Maria stood in front of Howard with Peggy and Steve far enough behind her so they could have a private conversation. After she told him everything, he stared at her blankly, not knowing what to do. "You want me to risk my job and the trust that Colonel Phillips puts into me to get your fiancé back which would be going against the government?"

She stared at him, worried that he wouldn't actually do it. "Yes." She answered slowly, putting her hand to her mouth, beginning to bite her nails nervously.

Howard continued to stare at her. He could never say no to her even if he wanted to. "Well," He finally spoke, growing a slight smile. "You can only go against the government once in your life."

Maria squealed with delight and threw her arms around his neck as he hugged her back. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"

Maria got out of the hug and Howard put a small kiss on her cheek before turning away. "I'll get the plane ready and meet you there in five."

Maria turned around and ran to them. "Howard's on board." Peggy smiled at her friend and leaned in for a hug, happy that they were going to do something to get her fiancé back. "We've got five minutes before the plane leaves." Maria told them both as she pulled away from the hug.

"That should be plenty of time." Peggy told them as she looked back at Steve who had a big smile.

"Alright," Steve said with a shrug. "Let's get what we need and get to the plane."

They all broke up, Steve getting some last few things he needed from backstage, Maria getting a transponder for Steve and Peggy getting a parachute and a map for Steve. When they met back up, Howard had just started up the plane and they all got in, ready for their mission.

Peggy and Steve were in the passenger part of the plane and Howard and Maria were sitting in the pilot and copilot part. Peggy had a map spread out for Steve to see and was working on getting a plan drawn out for him. "The Hydra camp is in Krossburg. It's up between these two mountain ranges. It's a factory of some kind."

Maria turned around to look at them with a small smile. "We should be able to drop you around the doorstep."

"Just get me as close as you can!" Steve yelled to them over the loud engine. He looked back to Peggy and sighed. "You know the three of you are going to be in a lot of trouble when you land?"

"And you won't?" She challenged with a slight smile.

He shrugged. "Where I'm going, if anybody yells at me, I can just shoot them."

"And they'll undoubtedly shoot back."

"Well," Steve spoke as he looked back to his shield. "Let's hope this is good for something."

"Agent Carter," They all looked over to Howard who was looking straight ahead. Maria also continued to look straight ahead, not paying any attention to what he was about to say. "If you're not in too much of a hurry, I thought we could stop off in Usurea for a late night fondue." Maria slowly turned to him with an annoyed look on her face at the fact that he was really hitting on Agent Carter out of all the other possible times in the world. She leaned to the side he was on and smacked him in the arm. He looked to her with a pained face while his arm was throbbing as Maria looked back to the windshield. "What?!" He yelled at her, but she just shook her head.

"Uh," Peggy began as she turned back to Steve, ignoring their little argument up front. "Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this air space. We're lucky to have him."

Maria scoffed from upfront which caused a glare from Howard, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. "So are you two…? Do you…?" Peggy looked back to the front, not understanding what Steve was getting at. "Fondue?"

Maria shut her eyes and put her hand on her forehead. Poor Steve would never understand women. She brought out a tracking device with only one button and a red light. "This is your transponder. Activate it when you're ready and the signal will lead us straight to you."

He took it from her and began to study it. He looked over at Maria, knowing she was responsible for it. "Are you sure this thing works?"

"It's tested more than you, pal." Howard told him with over confidence in Maria's work. He knew he didn't mean it in a bad way, but he was tired of men doubting her intelligence just because she was a woman.

The plane began to rock from being shot at, causing them all needing to grab something. They had just flown into the middle of an air battle and they were being taken as a threat. Steve stood up with his shield ready, causing Maria to get up from her seat to try and stop him. They were nowhere near the drop zone. "Get back here, we're taking you all the way there!" Maria told him, but he was already opening the door and putting his parachute on.

"As soon as I'm clear, turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!"

Peggy looked at Maria, knowing that was her big brother and he could boss her around, but not Peggy. "You can't give me orders!"

"The hell I can't!" He yelled back at her. "I'm a captain!" They both watched, wishing they could just do something as he gave them a slight smile, put his goggles on and jumped out of the plane. They both knew there was no way they were going to stop Steve from this. From proving he could do something.

Schmidt and Zola were planning on giving a few of the soldiers the super solider serum which they had "perfected". It would strengthen the evil parts of the people who had been given the serum. Bucky was their current test monkey. Dum Dum and Eddy were both being put into one of the cages filled with other prisoners of war and one of the soldiers continued to knock down Dum Dum's hat. He began to get tired of it, turning to him once he got into the cage with an annoyed smile. "You know, Fritz, one of these days, I'm gonna have a stick of my own."

The solider just threw the cage door close and Eddy sighed while looking at Dum Dum who turned around to look at him with an annoyed stare. "That was great." Eddy told him. "Perfect."

Dum Dum shoved him to the ground and rolled his eyes as he looked out to the other side of the cage. "Shut up."

Steve was hurrying through the forest that Bucky, Eddy and Dum Dum were taken at. He moved as fast as he could without getting caught when he came to the Hydra camp. It was heavily guarded with lights all around. Steve began to wonder if he would ever get a chance to get in without getting shot when equipment trucks were driving into the camp.

Steve ran up to the last truck and jumped in to find two Hydra soldiers studying him with a confused face. Steve nodded at them with a nervous face. "Fellas."

They both went for him, but Steve used his super soldier abilities to his advantage, knocking them out easily and throwing them onto the road. He wasn't sure where the truck was going, but once it stopped, he peeked out the back to see another Hydra solider going to check on what was in the truck. Steve put the shield in front of him, causing the Hydra soldier to turn his head to the side from confusion. Steve didn't waste any time, hitting him with the shield, sending him flying back.

He got out of the truck slowly, making sure no one saw him and strapped the shield on his back. He moved through the lot of all the equipment trucks and tanks Hydra used without being spot and got onto the roof of one of the buildings.

He quickly got into the major facility, deciding to knock on the door. When one of the men opened it, Steve bashed his face in with the door and punched him in the face. Steve dodged through the work room and found the super solider serums towards the back. Steve pocketed one and continued to go through the room.

Eddy was pacing in the small amount of space he was given in the cage. That's what a lot of the prisoners were doing. The other half of them were sitting down on the floor. Eddy began to worry about Bucky, wondering what was happening to him when one of the guards patrolling them fell on top of their cage. Everyone who was sitting down sat up and everyone who was pacing stopped to look up. A man was taking things from the guard and they all looked at each other with confused faces. One of the men decided to speak as everyone else standing around was quiet. "Who are you supposed to be?"

Steve looked down at them after checking to see if there were more guards. "Um," They all waited for him to finish, but Steve honestly didn't know what to say to them. "I'm Captain America."

He hurried down from the top of the cages as the men continued to stare up at him, still hopelessly confused. "I beg your pardon?" One of the French men asked while blinking.

Steve hurried, getting all the cages open for all the men to get out. Dum Dum and Eddy made a pact to stay together and once they got out of their cage, Dum Dum saw that there was an Asian man standing with all the soldiers. He began to get skeptical as he watched the man. "Are we taking everybody?"

He walked toward him, pulling out his dog tag with an annoyed smile. "I'm from Fresno, ace."

Dum Dum smirked at him and Eddy rolled his eyes at his ignorance. "Nice to have you." Eddy told him while leaning forward to shake his hand.

Steve was looking around frantically for Bucky, checking all the faces, but not finding him. "There anybody else?" He began walking with all of the other soldiers. "I'm looking for Sargent James Barnes."

Eddy's ears perked up at the sound of the name. "He was taken." He told Steve as he pushed his way to get up to his savior.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory." The French soldier informed Steve. "No one's ever come back from it."

Steve stopped walking and nodded, making a promise with himself right then and there that he was going to find Bucky. "The tree line is northwest, it's eighty years past the gate. Get out fast, and give them hell." He began walking ahead of the soldier he had joined, but turned back one more time to face them again. "I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find."

Eddy watched him beginning to walk off, wanting to do something to help this guy. "Wait." He called. Steve turned around and looked at him, knowing that look on his face since he had seen the same look in his for years. "You know what you're doing?"

"Yeah." Steve told him with a nod, trying to be polite, knowing what it was like to get turned down. "I knocked out Adolph Hitler over 200 times." They all watched him in wonderment, not knowing what to say to that and not knowing how it was possible, but deciding they had to get out now and distract the guards from what Steve was doing.

They all did as Steve said, giving Hydra hell and destroying the camp. Once Schmidt saw Captain America busting his way through all of his guards on the security cameras, he began to get angry. Almost jealous at what Erskine's experiment had become. He decided to turn on the self-destruct program, alarming Zola. "NO!" He yelled as he ran to him, pulling his hand from the switches. "What are you doing?"

He looked back to the screen and Zola followed the gaze. "Our forces are out matched." Schmidt continued the self-destruct system, sending Zola into a panic. The two began getting everything they needed that they couldn't let be destroyed.

When Zola got out of the room he was in, he saw Steve down the hall. The two stared at each other for a moment, but then Zola turned around, running the other way. Steve ran after him, but then looked to the room he had just came from. He slowly walked into the room to see Bucky strapped down to a seat. When he ran to him, he was mumbling nonsense. "Bucky?" He whispered. He still didn't respond. "Oh my god." He spoke as he ripped the straps from him. He saw that they had attempted giving him the super solider serum, which was making Steve very nervous, praying that it hadn't been given to his best friend. "It's me. It's Steve."

Bucky smiled as he was starting to come to. "Steve." He whispered.

"Come on." He whispered to Bucky as he put his arm around him and helped him up. Once he got him standing up, he smiled at his friend. He only wished Maria could be there to ease all her questions about what happened to him immediately. "I thought you were dead."

Bucky studied him confused, wondering if it was the drugs they had given him or if this was real. "I thought you were smaller."

Steve could hear the explosions from outside and decided that he had to get out of there. He pulled Bucky forward, knowing he still wasn't able to walk. "Come on."

"What happened to you?" Bucky wondered.

Steve shrugged, wondering how to even begin. "I joined the army."

Steve explained the entire thing to him about the super soldier project as they walked, trying to figure out how to get out of the building. "Did it hurt?"

Steve shrugged as he let go of Bucky's shoulders, glad that he could actually stand now. "A little."

"Maria perfected it?"

Steve smiled a little bit, knowing it was no shock to either of them. "Would there be any other?"

Bucky smiled a little bit, only wanting to see his fiancé at this point. He felt like it had been years. "Permanent?"

Steve looked back to him, making sure he was still keeping up with him. "So far."

Everything started to blow up on the lower grounds, and they knew they had to find a way to get out on the upper ground. As they ran to the very top part of the building, they heard someone yell out, "Captain America!" They both stopped to see Schmidt and Zola on the opposite end of them. "How exciting! I am a great fan of your films."

Steve knew who this person was right away. The only person it could have been was Schmidt. The two walked out on the bridge, ready to face each other for the first time. "So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all." Steve stared him down, never feeling more hate for anyone but this man. "Not exactly an improvement, but impressive."

Steve stepped forward, punching him in the face, sending Schmidt back from the shock of the punch. "You've got no idea."

Schmidt looked to him, part of his skin was drooping which left the part right by his eye red. "Haven't I?" Schmidt leaned forward and punched, but Steve just picked up his shield, Schmidt leaving a dent in it from the punch. Steve brought out his gun, not expecting him to be this strong, but Schmidt punched him in the face, causing him to fall back on the bridge and his gun to go flying from his hands. Steve kicked him in the gut, but before they could do any more damage to each other, Zola pulled the lever on the bridge, sending Schmidt back to him and Steve back to Bucky.

Schmidt got up from where he was thrown back and smiled triumphantly. "No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success." He reached at his jaw and began to tear his skin off. Under the mask was Schmidt's real red face. He didn't resemble a human at all.

Bucky and Steve both watched in horror as he threw his mask into the fire. Only one thought was running through Bucky's mind at that point. "You don't have one of those, do you?"

"You are deluded, Captain." Schmidt told him while shaking his head. "You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind." He began to follow Zola to the door close by. The only door that would get them out of there. "Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. No fear."

"Then why are you running?" Steve threatened. Schmidt looked to him with a smile as he got in the door and pressed the button to close it.

Another bomb went off close by and Steve had to shield himself and Bucky from the flying debris. Steve looked to the door and then up, seeing there was only one more way to get out of here. He pushed Bucky to the stairs and got to the top frame of the building. "One at a time." Steve told Bucky as he urged him to walk on the frame first.

The frame was shaking as he walked and explosions were going wild underneath him, but he kept his mind on Maria. That was the only reason he was walking across the frame now. He had made a promise to come home and he was going to keep that promise. He almost fell as he walked and he knew the frame was about to go out from under him. He gathered up all his strength, ran and jumped off the frame as it fell, grabbing onto the railing and pulling himself up. When he was sure he was safe, he looked back to Steve, knowing he had to get him across. "We gotta get a rope or something!"

"Just go!" Steve yelled while throwing his hand at him, knowing he just wanted his sister to be happy and with Bucky she would be happy. "Get out of here!"

"No!" Bucky protested while throwing his hands on the railing. "Not without you!"

Steve sighed, knowing there was no way he was going to get Bucky out without getting himself out. He pushed back one of the pieces of the railing and ran all the way back, getting ready to jump. Steve sighed, knowing this idea was crazy, but it was the only way. He sprinted as fast as he could and jumped, barely making it. Bucky had to catch his arms and help him up.

After that, the two ran like hell to get out of there. Even when the entire building erupted in flames, they kept running, not daring to look back until they got to the clearing with all the other soldiers waiting for them. Everyone cheered for them and Bucky and Steve joined each other in a hug, afraid that they weren't going to make it. Eddy ran to his friend once he and Steve broke and met him in a huge hug. "Alright," Steve finally said when Eddy and Bucky broke away from each other, smiling at the two, happy that Bucky actually had friends in the military that he could trust. "Let's get out of here and get working on getting back home."

Peggy, Howard and Maria walked into Colonel Phillips's tent together as he read off the letter going to Senator Brandt about Steve's "passing." They all knew they were in trouble, but they all knew that the one who was getting in the most trouble was going to be Peggy. When he saw the three of them, Howard moved forward and gave him the pictures from a super-secret flight he and Maria had taken. "The last surveillance flight is back."

"No sign of activity." Maria answered with the usual energy sucked from her voice with the thought of Bucky and Steve being dead.

"Go get a cup of coffee, corporal." Colonel Phillips told the typewriter who got up without protest, leaving the four of them alone in the tent. He looked to Howard and Maria and sighed. "I can't touch you two. Stark, you're rich and the Army's number one weapons contractor. Rogers is your right hand." He turned over to Peggy sharply. "You are neither one."

"With respect, sir," Peggy spoke quickly. "I don't regret my actions and I don't think Captain Rogers did either."

"What makes you think I give a damn about your opinions?" Maria looked to him disgustedly at the way he acted. "I took a chance with you, Agent Carter and now America's golden boy and a lot of other good men are dead because you had a crush."

"It wasn't that." She told him, still confident in her decisions. "I had faith."

He didn't even blink, he came back with more jabs to her. "Well, I hope that's a big comfort to you when they shut this division down."

Outside, people began going crazy, running around frantically, pulling all four of them out of their private conversation. "What the hell is going on out there?" Colonel Phillips walked out first and the three of them looked at each other with a confused face before walking out of the tent and following all the other soldiers who were creating a huge crowd around something.

As they advanced towards the crowd, they saw a large group of soldiers making their way towards them. Maria's mouth dropped when she got a clear view of the two leading the group. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. She smiled brightly at all the men they were coming in with. The fact that her brother and fiancé saved all these people warmed her entire heart. Everyone cheered for him and once they came to a stop, Maria pushed her way past Colonel Phillips and jumped into Bucky's arms, not caring if he smelt like sweat and had dirt all over. "I love you, baby." She yelled as she nearly tackled him down. He smiled and held her back as tight as he could, appreciating that she was actually here with him, not caring if these people would make fun of him later because of this moment. This was no longer just a dream.

Steve looked to the two and smiled as Bucky figured out how to support his gun and her and then looked back to Colonel Phillips. "Some of these men need medical attention." The men who were crowded around the rescued began mingling with them, appreciating that their friends were alive. "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

Colonel Phillips studied him and Steve felt like he was about to tear into him when he finally said, "That won't be necessary."

Steve smiled at the man and Maria got down from Bucky to look at Colonel Phillips with a smile, surprised that he was actually letting it go. "Yes, sir."

Colonel Phillips turned around and looked to Peggy, giving her an expressionless face. "Faith, huh?"

Peggy smiled a little bit and looked right to Steve. "You're late." She told him as she walked right up to him.

He smiled back at her and pulled out the destroyed transponder. "Couldn't call my ride."

Howard looked to Bucky and Maria happily laughing with each other. He loved that she was happy, that's all he wanted, but he couldn't help also wanting her. He knew it was something he was going to have to get used to even if it was going to be very hard because what made her happy was Bucky.

"Hey," Bucky yelled out, quieting everyone around them. "Let's hear it for Captain America!" The entire crowd burst into applause and Bucky and Maria stared at Steve happily. They didn't originally want this for him, but he was happy and they were proud of everything Captain America had done. Not the dancing monkey Captain America, but the soldier Captain America. The real Captain America.