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Finding the others was easy to accomplish as tents were put up in what was left of the village with all the Howling Commandos, Philips, Peggy, Howard, and Steve meeting in the center tent to figure out the next move. "Red Skull said we had 12 hours before his attack began which leaves us with just under 11 to stop him" explained Steve who was looking over the topography map that had the Hydra base marked on it. "The best plan I can come up with is too have me and the Commandos attack up front and allow ourselves to get captured, so we can get inside and put an end to this."
"Whoa, how do you plan to make sure we don't get destroyed the second we make a move" asked Gabe hoping not to be riddled with gunfire when all hell broke loose.
"Two things, first is that Philips, Peggy and the rest of the division will be waiting just outside the compound to hit it once the signal is thrown. More importantly than that is something that I need Stark to take care of." Howard looked over, "Remember that bazooka looking thing you were working on?" Stark nodded. "I need you to miniaturize the explosive so that it can be fired from a sniper rifle, also you need to create a grapple attachment too for this whole thing to work" explained Steve causing Howard to run off and begin working on the rifle.
"What's the rifle for?" asked Bucky noting that his was the best rifle they had.
"It's for you, you are going to go before us and set up across from the canyon from the base and fire the explosive into the side of it hopefully it will distract them enough to allow us to get an advantage and the ground troops to break through and get inside. You then use the grapple to get to the base and meet up with us and stop the Red Skull from beginning the attack" explained Steve.
"How do you know that the Red Skull was telling the truth, he could be forcing our hand in order to eliminate the problem long before the attack begins" hypothesized Philips.
Steve shook his head "No, Red Skull is all about power, he wants to show how dominant he is and he can only do that in person. He wants to take me out personally besides even if he is lying to get us to move early, we can't afford to wait and see."
Philips nodded his head "Okay then, we have a plan and we only have a few hours to make it happen. Let's go to work."
The meeting broke up while everyone went their separate ways to prepare for the day ahead. Steve sighed and found himself moving to one of the less destroyed buildings and found a room to relax in.
Dugan and the other commandos went off to sit by a fire that the other soldiers had started and began to talk about everything that had happened since France. They spent their time laughing and carrying on while other soldiers looked on in awe of the Howling Commandos who had become something of a legend in basic training.
Howard couldn't believe he did it, he successfully miniaturized the explosive and made it fireable from Bucky's rifle, especially since Bucky had spent the entire time watching him. The grapple was easy enough as he handed the rifle to Barnes, who Howard had come to respect since the SSR had brought him and the other commandos into the team. "Good luck" Howard said knowing that there was a good chance that he wouldn't see Barnes again given that the Red Skull knew they were coming. "By the way, I know you have it out for Zola, and I found something in one of Manfredi's journals that you might find interesting. He mentions that Zola had a window in his lab that looked out into a canyon. Which means that if you can find that window you could hit Zola where he works and most likely spends most if not all of his time." Bucky nodded and began to think as he headed outside to sit with the others.
Peggy found herself walking to the building where Steve had gone to rest before the mission, she hated to disturb him but she needed to talk to him before this mission began and she lost her chance. She approached the only closed door in the entire house and knocked a few times silently hoping that he was sleeping so she could avoid this conversation a little longer. Her nerves got worse when she heard a groan and footsteps approaching the door, she breathed loudly as Steve opened the door.
"Oh come in" he said ushering Peggy into the room and offering her the only chair in the building that wasn't broken during the raid by Hydra. She smiled and took a seat and Steve sat down across from her on the bed. "I wanted to talk to you before this all went down and we no longer had a chance to talk" she said.
Steve breathed nervously and decided to do what Bucky had always told him to do when they were in school together "I think you're incredible." Peggy stopped and her eyes got big, not expecting him to be so forward. Steve laughed and stood up and started walking nervously around the room "I've never really ever tried to talk to women before, certainly not a beautiful one like you, but Bucky always told me to not beat around the bush and just come out and say what I feel. The truth is Peggy, You're the closest thing to perfect that I have ever seen and after this is all over I would love the chance to take you dancing and whatever else you want to do just so I can be around you."
Peggy was silent, she had spent the better part of the last few weeks attempting to figure out how to tell Steve how she felt and he went and put it all out there and here she was looking like a fool and making him feel like he misinterpreted their relationship. She looked up and could see the panic in Steve's eyes and here she was looking like a fool and making him feel like he misinterpreted their relationship. She looked up and could see the panic in Steve's eyes which finally brought her to stand and look Steve in the eyes "I feel the same way" she moved to kiss him, but he stopped her causing her to whimper.
"I want this but we just don't have the time right now" he said defeated pointing at the watch that he set up. Peggy nodded and stepped back "But trust me as soon as the Red Skull goes down, we'll have all the time we need."
The two walked out of the house and noticed that everyone had joined the Commandos around the fire. Steve took a seat with Bucky on one side of him and Peggy taking a seat on the other. The group exchanged stories and took part in a few toasts before Bucky's watch started to make noise. "That's me" he said getting up and nodding to everyone "I'll see you guys in there" which prompted nods from all the commandos. He started to walk away with his rifle when Steve got up and ran after him.
"Hey Bucky" he said as Bucky stopped to look at him. "Be careful up there." Bucky nodded "Listen we still need to talk about what happened to you, and I've given you all the time I can but I'm worried that if you don't talk soon it's going to eat you alive" said Steve.
Bucky sighed and nodded "After we finish this, after I make sure that the monsters who experimented on me are gone, then we can talk. I'll be ready then but not before."
Steve nodded and put his hand on Bucky's shoulder "I can live with that" he brought Bucky in for a hug "Let's finish this, once and for all."
Bucky turned and took one of the jeeps down the path where he would go until he started climbing up to get across the way from the base. Steve watched him disappear and turned back to the others "Okay everyone gear up. We head out in an hour that should give Bucky enough time to get into position."