Edge of Night

02

Bucky hugged Irina and said, "Take care of him, Rina. Don't let him do anything stupid. Goes for you too. I'll see you soon, doll. Take care of yourself."

Irina stood on her tiptoes and hugged him tighter. "See you soon, Buck."

Once Bucky left, Irina followed Steve, because she wanted to follow through with Bucky's instructions to take care of Steve.

She followed Steve to a medical room and he frowned when he saw her.

"Rina, what are you doing here?" Steve asked. "Are you gonna tell me to stop and go home to collect scrap metal?"

"Seeing as you refuse to listen, no," Irina replied.

"Where's Bucky?"

"He wanted to get a good night of sleep before he left. He told me to take care of you."

"Sounds like him. So he's not here to prevent either of us from doing something stupid."

"Who's to say I'll do something stupid?"

"Come on, Rina. We've known you for a little while now. You're always up for something reckless."

A nurse whispered something inaudible to a young doctor.

The young doctor said to Steve, "Wait here."

"Is there a problem?" Steve and Irina asked.

"Just wait here." He left.

Steve looked at a warning sign against lying on your enlistment and began getting ready to leave, motioning for Irina to help him.

An Enlistment Office MP walked into the room and Steve looked at him worriedly while Irina looked on with a slightly curious, slightly intrigued expression.

Dr. Abraham Erskine entered the room as the Enlistment Office MP quietly left.

Dr. Erskine said to the MP, "Thank you." He turned to Steve. "So, you want to go overseas. Kill some Nazis."

"Excuse me?" Steve asked.

"Dr. Abraham Erskine." He walked over and introduced himself to Steve and Irina. "I represent the Shield Scientific Reserve."

"Steve Rogers and this is, uh-"

"Irina Alexeyev," the brunette replied. "Rina. Irene Alexander if you want to Americanize my name."

Dr. Erskine began looking through Steve's file.

As he did so, Irina asked, "Where are you from?"

"Queens," Dr. Erskine replied. "73rd Street and Utopia Parkway. Before that, Germany. This troubles you two? Are you from Russia? Guessing from your accent-"

Irina nodded. "St. Petersburg originally. Not at all."

Steve shook his head. "No."

Dr. Erskine flipped through Steve's file. "Where are you from, Mr. Rogers? Mmm? Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Five exams in five different cities."

"That might not be the right file."

"No, it's not the exams I'm interested in. It's the five tries. But you didn't answer my question. Do you want to kill Nazis?"

"Is this a test?"

"Yes."

"I don't wanna kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from. And no man should hurt a lady."

"Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is the little guy, huh? I can offer you a chance." They left the room. "Only a chance."