Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Only my OC, Agent Clarissa Melanie Connors and her story line belongs to me.

~0~ = little break

I woke up bright and early the next day. I stayed in my bed a few extra minutes than usual, needing to take the time to set my emotions straight. I knew I shouldn't have gotten attached to Steve, I scolded myself internally. But I mean, how could you not? He was sweet, caring, a real gentleman, brave, and not to mention his way with words.

Shaking my head, as if it would rid of the thoughts from it, I got changed into my uniform. I was just about to leave for Steve's quarters when I found him in front of my door with his hand raised to knock.

"Steve!" I said, startled.

He put his arm down and gave me a small smile.

"Good morning, Clara. I was just about to knock." He told me.

I nodded "Yeah, surprised me there a bit. I was just about to go to your place actually."

"Dr. Erskine said it was you who would be taking me to the lab so I thought I'd save you the trouble of walking to my bunker and just come here." Steve explained with a shrug.

"Well thank you, that's very thoughtful of you. Shall we?"

He nodded and let me lead him to the car. Like the gentleman he is, he opened the door for me once he figured out which car we were going in.

Driving around the streets of Brooklyn, Steve started recognizing where we were. I remembered that he lived here so that's why he was recognizing places.

"Hey, I know this neighborhood." He said to me.

"Really?"

"Yeah," with a finger, he pointed out some places. "I got beat up in that alley... And that parking lot..." He looked down, sort of embarrassed. "And behind that diner."

I looked at him before speaking "Did you have something against running away?"

"Well, you start running they'll never let you stop. You stand up, push back, they can't say no forever right?" He explained.

I nodded, understanding what he meant on a personal level.

"I know a little of what that's like,
to have every door shut in your face." I told him.

"I guess I just don't know why you'd want to join the Army if you were a beautiful dame." He blurted out but was kind of shocked that he said that.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk. He started stuttering, trying to save himself from what he said.

"Or a beautifu... a woman. An agent. Not a dame. You are beautiful, but..."

I cut him off to save him from more embarrassment, it was actually kind of cute the way he stutters.

"You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?" I asked with a laugh.

My laughing must have gave him some confidence and reassurance that what he said wasn't offensive or out of line because he had a smile on his face too.

"I think this is the longest conversation I've had with one, besides the first time we met, and the one from that night..." He blushed a bit before sighing.

"Women aren't exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on." Steve confessed.

"You must have danced surely. I find it hard to believe that you've never danced." I said looking at him though he was still looking down.

Steve was such a great guy. He was sweet and enjoyable to talk to and it wasn't like he was bad looking or anything. He was actually very handsome. It's their loss if they didn't want to dance with him.

"Well, asking a woman to dance always seemed so terrifying. And the past few years, it just didn't seem to matter that much." He said, looking up and out the window.

"Figured I'd wait."

"For what?" I asked.

With a shrug of his shoulders he said "The right partner."

My face softened and I smiled though he didn't see.

~0~

The closer we got to the place the more nervous I became. When the car parked in front of the shop it felt like I was having a full on panic attack. Steve opened the door for me and looked around.

"What are we doing here?" He asked curiously.

"Follow me." I just said, leading him to the antique shop.

A bell tingled signaling the owner there were people who entered. An old lady came from the back to greet us.

"Wonderful weather this morning, isn't it?" She asked politely.

It may seem like a normal start to a conversation but it was actually a code.

"Yes, but I always bring an umbrella." I said the memorized answer. It was a really stupid and odd code.

The woman went behind the front desk and pressed what I imagined was a button to open the secret doors that would lead us to the lab. With Steve behind me, we walked the path there. Once the final doors opened, all the people stopped what they were doing to look at Steve and I.

I stole a glance at Steve before walking down the stairs that would lead us to Abe. Steve and him shook hands and a photographer came and try to take a shot of it.

"Please, not now." Abe reprimanded said photographer.

The photographer scurried off after he got the tail end of my glare.

"Are you ready?" Abe asked.

Steve looked at the machine nervously and looked like he couldn't formulate any words so he only nodded.

Abe smiled sympathetically at him and me as well, noticing my stiff posture.

"Good. Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat." He instructed Steve to do.

Steve looked at me briefly before doing so, hesitant that he wasn't given any privacy to do so. I was courteous enough to look away from him, seeing his ears turn a bright red from embarrassment, though I smirked when I noticed.

After doing what Abe instructed, Steve climbed the ladder and positioned himself in the machine. I stood at his side holding his arm with a firm grip, like it was the only thing helping me through this. Steve didn't seem to mind me doing so.

"Comfortable?" I asked, a hint of amusement in my voice.

"It's a little big." He replied with a laugh, though it seemed forced.

Steve looked at Abe, who was standing on his other side.

"Save me any of that Schnapps?" He asked humorously, an inside joke I presumed since Abe laughed.

"Not as much as I should have. Sorry, maybe next time." Abe replied.

I heard another person enter and looked to see Howard climbing down the stairs, headed towards us. He came over to me and gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Mr. Stark? How are your levels?" Abe turned away from Steve to ask.

"Levels at 100 percent." Howard told Abe, his eyes roaming Steve's face and body.

Abe nodded and murmured a good under his breath.

"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready... As we'll ever be." Howard said the last part quieter but I still heard him. That didn't really help me calm my nerves down.

"Agent Connors, don't you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?" Abe asked me, gesturing me towards the stairs that lead to the booth.

The corner of my lips turned up "Abe, I would be much more comfortable down here." I told him honestly.

He smiled as well and nodded, leaving me with Steve. I looked down at him, my eyes slightly watering. I moved one of my hands from his up to stroke his hair.

"You're gonna be fine, I promise." I reassured him. "After this is over, I'm expecting a certain soldier to ask me to go dancing, and I'm not talking about Hodge." I told him, my lips widening to form a smile.

I laughed when his eyes widened at my statement.

"Are you sure?" He asked me.

"Positive, so you have to make it through this or else I'm gonna be really disappointed, and we can't have my favorite disappointing me, right blue eyes?" I asked teasingly.

Steve eyes sparkled with amusement at the name and smirked slightly.

"Blue eyes?" He questioned.

I hand moved down to cup his cheek, my thumb slightly caressing near his eyes.

"Well, you have beautiful blue eyes, I thought it fits perfectly." I said.

"Better push through this and make it huh? Wouldn't want to disappoint you, right Clary?" He asked jokingly but the nickname at the end was the one that caught my attention.

"Clary?" I asked him, a smirk gracing my own face.

Steve turned slightly red, not realizing what he actually said.

"Well, umm, I just- you gave me a nickname, thought it seemed alright to give you one." He explained sheepishly. "I don't have to call you that if you don't like it." He added quickly, taking my silence as distaste.

"No, no. It's fine. I like it. No one's ever called me that before, it's a nice change." I stated, my smirk forming into a smile.

Abe sadly told us that we had to get started, my long forgotten anxiousness slowly crept back to me.

"I'll see you later, blue eyes." I whispered to Steve, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"You got it, Clary." He said to me softly but firm.

I walked over to Howard, my bottom lip between my teeth and my hands slightly shaking.

"Mels, you alright? You're shaking." He said once he noticed my demeanor.

"He's gonna make it through this, right Howard?" I asked with a soft, shaky voice.

Realization washed over his face, and his expression softened.

"Oh, Melly." He said "That's him isn't it? The one you talked about in the car?"

My throat felt dry so I could only nod.

"I may have gotten attached." I confessed to Howard. "So please tell me he'll be fine. False sense of security would be acceptable right now." I told him.

"Mels, look at me. He'll be fine. Dr. Erskine did his work perfectly and I ran all my blueprints by you and you found nothing wrong with it, he will make it through this alright?"

As I looked into Howard's eyes, I could see a sliver of doubt in them but I looked at the more positive side of things and took a few calming breaths and nodded a thanks to Howard who smiled in return. I watch Abe flick a microphone in his hand, testing if it was working.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro-injections into the subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays." Abe informed the group of people in the booth.

A helper put test tubes with blue liquid -the serum- it its place in the machine while a nurse injected Steve with something I assume to be penicillin.

Abe began to count down for the infusion.

"Serum infusion beginning in five...four...three...two...one."

Steve looked like he was in pain when he shut his eyes. I clenched my hand into a fist. He gasped and opened his eyes.

"Now Mr. Stark!" Abe ordered Howard, who pushed a lever.

The table Steve was once lying down on transformed into a pod for the vita rays. Another scientist hooked up an oxygen line so Steve could breath in the now shut capsule. I ran up to it and knocked lightly.

"Steve? Can you hear me?"

He sounded a bit muffled but said "It's probably too late to go to the bathroom right?" He joked which made me laugh in relief.

"We will proceed, Howard." I approved, stepping back to where I was.

A humming sound came from the machine when Howard activated it.

"That's ten percent." Howard announced. "Twenty percent. Thirty."

The humming became louder and the room became brighter because of the light emitting from the pod.

"That's forty percent!" Howard declared.

"Vital signs are normal." A scientist informed us.

"Fifty percent... Sixty... Seventy."

And that's when my heart stopped because at seventy percent Steve started screaming in agony. I quickly ran back to the machine.

"Steve! Steve!" I yelled, hitting the machine.

I turned back to Howard and shouted at him "Shut it down Howard! Please, shut it down!"

Abe soon joined my hysterics. "Kill the reactor Mr. Stark! Turn it off!"

Howard was just about to cut the power when a scream made us all freeze.

"No! Don't! Clary, I can do this!" Steve shouted, thought quite obvious he was still in pain.

Howard looked at me, waiting for me to tell him what to do. I nodded at him and let him continue, granting Steve's pleas.

"Eighty... Ninety... That's one hundred percent!" Howard exclaimed.

The machines around us started sparking, making a lot of the people cower. The humming stopped and the light dimmed down. Everyone was silent.

"Howard." I said softly, ordering him to open the pod.

With a hiss, the pod opened up to reveal an entirely new Steve. He was panting and sweating, while being guided down the machine by Abe and Howard. It's like it wasn't even Steve anymore. He grew well over a foot, towering both men holding him up. Every muscle he never had was now present and very defined. The most mind-blowing thing about this was how his pants still seem to fit his new and improved body. Shaking out of my trance I quickly ran up to Steve and gave him a big hug, which he accepted.

"You did it!" I said to him with a proud grin on my face.

"I did it." He panted out, still tired from the procedure.

"How do you feel?" I asked him, keeping my hands to my side so I wouldn't fret over him.

Steve looked around the room before turning his gaze down on me. "Taller." He breathed out.

I giggled.

"Well, you certainly look a lot taller. Gotta get used to having to look up to see your beautiful eyes now." I joked.

He laughed as well. I noticed a nurse who was holding a shirt was looking at Steve with lust in her eyes which made mine narrow at her presence. I quickly grabbed the shirt from her and shooed her off.

"Hope this fits." I said, handing him the shirt.

Steve accepted the shirt from my hands and quickly put it on. "Thanks."

I was just about to excuse myself from him to congratulate Abe when an explosion happened that sent glass showering over us. Steve immediately pushed me down and covered me from the glass.

"Stop him!" I heard Abe yell before a series of gunshots rang through the air.

Quickly getting into action, I got out of Steve's hold and grabbed the gun I carried and shot the man running away. I was happy to see that I hit him in the arm but he still managed to run away. Wasting no time, I ran after him, having to sadly step over the dead woman in the shop. I stood at the center of the street ready to make my shot when a blast happened behind me, distracting me momentarily. Determined not to let the criminal get away, I took my aim and killed the driver with a head shot. Making it easier for me to kill the actual criminal seeing as his car stopped, I was ready to shoot when a body tackled me down to the ground.

"What the hell Steve! I had him!" I growled.

"Sorry!" He cried out before running after the bad guy with tremendous speed.

Seeing as Steve seemed to be able to handle it, I ran back inside and noticed my longtime friend on the ground, dead. My eyes watered as I began to cry for the German scientist. I walked down to where his body lay, blood seeped through his lab coat from his bullet wound. I knelt on the ground, lifting his head to rest on my lap. I stroked him hair as if it would make him feel better. Tears streamed down my face as I mourned for Abraham Erskine. Howard slowly walked over to me and knelt beside me, taking my head and resting it on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me comfortingly while whispering soft, comforting words in my ear as I cried.

AN: Thank you for all the kind reviews! I'm really glad all of you are enjoying my story! I understand that I have been vague about Clarissa and her aging thing and other capabilities but it will be explained further on into the story! Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed and see you next week! -E

As for reviews...

-Thanks so much! I am trying really hard to build up their relationship as much as I can because I personally dislike it when characters get together like 2 days after meeting each other. I am very excited to write jealous Steve! I think it'll be really fun!

-Thank you! I'm glad you loved it!

-I guess she might be indestructible and strong then if she can survive the blast, who knows ;P

-I was trying to prolong Clara's time with skinny Steve but seeing as how fast the movie went with him being skinny, there's not much I can do.