A/N: Hello, hello! :) This is my first Captain America series and my first attempt at a Steve/OC! So welcome to And All Her Paths Were Peace, the first in the Medic Examinations series :) As fair warning, this will NOT be a Steve/Peggy story as much as I liked them in the movie. I've written a few other stories for Doctor Who, Supernatural, Sherlock, Star Trek and Star Wars, Thor, Merlin, OUAT, Big Bang Theory, and Lord of the Rings. But this series will be my attempt to incorporate an original character into Captain America's universe. This story will be based around the First Avenger movie and will be intermingled with some original scenes (like the first chapter) but should follow the movie, from Steve and the OC's POV :) This story will be about 10 chapters long and, as best I can manage, updated daily :)

For a reference, I picture the OC, Olivia Williams, to look something like Alison Lohman but there'll be more of a physical description of her as the story goes :)

I hope you enjoy :)

~8~ is a scene break

Disclaimer...I don't own Captain America or things from the movie/comic, just my OC and some original aspects...or else Chris Evans would have been given another round of contract movies ;)

~8~

Project Rebirth: Phase One

The sounds of giggling filled the air as two little girls ran down a path. It had been hours and hours that they'd been held in the prison that was school. The wardens were strict, the punishments cruel, and the food disgusting gruel. But they had served their time and they were fleeing, having made a daring escape. They dove behind bushes, zigzagged across the paths, ducked behind small walls when an adult wandered past. They just had to make it to their home base and they'd be safe. They'd meet up with their accomplice and continue on with their life of adventure.

One little girl, with brown hair and eyes, made an odd hand gesture to her partner in crime, a clear indication that she was going to run ahead, take the lead and act as scout. The other girl, with pale red hair that was more blonde than red, and equally brown eyes, nodded excitedly, breathing hard from the excitement and danger of it all.

The first girl giggled and dashed ahead, running much faster than they had been, the other girl following. She crouched low to the ground as she ran, looking around, her senses sharp, the home base in sight. Just a few more feet to freedom and…

The illusion, the make believe world they'd created, shattered when a thump and a gasp sounded behind her. The first girl spun around and her eyes widened.

"Liv!" she cried, rushing back to her friend who had fallen to her knees, tears in her eyes as she panted. But not in a good way. It looked like she couldn't breathe, she was gripping at her chest, and looked so scared, "Livvy, what's wrong?" she quickly crouched before the girl, looking for some sort of injury, "Livia?"

She didn't know what was going on with her new friend. She'd only just met Olivia Williams in school earlier, had immediately struck up such an easy friendship that she'd asked the girl to come to a playdate at her house. The girl was the only one in their class who seemed to share her sense of adventure but now something was happening to her and she didn't understand it…

"Can't…" the girl, Olivia, gasped, her breath shallow, "Breathe…P…Peggy…I can't…"

Young Peggy Carter shook her head, "I'll get help, I'll…"

"No," Olivia reached out to grab her hand, frantic, "Don't…leave…"

Peggy looked around, feeling tears in her eyes, not sure what to do, how to get help without leaving her friend behind. So she did the only thing she could think to do, "MOTHER! HELP! MICHAEL!"

She kept screaming, as loud as she could, her house so close that someone had to hear her, and they did. For not even a moment later, her brother Michael had run out of the house to see why she was screaming, took one look, and dashed in to get their mother…

"P…Peg…" Olivia tried to talk again, but Peggy shook her head, gripping the girl's hand, her lips were turning blue, her skin too pale…

She screamed when the girl's eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

~8~

Olivia's eyes fluttered open at the sound of a knock on the door. She squinted a bit at the sunlight streaming in through the windows of the stark white room, before she turned her head. She smiled at the sight of the young girl peeking in around the door, "Peggy!"

Peggy smiled and made her way in, pulling herself up to sit on the chair stationed next to Olivia's bed, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she replied, pushing herself to sit up on the hospital bed, carefully adjusting the small tube under her nose to better rest over her ear, "I'm sorry I scared you."

"You've apologized a hundred times," Peggy rolled her eyes and smiled.

It had been a few days since her friend had collapsed. Her mother had explained that the girl had experienced something called dyspnea. It sounded scary to hear, but her mother explained it just meant her new friend wasn't able to breathe very well. It shouldn't have affected her as much as it had, so the doctors were going to do some tests to make sure it wasn't something else more serious. For now, all they knew was that there was something wrong with her lungs or her heart that made running the way they had dangerous for the girl. She'd run too far too fast and her lungs hadn't been able to keep up, which made it hard to breathe. It was very important that she be calm right now.

"I brought your school work," Peggy offered, pulling some books and papers from her pack, laughing when Olivia groaned.

"I can't wait to go back to school even if it's just so I don't have to do all the work now," Olivia muttered.

"I also brought a surprise," Peggy added, holding up the last book in her pack, "It's a gift," she held it out to Olivia to take.

"'Treasure Island,'" Olivia read the cover.

"It's from Michael and I. He said that, just because you can't go on adventures outside, doesn't mean we can't inside with that," she tapped the book.

Olivia smiled, gently touching the cover, "Can't I read it now?"

"School first, then adventure," Peggy countered, knowing her mother and Olivia's mother would be displeased if they came in from their talk in the hall to find Olivia not doing her work. And she didn't want to risk not being allowed to visit her friend.

"Can I at least start with Maths?"

Peggy grimaced but handed her that work first, "I don't know why you like it so much."

"It's simple," Olivia shrugged, "It's like a puzzle."

Peggy just shook her head at that, Maths was the worst!

Olivia's smile fell just a little as she looked at Peggy, "I'm sorry you're stuck in here with me instead of having adventures."

Peggy reached out to take her hand, "You're my very best friend. Friends don't abandon each other. Once you're better, we can have all the adventures we want."

~8~

If only the two little girls had known that that first trip to the Hospital wouldn't be the last, perhaps they would have drifted apart. But they were not just little girls, they were best mates and nothing, not even health, would tear them apart. Peggy Carter would not stand for that.

Olivia had grown quite used to waking up to the sound of knocking over the years, hardly ever squinted at the brightness of the Hospital rooms when she turned to offer a smile to the Carter standing in the doorway.

"Michael," she pushed herself up to sit, or tried to. Michael was at her side in an instant, helping her to sit up as she struggled. She let out a content sigh to be in a new position, murmuring, "Thank you," to him.

"Not a problem," he returned, dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, much like he did to Peggy when she was ill, "How are you feeling?"

The pneumonia had snuck up on her. The weather wasn't even what most thought conducive for a pneumonia, it was the middle of summer! But she had been out for hours in the rain and she had always been a sickly child, only growing more so as an adult. Even her best precautions hadn't been enough. She tried, all the time, to find ways to be better, to get stronger. But medications she took for one disorder ended up weakening her health other times. Sometimes the medicines caused other illnesses as side effects, others made her a little weaker in general. It felt, at times, like one wrong twist could throw out her back, one stumble break a bone. Rising too quickly from a chair or bed could make her so dizzy she couldn't focus for minutes on end. If it wasn't her breathing it was her heart, if it wasn't a pneumonia it was a vile stomach bug. Sometimes it seemed like she couldn't eat anything without feeling sick, the rationing with the war hadn't helped but she never complained and she always had a smile to offer the Carter siblings when she was with them or they came to visit.

"Always better," Olivia insisted.

Michael smiled down at her, if every soldier on the field had her unbreakable spirit, they would have won this war within the first few days. She was like a sister to him and while he hated to see her in hospital, he always felt relief each time he saw her still with them. He didn't get to visit her as much as he wanted, but if Peggy wasn't at work or with her fiancé, she was visiting Olivia or Olivia was visiting Peggy. Those days were the better for everyone, the days she wasn't wallowing away in the sanitary rooms of the Hospital.

"I'm not sure if Peggy's told you, but I wanted to come see you myself," he sat down in the chair next to her, "I've been deployed. I leave in just a few days."

Olivia's smile fell, reaching out her hand to take his, "I'll miss you, so very much."

"Hey now," he reached out his other hand to tap under her chin, "No tears for me," he teased, noting the wetness in her eyes, "I'll be fine. It's you and Peg I worry for more."

"You know I'll look after Peggy," Olivia reminded him, "Just like she will me. We'll be alright till you can come home."

"I'm glad you'll be looking after her," he told her, "I trust YOU."

Olivia's small smile returned, though one of understanding, "You still don't like Wells?"

"I haven't had the pleasure to meet him," Michael remarked, "I can't say whether I like him or not. I trust Peggy's judgement..."

"But…"

"But I also trust yours," he gave her a look.

"I didn't mean to sway you with my concerns," she began. She had been in touch with Michael, always, whether through letters or when he would be able to visit, not as much as she was with Peggy but enough. He had asked a time or two what her thoughts were on this man his sister had agreed to marry.

She had been honest, it was something she had always learned to be. Especially with the way her body seemed to revolt against her, she needed to be honest with the doctors who took care of her in order to make sure she was getting the right treatment. It had carried over into all areas of her life, and she knew Michael appreciated her honesty in this subject. Peggy was so important to the both of them. She had only met Wells a few times, she could count on one hand just how many. And each time he never seemed…right…for someone as incredible as Peggy. And she wasn't saying it just because the man seemed to think his fiance's best mate was an incubator of the plague and refused to be in the same room as her for more than five minutes, let alone touch her to shake her hand in greeting. He just…she KNEW her friend and Wells was not the sort of man she pictured being Peggy's husband.

"You've always been a great judge of character," Michael argued, "I trust your thoughts on him and I doubt I'll meet him and have a different opinion than you."

Olivia sighed a bit, "Just…be cautious of how you speak to her about him. Peggy's quite touchy on the subject."

He nodded, "Speaking of touchy subjects," he leaned forward more, squeezing her hand and resting his other on top of hers, "There's something I wanted to talk to you about…"

"Go on?" Olivia gave a soft chuckle when he didn't continue to speak.

"There's a position open, for a field agent," he began, "I…I'd like to recommend Peggy for it."

Olivia's eyes widened, "Michael, that's incredible! She would be an amazing agent!"

His lips twitched in a smile, "I haven't recommended her yet, I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"What for?"

"If I do this, if she gets the position…she'll be out in the field," he replied.

Olivia squeezed his hand, "That IS what I'd think a FIELD agent does."

"No, Liv…" he sighed, "She won't be here," he explained, "She won't be sitting in an office, working on those codes you got her into…" Olivia had always had an ease with math and puzzles, after so many years with the girls working on both together, it had rubbed off on Peggy and she was one of the best codebreakers in her field, "She'd be out there, in the line of danger…"

"Having adventures," Olivia murmured, "Like she always dreamed."

"And not here," Michael repeated, "She wouldn't be able to visit as often as she has. She wouldn't be…" he pulled back slightly and rubbed his forehead, "I feel like if I make this recommendation, I'll be taking your best mate away from you…"

Olivia didn't have much by way of family. A mother, father died a heart attack years ago, and she had the Carters who were as good as family. Peggy was like a sister to the girl and her only friend. She got so few visitors when she was in Hospital that Peggy was her only constant.

Olivia was silent a moment before shaking her head, "I wouldn't be much a best mate if I held her back from this," she replied wisely, "This has always been her dream, it's only right that I encourage her to live it."

Michael let out a little breath at that, shaking his head as well, his own eyes wet now, "You deserve a better life than the one you've been given," he told her, earnest. Here was a girl who was so selfless, who cared so much about her friend and her happiness, that she would embrace loneliness just to see her friend live her dream.

"We have no say in the life we're given," she countered, "All we can do is make the best of the one we have. Life is too short to have regrets, and I would regret it, so much, if I was the thing that held Peggy back from the life she's always wanted."

Michael nodded at that, the two of them falling silent, though he never let go of her hand.

~8~

Oliva sighed as she sat on the sofa, in the sitting room of her mother's home. She had glasses perched on the tip of her nose, looking down at some mathematics that Michael had sent to her. Well, not Michael. He had not just recommended Peggy for field work, but he had pulled a string or two to allow her to help with the war effort. With her health, there wasn't much she could do. She couldn't work in a factory, and she couldn't miss that much work in an office. But there was a mathematics division, mostly calculating expenses or ranges for weapons, and he'd put in a good word for her there. They sent her some math to do, which was easy enough when alone in a hospital with nothing to distract her other than the medical books she was always reading.

She could still help, even if she couldn't contribute much.

She looked up when she heard the front door open but not her mother call out for her, "Mum?" she yelled.

A moment later it was not her mother who appeared in the archway to the sitting room, but Peggy.

Olivia was on her feet in an instant at the state her friend was in. She rushed to Peggy's side, winding an arm around her waist to lead her to the sofa. Peggy was a mess. Her typically perfectly coiffed hair was flying everywhere, her eyes red, her nose stuffed, she was panting and sobbing. It immediately set Olivia on edge, Peggy was always so put together and strong and brave, to see her break like this…she was truly afraid for what had happened.

"Peggy, what is it?" she murmured, sitting beside the woman and hugging her tightly as she sobbed, "What's happened?"

The first thought in her mind was that it was Wells, that the man had called off the engagement. She hadn't been cleared by the doctors to attend Peggy's engagement party a short while ago, but from what Michael had told her before he'd left on his next assignment, it hadn't gone well when he'd talked to her about Wells. Had they had a fight? Had Wells been aware of Michael's disapproval and broken it off? Had...

Peggy could only shake her head and mutter a single word, "Michael."

Olivia inhaled sharply, not needing Peggy to say anything else to understand. The only thing that would send Peggy into this fit…was if Michael had perished in the war.

"Oh, Peggy," Olivia breathed, sniffling in deeply and trying to blink back her own tears as she pulled Peggy in tighter, "I'm so sorry…"

The two women wouldn't move for quite a while, curled up on the sofa together as they cried in a shared pain of a brother lost.

~8~

If there was but one single good thing that had come from Michael's passing, it was an awakening in Peggy. Olivia knew, as hard as it was to lose him, his loss had helped Peggy find herself again and Michael would have wanted that. Michael had loved his sister, he had always wanted her to live the life that would bring her the most happiness and she had that now.

It was hard, one of the hardest things Olivia had ever had to do, to let her best friend actually go, knowing she'd be placed into the line of fire. It was even harder to be unable to have any way to contact her. When they had been younger, they would come up with all sorts of hidden messages to each other, whether it was using numbers or symbols or random words. Perhaps it was why Peggy had been such a brilliant codebreaker, all her life had been in codes. As much as Olivia wanted to send her friend a similar message, encoded, just a hello…it was too dangerous.

And she never knew where Peggy was going, only that she was leaving with the promise to come back, to visit her first thing when she returned.

It always felt like her heart was breaking in her chest everyday that Peggy was away. The worry, the fear, the helplessness she felt. She had never hated the life she'd been given, trusting she'd been given such a one for a reason, but it was hard to keep that belief when Peggy was away, because she couldn't help her. She wasn't strong enough or well enough to do it.

And she worried endlessly.

She'd needed something to keep herself distracted over the years. Michael had passed away about two and a half years ago by this point, August of 1940, only weeks before Peggy was going to marry Wells. Peggy had accepted the field agent position shortly after, calling off the wedding too. And she'd done SO much to aid the war effort. But it was still a very long time without her best friend beside her, only catching glimpses of her before she was off on another assignment.

She'd wanted to help. In any way she could. If she couldn't be out in the field or in an office or a factory, she needed to do something more than crunch numbers. It had been fine to do when Peggy had worked in an office too, but now her best friend was out there in the thick of it and she needed to do MORE.

She'd started to help out more at the Hospital the last few years.

She was there so often anyway, it was almost poetic. She knew all the nurses, all the doctors, a good number of the patients. She read medical books, she even sat in and observed the other doctors and nurses on their rounds. They understood, better than anyone, what her health was like, what to expect from her. But they also appreciated all the help. With more and more medics needed for the war effort, anyone willing to help and train was welcome. And she was more than determined to do anything to help.

She had been where those patients were, she was still one of them at times. But at least she could do something with her time that helped other people on a more personal level. She enjoyed it too, she loved to help people, to make them feel better. And she liked to think she was able to make them smile just a bit, to forget their ailments and be able to smile, to find some sort of hope in this war. A kind presence, a gentle smile, and hand to hold, they could mean the world to people.

Right now she was sitting in what had come to be the children's wing. It had been a hard winter and a number of small children had fallen ill with the flu due to the rations. They'd all be located there, to that wing, out of the way of the adults with more serious harms, but still where they could be cared for. She had a book on her lap, reading to them, though she kept a firm grip on the metal pole beside her where her medicine bag was fixed.

She glanced up a moment, hearing a noise, and nearly jumped to her feet to rush over when she saw Peggy leaning in the doorway with a wide smile, back from her latest assignment. But the children were so eagerly listening to the story that she just had to finish for them. Peggy seemed to sense her distress and gestured to the book with a nod, silently telling her it was alright.

She hoped the children didn't notice how she sped up her reading.

She usually would stay and talk with the children after she finished, see how they were doing, but they all seemed to understand that the woman waiting in the door was the friend she often talked about and let her leave with little fuss.

"Peggy!" Olivia greeted, hugging her friend tightly as they stepped into the hall, "Oh, I missed you." She didn't have to add in how worried she'd been. Peggy had promised to be back for the new year, year 1943 had begun with no sign of her best mate. Which did not help her already frazzled nerves.

"What's this all about?" Peggy asked, nodding to the IV rack while wiping below her teary eyes, Olivia doing the same beneath her own.

"Oh, um," Olivia fidgeted, "Caught a bit of a cold…"

"If by 'a bit of a cold' you mean Bronchiolitis," a passing voice spoke, a nurse coming in to check on the little ones, "Then yes, it was a 'bit of a cold.'"

"Liv!" Peggy gave her a disapproving look, not just for lying but for falling ill again.

"We told her to stay inside when the latest wave of children arrived, but she insisted on assisting us."

"They were frightened," Olivia defended as the nurse disappeared into the room, "I just wanted to help them."

"I hate it when you don't put your health first," Peggy murmured.

"Do you do that often?" a voice spoke, thick with a German accent.

Olivia turned to see a man standing a few feet away with a folder in his arms. He was tall, with a slightly balding head, grey hair around the side of his head, glasses, and a small beard, "Oh, hello," she spoke, startled but not too much. She had gotten a rather terrible ear infection about ten years ago that had damaged the hearing in her right ear, she was used to people sneaking up on her by now.

Peggy looked between them, "Dr. Erskine, this is Olivia Williams. Liv, this is Dr. Erskine."

"It's a pleasure," Olivia reached out a hand to shake his in greeting.

"Could we go back to your room?" Peggy asked her quietly, "There's something we need to talk to you about."

"Of course, I'm this way," Olivia turned to lead them towards her assigned room.

"Yes, thank you," Dr. Erskine smiled, "But I am quite curious about your remark, Ms. Carter."

Peggy sighed, "One time Liv ended up in Hospital because she was helping my brother look for a missing dog. We told her not to be out in that rain, but she insisted she help. Ended up with a pneumonia in the middle of summer," she gave Olivia a displeased look just at the memory. It was a rare thing to happen, but the doctors had agreed that a pneumonia in summer was actually quite possible.

"I just wanted to help," Olivia defended.

"And the children, just then?" Dr. Erskine glanced over his shoulder at the room down the hall.

"They're frightened and ill," Olivia remarked, "I've been there, I just want to help in any way I can."

"The other nurses mentioned you've been helping out around here," Peggy brought up.

Olivia shrugged, "The war falls to everyone to do their part. More medics on the field mean less staff here, I've always wanted to be a nurse."

Peggy nodded, that was something Olivia had always wanted. She had been so young when her health issues started, and the nurses were always so kind. They would often let her sneak in to visit her friend, knowing how important their friendship was to each other. Olivia had firmly declared that she'd love to grow up and be a nurse one day, to help other people who were ill. It was just…her illnesses never seemed to go away to give her the chance to gain the official schooling she'd need for such a profession. She had read so many medical books over her life that Peggy was sure she could give even the most educated physician a run for his money, but it meant little without the official degree.

"Here we are," Olivia smiled as they reached the room.

"Ah, Ms. Carter, I must ask that you remain here," Dr. Erskine looked to Peggy with regret.

"Of course," Peggy gestured for them to head in, giving Olivia an encouraging nod as the girl gave her a confused look.

Olivia led Dr. Erskine into the room, moving over to sit on the edge of her bed, facing the chair that always seemed to be in there. Dr. Erskine made his way over to it without a word, sitting down and folding his hands on top of the folder he placed on his lap.

"Ms. Carter has told me much about you, my dear," the man smiled easily, setting Olivia at ease with the friendly tone he had.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same," Olivia offered in apology, but the man chuckled lightly and waved it off. It was a very good thing to hear that an agent had kept their silence, she imagined.

"I am Dr. Abraham Erskine and I represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve," he began, "What we speak about in this room must not leave it, you understand?"

"Of course," Olivia nodded.

He smiled at her, "Ms. Carter saved my life a little more than two years ago, she and her organization have given me sanctuary in America, to continue my scientific work. We are trying to find a way to end this war and I believe I have found that way."

"That's wonderful," Olivia smiled, before blinking and shaking her head a moment later, "But what does that have to do with me?"

"As I've said, Ms. Carter has spoken so highly of you, so much so that I have come to believe you may be the right person to help us proceed."

Olivia's smile began to fade, "I'm not sure how much help I can be," she gestured around, "But I will always try to help where I can."

"You have not had an easy life," the man remarked sadly, observing her.

"Easy or not it is the only life I had," Olivia shrugged, "I hope that I have made it a good one."

Dr. Erskine was quiet a long while, still looking at her, "You do not believe you will live much longer, do you?" he asked her quietly, hearing a note of finality in her tone, of acceptance.

She looked down at that, "I will fight as long as I can," she looked back up at him, "It will be my body that stops before my spirit does."

"And that is what I'm looking for, qualities that go beyond the physical. I have only just met you, but I have seen and heard enough to know that you have a good heart and a deep well of compassion. You are selfless but strong. I need to know, though, if you wish to fight in this war."

Olivia was quiet, thinking about it for it seemed like too important a question to not give true thought to, "I can barely stomach it when Peggy goes out on her assignments," she began slowly, "I look at those children and I wonder if their parents are out there, fighting, if they have a brother or a sister on the lines. I visit the soldiers and help tend their wounds and it breaks my heart to know they were hurt in such a brutal fight. If there was anything I could do to stop it happening, I would."

Dr. Erskine inhaled slowly at that, blinking back his tears at the wetness he saw in her eyes, the words she spoke, how truly and genuinely she cared for others fighting. And he nodded to himself, this was exactly the sort of person for his experiment, someone who CARED.

"Do you want to kill the Nazis?" he asked, just needing to be sure, "The ones who have taken so much from those around you?"

Olivia didn't need to think on her response, "No," she answered, "Killing doesn't evoke change, it just leaves a void to be filled. It seems a sad truth that people will always fight, but they don't have to die, innocent people don't have to be hurt. So many men were left in the fields until the battle was over. Some, their injuries could have been less if they had gotten help in time. I don't want to kill anyone, I want to protect them from being killed."

Dr. Erskine smiled at her response. The agreement with his sponsors was to use his serum to create the perfect soldier. But the agreement had never said that the subject had to agree to be a soldier on the front line, with a gun in their hand and a mission to kill Nazis. The girl had a point, so many soldiers could be saved if they had someone to bring them back to the infirmary tents or tend to them on the field.

If his experiment worked, she would be stronger, strong enough of body and health to carry a soldier three times her size. She would have more endurance, faster healing, be quicker of speed. She had already trained somewhat to treat wounds and in medicine, she could be useful in the war for the wounded and the spirit of the countries, allowing soldiers to come back to their families alive.

He reached up and pulled his glasses off, looking at her, serious, "My work at the SSR has allowed me time to prepare a formula, a serum, that can amplify everything inside a test subject. Good becomes great, bad becomes worse…"

"My health…" Olivia began.

"Oh no, no, no," he chuckled lightly, "It strengthens you in that manner," he explained, "Health, speed, stamina, endurance. No more illness, no more pain, no more weakness. I am looking for a subject who has experienced all of that, because they know the value of being strong and the importance of compassion. Someone who has experienced pain the way you have understands it, has no wish to inflict it needlessly, and desires to stop others feeling it. A good person. And I think that is you. The only question now…is if you will accept."

~8~

Dr. Erskine beamed ear to ear as he observed the spectacle in front of him with a large breath of relief.

"Phase One," he spoke into a recording, "Complete."

A/N: I am not, at all, trying to take away how momentous an event it was for Steve to become Captain America by having the OC go through the process first. There is still going to be tremendous hoopla surrounding Steve's transformation. For this story though, I felt like, knowing how America can seem sometimes, that it could have been believable that they would go 'prove it works' first before dishing out the resources and money and support to launch Erskine's experiment on Steve. And, with the other countries having been fighting the war a little longer before America joined, the UK might have been more open to getting their super soldier and getting it first. Hence, Olivia.

There is still going to be the question of if it will affect gender differently, if different medical concerns can affect its success, and many other factors that will make Steve's phase just as important and concerning. This chapter is more to introduce Olivia, what she's like as a person, her friendships, and why she might have been selected.

When it comes to her, I wanted to focus on another area of the army beyond the frontmen and soldiers, the medics. I read somewhere once that, round about, for every 200-250 soldiers, there were only 30 medics and it made me consider what Captain America would have been like if he'd not been a soldier but a medic? And from that an OC started waving at me going 'I'd like to be a medic!' and ta da! So we're not going to see the OC upstaging Steve or being a super soldier to match him blow for blow or stealing moments from him. She's going to have her own set of skills that she utilizes in different ways than he does his. But she will have life experiences that shaped her into the person she was, much like Steve, and will be someone he can relate to and confide in, someone who has gone through it similarly to himself and can understand him.

It broke my heart to think about Steve being alone the way he was, the only one of his kind...and we saw how well that worked with Doctor Who, right? 6 published Time Ladies to pair with him and 3 more to come lol. So of course Steve had to get a girl after his own heart too ;)

I'm also going to be trying something with the titles, to relate them to the stories but also some patriotic phrases or anthems from the Allied countries ;) I felt this one worked for Olivia, it sort of sums her up :)

As for the title of the series itself, the Medic Examinations, I feel like it's a good play on words. As you can probably tell, Olivia is going to focus more on the 'medic' side of things in war. So it's sort of like a mix between a medical examination (both on the field and off), but also a medical exam (the the sort to become a medical professional), and an examination of the medic in question (what is Olivia like as a superhero). I hope you like it :)

And, just to end, mostly putting this here because I've promised my sister I would actually tell people it. I made a page called ko-fi, where people can show support of a person by contributing a 'cup of coffee' to them. It's not a real cup of coffee, it's a donation that is roughly the cost of a cup of coffee, or about 3 dollars. The link is up on my profile or on my tumblr's LINKS page if anyone is interested. There's no obligation, requirement, or commitment, it just sort of feels to me like a little 'let's talk about your work over a cup of coffee' ;)

Timeline for this chapter:
Peggy and Olivia meet/Olivia gets hospitalized - September 1927.
Michael and Olivia talk in the hospital - July 19th 1940 (one site said the engagement party was July 20th 1940)
Michael is killed in the war/Peggy becomes a field agent - around August 7th 1940 (one site said it was August 1940 and Peggy got notice on the 7th)
Peggy rescues Dr. Erskine - November 13, 1940
Olivia meets Dr. Erskine/goes through with Phase One - Late January 1943, early February 1943