05. | THE AMERICAN DREAM

ALTHOUGH THE WORLD once believe Steve Rogers had perished during World War II, America had not forgotten him. He was still a hero and epitomized the heart of the American soldier.

"Welcome to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum," a woman said as she guided a class of children down a long corridor in the wing devoted to Captain America.

For Steve Rogers, waking up in the twenty-first century after being frozen for seventy years was a challenge, but seeing the impact his life had had on the world at large was simply surreal.

Just outside the Captain America Wing, a line of  kids snaked through the room and under an archway. When they turned a corner, they smiled and giggled with glee. One whispered: "This is it!"

Dozens of tourists crowded around the red, white, and blue memorabilia of America's greatest soldier. In the center of the room was a mural depicting Captain America saluting. It was the crowning jewel of the exhibit. A little boy stood in front of it, looking up at his hero. With a smile, he raised his right hand and saluted back.

In the Captain America Exhibit, the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane Charles Lindbergh flew on the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris hung from the ceiling. "The Star-Spangled Man," Cap's theme song from the forties, blasted into the vast hall. In the corner of the room, Steve slunk past in a low-brimmed hat. He didn't want to be seen, for obvious reasons.

A deep voice came to life over the loudspeakers: "A symbol of hope to the nation. A hero to the world. Captain America represented mankind's most notable attributes."

Giggling kids measured their height against a skinny Steve Rogers exhibit. It showed them that it didn't matter what size you were; it only mattered if you had good intentions.

The voice continued: "Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steve Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first Super-Soldier."

Steve listened. Hearing his story was one thing. Living through it was another. Steve remembered that day when his entire world changed. As Steve continued to listen, one of the kids turned to see him taking in the display. The child squinted to get a better look at the man. And then his mouth fell open. The kid raised his hand and attempted to salute his now real idol, Captain America. But Steve raised a finger to his lips as if to say that, yes, he was Captain America, but they should keep it a secret.

Steve quietly moved on to the next "chapter" in his life, one that he remembered all too well. A mannequin in Steve's old uniform with the triangular shield and leather jacket was seen leading his comrades-in-arms up an artificial hill.

"Battle teased, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes," the mechanized voice said. "Their mission: taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue-science division."

Steve moved on. It was surreal to be there, his life unfolding before his very eyes. Memories he would never forget, now shared with world. People pointed and took pictures with their phones. Some posed with a Cap statue. Funny, he thought. If they only knew that the real Captain America was right behind them.

Steve's smile quickly left as he approached the next piece of his life. A picture displayed a skinny Steve and his best friend, Bucky, arm in arm, smiles on their faces. Happier times.

As the narrator told the story of Steve and Bucky, Steve felt like someone was punching him in the chest. Some memories were just too painful. "Best friends since childhood, James Buchanan Barnes and Steve Rogers were inseparable in both the schoolyard and one the battlefield. Now, after Captain America's miraculous return years later, Barnes is left as the only Howling Commando to give his life in service in his country."

Steve grimaced as he recollected Bucky's final moments on that speeding train in Germany. The Red Skull's men had set up a trap to catch Captain America and Bucky, and Bucky was outnumbered against the technological advanced HYDRA soldiers. He was injured and fell from the train before Steve could reach him.

Steve sighed. In that moment, he wasn't good enough. Wasn't fast enough. Wasn't super enough. And he vowed never to be that weak again.

Steve touched the photo and the plaque that read: A FALLEN COMRADE, before moving on to the final room. There were no statues or red, white, and blue shields in the last one. There were no plaques or war scenes unfolding on a plastic battlefield. Instead there was a large TV monitor. Shaky black-and-white footage showed Steve and Bucky behind the lines, lighthearted. Steve studying a field map in the snow. The Howling Commandos trudging through the trenches.

Then Steve's heart skipped a beat when he saw Peggy Carter's face on the screen. Pride had cast a shadow over Steve's earlier life as Captain America. He had protected his country but missed the opportunity to tell the woman of his dreams that he loved her.

"That was a difficult winter," Peggy informed the interviewer in her English accent.

Steve had seen pictures of her since he'd been revived, but it had been so long since he'd heard her voice. He stood, transfixed by her interview, which was dated 1953. Her title was at the bottom of the screen: Lieutenant Corporal Peggy Carter, SSR.

Seated in uniform, Peggy said, "We were in Russia. A blizzard trapped half our battalion behind enemy lines. Steve - Captain Rogers - fought his way through a HYDRA brigade that had pinned the Allies down for months. He saved a thousand men." Peggy started to choke up. "Including the man who would become my husband, as it turns out."

Steve sat down on a bench and pulled out a tarnished, dented compass. He opened it to Peggy's yellowed picture as he interview continued: "Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life."

The reporter prompted her. "I understand you were the last person to speak to Captain Rogers. Before his plane went down..."

There was a silence and Steve looked up to see if the interview was over. It wasn't. Peggy just stared at the reporter for a long moment.

She finally replied, "I was."

The reporter asked, "Could you tell us about what he said?"

Steve stared at the flickering face. Peggy looked down into her cup of tea, never answering.

Steve almost let a tear slip out. Only he knew that she'd asked him on a date. He wished he could meet her at the Stork Club like he'd promised, but nobody could see the future. It was tragic to see your past on a display in a museum. It made him feel like a dinosaur, a relic. He just didn't fit in. But at least he could still save people. Helping others was a timeless pursuit.

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For the past two years, Christina has been regularly visiting Dr. Liam King at the S.H.I.E.L.D. lab. Dr. King had invested countless hours, days, weeks, and months, investigating every single cell, DNA structure, hair follicle, and even a single eyelash - anything to get to the bottom of this mutated Super-Solider serum she was injected with.

Christina and Liam have known each other for over nine years. Liam was beginning his scientific studies at S.H.I.E.L.D., and Christina had just been recruited. They met when she accidentally elbowed him in the face, because he had startled her by sneaking up behind her. The pair had been like brother and sister ever since.

"Anything new, Doc?" Christina asked, squeezing the stress ball in her hand, making it easier to pump the blood into the blood bag.

King sighed and rubbed at his temples furiously, taking off his glasses and throwing them down on the table. "It's so frustrating. Every time I look back at previous samples I've taken, they're inconclusive compared to a freshly taken sample. I don't understand why. I mean, I look at a sample of Rogers' blood taken over seventy years ago, and it would look exactly the same as the fresh one I took yesterday."

"Hmm," Christina hummed, removing the tourniquet from around her bicep, pulling the needle out and walking over to Liam. "Well, have you secluded the origin? Or even gotten a hint as to where the serum came from?"

"Besides the given location?" Liam asked, referring to the fact that the serum came from somewhere in Germany. "No, I haven't. I just wish I had a sample of your blood from before you were injected with the serum."

Christina tilted her head at the question before asking: "Why?"

"Because if I had your blood from when you were still considered a human, I might be able to tell you why these Germans wanted you so bad for the experiment." King answered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I mean, they didn't just randomly choose, and coincidentally pick a two year old girl to experiment on and the serum actually work. Hey, your eyes - they're purple."

Christina's eyes widened, not realizing they had transformed, she furiously rubbed them, trying to change them back, but she failed. "I didn't even notice that they were."

"You don't feel the pain anymore, do you?"

"I haven't felt the stinging in, like, thirteen months." Christina replied. "I've been allowing the transformation to happen, instead of pushing and fighting it."

"Have you ever thought that keeping your eyes this purple hue, will make your abilities more manageable?" King asked.

Christina remained silent, and nonchalantly glanced around the lab, avoiding the question and Liam didn't ask any more after that. There were papers, science equipment, and empty Chinese take-out boxes scattered all over Liam's desk in the corner of the lab. She knew that Liam was working extremely hard to get to the bottom of the situation, and Christina felt guilty, but she also knew that if she told him to stop looking into it - he wouldn't.

Dr. Liam King was a very persistent man, who very rarely gave up on anything. That's why he's one of the most known and highly respected scientist of his generation, and he's only twenty-eight. Dr. King knew that Christina trusted him completely to keep the Super-Solider serum a secret, and he took pride in that - especially since Christina Sitma doesn't trust people easily.

Liam glanced up from the paperwork in his hands and at Christina. She had bags under her eyes, her golden locks seemed to be lacking their usual luster, her shoulders were slumped with defeat, and her olive skin was slightly pale. She's extremely exhausted and sleep deprived, he thought. "When was the last time you got a decent night's sleep?"

Christina's head snapped up at the suddenly break of silence. "What? Oh, uh, like, last...week?" Christina stumbled with her words - forming a lie, and not a very convincing one.

"Stop lying, Christina," King said, standing from his stool and crossing the lab toward Christina. "Seriously, when was the last night you slept through the night?"

Christina sighed in defeat, letting her head drop, ashamed. "Before the Battle of New York occurred. I haven't slept right since then."

"Is it PTSD?"

"No," Christina replied, shaking her head and fumbling with her fingers. "It's that, uh...don't make fun of me, okay? I've never had a good night's sleep in my entire life. My dreams were always haunted with bloody images of my parents, but when Steve and I moved in together, my nightmares faded." Christina explained. "And one of the results of breaking up is that the two people that were involved in the relationship, no longer sleep in the same bed and one of the recipients move into the guest bedroom down the hall - and that's when the nightmares returned."

"Now, my dreams are these disoriented memory fragments." Christina continued. "From the day of the car accident; I can remember hearing my mother and father's laughter over the static coming from the radio, the buzzing streets of Venice on that busy Sunday afternoon. I remember feeling the first impact of the car crash, like, right now - I can physically feel my head being smacked against the glass window in the backseat of our car. My nostrils are burning from the smell of burnt rubber and gasoline." Christina listed, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can see my mother frantically glancing back at me: making sure that I'm alive, unlike my father. After the second impact that instantly killed my mother, I remember a pair of hands removing me from the backseat, feeling a long and thick needle being plunged into my neck. I remember tasting the metallic tinge of my own blood mixed with the flavor of baking soda and rotten milk."

Just thinking about the taste the Super-Soldier serum created in her mouth, made her stomach sour with nausea, and suddenly, the smell of burnt rubber invaded her senses, making her feel even worse. She took in a deep breath and released it through her nose, trying to calm her swirling stomach.

"The worst part of remembering this day, isn't feeling the grief, but experiencing the pain - I still feel the pain to this very day. I can feel the serum coax and morph my muscles and bones, heightening every single one of my humanly senses and instincts. It's a constant reminder that I'm not normal, and I hate that reminder. I wish I was normal. I wish that if you were to stab me in the leg right now, you would have to take me to the emergency room, not just sit and wait for my body to magically heal itself." Christina said, her voice cracking as her emotions rose to the surface.

Liam looked sympathetically at the young woman in front of him. "But, isn't being like this a blessing in disguise?"

"It is, I will admit that it has its pros and cons." Christina replied, using the back of her hand to rub away the tears that threatened to fall. "The major con that I've analyzed over and over again: is the not knowing. Not knowing if I'm capable of having children, and if I can have children, not knowing if they'll end up like this. Not knowing if I can even die - I was poisoned two years ago with fatal snake venom, my heart stopped, but miraculously started to pump again." Christina explained, and cleared her throat before continuing: "And what if I can't die? What if Steve can die? Then, he will eventually die, and I'll be left all alone. I don't have anyone else left. I may have been alone my whole life, but that doesn't mean that I enjoy it." 

A single tear rolled down Christina's cheek and a soft sob escaped her mouth. Liam stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she wrapped hers around his waist. Christina's shoulders shook violently as she cried into his chest.

"You won't be alone, Christina."

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