Serenade in Blue

06

The prisoners escaped into the compound and overpowered the guards. Steve left to find his friends.

---

Schmidt secured the Tesseract while Dr. Zola packed the blueprints of his design. Steve saw him in the corridor but hesitated to chase him when he heard a male voice, followed by a female voice and another male voice.

"Sergeant," Bucky muttered. "32557..."

"Major Bea Richards," Bea said. "12783..."

"Lieutenant," Phillip stated in a slurred voice. "12574..."

Steve found his friends each strapped to chairs in one of Schmidt's testing labs and said, "Oh, my God." He unstrapped them from the chairs.

"Is that..." Bea, Phillip and Bucky asked.

"It's me. It's Steve."

"Steve?"

Steve pulled Bucky, Phillip and Bea from their chairs and looked at the map a moment.

"Come on."

"Steve," Bucky, Phillip and Bea called.

"I thought you three were dead."

"I thought you were smaller," Bucky said.

"Come on."

"What happened to you?"

"I joined the Army."

As the four walked down the hallway, Bucky and Phillip asked, "Did it hurt?"

"A little."

"Is it permanent?"

"So far."

The four paused a moment to look at the exploding factory before continuing their escape.

They fled through the exploding factory until they met Schmidt and Dr. Zola at the top of a catwalk.

Bucky, Phillip and Bea stood back, looking at Dr. Zola in fear. They were holding onto the railing for support. Phillip had an arm around Bea's waist.

Bea attempted to swallow her fear as she stared at Dr. Zola. The things that had been done to her, Phillip and Bucky, whatever the hell they were, were nothing short of terror.

"Captain America!" Schmidt called, snapping Bea from her thoughts. "How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films. So Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive." Steve punched Schmidt hard in the face.

"You've got no idea," Steve retorted.

"Haven't I?" He went to hit Steve, but Steve protected himself with his shield. Steve lost his pistol in the process. As they fought, Dr. Zola pulled a lever and the catwalk they were standing on retracted to either side, separating them. "No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!" He peeled off the skin on his face to reveal that he was the Red Skull.

Bucky glanced at Steve and asked, "You don't have one of those, do you?"

Bea shuddered. "God, I hope not."

"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"

"Then how come you're running?" Steve shot back. Schmidt and Dr. Zola continued their escape, as did Steve, Bea, Phillip and Bucky. The factory continued exploding. "Come on, let's go. Up."

---

Schmidt and Dr. Zola were in an elevator.

"Sir?" Dr. Zola called. "Are we going to the roof?" The doors opened to reveal a one-man plane. "What about me? Where will I sit?"

Schmidt gave Dr. Zola his car keys and said, "Not a scratch, Doctor. Not a scratch." The two escaped.

---

Red Skull flew off in the plane and Dr. Zola drove off in Red Skull's car.

---

Steve, Bea, Phillip and Bucky were on a catwalk. Beneath them, everything was on fire. They had to reach the other side of the room over a thin gantry.

"Let's go," Steve said as he helped Bucky climb over the railing. "One at a time." He helped Bea over, then Phillip over.

Bucky and Bea stared nervously at the fiery chasm below. A metal beam was their only way across. Phillip glanced at Bea to see her frozen in terror and took her hand. As they slowly made their way across, they swallowed their fear. Bea closed her eyes a moment, trusting the brothers to get her to the other side safely.

Bucky, Phillip and Bea managed to reach the other side by leaping to reach the edge, but the gantry collapsed behind them.

They flipped over the other railing, Bucky clumsily helped his friend and brother over, but the three refused to leave without their friend.

"Gotta be a rope or something!" Bucky and Phillip yelled.

"Just go! Get out of here!" Steve told them.

"No! Not without you!" the three shouted.

"Hell," Steve muttered before moving a bar then backed up as far as he could and jumped over the chasm.

ARMY CAMP

Colonel Phillips was dictating a letter to a Corporal. "Senator Brandt, I regret to report that Captain Steven G. Rogers went missing behind enemy lines on the third. Aerial reconnaissance has proven unfaithful. I must declare Captain Rogers killed in action. Period."

"The last surveillance flight is back," Peggy informed. "No sign of activity."

"Go get a cup of coffee, Corporal," Colonel Phillips ordered.

"Yes, sir," the Corporal said before leaving.

"I can't touch Stark. He's rich and he's the Army's number one weapons contractor. You are neither one."

"With respect, sir, I don't regret my actions," Peggy said. "And I don't think Captain Rogers did either."

"What makes you think I give a damn about your opinion," Colonel Phillips retorted. "I took a chance with you, Agent Carter. And now America's golden boy and a lot of other good men and a good woman are dead 'cause you had a crush."

"It wasn't that. I had faith."

"Well, I hope that's a big comfort to you when they shut this division down." Soldiers started running and talking excitedly. "What the hell's going on out there?" They followed the crowd to the edge of the camp where Steve was arriving with the freed prisoners.

"Look who it is!" a man cried.

Steve saluted to Colonel Phillips. "Some of these men need medical attention."

"Medic, we got wounded," man two said.

"Right over here," the medic replied.

"I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action," Steve told Colonel Phillips.

"That won't be necessary," Colonel Phillips answered.

"Yes, sir."

Colonel Phillips turned and walked away from Steve and noticed Peggy. "Faith, huh?"

Peggy said to Steve, "You're late."

Steve held up the broken transponder. "Couldn't call my ride." The two shared a long look.

Bucky and Phillip said to the men, "Hey! Let's hear it for Captain America!" There was more cheering.

The three were led to a tent to be checked out and were deemed okay.

Bea glanced at Phillip and said, "I need a drink. Are you up for one?"

The corners of Phillip's lips twitched in an amused smile. "Are you asking me out, Miss Richards?"

"I suppose I am."

"Consider it a date. So long as we don't have to talk about the horrors we went through."

"Done."

"Then yes."