The Seventh Avenger - (Marvel x OC)

CH 1.5 The Good Man

"Can't sleep?" Erksine questioned an eyebagged Steve Rogers as he sat on an ammo crate. The doctor slid another crate over and sat across from the small man.

"Jitters, I guess" Steve looked down to his feet.

"Me, too" Erksine sighed. "We haven't told any of you, but...this is not bootcamp."

"What?" Steve questioned immediately, thinking all his work was for nought.

"It's a test. An experiment. We're finding the prime candidate for a program Colonel Phillips fought in Washington for. Something he seemed to think I will forget if he stops reminding me."

"I...don't understand."

"Project Rebirth. The program intends to find someone worthy of being the recipient of a serum I devised to create a new breed of soldier. Better. Evolved."

Steve sat silently, listening intently.

"A 'super soldier' as the government so eloquently puts it. I believe you, Steve Rogers, are that prime candidate we've been searching for."

"Can I ask a question?"

"Just one?"

"Why me? I'm small. I'm weak. I'm the worst soldier here. It's no secret and there's no shortage of people to remind me."

"When Hitler took advantage of my country, we were at our weakest, and he came promising strength. People forget the first country the Nazis invaded was their own...my home. They came to me and told me I would be the one to make us strong. I thought not. The big man sends the head of Hydra. His special science and research department to me. Johann Schmidt. Ambitious. Ruthless. Aggressive. Hitler's fantasies are Schmidt's realities. He believes the gods hid a great power and it's his for the taking. So, he hears about my formula and he cannot resist. He must be that superior man."

"Did it make him stronger?" Steve asked softly.

"Oh, yes. But there were other effects. The serum, truthfully, was not ready. But more...the man. He could never be ready."

Steve's eyes narrowed.

"The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great. Bad...becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength. Compassion."

"Thank you, sir."

"You must promise me one thing. Regardless of what happens tomorrow. You must promise you will remain who you are. Not a perfect soldier. But a good man."

Steve nodded, his mind a whirlwind, but one thought persisted. He was going to make a difference. He was going to matter. Steve Rogers was going to be a Super Soldier...

The next morning, Steve rode in an undercover transport disguised as a taxi with Peggy Carter.

"I got beat up in that alley" Steve pointed and looked out the window at the alley behind the movie theater. "Andrew and Bucky had to sav-- Help me."

"Andrew and Bucky?" Peggy asked, assuming she wasn't asking too much.

"My brothers. Well, really we're just close friends, but we've been together since we were kids. Doesn't matter to me what they think. They're brothers to me."

"I see" Peggy smiled at the man still pressed against the window.

"And that parking lot. And behind that diner."

"Do you have an affliction with running away?" Peggy asked, wondering if something was truly amiss with Steve.

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