The Rose Maskell

by Isdaren

"Hey! Breaking arms is my thing, find yourself another hobby." Meet Elizabeth Rose Maskell, cosmic entity of Infinity and caretaker of worlds. (Undergoing a re-write.)

10. Chapter 9 - The Fall

Senator Brandt stood in front of many people, not excluding the press, as he finished his speech on valour and courage.

-"I am honoured to present, this medal for valour, to my personal friend. Captain America."-

It was the next day, and it was bright and sunny.

News of Steve Rogers exploits had travelled fast, and soon enough, everyone was looking for him trying to offer him medals, jobs and many other recognitions.

Thanks to the fact that Rose was a government secret, she was able to escape all the media frenzy, only accepting a small private medal in thanks of her services to America.

All the public knew about her were whispers of a woman named something like Royce Mackel, who was rumoured to be the Captain's girl.

-"Captain America!"-

When he didn't come up from behind the curtains, Brandt started to fidget uncomfortably.

-"Captain, that's your cue."- He joked.

No one laughed and no one came out.

Finally the curtain moved and Brandt thought he could breathe easier, until he saw the man who came through.

Whispering with the man, the audience looked on curiously.

-"I thought he'd be taller."-

-T.R.M.-

-"They had one here in Poland, and the Baltic. The sixth one was... about... here. 30, 40 miles west of the Maginot line."-

Steve's nonattendance to his own awarding ceremony was due to the fact that he was already starting to work.

After yesterday's debacle, everyone had gotten clean, shaven and prepped for duty once more.

-"I just got a quick look"- Steve said, after he had finished pointing the remembered bases he had seen in the now destroyed compound.

Peggy had been sitting on the table, watching the man mark the map.

When he finished, she took a deep breath, signalling for the nearest man to put away the map.

-"Nobody's perfect"-

-"... Weeell."-

The pair turned around to find Rose making her way over to them. Taking the map from the soldier who was holding it, she quickly made some new marks.

After the amazing kiss from yesterday morning, Steve really didn't know where he stood in regards to Rosebeth. She was so unpredictable that he had no idea what to expect or how to act.

There was also the fact that she had kissed him even though she had promised to... fondue with Howard.

Shaking his head, he followed Peggy Carter as she spoke to the Colonel.

-"These are the weapon factories we heard about. Sergeant Barnes said that Hydra shipped all the parts to another facility that isn't on this map."-

-"Agent Carter, co-ordinate with MI6. I want every allied eyeball looking for that main Hydra base."- He said, not bothering to ask Rose for its location.

He had a large bruise on his shoulder after that conversation had gone awry.

-"What about us?"-

-"We are going to set a fire under Johann Schmidt's ass."-

Phillips turned towards Steve.

-"What do you say, Rogers? It's your map; you think you can wipe Hydra off of it?"-

Rose walked towards them, having finished her final touches on the map

Steve nodded -"Yes, sir... I'll need a team."-

-"We're already putting together the best men… and Maskell."-

Rose stopped in her tracks, running all the possibilities in her mind, viewing them and dissecting them all in less than 2 seconds.

-"No."-

Everyone turned to stare at Rose.

Quickly dismissing the blond woman standing on the Colonel's right (who sent her a small glare and received a scarier one in return), she turned towards her 3 closest friends.

-"I've already interfered more than I should in Earth's affairs. I will help, but like everything else I do, it's going to be unofficial."-

Turning towards Steve, she inclined her head.

-"I'll go on some missions with you, but some others will be yours alone."-

Rose sighed at their confused expressions. They still didn't understand why she couldn't help too much.

-"I can't be a part of an official team. I'm sorry. I still have other worlds to take care of, and if they realise how much time I spend here... They might not like it and decide to retaliate."-

The hushed conversation caught the attention of all the agents around, all of them straining to catch a whisper of what they spoke of.

Thanks to Rose, they heard nothing.

Slowly nodding everyone agreed with her logic (and were slightly freaked out at the possibility of an alien attack).

Turning back to the matter at hand, Steve nodded at the Colonel.

-"Well, with all due respect sir, I am assembling a team too."-

-T.R.M.-

Getting ready for a night out with the boys, Rose was trying to find a decent dress, when Peggy entered her tent.

-"Hey there Pegs! (-"you can only call me that in private"- Peggy had told her), how can I help you?"- She asked.

Peggy stood at the entrance, staring as she thought I'd the best way to start the conversation.

Well, like Rose liked to say...

To hell with this shit.

-"I saw my wedding picture."-

Dropping the dress she was holding up against the mirror, Rose whirled around to look at her.

Feeling uncomfortable with her penetrating stare, Peggy inched slowly inside the room, sitting on her bed as she started to absentmindedly play with the quilt.

-"Ok."-

Peggy looked up, her mouth wide open as Rose dismissed her confession.

-"Ok?"-

-"Yes, O.K... Now I only know I have to leave one of the wedding frames up."-

Peggy sent her a puzzled look, her mind trying to comprehend her "Infinity babble".

-"I haven't hung the picture yet, but now I will have to."-

Peggy's face scrunched up further.

-"You came inside and told me you saw the picture. I haven't hung up that picture in your time. I hang up the picture as soon as I can, because if I don't, we wouldn't even be having this conversation... Capiche?"-

Peggy sighed laying face up on the bed.

-"My head hurts thanks to all the Infinity babble, but I believe I got the gist of it."-

Despite Rose not asking, Peggy offered the information, hoping to make it easier for her to place.

-"The first time I saw it, was when I just met you... I thought Phillips was my husband-to-be."-

Rose gave an unladylike snort.

-"The next time was when I got trapped during the warehouse mission. I used the watch you gave me to get into your house."-

Rose nodded, discarding the dress she held as she looked for another.

-"Thanks dearie"-

A few moments of silence passed before Peggy couldn't keep it in any longer.

She gave a small sob.

Not having expected Peggy to burst out crying, Rose's eyes widened as she threw the dress away in her hurry to reach her friend.

-"There, there... What's wrong?"-

-"I'm just so overwhelmed; I don't know what to do to not mess up my future! How can you stand it?! I've seen the pictures, but I have no idea who it is I've got to marry! How am I supposed to marry him if I don't even know him?!"-

A smirk made its way onto Rose's face, despite the fact that the situation didn't really call for it.

-"Up till now, five timelines have collapsed on you because you haven't met or married your would-have-been husband."-

On second thoughts, maybe that wasn't the best thing she could have said...

Peggy had now grabbed a pillow and was trying to suffocate herself.

Watching her with a hint of amusement, Rose thought of the things to come.

Or the lack thereof.

Rose was slightly worried. If she tried to look into the closer future, all she saw was a great big smudge of grey.

When she tried to look into either Bucky or Steve's future, all she came up with was a huge grey space.

This barely ever happened to her.

When she discussed this with them (and explained the significance), they were initially worried, but soon relaxed and told her that sometimes not knowing was for the best... -'Keeps you on your toes'- they had said.

After hearing their words she calmed down slightly and decided to let things pass.

Laughing as Peggy kicked her legs in frustration; she pulled her up and threw the murderous pillow away.

-"Sometimes, some events are always meant to happen, even if you change choices at last minute... Some other times, you don't know what is coming and you have to wait for it."-

Lifting Peggy chin off her shoulder she

-"Sweetheart, you shouldn't plan your life around what you know... You should live without the fear of your knowledge. Everything resolves itself by the end."-

Standing up and bringing Peggy up with her, she straightened Peggy's uniform and cleaned her face from the few tracks her tears had left.

-"You go ahead and stand strong. There are dark days ahead of everyone, but you know what? You're Margaret Carter; you are the female definition of stubborn. You show them that everything will be alright in the end."-

Barely restraining herself from clapping at Rose's mini speech, Peggy sniffled and hugged her tightly.

-"Thank you Rose, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on… I am here too."-

And with that she turned, her head up high and left the tent, thinking to herself...

Maybe some things are meant to happen, no matter what paths you take.

-T.R.M.-

-"So let's get this straight. We barely got out of there alive, and you want us to go back?"-

Dum Dum Dugan was sitting beside all his pals, drinking in a nearby pub as they listened to Rogers' absurd proposal.

When Steve had told the Colonel that he had his own team, he hadn't been lying.

The problem was that he hadn't asked them for help yet.

Grimacing as he belatedly realised he should have thought this through, he nodded nevertheless.

-"...Pretty much."-

The table stared at him, their faces unreadable.

James Falsworth was the first to answer.

-"Sounds rather, fun actually."-

Jim Morita took a swig of his drink, burping a few seconds after.

-"I'm in."-

-"Moi, je combattrai jusqu'à Ce que le dernier de ces bâtards soient morts, enchaînés ou bien pleurent comme un petit bébé."- Jacques Dernier shouted, slamming his beer into the table. ('I will fight until the last of those bastards are dead, chained or cry like a little baby.')

Hesitatingly choosing his words, Gabe Jones nodded.

-"J'espère que Ce sera tous les trois."-

('I hope it will be all three.')

Dernier laughed loudly, clapping Jones loudly on the back.

-"Moi aussi."-

('Me too')

Steve and the other men looked at Jones expectantly, not having understood any of their French conversation.

Realising they were waiting for their answer, Gabe grinned.

-"We're in."-

They whole table towards the last man.

-"What about Queenie?"-

All the men turned back around, interested in Steve's answer.

After they had escaped from the clutches of HYDRA, they had spent the whole night walking back.

Rose had spent her time walking between a few soldiers, even speaking in perfect French to Jacques.

All the conversations went the same way.

-"Hey, I'm Elizabeth Rose Maskell."-

And then after a small chat, she would zap into their heads info about herself.

While at first extremely confused, the men then decided to play along with it, getting the feeling that their lives wouldn't get any weirder than that.

As the men had watched her, they nicknamed her -'the Queenie'- due to her gait and her unmistakable British accent.

-"Rosebeth won't be officially on the team... She said something about an alien invasion, so she'll be helping out when she wants."-

The men nodded, as if it were perfectly normal to hear of an alien invasion in a normal conversation.

Dum Dum made his decision.

-"Hell, I'll always play. But you got to do one thing for me."-

-"What's that?"-

He took another long drink from his beer.

-"Open a tab."-

The men watched as Steve chuckled and moved to the bar.

-"Well that was easy."-

Steve tapped the bar tenders back, gesturing towards the fellas' table.

-"Another round."-

The man looked incredulous.

-"Where are they putting all this stuff?

-T.R.M.-

Steve Rogers walked into a more private area of the small club, turning towards his friend Bucky Barnes who was waiting for him at a table.

Looking at the pleased expression on Steve's face, he immediately guessed what had happened.

-"See, told you. They are all idiots."-

Steve sat down next to him, and asked him, half jokingly half not.

-"What about you? You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?"-

Bucky didn't even hesitate in answering.

-"Hell, no. That little guy from Brooklyn, the one who doesn't like to run away from a fight... I'm following him."-

The pair shared a quiet moment, both of them thankful that despite the fact that a war was going around, they had managed to somehow stick together.

The quiet didn't last for long.

-"Hey, you keeping your outfit, right?"-

-"... You know what? It's kind of grown on me."-

-T.R.M.-

A few hours had passed for Rose as she had finished prepping for the night's outing.

Finally arriving at the bar, she walked in feeling all the buzz around her, watching everyone pass the booze around.

Feeling slightly smug as everyone who saw her started to stare, she soon found the boy's table (following the loud singing).

-"Hubba Hubba… You sure decked out nice kids."- Rose said, pulling an extra seat towards their table as the boys song trailed away.

Rose was trying her best to hide her smirk as none of the men answered her, preferring to stare.

Falsworth was the first to break from his trance.

-"If I may say so, you look quite Spiffy yourself."-

Rose looked down at her attire appreciatively.

-"Yes, you may say so"- She answered, breaking the ice and making the whole table laugh.

They spent an hour chatting and drinking, and generally having fun.

Jones even challenged her to a drinking contest which he spectacularly lost.

After a few more drinks, Rose finally revealed the reason why she had agreed to come.

-"Gentlemen, where is Steve? I'd rather like to talk to him before he even thinks of escaping. He has been avoiding me for a while, and I'm not quite happy with him"-

The boys looked both amused and cautious (having been told how she was when she got angry).

Noticing their hesitation, Rose scoffed.

-"I'm not going to break his whole arm off… That's only for when I'm really angry. I'm only going to talk to him."-

Reassured, but still slightly put out by her first comment, Morita was the one to answer.

-"Last I knew, he was over at the back talking to the Sarge."-

Standing up she curtsied to the men.

-"Well I've had a swell time with you guys, but it's time I talked to Steve. Try not to get too soused… Don't want you to spew everything out tomorrow"-

Rose walked away, leaving the men laughing at their own expense.

Walking towards the table where Steve and Bucky were drinking, she sneaked up on them, silently dragging a chair behind her and sat between them.

-"You've been missing out on all the fun you knuckleheads. Why are you hiding over here like lepers?"-

Bucky and Steve had been peacefully talking, only mildly interested in the happenings around them when they felt (or rather heard) a presence behind them.

Jumping up, they whirled around and proceeded to (almost) drool.

Smiling smugly as they stared at her speechless, she leaned towards them cheekily.

-"What's wrong boys? Cat got your tongue?"-

Bucky, smooth with the dames as he always was, managed to splutter out some words.

-"No, we've been entranced by you, oh beautiful Goddess."-

-"Evidently"- She replied sarcastically.

Folding her hands on her lap, she got down to business.

-"Now, I came here to dance with Steve."-

Both men immediately proceeded to choke.

Bucky turned towards Steve, dread plastered on his face.

-"I'm invisible… I'm turning into you... this is a horrible dream."-

Laughing at Bucky's horrified expression she patted his shoulder with faux sympathy.

-"Don't take it so hard. I've got many friends. I know a ton of exotic beauties... You might get along with a few."-

Bucky face brightened immediately.

-"Elis, you're the cat's meow."-

-"I know"- she answered back smugly.

Turning towards an anxiety ridden soldier, she raised a warning eyebrow.

-"Don't make me wait too long"-

Turning around, she left the room, making sure to add a little more sway to her hips as Steve watched her leave.

Steve -who had kept a slightly calm facade- turned at lightning speed towards Bucky.

-"Bucky! What the hell do I do? I've never really danced before, what am I supposed to do?"-

Bucky (who was in a much happier mood... exotic dames tend to do that) laughed at the panic in Steve's face.

-"That's your own darn fault for not dancing sooner. Now just hope you don't screw up and get out there before she comes and drags you out."- Bucky said just as Rose's voice called Steve's name.

Deciding to take it like a man, Steve took a deep breath and walked towards the waiting dame.

Catching up with Rosebeth, all the confidence he had built escaped like a burst balloon.

Steve started babbling like a little kid who'd been caught snagging the cookie jar away.

-"Y-You sure you want to dance with me? I've never danced before -for all I know- I'm a dead hoofer! I-I might step on your toes or something."-

Rose smiled.

-"Steve, sometimes you need to run before you learn to walk."-

Seeing as she had simply confused him further, Rose grabbed his hand and led him towards the floor.

-"Luckily for you, I'm quite the Ducky Shin cracker. I've danced with Fred Astaire, Donald O'Connor, Gene Kelly... The last two had a bit of trouble keeping up."-

Steve paled a bit more as he heard that the best dancers had trouble keeping up with her.

-"Ease up! You're far too edgy; I'll slow down so just follow my lead."-

Steve took a deep breath (again), and pulled himself together.

After a few seconds of awkward dancing and toe-stepping, Steve quickly got the hang of it, making Rose laugh in delight.

Spinning around the dance floor, they soon caught others attention and became a crowd favourite, huge grins on their faces amidst the cheers and hoots.

They spent hours dancing, Rose teaching him different types of dances, both of them trying their hand at tap-dance, enjoying the tango, acing the foxtrot and laughing at their terrible jive.

Soon enough, it was late, the club calming down and the band playing something slow.

Wanting to talk to him before they all left, Rose lifted her head from his chest, as they swayed to the soft music.

-"Why have you been avoiding me?"-

Steve cringed as the topic he had been skilfully dodging was bought up. He thought of denying it, but knew it would be a slight against Rose's intelligence to even believe she would fall for it.

So he came clean.

-"I've never really... romanced any girl... I'm not sure if you even like me in that way. "-

Rosebeth stared blankly at his face.

-"I thought the kiss made it very clear... I hope you don't think I go kissing around ever man I meet."- She said, more than slightly mortified.

Steve protested immediately (quite mortified himself).

-"No, absolutely not, I didn't mean that you've ever kissed anyone, although I'm sure you have, a pretty dame like you, -woman like you-, should have kissed many men, not that you're a Call girl or anything, it's just... I thought you and Howard were... Fondueing."-

Rose stopped dancing, making Steve halt with her.

Staring at his uncomfortable face, Rose immediately knew what was wrong.

Starting to dance again, she pulled close to Steve, wanting to save him the embarrassment of any others hearing them.

-"Steve, honey. Fondue isn't a code for sex; it's just bread and cheese."-

Despite the huge blush on his cheeks and his small trip at her crass word, Steve kept on dancing.

-"... Oh."-

-"Yeah."-

-"What if you still don't like me? I mean, I know you're a wonderful dame, No, woman. Yes, you're wonderful but not a dame... "-

(-'Damn it Rogers, you're fooled by the same mistake once again.'-)

Rose smiled at Steve's word vomit.

Having heard from Peggy about the (almost identical) rambling Steve had gone through before the experiment, Rose tried to save him from the weirded out stares from their dancing neighbours.

She shut him up by giving him a long and tender kiss.

Slowly parting, they continued swaying around to the music.

-"Does that answer your question? "- Rose asked him breathlessly.

Steve timidly nodded. -"It doesn't take away the fact that I have no idea how to do this."-

Rose smiled.

-" Everyone does it differently; some people are corny."- She began, pointing at a couple who were engrossed in whatever the other was saying.

-"Others write sappy letters to each other."-

-"Some get sauced and make a pass on an unsuspecting girl."- Rose said, pointing out a drunken man flirting with a young girl.

-"Others get them a Rock for their finger and get hitched the next day."-

Making Steve look over to a couple in a shadowed booth, Rose continued her explanation.

-"Others take it slow, smooching but nothing more."-

Bringing the list to a stop, Rose snuggled up closer to him.

-"My point is Steve; you should make your own way in the world. Don't rule your life around those guidelines. Make your way as you see fit."-

Watching Steve mull over the words, she leant up to give him a quick peck.

-"I have to go now, but Howard has some equipment for you to try tomorrow morning."-

-"Sounds good"- Steve said, unconsciously tightening his arms around her waist.

Chuckling lightly to herself, she ran her hands up and down Steve's arms.

-"If I want to go and save Howard's life, you're going to have to let me go... "-

Quickly nodding, he escorted her to an empty alley.

Kissing him farewell, Rose started walking away, making a portal over to their camp.

-"Does this mean that you're my girl?"-

Steve had quickly shouted, not wanting to lose his newfound courage. Rose stopped walking and smirked, looking over at his way.

-"Do you want me to be?"-

Steve, remembering her words from before, gulped, took a deep breath and finally nodded.

Clearing his throat he said a simple but significant.

-"Yes."-

-"Well then. Yes Steve, I am your girl."-

Turning around, she stepped into the portal, completely missing Steve's ear to ear shit-eating grin.

-T.R.M.-

Rose was watching quietly (and unnoticed) from the corner of the room as Howard not only tampered with a piece of her Tesseract (with a safety glass and 2 mechanical claws), but also insulted it.

-"Hard to see what all the fuss is about"- he said moving to grab the tiny ball of light with both claws.

Smiling to herself, she prepared herself for the blast.

As soon as the 2 claws touched the ball at the same time, an energy surge blasted through them, shattering the safety glass, and knocking both Howard and the scientist -Harrison- away from the explosion.

A moment of silence passed as the pair tried to understand what had happened.

-"Write that down"- Howard said, slowly sitting up.

Rose decided to interrupt, quickly making herself known.

-"And then scratch it out. It won't add up to your other observations, I contained the explosion enough to just give you a scare."-

Howard stared blankly at her, while Harrison tried to glare at her.

-"That tiny particle could have blown up, not only this whole facility, but the equivalent of the UK."- She said, making Howard look a little faint, Harrison scoffing derisively.

Despite her clear hate for the man, he still approached her.

Turning his nose up her, he spoke arrogantly.

-"Well, if you don't give us the appropriate equipment for it... How do you expect us to handle it?"-

Rose shook her head.

-"You aren't getting any advanced equipment from beyond your time. You will have to make do with what you have."-

And with that, she dragged Howard out of his office so they could meet up with the Colonel.

-T.R.M.-

The next morning, Steve got up bright and early with a dopey grin on his face.

Having already told Bucky the news the previous night (Naturally the whole team then found out, many exclaiming how they wished that they could be in his shoes), he didn't surprise him by being all chipper.

Severely hanged over, Bucky dismissed his pacing friend.

-"Just get out of here, the sooner you get there the sooner you see her."-

Shooting out of the door like a bullet, he arrived at the bunker just a few minutes after.

-T.R.M.-

Private Lorraine was having a really boring day.

Despite the fact that the day had just started a few hours ago, she could still feel the seconds move on sluggishly.

Reduced to taking over reception (the woman in charge got sick, and she was forced to take over as a punishment issued by the Carter bitch for insulting the Maskell whore), she was using up all the time she had to herself to read about the American dreamboat.

-"Excuse me. I'm looking for a Mr. Stark."-

Overly chipper doesn't work this early in the day. Nevertheless, she had a job, so she answered back politely.

-"He's in with Colonel Phillips."-

Turning around as she felt the man fidget, she was just about to tell him to scram before the words choked up in her throat.

Standing in front of her was The Captain America.

-"Oh, of course you're welcome to wait."- She told him, her words barely registering in her mind as she gestured to a table across from her.

Watching him like a tiger, she leaned back on her chair, folding up the newspaper as he settled uncomfortably onto the table.

-"I uh, read about what you did."-

The man nodded awkwardly, pointing quickly at the front article she was displaying.

-"Oh, that...yeah. Well that's, you know... Just doing what needed to be done."-

Lorraine put the paper down, sitting up straight in her chair.

-"Sounded like more than that. You saved nearly 400 men."-

-"Really, it's not a big deal."-

Private Lorraine stood up, implementing her next plan of action.

-"Tell that to their wives."- She told him, prowling her way over to the man.

-"Uh, I don't think they were all married."-

Grabbing his short tie, the Private played around with it flirtatiously.

-"You're a hero."-

Shrugging the man tried to get out of the woman's vice grip.

-"Well, that...you know. Tha-That depends on the definition of..."-

Ignoring the Captain's spluttering, Private Lorraine looked around, watching out for any unwelcome gazes.

-"And the Women of America. They owe you their thanks."-

Pleased with the lack of eyewitnesses, the woman dragged the man to the darker and more hidden area of the small reception.

-"And um, seeing as they're not here."-

Steve Rogers hadn't been idle.

Seeing the direction in which the conversation had been headed, he had thankfully remembered his 'magical' watch and pressed the big button, ensuring that Rosebeth would hear the conversation he was having.

Unfortunately, the time for hinted avoidance was over, and now he had to full blown reject her in her face.

-"I'm sorry"- Steve said ducking slightly when he saw her lips heading for his own.

-"I already have a girl."-

Pulling him closer, Lorraine smirked, and tried to whisper seductively.

-"She doesn't have to know... It will be our little secret "-

-"Except for the small fact that she already knows."- said an unimpressed voice from behind the files.

Quickly letting go of the Captain (making him stumble back from his efforts of getting loose), they both whirled around, one with a mixture of embarrassment, envy, and loathing, while the other simply looked on relieved.

-"Private Lorraine, you are dismissed for the day. You might receive a lecture from the Colonel about the proper behaviour you should have while working here. Dismiss any further thoughts about protesting, you are in enough trouble as it is... Now scram."- Rose ended harshly.

Grabbing Steve's arm she pulled him away, completely disregarding the speechless woman.

Watching as she marched away angrily, Steve started to worry.

-"Rosebeth, It's not what you think it is, I didn't -... "- Steve started to protest, before quickly being cut off as he bumped into a small body.

-"Steve, sweetie, I'm not angry at you. I've been having a real bad day. One of the scientists I have been working with has been a real pain in the arse. You did the right thing. This small incident just made my anger levels rise, just don't annoy me and you should be fine."-

Steve quickly let out his breath in relief.

-"Right. Then lead the way."- He said with a smile.

Kissing her goodbye as she went to talk to the Colonel, he turned towards the smirking Stark.

-"You're a lucky guy"- Stark told him.

-"I once tried romancing her myself… she brushed me off completely, and when I persisted, I received quite the lecture after…"-

Steve looked surprised at the news. Despite of the fondue incident, Steve had always through them as close as siblings... They even had the same smirk!

-"I once thought you and her were dating… I thought Fondue meant that you were… you know"- He said with a red face. -"Rose told me yesterday."-

Howard just smiled.

-"Yeah, Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend. You know, the moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head, it's the moment your goose is well and truly cooked."-

Leading him towards his workplace, he finally got down to business.

-"Me, I concentrate on work. Which at the moment is about making sure you and your men do not get killed."-

Picking up a grey cloth, Howard showed it off.

-"Carbon polymer. Should withstand your average German bayonet."-

-"Although Hydra isn't going to attack you with a pocket knife..."-

Moving over towards Steve's battered shield, he picked it up, turning it around as he inspected it.

-"I hear you're uh, kind of attached."-

Patting it as Stark settled it down, he quickly defended it from his sceptical look.

-"It's handier than you might think."-

Gesturing towards a desk filled with shields, Howard led the way.

-"I took the liberty of coming up with some options."-

Pointing towards a specific shield, he began to yammer on about it.

-"This one's fun. She's being fitted with electrical relays that will allow you to- ... "-

-"What about this one?"-

Steve hadn't listened to his rant; instead he had found himself a nice shield.

It was round and polished, and large enough to properly cover himself.

-"No, no that's just a prototype."-

Howard tried to throw the idea away, but Steve wouldn't give up.

-"What's it made of?"-

Realising that he wouldn't let it rest, Howard relented.

-"Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight. It's completely vibration absorbent."-

-"How come it's not a standard issue?"-

-"That's the rarest metal on earth. What you're holding there? That's all we've got."-

As Steve was admiring the shield, Rose came stomping into the room with Peggy trailing slightly behind her, doing an abysmal job at trying to calm the raging woman down.

-"If you're finished Howard, I need to borrow Steve for a minute."-

Steve quickly held up the shield, wanting to get her opinion.

-"What do you think?"-

Rosebeth smiled at the childish grin he wore, before it was immediately turned into a frown when she saw the scientist loitering beside him.

A plan forming in her head, Rose turned on her act, surprising everyone around her.

-"Harrison, would you mind holding the shield up a mo?"-

Her animosity for Harrison was no secret, and was the constant source of gossip for the bored scientists. Everyone knew that the hate was also shared by the man.

-"I do mind."-

Rose ground her teeth.

-"I insist."-

Harrison sighed and took the shield away from a reluctant Steve. Straightening up, he held the shield against his body.

-"Is that enough?"-

Turning to the table on her right, Rose picked up a gun and loaded it.

Before anyone could react, she turned towards the scientist and started shooting at the immediately raised shield.

BANG.

Everyone ducks.

BANG.

One step.

BANG.

Another step.

BANG.

Almost there.

BANG.

Right in front of him.

BANG.

Clobbered.

Everyone watched from behind the protection of their desks, as Rose hit the scientist's head with the butt of her gun, knocking him out.

-"Yes, I think it works."-

Taking the shield from Harrison's prone body, she passed it on to a flabbergasted Steve.

Turning towards the scared scientists, she told the room at large.

-"When he wakes up, do tell him I warned him"-

Walking away, she called back for Peggy, who was standing there staring at her amazed.

-"Come on Peggy, we have things to do."-

Steve and Howard watched as Peggy nearly ran towards Rose leaving both of them standing there staring after her with their mouths wide open.

Steve, while still staring her way, took out a small paper from his pocket.

-"I had some ideas about the uniform."-

Howard stared amazedly towards Rose.

-"Whatever you want, pal."-

-T.R.M.-

HYDRA facility number 1 in France was the easiest mission they had.

The team had far overestimated all the weapons and security that the base held and had easily blasted through its doors, seizing control and destroying everything.

It was their first mission where they all worked as a team.

Despite everyone's worries about the team dynamics, all went flawlessly.

Jim Morita hacked into the base's security grid, turning it off for a few hours.

Falsworth was on the lookout for any unaccounted agents.

Bucky was hidden up in a hill with his sniper rifle, a perfect view of the compound at his feet.

Jacques Dernier stood in front of upcoming vehicles, whistling and waving his arms around, making them stop.

5 seconds later, Gabe Jones blew them up.

In less than half an hour Steve, Dum Dum and Rose entered (guns a blazing) taking control of the whole facility.

Calling Peggy when the deed was done, the group set camp and waited.

-"Who's strong and brave, here to save the American Waaaay?"-

After they had set up a fire, the men (and woman) had huddled around it and started to talk about themselves.

They had started with Dum Dum, followed by Jones, Falsworth, Morita, Bucky and Dernier (with Rose fluently translating).

When they had arrived at Steve, nobody had believed his story about him being a sickly kid until Rose had pulled out her set of pictures they had taken on the day of the experiment.

Skimming over the major events of his life (like his mother's death, meeting Bucky, meeting Rose, the expo, Erskine, the experiment, etc.); they had finally arrived to his USO shows.

Which was how they somehow found themselves following Rose's lead and singing 'The Spangled Man theme' at the top of their lungs.

Dancing around the camp, Rose twirled from partner to partner, Steve and Falsworth watching amusedly from their spot on the floor.

Dernier.

-"Who vows to fight like a man for what's right night and daaay?"-

Jones.

-"Who will campaign door-to-door for America..."-

Bucky.

-"Carry the flag shore to shore for America."-

Morita.

-"From Hoboken to Spokane..."-

Dugan.

-"The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!"-

Victor.

Wait what?!

The men hadn't even noticed the newcomer arrive, so as soon as they saw him dancing with the Queenie, they stood up and pointed their guns at the man.

Rose meanwhile smiled as she twirled around the camp with him, telling her friends to stand down.

-"Calm down Commandos, this is my kid Victor... Where is James?"-

A rustle from behind them answered their question.

A big buff man came out of the bush, a large cigar caught between his lips.

-"I'm here."-

Ending her dance, she dragged them closer to the fire to properly introduce them.

-"Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan, Jacques Dernier, Gabriel 'Gabe' Jones, James 'Bucky' Barnes, James Falsworth, James 'Jim' Morita... Meet Victor and James."-

Everyone blinked awkwardly.

-"They're the kids I told you about."-

Realisation crashed into their faces, but the majority of them still looked confused.

Sighing, James took the lead.

-"When she says kids, don't expect a small child... Everyone's a kid in her eyes."-

Nodding, the men chuckled and gave them a warm welcome.

On the other side, Steve was hiding his panic very well... But not well enough.

-"So... Who are you?"-

James and Victor looked at each other questioningly, not having heard his name when Rose introduced them.

-"Steve Rogers... also known as Captain America."- He mumbled, still embarrassed by the ridiculous title.

Everyone stared tersely as the brothers held a silent conversation with themselves.

Nodding, they turned back to the anxious Captain.

-"Welcome to the family I guess... Sort of."-

And with that, a truce was made between them.

-T.R.M.-

A couple of hours had passed and everyone was once again sitting round the fire, nursing their beers.

-"So, what brings you to these parts?"-

Steve had been wondering that since they had arrived.

Rose hadn't told them of their arrival, and it was hardly coincidental.

The last he had heard about them, Rose had told him that they were hanging out in France, helping the resistance.

-"Well, we made a... friend over in France. His name was Gaspard."-

Looking over at Rose they looked pointedly at their hands, wondering how much she had told them.

Once they received the go, they continued.

-"He was a mutant like us. He could change the age of whatever he touched. For example, if you had an old bayonet, he'd touch it and voilà it's new."-

At the men's sceptical looks, James sighed.

-"It's not the coolest mutation out there, but it's useful when you're out of ammo. One touch and your magazine is filled once again."-

Suddenly, their perspective changed and they had a whole new appreciation for the man's talent.

-"Anyways, he died. A mad scientist came by and tried to perform a vivisection on him... He didn't survive the operation. "-

The men offered their condolences while the pair brushed them off.

-"We say friend, we really mean acquaintance."-

The camp nodded.

-"So, we've been following any leads we get on the man, trying to find him and stop him from killing any more of us."-

Falsworth was curious.

-"What's his name? We haven't heard about any Nazi scientists who search for mutants."-

James and Victor looked embarrassed.

-"I'm afraid we don't have much information ourselves... we're always too late to catch him. We only have his last name. Schmidt."-

The Commando's jumped a feet high, their breath catching in their throats.

Schmidt!?... Did that mean that they were looking for the same man?

-"Calm down kids, it's a different Schmidt."-

A relieved sigh went through the whole camp.

Rose turned towards the brothers, waving her hand beside her and making a folder appear.

-"Klaus Schmidt, age technically unknown, is also a mutant. Has the power to absorb energy, making him immune to most weapons. Once he has captured the energy, he can use it to make himself younger, or expel it, causing massive destruction."-

-"... I met him many years ago... He tried to grope me so I broke his arm... It was awesome. "-

The camp had been silent contemplating about this Klaus character, but when they heard Rose's comment, they could help but to snort.

-"He knows you're following him. Play your cards right and you might just snatch him."-

A comfy silence fell on the camp, everyone lost to their own thoughts.

Soon enough sleep plucked away at the men, making them grab a sleeping bag and drift away.

Steve, Rose and the brothers were the last awake.

Rose turned towards the sleepy kids.

-"I have an extra sleeping bag in the truck. I had a feeling one of you might need it."-

The two of them raised their heads immediately.

-"Dibs!"-

Victor whooped happily while James harrumphed.

Rose smiled, realising what had happened.

-"You both lost them?"-

Victor stopped his victory dance, having forgotten he had an audience.

-"Right. Err yeah. Lost one near the river, and we had to give away the other... blackmail for information."-

Rose turned towards James.

-"Take mine. No buts."-

At first wanting to protest, James knew that it would be pointless, so he turned with a larger smirk at Victor.

-"Looks like I got the better deal."-

-"You son of a bitch, fuck you."-

A half-hearted mutter came from the man Rose was leaning on.

-"Language."-

The three people stared at him, making him fidget self consciously.

-"Manners were very important in my household... They've been drilling them into me since I was born."-

Pretending that the last few seconds never happened, the two brothers got up and left for their sleeping bags.

Rose and Steve were now the only ones left.

Enjoying the silence, they stared into the spluttering flames that had started to die out.

-"Steve I'm worried."-

Steve sat up straighter, making Rose lift her head from his chest.

-"Hmm? Why?"-

-"Remember the grey spots I told you about?"-

-"Yeah."-

-"There is a massive one when I try to look into your future... Also Bucky's."-

-"You know, I'm still confused about their meaning."-

-"They mean that either someone still has a decision to make that will affect important timelines, or that the event in question must always happen."-

-"Oh."-

-"Yeah... I can see a few missions clearly, but the rest of your lives are blurry. I don't know how or why, but Bucky seems to have a metal arm... I think."-

-"It's all very confusing."-

They spent a few minutes in silence, each of them gathering their thoughts.

Stroking her hair, Steve hesitantly chose his words.

-"I think there are advantages and disadvantages to your sight."-

-"Obviously the disadvantage lies in the fact that we won't exactly know the result of many things, but think of the advantage... "-

Kissing the top of her head, he played around with her hands.

-"That way, you won't expect anything. When you experience things, you'll experience them firsthand. Enjoy the unexpected. Take pleasure from the small surprises in life, don't always plan."-

Standing up, he picked her up and carried her, ignoring her half-hearted protests.

-"Goddess or not, you need to take breaks. Sleep for a while, you can use my sleeping bag. I'll keep watch."-

Just as he was about to leave, a small protest froze him in place.

-"Stay."-

Shifting from where Rose had been tucked in, she opened up the flap and scooted over, making the space large enough for two.

-"The night will be clear, I can assure you that. The only interesting thing will be a small family of rabbits getting close to the fire and stealing some carrots from my backpack."-

Still looking at him, Rose could see the sides battling on his mind.

One side really wanted to squeeze in and hold on to Rose tightly as he slept, while the other was chastising him for his thoughts, telling him that it wasn't proper nor well mannered.

Rose decided to give him a small push.

-"I promise no funny business... Plus, your body heat would help me keep warm so I don't freeze to death."-

Relenting, Steve walked towards her and lowered himself into the bag, wrapping his arms around her just as she put her head on his chest.

-"Liar. You can't feel the cold."-

-"It's not that I can't feel it... I just prefer not to."-

-"Har Har."-

-T.R.M.-

Morning came and the brothers were the first to get up.

Waking up, and walking towards their provisions, they found almost everything intact (except for Rose's backpack which had been ransacked, all her carrots stolen).

Returning to the sleeping area, they almost had a heart attack.

Rose and Rogers were sharing a bag.

Now that wasn't what had surprised them. They weren't naive enough to believe that Rose hadn't slept with anyone before, sexually or innocently.

What had surprised them was the fact that Steve still had his limbs intact.

As they had returned, they found the Captain awake and shaking Rose awake delicately.

Everyone and their parents knew Rose wasn't a morning person.

What not everyone knew was the fact that if someone tried to wake her, they would end up brutally injured.

Sometimes a broken arm, leg, sprained wrists, bruised ribs, face, etc.

No one could escape the slaughter.

So when Steve had started to shake Rose, the brothers had braced themselves for the worst.

Let it be noted that they 'almost' had a heart attack...

They were saved by this bothersome death by the unexpected turn of events.

Instead of crushing the bones in the Captain's wrist, Rose simply swatted at his hand.

-"It's too early. Go away."-

Chuckles came from Steve's throat, oblivious to the two slack jawed mutants that were staring at the scene.

-"It's 7:30. Peggy and company are supposed to be here at 8:00."-

-"I don't care, I need my beauty sleep."-

Steve kissed her forehead and started to get out of the bag.

-"You don't need a beauty sleep... I'll wake you up when they get here then."-

After Rose mumbled some kind of agreement, Steve finally turned to find the brothers staring at him as if he were some kind of God.

-"How the hell did you manage that?"-

-T.R.M.-

Soon enough, Peggy arrived and everyone had heard about Rose's morning tendencies. Wanting to try their luck at waking her up, they formed a line and tried.

They didn't succeed.

Victor ended up with the worse injury, a broken jaw (not that it stayed broken for long).

Dernier and Peggy ended up the least injured, one with some bruised ribs, while the other got a twisted ankle.

Surprisingly, when Steve got up to wake her, absolutely nothing happened.

He got up, shook her a little and she'd grumble at him.

Everyone turned and whispered between themselves amusedly, feeling like they were back in school, gossiping with their friends.

-"What the hell?"-

Standing next to the sleepy Rose and his new team, Steve could only shake his head.

Deciding that enough was enough; Steve hoisted Rose up from the sleeping bag and carried her on his shoulder like a potato sack.

-"ARRGH! Ok-Ok, I'm up now."-

Kicking away the sleeping bag (he wouldn't put it past her to just crawl back in), he finally set her down.

Rose yawned loudly.

Rubbing her eyes, she opened them only to find everyone staring at her, each cradling different limbs.

-"... What?"-

-T.R.M.-

January 1944 - Captain America and his (newly dubbed by Rose) Howling Commandos invaded and destroyed a HYDRA facility in Belgium.

Their second mission was filled with the same level of success as the first.

A quick seize and destroy and their mission was done.

Having made a promise to the mutant brothers, they skimmed through the information, but didn't find any mentions of a Klaus Schmidt.

Soon enough it was time to set camp and call it a day.

-"How about Shakespeare?"-

-"He was a fun guy. He could tell you to go to hell in such a way that you'd look forward to the trip."-

The team howled in laughter.

Once again bored, they had turned towards the woman who held the keys to entertainment at her feet.

They had spent the last half an hour shouting out names of influential people, and listening to her comments about them.

-"Cleopatra! No, Caesar!"-

-"Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman... She had him wrapped around her finger."-

Just as someone else was about to shout a name, Rose let out a massive yawn.

Steve leapt into action, being the caring man that he was.

-"I think that's enough for today fellas."-

Shaking his head fondly at the sound of protest that came from everyone lips (Rose's included), he carried her over to her sleeping bag.

Instantly falling asleep as soon as her head touched the rough pillow, Steve walked back and sat down with the guys.

While everyone was chatting between themselves, Steve nudged Bucky, beckoning him discreetly closer.

Once he was close enough to speak quietly without the others overhearing, Steve began.

-"Rosebeth is worried."-

Bucky was surprised. If she was worried, she did a hell of a good job at hiding it. After all, they had been joking around carefree only a few seconds ago.

-"Why? "-

-"Those grey spots she sometimes gets... She said that something big was coming, and she couldn't tell what."-

At Bucky's silence, Steve hesitantly added.

-"She can't see us properly, but she thinks she saw you with a metal arm, although she's not so sure."-

Bucky was startled now. Thinking it through, he decided that joking might be the best approach for now.

-" Well, I'll certainly not lack the muscles... As long as it's a strong and buff arm, it shouldn't be that bad."-

Steve looked at him, the disbelief and the deadpan etched into his face.

-"Really?"-

-T.R.M.-

It was February when the team had their first scare.

It was their first mission without Rose and they were understandably nervous.

Their objective was to invade and destroy a HYDRA facility in Czechoslovakia.

It was also the first time that someone on the team died.

The mission was going extremely well. They hadn't wanted to take any chances, so they packed up heavier than usual.

The HYDRA thugs hadn't seen it coming... Except for one.

He had somehow heard of the team's plans for the base, and had hidden away, planning an ambush.

When the factory was destroyed and the men had returned to their camp, they had sat down, smoking and drinking.

Just as Bucky was about to talk about the merits of having Rose around (conversations tended to flow easier), two gunshots pierced the air, making everyone stand up... Almost everyone.

-T.R.M.-

The HYDRA agent wasn't quite sure what to do.

He was unsure on who to shoot.

It sounds like rubbish, but he really meant it.

On one hand, the decision was made easier by the lack of appearance of the Rose woman (despite the Red Skull's insistent orders of leaving her alone), so he was now left between shooting the Captain or his best friend.

Knowing the fact that shooting the Captain would be more beneficial to their cause, he was still reluctant, because honestly, who knows how the Skull would react.

So he hit him where it would hurt the man most.

His best friend.

-T.R.M.-

Steve watched, his eyes filled with horror as Bucky's eyes opened widely, his head tilting down to his chest.

-"Well... fuck."-

After his whispered words, Bucky fell on his back, life leaving his eyes, making them take a glassy look, resembling a porcelain doll.

The Commandos immediately took charge of the situation.

Seeing as Steve was staring horror struck at his best friends, they quickly left and apprehended the agent.

During the entire ruckus, a portal opened up beside Steve, making everyone but him stare, dreading the woman's reaction.

Rose stepped out, closing the portal behind her.

-"Ok Bucks, it's not your time yet. Let's fix you up."-

Not sparing a glance at anyone, she stepped forward towards the fallen body, finally making Steve react.

Lunging at Rose, he managed to wrap his arm around her forearm.

-"Can you do anything?"-

Rose looked at Steve's face, studying his anguished features.

-"If you let go of me, yes."-

Steve immediately released her, almost pushing her away, making Rose let of a few chuckles.

-T.R.M.-

The HYDRA agent was both confused and amazed.

Just as he was about to break his cyanide capsule, he... thought he had just seen the Maskell woman arrive through since kind of... Portal.

Intrigued, he hid his capsule once again, hoping the grunts that were pushing him around, would let him see the show.

They did not disappoint.

The Rose Maskell laid the American sergeant down, his front body facing upwards.

Opening up her hand, palm upwards, he watched incredulously as 2 tiny bullets came floating from out of his blood covered chest, landing on the woman's hand.

Chucking them away as if they were a nuisance, she then proceeded to open up the man's shirt, making two bullet holes visible, one next to the other.

Placing her hands on top of them, she applied a small pressure and then removed them.

If the agent wasn't running on so much adrenaline, he might have fainted.

Nothing but a small scar was left, the skin having knit itself back together somehow.

Even the men let out a small gasp at that.

The woman gestured towards the American Captain, asking him to help her sit the corpse up.

Once he was ready, Maskell turned and grinned at the gathered crowd.

-"This is my favourite part."-

SLAP.

Bucky Barnes woke up with a start, hacking up as he choked on empty air.

Raising his head, he was met with different degrees of amazement, fear and incredulity.

Not knowing what to say, she simply turned towards Rose.

-"Your daughter is sweet."-

-"I know."-

-T.R.M.-

March 29th - Captain America tries to recover a file from HYDRA agents in London.

They run away and attempt to hide in an air raid shelter.

The Captain encourages the citizens inside the shelter to attack the agents by giving them a heroic speech.

No sign of Rose Maskell.

-T.R.M.-

April 27th - Captain America invades a castle in the Nazi occupied Denmark controlled by HYDRA.

Johann Schmidt attempts to destroy him by using a Viking Rune stone, but the Captain slows the relic from exploding by following Rose's instructions, allowing the Howling Commandos to escape intact.

-T.R.M.-

After the successful capture of a HYDRA submarine, everyone sat around a campfire, quietly eating as they stored their energy once again.

-"What's your favourite animal?"-

The camp was silent for a few seconds as each of them contemplated their answers.

-"Horses."- Steve began, prompting the others to begin.

-"Lions."-

-"Wolves."-

-"Bears"-

-"Bears"-

-"Panthers"-

-"Bears"-

-"... Red foxes from Russia."-

Everyone turned to gaze at Rose curiously.

-"What? They're cute!"-

The men chuckled at her antiques, making her huddle closer into Steve's chest.

-"Have you got any at home? "-

Rose shook her head sleepily from the crook of Steve's neck.

-" A great friend will give me one in a few years... She just has to be born soon."-

Soon enough, her words faded to yawns, and Rose Maskell fell asleep on Steve's lap.

The men chuckled quietly as Steve smiled and stroked her hair.

The Howling Commandos watched as Steve rested his chin on the top of her head, intertwining their fingers as Rose's delicate and soft snores were heard.

-"How long have you two known each other for now?"-

Morita's question came as a surprise to Steve. Thinking out loud, he counted the years.

-"Well, we're in May '44... I met her June '41... Almost 3 years now."-

Dernier babbled something in French next, Gabe translating his query.

-"He asks that how long have you been going out by now."-

Steve's eyebrows rose, surprised by their nosey questions.

-"Err, '43. The day at the club when I came up to you guys with the request for my team... Why all the questions suddenly?"-

The men looked guiltily between each other, giving Steve the impression that they had already discussed this between themselves.

-"Have you given any thought to, err... popping out the question anytime soon?"-

Steve looked around the camp, finding eager faces waiting for his answer. If only he understood.

-"Err... Pop the question?"-

The men nodded eagerly, Bucky being the only one who understood that the expression had flown over his head.

-"They want to know if you've thought of asking her to marry you."- He explained, making Steve's mouth form a small 'oh' as he nodded in thanks.

-"Well, not exactly... I mean, I want to... and I've thought of it, but... you know... It's just, err... Yeah."-

The men's faces had slowly lost their eager looks, a confused frown taking over the longer he spoke.

Seeing as they hadn't understood a thing, they turned towards Bucky, hoping he would translate.

-"He's thought of it, he wants to, but he's unsure "-

The Commandos 'ahhed' as Steve threw his arms up, just having said the same thing.

-"Steve my man, think about it properly. We're at war. Pretty dames are hard to find, especially ones that are ok with our line of work."-

Everyone nodded at Dugan's wise words.

-"Queenie... Well we all know she's one of a kind."- He said chuckling.

Falsworth snorted, Morita smirked, Gabe smiled, Bucky chuckled and Dernier scoffed at the huge understatement.

-"Just don't blow it or wait till it's too late."-

Steve nodded, a new determination set into his eyes as they gleamed, hugging Rose closer to him.

-"Understood."-

-T.R.M.-

-"YOU ARE FAILING!"-

The Red Skull started to pace around agitatedly as he surveyed the burned down factory.

-"We are close to an offensive that will shake the planet, and we are continually delayed because, you cannot outwit a simpleton with a shield."-

The Skull didn't bother to mention the Goddess, knowing that if she really wanted to destroy them... well, she'd annihilate them.

His thoughts turned back to the situation at hand when the Doctor started to stutter nervously.

-"It's hardly my area of expertise. I, I merely develop weapons. I-I-I cannot fire them."-

Schmidt sighed; at least thankful that the Goddess had not unleashes her full power on them.

Shaking his head at Zola, he brushed his gabardine, making a few scattered ashes fly away.

-"Finish your mission, Doctor... Before the American finishes his."-

Turning towards his car, he was about to take a step, when a man called for him.

-"Sir!"-

Raising his eyebrow, his frown grew as they clearly presented someone who had survived the previous fight.

-"I'm sorry, Herr Schmidt. We fought to the last man."-

Staring at the panting man with no pity, he took out a small handgun and shot at him, the blue light disintegrating him, making everyone but him flinch.

-"Evidently not."- He drawled.

-T.R.M.-

June 1944 was the worst month of the whole year.

While the Howling Commandos and their leader were doing alright, this was the most difficult time in Howard Stark's entire life.

The Battle of Finow.

While Howard mainly worked within the SSR division, he also supplied his newly designed weapons to the army, also taking requests for any equipment they wished (within reason obviously).

One of these was a gas. It was designed to help soldiers fight longer, keeping soldiers awake for days at a time, but it failed.

It started causing symptoms similar to sleep deprivation, anger, hallucinations, psychosis...

Howard Stark wisely decided to keep the gas a secret, hiding it away in his laboratory.

That was, until someone stole it.

The same man, who had ordered the making of the gas, thought that Howard Stark was keeping it for his own good.

The very next day, General John McGinnis ordered his soldiers to raid the laboratories of Howard Stark, stealing all the documents about his research and the gas (dubbed Midnight Oil).

Before Stark had even realised that his invention had gone missing, the General had ordered a few planes to spread the gas over the Soviet Armed Forces, hoping to help them to crush the German defences in the city of Finow.

Never had a plan backfired so badly.

Since he hadn't even stopped to read Howard's notes on the gas, he didn't realise that the gas had a different effect on the Soviets than he had anticipated.

Hundreds of soldiers went mad and began killing everyone around them.

The next day, General McGuiness arrived at the scene and was promptly horrified by what he saw.

All around him, bodies covered the floor, some with their eyes clawed out, ears missing, throats bitten open, a face ridden with bullet wounds making it unrecognisable...

Just as he wondered over what the hell had happened, a helicopter landed a small distance away; carrying Elizabeth Maskell and Howard Stark... just the man he wanted to speak to.

The soldiers made room for the coming visitors, making space so they could greet the General.

Although apparently Stark had a different definition of greeting than theirs.

The first thing he did when he reached the General was take a swing at his face.

The General reacted accordingly.

He proceeded to beat the shit out of the man.

He would have knocked the man out had Elizabeth Maskell not interrupted swiftly.

Kicking one of the General's legs, she brought him to his knees, and then proceeded to hold his neck in a painful grip.

Holding Howard back with one hand, she ordered the surrounding soldiers to stand down.

Everyone knew better than to disobey a direct order from their highest superior.

-"Return back to your stations, this is a conversation which needs to take place with as much privacy as we can muster for now."-

Barely heard over Howard's screams of murder and struggle, Maskell sighed and shouted alarmingly loud.

-"SCRAM."-

The soldiers immediately obeyed, returning to their stations.

A few loitered around, not having anything to do, but they still kept their distance, enough that they wouldn't hear what they were discussing.

More than once, Elizabeth was seen restraining Howard or the General from striking each other.

It would have been quite comical had they not been surrounded by cadavers.

Eventually their meeting came to an obvious end when the General staggered back at whatever Howard Stark had barked at him.

Very few of the soldiers ignored their previous orders and stepped towards their General, earning themselves a glare from Rose.

-"I suggest you think of retirement plans General... I fear your resignation would be the lesser evil of the many."-

Watching as Maskell dragged a fuming Stark away, the soldiers could only watch worriedly as the General's deathly pallor increased, making him ghostly pale.

-"Sir, if I may inquire what is wrong?"-

The General turned and rubbed his face, making his cheeks gain back the slightest bit of colour.

-"Son, what isn't wrong?"-

-T.R.M.-

After some heavy convincing from everyone over the fact that the SSR wasn't involved on the Finow raid, Howard finally continued to make materials for them (and only them).

And so from one tragedy, they skipped to another.

The Capture of Arnim Zola.

-T.R.M.-

The Howling Commandos and their leader (plus one), were standing on a snowy cliff, the majority of them freezing to their bones.

Having intercepted a message in which they discovered that Doctor Zola would be travelling through the train, they had quickly organised their packs and left as soon as possible.

Gabe and Morita were over at the crudely made portable radio, trying to tune it to the correct station.

Dum Dum and Falsworth were over at a corner, doing their best to stay away from the edge, having no desire to fall down the cliff.

Dernier sat comfortable in the snow, seemingly meditating as he played around with the lapels of his coat.

Bucky and Steve were standing behind Rose, said woman sitting on the very edge of the cliff, playing around with her hand as she bit her nails and swung her feet back and forth.

Looking over at the train tracks where they were supposed to glide to, Bucky was reminded of a similar situation, although on a much smaller scale.

-"Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"-

Steve looked cautiously at Rosebeth (she was sitting far too close to the edge for his liking), replied absentmindedly.

-"Yeah... and I threw up?"-

Bucky looked over at him, a slightly desperate expression on his face.

-"This isn't payback is it?"-

Steve smirked as his eyes twinkled with humour.

-"And why would I do that?"-

Before Bucky could answer with the most sarcastic response he would ever give, Gabe Jones interrupted their banter.

-"We were right; Doctor Zola is on the train. Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle… Wherever he is going, they must need him bad"-

Watching as everyone started to quickly pack their equipment, Rose stood up looking troubled. Noticing this both Bucky and Steve stopped, making the whole team look up and wonder what was wrong.

-"Rosebeth, what's the matter?"-

Wringing her hands, Rose spoke loud enough to be heard over the roaring wind.

-"There is a massive grey spot covering this event… I have no idea if this will be a success, there are far too many variables unaccounted for. We could either leave, or continue in the blind, but whatever happens if we stay, must happen in every version of these events... "-

Everyone started to fidget nervously, remembering the lecture Queenie had given over the grey spots and their effect on all the universes (parallels were a pain in the arse to understand).

Everyone's attention turned to Falsworth as he spoke up anxiously.

-"If we're staying, we need to get moving now... they're travelling like the devil."-

Everyone was unsure of the mission. While this was their best chance at getting Zola, they could or could not succeed. It was a 50/50 situation, plus other universes would depend on whatever happened here to shape their events.

Taking the lead, Steve grabbed Rosebeth's arms, looking deeply into her eyes.

-"This is our best chance, can you see another instance where we capture him alive?"- He asked.

Immediately shaking her head, the decision was unanimously made.

Nodding, Steve began ordering everyone around.

-"We only got about 10 seconds window, you miss that window… We're bugs on a windshield."-

Feeling mildly reassured, Falsworth dryly remarked the thought in everyone's head.

-"Mind the gap"-

Laughing Dum Dum clapped a shivering Falsworth on the back.

-"Better get moving bugs!"-

Dernier sat near the edge of the cliff where the rest of the Commandos had started to form a line.

Grabbing his stopwatch, he began the count.

Steve was the 1rst to go, 10 seconds afterwards went Bucky, and then (10 seconds again) went Rose.

Now, you may be asking yourself why they didn't simply take the safe way and teleport themselves inside the train.

It had been long ago decided that they would use Rose's portals only when she didn't find any grey spots, due to the unpredictability of the situation.

Quickly arriving on top of the train, Steve and Bucky got inside one car, while Rose and Gabe got into another.

(-"One augmented soldier per normal man don't you think?"- the team had joked)

Breaking into the train was easier than they thought, disposing of the agents more so.

As they walked towards the front of the train, Gabe and Rose were (understandably) surprised when they got separated by a huge mechanical door.

Before they had time to react, some HYDRA thugs started shooting a rain of bullets upon them, making them hard pressed to find cover (not that Rose needed it).

Fighting the men was a piece of cake for Rose.

Using their own bulkiness, she slipped through small openings between some nearby shelves, resembling a sneaky cat, her body bending though impossible angles as she climbed upwards.

The thugs soon lost sight of her.

Glancing around, they couldn't have seen her coming unless they lifted their heads up.

Rose disposed of the agents as if they were bugs on a windshield.

Moving back to regroup with Gabe, Rose couldn't help but to wish that the HYDRA agents were smarter.

They had counted on their fellow buddies on disposing of her, so they had placed their backs towards the mechanical door, not caring to keep watch should something creep behind them.

Rose shook her head and quickly phased through the door, snapping the thugs' necks.

-"All clear Gabe! Now come on, we've got ourselves a crazy scientist to catch."-

-"Well, I'm sure he'd like that... He's probably scared shitless of you."-

-"That he is monsieur."-

The pair laughed at their ridiculous conversation as they started to walk towards the front of the train, Gabe covering the back, while Rose led the way.

The clatter of a gun to the ground caught Gabe's attention, making him turn just as Rose fell to the ground, her eyes glazed over as she twitched lightly.

Gabe panicked.

He went to touch her shoulder, but was suddenly thrown back into the train wall (making a human-sized dent on it).

Slumped against the train wall, Gabe watched her with black spots in his eyes, eyeing a huge transparent barrier with golden veins surround her.

As quickly as it came, it disappeared, leaving a groggy Gabe and an alert Rose.

Finally waking up from her trance, Rose gasped and shouted, disappearing through a newly-made portal, leaving Gabe safe, but extremely confused.

-"BUCKY!"-.

-T.R.M.-

Steve watched with wide eyes as his best friend fell down to his death, arms reached out towards him, with a resigned expression on his face.

Soon enough, the train whizzed far away, the snow covering up the landscape.

Hugging himself to the train's hanging door, he heard a shout from further behind the train, and a quick sob from behind him, signalling Rosebeth's arrival.

Letting himself be led inside the train for safety, he accepted the warm hug that Rose provided; he buried his face into her chest as he wept for his lost friend.

Not even noticing when Gabe came into the room, he managed to compose himself once Rose told him that Doctor Zola was about to arrive.

Packing all his things, he grabbed Rose's arm, the two of them doing their best to look away from Zola's figure, fearing they would lose control and kill him.

-T.R.M.-

A little less than a month later, Phillips finally managed to clear his schedule (after a lot of insisting from Rose's part) enough to have time to interrogate Arnim Zola, the newest resident in their prison cells.

Bringing the prisoner in, he watched as the man stared sceptically at the plate of food placed before him, eyeing it as if it were to come to life and bite him.

Opening the door to the interrogation room, the Colonel entered and sat down, feeling the small doctor's eyes drilling into his skull.

Looking up, he extended his arms towards the empty chair before him, thinking that maybe intimidation would be the best option for this case.

-"Sit down."-

Knowing better than to disobey a direct order from his capturer, Zola slowly sat down.

Looking down at the meal he had been presented, he turned towards the Colonel, letting the smallest amount of disgust into his tone.

-"What is this?"-

Phillips could barely hide his smirk.

-"Steak."-

Still suspicious, Zola shook his head.

-"What is in it?"-

-"Cow."-

Zola pushed away the plate, not interested in eating it.

Already having been informed by Rose of the Doctor's peculiar eating habits, Phillips couldn't help but to poke some fun at his expense.

-"Doctor, do you realize how difficult it is to get a hold of a prime cut like that out here?"-

-"I don't eat meat."-

-"Why not?"- Phillips asked, he himself tucking into the grand feast.

-"It disagrees with me."-

How about cyanide? Does that give you the rumbly tummy, too?

Following Zola's silence, Phillips chewed on his food, taking with his mouth half full.

-"Almost Hydra agent that we've tried to take alive has crunched a little pill before we can stop him. But not you."-

Gulping his piece of meat, he stared at the annoyed doctor.

-"Here is my brilliant theory... You want to live."-

Zola shook his head mockingly at the lack of subtlety of the interrogation technique.

-"You're trying to intimidate me, Colonel."-

Chester pointed his fork at the meal he was currently eating.

-"I bought you dinner."-

Seeing as he was getting nowhere, the Colonel took out a folded telegram from his pocket, passing it to Zola.

Opening it up, Zola ignored the eating Colonel in favour of reading the note.

-"Given the valuable information he has provided and in exchange for his full cooperation..."-

Here, Zola frowned confusedly.

-"... Dr. Zola is being remanded to Switzerland?"-

Chester nodded, grabbing the napkin as he wiped his face.

-"I sent that message to Washington
this morning, of course it was encoded."-

Already knowing the answer thanks to Rose's informs, Chester played at mock obliviousness.

-"You guys haven't broken those codes, have you? That would be awkward."-

Zola shook his head and some up, firm in his belief.

-"Schmidt will know this is a lie."-

Chester shrugged.

-"He's going to kill you anyway, Doc."-

Leaning forward, he slammed his hands on the table making Zola jump startled.

-"You're a liability. You know more about Schmidt than anyone except Maskell and himself."-

Straightening up, Phillips remembered Rose's behaviour these past weeks.

She had been behaving professionally, although everyone could sense a nervous and angry vibe around her.

-"The last guy you cost us was Captain Rogers' closest friend... The Rose Maskell isn't very pleased either, so I wouldn't count on the very best of protection."-

Chester could easily see that he had unnerved the man, and was now hoping for him to give in.

-"It's you or Schmidt. It`s just the hand you've been dealt."-

And just like that, Zola clammed up.

He crossed his arms, and sat up straight like a ramrod, his lips sealed with his knowledge.

Chester snarled, not knowing what he had said wrong.

Before he could try again, the two men stiffened as a woman's voice spoke up from the shadows.

-"I'm afraid that you might be developing a talent for understatement Colonel Phillips... "-

The two men shared a look, neither of them recognising the woman's voice.

-"The Rose Maskell isn't displeased... she's livid. In fact, she's doing her best to refrain from torturing you in the most savage ways she knows."-

Stepping out of the shadows, the Colonel and the Doctor watched as skeletal hands reached from under a large purple cape, pulling back the hood to reveal an empty skull.

-"Infinity... Well, she's refraining from doing much worse."-

After her horrifying appearance was revealed, Phillips was the only one to recognise her for who she was.

And boy did that terrify him.

-"Miss... Death."- He greeted, hard pressed at finding a more suitable address.

Sensing his struggle, Death's figure flickered, a pale (but human) visage covering her skeleton.

-"My brothers and my mother's friends tend to call me Dee."-

Nodding in acknowledgement, Phillips took her correction into consideration.

-"Dee, if I may ask... What are you doing here?"-

Death smirked, taking note of the hesitation with which the man spoke, realising that he was doing his best to not offend her.

-"I came with a gift for my mother. I am just waiting for her arrival."-

The two men were further confused, wondering why she was interrupting an interrogation for the sake of a gift.

Before they could voice their question, a large portal opened between them and Death.

Out stepped Rose Maskell.

Ignoring the two men in the room, she walked towards her daughter, kissing her cheeks in greeting.

-"What do to need sweetheart?"- She asked, holding on to her daughter's shoulders.

-"I've decided to give you a gift."-

Staring deep into each other's eyes, Zola watched as Rose's mouth twitched, a savage grin making its way on it.

-"Thank you sweetheart, you always make my day."- Rose told her, making Death puff with pride.

Her face soon adopted a furious frown as her sight fell upon a terrified Zola.

-"You indirectly killed a man I call a close friend."-

As Zola opened his mouth to defend himself, Rose held up her hand, stopping him in his tracks.

-"That places you in a very dangerous position... You would have been better off crushing the damned pill, by the time we're done with you..."- Rose shook her head, purposely trailing off as the scientist paled.

-"Now, for the benefit of the ever patient Colonel..."- she began, nodding at the currently silent man.

-"... Schmidt believes he walks in the footsteps of the gods, only the world itself will satisfy him... Tell us his plan."-

Yet Zola remained silent, a fearful look plastered upon him, yet he still stood defiant of the woman's orders.

He would regret that till his dying day.

-"Oh well. If I'm honest, I was hoping you wouldn't give in."-

Walking towards Zola, she watched as he scrambled pathetically towards the wall, the Colonel watching the proceedings as still as a statue.

Getting close enough to practically smell the despair around him, Rose held his right arm tightly, speaking with an ice cold tone, filled with the fury of the god's.

-"An eye for an eye... isn't that the expression Doctor?"-

Death watched calmly, while the Colonel's eye began to twitch as they observed Rose start to twist his arm lightly.

Screaming in agony (the wimp, she wasn't even applying much pressure), the small doctor screamed out his knowledge.

-"The sanity of the plan is of no consequence! His target is everywhere! He's going to launch some bombs, please stop! He's launching in 24 hours! Stop please."-

Finally getting the information he needed, Phillips wiped his hands and made to get up.

Before he could even get out of his seat, Rose savagely twisted Zola's arm 360°, pulling it at the same time, causing a disgusting squelching noise to be heard, along with an agonising scream which shortly faded into a dull thud (result of Zola's fainting).

Watching the Doctor's armless body -laying prone on the floor- while simultaneously hearing the Colonel retching in the corner of the room, Rose calmly turned towards her daughter, who was watching the proceedings.

-"Thank you for your gift, but I want to make a small request."- She began.

At Death's curious expression, she continued.

-"Keep him alive. His time has not yet come, but let him live. The pain from his shoulder shall forever remind him of this day and his dreams will torture him. "-

Death nodded calmly. It seemed reasonable enough.

Pointing towards the severed limb Rose held in her hand, she offered some help.

-"Do you want me to get rid of that? "-

Rose immediately shook her head.

-"If you could put it in the trophy room... Let nobody take it, save it for the winter soldier... "-

Throwing it over, she turned and waved her hand in the Colonel's direction, quickly cleaning him up.

-"Up you get Colonel, time to start planning."- She said calmly.

Barely looking back at him, she turned towards the door.

-"I have someplace to be... "-

-T.R.M.-

The Red Skull stood on a small podium, a large plane behind him as he addressed his soldiers.

-"Tomorrow Hydra will stand master of the world... Born to victory on the wings of the Valkyrie, our enemy's weapons will be powerless against us... If they shoot down one plane, hundreds more will rain fire upon them."-

Turning behind himself, he poured himself a brandy. With his back still turned, he continued to speak to his followers.

-"Where they cut off one head, two more shall take its place."-

-"Heil Hydra."-

The crowd roared, lifting both of the arms up as they repeated their chant like a prayer.

-"HEIL HYDRA!"-

-"HEIL HYDRA!"-

... Heil Hydra.

-T.R.M.-

Walking through the rubble of the used-to-be-club (being extra careful to not bust her heels), she finally found Steve sitting down on a small chair, a pint in hand.

Hearing her careful steps around the bricks, Steve stood up and offered his hand as he helped her across.

Offering a seat at his small table, Steve leaned over the counter and grabbed a glass cup and wine.

Remembering her preference of wine over beer, he proceeded to pour her a glass, before sitting down and sipping at his own drink.

After a few seconds of silence, Steve spoke up.

-"Dr. Erskine said that the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles, it would affect my cells. Create a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means... err, I can't get drunk... Did you know that?

Rose nodded.

-"Your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person. He thought it could be one of the side effects..."-

-"Right."-

A small tense silence passed between them before Rose sighed and lowered her glass.

-"I have some horrible news..."-

Steve chuckled darkly.

-"Go ahead; I doubt it could get worse than this."-

-"I'm afraid it's much worse…"- Rose said with tears in her eyes.

Seeing the seriousness and misery she displayed, he sat up straight holding her hand as he listened attentively.

-"I was shown a glimpse of the future when I was inside the train. I saw Bucky and myself interacting... 2000's Steve, it was in the 2000's."-

Steve stood still like a statue, his eyes being the only things that moved, his hand crushing Rose's own.

Or would have been crushing, had she been normal.

Before he could explode (or implode, she wasn't quite so sure anymore) from his bottled up feelings, Rose kept talking, hoping to make her point clear.

-"He's held by HYDRA, and before you ask, there's not a fucking thing I can do about it."-

Steve's eyes bulged at her crass language, but otherwise kept his tongue.

-"I went over it with Dee. I go over, they kill him. I infiltrate, they kill him. I manage to escape with him, two days later, they kill him."-

Sighing, Rose used her other hand to rub at her face tiredly.

-"I'm bloody Infinity. I'm supposed to do as I will and now, I'm not doing anything because they'd kill my friend. They won this fucking round and they know it... Bloody wankers."-

The two partners turned and stared at each other for a few seconds, before bursting out into laughter.

Despite the impropriety of the situation, they couldn't help but guffaw at the ridiculous insult.

Sooner rather than later, they quieted down, sadly wiping away their tears of mirth.

-"It's my fault... If I had arrived a little sooner..."-

Steve raised his head in alarm at the whispered comment. He would not have his girl taking the blame for something that was obviously not her fault.

-"If it's anyone's fault it's mine, I shouldn't have proceeded with the mission... "-

Rose smacked his arm in response

-"It's not your fault; you couldn't have possibly known that would happen."-

-"Did you read my part of the report?"-

She nodded.

-"Well, then you know that's not true. I pushed you and decided to carry on the mission despite the clear sign that something would go wrong."-

-"You did everything you could with what little information you had."-

-"But if I..."-

-"No. You did what you had to do."-

-"What if..."-

-"No."-

Rose calmed down and took a deep breath.

-"Bucky wouldn't want us to blame ourselves... We can still go after Hydra, and l'll try to keep an eye on him."-

Steve looked gratefully at her before a hard expression swept over his face.

-"I'm going after Schmidt. I'm not going to stop till all of Hydra is dead or captured... Can I count on you standing by my side?"-

Rose smiled, holding his cheek in the palm of her hand.

-"Do you even have to ask?"-

Resting their foreheads together, they stared at each other's eyes.

-"Do you still want me even with my grey blurs of the future?"-

-"Yes."-

-"Sure? Because there's a huge one coming up..."-

-"Sure."-

-T.R.M.-

A few hours later, the remaining team was gathered at the bunker discussing their next plan of attack.

-"Johann Schmidt belongs in a bug-house."-

The Colonel stood at one end of the table, Steve sitting on the other, while the rest of the team was scattered around.

-"He thinks he's a God and he's willing to blow half the world prove it... starting with the U.S.A."-

Fixing his stern gaze on all the participants of the meeting, he tried to convey the urgency of the matter.

His eyes skipped Rose. He wasn't quite ready to face her without puking his guts out.

Howard sighed, hating to admit his incompetence in the matter, but having no choice.

-"Schmidt's working with powers beyond our capabilities."- He said, sending Rose a look when she was about to protest.

-"He gets across the Atlantic; he will wipe out the entire eastern seaboard in an hour."-

The Commandos shared a determined look between themselves.

-"How much time we got?"-

The Colonel paled slightly as he remembered Zola's situation.

-"According to Arnim 'Armless' Zola, twenty four hours."- Rose said, making many of their eyes furrow in confusion.

Steve, Chester and Peggy seemed to have caught on to her drift.

-"If you've got something to say Chester, spit it out. I'd rather you didn't die due to any distractions."-

The majority of the room looked confused as Chester opened his mouth to do just that, but changed his decision in the last moment.

Grabbing some pictures Phillips threw them on the table instead.

-"Hydra's main base is here. In the Alps. Five hundred feet below the surface."-

Picking up the images, the room observed and exchanged them around the table.

-"So, what are we supposed to do... I mean, it's not like we can just knock on the front door."-

Steve looked around at the assembled company as they were silent, contemplating. Turning towards Rose, he lifted his eyebrow, receiving an encouraging nod in return.

-"Why not?"-

The entire room looked at him as if he were crazy.

-"That's exactly what we're going to do."-

-T.R.M.-

Chester walked up behind Rose as everyone put their equipment together. Clearing his throat, he anxiously placed his arms behind his back.

-"May I have a word with you Maskell? "-

Rose smiled in a friendly way, patting his shoulder.

-"I'm going to save us both the uncomfortable conversation I've foreseen, and simply answer. All is forgiven... Don't worry about it Chester."-

Standing on her tiptoes, she leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his cheek, turning back towards her baggage.

The room had the courtesy to pretend to not overhear their conversation, but they couldn't help but let a few snickers escape at the Colonel's (almost) imperceptible blush.

-T.R.M.-

After finishing her packing, Rose walked over to Steve, helmet in hand as she carefully placed it on his head.

-"You better get back safe and sound... I swear if you have more than a scratch on you, I'll slap you silly."- Rose told him, half serious and half joking as they held each other's gaze.

Leaning forward, Steve kissed her, letting his bag fall to the floor as he pulled her into his chest.

Though surprised, Rose didn't object, instead running her hands over his chest before burying her fingers in his soft hair.

After a few minutes, things started to get far too heated for their situation, so they reluctantly stepped away from each other.

-"Well... I'm surprised, but I can assure you that was far from unpleasant... I'm more confused as to the why... What brought this on Steve? Is everything alright?"-

Steve couldn't help but to smirk proudly when he saw how breathless she was left. A small part of his brain kept nagging at him, wondering if he could have managed that in his skinny form.

Wiping away that thought, he remembered the words of advice Bucky had told him a few months ago...

-"When the time seems right... That's just an illusion Steve. Do it when you want."-

Now or never.

-"Rosebeth, remember a few months ago after we captured the submarine?"-

-"Yeah, we talked about our favourite animals and I fell asleep."- Rose said, nodding as she remembered.

Steve fidgeted as he slipped one hand into his utility belt.

-"Well after that, I talked to the guys and, you know... Rosebeth, I've known you for 3 to 4 years now... Bucky helped me choose it since I'm useless when it comes to dames, women... I meant women... My point is, I want us to-... "-

As Rose stared amusedly at his word vomit, raising her eyebrows in question and hiding her snickers when appropriate, but before he could continue, Dernier rounded the corner, banking something in French.

Rose nodded and seemed to answer in affirmative at his words, making Dernier smile and leave.

Turning back at Steve, she sent him an apologetic look.

-"You'll have to tell me later... It's time to leave."-

Kissing him one last time, she walked past the corner.

Moment lost.

Turning to grab his shield, Steve sighed.

-"Yeah, later."-

-T.R.M.-

A motorcycle sped through the dense forests of the Alps, a man with the American flag plastered all over his uniform.

6 motorcycles followed him in 2 lines of three.

Looking back, the American fiddled with a few switches on his right, making a thin cord shoot out from under his seat, burying themselves in two parallel trees.

The first two pairs ducked under the cable, the last two failing to see it, causing them to be immediately thrown off their motorcycles.

Two down, 4 to go.

Taking advantage of the ensued confusion, the Captain fiddled with the left side of the handles, flipping a few switches.

Fire burst out from his motorcycle's exhaust, directly burning the two agents behind him.

Four down, two to go.

Drifting through a sharp curve, the American watched as the two agents that had been behind him, had managed to move on front of him.

Hitting the gas pedal, he rode faster, reaching behind one of the men's motorcycle and pulling a pin, getting as far away from the grenade as he could.

Task accomplished. Now unto the mission.

The man rode his motorcycle all the way to the front gates, but found a huge tank barring his way.

Reaching behind him, he pulled a round shield off his back, and placed it in front of him, the shield absorbing any hits he received.

The tank could have used a shield.

With one simply switch of a button, a tiny missile shot out from beside the front wheel of the motorcycle and made the tank burst up in flames.

Using his vehicle, he rode up one of the nearby ramps, arriving on the middle of the camp.

Swinging off, he pressed some last buttons as he took his shield and rolled away from the motorcycle.

Enemy agents immediately swarmed around him.

An intricate dance was what happened next.

Between the sea of black, if you've looked carefully, you could see a spot of blue, white and red dancing around, hitting and punching, his moves carefully thought out as he threw his shield, needing to know exactly what he was doing so he could receive it back.

The dance soon ended.

With the explosion of his vehicle, the American finished tossing his shield around, finally receiving it, just as he was surrounded by a ring of fire.

Startled, by the time the ring ceased, he had more than 50 soldiers with their guns pointed at him.

Steve Rogers was surrounded.

-T.R.M.-

After being stripped from his shield and his weapons, Steve Rogers was being escorted to the Red Skulls office, apparently late to a meeting that had long been overdue.

When he was finally standing face to face with the damned Red Skull, Steve glared at the man as he was held back by a few of his minions.

-"Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait..."- Schmidt began, walking closer as he inspected him lazily.

-"... But I must say you do it better than anyone."-

Finally allowing the glare to break through his eyes, he spoke with as much condensation as his voice allowed itself.

-"But, there are limits, to what even you can do, Captain... or did Erskine tell you otherwise?"-

Steve stood, unaffected by either the tone or the glare he was receiving.

-"He told me you were insane."-

-"Ah."- Schmidt said, finally a topic he was used to hearing about.

-"He resented my genius, and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine."-

Standing right in front of him, Steve could see a glint of jealousy in his eyes.

-"But he gave you everything... and somehow you've managed to make a Goddess follow your lead."-

-"So. What made you so special?"-

Steve scoffed. Figures were he would think he had to be special.

-"Nothing. I'm just a skinny kid from Brooklyn."-

The Red Skull saw red.

Enraged, he lost his composure and struck the soldier's face, punching his gut, making the American fall to his knees.

Steve spat out blood.

-"I can do this all day."-

The Skull rubbed his knuckles absentmindedly.

-"Oh of course you can, of course."-

Stepping back, he took out his Tesseract-filled handgun and started to point it at the star spangled thorn in his side.

-"But unfortunately I am on a tight schedule."-

Steve smiled through his bloodied mouth.

-"So am I."-

CRASH.

-T.R.M.-

-"Now."- Rose said opening her eyes.

She had been tracking down Steve's progress as he made his way through the camp, informing the others of the situation.

The plan was quite simple; Listen to Rose's instructions until they got in, causing all hell to break loose.

As soon as Schmidt took out his gun, he quickly gave the boys the order.

While the boys entered via zip line, she entered via teleport.

Just as they broke through the window, she appeared behind Schmidt, roundhouse kicking the gun out of his hand.

Sending him a fierce glare, Schmidt ran away as quick as he could, wondering what had changed that caused such aggressiveness in the Goddess.

Freeing himself, Steve turned as Falsworth called his name.

-"Rogers! You might need this."-

The shield came whizzing towards him.

Catching it with one arm, he quickly pecked Rose's lips and ran.

-"Thanks!"-

-T.R.M.-

At the same time, on the outside of the factory Rose stood stiffly before opening her eyes amused.

-"They're in."-

Nodding Phillips turned towards the awaiting soldiers.

-"We're in. Assault Team, NOW!"-

At first, everyone (but Steve) had been freaked out when many... Rose's had appeared.

The same woman had... multiplied herself, making three versions of her.

One to stay with Steve and the Commandos, one to stay with the Colonel and Peggy, and the last one to lead her own group of soldiers.

Like always, they quickly got used to Rose's eccentricity, accepting the fact that the clones were the same as Rose.

Fighting their way through, they quickly managed to get inside the base's walls.

Immediately 5 HYDRA agents ran towards them, guns in hand as one of them shouted their annoying lemma to the heavens.

-"Cut off one head, two more sha-... "-

The voice was cut off as the 5 agents fell dead to the floor.

Reloading his gun, Chester smiled.

-"Let's go find ten more."-

An over exaggerated gasp was heard from his left, snickers following from Peggy on his right.

-"Did Chester just joke? I feel like a proud mother... I just knew you had it in you!"-

Chester felt a bit disgruntled at Rose's good-natured mocking.

-"Hush Maskell."-

Cackling, Rose followed the Colonel while Peggy took a different tunnel.

-T.R.M.-

Steve watched while he gained ground as Schmidt grabbed a fallen HYDRA guard's gun and proceeded to shoot all the men who came through a nearby doorway.

Turning around, Schmidt caught sight of the Captain, and ran the other way.

Unfortunately he wasn't as close as he would have liked, so Steve threw his shield, hoping it would impede the man's progress.

No such luck.

Unfortunately, he was the one impeded as a huge bulky HYDRA goon came out from behind a corner, a flame thrower directed at him.

Hiding in a small crevice, he was trying his best to find a quick solution.

His salvation came in the form of Peggy.

While Rose and the Colonel had explored one corridor, she had taken another, leading her all the way here, shooting the thug from behind, Peggy watched as Steve came out from his hiding place.

-"You're late."- He joked, a smirk pulling at his lips while he raised his eyebrows.

Peggy tried to keep her smile in.

-"Oh shut up brother."-

Peggy froze as she realised her mistake.

-"I meant Steve... Rogers. Captain Rogers."-

While he had stopped at first, startled by his nickname, a soft smile made its way into his face.

-"Don't worry about it... sister."-

The pair shared a brotherly glance before Peggy remembered their current situation.

-"Weren't you about to..."- she trailed off, gesturing towards the hallway where he had thrown his shield.

-"Right. Tell Rose that I love her and that I'll see her in a few."-

-T.R.M.-

The Red Skull was anxious.

He was desperate for his plans to come to fruition, but if the Goddess was blatantly against him... Well he wasn't sure how much time he would have left.

That's why; he immediately changed his course towards the Valkyrie, hoping to be able to take off before any more problems arose.

Getting inside (his cover guards weren't that lucky); he immediately took control of the plane, driving the Valkyrie towards her first flight.

-T.R.M.-

Teleporting their way through an entire battle would be quite exhausting for some, but for Rose... She was having a blast.

One second she would be delivering a kick to one guys head, the next snapping a guy's neck, quickly teleporting back to finish off the first guy.

Having unintentionally separated from the Colonel, she quickly reunited as she found Peggy and dragged the pair towards the Skull's prized car.

Quickly getting in, Rose sat in the backseat with Peggy as the Colonel drove.

Shouting so she would be heard over the sounds of battle, Peggy delivered her message.

-"Steve sends his love. He says that he'll talk to you in a few minutes."-

-"Good boy."-

The Colonel snorted as he came to the sudden realisation that Rose had him completely wrapped around her finger...

Poor guy.

-T.R.M.-

Steve watched anxiously as the plane's engines started.

He had been fighting his way through the crowd when he decided he needed a more... drastic approach.

He swung over the battle, shield in one hand, a hanging metal chain in another.

Once he started to lose swing, he let go and landed on the floor, rolling so he wouldn't break his knees.

That's when he started to run.

He ran as fast as his legs could take him, and it still wasn't enough.

He stopped; realising there was no way he would reach the plane in time.

Until once again, rescue came in its way.

-"Get in."-

Jumping into the front seat, he turned and smiled at the two ladies behind him, receiving two grins in return.

-"So Steve, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"-

Steve stiffened and gulped, eyeing the extra passengers.

Well, like his Ma used to say... No time like the present.

Fumbling around with his belt, he turned his body towards the two amused and confused ladies.

-"W-well, I've known you for a long time now, and I love you very much... So I was wondering..."-

Steve took out a small box from his belt, making the two girls gape at him in disbelief.

As Steve stumbled with the clasp, Rosebeth let out a shriek which was soon followed by Peggy.

-"NOW?!"-

Steve lost his grip on the small box as the Colonel swerved the car wildly, startled by the shout.

Like a slow motion movie, everyone watched as the small box sailed through the sky, everyone lifting their hands out to reach it.

Thankfully Peggy caught it.

Peggy stared in disbelief at the box, and then at Rose and Steve.

Suddenly a huge shit-eating grin crawled upon her face.

Carefully passing the box to Steve, she clapped her hands together as she watched the proceedings with a hawk like eye.

Clearing his throat, Steve tried to pick up where he left, feeling quite uncomfortable with all the gazes fixed on him.

He decided to take the simple way.

Opening the box, he showed them the ring, and lifted his eyebrows, shrugging as Rose looked pointedly at him.

-"What do you think? Want to marry me?"-

Silence followed the only sound coming from the engines of both the car and the plane.

Everyone stared expectantly (and anxiously) at Rose, waiting for her decision.

Rose's mind was in turmoil.

She really really really wanted to say yes, but she had to weigh the odds.

The amount of chaos that would ensue should she accept was... infinite.

But... She was the embodiment of Infinity...

-"You know what? Fuck this."-

Standing up, she proceeded to snog the life out of a startled Steve.

Sensing the Colonel's urgency as they were losing ground, she reached over and pressed a red button, making the car noticeably increase speed.

Separating, this time it was Steve's turn to be dazed.

-"... Is that a yes?"-

Rose nodded, letting Steve slip the ring unto her finger.

-"I'm keeping my name though... Elisabeth Rose Maskell Rogers. I like it. "-

Steve turned excitedly towards the Colonel, his face screaming happy disbelief.

Phillips misinterpreted his expression.

-"You asked her, I'm not marrying you!"-

Rose interrupted whatever response he would have given when she pushed them all down, the plane's propellers scratching the car.

Back into business, Steve started to get out, smiling at Peggy's shout.

-"Go get him brother!"-

The plane just started to rise when Steve leapt off, the Colonel immediately stepping on the brakes like their lives depended on it...

It did.

The car would have completely tumbled down the cliff had Rose not intervened.

Pushing her hands up, the car floated above the precipice.

-"This just gave me a wonderful idea for Lola."-

The pair looked at her weirdly and decided to simply not ask.

-T.R.M.-

While they were returning to the scene of battle, Steve had already managed to dispose of the dispatched bombs and the extra agents, making his way towards the plane's control room.

Slowly opening the room's door, he sent a cautious gaze towards the empty seat.

Keeping his shield close to his person, he set out quietly towards the screens, eyes peeled as he looked for Schmidt.

Hearing a gun loading behind him, Steve whirled around; raising his shield just in time to block Schmidt's shot.

The shot hit his shield, making it deflect and hit the window.

-"You don't give up, do you?"-

Barely hearing each other over the roar of the wind, Steve shook his head and lunged towards the Skull.

-"Nope."-

Sharing punches, Steve managed to rid the man of his weapon, although it wasn't enough to deter him.

During one of his punches, Steve managed to throw the man off his person, causing him to crash into the control room's seat.

Immediately, the plane started to lose altitude, making the two men fly to the roof, crashing into each other.

The punches kept on going.

Luckily (or not), Schmidt managed to momentarily free himself from Steve, crawling towards the controls and putting the plane on autopilot.

The plane stabilized and everyone crashed to the floor.

Taking out a new pistol, Schmidt searched for the slippery man.

-"You could have the power of the gods."- He said, shooting at the pillar where Steve was hiding behind. –"You're even dating one!"-

Despite the inappropriateness of the situation, Steve couldn't help but to let out a quick laugh at that.

-"Oh, I'm not dating one... I'm marrying her."-

Thankfully, Schmidt seemed not to hear him (who knows how much more vigour he would attack him with), as Steve planned his next move.

Well he had to duck first.

-"You wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations… I have seen the future, Captain."-

He shot at him once again.

-"There are no flags."-

At the edge of the pillar, Steve finally spoke up, this time shouting so the Skull would hear him.

-"Not my future."-

Leaping, he hunched midair, barrel rolling as he landed next to his discarded shield.

Covering himself from the shot, he then proceeded to toss it at Schmidt, who ducked, causing it to hit the device where the Tesseract had been placed.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the hit caused the device to malfunction, making the cube lift up from the small platform where it had been locked.

Schmidt immediately ran up to the cube looking a bit scared.

-"What have you done?"-

Grabbing the cube was his downfall.

Rose had informed the team that if they ever encountered the Tesseract, that the best they could do, was to run the other way, under no circumstances should they touch it.

Steve was a little too late to warn him.

Watching with no small amount of trepidation, he saw as the Red Skull stared at the cube adoringly, as the cube itself started sending energy blasts towards the room, similar to the ones HYDRA used in their standard weaponry.

Now the weird stuff happened.

The energy beams connected to form a large gateway of sorts, making them see the sky.

Not just the sky though… Space.

The cosmos opened up on the roof, as the two men forgot about each other and stared amazed (and puzzled) at the beautiful scenery above them.

The magical atmosphere didn't last too long.

Johann Schmidt had started to feel a peculiar tingling in his hand, and worriedly, he turned and observed it.

He immediately started to panic.

Wanting to let go of the cube, he couldn't, his only option was to watch as the bright Tesseract started to disintegrate his flesh, his bones following quickly.

He was in agony.

-"NOOOOOOO-... !"-

And Johann Schmidt was no more.

A shockwave of light erupted as the sky sealed itself, the Tesseract itself starting to burn through the floor and fall into the sky as Steve Rogers stared apprehensively after it.

Picking up his shield, he shook his head from his troubled thoughts ('I hope Rosebeth doesn't kill me for letting her cube get lost...') and headed towards the controls.

Setting his shield aside, he quickly began to analyse the panels as he tried to come up with a suitable solution.

As each second passed, Steve's anxiety spiked as he realised he was running out of time and out if options.

He had hoped it could have been as easy as to find a nearby landing space, but it seems that the hit it had received earlier with his shield had completely busted with the navigation system, leaving him with one option.

With tears on his eyes, he took one shaky breath in.

Rosebeth was not going to like this...

-T.R.M.-

The attack was a success.

Only minutes after Rosebeth had last seen Steve, the factory had been seized, and the few remaining Hydra agents had been taken in for questioning (most of them hugging their arms close... Rose had a tendency to break any wandering arms.)

The Commandos, Peggy, the Colonel and Rose were waiting in the office, waiting for Morita to receive any news from Steve.

-"BBBZZZZZSSST"-

-"Come in, this is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"-

Jim pressed the microphone, connecting the line between them.

-"Captain Rogers, what is your-... "-

Jim didn't finish, Peggy and Rose pushing him out of the way as they both shared the seat.

-"Steve is that you? Are you all right?"-

They eagerly waited for his response.

-"Great, Schmidt's dead."-

The entire room let out a deep breath, cheering between themselves happily.

Peggy was the one to address the next issue.

-"What about the plane?"-

-"... That's a little bit tougher to explain."-

Rose was the only one to detect a hint of anxiety underlining his tone.

-"Steve... "-

She was ignored.

-"Give me your coordinates, I'll find you a safe landing site."- Peggy instructed, pencil and paper pad already in her hand.

-"There's not going to be a safe landing. I'm going to have to try and force it down."-

A growl came from beside Peggy, making everyone wince at the deadly warning it conveyed.

-"Don't. you. dare."-

Wanting to avoid a conflict, Peggy quickly interrupted.

-"I'll get Howard on the line; he'll know what to do."-

Steve shook his head on the other side of the line.

-"There's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York."-

Everyone noticed the tremble in his voice this time.

-"I got to put her in the water."-

The room stiffened, Peggy let out a small sob, while Rose stood up furiously.

Taking one deep breath, Rose stormed out the room and locked herself up in an adjacent office.

Everyone winced as they heard the room being trashed.

Peggy took full control of the microphone now, clutching it with a death grip.

-"Steve, you're my brother, please don't do this. We have time, we can work it out."-

-"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer a lot of people are going to die."-

-"My dearest sister... This is my choice."-

Steve took a deep breath and steered the plane downwards.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, everyone sniffling and discreetly wiping away a few stray tears.

-"Peggy."-

-"I'm here."-

-"Is Rose still there?"-

Peggy wiped her tears away as she cleared her throat.

-"No, she stormed away a minute ago..."-

Steve chuckled tearfully on the other side.

-"Sounds like her... Do you think you can reach her? I'd like to talk to her if I could."-

A few seconds later, Rose sat fuming in the control room, all her friends having left to give them some privacy.

-"Rose, please talk to me."-

Rose scoffed, anger clear in her voice.

-"You do realise that whatever you do now is always going to happen, in every bloody universe... And I can't do a damned thing about it."-

Steve sighed tiredly and resignedly.

-"Rose please don't fight with me... Not ever, but especially not now."-

At the silence on her end, Steve confessed in a quiet voice, suddenly sounding incredibly alike to a small child, afraid of the dark.

-"Rosebeth. I'm scared. I'm downright terrified."-

Steve finally heard a defeated sigh through the connection.

-"Well that makes two of us."-

Scoffing, Rose shared her thoughts out loud.

-"How ironic. Engaged on one day, and my fiancée decides to crash a plane... Am I really that bad?"-

The pair shared a tearful laugh.

-"I'm still having that wedding. It's not every day that the Brooklyn punching bag gets engaged."-

-"Ok. You might have to propose again; because that was the most rushed proposal I've ever received."-

Despite being on a crashing aeroplane, Steve couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.

-"You've had other proposals? Who?"-

Rose smiled sadly.

-"I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."-

-"Fair enough. Tell me about our wedding."-

-"Summer wedding."-

Steve blinked slightly startled.

-"That was quick."-

Rose smiled sheepishly despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

-"I've been planning it since I got out of the car."-

Steve smirked as smugly as he could manage.

-"I'm thinking England. I've heard so many nice things about there from you and Peggy."-

-"England it is then. It would be a beautiful ceremony with all our friends… We'd dance all night."-

-"Let's hope I can pull off those moves again…"-

-"Don't worry; we'll have the band play something slow."-

-"What would it be Rose? Play it for me, will you?"-

-"... Lucky for you, I know how to play the air-piano."-

Chuckling weakly, Rose placed her hands in front of her, a seemingly invisible piano before her.

-"I'll share a little secret. I met Beethoven once, presented myself as Elisabeth. Soon enough, we became best friends. Guess you now know to whom he dedicated 'Für Elise'..."-

Steve choked out a laugh as music started to pour through their connection.

Despite not having a piano in front of her, Rose pressed some imaginary keys, causing notes to echo around the room.

The music was so beautiful and entrancing, that Peggy and the Commandos couldn't help but to stand outside to listen.

Inside the large plane, Steve took out his compass and opened it up, a picture of Rose staring back at him as he placed it in front of him.

The melody changed from a slow hypnotic rhythm, to a faster and livelier one, before once again reverting to its original tune.

Steve's panicked tone interrupted his voice higher than it usually sounded.

-"Rosebeth, I lov-... "-

-"BBBZZZZZSSST"-

The music immediately stopped, Rose staring at the communications device as she knew what happened.

Outside, everyone stiffened as the static was heard, and if that wasn't enough, then the sudden stop of the beautiful melody would have been enough.

Peggy straightened up, knowing that Rose would need more comforting than herself at the moment, and tried to place a brave face on.

She failed miserably.

Nevertheless, the thought was what counted, so she made her way into the room, the Commandos waiting sadly outside.

Peggy entered, not having been able to control the water works, so tears were running silently down her cheeks.

Standing at the entrance, she eyed Rose who was standing rigidly in her seat, a glazed look in her red rimmed eyes.

Not knowing how she'd react, Peggy slowly approached her.

-"Rosie?"-

Watching her closely, she panicked when Rose suddenly slumped down on her seat, eyes wide and started twitching.

-"ROSE!"-

Her shout alerting the Commandos that something was wrong, Peggy didn't manage to get close enough to touch Rose as one of the men grabbed her around her hips, trying to hold her back as she struggled to get to her friend.

Recognising that she would not be reasoned with, Gabe grabbed a nearby paperweight and threw it at Rose, hoping that Peggy would understand why they were restraining her with a visual example.

She did.

The paperweight sailed through the air and hit against a barrier, causing it to get thrown back into the wall, shattering into tiny pieces.

Peggy and the rest of the Commandos (the ones who had only heard about this spectacle) stared amazed at the barrier that had formed.

Some would say it looked like a dome with golden veins.

Others would say it was more like a golden river.

Many would agree that it looked more like a golden spider web.

But what everyone would agree on was the fact that it was beautiful.

Unfortunately, as soon as it had started, it had ended and Rose sat up straight staring right at them, an unreadable expression on her face.

-"He's alive. He's frozen somewhere in Antarctica... We have to wait around 70 years to thaw him out... If we get him out sooner, he'll die."-

Everyone stared at each other quietly contemplating the consequences.

-"Well fuck."-

-T.R.M.-

A few days later, the Commandos (and Rose) were sitting quietly in a bar, a drink in everyone's hand.

Rose was the first to lift her pint.

-"To Steve."-

Everyone agreed, lifting their own drinks.

-"To the Captain."-

A/N - I started to write more for the ending, but I just couldn't get it right so I deleted it. I'm once again sorry for the lack of details, next is a few appearances of young Xavier, Raven and Erik Lensherr along with some parts of the agent carter one shot.

Hope you enjoy. xx

-F.