Two years.
For two years, Captain Steve Rogers, Lieutenant Lottie Watson, and their Howling Commandos led the fight against HYDRA, sabotaging various schemes of theirs in order to get to the final fight: Schmidt himself.
It was evident, quickly, how much both Lottie and Steve had grown in their time leading the Howling Commandos especially to their friends around them.
Steve was a natural leader. He always had a heart of gold, always wanted to do what was right for the people around him, and it fit perfectly as he became the leader of the Howling Commandos. He was strong, resilient, and he led the team with a bravery and honor that the United States had never seen before. He was a hero in their eyes.
Lottie became the person that she knew not only her father would be proud of, but Erksine as well. Gone was the shy girl who only knew how to defend against bullies, and in her place stood a woman, string and smart, who never backed down from a fight. She fell into her role as Lieutenant without question, following Steve's orders as she planned out every HYDRA base infiltration down to the smallest of details.
What hadn't changed over time, though, was how in love Lottie and Steve were with one another.
She forgave him quickly for the incident in the lab that day with Private Lorraine. Lottie saw how torn up she was, believed him when he told her that it meant nothing. She never quite understood why Steve was insistent on letting her know that it was nothing, as he wasn't her's and he never would be.
The Howling Commandos could see it in the field, how their Captain and Lieutenant always kept an eye on one another, watching one another's backs more than they watched their own. Bucky only smiled every time he noticed, telling the men that they were both to stupid it realize it.
Even Peggy, Howard, and Colonel Phillips recognized it. They sat in a room with their top informants, watching footage play back of Steve and Lottie's latest mission.
Charlotte was directing some of her team, lying out patterns and courses on a map before them. The camera panned to Steve, leaning over his own map with Bucky and Dum Dum Dugan by his side. A compass lied in his hand, and inside that compass lied a gorgeous photo of Lottie.
Steve noticed the camera and shut the compass immediately, but Howard and Peggy couldn't help but smirk.
The wind around them howled as Bucky Barnes stood next to Steve Rogers. The snow was falling lightly around them from their place perched in the mountains, allowing them to see the train tracks before them clearly. Bucky cast a glance at the zip line above them, nervousness written across his face.
"Remember when I made you and Lottie ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"
"Yeah, and I threw up while Lottie laughed?" Steve looked over at Bucky, waiting for an answer.
"This isn't payback, is it?"
"Now why would I do that?" Steve retorted, a smirk on his lips, Bucky only shook his head with a smile, looking back down at the train tracks.
"I was right, Doctor Zola is on the train," Steve and Bucky turned to Lottie, who was kneeling on the ground beside Gabe Jones, headphones around her head as she looked to her best friends. "Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."
"We better get going, they're moving like the devil,"
The entirety of the team turned to Steve, waiting for his orders. He only smiled, looking back at Lottie. She had designed this entire mission, after all.
"Make the call, Lottie,"
"We'll only have a ten second window with how fast that train is moving," Lottie called out to the team, rising to her feet as she strapped her gun to her back. "Don't miss that window, I'd rather not have any of you become bugs on a windshield today."
"Let's get moving, bugs!"
Lottie walked up to Steve and Bucky, standing beside them as Steve grabbed onto the first set of handles for the zipline. Bucky and Lottie exchanged small smiles before her and Steve locked eyes. They stayed like that for a minute, smiling at one another, before Jacques gave the signal to go.
Steve was the first down the zipline, followed by Bucky, Lottie, and Gabe Jones.
They zipped through the air, the zipline lining up perfectly with the train below. The second they were positioned perfectly a top the train, the each let go of their handles and steadied themselves on top of the train.
Steve gave a look back at his team, nodding to them before leading them further down the train to another compartment. He stopped finally on their designated one, signaling for Bucky to help him get the door open.
"You're going to get Zola," Lottie called out to Gabe, turning to look at him. "I have a strange feeling that HYDRA knows more than they're letting on, I've got to help Steve and Bucky."
"I'll be fine," Gabe told her as he moved further down the train toward the front compartment. "Be safe!"
Lottie gave him one last nod before climbing down the ladder, taking Bucky's hand as he pulled her inside the train and shut the door behind them.
The air was quiet as Lottie and Steve moved side by side, gun and shield raised before them. Bucky walked on their other side, gun also raised as they kept on the lookout for any HYDRA soldiers. Their mission was to take down soldiers and cause a distraction, give Gabe enough time to corner Zola.
Steve moved forward, scoping out the room ahead of them. Lottie's senses were going haywire as she hissed, a headache coming on as she whipped around, pointing her gun at the closed door behind them.
"Lottie?"
Lottie let out a small cry, dropping to her feet. Thoughts swarmed her head as she she held onto the sides of her head. She could feel the faint feelings of hands on her shoulders, the thoughts and ideas in her head taking up all her energy until they all focused themselves into one singular outcome.
There was a blast, Lottie's body thrown across the room and her head banging against the wall. Her vision was foggy, all she could hear was the sound of yelling and Steve's shield colliding with the man that attacked them.
"Bucky! Hang on!"
Lottie came to, pushing herself to the edge of the train, where there now sat a large hole. Steve clung to the side, his hand reaching out for Bucky who was hanging loosely from the pipe on the end, just seconds from dropping.
"Grab my hand!"
"Bucky!" Lottie called out through the throbbing of her head. He made a move to grab Steve's hand, only to slip away from them.
"NO!"
"Lottie, get up!"
Lottie shook herself from her thoughts, whipping around to the door behind them as she pushed the thoughts to the back of her head. Steve was no longer in sight, the door closed. She whipped back around to Bucky, who shoved her to the other side of the compartment and then dove behind a row of boxes.
She shook herself from her haze, whipping her gun off her back as she turned and fired toward the man that was currently firing at them. She had no clear shot, too many boxes and shelves in the way and Bucky do the same as her.
Bucky's gun ran out of bullets and Lottie quickly whistled to him. He turned, catching her gun as she threw it over to him before taking out from her hiding spot. Lottie threw herself into the shelf before them, knocking most of the cases toward the man and knocking him into Bucky's line of fire, giving him a clear shot to take him down. The HYDRA informant crumbled to the ground just as Steve reentered the room.
"I was on my way," Steve told Lottie, who only rubbed her shoulders and shot him a little smile.
"Yeah, I could tell,"
The sound of a blaster behind them charging up gained the trios attention, all three of them turning to see another HYDRA soldier firing at them with a burst of blue energy. Steve shoved Lottie and Bucky behind him, throwing up his shield as they were all blasted backward.
Lottie's body was thrown across the room, her head banging against the wall. Her vision was foggy, all she could hear was the sound of yelling and Steve's shield colliding with the man that attacked them.
The girl froze as she pulled herself onto her hands and knees. This all felt to weird, it all felt like it had already happened, like some sort of deja vu moment.
But that's because Lottie had already seen it.
"Bucky, hang on!"
Her eyes widened as she dragged herself to the edge of the train, where a large whole in the wall now sat. Steve clung to the side, his hand reaching out for Bucky who was hanging loosely from the pipe on the end, just seconds from dropping.
"Grab my hand!"
"Bucky!" Lottie shouted out in a panic, realizing that what she had seen was happening, and there was no way to stop it.
Bucky made the move to grab Steve's hand, but the pipe finally gave way, and their best friend fell from their grasps as Lottie let out a choked sob.
"NO!"
IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello my lovely readers! Thank you so much for enjoying Slate so far! This really is only the beginning of their story, and I can't wait to take it farther!
As some of you may know, I have a Bucky Barnes and a Peter Parker story (GLASS and NIAGRA). I'm thinking of reworking them because I have an idea to tie them into SLATE. I want your opinion: do you guys think I should do it? Let me know in the comments below!