A fake wedding
"Stop looking at me like that!" You roll your eyes while adjusting the hat on your head. "Like what?" Bucky gives you an innocent look but has a playful smile on his lips. "Like a proud mother hen watching her chick leave the nest. Is not real." You thump your feet on the ground like a moody child. He walks up to you and kisses your cheek gently. "I know, but you're beautiful anyway." He smiles as he offers his arm for you to grab, and you leave the room together.
The photo shoot intends to make cover-up believable, so there you are, all dolled up like a bride with a flower bouquet and everything. As you enter with Bucky, the room falls silent, and all eyes are on you. Howard beams with joy, Peggy has an amused smile, Phillips has a paternal look, the Commandos are giggling in the back, and Steve looks uncomfortable. "Why are you all laughing in the back?" You ask. Dum-Dum stifles a laugh. "We've never seen you like that" You put your arms on your hips and raise a questioning eyebrow. "Like a lady," all five of them laugh even harder. "Well, lady or not, I can still slap you silly" They cut the laughs, but the playful smiles remain.
"Why are you all here?" You look around, puzzled. "We wouldn't miss it for the world," Peggy answers, walking closer and hugging you. You look at her suspiciously, "Is this a trick? Is a real minister hiding somewhere, ready to marry us?" Your eyes grow big with panic, and Howard chimes in, trying to calm you. "It saddens me that you think so poorly of me, dear. We just needed more people for the pictures." Relief washes over you, "You look lovely, by the way," he smiles lovingly, and you hate yourself for not being able to reciprocate those feelings.
Steve clears his throat. "Can we begin?" He's looking annoyed, and while everybody moves to their places you walk closer to him. "Something is bothering you. What is it?" He shifts and looks away, not meeting your eyes, "It's nothing, Victoria, I'm fine," he tries to walk away, but you grab his arm, stopping him. "You know I can always tell what's going through your head. Tell me." Whatever you have been waiting for as an answer would never have come close to reality. With a cold look, he slips out of your hand. "Let's end this nonsense soon. I have better things to do than pose for this charade." He walks away, leaving you heartbroken and defeated. A hand rubs your back comforting "Don't worry. I'll talk to him," Bucky says reassuringly. "I don't know what I did wrong. It's like we're not friends anymore." He grabs you by the shoulders and looks at you at arm's length, "We're all at wit's end, dear. He just has a lot more on his plate. He'll come around. Come, let's get you married," he winks and smiles at you.
Two days later Mr. and Mrs. Stark walk into a once-luxurious hotel in Athens. The devastation caused by the war is evident, until a year ago the population was starving in the streets until the Red Cross was able to access food and supplies. But the prolonged lack of livelihood continues to be felt among the population.
The hotel belongs to a Greek collaborator Konstandinos who is trying to convince Howard to supply weapons to the German army. The reality is that Konstandinos uses the hotel and the visitors as a front to smuggle people out of the country. The affable owner greets them at the door. "Mr. Stark, nice to finally meet you," he shakes Howard's hand, then places a gallant kiss on the back of yours, "and to your beautiful wife, of course."
He claps his hands together and yells something in Greek to which a thin young woman responds by bringing a tray with three small glasses, a bottle of water, and another with a transparent liquid. Konstandinos takes the bottle and pours a little of the liquid into each glass, then fills it with water. Mixing produces a milky liquid, he offers each a glass and takes the third for himself. You take your glass and smell the contents, trying not to appear distrustful, a strong aroma of anise fills your nose, and Konstandinos motions for you to drink. The liquor is strong and you have a hard time swallowing, but eventually, you get it by making a face.
Konstandinos smiles "Now we're all friends," he claps his hands again and another young lady appears "Eleni will show you to your room." With a few words in Greek, the girl signals for you to follow her. After two flights of stairs and a dimly lit hallway, you and Howard reach the room. Like everything in this place, it has seen better days, but at least it's clean and has a bathroom.
You leave the suitcase on a small table and start taking out your toilets to put them in the bathroom. Howard sits in a comfortable chair with a cocky smile and lights a cigar. "Well dear, what do you think of the place? The best of Greece for you" You stifle a laugh but don't answer. "Come on! You haven't said a word since we got here." You run your hands over your face trying to find the right words. "This place is worse than I thought, the suffering of the people is palpable. Did you see the two girls who were with Konstandinos? They had almost no meat on their bones."
Howard sits up in the chair and becomes serious, "I know and that's why we're here, to help these people" You look at him sarcastically, "And like blowing up a Hydra factory and giving asylum to a guy who deserves to be imprisoned is help these people?" He stands up and approaches, "Konstandinos knows the leaders of the resistance, he is going to give us a list of what they need to take up arms. They may not be able to face the Germans, but they have a chance against the Italians"
"Howard, I have a bad feeling, something is wrong." He leans closer, and you rest your forehead on his shoulder as he strokes your back. "Calm down, Victoria. Everything will be fine." After a few minutes, you raise your head and look into his eyes, "How are you so sure?" He nuzzles your cheek and smiles, "Because I'm with the best, brightest, bravest woman the SSR has." You push him back while smiling blushing. "You flirt." He throws up his hands in mock defeat "I'm just telling the truth."
"Let's go over the plan one more time." You tell him, "Today at midnight we will meet Papadoupolous who will give us the papers to enter the factory. Tomorrow he has to change to the night shift so that you can enter by pretending to be him," You take out some plans from the suitcase of the factory and the surrounding land, "According to this, there is an area of olive groves that adjoins the factory in the northeast corner," you point to the place on the map with your finger, "I will be in that olive grove waiting for your signal, Let's just hope Papadoupolous told the truth and the fence isn't electrified. Or this is all going to end faster than expected."
Howard nods and examines the map carefully. "There might be a couple of guards at these entrances," he points to the doors as he mentions them, "Here and here." You turn around and take a small belt out of the suitcase, from the belt you retrieve a pair of short and broad-bladed knives and hand them to him. Howard looks at you in amazement when he receives them. "They're a gift from Bucky. If you lose them you're dead." He nods silently and puts the weapons away reverently.
After finishing going over the plan one last time, Howard gives you a mischievous smile and says, "I think it's time to get ready for dinner. Don't you think... my love?" You roll your eyes in annoyance, but you know you have to get on with the charade. "Of course my beloved husband. I'm going to take a shower" You take your things and lock yourself in the bathroom.
12 hours before:
The officer runs in a hurry through the corridors, the information contained in the piece of paper he is holding is very important and must be delivered urgently to Colonel Phillips. He's in such a hurry that he almost runs into Agent Carter. "Soldier, what's going on? Look where you're going" He greets her awkwardly "Agent, I have an urgent communication for the Colonel" He hands her the paper trembling, and she takes it and reads it. "Thank you, soldier. I'll personally deliver the message to Phillips." The soldier nods and leaves relieved, the truth is that he is terrified of the Colonel.
Dinner is uneventful until a band shows up in the room. Howard stands up and offers you a hand. "Would you do me the honor of this dance?" You laugh, thinking he's just kidding, but the glint in his eye pales a bit at your response. "Do you want to dance with me?" you ask. With his arm still outstretched he nods, and you hesitantly take his hand and stand up. He gently guides you to the dance floor and takes you for a spin.
The band plays a tune you don't know, a slow rhythm of piano and guitar. With one hand in yours, Howard places the other on the small of your back as you rest your other hand on his shoulder. Gently both let themselves be guided by the music in a gentle dance. Once again you let yourself be intoxicated by the citrus fragrance of his perfume and for the first time, you allow yourself to imagine what if.
"A penny for your thoughts," Howard whispers in your ear, which makes an electric current go through your back. "You don't have enough money Stark," You tell him with a mischievous smile. "That's right, I could lay the greatest treasures on the planet at your feet and you wouldn't be interested." You frown in false concern, "So you think you know me that well?" He blushes and smiles, "I think I'm getting to know you well."
You lean back slightly, "Yes? And what do you know about me, Mr. Stark?" your eyes shine playfully. He sighs and looks you straight in the eye. "I know you're an excellent shot," you roll your eyes as if he's said something obvious. "That you are a fierce defender of people, whether they are relatives or someone who is being attacked on the street," the answer surprises you and you cannot look away, your eyes are fixed on hers. "I know that before enlisting you were enrolled in law school and that your goal was to help women in need." You are speechless. "I also know that you are going to fight tooth and nail for the place you deserve and you are not going to accept being the patient little woman who waits for her husband with dinner ready"
Neither of you dances, you are standing lost in each other, Howard caresses your cheek, and slowly his hand moves to the back of your neck. Both move closer, eyes fixed on the other, his lips hovering over yours almost touching.
The band finishes the song and a roar of applause breaks the spell. You turn your back to him blushing and straighten your dress trying to keep your composure. "I think I'll go upstairs to sleep a bit before we go out. We still have four hours till midnight." You smile at him and leave the room as quickly as you can without being too obvious.
12 hours later:
Bucky hates the cold, it gets into his bones and there's nothing that can warm him up. He is up on top of a mountain in the middle of the Pyrenees to ambush the ridiculous little man who is always attached to Schmidt. He knows the plan is crazy and they'll most likely end up stuck to the side of the mountain like a bug on a windshield. But it's Steve's plan and he trusts Steve's plans. Even so, he is sure that this is revenge for the time they went to the Coney Island fair. It's about time, and Bucky gets up from the rock he's sitting on and walks over to Steve.
The meeting went as planned and the next day was filled with rides and fun with Howard until sundown. Now clad in what has become your uniform in each mission, you find yourself crouched in the olive grove waiting for the signal. The minutes endlessly and you can't help but remember the night before. Howard had the delicacy not to mention anything during the day and to sleep on the huge sofa in the room.
But the truth is that you did want to kiss him if you want to know how far the relationship between the two of you can go. Steve's image jumps into your head, but the picture is always completed with Peggy next to him. Your blood boils with rage, not against them, they haven't done anything to you, they just fell in love. The rage is against you because you can't let go of Steve. He is one of your best friends, you have known him since childhood and that should be enough. You should be happy with his happiness and not expect anything else. You rub your face with your hands trying to get your mind off those thoughts, to focus on the mission.
Fortunately, you hear the signal agreed with Howard, take your bag, and go into action. The fence is tall and surrounded by barbed wire, but it's no match for the wire cutter. Remembering previous missions, you throw a stick against the fence to make sure it's not electrified and start cutting the wire, just enough to get through.
Once inside you are greeted by Howard's ever-present smile and you notice a cut at the corner of his mouth, "Did you meet any resistance?" You ask pointing to the cut. "Some people are harder to convince than others" He answers with a wink. "My dear. The plan is to just blow up the factory, right?" He says funny, you look at him questioningly. "Yes, why?" Howard points to the open bag where several dozen time bombs are poking out. "It's better to be safe than sorry," you reply with a shrug. He laughs as you pass him a gun that he keeps in his jacket. You close his bag, sling it over your shoulder, and with a nod you both head toward the nearest entrance at a light jog.
The corridor is clear, according to the map this area is mainly storage and from what the informant said, not very busy during the night shift. A good start, for now. You feel a ringing in your ears, but you try to shake it off. When you come to an intersection you take out a piece of paper that has a squiggly line and some crosses on it. It is a very rudimentary sketch, but it is perfect because whoever sees it cannot identify anything. They just look like the scribbles that any bored person makes during a long phone call.
But for you, it is the route and the exact places to place the bombs to generate maximum damage. You point to the right and after a few meters, you cross a door. It is a huge room with several generators, you rush to place the first two bombs that will detonate in 4 minutes. Once done, they soon leave the room through a door opposite the one you entered.
Howard gets out first and finds himself face-to-face with a guard. The soldier, taken by surprise, takes a few seconds to react, which Howard takes advantage of to knock him out. You stick your thumb up to check if everything's okay and he nods. You nod to the left and you start walking again.
The next room is more complicated, it is the manufacturing room and there are slave workers and soldiers. The door opens and two soldiers come out, Howard lunges at the first one and they start fighting and you sneak up behind the second one and slash his throat with one of your knives. Howard and the soldier are head to head, you pull out a gun, but you don't get a clean shot. "Howard, get down!" You scream, he complies and you shoot, the soldier falls lifeless to the ground.
The commotion attracted another group of guards and you look at your watch, one minute, they have to resist another minute. Covered behind the door they both start shooting, there are only 5 soldiers and they are quickly killed. The first two bombs go off and the lights go out before any more soldiers can get close to your position. You breathe a sigh of relief when you notice the workers running in the opposite direction.
You enter the room taking cover behind some work tables. You hand two charges to Howard and hold up three fingers at him, he nods and runs to a corner of the room. You go to the middle of the room and place two charges, each one a third of the way from each wall. Seconds later you place two more near the missing corners while Howard waits for you near the exit.
There is less and less time and covered by the darkness you run towards the cells. Three guards are posted at the gates, you take down the first with a pistol butt straight to the throat, and Howard shoots the rest out. When you enter the cells, the sight is devastating, people are tired and poorly fed, and the stench of humanity is suffocating. They look at you without understanding if you are friends or foes.
Howard addresses the group in Greek and explains who you are. A not-so-haggard-looking man walks up and talks to him. You look at the watch expectantly, the next loads have to be about to explode, "Howard, hurry up we're running out of time" you tell him urgently. "Give me the bag" he replies. You hand it over to him and he takes out a couple of charges and two weapons, gives them to the man, and explains how to assemble the bombs. He widens his eyes in surprise "What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?" Howard says goodbye to the man and escorts you arm in arm out. "Many of these men are partisans, captured in the latest revolt. They know very well what to do." The next explosion is so intense that the entire building shakes.
In the next few minutes, everything turns to chaos, soldiers running from one side to another, officers barking unintelligible orders, and you two running, shooting, and getting deeper and deeper into the compound.
The next objective is the communications room, without electricity, there is little chance that they could have sent an alert, but there is always the reliable telegraph, you just hope that in the confusion no one thought of it. The room is deserted and the telegraph is abandoned, you place the charges two minutes ahead of time and leave quickly. The next destination is the officers' barracks.
To get there you have to leave the main complex and walk 300 meters, the escape route is perfectly designed so that the barracks are on the way. Outside, darkness is no longer an ally, the moon shines brightly in the sky, illuminating every corner as if it were broad daylight.
Sheltered by some minor buildings, Howard and you make it safely to the barracks. Officers are going in and out and it's risky to go in without knowing what you're going to find. You take a tour of the place and... Bingo! There are a couple of windows open. From the bag you take out two grenades and pass them to Howard, who looks at you as if to ask 'How many things do you have in there?' you shrug and smile innocently. You walk over to the next window and signal to him. In unison, you throw the grenades into the barracks and run away. Seconds later the building is blown to pieces.
You can see the fence 500 meters away, it's the last stretch of the road, and it's so close you can taste it. Behind you the clang of weapons is getting louder, the partisans must have found weapons. Another detonation sounds, maybe they had the same idea as you and blew up the armory after looting it. A shot is heard in your direction, "Shit!" you hear, you turn and see Howard grabbing his calf, blood is staining his pants. You look up and see a soldier about 300 meters away, he is reloading his weapon, "Serious mistake, pal" You aim your weapon, fix your eye on the scope, take a deep breath, and shoot. The guy scatters like a rag doll on the floor.
You walk over to Howard who looks at you in surprise and confusion, "How the hell did you do that?" You check the wound, it's superficial no more than a scratch. "I'm a very good sniper," you reply dismissively. "This will have to hold until we get to the transport," you say as you tie a piece of cloth around his leg. "No, that's not just skill...Ouch!" Howard grumbles when you help him up. "Can you walk?" He nods and together you cover the final meters to the wire fence.
For forty minutes you walk in silence until you come to an old goat track where a truck is parked. Konstandinos's cigar smoke coming out of the driver's window is the only sign of life. You help Howard into the back and climb in after him. The truck is set up for people smuggling, so you remove the false bottom cover and tap on the cab glass. The driver pulls away, and you and Howard squeeze into the tight space before closing the lid.
With your knife, you cut Howard's pants and heal the wound. You know he's looking at you, you feel his eyes burning into your head. He doesn't complain when you put the disinfectant on his wound or when you apply the bandage. You're running out of things to do to avoid him. You sigh and raise your head looking into his eyes.
He doesn't say anything, he just grabs you by the neck and kisses you desperately. For the first time, you leave all thoughts aside and lose yourself in the kiss.
12 hours before:
The shot has hit the center of the shield and now Bucky is hanging precariously hundreds of feet up. He knows he's not going to make it, his arm is stretched out beyond his capacity, Steve stretches out as far as he can but doesn't quite reach it. "Take care of her" is the only thing he manages to say before collapsing into the void.