Rumors of War || The First Avenger

Chapter Eleven: Letters

Picture is Stanley Tucchi as Dr. Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Music is "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" by Ella Fitzgerald.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN: Letters

I told Steve I would take him myself to Camp Lehigh, the base where his basic training is, but forgot one, pesky detail: work. I quickly dialled and asked Mrs. Coulson to fill in for me again, and though she seemed worried about me, she was happy to do it.

Camp Lehigh is only about an hour from Brooklyn, in a city called Wheaton on the edge of New Jersey. It's a small town, known mostly because of the military base there. Steve had a map all planned out. He marked the way, and had a list of notes from a Doctor Erskine that he said he spoke with. "He said that this training leads to something, Emma," he says on the trip. "He said he has a procedure that can make someone like me be able to fight overseas. He called it the Super Soldier serum."

I shake my head, feeling uneasy about the whole situation. "I don't know about this, Steve. It sounds fishy to me."

"You sound like Buck." I have to smile at that. Steve looks over the maps with intensity. "Take the next right. You'll come to a military gate. I have the papers to get through."

I give a nod and follow his orders. "What all do you know about this Super Soldier serum? What are the side affects? What is the cost? What will it do to you?"

He shrugs. "I don't know much. All I know is that Abraham Erskine came up with it himself, and he wants me to try out for it. Called it Project: Rebirth."

"I've heard that name before," I mumble. "Where have I heard that name before?" I tap my fingers on the steering wheel of the small car, trying to recall where I'd heard the term Project: Rebirth before. Then it hits me. "Oh! I remember! Colonel Phillips!"

"You went to see Colonel Phillips? When?"

"A week or so ago. I went to ask him if there was anything he could do... about Bucky's enlistment. I wanted to see if he could change it, but turns out, once he signed those papers, it was permanent."

"It's Bucky's choice, Em," Steve says softly. "I worry about him, too."

"Yeah. His choice." There's a long pause where neither of us says anything. We simply keep our eyes on our designated tasks, me driving and Steve reading the maps. "Have you told Rose about all this yet? You know she's going to freak out."

He nods. "I have, actually. I've talked about it with her before, just casually, but I think she caught on. She knows it's what I've wanted for a long, long time." He smiles softly. "She did freak. She was almost as bad as her brother, just... more throwing things kind of angry."

I chuckle. "She threw things at you? Why am I not surprised?"

"Mostly laundry, 'cause that's what she was doing when I told her about enlisting. It was the night before the expo, the night before I got accepted into the Army. I told her I wanted to join, for real this time, and she exploded."

"That's Rosie for you."

"Yeah," he shakes his head, laughing at the memory. "She eventually calmed down, though. She promised not to tell anyone until I was ready."

"Why didn't you come to me, Steve?" I turn to face the small boy who I consider to be one of my dearest friends.

"Because of Bucky," he says, looking me in the eye. "You had found out about him a couple days before. When I found out what he'd done, I just decided to keep it to myself for a few more days, until he was gone and thing's were settled down a little." He sighs. "It backfired."