All Along - Steve Rogers {1}

Chapter 4: Not Perfect Soldiers, But Good People

Steve had been put through his paces, he could barely breathe let alone stand unaided on his own two feet. Steve and the other recruits from Brooklyn had arrived at Camp Lehigh at around 07:00 am, upon arrival Steve was taken to a medical room where he was routinely examined and given his uniform, his identification tags and shown to his bunk. After breakfast he was introduced to the nine other candidates, each of them were already big and fairly strong and they immediately placed Steve at the bottom of food chain. He remained unaffected, however, they were not the ones examining him, Nellie and Dr Erskine were, though he didn't tell the men he knew them.

At around midday, after some basic military training that involved learning what certain orders meant, how to hold a gun, how to address officers and to assess how fit the candidates were, the men were gathered on the training field and told to line up and await orders. All around him Steve could only hear the barking of orders, the marching of feet, and the firing of rifles. With how hard he was already being worked, Steve was wondering if he had made a huge mistake.

To the left, though, he wouldn't dare break formation and look, a truck came to a stop and two doors opened and closed. The candidate on the far right right of the group, Stanley Spence, Steve believed his name was, wolf-whistled and laughed. The other men around Steve began to copy and talk amongst themselves with excitement and when Steve couldn't help himself any longer he snuck a peak, and when his eyes landed on the second woman walking towards them his eyes nearly fell out of his head.

"Recruits, attention! Gentlemen, I'm Agent Carter." The first, quite beautiful, woman announced as she walked down the line of candidates, though Steve was paying no attention to her. Nellie hung back, waiting at the end of the line and she was already looking at Steve with a small smile on her face and he was trying with every ounce of himself not to burst into shocked laughter. He couldn't believe it, her uniform said it all. Nellie was a sergeant?! "I supervise all operations for this division. This is Sergeant Eleanor Barnes, she will be joining you in your training. She is critical to this operation and you will answer to her should she give you an order."

Nellie nodded at Agent Carter as walked forward to stand beside her. "Thank you, Agent Carter. Gentlemen." She acknowledged the men with a curt nod, but again let her eyes focus back on Steve.

"Sergeant." The men chorused as Nellie hid her bewildered smile. She would have to work on her poker face.

"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria? Thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army, one run by men at that." Gilmore Hodge, the ringleader of Steve's earlier bullying spoke up.

Agent Carter froze in front of Hodge. "What's your name, soldier?" She requested, her face as stony as ever. Nellie watched the interaction coolly, she was intrigued too see what Agent Carter would do. The whole car journey to New Jersey had been spent in silence, and then the short journey to the training field was quiet as well. Nellie didn't understand what the issue with Peggy was, they had been fine a few months ago, but now there was just a lack of communication between the two of them.

"Gilmore Hodge, your Majesty." The smartass introduced himself and Steve winced. How could someone talk to their superior like that?

"Step forward, Hodge." Peggy instructed and Hodge complied, smirking. "Put your right foot forward."

The cocky solider grinned and Nellie cringed. "Mmm... We gonna wrassle? Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like." Hodge winked at Peggy and before he could utter another word Peggy swung her right arm back and landed a severe punch to Hodge's nose, the blow knowing him to the floor. Nellie refrained from gasping and held her hands tightly together to stop herself from covering her mouth in shock.

Nellie caught Steve's smile just as Colonel Philips and Dr Erskine arrived in their own truck. "Sergeant Barnes. Agent Carter." He addressed them, making the two women stand to attention and salute him.