The Captain & Ice Raven

Chapter 2 - First Meetings

RECRUITMENT CENTER

"O'connell, Micheal," a man calls the name. Men sit all around the waiting room, reading papers, waiting for their names to be called. One man stands out from the rest, his body scrawny and his height much smaller than all the other men with dirty blonde hair. "Kaminiski, Henry," the voice calls out as the men line up.

"Boy a lot of guys getting killed over there," a man reads, glancing at the smaller man beside him.

"Rogers, Steven," the voice calls.

"Kinda makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?" the man asks, as the smaller one, Steve, gets up.

Setting down the newspaper he was reading, he determinedly walks over to the counter, "nope."

Stepping up to the counter, the man behind it sighs looking at Steve's form of paper, "Rogers. What did your father die of?"

"Mustard gas," Steve replies, "he was in the 107th infantry. I was hoping to be assigned..." he is cut off by the man.

"Mother?" he asks.

"She was a nurse," the blonde man answers, glancing down for a moment, "she got hit. Couldn't shake it."

The man behind the counter sighs again, reaching for the stamper, "sorry son."

Steve protests, stepping closer to the counter, "c'mon just give me a chance."

"You'd be ineligible on your asthma alone," the man says, not showing a hint of emotion on his face.

"Is there anything you could do?" Steve asks hopefully.

"I'm doing it," the man says, stamping the paper with red ink, "I'm saving your life." The man closes the file and hands it to Steve who walks away.

LATER THAT DAY @ THE MOVIE THEATER

Steve sits at the theater watching the promotions for the war, "war continues to ravage Europe. But help is on the way. Every able bodied young man is lining up to serve his country," the promotion shows men walking around but cuts the image of a small boy picking up metal, "even little Timmy is doing his part. Collecting scrap metal. Nice work, Timmy!"

An upset viewer, bored with the promotions of the war speaks up, "who cares! Start the movie already!"

Steve leans forward in his seat, whispering to the man, "hey want to show some respect." The displeased man turns to Steve giving him a disgusted look but turns back to the movie.

"...our brave boys are showing the axis powers..." the movie promotions continue playing, "...that the price of freedom is never too high."

"Let's go, get on with it," the displeased man shouts, "hey, just start the cartoon."

"Hey, you want to shut up," Steve snaps at the man. The man in front stands up and towers over Steve, as the smaller man leans back.

"Together with allied forces, we'll face any threat. No matter the size," the movie promotion finishes saying.

IN THE ALLEYWAY

Steve is thrown to the ground, the man standing over him. Scrambling to get up, he grabs the lid of the trash can and faces the man. He proceeds to grab the lid, throwing that away and punches Steve right in the face. Getting up off the ground once more, Steve holds up his fists, ready to fight. The man chuckles arrogantly, "you just don't know when to give up, do you?"

"I can do this all day," Steve breaths out tiredly, and swings his arm to punch the man. But his fist is grabbed and is punched instead.

The man readies himself to kick Steve but a strong male arm pulls him away, "hey, pick on someone your own size." The man from the theater tries punching the other man, but he moves quickly, grabbing the man's arm and punching him in the stomach. Turning the man around, the strong male kicks him in the butt forcing him to run away. The male turns back to Steve, shaking his head, "you know sometimes I think you like getting punched."