Death Valley
“Johann Schmidt belongs in a bughouse. He thinks he's a god, and he's willing to blow up half the world to prove it, starting with the USA.” Phillips stated before Howard made his way over to the table, sitting down next to (Y/N) and Steve. “Schmidt’s working with powers beyond our capabilities. He gets across the Atlantic, he will wipe out the entire Eastern Seaboard in an hour.” He said looking at everyone at the table, trying to get across the severity of the situation. “How much time we got?” Jones spoke up, looking at Phillips. “Accordin’ to my new best friend, under twenty four hours. Hydra’s last base is here. In the alps, five hundred feet below the surface.” he said before he dropped the photographs down on the table. “So what are we supposed to do? I mean, it's not like we can just knock on the front door.” Morita said as Steve and (Y/N) exchanged looks. (Y/N) held his stare before nodding a bit, agreeing with whatever Steve had planned. “Why not? That's exactly what we’re gonna do.” He said, gaining everyone's attention. A few people expressed their disagreement with the idea of it but Phillips raised his hand, silencing them. He looked between (Y/N) and Steve before sighing. “You two got a plan, Rogers?” He looked over at (Y/N) and nodded. “Yes, Sir. We do.” He sighed loudly and nodded his head a bit. “Alright. Everyone, gear up and be ready to leave by dawn. We’ll go over the Captain’s plan when everyone’s ready. Dismissed.” he said before standing up with half of the others. Steve let (Y/N) leave to prepare for his rescue/recovery mission and stayed to talk to his team about the plan he had. He skipped out on the meeting afterwards and Steve found him sitting on the edge of his bed, listening to the radio as it played softly. “Hey.” Steve said as he came up behind him. (Y/N) looked behind him and gave him a small nod in acknowledgement. “You ready?” (Y/N) shrugged as he let Steve sit next to him, feeling the bed dip slightly. “Physically, yeah. I can’t even begin to prepare myself for how I might find him.” He said softly, leaning against Steve. He put his arm around him, pulling him a bit closer. “It’s gonna be okay, (Y/N).” He nodded a bit and they both slipped into a comfortable sort of silence as they listened to the quiet music. Steve carefully stood up, causing (Y/N) to look at him a bit strangely. “Get up.” Steve asked as he turned the music up a bit. He smiled softly when he heard “We’ll meet again.” start to play. He huffed as he looked up at him but allowed him to bring him to his feet. Steve, not being all that confident in his actions, brought him slightly close. (Y/N) sighed softly before resting his head on his shoulder as they swayed in place for a moment before he let Steve take the lead. “Never knew you danced, Stevie.” he said softly, causing him to let out a soft laugh. “Well, I'm not as good as you or Bucky, but my mom taught me a bit. She said that it would impress the girls if I could dance but like I said.. I’m just waitin’ for the right partner. Just thought that this would brighten up your mood a bit.” he said softly and (Y/N) hummed slightly before letting out a laugh as Steve dipped him all of a sudden then brought him back up, their faces a bit closer than he anticipated. (Y/N) cleared his throat a bit before putting a little distance between them but still in his arms, not noticing the blush that decorated Steve’s cheeks. “So, this plan of yours. It’s stupid isn’t it?” Steve went to speak but thought better of it. “Ah.. well..?” He tried but gave up and (Y/N) let out a sigh. “Just.. Don’t die on me Stevie.. Okay? I can’t handle losing the both of you.” he said softly before they went back to just swaying with each other. Steve thought for a moment before resting his chin on (Y/N)’s head. “You know I can't promise that.. But how ‘bout this? We’ll meet again, (Y/N).” (Y/N) let out a small snort and a laugh as those words left his mouth, the song still playing in the background. “Okay, Stevie. We’ll meet again.” (Y/N) relaxed into him as the silence encased the both of them as the radio played a new song. “Stay safe for me?” Steve asked him when they pulled apart. (Y/N) paused for a moment, looking into his eyes. He gave him a soft smile that just barely reached his eyes, which pleased Steve greatly. He knew his friend was starting the process to heal. Albeit slowly, but it was progress from that initial morning. ”For you, Captain Rogers, I will do my best. After I find him, we’re gonna find and take down the rest of Hydra. Together.” Steve gave him a fond smile before letting his hands go. “I look forward to it, Captain Cohen.” (Y/N) rolled his eyes a bit but smiled nonetheless. Steve helped him pack what he might have needed before going to get ready himself. (Y/N) took a deep breath before sitting back on his bed, holding onto his tags, focusing more on Bucky’s than anything.
When the time came, (Y/N) saw Steve and their team off, giving them a salute as they boarded their vehicles. He felt pride well up in his chest as he watched his team leave. He gave Peggy a tight hug when she saw him off as soon as Steve and the others left, the rest getting ready to follow them. “Be safe out there Captain.” She said as she fixed her jacket, taking a step back from him. He smiled softly and nodded, giving her a small bow. “Of course Miss. Carter. Take care of our lughead out there.” she smiled but shook her head a bit. “He doesn't need me to take care of him, (Y/N).” He shrugged a bit and straightened up. “He needs you more than you think, Pegs.” She didn't fight or argue with him but a fond smile found its way onto her face. “Hurry back, Captain.” he nodded a bit before he called out for the Lieutenant and one of the medics that he was to take with him. It didn't take as long as he anticipated to reach where they saw Bucky fall since it was a plane that Stark had let them borrow. After about half an hour of searching, the Lieutenant started to complain. “Captain, we aren’t gonna find him. He could’ve been swept away or taken by some wild animal.” He took a deep breath and glared at him slightly. “Lieutenant, I strongly suggest that you keep your opinions to yourself. If this was YOUR body, I’m certain that you’d want someone to find you and bring you home to your family.” He didn't say another word and just followed behind (Y/N) and the medic. At the second hour mark was when they finally found traces of what could have been Bucky. There was a trail, looking like a body was dragged through the snow, a dark streak of blood followed alongside the trail but a left arm was left behind. (Y/N) felt himself turn sick as he reached out to it. He found the wedding band he’d given Bucky and found that this was indeed his arm. He sucked in a shaky breath before he carefully pulled the ring off his frozen limb and took his tags off to slip the ring onto his chain. Forgetting to put his tags back on, he shoved them into his pocket haphazardly and he hurried, following the trail, feeling sicker and sicker as he noticed the blood trail getting darker. He had the other two spread out slightly, keeping a watch out for things as they continued their search. They didn’t have to keep looking for long as they found a semi conscious Bucky withering in pain and turning a light shade of blue. He stumbled towards him as he called out for his medic. The two rushed towards him, (Y/N) nearly falling over his feet as he got to his side. He kneeled in the snow, not caring that it soaked his uniform, as he tried to determine if he was aware enough or in shock from the blood loss. He gently patted his cheek as their medic got to work, trying to stabilize him and stop the bleeding. “Bucky, James are you with us?” he said loud enough for him to hear. He watched as Bucky fought to open his eyes but when they did he could just barely focus on him. “I.. must be in heaven huh?” He said in a tired and fading voice. (Y/N) let out a choked laugh and shook his head as he started to help the medic. “No Buck, you're still here. Stay with us okay? We’re gonna get you safe and outta here.” Bucky struggled with a response but the corners of his mouth twitched up in a lazy smile as he closed his eyes again. As he started to help the medic lift Bucky, he heard several shots ring out before the unfortunately familiar sound of a Hydra weapon went off and the cut off cry of his Lieutenant rang out briefly. (Y/N) cursed under his breath as he set Bucky down, covering them both with his body as he raised his gun and looked for the source of the threat. He heard yelling in German before a few men rushed them. (Y/N) shot at the ones with guns before he pulled out his knife and fought the lone man for a moment. He dodged his sloppy punches and caught him by the wrist, effectively snapping it and twisting his arm behind his back, shoving him to the ground. “Are there more of you?” (Y/N) demanded but all he got was a muffled painful scream as he pushed him into the snow. (Y/N) let out an annoyed huff before he picked up his knife from the snow. He yanked his head back by his hair, ignoring his painful whimpers and held the knife to his throat. “Answer me, Kraut. Are. There. More of you.” he all but hissed at him. The man babbled in German, seemingly pleading for his life but eventually nodded his head slightly. “Cut.. Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.” The man said in rough English. (Y/N) huffed out an unamused laugh. “Gotta go find two more then huh?” he said before he cut his throat, dropping him to bleed out in the snow. As he turned around to help the medic with Bucky, he saw him get shot through the head, landing face first on the snow. (Y/N) went to reach for his gun but was stopped by the chill of cold metal being pressed into the back of his head. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh before they snapped open to the sound of someone speaking. He could pick out the words, ordered to and retrieve but everything else was lost to him before he felt the gun hit him hard on the side of his head. He fell next to Bucky, feeling his blood start to run down the side of his face before blacking out.
Steve looked around at the numerus piloted bombs that were held in the craft. His heart dropped at the sight of them. He was contemplating what to do when he heard footsteps coming towards him. He hid and waited till they started to pass before he kicked one over the rails and jumped onto the landing. Two of them rushed him with knives but he managed to take them out rather quickly while the third man rushed to get into one of the bombs but was taken out by Steve throwing a knife into his back, stopping him in his tracks. His attention was brought to another man who was preparing to enter one of the bombs and Steve made his way over to the controls, pushing buttons, causing the craft to drop and the man falling not long after. Two more men had appeared and attempted to fight Steve off but he knocked one out and threw the other out the opening he dropped the craft out of. He rushed towards the craft and was tackled by another hydra agent and was forced to hold on as the pilot dropped the plane through the opening below him. Steve fought him and held on as the pilot tried to shake them. He pushed him off and watched as his body was cut up into nothing from the propellers, leaving a brief trail of blood behind them. When the craft balanced out again he opened the hatch and ejected the man, climbing into the craft and making his way back into the plane after dodging the turrets on the top of the plane. When Steve climbed out, he grabbed his shield and made his way towards the cockpit. He carefully made his way into the room, looking for Schmidt, before he whipped around at the sound of a Hydra gun loading up. He managed to lift it up just in time to block a blast, sending it into the windows behind him. “You don’t give up do you?” Schmidt called out and Steve rushed him. “Nope!” he said as he blocked several blasts before he got close enough to knock the gun out of his hands. They threw punches and Steve attempted to use his Shield to knock him in the head but he leaned back at the last second. The wrestled for a moment before Steve got him in a choke hold, flinging him away so he could grab his shield. He turned and threw a few punches but Schmidt blocked them and ended up using Steve’s shield against him before Steve headbutted him hard enough to get him to stumble back, giving him the opportunity to get his shield back and land another punch before he used his shield to pushed Schmidt into the controls, damaging them. They both stumbled as the plane started to dip. They fought in the air as the plane started going down but Schmidt kicked Steve away and climbed his way down to the controls, managing to steady them again. He stumbled as he pulled out his gun, taking a few steps forward as Steve stood up. “You could have the power of the gods!” He sent a few shots at him, causing Steve to duck out of the way. “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!” he yelled out at him, sending shot after shot. Steve dodged them, hiding behind metal work. “Not my future!” he yelled back at him and ran for his shield. He ducked and rolled, picking it up in time to ricochet a blast back at Schmidt and then throwing his shield at him knocking him back and into the power source, damaging it and revealing the tesseract. “What.. have you done!” Schmidt hissed out as he struggled to stand. “No!” he gasped out as he picked the tesseract up. It started to hum and glow as it shot energy into the air above him, briefly projecting an image of space and a galaxy before the cube started to disintegrate him, seemingly beaming him up into the picture of a galaxy that was projected above. Steve watched as the cube melted its way through the floor and plummet into the water below. He picked up his shield and made his way over to the controls. When he saw that the destination was heading for New York, he looked out in front of him before squeezing his eyes shut, knowing what had to be done to save hundreds of lives. He took a deep breath and radioed in. “Come in. This is Captain Rogers, do you read me?” He said and waited for a reply. “Captain Rogers, what is your..” Morita started but was cut off by Peggy. “Steve! Is that you, are you alright?” She said frantically into the coms, Morita letting her take his seat. “Peggy! Schmidt’s dead.” she let out a breath she forgot she was holding. “What about the plane?” Steve opened his mouth to speak a few times before sighing. “That’s.. a little bit tougher to explain.” he said as he frantically flipped switches. “Give me your coordinates, I’ll find you a safe landing site.” she said almost pleadingly. “There’s not gonna be a safe landing but I can try and force it down.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ll get Howard on the line, he’ll know what to do.” she said, trying to keep her tone even. “There’s not enough time. This things movin’ too fast and it’s heading for New York. I gotta put her in the water.” he said strongly but she could hear the defeated tone in his voice. “Please, don't do this. We have time, we can work it out.” She said as she stumbled over her words a bit. He shook his head even though she couldn’t see him. “Right now I’m in the middle of nowhere, if I wait any longer a lot of people are gonna die.” The silence stretched on for a moment as she tried to find the right words to say. “Peggy.. This is my choice. Tell (Y/N) I’m sorry for breaking my promise to him.” he said as he put his compass with her picture in it on the dash before he pushed the controls down. “Peggy?” He said almost desperately. She cleared her throat and hummed softly. “I’m here.” he felt tears start to gather in his eyes as he vision started to get cloudy. “I’m gonna need a rain check on that dance.” she let out an amused huff as she held back tears that started to fall anyway. “Alright. A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club.” she said as her voice started to crack slightly. “You got it.” he said firmly as a tear fell down his cheek. “Eight O’clock on the dot, don't you dare be late. Understood?” She said as tears fell, leaving small streaks in her makeup. “You know, I’m still not the best dancer.” She smiled sadly as she looked down at her lap. “It’s alright, I’ll show you how. Just be there.” He nodded to himself as he quickly approached the ice. “We’ll have the bad play, something slow. We can ask (Y/N), he has the best recommendations. Always was a big sap.” She let out a tearful laugh at the thought. “I’d hate to step on your..” Steve started to say but was cut off by static. “Steve?” Peggy said sadly into the coms. “Steve?” She said as she started to cry, putting a hand over her mouth to keep herself quiet. Phillips looked on, a feeling of sadness for her washing over him before he looked away, leaving the room to give her the privacy she needed as she quietly sobbed at the desk.