The next days consisted of the recruit training themselves for the coming battles. Marilyn knew in her heart that most of them wouldn't make it out alive, but hopefully, with the new soldier, that view would change.

Marilyn and Peggy overlooked each obstacle the recruits faced like climbing, crawling, and fighting. But now, Marilyn was currently sitting in an army vehicle with Peggy and a soldier driving. They sat ahead of the trainees on the trail right by a flag pole. Peggy was flipping through some packets, jotting down information with the pen that was laying in her mouth. While Peggy sat in the front seat with the driver, Marilyn sat in the back with her ankles crossed in a formal manner. She too was scanning through papers. Her eyes examined the writing on the pages that explained each recruit at the base. Although there were many good candidates to choose from physically, Marilyn kept flipping back to one of the physically weakest ones - Steven Grant Rogers.

His chart listed many negatives and medical problems such as asthma and low body fat and muscle mass. But what the chart failed to mention in Marilyn's eyes is his personal strengths such as kindness, generosity, and courage - all the qualities of a great man.

"Pick up the pace, ladies!" a distant voice screamed. This alerted Marilyn, who shot her head up from its place in the pages and looked back to the sound of feet hitting the ground. "Let's go, let's go! Double time!"

Marilyn's eyes squinted as she struggled to find the one man she was keeping an eye out for. But there he was, panting and struggling to keep up with the rest of the group. She absentmindedly began to pick at her nails once more as she silently rooted for the small man to catch up.

"Come on! Faster! Faster!" the man, who was running beside them, screamed at the recruits. Peggy and the driver's attention was captured and they too, turned their heads to view the gathering of trainees beside the pole. "Move! Move! Squad, halt!" the sergeant shouted at them, causing everyone to stop suddenly right beside the vehicle Marilyn and Peggy were sitting in. Marilyn's eyes were glued to Steve's wheezing frame as he took more steps to meet up with them.

"That flag means we're only at the halfway point," the sergeant said as he pointed up to the flag beside them all. The flagpole was surrounded by large white rocks, clearing the way for a pathway.

Steve groaned and breathed deeply as he tried to catch his breath. His hands were placed on his knees as he wheezed.

"First man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Carter and Recruiter Johnson, the sergeant pointed to the vehicle beside them and everyone's eyes went straight to the women inside.

Marilyn smiled politely and waved delicately as she felt all the different eyes on her. But her eyes only met one other pair. Steve looked up at the pole and then the vehicle with wide eyes as Marilyn met his gaze. He gulped as he felt the foreign attention from a woman pierce his mind.

"Move! Move!" the loud voice shouted.

All the trainees wasted no time and rushed to the pole. Many of them climbed over one another as they all desperately tried to scale the tall pole. They all wished not only to not run but also to sit next to the only women in the whole camp.

"If that's all you got, this army's in trouble!" the sergeant shouted at the men that failed to climb the pole. Marilyn's eyes watched as the men struggled to make it up a few feet. "Nobody's got that flag in 17 years!" A couple more men tried to climb the pole but with no avail. "Now fall back into line! Come on, fall in!" The recruits all followed the orders blindly and ran back to their original spots. However, one man didn't listen, and instead, looked up to the flag with a furrowed brow.

Marilyn's eyes fell back down to her papers when she expected no one to reach anywhere close to the flag. However, the shout of one name caused her to jerk her head back up.

"Rogers! I said fall in!"

Marilyn gasped slightly as Steve bent down and pulled out the pin of the flagpole, sending the metal rod down to the ground with a thud and a rattle. The frail man dropped the pin to the ground and walked over to the end of the pole, where he ripped the flag from the pole. All the recruits and the sergeant looked shocked at the courage and assertiveness this small man had.

Marilyn had to hold back a smirk as Steve handed the flag to the trainer, thanked him, and hopped in the back of the vehicle where Marilyn sat. Peggy looked forward as the car started up once more but Marilyn looked next to her and smiled sweetly at Steve.

~~~~

Marilyn and Peggy watched as the recruited endured more strenuous activities. Peggy shouted at all of the men as they did pushups. "Faster ladies! Come on." Peggy walked back and forth down the line of men. "My grandmother has more life in her, god rest her soul."

Marilyn stayed silent as she jotted down points in her file about each recruit. She let Peggy do all the mean work while Marilyn stayed back and observed. But she liked it like that. Marilyn wasn't one to openly yell or speak out against someone. Doing so had a higher chance of pushing out the other.

The shy woman eyed the frail man, who struggled to do a single push up, in the back of the group. Steve groaned in pain as his tiny arms wouldn't lift his body up. Marilyn sucked in a sharp breath as Steve dropped to the ground, trying hard to keep up.

"Move it!" Peggy shouted.

Abraham and Colonel Phillips walked side by side across the busy training field. Marilyn shot them a glance when her eyes caught their movements. Abraham gestured for her to come to them gently, however, the Colonel had other ideas.

"Johnson! Come over here!" the strict man yelled over to her.

Marilyn's eyes widened as she straightened up her body before walking over to the men with a brisk pace. Her heart pounded as she stressed over what they could have wanted with her. The pair of men watched and waited in place for the lady to join them.

"Ah, recruiter Johnson, just the lady I needed to talk to," Colonel Phillips smiled at her.

Marilyn gritted out a friendly smile at the man, but her hands showed that she was stressed as she picked at her nails.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I assume you have narrowed down your choices for the candidate?"

Marilyn gulped, "Well, I- yes, sir," she looked down to her feet for a moment before pleading up to Abraham.

"Great, who is the lucky fellow?"

"Steve Rogers, sir. But I know that he seems like the last person to choose but his heart is kind and if it all goes well, his physical capabilities will be the least of our worries," Marilyn reassured to the angry-looking man. Abraham nodded with a smile to Marilyn, letting her know that she had done a good job.

"You know, when you brought a ninety-pound asthmatic onto my army base, I let it slide," Colonel Phillips said to Abraham and Marilyn as they all walked forward, back to the recruits. "I thought, what the hell? Maybe he'll be useful to you, like a gerbil. I never thought you'd pick him."

As the trio arrived at the recruits, Peggy commanded them all, "Up." They all followed instructions and stood up quickly at attention. However, Steve struggled to get up quickly and was the last one to attention.

"You stick a needle in that kid's arm, it's gonna go right through him," Colonel Phillips said as he leaned against a supply truck. Marilyn winced slightly at the statement but didn't say anything.

"Come on girls," Peggy spoke with sass. The recruits all started with jumping jacks.

Marilyn stared at the tiny man in the back with concerned eyes. Steve was clearly struggling with anything they threw at him, but he never gave up. That's what drew Marilyn into Steve's aura.

"Look at that. He's making me cry," Colonel Phillips said as he looked back to Abraham with a frown.

Marilyn cleared her throat and with courage, spoke up. "I've been keeping an eye on every recruit," Marilyn said with a meek voice. Colonel Phillips looked over to Marilyn with a sharp eye. She flinched slightly under the scrutiny of the large man but continued. "Every single man out there has physical characteristics of a hero," she pointed to the men working out. "But none of them have the mental or emotional side of that." Marilyn looked out to the group of men with scrutiny before her eyes landed on the man she was searching for. "That man," she pointed to Steve, who had no idea of their eyes on him. "Is everything a hero is and more." Marilyn turned around quickly to Colonel with the newfound courage but quickly shrunk under his dark gaze.

Colonel smirked slightly and turned to the supply vehicle beside him. "Let's test that theory then." Marilyn watched with wide eyes as the Colonel picked up a grenade from a box and pulled the pin off it before tossing it into the group of men. Marilyn reached a hand out to where the grenade was thrown and stammered out nonsense, frozen as the grenade hit the floor.

"Grenade!" the Colonel shouted.

All of the recruits spotted the explosive on the ground and scattered, trying their best to move as far away as possible. Peggy began to run forward to where the grenade was planted but was stopped when Steve lunged forward and covered the weapon with his body.

"Get away!" the frail man shouted, clenching his body for the inevitable. "Get back!"

Marilyn winced and fell backward slightly into the vehicle behind her as a sudden pounding in her mind attacked her. The push and pull of a foreign force assaulted her head as the other made itself known, wishing to see the light of day. The stress of the event surrounding her gave the other the chance of winning the fight, but Marilyn gripped her head tightly, forcing the other back into place for now. Abraham watched her internal struggle for a moment, wondering if he was needed and if things went haywire.

She watched as she regained control and saw that the grenade that the Colonel threw, never went off. She frowned slightly as Steve's body relaxed, wondering what happened.

"It was a dummy grenade. All clear, back in formation," an officer called out.

Steve sat up slowly and looked around his surroundings before his eyes landed on Marilyn's wide and worried ones. "Is this a test?" Steve panted.

Marilyn smiled softly at the man before looking over to Colonel Phillips, who looked down at her with a slight frown. The brunette smiled at the Colonel when he said, "He's still skinny." The Colonel frowned as he walked away.

The recruits were dismissed for the time being because of the sudden shock they were a part of. But Steve was given some time to wash off the dirt from his clothes because of his time on the ground.

Marilyn took a deep breath and cautiously walked over to Steve's small form that was struggling to stand. She folded her arms over her file and stood there, waiting for Steve to stand.

"So, I have some news to give you," Marilyn spoke with a smile.

Steve looked at the woman next to him and smiled back but with creased brows. "What is it?" He brushed some of the dirt off of his body, trying to be a bit more presentable to the lady in front of him.

"Let's go inside and talk," Marilyn pointed to the tent near them. She uncrossed her arms and held the file by her side as she led Steve to the empty tent.

The tent was dimly lit and empty. Only a cot with a thin blanket on it and a dark table with a flimsy chair sat in the tent. A few papers were scattered across the table, but all of them were blank, waiting for a pen to touch its surface.

Marilyn pulled out the chair from the desk and sat down, facing the cot. She gestured to the cot, where Steve then sat down. The woman placed the folder full of files and papers on the desk behind her and turned back around to face the tiny man who sat still with his hands placed in his lap.

"So, Steve," Marilyn cleared her throat. "You obviously know about the reason I am here in the camp. To recruit and find the subject for the future of the war, a super-soldier." She gave a suggestive glance to Steve, who caught on.

"Are you saying what I think you are?" Steve asked, shocked. His body leaned forward, intrigued in the news.

Marilyn nodded. "Yes, I have deemed that you are the candidate for the experiment. I expect Dr. Erskine to come to talk to you sometime tonight about everything. I'd just let you know about it before he comes to you," Marilyn spoke. She pivoted around in her chair, grabbing the folder on the desk and began to stand.

"Why me?"

Marilyn paused and turned back around to the man, still seated on the cot. She sat back down on the chair with the folder in her lap and her ankles crossed delicately. She pressed her lips together, rubbing the lipstick slightly, but not messing up her makeup.

"I mean, why not any other man who has a better chance. Who is physically better?" Steve queried. His eyes looked right at Marilyn's, almost demanding for her answer.

"You are right," Marilyn surprised Steve. "Every other man in this camp is better than you physically." Steve looked away from Marilyn, not wanting to hear the rest. "However, you are better than every man in this camp mentally and emotionally." Steve perked his head back up in surprise at the woman's comment. Marilyn smiled softly as she explained. "You have what it takes to be something great. Not every man has that," she gestured to the tent's exit. "Your mind is what every hero needs and is. Plus, to be honest, I'd rather have you save the world than Hodge," Marilyn muttered out.

Steve chuckled and stood up with Marilyn. "Thank you," Steve said honestly.

Marilyn smiled softly, her red painted lips rising in a delicate manner. "You are very welcome." She began to walk to the exit of the tent when Steve rushed past her and held open the opening for her, gesturing for her to go first.

Graciously, Marilyn accepted and smiled while exiting.

Marilyn knew that Steve would be the best choice, she had felt it in her gut. However, there was a small part of her that wished that someone else would be a better choice. Someone else who she didn't know very well. Someone she didn't like.

That would make the future less scary for her.

But the deed was done now and Marilyn chose the scrawny man from Brooklyn. The man who stole her interest and her focus from what was truly going on in the world around her. A man, who she could say with certainty, made her forget about the monster within herself.

The other wasn't inherently bad. It had never killed someone - to Marilyn's knowledge anyway - or caused her more trouble than she had seen. However, she couldn't risk it. Marilyn couldn't risk giving the other a name, for she thought that that would be acknowledging it and letting it hold a larger grasp on her mind and body.

Marilyn wasn't sure where it came from either. Of course, she thought maybe she was dreaming it up or even that it was a natural part of her and that she suffered from DID. But after doing research, it proved that it was different. It wasn't DID or a dream. It was real.

Her parents knew of this part of her and helped her get introduced to Dr. Erskine in order to help her. They weren't ashamed or scared of this other side of her and she was grateful for that. But ever since both her parents disappeared, she had felt almost a form of relief. Like the other wanted them gone and was glad that they were. This scared Marilyn.

It made her think that maybe, she, no, it, was responsible for the disappearance of her parents. Some nights it was impossible for her to sleep just thinking of this. But she tried to block it out, along with the other.

Her parents were great people to her knowledge. They helped out with the government in what seemed like a big way. Her father, William Johnson, worked with scientists and engineers to help figure out new weapons and ideas for the military, which was greatly needed in the first World War. And her mother, Anna Davis, helped scientists and doctors find cures for diseases and viruses. She even played a huge part in combating the pandemic in 1918.

This was how her parents met. Both helping the government in historic ways but neither of them getting credit, Anna more than William. And her mother met Dr. Erskine first as she was helping him develop the first ideas of the supersoldier before the war even started. Marilyn was still a child during all of this and never met Dr. Erskine until years later when her issue was apparent.

But later on into her teen years, her parents never came back home from their trip to Europe for work. She thought maybe they were staying a bit later in order to get more work done and would send her a letter. But they never did. She was an orphan right as the second World War began.

But thankfully, she had Dr. Erskine who took her under his wing. She found it strange that he insisted for her to learn how to defend herself, but she agreed. And with the help of numerous people working for and with Abraham, she learned quickly how to fight.

Marilyn, although meek and shy in nature, quickly picked up skills that were completely outside her normal range. Hand to hand combat, archery, knife skills, gun, and ballistics training, and even gymnastics and acrobatics were all taught to her and she could achieve them on a well-trained level.

When asked, Abraham claimed that she needed to learn these skills because he was highly sought after and therefore, she would be too and so she would need to learn to defend herself. But she thought it was all overkill.

~~~~

The night quickly fell over the camp, drenching it in darkness with only a few scattered lamps around to bring light. Marilyn had settled back into her own bedroom, but not before Dr. Erskine came by to visit and let her know that he was going over to Steve's cabin. She had just waved him off, knowing he would sooner or later. But she knew it would be sooner because the procedure was in the morning.

The gray-haired man announced his presence to the almost empty cabin by knocking once before entering cautiously. Inside, Steve sat at the edge of his bed, holding a sketchbook open with one hand, and in the other held a pencil. The faint tune of the radio could be heard echoing in the cabin, giving it a cheery feeling when in reality, times were not so cheery.

"May I?"Abraham asked as he peered through the doorframe of the cabin at Steve, who nodded. "Can't sleep?" The scientist walked over to Steve.

Steve glanced down at Erskine and cocked a brow at the glasses and a bottle of what looked like alcohol. "Got the jitters, I guess," Steve replied, closing his sketchbook.

"Me too," Abraham feigned a laugh.

Abraham placed the glasses on the table behind the two cots before sitting down on the cot opposite to the one that Steve was sitting on.

"Can I ask you a question?" Steve wondered, placing his leatherbound sketchbook over to the side of the bed.

"Just one?" Abraham smirked.

"Why me?" Steve asked. The way he asked it made it almost seem like a plea for an answer instead of just curiosity. "I mean, I know Marilyn told her side of why. But... what about you?" Steve leaned forward, placing his elbows on his thighs.

Abraham paused, his mind trying to reach for the right response. He glanced down at the alcohol bottle in his hand momentarily before looking up for a second at the frail man in front of him. "I suppose that is the only question that matters." He twisted the bottle between his fingers, almost admiring the bottle as his gaze fell back down to it. "This is from Augsburg. My city." Abraham breathed deeply as he tilted the bottle slightly, giving Steve a better view of the side of the bottle. "So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know," Abraham glanced back up at Steve's blank look. "After the last war, my people struggled. They felt weak. They felt small." He waved a hand in the air. "And then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags," he stammered. He paused for a moment, breathing in a deep breath. "And he hears of me. My work. And he finds me. And he says 'You'," Abraham pointed his finger at Steve. "He says 'You will make us strong.'" He raised his arms almost defensively and shook his hands. "Well, I am not interested." He placed the bottle of alcohol on the ground between his open legs. "So he sends the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt."

Steve stared silently at the man in front of him as he continued on with his story.

Abraham straightened his spine and corrected his glasses before continuing. "Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle and he's ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers." Abraham gained a serious look as he explained further about this monster in the shape of a man. "But for Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him, it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man." He raised his brows. "So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist." Abraham stared at the floor for a moment, almost as if he was reliving the moment in time. "Schmidt must become that superior man."

Steve leaned forward with a blank but serious expression, becoming intrigued by this story and piece of crucial history.

"Did it make him stronger?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Abraham replied softly, almost afraid to admit that it had. "But... there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man," he crooked a finger. "The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great, bad becomes worse."

Steve paused, glancing at his shoes for a moment. As if his shoes held the answer to the feelings he had. "What about Marilyn?"

Abraham cocked a brow and looked at Steve with a confused look. "What about her?"

"I don't mean to be harsh... but why is such a beautiful woman helping out in the way she is?" Steve hesitated on the word beautiful. His ears tinted with pink as he asked this question as if Marilyn was right there next to him.

Abraham sighed out and looked down at his feet too. "She has this... other side of her." He brought his gaze back up to Steve, who furrowed his brows in confusion at his vague sentence. "Marilyn is... different. More so than others. She has another person or creature that takes hold of her, but only when the time comes."

Steve frowned as he straightened his back. "What-"

Abraham quieted Steve with a raised hand. "No more. But you must promise me that you will help her whenever I am not around."

Steve's mouth was parted open as he tried to speak but then closed it. He nodded silently. He watched as Abraham grabbed the glasses beside them and poured them both a drink. Steve smiled softly as Abraham handed a glass. 

~A/N~

I finally was about to update this book after monthhhhhhsss. But now that I have time, I am able to update all my books at least once a month now.