Steve knocked on the front door by himself. With his motorcycle, he crashed into Hydra's only remaining base and began to raise some hell. He took out the Hydra soldiers on the motorcycles behind him quickly with his shield and the weapons he was given by Stark. He had completely redesigned his motorcycle and put weapons all over it, causing Steve to take out the tank like it was nothing.
He got past the entrance of the base and began beating up all of the Hydra soldiers as his motorcycle was sent into one of the walls, causing it to blow up. He was defeating most of the soldiers until they made a barrier with flame throwers to trap Steve.
They guided him into Schmidt's lair. It was where all the weapons were made. It was where all the evil was planned and Steve was standing right in the middle of it. "Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait," He spoke as he moved to join Steve and the soldiers that were holding onto him. "But I must say you do it better than anyone. But there are limits to what even you can do, Captain. Or did Dr. Erskine tell you otherwise?"
"He told me you were insane."
Schmidt scoffed a little at how fast he had a comeback for that. "He resented my genius, and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine, but he gave you everything." He looked at him like he was…jealous. Steve was someone Abraham admired while all he did was despise what Schmidt had become. "So, what made you so special?"
Steve looked up at him, picking up on the jealousy and smiled. "Nothing. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."
He was tired of him. All he wanted was for him to be gone. He punched him in the face as the soldiers held onto him and continued to punch him all over his body. Steve doubled over and coughed on the ground, feeling pain all over his body. He looked up at him, taking deep breaths, only thinking of one thing to say to him. "I can do this all day."
"Oh, of course you can." He spoke as he reached into his jacket and pulled out one of Hydra's weapons. "But unfortunately I am on a tight schedule."
They were both distracted by the sound of something grabbing onto the rock from outside. Steve smiled to himself and looked back to Schmidt as the Howling Commandos burst through the window. "So am I."
Schmidt ran that second. The Howling Commandos took down the Hydra soldiers in that room easily. James got a hold of Steve's shield and yelled out, "Rogers!" He stopped and turned to him just a James threw the shield. "You might need this."
Steve gave him a salute and thanked him before running off to stop Schmidt and save his sister.
The last bit of the Hydra doctors were getting Maria ready for her injection. They set up an IV and began to search for the right vein to put it in. The man began to inspect her arm and then her hand, deciding her hand was the better vein.
She wasn't paying attention to any of it. All she thought about was getting out of here and killing Johann Schmidt. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering what life would be like with the super soldier serum inside of her. She wondered what she would do after she killed Schmidt. She wondered if she would ever find her brother again. All she pictured was being on the road all by herself, hunting down every last member of Hydra.
She felt her eyes begin to get heavy from the IV in her arm when there was a crash. She opened her eyes quickly and began to look around. She couldn't see clearly, but she could make out that the Hydra soldiers were getting their asses kicked.
It got quiet and Maria still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but when she looked up, she saw Howard pulling the IV out of her. "Howard?" She whispered in a weak voice.
He gave her a slight smile as he began taking the straps off of her. "Yeah. You think I'm gonna leave my right hand girl when she needs me the most?" Maria smiled at him as he helped her up from the seat.
For the first time since she was kidnapped, she felt so happy. She was happy that she had people that cared enough to rescue her. She was happy that it was Howard, her best friend who was also one of the most egotistical men she had ever met, that risked his life to save her. She wasn't so cynical anymore, she actually had hope. "Please tell me none of that Hydra shit got in my system."
Howard looked to the still full vial of the Hydra super soldier serum that wasn't even attached to the machine yet. "You're good, Barnes."
He handed her a gun and put his arm out to become her crutch as he helped her out of the medical room. They were immediately greeted by Hydra soldiers, but they greeted them back with their guns.
An entire army was making their way into the Hydra compound, taking down every soldier they saw as the Howling Commandos worked their way through the rest of the compound. Steve was chasing Schmidt down the hallway, blocking off all of his shots with his shield until he ran through an automatically closing door. There wasn't much Steve could do and he knew he wasn't fast enough to make it before the door closed so he threw the shield into the door, keeping it open.
Maria and Howard hurried out of the hallway they were in, but stopped when they saw Steve. A huge smile spread across the siblings' faces once they got a good look at each other, but Steve's went away quickly when he saw a Hydra soldier coming for them with a flame thrower. "Get out of the way!"
Maria turned around and grabbed Howard's hand as Steve pulled her into a small opening that would keep them protected from the fire. "Wow," Maria commented as Steve pulled her into a tight hug. "I've never been so happy to see you in my entire life."
"Same here." He told her as he shut his eyes, appreciating that he was actually holding his sister. "I thought you were dead." He breathed out as he pulled away and stroked her hair with his hand, glad that he still had her. She was still alive. His baby sister was still alive.
"This is touching and all, but we really need to figure out how to get out of here." Howard said as he looked back and forth at them.
The two turned away from each other and peeked out from the wall they were hiding behind to see more fire, causing them to go back to hiding. Peggy and the rest of the army showed up behind the soldier and shot him down like it was nothing. The three of them looked at each other and then peeked out from behind the wall to see Peggy with her gun. Maria smiled as Steve ran out to greet her. When they saw each other, Steve looked right into her eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "You're late."
Peggy gave him a tiny smirk, but didn't look away from his eyes, finding it hard to even think about looking away. "Weren't you about to…?"
"Right." He ran to where he had thrown his shield and went through the door.
Maria ran from behind the wall she was hiding behind and threw her arms around her friend who hugged her back as tight as she could. "I'm so happy you're okay." Peggy whispered as the two began to rock back and forth while smiling at each other.
"You three," They both jumped at Colonel Phillips's voice and broke out of their hug. He looked from Maria to Peggy to Howard and nodded, knowing they were the only team he wanted to take. "Follow me. Our jobs aren't done yet."
Steve chased Schmidt into an aircraft hangar where the Hydra and US army were fighting each other. Steve had to climb up and swing over all the fighting to end up even close to the jet that Schmidt was on. He was going to be late. Schmidt's jet was already preparing to lift off as Steve ran after it.
He began to slow to a stop, realizing that it was hopeless. He would never catch up to it. There was the sound of a car next to him, and when he turned he saw Colonel Phillips driving and Maria, Peggy and Howard in the back seat. "Get in!" Colonel Phillips called.
Steve didn't waste any time. He jumped inside the car and Colonel Phillips began driving as fast as the car could go to get them close enough to Schmidt. They were all pushed to the back of their seats as their hair flew back. Once they got close enough, Steve began to prepare himself by standing up in the car. "Keep it steady!"
Peggy sat up a little bit, grabbing onto Steve and calling out, "Wait!" Steve stopped to look at her as she stood up and gave him a kiss. When they pulled away, Steve stared at her in shock. That was the one thing that would give him the strength and motivation to keep going. In that moment, he knew what he was fighting for. He was fighting to keep his two favorite girls safe. Peggy and Maria. "Go get him."
Steve was still in shock as he turned to Colonel Phillips and Howard and Maria sat there with dropped jaws. "I'm not kissing you." Colonel Phillips claimed as he gave Steve a glance.
Steve got up again as they approached the under part of the jet. "Steve," Maria called desperately as she watched him. "Be careful."
He nodded. "I love you."
She smiled at the way he said it, but it also made her nervous. She didn't want this to be the last time she said it. "I love you!"
"Take care of my sister, Stark!"
Howard nodded as he looked at Maria, finding himself lost in her face like he had been so many times. He watched as every muscle on that beautiful face was possessed by worry and fear, and every part of his being just wanted to make her feel better. "I will."
As Schmidt got out of the hangar, Steve jumped up and grabbed a hold of the jet as the Colonel Phillips swerved the car, having it barely stop at the edge of the hangar. Peggy stood up in the car and watched until Steve safely got into the aircraft. Once Maria saw that he had got in, she made her way out of the car, helping Peggy, Howard and Colonel Phillips out as well. "I have to get to the control booth." She told them quickly. "I need to find out what's going on in that craft." Colonel Phillips grabbed her by the arm and led her to control booth with Peggy and Howard following behind.
When Steve got in the jet, he saw bombs with Chicago and New York written on it. He stood there in shock for a moment. He couldn't let his home be blown to bits by Hydra. He wouldn't. He took down the Hydra soldiers standing guard in the ship easily, but more came. One opened up the one of the planes, but didn't get a chance to get inside it and fell out the ship along with the unmanned plane.
One of the other Hydra soldiers got inside one of the other planes, but Steve got on top of it along with another one of the Hydra soldiers. The one controlling it tried to shake him off, but Steve kept on wrestling with the Hydra soldier on top of it. He flew the plane up, sending the Hydra soldier into the propeller, but Steve continued to hold on, the pilot thinking he had lost him. Steve took him by surprise when he opened up the plane and ejected him out of his seat. Steve got inside it and flew right back into Schmidt's jet, crashing a little bit, but coming up in one piece.
He picked up his shield and made his way into the command center. He moved towards the chair cautiously, trying to see if Schmidt was in that seat. He then heard a creaking behind him and when he turned around, Schmidt was there, holding a gun to him. Steve blocked the shot with his shield, angering Schmidt. "You don't give up, do you?"
"Nope." He yelled quickly before dodging all of his shots. The two began fist fighting, Steve sending Schmidt into one of the controls that caused the plane to begin to go down.
Steve was sent to the back of the plane as Schmidt made his way to the controls, setting it up right before pulling out his gun to finish Steve. "You could have the power of gods!" He yelled as he shot the gun off, but missed Steve who was running to get back to him. "Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations. I have seen the future, Captain. There are no flags."
"Not my future!" He yelled out as he flipped out of the way of one of the shots.
Schmidt shot at him and when Steve picked up his shield, it backfired and sent him falling back, knocking the tesseract out of its place. "What have you done?!" Schmidt yelled as he picked it up in his hands.
The tesseract opened up a portal into space which slowly disintegrated Schmidt as Steve watched on in horror. It was something he had never seen before. Something he would remember for the rest of his life. Once Schmidt was gone, the portal closed up and the tesseract burned its way through the bottom of the ship.
Steve couldn't worry about that now. He had to save his country. His home. He got into the pilot seat, taking off his helmet and putting down his shield. He saw that he was headed straight for New York City, so he picked up the radio, knowing exactly who would be on the other line. "Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"
Maria's heart jumped out of her chest when she heard Steve's voice. She moved the radio to her mouth and began speaking, "Steve, is that you? Are you all right?"
"Maria!" He yelled out happily. Peggy joined her on the chair as Colonel Phillips and Howard stood in the back of the room, listening closely.
"Schmidt's dead."
Maria and Peggy looked at each other and then back at the microphone. "What about the plane?"
"Peggy," Steve sighed out, loving the sound of her voice. "That's a little bit tougher to explain."
Maria could already feel her throat tightening, knowing exactly what something like that meant. "Give me your coordinates. I'll give you a safe landing sight."
"There's not going to be a safe landing." Maria felt her eyes begin to fill with tears at the thought of just getting her brother back and now having him taken from her. "I'm going to try and force it down."
"Just give us some time." Maria pleaded. "We can figure it out."
"There's not enough time." He objected. "This thing is moving too fast and it's heading for New York." He took a pause, shutting his eyes, knowing this was going to destroy Maria. He was the only family she had left. "I gotta put her in the water."
"Please, Steve, don't do this." Maria pleaded.
"She's right." Peggy told him. "We have time. We can figure it out."
"Right now, I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are going to die." Maria felt the tears flowing down her face and she couldn't stop it no matter how hard she tried. "Maria, this is my choice."
"I love you." Maria cried out.
"I love you more." He said in a hoarse voice, knowing this was the last time he was going to talk to his little sister. "Howard," He looked up from the back of the room, feeling his eyes begin to water. "Remember what you promised me. You have to protect her. You protect my little sister. That's an order"
Howard moved closer, putting his hands on Maria's shoulders and she grabbed his hand, needing comfort more than anything right now. "I promise you, Steve."
"Peggy?"
"I'm here." She spoke as a tear trickled down her face.
"I'm going to need a rain check on that dance."
She smiled a little bit and nodded. "All right. A week next Saturday at the Stork Club."
"You got it." He promised while taking a deep breath, knowing he would never make it.
"Eight o'clock on the dot. Don't you dare be late. Understood?"
Maria's grip on Howard's hand got tighter, knowing they didn't have much time left with him. "You know, I still don't know how to dance."
"I'll show you." She laughed out. "Just be there."
"We'll have the band play something real slow. I'd hate to step on your-"
There was static and Maria shut her eyes tight, knowing her brother was really gone. "Steve?" Peggy called out desperately. "Steve!" She said it slightly louder and Maria got up from her seat and Howard grabbed her, wrapping her in his arms. "Steve." Peggy whispered out as more tears began to fall down her face. Maria felt her body beginning to drop and Howard eased her to the ground as she cried. Colonel Phillips slowly walked out of the room, leaving the three of them in there to cry and mourn privately, and also to let himself mourn privately.
It had been two years since what had happened to Steve, and Howard and Maria were now engaged. It was her promise with Bucky to get married after the war, so Howard and Maria didn't wait until after. They got married as soon as possible and together began raising James Steven Barnes, who was named after his father and uncle. Two of the greatest heroes Maria and Howard had ever known. When V-E Day finally came around, they spent it celebrating, but mostly mourning.
They had tried to find Steve. Howard and Maria searched and searched, finding only the tesseract. They found no plane wreckage. No debris. No Steve. They looked as long as they could until Maria couldn't be out on the high seas anymore from being too pregnant.
On V-E Day, Maria thought a lot about Steve and Bucky. She thought about how happy they would both be that it was finally over. Bucky would have pulled James up on his lap and told him stories about his time in the war as Steve would have debated that it wasn't for children's ears to hear. Maria would have rolled her eyes and taken James in for a nap that they would have both needed. They would have been really happy together. Maria was happy now, though. She had James. And even though it felt impossible, she found love again. She fell in love with her best friend. Howard Stark. She was really starting to feel better now.
Colonel Phillips had given Peggy Steve's file once the war was over and she kept it forever. He had made such an impact in her life. He had helped her discover all this faith and hope she had inside of her. She learned about what real strength was. Most importantly, she learned how to truly love someone.
After the war, Peggy, Colonel Phillips, Maria and Howard developed SHIELD together. They wanted to create something that would deal with the things that not everyone needed to know about. Top secret things. Things that SSR took care of during the war. The reason for the long name? They really wanted to honor Steve with the organization. He was America's best hero. Steve was the reason the organization existed. Captain America was the reason. He went down in the books as a legend, but to everyone who knew him, he was still just that kid from Brooklyn who hated bullies.
I always get so emotional at the end of this movie! It isn't over yet! The epilogue is coming your way!