Chapter 11: The Final Mission

After who knows how many days of driving from one state to another, Logan finally arrived in D.C. As he parked his bike outside one of the buildings, he prepared to go in. His mind was beginning to race, not sure what he was going to find inside. He finally entered the building, the Smithsonian Museum, and made his way to the Captain America exhibit. As he walked past the different displays, a voice over narrated the life of a man he didn't know he once called friend.

"A Symbol to the nation, and a hero to the world." the voice recapped as Logan continued walking. "Due to poor physical health, Steve Rogers was denied enlistment to the United States army. But his unwavering spirit and desire to fight for what's right wouldn't let him give up. He tried enlisting again five times across five cities. This attracted the attention of the brilliant minds of the Strategic Scientific Reserve. They gave him the chance to volunteer for a secret experiment. One that would transform him into the world's first Super Soldier."

Logan saw a small display that compared scrawny Steve with Super Soldier Steve. He couldn't help but smirk at that. He continued walking until he saw a display that had a picture of Cap with the Howling Commandos.

"Battle tested," The voice continued. "Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission; take down HYDRA, the rogue Nazi science division."

Logan took a closer look at the picture and while most of the faces were unfamiliar to him, one face stood out; his own. He looked at the description near the photo and saw it was taken in Austria in 1945. Suddenly, something came to mind. A memory. The memory of that picture, and the tragic mission that came after

Austria, 1945

It was a good day for the Howling Commandos. They had just taken down another HYDRA installation and liberated a nearby HYDRA had control over. The locals were so grateful for their work they allowed them lodging for the night, and one offered to take a picture of the crew to commemorate their victory.

"Hope you boys didn't blink." Dum Dum Dugan joked after the picture was taken.

The others laughed as they all walked off. Cap, now dressed in a new combat costume decorated like the American flag and a new circular shield, stayed behind to talk with Bucky and Jim.

"Another day, another HYDRA base bites the dust." Bucky remarked.

"Gets a little monotonous after a while, don't you think?" Jim asked.

"Hey," Cap interjected. "The more bases we take down, the less power HYDRA has hold of."

"I'll drink to that!" Dum Dum cheered, lifting a large mug of beer.

As the Commandos enjoyed a well-deserved drink, Bucky spoke up after wiping froth from his lip.

"Any word on that final HYDRA base?" Bucky asked.

"The Generals have been letting that snake Zola marinate for a while." Gabe Johnson commented. "They're confident he'll spill soon."

"The sooner the better I say." Jim let out, chugging down a mug.

A few days later, the Commandos made it back to their England base where Colonel Phillips came to meet them. He had a file in hand and a determined look on his face.

"Thanks to my new best friend, we now know the location of Schmidt's fortress." he declared, dropping the file onto the meeting table in the war room. "According to him, the Red Skull has set up camp in the Alps, almost five hundred feet below the surface."

Steve took the file and looked over the contents inside.

"Whatever he's working on in there must be pretty important to keep it so well hidden." He deduced.

"Oh, it is." Phillips agreed. "Zola wouldn't spill all the details on his plan, but the jist of it is that if we don't take him down tonight, this war is over in favor of HYDRA."

"I wouldn't worry too hard sir." Steve reassured. "After tonight, this war is over either way."

"Then I suggest you and your men start packing your bags." Phillips instructed.

"Yes sir." Steve replied.

With that, the commandos set out to prepare for the coming battle. As Steve walked by, he saw Peggy Carter standing off to the side, a worried look on her face. When she saw him looking, she coughed a bit, regaining her composure.

"So, this is it then." She noted.

"Yeah." he confirmed. "After today, HYDRA's finished."

"The war won't be long after." She rationalized. "HYDRA has been a pinnacle part of Hitler's regime. Without them, the Axis will fall."

"I look forward to seeing that." Steve remarked.

There was a moment of silence, the Peggy spoke up again.

"Maybe once all this is over, you and I can go dancing." she suggested. "Like we always talked about."

"... I'd like that." he replied. "Though I still don't know how to dance."

"I'll teach you." Peggy promised. "How about a week next Saturday? The Stork Club."

"Sounds perfect." he approved. "Maybe we can have the band play something slow. Less chance to step on your toes."

"I'd like that." Peggy answered, mirroring Steve's earlier remark. "I'll be waiting for you at 8 o'clock on the dot, so don't you dare be late."

"Count on it." Steve said before leaning in for a kiss.

Peggy leaned in, grasping the collar of Steve's uniform and kissing him hard. The two melted together, holding one another as the commandos watched with dopey grins.

"You owe me 10 bucks, Dum Dum." Jim said with a smirk.

Finally, the two pulled away, still silent as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I have to go." he finally said.

"Then go get him." she told him.

He gave her one last smirk before taking off.

The plane ride over was mostly silent. The men inside had a collection of thoughts going through their heads on whether they'd make it out of this in one piece. Jim was constantly sheathing and unsheathing his claws, something he did when he was itching for a fight. Dum Dum was cleaning his large gun, making sure he had enough ammo and grenades. The other Commandos were also making similar preparations, all of them preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Bucky looked over at Cap, who was standing at the front of the plane, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"You doing alright?" Bucky asked.

"Little jumpy I guess." Cap answered. "Anxious to end this."

"Aren't we all." Bucky replied. "It'll be good to see home again. Our crappy apartment, those fine ladies in room 13G-"

"Thanks," Steve cut off. "But I think I already have one waiting for me."

"Agent Carter, right." Bucky said with a smile, slapping his friend on the shoulder. "I'm happy for you Steve."

"Thanks Buck."

Suddenly, the plane began to rock on all sides with massive Anti-Aircraft fire.

"Looks like this is our stop." Cap declared, placing his shield on his back. "Alright boys, this is it! From here, our mission is to take down HYDRA's main science base! No retreat, no surrender! One way or another it ends today! So how about we go show the Red Skull that his day is over?!"

All the commandos cheered in response to that. As the commandos strapped on their parachutes, a green light on the plane flashed, signaling it was time for them to drop. Cap opened the door and leapt out towards the enemies below. Bucky was right on his heels, the rest of the commandos not far behind.

"Wahoo!" Dugan cried out jumping out.

As the men parachuted to the ground, the HYDRA forces below began opening fire on the commandos, trying to shoot them out of the sky. The commandos decided to return the favor as they fired on the HYDRA soldiers, taking out several of them as they did so. One by one, the commandos landed on the ground and began taking down one HYDRA soldier after another.

"Barnes!" Montgomery called out. "Watch the Captain's six! We got these clowns!"

"Right! Bucky called back rushing over to Cap.

Cap blocked one blast from a HYDRA weapon before punching him in the gut and upper cutting him with his shield. As another one ran up, Cap struck him in the chest with his shield, knocking him to the ground. Bucky quickly went back to back with Cap as he fired at every HYDRA soldier that came close while Cap took them out hand to hand. Cap saw some more coming up on their side, so he threw his shield at them. As the shield hit one HYDRA soldier, it bounced off and hit another, and another, until it bounced off a nearby tank, sending it flying right back at him.

"I have got to get my hands on one of those things." Bucky marveled. "Think I can get Stark to make me one?"

"Sorry Buck, it's one of a kind." Cap replied.

As they were talking, one HYDRA soldier tried to sneak up on them, but he just got stabbed in the back by Jim's claws. Cap and Bucky turned to see the HYDRA soldier fall to the ground dead, revealing Jim standing behind him.

"So, we gonna stand around talking all day or are we gonna fight?" he asked.

Cap and Bucky smirked before returning to the battle. As the fighting continued, Jacques, the French explosives expert, made his way over to the metal doors that served as the entrance to the base and placed a specially made bomb on it. He then dashed away from the door and took cover, waiting for the coming explosion. Finally, it came, blasting open the door and taking several HYDRA soldiers out at the same time. Cap saw this and knew the opportunity lying before him.

"Dugan!" he called out. "Think you and your boys can finish up here?!"

"We got this Cap!" Dugan called back. "You go for the skull."

"Right! Bucky, you're with me!"

"Right behind you, Steve!" Bucky called back.

With that, the two longtime friends made their way into the base.

As they made their way through the long corridors of the facility, they came across a metal door with a glass window on it. The other side of that window showed some kind of hanger. Tempting fate, Cap opened the door and the two went inside. What they saw astounded them. A giant aircraft in the shape of a 'V' stood before them.

"Holy cow." Bucky let out. "That's what the skull's been working on?"

"Looks like." Cap replied. "It's something else, that's for sure."

"So glad you approve Captain." a familiar voice

Both Bucky and Cap turned to see Johan Schmidt, now known as the Red Skull, standing triumphantly on a raised platform. They also saw at least a hundred soldiers coming in from every perceivable direction, aiming guns right at the duo, Steve and Bucky went back to back on instinct, raising shield and weapon in their defense. The Red Skull just laughed at this display.

"Don't be foolish Captain," he taunted. "Even if you could survive, I severely doubt your friend could."

Cap hated to admit it, but the Skull was right. There wasn't a way he and Bucky could make it out of this. At least, not now. So, he did the only thing he could and surrender. He held out his shield so that one of the HYDRA goons could take it. Taking the hint, Bucky threw down his gun as the Red Skull descended from the platform to speak to them personally.

"I see you have taken a liking to the Valkyrie." he observed.

"It definitely leaves an impression." Bucky quipped, allowing Steve to focus on looking for a way out.

"Another plaything for your Führer?" Cap asked.

"No, no." Red Skull answered. "I have come to accept that if HYDRA is to expand its reach, it must move outside of Hitler's shadow."

"Ambitious of you." Bucky admitted. "How you plan to pull that off?"

"By ceasing a search for power in this world, and seizing power from another." Skull answered. "Tell me Captain, how much do you know about Norse Mythology."

"Kind of slept through History class." Cap quipped.

"Well then, allow me to give you a small lesson. Old stories tell of a mythic land called Asgard. A realm of incredible creature and powerful artifacts."

"Sounds like a cute little bedtime story Skull," Bucky interrupted. "But what's that got to do with us?"

"All legends have some basis in truth."

Skull then went over to a special container and pressed a button. A section of the button raised up, revealing a small glowing blue cube. Both Bucky and Cap were taken aback by this.

"The Tesseract was the jewel of Odin's treasure room." Skull continued. "Said to contain immeasurable power. Power that will end this war, with HYDRA standing as master of the world."

"Guess arrogance is something all countries share." Cap voiced.

"A fair point Captain," Skull conceded. "Though I believe the people in this room wear it better than most. Though there are limits to what even you can do Captain or did Erskine tell you otherwise?"

"He told me you were insane." Cap remarked.

"Ah… I had always wondered something Captain… why you? Erskine resented my genius and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine, but you, oh he gave you everything. So, tell me, what made you so special?"

Cap just smirked for a while before responding.

"Nothin." he finally said. "I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

Enraged by the response, Red Skull struck Cap across the face twice before hitting him in the gut, causing him to kneel over. Bucky growled at that, giving the Red Skull a right hook of his own.

"Always having to save your ass, Steve." he quipped, shaking his hand a bit,

Cap grinned at his friend before punching out the HYDRA soldier holding his shield. He quickly grabbed the shield and joined Bucky in punching out HYDRA soldiers. As they began opening fire, Cap held up his shield to block the oncoming fire from him and Bucky.

"Alright Steve, tell me there's more to this plan than playing chicken behind your shield!"

"I'm working on it." Cap replied.

As they were hiding behind the shield, Cap saw Red Skull and several HYDRA soldiers climbing onto the giant aircraft.

"We gotta stop Skull!" Cap told Bucky.

"Couldn't agree more!" Bucky replied. "But it's not like we're going anywhere!"

Just then, the door Cap and Bucky came in through blew open. From the smoke emerged Jim, along with the rest of the Howling Commandos.

"Hope we didn't keep you waiting long Cap." Jim remarked.

"Timing couldn't have been better Jim." The Cap assured him. "Lay down some cover fire for us. Buck, you and I are ending this now."

"With ya to the end of the line Cap." Bucky replied.

With that, Cap and Bucky charged towards the Valkyrie already beginning to take off. They grabbed onto one of the wheels as came off the ground. As the Valkyrie began flying, the wheels locked themselves up inside the aircraft, carrying the two soldiers with them.

"You with me Buck?"

"Right behind you. Let's go kick his ass."

As they moved in further through the aircraft, they saw several plane-like bombs with the names of several US cities on them.

"Looks like Skull and his boys are planning on some sightseeing." Bucky remarked.

"See if you can keep his lackeys from taking off." Cap instructed. "I'm going after the Skull."

"Always giving me the easy job." Bucky joked.

Cap just smiled as he took off for the cockpit. Bucky laid in wait for the coming soldiers. Before long, four HYDRA soldiers came running in towards the bombs. Bucky acted quickly and tackled one of them. He then quickly uppercut the soldier, sending him into a wall. The soldier tried to punch back, but Bucky just blocked it and punched him in the face. As the soldier fell to the ground, Bucky looked up to see the other three coming towards him and pulling out knives from their boots.

Up in the cockpit, Red Skull was piloting the Valkyrie so that it would reach its designated destination. Suddenly, the door was kicked open, and Captain America burst inside. Red Skull reacted quickly as he grabbed a specialized weapon that was near his console and opened fire on him. Cap quickly used his shield to block the blast.

"You don't give up do you?" Skull asked.

"Nope." Cap simply replied.

He then ran forwards towards the Skull, blocking the blasts as he did so. Finally, he made it up to Red Skull and knocked the gun out of his hand with his shield. He then struck him in the stomach and tried to hit him in the face with his shield, but Skull dodged it and hit him across the face. He then hit him in the face again, knocking him to the ground. Red Skull the tried kicking him in the stomach, but Cap grabbed the leg before it could make contact and shoved it back, causing Red Skull to tumble to the ground.

One soldier tried swiping his knife at Bucky, but he was quick to duck under it. As the soldier tried swinging at him again, Bucky grabbed the arm and twisted it. He then grabbed the knife and threw it at one of the oncoming soldiers, killing him instantly. He then punched the soldier he was still holding across the face knocking him out. Suddenly, mechanical whirring was heard. Bucky turned to see the last HYDRA soldier trying to board one of the bomb planes. Thinking fast, Bucky ran over to the nearby control console and pulled one of the levers on it, releasing the plane. It fell out of the aircraft wildly as the soldier tried handing on to one of the top parts of the aircraft. Finally, his grip weakened, and he went flying out of the ship along with the plane.

Back in the cockpit, Cap had managed to get Red Skull in a choke hold. Skull however, managed to elbow Cap in the stomach, causing him to let go. Skull then grabbed his arm and flipped him over onto the ground. Red Skull then grabbed Cap's discarded shield and attempted to strike him in the throat with it. Fortunately, Cap grabbed the shield before it made contact, and kicked Red Skull so hard, he landed near the control console. Furious, he drew a laser pistol from his belt and began opening fire on him. Cap quickly rolled out of the way avoiding the blasts. Unfortunately, one of those blasts hit the roof of the Valkyrie near where Bucky was. Several pieces of metal fell onto of him, pinning him to the ground.

"You could have the power of the gods!" Skull yelled, walking forward and still shooting. "Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations! I have seen the future Captain! There are no flags!"

"Not my future!" Cap yelled jumping out.

Skull took one last blast at Capt., which only hit his shield. Cap then threw his shield at Skull, knocking him into the device holding the Tesseract. The cube then tumbled to the ground and burned a hole in it. Skull tried to grab it, but it quickly fell through the floor and out of the aircraft.

"No. No!" Skull yelled.

"It's over Skull." Cap declared.

"For once Captain…" Skull said turning to him. "We agree."

Skull then bolted over to the console. Cap grabbed his shield and chased after his as he sat down and pressed a few buttons. Suddenly a large capsule encased Red Skull in his seat and dropped out of the plane.

"No!" Cap yelled as Red Skull made his escape.

Cap then looked down at the console and saw some kind of timer counting down. Having a pretty good idea what that meant, he decided it was time to bail out. He went back out into the bomb area to collect Bucky and get out of there.

"Bucky!" he called out. "This thing is about to blow! We gotta go!"

"Steve!" Bucky called back. "I'm stuck!"

Cap looked over and saw the state his partner was in, with most of his body covered in debris, save for his right arm. he bolted over and started trying to lift the debris off him.

"Hang on Buck." he told him.

Knowing time was not on their side, Bucky let out a sigh of defeat.

"Sorry Cap." he told him.

"Stuff happens Buck." Steve told him. "We've gotten out of worse scrapes than this."

"No," he corrected. "I mean sorry, but the world needs Captain America more than Bucky Barnes."

With that, Bucky pushed Steve, causing him to fall out of the open hanger, only being able to watch as the aircraft carrying his best friend carried on to meet his doom.

"No. No! Bucky!"

Then the craft exploded. The shockwave knocked Cap out as he splashed down into the icy waters below. The wreckage of the Valkyrie wasn't far behind in its fiery descent. Both the doomsday weapon and the super soldier then sank beneath the waves as they made the icy waters around them their frozen grave.

Back at the base, the Howling Commandos saw the explosions and knew all too well that their friends weren't coming back. Jim lowered his head in sorrow at the prospect. Losing the men who were able to look past the animal inside and see a dedicated soldier, and a true friend.

Logan opened his eyes, returning from the long dream of the past. He was so lost in thought, he didn't notice someone approaching him from behind.

"Must have been quite a battle back then." A voice commented.

Logan turned around to see an African American man with a goatee, trench coat, and an eyepatch over his left eye, standing there with his hands in his pockets, just looking at the display.

"My granddaddy told me quite a few stories about him." he continued. "Said he was one of the bravest men he ever knew."

The man then turned to Logan, giving him a knowing smile.

"Then again, you probably know that better than anyone. Don't you Sergeant Howlett?"

Logan growled at the mention of his name.

"What are you doing here Fury?" he asked.

"Just came to see the exhibit." Fury replied nonchalantly, his eye glancing at the information of Captain America. "You know why there's a question mark by Captain Rogers' date of death?"

"Peggy never quit on him." he answered. "Still believed Cap was alive and spent the last 70 years looking for him.

"A search that S.H.I.E.L.D has been continuing even after her retirement." Fury added. "We will find him, and when we do, we'd like you to be there. The last of the Howling Commandos."

"Forget it Fury." Logan replied. "S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't found the Cap in 70 years, they ain't gonna find him now. And as far as the commandos go, I'm done with the team thing."

Fury sighed, giving a shrug.

"That's your decision." He allowed. "Frankly, it's a stupid-ass decision, but I guess I can't ignore it."

"Yeah well I never did give a damn about what you thought Fury." Logan spat back before walking off.

Meanwhile, in the arctic circle, a submarine manned by agents of HYDRA was continuing a decades long search.

"Are you certain of your findings?" one HYDRA agent asked.

"Positive." another agent confirmed. "The energy readings match the samples left behind in Project Rebirth."

The sub continued scanning the ocean floor in search of their prize. Suddenly, there was a beep on the sonar. The technician in charge looked, and his eyes flew wide when he found that something large was coming on screen.

"Uh, sir?" he called out. "I think we found something."

One of the agents came up to the screen and saw the wrecked and frozen remains of the Valkyrie.

"Is it close?" the agent asked.

"Yes." The technician answered. "Very close proximity."

The sub continued until the scanners detected something in the water putting out immeasurable amounts of power. The agents saw this and directed the sub towards it. As the source of the power came on screen, all their equipment seemed to buzz from the energy it was giving off.

"It would seem we have finally found it." One of the agents declared. "Retrieve it at once!"

Another one of the technicians activated a remote drone to scout out and locate the energy source. Finally, the drone found the Tesseract, lost from the Red Skull's ship so many years ago. As the drone's robotic arms picked up the cube and they all prepared to depart, something on the screen that got the technician's attention.

"Um… you might want to see this." he said.

"We have what we came for," he told him walking up. "Nothing else matters except-"

The agent looked, and he immediately went silent as his jaw dropped.

"Get me the Baron."

...

At last, the actual story begins! thank you for your patience through the intro chapters and I hope you'll stay tuned for what's to come.