Needles and Bullets
She approaches the recruits with a firm step, they all seem to come from the same mold, big and tough men. But there is one that catches her attention, he is thin and looks a bit sickly, a lock of blond hair falls in front of his forehead. It seems as if he doesn't belong there until she sees the fierce determination in his gaze.
She clears her throat and steps forward, "Soldiers, I'm Agent Margaret Carter, I'm going to be overseeing the operations of...
"The kitchen? What's with that accent, Queen Victoria? I thought I enlisted in the United States Army." The guy is an idiot and she knows it. But as her friend says, he's an idiot who thinks he's smart and those are dangerous, she can't reason with them.
"Soldier, step forward and say your name." She's not going to reason with him.
"Hodge, your highness." The moment the soldier raises his head, she slams her fist into his face, without hesitation. The guy lands on his butt on the ground.
She looks at the blond recruit who smiles slightly at what happened, she gives him a small smile in response. Something shakes terribly inside his chest, as if he had found what he has been looking for for many years.
"Agent Carter, I see that you are breaking the candidates early" Phillips approaches the group and looks disapprovingly at the soldier on the ground "You are lucky the Lieutenant is not here, she would not have been so nice to you. Get in line and only speak if asked."
***
"Stop calling me Monty, Victoria," James Montgomery Falsworth pleads with you as he hands you the magazine of the gun.
The group laughs, already used to the same exchange between you.
"James is my cousin, so I'm not going to call you that and I'm not an elementary school teacher to call you by your last name, that just leaves us with…Monty" You tease with a smile.
He gives you a look as if to say 'you're impossible'...you two laugh
For the hundredth time you replay that memory in your mind, the last happy memory with your team before everything went to shit.
The basement is cold, your shoulder hurts where the bullet went clean from side to side. You don't know how long it's been since the mission went down, just flashes of what happened next.
The run through the woods, the low branches hitting your face, the barking of the dogs getting closer, the bullets getting dangerously close.
The stump, the fall, the stabbing pain in your shoulder makes you realize that one of those bullets hit you.
The plan was simple, get into the complex, rescue the scientist and get out. The contact would be waiting for them 5 kilometers from the place with a truck to escape.
It turned out that the scientist was not there, the number of soldiers was double what Intelligence had predicted and especially those infernal machines that fired a blue beam.
The memory of your comrades, the people with whom hours before you had been laughing and sharing stories, being disintegrated in front of your eyes is a vision that will never be erased.
Mere luck, God or whoever made you finally find a house where its occupants hid you, the contact never appeared. The whole operation was a setup, what you don't know is who set it up, who betrayed you.
Lotte, the youngest of the house, enters with a plate of food and water followed by her father Berg. The little girl hands you the food with a smile of incomplete teeth that lights up the gloomy basement. Berg, on the other hand, has a worried look on his face.
"We still haven't been able to contact anyone from the resistance and there aren't enough medicines,you're going to have to keep resisting a little longer" He has a look of sincere apology, you know he wants to do more, but he has to protect his family.
"I understand Berg, I'm going to do my best not to die yet, but an extra blanket wouldn't hurt" You give him a wry smile and he leaves with Lotte.
After finishing the meal you snuggle up a little more with the meager blanket that does little to ward off the cold and you think of home, of Bucky at the front... of Steve...
***
Steve is alone in the barracks, reading a book when Dr. Erskine enters.
"You can't sleep?" He gives her a sympathetic smile.
"Big day tomorrow I guess"
The Dr. sits on the bed across from Steve "That's right. I can't really sleep either. Any questions? Any questions?"
Steve sets the book aside and looks at it as if pondering which of all the questions in his head is the best, after a few seconds he seems to decide "I think the only valid question to ask is, why me?
Erskine looks at him and smiles, it's the question he's been waiting for "Fair question, important one. I guess it all comes down to who you are. Not what the people have made you believe, a scrawny guy who has nothing to offer, but who the person closest to you knows you are."
Steve looks at him without understanding "I don't follow"
"I became acquainted with a friend of yours. A brave and intelligent young woman, one time we were discussing the project and I told her how the perfect subject should be. And she replied, “You are describing my friend Steve!”
Steve similes, knowing that he's talking about you
Erskine smiles "But of course I have to see that for myself. We often tend to augment the qualities of the ones we care about."
"And what did you find out?"
"She wasn't exaggerating. You know, my serum does not only improve the physical aspect of the subject, it also augments what's inside. Good becomes great, bad, well…it becomes worse."
Steve has a doubtful look, as if he doesn't think he lives up to what Erskine is saying.
"You have to respect the power that we'll give you, you have to keep being what you already are, what Victoria sees in you."
"And what is that?"
"A good man Steve. A good man…"
***
"Missen Victoria, missen Victoria"
Lotte's gleeful cries echo through the basement, but in your head they sound like knives trying to split open your skull. The infection runs its course, there are no medicines available and the bone-chilling cold doesn't help.
Berg enters with a weary step and a worried look, he knows that he needs to do something with your state as soon as possible or you may not hold out much longer. "Miss, I was able to get these pills, maybe they will help"
He hands you two pills and a pitcher of water, with trembling fingers you put the pills in your mouth and greedily drain the water. The fever makes your throat dry and you feel constantly thirsty.
Berg pauses for a few moments, deciding whether or not he says anything else to you.
"Berg, what's going through your head? Is there something you want to tell me?" Your voice is just a faint whisper.
He scratches his head "Actually I don't know if it's good news or not, but a guy came to town a few days ago, he looks like an American and he's asking for soldiers"
Can it be? Is someone looking for her? It can also be a trap. There's only one way to find out if the person looking for you is from the SSR.
"Berg, next time you go into town tell that person 'Beautiful weather this morning isn't it?' If the person says 'Yes, but I always bring my umbrella anyway' then you can trust that he is looking for me and tell him that the Queen of England needs her help." The little energy you had left runs out with the last words and you fall into a lethargy.
Berg comes out of the basement, increasingly worried, but determined to help you.
Two days later the house is shaken by the arrival of several people.
The cellar door opens to the cry of "My queen, your knight in shining armor has come to your rescue."
You look at him and slowly roll your eyes, "Howard, if you're my knight, I had better have the Germans put a bullet in my forehead."
"Don't be so dramatic darling, you know you love me"
You try to get up with what little strength you have left, but your legs give out and Howard rushes to catch you before you fall and you gesture for him to leave you.
"Come on Victoria, you are not in a position to move on your own, you are very weak, let me help you"
"I'm fine, I just need to stretch my legs, I spent too much time lying down" It's a lie and you know it, but you don't want to seem weak.
"You're being stubborn Victoria and it's going to get worse if you don't let me help you" Howard pleads.
"I'M FINE! I can move on my own" When you try to take a step everything goes black.
Howard can barely hold you and you both end up on the floor, he puts his hand on your forehead and realizes you're burning with fever.
"Jarvis! Quick help me, we have to move her as soon as possible!"