As soon as they parked their trucks, they started to prepare for the set-off. They wanted to go light, it was therefore their last opportunity to eat a little bit and control their weapons. Everyone could feel the nervousness which lay on them as a heavy blanket. The school was eight kilometres far. It was already midday, and they knew that the sunset should be at 17:12. They had still over five hours, but they also needed to get to the place on time and to search it. Peggy and Steve were obviously trying to avoid one another. They both felt embarrassed after their last talk, even though for different reasons. Bucky spotted it and did not like it. He knew better that it was better to clean the air before the action because whatever happens, they must rely on one another and unpleasant feelings between two members of the unit could lead them into trouble. Even though he knew that they were both professionals, he also knew that they are both stubborn as a mule.

They were just doing the last preparations when Bucky got hold of Peggy's upper arm and dragged her away from the others.

"What's up?"

"You know… I know what Steve told you yesterday and I wanted just to tell you… you know… before the mission, it is good when everyone knows everything… He does not think you are like his brother, because you are a woman, you know… I meant… He is really terrible in speaking to women and you should know that he knows that you are a woman all the time and…"

"Buck?"

"Yes?"

"You both are terrible at speaking to women," she smiled and squeezed Bucky's forearm gently.

"It's really ok, Bucky, no offense taken from any of you."

"Ok, that's good. I just thought that before the action you should know that he cares for you… even when he sometimes behaves weirdly around you."

She just nodded and they came back together. When they joined the others, Steve looked mildly surprised to see them together. They did not talk much together, and he did not know where they were. But then he just shook his head. There was no time or place to focus on such things.

They set off with nothing but their weapons and walkie-talkies. They were too loud to be used in an action, but they could use them before everything starts.

They arrived at the place in two hours. It was a school in the middle of a centre, which seemed to be deserted but they knew better than to count on that. They split into two teams in the courtyard. One part was supposed to check the inside, the others should stay outside and find strategic positions for themselves.

Dugan, Steve and Peggy were in the group who should search the school. They went around the building to look for the back doors. There were swings which were moving as the wind was hitting them.

Dugan exhaled and Steve and Peggy looked at him.

"Schools should be a safe place. And look now… no kid is playing in here…" He just shook his head and followed Steve who found the doors. As they stepped inside, the floors creaked. They were covered with linoleum and their shoe soles were making noises with every step. There was no way how to be inaudible. Dugan looked at Steve who seemed to be thinking about the same – how should they spy on the strangers when they are not able to move? They were looking around as if hoping that they will find the end of the lino when they saw Peggy going away from them almost without any noise. They looked in surprise at the floor. Where she stood a minute ago, there were her shoes put aside. The floor was squeaking a little bit, but without the horrible sound produced by their boots, she could be almost inaudible.

She turned around and waited.

"What?"

"It's November. It's cold outside and you will get cold."

"It's better to get cold than to get shot," she retorted and continued. She opened the doors of one room and disappeared inside.

They looked at each other and followed her example, hid their shoes and entered the room. It was empty and for a while, Steve panicked that they lost her only to find out that there were other doors next to the library which led into the teacher's office. The class itself was deserted. There were desks with chairs, the blackboard which was covered with dust and a few chalks that were laying on the ground.

They looked inside to find Peggy searching the office for anything suspicious.

"Nothing," she stated as they entered.

They left the first classroom and one by one they started to search the whole school. It was only one-floor building, but there were at least twelve classrooms and a few teacher's offices. After they searched every classroom, they entered the headmaster's office. And they hit the nail on the head. They did not see anything suspicious at the first glance, but they saw that nothing in that room was covered in dust. That meant that somebody visited this place not a long time ago.

A major part of the room was taken by a table which was big enough for twelve people to sit at it. Chairs, however, were put to the walls so more people were able to get around the table. The cabinet which was on the right side was locked, but under a small table which was put next to it were a few documents. Someone maybe dropped them to the ground and did not spot them. Steve bent over for them, opened the first folder, and hissed. The sign of Hydra took the whole first page. He turned the first page and frowned. "It's in Russian.".

"Give it to me." Peggy came to him and took the folder out of his hands. As she read, he checked on the other folders, but as he expected, all of them were in a language he could not understand.

"What is in there?" Dugan asked.

"It's a list of names. But there is no explanation who they are supposed to be."

She frowned. "They seem to be English names… Jim Smith, Terry Rogers, Lee Burns…."

"It might be a list of spies then!"

"Maybe…" she said indifferently. She listed the whole folder, but it does not contain anything but names… But then… one name caught her attention. The line read: Майкл Картер. Michal Carter. Her heart stopped beating for a while. It could not be! What was this doing in here? She hastily opened another folder, but, again, it did not consist of anything else but a list of names. She opened the third one to find a little information about the list of weapons they had in… 1925. So, it was not useful for their action either.

She looked at the cabinet.

"We should look inside."

"We are running out of time, there is only one hour left before we need to hide," pointed out Dugan.

"One hour is enough."

"Should I crack the lock?"

"No, we must open it and then close it – if they find it broken, they will alert the second party and the action will be over." As she was saying it, she put one pin out of her hair and put it into the lock. She played with it for a few seconds when it unlocked. She opened the cabinet carefully to find it full of folders laying in columns. It would take her weeks to go through all of it.

"We can come back and go through it later," suggested Steve.

"Yes, but I will use the hour I get anyway." She reached for a few folders and started reading them.

"Ok, Dugan, stay here with her. I will look around the school again. We will meet in front of this office in an hour. If you hear anything strange, get out of here. Do not risk anything. You understand?"

They both nodded and Steve left them.

"What are you searching for?" Dugan asked.

"I want to find out why they have these names written in here."

"Maybe it's as we said… a list of spies…"

"No, it's not!" She snapped.

Dugan raised his eyebrows but did not tell anything. He just went to the widow and searched the grounds with his eyes.

In an hour, she did not find anything concerning Michael Carter, nor anything else useful. They locked the cabinet and put the folders to their previous place. They might as well be put there on purpose to check if anyone searched the room. She left the room reluctantly. If it was up to her, she would have stayed there as long as they hear anyone coming. However, she also knew that her behaviour did not respond to the situation and that she should put her emotions aside and concentrate on the action. Steve was waiting outside along with Bucky, Morita and Pinky.

"We need to encircle the room. If we want to catch them, we should not leave them any possible exit. We will work in pairs. Once those outside see someone, they let us know and we will go into radio silence. We will not communicate with each other, and we will have to rely on ourselves. The action starts the moment you hear the gunfire. We decided to wait for both parties as it will be easier to identify the mole. But first things first. Peggy, you and Dugan will go to this room. At the end, you will find a teacher's office. The wall which it shares with the headmaster's office is so thin you will be able to hear everything. If they say anything important, you must remember it. Once the action starts, run to the doors of the corridor. Bucky, Pinky, you will go to this room. Once everyone is inside, you will cover the corridor from this side. With Morita, we will be under the widows once it starts. Just to make sure they will not want to jump out of the window. Be as quiet as possible, wait for the signal."

They nodded and went their separate ways. The sun was already shining less, and they knew that the sunset would play into their hands. The lampposts outside switched on, but it could not shine enough to see properly inside the school, nor outside in the school's shadow. They had two options. The easier one was to use their lights. But then they will be easier targets to be shot at. The second option was to stay in the darkness. And to pray that they wouldn't shoot at their friend. But they never went for the easier way. The only way how to avoid risking their lives was to be so quick that they will be still able to identify themselves.

Peggy sat down and leaned against the wall. They were sitting in complete silence and time to time checked their wristwatches. They let the windows open – decided not to change anything just in case. However, it meant that the temperature was falling quickly and their feet which were covered only in their socks started to feel numb. They knew that they should move in order not to lose their running abilities, but it would mean making noises. They decided to ignore the cold and bet on the adrenaline once the action starts.

It was 17:00 when all lights from the street went down and they heard the rattle of a car on the driveway.

"Let the game begin," whispered Dugan.