Cacoethes

five

Circe squirmed a little in the confinements of the chamber, not really liking the lack of room. She was starting to feel a little anxious as she listened to Howard Stark and Erskine talk about what was happening. Both she and Steve were stripped to their undergarments, and Circe cringed at the several whistles directed her way. Peggy's hand had drifted to her gun, making the men cease their catcalling, but it nevertheless affected Circe.

Suddenly, the injections started, and Circe let out a short whimper at the stinging in her skin. Stark announced every change in percentage, and with every increase Circe felt her blood heating. She felt extremely cold yet extremely hot at the same time, and she didn't know if the liquid on her face was sweat or tears.

Her and Steve started screaming at about the same time. The feeling was much too unbearable, and she could feel her magical core twisting and turning with her cells, almost as if threatening to explode. Circe heard Erskine's voice yelling something, and then Steve yelling back. Her blood continued to boil, and her body started shivering. One last wailing scream, and it was all over.

The chamber opened, and Circe slumped to the ground, groaning at the soreness in her bones. There was steam pouring from the Circe-shaped container, and silence wringing in her ears. Something was draped over her, making her look up to find Erskine standing over her with a kind and excited smile, telling her that the experiment worked. She let Peggy help her up, leaning heavily on the woman before catching her footing, and taking a slightly wobbly step toward the towering mass of muscle that emerged from Steve's chamber.

"Isn't the serum supposed to make us assassins and not models?" She asked jokingly, breaking the tense silence. Erskine laughed, shaking his head as he handed her a change of clothes. She changed behind a screen, staring at the bra that no longer fit her. Running, she'd no doubt give herself a black eye.

Emerging from behind the screen, pouting at how long her hair had gotten. She felt immensely more powerful, both magically and normally, and she could see that she now had an actual figure. Circe had always been jealous of the skinny models in the Playboy magazines that Bucky had lying around, but now? She was incredibly curvy, and not at all like the models she envied.

Steve chuckled at her, both surprised by their physical changes. Erskine steps forward, patting the both on the back before engulfing them both in a hug.

"Thank you," he smiles, and Circe shakes her head.

"Anything for you, old man," she says.

Then, everything went to shit.

A bomb detonates in the observing room, no doubt killing an injuring many, and a man dashes forward and grabs the last bit of serum. Erskine darts for the serum too, yelling at everyone to stop him, and gunshots go off, numbing Circe to the world around her. Erskine crashes to the ground, and she screams, her magic flashing about her and breaking several pieces of equipment. The man whom started it was hit by some shrapnel, but he limped out, taking the serum with him.

She crashes down next to him, ignoring the bits of glass now digging into her legs and knees. She sobs as she tries to do something, furiously wiping her tears. Steve and Peggy are gone, no doubt chasing after the man who did this.

"My wand," she sobs, and Erskine shakes his head. "I left my wand! Abe, I'm so sorry."

He grabs her hand as the room dissolves into more chaos, coughing slightly at his wounds. "Do not be sorry, my dear. You were...incapable of knowing."

"No, no, no!" She cries, trying to press onto the wounds to stop the bleeding. "Please, god, not him! Merlin, help me!"

She feels a warmth on her hand, and she finds Erskine setting a chain of some kind into her hand. The symbol was familiar, yet so distant in her mind. A triangle, a circle, and a line through the middle. She sobs harder, shaking her head as her magic lashes out more, causing people to yelp at the unseen force threatening death. She leans her head on his chest, hugging him closing and coating herself in blood. She feels him take his last breath, making her sob harder, if that was possible.