Rumors of War || The First Avenger

Chapter Fourteen: A Good Man

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Holmes.

Music is "The Captain America Theme" by Alan Silvestri.

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A Good Man

The door to the oval capsule pops open with a hiss, smoke coming out of it before we can see Steve. I'm frozen in place, fear washing over me as Rose runs past Peggy and I towards Steve, trying to get a better view. "Steve!" Her face lights up as Dr. Erskine and Howard Stark aid in helping Steve down from the machine. What I see before me absolutely stuns me.

Little Steve isn't little Steve any longer. Before me isn't the 5'4", 145 pound kid living in my house. Standing outside the miraculous machine is a man who is at least 6'2" and 250 pounds. If it weren't for his same features and fluffy blond hair, I never would have recognized him.

Peggy is handed a white, SSR shirt from one of the nurses, who is eyeing Steve in a way that makes me a little upset. I guess now everyone will give him the attention Rose, Bucky, and I always have. I suppose now they see something in him that his scrawny little self didn't show very well. "How do you feel?"

Steve takes a few deep breaths, trying to catch it as they stable him. "Taller." His eyes lift up to mine and he gives me a grin.

Peggy tries to hide her smile. "You look taller."

"That's not the only thing that improved," Rose laughs, giving Steve a playful punch on the arm. "I guess I can hit you harder now."

While Steve converses with Rose and Peggy, and the scientists and doctors look over his vitals, I hear the Senator behind me talk to his colleagues, shouting, "I know some folks in Germany who are about to get very nervous!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the men that was in the viewing room above the laboratory. He walks quietly down the stairs, scooting behind the laughter and celebration, and starts to pull a small switch from his pocket. My eyes widen as I shout, "Bomb!"

Everyone ducks a little too late as the man presses the switch, blowing up the viewing room as he rushes to take the last two bottles of the serum vials. "Stop him!" Erskine shouts.

The man turns to me and pulls a gun from his back pocket, aiming it at me. He shoots a couple rounds, then turns it towards the screaming room of people below me. In the chaos, I see Dr. Erskine fall to the ground, blood pouring from his body, and hear Rose let out an ear-piercing scream. The man with the gun grabs me by the arm and drags me up the stairs, firing at the officer who appeared from the debris of the viewing room. I hear him scream, and see that Peggy had shot him in the arm.

That doesn't stop him from dragging me through the hallways and out into the small antiques shop. The woman at the front desk pulls a machine gun from behind the desk and starts firing it, missing the both of us. The man shoots the woman, earning a scream from me. "Let me go!" I shout, kicking at him as he pulls me from the shop and onto the street.

"Silence!" he shouts, this time in a German accent. He turns to one of the men on the street, telling him words in German. The man shoves me into the back of a black car as his accomplice starts firing at Agent Carter as she exits the building.

"Peggy!"

The German man turns to me from the passengers side, telling the driver to step on it. He points the gun towards me. "Shut up, bitch!"

I turn around to face the rearview window, seeing Peggy run to stand in the middle of the road, gun aimed perfectly for us. I throw myself onto the bottom of the car to avoid being hit. She fires one shot, hitting the driver perfectly in the head. The car jerks to the side and crashes into a fire hydrant. The German man growls in anger, throwing himself from the car and dragging me with him. He walks towards a yellow cab, pulling the driver from the open door, and shoving me inside the back seat. He starts the car and turns it around, driving straight for Peggy. The man holds his gun in his right hand, aiming it for my rubs. "If you try anything, I will kill you."