Thanks to Guest revieer for giving me some advice on the German. I know the basics of how French and Spanish work but as far as German... yeah, I got nothing. I've tried to fix what you pointed out and hopefully it's more correct now!


First Day

Camp Lehigh was primarily a training camp for new recruits. New recruits who were, of course, all male. And these males hadn't seen so much as a stocking in over a month. Needless to say, I was welcomed with open arms.

"Hey doll, give us a twirl!"

"It's hot out here, why don't you take off some of those layers?"

"Want to come in and have a chat, doll face?"

I had never wished to be hated more. I sucked in my cheeks in annoyance, running my fingertips over the folder in my right hand and tightening my grip on the briefcase in my left to keep from turning around and slapping the men calling out behind me. That wouldn't be the best way to start my new job.

"I'm not seeing anything in this file that makes me think this girl is as special as you claim," Colonel Phillips said shortly, flicking his way pointedly through the file he and the SSR had accumulated on me.

Dr. Erskine huffed in annoyance as I followed them through the camp to the lab. "She is one of the top students in her class and her area of expertise is human mutation. Do you read the reports I send you? What do you think we're doing in the lab, making strudel?"

"Don't gat snappy with me, doc," Phillips said shortly. "I'm the one busting my butt in Washington getting you money for your project."

"Hey, look what we have here!"

"Come out here and look what just walked into the camp!"

"Oi sweets, wanna come by later?"

"Ice cold, ice cold," I hissed to myself under my breath, remembering my great-grandmother Nevade's advice.

"When it comes to business, don't give anything away. Be ice cold, like a glacier. You don't give anything away, they don't have anything to use against you."

I assumed the same general thinking could be applied to perverts. I didn't have much experience. We lived out in the middle of nowhere, just me, my grandmother, my dad, and my step-mother. Before I ever started school, the only time I really saw anyone outside of my family was when we went into town for something.

"I'm saying I'm not going to be responsible for some little girl!" Colonel Phillips ranted.

"She is not the youngest assistant I have hired!" Erskine protested. He turned around so fast I stumbled in an effort not to smack into him. I blinked, my nose assaulted with the doctor's scent of chemicals and disinfectant.

"Miss Ealum, please make your way to the lab. The colonel and I have things to discuss," he said, slanting his eyes at the colonel in annoyance. He took me by the arm and pointed. "Go that way and make a left at the barracks. You'll see the lab at the end of the path. Ask for Dr. Worth, he'll show you where you're supposed to be."

"Alright sir," I said, strengthening my grip on the files. Dr. Erskine gave me a knowing look.

"You may call me Abraham, Josie."

I nodded again and took off in the direction he'd indicated while Erskine and Phillips went off down a small side path. I assumed they were headed to Phillips' office to yell about me some more. I shouldn't have been surprised, really, by the fact that the colonel was skeptical of my abilities. It was hardly a new thing. But, for whatever reason, I'd assumed that since I was hired the SSR was a bit more progressive.

"Well would you look at that?"

"Come out here and look at this dame!"

"Whoo, you lost sweetheart?"

I was apparently very, very wrong. Ice cold, ice cold…

I reached the barracks and turned left, frowning when I found an entire row of bunkhouses lining the path I had to follow. I could see the lab at the end of the path, a long, low, bunker-like building that looked brand new. But between it and me was a road lined with recruits, many of whom had already seen me and were looking at me like a piece of meat.

It made my skin crawl and I had to force the sensation down. Gripping the folder even tighter I lifted my head and tossed my head. My brown hair was pulled up into a strict bun for the sake of lab safety and I was wearing a navy suit with my mother's pocket watch. I was a bit over dressed for the camp, but presentation was something my step-mother had hammered into me.

"Ice cold," I mumbled to myself before starting the long walk down the gravel path, the lab looming ahead of me. The same kind of comments I'd been hearing for the past hour came from all side. I carefully blanked my face – another skill from my step-mother – and kept walking with my chin held high.

I saw the movement coming before the hand even connected with my rear. I twitched my wrist, my briefcase swinging back to cover my bottom. The soldier's hand connected with the case with a hand smack. He recoiled in surprise and I kept walking with a faint smirk on my face.

I ducked into the lab and salvation. My eyes widened as I stared around.

It was a paradise for someone like me. The left and right walls were lined with private cubicles outfitted with desks and chalkboard for all the corkers. In the center of the room was a mass of lab equipment, tables, chemicals, and a couple of standing chalkboards. I could see a clean room in the back along with a private office that probably belonged to Erskine. Techs and assistants scuttled around like lab-coated ants, noses buried in files and formulas.

I approached the closest person, a tall, skinny man with thin-framed glasses and a mop of sandy hair. He smelled like ink and sweat. I wrinkled my nose at the scent.

"Beg pardon?" I said, tucking the file under my arm and holding briefcase in front of my thighs with both hands. The man looked up, blinking in surprise as he saw me. Then a wide, sly smile spread across his face.

"Well hello there." He was attempting a seductive purr, I think. It came out nasally. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a Dr. Worth," I explained politely. "Could you direct me to him?"

The man's smile widened and he stood, tossing aside his notes onto his desk. "As it happens, you've already found him. Doctor Jeffrey Worth," he said smugly, sticking out his hand. "I'm a chemist on this project." He bragged. "What did you want me for?"

"Dr. Erskine told me you'd show me where I should be," I explained, taking his hand and shaking. His palm was sweaty and sticky. "My name is Josephine Ealum."

His face fell faster than a gun could fire. "You're J. Ealum?" he said incredulously, turning up his nose at me and tugging his hand away. Normally I'd be offended, but if it got him to stop trying to flirt with me…

"You're the new lab assistant, the one Dr. Erskine was so excited about?" he continued in disbelief, drawing several eyes to us. A brown-haired man with a build to Worth's came over, pushing up the safety glasses that covered his eyes.

"Jeff, what's going on?" he asked in confusion, displaying a prominent Boston accent. He nodded to me. "Did Erskine hire a secretary?"

I opened my mouth to pretest but Worth but me off. "No. This, if you can believe it, is supposed to be our new lab assistant." He gestured to be disdainfully, making it clear what he thought about my being there.

"Josephine Ealum," I said, politely offering my hand to the new arrival. He sneered.

"A Southern girl."

My jaw clenched hard and I balled up my hand into a fist, dropping it to my side. My nails pierced into my palm, drawing blood, and I mentally cursed.

"Dr. Erskine said that you would show me where I'm meant to be," I repeated coolly, keeping my face blank.

"Certainly," the brunette scoffed. He pointed to the door. "Go that way, turn right at the barracks, and follow the road down to the mess hall. They always need help cooking dinner."

"Thank you for directing me to the mess," I replied. "But I've already eaten today. I believe Dr. Erskine meant where I belong here."

Worth piled onto the joke eagerly, pointing to a thin door in one corner. "That's where we keep the cleaning supplies."

"I shall keep that in mind in case I have to clean up after one of you," I replied. I might as well have been spitting snowflakes, my voice was so cold. Worth's eyes widened disbelief and his friend from Boston spluttered.

"Now listen here-!"

The door opened behind me. I turned and saw Dr. Erskine enter the lab, looking weary but victorious. He smiled when he saw me.

"Ah Josie!" he called in greeting. His eyes flicked past me to Worth and Boston. "I see you've met Drs. Worth and Campbell. Good, good. Dr. Worth, would you mind fetching Josie a copy of my original notes. The translations," he added.

"I speak German," I jumped in before Worth could leave, an ugly scowl on his face. Erskine's eyes lit happily.

"Do you? Wo haben Sie lernen?" he asked eagerly.

"Meine Oma war Deutsch. Sie starb vor vielen jahern, aber Sie hat mich gelehrt," I replied.

"Sehr gut, that makes this easier. You won't need the translations." Erskine nodded in satisfaction. His eyes flicked to Worth. "Worth," he said slowly. "The notes."

"Right," Worth said around gritted teeth and moved off.

"Let me show you to your desk," Erskine said, offering me his arm. I took it and he guided me down the line of desks to the left of the door to a cubicle towards the back. This one was completely empty of anything personal except for a lab coat hanging on a hook by the chalkboard.

"This will be your desk," Erskine explained, gesturing for me to step inside. I did so, setting down the file he'd greeted me with – a debriefing on Operation: Rebirth – and my briefcase. I flipped up the latches and quickly pulled out a small picture frame, setting it on one corner of my desk.

"Is that alright?" I confirmed with Erskine. I'd seen a couple of personal items in the cubicles we'd passed but I didn't know if the rules varied between assistants and actual doctors.

'That's perfectly fine," Erskine assured me. He nodded to the photograph. "Your family? Is that your grandmother?"

I looked back at the picture. It was of my father and Granny Nevade sitting with me on the bench swing that hung in the huge oak tree in our backyard. In the distance, you could vaguely see the plantation manor where we lived. My dad had his arm around my shoulders and my head was on his. Granny Nevade was sitting sideways, her legs tossed over our laps and her cane resting across her knees. Her head was thrown back and she was laughing. I loved this picture. We were all happy, we were all smiling, and my stepmother was nowhere to be seen.

"My great-grandmother," I corrected. "Nevade."

"I'm sure they're both very proud of you," Erskine said as I shut my briefcase and set it next to the desk. Worth made his sour-faced appearance then. He shoved a handful of papers at me with a blunt "Here" and then stalked away.

Erskine watched him go, looking a little taken aback. "He'll warm up to you," he assured me. I nodded, but privately I doubted that quite a bit. "I'll leave you to get acquainted with the project," Erskine said, nodding to the file on my desk. He moved off to a cluster of frazzled-looking young men.

I sat down and reached for the file, flipping it open and scanning through it. Within seconds I was hooked, my heart beating fast with the realization of what the project was. Super soldiers, the Army wanted super soldiers, and Erskine – who had been held captive by some Nazi science division called HYDRA – thought he had the answer. Our goal was to turn an average man into the strongest, fastest, best version of himself he could reasonably be.

By all normal estimation the feat was completely impossible.

I couldn't wait to get started.


This story will be peppered with various different languages. French, German, a little Spanish and some Japanese later. I'll try to put a little dictionary at the bottom of each chapter where that happens if it's not explained in the story. Let me know if I miss anything. Or, better yet, if you speak the language, feel free to let me know how horribly wrong I got something. I'm relying on Google translate for most things, so I'm sure it's gonna happen.

Wo haben Sie lernen? – Where did you learn?

Meine Oma war Deutsch - My grandmother was German.

Sie starb vor vielen jahern, aber sie hat mich gelehrt – She died many years ago but she taught me.

Sehr gut – very good