Valery watched as the soldiers of the 107th threw things at Captain America.
"That's awful." Peggy commented from her side.
"That we wasted so much time and resources on a show pony?"
"That they hate him."
"They've never met him."
"Neither have you." Peggy reminded her. "I could introduce you."
She shook her head. "I've got other matters to attend."
"Will you be around for dinner?"
Valery looked from Peggy to the stage where show girls were prancing around. "If I am, can we settle this?"
Peggy smirked at her crumbling resolve.
"Very well, Agent Carter. I shall see you at dinner. Now if you will excuse me."
"Of course, Agent Erskine."
Valery smiled as she walked away. Their banter always seemed to amuse her.
She stopped a soldier that crossed her path. "Excuse me, Private."
"Ma'am." He greeted, somewhat confused by her appearance.
"I'm looking for Sergeant James Barnes. Can you tell me where I could find him?"
The soldier's face developed dark shadows. "He … Sergeant Barnes was taken by the Germans, Ma'am. In Azzano."
"Thank you, Private."
He continued on his way.
Valery walked back to the tent she had been assigned with Peggy. She shed her coat, changing into more durable clothes. Loose khaki slacks, a white tee shirt and a black leather jacket.
She dropped her hair pins on the table before sliding on her black boots.
She listened to the footfalls around the tent before stepping out. She bolted for the woods surrounding the camp.
She knew now that Schmidt had the weapon. She had spied on his camp weeks after they had infiltrated Rogers' procedure in New York.
Taking a step outside of the American camp, she was suddenly looking up at the Hydra factory in Azzano.
Taking cover behind a truck, she grabbed the first German soldier to walk by.
Covering his mouth, she reached inside of his mind.
Once she had the location of the prisoner cells, she slammed his head into the truck hard enough to dent the metal and kill the soldier.
Having seen the location in his mind, it was easy enough to step across the physical plane to the new location.
Valery looked down from the catwalk onto the cells.
Bucky wasn't in any of them.
Fear began to build in her throat.
Suddenly she heard Dr Zola shouting angrily in German.
A guard opened one of the cells and pulled an American out. Shutting the door back, they dragged the soldier after the doctor.
Valery followed them.
Once she was in the lab, Zola walked out while his aides prepped his new victim. Looking around, she saw Bucky on one of the tables.
"No, nononononono." She rushed over. "James? Bucky? Please, wake up."
She shook him for a moment but he remained unconscious. There were few injuries on him, nothing that explained his state.
Beside his gurney was a table full of vials and syringes.
She picked up the notes underneath all of the mess. As quickly as she could she read through everything that Zola had done to him.
"He's trying to recreate the serum." She realized aloud.
Valery had committed the recipe to memory, along with all of its variations. She quickly compared her recipe to what Zola had already put into Bucky's body.
The crazy German had actually gotten fairly close, all things considered.
Tossing through the glass vials on the table she quickly figured out which items she would still need.
Only one thing was missing.
She looked around the lab, noticing that the only people in it were other soldiers on tables.
Leaning in, she brushed his hair from his sweat covered face. "I'm coming back, I promise." She whispered to him. "Please, please keep holding on." She kissed him on the lips.
Standing up, she took a step and landed halfway around the world, back to New York. In the back of Howard Stark's lab, there was a safe. Without bothering to use the code, she ripped the lock off of the metal.
A pair of glass vials peeked out of the back, glowing in the darkness.
Grabbing both vials, she turned around and was back in Azzano.
She dropped the vials onto the table, knocking over numerous others in the process. Glancing over Zola's notes again she picked up two syringes.
She quickly drew two identical concoctions of ingredients. Some of the ingredients were chemical or elemental in nature. Lastly, she pulled the contents of the glowing vials into the syringes.
Picking up the syringes carefully, she turned back to Bucky.
His breathing was worse than when she had first found him.
Taking his hand in hers, she squeezed it, willing him to hold on a little longer.
She didn't have the luxury of using Stark's metal contraption to inject the serum. Positioning the first syringe between his ribs, she carefully slid the needle to barely brush his heart.
Setting a hand on his chest, she let the purple on her skin bleed into his own. In this way, she repaired any existing damage as well as prevented further damage to the vital organ.
She emptied the contents of the syringe into his chest.
His eyes opened and she thanked the gods that Zola had tied him so tightly into place. He was unable to fight her while she completed the procedure.
Removing the first syringe, she let it fall from her hands where is shattered on the floor.
Cupping his cheek, she leaned over him once more. "Bucky?"
He looked at her. "Valery?"
"I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to do one more thing. It's going to hurt."
He looked confused as he took in his surroundings. His heartbeat sped up.
"You're going to have to be as still as possible." She warned him, not sure he understood.
She walked around the head of the table. Taking his jaw in her fingers, she turned his head to the side.
She took a deep breathe and steeled herself against her own conflicting thoughts. She couldn't let him die, and this was one of her only two ways to save him.
She needed to work quickly and get the serum into his system, as painful as it would be. She slid the needle into the back of his neck.
He made a sound, and she held his jaw tighter to keep him from moving.
More carefully than the first injection, she forced the serum into his spinal cord.
Once there was no more fluid, she pulled the needle out and laid her hand over the injection point. She carefully healed the track the needle had taken into his neck.
She brought his head back so that he could look up. She laid her head on his chest. He was breathing heavily now.
Before she could do any further triage, a hand wrapped around her arm.
She was thrown back into the table full of ingredients. Bottles rattled and rolled off onto the floor, smashing around her.
She looked up to see Johann Schmidt standing over her.
"What have you done?!" Zola hissed, rushing to the soldier's side.
"She has done what you could not." Schmidt answered for her, kicking the remains of the first syringe.
"That remains to be seen." The doctor hissed.
Valerie looked away from Schmidt for a moment as she watched Zola.
Schmidt reached down and grabbed Valery by the back of the neck. He pulled her close enough to whisper. "What is so special about this man? Why did you risk yourself to save him?"
She didn't answer him.
On the table, Bucky opened his eyes for a moment before they closed again.
"It does not matter." Schmidt growled at her. "I've got you now."
"He is in no better condition than he was in before she attempted to play God." Zola declared self-righteously.
"You have no need to play." Schmidt mumbled under his breath.
"Why did you experiment on him?" Zola asked, finally addressing her. "There are another dozen subjects in this laboratory."
"No one should be on the other end of your needle, Zola. You are a pitiful excuse for a doctor. Had you taken only a little longer I would have saved the others."
Schmidt forced her face back towards his own. "Perhaps you would like to share your secrets."
"Perhaps I would sooner die."
Schmidt chuckled. With a quick twist of her head there was a snapping sound.
He picked up her lifeless body and set her on a nearby gurney. Securing the straps, he tossed a blanket over her.
"Shall we incinerate her?" Zola asked behind him.
"Do not be foolish doctor. That injury is not sufficient to keep her incapacitated." He pulled a sheet over her body. "She will come to life in a matter of hours and we can extract what we need to make more super soldiers."
"Erskine shared his formula with her?" Zola's small face became a fleshy mass of lines and confusion.
"He made the super soldiers from her." Schmidt corrected. He stepped out of the laboratory.
"How long have you known?" Zola demanded, following his leader.
"Long enough." He continued down the hallway. "How is project Valkyrie coming along, doctor?"