gave something in between a laugh and scoff. "You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor." I watched as he glanced into the back of the truck and grabbed a grenade. I was watching him closely, wondering what the hell he was doing. "You win wars with guts." He pulled the pin and tossed it towards the recruits. "Grenade!" Completely forgetting myself, I raised my hands to put up a force field around it, desperate to stop the blast. Before I could, Chester out a hand in front of me and shook his head. "It's a dud," he said.

Turning a heated glare on him, I knew that my eyes had turned red. I had been very close to creating a very strange day. "You couldn't have said that before I nearly gave away my secret?" I snapped.

It had landed very closely at Hodge's feet and everyone suddenly realized what had happened. "Oh, no!" Hodge shouted as he ducked away. Everyone ran for their lives as they thought that the grenade was ticking down.

Everyone ran out of the way and got down on the ground. All, except for one. Steve ran over to the grenade and slid across the dirt. Peggy ran towards it, too, either trying to cover it herself or get Steve away. He curled himself around it and protectively covered it with his arms. "Stay away. Get back," he shouted at her, motioning her away.

I noticed that Hodge was watching from behind a truck. Seconds passed by and slowly people started glancing up curiously. Even Steve looked up carefully. He sat up as a soldier shouted, "Phony grenade."

"All clear. Back in formation," a Drill Sergeant said.

Peggy, Abraham, and I were all smiling at Steve. If there had been a shred of doubt in my mind before, it was gone. He was the right person to do this. "Is this a test?" Steve asked, squinting as he looked around.

Chester gritted his teeth together. "He's still skinny," he said.

Rolling my eyes at him, I exchanged a laugh with Abraham as Chester stalked off. I knew that he was upset that for once, in a test of integrity, Steve had beaten Hodge. The recruits were getting themselves back together as Peggy walked back over to them, beginning the orders once more. I saw Steve still on the ground, looking stunned at what had just happened. I decided to walk forward and give Steve my hand. He took it as I offered him a helping hand upright. The moment that I did, I leaned down and pocketed the grenade.

Steve was still staring at me stupidly. "Yes, it is a test, and you passed. Well done," I told him.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly.

It was pretty obvious that he'd thought that he was about to die. "You do that again, risk your own life even to protect someone else, I'll kill you myself. I promised Bucky that I would keep you safe," I told him.

Steve gave me something in between a prideful and bashful look. "Sorry. It was just a jerk reaction," he told me.

Of course it was. He would always be the one to defend everyone else, even when he had nothing left to give. "It was a good one. I'm proud of you. How are things going?" I asked, looking around and making sure that no one was watching us.

Steve scoffed at me. "Have you been watching me?" he asked dully.

Glaring at him, I shook my head. "That's not what I meant," I barked. I knew how he'd been doing out here. Terribly. "How are things going back in the barracks? The men. Are they treating you alright?"

"You sound like my mother."

"I feel like your mother," I quipped.

He grinned at me and ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah, I'm alright, Vic. You know, they're a bunch of brainless oafs." We both laughed at that one. "I read most of the time so that I don't have to listen to them. They all like to run back and forth all over the barracks. They're constantly wrestling and treating me terribly. But tomorrow they pick who goes through the project, right?" he asked.

I nodded at him. "We talk about it tonight. It will be announced in the morning," I told him.

As if he wasn't pale enough, his face paled even more. "God," he muttered, yanking nervously on his dog tags.

"You'll be fine," I insisted.

Just as he was about to speak, another voice drifted over to us. "Fraulein?" Abraham called. I turned back and smiled at him. "I have some men that I would like you to meet."

Curiously, I nodded at him. "I'll be right there," I called to him before turning back to Steve. "I gotta go, I'll see you later, alright?" I said, backing away from him. "And I'll vouch for you tonight."

Steve smiled at me. "Thanks, Vic."

Abraham held out an arm and I walked with him. Wherever we were going had to be somewhere close or somewhere fast. We didn't have the time. We would have to be downtown to decide who would be the next super-soldier soon. "Come with me," Abraham said, sensing my reluctance as he pulled me along.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Abraham merely gave a friendly smile. "I have a friend that I'd like you to meet," he told me.

I nodded and walked with him towards the offices. We walked in - where people were running back and forth, trying to finish every last-minute detail before actually beginning the experiment tomorrow - and I waved hello to my team. They all smiled and waved back to me. They'd opened up recently, mostly because Abraham had given me a large piece of the credit for Operation Rebirth. We walked past them and I allowed Abraham to usher me into his office. I walked in and spotted an older man wearing a trim suit, who was watching us. He looked friendly enough and seemed interested to meet me.

Abraham cleared his throat and stepped to the side to let me walk up to the man. I shook his hand. "This is August Jay. He is on the Board of Admissions to Harvard University," Abraham explained.

I'd already known that, of course, but I pretended like it was a surprise. Smiling at him, I shook his hand once more. He had a light grip and I immediately knew that I could shatter every bone in his hand. "Pleasure to meet you," I said sweetly.

The man gave a nice enough smile. "You as well, Miss..." August trailed off.

"Phillips."

August smiled at me and nodded. "Of course. How did I not know that?" he asked with a small chuckle. I laughed with him, although nothing was funny. He was simply another man that believed that women had no place in the world. He motioned for me to take a seat, and I did. "So, I hear you're a driving force behind this experiment," he said conversationally.

I knew what he was doing. He was trying to observe my personality and whether or not I actually understood what this project was about. He would keep me away from Harvard if he could. "Abraham is the driving force but I contribute as much as possible. I specialize in Genetics and Human Mutation. It's an area of great personal interest," I told him.

"How did you find yourself interested?" August asked.

A small grin fell over my face. "For most of my life I was told that there were only two things that I could do. I could be a teacher or I could be a nurse. That's only if I could even manage to get a job. Otherwise I would have been a housewife. I'm not interested in that kind of life. I want to do something important," I told him.

It was obvious that I had goaded him into asking the question that I knew that he would, but he was oblivious. Mind manipulation, without actually using the mutation, was a specialty of mine. "A family is not important to you?" August asked.

I knew that we would have to get this out of the way. "Not right now. If we're speaking frankly, I did not have a good home life." August stared at me curiously. "I was raised by my two best friends' parents. I have no husband. My significant other is on the war front right now." The curiosity piqued, just as I knew that it would.

"He may come back, he may not. But I know that as important as he is to me, that doesn't mean that I have to sacrifice something important to everyone else. He can have his life and I can have mine, together. There's no need for one of us to give up what we want. There's no need for me to give up the chance to do something right in the world to support him. Why can't I support him while doing what I want? There will always be women that should stay home and take care of the children and cook and clean. But that's not me. I believe in a world where everyone can do what they have the capability to do what they believe in."

August nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Progressive thinking that you have there," he said, folding his hands over his lap.

"We'd still be in the Stone Age if people like me didn't exist," I told him.

August stared at me for a long while. He was clearly very curious about me. His thoughts were not particularly rude, but he was curious about me. "You're a very odd woman," he finally said.

Not very impressive thoughts from a Harvard man. "I'll take that as a compliment." The corners of August's lips almost tilted up in a smile. "Thomas Edison was laughed at when he developed the light bulb. The Wright Brothers were thought to be fools believing in magic when they invented the airplane. There were people who thought that vaccines were too dangerous to be used. You see, times change. Women didn't used to work. They do now," I said.

"Because men are not filling the posts, as they're at war." This time he spoke faster. He wasn't angry, merely curious about how much he could get out of me. "When they return, women will return to their homes. And, as for your inventors, all men, you see."

"It won't always be that way," I said.

Once more, he fell silent for a while. I could see Abraham behind us, watching on curiously. "You never considered to try and be normal?" August finally asked me.

Laughing softly, I looked down at the desk before looking back up. "Normality is not only accepted, it's... encouraged. Do you know anyone that differs from yourself? In a wide range? Probably not. When I was in high school, I took classes that no one else dared to take. DNA Sequencing, Calculus II, Physics, Molecular Biology, Latin... The list goes on.

"I speak forty-seven languages fluently. I can understand almost every other. There are almost seven thousand recognized languages. But the one thing that I could never do, was the one thing that every other woman could. Home Education. I can't cook, I burn everything. I can't sew, I'll destroy it. And I've never looked after a child in my life. No man, either.

"You asked me why I specialized in Genetics. Because I believe in being different. My yellow eyes are a mutation. The white hair is, too. People always liked to laugh at me, call me cruel names, and attack me. Physically. As shameful as that is. Young boys, attacking a young lady. I learned from a very young age that I couldn't rely on anyone to save me. I learned that people will never understand. They will never accept anyone that isn't as they are. My yellow eyes - they're a more obvious mutation.

"You have one, too. As did many of the boys and girls that used to harass me. Your blue eyes. You - and every other person with blue eyes on the planet - share a single common ancestor that lived approximately between six and ten thousand years ago. If we're getting technical, if you'd like me to demonstrate that I do know what I'm talking about, I will. Here's a fun fact. Blue eyes stem from the eighty-sixth intron of the HERC2 gene, which is hypothesized to interact with the OCA2 gene promoter, reduced expression of OCA2 with subsequent reduction in melanin production. But I'm sure that you knew that. After all, I'm just a woman, correct?

"You see, many women believe that we're better off this way, dressing and living for the men. Not me. I'm my own person, as I've clearly already demonstrated. There will never be anyone that owns me. I left home when I was only eight years old. It does something to a person. It makes them fiercely independent. Perhaps some people would say that it's strange. Perhaps some people would say that it's bullheaded. I say that it breeds strength. In every meaning of the word."

Perhaps I'd gone a little overboard. I may very well have just driven away that Harvard degree. But, if I had, it would be worth it. That was everything that I'd wished that I could say for so long. Men thought that they were so much better than women just because they worked, just because they were normally stronger, and just because they were the ones that didn't raise a family. The truth was, everyone had their own strengths. We just had to learn what they were, and how to use them. Towards the door, I saw that Abraham was smiling brightly at me. He knew that I'd wanted to say all of this. August seemed to be processing everything that I had just said.

His thoughts were amusing. He didn't understand how one person - a woman at that - could actually manage to understand everything that I'd repeated to him. "So you believe women to be on a higher plane than men?" August finally asked.

I had to resist rolling my eyes. That had not been my point. But he was a man, and he still had to prove himself better than me. "I believe that we're all created equal. We have the option to rise higher or sink lower. It's in each and every one of us. I intend to do something with my life. Something important," I said.

"You deem this as more important than raising a family?" August asked.

Had I ground my teeth together just a little more, I was sure that I would have broken them. I slowly shook my head at August. "I deem this as a different kind of important. And, honestly, why can't someone do both?" I said.

August smiled and nodded at me. Clearly we were finally getting somewhere. "Are you good with what you do?" he asked me.

A prideful grin fell over my face. I felt that I'd earned it, after all of the work that I'd done on the project. "Come to the demonstration in a few days. Let me prove it to you," I told him.

August nodded at me and stood from the chair. I did the same a moment later. "I do certainly hope that this project works. The day and age is coming that lives will change. A woman like you might help things along," he said.

I was almost surprised to hear him say something like that. "Thank you."

August moved forward and I shook his head once more. "And Harvard University would be honored to present you with a degree." I smiled brightly, and had to resist throwing it back in his face that I'd managed to pass his stupid little test. "Perhaps you'd consider coming to speak with the new students?" he asked me after a beat.

"It would be my pleasure," I told him.

And that was the truth. It couldn't just be me. There had to be more women like me in the world. More women like Peggy. Maybe it should be her that spoke. She was slightly more of a role model. After all, I'd just destroyed a good part of the woods around Camp Lehigh the other day. So maybe I was smart, but I certainly didn't have many skills in the anger management department.

August walked over and shook hands with Abraham before turning back to me, with his hand on the doorknob. "My colleagues and I look forward to seeing your project. Best of luck," he said.

"Thank you," I told him. He gave us both a nod before turning and leaving. The door had barely clicked shut when I turned to Abraham and gave him a short hug. "And thank you."

Abraham pulled away from me and placed a hand underneath my head, giving me a smile that was what I imagined my father might have given me, had he lived to have been able to. "You earned it, Fraulein. You are very well spoken." I laughed, I was more of a jerk. "Come. It is time to decide who will be our super-soldier," he said.

I nodded as we walked from the office and out towards the car. We would be taking one of the Army trucks out to the office where we would be doing the experiment in just a few days. "Where do you find these assholes?" I asked Abraham, referring to August.

Abraham laughed, and I found myself wishing that he did it more. He seemed so much younger. "They are everywhere, Fraulein. You just have speak to them. You can usually shrink their heads pretty quickly," he told me.

He was right about that. We both laughed as we climbed into the car and ordered the man to bring us to our destination. We would probably be the last ones there. I knew that Peggy and Chester were leaving around the time that I'd gone to meet with August. I had a feeling that Duffy and Holden had gone with them. And Howard was already there. He'd been working around the clock to ensure that there would be surprises with Operation Rebirth in two days. Two days... We were almost there. It had felt like it would never come.

The ride was a pleasant one. There weren't many chances that I got to take to speak to Abraham freely, considering that we were both busy so often. We chatted back and forth about the project for the most part during the ride. It was nice to actually get to see him slightly relaxed. We were speaking to each other like the oldest of friends. For the exact reason that we didn't want to speak about the project or mutation in front of the man that was driving, we were speaking German. I really did enjoy the time that we got to speak to each other. It helped me brush up on my German, and it helped that Abraham spoke to me like I was a real person. Not like I was a woman or a freak.

We arrived in the disguised pawn shop just a few minutes late. The woman allowed us through once we'd given her the password and we walked back into the room. We bypassed the auditorium where someone would undergo Operation Rebirth and headed back into the large meeting room. As expected, everyone was already here. I took the empty seat next to Peggy with Chester on my other side. Sergeant Holden and Sergeant Duffy were on the ends of the table. Abraham and Howard were across from me. Howard sent me a little wink and I rolled my eyes at him, laughing and looking away.

The small bits of chatter died the moment that Abraham cleared his throat. All eyes turned over to him. "I'm glad that we're all gathered here today to decide who will take on the mantel of the world's first super-soldier. We move to elect two men," Abraham said. I nodded. We would vote on which of the two would go into the chamber. "Gentlemen?" Peggy and I both glared and Abraham smiled, fixing his tie awkwardly. "Pardon me, and ladies."

As I had expected, Chester was the first person to speak. "I move to elect Gilmore Hodge," he said. I rolled my eyes. There was no way that I was going to let that happen.

"I move to elect Steven Rogers," I immediately countered. Chester turned a glare on me as laughter was exchanged throughout the room. Peggy smiled at me and Abraham nodded as well.

Chester and I stayed locked in a glaring contest for a few moments before Abraham cleared his throat once more. "Would you like to speak on behalf of your elected men?" he offered to us.

I nodded for Chester to speak first. He was good. But I was better. "Hodge is a Soldier in every way. He's passed every test that we've given him, he's at the top of his ranking physically, and he knows how to take and follow orders. He's already strong, this will push him over the precipice. He's the only choice," Chester said.

It was just like him. Short and sweet. "Fraulein? Do you have a counter?" Abraham asked me.

Smiling, I nodded and stood. "Yes." The room shifted as they waited to hear what I had to say about Steve. It would probably be one of the nicest things that I would ever say about anyone. "Part of this serum enhances key personality traits. A bad man becomes an evil one, a good man becomes a great man. That's how it was designed to work. Hormones and the like. Hodge is a bully, in the simplest terms. Throughout the last week, I've seen enough examples to show me how he can't work. He refuses to accept orders from either Agent Carter or myself, due to the fact that we're women. It shows small mindedness.

"Someone like that is not someone that needs to be the driving force behind this war. He acts like a Nazi. Worse than one, because he doesn't see the similarities in their actions. Even when he was shown that he was not physically superior, he turned to mental manipulation. Do you think that that's something that we can deal with after being put through the super-soldier serum? It isn't. He's been horrible to the other recruits. He kicked out one of the posts on the barbed wire course, very nearly injuring the other recruits.

"Is that someone that you would be proud to stand behind? I would not be proud to call him a leader in my country. I don't just rest my case on why Hodge shouldn't be picked. That can't be the reason that we pick someone. We have to find someone that actually has the capability to be a true Soldier. In every meaning of the word. And we've found someone. Rogers dove after a - admittedly dud - grenade. He risked his own life to save everyone else. He was the only person that moved to do something. He captured a flag that hasn't been caught in seventeen years by thinking outside of the box, rather than brute strength.

"It wasn't just me. I know that everyone was impressed by that move. We have so many strong men fighting the war and not making a difference. This war could last a lifetime. With someone like Rogers, we could end it in a few years. And if he works, it would just be the beginning. I suggest that maybe what we need is someone that can think their way through it. That's Rogers. And given the tools to become the perfect soldier, he'll be unbeatable. We have so many men like Hodge. Maybe we need one like Rogers," I said.

Peggy, Howard, and Abraham were smiling at me. Duffy and Holden seemed to be thinking it over. Chester was still glaring at me. "Colonel Phillips, do you have anything more to say?" Abraham asked.

Chester cleared his throat and stepped forward. "It's very nice that Rogers is a good guy, but we need a Soldier," he said.

"We have a soldier," I immediately rebutted, not needing the go-ahead from Abraham. "We have quite a few, as a matter of fact. The serum will work on him. But maybe what we need is someone that knows the difference between right and wrong. I don't think that we have enough of that."

The room was silent for a long while afterwards. We had said everything that there was that could be said. It was time to make the decision. "Shall we vote?" Abraham asked. There were scattered answers. Everyone seemed ready to end this. "Sergeant Holden."

He took almost no time to answer. "Hodge," he said. I wasn't exactly shocked. He had seemed very impressed by the flag routine but I knew that it wasn't enough to convince him that Steve should undergo the procedure.

"Agent Carter," Abraham prompted.

Just like with Holden, she took almost no time to answer. "Rogers," she said. I shot her a grateful smile that she returned.

"Mr. Stark."

All heads turned towards Howard. He hadn't really seen the recruits so he was going off of what Chester and I were saying about them. He was silent for a while until his voice floated through my mind. You're sure?

Positive.

"Rogers," he finally answered.

Abraham nodded and turned to Chester. "Colonel Phillips."

"Hodge," he answered without hesitation.

"Sergeant Duffy."

Again, all heads turned to the Sergeant. He thought for a long while. I knew that he had seen both of the men train. He knew what a jerk Hodge was, but he also knew how weak Steve was. For someone that didn't understand the science behind the project, it wasn't really an obvious choice. But, finally, he made up his mind.

"Hodge."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Sergeant Phillips," Abraham said.

"Rogers," I answered without hesitation.

It put the men at a tie currently. I grinned. With only Abraham left, I knew that we had won. "That leaves me for the last. And I believe that I will vote for Mr. Rogers as well." Peggy and I exchanged a wicked smile. Abraham grinned and stood. "Well... I believe that it is four votes for Mr. Rogers against three votes for Mr. Hodge. Majority rules. We will proceed with Mr. Rogers as our Operation Rebirth candidate. The project will commence two days from now," he said.

Chester growled under his breath but stood anyways. He knew that he was outnumbered. "We will be moving the other candidates off to other branches of the Army to train and go through basic in the meantime. Sergeant Duffy, you'll be in charge of their placement," he ordered.

Duffy nodded and saluted Chester. "Yes, Colonel," he said before moving off. Holden followed a moment later.

Howard stalked off towards the main room before Abraham followed him. I assumed that they had things to discuss before it was time to start the experiment. "We tell Rogers in the morning," Chester said as the other two stood on the end of the room.

"Everything is ready here, whenever it's time for him to come," Howard said before walking off.

Walking up to Chester, I gave him a shit-eating grin. He rolled his eyes at me. "I believe that we have everything handled in the meantime. Thank you, everyone, for coming together to conclude the project. It's been a long time coming. You may go about your days," I said, dismissing those that were still left in the room.

Chester waited until everyone had left the room before turning to me. "You had better be right about this," he growled.

"I am, old man."

I was about to turn to leave the room when Chester fell back at my side. He would learn that Steve was the right choice soon enough. "This does not mean that you get to kill Hodge now," Chester told me.

Rolling my eyes at him, I kicked the metal floor gently with the heel of my boot. "You just have to suck the joy out of everything," I muttered as we walked towards the main hallway.

Chester actually gave me a grin and laid a hand on my shoulder. We might bicker like an old married couple, but we loved each other. "I'll see you back at base tomorrow," he said as he headed back to his car.

"Where are you going?" I asked curiously.

"To get a stiff drink," he said. I snorted at him. I could probably use a stiff drink too. "I can't believe that you four think that the toothpick will actually be able to do anything out there," he growled as he pushed past me.

"I'll bet you ten bucks that he'll prove you wrong," I called after him.

Chester turned back to me and nodded. "I'll take that bet," he agreed.

I laughed softly. He would not win that bet. I was going to be the person that won this bet. Steve was a good man and we were about to give him the tools to be a great one. "I'll get in on that bet," Peggy said. I turned back and smiled at her as she came to stand at my side. Chester scoffed at us and walked off. We laughed at each other as Peggy wrapped an arm around me. "You really believe in him," she told me once Chester had left.

I nodded at her. "I do. I know that he can do this," I said.

She smiled at my determination for my friend. "You'd almost think that you care for him," she said teasingly.

Laughing softly, I shook my head at her. "Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Steve. He's been one of my closest friends for most of my life. It was actually him that really managed to convince his parents to take me in. I took his last name and pretended to be his sister during my school years. He means the world to me. I know that if anyone can do this, if anyone has the right to do this, it's him," I explained to her.

Peggy smiled at me. "I don't think that I've ever met someone as passionate at you are." I grinned at her and shrugged. "It's a good thing. I hope that he proves you right. We need this. And I think that he needs it, too."

Glancing over at her, I dropped my voice so that anyone hanging around wouldn't hear me. "I've noticed that you've become rather taken with him lately," I said wickedly.

She would be with Steve if it was the last thing that I did. "Well I doubt anything can slip past your attention," she told me. I snorted and shrugged my shoulders. Nothing could stay hidden from me. "He's sweet. He's funny. He's not like most other men that you'd meet. There's something about him that's innocent. It's refreshing."

She wore a small smile. I knew that she was taken with him but she'd never admit it. "Yeah. He's a strange one. But sometimes strange is a good thing," I said.

Peggy gave me a sideways smile. "I'd think that if anyone would know, it would be you." I gave her a gentle nudge but smiled anyways. "Where did you find those two? Barnes, who would rather die than let anything happen to you. And Rogers, who would do anything to defend his country and his friends. It's sweet," she said.

Come to think of it, they really were some of the strangest people that I'd ever met. But I wouldn't trade them for the world. "They're some of the strangest people that I've ever met but I love them both. They're some of the reasons that I'm the person that I am today," I said.

"They did a good job," Peggy said brightly.

Just as I was about to respond to her, a figure popped up next to us. "Victoria," Howard said, wrapping himself over me. "Agent Carter -"

He didn't get to see anything else before Peggy pulled away from us and turned to leave. I knew that she liked Howard, but she tried to avoid staying around him for extended periods of time. "I have work to do. I'll see you both later," Peggy said, turning to leave.

"And then there were two," Howard said dryly as Peggy walked off. I snorted at him and turned to see what he wanted. "What are your plans this evening, doll?" he asked me.

"Don't call me that," I immediately snapped. I wasn't even overly fond of Bucky calling me that. But, luckily, he normally didn't call me any type of pet-name. "I didn't have any plans. I was thinking about breaking one of Chester's rules and go to tell Steve early that he's going to be chosen," I told him honestly.

I was sure that Steve was jittery with nerves about who was going to be chosen. If it was me, I would want to know immediately. Howard grinned at me and offered his arm. "Why don't we get dinner first?" he offered.

Well, I was hungry. "Sure. Where at?" I asked.

Howard didn't tell me. He merely smiled and pulled me along. "Come on."

As we walked towards the door, I placed my hand on his arm. I definitely wasn't sure that I trusted him not to do something weird. "I'm not sure that I trust you to bring me somewhere without telling me where we're going," I said as we walked out.

"Have some faith," Howard told me.

We walked out to the parking lot and I looked around. Everyone was already gone. Sergeant Duffy and Holden had probably gone back to Camp Lehigh with Chester. I assumed that Peggy and Abraham had left together. That left only Howard. He motioned me to follow him and we walked down the street, saying a quick goodbye to the owner of the facade shop. His car was just around the corner and I rolled my eyes. Once more, it was a new car. One more that I'd never seen before. A Duesenberg Model SJ. I rolled my eyes. I knew the car. It was the fastest car in the world, currently, traveling up to one hundred and forty miles per hour.

Howard held open the door for me and I thanked him as I climbed inside. The car was one of the nicer ones that Howard owned. Of course, I'd never seen him own a relatively cheap car. Everything that he owned was far more expensive than the average person could afford. Howard climbed into his seat and revved the engine, shooting off down the road. I turned a heated glare on him. He was not about to kill himself by crashing into something. He slowed down, but just a little bit. I leaned back into my seat, wondering just how many cars he'd shown me since I'd known him.

"How many cars do you own?" I asked him after we'd been driving for a few minutes.

"Not enough," Howard answered me.

My head snapped over to him. He had way too many cars. How could he possibly think that he didn't have enough? "I have to have seen at least ten cars since I've known you. How many do you want?" I asked.

Howard seemed to think about it for a moment before saying, "Fifty."

My jaw dropped. There was no way that someone could own fifty cars. Where would he even manage to put fifty cars? "What are you even going to do with fifty cars?" I asked.

"Look at them."

I scoffed at him as we drove out of the city. "They're cars. The whole point of having a car is driving it," I tried to argue. There was no point in having fifty cars for only one person. "You can't drive fifty cars." Howard shook his head at me and I groaned. "You can, but you know that you'll pick four or five favorites and you'll end up only driving those."

Howard glanced over at me and smiled. "Are you jealous? Do you want a car?" he asked me.

"No!" I barked at him. I didn't even know what I'd do with a car. There was nowhere that I really wanted to go. I didn't like shopping and I didn't really have any friends that weren't within walking distance. "I could buy a car if I wanted," I muttered.

"With what money?" Howard asked.

My voice faltered. I didn't have a bank account, I just had a few dollars in my dresser from Chester, and even that was maybe ten dollars. Cars cost, on average, eight hundred dollars. "I could ask Chester..." I said, my voice trailing off.

Howard seemed slightly surprised at my answer. I supposed that he thought that I was at least saving up some money. In reality, I had less than ten dollars to my name. "Are you not making money working for Operation Rebirth?" Howard asked.

I shook my head at him. I had a feeling that Peggy was being paid - albeit not much - but I wasn't being paid a cent. "No." Howard looked shocked. "It's basically a volunteer position. A way to keep a woman from working there," I explained. "The only thing that I'm working for is that Harvard degree. I've never made as much as a dollar in my life."

"You'll be paid graciously when you work at Stark Industries," Howard told me.

Scowling slightly, I shook my head. The last thing that I wanted was to be paid because he felt bad for me. I'd figure out the money situation in time. "You don't have to do that," I told him softly.

Howard glanced back at me quickly. "I do. I have so much money that I don't know what to do with it. I don't just want to give it to anyone so I find ways to invent and spend it that way." I supposed that I'd never thought about just how much money Howard really had. "But with you... I've found someone worth the money," he said, giving me a small smile.

My heart twisted slightly. I'd always known that I'd meant the world to Steve and Bucky. But I'd never really thought about just how much I meant to other people. "Thank you, Howard," I said quietly, trying to push off the blush. We sat in a comfortable silence as we drove through the woods. I was absolutely positive that there were no restaurants out here. "Where are we going?"

Howard shushed me as we drove up a steep hill. "Be quiet and enjoy the ride," he said.

"I could just read your mind," I said.

I tried to avoid reading minds unless I absolutely had to. It wasn't really respectable. "I will think of something that you really don't want to see," Howard told me seriously.

And I knew that he would. Although, I'd seen some pretty awful things. I wasn't sure how much it would bother me to see whatever he was thinking of. "Now you've made me curious," I told him.

"Go for it," Howard offered.

"Not that curious," I immediately said.

Honestly, I knew that Howard would think of something awful. So we both laughed as we continued to drive down the mostly abandoned road. The ride was nice. I did miss speaking to Howard. He'd been so busy lately, and mostly away from Camp Lehigh, so I wasn't able to see him as much as I would have liked to. I was grateful that Howard kept the conversation away from Bucky and Steve. He knew that I really didn't want to talk about them.

And it wasn't because I didn't love either one of them. I adored them both more than I possibly could have thought. They were my best friends and they meant the world to me. But I knew that Operation Rebirth was still dangerous. We had gotten the risk rate up the ninety-five percent. That was pretty good, but there was still a five percent chance that something might happen. I couldn't imagine what would happen if Steve died in the chamber. I'd never be able to speak to Bucky again, that much was certain. I'd promised Bucky that I would keep an eye on Steve and keep him safe. This definitely wasn't safe.

At least I would be able to keep an eye on him and make sure that I could stop things before they got too dangerous. In all fairness, I could keep a relative eye on Bucky, too. But I couldn't bring myself to slip into his mind and see what was happening. I couldn't risk seeing something horrible. I liked to think that I would know if something had happened to him. In the meantime, I wanted to stay ignorant and pretend that he was fine. I wanted to pretend that he would come back home and we would... Carry on, I suppose would have been the best word. I loved him, but I wasn't the type to settle down and have a family. And I knew that he did eventually want that.

But those were things that weren't a problem right now. It would be a long time before he came back home. I leaned back in the seat and watched out of the window as Howard drove. I wasn't really in the mood to chat for a while. I just wanted to watch the peaceful woods. They made me forget my problems. Wherever we were was absolutely beautiful. I'd never been this far away from New York City. Not unless we were at Camp Lehigh. And the last time that I was this separated from civilization was when I was a child. I had absolutely no clue where we were headed, but Howard seemed to know where he was going.

"It's gorgeous out here," I said softly.

Howard glanced over at me and smiled. "You like it?" he asked.

"Yeah," I muttered as I gazed out the window. "When I was growing up I lived in a house in the woods. No one was around us. I always wanted to live somewhere closer to people because I was so lonely. But now that I've been around people, learned what I was, and seen how busy things in the city can be... I like the privacy."

"I could build you a house when this is all over," Howard offered.

I glanced over at him curiously. I couldn't understand how he would build a house for me. I hadn't known him to ever make anything that wasn't advanced technological devices. "You specialize in technology," I said.

"I built my own house and Stark Industries. I could build yours too. Free of charge," Howard told me proudly.

Turning to him, I shook my head. "Nothing is free." Howard waggled his brows and I rolled my eyes. It was quite obvious what he meant. "What do I need to give you for the great Howard Stark to build my house? Watch what you answer," I warned him.

Howard grinned at me. He knew what I was thinking, and I knew what he was thinking. Of course, it would have been a joke. We'd kill each other if we ever tried to be together. "I'll build it once you get married," he said.

Not this conversation again. "I'm not engaged, you buffoon," I snapped.

"Not yet," Howard said brightly.

Once more I rolled my eyes. Peggy and Howard were absolutely determined that I was going to get married to Bucky. Nothing that I said would ever change their minds. So I sighed and took a breath. "Okay, fine, for the sake of argument, when and if I do get engaged, you have to build me a house, free of charge. Deal?" I offered.

Howard took one hand off of the steering wheel and shook my extended one. "Deal. I'm thinking a nice, secluded, farm house," he said after a few beats.

The thought was nice. Rolling hills off in the distance with a huge plot of land. Enough to run on and play games. I could toss a football or baseball back and forth. My powers could be utilized out here and I wouldn't need to bother hiding it from anyone. The house would sit right in the center of the plot of land. Perhaps I couldn't cook, but the kitchen would be in the center of the house. Howard, Abraham, Chester, Peggy, and Steve would all sit in the living room, smiling and laughing among themselves. My cheeks burned at the thought of Bucky standing in the kitchen with me, trying to push our child back into the living room.

My stomach rolled in pain. That might not ever happen. He was gone for now. He might not come back. And if he did come back, he might be terrified of me once I told him what I was. I'd already promised him that I would tell him the truth. I couldn't go back on that. And I was sick of keeping him in the dark. He loved me without a hint of hesitation, it wasn't fair of me to keep a huge part of myself from him. If we were going to work, he had to know. No matter how much it scared me and no matter the chances that it would ruin everything.

All of those things were bothering me. But I didn't say any of that. Instead, I smiled sadly at Howard and nodded. "That'd be nice." We drove up over a hill and I glanced over at Howard. "Okay, you have to tell me, where are we?" I asked.

Howard motioned for me to look out of the windshield. "Welcome to Stark Manor," he said.

Of course we were going to his home. How hadn't I managed to piece that together? I glanced out of the window and my jaw dropped. I knew that Howard had money, but I didn't know that he had this much money. It was gorgeous. Suddenly the woods opened up and the large mansion sat in the middle of open grounds. Clearly Howard had spent a long time landscaping. Pine and palm trees - that definitely didn't grow this far north - were planted around the grounds. Bushes were kept immaculately neat. A large fountain sat in the center of the drive that Howard drove the car up towards.

The house itself looked like something in between modern and Middle Ages. It looked almost like a castle. The house was painted a soft beige with deep maroon accents. It was two floors with balconies over every room. There was a grand entrance in the center of the house with a slight rotunda. I couldn't even imagine how much money this had cost Howard. Windows were at random places throughout the home and a large oak tree stood towering over the home.

"Care for the grand tour?" Howard asked as he parked the car.

Unable to speak, I nodded. On the first floor was the grand entrance, which was, as said, grand. There was a huge staircase that led to the first floor that Howard led me down. The foyer was huge and led into a coat room - which Howard said was to hold coats during large parties. There was a large gallery off to the side and a butler quarters off of that. Even the butler's quarters was huge. The kitchen and pantry were beyond that and I laughed. As I had suspected, Howard had never cooked there a day in his life. On the back wall was a public conference room and in the center of the first floor was the dining room. On the far side of the first floor was a library that I immediately fell in love with. Howard ensured to tell me that he would build me one and, in the meantime, he would let me use this one.

The second floor had a grand total of eight bedrooms. Of course, Howard had the largest. He had his own personal office and an experimentation room that was filled with potential experiments to expand on. The third floor - which I hadn't noticed before - was an airplane hangar. I'd laughed and wondered why I was surprised. Howard took me to the basement afterwards and showed me around. There were running tracks, saunas, showers, a game room and arcade, a combat simulation room that Howard told me that I could use, a pathology laboratory, an actual operating theater, a hydrotherapy room, and a sunning deck - complete with a pool, of course.

For a while I'd hung around in the combat simulation room, Howard watching me closely. He had punching bags - two of which I'd broken - that hung from racks above us. One of the hooks had bent when I'd kicked the bag too hard. I'd offered to fix it but Howard had laughed, telling me that it was no big deal. I'd completed a lap around the track - a quarter of a mile - in ten seconds. I'd used the pull-up bar without an issue. Howard enjoyed watching me enjoy his training basement.

Finally he escorted me back upstairs with the promise that I could come and use it whenever I wanted. We were back up in the foyer when he turned back to me. "What do you think? Can I design your house?" he asked, motioning around us.

Still, I couldn't believe everything that surrounded us. I couldn't believe that he had done all of this on his own. "Yeah, I think you can," I breathed out, completely floored.

Howard smiled and placed a hand on my lower back. "Come on, dinner should be ready," he said, motioning me back to the kitchen. I'd sensed that someone else was in the building the moment that we'd come in. We must have missed them earlier. We walked into the kitchen once more and towards a man standing over the oven. "Victoria, I'd like to introduce you to Edwin Jarvis."

Immediately my eyes scanned over Edwin Jarvis. He was a slightly younger man, perhaps in his early thirties. Just like Howard, he was dressed in a finely pressed suit. I would have never guessed that he was a butler, other than the way that he was carrying himself. Very much as a trained professional. His hair was dark and combed over his head and his blue eyes shone as he glanced over at me. His gaze turned curious as he placed down the ladle that he was using and made his way over, giving me a brief nod.

"Pleasure," I said, giving him a quick handshake.

"The pleasure is all mine," Edwin said. He bore a thick British accent that I smiled at. I couldn't help but to wonder if he knew Peggy. Once he had let go of my hand he gave Howard a very pointed look. I could hear his own thoughts assuming that I was one of Howard's girls.

Unable to stop myself, I ground out, "I am not one of his conquests." Edwin looked absolutely shocked that I had managed to piece it together. But he quickly recovered himself and smiled bashfully. "We're business partners. I'm one of the heads of Operation Rebirth, I lead the Genetics division," I told him, slightly nicer this time.

Howard couldn't keep his mouth shut. "You have to admit though, you did find yourself lost in my eyes and my -"

"You keep flapping your jaw and I'll break it. Shut up," I snarled.

Edwin grinned at me as he moved forward, giving me his arm that I took. "I do like her," he told Howard. I smiled as we walked back towards a fully-stocked bar. "Would you care for a glass of wine?"

Grimacing, I shook my head. I'd never been much of a wine fan. "How about bourbon?" I asked politely.

Edwin smiled brightly. "I like her very much," he said to his boss.

Grabbing Howard and dragging him with me, we went into the kitchen and stood with Edwin as he made the dinner. He was explaining everything that he was doing after I mentioned to him that I couldn't make anything. He thought that it was rather funny that I couldn't cook and was determined to get me to make something. After I burned the pasta, Edwin told me to back away and offered his advice that I should marry someone that could cook. Howard laughed and asked me if Bucky could cook. I rolled my eyes and awkwardly shifted. I actually wasn't sure whether or not he could cook. If he came back I would have to see.

When we were kinds he couldn't. I assumed that it had probably carried over into adulthood. Edwin told me about his ex-fiancé while he cooked. I didn't bother asking what had happened to her. We merely enjoyed each other's company before dinner was served. Edwin continued to go about his day and do his chores around the house. Howard and I walked back to the dining room and ate together. I said goodbye to Edwin, just in case I wouldn't see him before leaving to go back to Camp Lehigh. Howard and I ate in silence for a while and I reveled in the taste of the food. The stuff at Camp Lehigh was alright, but it was still military food.

Finally I knew that I had to ask Howard the question that had been plaguing me since Bucky had left two weeks ago. "Can I ask your opinion on something?" I said, shattering the silence.

Howard swallowed a piece of chicken and nodded. "Fire away," he said.

Clearing my throat, I swirled the bourbon around in the glass and drained it in one swoop. Howard laughed and refilled it. "Do you think that I should tell Bucky the truth if he comes -"

"- When -" Howard interjected.

"- When he comes home?" I corrected.

"Yes," Howard answered without hesitation.

So both he and Peggy thought that I should tell Bucky the truth. I sighed softly and nudged the chicken around on my plate. "If I tell him the truth, I think that I have to tell him the whole truth. I'll have to tell him the entire truth. Everything about me. My childhood, everything that happened to me when I was gone for all of those years, exactly who I am... Everything." Howard nodded, clearly telling me that it wasn't that bad. "He said that he loved me, but he doesn't know me."

And it was the truth. All of the years that we'd known each other and he still didn't know me. "He does know you. He knows that you're the worst dancer that ever existed," I laughed as he continued, "he knows that you have a bigger heart than humanly possible, he knows that you're as tough as nails, and he knows that for all of the moments that you've proved that you don't need a man, you still love him."

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. "But those are all things that normal people do. Strange people, admittedly, but all the same, they're still normal." There were women that were similar to me, but at the end of the day, they were still just normal people. I was barely human. "Howard, I'm about as far from normal as you can get."

"So what?" Howard barked at me. I jumped backwards. He never spoke to me that way. I'd never heard him irritated before. "You've got a few oddities about you. We all do. If he doesn't recognize what a wonderful woman you are, he doesn't deserve you. He told you that he would always love you," he said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know about this. About what I really am," I argued.

"I didn't run."

He'd already known what I was. He didn't need me to tell him what I was. Maybe it would have been different if he had. "You're batshit insane, you don't count," I told him.

For a moment, Howard actually laughed before sobering once more. "Victoria, I like to tease you about Barnes, but I've never seen someone as in love with someone else as he is with you. You make him happy." He made me happy, too. I wanted to tell him just how happy he made me. "So you're a little strange. I think he likes strange."

Glaring at him, I scoffed. I was too dangerous to be around him. What if I got angry one day? What if I forgot to take the pills? I couldn't do to him what I'd done out in the woods... I'd kill him. My tone became very soft. "You really think that someone could get over this? Over me? I'm dangerous. I don't wanna hurt him," I whispered.

Howard sighed and stood from his chair, coming to sit next to me. "I think the only way that you would hurt him would be if you walked away from him, and didn't tell him why. He loves you. He might need some time, some explanation, and probably some therapy, but he'll manage," Howard said.

I nearly snorted at the therapy comment. "He's always known that there was something crazy about me. I suppose this won't be that much of a shock," I muttered.

"You've told plenty of people. Chester, Peggy, myself. No one has run away screaming yet."

But there were plenty of reasons that they hadn't left. "Peggy's a woman. She was my friend first. She likes to see powerful woman. You're a scientific mind. I'm more fascinating to you than terrifying. And Chester already knew what I was," I argued.

"Barnes has known you for a long time. Fifteen years, or something like that." I nodded. This Christmas it would be sixteen years. It was hard to realize that we'd known each other for so long. "You really think that he'd leave you for something like that?" Howard asked, grabbing my hands and holding them in his lap.

Sighing deeply, I shook my head at him. He was right. He wouldn't leave. He'd try to get over it. "No. But I don't want him to start treating me differently, like he's scared of me," I said.

"Honey, he's already scared of you." I couldn't help it, I laughed. He was right about that. Bucky was scared of me, so was Steve. "The only thing that telling him the truth will do is make him love you even more. More to love. You said before that you wanted him to know the entire truth, right?" he asked me.

I nodded at him. "Yes."

"Tell him. He'll appreciate it," Howard told me.

I knew that I couldn't keep it a secret forever. One day I would have to come forward and tell him the truth. It wasn't something that I could hide forever. "Thank you, Howard," I said honestly.

Howard took the bourbon from me and downed it himself. "Should've been a therapist," he said.

Smiling at him, I nodded. "Yes. You should have." But he would have made a terrible therapist. He didn't have the patience for it. "You know, one day we're going to have to work on your love life. I'll find someone for you," I told him.

He looked put off by the thought that he might ever get married and have a family. It made me smile. "Oh no, you're the only girl I need in my life," he told me, hooking an arm over my shoulders.

"Just gonna stay a bachelor forever?" I asked teasingly.

Howard shook his head at me and I watched him curiously. "Now I didn't say that," he told me. I could imagine him being a good husband and father. He just had to find the right woman. She was out there somewhere. "Eventually I'll have a kid and they'll annoy you even more than I do. I'll make that my dying wish."

I growled under my breath and shook my head at him. "Lucky me." The last thing that I needed was two Howard's in my life. I wasn't sure that I could tolerate it. "You should let me name them," I told him after a moment.

Howard snorted at me and shook his head. "We'll talk about it," he said.

I would name them anything stupid. I'd try to, but he wouldn't let me, and I wouldn't be serious. Standing from the table, I grabbed Howard and pulled him upright. "Okay, I need to be going." Howard nodded at me as we walked from the dining room and past the foyer. I saw Edwin in the corner dusting. "Thank you for dinner, Edwin! It was lovely," I called to him.

Edwin glanced up and bowed slightly. "Come by anytime, miss," he said.

Once he had left us, I turned back to Howard. "Take me back?" I asked. I wasn't quite fond of running all the way back to Camp Lehigh.

Howard nodded and motioned me out of the mansion towards the drive, where his car was still parked and waiting for us. "Yeah." He opened the door to his car and allowed me to hop in. He started the car and began down the road. We weren't in silence for long. "You mind coming to visit the lab tomorrow? Make sure that everything is in place?" he asked me.

I nodded at him. "Sure." I figured that we would be done talking to Steve by the middle of the afternoon. "Come get me at two, yeah?" I asked him.

"I'll meet you then."

Together we rode back to Camp Lehigh in a peaceful atmosphere. It was the moments like this that I almost forgot about everything that plagued me. It had been a long time since I had had such a peaceful night. We laughed together as we drove through the roads back to camp. It made me wonder how I had ever managed to make such a good friend out of Howard Stark. A man that no one seemed to really understand. Sure, he could be an ass, he was definitely arrogant, and he had way too high of an opinion of himself. But he also had a big heart, an open mind, and a wonderful personality.

It almost made me sad when we finally got back to Camp Lehigh. I kissed Howard on the cheek and departed from him for the night. It was getting a little late. It was already past nine. Lights out was in an hour. But I had time to actually walk freely. I thought about heading to the mailboxes and I hesitated for a moment before deciding not to. Peggy usually checked for me. She knew that it made me too nervous to do it myself. So I headed back to the barracks and gently slipped into our room.

She had been so busy lately that I half expected her to be asleep. It surprised me that she wasn't. She was writing a letter at her desk. "Oh. You're awake," I said. She turned back and smiled at me, crossing her legs. "I didn't want to disturb you," I explained.

For a moment I went to go change into my pajamas, but Peggy spoke before I could "No. I wanted to see your face," she said. She was still smiling brightly at me.

A letter. Was it a letter? I didn't want to get my hopes up. "What?" I asked, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.

Peggy stood from the desk with something behind her hands. "Picked up your mail today. You got a letter," she said, extending it. My heart skipped a beat. "It's from him, it's his writing."

"Thank God," I muttered, taking it from her. "Thank you," I told her. She smiled and sat back down at her desk, giving me a moment of privacy to read the letter. I quickly opened it and pulled the paper out. It was shorter than the last.

Vika,

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write to you. We have to get moving soon. The mission was a success. They had me working as a sniper so I was out at a distance. Everyone is just fine. One man was skimmed in the leg but with some stitches, he'll be fine.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to write to you much over the next few weeks. I think we're going somewhat off the grid. But I'll keep writing the letters and I'll send them when I can. I miss you a lot. It gets so boring out here. I'd write everything to you, tell you every second of my day, but I'm getting yelled at that it's time to go.

Hopefully things are good back at home. Has Steve managed to get into another fight yet? How's that project that you've been working on going? Hand any new recruits their asses yet? I like to imagine that you have.

I love you, and I'll see you soon,
Bucky.

Peggy was watching me as I read over the letter three times. I kept trying to find some extra clue in the letter, anything, just something to tell me what else was happening. But there was nothing. He'd told me as much as he could and I couldn't complain about that. Plus there was the fact that I knew that he was still alive. At least, whenever he had sent this letter. He'd made it through his first mission and been unharmed. I took a shaky breath and placed the letter down on my desk. His jacket still sat over my chair and I pulled it on, tugging at the sleeves that were far too long for me.

Taking a deep breath, I sent Peggy a smile. She grinned back at me before turning to her own desk. She wanted to make sure that I was alright. I grabbed a piece of paper and laid it out, tapping my pen against my mouth for a moment as I debated what to write. He had told me to write him a long letter, since he was always so bored.

Bucky,

It's horrible here without you. I knew that it would be, so I can't say that I'm surprised. I don't think that it's even having you away from me - although that's pretty miserable too. It's the fact that I don't know what's happening while you're out there. Sleep is hard to get. I'm so paranoid about everything lately. An overwhelming feeling that something is going to go wrong, I suppose.

But that's my problem, not yours. And I guess things are a little better now that I know that you're alright. I've got so much that I wish that I could tell you. Way too much to write in a letter. I met an admissions officer from Harvard today. He was an arrogant ass. You'd be proud, I put him in his place. He said that as long as the project works out, he'd be more than honored to present me with a degree. Not only that, but he even offered me a chance to come and speak to the new students. I don't know how keen I am on that, though.

As for the actual project, we've found our candidate. Human testing begins two days from now. I think that you'd like the man that we chose. He was my personal choice. Abraham's too. Maybe you can speak with him one day. We're telling him tomorrow. He probably thought that he had no chance. I'll be glad to tell him that it's him that we chose.

The other option was a man by the name of Gilmore Hodge. If you thought that I was bad to Jeremy or any of the other recruits while you were here, you should see me with Hodge. I thought about breaking his ribs the day that I met him. He'd just horrible to the other men. He preys on the weak. That's not a Soldier. It's a coward.

Steve is fine. He's back at the apartment and working on getting a job assembling airplanes for the Air Force. So, he's at least doing something good for his country. And, who know? Maybe he'll build a little bit of muscle.

I'm glad that things aren't too bad for you at your base. I hope that you don't think of me nearly as much as I think of you, it makes it hard to get things done. By the way, I would love to hear one of those songs that you wrote. I wish that you were here. I wish that I could kiss you or hug you. Good luck prying me off of you when you get home.

Anyways, I'm sure that you have better things to do than read my letter, so I'll make the rest short. It's getting late and I want to go deliver the news that we've chosen our new soldier. I promise I'll tell you all about the project when you get home. Not that I'm supposed to do either of those things. I'm supposed to wait until tomorrow to tell him, but I don't care. I hope that you're alright. I miss you every single day. I can't wait to see you again. I love you, please stay out of trouble. And write me whenever you can. You mean the world to me, come back home soon.

By the way, thanks for leaving your jacket here. It's soft. I think it'll be mine now.

Don't you dare do anything stupid,
Love, Vika.

Folding the letter up, I placed it in an envelope and stood. I had to go deliver the letter as soon as possible, before he could move on. "I'll be right back," I told Peggy, turning to leave the room.

She glanced up at me quickly. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm gonna tell Steve that he's been chosen," I said.

She laughed at me and leaned back in her chair. "Aren't you not supposed to do that?" she asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yep." I was about halfway out of the door when I turned back and smiled at her. "You can come and talk to him..." I playfully suggested.

I got a shoe chucked at me in response. "Get out."

Laughing loudly, I tossed the shoe back onto her bed and turned from the room. I closed the door gently behind me, not wanting to disturb anyone that might have turned in early, and walked from the room. I paid a quick visit to the mail room and dropped off the letter. No one else was inside so I placed a small kiss on the envelope, sealed it, and placed on the postage before sending it off. Taking a deep breath, I headed over to Steve's barracks. Disaster struck the moment that I walked in. Men were running everywhere and destroying the room.

Clearing my throat quickly, all movement came to a dead halt. Steve, who had been reading on his bed, glanced up at me. "Everyone with the exception of Rogers, out," I snapped.

It didn't take anything more than that. They all grabbed their things and ran from the room. Some of them weren't wearing shirts and I rolled my eyes at them as they walked past me. They were probably thinking that I was impressed. I wasn't. As far as that went, I had Bucky and I'd seen Logan - a man in prime physical condition - completely bare. Once they'd gone, I walked over to Steve. He looked extremely concerned as I came to sit on the bed opposite him.

He hung his head. "So that's it, I'm out?" he asked me.

I couldn't keep up the solemn look for long. A wide grin spread over my face and I jumped over to his bed, wrapping him in a hug, trying to regain my composure. "Welcome to Operation Rebirth, Soldier."

Steve's jaw dropped. "They - They picked me?" he asked hesitantly.

I nodded at him proudly. He'd done it. He was about to do the one thing that he'd always wanted. "They did. You are about to be the first super-soldier in history. Congratulations, two days from now you'll be going into the Vita-Ray Chamber and coming out as the perfect Soldier," I explained to him.

We'd give him the full rundown on what would happen tomorrow. "Wow..." Steve muttered, looking down at his hands. He looked back up a few moments later. "What happened?"

"We took a vote. You and Hodge were nominated." Steve looked as bothered as I had been that someone had nominated Hodge. "Chester nominated Hodge and I nominated you." He smiled at me. "Chester, Sergeant Duffy, and Sergeant Holden voted for Hodge. Peggy, Howard, Abraham, and I voted for you. So, we won," I said brightly.

Steve placed a hand over mine. "Thanks for believing in me, Vic," he said.

"Don't make me regret it," I warned.

He laughed and nodded at me. "I won't. I promise," he said determinedly.

Of course, I knew that he wouldn't. Steve would never be able to disappoint me. We sat in silence for a few moments before I looked up at him. "Bucky's alive. I just got a letter from him saying that their first mission went well. Only one man was injured. Nothing serious. They're moving on now. He said he'd write as much as possible," I told him.

Steve nodded at me. "He'll be fine." I knew that he was saying it just as much for his own sake as he was saying it for mine. "You know that he will. He's doing a good job out there. Maybe one day I'll get a little closer to him out there."

"I don't think that I can tolerate having you both out there," I told him honestly. Steve laughed once more and wrapped an arm around me. I'd never felt so much like his little sister as I did in that moment. We were in silence for a while before a wicked grin fell over my face. "So can I name you?" I asked.

"Name me?"

He looked like I'd just asked him to give me his first-born. "Yeah! You're going to be the world's first super-soldier. No offense, but Steve Rogers isn't really that impressive. We'll have to give you a name that will fit the new person that you'll be. Pick a rank," I said.

"Rank?"

I rolled my eyes. Had he been paying attention at all the past week? "Like Sergeant, Colonel, Lieutenant; you know."

Steve thought about it for a moment. "Umm... Captain," he landed on.

I nodded. I could work with Captain. "Okay... Captain... Captain..." I trailed off, trying to think of what would actually sound good. Finally, it hit me. "Captain America!" I said cheerfully.

Steve looked doubtful. "Seriously?" he asked me.

I gave him a hard nudge. "It'll grow on you," I told him. And I honestly believed that. Things weren't perfect right now. There was a chance that Steve wouldn't be alright when he went into the chamber, Bucky was still risking his life in the war, and my life was still mostly a lie. But I had this moment, and I would enjoy it.

A/N: Two notes here. Yes, I know that the first nuclear weapon test was in 1945, but the Manhattan Project had been approved at this time. So let's pretend that Victoria already knows about them and understands how they operate. Also, the Soldier's Creed that they're saying here is not the current one. It was redone in 2003. Anyways, I hope you guys liked the one! The next one will be everything leading up to the moment that Steve heads to the Vita-Ray Chamber. So I hope that you enjoy one of the final chapters with pre-serum Steve. Thanks for the follows and favorites! Please review! Until next time -A

QUESTION:Would you guys like to see a Bucky P.O.V. next chapter to show his life during deployment?

rebelforcauses: Me too! I literally can't wait to write Victoria as the complete badass that she is. But, of course, I must be patient and build up to it lol. The wait it almost over for Steve to become Cap!

kuppcake: I was so heartbroken writing Bucky leaving lol. I can't wait to bring him back!

WickedLovely121sweet: Thank you! I hope that you continue to like it!