Captain America the First Avenger: The Beginning [Book1]

The Experiment

At the end of the week, the SSR division had set up the lab for the experiment. It was below an antiquities building in Brooklyn. At noon, Peggy would be bringing Steve here.

The laboratory was a big room with consoles and a machine away from the equipment. In the center was a table where Steve would lay, and be injected with the serum. When the serum is injected, the table will be closed by two metal doors built into it, curtesy of Howard.

At noon, the doors leading into the laboratory opened, and we all turned to see Peggy and Steve at the top of the stairs. As they walked down the stairs, we got everything ready. Steve walked up to Erskine, and I could tell that he was nervous.

"Are you ready?" Erskine asked, seeing the nervousness on his face.

Steve nodded, looking at the machine he would be laying in, uncertainly.

"Take off your shirt, tie and hat," Erskine told him.

Giving his belongings to a nurse, he laid on the machine.

"Mr. Stark, how are your levels?" Erskine asked.

Howard walked up to Erskine, who was beside Steve.

"At 100 percent," Howard replied.

I came up, and put the straps in place. As Peggy walked away, she gave him one last look before going up the stairs. Steve looked her way, before staring back at the ceiling.

"I saw that," I said quietly, a teasing smirk on my lips.

"What?" Steve asked, acting like he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Erskine said into the microphone, gaining the attention of those in the booth. "Today, we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace."

I began to place two mechanical arms, with needles in the pads on Steve's chest.

"We begin with a series of micro injections into the subjects major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change"

A nurse walked over with six vials of the serum, and handed me three, as we then began to put the vials in place.

"Then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays."

Another nurse came up on Steve's left, and injected him with penicillin. Before he began to think that was the serum, I told him what it was. He looked at me incredulously. I patted his shoulder before I backed away, Dr. Erskine taking my place.

"Serum infusion beginning in five," Erskine said, counting down.

"Four."

We waited.

"Three."

Two more mechanical arms with needles in the pads lowered onto Steve's biceps.

"Two."

Seeing his nervousness, Dr. Erskine placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, comforting him.

"One."

A scientist flipped a switch, injecting the serum. When the serum fully left the vials, Erskine turned to Howard. Howard flipped another switch, causing the machine to rise, and the doors to close, trapping Steve inside. Two scientists placed tubes on the back of the machine, allowing Steve to breathe.

"Steven?" Erskine said, knocking on the machine. "Can you hear me?"

"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" Was Steve's reply.

"We will proceed."

Howard turned a dial, turning on the Vita-Rays.

"That's ten percent," Howard announced, turning a wheel valve, making the rays grow.

The higher the percentage, the brighter the light was inside the machine. At seventy percent, Steve started to scream in pain. Erskine ran to the machine, trying to peer through the window. I came closer, not knowing what to do.

"Shut it down!" Peggy yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Kill the reactor!" I turned to Howard.

"Turn it off!" Erskine told him.

Howard moved to the shut off switch, prepared to turn it off.

"No!"

We turned to the machine.

"I can do this!" Steve shouted from inside.

Howard moved back to the wheel valve once more.

"Miss Barns," Erskine said, turning to me. "Be ready."

I nodded.

"Eighty," Howard said. "Ninety."

The rays in the machine were very bright.

"That's 100 percent."

Some electrical wires exploded around the lab. Finally the Vita-Rays turned off, and all was silent.

"Mr. Stark?" Erskine said, worry evident in his tone.

The doors opened, and I couldn't believe my eyes. Steve was no longer small. He was big. He became taller, and his muscles were huge.
Erskine and Howard helped him from the machine. Everyone crowded around him. Peggy came up, she was obviously worried, because she looked relieved.

"How do you feel?" I asked, coming up to him.

"Taller," he responded, a little out of breath.

"You look taller," Peggy said, grabbing a shirt hurriedly.

I wore a small smile, seeing Peggy flustered. I looked around at the people, amazed at the experiment. As I looked around, there was a man that looked off. He looked to his right, looking at the last vial of the super-soldier serum, then up to the booth.

As I continued to stare at him, I got a fuzzy feeling in my head. I lightly shook my head, but the feeling didn't go away. The feeling intensified, making me stumble, and I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders.

"Are you all right?"

I recognized the voice as Dr. Erskine.

"Is something wrong?" Steve asked.

Almost everyone turned to me, but I couldn't pay them any attention. I tried to fight the fuzzy feeling, but when I lost, I saw images flash before my eyes.

An explosion. Someone grabbing the last vial of the serum. A gun being fired. Erskine falling. A man running.

Before I could comprehend, I felt someone shaking me. As the feeling in my head disappeared, I came back to the present.

"Are you all right?" Dr. Erskine asked.

I nodded. Before any one could talk, the booth above us exploded. As glass rained down, we ducked, and I went pale.

"How did I know that was going to happen?" I said, under my breath.

"Pardon?" Peggy said.

I looked up, and saw the strange man running to the vial.

"Stop him!" I shouted, right when the man grabbed it.

He pulled out a gun and fired.

"No!" I said, running to Erskine.

But it was too late. He got hit, and the man ran. I went over to Erskine, and Steve came up to us. Looking at Steve, Erskine pointed at his chest, reminding Steve of his promise. I raised my hand, prepared to take the bullets out, but he closed his eyes, and died.

"He is gone."

I heard a female voice say. It was one of the voices I heard after the bombing in London.

Steve looked at me, waiting for me to do something. I just shook my head. He was gone, just like the voice said. I tried my best not to cry. I saw Dr. Erskine as a grandfather, he was a father figure to me. Seeing me upset, Steve looked at where the man had once stood, jaw set in determination.

He took off, after the murderer.