History Books
Yes! I'm an Invader! "Thank you thank you thank you!" I squeal. I try to not do my happy dance, but some moves come out anyway. Control yourself. Taking a deep breath, I limit the dances to my head. The rest of the ride I thank Rodgers and Agent Carter. They smile. Now that I'm an Invader-I can finally say that!-I need a name better than Storm. Colonel Phillips will probably take care of that for me. I should come up with a name though just in case. All I need to do now is make those alterations. Then I should be set. One final thank you; exit the plane to some claps. Few soldiers remain, less than I thought there would be. Strange.
Phillips calls Rodgers and me over. To me, "Nice work today." To Rodgers, "You gave her membership without my approval."
"Sorry, sir. I thought she was ready."
"You better be right. If the footage Dallas took proves otherwise, you'll be in a heap of trouble."
"Yes sir."
"Good. Go to your barracks, there will be a briefing in the morning."
We go to the 107. Bucky is already there. I flop on my bed, dreaming of future battles. They will come. The next morning I sleep until late. Yesterday really was exhausting. Not feeling up to much, I decide, This is as good a time as any to improve my costume. In my bedside drawer a small tablet and pencil are hidden. I flip to a new page, start with a basic sketch. It's horrible. Still, I add some things, alter or take others out. Now that I'm an Invader, I need a name. Something patriotic. After all, it is World War II in Italy. Phillips may hate this… Freedom Fighter. Patriotic, catchy, something people will remember. All the makings of a good name.
"Rise n' shine!" a voice shouts. It sounds like Hodges.
His booming voice disappears as suddenly as it came. That's my cue to get ready. I jump into army slacks and make my way to the cafeteria. Turns out I missed breakfast and barely made lunch. Not good. I grab a bowl of soup, sit down at a table, and throw myself into the conversation. Before I can finish someone grabs my shoulder.
"Colonel Phillips wishes to speak with you," she says.
She leads me to a tent. Phillips is instructing a soldier what to type into a typewriter. They sound like death reports. K.I.A., M.I.A. Must have happened when we were taking care of HYDRA. We missed a lot.
Phillips glances up from his pacing. "Thank you, Rossman." The woman leaves. "Captain Rodgers tells me he made you an Invader."
"Yes, sir."
"And he gave you an honorary place in the Howling Commandos."
"Yes, sir."
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Sir, I have every intention of fighting hard to protect this country. It is not my fault that Captain Rodgers sees me fit to serve with them. So far the Invaders have done more than called for to defend the United States. I am extremely humbled to join their ranks."
"So be it. Do you have a name for yourself?"
"No, sir."
"Pick one. One that oppresses those damned Nazis."
"How about Freedom Fighter, sir?"
"Freedom Fighter, you say? Eh, it works. Better than some of the others. Now get to your briefing."
"Yes, sir." I leave the tent, turning my back on him reading off names. That man never wastes a minute. By now the way to the mission tent is familiar. Inside a map of the planet is tacked up on the side. On a large table in the center a close up of the battlegrounds is littered with red and white pawns. There are more red than white. Red represents Germany, white, America. We need to step up the pace. Tables are pushed up against the sides, each containing stacks of files. It must have taken the typist days, if not weeks, to finish. Only key people are allowed in. am I one of those key people? Must be.
Agent Carter doesn't even look up as she says, "Glad you could come, Miss Storm. You need to know what you're fighting. Stand with Mr. Barnes, you're the ones left."
Bucky is in a corner. I wave, not wanting to speak out of place. He waves back. Smiling, I tune in on Agent Carter's words.
"We will launch an attack on one of the last known HYDRA bases. Thanks to some highly placed individuals, we know for certain Joann Schmidt and Arnim Zola will be present. Take advantage of that and take them out. Beware of this: when they discover your presence, they will try to kill you. Any questions?"
Bucky has some. After they're answered we leave to prepare. We only have half an hour to make sure everything is perfect. Everything has to be, there's only a few second window to make it. If not, well, I'm not going to think about it. Quickly I go over my costume, making sure there's some water, basic medical supplies, and extra bullets and gunpowder. Maybe this time I'll chance using my powers. That would be interesting.
I yank on my costume and make my way to the weapons tent. The Howling Commandos are stocking up. I grab my favorite pistols. They fit perfectly in the holsters. After all, they were made for them. Then I pull my hair back, race to the meeting place. Not much later everybody else arrives. We enter the plane and chat about life until we arrive. We land on a mountain just long enough for us to get out. Then it flies away. A small ledge sits about 30 yards away from the frozen train tracks. At 16:04 sharp a train carrying important HYDRA information will pass through. We are to intercept that train and learn their latest plans. Later we shall go to the headquarters. If all goes well we should be done by midnight. Though there will probably be complications. Hardly anything goes smoothly. Especially in war.
"Alright, we have about two minutes before the train gets here," Dum Dum Dugan, the leader of the Howling Commandos, tells us.
Time to get to work. Jones sets up a cable to hook onto the ice. He throws it to the other side. It sticks. Sounds of a train ring through the frigid air. Steve, Bucky, and I pull on harnesses. The others will come on later, train noises get louder. That's our cue. Steve goes first. Remember, ten second window. Taking a deep breath, I attach my harness and jump. Cold wind makes my eyes water. I blink. In the time it takes me to blink the window is almost gone. Darn it! I end up blasting it off and falling onto the locomotion. Ouch.
Steve is already inside, Bucky on his way. I'm about to go inside when I spot a man scurrying towards the front. His urgentness makes a bell go off inside my head. He's hiding something! Wait-he must be Arnim Zola! Can't let him escape. I push my way through the thick layer of snow. It's slow going, so I do a little field test: push it off to the side with a sparkling red shovel. Little tests like this and I'll be using my powers in the field in no time. This is actually fun. A lot more fun than pistols.
The shovel makes travel a lot faster. Above one of the cars I sense a HYDRA agent. He seems…murderous. Steve is nearby, too. Hopefully he will take care of it. I keep moving forwards. Finally I reach the front car. Zola is trying to make the driver listen to him, but it's not working. Maybe the holographic face on his chest is the problem. Or the bright yellow bodysuit. I don't know. I jump inside the warm car and hit the wall. "Knock knock," I say, swiftly jumping to punch the driver in the face. The element of surprise works. He's out cold. Zola tries to punch me, but I dodge it. Then I fake an uppercut and instead head butt him. He falls against the central console. Lights flash. Cars lurch faster. This can't be good. "Fix it," I demand.
"No, you have destroyed the controls," Zola responds haughtily.
Oh no. What have I done? My eagerness to take out the enemy overrode the need to keep the train running. Only one thing to do. After I tie Zola up with a rope I found, I open an outside door and lean out. Far off in the distance a sharp turn cuts through the mountain. At this speed we'll never make it. Taking a deep breath, I raise my arm and will a thin red layer around the train. It pulls tighter. Sweat soaks my costume. My breath gets more labored by the second. I can't do this! Yes you can. No I can't! If you don't Bucky and Steve will die. Tell that to my body! Do you want to be responsible for their deaths? You try doing this! Prove to them you're more than the average eight-year-old girl. You're an Invader now. You know what? Fine!
I use all my willpower to pull the layer tighter. Slowly we lose speed. My fingers hurt. My muscles ache. Even my spirit hurts. Still, we lose enough speed and make the turn. Right before I hear a scream. Feel a sense of loyalty mixed with fear. The sound-it sounds like Bucky! Still straining, I turn my head just in time to see Bucky fall. A huge chunk of metal is missing. Suddenly the screams stop. He's-he's-he's dead.
"Noooo!" Steve and I shout in unison.
He can't be dead! It's not possible! Though the usual buzzing in my head is gone. No… I fall backwards and fall unconscious from the strain.
o8o
What could be seconds, minutes, or even hours later, I wake up. I fight with my eyes-they refuse to open-until they finally blink. Dirt falls off my lashes. I'm lying face down on the ground. Lifting my head a little, I cough up dirt. Ugh. What happened? My costume is filthy, covered with soil, ash, and blood. Aching limbs protest when I push myself to my knees. My hearing is fuzzy. All I can make out is explosions. Bright lights push their way through my spotty vision. Something had to have happened while I was out. What else could explain the battle that's going on around me? Every blink brings clearer images. The HYDRA base is in flames; matching United States uniforms clashing with green HYDRA ones. The Howling Commandos are badly outnumbered. With Namor being God knows where, the Human Torch and Toro leading another raid, and Bucky being… No. Don't think about it. Get up and fight.
I heave myself to my feet. Ugh! How does anybody fight when they feel like this? Not to mention it's nearly midnight from the looks of it. Maybe later. An explosion close behind me makes me jump. Now is not the time to be standing around. I turn around to see a bright blue ball of energy flying towards my face. Barely able to dodge, I duck. The energy ball sails over my head. What was that? Glancing up, I spot a man running in my direction. This is going to hurt. With a heave I send his next blast back at him. Good thing I dodged the first one. The blast disintegrates him. A grimace on my face, I run to a small alcove to get my bearings. Blissfully quiet. No men trying to kill you. Not watching the ground, I trip over someone's foot. Perhaps they are taking a breath too?
"Mmf!" a muffled voice cries.
Okay. Maybe a hostage. I look down to see a seedy man with a wrinkled face and a receding hairline. Definitely a hostage. Arnim Zola's human body. He must have switched bodies back on the train and tried to escape. "You're not going anywhere," I snarl. This man is responsible for the pain he caused Bucky. No way on God's green Earth he's going to get away. He struggles against his bonds. I pull them tighter and kick him for good measure. Then I rejoin the battle. HYDRA agent after HYDRA agent tries to take me out. Each one is met with brute force. Each punch, each shot is for Bucky. In one of their masks I see my face. It makes me pause for a second. A stranger's face replaces my own. Once looked childish, now contorted with rage. Lips pulled up in a snarl like a wild animal's. Eyes have a strange glimmer of anger and pain. Nothing at all like the old me. This Nicolette is ferocious, attacking like a crazed lion. Not caring whether or not the hit killed the person. As far from the original me as we are from Pluto.
Though the new me scares me, she has to stay. She's the only one who can do this without hesitating. So I go back to fighting, taking care to avoid all thoughts on my personality change. That's the easy part. The hard part is keeping her in check. I refuse to kill, and when I am forced to, it hurts. Every time.
The fighting goes on. The moon goes higher and higher in the sky. As time goes on every punch makes me more tired. I can't keep this up much longer. My comrades are getting tired too. It shows. They have long since run out of ammunition. So have I, but I have my powers. They must use fallen agent's weapons. Steve is still like a machine, relentless. Never pausing. After all, he is Bucky's best friend. We fight, and fight, and fight. Just when it seems like it will never end, the number of agents drops. They finally ran out of people. Yes! We can leave!
Checkoff drags Zola to our small group. Miraculously no one died. Cleo has a limp, and everybody is covered with bumps and bruises and broken bones, but that's about it. Steve, who managed to keep his radio intact, calls base. They radio back saying they're almost here. Turns out if the battle hadn't ended when it did someone would have picked us up anyway. Though there is no clock or watch, the position of the moon indicates it is long past midnight. Maybe two, three in the morning. I'm exhausted. Hardly able to keep my eyes open. My head droops. I doze off. When our ride comes I'm half asleep. Steve gently leads me toward the aircraft. As soon as I sit down I lean my head against the side and fall asleep.
o8o
Pigeons please stop that. Wait. Since when do pigeons live in Italy? My eyes open to see a middle-aged woman standing in the doorway of a modest house, watching a man and two young children walk away. Tears run down her face. Her hand clutches a small, thin black box. The look on her face would melt the coldest of hearts. Wait a minute. Since when does a black woman marry a white man? The matching rings on their fingers prove that much. And why would they have children? As the children scramble to keep up with their father, the woman leans on the doorframe for support. Perhaps they just had a fight. Then the house becomes blurry, as if the memory was blotted out. What comes up next is odd. The black woman sits at a bar. A blank expression coupled with multiple shot glasses show that she's not doing so well. Must be that fight.
The woman demands drink after drink. It takes many drinks for her to become visibly intoxicated. After that happens she stumbles out to her automobile. She falls asleep inside and stays that way until morning. More blurriness comes. This time it has the woman hugging a little baby boy tightly. An older girl hugs her arm, and what I take to be the oldest is standing a few feet away. Her husband is nowhere to be seen.
"Scotia, look after Dominick. Make sure he doesn't get left behind," she says, her voice cutting through the still air. To the oldest, "Take care of them. Don't stop running until you reach Uncle Scott's house. It will have everything you'll need. If the Skrulls come go to the X-Mansion. You'll be safer there." With tears in her eyes, she concludes, "Daddy and I have to go help the others. Aaron, you're in charge. I love you." With a final watery smile, the woman runs off, her white cape billowing behind her.
Right when I'm about to follow her I wake up. Someone put me in my own bed in the 107. The only light comes from an overhead lantern. It's nighttime. I must have slept through the day and well into the night. Amazing. Still feels like I'm wearing my costume, mask and all. Yes, I am. As I leave my uniform on the floor to be washed, I think about the dream I had. More of a vision, really. The woman seems familiar. But her living situation is completely unheard of. Her children's names sound made-up. And the city she was in…it seemed futuristic. Straight out of a science fiction novel. Obviously there was some sort of war going on. Not to mention her costume: almost like mine, but without the extra pockets and in different shades of purple and white. There is something suspicious about that vision and I want to know what.
Silently I tiptoe over to Steve's bed where there's an alarm clock. 5:00 am. Almost not worth going back to sleep. Instead I sit on the floor and try to work on a board game I've been creating. Before I know it the wake-up call is being blasted. Quickly-well, as quickly as I can considering I'm so sore-I get dressed. Breakfast is scarfed down. After that's done I leave for tutoring. Peggy managed to grab hold of some books. They were probably taken from the HYDRA train. This afternoon is weapons practice. Halfway through it Peggy tells me to watch a recording with the team. Inside the dark tent Phillips sits, along with the Howling Commandos and the Invaders. Even Spitfire, whom I have never met in person. I have to take this opportunity! "Hel-hello," I introduce myself. "My na-name is Freedom Fighter."
"Oh, please," she laughs. "We're all heroes here. Call me Jackie."
I like this woman. "If that's the case, then call me Nikki."
Before I can continue the footage starts. It begins when Jones threw the pick. Steve, Bucky, and I slide to the train. I almost smash into the mountain. Bucky goes to the end of it, Steve ducks in where he is. I plow ahead after a moment's hesitation. The black and white images depict a shovel tossing snow off the side. Then it cuts out for a moment. Several seconds go by before it starts up again. Steve fights a HYDRA agent with amplified flamethrowers. Flames dance across the walls. Steve ducks in and out of cover, so the only thing to be seen is flashes of blue. He takes out the agent, but not before most of the car is burning. He races to the next car. Pausing at the door, he glances through the window. Bucky is struggling to defeat his target. Steve ducks in and tosses him a loaded gun. The agent goes down.
Cameras showing the Commandos follow them as they enter the cars with the information. Not very exciting.
Oh great. That leaves me. Somehow they managed to film me knocking out the driver. Zola makes a move on me, but I counter. Me destroying the controls earns some glares. Spitfire just chuckles a little. I tie Zola up and try to fix the controls. I decide it's useless and go to the platform connecting the cars. It cuts to a side view. The car Bucky is in shakes. One side blows off. Shortly after Bucky falls, screaming. His body rolls in the air, finally bouncing off some rocks at the bottom. My mouth opens in a scream. Sweat drips down my face from the huge effort of slowing the train. My muscles strain against the tight fabric. Slowly I kneel to the floor. My teeth clenched, I fall backwards.
Now begins the parts I was unconscious for. Zola manages to break his bonds. He grins maniacally, flexing his arms. Stooping, he comes back into view holding my limp body. He cackles and throws me over one shoulder. Then he works until we reach the base. Zola jumps off the train, dropping my body as he does so. That explains my position. Steve and the Commandos sneak out, already lobbing grenades. HYDRA agents pour out of the base. Some sidestep my unconscious frame. Others just run over it. The Commandos meet fire with fire, and Steve is more machine than man. Explosions rock the ground, some near my body. Dirt flies everywhere. Some settles on my costume. Blue becomes gray, red becomes brown, and white becomes black.
Though my teammates fight diligently, they slowly get overwhelmed. Agents just don't stop coming. Still they persevere. The battle drags on. When I wake up the ground is covered with craters. Crumbling walls of the castle don't stop the enemy. The view shows me starting to move. Twitches at first, then full limbs. Slowly I get up. Disorientated, I account my bearings and join the turmoil. An overhead shot shows Zola sneaking into the corner, myself soon following. Dernier had tied and gagged him; Zola is stuck there. Then I come into the picture. Time goes past, only I noticing the kick. By then it is obvious we changed. Steve and I both. More and more people go down. Almost like crazed killers, we bop from person to person, knocking them out with more force than is necessary. I hope Phillips doesn't see that as a bad thing. The movie ends when the plane arrives.
Phillips stands up and turns around slowly. "So," he begins, "this footage proves how harsh war is. Captain Rodgers is already our golden boy, but maybe this will convince the younger population to take a more active part. Seeing Miss Storm getting beat will show its true horrors. Because there is nothing more horrible than a child at war. Otherwise good job, people. HYDRA is almost out of bases. But a new threat has popped on the radar: A.I.M. We don't know much about them, but Intel says they're secretly at war with HYDRA. Hitler's backing HYDRA. They're already bent on world dominion, but with A.I.M. in the picture, it will speed up. Our goal is to eliminate A.I.M. before the problems grow bigger. Study up on your individual missions. Dismissed."