2. Training

The next day, Jessie woke up from a sudden shock. She shook it off and began to get dressed in her usual uniform. Pants, white blouse, her uniform jacket, army boots, and belt. She then remembered that it was Steve’s first day. She grabbed the plans she promised to give to Howard and left her barracks. She walked into the laboratory and found Peggy talking with Howard.

“Sergeant Evans,” Peggy said in her British accent.

“Do you have the plans?” Howard asked. Jessie handed them over. He took them and looked them over. “Nice. Thank you, Jessie.”

“What are they for?” Peggy asked.

“We’re going to try and make an AI, or Artificial Intelligence,” Jessie replied. “If technology is going to be better and bigger in the future, we might as well start here.”

“It is an excellent invention that may take us years to process and success,” Howard said.

“I want to call it Jarvis. Project Jarvis.”

Howard chuckled, “Alright. Project Jarvis it is.”

“Good. Oh, and Peggy. There’s a new recruit who’s starting. Steven Rogers. He’s going to be one of the test subjects for Doctor Erskine as well for Project Rebirth.”

“Another Super Soldier?” Peggy asked.

“Yes.  Promised Bucky I would keep an eye on him and make sure he stays safe.”

“He’s a skinny little guy,” Howard spoke up looking at the blueprints. “I like him.”

“Not many people accept him for his height. He’s twenty four years-old and is only 5’4” in height.”

“Well, then. We should go meet the new recruit along with the others,” Peggy said. Jessie nodded. They said goodbye to Howard and left. They saw a line of men in uniforms standing and waiting. A Private officer followed to two girls carrying clipboards for the recruits.

“So, you promised Bucky you would keep an eye out for Mr. Rogers?” Peggy asked.

“Yes.”

“Why couldn’t he do it himself?”

“He was shipped to England remember?”

“Oh. Yes now I remember. And you were supposed to go with him, but he told them not to send you out.”

“And, Steve is the reason why. I met Steve yesterday when Bucky and I helped him from getting beat up. Bucky asked me to keep an eye on Steve while he was gone. Steve’s a nice guy. Small, but he’s a nice guy. Not many women accept him because of his height. I’m the first woman to accept him for who he is, not what he looks like.”

“We’ll that is very kind of you, Evans. No wonder you’re so loyal to Bucky.” Peggy smiled to her friend who, in return, smiled back. They got to the line of recruits. Jessie pointed out Steve and Peggy realized what Howard meant by skinny little guy. Peggy smiled to herself when she saw Steve’s height.

“Recruits, attention!” Jessie ordered, her voice strong with a Russian accent. She looked at the men’s feet and pointed one of the soldiers. “Feet together soldier.”

“Gentlemen,” Peggy began speaking, “I am Agent Carter, and this is Sergeant Evans. We supervise all operations for this division.” The Private began passing out clipboards.

“What’s with the accent Queen Victoria?” A recruit with a heavy New York accent questioned Peggy. “I thought I signed up for the U.S. army.”

“What’s your name, soldier?” Jessie asked. The recruit recognized her New York accent and tough, half hearted manner and decided to give her a nickname as well.

“Gilmore Hodge, Winter Patriot,” he replied.

“Step forward, Hodge.” He took a step forward. “Put your right foot forward.”

“We gonna wrestle? ‘Cause I got a few moves I know you’ll like.” He winked at Jessie, only to earn a punch in the face, knocking him to the ground. The recruits began to chuckle, and Peggy smiled at Jessie as a silent ‘thank you’. An army Jeep pulled up and Colonel Phillips got out.

“Sergeant Evans, Agent Carter,” he spoke.

“Colonel Phillips,” Jessie and Peggy said, saluting to the Colonel.

“I can see that you are breaking in the candidates, that’s good.” He stood in front of Hodge who was getting off the ground. “Get your ass up out of that dirt, and stand up in that lineup in attention until someone comes and tells you what to do.”

“Yes, sir,” Hodge said. Colonel Phillips began walking up and down the line.

“General Patton has said, War’s are fought with weapons, but are won by men. We are going to win this war because we have the best-“ he paused for a second, looking at Steve, “-men.” He looked to Agent Carter and Sergeant Evans and noticed that Doctor Erskine was standing with them. “And because they’re gonna get better. Much better. The Strategic Scientific Reserve. Is an allied effort, made up with the best minds of the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one man. At the end of this week, we will choose that man. He’ll be the second of a new breed of Super Soldiers. And they will, personally, escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of Hell.”

“Who’s the first Super Soldier?” Hodge asked. Colonel Philips looked at him, then to Sergeant Evans.

“Hawkeye,” the Colonel replied pointing to Jessie.

The recruits began training. Those days of training turned into weeks. Jessie’s arm was still in a sling from the grenade. Her and Peggy kept an eye on the recruits, mostly on Steve. The recruits were climbing up a spider web type rope wall. Steve had gotten his foot caught in the ropes and was now hanging from them by his foot. Most of the guys began to laugh at his clumsiness. Jessie winced at their laughing feeling sympathy for her friend.

“Rogers!” the training Sergeant yelled. “Get up from there.” Next the recruits were crawling through mud under barbwire. Hodge had gotten to the end while Steve was still in the middle of the course. He kicked a beam, making the right side of the wire fall and cause Steve to be stuck. The training Sergeant saw and began yelling again. “Rogers, get that rifle out of that mud.” Last, the recruits were running in two by six lines. Steve was lacking in pace in the back. The training Sergeant was running alongside the recruits yelling orders. Peggy and Jessie were sitting in the Jeep, Peggy in the passenger seat with a clipboard in hand and Jessie at the wheel. They turned to look at the recruits who were stopped as the training Sergeant began to speak.

“That flag means you’re at the halfway point,” he said pointing to the flagpole. “First man to bring it to me, gets to ride back with Sergeant Evans and Agent Carter.” All the men, except Steve and the Sergeant began to fight their way to the pole. Hodge tried to climb up it, but failed. 

“Nobody’s got that flag in seventeen years. Come on, come on, fall in! Let’s go, get back in formation.” The men ran back to their formations. “Rogers! I said, fall in.” Steve walked over to the flag pole, looked at it, then took the pin out of the bottom letting the pole fall. He walked to the flag and grabbed it off the pole, handing it to the Sergeant. Jessie smiled and started the Jeep.

“Thank you, Sir,” he said, getting in the back of the Jeep. Peggy and Jessie smiled at Steve.

“You did good, Rogers,” Jessie said. They drove back to the camp.

The next day, the recruits were doing push-ups. Training was being lead by Peggy and Jessie.

“Faster ladies, come on,” Jessie said. “My grandmother has more life in her, God rest her soul.” She saw Steve having a hard time.

“Move it,” Peggy said. Jessie saw Colonel Philips and Doctor Erskine walking towards the recruits. She walked over to them.

“..Never thought you’d pick him,” Colonel Philips finished saying. “Sergeant Evans.” The female Sergeant saluted.

“Up,” Peggy ordered. All the recruits stood up. “Jumping Jacks.”

“Colonel Philips,” Jessie said.

“You helped the doctor get Rogers here?”

“Yes, Sir. He’s a childhood friend and I’m willing to stay by his side not just for Bucky but for himself.”

“Ah, Sergeant Barnes. A good man.”

“Yes, a very good man, and true to his word, Sir.” Jessie’s words were constant though she was saddened with the thought of her older friend being away from home. Colonel Philips could tell.

“Couldn’t you have just picked him, Doctor? Evans surely misses him. Why Rogers? Stick a needle in that kids arm, it’s going to go right through him.”

“Come on, girls,” Peggy ordered. Jessie, Colonel Philips, and Erskine looked at Steve.

“Look at that,” the Colonel spoke, “He’s making me cry.”

“I am looking for qualities beyond the physical,” the doctor said.

“Do you know how long it took to set up this project? And how long it took just to get one success who just so happened to be a woman.”

“I’m standing right here,” Jessie said putting her hands on her hips.

“Yes,” Erskine replied to Colonel Phillips.

“And all the groveling I had to do in front of Senator what’s-his-name committees,” Phillips continued.

“Yes, I know. I am well aware of your efforts.”

“Then throw me a bone.”

“Hodge passed every test we gave him,” Jessie said.

“He’s big, he’s fast,” the Colonel continued from what she had said. “He obeys orders, he’s a soldier.”

“He’s a bully,” Jessie said sternly.

“I agree with Ms. Evans,” Erskine said.

“You don’t win wars with niceness, Evans,” Philips said.

“You could try-“ she began to say but was cut off by the Colonel

“You win wars with guts.” He took a phony grenade and took the pin out. Jessie knew it was a fake. The Colonel threw it at the recruits yelling “Grenade.” All the recruits, except Steve, ran away and hid. Steve ran over to the grenade and laid on top of it. Peggy looked at him in shock with how brave he was. Jessie smirked. When everyone realized the grenade didn’t explode they all got up. Steve looked up at Peggy and Jessie.

“Phony grenade,” Jessie stated allowed to the people in the area.

“Is this a test?” Steve asked Jessie. She nodded slightly. She looked to the Colonel.

“He’s still skinny,” he said, walking away. The doctor looked at Steve and smiled.

“Come on, soldier,” Jessie said, walking over to Steve and helping him up. He picked the grenade up and handed it to her. “It was phony. Stark and I made fake grenades for tests to see how the recruits will react.” Later that day, Erskine mentioned to Jessie that the Colonel accepted Steve to be the one doing the experiment. She thanked him for the information and decided to read a book before going to sleep to get enough rest for the next day.