The Captain & Ice Raven

Chapter 3 - A Single Chance

Rosalie walks beside a man with white and black hair, and a white lab coat. "You want a bit of my blood for the serum? Why?"

"Because my dear, your blood has high traces of large amounts of h2o, higher than the normal person," Dr Erskine says, "it is why you're able to do what you can. It is why you age slowly, water is one of the few things that take the longest to change."

"And it is simply just for the serum? For the procedure?" Rosalie asks, stopping in front of the entryway of the building.

"Yes my dear, I would never use your blood for anything else," Dr Erskine says, nodding at the woman.

Suddenly Rosalie turns when hearing familiar voices, "c'mon man, kinda missing the point of a double date. We're taking the girls dancing."

"You go ahead, I'll catch up," Steve says, glancing away from Bucky.

Rosalie and Erskine look over to watch the two men, Rosalie folding her arms over her chest. "You're really gonna do this again?"

"Well it's a fair, I'm gonna try my luck," Steve admits, shrugging his shoulders.

"As who, Steve from Ohio? They'll catch you or worse they'll actually take," Bucky tells Steve seriously.

"Look I know you don't think I can do this," Steve begins to say but Bucky cuts him off.

"This isn't a back alley, this is a war," Bucky says, "why not find a job?"

"What am I going to do? Collect scrap metal?" Steve asks incredulously, receiving a nod from Bucky. "No Bucky, Bucky there are men laying down their lives. I have no right to do any less than them. That's what you don't understand. This isn't about me."

"Right. 'Cause you got nothing to prove," Bucky says, looking down to his friend.

"Hey Barnes," one of the girls from earlier yells out, "are we going dancing?"

Bucky turns around, shouting back to the girls, "yes we are." Bucky turns back to Steve, sighing sadly, "don't do anything stupid until I get back."

He starts to walk, but Steve calls out, "how can I? You're taken all the stupid with you."

Bucky chuckles, walking back over to Steve, "come here punk." They hug each other tightly, as Rosalie and Dr Erskine turn to each other.

"Jerk," Steve says, patting Bucky's shoulder, "be careful." They separate, as Bucky begins walking away once again. "Hey! Don't win the war till I get there." Bucky turns around giving Steve the salute.

"Let's go my dear," Dr Erskine says, gently placing his hand on the woman's shoulder.

Steve walks away and into the building, heading to the enlistment center. Now sitting in a room, a nurse checks Steve's vitals. An officer comes into the room, whispering to the nurse. She nods and exits the room, being followed by the officer.

"Wait here," the officer says.

"Is there a problem?" Steve asks, scared.

The officer pauses, turning to Steve, "just wait here." The officer leaves the room, closing the curtain. Steve glances behind him, spotting a sign display, 'it is illegal to lie on enlistment forms'. Steve gets up and quickly puts his shoes on but freezes when another officer comes through the curtain.

Outside the curtain, Rosalie and Dr Erskine stand silently talking. "I don't see why it has to be him," Rosalie grumbles.

"My dear, he must feel terrible about upsetting you. And you won't really have to talk with him unless you want to or if necessary," Dr Erskine tells her, "now I'll be right back."

Dr Erskine walked into the room, nodding to the officer, "thank you." He turns to Steve then, "so, you want to go overseas. Kill some nazis."

"Excuse me?" Steve questions the man confused on who he was talking with.

"Doctor Abraham Erksine," he introduces himself, "I represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve."

"Steve Rogers, where are you from?" Steve introduces and then asks the man.

"Queens," Erskine says, "but before that, Germany. This troubles you?" Steve shakes his head no, so Erskine asks, "where are you from, Mr Rogers? Hmm? Is it New Haven? Or Paramus? Five exams in five different..." Dr Erskine says, but Steven cuts him off.

"That might not be the right file..." Steve speaks up hesitantly.

"It's not the five exams, I'm interested in," Erskine says, leaning against the counter facing Steve, holding up his hand, "it's the five tries. But you didn't answer my question, do you want to kill Nazis?"

Steve exhales a breath, "is this a test?" Erskine shakes his head yes, allowing Steve to continue, "I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from."

"Well there are already so many big men fighting this war," Erskine says, taking the file and leading Steve out of the exam room. He nods to Rosalie, the woman following him. "Maybe what we need now is a little guy. Huh?" They stop at a counter desk, Rosalie avoiding Steve's questioning stare. "I can give you a chance, only a chance."

Steve snaps his eyes to Erskine, "I'll take it."

"Good," Erskine says, flipping open the file, "so where is the little guy from? Actually?"

"Brooklyn," Steve replies, a grin spreading across his face.

"Congratulations," Erskine says, taking the stamp and stamping the paper, "soldier." Erskine hands the file to Steve, leaving him a happy man. "Let's get going Rosalie," Erskine says walking away, with Rosalie close beside him.

SOMEWHERE IN THE ARCTIC MOUNTAINS

A cave sits in the mountains, a lab full of equipment. A short man inspect something through a magnify glass, as Schmidt stands at a table. "Are you ready, Dr Zola?"

"The machine requires the most delicate of calibration," Dr Zola informs, "forgive me, if I seem over cautious."

"Are you certain that those combatants of yours...can withstand the energy surge," Schmidt says, fiddling with some switches, "long enough for transference?"

Zola sighs, walking over to the containment unit of the tesseract, "with this artifact, I am certain of nothing. I fear it may not work at all." Zola walks over to the dial, and begins turning it, "twenty percent. Forty. Sixty. Stabilizing at seventy percent."

Schmidt storms over to Zola, nudging him away from the dial, "I did not come all this way for safety doctor." Schmidt turns the dial all the way, sending the energy from the tesseract soaring through the cables, sparks of blue energy convulsing all around. It finally settles in a containment unit.

Zola looks around, moving closer to Schmidt, "what was that?"

"I must congratulate you, Armin," Schmidt says, gesturing to the contained power unit, "your designs did not disappoint. Though they may require some slight reinforcement."

Zola moves over to the power unit, exhaling a breath of astonishment, "nothing has changed, it's stable. Amazing. The energy it could power my designs, all my designs. This could chage the war."

"No Dr Zola, this could change the world," Schmidt says, standing tall.