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Day: Army Base
New Soldiers stood in a line looking around and talking to each other. Two ladies walked up with a soldier carrying a box of clipboards behind them. One of them says, "Recruits attention!" They all stand straight and look ahead, but Steven recognizes the voice of Sadie, and the girls walk in front of the recruits. Sadie sees Steven, surprised that he's here, and he gives her the same look back, but both of them recover and continue.
The second woman, Jenny Carter, introduces Sadie and herself, "Gentlemen, I'm Agent Carter. This is Agent Miller." She gestures to Sadie and looks at the recruits, "We supervise all operations of this division."
An arrogant man in line says, "What's with the accent, Queen Victoria? Thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army."
Sadie steps up before Jenny can say anything and looks at him sternly, "What's your name, soldier?"
The man answers her, "Kevin Hodge, your Majesty."
Sadie orders, "Step forward, Hodge." Kevin steps forward, "Put your right foot forward." He does what he's told. The soldier with the box of clipboards hands them out to the recruits.
Kevin says smugly, "We going to wrestle? Cause I got a few moves I know, you'll like." Steven smirks, knowing that was the wrong thing to say to her, and suddenly Sadie punches Kevin hard in the face, making him fall. Jenny smirks knowingly since she's been friends with Sadie for a while now.
Colonel Bill Dewey gets out of the military vehicle and walks towards them, "Agent Miller. Agent Carter."
Both Jenny and Sadie turn to him and salute, "Colonel Dewey."
Col. Dewey looks at Sadie, "I see you're breaking in the candidates. That's good." She smiles, and they turn to the recruits, and Dewey says to Kevin, "Get your ass up out of the dirt and stand in the line and attention till someone comes and tells you what to do."
Kevin stands up again, with his head high, "Yes, sir." Blood starts pouring out from his nose because of the punch from Sadie.
Col. Dewey addresses the new army recruits and paces, "General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons, but men win them. We will win this war because we have the best men." He stops, sees Steven, and looks over at Dr. Priyanka, who is standing beside Sadie and gets a look back from her, and the Colonel continues talking and pacing, "And because they're going to get better. Much better."
Training
The training montage starts, showing Steven unpacking his books, Colonel's voice narrating in the background, "The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world." The recruits were climbing up a rope ladder, and Steven struggled as he got caught on it and fell, hanging off it, "Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man." The chief tells Steven, 'Steven get off of there', and the other recruits laugh at him. Colonel's voice continues to address the new army recruits as they crawl in the mud under barbed wire holding rifles, and Kevin kicks at a stand and breaks it, making it fall in front of Steven, and the chief says, 'Steven get that Rafe out of the mud', "At the end of this week, we will choose that man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldiers. And they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell."
Now Steven and some other trainees came running up with heavy gear on, Steven following a little behind to a waiting car with Jenny in the front and Sadie in the back with clipboards in hand. They stopped by a flagpole. The chief leading them says, "Pick up the pace, ladies! Let's go! Let's go! Double time! Come on! Faster! Faster! Move! Squad hold!" They stop, and he points at the flagpole, "That flag means we're only at the halfway point!" Steven, breathing heavily, exhausted in the back, "The first man to give it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter and Agent Miller!" The men immediately run to the pole, except for Steven as the men try to climb the pole, "Move! Move! Come on, get up there! Get up there, Kevin!" He says that when Kevin tries to go up but falls to the ground, "Come on, get up there! No one has got that flag in 17 years! Now fall back into line!" The men ran back to their previous position, "Go! Get back into formation!" Steven doesn't and walks to the flagpole, "Steven, I said fall in!" Steven ignores him and unhooks the bolts and the pole falls. Steven drops the bolts and grabs the flag, and walks over to the chief, who stands there, stunned. Sadie smiles in amusement at all of their shocked faces.
Steven gives the flag to the chief and says, "Thank you, sir." He climbs in the military vehicle beside Sadie, and he smiles at both of the ladies when they look at him and smiles at him as they drive off, leaving the other recruits to follow.
Now, the recruits are doing push-ups, and Steven is completely struggling. Both Agents observing them, Sadie shouts, "Faster ladies! My grandmother has more life in her. God rest her soul."
Jenny shouts, "Move it."
Col. Dewey asks Dr. Priyanka as they walk over to where the recruits are, "You're not thinking about picking Steven, are you?"
Dr. Priyanka answers him, "I am more than just thinking about it. He is a clear choice."
Col. Dewey exclaims, "When you brought a 90 pounds asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide. I thought, what the hell? Maybe he'll be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him." They reach the area.
Jenny demands, "Up!" They all stand straight up, "Jumping-jacks." They do as they are told. Steven is tired but continues.
Colonel Dewey looks at Steven, "Stick a needle in that kid's arm, and it's gonna blow him up like a hot-air balloon." They watch as Steven struggles while training with the other recruits, "Look at that. He's making me cry." He looks at Dr. Priyanka.
Sadie somewhat encourages, "Come on, girls."
Dr. Priyanka says, "I am looking for qualities beyond the physical."
Col. Dewey asks her, "Do you know how long it took to set up this project?"
Dr. Priyanka nods, "Yeah, I know."
Col. Dewey continues, "And all the groveling I had to do in front of the Senator, what's his name?"
Dr. Priyanka gives him an annoyed look, "I know. I am well aware of your efforts."
Col. Dewey looks at Kevin, "Then throw me a bone. Kevin passed every test we gave him. He's big. He's fast. He obeys orders. He's a soldier."
Dr. Priyanka states the obvious, "He's a bully."
Col. Dewey takes a hand grenade out of a box inside the back of the military truck, with them standing beside it, "You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor." He takes the pin out and the clip, "You win the war with guts." And he throws the grenade at where the recruits are training and yells, "Grenade!"
All the recruited soldiers move away quickly, but Steven jumps on top of it, covering it with his body as Sadie steps forward. Steven shouts, "Get away! Get back!" They wait for the grenade to go off, but nothing happens. Sadie was shocked at what he had just done but always impressed at his courage and bravery.
A soldier in the background says, "It's a dummy grenade. All clear, get back in formation."
Steven sits up, looks at Dewey and Dr. Priyanka and asks, "Is this a test?"
Dr. Priyanka smiles, then looks at Dewey to confirm her point about choosing Steven. Col. Dewey still says to her, "He's still chubby." Then walks away.
Sadie helps Steven up and tells him quietly, "Please, don't scare me like that again."
Steven, just as quietly as her, says as he brushes himself off, "No promises, Sadie." She sighs, knowing he's not going to give up.
Sadie tells him, "Get back in line." Knowing not to mess with her, he nods and does what he's told.
Later
Night: Bunk House
Dr. Priyanka knocks on the door, comes halfway with a bottle and two glass cups, and looks at Steven, "May I?"
Steven, with an open book in hand, turns to look at her over his shoulder behind him, "Yeah."
Dr. Priyanka walks in, "Can't sleep?"
Steven turned to look at her as she was in front of him now, "Got the jitters, I guess."
Dr. Priyanka tells him, "Oh, me too."
Steven puts his book aside, "Can I ask you a question?"
Dr. Priyanka responds as she sits on a cot in front of Steven, "Just one?"
Steven looks at her curiously, "Why me?"
Dr. Priyanka understands the question and answers, "I suppose that is the only question that matters." She tilts the bottle in her hand and looks at it as she explains to Steven, "This is from Augsburg. My city." She looks at Steven, "So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know, after the last war, the... my people struggled. They... they felt weak. They felt small. And then Hitler comes along with the marching, the big show, the flags, the... and the..." She waves her hand a bit and adjusts her glasses. "And he hears of me, my work, and he finds me. And he says, you... he says you will make us strong. Well, I am not interested." She puts the bottle on the floor in front of him and continues, "So he sends the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Spinel. Now, Spinel is a member of the inner circle, and she's ambitious." It shows a flashback of Spinel looking down, "She and Hitler share a passion for a cult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler used his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Spinel, it is not fantasy." Steven listens intently, "For her, it is real. She has become convinced that there is a great power on the earth, left there by the Gods, waiting to be seized by a superior woman. So when she hears about my formula and what it can do, she cannot resist." It shows a flashback of Spinel threatening Priyanka with a gun and then taking Priyanka's formula and injecting herself with it, "Spinel must become that superior woman."
Steven, with a straight face, says, "Did it make her stronger?"
Dr. Priyanka answers, "Yeah. But there were other effects. The serum was not ready." It shows a flashback of Spinel reacting badly to the formula, and Dr. Priyanka continues to speak, "But more importantly, the woman. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse." Steven takes in that statement, "This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion."
Steven narrows his eyes and looks at the ground, "Thanks. I think." He looks up, and they both smile a little.
Dr. Priyanka gestures for Steven to pick up the two glass cups she put down earlier when she walked in, and Steven holds them out as Dr. Priyanka pours the cups, "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing." She puts down the bottle and grabs her glass, "That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." She points at Steven's heart.
Steven holds up his glass to toast, "To the little guys." They clink glasses, and just as Steven's about to drink from his glass, Dr. Priyanka stops him.
Dr. Priyanka grabs the cup from Steven, "No! No! Wait! Wait! What am I doing? No! You have a procedure tomorrow. No fluids." She pours the contents of Steven's glass into her own.
Steven looks down for a second, "All right. We'll drink it after."
Dr. Priyanka replies, "No. I don't have a procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? Drink it now." She drinks the full cup, and Steven smiles in amusement.