Okay, I'm officially stupid. I uploaded a chapter from Mama Who Bore Me which is kind of embarrassing. I'm sorry guys. This is the new chapter for real.
Steve sat on his bed in the barracks, reading a book. He was sent back to the barracks as everyone else was eating dinner. He couldn't eat or drink anything because he had a procedure tomorrow. He was chosen to be the super soldier. There was a knock on the door and Steve turned to it, seeing Dr. Erskine poke his head in. "May I?" Steve nodded and Abraham began to walk into the barrack. "Can't sleep?" He guessed as he sat on the bed across from him with two glasses and a bottle of alcohol in his hands.
"Got the jitters, I guess." Steve spoke with a shrug. Abraham laughed a little and Steve decided this was the best time to ask him the question he had been thinking about. "Can I ask you a question?" Abraham nodded eagerly as Steve took a deep breath. "Why me?"
"I suppose that is the only question that matters." He began to tell him the story about how Hitler found him and grouped him with Dr. Johann Schmidt and Hydra. He told him about how Schmidt believed everything that Hitler told them. He didn't think that the stories he told them were stories, he believed they were truth. He became obsessed with it and developed a serum much like the one they were about to give Steve. "The serum was not ready; a scientist in Brooklyn actually perfected it." Steve thought for a moment, knowing only one scientist in Brooklyn who was capable of such a thing. "But more important, the man. The serum improves everything that's inside you, so good becomes great and bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen because the strong man who has power all his life has no respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength and knows compassion."
Steve watched him the entire time, not sure how to actually take what he was telling him. He told him how much he thought of him, but he also called him weak. "Thanks, I think."
Abraham smiled and gave him one of the glasses, beginning to pour the alcohol in it and then his. "Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing; that you will stay who you are, not a perfect soldier, but a good man."
Steve smiled at him as he pointed to his heart. Steve brought out his glass and shrugged. "To the little guys." They both clinked their glasses and Steve put his to his lips.
"No, no! Wait!" Steve jumped and put his glass down. "What am I doing?" Abraham mumbled to himself as he took his glass from him. "You have a procedure tomorrow. No fluids."
He poured Steve's drink into his own glass as Steve nodded, coming up with a solution. "Alright, we'll drink it after."
"No. I don't have procedure tomorrow. I don't drink it after. I drink it now." Steve chuckled as he drank both in his glass. He knew he had to get to sleep. He was going to see his sister tomorrow.
Maria sat at one of the tables, scribbling a letter for Bucky as everyone around her got things ready for their super soldier to arrive. Howard got in front of her and banged his hands on the table in a beat. Maria looked up at him in the middle of writing. "Can I help you?"
"You might want to help a little bit rather than write a letter to your fiancé."
She adjusted and he got a look of something she was keeping under the letter she was writing. "What is that?"
"Nothing." She answered quickly while putting her arms over it and stopping writing. He tried to go for it, but she smacked his hand away. The two began wresting with each other with their arms until Howard finally got what he was trying to get. "Howard, stop!" She yelled at him as she got out of her seat and jumped so she could try to reach the picture.
"Damn!" Howard commented as he looked at the picture. "Thigh highs and garters."
She pulled the picture out of his hands and stuffed it in the envelope along with the letter for Bucky. "I could kill you." She told him before licking the envelope shut and writing the address on it.
"Come on, Maria. It's natural to send those kind of pictures to your fiancé." She kissed the envelope and Howard smirked. "He doesn't need that kiss to fantasize about you." She got up and gave him a push. Howard laughed as she put the letter in her purse, planning on sending it when she got out of there. "Maria," He began as he grabbed her shoulders. "You're my best friend and I love you and I will never judge you."
Maria rolled her eyes with a smile. "I hate you."
He pulled her into a hug and he pat her back. "You look so hot in thigh highs and garters." She broke away from him and pushed him back a little bit as he continued to chuckle.
"Mr. Stark?" They both jumped as Maria turned around to see Colonel Phillips right behind her. They both got rid of their happy, carefree attitude and went right into their serious mode.
Colonel Phillips shook Howard's hand and then Maria's. "How are you?" Maria asked, picking up that his mood was a little salty.
"Fine." He answered politely with a smile. "Thank you for asking." He handed her a file which she took and began to open. "This is all the information on our super soldier." Maria looked down at the file with her mouth dropped open. "Is there a problem?"
Howard leaned over Maria's shoulder to see what the file had said, but she closed it instantly, looking back up at Colonel Phillips as Howard jumped back. "No." She told him with a wide smile. "No problem. Go up in the booth and we'll be ready for our patient as soon as he gets here."
Colonel Phillips studied her with a weird glance, but smiled politely and walked over to the stairs leading to the booth. Maria turned around once she was sure he was gone and smacked Howard on the arm. "What did I do this time?!"
"You got me involved with this stupid project!" She yelled at him.
"What seems to be the problem?" Abraham asked as he walked up to them.
Maria looked at the file in her hands and then at Abraham, realizing that he was the doctor Steve was talking about who gave him a chance. She always thought he was some Army physician. She never thought that it would be Dr. Erskine who gave him a chance for the super soldier project. "You're him. You're the doctor who gave my brother a chance in the Army. What the hell is wrong with you?"
Dr. Erskine looked down while smiling a little which was just frustrating her more. "Steve Rogers is your brother." He spoke knowingly. She nodded like it was obvious as Abraham just chuckled. "I should have noticed sooner."
Maria breathed out angrily and turned on her heels, upset that all of this was happening. Howard looked at Abraham and sighed. "You couldn't have paid attention to the last names?" He shrugged and Howard let out another sigh while he threw his head back. "I'm on it." Howard jogged to Maria who was pacing back and forth at the back of the room, under the booth so no one up there would be able to see her. "What are you doing?" Howard asked once he saw her.
She let out an angry breath as she continued to walk. "I'm calming myself down before I go back out there."
Howard's eyebrows furrowed. "You're going back?"
Maria threw her hands in the air. "What am I supposed to do? I don't like that it's my brother, but what else am I going to do? He was already approved. He's already on the way here."
Howard shrugged. "Quit."
Maria stopped walking and blinked a couple of times. "What?" She whispered out.
Howard shrugged again like what they were talking about was no big deal. "Quit. If it bothers you as much as you say it does then quit. I would understand and you're already paid. What's keeping you here?"
Maria stood there for a moment as she looked at Howard's knowing face, realizing exactly why he was saying all of these things. "Because I love my job." Howard nodded with a growing smile. "And I guess that deep down I think this would be good for him. Howard nodded again and Maria rolled her eyes at his smile. "I hate it when you go all therapist on me."
She began to walk past him and he jogged a little to catch up with her. "I've had a childhood full of them. I can't help, but get all psychiatrist on people sometimes."
"Alright, guys!" Maria spoke as she clapped her hands together. "Let's get this going! Our super soldier is going to be here in a few minutes." Everyone began working even harder than before and Abraham flashed her a smile as she did the same to him, knowing they both silently forgave each other.
Steve and Agent Carter walked down the hallway of their secret facility under an antique shop, gaining stares from everyone around at the thought that this guy was the about to be super soldier. The doors to get into the lab opened for them from the inside and once they walked in, the entire room got quiet. With the same thought as all the others in the hallway. "Hey!" Maria yelled at everyone, not going to tolerate anything these people were thinking. "Get back to work!"
Everyone listened to her and went back to working, Maria smiling up at Steve. He smiled down at her, knowing since last night that she was going to be one of the scientists involved, but never knowing for sure. "Son of a gun." He whispered to himself as he followed Agent Carter down the stairs. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked her as she hurried to him for a hug.
"You know her?" Agent Carter asked as the two pulled away.
"Yeah," Steve answered as he looked back to her. "Believe it or not, she's my baby sister."
Maria smiled at her brother and looked over to Agent Carter. "Others would call me Dr. Maria Rogers."
She leaned forward and shook Peggy's hand. "Of course. I heard so much about you, Dr. Rogers."
Maria shook her head at Peggy. "Please, call me Maria." Peggy nodded and Maria put her arm around Steve. "Let's get you to Dr. Erskine."
Together, the three of them walked over to Abraham who was standing by Howard's machine. "Good morning." He told Steve as he shook his hand. Maria smiled as the two looked at each other, sharing their worries and fears with one glance. Suddenly, a flash happened, causing them all to look at the man next to them who had the large camera. "Please," Abraham spoke in an annoyed voice at the photographer. "Not now." He looked back to Steve and then to Maria. "Never thought your sister would be the one who was working on you?"
Steve chuckled a little bit as he looked to his sister. "I think she's more surprised that her brother is the one she's working on."
She smirked at him and turned around to help Howard out with the final touches until the experiment was performed. Steve looked back to the machine sitting in the center of the lab. That's when the situation really kicked in and felt very real to him. "Ready?" Steve looked back to him and nodded like he wasn't nervous. "Good. Take off your shirt, tie and hat."
Steve took off his clothes as Colonel Phillips greeted Senator Brant in the booth looking over the lab, explaining the power situation to him. Steve slowly got into the machine Howard had made and laid himself down. Dr. Erskine walked up to him, looking down on him with a smile. "Comfortable?"
"It's a little big." Maria walked up to him with a nervous face and began strapping him down into the machine. "Save me any of those schnapps?"
Dr. Erskine shrugged while looking ashamed. "Not as much as I should have. Sorry. Next time."
Maria began to do a walk around the machine, making sure everything was there. "Howard!" She called. Steve looked to her with his eyes slightly wide. Yes, his sister worked for Howard Stark and the two were practically best friends, but he had never actually met the Howard Stark. "How are the levels?"
He walked up to them, studying the straps on Steve, trying to make sure they were on there tight. "Levels are 100%."
"Good." Abraham commented before turning away from them.
Both Maria and Howard went back to studying all the things that went into the machine, not really paying attention to Steve who had on a very worried face. "We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we'll ever be."
Howard tapped Maria's arm and called her name, pulling her to get ready for the actual procedure. When Abraham turned around, he noticed that Peggy was still standing there, right next to Steve. "Agent Carter, don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?"
"Right." She half laughed out. Maria turned to her and turned her head to the side at the way she was acting. "Of course. Sorry." As she walked off, Peggy turned back to Steve, just needing one more look at him. That's when Maria knew for sure what was going on. Peggy had a thing for Steve. She officially loved the girl since she had seen him for who he really is and not how he looks on the outside. Maria smiled to herself as she turned back to Howard, ready to get this thing actually going.
Dr. Erskine started flicking the microphone, sending a very high piercing sound to the people in the booth. "Can you hear me? Is this on?" They all turned to him in the booth and he began speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace." Nurses began to strap him all the way down and put the serum in the places needed in the machine. "We begin the series of microinjections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change."
Dr. Erskine walked back to up Steve as the nurses stuck a needle in his arm. Steve shut his eyes as she pushed the plunger on the syringe and took a deep breath as they took it out of him. "That wasn't too bad." He commented to Dr. Erskine as the nurse walked away
He looked down at Steve and coughed, not really sure if he wanted to hear this. "That was penicillin." Maria and Howard shared a worried glance before going to the switches. "Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three, two, one." Maria took a deep breath as she flicked her switch, sending the serum into his bloodstream. Steve was immediately pained by it, shutting his eyes and making noises of discomfort. "Now, Mr. Stark."
Howard nodded and flipped his switch, closing him into the machine and others moved up to lock him in. Maria walked up to the machine and knocked on it with Abraham standing right next to her. "Steve?" She asked as she knocked again and got no response.
"Can you hear me?" Abraham asked.
"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" They both turned to each other with a smile. Maria moved to Howard, twisting the nob she needed to and put on her goggles along with Howard as he moved to the wheel he needed to turn.
"10%." Howard announced as the light began in the machine, changing Steve. "20%, 30%." The light started to get brighter and everyone who didn't have goggles on began to cover their eyes. "That's 40%."
"Vital signs are normal." Maria announced from the screen she was staring at.
Howard turned the wheel again, looking back to Steve in the machine. "50%, 60%, 70%." Steve began to scream from inside the machine which began to worry everyone.
Peggy got up from her seat in the booth as Maria watched on in horror, listening to her brother's screams. "Shut it down!" She screamed when she got out the door.
"Cut it!" Abraham announced. Maria didn't waste any time. She moved past Howard to the one switch she needed to pull to stop the whole thing. "Shut it down!"
"NO!" Steve screamed from inside the machine. Howard was right next to Maria when they both turned around to the machine. "Don't! I can do this!"
Maria looked to Howard with wide eyes, but all he did was shrug before walking back to the wheel he needed to turn and Maria to the screen monitoring his vitals. "80%, 90%." The light began to get an uncomfortable bright, Maria finding it hard to see even with the goggles on. "That's 100%."
Everything began sparking, taking too much power, causing everyone to shield themselves. The machine powered down, causing everyone to feel horror spread through their entire body, hearing nothing from Steve.
The doors opened and revealed Steve, but not the Steve they were all used to. He was taller and muscular. Maria had to blink about a thousand times, hardly recognizing her big brother who was finally her big brother. Everyone up in the booth was in a frenzy, hurrying to get down, but all Colonel Phillips did was sit there in shock, thinking about when he asked Stark and Rogers for their help months ago. "Son of a bitch did it."
Abraham and Howard hurried to help him out of the machine with Maria spotting on the back, making sure he didn't fall over. Once they got him into a standing position, Maria walked from behind him so she could stand in front of him. She looked him up and down, still in shock. Her brother had never looked like this before. "I think we did it." Abraham told them. Howard continued to stare at him, hardly believing his eyes as he nodded in wonderment.
Maria moved to him and turned him to her. His eyes were still wide, but all Maria did was smile. "We actually did it."
"You did it." He insisted before pulling her in and kissing her on the cheek. "You're a miracle."
Peggy ran up to Steve, looking at him all over. She couldn't believe how good he looked. He was one of the best guys she had ever seen. "How do you feel?" She finally asked, looking back up at his face.
He began to look around the place, experiencing everything without having all the disabilities he had before. He was no longer colorblind, he was no longer in pain, he could breathe easier without the asthma, and he had all this energy now. "Taller." He finally answered her.
A nurse walked up with a shirt and Peggy took it from her, beginning to unfold it for him. "You look taller."
Colonel Phillips finally got up from the booth and walked over to the Senator, wrapping his arm around him with a smile. "How do you like Brooklyn now?"
"I think there are some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous."
Howard and Maria were celebrating, talking about their new plans and what they were going to do with all the money they were going to make off of it when Abraham looked to the back of the room, seeing a man take something out of his pocket and press a button. The booth then exploded, causing everyone to get to the ground and shield themselves from the glass falling down on them.
The man who had blown up the booth ran to where the serum was and took it while pulling a gun out. "Hey!" Maria yelled as she tried to run to him.
He pointed the gun at her and when Howard saw it, he felt his heart tighten. "Maria!" He tackled her down just as the gun went off, hitting Abraham right in the chest. He shot again and Abraham fell to the floor as the shooter ran up the stairs.
Peggy hit the man in the shoulder with her gun as Maria and Howard sat up from the floor to see Steve run over to Abraham who already had blood coming out of his mouth. The shooter was running down the hall and Peggy was now chasing after him, determined to stop him. Maria watched as Abraham took his last breaths and with his last bit of strength, pointed at Steve's heart. When he finally stopped breathing, Maria turned to Howard, just wanting to unsee it. Wanting to unsee all of it. Steve looked up in the direction of the man who had shot him ran off. He had to find him. And he had to stop him.
There wasn't much mention of Bucky in this chapter, but there will be in the next one! I promise! I hope you all enjoyed. Remember to review your thoughts!