Crashing Down
Cold...Numb...Lifeless...
That's what she felt. She sat in their bed, cuddled in blankets, staring off into space as tears continued to make their appearance down her face. She didn't talk to anybody. She barely ate. She barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Bucky fall off that damn train, his eyes full of emotions. She barely remembered the rest of the mission. She remembered the train stop, and that was it. She saw blackness. She could only feel the skin of the man that she was hitting with her inhuman strength. The blood coating her face and her leather gloves. Steve's strong arms as he pulled her off of Zola. Everything else was blank.
Howard, Peggy and Steve were worried about her. Howard and Peggy were worried about both of them. Peggy went after Steve, while Howard went to grab Amy. "Ames? I'm coming in! Hope you're decent!" Howard pushed the door open to find Amy sitting on the floor, in one of Bucky's shirts, face wet with tears. "Hey..." Amy didn't see anything, and she continued to cry. She couldn't stop crying. Sometimes it was silent. Sometimes it was loud full of anger and pain and sadness. "I don't know what to say to you. I've never loved anybody as much as you loved Barnes. But I know he wouldn't want you to waste away. He would have wanted you to live." At that, Amy glanced up and glared at him with so much hatred. He changed his tactics. Even though Amy was a woman, she was the strongest person he knew. Her passion and drive were what made her Amelia Rogers. "Hey...Don't hate me. You wanna hate somebody? Hate Hydra. Hate Schmidt. Hate Zola. I saw what you did to him. And I know your pissed that Phillips kept him alive. But hating me isn't gonna bring him back. Nothing will. But I know you. Maybe I was so attracted to you because I saw myself, as conceited as that sounds. You're not weak. Never have been. You're so strong. Schmidt's still out there. So instead of wasting away in here, why don't you go and get justice for him."
She didn't say anything but looked back at her knees. Howard sighed and got up to leave. "Okay," came a soft, but determined voice. He grinned on the way out. Amy sighed, wiping her eyes, and got up. She was gonna kill Schmidt once and for all. She was going to die trying.
"Johann Schmidt belongs in a bug house. He thinks he’s a God. He’s willing to blow up half the world to prove it, starting with the USA," Phillips informed them all as they gathered around a table.
"Schmidt’s working with powers beyond our capabilities. He gets across the Atlantic, he will wipe out the entire eastern seaboard in an hour."
"Not necessary. I understand it," Amy said.
"How much time have we got?" Gabe asked.
"According to my new best friend, under twenty-four hours," Phillips explained, ignoring the hard glare from Amy.
"Where is he now?" Jaq asked.
"Hydra’s last base is here." Phillips held up a photo, pointing to the base. "In the Alps. Five hundred feet below the surface."
"So, what are we supposed to do? I mean, it’s not like we can just knock on the front door."
"Why not? That’s exactly what we’re gonna do."
Amy's eyes grew cold as she stared at the base, waiting for her brother's word before they could storm the building. She left her mask at home. She wanted him to know what and who she was as she kicked his ass. She didn't care this time if Phillips wanted him alive. She was going to kill him one way or another.
"Now!" Falsworth shouted, causing them to charge into the lab. Amy busted into the lab, seeing Schmidt as she landed in a shocking blue light.
"Miss me?" she growled, throwing her knife.
He shot at her and she shot back, both having energy guns as she chased him. She could barely see what was happening around her as she went after him. Steve was right next to her. She was suddenly blocked by a HYDRA agent as she whipped out her staff, hitting the man. She was able to trip him, and grab her gun, pointing it at him and shooting a burning hole through his body.
"Amy! Come on!" Steve shouted from a small car.
Amy used her energy to transport herself in a flash of blue light to the car, as it sped off. "Keep it steady!" Amy said, flashing onto the plane.
Steve was about to follow when Peggy stopped him. "Wait!" She pulled him down, kissing him. To Steve, it was the best kiss ever and his heart jumped a few beats. "Go get him." He was still shocked as he looked at Phillips.
"I'm not kissin' you!"
Steve jumped from the roadster, and onto the plane. "What took you so long?" Amy asked.
"Peggy kissed me," Steve explained, grinning.
Despite her own heartache, Amy smiled widely. "Really?! About damn time! Now come on...We're ending this!"
They went to the cargo bay, seeing various bombs with small planes waiting to go. Amy and Steve easily defeated them and made their way to the cockpit.
"You don’t give up, do you?" Schmidt asked.
"Nope!" Steve said, gripping his shield tighter. "But I think you and my sister have more beef than we do!"
Amy let out a battle cry as she charged at him. The first punch sent the Red Skull back a couple of feet as she tried to take him down. Steve fought on the other side of her. "You could have the power of the gods! 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!"
"Not my future!" Steve argued.
Amy teleported herself closer to Schmidt, surprising him as she kicked him. Feeling drawn to the cube, she took Steve's shield from him, breaking the glass box with a battle cry. "What have you done? No." Amy watched in satisfaction as he picked up the cube, energy pouring through it. It formed a window into space. Taking her blaster, she pointed it at him, shooting him as he was sucked out of the plane. She tried to hurry and grab the cube, but it fell and burned a hole through the plane.
"Amy?!" Steve shouted out in a panic. She holstered her gun and walked over to him quickly.
The plane was still heading to New York City, and he didn't have time. "It needs to go down," he muttered to himself as he glanced at his sister. He remembered his mom's dying words and Bucky's as he fell.
Take care of your sister, Steven. She's your responsibility.
I LOVE YOU!
He couldn't let Amy go down with him. She still had dreams and plans. "We can land it!" Amy shouted at him.
"Someone needs to force it down! Come on!" He quickly pulled her to the cargo drop and strapped a parachute to her chest.
"Steve?! What are you doing?!" Amy asked panicked as she pushed the parachute off of her, but Steve kept reattaching it. "No! Steve, I won't let you do this! Stop! What are you doing!"
"Stop fighting me!"
"No! Stop fighting me! I can't lose you! I already lost Bucky and I can't lose you too!"
"AND I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Steve shouted, scaring her. "You're my sister, Amelia. My baby sister! I'm not gonna let you die! You have to live! I want you to live. Just like Bucky wanted you to live."
Amy's eyes watered as he pushed her towards the drop. "Please, don't do this! Don't leave me alone!"
Steve smiled sadly, trying to hid his own tears. "You're never alone. Bucky...His last words were that he loved you...I love you too, Amelia. Thanks for always having my back and saving me. Now, let me save you."
"Steve-" Amy whimpered.
"My sister...My responsibility..." With those final words, he pushed her off the plane, watching betrayal, hurt, and despair flash through her eyes as she fell toward the ocean. He watched as the parachute inflated and that was it. Turning around, he raced back to the cockpit, putting on the headset as he called the one last person he needed to say goodbye to.
"Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?" he asked.
"Captain Rogers, what is your..." Morita tried to say, but a new voice came over the line.
"Steve, is that you? Are you alright?"
Steve let out a sigh of relief.
"Peggy! Schmidt’s dead."
"What about the plane?"
Steve swallowed hard. "That’s a little bit tougher to explain."
"Give me your coordinates, I’ll find you a safe landing site."
"There’s not going to be a safe landing. But I can try and force it down."
"I’ll get Howard on the line, he’ll know what to do."
"There’s not enough time. This thing’s moving too fast and it’s heading for New York. I gotta put her in the water.
"Please, don’t do this. We have time. We can work it out."
"Right now I’m in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer a lot of people are gonna die. Peggy, this is my choice." He took a deep breath and moved the plane down towards the water. "Listen, I pushed Amy off the plane. Use the tracker in my suit to pick her up. She's probably gonna hate me, but tell her I loved her. Just promise me that she won't be alone. And tell her to look in Bucky's suit jacket."
"I will," Peggy said quietly.
"Peggy?"
"I’m here."
"I’m gonna need a rain check on that dance."
"Alright. A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club."
Steve smiled. "You got it."
"Eight o’clock on the dot. Don’t you dare be late? Understood?"
"You know, I still don’t know how to dance."
"I’ll show you how. Just be there."
Steve braced himself as the water was only a few feet away, and closer and closer... "We’ll have the band play somethin’ slow. I’d hate to step on your… "
The line went to static and Peggy sobbed. "Steve? Steve? Steve?" she called out and got no reply. "Somebody phone Howard and find the Lt.! Now!" she wailed through her grief.