Warning Signs
The soldier was standing at the doorway, guarding the entrance when the leader came to stand in front of him.
A sharp pain had his head reeling back.
The leader’s fist recoiled and he started yelling, “I was told you landed two kill shots!” He yanks the soldier’s hair, pulling him into a separate room, shoving him in front of a projector. Footage of the blonde man ripping off a mask and speaking into a camera. The audio is muted but the face is clear. “You reported that you’d killed him!”
The soldier’s eyes widened, “yes, sir. His heart stopped.”
“Obviously not!” The man’s shrieked, “I don’t accept liars! Zola!” The soldier’s stomach dropped at the sound of that name. But he stayed still. The little man appeared no much later. “Take him back and fix this.”
And as the soldier was ordered back into his least favorite room, his eyes flicked back to the screen where the repeating footage was still playing. And the soldier could only describe what he felt as relief.
—————-
Camera on your left
Steve raised his pistol to take it out but Jones beat him to it.
Thanks, Howard
Steve responded through the com. Adding the update to the holo-pad.
You’re almost to the district with pods. Be very careful.
Will do.
————
They traveled slower than he would like. But he knew it was necessary. Getting blown up by a pod would not be worth the time saved.
He settled into the room of the house that was abandoned and began mapping out tomorrow’s route.
It did not evade his attention that everybody on the team was placing their sleeping gear in between his and Peggy’s. And not for the normal reason that would have made him blush. Now Their distrust of her just annoyed him. But he stayed quiet. An argument for another time.
“Watch is set for the night.” Dugan stated.
“Where am I in the line-up?” Steve asked, not looking up.
“First shift.”
That makes him look up, “no. Give that shift to Jones and Monty. They have to be tired from—“
“Cap, they agreed. You should be getting the most uninterrupted sleep.”
Steve narrowed his eyes, “and why is that?”
“We’re just looking out for you.”
“That’s my job.” Steve snapped, closing the holo- pad and standing.
“Well consider that burden lifted.”
Steve straightened his shoulders, and for the millionth time was awed by the fact that he was somehow this tall. Taller than Dugan. “Spit it out, Dugan.”
“Nothing’ to say Cap.”
“Obviously that’s not true. Either explain or give Jones and Monty—“
“You died.”
Steve’s jaw tightened, “yeah, and?”
“We’ve seen the way that you’re still healing.”
Steve’s sighed, he thought he’d been hiding it better.
“I’m perfectly capable, Dugan. It’s nothing I can’t handle. And in case any of you have forgotten, I used to be a shrimp with more health problems than the entire district combined. I can handle it.”
“Howard said—“
“Howard—“ Steve snapped, cutting him off, “knows the serum in theory. Not in practice.”
“Steve—“
“if you don’t trade me, then I’ll be sitting up for two shifts. Do you understand?”
Dugan glared at him and he glared back.
Eventually Dugan gritted his teeth and hissed out, “fine.”
Steve nodded, “good.”
——————-
The next day was slow going as well. They were tripping every pod they came across from what they hoped were safe distances.
Then an unlabeled pod left them coughing and gagging from the thick and putrid yellow smoke it had dispersed.
At first Steve thought it was just an irritant, but as he worked his way through the smoke he almost tripped over Monty’s unconscious form and that left him panicked
Even though his lungs were on fire, he hauled Monty up and onto his shoulder, holding his breath and trying to feel his way out of the smoke. Eventually his boot hit the curb and he felt around for a door knob. Once he found a door, he broke the lock, and raced inside, shutting the door behind him quickly.
There were no lights but he was able to feel his way to a couch. He set Monty down and was back out the door, terrified of taking too long to find the others.
He listened, straining his hearing until the tell-tale thump of a heartbeat caught his attention, he worked his way over, holding his breath, closed eyes, and hands out in case he might run into something.
Dugan’s large form appeared at his feet and he hauled him to the same house as Monty.
The other’s hearts were harder to hear, but he managed to find Jones, Denier, and Peggy hauling them all three at once.
“Morita!” He called desperately, “Morita!”
But there was no response. So he got on his hands and knees and started searching.
————-
“Cap.”
His chest felt like it was filled with coal dust.
“Cap, come on, wake up.”
Steve groaned and curled tighter, unable to respond or open his eyes.
A gentle hand rested on the side of his face and a soft voice spoke, “Steve, please, we need you to wake up.”
Something in his chest stirred at that voice and he found himself opening his eyes and looking into the concerned face of Peggy.
“There you are, my darling.” She said with a smile.
And something about it was so reminiscent of her before that Capitol that he reached up and pressed her hand against his face with his. “What happened?” His voice was dry and raspy.
“You pulled us out of the smoke, but…” Dugan’s voice made his eyes flick higher, to the large form standing behind Peggy. Steve noticed the concern in his eyes, “when we all came around…” Steve looked past him to notice the whole team standing there, different levels of worry on their face, “you were passed out, outside.”
“Morita,” Steve said sharply, “I needed to get—“ he started to feel panic, had he not found Morita?
“I’m here cap.” A voice said. He looked up to see Jim standing there, eyes wary, “you brought me in.”
And then they stared at him, and his mind tried to understand—
Oh yeah.
He swallowed thickly and sat up, “alright, so we’re all here. That’s good. Is the smoke cleared?”
Monty nodded, “yes, it’s cleared that’s how we found you.” A pause, “Outside.”
And then they’re staring at him, waiting for an explanation for why he was still outside after he’d gotten his whole team into the house.
And the memory of his last oxygen deprived moments rush back.
Bucky.
He’d been so addled he thought he needed to go back outside and find Bucky. Bucky who has always been on his team since day one.
His throat was dry and he cleared it, looking away from them, “I uh,” why was he feeling hesitant about telling them? He shook his head, “think I was just confused.” He admitted, which wasn’t a whole lie, “think I thought someone was still out there.”
And while Dugan looked about to push for more explanation, Jones nodded and stepped closer, “well, you got us all, thanks.” And handed him back the holomap.
Steve accepted it and then felt guilty, “sorry we’re going into this half blind.”
There was a beep on the comms and Morita stepped back, clicking a button, “yeah Howard, he’s awake now, think it was just a knockout gas, no long term effects so far.”
“Good, but you better get moving. Tripping that pod could make them send guards to you.”
“We’re on the move.” Morita responded, looking at them for affirmation. They all nodded.
——————
The effects showed up that night.
Every single member of the team was awoken from a blood curdling nightmare. Gaunt faces and shaking hands sat in a half circle around the fireplace of some abandoned house they’d broken into.
Steve probably would have been doing the best out of all of them, except his exposure had been quadruple what they had had. So he sat, eyes closed, fists clenched on the blanket around his shoulders.
Peggy was visibly shaking, nail marks in her leg as she gripped them tightly. And the rest were half asleep, eyes glazed in fear of what they might see if they fell asleep.
When morning dawned, it was partially a relief that they had to move and keep busy. It kept their minds off the night before.
————
They made it another day without unexpected pods. And they got closer to the Capitol with each block.
Steve could feel the tension of his team radiating off them. It was too easy. The mission going too smoothly. But no one wanted to say it out loud.
When they bunked down for the night, maybe another day and a half of a walk from the presidential mansion, Steve told his team to get some sleep and he would take first watch.
They were past the point of protesting, and they bedded down as he stood by the fireplace and kept warm.
He was halfway through his shift when he heard the hiss.
Every cell in his body vibrated with remembered fear and he was shouting and hauling people up before they even could fully wake up.
The first snake slid out of the bathroom door, presumably from the plumbing. But Steve was already shoving Denier out the front door, and bellowing for them to run and to not look back.
The hissing grew louder and the hisses turned to his name and he barely was able to keep from clapping his hands over his ears so he wouldn’t fully lose it as they kept bolting towards safety.
He turned when Monty yelped, finding him scrambling back from a snake that must have come out of another building from the side.
Steve barreled towards him, pulling out his pistol and taking off its head with one shot before scooping Monty up and throwing him over his shoulder.
“That high rise over there!” He heard Dugan shouting. So he followed the sound through the dark unilluminated streets.
Dugan was slamming the butt of his rifle down on the lock as the hissing converged on them.
Steve shoved Monty into Jones and Morita’s arms, grabbing their pistols and turning, covering their backs as they raced up the building.
Steve aimed and carefully shot at the snakes, headshots causing their hissing to grow in frenzy and chaos as they tried to avoid his shots but still get closer.
“Steve!” Peggy cried frantically, “come on!”
“Ssstttteeeevvvveeee.” The snake in front of him hissed, sounding amused.
He shot that one next and then bolted up the door, locking the next door he came through, and shoving gear under the tiny space beneath it so nothing could slip through.
His team was gasping for breath and Morita was tending to Monty’s bite, which seemed to be oozing something black and green.
“We’re they like those?” Peggy asked, her eyes still far away, hand clutching at the vest strapped to her chest.
Steve looked up, “what?”
“The ones that followed you, were they like those?”
His whole team was looking at them now, confusion on their faces.
“Which ones that followed you?” Jones asked.
“Schmidt had snakes follow him after the first arena.” Peggy said before Steve could stop her, a deep clarity in her eyes, “they tormented him in his house and around his mother.”
His team gaped at him, and he winced, “it wasn’t my favorite.” He looked at Peggy, “you remember that.”
She shivered, “you’re forgetting the snakes in the first arena,” her voice got angry, “Schmidt and his love of slithering disgusting creatures is hard to forget.”
Steve reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward into a hug, which she stiffened and then immediately relaxed into.
“That bastard kept snakes in your house for almost a year?” Steve looked up to see new fury in Dugan’s eyes. “Every time I think it can’t get worse, that Schmidt can’t get more evil.”
Steve huffed out a laugh, “it was a rough year for me, I’ll tell you that.”
Peggy said something muffled against his chest and Steve leaned back, “what?”
“Bucky was so mad that you hadn’t told him.”
Mention of Bucky made his heart hurt, but he nodded, “yeah, I was too worried Schmidt would punish them if they knew. He threatened as much.”
“How long until he sends more snakes here?” Jones asked, eyeing the bathroom door warily.
“The closer we get the worse it’s going to be.” Steve responded, “how’s the leg?”
Morita looked up with a grimace, “I don’t know what venom this is, but I don’t think he should be walking into battle with it.”
“I’ll be fine.” Monty replied through gritted teeth.
“No,” Steve responded, “well have Howard send a small craft to come pick you up tonight, Denier stay with him, use whatever explosives you need to to keep them safe.” The man looked about to protest but Steve held up a hand, “Captain’s orders.”
——————
Dugan, Jones, Morita, Peggy, and Steve walked quietly through the streets. They’d tripped an acid pod a block back but had thankfully avoided it.
The shooting barbs pod three blocks before that had caught Jones in the shoulder, making his arm numb, but he said it was starting to tingle so they had pressed on.
Now they had the holo pad out at all times, and were throwing rocks on every surface to see if they explode or shoot or flood.
“Down!” Morita shouted and they hit the ground, sparks and heat flaring against them and something flashed above them.
“Don’t open your eyes!” Jones added, “crawl left!” They obeyed, not knowing what they were seeing, “get up!” Steve popped up onto his feet and felt hands at his back, “open your eyes and go!”
When he looked, they were in an alley and he followed the orders, running behind Morita and Peggy with Dugan and Jones following closely on his tail.
Three blocks later they were about to stop to catch their breath when a war splitting shriek exited the city’s speakers and began wailing.
They clapped their hands over their ears and Steve looked out onto the street to see a blue wave of energy filling towards them. “Fall back!” He bellowed, yanking Peggy back along the alley they’d just come as Morita raced along side him. They turned a sharp left and raced up another alley. Another right turn and then they hopped up onto a dumpster, Dugan hauling Morita up just seconds before the energy wave crackled below them.
And the scariest part was that it didn’t affect anything. Steve stared at the alley and noticed that it looked normal, as if the malevolent energy hadn’t just rolled through.
And his gut dropped wondering what would have happened if it had touched something not inanimate.
—————-
That night they slept on the highest floor of an apartment building. Surrounded by luxury and terrified of what might follow them here.
Dugan took first watch, assuring Steve that he was wired and wouldn’t be able to sleep anyways for awhile. Steve nodded, crashing on a fuzzy rug that was the softest thing he’d ever felt.
————
Soft touch woke him, but he didn’t move or open his eyes, just enjoyed the soothing touch.
“You think we’ll ever be back to normal?”
Jones.
Steve almost thought he was talking to Steve, until a soft voice responded, “what even is the definition of normal anymore?”
“I still dream of the red room.”
“Don’t.” Peggy rasped out. “Please. Don’t.”
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. But I can’t think of that just now. Not now.”
Soft fingers caressed his cheek and then ran through his hair, and it made him realize that this is what woke him originally, her touch.
“Do you think they’re right to not trust us?”
Peggy took a minute to answer, “well you’re on watch aren’t you? And no one is handcuffing me to my bed. So I’ll take this level of trust after what I did.”
Her soft fingertips ghosted over his face, trailing the pattern of scars that would have been there had her nails left a permanent mark.
“Do you trust us?” Jones tone makes Steve’s chest constrict. So much self doubt.
“I know I hurt him.” Peggy answered. “Over and over I have hurt him.” A weighted settled on his chest and he realized her head was resting on him. “And yet here he still is fighting for me.” Soft fingertips touched his lips, sending a sharp sensation through his body, “I won’t hurt him again. Not ever. So I know I can be trusted. Even if it’s to put the pistol below my chin instead of believe whatever lies Schmidt shoved into my brain.”
It’s quiet for minutes as Jones processed that. Steve’s heart ached, but he just stayed quiet, not wanting to reveal that he was awake.
“There was a day—“ Jones started, “back when we were first rescued. That I saw him,” Steve can feel the way Jones gestures to him, “I saw him asleep outside your door. Worried about you, and he’d been begging to be let to see you, and this was when he had the black lines down his face from your nails.” Peggy stiffened at his words but said nothing. “And it was just him and me in that little hallway in the medical area. And something so strong told me to slit his throat.” The words come out dry and hoarse, “and I grabbed a scalpel off the medics cart nearby, and I stood there, I strod there fighting the order, the memories so strong to entice me to kill him,” Peggy’s fingers are gripped on his vest, “but then I pictured Dove’s face, and the way that skinny kid in the arena tried to take care of her. And I picture him holding up the rock in the avalanche and the way he threw himself into harms way to protect everyone else, hell, anyone else. And that mind numbing desire to kill him faded, leaving me exhausted and weeping.” Peggy’s head shifted and he felt her reach out, grasping Jones’ hand. “I didn’t tell them that. Maybe I should have. But I won’t hurt him either.”
Steve felt his hand get raised and gentle lips pressed against the knuckles. “He trusts us. Isn’t that the worst and best part?” Peggy laughed softly and ruefully, “even though maybe he should be more cautious with us, here he is, sleeping as if we haven’t both tried to murder him.”
Jones huffed a laugh. “He’s one of a kind.”
It’s quiet for much longer and Steve thinks they may have fallen asleep when Jones speaks one more time, “what happens when he sends Barnes again?”
Peggy’s hand rested fully on his chest, right above his heart. “We make sure he doesn’t have to face him alone.”
—————