November 1943
SSR London Headquarters
"The fifth one was here in Poland, right near the Baltic." Steve circled an area on the map, pointing to another mark "And the sixth one was… about here, 30, 40 miles west of the Maginot Line." A soldier taking the map from the table, rolling it under his arms as he took it out of the room. "I just got a quick look."
Peggy walked over to Phillips table, another map laid out, "Well, nobody's perfect."
"These are the weapon factories we know about. Sergeant Barnes said that Hydra shipped all the parts to another facility that isn't on this map."
"Agent Carter and Bougourd, coordinate with MI6. I want every Allied eyeball looking for that main Hydra base." Phillips pointed to Peggy and Anya.
"We are gonna set a fire under Johann Schmidt's ass. What do you say, Rogers? It's your map, you think you can wipe Hydra off of it?" Phillips stood straight, a pen pointing to Steve.
"Yes, sir. I'll need a team."
"We're already putting together the best men." Phillips kept walking around the table, pointing to another mark as an officer moved a marker atop.
"With all due respect, sir. So am I.", Steve nodded curtly to Phillips, looking over his shoulder as he saw Christiane and Bucky at another table deep in conversation as they pointed to another map in front of them.
"Please excuse me, I've got to go follow up with Stark on some prototypes. I'll see you later?" Anya ducked in front of Steve and Peggy, keeping her smile professional in front of Phillips.
"Sounds good," Steve nodded, watching her pass go to Christiane, pulling her along through a thick metallic door into Stark's lab.
"So, let's get this straight." Dugan leaned across the table, ale in hand as he tried to keep his eyes straight to Rogers.
"We barely got out of there alive, and you want us to go back?" Jones leaned in, their voices mute against the cheery piano and vinyl playing in the background of the pub they agreed to meet in.
"Pretty much." Steve shrugged, his eyes hopeful to the men.
"Sounds rather fun, actually." Falsworth took a sip, shrugging with a glint of amusement in his face.
Morita let out a belch after chugging a whole pint, "I'm in."
Jones leaned over to Dernier, muttering in French before shaking hands together, "We're in."
"Hell," Dugan put his glass over the table, clinking glasses with everyone else, "I'll always fight. But you got to do one thing for me."
Steve smiled, eyebrows raised, "What's that?"
"Open a tab." Dugan replied, a smirk on his face.
Steve stood, walking over to the bartender.
"Well that was easy." Morita mumbled, leaning back into conversation with Falsworth.
"Another round." Steve looked over his shoulder, smiling in amusement to the bartender.
The man glanced over, eyes wide, "Where are they putting all this stuff?"
Bucky walked over to Steve, slapping a hand onto his back as everyone sung, glasses swishing in the air, "See? I told you. They're all idiots."
They walked over to the quieter part of the bar, sitting themselves down at the bar counter.
"How about you? You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?" Steve tipped his head to the bartender, a drink in his hand.
"Hell, no. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I'm following him. But you're keeping the outfit, right?" Bucky chuckled, taking a swig of his beer.
"You know what? It's kind of growing on me." Steve looked down, shaking his head slightly at the thought of the name.
The singing suddenly stopped, Dugan and the men leaning over through the bar's partition to look at Peggy and Christiane walk in.
Peggy walked up to Steve, a hint of a blush on her cheeks, "Captain."
"Agent Carter," he smiled politely.
"Ma'am." Bucky bowed slightly, his eyes moving to Christiane, smiling a goofy grin at her.
"Howard and Anya have some equipment for you and Christiane to try. Tomorrow morning?"
"Sounds good," he smiled back.
"I see you top squad is prepping for duty," Peggy leaned back slightly, peering at the men back in their antics.
"You don't like music?" Bucky cocked his head to the side, looking to her then to Christiane.
"I do, actually. I might even, when this is all over, go dancing." Peggy smiled down, her eyes still set on Steve.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Bucky looked to Christiane, taking her in his hands, twirling her around until she was in his arms beside him.
"The right partner. 0800, Captain." Peggy smiled, a single glance to Bucky before nodding to Steve, walking out the pub.
"Yes, ma'm. I'll be there." Steve whispered, watching her leave.
Bucky shook his head, "I'm invisible," looking to Christiane as she ordered a drink by the bar, moving beside her, "I'm not invisible right?" His smile cheeky, hair slightly ruffled.
"It's a horrible dream," Christiane giggled, teasing Bucky as he pouted, putting a hand under his chin.
"Don't take it so hard. Maybe she's got a friend." Steve looked to the two, Christiane elbowing Bucky teasingly. He wished he could have something like his friends one day.
Howard glanced through the Hydra cartridge, Anya by his side as they looked through their darkened lab goggles.
"Emission signature is unusual. Alpha and beta ray neutral. Though I doubt Rogers picked up on that. Seems harmless enough. Hard to see what all the fuss is about." His hands moved the tweezers to remove a glowing pellet, a blast emitting as Stark and Anya were sent flying across the room.
Stark immediately scrambled, taking Anya by the hand as they tried to stand up, "Write that down!"
Somewhere in the SSR headquarters
Peggy turned the corner, her eyes squinting to Steve and Private Lorraine behind a shelf kissing, "Captain!" Causing the two to jump away, she glared at Private Lorraine who scrambled to her documents, her eyes resting back on Steve's, fierce, "We're ready for you. If you're not otherwise occupied," turning on her heels as she made way to the thick metallic door to the lab.
"Agent Carter, wait." Steve followed behind.
"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all." Peggy kept walking, her eyes set on Stark's table.
"Peggy, that's not what you thought it was."
She turned around, her eyes furious to his yet her face expressionless, "I don't think anything, Captain. Not one thing. You always wanted to be soldier and now you are. Just like all the rest." She turned around, continuing to the back of the lab.
Well, what about you and Stark? How do I know you two haven't been… fonduing?"
She took a final glance, "You still don't know a bloody thing about women!" Before walking over to another part of the lab where Anya was fitting Christiane.
"What is this?" Christiane looked to her arms as Anya binded them with cloth, fitting a sort of arm shield on her forearms.
"You keep fighting and blocking with your arms, one of these days you're going to break something." Anya swatted at Christiane's hand trying to interfere.
"You always come back with cuts and bruises, Anya suggested putting some sort of armor on your arms." Peggy crossed her arms, leaning against a table, a quick glance to the men on the other side.
Howard leaned to Steve, "Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend."
"Really? I didn't think…" he furrowed his brows.
"Nor should you, pal." He looked to Anya busy at work, "The moment you think you know what's goin' on in a woman's head, it's the moment your goose is well and truly cooked. Me, I concentrate on work. Which at the moment is about making sure you and your men do not get killed. Carbon polymer." Pointing to a piece of cloth lying on the table. "Should withstand your average German bayonet. Although Hydra's not going to attack you with a pocket knife." He kept walking along the table, pointing to Steve's shield. "I hear you're uh… kinda attached?"
"It's handier than you might think." Steve shrugged.
"I took the liberty of coming up with some options." His hand showing to a few shields lined up.
"This one's fun. She's been fitted with electrical relays. It'll allow you to…"
Steve saw a round silver one at the end, picking it up, testing it's weight, "What about this one?"
"No! No! That's just a prototype." Stark rushed to it.
"What's it made of?" Turning it in his hands.
Anya and Christiane walked over, arm cuffs fitted on Christiane's arms as she had her hands in fists, looking over the metal, "Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight. It's completely vibration absorbent." Anya looked to the two.
"How come it's not a standard issue?" Steve looked to the arm cuffs, back to the shield.
"That's the rarest metal on earth. What you're holding there? That's all we've got." Howard huffed out.
Anya and Peggy walked alongside, looking to Steve's shield, "You quite finished, Mr. Stark? I have some unfinished business with Agent Bougourd."
Steve held up the shield against him, a smile on his lips, "What do you think?"
Peggy looked to him, then to the shield as she picked up a gun, shooting to Steve as he quickly held up the shield to protect himself. He looked up startled, eyes in shock and confusion. Stark cowering behind Anya and Steve stunned.
She replied expressionless, turning to leave the lab with Anya and Christiane. "Yes. I think it works."
The two men kept their eyes on Peggy walking out the lab, as Steve took out a piece of paper, "I had some ideas about the uniform."
Stark's face was white, taking the paper without moving a muscle, "Whatever you want, pal."
"What is it?" Peggy and the sisters gathered around a corner as soon as they left the lab.
"I need you to do something for us, it's nothing much but…" Anya walked over to her desk, pulling open a drawer as she took out some documents, laying it on the table.
"If anything happens to us, we both agreed for you to have the last thing we own, the house in the Alps."
"I can't…" Peggy looked to the two startled, "I can't take this…"
"Please," Christiane pleaded, "We don't know what this war would have in store for us, and if we both don't make it out alive, you're the closest thing to family. It equally belongs to you, Peggy."
"We want you to have it if that time comes," Anya took out a pen, putting it beside the documents.
Peggy nodded as she signed, hugging the sisters tightly, her voice muffled, "I pray, that time never comes."
30 December 1943
"Christiane Gérard Bougourd," Phillips looked up from her dossier as she stood in front of his desk, arms by her side. "Rogers has requested you go with his so-called Howling Commandos on their next mission. You've been practicing your German, Russian and Italian, is that right?"
"Yes sir," she replied.
"Combat skills are good," he looked back to the dossier, "You've improved significantly since your training. Somehow managing to beat every single man down except for Rogers in hand-to-hand since your rescue. I see you've made a speedy recovery. The Howling Commandos should be back this evening from their mission in Belgium."
"Yes sir," she replied again, her mind wandering to the last two months since her capture, since the experimentation. She had noticed herself becoming faster, stronger, her stamina unparalleled to anyone else apart from Bucky and Steve.
"Good, gear up. You're in for a final combat test with Agent Drummond in 30 minutes."
Christiane saluted, leaving the room to the changing rooms into her training clothes, as she slipped on the vibranium arm cuffs, growing accustomed to having it when fighting. Anya was in the changing room, changing back to her work attire as she smiled to Christiane coming in. She sat down on the bench, looking at her open palms, wondering what Zola had done to them.
"What's wrong?" Anya looked around, pulling her blouse on.
"The experiments Zola did to me, to Bucky, I've been wondering if it's been changing me," she whispered, eyes still on her palms.
Anya moved to sit beside Christiane, eyes full of concern as she grasped her hands in hers, "What have you noticed?"
"The strength, power and stamina, it's unlike anyone else's apart from Bucky and Steve," she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think of something that could make her feel normal at least.
"Do you want me to run some tests? Your blood could tell…" Anya looked to Christiane, trying to find a way to ease her sister's worries.
She shook her head slowly, a hand holding onto Anya's tightly while the other moved to her abdomen, looking down to herself.
Anya looked to the hand, then back up to Christiane's face, eyebrows furrowing further with an expression on her face she could only describe as curiosity and realization.
"What is it, poulette?" Anya asked, taking Christiane by her shoulders to look at her.
"It hasn't come," her voice soft, her face showing her thoughts as she tried to remember the days, count the weeks. "It hasn't come since," her eyes flying wide, "two months ago."
"Did you and Bucky…" Anya moved her face, trying to look into Christiane's face bowed down before she looked back up, eyes wide and stunned.
Christiane nodded, "That night in the village," she thought to herself, "But it could also be what the experiments did."
"Did you use protection?" Anya looked to her, now in full concern.
She nodded, "We did, I just don't understand what's happening!"
"That's it. I'm taking your blood." Anya stood up, starting to pace the room before she stopped, her face in curiousity, a small smile appearing on her face, "How was it though? Your first time?"
Christiane breathed out a laugh, shyly smiling to herself as Anya started smiling, continuing "I remember when-"
Christiane suddenly looked to Anya, eyes wide, "You and Loki?"
Anya smiled to herself shyly as she sat back down beside Christiane, "It was just before the war, after a party celebrating the solstice. We went back to his room, it was a beautiful night and one thing led to another…" She sighed, smiling gently.
"You love him, Anya." Christiane whispered, taking her sister's hand.
"I do, I really do, with all my heart and soul, poulette," she looked up to the ceiling, before looking back to her, "Just like you love Bucky, right?"
Christiane nodded, a gentle smile on her lips, thinking of him making her heart well and full, "I do, I love him with all my heart and life." She looked up to the ceiling now, trying to keep away a stray tear, her other hand moving to her abdomen, "And if it's what I'm thinking, then I'm ready to look after him or her. It's what we've always wanted. I just pray this war is over soon."
"Have you gained weight? Morning sickness?" Anya questioned, looking to her curiously.
"No," she shook her head, a small pout on her lips as she tried to understand.
"It's a 50/50 chance but I'm still taking your blood," Anya stood up, going to the door as she turned around, "I'll go get a collection kit. Wait here, I'll be back," before the door closed behind her.
She looked up to the clock, ticking each second by silently before standing up, gathering her thoughts together.