Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Twenty-Five

We join the Howling Commandos back at the SSR Headquarters and gather around the long table in the briefing room. Steve and I sit at the end, still grieving Bucky's death.

"Johann Schmidt belongs in a bug house," Colonel Phillips states as he paces around the table. "He thinks he's a god. He's willing to blow up half the world to prove it, starting with the USA."

"Schmidt's working with powers beyond our capabilities," Stark adds, sitting up straight in his chair to express the seriousness of the matter. "He gets across the Atlantic, he will wipe out the entire eastern seaboard in an hour."

"How much time we got?" Jones asks.

"According to my new best friend, under twenty-four hours," Phillips declares, referring to Zola's interrogation, who was taken into our custody by Jones during the train raid.

"Where is he now?" Dernier asks.

"HYDRA's last base is here," Phillips states, pointing the base within a surveillance photog before slapping it down on the table, "in the Alps. Five hundred feet below the surface."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Morita asks, looking around the table. "I mean, it's not like we can just knock on the front door."

"Why not?" We all turn to Steve as he speaks for the first time since the meeting started. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."

The Commandos and I stand on top of another mountain, waiting for the signal to advance. I feel numb, pushing my emotions aside so I can focus on the mission ahead.

"Hey, Y/l/n, you sure you're up for this?" Dugan asks, coming to stand beside me.

"As I'll ever be," I respond, not taking my eyes off the window hiding in the mountainside ahead.

Through the window, I see the door open and Steve walks in, escorted by multiple soldiers. Schmidt steps into view from the other side of the window as he gloats, believing that Steve would be stupid enough to walk into a HYDRA base without a plan. At the sight of him, I feel my anger bubbling over, fueling my need for revenge. If it weren't for him and his army, Bucky would still be alive.

Through our earpieces, we hear Steve tell Schmidt, "I can do this all day."

"That's our cue," Falsworth confirms.

I lift my grappling gun and fire it at the mountain, the hook lodging into the cliff face before I tie off the cable. The Commandos follow suit, and we zipline toward the buildings, crashing through the large window. The startled HYDRA soldiers open fire, and we shoot back, and one of them drops Steve's shield as he falls to the ground. I rush forward and grab it.

"Steve! You might need this!" I shout, throwing him the shield.

"Thanks!" He yells back as he catches it and sprints after the escaping Schmidt.

"We're in! Assault team, go!" Morita reports into the radio on his shoulder, and we follow him through the hallways, shooting every HYDRA agent that stands in our way.

My fury burns through me, and I fire shot after shot. I want them all dead; I don't care how many I need to kill myself.

Rounding the next corner, Colonel Phillips meets us with the rest of our men, and the assault doesn't last long after that. The HYDRA soldiers are unprepared for our attack, and we use it to our advantage, clearing room after room, and corridor after corridor, the base soon falling under our control.

The remaining HYDRA soldiers surrender, and the men take them into custody as I follow Peggy, Phillips, and Morita to the control tower, to wait for news of Steve, who snuck aboard Schmidt's plane.

"Come in. This is Captain Rogers," Steve's voice finally comes in over the radio. "Do you read me?"

"Captain Rogers, what is your—" Morita starts, Peggy and I race over.

"Steve, is that you?" Peggy interrupts, sitting at the radio as I kneel beside her. "Are you alright?"

"Schmidt's dead," Steve states.

"What about the plane?" I ask him.

"That's a little bit tougher to explain," he admits.

"Give me your coordinates," Peggy orders. "I'll find you a safe landing site."

"There's not going to be a safe landing," Steve tells us. "But I can try to force it down."

My stomach sinks as I realize what he intends to do. "Steve, no!"

"I'll get Howard on the line," Peggy reasons, "he'll know what to do."

"There's not enough time," Steve argues. "This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York... I gotta put her in the water."

"Please," I beg, "don't do this."

"We have time," Peggy adds. "We can work this out."

"Right now, I'm in the middle of nowhere," Steve informs us. "If I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die. Y/n, Peggy, this is my choice."

"Please, Steve," I plead, my voice breaking, "I can't lose you too."

"I'm sorry, Y/n," Steve says. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Bucky. He really loved you, he wanted to marry you. I'm sorry he never got the chance to ask."

I let the tears fall as I mourn for the man I love and the life I'll never get to live. "It's not your fault, Steve. He wanted to protect us both, from the very beginning."

Steve is silent for a moment before his voice returns. "Peggy?"

"I'm here," she states.

"I'm gonna need rain check on that dance," Steve requests.

"Alright..." she replies, knowing that it's a false promise. "A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club."

"You got it."

"Eight o'clock on the dot. Don't you dare be late. Understood?"

"You know," Steve tells her. "I still don't know how to dance."

"I'll show you how," she states, her own voice breaking. "Just be there."

"We'll have the band play somethin' slow. I'd hate to step on your—"

The line goes dead, and I stare at the radio in disbelief.

"Did I just lose them both?" I sob.

A blue swirls of energy begin dancing around my fingertips, threatening to burst free. Seeing this, Peggy pulls me in for a hug, trying to comfort me while also hiding my unknown abilities from everyone else in the room. I cry into her shoulder as the blue light fades away.