Chapter 5: The One and Only Captain America
"This is the girl from the factory."
"Schmidt had a girl as a prisoner in that factory?"
"He found her in the forest in some 'Clearing of the Gods' place. The quack probably thought she had some sort of magic power."
"He thought this girl had magic powers? That's damn crazy!"
"Colonel, please, keep it down. She's been through enough."
My eyes fluttered open to the voices that had floated through my consciousness and had woken me up. With some effort, I was able to fully open them and blink at the dazzling light glaring down on me. When my vision finally focused and cleared, I saw that I was in a tent; the air around me smelled like fresh dirt and rain, and there was a cool breeze filtering through the canvas. As my mind began to make sense of where I was, I looked around the tent at the group of people gathered around me.
There were some familiar and some unfamiliar faces peering down at me. I instantly recognized Bucky, whose hand rested gently on my arm, like he was trying to comfort me in case I was frightened by the sight around me. Then there was Dugan at the foot of the cot, arms folded across his chest. It took me a while to fully recognize the others, and even then, I only did when they spoke.
"Now look what you've done, Colonel." A a female, British voice said, obviously disgusted.
"Agent Carter I would keep your voice down to a considerable tone if I were you." A gruff and gravelly voice replied, one that I recognized as Colonel Phillips.
"Are you okay, miss?" A softer, kinder voice asked me directly, hovering over me with genuine concern on his face.
I focused my vision and attention on that face and voice and saw a man with deep blue eyes and swept up blond hair. He wore a brown leather jacket over a blue uniform with the image of a star emblazoned on it. He looked at me with worry creasing his forehead over Bucky's shoulder, which he easily did. It must have been odd for Steve Rogers to be tall enough to look over his friend's shoulder now.
"I-I'm okay." I muttered. My voice was hoarse, and my mouth instantly felt dry. I coughed a little as I propped myself on my elbows.
The woman in the tent, Peggy Carter, handed me a small tin cup of water that I greedily drank from. I handed the cup back to her and she quickly refilled it and handed it right back to me. Now I took little sips, feeling refreshed and better than I had in a few days.
"Now, Dugan here tells us that you were among the prisoners in the factory." Colonel Phillips stated dryly.
"Um, yes, I was." I replied.
"What did he do to you?"
I gulped and looked over to Dugan, who nodded back at me reassuringly. I then looked over at Bucky. He was the one person I could relate to right now, as he had been right there with me during the experience. So, I told Colonel Phillips about the Clearing of the Gods theory Schmidt had, and how Zola had tortured both me and Bucky.
"Did you see colors when he electrocuted you?" I asked Bucky suddenly, and he straightened up a little. Everyone in the tent turned to look at him, and a slight blush reddened his cheeks.
"No, the only thing I remember is being in that room with you and the electrocution." He admitted sheepishly. "It was all a little hazy at times." I nodded and bit my lip in contemplation.
Why had I been able to see those colors during the torture? They didn't seem normal; not in the way they swirled and seemed attached to specific people. The red one was only connected to Zola, and the green to Barnard. Bucky even had had an orange haze the moment he grabbed my arm during his session. I wondered who the blue color connected to, but I shook my head, telling myself that I didn't need to worry about that now.
"So, he electrocuted you and you saw colors." Colonel Phillips said dully, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"It was more than that," I mumbled. "I don't exactly know what crazy ideas Schmidt has about me, or what he has planned. All they did was ask me questions about things they thought I knew, and I tried to be as basic as possible with the answers."
Colonel Phillips narrowed his eyes a little at me, like he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not. There wasn't anything else I could add, since the only other thing I could tell him was that I knew things about this world no one else did.
"It's true, she only told them about where she was from and what she was doing before showing up in that clearing." Bucky said, coming to my defense. Then, he smiled and kind of chuckled to himself, garnering a few more confused looks from everyone around us.
"What?" Steve asked, nudging Bucky slightly to tell everyone what he thought was so funny.
"Well, it's one of the few things I remember from that, but Maddie was not happy with the questions she was getting asked. At one point she was just sarcastic and angry, and Schmidt himself had to come in."
"You remember that?" I asked with a slight smile on my face. I recalled Schmidt coming in and asking if the interrogation had hit a snag, and then-,
"Wait, did you see me punch Schmidt?" Bucky nodded and everyone else seemed to take a step back away from us. "What? I got mad and punched him in the chest."
"You punched Johann Schmidt in the chest?" Steve asked in awe.
I could also see the image of the dent the Red Skull had planted in Steve's prop shield with just one punch reflected in his eyes. Steve probably found it mildly unbelievable that someone like me could have punched a man like him.
"It didn't hurt him, scared him, maybe." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Plus, you've socked Adolf Hitler in the jaw, and now I've socked Schmidt in the chest." I grinned at my use of phrasing as Steve's jaw dropped open in disbelief.
The tent fell quiet for a beat, and then everyone inside it burst out laughing. I looked around with a goofy grin on my face. It was a stark contrast to the pain and suffering I had endured on my entrance to this reality, and I felt the panic inside me wane just a little.
"This one is a firecracker!" Colonel Phillips said after a short guffaw at my antics. "Pack her up with the rest of the men. We're taking her back to England."
"England?" I blinked at him, and he nodded firmly.
"If that damned Schmidt wants you, it's probably for a good reason. We'll take a closer look at you back at the headquarters in London. Pack up! Let's go!"
And there I was, standing outside the tent as it was taken down, dressed in borrowed military fatigues that were too big for me (for good reason), and my brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. I watched silently as everyone in the camp scrambled to pack everything up: tents, chairs, cots, tired men ready for a break. I had nothing that I owned, save for the clothes I had been wearing when I arrived, and I didn't have any idea where they had gone. I was told to stay put and not move until it was time to go. Peggy Carter had been appointed as my temporary guardian, and she was busy tracking down various things and making sure people where ready to go when the time came.
"All right Maddie," I turned to see Peggy walking up to me, carrying a small canvas bag in her arms. "I have your papers here, and I think we are ready to leave." She smiled down at me; her heels made me taller than me, but then again, I was short for my age.
"Okay," I said, feeling flustered and a little out of place. It didn't help the thin layer of social anxiety packed on with my regular anxiety. Peggy must have seen it on my face, because she placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile.
We got into a jeep and drove to an airfield with tons of airplanes roaring to life and rumbling in wait for their passengers and cargo. Peggy and I were directed to a small, pale-yellow plan that looked vaguely familiar to me. That sort of déjà vu was starting to feel normal to me, and I had stopped trying to make sense of the things I saw or heard.
"Agent Carter! Good to see you again." An American voice called as Peggy helped me up into the plane.
The man in the cockpit turned suddenly and looked at me with bright green eyes. He had dark hair and sported a bit of a beard and goatee. He had pilot headphones over his ears, and dark sunglasses perched precariously on the end of his nose.
"You are not Agent Carter." He said after looking me over.
"Um, no. I'm Maddie. Peggy is right here." I smiled at Howard Stark, who watched me as I took a seat and Peggy climbed in after me. She shut the hatch and took a seat next to me.
"Good morning, Mr. Stark. I see you have met our new friend, Miss Maddie Davis." She said cheerily as she buckled herself in, and then checked that I was belted.
"Yes, indeed I have." Howard said. "Nice to meet you Maddie, I'm Howard Stark." He extended a hand to me, and I took it gave it a shake. He paused a little, and I wondered if he thought I would fangirl over being in a plane with the Howard Stark.
I don't think I'd do that for even Tony, I thought coyly to myself.
"Are we ready then?" Howard asked a little awkwardly as he turned back into the cockpit and brought the plane roaring to life.
In a matter of moments, we were up in the air, leaving behind Austria, and its terrible happenings with Hydra. It all seemed too unreal to me as the plane puttered along in the air. I thought about what the Watcher had told me about how this world was technically real, and that I was really in it consciously. He had created this world specifically for me, and that felt strange. It was the kindest thing anyone could do for me, and he was a cosmic being that I had no idea even existed in my reality.
I hadn't told anyone about the Watcher, and I was starting to see that as a good thing. Based on my mentioning of the colors, it would have landed me on everyone's "she's crazy" thought process. I could easily explain away the colors due to the electrocution, but a giant headed-being with the power to create whole realities? Nope. I didn't want to tell any of these people that to me, their world was fiction.
Peggy and I talked a lot during the flight to England. I told her all about me and my family. I withheld certain information, like the time I was really from, and the insane technological advances I was used to. It made my talking a little stilted, but Peggy didn't seem to notice. She still enjoyed what I had to say and found it interesting that I was a twin. I shower her my hand and explained it the best I could without being too revealing. She at least got a better explanation than Zola and Schmidt.
I wondered if Peggy and the other USSR members were aware of the strange legend about the Clearing of the Gods. Schmidt had explained it to me like it was widely known, but Peggy's face didn't betray that she thought anything of what I told her. If she did have any sort of idea about it, she kept it to herself like a good spy should.
I fell asleep at one point, lulled by the hum and vibrations of the plane engine as we flew. I didn't dream, but my thoughts circled constantly around the Watcher, the mysterious colors I had seen, and Bucky chuckling about my sarcastic remarks and actions towards the Red Skull. I wasn't out for long before Peggy shook my shoulder to wake me as we started our descent back towards the ground, now safely in England.
Peggy started pointing out various places as best she could among the rubble. I didn't tell her that technically I had been to England before, when I was a junior in high school. No, I kept that buttoned up since I had visited at a vastly different time. Not during a war, and when things didn't look so grey. I was saddened by the destruction the German bombs had caused to various neighborhoods and places, and as we drove to USSR headquarters, I could feel my heart break for the people walking around with sad looks on their faces.
At headquarters, I followed Peggy into the briefing room where Colonel Phillips was already setting up a world map with different markers for Hydra camps and factories. Steve was there too, muttering about what all he could remember from the one glance of the map he had seen in the room Bucky had been in.
"She doesn't need to be in here for this." Barked Colonel Phillips when he caught sight of me. "Someone take her to the med bay immediately."
No one jumped at the chance to volunteer, and I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and out of place. When I was about to offer to take myself, Steven stood up and volunteered.
"I need you in here Rogers," Colonel Phillips said.
"I'll be right back sir." Steve replied and Phillips huffed and waved him on in annoyance.
"This way, Miss." I felt my cheeks heat in a blush and hurried after Steve out of the room.
Although it looked like Steve was going to hurry and get me to the med bay, once we were out of earshot and eyesight, he slowed down and started to walk leisurely. I fell into place beside him, biting my lip and watching my feet.
"It's nice to have a break from the Colonel," He confessed to me and I nodded silently.
Oh my gosh I'm walking with Captain America! He's talking to me! We're heading to the same place! My thoughts exploded as nervous excitement bubbled inside me, making me shake a little. I would steal glances up at him a few times, looking away when he looked back at me. This man walking next to me looked like Chris Evans! He was tailored into a perfect military uniform and his blond hair was perfectly combed. My heart beat hard in my chest and Steven must have noticed how weirdly I was acting.
"You don't have to be nervous with me," He rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "I don't bite."
I gulped; I knew that!
"S-Sorry, this is all just really strange to me." I admitted to him. "Never in a million years did I think I would get to meet Captain America." Steve paused mid step for a moment, and then continued walking.
"You've seen my movies then?" My heart flipped in a circle. I knew he meant his little reels he did for army publicity back in the States. He had no idea that I was thinking of a different movie.
"Un, yes, I did." I quickly lied. "And one of your War Bond shows." I added to cushion the idea that I was from this time. Steven cringed at the mention of his ridiculous stage show he had to do to encourage Americans to buy war bonds.
"You were really brave back there in Austria." He said, changing the subject. "I've never heard Bucky be so amazed before."
Another blush erupted on my face. Bucky Barnes was amazed by me? For some reason, that sent my heart beating in a very different rhythm than before. It bit my bottom lip, wondering why that would make me feel more nervous than meeting Steve Rogers, my favorite hero.
"That wasn't brave, I was just super annoyed and angry." I said softly. "I probably told that psycho too much information."
Steve reached out and stopped me in the middle of the hallway. He looked down at me so intensely that I could see that he was thinking hard about what I had said. I started thinking about it too, and how Schmidt was obsessed with godly power and making it all his. Did Steve know the crazy ideas Schmidt had about me? About how I supposedly had magical powers? That seemed farfetched to me, and I hoped that Steve would see that too.
Yeah but the idea of actually being in the Captain America movie seemed farfetched too, and look where you're at!
"I think it was brave." Steve said finally after a long pause of silence. "And I hope I can see more of that bravery in the future." I looked into his deep blue eyes as he smiled down at me warmly.
"Really?" I asked him.
"Yeah, and give Bucky some trouble for me in the med bay, won't you?" He grinned as we walked the rest of the way to the med bay. He stayed at the door as I walked in, smiling, and feeling lighter than air. And, I realized as I was getting checked out by a doctor, I felt a lot calmer than I had in a long time.