THIS IS THE EDITED VERSION OF CHAPTER 2! I changed it some and added a scene in the beginning, cause I thought it fit better here. Please reread this chapter if you only read the original version! A/N and review replys from chapter 1 are at the bottom.
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The grainy black and white image flickered to life on the screen, showing the inside of a building, doctors and nurses bustling around, and young men everywhere. A large picture on the wall showed a soldier with his hand raised in a salute, but a mirror in place of his face. A large young man stepped on the small, square platform in front of it, causing his face to appear on the soldier's body. The girl accompanying him giggled and took hold of his arm, teasing him lightly as they walked away.
"Where is this?" Clint asked.
Swatch looked at the screen and said "Coney Island, 1943. This is the enlistment building." Everyone nodded in understanding.
After they had left, a light-haired figure took the other man's place on the platform, but was far too short, as only the top half of his head showed up on the soldier. Another young man came up behind the thin one and lightly shoved the smaller man.
"C'mon, you're kinda missing the point of a double-date, we're taking the girls dancing." The light haired one turned around and faced his friend, revealing his face.
"Wait, Steve?"
"Um, yeah?" Tony stared open mouthed at the screen, causing the rest of the team to do double takes between the pale, scrawny boy on the screen and their leader.
"That's you?"
"You were indeed a very small person, Steve Rogers."
"Yeah," Steve looked at the paused image contemplatively. "I was pretty small, wasn't I?"
"Pretty small?" Tony asked incredulously. "Exactly how old were you?"
Steve's brow wrinkled slightly, "Twenty one."
"Twenty-"
"Let's just watch, okay?"
"You go. I'll catch up with you." Steve said to his friend.
The dark haired man sighed and looked at the picture, "You're really gonna do this again?"
"What does he mean, again?" Tony wondered, but the movie kept playing.
"Well it's a fair, I'm gonna try my luck." Steve stated determinately, but with a touch of humor.
"As who? Steve from Ohio? They'll catch you. Or worse, they'll actually take you."
"Who is this friend of yours? He seems quite worried about you." Thor questioned.
Steve sighed, "That's Bucky. We were best friends since we were kids." He smiled ruefully, "He's probably the reason I actually reached adulthood."
"What do you-" Natasha started to ask before Steve cut in.
"Well, I was basically used as a punching bag to, well, everyone. I couldn't run far, even if I wanted to, because of my asthma, so I was an easy target." After a few moments of quiet, when it became obvious that nobody would say anything, JARVIS continued playing it.
"Look, I know you don't think I can do this..." There was a sight, exasperated tone to his voice as though he was tired of arguing the point.
"This isn't a back alley, Steve, it's war." Bucky interrupted him.
"I know it's a war. You don't have to tell me..."
"Well, why are you so keen to fight?" Bucky questioned, "There's so many important jobs..."
"What do you want me to do? Collect scrap metal in my little red wagon?" Steve was starting to get sarcastic.
"Yes! Why not?" Bucky started to sound frustrated at his hard-headed best friend.
"I'm not gonna sit in a factory, Bucky." Steve was get frustrated too, and when Bucky was trying to talk over him, he raised his voice. "Bucky! Come on. There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do anything less than them. That's what you don't understand. This isn't about me."
"Right. 'Cause you got nothing to prove." Bucky said, disbelievingly.
They kept staring each other down, until, in the background, "Hey Sarge! Are we going dancing?" is heard, causing Bucky to turn around.
"Yes, we are!" His tone completely changed to something more carefree. He turned back to Steve as he backed away out of the doorway, "Don't do anything stupid 'till I get back." he warned half-heartedly.
"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Steve smirked.
Bucky came forward and gave Steve a hug. "You're a punk."
Steve replied with, "Jerk," but before the taller man turned and left, he said, "Be careful." Then he took a breath and called, "Don't win the war 'till I get there!"
Bucky replied with a salute, and the scene ended.
"Is it done?" Tony asked.
"No. It's only about halfway done, I think there's another scene after this." As if on cue, the screen flickerd and a small room came into view.
The only things in the room were a lamp, a scale, an examination table, a chair in the corner, and a table in the bottom of the screen. On the walls, there were two signs; one was an eye examination chart, and the other stated, "It is illegal to falsify your enlistment form".
Soon a doctor entered, followed by Steve.
"It's so weird seeing you like that." Bruce said. Everyone else nodded in agreement. The first video was from a distance, so they couldn't see many details, but this one was pretty close up, so they could see the almost hollow looking cheeks, the way his shirt seemed a bit big for him, and how skinny he actually was.
The doctor was going through paperwork, his back turned on Steve, who was removing his shoes, his feet dangling off the table. After about a minute, a nurse came in and whispered something in the doctor's ear, causing him to nod slightly.
"Wait here." Was all the doctor said before turning to leave Steve alone in the room.
"Is there a problem?" Steve questioned.
"Just wait here." Was the man's non-answer. Causing some chuckles, Movie-Steve looked around to the sign behind him, and moved over to the chair to start putting on his shoes again.
"Worried, Steve?" Natasha teased. Steve ignored her, and just looked at the screen.
There was a rasping of curtains being pulled aside and an officer stood in the doorway, causing a staredown between him and Steve. A flicker of worry flickered across movie-Steve's face, until an elderly man wearing glasses came up behind the officer and dismissed him. Now it was just the doctor and Steve in the examination room.
"So," the elderly man said in a German accent, getting out a folder, "You vant to go overseas, kill some Nazis."
"Excuse me?" Younger Steve looked bemused.
They a watched as the man introduced himself as Dr. Abraham Erskine from the Strategic Scientific reserve, and Steve questioned where he was from.
"Queens." responded Dr. Erskine. "Seventy third street and Eutopian Parkvay." He adjusted his glasses, "Before zat, Germany." He added in an offhand tone, making the occupants of the room chuckle. "Zis troubles you?" He continued on without waiting for a response, looking down at his folder, "Vere are you from, Mr. Rogers? Is it, New Haven? Or Paramos? Five exams in five different-"
"Five exams? Seriously?"
"Oh, shut up."
"It might not be the right file-" Movie-Steve cut him off, obviously nervous.
"Oh, it's not the five exams I'm interested in, it's the five try's. But you didn't answer my question," he continued when Steve opened his mouth, "Do you vant to kill Nazis?"
"Is this a test?"
"Yes," the doctor nodded.
Steve looked thoughtful for a minute, then responded. "I don't wanna kill anyone. I don't like bully's. I don't care where they're from."
Dr. Erskine looked satisfied. "Vell, zere are already so many big men fighting Zis war, maybe vat ve need now is a little guy, hm? I can offer you a chance. Only a chance." the elderly doctor opened the curtain.
"I'll take it!" Steve said eagerly as they left the room and the screen went blank.
The Avengers stared at Steve. "What?" he asked, confused.
"Five tries? Someone was determined." Bruce spoke for the first time.
"So, you took five exams to join the war, and you didn't want to kill anyone? I'm not seeing the logic in that one."
"Oh, shut up Tony." Steve's face was a bit pink. He wasn't really that bothered about the comment, but he realized that he would eventually see Peggy in the videos. He wondered what other bits of his life they would be watching. The one with the crash would be really hard, especially when he was talking on the radio. He was so lost in his thoughts that his name had to be called five times before he took notice.
"STEVE!" shouted Thor.
"Huh?" Steve sat up abruptly. "What?"
"We were asking if you were ready to watch the next one." Asked Clint.
"Oh, yeah, sure." He turned to Tony. "Which one now?"
Tony looked through them and grinned, "How about this one?" Steve groaned when he saw it.
"Alright, let's do this."
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A/N- I really hope that adding italics makes it easier to read, here we go again! I know security cameras weren't exactly common around WWII, but for a better story, I'm going to pretend they were.
MarveyTibbsMcGarrettWilliams -Thanks so much for being my very first reviewer for this story! I'm glad you like it!
Pepperony Pizza (Guest)- I'm glad you are so excited for this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
FlyingMachine1- Wow! Thanks! I've read two stories where they watch film reels and fell in love with the idea, I'm glad you feel the same about it! Thanks for taking the time to review! I hope this next chapter is up to your expectations!
AlyCat3- They will watch the main parts of Captain America, which will be decided as the story progresses. I think it will be just Cap, but who knows! Thanks for the review!
butterflykaguya87- Thanks for the review!
vampyfreak- Thanks for reviewing!
Miss America of the USA- Definitley! I'm glad you liked it!
DISCLAIMER-Anything having to do with the Avengers belongs to Marvel, not me!
PLEASE REVIEW! I want to know how you like this version!
-Little-miss