22: 22. Setbacks

22. Setbacks

"Is there a problem?" Steve asked nervously. The doctor checking him suddenly told him to stay seated as he rushed out.

He looked left and right, anxiousness seeping in. There were enough posters around him warning him not to give false information in the recruitment form. But he had given a whole lot of that. Possibly one of the only few acts of deceit he had committed in his life.

"It's an honour to meet you!"

Steve noticed sudden silence outside and the doctor's voice, sounding like he was saluting someone. He reckoned it was some top officer. His anxiety went off the charts at that moment. ~Can I serve the nation from prison?~ he wondered, soon realising, ~No, in prison, you can only serve time.~

"Is he in here?"

Steve heard a heavy thick voice asking about his curtain room. A thousand ideas went on in his head, ~I'm very small, I can possibly sneak out.~

But he gave up, that was by default telling that he was a criminal. No, he was going to face whoever this person was, and if he is a top rank officer, then maybe plead with him to let me join the army.

But boy oh boy, he was not ready to see who was on the other side. Not even nine lives could prepare him for that. Ever since he was a kid, he was a fan of Hector, often hearing about the great man from the radio or papers. At first, the man was a Governor, who fought crime head-on and eradicated the scums.

Then, he became the Vice President, and now President. A president who fights his own wars with soldiers at his side. This was the manliest man any man could ever dream of becoming, including Steve.

Steve silently stayed seated and waited.

...

~Dammit, stop this flowery talking, let me do what I came to do.~ Hector was cursing inside, as the doctors and nurses had surrounded him.

"Mr President, please give me an autograph." a few nurses requested him. Well, how could he say no to these jolly pretty nurses? Nurses here were meant to be hot, to lure more young men to sign up for service.

However, then one extremely hot nurse came forward and out of the blue spread apart her uniform blouse, showing her cleavage and a major chunk of her fluffy flesh. She then spoke in the most seductive voice, "Mr President, would you not give me an autograph too?"

Hector, the virgin boy, had seen a lot of movies, went to strip clubs, but never had sex, saying he would only do it with the one he truly felt connected to. But, ~Hehe, being president is awesome.~ there was no crime in enjoying the view, right?

He sighed and gave his autograph on her boobies. But she was not done yet, despite being much shorter than him, she slammed her jugs on his chest by standing on her toes, "Mr President, how about I give you are really... thorough... physical check-up? Maybe you can check me too? Here? Or here?"

~What the hell, is she even a nurse?~ he wondered and stepped back. Although women rarely filed sexual harassment suits at this time, there was no point in taking risks. Hector took out his handkerchief and put it on her chest, "Behave, please. You are serving in the military."

"No, she does not work for us." The doctor suddenly muttered.

She chuckled and walked away after giving a flying kiss, "I work at the drama club next door. Byeeee..."

Everyone just blankly looked at her leaving. Meanwhile, Hector eyed his secret service chief, ~Man, did you stop doing your job?~ And they most likely did.

"I envy you, women don't even look at me," Erskine commented from behind.

Hector laughed, "Anyway, is he in here, doctor?"

"Yes, General,"

"Hmm, do not disturb. Erskine, follow me." Hector moved into the curtained room where an MP was keeping an eye there. As he entered, the MP saluted stiffly and left, shutting the curtain.

For the first time, they were face to face. Hector eyed the boy, he was seriously just a boy in front of him, so small, so fragile. Compared to Hector's 6 feet 5, Steve was just 5 feet 3 inches tall. A dwarf in comparison.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing? A good quote, kid." Hector spoke to him.

Steve's brain was already short-circuited. Nothing made sense, why would the president, in his new military uniform, appear in front of him? He quickly rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was having hallucinations due to some new medical condition. He wouldn't be surprised if there was one more strange disease in his body.

Hector laughed, "Hahaha, you're not dreaming, son. Erskine, the file."

Erskine handed Hector Steve's medical report and recruitment form. At the same time, he eyed Steve, wondering what was so special about this kid.

"So, you want to become a mighty soldier? Kill Nazis, become a hero?" Hector asked him. He was just trying to make Steve say some good things, as it was ultimately Erskine's choice who gets the shots, he had happily agreed to give him one, but since he wasn't really a soldier, they needed one more.

Steve stuttered, "I... I... sir..."

Hector opened his file and read it, "Hmm, asthma, scarlet fever, rheumatic fever, high blood pressure, and heart trouble, it's as if when God was making you, he added whatever disease that came to his mind... Sadly, you are not fit to be a soldier it seems. And yet have you tried recruitment from 8 different centres?"

"8 times? You sure got the determination." Erskine complimented.

Steve shrank his neck, thinking he was done for, he was caught. "M-Mr President... I wanted to..."

Hector cut him off, "Son, this is the best and only chance you can get in this life. I am the Commander In Chief of all forces, Grand General of all allied forces. If you can convince me why you should be allowed to join, then I will let you in. So get yourself together and speak like a man."

"I repeat the question, do you want to be a soldier and kill Nazis?" he asked again.

Steve took long breaths and looked up at Hector's serious face, he realised this was truly happening. But he had no idea what to say, so he said whatever came to his mind, "I'm just a skinny kid from Brooklyn. I don't have any great ambitions of being a hero and saving the day. I don't wanna kill anyone, I don't like bullies, I don't care where they are from."

~Hah, classic. Probably the only Avenger I can fully respect. Don't worry, kid, you'll get your girl eventually.~ Hector thought in his mind.

He gave Erskine a look of, see. Erskine also nodded in affirmation of Steve's ideals. "The small man deserves a chance, I say, but you're the President and I can't decide this."

Hector nodded, "Steven Grant Rogers, a chance is what I am giving you. Don't let me down, son. If everything goes well, we will see each other again soon. Erskine, stamp it and get him to Camp Leigh."

"I will not let you down, Mr President!" Steve all of a sudden clumsily saluted him.

Hector chuckled internally, he had no idea that his existence already had such a huge impact on the world, especially people. For Steve, he was the role model.

"Be well, son." Hector left after that, he was the President and had so many other things to do. However, a piece of really bad news was awaiting him at the White house.

...

House of Representatives,

"Nay,"

"Nay,"

"Nay,"

"Aye,"

"Nay,"

.

.

.

Hector's proposed five laws get voted NO in the House of Representatives, none of them even reach the Senate. Hector was being called out now, some congressmen and senators were attacking him, saying he's power tripping. They claimed that his laws would create civil unrest and hurt the community sentiments in the nation. This was coming from both sides.

Hector, who had been facing no resistance up until now, was once again made to realise that he was in the 1940s. People were assholes here and cared not who saw them being an asshole.

A lot of the powerful folks in the country immediately started to oppose Hector in everything, questioning all he did. Some senators and representatives from southern states called him a "negro-lover". [A/N: I used the n-word in a historical context here. I don't aim to hurt anybody's sentiments. Tell me if you feel this is inappropriate, I will turn it into "n-word"]

However, all these representatives and senators had no idea that Hector's constant effort in the past to stay connected with the people through radio and television had worked wonders. His ideas had been passed on to a lot of people. It wasn't just the blacks who wanted a change, people from all communities wanted it.

When the news reached everyone that the President was trying to bring about good change and was now being cursed and pushed back by the people they elected, simple to say, protests erupted. However, Hector quickly came on to the radio and asked everyone to stop and get back to work, the war was more important, at the same time, he promised he will re-introduce these laws again very soon.

In truth, he didn't do this for war; instead, he knew that such protests could turn violent from a single speck of spark. They could take a bad turn into full-fledged race riots. Heeding his words and due to love and respect for him, they stopped protesting. One good thing these protests did, however, was to tell the various representatives and senators what the population wanted.

But the men in power now came harder on him, as he just announced he won't stop trying to bring these laws. Talks of impeachment started echoing in the halls of the Capitol.

...1

White House,

"What will you do now, my friend? It's a mess now. We can't have all this during a war." Roosevelt asked him in concern. Despite all his efforts, he could not rally all the needed people to these causes, it was not just Hector's failure, but his as well.

"I can hurt them if you want," Logan suggested. He had personally seen what a nice guy Hector was and his aim was just to help the people and country, yet he was being accused. He didn't like it one bit.

"Grrrr..." Moony also showed his fangs.

"I am... angry. I am trying to save this goddamn country from decades of unrest and economical self-inflicted harm. And these bastards say I am power-tripping? Fine, I will show them what true power is." Hector was really angry now. How was he supposed to work if he had folks like these sitting in power?

"Hector, calm down, don't do something stupid that really gets you impeached. They are just trying to scare you right now. Like hell will they impeach a President who is a great General in times of war." Roosevelt tried to calm him down. He was truly afraid for him, knowing his temper and madness.

Hector shook his head, "Roosevelt, don't worry, I won't do something stupid. But I vow to the people of this nation, I will get all these laws passed by a majority by the year-end. Not just these laws, but all laws in the future."

Hector's eyes had a new shine at that moment. All this time he had refrained from using his manipulative powers too much as he didn't want to spoil the experience of being the President, but, this was not a matter of experience anymore. It was a matter of human lives, justice and the nation's future. ~They can raise their voice against the President, now let's see how these bastards fare when Hell's Inquisitor visits.~

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