Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Midnight on the Firing Line
November 7th, 1944, European Front...
Breathe—pause—heartbeat—fire.
Bucky pulled his eye away from the scope as soon as he confirmed that his target had collapsed in a sprawling heap – about five hundred feet away in front of where he had set up. Running targets were by far the most difficult for him to shoot. But thanks to the open courtyard three stories below where he was, and the fact that his target was running across a building bridge that connected one side of this facility to another, it had been a simple task of tracking and firing.
The man he had assassinated would have been among those mix of HYDRA officers and scientists being taken by the Commandos as prisoners. There was value to the information that they had, but this particular target had been assigned to him by Philips. The officer was of no use to the SSR, and though Bucky had briefly wondered why, he didn't ask for the reason.
The SSR commander ordered him to take the targets, and he took them out – no questions asked. It was a part of the agreement he had made with Philips nearly four months ago; to remain within the SSR, and within the Howling Commandos. It had been and still was the only way he could remain to keep his promise to Steve.
Bucky slung his sniper rifle across his back as he took up his holstered pistol, and got up from where he had been crouched. Snatching up the single casing that had been ejected, he hurried on his way back towards where he knew the other Commandos were. It was not that he didn't want to leave any evidence, but that should someone in the field – enemy or ally – come across and connect the dots, he wanted to add to their confusion as to who exactly had shot the officer.
The lefts, rights, and long hall traversals he took to retrace his steps, before taking the stairwell down a floor— “Help!”
The cry was so faint that Bucky thought he had imagined it. Over the sheer noise of what was happening outside, he would have missed it, had Zola not 'enhanced' him. The cry came again, with him catching it in between the ridiculous amount of explosions that was shaking the entire building – not to mention the buzz of gunfire filling the air.
He knew that it was not just the Commandos who were now fighting against HYDRA in this facility – the soldiers that they had found and freed earlier had finally gotten their hands on weapons. It was almost as chaotic as how the 107th had made their escape at Azzano. It also seemed that there were more soldiers that Steve and the others had missed in their hunt for the HYDRA officers and scientists in the facility.
Hurrying towards where he hoped was where the faint cries for help were coming from, he managed to catch the shouts a little louder – again, in between explosions. Finally, after turning a left and a right, he found that a previously locked, thick metal door had been partially wrenched open by the surrounding structure that had been damaged.
Bucky couldn't help but frown slightly. Blueprints stolen from another HYDRA facility had pointed to this area being a storage shed, not a prisoner holding pen. Yet, the cries for help – multiple ones – were coming from this area.
Holstering his sidearm, he tried to wedge himself as best as he could against the bent door. Pushing back with all of his might, he managed to get it open another few inches – enough for him to slip in. Dust and plaster from the ceiling shook down upon him as another set of explosions cascaded through the entire facility. It was only by the thin stream of light coming through the thin windows near the ceiling that he could see anything at all.
He only needed to take a few steps in before seeing makeshift cages lining down the hall. It looked almost exactly like the ones that the 107th and other forces had been kept in, except that there were no guards strolling on top. Several men were kept in each circular cell, and a few of their cries for help immediately turned into cheers upon seeing him.
“Stand back,” he said, unholstering his pistol and pointed it towards the lock of the first cell. Those that could and were able to, stood back – with some dragging their more weakened comrades back. Bucky fired at the lock, breaking it with one shot, and immediately moved onto the next cell.
There were five cells in all, with about three to four men in each. As the door to the final cell swung open, one of the men asked, “What unit you're from, friend?”
“Howling Commandos,” Bucky stated, as he follow the freed men back out, helping one of the soldiers who looked slightly unsteady on his feet become a little more steady. “Easy there,” he murmured to the bushy-haired man.
He glanced over for a moment, seeing a spark of determination in the man's eyes. “We'll be out of here in no time,” he reassured him, not wanting the clearly weakened man to overexert himself.
“T-than...” the man tried to say, but fell silent as it took all of his concentration and then some, to try to keep walking forward.
As soon as one of the other soldiers took the man from him, Bucky slipped forward, giving his pistol and fresh clip to the most able-bodied looking of the soldiers. He drew his sniper rifle out and held it at half-ready. It was not the most ideal of weapons he could use, but he needed someone else to wield the pistol to help him cover their retreat.
“Howling Commandos?” another prisoner questioned. “Never heard of you, but I'm sure glad that you Yanks finally joined the war effort.”
Bucky frowned slightly. It was not the time or place to ask, but if his assumption about the words were correct, these particular men must have been POWs since before the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. He knew that there had been a few sparsely populated units and individuals sent over to the European Theatre before the attack happened, but nothing on the scale of the effort mounted in 1943 and into Normandy a few months ago.
Fortunately, no more questions or comments were made by the men, as Bucky silently directed them with hand signals towards where he could hear the fighting going on. It was also fortunate that he managed to spot Morita before they got into the thick of the fighting in what used to be the front entrance of the facility.
The radioman sent forward that additional soldiers had been found. Jones and the others on the other side of the courtyard received the message and were in the midst of securing another transport when he, along with Morita, and the additional freed men arrived. It had been up to both him and Morita to usher the bewildered men through the intense firefight that the other Commandos were engaged in, against what was left of the HYDRA forces.
By the time Bucky leapt on the back of the second truck, grabbing onto the ceiling rail to make sure he didn't fall out, the last of the HYDRA soldiers were dead. As both trucks full of freed soldiers pulled away, Bucky saw Steve standing at the back of the other truck. Steve was staring out at the fading former HYDRA facility.
He managed to catch Steve's eyes and gave him a thumbs up and nod of his head. All men he had found were accounted for. He received a thumbs up in return. Satisfied, Bucky took one last look around the fog and woods that were rapidly swallowing up their escape, and turned to make his way forward.
Knocking loudly on the metal wall that separated the back from the cockpit, the slot between the two slid open. “We're good back here. ETA?” Bucky asked, though he had to shout his words in order to be heard over the cranking and clanking of the engine.
“Jones radioed the route. Direct to camp. Cap's orders,” Morita shouted back as Bucky caught a glimpse of Falsworth at the wheel turning to follow the other truck.
“Copy,” he answered, shutting the slot and made his way back to the back.
He knew that Steve would have not normally taken a direct route back to the field camp, but considering the state of the men they had found, most needed medical attention. They couldn't afford to take a more winding route to lose potential HYDRA pursuers.
Bucky sat down on right side of the truck, setting his rifle at the ready, as he briefly looked out into the fog and woods that passed them. Glancing back into the truck, he saw that the man that he had initially helped was sitting slightly opposite of him, leaning against the able-bodied prisoner he had given his pistol to.
“About twenty miles,” he shouted as he saw the man stir and look up at him, and attempted to give him a reassuring smile. “Hold on for me, okay? You're almost home.”
The nod he received in return was weak, but the determination in the former prisoner's eyes – and the others as well – was all that Bucky needed to know that these freed men were going to survive.
* * *
A couple of hours later, SSR Field Headquarters...
The camp was chaotic when the two trucks pulled in. Half of the 107th had been deployed here. It looked as if the simultaneous strike by various teams on the HYDRA outposts and main facility in this region had caused a lot of good and successful chaos. Deactivated weapons were being moved everywhere by some of Howard's personnel and 107th members. It also looked as if the primary facility had not been the only area where men had been kept by HYDRA.
Fortunately, with his shield and uniform, Steve knew that he garnered attention, as the truck he had been riding in halted. He jumped off and began helping the freed men out. He caught a glimpse of Bucky doing the same, as the rest of the Commandos clambered out of their respective truck cockpits and joined to help.
Catching the approach of Colonel Philips out of the corner of his eyes, he gave a nod to DumDum to take over for a moment as he stepped away. Peggy was approaching as well, and the line of freed men passed on either side of them. “Mission comple—” Steve began.
“Peggy?”
Even with the cacophony in the camp, Steve had picked up on the faint question. A heavily bearded and long-haired man among the soldiers that Bucky had found, stumbled out of line. Morita was closest to the man and managed to reach him, when Peggy gave a puzzled look towards the slight commotion.
“Peggy... it is you—”
“Michael?!”
Peggy's whisper of shock seemed to cut through the noise, as Steve saw her take a couple of tentative steps towards the man. A moment later, her hands flew up to her mouth, with an overwhelmed look taking over her expression. It quickly melted into a mixture of joy and relief as tears sprung into her eyes.
Steve reached forward and was about to close the distance, wondering who this man was, but didn't get a chance to. Peggy suddenly rushed and closed the distance to the man. She fiercely embraced him, as Steve heard her say, “You're alive! You're truly alive! Mother and Father... they'll be so glad. So glad!”
“Agent Carter?” Philips questioned a few moments later, breaking up the reunion. Peggy seemed to realize and remember where she was.
She let go of the man, and stepped back, as Morita stepped in for a moment to help steady to bearded man. Wiping tears from her eyes and trying to compose herself as best as possible, she turned back to the SSR commander, a hand still on the man's arm.
“I apologize for that, sir,” she began. “This is my brother, Michael. My family received notice that he had died over two years ago. It's... it's—”
“Say no more, Carter,” Philips surprisingly stated in an understanding tone. “Go see to your brother. Captain Rogers and I can begin the debrief without you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Peggy stated, as Steve could not help but smile widely. He was very happy for her.
However, as Peggy turned to help her brother and the others to the medical tent, Steve returned his attention to Philips saying, “Sir, I think Bucky should attend the debrief as well. He's the one who found Michael and the other soldiers elsewhere.”
“Definitely not in the blueprints we were given,” Bucky answered, nodding. “Sir,” Steve heard his best friend add in as an afterthought.
Fortunately, it seemed that with the somewhat frenetic chaos going on, Philips did not glare at the casualness of Bucky's adherence to the chain of command, as Steve had anticipated him to be. The SSR commander nodded, and gestured for the two of them to follow him back to the main planning tent. With DumDum's nod of reassurance that they got things handled here, Steve followed Philips, with Bucky walking by his side.
They reached the tent, and entered it. With the flap closed and tightened by the MPs standing guard outside, it was remarkably quiet. The sounds of the camp were still heard, but it was muted for the three of them standing around the main planning table.
Philips began the debrief with a request for the run down of all actions taken to achieve the objectives. Steve laid out the general details, though he supplemented in details about where the initial set of soldiers were found, and what Falsworth and Jones had collected from the science wing of the facility. Bucky occasionally made a comment about what he saw from his sniper's perch.
All of it had generally matched the reports and blueprints given to them by OSS field agents. The only exception were the men that Bucky had encountered on his way to the rendezvous point. As Bucky pointed out where he had found the men on the blueprints, Steve saw Philips frown slightly.
It was not a normal expression for their commander to show. In all the debriefs he had participated in, Philips usually kept his expression neutral, and commentary even more so. “Sir?” Steve spoke up when Bucky fell silent after stating the conditions that he had found the soldiers in.
“Did the men say anything unusual after you freed them, Barnes?”
“They asked what unit I was from,” Bucky began to answer, then paused for a moment.
“Bucky?” Steve questioned before Philips could. It was a little odd for his best friend to look slightly puzzled for a moment.
“One of the men stated that he's never heard of the Howling Commandos,” Bucky stated. “Normal. But then he said that it was about time us Yanks finally joined the war effort.”
“Was it Agent Carter's brother who said that?” Philips asked.
“No,” Bucky answered, shaking his head slightly. “A soldier with red-brown hair.”
Philips remained silent for a few long moments. Steve could have sworn that the frown on the SSR commander's face got slightly deeper, before Philips asked, “Have either of you ever heard of the SOE?
“SOE, sir?” Steve asked after he caught Bucky's glance over at him, shaking his head.
“Special Operations Executive. The closest equivalent you can get to them is if the SSR merged operations with the OSS and weren't pursuing HYDRA. They're the British version.”
“Then how come we've never heard of them or interacted with them until now?” Bucky asked. “Besides the obvious that they're covert, like us. Sir.”
“Major Falsworth has been heading up the interactions, whenever they request for it,” Philips answered. “It's rare though, since they're more concentrated in gathering intelligence across Europe than using propaganda like the OSS. It's also rare that any of their agents encounter HYDRA forces. They're concentrated mainly in most of the major cities and large towns.”
Steve caught Bucky's nod of acceptance at the answer, however vague it was, and nodded as well. He didn't want to inquire more deeply about the SOE other than what was presented. They both knew that digging further into any intelligence organization was bound to produce more headaches. Steve's experience with the OSS interactions had taught him at least that much.
“In March 1942, the SSR received word that Tønsberg, a small village in Norway, had been invaded and completely demolished by the Red Skull,” Philips began. “The SOE had an agent in the region, and said agent requested the deployment of units, not knowing what the Red Skull or HYDRA were. Both the agent and SOE thought it was a potential precursor beachhead being established for an invasion into Scotland.”
Philips paused for a moment before saying, “The agent was Michael Carter, and the two units that were deployed were two platoon of men attached to the SOE. They were last heard from in April 1942. Numerous amounts of shell casings, and their identification tags were found at the beachhead they had tried to establish. No traces of their bodies were found. They were all declared dead.”
“Any burn marks from HYDRA weaponry at the site?” Steve asked.
He remembered that day when he, along with Peggy and Bucky had been sitting at the small campfire, trading stories about their families. Peggy had introduced her tradition to the two of them. Steve remembered learning that she had picked up on the tradition shortly after receiving news that her brother had been killed-in-action. To hear more details from Philips...
“First known and recorded usage of the blue-bolt weapons were when the 107th had been captured, Rogers,” the SSR commander answered. “No burn marks. Only shell casings on both sides of what looked like an overwhelming firefight that HYDRA had given that team.”
“Jesus,” Steve heard Bucky softly curse. Steve ignored it, though he knew that Bucky knew that he didn't like it whenever Bucky used the Lord's name in vain. However, before he could ask another question, Bucky asked, “You think they've all been turned, sir?”
“Bucky—” Steve began, annoyed that his best friend could think that way about allied forces that had been captured by HYDRA. It seemed incredibly hypocritical that Bucky doubted the integrity of the soldiers, especially when Bucky had been one himself. It was also a little baffling to him that Bucky would think that of Peggy's brother – considering that Steve now somewhat understood that Peggy and Bucky didn't actually dislike each other.
“What, Steve?” Bucky asked, irritated. “They were found—”
“Gentlemen,” Philips interrupted in a gruff tone. Bucky fell silent as Philips focused his attention on Steve. “Go fetch Carter, Captain. She needs to be here for the rest of the debrief.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve stated, tucking his argument back into the depths of his thoughts. He brushed past Bucky without another word or glance over at him.
~~~
Bucky waited exactly ten seconds after the tent flap was secured by the MPs with Steve departure. “It's done,” he bluntly stated to Philips.
“Any complications besides the ones headed into medical?” the SSR commander asked.
“No, sir,” he answered, shaking his head slightly.
From the tone of Philips' question, he knew that the man was a little irritated that he had stated the obvious assumption about the soldiers right then and there. However, Bucky didn't care what either Steve or Philips thought of him at the moment. Every single time HYDRA deviated from their grandiose displays of power – especially with their blue-bolted weapons – something terrible always followed it.
Twice now, the SSR had been infiltrated and almost destroyed from the inside-out by HYDRA agents masquerading as either personnel or found former prisoners. HYDRA was as loud as the big brass bands that played in the dance halls of New York, and they weren't afraid to hide it. It was the subtle steps – the 'sneaking' around that the SSR always seemed to be caught off guard against. To find men in an area unmarked by OSS intelligence raised obvious suspicion.
“The protocol for this is to send each and every prisoner you found through the psychological tests developed jointly by the SOE, OSS, and SSR,” Philips stated.
“But you're taking about after that, right, sir?” he asked.
Philips didn't answer affirmative, but instead, said, “Agent Carter was a former SOE agent. She followed her brother's footsteps and joined the organization shortly after he was declared dead. Her former superior told me that she had had the offer in her hands since the end of January 1941, but hadn't accepted it due to personal reasons. I personally recruited her into the SSR because of her skills. She's sharp, and she'll know some of what is happening. Your job, Sergeant, is to make sure you're not detected at all – that she doesn't suspect what you are doing.”
“Vetting her brother?” Bucky asked, tucking his surprise at the information that Philips had revealed about Peggy into the back of his thoughts. It was obvious from where the conversation was going, that it was headed in that direction.
“By any means necessary, Barnes,” Philips ordered, giving him a hard look.
It was in that moment that Bucky realized something. Considering the frankness that their debriefs had become, he knew that he was well within his rights for what he did for Philips and the SSR to ask his question.
“You had Carter vet me from the moment I returned with the captured 107th at Azzano, didn't you, sir?”
“Is that a problem, Sergeant?”
“No, sir,” he answered.
He did not ask whether or not Peggy was still reporting to Philips about whatever the SSR commander wanted to know about him. It was quite obvious from the fact that he now served in this particular capacity, and secretly reported directly to Philips for assassination target orders that the SSR commander trusted him.
“Guess I'm volunteering to stay behind as relay again,” he murmured to himself.
A few moments later, there was the shuffling of feet near the entrance of the tent. Steve and Peggy entered the tent, with the MPs outside closing it tightly after them. There was a calm, but happier look in Peggy's eyes. Even the little storm cloud hanging over Steve when he had left the tent a few minutes before, seemed to have diminished significantly.
“Agent Carter. How are they?”
“Dr. Wynn says that most of the men are malnourished, but will recover with time and perhaps some rest in the hospital,” Peggy answered.
“We'll hold here for a few days,” Philips declared, bringing the map of the region to the forefront on the planning table. “Given what all of the teams found, and then some more left behind, it will take us those few days to process, bring back everything that we can find, and then destroy the facilities.”
Philips looked up, saying, “Captain Rogers, I want you to brief two teams to go back to the main facility. They'll be searching for any other weapons, and additional POWs in the facility.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve nodded. “We'll be good to go in an hour—”
“Negative on that, Captain,” Philips interrupted. “The you and the Commandos will be remaining in camp for the time being. The men that Sergeant Barnes found will be subjected to a battery of psychological tests to determine their trustworthiness. I need the Commandos to be ready for anything that might happen.”
“But, sir—” Steve protested as Bucky caught his aghast look over at him. The storm cloud hanging over Steve seemed to have gotten darker.
“The joint exam developed by all three organizations?” Peggy surprisingly interrupted. There was a restrained tone in her voice, but she did not look over at Steve when Bucky saw him turn his attention to her.
“Yes,” Philips answered, ignoring Steve's protest.
Bucky knew that there was nothing he could say at the moment to calm Steve down – not when questioning the integrity of soldiers, especially former prisoners-of-war greatly rubbed Steve wrong. He knew that his best friend wanted to continue to believe the best in every person, but the SSR was first and foremost an intelligence agency.
They needed to question and verify everything – especially since it looked as if they were making HYDRA more and more desperate with each destruction of a facility or outpost. Bucky just hoped that everything that Philips was doing – and what he had been ordered to secretly carry out – was for naught.
He too, wanted to continue to believe in Steve, because Bucky knew that if Steve's light was ever extinguished, he would drown in darkness.
* * *
The questioning of the soldiers that had been found in an unexpected area within the HYDRA facility commenced over the next few days. Though Steve was not happy about it, he understood why it had to be done. Peggy didn't need to tell him that, and neither did Bucky. He knew the two, along with Philips and others were thinking of the various close calls that the SSR had since they began to fight back against HYDRA in earnest.
Only a few were processed each day – and only when the medical officer cleared them fit for transport elsewhere with the slow and steady trickling of men leaving the field camp. It was only after the majority of the men were gone, that Philips eased the Commandos' restriction to be present in camp. It allowed two or three of the Commandos to go on sorties with other members of the 107th to recover HYDRA technology from the various cleared facilities in the area.
Thankfully, Steve was never physically in the same partitioned area whenever the questioning took place. Only Peggy, who administered the test, and Howard, who operated the polygraph were physically present. A strange cloth-and-film like curtain had been drawn across the other end of the tent, giving the illusion that the tent was smaller on the inside than it looked.
Steve and Philips stood on the other side, watching the questioning as if it were a one-way window. The men on the other side could not see either of them at all. The Commandos had been scattered throughout the area – close enough for Steve to shout orders if the worse should happen.
Nothing had happened thus far.
Peggy's brother was the last of the soldiers that Bucky had found, to go through questioning. It was only because he had also been the weakest of men found – and thus took the longest to recover. The doctor was allowed to inform the recovering men that their compatriots were being sent home as they got better – which was true, and allowed the men to be more relaxed and at ease.
Now though, Steve had his arms folded across his chest as he watched Howard take a seat and turn the polygraph on. Howard had somehow managed to convert small packs that contained the glowing blue energy that powered the HYDRA weapons into a portable electricity generator of sorts.
Unfortunately, such conversion drained the packs quite fast, emptying them within a half-hour. Attempts to convert the larger packs failed, as the SSR engineers were still baffled as to how HYDRA's power sources for their weapons truly worked.
Steve didn't blame them at all for not knowing almost nothing about HYDRA's weapons or power sources, other than the measure of explosive content within. He surmised that it would take years to begin to understand what Zola and the other HYDRA engineers and scientists did – and how they came about doing it.
At the present, as Peggy began her questioning, Steve could not detect a quaver in her tone. There was a steely professionalism about her, and it seemed that it was mirrored in her brother. It was obvious to any observer that they both knew what was going on – the questioning and confirmation of answers via polygraph. They both wanted Michael himself to be clean and free of any doubt.
The questioning took slightly less than a half-hour to complete. It was about average for the amount. As soon as Peggy told her brother to wait in the room, Steve saw Philips step away from where he had been observing through the one-way curtain. Steve remained where he was, carefully watching Michael.
Most of the soldiers fidgeted and looked around while Peggy, Howard, and Philips were in discussion about the results from the answers and polygraph produced. It was a natural reaction that more than a few decided to get up and have a look at the polygraph and its strange power source. It was clear that the soldiers had never heard of HYDRA, or seen the war that the SSR had been waging against them for nearly two years.
Instead of doing either of those two things, Steve saw Michael glance down at his hands before rubbing the underside of his right wrist and elbow bend with his left hand. It had been where the polygraph's straps had been wrapped around.
Michael then gruffly rolled his sleeve down. It was difficult to see with the lighting conditions and the cloth-and-film curtain, but Steve thought he caught more than a few faint but tiny needle marks on both areas.
He frowned.
Those marks looked familiar. Steve knew that he had almost indiscernible marks from the needles that Dr. Erskine's serum delivery mechanism biting into him. They were mostly concentrated on the triceps of his arms, and were pretty much invisible on the surface skin of his pectoral muscles.
However, Bucky had visible needle scar marks on the inside bend of his elbows. Those had been courtesy of Zola and the many horrendous experimentation that the mad scientist had done to his best friend.
Steve had only seen them once.
Bucky had been incredibly careful that no one saw the marks after he had caught him, Steve, staring at the marks. Steve hadn't meant to stare, but just seeing those marks had brought a deep-seated, cold and furious anger to the forefront. He had wanted to go back out into the field right then and there, and find Zola to make the scientist pay.
Now though, to see Michael bearing similar marks; Steve wondered if it was because HYDRA knew that Peggy's brother was an intelligence agent, and not a soldier, that they had tortured him via injection. Steve knew that there were certain substances out there that were injected into the bloodstream to cause hallucinations, pain, and other unpleasant sensations.
The medical updates that Philips received and briefed him on stated that there was no evidence of any strange substances or otherwise within any of the men's blood. The doctor had even compared it to blood samples that he had gotten from both him and Bucky, and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Steve felt sorry for Peggy's brother—
“Give him the good news, Carter,” Philip's declaration shook Steve out of his observations and musings.
He turned, a smile blooming on his face as he saw his relief reflected ten-fold in Peggy's happy expression. She still maintained her composure though and gave a curt nod, saying, “Yes, sir.”
“Need anything else, Colonel?” Howard asked, as Steve silently caught Philips' glance over at him, allowing him to accompany Peggy to give Michael the good news.
As Philips and Howard's voices faded away, they approached the other side of the partitioned tent and entered it. As soon as Michael saw their relaxed stances and expression, Steve saw a wide, relieved smile break out onto his face.
“Welcome home, Michael,” Peggy said, closing the distance and fiercely embraced her brother, while Steve hung back.
“Not England, but I'll take it,” Michael answered. “It's good to be free and home.”
The two stepped back a few moments later, and Steve took the opportunity to approach, holding out a hand. “We haven't been properly introduced yet. Captain Steve Rogers, US Army,” he introduced himself. “It's good to see that you're doing better, Agent Carter.”
“Captain America of the Howling Commandos himself,” Michael answered, shaking his hand for a brief moment. “Folks in and around the medical tent won't stop talking about you. All good things, I promise. But yeah, thanks for the rescue you and your Commandos pulled off, Captain Rogers.”
“Steve,” Steve insisted. “Peggy's told me a few things about you. Mainly how you inspired her to join this organization.”
“Then call me Michael,” Peggy's brother stated as the three of them exited the tent and into the camp.
It wasn't quite chaotic, but there were a lot of personnel and 107th members running about. Most of them were helping the engineers and logistic personnel load up what was left of found HYDRA weapons, and shipping out the last of the captured prisoners.
It was clear that the camp was going break soon, which meant that most of them were going to head back to England soon. Some of the 107th would remain here to hold the line until Allied forces could send men here to relieve them.
“So where about the States are you from, Steve?” Michael asked.
“New York City,” he answered. “Born and raised—”
Steve didn't get to finish as the loud revs of a jeep engine and squeal of tyres against brakes pierced through the noise of the camp. Steve was already drifting towards the direction, seeing that Bucky and the small team he had led to go blow up one of the facilities, were in the jeep. Bucky, Jones, and two men of the 107th had not been due to return until the afternoon.
“Medic!” Bucky shouted.
Steve's blood turned to ice as Bucky turned slightly and curtly ordered, “Jones, go!”
He saw Jones jump out of the driver's seat and run towards the planning tent – where he had spotted Philips entering a few minutes ago. Bucky bellowed for a medic again before turning to reassure the injured soldier that they were at camp.
As Steve got closer to the jeep, he saw that the team was covered in filth and blood. There was also the remains of a mangled, shot-through radio pack lying next to the injured Corporal Garcia. The injured man was currently being hauled off the jeep by both Bucky and Private Keller, right leg looking torn and bleeding. It had been hastily bandaged.
As much as Steve wanted to help, he knew not the get in the way. Too many hands and too many people crowding was not going to do the injured soldier any favors. He stepped back as he saw the doctor and two medics running towards the jeep, stretcher and plasma bottle in their hands.
He watched as the medics helped Bucky and Keller maneuver Garcia onto the stretcher. The doctor immediately began stabilizing and binding Garcia in other areas, before nodding for the medics to carry the severely injured man away. As soon as the medics and doctor were clear of the immediate area, Steve hurried over.
“Bucky, what happened?” he demanded, drawing Bucky's attention away from the dwindling forms of the injured man and medical personnel.
Though Bucky was a part of the Commandos, he had been a member of the 107th – had trained with the men before they had all been deployed to Italy. Steve knew that the two men that Bucky had picked for the facility demolition team were from the platoon Bucky formerly commanded. Jones was sent as the demo expert – to make sure that the main facility was completely destroyed. There had been no reports of HYDRA sightings in the area within the past few days—
“Fucking Krauts,” Bucky spat out. Steve saw him scrub his face and hair with his bloodied hands, not caring that he was just smearing blood and dirt further around. “Panzer corps steam rolled into the area right when we blew the place up—”
“Carter!” Philips' demanding tone silenced Bucky for a moment as both he and Steve turned towards the SSR commander. Jones was not with the man, though Steve thought he caught a glimpse of the demolitions expert hurrying off elsewhere in the camp – most likely under some orders from Philips.
“Yes, sir?” Peggy answered, having arrived and stood next to Steve a few moments after Steve had initially asked Bucky what had happened. Standing slightly behind her was her brother, looking concerned.
“A Panzer corps is on their way here, most likely retreating from the Allied advance from the northwest. Probably hoped that HYDRA facilities they encountered would give them shelter. We're going to hold the line a half-mile north of here. How long do you need to evacuate all non-essential personnel, including Stark and his team?” Philips asked.
“As much time as you can give me, sir,” Peggy stated, “and if you're willing to let me torch everything that's left.”
“Do so,” Philips answered.
“Yes, sir,” she said, nodding. Steve caught her glance up at him for a brief moment, and silently nodded to her in reassurance.
Considering the swiftness and ruthlessness of the many Panzer corps that roamed Europe, he was glad that Peggy had not asked to remain on the front lines. With most of the 107th already on their way back to England or elsewhere in Europe, what they had left here was essentially a skeleton crew – designed for guerrilla warfare, not a straight-out assault.
No one had anticipated that the Krauts would have been pushed this far back against another Allied line. Steve was momentarily reminded of a parable of a cornered animal with his back against a wall. The enemy barreling down towards them was going to be extremely dangerous – probably even more so than what HYDRA forces they had all faced.
Peggy left a moment later, curt orders already issuing from her lips towards personnel. Surprisingly, Michael stayed, but Steve's thoughts were already on other things – namely utilizing the thick soup of fog that was settling into the forest surrounding the camp.
“Sir,” he spoke up. “Bucky and I will take the long way around – ambush them from behind.”
“Just the two of you?” Michael asked, incredulous.
“Speed and stealth,” Bucky answered before focusing his attention on Philips. “Stark's got mines – I saw them before we left.”
Steve knew that he should have asked Bucky if he wanted to accompany him on the mission to destroy the lines from the back side. But considering the anger he had seen buried within Bucky's eyes and the stance he adopted during the short briefing, he knew that a verbal confirmation had not been needed.
A soldier under Bucky's command had been injured; Steve knew how he felt. Bucky was willing to do whatever necessary to stop the German advance. Steve needed to focus Bucky's anger on something productive, lest that anger consume and degenerate into pure and utter destruction with little care.
For all of his own hotheadedness in charging into a fray, Steve knew Bucky was worse when he couldn't control his temper. That had happened to Bucky more than a few times when they had been fighting bullies in Brooklyn. Steve always had to be the one to calm down quickly to get Bucky to calm down.
“Go,” Philips agreed. “We'll keep them occupied here.”
~~~
There was little time to waste, as the group broke up shortly after Philips confirmed their orders. Both Bucky and Steve hurried and entered the enormous tent where Howard kept most of the modified conventional weapons. The tent that had held all of the found HYDRA weapons from the facilities had already been torn down. What little was left of the haul that had not been shipped out or disassembled, was being taken by the 107th for usage.
Bucky wanted to take at least a HYDRA-made rifle or even a pistol, but he didn't. The men holding the line at the camp needed far more than he did. It was as he had stated to Peggy's brother: speed and stealth. HYDRA's weapons were anything but stealthy.
“Mines, mines, mines—here!” Bucky heard Steve mutter then shout with success as the clanking of the tin trunk being thrown open was drowned out by the cacophony of noise outside.
Bucky made his way over to the trunk, snatching up clips for his rifle and shoving them into the various compartments on his waist belt. The rustle of the tent flap opening and closing was briefly heard in a moment of silence from the sounds outside.
“Let me help,” came the unexpected plea from Peggy's brother.
Bucky paused in helping Steve fill two knapsacks of five mines each, as he saw Steve look up, also stopping. “You should be evacuating with the others, Michael,” he heard Steve say.
He briefly glanced back and forth between Steve and Peggy's brother, wondering when Steve had become friendly enough with him to be on a first name basis. Considering that Michael had been allowed to even enter this tent without any guards accompanying him, Bucky could only assume that Peggy's brother had passed the psychological exam.
Philips orders to him were still in effect though. But he had not expected it to begin in this fashion; especially not in the middle of an impending attack. “We could use a scout, Steve,” he stated, flicking his eyes over towards his best friend.
He hated mixing deception, his secret orders, and the necessity of actually saying what he was saying, to Steve, but there was no shying away from it. With the fog rolling in, they needed someone to keep an eye on the line and feed them information while the two of them wreaked havoc.
“Stark's engineers have been experimenting with smaller radios,” he followed up, gently putting down his knapsack and going over to a certain area within the tent.
He knew that he had to remember to thank David after all of this, for showing him the experimental short-range, micro radio that he had been working on. David Brewster truly was one of Howard's most brilliant engineers on the team. Bucky knew that his friend did not get enough credit for all the numerous times his gadgetry or modifications to the Commandos' weapons saved their lives. If the radios worked, he wondered if it was possible to put in a commendation for David.
Taking the small box out, he opened it and showed the contents to both Steve and Peggy's brother, saying, “Short-range radios. Distance three to five hundred yards.”
Steve picked up the small thing that was supposed to hook around one of his ears. No mouth piece had been attached yet, as Bucky knew that David was still working on adapting what pilots used in their communications equipment, for the feedback from the earpiece.
“Speaker on the end here—” he held up the piece that looked like a miniaturized version of the radio equipment that the Commandos used to monitor signals and radio back to headquarters. Peggy's brother took it from him, marveling at the object.
“That's the radio,” Bucky continued. “Hasn't been wired up for two-way communications yet, but I've heard the preliminary one-way tests were successful.”
He didn't dare mention that he had been the one on the radio end, guiding his two friends, Emily Hattersfield and David, in and around London. The two had been the ones wearing the earpieces, while he had maneuvered them to a specific area within the city. That had been during one of the brief times of a twelve-hour leave that the Commandos had been ordered to stay within the city.
Steve, and certainly Peggy's brother didn't need to know that. It would invite more questions than he wanted to answer, since that exercise had also been considered 'training' for the two in their intelligence-gathering duties as well. It had involved Peggy being the end 'target' for the exercise. Bucky knew that Peggy did not tell Steve much about her other Intelligence Officer duties other than what the Commandos knew – code breaker, translator, and analyst.
Steve was silent for a few moments, before taking the earpiece and hooking it over his ear before putting his cowled helmet back on. Bucky took the other piece and did the same, though he didn't bother with finding a helmet.
“First sign of trouble or shooting coming your way, Michael, you get out of harm's way,” Steve stated, giving Peggy's brother a hard look. “Understood?”
“Will do,” Peggy's brother answered.
Bucky turned and went over to grab the specialized binoculars. He handed it over, saying, “Not your typical binoculars, Carter. Flip the dial three times on the left side for thermal overlay.”
Peggy's brother whistled in surprise as he gingerly took the binoculars, before saying, “Michael. Call me Michael, please.”
“Guess I should've introduced myself before all of this then,” Bucky answered, shrugging slightly as it was well past the lateness for introductions. “Barnes. James Barnes. Friends call me Bucky.”
“Let's get you armed up as well,” Steve said, as they resumed loading out.
Steve directed Michael towards the unmodified rifles in another corner, as Bucky finished packing the knapsacks. It wasn't that they were loading out Michael with less powerful armaments – it was because Michael had no experience using any of Howard or the engineer team's modified armaments that they didn't want to risk anything.
The three of them left the tent in short order. The jeep that he and the small demolition team had drove into camp, had already been taken for other usage. They commandeered two motorcycles, with Steve taking one that was modified by someone on Howard's team. Bucky took a normal, unmodified one, knowing that Michael may need to use it later.
“Grab on and hang on tight,” he stated as he gestured for Michael to ride double with him.
Both knapsacks full of mines were attached to Steve's motorcycle. If it was necessary on approach to the incoming Panzer line, it was going to be possible for Steve to ditch the modified motorcycle. There was enough explosive force contained within the mines and modified motorcycle to cause a rather large crater to form.
“I don't wanna have to tell your sister that you fell off, because I didn't tell you to grab on tight. She'd have my head on a platter,” he muttered, as he felt the weight of the motorcycle shift and hands scrabbling for purchase on his uniform.
“Silver platter, more like it,” he heard the quipped remark from Michael just as he started up the motorcycle.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, along with the deep-seated anger he held for the damn assholes who had ambushed him and the team, Bucky couldn't help but find that comment hilarious. He snorted in laughter, shaking his head slightly before following Steve out of the camp.
The forest was dense, but not dense enough to stop the Panzers from rolling their way through. It was clear from the noise that Bucky heard over the roar of the motorcycles that the Panzers were not being impeded too much.
They arced around the right, before the sounds of the forest swallowed them again. There was now only the faint sounds of the Panzers trudging forward, and motorcycle noise filling the air. A few more minutes later, Bucky followed Steve in an arc that would take them towards hopefully the back of the line. Neither he, nor Jones, or Keller had seen the extent of the mechanized corps. Bucky hoped that they got lucky in finding the back end of the line.
More minutes passed, and it was only the booming sounds, followed by the whine and crank of engines becoming louder that Bucky knew they had rolled the guess correctly. Steve immediately peeled off before they could get any closer, and Bucky followed him.
They stopped the motorcycles at the base of a tall tree that had a lot of branches. “Think you can climb all the way up there, Michael?” Steve asked, as Bucky caught the knapsack of mines being tossed to him. Steve had tucked his knapsack under the shield still hooked onto his back.
He glanced back to see Peggy’s brother looking up the tree with furrowed eyebrows, before saying, “Yeah. No problem. Just like the old tree house at home.”
Without another word to the two of them, Michael then reached up towards the nearest branch and began climbing. The booming sounds, along with the noise of gunfire, shouts in German and English, and of HYDRA weapons being discharged were slowly becoming louder as the minutes passed. Still, neither he or Steve moved until they got verbal confirmation through the earpieces that Michael was situated and ready.
“This is Mother Goose,” Michael's voice came over Bucky's earpiece sounding as if he were speaking through a tin can. “I see both of you through thermal.”
Bucky nodded at Steve, as he received the same nod in return, before Steve held up a thumbs up towards where Michael was perched. Without another word to each other, both he and Steve took off, headed towards the noise.
It was almost impossible to hear Michael through the sheer amount of noise being generated by the Panzers crawling through the woods themselves. Nevertheless, because there was a strange quality to the voice over the radio, it made it easier for Bucky to identify and follow.
As he split from Steve and started to stealthily weave his way through the trees, he listened to what Michael saying. If there was any threat to Steve at the moment, now would be the best time for any enemy to get rid of an icon for the Allied forces.
Not that Bucky was going to let Michael do so under any circumstances, but leading both of them through an active enemy engagement was a perfect ambush. There were so many things that could go wrong, and it had only been the three of them in that tent. Michael would survive to tell—
Shut it, Barnes.
He blinked once; the heart-stopping thoughts that had briefly gripped him slipping away. For the sake of Steve and Peggy, he wanted to believe in Michael's innocence – not Philips' suspicions.
Bucky slipped from tree to tree, approaching the first of the tanks that was rolling by him. He could hear the shouts of several enemy soldiers around the tank. Michael was busy guiding Steve through another knot, briefly leaving him, Bucky, alone with this tank and its soldiers.
Taking out the first mine, he armed it and sprinted as quietly as he could across the fog. Tossing the mine, it landed a few yards in front of the tank, ready for the barest hint of pressure from the treads rolling over it to explode. None of the soldiers saw him as he slipped back into the fog and behind another thick tree, bullets from both HYDRA and conventional weapons whizzing by.
Arming another one, as he caught a brief glimpse of Steve tossing a mine, before slipping back out to toss the second mine. Swiftly arming another one, he sprinted across a line, sliding into the dirt as gunfire peppered the air around him.
Plunking the third mine down, he heard Michael's orders to toss one near the front. He did so, as he armed and tossed the fourth one near the front of the advancing line.
He had to get out of the line of fire – and of the mines before the first tank would roll through either his or Steve's mines. Arming his final one, he slipped back behind a tree and heard Michael point out again to him as to where to toss the mine. At Michael's command, he ducked out, ran the fifteen feet diagonally to the right and laid down his final mine.
“Tree line and boulder at both of your ninety-right! Go!” Michael's tinny shout through the short-range radio was clear across the cacophony of noise.
He sprinted as fast as he could past the enemy soldiers, discarding all pretenses of stealth. As he and Steve ran by them, they caught their attention, but it wasn't for long. Both he and Steve barely got to the boulder at the edge of the treeline when the first of the mines exploded.
It was chaos after that, as Bucky couldn't even hear anything except for sheer ringing within his ears. The entire forest was lit on fire as balls of flames and smoke poured all over the area. Pressure wave after pressure wave slammed into the boulder and trees, violently rattling the earth. Super-heated flecks of dirt, wood, and metal shards rained down.
For some odd reason, Bucky was reminded of that time when he and Steve had been incredibly reckless and lit an entire sand pit of fireworks on the beach. A half-awed, half-amused smile worked its way up as he stared at the destruction being rendered to just where he and Steve had taken shelter. He dared not peek out from behind the boulder at all.
He didn't know exactly how many minutes had passed, but it was only after the clumps of dirt, broken and torn pine branches began to settle that he finally regained his senses. It was Steve hitting him on the chest with the back of his hand that caused him to look over at his best friend. His best friend was wearing a similar expression on his face that Bucky knew he still had – awe at what exactly they had done.
Steve said something, and the ringing in Bucky's ears was still too much for him to hear anything really. “I can't hear you!” he shouted – or at least he thought he did. He couldn't even hear himself saying the words.
“I think they've stopped firing,” Steve said again, this time a little more slowly so that Bucky could follow the words by reading his lips.
Instead of wasting his breath trying to say words back that, he silently gestured for the two of them to go check. At Steve's nod of readiness, both of them turned and peered out of boulder – rifle at the ready for Bucky's case, and Steve with his shield up.
There was almost nothing left of the enemy forces.
Craters of blackened dirt, shards of trees that were left in the periphery of the mines, and a few pockets of stuff that still burned, decorated the area. Even the fog had been completely burned away, revealing the line that the SSR had set up about a half-mile away. The only signs that someone attacked them were the ones who had been at the front of the advancing line.
As both he and Steve cautiously and carefully made their way down from their hiding spot, they saw Michael approaching from where he had taken shelter. Thankfully, Peggy's brother had not remained on the perch he had been at, and found some place else to hide.
Noise was slowly returning to him, as he and Steve circled the epicenter of the destruction once. Bucky could see no enemy soldier or mechanized infantry within the vicinity, and it seemed that Steve could not either. Slowly, Bucky dropped his rifle from being at the ready.
“Good job, Michael,” he heard Steve say, as he turned back around to see Steve slapping Michael quite heartily on the back. To Steve's left, those who had manned the defensive line were approaching as well.
“Thanks. You two as well,” Michael stated, though he gave both of them a sheepish look as he scratched the back of his head. “I sent your motorcycle into the fray as well, Steve. It looked like it was packed with explosives. Hope you don't mind.”
“Nope,” Steve answered, grinning faintly.
“Captain Rogers!” the faint voice of Philips calling out, briefly diverted Steve's attention.
Bucky took the opportunity to extend his own thanks towards the man, glad that the brief well of pure doubt about Peggy's brother had not been fulfilled. “Thanks for guiding both of us, Michael.”
“Yeah,” Michael answered, as Bucky extended his hand for him to shake – to which Michael reciprocated the action. “Sorry about not guiding you too much, Bucky. I didn't realize that you'd be as quick as Steve here.”
“Told you. Speed and stealth,” he answered, seeing the brief light of curiosity within Michael's eyes. Yet, the man was much too polite to inquire about the unstated implications of there being two super-soldiers, instead of the one that everyone knew – Steve 'Captain America' Rogers.
As Bucky let go of Michael's hand, he couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a slightly odd tension within Michael's grip that did not match the happiness he saw in his eyes. He knew that he could have easily attributed it to the jolt that they had all received with the exploding mines. Yet, as the two of them, and Steve turned their attention to the approaching 107th and SSR personnel, Bucky thought otherwise.
He thought he had seen the tiniest of a shadow of something in Michael's eyes.
~*~*~*~