RABBIT HEART || MARVEL (1)

SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN: CHOSEN

DR ERSKINE CHOSE THEM.

Out of all the news recruits, Maggie and Steve were chosen as the two test subjects. They were picked to be the first pair of super soldiers. Maggie was in disbelief. In a room where she was the only female other than Peggy, she was chosen. Not mention Steve, who failed almost every course during training.

The other recruits had been sent home. Steve and Maggie were only ones in the barracks. Every bunk except theirs laid stripped, footlockers empty. The brunette sat beside her blonde friend on his bunk in silence. Both of them were still in shock from the news. In shock that the next day their lives were going to change forever.

"I still can't believe it," Maggie said, breaking the silence.

"Neither can I," Steve said, giving a short laugh. "I thought we were both going to be sent back home."

"We'll, I figured you would. You were literally going to have a bad asthma attack after each course." She made him laugh again from her joke.

"Thanks for having so much faith in me, Mags," he answered sarcastically, making her laugh as well.

Dr Erskine entered the barracks then, gaining the duo's attention. In his hand was a bottle of Schnapps. He looked at Maggie and Steve both with a smirk.

"Can't sleep?"

"Pretty much," Maggie answered.

"Got the jitters, I guess," Steve shrugged.

"Me, too," Erskine said, indicating the bottle of Schapps.

"Can I ask you a question?" Steve asked.

"Just one?"

"Why us?"

Maggie had the same question. Out of all those recruits, why did Erskine choose her and Steve? For a moment, Erskine considered the question before pulling up a chair.

"I suppose that is the only question that matters," Erskine said before looking down at the bottle of Schnapps. "This is from Augsburg. My city. So many people forget that the first country that the Nazi's invaded was their own," he started. "You know after the last war, my people struggled. They, they felt weak. They felt small. And then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags, and the..." he waved his hand as he trailed off. "And he, he heard of me, my work and he finds me. And he says, 'You' he says, 'You will make us strong'. Well, I am not interested. So he send the head of HYDRA, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt.

Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle and he's ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him, it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man. So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist."

He told everything to Maggie and Steve, making them grow more and more invested. The brunette stood up straight, zoning in on Erskine and trying not to pay attention to the large bald spot on his head.