Post by ReadingTrance on Jul 14, 2013 19:05:04 GMT -5
Issue #2: Stars and Stripes – Part 2
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August 14th, 1941
New York City, New York
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The sun had just begun to rise as Rogers woke up for his big day. He rolled out of bed and made his way into the bathroom, where he brushed his teeth and took a quick shower. After showering, he dressed in light gray pants with a maroon jacket and topped his head with a gray fedora. Steve put the finishing touches on his outfit with a silver tie.
The night before, Erskine had instructed Steve to meet him at the enlistment office around noon.
Steve’s agenda for the day was to go to the barber shop, grab a bite to eat and then head over to the enlistment office.
As he grabbed the last of his belongings, such as his wallet, the telephone loudly rang from the other room. Steve hurried himself into the other room and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Steve! Good morning.” Bucky’s voice came through the phone.
“Good morning, Bucky.” Steve replied.
“I was thinking I could meet you at the barber shop? We should both get a nice shave before heading out today.”
The two friends had met the night before, when Rogers briefed Bucky on his meeting with Erskine. During their conversation, Steve mentioned his plans for the day.
“That is fine with me. Where are you now?”
“I’m in a phone booth by the railroad tracks, only several blocks away. I’ll see you there.”
“I’ll be there in a little while. Bye.” Steve hung up the phone.
– Barber Shop –
“Steve, I’m really excited for you. I hope this turns out to be a golden opportunity.”
Rogers and Bucky sat next to each other as a barber clipped away at each of their hair. The two knew that it would be a short visit because their hair was already relatively trimmed. They stared at each other using the mirrors that sat in front of them.
Steve laughed. “We’ll see, Bucky. No need to speculate right now.”
“It’s amazing how calm you remain about something you don’t know anything about.”
“There’s no need to get worked up over it, Bucky. I’m going to have a little bit of faith in fate this time.”
Bucky cocked an eyebrow. “Fate? Interesting thing to believe in, Steve.”
“You may not believe in it, but I’m going to try it out.” Steve flashed a half-hearted smirk, trying to keep his head still for the barber.
“I ship out tomorrow.” Bucky blatantly broke some news to Steve.
“Really?” Steve’s eyes widened. “Where to?”
“I’m going to a base in France. We’re going to push back the Italian bastards.”
Sadness swept over Steve Rogers. The reality of war began to hit him. People were leaving to fight. To kill. To die. His best friend included. Would he ever see Bucky again after this casual visit to the barber shop? No one knew.
“Well, I wish you the best of luck, Bucky. Maybe I can come join you if today goes well.”
The barber had finished with Bucky. He stood up and stared at Steve.
“I hope so. Life won’t be the same without you. It’s tough when no one has your back.”
“Plenty of soldiers will have your back, Bucky. And I’ll be out there soon. Don’t worry. Everything is going to work out perfectly.”
Now Steve’s barber had finished. He also stood up and extended his hand towards Bucky.
Steve grinned. “I promise.”
Bucky shook his hand. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“You damn well better.” Steve laughed as he embraced his friend in a hug.
“Take care of yourself, Steve.” Bucky said before pulling away.
Rogers nodded as he grabbed his hat from the table. “You too.”
Bucky snapped his feet together and raised his hand in a salute. Steve followed suit. There were no more words said. This was it. A proper goodbye.
These two men were unsure they’d ever see each other again, but knew that they’d been through hell together. Like that one time Bucky had his wallet stolen from a school bully, but then Steve outwitted him and retrieved the wallet. Those are bonding moments. Those are the kind of times that the foundations of friendships are built upon. And none were stronger than Steve’s and Bucky’s.
Bucky spun around on his heels and walked away. Steve watched for a few brief moments, attempting to keep his composure.
“I wish you the best of luck, friend.” The barber patted Steve on the back. “And I appreciate what you’re doing for this country.”
Steve looked over at him and flashed a lackluster smile. “Thanks.”
– The Enlistment Office –
“Steve!” Erskine greeted Rogers at the front door.
“Hello.” Steve smiled and shook the man’s hand. “How are you?”
“I’m doing well, Steve. Thanks. Let’s get going. We’re on a very tight schedule today.” Erskine led the way into the building.
Steve followed behind. “Where are we going?”
“Well, there just so happens to be a secret underground base here. We’re going to take the stairs.”
“Wait. A what? Really?”
Erskine laughed. “Yes, yes. You’ll see. Just wait.”
Rogers continued to walk behind the scientist.
“So,” Erskine began as they entered the back of the building, “this process is going to open with an interview. One that I’m sure you’ll pass with flying colors.”
The two went through a door that led to a winding set of concrete stairs.
“Then there will be a general knowledge quiz and,” the scientist’s tone quickly changed from confident to concerned, “...a physical fitness test.”
This, in turn, made Steve worried as it was well known that he was scrawny and fairly weak.
“Physical fitness test? What does that entail?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He laughed it off. “It’s very minor. You’ll be fine.”
The two men continued to trot down the stairs until they reached the bottom of the seemingly never-ending staircase.
“I’m now going to pass you off to Sergeant Peggy Carter. She will be conducting your personality interview.”
“Peggy? A woman, sir?”
Erskine stopped short, shocked by Steve’s comment. “Is that a problem?”
Steve recovered by speaking the truth. “Not at all, sir. Just very surprising.”
Erskine resumed his hasty walk down a concrete corridor.
“We need every man and woman we can get to win this war, Steve. She’s a valuable soldier. Sergeant Carter will actually be one of the test subjects for our experiment today.”
Even though that information was also quite surprising, Rogers kept quiet this time.
The two men eventually reached a door, which Erskine gripped and pulled open. Inside were several uniformed soldiers sitting at a table, playing cards. It was a small break room of sorts, housing nothing more than a few tables and chairs.
“Everyone, this is Steve Rogers. A candidate for Project Rebirth.”
They all gave him dirty glances. He was weak and pathetic. They deserved it more.
Shortly after none of the soldiers responded, Erskine led Rogers past them. “Sergeant Carter should be in here.”
The scientist led Steve through another door. The next room was a small cafeteria, with people sitting to the left and food being served on the right. Steve followed Erskine as he drifted off to the left.
“Sergeant Carter.” Erskine smiled as he approached a young brunette woman that was sitting alone at a table. “I have Mr. Rogers for you.”
She put down a half-eaten sandwich on her plate, next to her glass of water. “Thank you, Dr. Erskine.” She motioned to the seat in front of her. “Mr. Rogers, if you would please be seated.”
Steve followed her instructions and took a seat.
“I’m going to grab something to eat and then I’ll be back.” Erskine said as he waved.
“We’ll be here.” Carter said, keeping her eyes on Steve.
Rogers was scared. Nervous. What was she going to ask?
“Mr. Rogers,” she examined a file, presumably on Rogers that laid in front of her, “what brings you to Project Rebirth?”
Steve adjusted in his seat, keeping his hands together on his lap. “I was told it was an opportunity to serve my country. That was all the information I needed.”
He was lucky that she wasn’t making eye contact. It helped with his nerves
She flipped a page over. “Any family or friends that you would be leaving behind?”
“No family, ma’am. Just a few friends.” Steve spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice.
Carter nodded. “And are you afraid to die, Mr. Rogers?”
“Not if it’s for my country, ma’am. Then I have no fear at all.”
She lifted her head. Her caramel eyes stared directly into his baby blue eyes. “What is it that you love about America so much? Why are you volunteering for a project that could have a fatal outcome? Why are you willing to die for this country?”
Normally, the eye contact from the beautiful authoritative figure would have made him nervous and distracted him, but this was a very easy question.
Without hesitation, he replied. “It’s my home, ma’am. It provides freedom for millions and millions of people.”
She smiled at him. She knew he was an honest man. It was very noticeable. Unintentionally, Rogers gave a slight smile back.
“If you could have one wish for anything at all, including true love, money, immortality and power, what would it be?”
Steve pondered the thought for a second. Anything at all? That was a very broad question.
He looked down at the table and gave his humble answer. “I would wish that no one had to suffer anymore. No starvation. No pain or injuries or death. No power struggles. None of that. It’s all so unnecessary. The world could be a much better place.”
It was a rather obvious answer, but Carter believed he meant it with all his heart.
She grinned. “If only that were possible, Mr. Rogers. If only that were possible.”
Carter took a sip of her water and then closed the file on Rogers.
She stood up, grabbing the file under her left arm. “That’s all I have for you.”
Steve was surprised to hear that. He quickly stood up. Then Carter and Rogers shook hands, looking each other in the eyes.
“Done already?” Erskine sounded from behind with a tray full of food.
“Yes. Mr. Rogers is a very intriguing candidate.” She flashed a smile at Steve. “I’m glad he is being considered for the project.”
Erskine sounded glad. “Great to hear. I’ll take him to the general knowledge test then.”
“Good luck.” She nodded to Steve before turning on her heels and departing.
Steve watched as she walked away. He liked her - beautiful, smart, strong and confident. The complete package.
– Shortly After –
Erskine had led Steve to a testing room that greatly resembled a high school classroom. There were a bunch of desks with tests and pencils already placed on them. Up front, there was a box to place your completed tests in. The box was guarded by a government employee, who happened to be reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
The room was already filled with a handful of other men, presumably all candidates for Project Rebirth. They all had already begun working on their respective tests. Erskine had instructed Steve to pick any desk to take the test and then submit it in the box at the end.
The questions varied from elementary school problems to advanced college questions. It covered all of the basic subjects, from math to science to English. It had fifteen multiple-choice questions with two essays at the end of it.
He felt relatively comfortable taking the test, but as with all tests, wasn’t certain of how well he was performing.
It took him about an hour to complete the general knowledge quiz. When finished, Steve double-checked all of his answers. This needed to be perfect.
Once certain he had done as well as he could, he took his test and dropped it off in the box up front. The man reading Dracula didn’t even acknowledge him, so Rogers then proceeded to exit the room.
Erskine was waiting for him out in the hallway.
“How’d it go?” Erskine adjusted his glasses upon seeing Steve.
Rogers shrugged his shoulders. “It seemed simple enough. No disrespect sir, but is a test like this really relevant to the project?”
“Everything you do today is relevant.” Erskine sternly answered. “It’s not just how you answered the questions, but also how you approached the test. Every little action you take will be analyzed.”
“I understand.” Steve replied. “Where to now?”
Erskine tried to sound confident, but his concern showed through. “To the physical fitness test.”