This is where things get kind of weird. The brothers are shapeshifters from ancient days who grew up believing in the Norse gods. In the last part, Bold are Steve's thoughts, Italics are Bucky's, and Bold Italics are Tony's, who is the Alpha of their Pack and the oldest.
"Sir, these men need medical attention and I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."
"That won't be necessary, Captain." Colonel Phillips sighed.
"You," He growled to Tony. "Stark needs you in that workshop yesterday."
"Yes, sir." Tony smirked. The scientist's apprentice brushed past Steve, clapping him on the shoulder before he took off.
"Faith, huh?" Philips mused, turning toward an approaching Agent Carter. Peggy nodded to him, but her gaze was all for Steve.
"You're late." She scowled, annoyance making her accent thicker than usual.
"Sorry," Steve smirked, holding up the broken transmitter that Howard have given to him before they left. "Couldn't call my ride."
"Hey!" Bucky called to the men surrounding them as he sidled to where his younger brother stood. "Let's hear it for Captain America!" Steve rolled his eyes and he could hear Tony and Bucky laughing their asses off as the soldiers cheered them on.
Steve stopped by the command tent to inform Colonel Philips and the others of the map he saw in the base and the other bases on them. After that, they were all but ordered to take time off, so Steve, Bucky and Tony met up with a few of the men they rescued later on at some bar to talk business.
"So, let`s get this straight." Dugan insisted after Steve laid out his plans for a team. "We barely got out of there alive, and you want us to go back?"
"Pretty much." Steve shrugged.
The group, composed of five men, Bucky, Steve and Tony, barely hesitated.
"Sounds rather fun, actually."
"I`m in."
"We`re in."
"Hell, I'll always fight, but you gotta do one thing for me."
"What`s that?"
"Open a tab."
And that was that, apparently.
Somewhere around midnight found the trio racing through the forest, fur whipping in the wind and stirring up the nearby wildlife. They knew to stay away from predators well enough, even if the brothers wouldn't be hunting. They stopped at a clearing, content in their revelry and the fact that they were invincible, had looked one of Surtr's demon descendants in the eyes and walked out with their lives and their dignity intact. This was most of all a victory because they'd retrieved their brother. The Pack was whole once more, or as whole as it had ever been.
To say that Peggy was surprised to find that Steve and his friends had disappeared from camp would be lying, because Tony had been doing that a lot, according to what she gleaned from Howard, and Steve had always been uneasy around the members of the camp, but she originally chalked it up to the constant ridicule he received from all sides. How very wrong she was, she mused as she took in the scene before her.
The creatures were large, furry canines, the smallest could dip its head to lay it on the top of hers and the largest would have to crouch to do the same. The middle was somewhere in between, but size wasn't the only thing that set them apart. The biggest had dark brown fur that looked pitch-black in some respects, while the middle one had lighter grey fur that turned more toward silver in the moonlight. The youngest was a deep red that faded to white at the paws. She had no clue where the boys went or what these giant things were doing so close to camp, but she had to do something fast because the oldest, looking far more deadly than she could ever dare to dream, had caught sight of her and now stalked toward her with sharp, gleaming claws and lips parted to reveal knife-white canines. It would take a miracle to get out of this, she realized.
"Peggy?"
And for the love of God, what the hell was Howard Stark doing in the middle of this God-forsaken forest in the dead of night?!
"Did you follow me?" She croaked out, backing toward the trees. The wolf hesitated now, and Howard loped toward her with all the ease of someone who knew exactly what he was doing. The dark brown wolf's hesitation was enough for the red one, because he jumped the clearing in two bounds and stood with his back to her, tail-tip brushing her face as Howard yanked her back. The red wolf sounded like it was whimpering and the dark one was growling, head whipping back and forth in a gesture that was universal to any culture.
"No, no, and hell no." Peggy muttered, backing her and Howard further into the trees.
The dark wolf dodged the red one and made straight for them, but the red wolf yelped and blocked his path. They did this a few more times before the dark wolf lunged for them and snapped his jaws… around thin air, the red wolf barely a centimeter away from those gleaming teeth.
"NO!" Peggy's cry came out a strangled yelp, but the dark wolf shifted its gaze to her and growled, tilting its head to the side. The red wolf yelped and backed towards them, Howard walking her further into the trees until they could barely see the three animals. She breathed a shaky sigh when they were out of sight, but Howard shook his head angrily.
"Bastard's got shit to explain." He growled, not unlike the wolf moments before.
"What?" Peggy hissed. "What are you-?!"
"Not here, Pegs, and not tonight. I need you to keep what just happened a secret, and I mean a guard-with-your-life, honest to God secret, Pegs. You've done it before."
Now that was insulting. The engineer who talked a mile a minute flat-out told her to keep her mouth shut? Even at the risk of sounding crazy, there were some things you just didn't say!
"If anything, I should be telling you that!" She snapped lowly.
"Just…" And Howard looked far too torn up for her to bother staying mad at him. "Please, trust me. I'll explain as soon as I can, but I need your word on this."
"You have it." Peggy insisted. "Get some rest, Howard. You look far too beat to be healthy."
"Perk of the job, Carter. Good luck getting sleep tonight."
Oh, like that would happen.
"What kind of madness did I get myself into?" She muttered as she made her way back to her bed.
I gave you one job, and you failed! Were you not paying attention, or did you honestly think it was alright for your human to come tromping after us in the fucking forest?! You idiot!
I sure as Hel didn't see you checking our tracks!
Because I trusted you to do it! Now I see why no one ever let you do anything, you worthless waste of nothing!
He made a mistake, Atros! We can fix this-.
Do NOT stick up for that Norns-forsaken runt, Joclar! I'm not in the mood to hear your excuses. I want to know why the hell they were after us and why for the scorn of Odin, did you not see this coming?!
You didn't do anything either!
Oh, yes I did. I was testing you, Socren. I trusted you, and that was obviously a mistake. And what's worse is that I went to rectify it and you jumped in front of me like some Thor-forsaken maniac!
You can't just kill people, Atros! You have no right to choose her life over any other! Why did you stop when I jumped, then? And you were all ready for the Killing Bite. That's the easiest one, so you obviously didn't want to kill her! She doesn't have to die!
We can't afford the chance of her mouthing off because you have a crush. Tony growled.
Then why did you tell Howard?
What? You told the mortal who's most likely to doom us all and Steve is the one with the problem?!
He's a Half-blood, he can't afford to mouth off at the cost of his livelihood, let alone his life.
You… is he your Charge?
Yes, and I've Seen the Wolf he marries. She's a looker, I'll give her that. One of the Italians.
We haven't had much interaction with them. But if you've got a Charge then why can't Steve take Agent Carter on? She's made it this far. She obviously knows how to keep a secret. What's the difference?
She's got absolutely no incentive, save for the word of our brother that he can keep her quiet, and you know that's not enough.
It could be... If I take her on, it could be. You know how it works, Atros, you know it can happen!
Are you truly prepared to abide by Pack Law should your Agent not cooperate?
I am.
Then let it be so. You know the rules, Socren. Don't make me have to enforce them.