Project Super Soldier
June 6th, 1944
"You two are out of your bloody minds," Moody shook his head at his two companions as their transport motored through the rough waters of the English Channel. They were sharing the transport with members of the British 69th Infantry Brigade, headed for Normandy. Their orders were to establish a beachhead and work their way inland with the soldiers and neutralize Grindewald 's wizards that were fortifying the wizarding part of the village of Les Roquettes.
"Look at it this was Moody, they'll be shooting at us, not you," Bucky laughed as he smoked a cigarette to calm his nerves. Ever since the attempt on the Princess's life, Moody had been assigned to assist them and Fury. The three wizards blended in with the regular military well and were sent on several covert missions on the coast, returning with success and light casualties wherever they went. For this mission they were assigned to assist the 69th Infantry, a unit composed mostly of squibs and Muggle soldiers with magical knowledge.
"Dressed like a couple of bloody idiots," Moody continued to grumble to himself, having complained about their costumes since the day he was assigned to them. He took a drink from his flask as he looked at the sky, seeing flashes and hearing the blasts from the bombing that was softening the beach for them. He tucked away the flask again; not particularly liking having been sent on what many thought was an impossible mission, establishing a beachhead in Normandy.
"Take it easy you two," Steve ordered as he circulated with the troops, keeping them calm as the sounds of explosions and gunfire grew louder and louder. Fury was ordered to stay in England for these missions; otherwise he would be in command. Instead Steve was in charge of Bucky, Moody, a detachment of thirty soldiers, leading them up a heavily fortified beach, breaking through whatever resistance they found, and reaching the wizards before the main body of the attacking force reached them.
He didn't like the mission, he knew they were expecting massive casualties. Unacceptable losses, he had complained to Fury. "The day you get your own command, you can make those decisions, until then, you do what I say," Fury had told him as the two men stared each other down after he was briefed on the mission before Steve left to work out some anger. He wasn't afraid for the lives of his trio, they all had shielding charms and dragonhide armor, he was worried for the rest of the soldiers. "Time til arrival Sergeant?" he asked the man who would normally be in charge of the unit.
"Should be hitting the beach in another ten minutes," the man replied, noticing the scowl of the man in the mask. "Might I ask what's got you in a mood sir?" he asked.
"I'm not fond of sending men," he looked over the soldiers. "Sending boys… to die," he said so only the two of them could hear it.
"We knew what we were doing when we signed up sir," the sergeant replied. "We've all lost family to the Nazis and Grindewald, we're in this to make sure no one else dies because of them," the man explained. "Something an old CO told me once, we fight and die, so that our children don't have to," he nodded before clearing his throat. "Now get the men ready sir, we're going to need to hit the beach running or be cut down quicker than you blink."
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"Ready men!?" Steve called back to the soldiers as they heard the sounds of the battle all around them.
"Hoo-ra!" they cheered back at him as they felt and heard the bottom of the landing craft scrape and dig into the sand.
"Moody lay down the freeze, Bucky watch my six, rest of you follow me," he ordered before grasping the lever to let the end of the boat down so they could get out. "Let's go, hit it Moody!" he shouted and pulled the lever, revealing the carnage in front of them. He paused for a moment before charging forward onto the temporary frozen walkway Moody was creating, followed by the rest of the men.
Boats were unloading men up and down the beach as far as he could see, the men were struggling to get through the waist, neck, or sometimes worse water while the Germans fired on them from their concrete fortifications. He saw hundreds, no thousands of bodies lying on the sands of the beach between craters from the shelling, anti-tank barriers, and everything in between.
He only paused for a second though, his training taking over as he led his team over the ice quickly, reaching the sand and seeing the bullet impacts in the sand near them, feeling as his shield and magical shields deflected their share. "Move move move!" he shouted and ran up the sand, dodging between barriers, diving into craters, keeping eyes forward on the bunker that was their target the whole time. "Sergeant, get the men, concentrate fire on that machine gun, I want grenades now!" he shouted at the man before sticking his head up to gauge the distance. "80 meters!" he screamed at the man who was relaying information to the men.
"We're sitting ducks here Cap!" Bucky shouted as he caught up and took careful aim with his rifle at a German who was visible in the bunker, dropping him in one shot.
"Shields are holding up fine, but if they concentrate much more crossfire we are going to be in trouble," Moody yelled at them as he worked to keep their position covered.
"Sergeant, I need that gun taken out now!" Steve shouted right before the soldiers fired rifle grenades at their target. The bunker was peppered with explosions, but the gun kept firing, concentrating on their position in the crater. "Damn it!" he swore. "Bucky, if anyone sticks a head up, I want it taken off," he ordered before he ducked and worked his way back to the soldiers. "Moody, how long?" he yelled over his shoulder.
"Maybe another minute Cap, we need to get moving," the man was breathing heavily, keeping the shield up over their team.
"Explosives, now!" he ordered the unit's demolition expert. "I need something that will take out that god damn machine gun and I need it now soldier," he watched the man who was digging in his pack.
"I have plenty to take it out, but we need to get it up there sir," he nodded as he pulled out several packages of explosives.
"I'll take care of that," Steve eyed Moody who was glaring at him. "Can you give me a 12 second fuse before it blows?" he asked as he pulled his wand out.
"Done sir, just hit this switch here, then you have around 12 seconds," the man handed him the packages after wiring them up.
"Get ready to move!" he ordered before hitting the switch and banishing the explosives towards the concrete bunker. He counted off in his head after he hit the switch. At eight he got up and charged forward motioning at the men. "Come on! Move it!" he ordered as the explosion went off and the machine gun stopped firing. They ran up the last of the sand dodging and deflecting bullets until they reached the huge concrete wall between bunkers. "Grenades in those bunkers now!" he ordered the men as they set up a position and blasted into the bunkers.
"I need more explosives!" he shouted to the Sergeant as he mentally counted that his team was missing five men.
"Landon got hit after you send the explosives at the wall, Doc grabbed him and pulled him back into the crater," the Sergeant replied. "The rest of the charges are back with him," he explained. "Smith took a shot as we were getting off the boat, I haven't seen him since we landed," he referred to another of the men that was carrying more explosives.
"Perfect," Steve frowned looking at the wall, then at the bunkers. "We're in agreement that boosting each other up into those bunkers is a stupid idea?" he looked at the sergeant who nodded in affirmative. He looked at the wall, then down at his shield before nodding to himself. "Okay, back up and give me room," he ordered as the men backed away covering their position. "Okay, we'll see how good this thing is," he muttered as he tightened the straps holding the shield to his arm.
He grunted as he swung the edge of the shield at the concrete, concentrating on wanting it to cut through it. He grinned when the shield cut through the concrete like butter, leaving a six foot gash in the wall. "Cover me, I'll take care of it," he ordered the men as he set to work swinging the shield again and again, taking chunks out of the wall. "Bugger this," he swore after a minute of hacking at the wall, pulling out his wand. "Reducto!" he shouted the spell repeatedly, widening the whole with each blast until they could see to the other side. He disillusioned himself quickly and stuck his head through the hole before canceling the spell.
"Sergeant, Moody, Bucky, on me," he ordered as the men relayed his orders. When the three men gathered he gestured at the hole. "They haven't seen the hole yet, but the trench leading to either bunker is about 10 feet in front of the wall," he drew a diagram in the sand. "The trench is pretty empty, a couple messengers here and there, the rest of them are defending the beach," he continued. "Moody, Bucky, and I are going to blow the wall enough for you and you men to get through and secure the area," he looked at the Sergeant who left to fill in the troops.
"This wall is over a bloody meter thick," Moody glared at him.
"That's why we're sending the men; they'll secure the area as we recover our magical reserves, unless you have a better idea Alastor?" Steve challenged the Auror. "Good, sticking with my plan then," he turned and walked to get a distance for a good shot at the wall. Bucky and Moody joined him a moment later after arguing, with wands pulled, ready to do their jobs. "Have your men get on either side of the hole I started," he ordered as the soldiers went flat against the wall, leaving the five foot section he had been hacking at with a couple feet of clearance on either side. "It's going to be single file probably, not sure if we can blast it big enough, be ready to move," he ordered the men, pulling his wand.
He held up his fingers, counting down until all he held up was a closed fist. "Reducto!" the three wizards blasted the wall together, causing a section of the wall the size of a tank to fall back toward the Nazi line. The soldiers scrambled in after the blast, ending what little resistance was there with gunfire.
"The hell Cap, that's a bit bigger of a hole than I expected," Bucky looked at his partner.
"Bloody hell, what was that about needing to recover after blasting the wall?" Moody paused to catch his breath.
"Super-Soldier," Steve silenced their arguments quickly and followed the soldiers through the wall.
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"We should be coming up on the Les Roquettes area just around that bend," Bucky looked at the map in his hands as he examined the surrounding terrain. "We're not sure where exactly the wizards have put themselves, but all the readings we got from the Aurors show that they are somewhere around here," he frowned as he looked at the pictures they got from spy planes earlier. "If I had to bet on it, they're at the big manor house about half a click that way," he pointed through a wooded area.
Moody nodded in agreement. "Grindewald's supporters are all pure blood wizards, they would not settle for living in anything less," he paused to sip from his flask. "Speaking of blood, what about you two?" he capped his flask and tucked it away.
"Half and half," Steve said automatically, while weighing his options for the assault on their primary target.
"Muggle," Bucky surprised the two of them. "What about you?" he eyed Moody.
"Same as the Captain, my mother married a Muggle right before the Great War," Moody shrugged. "What's the plan Captain?" he looked at the larger wizard.
"I can't sense any wards that way, but that doesn't mean much, they probably wouldn't bother with them with the sheer amount of Germans stationed here, they would be tripping them all day long," Bucky agreed after examining the tree line.
"Can't feel anything either, times like this I wish I had a magic eye," the Auror grinned.
"Sergeant, take your men, secure the town," Steve ordered the man. "If anyone points a wand at you, shoot them. We are going straight for the manor house," he took the map from Bucky and examined it quickly. "That grove of trees should pop us out near the back of the house," he explained. "You put up anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards and Bucky and I will clear the place, got it?" he looked at the other two wizards.
"Why don't we surround them and move in?" Moody frowned.
"I don't want them escaping, you're warding the whole village, not the house," Steve watched Moody's eyes go wide. "If they run out the front the sergeant's men will take them out," he explained. "Bucky and I are better suited for close combat anyway, you just make sure they don't escape," he ordered.
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They paused at the back of the manor house, listening to the breakfast conversation going on as the beach was being stormed a few kilometers away. Steve raised his hand and signaled for Bucky to blast the door once they felt the wards go up. The pair waited, listening to the three wizards inside talk about the size of their estates, complaining about having to guard the manor house. Finally Steve and Bucky felt the wards go up around them, preventing any escape.
"What the…" one of the wizards muttered as he felt the wards come up, but staggered as the door blew open, throwing shrapnel into his face and chest. Steve rushed in behind the blast, slamming his shield into the face of one of the men and sending a whirling kick at the head of the other, taking them both out. Bucky moved in behind him as they took in the layout of the room. Steve motioned Bucky to move out the door to the left as he took the one to the right.
Bucky edged around the door carefully, taking in the small pantry, scanning it for spells before moving on to a deserted hallway. He stuck his head into a pair of closest and a study before coming to a larger door. He noticed the partially open door and poked at it with his pistol, keeping his wand ready in his other hand. He heard the spell being cast and tried to move, but was caught as the door exploded into him, sending him crashing into the opposite wall before losing consciousness.
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Steve felt the spell before he heard it. He moved through a pair of empty rooms before he felt the surge of magic and ran around the manor to the source. He turned a corner, seeing a young man pointing a wand at a figure covered in debris and hurled his shield at the man who dodged back into the library at the last second.
"Surrender, or else," he said as he took his position in the doorway with his shield, watching as the young man tried to activate a portkey. "That won't work," he commented, noting the man's hateful gaze. "You're surrounded, give it up," he ordered.
"I think not," the young man hissed before throwing a dark curse that impacted into Steve's shield. "Impressive," he eyed the shield for a moment before grinning. "Anti-portkey and anti-apparation wards then?" he frowned, glaring at Steve.
"And a division of soldier outside that likes to shoot first and ask questions later," Steve eyed the man coldly. "Give up."
"I don't think so, I'm destined for great things," he held out his hand calling a broom to it. "You'll know the name Voldemort soon enough," he hissed before throwing a series of explosive curses that Steve had to take the brunt of to make sure they didn't hit Bucky.
When he could move again, Voldemort was gone, having used the broom to fly out the window in the commotion. "Damn it," he swore before turning to check on Bucky, carefully moving the debris from his still form. "Great…" he swore at the situation before going to the front door and shooting red sparks into the air. "This ought to be a good explanation," he mumbled to himself as he used a cloak from one of the cupboards to cover up Bucky.
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"What happened?" Bucky asked as he woke up a few hours later.
"You got hit by some kid with an explosion hex because you were sloppy," Steve replied from his seat near the door, taking a drink from a crystal tumbler they had found in the wine cellar.
"The more important questions, what happened to you," Moody frowned from his position blocking the door out of the room.
"What are you talking about…oh hell," Bucky swore when he realized his voice had gone up a few octaves. Steve and Moody watched as the man they knew ran his fingers over his face and hair, revealing the truth. "Fuck," he swore covering his eyes. "Any chance we can just forget this happened?" he asked hopefully.
"I want the truth, now," Steve glared at him.
"You heard him, missy," Moody frowned, keeping his hand on his wand.
"Just give me a minute," Bucky waved them off and took in her situation. "Polyjuice?" she watched Steve and Moody's steely reactions. "Right, not falling for that," she frowned. "Glamour char…nevermind," she shook her head. "Okay, I'm a changeling," she shrugged.
"A what?" Steve frowned, clearly not expecting to hear this.
"It's a bloody children's story," Moody frowned. "They tell it to kids in England to scare them into being good," he paused and took a drink from his flask. "If you're not good, the changelings will come and take you away in the night and leave one of their babies to replace you, it's a fairy tale," Moody scoffed.
"We do not take people's babies away!" Bucky shouted angrily, getting up from the bed, grabbing a lamp to throw at Moody, not noticing the sheet had fallen, revealing her naked form. Moody didn't move quickly enough and was knocked in the head by the lamp and collapsed to the ground.
Steve sighed and rubbed at his headache. "Bucky…whoever you are, cover up and explain this to me, please," he gestured at her.
She realized she was naked in front of him in her true form and dove at the covers. "Sorry about that Cap," she frowned as she covered herself up. "Where do you want me to start?" she asked after a moment of silence as Steve made sure Moody wasn't too inured.
"How about the beginning and work your way up to now," he watched her, but didn't pull his wand.
"Well…like I said, I'm a changeling, but Moody is wrong about my kind," she glared at the fallen Auror. "We're an old race, as far as I know we were here long before the pyramids, but it's hard to find where anyone that old is hiding…" she paused. "Sorry, anyway, we're a race of shape shifters, we can make ourselves look like anyone," she explained.
"Like metamorphaguses?" Steve asked suddenly.
She laughed. "We're a bit better at it than they are," she smirked. "Our race… we're all women," she explained. "We can get pregnant by humans, but the chances for a child to receive the gift…is rare," she bit at her lip. "There are maybe five thousand of us right now, we keep it secret so we aren't singled out," she watched the conflict on his face.
"In 1650, there was a male birth that inherited the gift from our kind, the first ever," she continued. "We can use magic like wizards and sometimes like to live as wizards, so he entrenched himself into your society by the early 1700s," she continued. "We don't like to interfere with major events, governments, things like that, he crossed the line and started working towards laws that made Muggles subservient to wizards," she stopped as he interrupted him.
"He's Grindewald, he's still alive, right?" Steve broke in.
"Yes," she replied, hiding under her long red hair. "Some of our people living in Germany noticed him acting as Himmler, we can sense each other, and sent word to the elders," she frowned. "They were never heard from again, he killed them."
"What about Moody's stories about your kind taking babies?" Steve watcher her grow angry again.
"We do not take children," she hissed between her teeth. "We change identities now and then, usually taking on one of a dead person to raise less questions," she glared at Moody. "Some idiots got the idea to replace some babies that died in the night because they had an urge to relive their childhood, that's where the whole wizarding legend came from," she looked like she wanted to strangle Moody.
"Take it easy," Steve ordered. "What does your kind know about me?" he questioned.
"They don't know anything about you sir, I swear," she replied quickly. "I joined the army so I could get back to Europe to fight. We have people in all parts of the armies, looking for the chance to bring Grindewald down," she explained. "I didn't tell them your secrets Steve, please believe me," she looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes.
"It's all right Bucky," he said as he got up from his chair. "Get some rest, we move out tomorrow, none of the men saw your change, I assume you can turn back soon?" he asked as he poked Moody with his wand, waking him up.
"Yes sir Cap," the deeper voice usually associated with Bucky came from the bed.
"Good work today Bucky…whoever you are, get some sleep and be ready to go at 0600 tomorrow, we've secured the whole manor for our usage tonight," Steve mumbled a few words and poked his wand at Moody's head. "I did a memory charm on him, your secret is safe," he nodded at the bed as he led the woozy Moody to the door. "Get some rest soldier," he ordered and got ready to close the door behind him.
"Cap, wait," Bucky called out.
"Yeah?" Steve asked, looking back in the room.
"My real name is Lilisette," she watched his jaw tighten. "My people will owe you a good deal if you help us bring in Grindewald," pleaded.
"I'm bringing him in, in a body bag if I ever run across him or Hitler, not for you though," he looked away. "I'm doing it for all the lives they've ruined," he added. "Get some sleep Lili," he said as he closed the door behind him.
A/N: If you don't like the whole Captain America as a wizard thing, I suggest you go read something else, don't know what else you were expecting from a story in this X-over category. Instead of doing a few separated battles, I figured just doing a longer one for D-Day for the chapter would be a lot better and meaningful. I personally love WW2 shows and stuff and hope I passed along what I figured would be a realistic scenario on Gold beach if they had Captain America and had wizards on their side. Hope you all are liking the little jokes I poke Moody with and hope you all liked the monkey wrench I threw in about Bucky. Don't be thinking it's a spur of the moment thing either, it's pretty important to the story, and if you read carefully up until this point, you probably have a good idea why.