April 1943
"Hide it," Anya looked over at her sister, eyes gesturing to her engagement ring on her finger.
Christiane gingerly took off the ring, taking it through the ring's hole to hang onto her dog-tag necklace.
The sister's and Peggy sat in a jeep, driving on the dusty road at Camp LeHigh.
Peggy turned around from the front seat, "Well, lets do this, ladies," as the jeep halted, the women walking to the group of men exercising.
"Recruits, attention! Gentlemen, I'm Agent Carter. This is Agent C Bougourd and Agent A Bougourd. We supervise all operations for this division," she looked to him sternly, not moving a muscle in her face.
"What's with the accent and frogs, Queen Victoria? Thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army," a man stood up, taking a look at the girls head to toe.
"What's your name, soldier?" Peggy looked to him unbothered.
"Gilmore Hodge, your Majesty," he smirked, eyes wandering up and down her.
"Step forward, Hodge."
Hodge took a step forwards, looking over his back to the rest of the recruits.
"Put your right foot forward."
"Mmm… We gonna wrassle? Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like."
Suddenly, Peggy punched him hard and quick in the face as he backed away, gripping his face just as Colonel Phillips drove up.
"Agent Carter," he looked to her with a nod before looking to the sisters, "Agents Bougourd," his eyes squinting as he leaned back to Erskine behind him muttering, "It's confusing me."
"Colonel Phillips," the women stood straight, eyes up.
"I see you're breaking in the candidates. That's good!" as her walked over to Hodge, "Get your ass up out of that dirt and stand in that line at attention till somebody comes tells you what to do."
"Yes, sir." Hodge stumbled up.
The Colonel paced slowly, eyeing the recruits, "General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons but they are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best men…", his eyes drifting to Steve as he stuttered, continuing to talk, "And because they're gonna get better. Much better. The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an Allied effort made up of the best minds in the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man. 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."
Christiane was into the hood of the jeep, examining the engine, Peggy beside going through paperwork as Anya looked down at her paperwork.
"Pick up the pace, ladies! Let's go! Double time! Come on! Faster! Faster! Move! Move!"
"Ah, the recruits are here," Christiane looked up, seeing dust flying to a group of men running to the flagpole before going back to the engine.
"Squad, halt! That flag means we're only at the halfway point. First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter and Agents Bougourd. Move, move!"
The men scrambled up, one on top the other.
"If that's all you got, this army's in trouble! Get up there, Hodge! Come on! Get up there! Nobody's got that flag in 17 years! Now fall back into line! Come on, fall in! Let's go!" The drill sergeant shouted as the men stood in line behind him, Steve trailing in behind as he walked to the flagpole, "Get back into formation! Rogers! I said fall in!"
Steve tugged at the pin, the flagpole giving way to a clank on the floor. The women turned around, trying to hide a smile as Christiane jumped into the drivers seat, starting up the jeep.
He handed the flag to the sergeant, walking past open jaws, "Thank you, sir."
Steve climbed in, tipping his hat to Peggy as Christiane put the jeep into gear.
"Faster, ladies! Come on. My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul. Move it!" Peggy shouted to the men as Christiane walked on the other side monitoring.
Anya walked behind the Colonel and Erskine, looking to the recruits.
"You're not really thinking about picking Rogers, are you?" Phillips looked around to various other trainings.
"I am more than just thinking about it. He is the clear choice. What do you think?" he turned to Anya.
"I agree," she nodded quickly, trying to remain as neutral in front of the Colonel.
"When you brought a ninety 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."
"Up. Jumping jacks." Christiane spoke to the arrival of the group.
"You stick a needle in that kids arm and it's gonna go right through him," looking at Steve grimacing.
"Come on, girls." Peggy huffed.
"Look at that. He's making me cry."
"I am looking for qualities beyond the physical."
"Do you know how long it took to set up this project?"
"Yeah, I know."
"All the groveling I had to do in front of Senator What's-His-Name's committees?"
"Brandt. Yes, I know. I am well aware of your efforts."
"Then throw me a bone. Hodge passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's fast, he obeys orders. He's a soldier."
Anya interjected, her eyes still on the training, "He's a bully."
"You don't win wars with niceness, doctor. Pass me a grenade, Bougourd."
"You win war with guts," he threw the grenade over to the group, "Grenade!"
The soldiers quickly scattered hiding, as Peggy and Christiane sprinted to cover only to have Steve jump on top of it, covering it with his body.
"Get away! Get back!"
An officer spoke out, "It was a dummy grenade. All clear. Back in formation."
Steve unclenched himself, looking to Erskine and the Colonel.
"Is this is a test?"
"He's still skinny," the Colonel muttered before walking away.
Steve walked back to the bunk quarters as Christiane ran up to him, textbooks in her arms.
"Steve!"
"Agent Bougourd," he straightened up.
"It's fine, no one is around," she looked to the surroundings, "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, and I didn't have the chance to tell you here," she walked beside him, her eyes down.
"You did what you had to do, Chrissy." his smile gentle, understanding.
"You're not mad?" she asked, stopping outside the quarters.
"I could never be mad at you. Anya explained everything, but does Bucky know?"
She shook her head, "He couldn't know."
Steve breathed in, looking around the training grounds, "Look at us now,"
"Everything's changed so quickly," she sighed, taking in the quietness of the camp after training hours.
Zola trotted into Schmidt's lab, suddenly startled by a light turning on.
"Is there something in particular you need?" his voice low as he sat covered behind a portrait, the artist's hand shaking.
"I understand you found him," Zola continued, determining whether to look elsewhere or to Schmidt.
"See for yourself." He spread photographs of Erskine on the table, looking to Zola's slight crease in his forehead. "You disapprove."
Zola waved his hands, "I just don't see why you need concern yourself. I can't imagine he will succeed." His eyes quickly looking nervously at Schmidt, "Again."
"His serum is the Allies' only defense against this power we now possess. If we take it away from them, then our victory is assured."
"Shall I give the order?"
"It has been given."
"Good." as Zola turned to exit.
"Dr. Zola," the sounds of a light switching on, "What do you think?"
"A masterpiece."
"Comfortable?" Erskine leaned over the chamber.
"It's a little big. You save me any of that schnapps?"
"Not as much as I should have. Sorry. Next time. Mr. Stark, how are your levels?"
"Levels at 100%."
"Good."
"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we'll ever be." Anya noted from her station.
"Agent Carter? Agent Bougourd? Don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?"
"Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry."
"Good," taking a microphone and tapping it, "Do you hear me? Is this on? 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."
He turned to Stark at ready, "We will proceed."
A hum started around the lab, a orange light combing from Steve's chamber.
"That's ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty. That's 40 %.", Stark read off.
Anya looked to her controls, "Vital signs are normal."
"That's 50 %. Sixty. Seventy.", he looked to the chamber, a sudden scream as the vita rays seeped into Steve.
Erskine bolted to the chamber, shouting at him, "Steven!"
Peggy and Christiane stood, watching in shock. "Shut it down." Peggy shouted.
"Steven!" Erskine pounding on the chamber.
"Shut it down!" Christiane shouted.
"Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!" Erskine looked over to Stark manning the controls.
"No! Don't! I can do this!" A voice came from the chamber.
"Eighty. Ninety. That's 100 %." Stark read off, the energy overloading the reactor cutting the hum off to silence.
"Mr. Stark?" Erskine gestured to the chamber as Stark came over, opening it to reveal Steve bigger and stronger.
"Steven. Steven." Erskine shook him, his eyes opening.
The Colonel jumped at his feet, "The son of a bitch did it."
Peggy and Christiane running down to him.
"I did it." Steve breathed, looking around in a daze.
"Yeah, yeah. I think we did it." The doctor smiled, looking around to Stark and Anya as they gathered around him.
"We actually did it." Stark breathed out, finally a weight off his shoulders.
Peggy went up to him, a hand quickly touching his chest before hiding away, "How do you feel?"
"Taller." Steve breathed again, getting accustomed to his new self.
Christiane looked to him in confusion and curiosity, "You look taller."
Suddenly, an explosion detonated from the observation chamber, throwing debris smoke into the lab. A man ran, gun in hand as he shot Erskine into the chest.
"Stop him!" He felt the bullet puncture, quickly letting himself down as Peggy and Christiane ran after him.
The man jumped into a getaway car, both Peggy and Christiane taking aim with their pistols until Steve shoved them to the side, disorientating them.
"I had him!" Peggy shouted at him as he sprinted.
Anya sat by Steve, taking vials of blood, "Think you got enough?"
"Any hope of reproducing a program is locked in your genetic code. But without Dr. Erskine it would take years."
"He deserved more than this," he breathed out.
"If it could only work once, he'd be proud it was you," Anya placed a hand on his arm, pulling the needle out as she handed him a cotton bud to stop the bleeding.
Senator Brandt paced on the other side of the room, an eye weary to the Hydra tech submarine in the room, "Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers."
"Great. Why don't we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" He snapped at the Senator before going over to Stark working on the submarine, Christiane taking measurements around, "What have we got here?"
"Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this technology."
"Then who is?" the Senator asked.
"Hydra. I'm sure you've been reading our briefings." Phillips snapping back.
"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel." he brushed him off.
Peggy stood by, her eyes tense on the senator, "Hydra is the Nazi deep science division. It's led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions."
Phillips continued, "Hydra's practically a cult. They worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible."
"So what are you gonna do about it?" the senator glanced.
"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being retasked." Phillips announced, stern to the senator in front of him.
Peggy looked up, "Colonel?"
Anya stood, walking to Peggy eyes on the Colonel then to Christiane and Stark behind him, "Sir?"
"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agent Carter, Agents Bougourd. You too, Stark. You're flying to London tonight."
"Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in." Steve stood by, towering everyone with his new height.
"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo." The Colonel bit back.
"The serum worked." Steve replied, in all diplomacy and sternest.
I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough." he turned his back, leaving the room without another word.
The Senator put a hand on Steve, pulling him to a table, scattered with newspaper headlines, "With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it. Paper. The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands. You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab. Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?"
"Sir, that's all I want."
"Then, congratulations. You just got promoted."
Anya and Christiane scrambled to their apartment in Brooklyn, packing whatever personal belongings they had into the SSR-grade metal boxes for safe keeping while they would be in Europe. They had already cleaned up Steve's apartment, the box already on its way to an SSR storage facility.
Christiane picked up photographs from her bedside, walking to the living room where the boxes waited, "We're finally going back," she muttered under her breath.
"Are you scared?" Anya asked, picking up a scarf given to her by Stark as she put it in the box.
"I am, I…I don't know if I can do this, Anya." Christiane stopped, sitting on the floor breathing hard. She took the engagement ring from her dog-tags, putting it back in its box and placing it in a wooden box filled with photographs. She couldn't risk losing it in the field.
Anya went by her sister, arms around her as she kissed her on her head, holding her tightly, "Yes you can. You've been training for this. I'm scared too, poulette, but I know what we're about to do, going back to Europe, we're doing it to take back our home. Can you imagine? We could go home one day without the war because of the sacrifices we make."
"I'm not like you and Peggy," she muttered again, taking Anya's hand to stand up as they closed their boxes with little belongings in them save photographs, trinkets from France and their time in Brooklyn
"You are brave, you follow your heart. You can do this Christiane."
They picked their boxes up, taking a final look at the apartment before Christiane looked up to the mirror by the door, Anya standing behind her.
She noted their resemblance, a sense of hope coming to her as she took a single nod, confidence rising, "I can do this."
Stark waited in a car ready to drive to the airfield, their lives changing at that moment.
The Bougourd sisters were going back to Europe.