Capítulo 39: Mission Accomplished
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
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Silence.
Silence was all that the Hydra soldiers could hear at that moment, at around 9 PM, 2nd of November, 1943.
No one could have told them, that it was the calm before the storm.
"LET'S GO!" A loud voice yells, as a door opens into the factory's assembly room. This was the room where the different parts were being brought together to be assembled into bomber planes, jet ships, and Panzers.
At once, everyone turned towards the voice, at first curious about the noise, and then terrified. There, moving towards the other end of the hall, were the former Prisoners of War. And they were killing everyone in their way.
Some turned around to flee, and were immediately shot in their backs by either bullets, or the Energy blasts of their own weapons. The remaining soldiers put up a defence, but were quickly run over by the exceedingly large numbers of the Prisoners.
Looking at the Prisoners having their fill of revenge, I smile, and join the attacking force, shooting anyone wearing black clothes with the amazing Energy gun I had in my hand. This was definitely one of the better weapons, as it could fire 5 Energy shots per second, as opposed to a single shot per second of the Energy pistol, and the 1 shot per 3 seconds of the Rifle.
Within a minute at most, we take care of all the Hydra soldiers, and turn towards the outer door, some of our men having already left through the open door. I could hear screams, gunfire, and blasts happening from behind the door, as I run towards it.
As soon as I walk out the gate, a dozen other people a few steps behind me, I am forces to duck, since one of the Hydra soldiers was holding a flamethrower, and was firing it at the door itself. Thankfully, I was far enough ahead of the others for them to get a warning, and they immediately open fire at the flamethrower, causing it to explode and take the man down.
With a thumbs up at the people behind me, I run towards where I could hear more Hydra thoughts than Allied. I jump over a jeep's hood, my leap clearing the jeep easily, and land on top of a Hydra soldier. Stabbing him in the head with my nails, I force his dying body to fall down, and turn towards the next victim.
He fires his energy weapon at me, and I throw the body of his own ally at it. The body disintegrates into dark blue smoke, shocking the Hydra soldier. Taking the opportunity, I fire my own Energy weapon at his head. The only thing left behind is his own Energy pistol, which he had dropped in shock.
I pocket the gun, and seeing a group of 5 former prisoner about to get overwhelmed by 9 Hydra soldiers, I run towards them. The Hydra group was in front of a line of trucks, standing out in the open, while the Allied group was hiding behind a few cars in the back.
And I was right behind the Hydra group.
With 4 clean shots, I disintegrate the 4 most dangerous men there, who had some sort of body suit that was bulletproof, and flame throwers in their hands. The remaining 5 soldiers turn to look towards me, but I'm already right near them, my enhanced speed and stealth meaning they don't even see, or hear me coming.
Taking my dagger out, I cut into the neck of the closest soldier, and before the first one even registers the cut, I throw the dagger at the head of another soldier. Leaning to the right, I dodge an energy blast and without even looking, shoot my newly acquired Hydra pistol at the man.
The last two get riddled by bullets fired by the trapped soldiers, whom I had just rescued from certain death.
Pointing at the treeline in the distance, I say, "Run towards that direction, people! Take weapons off of your enemies if you want, they're no use to dead people, and we're no use to anyone dead!"
And with that, I keep on attacking any Hydra soldier that I find, while only using physical force and energy weapons. My own SSR assigned guns had long since been discarded, having been deemed inferior to the Energy weapons that I now have.
Hearing a blast go off, I turn towards it, and see the factory start blowing up.
"RUUUUNNN!" Someone yells, as everyone, Hydra and Allied, starts running away from the base.
Not needing to be told twice, I do the same, seeing a few mini tanks follow me from behind. The thoughts from inside the tanker told me that it was Allied soldiers, so I ignore it, and shoot my gun at a few fleeing Hydra goons.
All of 15 minutes after beginning our escape, we had gotten half a mile away from the now destroyed base, and stop to rest. Everyone here knows, that once we start walking now, we'll only get to stop once we're safely home.
Approaching Steve, who had returned sometime during our walk, I ask, "Please tell me you still have your transponder, Rogers. Mine got shot sometime during our escape."
Actually, it wasn't shot. It blew up when I had a full on Wizarding duel while wearing it around my hip. Moronic of me, to be honest.
Shaking his head, but somehow still smiling, Steve says, "Nah, busted it when I was rescuing Bucky here."
It is then that I notice the shorter man staring wide eyed at Steve, wearing a helmet, a machine gun, and a vest. James Buchanan Barnes was rescued successfully, which is a good thing, but.. he wasn't alright.
Outwardly, Bucky was still in shock, and it was evident on his face itself. He was weakened, from whatever tortures Zola put him through, and his body was shaking every few seconds. He didn't even have enough nutritional value in his body.
Then there's his mind. It is.. chaotic, is one word for it. He was constantly repeating his name, serial number, and his posting inside his head, along with saying, 'Steve's alright.. he's just bigger now.. Steve's alright.. he's just bigger now..'
Offering him my hand, I smile at his distracted face, and say, "Nice to finally meet you, Sargent Barnes."
"Bucky." Steve softly says, shaking Bucky lightly by the shoulder, startling him back into attention. As Bucky looks at me, a bit confused,Steve loses his concerned look behind a facade of calmness, as he adds, "This is Sargent Mason Aves. He's the one who rescued these soldiers. If it wasn't for them giving the guards some hell, I would never have gotten to you."
Well, to be fair, I barely did anything for Bucky's rescue. Steve infiltrated the base by himself, found Bucky by himself, and fought with Red Skull by himself. Fucker still escaped though, and so did a burnt up Zola. Good to know that the gift I gave him is still there, covering half his face in burn scars.
Steve's memories are weirdly detailed, almost as good as mine. It must be something about the Serum that enhanced his brain so much.
Sighing, I say, "Well, let's get this show on the road then. We've had enough rest for now."
Nodding, Steve looks at the crowd, and asks, "How do we get them moving?"
I shrug, and say, "How about we ask them nicely?" Turning around, I shout, "Gather around, you twats! Gather around! I need to say something!"
I wait for the 275 odd surviving men to create a crowd around me, Steve, and Bucky, who had gone back to reliving his trauma. Man, I gotta do something for his mind. It'll fuck him up, otherwise.
Once they're all gathered within half a minute, I loudly start speaking, and say, "As much as I'd love to give you men some rest, we can't. This base just blew up off the face of the Earth, and this means the other Hydra people, those near to this base, will come looking for it. Sooner or later, someone will come here. We cannot take the risk of staying here!"
Seeing a few realisation filled faces, now turning either angry or afraid, I add, "We got your arses out of this Prison, and I promise you that Steve and I will do everything in our hands to get you back home! I'm a medic, so if you think you're injured, come to me! But we need to start walking within 10 minutes, to make sure that Hydra doesn't see us moving. Any questions?"
-
15 hours of constant walking later, we finally come within sights of the SSR base camp. I had seen a few sentries posted on trees, that had taken the time to inform the base of our arrival. So, by the time that we reached the main entrance, a crowd had already gathered to welcome us back.
"Look, it's Captain America!" "It's Captain America!" "Holy shit, that's Captain America!"
Yes, yes, because he's the only one that everyone here knows of. I'm renown, but not that much. Only the higher ups know my track record, and the others know me as just another Medic.
Meh, I'll be famous soon enough anyway.
Turning towards Dugan, I say, "Can you have them park the Panzers somewhere safe? Away from everyone's sights? I doubt the Colonel will want it be known that we have 3 of those."
Dugan nods, and goes towards the back, where 3 of the Hydra Panzers were following us back to back, with James Morita, a Japanese-American soldier, along with a few of his other mates were driving them.
The rest of us keep walking forward, with me and Steve leading the group from the front, Bucky right beside Steve, with a machine gun on him, now looking a little less worried about his sanity, and Timothy "Timmy" Roth was right behind me, an energy rifle in his own hands.
Tim and I had caught up on our lives after we had separated. He had been adopted at the age of 14, right after I had awakened my Telepathy thanks to him, and I hadn't seen the man since then. Turns out, he went through some mechanical engineering training under his adopted father, who owned a garage in London.
For years, he helped his dad out at the garage, and when War broke out, he signed up for the RAF, as a Pararescue. He was captured in Italy, during a Hydra attack on an RAF base some 4 months ago, and he has been forced to work there for this time. Poor sod.
Still surrounded by the whispering crowd, I see many of the rescued soldiers go around, meeting those that they knew, and some that they didn't know. In times of war, solidarity is something that everyone is in much need of, and being allies is good enough to call them friends.
Smiling at the tearful reunions happen all around, I turn towards a parting crowd, while still walking, and stop, seeing Colonel Phillips, Agent Peggy Carter, and a Corporal appear from the direction of his office tent.
Saluting him, and before he can scold me for taking Rogers, I say, "Mission successful, Sir! Just as you asked, Captain Steve Rogers and I managed to infiltrate and rescue these brave men from their capture, Sir!"
Phillips looks at me, his disapproval plain on his face, and he mumbles, "We'll talk later, you can count on that, son."
I salute him, once again, knowing that I'm not going to face any punishment. The mission was off-the-books, but it was completely SSR sanctioned, except for the part where Steve participated.
Steve, after a few seconds of just staring at Peggy, takes the moment I salute to say, "Some of these men need Medical attention, Colonel. Sargent Aves patched them up as well as he could, but we didn't have too many bandages, or other supplies."
Colonel Phillips nods, and motions a Corporal to call for the Medic corps. Turning back towards me and Steve, he says, "Freshen up, briefing's in 30 minutes. I'd like to know how your.. mission went, before we present the detailed report to the brass, in London tomorrow."
Turning towards Peggy, he says, "Faith, hm? I'd like to see you during the Briefing too, Carter." He then turns towards the gathered crowd, sees them enjoying the happy rescue, and says, "Please make sure the men have enough food and water, they've already been through a lot, let's make their welcome as warm as possible!"
Seeing Peggy and Steve approach one another, and just start staring with their weird sexual tension thrumming between them, I hold Bucky by the shoulders, and moving him away from the embarrassment, I say, "Okay, buddy. Let's get you to a bed. After whatever hell Zola put you through, you need it more than anyone else."
Bucky glances at Steve for a second, as he was still staring at Peggy's eyes, and asks, "Is he stupid? Why isn't he making a move?!"
I snort, and say, "You should have seen them in the plane. He's more awkward than a lovesick virgin teenager." I stop in my steps, and slowly ask, "He's.. not a virgin.. right?"
Bucky scoffs, and says, "Yeah, no. I took him to a place, when we were 19. The girls there taught him a lot of stuff, from what I heard him gushing about."
Huh. Girls. Plural. Didn't expect this from Mr Innocence over there.
Stopping in his spot, Bucky says, "I'm going to give him a push."
"5 quid says he still won't make a move." I say, knowing how deep their sexual tension runs.
Bucky smiles over at me, and says, "I'll take that action, even if I don't know how much a quid is."
And then, he looks over at the crowd, and yells, "HEY! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR SARGENT AVES, AND CAPTAIN AMERICA!"
Thank God, he didn't call me Sargent Britain, or something stupid.
"WOOHOO! YEAAAH!! WOOO!!" Everyone starts yelling, as most of them clap at Steve, surrounding him and Peggy, while some approach me with bats on their back. But despite a lot of pushing around by people, Peggy and Steve don't even hug.
To be honest, Bucky's plan was a bit stupid. He had hoped that being praised so much would give Steve enough confidence to go for the kiss. Or give Peggy the push to finally kiss him. Alas, this is Steve Rogers we're talking about. As much as I love the guy, he's not one to make the first move like this.
Bucky says, "Alright, alright, you win this one. Steve's slower than I thought." As we continue walking towards the tent I was going to give him, he asks, "How much is a quid, by the way?"
"Quid is just another term for Pound, mate. And I have no idea how much that is in terms of your American dollars." I answer, after a second or so of thinking.
Once Bucky is all settled in, close to Steve's tent, which he had used for the USO show, and once he's gone to sleep, I leave the room to go to my own tent. I only have 20 more minutes, before I'm to give a briefing about this Rescue mission to Colonel Phillips, and probably a few more higher ups of the Allied Nations.
Bucky Barnes. His head was.. healing, a little bit. All the mental torture that Zola put him through, not to forget the physical torture, had taken a toll on him. Heck, I had to use my telepathy, and a dreamless sleep Potion, to force Bucky into sleep. It was that bad.
Zola hadn't just been torturing him, no. Zola was already trying to brainwash Bucky into being a Weapon for Hydra. For weeks, Zola tried to force Bucky to convert, using Hypnosis, electric shocks, and even a few drugs that he had. And Bucky went through all of it without once giving in.
His friendship with Steve was what still kept his focus, which I have to give him credit for. It isn't easy, resisting torture, hypnosis, and drugs. It isn't easy, saying no every time Zola offered to grant him a good position in the Hydra army.
There's nothing that can heal Psychological wounds, not even with magic. And erasing memories of trauma is ill advised, since it can actually cause harm to the mind, instead of healing it. But, what I can do is train a mind to look on the bright side, while still not being.. too chipper.
I used my telepathy a bit, on our way to this base, and while I was putting him to sleep, to help his mind do just that. I put a subtle instruction in his mind to slowly push the bad memories to the back. They'll still be there, even decades from now, but they just won't be the focus of his thoughts.
I was trying to condition his mind to focus more on the happy thoughts, not turn him into a happy psychopath.
Hopefully, this small thing helps him in the long run.
--London: Allied Headquarters- 4th November, 1943--
"And the last base was here, in Strausberg,40 miles away from the Maginot line." Steve says, marking the positions of the Hydra bases that he had seen with a red marker pen. "I only got a quick look." He adds, seeing Peggy's impressed look.
We were in London, in an underground bunker, giving a detailed report about our mission. This was a big blow that we caused against Hydra, and the Allied nations were excited for this. We rescued 250 soldiers from imprisonment, destroyed a factory, and forced the Red Skull to flee. This was a win, as far as everyone was concerned.
We were sitting around an oval table, with Steve and I at one end, and a panel of three Generals on the other. Two of those Generals were British, with General Anderson one of them, while the third one was an American.
We were also being heard by the Nation leaders of France, Britain, as well as the United States over the Radio, and they had asked a few questions during our initial briefing of the mission.
Before the Corporal can take the map from him, I take it, and mark three more points on the map in a green coloured ink, and then 2 more in black ink, and say, "These green ones are other factories. They are building something big in these factories, planes, I'm guessing. And the black ones are research centres. From what I found out from a.. very much legal, and voluntary questioning, it contains some Nazi prisoners.. Jews, that Hydra uses to experiment on."
Well, the information was legit, I had seen the map while doing my first reconnaissance from the Mirror Dimension. But the rest, well, I hadn't tortured anyone. Why torture when I don't need to do that, since I have telepathy. The soldier I did it too did feel some pain though, I made sure of that.
As the Corporal now takes the updated map away, Colonel Phillips asks, "What are they experimenting? Is it related to whatever was being done to Barnes?"
The Corporal then starts pinpointing the locations on the map on the bigger map that was the oval table. For better visibility, but he doesn't colour code them like I did. Waste of effort.
I shrug, and answer, "Could be, the Hydra soldier only told me that much before I had to kill him. He was making too much noise.. uh, talking. I'm guessing it's Dr Erskine's formula, as well as some other stuff."
One of the American Generals present for this meeting, a General Lewis scoffs, and says, "We can ignore them for now, then. There's no way Hydra replicates Erskine's work, when the smartest scientists in the United States can't, and we have the blood samples of the only successful experiment."
I frown, because this is the worst mistake someone can make in a war. 'If the good guys can't achieve it, then the bad guys definitely won't.' This is definitely something that no War General should do.
Plus, he just called Steve Rogers an experiment, right on his face.
Seeing both Colonel Phillips and Peggy Carter jump in to argue with the General, I stand up from my chair, and say, "With all due respect, General, you don't know Hydra, and you underestimate them. Don't dismiss Zola's genius just because he's the enemy. He's just as innovative as Dr Erskine, and almost as smart."
I know that, I've been inside his head, I have an entire shelf in my Mind's Library dedicated to his knowledge. Zola's a fucking genius, and I cannot understand half the stuff he knows, even with Stark's memories to help me.
Before the General can say anything, Colonel Phillips says, "He's right. Arnim Zola is as smart as he is dedicated to Hydra. I've fought his weapons, and I have seen the results of his experiments in Sargent Barnes. We'll put it on our agenda too. Good work, Aves, Rogers."
General Lewis nods, not agreeing, but not having a choice. Colonel Phillips is completely incharge of fighting Hydra, and he answers directly to the President of the USA. He says, "Very well, this concludes our meeting for the day then. Dismissed."
A click sounds over the room's speakers, informing us that the President and the Prime Minister had stopped listening to the meeting. Peggy nods at me, when I look at her, telling me that the room was actually secure.
The General then turns towards us, and asks, "Well, Captain America? Captain Aves? What are your plans now?"
I smile, finding it nice to hear. I had gotten my second field promotion, thanks to this recent mission. A Captain, straight from Sargent. Life is good, ain't it?
I share a glance with Steve, both of us asking each other an unspoken question. Nodding to each other, I turn towards the General, and say, "We'll be keeping the fight going, of course. If Colonel Phillips has a place for us in the SSR, that is."
The Colonel says, "We can decide that later. Generals, I'm assuming you have more important things to do. Please, allow me to show you out. Rogers, Aves, wait here. I'll be back within a minute."
As soon as the Colonel walks out with the three Generals following behind, I chuckle, loving how Colonel Phillips dismissed the curiosity of even his superiors. This guy's a certified badass.
"I don't like that guy." Steve says, frowning at the now closed door.
Patting his shoulder, I say, "No one does, mate. No one does. He's a General."
"Hey, weren't you two supposed to be in DC in like, 10 hours?" Starks says, walking into the room as if he owned it, with the Tesseract battery cartridge from a pistol in his hands. He keeps it on the table, sits down, and adds, "I definitely heard something about a couple Medals for Valour, or something."
Steve smiles softly, and says, "I'm officially off the Publicity circuit. I don't much care about a medal."
Shrugging, when Stark turns towards me expectantly, I say, "Well, American awards, that too from an attention whore of a Senator, do not mean much for me."
The Colonel walks into the room, tosses a medal at Steve, and says, "You just embarrassed Senator Brandt in front of a dozen reporters and 10 members of the Parliament. You deserve a medal just for that."
I chuckle, and looking at the battery, I ask, "You figure it out yet, Stark?"
"Yes, please Stark. Tell me you found out what this is." The Colonel adds, sitting down on the chair.
Now, the only ones in the room were members of the SSR. Except for the Colonel, Steve, Peggy, Stark, and I, there were only 7 Soldiers of lower ranks, mostly technical officers and all that.
Stark waves at the cartridge vaguely, and says, "Other than the fact that Rogers believes it to be the most powerful explosive, and Aves here believes it to be an unstable Power source, nothing much. I'm leaning more towards Aves's explanation, however."
As the Colonel turns towards me, I shrug, and say, "Zola liked to talk, when he thought I was a helpless prisoner. They were creating the blue batteries out of something, what I don't know."
Stark takes it in his hand, plays around with it for a few seconds, and says, "Judging by how this tiny cell was present in a Pistol, and the fact that every different weapon uses different cells, I agree with Aves's Statement. These are definitely batteries, of the volatile kind, and Arnim Zola uses them to power the weapons that he designed."
Steve then adds, "Bucky.. Sargent Barnes said that they shipped the bombs.. batteries, those glowing blue thingies out for another factory. I don't think it's on this map, though. And he doesn't know where it is."
Shaking my head, I say, "Neither do I. It could be one of them, or it could be some base hidden from the soldier I interrogated."
Colonel Phillips looks down at the map on the table, for a minute or two, just thinking, while we all stay silent.
"Alright, Stark. See if you can get the power source out in the open, but do it in a contained environment, and start with the smaller ones. I don't want you to blow up a building, because you mess up for once." Colonel Phillips says, looking up at Stark.
Howard Stark nods, picks up the battery, and walks out.
The Colonel then waves a hand, calling someone from behind us, and says, "Agent Carter, coordinate with MI6, I want every Allied eyeball looking for the main Hydra base, wherever Johann Schmidt fled off to."
"What about us?" I ask.
The Colonel takes the file that a female aid brings him, and says, "We are going to light a fire under Johann Schmidt's ass. Are you two in? It's your map, think you can wipe Hydra off of it?"
Leaning back, I say, "Hey, I'm already in the fight. This Promotion means fuckall to me, pardon my French, I'm still fighting on the frontlines."
Steve turns to look at the map, and says, "I'm in, I want Hydra gone as much as everyone else does. But we can't do it alone. We're going to need a team."
The Colonel smiles, and says, "Well, I'll put together a team of our best men for you to lead, Captain Aves."
"Excuse me?" I ask, because what the fuck.
I can't lead the Howling commandos. That's like, the one thing that turned Steve into the leader of the Avengers that he is supposed to be. And wasn't the Howling commandos supposed to be an American led squad?
Colonel Phillips raises his eyebrows at me, and says, "You're an experienced fighter, who has been on the frontlines doing one thing or the other for almost a year. You've personally dealt with more Hydra soldiers, and bases, than anyone in the world. This was your second time mounting a rescue mission in hostile territory. Comparatively, Steve Rogers is just a Super Soldier, and he's not even a real Captain."
Okay, all great points. But counter point, I'm a normal man -as far as he knows- and Steve's a Super Soldier, with a far better tactical mind thanks to the Procedure. He can literally think up plans better than me, despite me being a literal Telepath.
I open my mouth to say just that, when Phillips raises his hand and says, "I'm not done yet, Soldier." He turns towards Steve, not even a little bit sympathetic, and says, "No offense, Rogers, you're a great soldier, but not many people would listen to your orders, doesn't matter what team we build up. Save, I think, for your friend Barnes. You just have one mission under your belt, son, and I can't in good conscience let you lead a team of soldiers with leagues more experience, just because you're a Super Soldier."
Steve just smiles and says, "None taken, Colonel. I joined the Army to be a soldier, and I never expected to do even that, even after becoming.. this. I'm happy with you allowing me to join this team.. if I'm still allowed, that is."
The Colonel scoffs, and says, "I've learned my lesson. I'm not going to stop you from going to War, because God knows you'll seek it out." He then turns towards me, as I had stayed silent watching the two decide my fate, and says, "Now, I'll meet you in two days with a team ready for you."
And with that, he starts walking towards the door, leaving me with Steve, and his aide. Snapping my mouth close, having no idea when I actually opened it, I call out, "Colonel Phillips!" When he stops and turns around, I say, "If I'm being forced to lead this team, I'm doing it on my terms. With a team I build. And I already have a few candidates ready to be asked… Sir."
The Colonel looks at me, just stares at me for a second, and then smiles. He says, "Knew you had it in you, Aves. Get your team here tomorrow morning, sharp at 8. We'll discuss our future then."
As the Colonel leaves, leaving me with a bit of worried look on my face, Steve slaps my upper back, and says, "Buck up, soldier. You're a team leader now. Guess the rank of Captain will really come to use."
And then he leaves, leaving me just staring in space. Damn, Team Leader? In one year? And that too for the fucking Howling Commandos?! Wonder what ripples this sends out.
"You know.. we have to stop meeting like this." The aid of the Colonel from before says, snapping me out of my worries for the future. I look up at her face, and blink.
"Lorraine? Bloody hell, I'm so sorry, I didn't even notice you!" I say, horrified at having ignored Lorraine, the woman I lost my virginity to. Her statement popping back in my mind, I rub the back of my head, and say, "Well, it seems I do love rescuing people from prisons. I just hope this doesn't become a habit for when the War's over."
Lorrain smirks that damned beautiful smirk at me, and says, "Well, if you ever need a partner for more Prison breaks, I'd love to join the business. And thank you. I've been practicing some Stealth, learning how to go unnoticed by people. Glad to know my work's been paying off."
Oh, damn. She's actually good, then. Her body language was the thing that made me dismiss her as just another SSR soldier, and it isn't easy, learning such body language.
I chuckle, a bit nervously, and say, "Still, I shouldn't have ignored you. Allow me to apologise over a drink?"
Smiling, Lorrain hugs the file in her hands to her chest, and says, "I wouldn't say no to a drink. When, and where would you suggest?"
Thinking a bit, and remember that I need to talk to the team I have in mind, I say, "How about whenever you get off Duty? As I told the Colonel, I need to talk to a few people, ask them if they're willing to join this team."
Nodding, Lorraine offers her hand, and says, "I'll be free at 9. I'll wait for you here itself. Deal?"
Taking her hand, I stare at her right in the eyes, lay a kiss on her hand, and hold the fingers gently in both hands. I say, "Deal, Ms Smith. See you in two hours."
-
"So, let me get this straight. You want us to go back out there, right after our escape." Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan asks, a mug of beer in front of him, and a Cigar in his hand.
James 'Jim' Morita, the only Japanese-American from amongst the rescued soldiers adds, "Away from the safety of our drinks, and warm bed, after so long of sleeping on floors?"
"After we barely got out of there alive?" Gabriel 'Gabe' Jones adds his own two cents, looking at me as if I had grown another head.
I just smile, already having explained everything.
"Sounds rather fun, actually." My fellow Brit, James Montgomery Falsworth says, casually sipping his beer, thereby giving his affirmative answer.
I turn towards Jacques 'Frenchie' Dernier, who excitedly blabbers in rapid French, "We'll get to kill the bastards that captured our Division? Will I get to blow shit up?"
I chuckle, and answer, "You can blow as much shit as you want, Jacques. But only if it belongs to Nazis, or Hydra."
Gabe Jones laughs lightly, and says, "Let's just hope he doesn't blow us up if we get taken Prisoners again." He then looks the other non-French speaking people look at us, and gesturing to himself and Jacques, he says, "We're in."
I smile at him, and turn towards the last person that I asked. Timothy 'Timmy' Roth. He sighs, and says, "Mate, I so, so wanted to go home and retire from the Army. But if a fraction of the things we heard Hydra talk about are true, then there's no way in hell I'm backing down. I'm joining your bloody team."
Dum Dum finishes his mug of beer, and says, "I'll join, but you have to do two things for us. First, coin us some badass name. I ain't working in a team called Spec Ops Squad 3 or shit like that."
"And second?" I ask, already knowing the name of this team.
Slamming the empty bottle on the table, Dugan lets out a burp, and says, "Open up a tab."
Chuckling, I say, "Sure thing, Dugan. Sure thing. I'll tell you the name tomorrow. Remember, people, we have to meet the Colonel at 8 tomorrow morning, so don't stay up too late."
"What, that easy?" Dugan says, seeing me agree for the tab opening so soon.
Chuckling, I take the empty glasses from the men, and say, "I can buy the entire Bar, mate." Then, I loudly say, "A ROUND OF BEERS FOR EVERYONE HERE! ON MY TAB!"
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Dugan yells, seeing everyone cheer at my proclamation.
I go towards the bar, where Steve was sitting with his best mate, Bucky, and ask, "So, what about you, Barnes? Ready to go back to War and kill the twats that did all this to you?"
Bucky turns towards, his eyes looking still a bit haunted, and says, "I knew a kid in Brooklyn, once. He never knew when to give up, even when everyone kicked him down. If he trusts you enough to follow your lead, then so will I. I'm in, Captain. I'm in."
Smiling, I pat the pair on their backs, and leave them to their private talks. I then approach one of the bartenders, just as he asks me, "Where are they even putting all this stuff?"
Chuckling, I say, "Hey, I'm just as surprised at this as you. So, how much do I owe you?"
"That's 5 pence per pint, and your group has taken a total of 22 Pints. Including the 48 pints you just bought for everyone here, that makes the total.. 3 Pound, 50 pence. I really hope you got the cash, mate." The bartender says, doing the calculations on a piece of paper.
Shrugging, I take out my wallet, and remove 5 £1 notes. Handing them to him, I say, "Use the remaining 50p to give anyone a drink if they look like they need it, yeah? And.. keep the rest for yourself. You deserve it, after all the shite you'll no doubt experience tonight." Handing him another 30p, I say, "You know what, enjoy a round yourselves. You and your mates deserve it."
Taking the mug he was preparing for me as I was taking the cash out, I say, "Cheers!"
And then, I leave the bar, my new team already ready. I leave them to enjoy this night, because God knows they've been through some shite. I might be leading this team, but I'm not an invader to their freedom.
Besides, I have a date with a wonderful, and totally bombshell of a lady. Lorraine Smith.
Damn, I'm stealing everything from Steve, aren't I? Hope he never finds out about his actual fate, before my birth here.
---
A/N: Some would probably hate me for this. Why didn't he reject the leadership position? Why didn't he change Philips's mind? Why is he changing something so significant while already worrying about the changes his birth is already causing? Etc etc.
I know, this is a bit uncharacteristic.
But, there's no logical way an inexperienced soldier will be given leadership over an actual experienced one. They're the same rank, but Steve got his directly when he was cast as Captain America the dance monkey.
Mason earned his promotions on battlefields, first under Victor Creed, and then when he rescued the POWs. Doesn't mean that Steve is suddenly not famous, nope.
Steve is still the Dance Monkey, the Mascot of America, and the person who helped Mason rescue 275 soldiers. He's just sharing the spotlight here, with Mason, beginning only from now.
Wonder how this will change things in the future.
Anyway, thanks for your support! Tata!
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