Summers' Purpose

Chapter 5, part 1 (1985 flashback)

Derek's POV

Today was going to be a good day. His hard work has finally paid off. After almost 2 years of dedication and labor, he finally came up with a prototype, a working sample that showed promise. It wasn't as great as what Erskine had made, but it surely was heading in the right direction. He had to be careful though, as it was still largely unstable, with it still being in the experimentation stages.

Derek smiled as he opened the door to the lab, juggling two cups of coffee and his briefcase as he walked towards his cluttered desk. His best friend, Jeremy, watched closely as Derek sat down, his smile never leaving his face once.

"Somebody's in a good mood," Jeremy said, making his way to Derek. He leaned at the wall by the desk, arms crossed relaxedly across his torso, watching as Derek sorted out the clutter.

"I'm presenting to the director and the panel today, Jeremy. I'm showing them the prototype," Derek said, smiling widely. His nerves were mixing with his excitement at this point. He had about 30 minutes to get himself together before he had to introduce his creation to some of SHIELD's important people.

"No way Derek! You finally got that cleaning liquid to work huh?" Jeremy joked.

"Hey, be nice... Give your friend a pep talk or something. I brought you coffee, and you still want to be an asshole with me?" Derek said playfully, handing over one of the warm cups to Jeremy. Jeremy laughed lightly, accepting the cup.

"I'm kidding. Congratulations Derek, I know how hard you've worked. Those were huge footsteps to follow, and you did great," Derek said, sipping his coffee. "I would say how proud of you I am, but I don't want to jinx it."

Derek playfully shoved Jeremy, laughing at his sarcasm. "Have a little faith in me, buddy. Anyway, I better get set up now. Better to be early than on time in this case, I guess." Derek grabbed some work documents from his briefcase and desk before carefully removing a vial from the lab chiller. The blue liquid in it swirled brilliantly as he placed it in a container to keep it safe.

"Hey Jeremy, could you do me a favor? I have another vial synthesizing at the back. Could you keep watch on it and make sure that it goes well? I'll finish up the rest of the process once I'm done later. I owe you one," Derek called out as he started to walk towards the lab door again.

"You got it bud," Jeremy called back, smiling and proud to see that his best friend's work was finally coming to fruition.

Derek proceeded to present to SHIELD's director and an important looking panel the result of his labor of love and passion. The liquid in the vial was supposed to accelerate and assist the healing process of damaged cells. Derek got the idea from Dr Erskine's own serum. However, he made sure that his creation would be more helpful in its nature, rather than possibly being used to produce bio-weapons.

Derek shuddered at the thought of humans willing to go to great lengths to be in control, to have power. He decided that his life's work would help to rehabilitate, especially with agents that were on the field, risking their lives every day. One of the panel members suggested that Derek altered the serum, as she called it, to possibly enhance the capability of the human body. Something along the line of the Super Soldier serum that many have tried to steal and recreate, causing destruction in its wake.

Before Derek could disagree, SHIELD's director itself spoke out and said that they would rather Derek focus on the healing capabilities of the serum as originally intended, seeing that it would bring them more use currently. Most of the panel agreed. The lady who spoke earlier looked displeased as she held her words back, having to concede to the majority decision.

Derek was given the go-ahead to continue his work, and will be presenting the completed version once ready. He left the room smiling happily, mostly feeling relieved that it worked out well. He was thankful that their director had the same vision and beliefs as he does regarding his work. Just as he turned the corner, he heard someone call out to him.