Chapter 16 - Experiment
Peggy was more than willing to celebrate with me that night when I returned to the barracks with my degree in my hand and a grin on my face. She took one look at the paper and my face and ran at me, dragging me into a hug. I hugged her back just as tightly and we finished half the bottle of bourbon that had been sitting in my trunk since I got to Camp Lehigh.
Howard was beside himself as well. When I went along with Erskine to deliver the final serum, he scooped me up into a hug and spun me around the room delightedly. He insisted Erskine leave me behind when he went back to Camp Lehigh and had taken me out for dinner, dancing, and a night on the town, celebrating my success.
Only one thing could have made it better.
I stared at the letter in my hands. It was the last one I'd gotten from Bucky. It was worn, the edges foxed from the amount of times I'd pulled it out and read it in the time since I'd heard anything out of him. I must have written a dozen letters to him but I never heard back.
I couldn't blame him for that though. I knew that he was probably moving around, probably didn't have time to write. No matter how many times I repeated those things to myself though, it didn't stop the tiny pinprick of hurt whenever I thought about it. That pinprick became a dull ache whenever I went to the post office with a new letter to send and realized there were no letters waiting for me.
By this point I could nearly recite the letter from memory, but I still looked down at the paper and read it through again.
Belle,
I've made it over safely and I've settled in. England is pretty dreary if I'm being honest. I don't think I've ever been to a wetter place. We should be shipping out to Italy soon. Can you believe it? Me, in Italy. Here I was thinking I'd never leave Brooklyn and now I'm running all over Europe. Not exactly the best circumstances for sightseeing, but I'll take what I can get.
You mentioned your dad was in Greece. Who knows, maybe I'll end up over there sometimes? Wouldn't that be great, me wandering into the embassy and asking to see a lieutenant colonel just to tell him his daughter loves him? I did promise though. If I came across an Ealum I'd give them your love.
I found two, actually. A couple of guys named Peter and Claude. They say they're your cousins. Gave me quite the dressing down, wanted to know how I knew you and if I was being nice. I told them that they were dumb to worry about you, that you could handle yourself. I told them about you decking that guy and they burst out laughing. Didn't seem all that surprised, to be honest, although I think they've sworn vengeance on John if they ever find him.
Thanks for sending that picture. A lot of the guys have pictures from their girls back home. At night when they're feeling particularly homesick they like to pull them out and brag about how they've got the prettiest girl back home waiting for them. I never take out your picture though, and I'll tell you why. Not that I'm not proud, but I don't want those other boys feeling bad because I've got the smartest, sweetest, prettiest scientist there ever was writing me. It's just not fair, you know? Don't want to make anyone jealous.
See you soon, Belle.
Bucky
Bucky's letters were always only a couple of paragraphs, peppered with jokes and funny stories. In comparison I practically wrote him novels, giving him reports on how Steve was doing, as much as I could say about how the project was going, how I was doing personally. I told him about how I was worried about him and how I was still trying to get him home.
I still didn't hear back, and every week that went by without a letter made me more and more nervous.
"You're actually shaking," Howard observed. "I can't decide. Have you just gotten that little sleep, had that much coffee, or are that nervous?"
"D, all of the above," I replied, forcing my hands to stop toying with a loose string on my cuff. "I can't believe it, Howard. I mean, we've worked towards this for so long, and it's all about to happen," I said, nodding to the capsule ready and waiting on the raised platform in the middle of the lab. In a little under an hour Steve would be in there, and hopefully, he'd come out as the first successful super solider.
In all my letters to Bucky I'd never mentioned that Steve had been selected for the project. Somehow I just couldn't tell him, couldn't admit that if this went wrong it was practically my fault. I didn't want Bucky worrying about Steve when he was overseas. That could distract him, get him killed.
Then again, he might already be dead for all I knew. It had been too long since I'd heard from him, and something deep and twisting in the pit of my stomach was telling me something was wrong.
I pulled the pencil that was holding up my bun free, letting my hair fall down my back. I held it tightly and began to tap the eraser on the table nervously, eyes darting around the lab. My part in this was done, I was just here to observe from now on, and it was making me twitchy, all the anticipation.
My grip tightened and there was a cracking sound as the pencil snapped. Howard looked at me sideways as I sheepishly tossed the two halves of the pencil into a nearby trashcan and brushed the splinters off my hands.
'Seriously?' his expression read. "Okay kid, you're making me nervous," Howard said pointedly. "Go sit up in the viewing platform if you're this anxious."
I glanced up at the viewing platform. I could see Phillips up there shaking the hand of a man in a suit, but he didn't seem pleased. Not that Phillips ever really seemed pleased. He was surrounded by men in uniforms and thousand dollar suits. I wondered if you could actually smell Washington up there.
"No way," I said, shaking my head. "I go up there, I'll come out double talking and glad handing."
Howard glanced up at the room and winced. "Maybe you're right."
Phillips glanced down from the platform and caught me staring. He rolled his eyes subtly as the man whose hand he had shaken kept talking, oblivious to his less-than-enraptured audience.
"Poor Colonel Phillips," I chuckled.
The door opened and the room fell quiet as Steve stepped inside with Peggy next to him. He looked around the room uncertainly and seemed to realize that all eyes were on him. He shrunk in on himself slightly, unsure, and it made him seem even smaller than usual. I saw him look up at Peggy for a cue as to what to do.
Peggy started down the stairs and Steve trailed after her, still looking around at everything curiously. Most of the scientists turned back to their work, doing last-minute checks on the equipment and readying everything for use. Howard, Erskine, and I converged on Steve as he made his way onto the platform.
"Morning," Erskine greeted calmly, offering Steve his hand. Steve took it and shook, flinching when a flashbulb popped not a foot from his face. Why the photographer was there I couldn't for the life of me understand. Probably for one of the suited men in the viewing room to take back to Washington and hold up in front of some Committee and act like they'd done something for the war effort.
"Please, not now," Erskine requested, sending the photographer scurrying with a pointed look.
"How are you feeling, Steve?" I asked him, smiling encouragingly.
Steve gave me a cautious half-smile. "A little nervous, a little excited."
I nodded. "Sounds about right."
I noticed Steve's eyes lingering on the capsule he'd shortly be shut inside and saw the beginnings of real fear start to slip over his face. I couldn't blame him. It was a nasty-looking piece of equipment, with containers for needles and padded levers to hold him down.
"Ready?" Erskine asked, trying to distract him. Steve nodded, his jaw working like he was trying to decided whether or not he was really okay with this. "Good. Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat."
Steve did so after first shooting red-faced looks at Peggy and myself. The pair of us respectfully averted our eyes as he stripped, laying his clothes down on a nearby table. I nudged a stepstool out from under one of the desks and over to the capsule. Steve stepped up and sat down on the edge, twisting around and tying down on the hard pallet. Erskine and I moved to stand on either side of him.
"Comfortable?" Erskine asked jokingly. I knew what he was doing – he was trying to lighten the mood, trying to help Steve with his nerves. I couldn't help but want to hug Erskine for it. Despite the fact that he was trying to keep a stiff upper lip, I could see the nerves starting to get to Steve.
"It's a little big," Steve said, drawing chuckles from us. "You save me any of that schnapps?"
I looked at Erskine pointedly. "Arzt Erskine," I chided. Erskine shrugged sheepishly and admitted,
"Not as much as I should have. Sorry, next time."
I patted Steve's shoulder and promised, "Once this is all done, I'll get you a bottle of my family's label. We'll celebrate."
Steve gave me a shaky smile. "Sounds good."
"Mister Stark?" Erskine called, stepping away from the capsule. "How are your levels?"
"Levels are good," Howard said, approaching the capsule. His eyes ran over Steve, who shifted uncomfortably. I didn't blame him. I didn't think I'd be okay lying in a capsule topless with everyone staring at me like a lab rat either.
"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn," Howard admitted. "But we're ready. As we'll ever be."
Erskine sent Peggy off to the viewing platform. As she hustled off to find a seat, Dr. Erskine moved over to pick up the microphone and Steve gave me one last glance. I gave him my most reassuring smile and he managed a weak one in return before laying back in the capsule. I stepped back and retreated into a corner. I had nothing left to do but stand here with my fingers crossed and pray.
"Ladies and gentlemen?" Dr. Erskine said in to the microphone. The men up in the viewing area turned to face the lab and the doctor with interest. "Today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace."
I saw the large tray wheeled out and the cover lifted, revealing the violently blue serum that was Dr. Erskine's pride and joy.
"We begin with a series of injections into the subject's major muscle groups," Dr. Erskine explained as the lab techs lifted out the syringes carefully and fit them into the apparatus around Steve. "The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-rays."
Dr. Erskine set aside the microphone, putting the grandstanding aside in favor of the actual experiment. He moved to Steve's side and gave the order. "Serum infusion in five… four… three… two…. One!"
"Now, Mr. Stark," I heard Dr. Erskine say. My eyes flicked to Howard as he flipped the lever.
The capsule was lifted up on its stand and began to close over Steve securely, readying him for the Vita-ray treatment. Men in hazmat suits attached hoses to the very top of the capsule as Dr. Erskine tapped on it.
"Steven? Can you hear me?"
"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?"
We all smiled a little at that. Erskine nodded to Howard.
"Ten percent," Howard counted out. "Twenty… Thirty… Forty…"
"Vital signs are normal!"
"Fifty percent! Sixty! Seventy!"
A muffled yell came from the capsule, like Steve was frantically trying to bite back a scream. Light poured from inside the little window as the sound dragged on and on. Everything in me wanted to freeze up, to stop the power right then and pull the plug, but that could be as dangerous as continuing.
"Shut it down!" Peggy screamed, flying from inside the viewing platform.
"Steven!" Dr. Erskine cried, flying to the side of the capsule. "Steven?" He pounded on the capsule, but the only thing that could be heard was that yelling noise. Dr. Erskine whipped around and shouted, "Kill the switch Mr. Stark!"
"No!" Everyone looked in shock at the capsule, Steve's voice making itself heard. "No, I can do this!"
Dr. Erskine, Howard, and I all exchanged looks. It was up to us. It was Dr. Erskine's project, Howard's equipment, my friend. We all had to make the choice. Or at least we would have if Steve hadn't made it for us.
Howard moved from the kill switch back to the dials and gave a valve a twist.
"Eighty! Ninety! That's one hundred percent!" he shouted over the noise from the capsule. Sparks flew from the panel and Howard whipped his hands back. All across the labs the equipment began to spit sparks in warning and lab techs abandoned their stations, whipping their hands back.
I abandoned my corner and ran forwards through the dim lights. Even the bright beam from inside the capsule had faded to nothing. There was silence in the lab as we all waited for any sign of movement, or some little thing to let us know Steve was alive.
I slammed my palm down on a red button on a panel to my right and the capsule slid open. A great burst of smoke belched out, and underneath it, panting, sweaty, and much larger than he'd been a moment ago but unequivocally alive, was Steven Rogers.
My eyes widened. I'd seen some well-formed men in my day… But Steve Rogers suddenly put them all to shame.
Dr. Erskine moved forwards, grabbing Steve by the upper arm and guiding the weary-looking man out of the capsule. Peggy came clattering down the stairs as I hustled forwards and took his other arm, supporting Steve's left side. Instead of him looking up to me, I now had to crane my head back to look him in the eye.
"We did it!" Howard cried, moving forwards and helping Dr. Erskine and I as we eased Steve free of the capsule.
"Yes, we did," Dr. Erskine agreed giddily.
I smiled as I watched Steve take his first steps. He reminded me of a colt with his wobbly legs and trembling knees. He didn't seem to be able to quite get his legs to move where he wanted them, but that was understandable. There was quite a bit more of him to direct now.
"How do you feel?" I asked Steve. He looked around, blinking, and swayed slightly.
"Taller," he said blearily. A nurse was standing nearby with a shirt, her eyes fixed on Steve's chest like he was the last piece of cake at a party. Peggy quickly snatched the shirt from her hands and sent her packing with a look.
"Yes, well…" I said, shoving the shirt at him. "You do look taller."
Steve fumbled with the shirt slightly as he tried to tug it on. It didn't help that people were jostling everywhere, trying to shake Dr. Erskine and Howard's hands and congratulate them or chatting amongst themselves about what this could mean for the war.
Boom!
Arzt- Doctor
