* I want to apologize deeply for the late update. It's just that I'm going through a pretty tough time right now. You see, I recently moved from the states to a new country. School started up a few days ago and I've been really busy trying to get used to the new environment and get myself settled. I haven't been getting very much sleep and my mind's just been with other things, but I promise I will find more time for this story. Thank you for understanding, I'm sorry again! Oh and this is my first time writing an action chapter so please if it sucks I know but I'm sure I'll improve after some experience with this particular genre. Enjoy :) -Noor xx*
Marty
My chest heaved up and down as heavy breaths escaped my lips. I had my back up against a wall of a tank, I wasn't sure if it was an American tank or a HYDRA one, but I was too busy to care. I had just dived behind this tank for cover; a HYDRA had just aimed his gun at me fired and away. The glowing blue minerals nearly severed my skin, but I got behind the tank just in time. I peeked out from behind the tank, the HYDRA fired again. I quickly dodged the lethal blow once again. Then, before the HYDRA could pull his trigger another time I stuck my head out again and pulled mine. My bullet hit the HYDRA square in the chest and I saw my masked enemy fall. I felt a twinge of guilt in my chest, but then I remembered the countless number of injured, tortured men who came back that day from Austria with Captain Rogers, and the guilt was gone as quickly as it had come.
The battle had started so fast, everything was moving ten times quicker than it should be, including my heart rate. I kept my back against the cold metal wall of the tank. I had a plan; I needed to get inside the base. Killing HYDRA's men wasn't going to win this war, what America needed was information, dirt on the enemy and I wasn't going to find any of that here in all this chaos. I stuck my head out from behind the heavy machinery; the front doors of the base's main building were about ten yards away. I could run that easily, but the problem was that in those ten yards, between me and that building was a loud, dangerous battle. I considered my options, I could run around the battle, but that would be too risky, I'd stand out too much. I could sneak through the battle, but that was, let's face it, impossible with the conditions. I had only one other option. I swallowed down the little spit I had left in my dry mouth, stood up from the dirt ground, and gripped my gun tightly in my sweaty palm, my right index finger ready at the trigger. I would have to run straight through the madness, there was no other way.
I took in a deep breath, released it, and then took off like a rocket. My feet pounded into the dirt as I raced into the raging battle. The sound of bullets, cries of pain, the sound of bodies hitting the floor. That's all could hear as I zoomed past the men in combat. I managed to make it halfway through the crowd without injury when suddenly a heavy, leather covered hand grabbed me by my shoulder, spinning me around. My eyes went wide as the masked enemy's fist came right at my face, hitting me in the jaw. My back hit the ground, the air was knocked right out of me, but the sudden pain emitting from my soon to be bruised jaw wasn't nearly enough to keep me on the ground. I got back up as quickly as I had fallen, the taste of blood in my mouth now, probably from my lip, and punched the HYDRA right in the center of his face. He simply stumbled back, but in the spilt moment that it would've have taken him to gain composure I took the butt of my gun and hit him firmly in the head. He fell.
I huffed, taking one last glance at the unconscious HYDRA before darting towards the building once again.
Steve
I felt all the muscles in my right arm contract intensely as I threw my shield. It spun, slightly leaning in the air until it reached its target. The HYDRA I was aiming for hit the floor, he was out. My shield came rotating back to me. I slid my hand into the slot as quickly as I could because another HYDRA had just come at me, and this time he had a gun. I raised my shield, blocking his attack. Then, I grabbed my shield and took him out just like his friend. I looked up from the floor, my breaths getting heavier by the minute. I quickly scanned the battlefield; this battle was intense, more intense than the one back in Austria. Just as I was about to get my focus back on combat something – more like someone – caught my eye. This person was running through the crowd, a gun in their hand, blood on their lip. They ran quickly, the fastest I've ever seen. Wait, there was only person I knew who could run like that; Marty.
Where was she running to? I followed her with my eyes….she ran…and ran. Then, she reached the main building of the base, pulled open the door, and hurried on in. What was she doing? This wasn't the plan.
My body moved on its own. I found myself running towards the building after her. A sudden impulse to keep her safe took over me. Was it because she was my best friend's sister or because she was a woman? No, it wasn't either. It was because she was a fellow soldier. Marty was part of my team, and we stick together.
Marty
The loud alarms pieced my ears as fresh sweat trickled down my nose, a drop settling on its tip. I wiped it away with my hand, trying to steady my breathing. I was inside the base now and I had gotten here with minor injuries. Sure my lip was bleeding pretty badly and my jaw ached even worse, but I was virtually fine. I hid behind a wall, planning. I needed to get to where the Tesseract was; maybe I could actually bring it back to the base if I found it.
I peered out into the hall from behind my wall, but quickly hid again when I found a whole bunch of HYDRA soldiers racing down the hall. I waited for the pounding of their heavy rubber boots on the floor to fade before stepping out from behind the wall.
Okay, find the Tesseract…find the Tesseract…
I began walking, slowly and stealthily making my way through the base. I passed by numerous doors, all labeled with something, but it didn't seem like the Tesseract was in any of them. Then I passed a door labeled "Laboratory". This just might be it. I carefully turned the knob of the door; the room was dark except for a single white light. It beamed down on a table, on it laid empty test tubes with blue residue on the inside, papers, notes; someone was working here. I took a look at the notes, it was in German; damn. I decided I better take it, I'm sure there was someone at the base that would be able to translate it. With that, I folded up the notes and slipped them into my pocket.
I left the lab, quietly closing the door behind me and continued exploring the base. I walked down one hall, and despite the loud blaring of the alarms I heard voices and quickly hid behind the nearest wall. I listened.
"I'm very pleased with your work, doctor," The man had a German accent. He was for HYDRA.
"Th-Thank you, sir, ze serum is practically complete," Another voice said, a high pitch, this man was definitely smaller, also German. I could hear the voices getting closer, they were on the move, and they were heading straight for me.
My eyes quickly scanned the hall for a hiding place. Their voices were growing closer by the second. Suddenly I spotted a small store room. Without really thinking about it, I darted over to it, slipped in quietly, and kept the door open just a crack so I could see. Then the two men came hurriedly down the hall. I was right. There was a smaller man and a taller one. My eyes landed on the taller man and my heart stopped for a second. The man's skin was ruby red, his nose was non-existent, and his expression screamed all kinds of danger. I knew this man. The team and I had discussed him a lot, he was the enemy. This crimson man was Johann Schmidt, Red Skull, HYDRA's leader.
I knew the smaller man as well. His name was Zola and he was another often mentioned name back at the base. These guys were bad news. Zola had a briefcase in his hands, papers sticking out messily out of the corners. He must've been in a rush. There was something else in his hand too, a little test tube and in it lay a blue serum swaying side to side as he hurried down the hall. It was similar to the blue residue on the test tubes back in that lab. Something wasn't right about that serum…
I listened closely to their conversation. Johann Schmidt continued, "Excellent, yes, but I'm afraid you'll have to finish it another place."
Suddenly Schmidt stopped dead in his tracks. He had stopped right in front of the store room. Zola stopped as well, looking up at his leader curiously.
"Sir, ve must go. Ze Americans, zey are here!" Zola said anxiously in his German accent.
"Shh…," Schmidt said, placing a finger to his thin lips.
I held my breath, staying as still as a rock, every one of my muscles contracted tightly. I watched the two men through the crack in the door with wide eyes as my wildly beating heart found its way into my throat. There was nothing but the sound of the alarms blaring and I stood motionless as the two men lingered in front of the door.
"Doctor," Schmidt spoke in an eerie voice. Schmidt took a step closer to the store room. The incredibly loud beating of my heart was causing the sound of the alarms to fade out into the background. A drop of sweat fell slowly on my anxious face. Schmidt placed his hand on the door knob, "We have visitors."
The door swung open, hitting the wall behind it with a startling bang. Schmidt's eyes met mine immediately. "A soldier, so nice of you to join us tonight," Schmidt spoke, a smirk on his face. Suddenly, his leather gloved hand found its way to my throat, and he grasped it tightly with a strangely strong grip, practically dragging me out of the room.
He threw me to the ground like a chew toy. My back hit the tile floor sending a sharp pain up my spine. I yelped, my neck aching like a bitch now to be honest. I pushed myself off the floor, my blood boiling with rage. He had made me seem so weak, so pathetic, and I didn't like being made a fool of. "Schmidt," I greeted him, bitterly.
Strangely enough, his face lit up, "American!"
"Damn right I am," I said, wiping the blood on my lip that refused to stop leaking out.
"Proud?" He said, simply.
I nodded my head firmly, tearing my eyes away from Schmidt for a slip second to glance at the strange serum in the frightened Doctor's hand. Whatever that stuff was it looked dangerous. I needed to get my hands on that test tube.
"What's not to be proud of?" I said, brining my attention back to Schmidt though my mind lingered with the doctor.
"Oh, there's a long list, solider. Unfortunately I have no time to stay and chat," and with that the enemy slipped his hand into his long, leather jacket and pulled out a shiny silver gun, the familiar blue lethal glow of the Tesseract energy emitted from it beautifully. But it was only beautiful until he pointed it straight at my face. I quickly reached down to my gun holder to get my weapon but there was no rifle at my waist. I cussed under my breath, it must've dropped outside. I was defenseless now, and if I died up against Schmidt's Tesseract weapon there wouldn't even be my body left behind. I wanted to run, to escape, but I was stubborn and my feet refused to move from their motionless position. What about Bucky…
Schmidt pulled the trigger. I heard energy building inside Schmidt's gun, something forming, something dangerous. Then a miracle happened. A circular object quickly came spinning through the air, the colors red, white, and blue flashed across my vision hitting Schmidt's hand, knocking the gun right out of it. His gun was sent flying across the hall.
"Leave him alone Schmidt." His voice was firm, serious.
My head shot towards him. He stood there with his jaw clenched tight, his shield boomeranging back into his hand. He had a single silver star on his chest and bared a big white "A" on his head. It was none other than The Star Spangled Man with a plan; captain was here.
Schmidt shot Steve an ugly look (which wasn't that hard for someone who looked like that). "Captain," he said, the hatred hanging heavily on the word. "We thought you'd never make it."
I needed to get that test tube, but I also needed a plan. I looked Steve straight in the face, locking my blue eyes with his greenish, hazel ones. Once I got his attention I subtly nodded my head in the direction of Zola and looked down at the test tube in his hands. Steve followed my eyes, looked at me curiously for a short moment, a single eyebrow raised. Then he nodded his head a single time, catching my drift. The captain had read my mind.
"Wouldn't wanna miss the party," Steve said, turning his attention back to Schmidt.
The red skinned man chuckled, "No worries, captain," he said, slipping his hand back into his leather coat, "You're just in time for the main event!" He pulled out a smaller gun, but it looked just as deadly as his last.
It all happened so fast. Schmidt pulled the trigger, aiming at Steve this time. Cap quickly covered his face with his shield, the Tesseracts's deadly energy bouncing off of it and hitting the wall instead. Then I saw Zola grasp his briefcase and test tube tighter in his small, shaking hands and take off down the hallway in an escape. Steve looked at me from behind his shield, throwing me a gun from his waist, "Go get Zola! I'll hold him off!" He said, valiantly thrusting his shield back into the air at towards Schmidt's head.
"Right," I said, catching the gun. I gave him a firm look before darting off after Zola.
I raced down the hall, Zola's small figure just a couple yards away from me as he ran for an escape door. I stopped abruptly and instead aimed the gun at the doctor and fired once; missed. I fired a second time, it nearly got his shoulder, but it still missed. Then I fired a third time, aiming for his right foot this time. The doctor cried out in pain and I knew that the bullet had reached its target. Zola lost his balance and released his grip on the test tube. It fell to the floor, but didn't break. Zola was reaching down to pick it up, but I fired the gun again, and again. He scrambled fearfully to the door, pushing it open with all his might, and limped out into the dark night, clutching his ankle.
I lowered my hand, placing the gun in my empty gun holder and jogged over to the test tube. It rolled back and forth of the tile floor, the bright blue serum glistening in the light. I leaned down and took the test tube in my hand, brining it close to my face, examining it. What the hell was this stuff…?
