Chapter Two: Apologies to the Captain

A horn blared from the south, the direction of the Hydra base, and the soldiers fell back. Steve glanced at Bucky, hiding behind a rock a few paces away."Either we're lucky or this can't be good."

Bucky shoved his last magazine into his gun. "Have to take it either way." The one thing the skirmish had proved was that they had been right to turn back from the mission. They were vastly outnumbered and were already running low on equipment.

Steve motioned for Izzy Cohen. "Check if we can get those jeeps running!"
"On it, Cap!" He ran past the two, nabbing Falsworth and Morita to help flip the overturned vehicle.

It wasn't his whole team. That was what sat in his gut. Half of them weren't in sight and hadn't been since the battle broke out. And if the clearly winning Hydra soldiers were already pulling out, what did that mean for them? He felt a pang in his gut, the same feeling he had after every operation. Where were his soldiers? Was everyone alive and who hadn't made it out?

With a look, Bucky followed him to search the impromptu battlefield. They jaunted down the rise back to the road, keeping lookout for Hydra stragglers.

That gut pain coiled and twisted as it came into view.

The second jeep was missing a large chunk from its front, laying completely upside-down. Steve lifted it up, the moment of panic fleeting – no one had been trapped underneath. Behind him, Bucky watched for any movement – friendly or otherwise, from down the road. "They likely went downhill."

Steve nodded. He righted the vehicle, but it probably wasn't going to restart. Cohen was good, but he couldn't do much when the engine might as well be missing.

They started down the hill. Bucky's guess was correct. Scorch marks a bullet holes marked the trees. The one thing he didn't like about being a soldier was knowing very well that all his friends were soldiers too and that when he was risking his life, so were they. It was clear by the markings that they had been under heavier fire than what they returned.

He heard snapping twigs from up ahead and held up a hand. Bucky paused.
Slowly, carefully, they crept forward.

"What are we gonna do?"

"Go after 'em of course!"

English. His team. Steve let out a breath of relief.

"That's up for the Captain to decide."

"What do you think he's going to say? Of course we're going in!"

But as he drew close enough to see them, he paused. Dugan, Jones and Dernier squatted in a circle. His breath caught, where was Peggy? Dugan picked something of the ground and shook it out. Peggy's jacket.

Bucky looked to Steve, wide-eyed. He didn't say it.

"What happened?" Steve asked an entered the clearing, startling the three.

"Aïe! Capitaine!" Dernier exclaimed. "You frightened us!"

He glanced over the three, none of them were hurt. A little bruised and dirty, but no injuries in sight. "Where's Peggy?" He demanded, trying to hold back the fear in his voice.

The other two looked to Dugan. He folded her jacket and placed it under his arm. "She's fine. For now." He was choosing his words carefully, giving him the good news before the bad. It was the same tactic Steve always used. "She was captured saving Gabe's life."

Jones ducked his head. Dernier turned back to Steve. "It was incroyable! Took a guy's hand off out from nowhere!"

"Carter got the second guy before he got me too," Jones nodded to a body a few yards away, half hidden in the trees. His voice lowered. "I should've been more careful."

Dugan stood up, continuing before Steve could say anything in response. "I don't think they'll hurt her, Cap. They retreated as soon as they nabbed her."
Steve stood still for a moment, processing. They hadn't been enough to do the mission, they hadn't been enough to defend an attack, but it still wasn't a question. They would be enough to get Peggy back. Heck, she was probably planning her escape right then. He couldn't waste time feeling sorry or guilt so he shoved it to the back of his mind.

It was very likely a trap. He knew it. His team knew it. It still didn't matter.

"Then we have time to regroup and come up with a plan," He didn't hesitate as he spoke. It was that slick and sure determination that had earned him his spot in Project Rebirth and official rank as Captain, the honesty that he didn't believe there was another option.

His team in return didn't pause. Their Captain said they could do it and so they would.