Steve looked up from his book at the knock on his door.
It opened and Doctor Erskine poked his head in. "May I?"
"Yeah." Steve set his book aside, trying to ignore the faint stab of disappointment. Adeline was still missing, and he had wanted to tell her that he had been chosen, and thank her.
"Can't sleep?" the doctor interrupted his thoughts, sitting down across from him, two glasses and a bottle clutched in his hands.
"Got the jitters, I guess." Steve replied honestly.
Erskine chuckled knowingly. "Me too."
"Can I ask you a question?" Steve looked at Erskine as the man pottered slightly.
"Just one?" the doctor teased gently.
Steve, however was serious. "Why me?"
"I suppose that is the only question that matters." Erskine seemed almost reluctant to answer; perhaps gathering his thoughts. "This is from Augsburg. My city." He indicated the bottle of liquor. "So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own." He smiled tightly, "You know, after the first war, my people struggled. They felt weak, they felt small. And then Hitler comes along, with the marching, and the big show, and the flags. And he hears of me… my work… and then he finds me. And he says; 'You. You will make us strong.' Well, at first I am interested. I begin my work. I create a serum. But when I go to use it, all it does is deform. There was strength, yes, but… it is not what was asked. So I try again. The same family, but a different result. A perfect result. So Hitler sends the head of Hydra, his research division, a brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt."
Erskine's eyes unfocused slightly, drawn into his memory. "Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle. And he is ambitious. He and Hitler share a fascination for occult power and the Teutonic Myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him, it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the Gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man. So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist. But he wants to be stronger than what it was on Adeline, so I change it. Just enough. Schmidt must become that superior man."
"Did it make him stronger?" Steve asked warily.
"Yes. But there were other effects." Erskine said lowly. "The new serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything inside. So what is good becomes great, bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen." Erskine supplied a small smile, whilst Steve's head was reeling. "Because a strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion."
"Thanks." Steve frowned. "I think." They shared a smile.
Then Erskine fluttered his hands at the glasses, prompting Steve to hold them as he poured. "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are; not a perfect solider, but a good man." He gestured to Steve's chest.
"To the little guys." Steve held up his glass. He tilted the glass to his lips, excited to taste the strange liquor.
"No, no, no! Wait! Wait!" Erskine's hand shot out, grabbing the glass from him. "What am I doing? No you have procedure tomorrow. No fluids."
Steve sighed. "All right. We'll drink it after."
Erskine shook his head. "No. I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? I drink it now." With that, he gulped down both glasses.
Steve smiled as the doctor winced at the burn.
"I understand you found her."
"See for yourself."
Arnim Zola approached the table with trepidation. He had walked in too early. Hopefully Schmidt would let him leave…
The black and white photos on the desk – though grainy – were unmistakably their runaway asset. Zola ground his teeth. She had cost them. She had single-handedly taken down Special Squad A, and then left herself. They had no specials anymore.
His eyes landed on two other photos. "And the Doctor?" he asked, surprised. He understood why Wolfe was under surveillance. She was to be recaptured, and then wiped. They would have to start from scratch, and luckily Zola had new techniques to try.
"The doctor is to be eliminated." Schmidt said offhandedly. Zola frowned slightly. "You disapprove."
Zola laughed nervously, "I just do not see why you need concern yourself. I can't imagine he will succeed." Schmidt adjusted his stance threateningly, and Zola looked down hastily, "Again." he added.
"His serum, and the girl, are the only defence the Allies have against this power we now possess. If we take them away, then our victory is assured."
Zola straightened, nodding slightly. "Shall I give the order?"
"It has been given."
"Good." Zola said, turning to leave.
"Doctor Zola!"
Zola turned, trying to keep his face from falling. The lights came on. Zola did his best to disguise the disgust and fear warring inside him.
"What do you think?" Schmidt waved a hand at the painting.
Zola inspected the horrifying depiction. "A masterpiece." He lied.
Adeline tried to look busy as Steve approached the car she was waiting in, but because there was nothing to do, it was impossible. She settled for looking out the window.
The door opened, and Steve clambered in. He was surprisingly clumsy for someone so small. He cleared his throat lightly, and Adeline finally looked at him, not wanting to see the judgement on his face.
He was smiling.
"So I guess this means you know I was picked." He said.
Adeline felt a rush of warmth flow through her. He wasn't… well, he wasn't acting at all how she expected.
The more she got to know these Americans, the more they surprised her.
She gave him an almost smile. "I knew you would. You are… gutherzig. Um," she struggled for the translation for a second. "Good-hearted."
He blushed as he always did when she spoke truthfully. Another odd behaviour.
In her experience, good behaviour was rewarded with simple, truthful acknowledgement of the fact.
Bad behaviour…
Well, that was something she didn't particularly like to think about.
She cleared her thoughts, and her throat. "Are you ready, Just-Steve?" she asked. He swallowed nervously, but nodded. She tapped the driver's seat. "Let's go." She said shortly.
Steve found himself watching the Commander as much as he watched the world passing by as they drove to their 'oh-so-mysterious' destination.
There was something different about her today, and he couldn't quite pick it.
Then he realised that she had faint dark circles under her eyes, and her cheeks looked hollower. It was the way she always looked after she hadn't slept – he knew the look on her.
It was an odd feeling, to know a lady like that.
As she turned her head to look at him, he hastily tore his gaze away, and in the next second, he realized; "I know this neighbourhood." He pointed out of the window, "I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot. And behind that diner." He ducked his head, very aware that she probably wasn't listening.
"You do have something against running away, don't you?"
Her accented voice made him look up again, shaking his head. "If you start running, they'll never let you stop. You stand up, you push back. They can't say no forever, right?"
"I understand that. I know that I cannot keep running from my past with Hydra. I do have to 'push back,' as you say."
Steve was curious – but he didn't want to push. Her faraway expression made it clear that it was a subject too sore for a car-ride. He tried to distract her. "I guess I just don't understand why you'd want to volunteer for the serum, and join the army if you were a beautiful dame." He looked up, flushing furiously at his mistake, "Or a beau- a woman, a soldier woman– woman soldier. Not a dame." He floundered as she looked at him, without malice, but with curiosity and amusement. Her grey eyes were merry. "You are beautiful, but…" he tried,
"You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?"
He chuckled nervously. "You're the first to talk to me."
She gave him that half-smile she always did. "I have no idea how to talk to men who aren't German. American men are strange." She thought about Marcus, the brief sex in his tent occasionally – both as a distraction and a stress reliever. It almost never worked for her.
Steve ducked his head again. "Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on."
Adeline shook her head disbelievingly. "You must have danced." Dancing was – according to Howard – a popular pastime around the world. She supposed she only hadn't because she was a serum enhanced, vigorously trained, ex special-forces soldier, recently admitted asylum into America after retraction from under Hydra's thumb.
"Well, asking a woman to dance always seemed so terrifying." Steve admitted. "And the last few years, it just… didn't seem to matter that much. I figured I'd wait."
Adeline watched his profile as he spoke. "For what?" she asked.
Steve swallowed at her soft voice. "The right partner."
Adeline's half-smile filled out, and she turned her head away, inordinately embarrassed.