[later that night, I've sits on his bunk reading. Erskine knocks on the door.]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: May I?
Me: : Yeah.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Can't sleep?
Me: I got the jitters, I guess.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: [laughs] Me, too.
Me: Can I ask you a question?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Just one? [he sits down facing me]
Me: Why me?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: I suppose that is the only question that matters. [He looks down at the bottle of schnapps he brought with him.] This is from Augsburg. My city. So many people forget that the first country that the Nazi's 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 and the big show and the flags and the… and the… [he waves his hand] And he… 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. So he sends the head of HYDRA, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt. Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle and he's ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and 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.
[flashback of how Schmidt takes Erskine's formula and injects himself with it]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Schmidt must become that superior man.
Me: Did it make him stronger? And …
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Yeah. But, there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. 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. And his plan kidnapped Snow White.
Me: who's Snow White?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: she a princess….. um I mean first Disney pricness of all them, Snow White is kind woman with sweet heart like yours.
Me: oh… Thanks. I think.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: [he pours 2 drinks] Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.
[ I holds up his glass to toast]
Me: To the little guys.
[ [just as I about to drink from his glass]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: No! No! Wait! Wait! What I am doing? No! You have a procedure tomorrow. No fluids.
[he pours the contents of my glass into his own]
Me: All right. We'll drink it after.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: No! I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? Drink it now!
[At the Hydra facility, in Schmidt's lab.]
Johann Schmidt: [he turns off the light] Is there something in particular you need? [An artist is painting Schmidt's portrait in oil.]
Dr. Arnim Zola: I understand you found him.
Johann Schmidt: See for yourself. [Zola steps over to the table to find several survaillance photos of Dr. Erskine.] You disapprove.
Dr. Arnim Zola: I just don't see why you need concern yourself. I can't imagine he will succeed. [looking nervously at Schmidt] Again.
Johann Schmidt: His serum is the Allies' only defence against this power we now possess. If we take it away from them, then our victory is assured.
Dr. Arnim Zola: Shall I give the order?
Johann Schmidt: It has been given.
Dr. Arnim Zola: Good. [he turns to go]
Johann Schmidt: Dr. Zola. [he turns on the lights] What do you think?
Dr. Arnim Zola: A masterpiece. [the artist looks relieved with Zola's assessment]
Johann Schmidt: now find princess Snow white… now!
[ me and and Peggy whilst driving through Brooklyn]
Me: I know this neighborhood. I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot. And behind that diner.
Peggy Carter: Did you have something against running away?
Me: You start running they'll never let you stop. You stand up, push back. Can't say no forever, right?
Peggy Carter: I know a little of what that's like. To have every door shut in your face
Me: I guess I just don't why you'd wanna join the army if you're a beautiful dame. Or a beautiful… a woman. An agent, not a dame! You are beautiful, but…
Peggy Carter: You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?
Me: well.. This is the longers conversation I've had with one. Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on.
Peggy Carter: You must have danced?
Me: Well, asking a woman to dance always seems so terrifying. And the past few years just didn't seem to matter that much. Figured I'd wait.
Peggy Carter: For what?
Me: The right partner.
[They pull up by an antiques shop and get out of the car.]
Peggy Carter: This way.
Me: What are we doing here?
Peggy Carter: Follow me. [They go inside.]
Antique Store Owner: Wonderful weather this morning isn't it?
Peggy Carter: Yes, but I always carry an umbrella.
[Peggy leads me into the hidden lab to Dr. Erskine and his team in a big circular room filled with machinery and a pod in the middle.]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Good morning. [he shakes Steve's hand and sombody takes a photograph] Please, not now.
[The photographer walks away, I looks at the pod] Are you ready?
Me: yeah. [ I nods.] Good. Take off your shirt, your tie and your hat.
[In the adjacent observation chamber filled with officials.]
Col. Chester Phillips: Senator Brandt, glad you could make it.
Senator Brandt: Why exactly am I in Brooklyn?
Col. Chester Phillips: We needed access to the city's power grid. Of course, if you'd given me the generators I requisitioned…
Senator Brandt: A lot of people are asking for funds, Colonel. [referring to his company] Oh, this is…
Heinz Kruger: Fred Clemson, State Department. [He shakes Phillips' hand] If this project of yours comes through, we'd like to see it used for something other than headlines.
Senator Brandt: [looing down into the chamber at me ] Jesus. Somebody get that kid a sandwich.
[In the chamber I've climbed into the pod and lain down.]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Comfortable?
Me: It's a little big. You save me any of that schnapps?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Not as much as I should have. Sorry. Next time. Mr. Stark, how are your levels?
Howard Stark: Levels at 100%.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Good.
Howard Stark: We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we'll ever be.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Agent Carter? Don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?
Peggy Carter: Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Good. [He takes a microphone and taps it.] Do you hear me? is this on? [to the small group gathered to watch me being prepared to become a super-solider] Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro injections into the subjects major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays.
Me: [after preliminary injection] That wasn't so bad.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: That was penicillin. [to the others] Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three, two, one. [The serum is injected into me ] Now, Mr. Stark. [Stark lowers a leaver, the pod moves upright and encloses me inside.] [knocking on the capsule that they've locked me in for the procedure to change him] James , can you hear me?
Me: yeah.. It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: [turns to Stark] We will proceed.
Howard Stark: [manages the controls] That's ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty. That's 40 %.
SSR Doctor: Vital signs are normal.
Howard Stark: That's 50 %. Sixty. Seventy.
[as me is screaming in pain as he is receiving the vita rays]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: JAMES! [he knocks on the pod]
eggy Carter: Shut it down.
Peggy Carter: Shut it down!
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!
ham Erskine: JAMES!
ME: No! Don't! I can do this!
Howard Stark: Eighty. Ninety. That's 100 %. [Everything overloads until the reactor closes itself down.]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Mr. Stark? [Stark opens the pod]
[after being transformed into a super-soldier]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: James! James!
Col. Chester Phillips: The son of a bitch did it. [as everyone poors out of the observation chamber Kruger leaves a small, metal object like a cigarett case behind.]
Me: As i stumbles out of the pod supported by Stark and Erskine] I did it.
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Yeah, yeah. I think we did it.
Howard Stark: We actually did it.
Peggy Carter: How do you feel?
Me: Taller. And I got big hair…
Peggy Carter: You look taller.
Col. Chester Phillips: How do you like Brooklyn now, Senator?
Senator Brandt: I can think of some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous. Congratulations, Doctor. [He shakes hands with Erskine.]
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Thank you, sir.
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