Chapter 6: Leaving Humanity Behind
An hour after I had snuck away I was on an airplane with Peggy being flown by Howard Stark over enemy territory.
"Your show is quite the spectacle." Peggy commented to me and I felt the blood flush into my face. I realized she'd seen it.
"Yeah, I'm not a fan, but people seem to like it." I admitted.
"I gotta tell you Rogers. The whole USO show wasn't my brainchild." Stark insisted yelling back to us after we left the ground. "I wanted to do some posters, maybe you working in the factory, something tasteful."
I was grateful to hear that. "If I live through what we are doing tonight I'll still do some posters for you Mr. Stark."
"Wonderful!" Stark admitted back.
"Howard is one of the best civilian pilots in the world. We are lucky to have him." Peggy complimented and looked towards the cockpit with a face of admiration. I wondered what it would be like to have a woman look at me like that, especially Peggy.
"Agent Carter you are too kind." Mr. Stark yelled back. "She's always trying to make me look swanky in front of my employees."
I laughed along.
"Since we are out maybe we can stop off for some late night Fondu." He mentioned to Agent Carter. What was fondu? Was it a French thing? I looked up to Peggy who was blushing now and I realized what fondu meant. I knew Peggy was a gorgeous woman, anyone with eyes would find her attractive. Not to mention, what woman wouldn't be seduced by a powerful man like Howard Stark? I just wasn't sure why they'd hint about something like that in front of me. I mean it wouldn't be my cup of tea, but they were welcome to do whatever they wanted in their personal lives.
"That would be lovely, but maybe not tonight, I don't think my stomach could handle it." She commented back before turning her attention back to me.
"So you two," I started still trying to find a nice way of saying it, "Fondu?"
She laughed heartily. "Yes, it's an old pastime of ours. You should join us sometime."
I coughed out of shock, were they asking me to join in? I wasn't sure I should. I was pretty sure that was frowned upon in common society. "Oh no thank you." I declined politely.
"We're close to the base now!" Stark called back.
Peggy handed me a communication device. "Use this to call for us and we will come get you and whoever else you rescue. Howard can you land safely?"
"Don't worry about landing Mr. Stark." I replied back. "Just get me to tree level. I've jumped off buildings higher than this."
"That's insane." Peggy insisted before Mr. Stark started lowering the plane.
"Yeah, it was Senator Brandt's idea to jump off high buildings to promote the show." I exclaimed before walking over to the door of the plane to jump out. "Now get out of here you two, go somewhere safe."
"You can't give us orders." Peggy answered back aggressively as the wind came whipping in.
"The Hell I can't!" I said before jumping out of the plane into the cold evening air.
I found that I liked jumping off of stuff. It kind of felt like flying, as long as you knew how to brace yourself properly. I learned to tuck and roll at the bottom, it kept you from hurting yourself.
As soon as I landed, I ran up to the Hydra base. I'd need to get in and get the soldiers out. I couldn't sound any alarms until I was inside though. Thankfully, I had the cover of night to keep me from being seen.
I climbed the large wall around the base before I knocked out a set of Hydra's guards and hid them from site. I needed to get inside. I swiftly followed another guard inside so I wouldn't have to unlock anything.
I followed him to a surveillance room, where I took down those soldiers before they set off any alarms. They had screens set up showing each of the rooms. I noticed a big room where many of the soldiers were held in cells. I was also able to see how many Hydra soldiers were on site. I also found a set of keys to unlock the prisoners. I quickly snuck out of that room before making my way to the men who were in their cells.
I climbed atop one and I scared the prisoners slightly.
I put my finger to my mouth to tell them to be silent so I could take down their guards. I did so quickly and quietly before opening the first cell.
"Who the hell are you?" One man asked.
"I'm Captain America." I whispered back before handing him a set of keys. "Let everyone out, then get to the armory, it's on the second floor, see if you can use their weapons."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Another man with a mustache asked.
"I punched Hitler over two hundred times." I joked. "If that counts for anything."
He laughed. "Sure."
An alarm began sounding after all the men made their way out of the cells.
"Everyone needs to get out!" I called out. "Hurry."
"Wait, there was a man taken to the lab today. Not many come out of there, but there is a chance he could still be alive." The soldier with the mustache pleaded. "Is there anyway you could try to get him out? He took my place to go and we can't just leave him there."
I nodded, no man would be left behind. "I can try. Get out of here." I hadn't seen a lab on the security footage, but I'd find where it was.
Lights began flashing and I began to hear the sounds of a battle outside as the men fought against the Hydra soldiers.
I ran through a large industrial area to get to where the soldier with the mustache said the man was. I ran through a room where there was a large map. It had a list of every base Hydra had. I quickly made a mental note about where they were before continuing on my mission.
Laying alone in the dark lab on an operating table was a soldier. I ran over to check to see if he was alive and began undoing the restraints holding him down. I almost screamed when I saw who it was.
It was Bucky. He was breathing thankfully, but he looked horrible. He had scratches and bruises all over.
"Bucky!" I shook him slightly. "Wake up, please wake up." I prepared to carry him.
His eyes fluttered open slightly and I breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at me slightly before smiling a little bit before exhaustedly asking, "Am I dead?"
"No, not yet." I said pulling him to sit up.
I helped him up. He looked at me fully in shock and I realized it might be the first time I'd ever been eye level to him. His legs seemed wobbly. "Rosie is that you? How are you so tall?"
I ignored his question. "I'll carry you if I have to, but we have to go." I said trying to help him stand.
"Carry me?" He asked looking confused, his feet became steady.
"Please Bucky we have to go." I urged as I led him out of the room.
"It can't be my Rosie. I left my Rosie safe and sound in New York." He rambled.
"It's me Bucky. It's me." I insisted grabbing his shoulders to look at him in the eyes. I pulled my watch out from under my corset and showed him. "I'm Rosie."
His eyes softened and it looked like he was coming to reality. "Rosie." He exclaimed before kissing me. I pulled him off.
"Tough time. No fooling I'm not happy to see you, but we need to scram." I said hurriedly.
"What happened to you?" He begged, his eyes were still scanning my entirety.
"I joined the military." I said with a shrug before taking my hands off his shoulders and continuing to try and find my way out. "Did you never get my letters?"
He said still following me, "No. What letters? I haven't had any letters from home."
"Well, I'll catch you up later." The exceptional anxiety that we could be attacked at any moment was crippling me.
"So this is permanent?" He asked grabbing my hand as if to stop me.
"So far yes." I reiterated instead pulling him behind me.
"I thought I told you to stay out of trouble!" He said with a disappointed tone.
"And have I ever listened to you?" I laughed back to him slightly. "I'll answer any question that's eating you, just once we are out of here please."
"Alright." He nodded and began finally following me and we came to a bridge over a huge industrial area.
We began to cross over the bridge when we were stopped by two men.
I didn't know either man, but I had a bad feeling I knew who at least one of them were. One man was tall with gaunt features. He wore a uniform, it looked like a Nazi uniform, but it wasn't one. It had a different symbol on it.
The other, shorter man seemed slightly rounder and wore a lab coat. He looked like how I imagined a Hobbit would look.
"Ah the famous Captain America." The taller man sounded across to us. "So nice to meet you, my men and I are huge fans." He spoke with a refined, almost regal voice. His accent, though prevalent, did not prevent his words from being clear and well spoken. "I especially like your pictures. It is quite nice to see you dressed in more than your unmentionables."
Even the enemy had seen those pictures? I would have been embarrassed, but I was too high on adrenaline. I stepped in front of Bucky and got ready for a fight. I pulled my gun into my arms, ready to fire.
"And you are?" I asked considering what would happen if I shot.
"I am sure you are well aware of who I am Captain." He said getting slightly closer to me. "Your good friend Dr. Erskine and I were well acquainted." It was Dr. Schmidt, the man who had also taken the serum.
I grit my teeth to prevent me from saying something I might regret, "I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you."
There was a loud explosion on one end of the building, it knocked Bucky back off of his feet and I tried to make sure he stood back up out of my peripheral vision. I gripped my feet into the bridge and held my gun tightly, still aimed for Schmidt.
"I'm surprised he chose you." Schmidt continued his beady eyes tracing every inch of my body. "A woman. Dr. Erskine may have been a brilliant man, but he was a foolish one. He chose a lesser being, he obviously made a mistake."
I actually laughed, didn't I just free the men he had kidnapped?
"He didn't think so." I defended and prepared to pull the trigger as he came closer to me. "Back up before I hurt you."
"Oh, I know of your abilities Captain." He chuckled in an almost melodic way.
I fired. I fired right into the man's shoulder. He didn't even flinch as it passed through him. He strode forward before knocking my gun. It fired and suddenly it felt like someone had put a hot poker on my arm. The bullet must have grazed my arm.
I punched Schmidt in the face after he threw my gun away. His face felt odd as I hit him. It felt like a rubber mask children wore at Halloween. I looked at his face after I had struck him. His skin had moved, revealing scarlet skin beneath. I grabbed my shield off my back and held it in front of me so he couldn't hit me.
He dented it, the solid steel shield.
The floor began moving. Something I hadn't expected and I grabbed onto the railing of the bridge as Schmidt and I were pulled apart.
Another loud explosion sounded through the building and I began to wonder how we would get out safely. I looked down and below us was nothing but fire. The building was obviously being blown up, probably to keep us from seeing their experiments.
As soon as we were far across from Schmidt and the other man, he called across to us. "You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to have left humanity behind, in reality, you are just a woman. Unlike you, I will become a God." He yelled pompously before peeling the skin on his face off.
Underneath was a scarlet, noseless face, almost like a red serpent in the grass. His slick smile made me even more uncomfortable. I felt like throwing up if I was honest.
"Well Captain, I'd love to stay and chat, but we have somewhere we must be." He called over to us before walking away.
I backed up to where Bucky was and I quickly assessed what I was going to do to get us out, considering our exit was blocked. I turned and looked to see a window near us, I could see the men fighting outside. It was a couple floors but I could manage a jump.
A large explosion fired a little way away from us.
"We have to get out of here now." I said before I threw my dented shield at the window to break it, it broke pretty easily. Bucky followed me to it.
"You trust me right?" I asked looking at him nervously.
"As long as you promise me your mug doesn't come off too." He asked looking at me nervously.
"Last I checked it doesn't." I laughed before I grabbed him and jumped out the window and into the battle below. After reaching the ground I made sure Bucky wasn't too shook up from the fall. He seemed alright.
Someone tossed us both weapons and we joined the fight.
I was surprised by how well we were able to take Hydra's base down. Most of the men had stolen weapons and one man even stole a Hydra tank. Once it was obvious that the battle was won, I reached into my back pocket to grab my communicator to get ahold of Peggy.
It was broken, smashed completely. I knew the direction to go in and I called for all the men to follow me.
Whoever could walk followed and those who couldn't, were put inside the tank or carried on makeshift gurneys. I was sure we could all make it back by daylight.
I met a great many men on the first half of our walk back. Many of whom were qualified soldiers who could truly hold their own. There were a few who stood out to me and I hoped to be able to fight alongside them again. I did hold in my heart that there was a very big possibility I was about to be in a lot of trouble. I tried not to show my fear to anyone.
Bucky walked quietly beside me. I could tell he was still in shock. "So when can I ask you questions?" He finally asked about halfway through our journey.
"Alright, what's eating you? I have plenty of time." I answered. I spent the rest of our journey answering any question he had. I did decide to take Hodge's advice and not tell Bucky about the grenade.
We finished our journey to the camp. I lead the group in and I was ready for whatever was about to happen to me. The men of the camp came out to greet us all. Doctors and nurses followed quickly and began attending to the men.
"There are many men who are worse." I said to one nurse who noticed a large scratch on my right arm from battling with Dr. Schmidt. "Don't worry about me please."
I presented myself to Colonel Phillips who greeted me first with an ashamed looking Peggy behind him.
"There are many men who are wounded, I'm sure they all need medical attention" I said first as they should be top priority. "And I'm here to present myself for disciplinary action Sir." I stated standing as tall as I could.
"That won't be necessary Captain Rogers. Let's get these men looked at and then later I'd like to discuss with you about what other stupid schemes you've cooked up. Maybe this time it shouldn't involve putting Hodge in tights." He almost laughed before he walked away.
I was very confused. Hodge in tights? Why had Hodge been in tights? I planned to ask someone as soon as possible.
Peggy breathed a sigh of relief behind him and came up to me. "Why didn't you call? Howard and I could have picked everyone up?"
I pulled out the broken radio. "I couldn't call my ride."
"Just glad to see everyone is back safe." She said, and I think she meant the men, but then she looked at me in an odd way, like she meant me. I was flattered she'd even think of me.
"Everyone." I heard a very familiar voice yell behind me, "Let's hear it for Captain America!" It was Bucky and after his words a roar came from everyone around us.
A roar that would have normally caused me extreme discomfort, instead it snapped me into an extreme reality. All of my actions became clear. Had I really saved all of these men? Had I really just done this? I didn't deserve this, I'd only done what was right.