Soft sounds breathed from my mouth as I hummed along to the song playing over the record player. It played awfully, sounding scratchy and muffled, but over the years I had become used to it, Howard Stark however was not a fan of it.
"Leon, why do you insist on using that awful record player? You can barely even hear the music! I could buy you a newer, better one." Howard whined, I laughed and spoke from my place,
"Howard, do you not have your show to do? At the Expo?" Howard looked at his watch and said "I have time." I gave him a look of disdain and said "You are five minutes late you know? Go you lazy bum, stop bothering me." He brushed off my insult, as it was common for me to say such things, and left for his car. I had worked under Stark for a couple of years, and we had become close friends. However, he has always had the ability to worm his way under my skin making me feel as if he was the most irritable man I'd ever met.
The Super Soldier Serum experiment, I sighed while looking over it, it had been my current pain. Stark had dumped the planning onto me and now I was in charge of much more than I could handle. Dr. Erskine and Ms. Carter had been a great help, but it was almost impossible to continue with the experiment without the approval of multiple government officials. On top of my many other responsibilities, I was in charge of finalizing a choice for the perfect subject. In my hands, I held the files of many men, chosen by others for their strengths. While their files showed great promise, I was weary of anyone chosen by the army or government. Erskine had warned me about the dangers of the serum and the unwanted effects it could have. We had to be very careful about our choice so as to not repeat the past.
I was awoken from my thoughts by the sound of a telephone ringing in the empty office. I reached across my desk and picked up the receiver of my phone. It was a call from Dr. Erskine,
"Mr. Star, I believe I may have found the perfect candidate for the experiment. A young man by the name of Steve Rogers." I hummed and said "I trust your judgment, Dr. Erskine, if you say he is the perfect candidate then he must be. Send me his file and I shall look them over with Agent Carter." He seemed to quickly want to clarify things, "Actually, it would be better for you to see what I mean. Mr. Rogers is not an obvious first-choice candidate.." I was confused and slightly concerned, "Dr. Erskine, what do you mean by "he isn't a first-choice candidate?"" He calmly answered, "Steve Rogers is a very small sickly young man, however, he has the personality that is necessary for the serum." I sighed tiredly, "I will see what I can do in terms of visiting Mr. Rogers, however as you know with Stark, I am doing all the paperwork. I'm super busy with preparations... I'll try and set aside some time for this visit." Dr. Erskine thanked me and ended the call. I sighed tiredly and packed up my bag to go home and rest.
The morning I arrived at Camp Lehigh, I introduced myself to Colonel Phillips and greeted Agent Carter. Colonel Phillips told me all about the men that he's trained so far and the candidates he's chosen, I listened with very little interest. Once everyone was prepared, I went with Agent Carter to greet the candidates. Lined up were 12 men, most noticeable was a small young man that held a determined look on his face. I recognized him as Steven Rogers, Dr. Erskine's choice. Colonel Phillips had seemed upset at him being there. I had looked over every man's files and memorized their faces and names so I could know who to assess.
Agent Carter walked forward to address the soldiers, "Gentleman, my name is Agent Carter. I will be supervising your induction today. The gentleman over there is Mr. Star, he will also be supervising today." I waved slightly and paid close attention to the men and my clipboard. Agent Carter handed out some clipboards and said "To begin with, I shall need you to complete this document." I crossed off the names of two men who looked nervously at the papers, I was surprised to see Steven sign it all without hesitation. Perhaps this determination that Rogers held would prove to be perfect for this experiment.
A soldier named Hodge grumbled as he took his papers, "What's with the accent Queen Victoria? I thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army." I shook my head and crossed him off. I watched Agent Carter deal with him.
Behind us, Colonel Phillips called out "Agent Carter!" All the men in the line leap to attention and Agent Carter nods to him and said "Colonel Phillips." I smiled at Dr. Erskine and Phillips says "I see you're breaking in the candidates. That's good." He addressed Hodge "You. Get over there in that line and stand at attention until somebody tells you what to do." Hodge stood up and hurried back to his spot in the line of men, his nose bleeding and slightly bent. I walked to Dr. Erskine while Phillips talked with the candidates.
We spoke softly about the different candidates, I told Erskine about my reason to cross off the three names so far and he agreed with my choices. I continued to watch and cross off people. Dr. Erskine seemed to watch me just as closely as he did the candidates, I knew I looked worrying with my heavily bagged eyes and red eyes. Steven did seem to be the best choice, even if he wasn't the tallest or strongest. His determination to prove himself was good, and he showed no hesitation in doing tasks. Even if the other candidates, or the Colonel, didn't make his tasks easy.
I walked with Phillips and Erskine, Colonel Phillips was sharing his doubts about Rogers, "You're not thinking about picking Rogers, are you?" Erskine made his choice very clear "I am more than just thinking about it. He is the clear choice." I nodded in agreement. Phillips seemed surprised at our choice "When you invited a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my Army base, I let it slide because I assumed he'd be useful to you. Like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him." We stopped next to a truck "You put a needle in that guy's arm, it's gonna come out the other side." I watched Steven struggle to do a push-up. Phillips wasn't very wrong but we didn't require physical strength alone.
I zoned out slightly as Phillips tried to convince Erskine to choose someone else, for example, Hodge. I was only brought back by Phillips shouting "GRENADE!" I watched the other candidates run for cover, but Steven ran to cover the grenade with his body. He kept yelling for Agent Carter to back away and bracing himself for the explosion. I saw that the grenade was a fake and approached Steven slowly, he saw me coming toward him and waved me away, he kept trying to tell me to get away. I knelt next to him and put my hand on his shoulder he said "Uh... is this a test?" I laughed and said "Yes, it was. Don't worry, I think you passed." My voice was soft and I helped him sit up brushing off dirt from his clothes. I stood up and walked away. I would be going back to Stark's office since I was no longer needed to help pick a candidate. I would only really see Steven when the procedure was actually going to happen.
(Edited 4-29-23)
(Word Count: 1,319)
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His Immortal Love
FanfictionImmortality, the worst curse to befall man... Greed, the worst sin... These two have taken their hold on one man, they have taken everything from him. His love, his life, his will to live, he is just the shell of the man he used to be.
