The levels of the machine reached about 70% when Steve started to scream.
"Turn it off! Now, Howard!" Clara yelled at the man as tears welled in her eyes. Peggy ran down from the booth and started to yell, "Turn it off!" "Shut it down!"
"No! No! I can do it!" Steve yelled from inside the machine.
"You could die!" Clara yelled. There was a certain pain in her voice.
"That's eighty percent, ninety.." Howard trailed off as Steve's screamed continued to flood the room. Clara closed her eyes tightly and wished for the dreadful sound to stop. "That's one hundred percent!" The machine shut off quickly. Silence overcame the crowd as the chamber opened and steam piled out.
Clara held her breath as the steam cleared. When she saw Steve's much taller body appear and him climb out of the pod, she ran forward and hugged him tightly. She didn't bother about the sweat radiating from his body, just hugged her friend. She didn't even care she was told not to touch him.
"You could've died," She told him as she pulled away. Steve smiled down at her breathlessly as cheering erupted from the crowd and they all rushed into the room. "I didn't."
Peggy walked over. Clara gave Steve a kiss on the cheek and smiled over to Howard. She walked over to him with the brightest smile. The man looked back at her and smiled, immediately engulfing her into a hug.
"You didn't it, Howard," She whispered. Howard pulled away and brushed a hair behind her ear.
"No, Doll, we did it." Clara smiled brightly and pulled him into another hug.
Steve watched carefully as Howard brushed a hair behind Clara's ear. "You have feelings for her?" Peggy asked, an unrecognizable tone in her voice. Steve shook his head.
"No, but a friend of mine does," He responded. Peggy let out an 'oh' and handed Steve a shirt.
"How do you feel?" She asked. Steve breathed heavily.
"Taller." Peggy smiled softly as Steve slid on his shirt.
"You look taller." Just then, gunfire erupted about the building along with an explosion. Like instinct, Howard threw himself in front of Clara and pushed them under the control panel. A man ran over and stole the last bottle of the serum. Clara watched in horror as he shot Erskine.
"No!" She yelled, pulling herself from Howard's iron grip and crawling towards him. Clara applied pressure to his wounds as tears welled in her eyes. Death, no matter the person, was not something she liked. Steve kneeled down next to them. Clara watched as Erskine pointed to his heart. Clara shook her head.
"No, no! You're not dying today. Do you hear me? I won't let you." Erskine smiles slightly, sticking a piece of paper into her hands. His eyes closed as Clara squeezed the paper as hard as she could. Clara sighed as a few tears fell. Steve got up and ran after Peggy, who ran after the killer. Howard crawled over to Clara and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into his embrace and sighed deeply.
"It wasn't your fault, you know?" Howard told her. Clara looked up at him carefully. "Then why does it feel like it is?"
***
Clara stood with Howard Stark as they tried to figure out how the machine in front of them. It was a submarine, made by HYDRA. A Nazi Rogue Science Division That killed Doctor Erskine.
"What have we got here?" Phillips asked the two.
"Speaking modestly-" Clara gave him a look "-I'm the best mechanical-engineer in the country, but I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this kind of technology." Clara furrowed her brows, memories trying to force themselves back into her mind.
"I might be able to figure it out," Clara spoke up. The Colonel looked over from his conversation with the Senator.
"Really?" He asked with disbelief. Clara nodded and moved Howard out of the way. She examined the tech, running her fingers over it.
"Can you do it, Clara?" Howard asked. Clara looked up, a spark in her eyes that Howard hadn't seen since she lost her memories.
"I can do it." The colonel nodded and continued talking to the Senator.
"You really think you can do this?" Howard asked. Clara nodded. "I have to."
"As of today, the SSR is being retasked." Clara and Howard looked up at the Colonel.
"Colonel?" Peggy asked.
"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too, Stark, and your assistant. You're flying to London tonight," Phillips told them. Clara looked over at Steve with confused eyes, wondering why Phillips didn't say his name.
"Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in," Steve told him.
"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo." This angered Clara and she walked over, standing up the Phillips.
"The serum worked," She argued. Phillips shook his head at her.
"I asked for an army and all I got was him. He's
not enough," The colonel said, then walked away. Peggy followed, with a glance back at Steve. Clara scoffed and turned to Steve.
"Don't listen to him." She pulled Steve into a hug. "I believe in you Steve, and you should've believe in you as well." She pulled away and gave Steve a kiss on the forehead. Howard sighed and took his friend's arm, pulling her away and towards the exit.
"You gonna be okay, Doll?" Howard asked. Clara shrugged with a frown. Bucky was gone, Steve was getting sent god knows where, and she was getting assigned some place with the SSR.
"I don't know."
***
Clara stood in her tent, packing her bags. She finally sat down and heard paper crumble in her pocket. Clara pulled out the paper and saw it, The one thing that could change the world.
The super soldier serum.
•••
Cliffhanger..?
ALSO I CAME OUT TO MY GRANDPARENTS TONIGHT IM SO PROUD
