The Red Soldier: Origins of the Red Soldier

ISSUE #10

'Dr (L/N),' Peggy gasped, her grip on the file loosening..

'Where's Schmidt?' he asked sharply, 'where's Red Skull?'

'He walked out, Steve followed him,' she replied, 'but (Y/N), I think you should read this; I think you should know what exactly it is they did to you.'

He stared at the file in her hands, it was his name on the tab. The file was creased at the bottom, most likely due to the ream of paper it had tried to contain. 'Have you read it?'

'Only the abstract,' Peggy answered quickly, 'would you like it?' (Y/N) held out his right hand and Peggy placed the folder into it. He gripped the folder firmly, his fingers tightening against the smooth paper before a cloud of red engulfed it, leaving nothing behind but a fine black ash that (Y/N) let fall to the ground.

'I'd rather not relive the past,' muttered (Y/N), 'not that part anyway.' Peggy nodded, rubbing a hand up and down his upper left arm. 'Now let's not dawdle,' he said quickly, 'I'm not losing Steve as well.'

The pair sprinted down endless plain corridors, searching for Steve Rogers and Johan Schmidt. Bodies of soldiers from either side scattered the floors, their limbs broken and their blood spilling into the cracks between the tiles. 'Don't look at them, (Y/N),' Peggy spoke, whilst they travelled down a long hallway, 'don't let it affect you.'

'It doesn't affect me anymore,' he stated plainly, lifting his eyes away from the twitching corpse just to his left and focusing on the door ahead of him.

He had been trained to save lives, not end them, and he had valued life up until a week ago. (Y/N) (L/N) had valued Bucky Barnes' life over almost all other. James Buchanan Barnes was brave, kind, strong, and full of love. (Y/N) found it hard to give any value to life when Bucky Barnes' was stolen from him.

The last hallway had no door at the end of it, just an archway opening up into an enormous hanger. The sound of gunshots rang through his ears, as though they were actually shooting at him. (Y/N) was happy the bullets weren't directed at him, he wasn't sure he had the energy in him to prevent them penetrating his flesh. He wanted to use his power, flatten every HYDRA soldier present, but he was saving it. He yearned to see Red Skull die by his hands. (Y/N) had it planned in his head, he was going to hurt Schmidt; he was going to hurt him, using the powers Red Skull believed he gifted him.

'Steve's over there!' exclaimed Peggy, pointing straight forward to where Steve Rogers was sprinting towards the aircraft easing its way out of the hanger. (Y/N) spotted a car a few yards away to his left and rushed towards it, jumping into the driver's seat, and turning the key. Peggy wasn't going to leave him though, she'd followed behind closely and hopped in the back seat, giving him unsolicited driving instructions.

'Turn left!' she'd shouted, 'shift into fourth!' He ignored every comment she made, running down every single HYDRA soldier who blocked the way. When the car aligned itself with Steve, (Y/N) beaconed him inside, breaking slightly to help him into the passenger seat.

'Get in!' (Y/N) shouted over the whirring of the propellers ahead of them. Steve nodded, jumping into the seat beside him, resting the shield on his lap. (Y/N) surveyed the face of his friend, taking note of the scratches on his hands and the scrapes on his face. The pressure of his foot on the accelerator increased, releasing itself every so often so he could shift up a gear and pick up more speed. Steve got to his feet, crouching as they passed under a propeller, an awful screeching noise emitting itself from the friction between the blades and the shield on Steve's back. 'Keep the speed,' he ordered (Y/N), who lifted his foot off of the accelerator pedal slightly.

'Wait!' Peggy practically screeched, getting up from her seat and pulling Steve's face towards her own before kissing him on the lips. (Y/N) smiled a little at the way Steve's cheeks blushed a bright pink, and the way he starred at him as though searching for an answer.