The Beginning (Steve x Reader x Bucky)

(8) Camp Leigh

Eleven healthy recruits and Steve the only skinny one, stand in a straight line, side by side. All wearing army green clothing.

"Recruits, attention!" the one and only Peggy Carter shouts. She's wearing a British army uniform and YN wearing an American army uniform.

"Gentlemen, my name is Agent Carter. This is my partner Agent Smith. We will be supervising your induction today." the h/c and red head both begin passing out clipboards to the soldiers in front of them. Once YN gets to Steve she gives him a smile and wink, then continues passing out the clipboards and papers.

"To begin with, we need you to complete the document we handed out to you." YN says once everything has been handed out. Steve reads his clipboard, it reads, "Last will and testament". The two men next to Steve give each other nervous glances, but Steve isn't fazed at all.

"What's with the accent Queen Victoria? I thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army." a meaty guy tells to Peggy. 'Oh this mans in for a treat' the h/c smiles to herself.

"What's your name, soldier?" Peggy asks the ugly meaty guy. 

"Gilmore Hodge, your majesty." he mocks. "Step forward, Hodge." He does as she says.

She tells him where and how he should stand in front of her. "Right leg forward, arms like so..." she trails off.

"We gonna rassle? 'Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like. You too, sweetheart." he says suggestively to both YN and Peggy. YN can't help but laugh at his stupidity.

Peggy rolls her eyes at the man before her. She moves closer to him, also putting a leg forward. "Are you familiar with the art of Jiu Jitsu, wherein your opponent's size and momentum are used against him?"

"No..." a confused Gilmore trails off. Peggy punches him square in the nose. He drops in a heap, eyes getting watery, a little blood coming out of his nostril. The American girl bursts out in a fit of laughter. "Neither am I." the Britain answers her previous question.

The men mumble, YN finally stops laughing after a while. Peggy gives her partner a small smile. Steve looks at Peggy, pleased. Then he looks at YN with the softest eyes she's ever seen.

"Agent Carter! Smith!" Colonel Phillips shouts out to h/c and the red head. The men turn their attention to the approaching Colonel, Erskine follows closely behind. 

"Colonel Phillips." YN and Peggy say in unison.

"I see you girls are breaking in the new candidates. That's good." Phillips looks at Hodge. "You. Get over there in that line and stand at attention until someone tells you what to do." the Colonel demands. Gilmore quickly gets back into line with the others.

Colonel Phillips now stands in front of the new candidates. "General Patton has said that "wars are fought with weapons and won by men."' The Colonel notices Steve's skinny figure. He turns to Erskine and scowls. YN notices this and scowls at Phillips. "We're going to win this war because we have the best men... And because they are going to get better. Much better."

Now it's currently the nightfall. The men begin unloading all their gear. Hodge puts up pin-ups of women. Steve unpacks stacks of worn out military books.

Colonel: "The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort, made up of the best minds in the free world."

The next day, the recruits run through the camps obstacle course. Steve is struggling, and is in last place. The recruits begin climbing a cargo net. Steve gets his foot stuck and Hodge climbs over him, smashing him in the face.

At the Observation platform YN and Abraham Erskine watch Steve as he grimaces, but pulls himself up and continues to climb.

Colonel: "Our goal is to create the finest army in history. But every army starts with one man."

Peggy checks her stopwatch. All the other recruits wait for Steve to crawl through the mud underneath barbed wire nets.

Colonel: "By the end of this week, we're going to choose that man."

Hodge thought it'd be funny to kick out one of the support beams for the barbed wire nets. This causes the nets to fall onto Steve.

Colonel: "He's going to be the first of a new breed of Super Soldiers. And they are personally going to escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of hell."

Steve is struggling with push-ups. YN and Peggy pace around the candidates.

"I guess I just don't understand the European sense of humor, Doctor." Colonel says as him and Erskine walk toward the men, watching them do calisthenics.

"You're not thinking of picking Rogers, are you?" the guy in charge continues. "I am more than just thinking about it. He is the clear choice." the doctor confirms.

"When you invited a ninety- pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide because I assumed he'd be useful to you. Like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him." The men stop at a nearby truck still watching the men do calisthenics.

The truck holds a crate of grenades. "You put a needle in that guy's arm, it's gonna come out the other side." Phillips continues.

The Colonel and Doctor look to Steve, who is still struggling. "Look at him! He's making me cry." the colonel jokes, but is kinda serious.

"I am searching for qualities beyond physical." the doctor explains. "Do you know how long it took to set up this project? The groveling I had to do in front of Senator Brandt's committee?" the Colonel starts to get annoyed.

"I'm well aware of your efforts-" the doctor says, looking over to where Phillips is looking. Hodge. He's flying through his push-ups like it's nothing.

"Hodge passed every test we gave him. He's big, he's fast, and he takes orders. In short, he's a soldier." the annoyed Colonel states.

"He's a bully." the doctor states the obvious, at least he thinks it's be obvious to the Colonel.

Phillips stares at the doctor for a long time. Then reaches into the truck for the crate full of grenades. "You don't win wars with niceness, Doctor." he grabs a grenade. "You win them with guts." He pulls the pin and throws the grenade towards the group of men.

"GRENADE!" the Colonel shouts. It tumbled into the grass, stopping in front of the recruits. Steve's eyes grow wide. All the recruits move away hiding.

Hodge yelps and hides underneath a nearby Jeep. Peggy and YN make their way to the grenade, but Steve gets there first, throwing himself on the grenade.

"Everybody DOWN!" Steve says trying to get everyone to move to a safe distance. He waits for the grenade to go off, but nothing happens.

YN stares at Steve terrified he's going to die in front of her. She slowly makes her way to him, scared any sudden movements will set it off. As she walks to him she sees Colonel Phillips standing next to a truck full of grenades, and decides to make her way to him instead.

Phillips just stares at Steve lying on top of the grenade. Once YN is close enough she sees the crate has the label, "M-56 TRAINING GRENADE - INERT." A wave of relief washes over YN knowing her friend is safe.

"Why would you do that?" YN asks pissed off. The Colonel doesn't answer, still looking at Steve splayed over the inert grenade. Dr. Erskine smiles. "Uh... is this a test?" the blonde asks while getting up from the ground.