Inktober #3 Trigger

Fandom: MCU

Additional scene for CA:TFA

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Another day another Hydra facility to destroy. Blowing them up had turned out to be the easy part, getting to them not so much. The week-long trudging through rough country during the winter with Morita bitching and moaning the entire way made it just that much more fun. None of us liked the cold, or eating rations out of a can 'cause we dared not risk a fire, which especially sucked at night since it meant we had to huddle up with each other for warmth.

Cap usually took first watch, and last, and some nights all of them in between because along with the new and improved body he'd lost the need for sleep. Oh, he'd crash for a few hours after we were done and had been debriefed, but during the mission, I don't think he ever slept a wink.

Neither did I, which I knew failed to be anything close to normal, what with the way the others snored loud enough to give away our position some nights. Granted if they eased up on the drink a bit it might help, but I understood the need for the false warmth the scotch, or bourbon, or vodka, or wine, when we couldn't get our hands on anything else, could give.

Steve paced somewhere out in shadows, on the edges of what we had claimed as our camp. The tiny copse of trees protecting us from the worst of the wind, but also destroying our line of sight. So Falsworth sat on a branch he'd dragged over, rifle held across his arms, eyes roving over the darkened area, probably listening more than anything, since the cloud cover made it damn near pitch black out here.

I'd rolled up in my blankets a little ways away from the others in what had turned out to be a vain attempt to sleep. I gave it up as a bad job and sat up with a soft sigh, knuckling the eye that had been mashed into my sleeve in an effort to bring the focus back. I could see just fine. Washed out a bit, the colors muted, but still there. Beyond the screening of trees little moved other than Steve. Most animals either huddled up for the night or avoiding the area thanks to our scent. We hadn't exactly had the chance to bathe the last few days and even in the depths of winter there remained the definite whiff of unwashed human drifting about us like a fog.

Dum Dum muttered something in his sleep, rolled over, flinging an arm across the limp body of Gabe, who grunted at the unexpected weight, but otherwise didn't react. We trusted each other, enough to truly sleep while those who didn't guard our backs.

"Barnes, you okay?"

I nodded, then realized he probably couldn't see it. "Gotta piss," I lied, figuring it would be the one excuse no one would question.

Falsworth grunted. "Upwind if you would. Don't want to be smelling it all night."

I stood, picked up my blankets and tossed them over the others, making it clear I wouldn't be back anytime in the near future. They might as well be warm and ready to go for tomorrow. "I'll take next watch. Might as well let those who can sleep."

He nodded then tossed his chin to the right. "Steve's over thataway."

Whether he thought I intended to join our fearless leader or wanted to make certain I didn't startle him, I couldn't be sure, but it didn't matter. I could hear Steve's soft, squeaking steps in the snow, could practically sense the heat his body gave off as he circled the camp one carefully placed foot at a time. The fact that Falsworth could hear him proved how quiet the night had become. Usually, only I could hear Steve when he skulked about.

How a man that big could move so fucking quiet beyond me. Then again I'd gotten pretty good at it myself. My awareness of every subtle potential for noise heightened to the extreme. I mean, I'd been a pretty good soldier before... Before Azzano.

Before Hydra.

I hadn't expected to walk out of that place alive. Especially once I'd gotten sick and been given to Zola to play with.

I also hadn't expected to see my best friend ever again only to have Steve mother-fucking Rogers not simply show up at the Hydra weapons facility but rescue pretty much everyone there. All on his own. No backup. No support. No chance in hell that he'd succeed.

The stubborn little shit.

Okay, not quite so little anymore.

I made my way opposite of Steve, found a decent sized tree and actually took that piss, my eyes scanning the woods warily once I made certain I wouldn't be hitting my shoes. When finished I kicked snow over the steaming liquid and stepped away.

Once upon a time, I would have been as blind as the others out here. The darkness so deep that a hand waved at arm's length would remain unseen. I stretched out my arm, my gloved fingers easily visible at the end of my hand.

And that terrified me.

I should be as blind as the rest of the team.

Yet I could see.

Not just my hands, but the trees for a fair distance. The underbrush, the sky above in those few locations the canopy allowed the view of the sky high above. I could hear the rush of wings, most likely owls in search of their evening meal. And I didn't feel cold. Not like the rest of them.

I had no fucking idea what Zola had done to me.

I hadn't been asked many questions, not that I knew all that much. I'd been nothing more than another cog in the Army wheel. And he hadn't cared, not really. He... he'd done things to me. Things I tried really hard to not think about, least not since that debriefing after the rescue. I'd told them all he could remember, which hadn't been all that much.

Not then.

I'd recalled plenty since. I just didn't talk about it. It also might have contributed to my ongoing inability to sleep.

I knew something had changed within me, I simply could not put a finger on precisely what. I remained myself, mostly, but at times... at times something far darker and more calculating took over.

"Can't sleep?"

I didn't bother faking the twitch, I'd heard him coming up behind me, not even pretending to be quiet about it. Made sense since he didn't know. He'd done the same thing for the rest of the Howlies, making certain to announce his presence, mostly to avoid getting shot. That had happened exactly once, though Dum Dum had been drinking so that might have contributed to the situation.

"Not tired," I told him, keeping my voice down for appearance's sake. We were alone out here. The nearest patrol miles away at a guess. We would not be hitting the target until mid-morning tomorrow.

He'd left his helmet back at the camp, so that shock of blond hair stood out against the darkness, his blue eyes bright and boring into mine. He suspected something other than pre-mission jitters had kept me wakeful, but I doubted he would ask.

"It'll be fine, just recon. There won't be much for us to do, but look pretty."

I snorted. "Dum Dum'll hate that." And he would, mostly 'cause once we reported back we'd have to wait until the General decided if we'd be moving in on our own or wait for reinforcements.

"Dum Dum hates everything," Steve pointed out, tone sardonic.

"Not whiskey. Or women. Or shooting things." Dum Dum had some serious issues, but no more so than the rest of us. Of all of us, only Steve seemed to have the least hang-ups. Not that he liked killing, but that didn't slow him down. If he could get us in and out without bloodshed he'd do it. Don't get the idea he would ever choose retreat as an option. Even at five foot nothing and ninety-eight pounds wet he had never backed down from a fight.

Back then he lost a lot.

Not so much these days.

We did lose good men on missions, but overall, the core team, the Howling Commandos as we had come to be known, walked away with only minor injuries. We all trusted Captain America to get us out alive with another job well done.

Hell, we didn't even fight Nazis anymore, just Hydra who seemed to delight in killing anyone on their side as much as those actually fighting against them. Our best scientists, meaning Stark, still had no clue how their weapons were powered, only that the tech exceeded that of the Allies by an order of magnitude.

"True 'nuff," Steve agreed clapping me on the shoulder. "You take east, I'll take west?"

I nodded. Might as well kill some time until I relived Falsworth. I checked my weapon then strode away, heading for the east side of our camp.

. . .

I lay on my stomach using the optics of my rifle to scout the area while the rest of the Commandos went in on foot. I didn't mind, really. I'd been picked for sniper training in basic. Had those skills greatly improved during my time with the 107th so there hadn't come as much of a surprise when Steve had taken advantage of that talent when I'd followed him back to war.

I spent a lot of time high up in trees or on my belly in the brush watching the backs of my team. Thanks to Stark I had the best optics and firing distance in the entirety of the Allied forces. I loved the increased range but found the optics to almost be unnecessary. Oh, they helped for those really, really long shots, but today I used them out of convenience only.

To feel a bit more normal.

They'd met little resistance thus far, the buildings crumbling and broken from any number of previous attacks, and yet the intel had convinced us that Hydra had taken up residence here. Like cockroaches living in broken remains of a house. Burrowing in deep and only coming up as necessary.

And maybe that's exactly what had happened here. Maybe it only appeared abandoned on the surface. Maybe they had gone underground. We'd discovered entire towns riddled with secret tunnels and bunkers, no reason not to suspect the same here.

I felt a sensation of cold wash through me and I knew... knew with a frightening certainty were we not alone here. Something, a feeling I did not want to acknowledge, flooded me and I instantly calmed. With a cold calculation, I began to search the area looking for anything out of place.

It didn't take long. I spotted Cap, cautiously making his way through the rubble of a building, only to have my focus shift upward to a gap in the wall.

A Hydra agent stepped into view and without even having to think about it I squeezed the trigger.