DISCLAIMER- I don't own the Avengers!
MarveyTibbsMcGarrettWilliams - I'm going to do that scene later on, this one comes first.
NickiMinajIsSWAG- I'm so glad you like it!
Amy (Guest)- I'm really glad you liked this chapter! It's definitely going to be hard for him... Poor Steve! As for your second review, that's a really good idea! Thanks!
FlyingMachine1- I love Peggy, so I definitely had to have everyone cheer for her! Thanks for the suggestion, and I would use it, but I just couldn't figure out how to justify why there was a camera in Steve's room... I do love that scene though!
Miss America of the USA- Thanks for the review!
TheMostRandomOfRandomWriters - Haha! Me too! (Love the penname!)
Pepperony Pizza (Guest)- Haha! Don't worry, he will definitely turn up soon! I've been waiting for my brain to stop being indecisive about what scene I should do!
vampyfreak- Thanks!
The-storm-chasers- Thanks!
The image of a large room flickered to life on the screen. The whole place is bustling with people in lab coats checking blinking buttons and levers that made sense to almost nobody. In the middle of the room stood what looked like a metal bed, almost surrounded by a large control panel.
Nobody interrupted, they all knew what this was.
A hush fell through the room as the doors at the top of the stairs opened and Agent Carter entered, followed by Steve. Steve looked around nervously, feeling all eyes on him, and hearing whispers.
"Cap, I can honestly say that I will never get used to you looking like that!" This came from Clint, who was staring at the screen.
"Well, you won't be seeing it much longer," Steve responded tightly, it was still hard seeing Peggy. And now he was going to see Howard too-Oh God. How was Tony going to take seeing his dad? Steve knew that Tony hadn't had the best relationship with his father... He shook his head. He would deal with that when something happened, the others were waiting to watch.
"JARVIS?" Steve said, still not used to the electronic butler, "Can you play it?"
"Right away, sir." The AI responded.
Steve and Peggy headed down the stairs to where Dr. Erskine was waiting.
"Good Morning." he greeted as they shook hands. A flash bulb went off next to them, "Please, not now!"
Steve stared at the metal bed, obviously nervous. "Are you ready?" Erskine asked, to which Steve nodded slightly. "Good, please take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat." Steve complied nervously, handing the clothes to a scientist behind him before climbing onto the bed.
"Geez! Somebody get that kid a sandwich."
Steve winced slightly, he was used to people making fun of his size, but this stung slightly, as he had forgotten that it had been said.
"What an a**," Tony said, making Steve smile.
Dr. Erskine came up to Steve's side as he was shifting around. "Comfortable?"
"It's a little big."
There were some chuckles at that.
The doctor laughed slightly.
"Save me any of that schnapps?" Steve asked.
"Not as much as I should have. Sorry, next time." He turned away. "Mr. Stark?"
Tony looked up suddenly, his eyes wide and all eyes on him. Steve winced. He should have warned Tony about this.
"Just play it." Tony said when everyone but Steve looked like they were about to ask.
"How are your levels?"
"Levels at one hundred percent."
"Good." Dr Erskine walked away as Howard approached Steve's side.
The thought on everyone's mind was "Wow, they look alike!" It was true, one of the only big differences was that Tony had a slight beard and had slightly lighter hair. Wisely, nobody commented.
"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we're ready. As we'll ever be."
"That's reassuring!" Natasha said sarcastically, causing everyone to laugh.
"Yeah, that didn't exactly help my nerves."
Steve turned his head to face the ceiling again, a look of worry on his face, and Dr. Erskine turned to Agent Carter. "Agent Carter, don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?" obviously hinting that she shouldn't be on the main level during the procedure.
"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry." Peggy left reluctantly, looking back at Steve in concern.
Dr. Erskine picked up a microphone and tapped on it a few times, drawing everyone's attention. "Can you hear me? Is zis on?" he went on to describe what was going to happen, none of which sounded pleasant. The whole while he was talking, nurses were placing large pads over Steve's major muscle groups and strapping him in.
"That looks pretty hardcore." Tony said, worry evident on his face. "Looks like it hurt."
"It did." Steve replied, remembering the pain of his whole body realigning itself, being unable to keep the screams to himself. "Let's keep watching."
Erskine finished his speech and came over to Steve who turned his face away from a needle going into his arm. Once it was pulled out, he said, "That wasn't so bad." to which the doctor gave an almost pitying look.
"Zat vas penicillin." He sighed, but announced, "Serum infusion beginning in five...four...three...two..." he hesitated and rested a hand on Steve's shoulder before saying, "one."
The vials of fluid drained, levers were pulled by gloved hands, and Steve tried not to let the pain of the infusion show, but let out a groan.
The others exchanged looks. The pain must've been horrible, Steve didn't show pain easily.
"Now, Mr. Stark." Howard pulled a lever, causing the bed to to turn upright and close, making a sort of metal cocoon. Dr. Erskine walked up to it and tapped on the window. "Steven? Can you hear me?"
Steve's voice was muffled, "It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?"
Again, all eyes were on Steve. Tony, unsurprisingly, was the first to speak.
"You have a sense of humor!"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Yes! He's not a robot!" Steve had a mixture of amusement and bemusement on his face.
"What made you think-"
"JARVIS! Please play the video!" Bruce requested, knowing that, uninterrupted, this could take a long time.
"As you wish, sir."
Dr. Erskine smiled then turned away. "We vill proceed."
Everyone in the room put on sunglasses, and Howard started turning a wheel, yelling out percentages. The room was filled with a loud humming noise as the light emanating from the window grew brighter and brighter. Around seventy percent, Steve started screaming, causing Erskine to try and get his attention by pounding on the window.
Everyone had looks of horror on their faces at the fact that Steve had gone through that much pain. Steve looked down, he hated the fact that he had shown weakness, and hated the fact that his team saw him like that.
Peggy ran out of the booth shouting, "Shut it down! Shut it down!"
Dr. Erskine commanded Howard to kill the reactors, which he was going to do, but suddenly Steve's voice was heard.
"No! Don't! I can do this!" Howard hesitated for a moment before turning back to the controls, continuing to shout out percentages.
"Eighty. Ninety. That's one hundred percent!" The humming noise increased, the light grew brighter, and sparks exploded from the controls along the walls before the machine powered down. Everyone stared for a moment, until Erskine turned around.
"Mr. Stark?"
The cocoon opened, revealing the formerly ninety pound weakling, breathing heavily and now sporting a brilliant set of muscles.
"Steven?" The doctor helped him down. There was a chorus of "we did it!"'s and a "You actually did it!" from Howard before Peggy approached Steve.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
He was panting, but he stood tall, looking over the heads of those who were taller than him mere minutes before. "Taller."
There were a few laughs at his response.
"Um... You look taller." She reached out as if to touch his chest, then seemed to think better of it and handed him a t-shirt, watching him.
There were congratulations from those in the booth, and the tape ended.
Steve looked up from his hands, hoping that he wouldn't see disappointment on his team's faces for showing that much weakness. What he got was vastly different. Yes, everyone was looking at him, but they weren't looks of disappointment, they were looks of amazement.
"What did it feel like?" was the first question.
"Like my entire body was being ground to dust before being completely readjusted." Steve answered truthfully. There was silence for a moment, before the next question.
"Why didn't you let them stop?"
Steve considered for a moment before sighing and answering. "'Cause I'm just the little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight." The words obviously held significance for Steve, who was quiet for a minute. "At least, that's how Bucky put it. I never ran, because when you start running, they'll never let you stop. That's why."
"Okay, how about we take a break, get some lunch, then come back and watch more in an hour or so. Alright?" Tony knew that everyone needed a chance to lighten up before the next reel, he didn't know which one it would be.
The group gave noises of consent and trickled out of the room. Tony looked back at Steve who was the last one in the room, just in time to see him staring at a small round object in his hand before swallowing and walking away.
A/N- This turned kinda sad at the end, but I hope I did the scene justice! Review! They make my day!