Today was the day! Steve was going to become a super soldier! Jo skipped around the lab giddily. Both Howard and Erskine found this amusing, even Colonel Phillips didn't say anything about her rushing about. Important people came filing in, all heading into the chamber above where they could witness the experiment. Colonel Phillips was in their greeting other men and being introduced to some.

Jo was with Howard checking over every tiny detail when she heard the room pause. The two looked up from the wiring and stared at Agent Carter and Steve who were standing at the top of the steps. Howard said he could finish looking it over by himself and Jo rushed up to meet Steve, Peggy, and Erskine. A cameraman was dismissed.

"You ready?" Erskine asked. Steve nodded. "Good. Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat."

Steve did so and gave them to the nurse. He stepped onto a stand and climbed onto the pod before laying down. Steve sighed nervously. Jo and Erskine approached him and stood at his side.

"Comfortable?" Erskine asked.

"It’s a little big. You save me any of that schnapps?"

Erskine glanced down guiltily. "Not as much as I should have. Sorry. Next time."

"Try not to get the ninety pound man drunk, Erskine," Jo reprimanded lightly. Howard, how are the levels?"

Howard appeared at Jo's side, glancing at Steve. Jo could tell he was nervous. "Levels at 100%."

"Good," Erskine nodded.

"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we’ll ever be."

"Agent Carter? Don’t you think you would be more comfortable in the booth?"

"Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry," Peggy stuttered, hurrying up to the booth.

"Good." Erskine grabbed a microphone and lightly tapped it. A screeching noise carried over the speakers and Jo grabbed his hand to make him stop. "Do you hear me? Is this on?"

"Yes, it is," Jo sighed.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Erskine addressed those in the booth, "today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro injections into the subjects major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays."

Jo made her way down to Howard and stood there, waiting for her que.

"Serum infusion beginning in five," Erskine counted, "four, three, two, one." Jo pushed a lever and the serum began draining from the tubes and into Steve. "Now, Mr. Stark."

Howard pulled his own lever down, and the pod straightens upright, trapping Steve inside. Jo watched Erskine knock on the capsule and ask if Steve could hear him. Steve's answer was questioning if it was too late to use the bathroom. Jo snorted. Erskine turned around and nodded at Howard.

"We will proceed," he said.

Jo pulled on sunglasses, getting ready for the bright light that would blind someone if they looked too long.

"That’s ten percent," Howard said. "Twenty percent. Thirty. That’s 40%."

"Vital signs are normal!" a doctor called.

"That’s 50 %. Sixty. Seventy."

Steve begins screaming in pain as the light becomes brighter. Erskine rushed up to the pod calling Steve's name. Peggy appeared at the top of the steps, demanding that they shut everything down. Jo shifted and stared at the pod anxiously. What if it all went wrong?

"Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark!" Erskine called. "Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!"

Howard rushed to a different control panel but Jo beat him to it. A voice stopped her from canceling everything.

"No!" Steve called. "Don’t! I can do this!"

Howard and Jo glanced at one another, but Howard went back to where he was, calling out over the sound of the pod. "Eighty. Ninety. That’s 100%!"

Machines began sparking overloading until the reactor closed itself down, the light dimming into nothing. There was silence.

"Mr. Stark?" Erskine called.

Howard pressed a button and the pod opened, revealing the super soldier. Many gasped st the change from a small man to a rather large one. Erskine and Howard helped Steve down from the pod, Steve breathing hard and gasping as they did so. Jo stood in front of them and Peggy was at her side in a second.

"I did it," Steve breathed.

"Yeah," Erskine nodded, "yeah. I think we did it."

"We actually did it," Howard said.

"How do you feel?" Peggy asked.

Steve looked around, "Taller."

Peggy reached out but stopped and looked around for something. Jo grabbed a shirt from a nurse, handed it to Peggy, who in turn gave it to Steve.

"You look taller," she said.

Many people began to shake everyone's hands at the accomplishment. Jo smiled at Erskine.

"I told you it'd work."

Erskine laughed and nodded in a agreement. A senator pulled the scientist away from her and Jo stepped back from the crowd. It was nice, being a part of something so big in history. But it was strange at the same time.

Jo frowned, when she got here Erskine knew nothing about the behavior affecting the serum. Yet history said he already knew. So that either meant that she was destined to come to the past and make sure it happened, or she was thrown into a parallel universe where it didn't and Jo interfered, making this timeline into one where it did. Jo shook her head and breathed a deep sigh. Either way, this was history in the making.

An explosion in the observation room above her sent Jo crouching to the ground to shield herself from falling glass. She glanced up and saw a man stealing the last vial of the serum.

"Stop him!" Erskine and Jo shouted together.

The man shot two bullets, both at Erskine. They landed in his chest and Erskine fell to the floor. Peggy retaliated with two shots of her own, one hitting its mark, before she was after the man. Jo ran towards the man, leaping over the railing and crouching at his side next to Steve. Erskine pointed at Steve’s chest, a reminder to stay good, and smiled at Jo. Then he was gone.

Jo and Steve shared a look before going after the man, Jo just behind Steve. She ignored Howard's shout for her not to follow the men. Jo was out the door just in time to watch Steve tackle Peggy out of the way of a car. He apologized and took of after it. Jo thought quickly. Man on the run in the isle of Manhattan, easiest escape? The boats! There was no way she would be able to catch up, luckily she knew a short cut. Jo glanced at Peggy.

"I'll explain later," she promised.

"Wha-" Peggy didn't get to finish, all she saw was a wolf standing where her friend had been, and then it was gone. Down the alleyways.

Jo took very few turns to get to the loading dock. Many people screamed at a wolf running by, and stared after it when it passed. Shots echoed in her ears and Jo followed them. She exited an alley and paused on the side of a bus, she kept out of view of the civilians. Apparently she arrived just in time to watch the yellow car, Steve now hanging on to the side, smash into a truck. The car lurched and rolled, a door came off its hinges and a man stepped out the moment the car had stopped rolling.

He aimed a gun at Steve and shot, Steve rolled out of the way. Jo slowly crept up behind the man, people screaming and trying to get away from the shooter. One boy wasn't so lucky and he was grabbed. The mother pleaded to the man to let the boy go but he ignored her.

"Get back!" the man shouted at Steve.

The man walked backwards into an alley and Steve followed, Jo right after him. Another shot went off and Steve hid behind a large round thing. Jo wasn't sure what it was. The man fled into a building and Jo was the first one around the corner. She paused and took a peek around the corner. The man hadn't seen her yet.

Steve glanced at the wolf and didn't say anything. He too peeked around the corner but he was seen. The man pointed the gun at the boy. Steve rushed around the corner, his hands held up. Jo followed and stayed by Steve's side.

"Wait, don't! Don't!" he said.

In turn the man pointed the gun at Steve, and it clicked. No more ammo. The man growled and threw the boy over the ledge and into the water, Steve shouting for him not to. The man took off and Steve and Jo rushed to the boy's aid. He was sinking.

Jo jumped in and let the boy wrap his arms around her. They came back to the surface and the boy sputtered for air. He glanced up at Steve.

"Go get him," he coughed. "She's got me."

Steve ran after the man, hesitating only briefly. Jo padded furiously to keep them both above water. She did a slow circle and found a ramp close by. There were people there staring at them, others encouraging her to bring the boy to them. Jo followed their commands and swam to meet them, the boy doing his best to hold on and help the wolf carrying him.

Jo made it to the shore and the boy's mother rushed forward to hug her son. She shook her fur out and looked at the mother, who wept at her son's safe return. She hugged Jo as well, not caring that Jo was a wolf. Jo received a lot of pats on the head for saving the boy, Timmy, his mother called him.

Timmy was holding on to his mother for dear life. When he let go, he too turned around and gave Jo a hug.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Jo licked the boy's face which caused him to erupt in giggle. Suddenly she remembered why she was at the dock. She rushed up the steep hill and made her way back to where she was before. Jo arrived just as the man from before answered Steve's question.

"The first of many. Cut off one head," he pulled a face tooth from its spot and bit down on it, "two more shall take its place." A white foam began to form in his mouth. "Hail Hydra."

And then the man was dead. Jo growled at the man's declaration, drawing Steve's attention. He sighed and kneeled down to Jo's eye level holding out a hand. When she didn't pull away he gave her a few scratched. Demeaning as it was to Jo, she allowed it. Steve didn't know any better.

People began circling them whispering to one another. Then the soldiers arrived, followed my Colonel Phillips, Peggy Carter, and Howard Stark. Jo padded over to Howard and sat in front of him. He kneeled down and whispered to Jo.

"I thought I told you to stay."

Jo huffed and turned away, watching the soldiers cart away the Hydra agents body. Steve stared between Howard and Jo, as did many others.

"That thing yours?" Phillips asked, gesturing to Jo.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Howard nodded. "She is."

The Colonel sighed and made his way to Steve, asking what happened. Peggy wanted to follow but she couldn't stop staring at Howard and Jo.

"Does she know?" Howard whispered, receiving a small nod. He sighed and addressed Peggy, "Jo will explain later."

None of them noticed Steve frown slightly and cast a quick glance over to them.

**********

Later hadn't yet arrived. Jo had been able to sneak off when they got back to the lab, changing into dry clothes, her hair would be fine. She was down by Howard, trying to figure out what kind of submarine they had in front of them. Senator Brandt was ranting on about his side and how he wanted answers to Colonel Phillips.

"Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers."

"Great. Why don’t we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" He turned to Howard. "What have we got here?"

"Speaking modestly, I’m the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don’t know what’s inside this thing or how it works. We’re not even close to this technology."

"Then who is?" Brandt asked.

"Hydra." Phillips answered. "I’m sure you’ve been reading our briefings."

"I’m on a number of committees, Colonel."

"Hydra is the Nazi deep science division. It’s led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions," Peggy said, returning from Steve's check up with him in tow.

"Hydra’s practically a cult," Phillips added. "They worship Schmidt, they think he’s invincible."

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Brandt asked.

"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being retasked."

"Colonel?" Peggy questioned.

"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too, Stark. Merlyn, you're going with. You’re flying to London tonight."

The group walked off and Jo was left with Howard.

"You got anything back where you're from?" Howard asked.

"Honestly? I don't know, but more than likely yes. I'm not one for army things. Any new leads on getting me home?"

"Sorry, but no," Howard apologized, and Jo sighed, she figured as much. "We might as well stop here. We're not getting very far and we need to pack."

Jo agreed and set down the light she was holding. They could do this later.

When the hours later from earlier had arrived, Peggy, Howard, and Jo were sitting in an aircraft headed for London. Colonel Phillips was at the head of the plane. Jo watched shifting under Peggy's stare until she snapped at the woman.

"What?"

"You're a mutant."

"Yes."

Peggy reeled back in shock. In all honesty she hadn't been expecting Jo to answer so quickly. She had been hoping that Jo would deny it or even tell her that she had been seeing things. But she didn't.

Figuring that it didn't matter anymore, Jo launched into an explanation of who she was and where she was from. She was careful to make sure Phillips didn't walk in on the conversation. Howard sat back and watched Peggy with amusement as she soaked in the information.

"... and then you found out, which led us here," Jo finished. It felt good to tell someone other than Howard.

"Okay," Peggy breathed.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" Howard asked curiously.

"Well what else should I say? Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'll help in any way I can."

Jo smiled thankfully at the woman who had become her friend. This was good. She liked not having to lie to people.

The next few months went on as planned. The three would do whatever they could to take down Hydra, and on their spare time they would look for a way home for Jo. Howard pulled strings where he could and was able to get books on Norse myths.

"Hey, who's this Heimdall person?" Howard asked. "There's not a lot about him."

They were seated in one of Howard's largest tents, books and equations scattered around them. Howard was sitting in a chair, Peggy at the table, and Jo was on his bed. She sat up and scrunched her nose in thought, thinking back to what Darcy and Jane had told her.

"He guards the gate to Asgard and provides transport between worlds," Jo said slowly. "Realms as they call them."

Peggy shook her head in disbelief. "I still can't believe that gods are real."

"Howard locked himself away in his room for three days with a bottle of whiskey. I think you're doing great."

Howard huffed and rolled his eyes.

"And you're sure that you being here isn't changing anything?" Peggy asked.

"Not really no. But some things that should have happened did happen because I was here." Jo looked up and met the blank stare of one Peggy Carter. She sighed. "When I arrived Doctor Erskine knew nothing of the behavioural effects the serum would have. When I'm from, it was labeled a huge thing when I read Steve's file. So when I told Erskine about it, and he hadn't known, I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to be here in the past. After all, if I wasn't here, who knew what would happen? Get it?"

Now Peggy Carter was a smart woman, but Jo just confused her. She looked to Howard for a better explanation.

"Jo made things happen that were supposed to," he said simply.

"Ah."

Jo rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book. Only to look up again when Colonel Phillips walked in.

"Look alive," he said. "Steve's coming by to cheer up the remainder of the latest survivors."

**********

Well a lot has happened this chapter. Thoughts?