Chapter One

Steve Rogers was at a complete loss for words. He closed his eyes tightly for a few moments before opening them again, thinking that he must've been asleep. But when his blue eyes opened again, the woman was still there, standing next to Howard Stark onstage as if it were a perfectly acceptable position for her to be in.

Steve had seen her before, though. He just knew he had. The familiar red of her hair so elegantly fixed on her head, the paleness of her skin but the rosy tint of her cheeks, with her hazel eyes holding so many emotions…Steve knew her face, he recognized the hourglass curves beneath her crimson dress. He just couldn't place where he knew the face from. It clearly wasn't because he had dated her…he had a feeling even her name was too good for him.

"Bucky? Who's that dame with Stark up onstage?" Steve leaned forward and let the question fall from his lips, wondering if he was the only one entranced by the redheaded beauty in front of the crowd, smiling at Stark as he tried to explain what exactly he was trying to show off.

"Seriously, Steve? Everyone knows who that is. That beautiful specimen of the female gender is Lillian Rose Carraway. She's his equal in everything…looks, charm, intelligence, talent…you've probably seen her on a magazine or something, pal."

But that wasn't it, and Steve knew it. Even if he had seen her on a magazine before, that isn't where he recognized her from. Because while he certainly knew her face, something about seeing her completely glammed up seemed off about her demeanor.

"Sorry I'm late, I couldn't get Howard t-oh dear, someone get this kid a cheeseburger."

The heat rose in Steve's cheeks and he knew his face was a similar to the shade of her hair. He remembered now, now that her dress was gone and black pants covered her slender legs and a grey army shirt tucked itself away into her waist. She even had combat boots on her small feet, her hair pulled up into what looked like a bun on her hair and glasses adorning her face. He had seen her the other times, when he had tried to enlist.

"Nice of you to join us, Dr. Carraway. I was just about to approve Steven here for enlistment into our program."

Her small hands quickly snatched up Steve's file, looking over it with a small look of doubt etched into her eyes. As she saw that there were five files, however, a look of amusement lit up her face so bright that the two men in the room felt as if they were momentarily looking at the sun itself. A soft smile graced her red lips, and she set the file down before jumping up on a counter and pointedly looking at Steve. Her eyes roamed his body, that same skeptical look reaching her hazel eyes, before she continued.

"Pretty keen on killing some Nazis, kid? That why you can't take no for an answer?"

Steve had to take a few breaths before he could answer. The way her bell-like voice infiltrated his ears, the light breathiness of her voice drawing him in so much that Steve didn't honestly think he was ever going to recover from her presence. Lillian stared expectantly at him, growing impatient with the 90 pound man in front of her and the Doctor to her left. But Steve's next words froze her to her spot for longer than she would ever again admit.

"No, ma'am. I'm not keen on killing anybody. But people are laying their lives out on the line, and I have no right to do anything less than they are. And I don't like bullies. I don't care who they are, or where they're from…as I was explaining to Dr. Erksine earlier."

Lillian's eyes had honestly widened at that, her face staying bare of any emotion for a few moments-long enough to make Steve believe he had said something wrong. But slowly-painfully slow-her lips grew into a dazzling smile and a soft laugh fell from her lips. Steve couldn't understand why she was laughing, but he couldn't help but smile at the sound as it filled the room to the very brim. She jumped down from her perch on the counter and signed off on the bottom of his file. She gave the other doctor in the room a nod of her approval, and the two shared a look that Steve knew held a ton of words.

"Congrats, kid. But you still need a cheeseburger."

"Sir, I don't want you to think I'm not grateful, because I am. But I just have one question about this whole thing…"

"Steven, I have already explained why we chose you. Dr. Carraway and myself have the upmost trust in you…and who you are."

"But that's the thing." Steve paused to run his fingers through his soft blonde hair, breathing deep. It had been weeks since he had seen her, and yet everyone insisted that she had something to do with the project and the decision. And yet, the only time he had met her was in that little exam room with Dr. Erksine. "How did she…Dr. Carraway…have any say? She didn't even see me here. She didn't even see what I can do…"

"You have to understand, Steven, that Lill-excuse me, Dr. Carraway is a very busy woman. On top of her own work, she also has Howard Stark to deal with, and believe me when I say his reputation precedes him. He is certainly a handful. But without her, this project would be a complete disaster." Steve could feel the sincerity in the doctor's voice, and he relaxed slightly. But the next words were what really solidified his comfort. "Plus, Dr. Carraway signed off on her decision the day you two met…in the room. She wasn't signing for your enlistment. She was signing for her decision."

Lillian's knee had been bouncing in her chair all morning as final preparations were made, much to Howard's dismay. She was nervous for the boy…man…boy. Howard honestly didn't know what to think of the…soldier?...they were about to give the treatment to. Sure, the two hadn't met yet, but Howard had seen the photos, and he knew Lillian's unrest. Despite their confidence in his character, his body was tiny, and the vitarays alone could kill him. Even still, he was apparently the clear choice. But Howard could only hope, like the rest, that the operation worked and didn't kill the kid.

"Lills, look at me." Howard cupped her face in his hands gently, his eyes begging her to see the emotion they held. For once, he was serious. Her knee stopped, and her hazel eyes gazed up into his brown. "It will work out how it's supposed to. You and the old doc worked hard on this and you two know the project best. I trust that you two made the right decision in this…now you just need to trust yourself."

Howard's hands dropped from her smooth skin, and she closed her eyes slowly, swallowing a breath she had been holding in her throat before letting it out slowly. She nodded, opening her eyes again but the fear and anxiety was still hidden behind her long lashes.

"I know we picked the right man for the job, Howard. But what if…what if something goes wrong? What if we do something that could've been avoidable, and instead…we kill him. Before we can show off to everyone else that we made the right decision. I can't deal with being told I'm wrong, you know."

Her smile lit up her face, and the entire room, and thus Howard couldn't help but smile as well. He pulled her into his arms slowly, letting his emotions take over for just this once. He breathed his best friend in, closing his eyes as he just allowed the comforting warmth to pass between their bodies, clutching onto her as if she was the one about to be operated on. Of course, she had a lot at stake too, and thus he did, seeing as her happiness secured his.

The second Howard let her go is the second Steven Rogers entered the room, and the only time in life Howard had seen Lillian run to a man. She smiled, and seemed to be relieved to see the 90 pound asthmatic in front of her, and it was in that moment Howard Stark felt the first pang of jealousy in his heart that he had ever felt.

"Steve! I'm so pleased that you proved yourself at that camp, I was hoping you wouldn't let my early decision go to waste." Her words and ease of opinion caused a blush to creep its way onto Steve's face, and everyone in the room had to resist shaking their head at the fact that this 20-something year old man had probably never had a woman assert herself onto him that way. The next sentence definitely didn't help the matter. "Could you take your tie and shirt off for me?"