Target (Romanogers Fanfic)

Chapter 2

Military Enlistment office, New York City, 1942

Dozens of half-dressed recruits read newspapers, waiting for their exam results. An army doctor dully called names off his list. "Kaminsky, Henry..." A man who must have been Kaminsky stood, tossing his paper aside. He glances at the next newsreader down. "Kinda makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?" He said. The newsreader lowered his paper he was frail and small, only five foot four, he had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. "Nope." He said. "Rogers, Steven." The army doctor called. The short man folded his newspaper and got to his feet.

Steve anxiously watched an army doctor scan his file. A dozen ailments have been checked."What did your father die of?" The army doctor asked. "Mustard gas," Steve said quickly. The doctor looked up. Steve swallowed and nervously continued. "1918. He was in the 107th Infantry. I was hoping to get assigned to them if-" The army doctor cut him off. "And your mother?" He asked. "A few years back, she was a nurse in the TB ward. Got hit, couldn't shake it." Steve explained. Finally, the doctor shook his head. "They weren't weak, Doc, they were fighters. If you just give me a-" The army doctor interrupted him. "Sorry, son. You'd be ineligible on your asthma alone."

Steve's face fell. "You can't do anything?" Steve asked. "I'm doing it. I'm saving your life." The doctor stamped Steve's file. Declined.

Steve sadly left the office and was walking down the street when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alley. The jerk hammered Steve in the jaw, knocking him into a line of garbage cans. Steve groaned...and got back up. Steve was a natural fighter, bobbing and scoring a kidney punch, but the guy barely felt it. 

The jerk swung. Steve tried to block with a trash can lid. The jerk yanked away from the lid and pounds him again. Steve's feet lift off the ground. He hit the cement hard. For a moment, Steve laid still. The jerk hovers, panting. Then Steve got to his feet again. The jerk shook his head. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" He said. Steve wiped his bloody mouth. "I can do this all day." He said.

The jerk knocked Steve back into a pile of garbage. He moved to hit him... but someone grabbed his arm. "What's with all the fighting?" A voice asked. The jerk spun to see a soldier, It was Steve's best friend. James Barnes or Bucky. "Don't you know there's a war on?" Bucky asked. The jerk took a swing. Bucky slugged him, spun him around, and plants an army boot in the ass. The jerk ran away. Bucky looked down at Steve, getting up from a pile of garbage. "Sometimes I think you like getting punched," Bucky remarked. "I hade him on the ropes," Steve said as Steve got up, a folded enlistment form fell from his pocket. Bucky picked it up and read.

"How many times is this?" Bucky asked and read. "And you're from Paramus now? It's still illegal to lie on an enlistment form, and seriously, Jersey?" Steve frowned, taking in Bucky's uniform. "Looks like you got your orders," Steve remarked. "107th ships to England first thing tomorrow. This is my last night." Bucky said slinging his arm around Steve's shoulder. "So, what's the first stop. Church?" Steve joked. Bucky grinned. "Yeah...maybe the second stop." They started walking out of the alley. "Where are we going?" Steve asked. Bucky whipped out a newspaper and handed it to Steve. "The future." Steve opened the paper. An ad reads, "World Exhibition of Tomorrow." Monorails Race Around Futuristic Buildings.

"I don't see what the problem is. You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know there're three and a half million women here?" Bucky said. "I'd settle for just one." Steve quipped. Bucky waved at somebody in the distance."Good thing I've taken care of that." Across the midway, Two girls waved back in front of the modern marvels pavilion."What'd you tell her about me?" Steve asked. Bucky grinned, still waving. "Only the good stuff."

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Two hours later Steve found himself at the World Exhibition of Tomorrow Exhibit line in the hall. A glass box held a red-suited android. "Dr. Phineas Horton presents... the synthetic Man!" A fire extinguisher rests at the base. Bucky and the two girls (Connie and Bonnie) hurry past the exhibit. Steve tagged after, ignored.