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( seven. starting point )

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She was shaking.

But she was doing a good job at hiding it though.

Just the sight of the large capsule planted in the center of the lab was enough to get her riled up.

Today was that day. The day where Steve would finally become (a hotter?) Steve. Alright, that sounded wrong but it was time for the Super Soldier Program to finally commence. And she got the feeling that nothing bad was going to happen, Howard and Dr. Erskine had assured her a lot of times that they took all the tests necessary to ensure that this would work a hundred percent correctly.

Probably, she had asked too many times to make Dr. Erskine think if she and Steve were actually friends.

And it was enough for her to get back into her system again. She stopped being too nagging about it; asking questions less frequently and keeping her worries to herself instead.

She sure hoped this would go exactly the way it was supposed to be.

By the time she got downstairs, she already saw Howard preparing the machine and equipment in place. Dr. Erskine was also there, accompanied by other well-known scientists and as well as the nurses and—oh, Becca was here. Yay.

Before she could go over and talk to her, Stark's voice stopped her, "Nurse Klein, would you be a doll and hand me that wrench over there?" She rolled her eyes but did what she was told. "Thanks."

Natasha wasn't sure if she had anything else to do but decided to stay for a while and see if she could assist this moron with anything.

"So," he started, a mischievous grin plastered on his face, "You eager to see him get all hunked up? I think this is the moment you've been waiting for since day one, right?"

Heat rose to her cheeks but she didn't deny it, overdoing so with a smirk on her lips, "It's not like I get to see him every day turn from this scrawny kid in Brooklyn to a Greek Adonis sculpture. I know he's not my partner or teammate in this time, but hey, I'm a woman too. And a sight like that... it's hard not to stare."

He snorted. "Women... all after the physical things."

"That's a big word coming from you, Mr. Stark?"

"Sweetheart, you don't even know the half of it." He smirked before his gaze lifted up to something above them. "Heads up."

"What?"

She followed his line of sight and looked to see Steve walked through the doors with Peggy Carter by his side. The first thing she noticed, that even from a distance, he was terribly frightened and nervous.

Her heart leaped when her mind finally processed the thought that Steve was here. Steve was actually here. Standing just a few feet away from her.

She sounded like a lovesick teenager. What the hell?

They came down to talk with Dr. Erskine. And she didn't even notice she was staring longer than necessary until she saw Howard snapping his fingers in front of her.

"Stare any longer and Rogers would melt into a puddle. Which is the last thing we need to happen right now."

"Shut up."

He only as much gave her a smirk.

When she finally saw Becca come up, she took the spot beside her. Even after moving out, they still talked a lot since they were working in the same unit, just a little less time to talk about personal things, though.

Natasha could tell that she was just as bothered as she is. "Something wrong?"

"I'm nervous."

"We all are."

"He's a great guy, good friend, and I hope everything would be alright." She said, glancing over where Steve was now being assisted by Dr. Erskine for the procedure.

Natasha just remembered how with Becca being Bucky's sister, it would only make sense for her to get acquainted with Steve too. No wonder she was just worked up as she is. "He seems like the type to push through everything. He'll make it." He will.

Becca smiled shortly. "Hope so."

Hope so.

"Mr. Stark, how are your levels?" She heard the doctor asked.

"Levels at 100%." He answered, walking over to check at Steve.

"Good."

"We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn but we are ready." He swallowed thickly, "As we'll ever be."

Her attention shifted over to where Peggy was standing. "Agent Carter, don't you think you'll be more comfortable in the booth?" asked Dr. Erskine.

She looked startled, giving a sheepish smile. "Yes, of course. Sorry."

And it didn't pass her eyes unseen when Peggy and Steve shared a look one last time before she headed up to the booth.

She couldn't deny the twisted feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey," Becca said, grabbing her full attention, "You want to come and talk to him?"

As much as she wanted to, she is trying to hold herself back from making an official and planned an encounter with him. Now shouldn't be any different. "Nah, it's fine. I don't think this is the right time for introductions anyway."

She waited as Becca excused herself to go and ask Dr. Erskine if it was alright to speak with Steve for a moment and was glad to give her permission.

"Hey, short stack." She greeted.

Steve looked at her in surprise. "Becca, hi, I didn't know you're one of the nurses here."

"How're you feeling?"

"Nervous. Frightened. Terrified. Take your pick."

"Don't worry Steve, you're in good hands. We'll make sure everything's okay. Pull through it, okay?"

He mustered up a smile as best as he could. "Thanks, Becca. I will."

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before taking her former spot by Natasha's side.

"You okay?" she asked.

Becca nodded.

"He seems like a good guy." And she meant every word of this.

"He is. A hell of a better guy than my brother would ever be. Don't tell him I said that. Steve may be as thin as a needle but his heart's thicker than the rest of men's here combined." She gave her a knowing glance, "You'll like him, you know."

Natasha smiled, keeping her eyes trained on Steve and with no doubt answered, "I know."

She took her place on the side with Howard and a bunch of other nurses while Becca went to adjust the machine on Steve, pulling down a couple of clamps all over his body. On the surface, she was calm and collected but deep inside she was actually shaking in nervousness. The only thing keeping her calm was taking deep breaths and clutching the ends of her blouse with her fingers.

"Here." Howard handed her a syringe.

She stared at it in bewilderment.

He placed it in her hands. "It's penicillin." Again, she gave him a look, still not understanding what it was for. He rolled his eyes, heaving a sigh, "Give him the penicillin, Anne."

What? "No!"

"You're being a baby. It's just a syringe."

"And you couldn't let another nurse do it?"

"And let you stand there and do nothing? Sounds like you're slacking on your job, Nurse Klein."

She gritted her teeth, "Stark—"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Dr. Erskine started to speak and she felt all her composure from before lose completely. She stared at the syringe in her hand and then back at Howard, who was giving her an innocent smile.

She bit back the urge to retort back, only managing to give shot him a glare, when they were in the public's eyes.

She had no choice but to do it.

And the thought made her want to punch something so bad.

"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 subject's major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change."

With that signal, the other nurses started to place the vials (the one she was asked to clean) containing a blue liquid, probably the serum, on each of his side.

"And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with vita rays."

That was probably her cue because she saw Howard mouthing at her to go for it when she still wasn't moving in her spot.

Very quickly, she got to his side, trying to avoid eye contact with him at all costs. Her fingers were shaking and it was a miracle that she could still get a good grip on the syringe. She dabbed a cotton on his shoulder—not even trying to think that she was already touching him but ended up still thinking about it—and felt his muscles (baby muscles? What?) tense up underneath her touch.

A sweat trickled down her forehead as she positioned the needle on his arm. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Steve shortly glancing at her which only made her heart pound even more.

She slowly applied force on the syringe, watching as the needle puncture through his skin and his face scrunched up in pain. He let out a short breath as he squeezed his eyes shut, and Natasha couldn't help but think that it only made him look adorable.

No. No. She could not be thinking this way about Steve.

Once she was sure the content of the syringe was now in his body, she pulled the needle back and dabbed the cotton on his arm again.

"That wasn't so bad." She heard him say.

Yeah, about that— "That was Penicillin." Dr. Erskine told him.

Steve's face was priceless.

Oh, Steve.

You poor thing.

Just as she was about to leave, Steve looked in her way again, finally locking their eyes for the first time.

And she swore, her heart literally skipped a beat.

Lord, Nat, what is the matter with you?

She quickly turned away, not wanting to feel his gaze on hers for even another second, and retake his spot back in Howard's side where Becca was also now standing in.

"Serum infusion beginning in five," She took a deep breath, clenching her fists against her skirt, "Four," She squeezed her eyes shut, "three," Please let him be okay. "two," Please. "one."

One of the scientists to her right pulled a lever.

She watched as the blue liquid from the vials swiftly drained up, she figured it was starting to go inside of Steve's body. Judging from the numerous needles poking their way into his flesh all at once, no doubt he was in great pain.

"Now, Mr. Stark."

Howard then pulled a lever, causing Steve to turn upwards and be finally sealed in tight inside the capsule. Her heart raced in anticipation as they could no longer see Steve.

Dr. Erskine went over to make sure he was okay. "Steven? Can you hear me?"

"It's probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" Came the muffled response.

Despite everything, that made her smile lightly.

"We will proceed."

And the nervousness she was feeling was back up and kicking again.

She saw Howard put on his shades before resting his hands on a small wheel on the panel. He seemed to notice she was looking at him and put on a look of assurance just as he started turning the wheel clockwise.

"That's ten percent," Howard informed them, a bright light then started coming out from the capsule and made her shield her eyes. Now she knew why he wore shades. "Twenty percent, thirty, that's forty percent,"

"Vital signs are normal."

"That's fifty percent, sixty, seventy—"

Then a scream erupted across the room.

Panic quickly filled her chest when she realized it was actually coming from the capsule. It was coming from Steve. No. No. No. "Something's wrong. Something's wrong!"

Becca couldn't speak, just as frightened and alarmed as her.

"They've got to shut it down."

Quickly, she looked over her side to see Howard, who also shared a look of panic on his face, only confirming for herself this wasn't supposed to happen.

Before she could yell at him, someone had already beaten her to it.

"Shut it down!" Peggy's worried voice boomed across the lab, going over to the railing so everyone would hear her despite Steve's agonizing screaming.

Natasha bit down on her teeth, knowing she could do nothing else as she wasn't in any place to demand something no matter how much she wanted. It was the worst feeling. "Steve..."

She knows Steve isn't okay and still, they weren't shutting it down.

Dr. Erskine was banging his fists against the capsule. "Steven!"

"Shut it down!"

"Kill the reactors, Mr. Stark!"

Howard didn't need to be told twice as he quickly started to turn the wheel back.

"No!" Steve screamed back. If this wasn't a grave situation, she would've literally face-palmed herself. Even in great pain, he still wasn't giving up, and she was already shaking in worry because of him. Jesus. "Don't! I can do this!"

Peggy didn't also look too fond of the idea but it was Steve's call.

So Howard started to turn the wheel clockwise again, and she desperately hopes things would work well this time. She hoped Steve was alright. Please. 

"Eighty, ninety, that's a hundred percent." he announced.

After that, the lab started lighting up. Sparks were all over the place and the lights went nuts. She had to shield her eyes again and even jumped back when the wires behind her started to spark furiously.

Then all of a sudden, it came to a stop. The lights dimmed. Silence filled the room and she found herself breathing heavily.

Dr. Erskine was the first to speak, "Mr. Stark!"

Please let him be okay. Please let him be—

The capsule slid open.

Oh, and he was definitely more than okay.

Despite knowing what was supposedly going to happen, she realized she wasn't prepared for it at all. Her jaw almost dropped at the sight of him. He was no longer that scrawny kid from Brooklyn, no, this man looked entirely different.

"Oh. My. God." Becca gasped. "He is hot."

And she couldn't have described it better.

Steve was glowing. He had the perfect physique that she had always visualize to be under the suit he was always wearing. Even though he was her partner and leader, she couldn't deny that she had checked him out numerous times. And his ass.

But still, it was nothing compared to this. This was the first time she had seen him shirtless and gloriously covered in sweat. It did nothing better to calm her racing heart.

Natasha shot up from her seat, quickly grabbing a towel from one the counters and trying to get over Steve's side. She tried not to look at him but is having all the hard time doing it. She actually felt something flutter in her stomach when Steve looked in her direction but it was gone the second Peggy came and stole his attention.

"How do you feel?" she asked him with a certain glint in her eyes that she knew all too well.

Oh, how Natasha could feel this bubbling desire in her eyes as she stared at Steve. At all of him. And her hands unconsciously gripped the towel tightly, waiting and holding it up for someone to get it.

"Taller." Steve answered, breathlessly.

Peggy's hand reached out to touch Steve and quickly drew it back when she realized what she was doing.

Natasha felt her eye twitch. Literally.

It was a good thing she loosened her grip just in time for Peggy to take it from her grasp and hand it over to Steve. "You look taller." She said, draping the towel over him.

She wanted to turn away because she didn't have a hell of a clue was she felt so bad seeing Peggy devour him with her eyes when she had every right to do it.

But she couldn't.

Not when Steve was looking at her again.

Her eyes widened. She stiffened. She tensed up. She froze. She couldn't speak. Couldn't do anything. She just stood there as he tilted his head questioningly at her, as if he was thinking something about her.

Then a gunshot suddenly broke out.

A body fell lifeless on the ground.

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still no steve/nat moment?

the next chapter has one for sure xD