Disclaimer: I do not own any character (excluding my OC), setting or plot from Captain America or any other Marvel film/comic. All rights reserved to Marvel Comics, Marvel Studio, and any others whom it may concern. Any line/scene/character that you recognise from the films or comics do not belong to me in any way.
A huge thank you to my Beta—NeahZoldyck13—who has been an absolutely incredible human being in helping me with this fic and putting up with me over the past few weeks!
Chapter Ten
October 17, 1943
The sound of shuffling and low mutters distantly reached my ears, slowly pulling me from the comfort of sleep. It didn't take long for my mind to register the deep ache searing across every millimeter of my body, but I tried not to dwell on the thought as I groggily opened my eyes a crack. Bile quickly rose in the back of my throat as the room spun sickeningly around me in a confusing blur of colors and distorted shapes. I blinked owlishly, momentarily disorientated, and desperately wished the room would still around me so I could see where I was. What happened? Did I pass out during work? Where the hell am I? Am I back in my cell?
The world continued to blur and shift around me as I slowly turned my head. A few sickening minutes passed before the familiar furniture of my bedroom swam into view. I barely had time to process this fact before a tall, dark shape on the other side of the room shifted and moved a few steps to the right, bending to pick something up from the floor. I squinted, trying to make out who it was. The blurry figure turned their head a few moments later to look over at something, and I felt the breath rush out of me as their face came into view. Was it…? Could it truly be…?
"Howie?" I breathed, my hoarse voice low and strained as I called out to him. I almost didn't dare to hope, almost didn't dare to believe that he was truly here, that he was right there in front of me after all this time.
His head snapped up at my call and his painfully, beautifully, familiar dark brown eyes landed on my frame. My eyes traced his features frantically, drinking in every detail and contour of one of the precious faces I thought I'd never see again: the neatly-combed hair, the usual tailored suit and tie, the immaculately groomed facial hair, the deep brown eyes and sharp edges of his defined features. A choked cry escaped my lips and I weakly reached out a hand, my arm shaking from the effort as tears filled my eyes and my throat constricted with emotion. "Howie!"
A worried look crossed his face as he slowly took a step towards me, briefly glancing over at someone to his left. I frowned in confusion and followed his gaze, only for my eyes to land on another face I thought I'd never see again. Smooth, pale skin; wavy, dark brunette locks; gorgeous, defined features. A sob escaped me and tears slipped down my face as my eyes traced up and locked with familiar soft-blue ones. "Peggy?"
They were both instantly at my side, Peggy gripping my right hand with her own, whilst Howard gently brushed my hair back in his usual soothing manner. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay, Anna," he hushed, his deep voice reverberating beautifully in the air around me.
Another sob left my lips, his voice the most heavenly music to my ears in that moment. "Howard… Evie… I… Oh God, I…"
"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart. It's okay," Peggy soothed me, gripping my hand forever tighter as she stared at me sadly. She tore her eyes away from my face a moment later when Howard looked over to her with a small frown.
"What's going on? Is she okay?" he questioned, one of his rare somber expressions clouding his features as his dark eyes flickered down to me in concern. I tried to reach up with my spare hand, but found I couldn't move it, almost as if something was weighing it down. I leaned further into his hand and gripped Peggy's hand tighter instead, hot tears trickling down the cold skin of my face as I stared at them both in shock.
"Anna?"
I shuddered and briefly closed my eyes as a third voice entered the conversation. It couldn't be… It couldn't be… I hesitantly peeked up at the new figure who had just joined the other two in hovering over me and instantly felt my jaw slacken in disbelief. How…? I was dreaming, I had to be… It couldn't be…
"Anna?" he repeated softly, concern shining in his brilliant eyes that were partially hidden behind his usual round glasses. It couldn't be… It couldn't be…
I didn't want to take my eyes off of any of them, not even for a second, too scared that the moment my eyes left them, they would disappear again and I would be left dying back in that bare cell.
"…Abe?" I whispered disbelievingly. I blinked slowly, waiting for the three of them to disappear or waver before my eyes. But, when they didn't so much as flicker and just continued to stare down at me with concerned expressions, another sob tore its way out of my throat. It was them. They were truly here.
If I had the strength, I would've thrown myself at the three, I would've hugged them with everything I had, and I would have never let them go.
"Oh God, Abe… You're… How…" I sobbed, more tears leaking out of my eyes as I tried to find the words to explain, to make them understand what I was feeling right now. "I… I missed you… I missed you all so, so much."
"Shh, Anna, it's okay, it's okay…" Abe whispered to me quietly, reaching out to gently wipe the tears from my cheeks. It was useless though; the second his thumb brushed across my cheek, there was immediately another flood to replace them. He was here… They were here…
"I… I was having the worst dream. It was horrible. It was… It was horrible." I didn't even know if they could understand what I was saying or whether my words were just an unintelligible mess as I sobbed. I couldn't stop it though. I couldn't control myself. "I thought… I thought I'd lost you… I thought I'd… I'd never see you again…"
My head spun and my vision momentarily blurred again before their features started to stabilize above me once more.
Howard shushed me and continued to soothingly stroke the hair off of my damp forehead whilst Abe frowned and turned to Peggy questioningly. "What the bloody hell is happening to her? Is she going to be okay?" he questioned lowly. What…? Did he just…? My brows furrowed slightly and I blinked tiredly, swearing that I heard a hint of a British accent in Abe's low voice rather than his familiar German.
"Her fever… Through the roof… Must be…" I heard snippets of Peggy's low reply, but my brain was too hazy to figure out what they were talking about. I couldn't quite bring myself to care either. They were here, they were with me once more. That was all that mattered.
"Missed you… Missed you all so much…" I repeated in a mumble, tiredness washing over me. I blinked slowly and forced myself to keep my eyes open. I didn't want to close them. I didn't want this moment to end. "So good… T'be home…"
All three of them stared down at me with impossibly sad smiles and Howard shushed me again, his hand momentarily pausing at my words in stroking back my hair before he continued with even more gentleness, if that was even possible. The three briefly exchanged a look over my head before Abe brushed away the tears I hadn't even realized were still falling. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay now, Anna. Just close your eyes and get some rest, okay? You're safe now. You're safe…"
Safe. The word rang in my head, almost sounding foreign to my mind. But then, I stared up at the three faces above me—at the three people I loved more than anything else in this world—and suddenly, the word didn't seem so foreign to me anymore. They were my protection. They were my safety. They were my rock, my stability in this chaotic world.
They were my home.
"Just go to sleep, Anna. We're right here. It's okay."
And, as my eyes obligingly started to slide shut, I felt myself relax for the first time in what felt like forever. Peggy's reassuring grip on my hand, Howard's fingers running soothingly through my hair, Abe's low murmur and thumb gently brushing my cheek—it was all that I needed to find myself in a rare moment of utter serenity. I didn't need anything else in that moment. I was home.
"AUFSTEH! JETZT!"
The sudden, loud yell reverberated in the air, causing me to abruptly jerk awake again as the harsh, foreign words echoed in my ears. I stared up at Howard, Abe and Peggy above me with a confused frown, my mind sluggishly trying to figure out what was going on as the room flickered around me. "What's… What's going on? Who is that? What…?"
I glanced to the right—to where the shout had come from—to try and figure out who had made the sound, only to freeze as my bedroom flickered around me again before fading into a horribly familiar sight. Light wooden floors changed into rough, cold concrete. Warm cream walls changed into unforgiving gray bars. Soft comforters changed into worn male coats. Panic reared up inside of me, scrambling my already hazy mind as I frantically looked back to Howard, Abe and Peggy to ask them what the hell was happening.
A wordless cry escaped me as I stared up at the three. "No…" I whispered hoarsely, a choked sob ripping through my throat and tears trickling back down my face as realization hit. Gabe, Falsworth and Dugan winced and continued to stare sadly down at me.
Had I been dreaming of home? Or was I just trapped in an unending nightmare of being a prisoner? What was fake? More importantly, what was real? I couldn't tell anymore. I couldn't distinguish the difference between the fabric of fantasy and reality. But did it really even matter anymore? All I knew was that I was in a cell, once again. A prisoner of war, once again. Away from my friends, my home, once again.
A quiet shuffling was heard to my left and my gaze snapped over to the sound, more tears falling from my eyes when I saw Dernier slowly standing and approaching from where he had been checking a bruised, battered, and unconscious Bucky over next to me. My eyes flickered down to where my left hand was still joined with Bucky's—as it had been ever since the Lohmer incident—and another sob tore through my throat as I realized which of the two 'realities' seemed more likely.
No… I want to wake up… I want to go home…
I briefly closed my eyes before glancing back over at the other three, hopelessly wishing with every fiber of my being that when I looked back at them, the smiling faces of Howard, Abe and Peggy would be looking down at me once more. Even though I knew it was useless, I still felt the crushing devastation hit me hard in the stomach when my eyes fell on the sad faces of my fellow prisoners. My heart clenched and my breathing turned ragged as the cold weight of reality settled in. I may never see my friends again, hell, I may never leave this place again. I may never get to have fondue nights with Howard again. I may never get to have late-night chats with Peggy, or drag her down to the pub for a drink after a long day again. I may never get to see Steve again, may never look into his beautiful blue eyes or see his breathtaking smile.
My chest tightened. My throat constricted. Blood roared in my ears.
I couldn't breathe… Fuck, I couldn't breathe…
"Breathe, Anna," Dugan's worried voice sounded from next to me. If I'd had enough oxygen in my lungs to snap a snarky retort, then I would have. But, as it were, that seemed to be my problem. Panic flared inside of me, only making the situation worse as I panted harshly in shallow gasps, desperately trying to quench the ever-increasing need for oxygen.
It was too much. Everything was just too much.
"Breathe with me, Anna. In, and out… In, and out…" Gabe instructed, exaggerating his slow breathing in an attempt to help calm me down. But even as I tried to comply, I found I couldn't. Black dots danced across my vision, the loud crackling in my chest ringing eerily in my ears as I failed to regain function of my lungs. I felt like a million weights were pressing down on my chest, slowly crushing my ribs, slowly crushing the life out of me.
A sharp stinging pain abruptly flashed across the side of my face and my head snapped to the side. I clenched my eyes shut against the sensation, feeling my chest tighten further.
"Dugan!" Falsworth hissed. "What the fuck?"
"I heard that helps when someone is panicking!"
"Hitting them across the face?" Falsworth replied, voice an octave higher than usual. "You're unbelievable. You can't just—"
"Guys, shut the hell up." A hand gently brushed the hair off my forehead as silence fell. "Focus on me, Anna. Come on, just focus on me. It's alright. You're going to be alright. I just need you to copy me, okay? Can you do that?" Gabe hushed, his voice low and soothing. "Breathe in… And out… Breathe in… And out…"
The words brought an odd sense of déjà vu with them, images flitting through my head of when I said a similar thing to Steve during his asthma attack during training what seems like a lifetime ago. A warm feeling sparked in my chest as more images replayed through my mind.
The day we met at the Expo. The determination he had as he pushed himself through training. Him being chosen for the procedure. The way he had intently examined my eyes after he had transformed. The way I'd felt when I'd been wrapped in his arms as I hugged him goodbye.
My lips curled up slightly at the edges from the memories and warmth flooded through my veins. More images filtered behind my closed eyelids and, slowly but surely, my chest started to loosen, the cool air of our cell gradually starting to ease its way back into my lungs in deep, rattling breaths.
I tiredly let my head drop back to the floor and opened my eyes, my body shaking violently as I continued to greedily gulp as much air as I could, ignoring the sharp chest pains that accompanied the action.
"Dogs! Follow me!" our regular guard, a man called Fritz, called out from the entrance to our cell as he started to unlock the door.
The four men next to me exchanged a long look. "We can't leave them like this!" Falsworth whispered to the others indignantly, not budging an inch as he stared imploringly at them.
"We don't have a choice," Gabe muttered grimly, warily looking over his shoulder to where Fritz was swinging open our cell door with an impatient look on his hard face.
Fritz bashed his baton loudly against the bars to the cell. "This is your last warning. Move it!"
Pull yourself together, Anna. You can't break now. You have to stay strong.
I stubbornly shook my head slightly, trying to clear the fog cloying my senses as I determinedly tried to clamber to my feet alongside the others. I wasn't going to die. Not here, not like this, not now. I was going to get through this. I was going to see Peggy and Howard again. I was going to see Steve again.
My thoughts were cut off as a searing pain arced across my body when I was only about an inch off the floor. An agonized cry involuntarily escaped my lips as I fell back to the hard ground with a dull thud. Harsh tremors shook my body as I violently coughed and a hand suddenly appeared, smoothing back my hair whilst a small tub was held under my face so I could choke up the horrible dark red mucus into it. I stayed in that position for a long moment after the coughs had finally subsided, not daring to move in case I made the stabbing pains in my chest any worse.
My attention was eventually drawn back to the others as Dugan's hand reluctantly left my hair. I grunted weakly and uselessly fought to lift my body again, but Gabe placed a firm hand on my shoulder and shook his head. "Get some rest, Anna. You and Bucky aren't going anywhere today."
"But—"
"No. Rest. It will be okay," Dugan cut me off gently, shooting a glare over his shoulder at Fritz as he bashed his baton against the cell bars again.
"Don't make me come in there, you dogs. Get out here! Now!"
The four men exchanged another long look over my head before reluctantly climbing to their feet one by one after quietly bidding me farewell: Dugan softly pressing a kiss to my forehead, Dernier stroking my damp hair back off of my forehead, Gabe tightly squeezing my hand in reassurance, and Falsworth gently brushing the lingering tears off of my cheeks with a sad smile. Gabe quickly checked Bucky over as the others reluctantly shuffled over to the door, before he too followed, leaving me and Bucky alone. I slumped backwards, too tired to fight their demands as my eyes slipped shut and I immediately drifted off into a restless sleep.
XxXxXx
"Here," Dugan muttered quietly. He glanced over his shoulder to check no one was watching before he subtly pulled the small bag of gunpowder he had managed to steal out of his jacket and handed it over to Dernier. The Frenchman nodded his head in thanks and turned to the small pile of objects beside him, consisting of components that he had requested Dugan, Falsworth and Gabe smuggle to him if they wanted this plan to work.
Dugan nodded back before casually walking away and slowly going about his workload. He kept a close eye on Dernier the entire time though, just waiting for the signal to be given that would initiate the next part of Falsworth's plan. Dernier ignored him and bent his head, quickly getting to work. His eyes flicked up and scanned the surrounding guards every now and again for any sign of them catching onto what he was doing, before returning back to where his hands were mixing the components with skilful ease.
A pinch of this, a grind of that… He barely even had to think about what he was doing, his hands seeming to move of their own accord. He couldn't even count how many times he'd created the substance before. Given, he'd never used such a collection of odd scraps (basically whatever the group of them could plausibly get their hands on) before, but he was confident it would work all the same. Nearly there, he thought to himself as he started to brush the finished substance into a small bag. He noticed Colonel Lohmer stride over to where Lieutenant Kleiber was standing nearby and listened closely to their hushed conversation as he worked.
"We're two short. Where the fuck are those two imbeciles I had a… disagreement with yesterday?"
"Fritz told me they're ill, sir. Sounds like they're too weak to stand, never mind work."
"I don't give a fuck if they're coughing up their own goddamn organs, Kleiber! Go get their asses out here right now!"
Dernier winced and hurriedly tied the bag to the metal chain, attaching a long makeshift fuse to it before operating the control panel to slowly swing the chain out into position.
"Colonel, I can't do that. They'll die if—"
Lohmer's nostrils flared at his inferior's defiance. "Then they'll goddamn die working like the dogs they are!" Kleiber opened his mouth to argue, but Lohmer shot him a dark look before he could say a word. "Do not make me ask again, Kleiber… Go. Get. Them. Now."
Kleiber hesitated, his fists subtly clenching and unclenching at his side before he jerkily nodded his head and turned. Dernier's breath hitched in panic when the Lieutenant's eyes caught sight of him stood next to the controls of the crane—somewhere he most definitely wasn't supposed to be—before trailing up to the chain next to him. The Frenchman could see the gears turning in the German guard's head, could see the realization dawn on his face, before his eyes returned to where he was stood frozen, like a rabbit being circled out in the open by a whole goddamn army of foxes.
Dernier tensed, waiting for the other man to call him out and ruin their plan before doing God-knows-what to them all, but he let out a surprised breath when the other man merely nodded to him slightly before walking away without a single word to Lohmer behind him. The Frenchman watched the Lieutenant's retreat closely for a pause, wondering whether it was all some sort of trick, before he shook himself off and decided that he wasn't in any position to question the opportunity they'd apparently been given. Instead, he turned and quickly gave Dugan the signal he had been, rather impatiently, waiting for.
"Fuck!" Dugan immediately cursed loudly as he tipped over the cart he'd been pushing, purposefully spilling the contents of the cart all over the floor with a loud crash. Dugan paused for a moment, staring down at the contents scattered on the warehouse floor in front him before he turned and shrugged nonchalantly, giving Lohmer a defiant grin.
As hoped, Lohmer glared daggers at him and didn't waste a second in storming across the warehouse from where he had been watching the POWs work. Dugan shot Dernier a 'hurry up' look as Lohmer pulled out his baton and swung it menacingly at his side whilst he approached.
Dernier nodded, hastily lighting the end of the makeshift fuse with a stolen match and watching with anticipation as the flame quickly traveled up the long cord. He didn't have to wait long until the flame reached the chain and ignited with the substance he had created, just as Colonel Lohmer unintentionally stepped into place underneath. Dernier almost sighed in relief. Everything was going to plan.
Silence. A pause. Dugan tensed and shot Dernier a frantic look. Falsworth froze and stared at the chain in horror, his mind already racing with another multitude of potential plans to save Anna and Barnes. Gabe lowered his head in disappointment and sighed.
Why was it not working? He had done everything right… It should have… Dernier's stomach clenched as he stared at the unmoving chain. He'd failed them. He'd failed Dugan, Falsworth and Gabe. More importantly, he'd failed Anna and Barnes. They'd all been counting on him—not that two of them knew it. They'd all been counting on him, and he'd failed. Christ, if Barnes and Anna didn't make it… It would be because of him. He couldn't even bare to think about it. He closed his eyes and his fists clenched at his side. He didn't understand. It should have worked.
A slight hissing sound reached his ears a second later, followed by a loud creak, a short-lived desperate yell, and then a deafening crash that boomed throughout the warehouse and shook the foundations he was standing on.
The Frenchman's eyes immediately snapped back open and a small, relieved smile tugged at his lips as his gaze landed on the satisfying sight in front of him.
XxXxXx
I was abruptly roused from my sleep again sometime later by shouting and herds of footsteps pounding across the floor. I groaned and squinted my eyes slightly, weakly turning my head to watch as all of the prisoners were shoved back into their cells by multiple guards, a heavy tension hanging in the air around them. Dugan, Gabe, Falsworth and Dernier were roughly pushed back into our cell a few moments later.
Fritz knocked off Dugan's trademark bowler hat with his baton as he shoved him through the door to our cell, smirking infuriatingly. Dugan quickly caught it before he turned to the guard with an overly cheerful smile on his face, a dangerous gleam entering his eye as he carefully placed his beloved bowler hat back on his head. "You know, Fritz, one of these days I'll have a stick of my own."
I snorted quietly in amusement at the words, but instantly regretted it as my chest constricted tightly and another small coughing fit wracked my body. I distantly noted Fritz shoot one last glare at all of us before slamming the door to our cell shut and storming off with the other guards following right behind him. Once they had all left, the guys turned to where Bucky and I were led with concerned looks on their faces, Gabe and Dugan instantly making their way to our sides to check us over.
"What happened?" I breathed quietly, confused by the whole squad of armed guards that had escorted all of the prisoners back to their cells. And, even though I had lost all concept of time in this place, it still seemed way too early for them to have finished the increased production quota for the day. Bucky, who had woken alongside me, nodded in silent agreement to my question as we both stared at the others. Our rattling breaths seemed to echo loudly in the momentary silence that hung over us.
The four exchanged a glance with each other, seeming to be silently debating something amongst themselves before Falsworth eventually turned back to us with a shrug. "There was an accident today, involving Lohmer. They sent all of us back whilst they… cleaned up," he muttered in explanation.
"Lohmer?" I choked out, wheezing slightly from the strain of talking. I stubbornly pushed through, determined not to give up. I wanted to know what they had done to him, because—even though my head was pounding like someone was hitting it repeatedly with a hammer, making it almost impossible to form a coherent thought—I just knew that they had been the ones behind it. "What… you do?"
"That's what I want to know," Bucky coughed, his hand still weakly gripping onto mine. He shifted from where he was lying down beside me, the movement causing a low groan of pain to escape him.
"Don't worry. He won't be causing either of you any harm again."
"Dropped a crane of scrap metal on the bastard."
Gabe and Dugan said at the same time—Gabe in a soothing tone and Dugan with a snarl, his face showing no remorse as he spat the words out with a glint of satisfaction in his eye. Gabe glared at Dugan and shook his head whilst Falsworth chuckled lightly in the background.
"You…" Bucky trailed off slowly, processing what we had just been told.
"You're both safe for now, Jimmy. Don't you worry," Dugan commented, glancing down at my tired face with a small wince.
"I told you. Don't… call me Jimmy, Dum Dum," Bucky muttered back, shooting a weak glare of annoyance in Dugan's general direction.
"Dum Dum? I've never heard a more accurate name for someone before," Falsworth snorted with a grin, chuckling in amusement when Dugan growled and shot him a filthy look.
"What about you, you chinless wonder?" Dugan shot back. I mentally rolled my eyes at him for making yet another jab at Falsworth being British.
"At least even you admit I'm a wonder. I'm afraid I can't say the same for you. We all know the only wonder about you is your lack of intelligence, Dum Dum," Falsworth quickly retaliated, a wide smile pulling at his lips as he emphasized the new nickname.
"Look… what you caused, pretty boy. They're never gonna… let that drop," I muttered quietly to Bucky beside me, wincing as another series of heaving coughs soon followed. I weakly leant back over the small tub to spit out the bloody mucus I had yet again choked up before resting my head tiredly back against the floor, trying to ignore the now almost familiar taste of copper in my mouth.
XxXxXx
October 18, 1943
I was pulled from my restless slumber as Bucky twisted and turned in his sleep beside me, groaning lowly in pain every time the movement irritated his broken ribs. I distantly heard him muttering under his breath, his grip on my hand almost painfully tight as he kept repeating unintelligible words under his breath. I squinted slightly and strained my ears as I tried to make out what he was saying, but everything was weirdly distorted around me, as if my head had been shoved under water and I was trying to view the outside world from under its depths. A whimper escaped his lips, the sound muffled and warped to my ears, and somewhere at the back of my hazy mind I vaguely realized he must be having a nightmare.
I croaked out his name, blindly flinging my free hand out in his direction in an attempt to wake him. My hand was so numb that I didn't even feel it as it hit the hard muscle of Bucky's arm, but I knew that I must have hit something when he abruptly jerked awake with a start beside me. Grey tinged the edges of my vision and my head throbbed nauseatingly against my skull, but I forced my eyes to stay open, somehow knowing that he needed me right now.
"You… You 'kay?" I asked lowly, not wanting to wake the others.
I waited patiently for him to speak, not wanting to force him into talking before he was ready to. I used the time to try and steady my own uneven breathing, wincing at the crackling noise still sounding in my lungs. Had it got louder? Or was I just imagining it?
"Miss home… Miss him," Bucky eventually admitted quietly to me after a long pause. I tightened my clammy grip on his hand at the words, a faint image flickering into my mind of a handsome guy in his military uniform arguing with his skinny friend in an enlistment building. A tiny smile pulled at my dry, cracked lips at the memory and, for some reason, I didn't even need to ask him who he was referring to. Somehow, I just knew he was talking about Steve. A dull ache flared in my chest for a completely different reason than my illness then, a longing to see the blonde who had so quickly managed to worm his way into my heart knotting deep in my stomach.
"Tell me about him. Tell me… Tell me 'bout Steve." The low, hoarse words were out of my mouth before my brain even registered that I was saying them. After what had happened yesterday, I craved some sort of comfort again, craved some sort of familiarity and peace in this absolute hellhole of a place.
"You… know him?"
I felt a faint flicker of surprise at the question and frowned slightly as I tried to recall my memories of the past few weeks. Why had I never brought up the fact that I knew Steve before? Was it because of the ache that flared in my chest whenever I thought about not seeing him or the others again? Or was it just because I wanted to be able to see Bucky's face when he first sees Steve's transformation? I couldn't be sure. Everything was a jumbled mess in my mind.
I tried to nod slightly. "Met him at… at the Expo. Saw you there too. Lookin' pretty in... your uniform."
Bucky smiled faintly. "I met him in a back alley. Started a fight he… he couldn't finish. Jumped in. Saved his ass. We… we've been best friends ever since." His glazed eyes seemed to brighten the slightest bit as he spoke about Steve, and I didn't have to ask to know that he was feeling the same serenity, the same comfort, from the words as I was.
"I guess… you had to save his ass a lot, huh?" I commented with a weak grin, fondly thinking of Steve's stubbornness. The memory of him pointing out all of the places he had been beaten up in the car ride before the procedure briefly flitted through my mind, and I knew Bucky must have had his hands full trying to keep him out of trouble. I tried to chuckle at the thought, only for heaving coughs to wrack my body at the movement and a severe pain to burn through my chest.
I groaned weakly, my head spinning sickeningly as I slumped back down. My eyes fluttered shut of their own accord, exhaustion clawing its way through me and trying to pull me back down into the dark abyss of sleep.
"More times than I… I can count," Bucky's hoarse voice responded quietly, a fond note to his tone as he reminisced. I turned my head in his direction, tiredly keeping my eyes closed. "He was… a punk. Kept tryin' to enlist, even… even tho' he… list of ailments… long as my arm."
Bucky's voice faded in and out of my hearing as I slowly lost the fight against the darkness and started to drift off. Somewhere at the back of my head, I knew he was fading fast too as his grip on my hand loosened ever so slightly and his words became more disjointed and slurred. The last words I heard before I fell into unconsciousness would have made me smile if I had the energy:
"Skinny kid… from… from Broo'lyn."
XxXxXx
"Now in charge… Colonel Lohmer… Pronounced dead at… on 17th October…" Words floated in and out of my hearing as I slowly came to with a groan. The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Was it… Fritz? No, that's not right. Lohmer? Definitely not. Lieutenant Kleiber? Yes, maybe. "…Following the unfortunate accident that occurred during production…" I missed the pointed look he shot the others in the cell, closing my eyes again. "…All POWs… reduced rations for a week… punishment... can't be proved..."
Footsteps echoed a few minutes later, keys jangling as a door was shut and locked before the sounds faded away into the distance. Low mutters from my cellmates filled the air, but I didn't care about whatever had just been announced. My mind was caught on one thing.
"It's… 17th?" I breathed, squinting my glazed eyes slightly as I tried to turn my head. Gabe and Dugan immediately rushed to my side, peering down at me worriedly as they tried to shush me and a hand stroked my matted hair back, although I couldn't tell who's. I could barely even make out their faces, everything seeming blurry and distorted as I tried my hardest to focus.
"Shh, don't try to talk, Anna. Save your strength," Gabe murmured to me in a soothing tone, his brow furrowed in worry as he rested the back of his hand on my forehead to feel my temperature. I knew the frown on his face wasn't a good sign as he removed his hand from my damp skin moments later, but I couldn't bring myself to care. What date it was suddenly seemed like the most important thing in the world to me.
"17th?" I asked again, my hoarse voice coming out so low that it was barely audible.
Falsworth's head entered my blurry vision as he appeared next to Dugan and Gabe, the three exchanging glances over my head in confusion before Falsworth muttered to the two in a low voice. "Is she having delusions again?"
"It's possible. Her fever is—"
I cut Gabe off, trying to shake my head, but soon giving up when I found I didn't have the energy to move it. "Is... 17th?"
They all exchanged a glance again before Dugan shrugged and Gabe looked down at me. "No, the 17th was yesterday, Anna. We came back early and told you about the accident with Lohmer, remember?"
I blinked in confusion, not remembering the conversation. Actually, I couldn't remember much of anything in general. Just distorted images and muffled sounds, as if everything was a distant dream I had once had a long time ago. For some reason, one fact stood out to me though: it was the 18th. I couldn't remember anything, but I could strangely remember one detail about myself. "Birthday. 18th."
Dugan, Gabe and Falsworth stared blankly at me for a pause, probably straining to hear my whispered words over the incessant wheezing sound my breathing was making, but then realization dawned on Falsworth's face. "It's your birthday today?"
I managed the barest hint of a nod and the three smiled down at me. "How old are you? 22?"
"You don't ask a lady that," Falsworth quietly hissed, his British accent ringing through more than usual as he hit Dugan in the ribs with his elbow.
"Here we go again with the British propriety. I thought we got past this," Dugan instantly retaliated with a roll of the eyes, shooting an annoyed look to the Brit beside him.
I frowned at the question though, ignoring the three bickering men as my brain went blank in confusion. How old was I? When was I born? Where was I born? What...?
"You don't mind, do you, Annie?" Dugan joked lightheartedly as he glanced away from Falsworth to look down at me, obviously trying to get me to side with him on whatever they were arguing about now.
I didn't respond to him, the nickname ringing in my ears, strangely familiar to me. Annie. Where had I heard that before? A distorted image of a familiar, handsome dark-haired man with a flirty smile suddenly flashed before my eyes. Annie… My eyes became unfocused as a faint memory slowly surfaced.
—
"Are you crazy?" a beautiful, dark-haired woman demanded as she stormed into the room with a handsome man following right behind her, both looking equally as angry as each other.
I glanced up at them, feeling a slight twinge of guilt briefly twist in my gut before it was drowned out by my previous steely determination. I shrugged noncommittally and turned back to shoving basic clothes into the bag that I normally used for long missions. "Probably."
"You're not going," the woman snapped, striding further into the room and grabbing my arm to gently, but firmly, pull me away from the items I was packing on my bed.
I gave her a look, raising an eyebrow slightly as I carefully pulled my arm out of her grip. "Yes, I am."
The dark-haired man shook his head and walked over to stand beside the woman, his face unusually serious as he stared down at me. "No, you're not, Annie. We can't just let you—"
I cut him off before he could finish. "Those bastards killed Abe, Howie. I'm sure as hell not going to sit on my ass and let them run free while I could be doing something about it."
"Anna, please! Just think about this for a moment—" the woman started to speak, an almost pleading tone entering her voice as she stared at me in worry, but I cut her off before she could finish in the same way as I had just done to the man.
"Guys, stop! All I'm doing is infiltrating a HYDRA base, alongside the 107th, and collecting any valuable strategic information that I can find. I've been on dozens of missions like this before, so why are you both reacting like this about this particular one?"
There was a pause where they both glanced at each other before the woman eventually replied in a soft voice. "We're worried about you, Anna. You shouldn't be going on a mission alone so soon after Erskine's death."
"I won't be alone. I'll be with the 107th," I repeated, giving them both a confused look.
"She meant alone as in without either of us there," the man clarified with a small frown, his eyes heavy with concern as he stared down at me.
"I'll be fine. I know how to keep a clear head on missions, you both know that."
There was another long pause after I had spoke, both scrutinizing me intently with their eyes.
"What happened to never wanting to be parted on missions again?" the woman weakly teased after a moment, breaking the silence that had fallen. I breathed a silent sigh of relief at the words, knowing that was her way of reluctantly accepting me going.
"We both know Phillips would have never gone for it anyway," I snorted lightly, reaching out to squeeze her upper arm gently as I gave her a small smile.
"Be careful, Gracie," she muttered to me as she briefly covered my hand that was placed on her arm with her own and squeezed lightly in worry.
"Always am." I nodded at her, pulling my hand back so that I could give her a mock salute whilst a mischievous smirk curled up the edges of my lips. She snorted slightly in response, shaking her head in exasperation with a small chuckle.
After a moment, I turned to look at the handsome man with an expectant look when he continued to stay unusually quiet, raising an eyebrow at him with a small smile when he eventually sighed. "You sure as hell better come back in one piece."
"You're hardly one to talk after the amount of times you've almost blown yourself up in your lab," I teased, my smile widening as I saw him roll his eyes and a small smirk twitch at his lips.
"That was one time, Annie. One time," he shot back with an exasperated shake of his head, causing me to chuckle slightly.
"Try not to make it go up to two while I'm gone, yeah?" I winked, smirking when he rolled his eyes and shot me a dirty look whilst trying to hide his smile.
—
I let out a choked sob as the memory faded away, the action inducing another violent coughing fit as I rolled over onto my side and choked out the bloody mucus that rose in the back of my throat. A single tear slipped out of my eye as I lay there afterwards, fighting to catch my breath and trying to ignore the stabbing pains exploding in my chest. A faint image of their familiar faces echoed in my mind and my heart clenched painfully as their names came back to me through the thick fog clouding my brain. Howard. Peggy.
"Happy… Birthday, princess," Bucky's weak voice sounded from beside me, breaking me from my pained thoughts. I somehow managed to find the energy to roll my head to face him, seeing the tiniest hint of a smile on his pale, damp face as he tiredly stared at me.
"Thanks, pretty boy," I whispered back quietly.
And if he noticed the extra hoarseness to my voice, he didn't comment on it. Nor did he comment when he noticed the tear rolling down my cheek. He just weakly reached up with his free hand and carefully wiped the moisture away with his thumb before letting his arm drop back to the floor with a tired grunt. I somehow managed to pull my lips up into a small smile at his actions, my eyes fluttering closed from exhaustion once again as he weakly squeezed our joined hands in silent reassurance.
Author's Note:
Um, hi? *hides as rotten food is chucked at her* I'm so, so sorry for the long wait, guys! I've not only been super-busy, but I've also been writing and then re-writing (and then re-writing again) this chapter a ridiculous amount of times. *sighs* The pursuit of perfection is an unending and frustrating one. And yes, I know this is nowhere near perfect, but I'm going to drive myself crazy if I change this one more time.
So, I'm not going to lie, I may or may not (eh, who am I kidding, it was definitely the former) have cried whilst writing the beginning of this chapter with the whole hallucination scene. I guess I could chalk it up to the fact that I was listening to very (heartbreakingly) sad music whilst writing it... In which case, I seriously need to make a note to self to never do that again. XD
Timeline
Again, there are no actual dates of when certain events happened with the Howling Commandos capture at HYDRA, so I have made all dates up for the purpose of this story. Certain events of this chapter were inspired by the comic books containing the Howling Commandos' capture and time at the HYDRA base. I take no credit for these ideas, only my own outlook on them.
Oh, and in case anyone is curious: it was Anna's 25th birthday. I've placed her as being born in 1918, three months after Steve.
Follows
OH MY GOD, WE'VE HIT 100 FOLLOWS AND I SWEAR I'M HAVING HEART PALPITATIONS AND I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH FOR THE AMAZING SUPPORT… *clears throat* Sorry about the caps, guys. As you can tell, I'm a little excitable right now. BUT I DON'T EVEN CARE BECAUSE 100 FOLLOWS. I LOVE YOU ALL. YOU'RE ALL INSANELY AMAZING HUMAN BEINGS. I'm not even sorry for the second time. ;)
As you can tell, I'm walking on cloud nine right now. And so, I thought to celebrate hitting 100 follows, I'd do something special. After much debate about what to do, I thought I could send each and every reviewer for this chapter a sneak preview of the upcoming chapter (unfortunately, this will obviously only work for those signed in—sorry to all my lovely guest reviewers, I'll try to think of something for you guys too). What do you guys think? Is that something you'd be interested in?
Reviews
Kimberley: Thank you so much! I was pretty worried about introducing them all, tbh. They all have such big characters (*cough* Dugan *cough*) and I really wanted to try and capture that as much as possible in their introduction. They're finally starting to come together a bit more as a group now and—although they don't know it yet—have just performed their first successful mission as the Howling Commandos. Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much, hunn! x
Jo: Hello again, my lovely loyal reviewer! *hugs* It actually brings a smile to my face to know that every time I post a chapter, I'll see a comment from you that will brighten my day, so thank you a million times over. Words can't even begin to describe how much of a huge encouragement that is for me! And don't worry, they got away with it and didn't do anything *too* radical. I hope all is well with you and that you enjoyed this chapter!
infinateconstellations: Eek! I'm so, so happy that you love the interactions between the Howling Commandos, and Anna and Bucky's friendship! I originally never meant to write Anna and Bucky (slowly but surely) becoming such close friends. But alas, they just seem to be writing themselves and I just can't help but love their budding friendship with each other. I can definitely promise there will be a lot more cute moments between the two as the story goes on! Thank you so much for taking the time to review and I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
BeccaSco: OH MY GOD. THANK YOU SOO MUCH YOU BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING HUMAN BEING! Your review brought such a huge smile to my face and I absolutely love you for it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
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Let me know your thoughts on this chapter, guys! (Pretty please?) I love hearing from you all and it really does make me write faster when I get some feedback from all of you lovely readers!
Until next time! x