Chapter 5
Steve jumps, followed by Lee, the force of the rushing air howling in their ears. Lee looks down, sees nothing but treetops and gunfire, and immediately regrets his decision to hop out of a plane at thirty thousand feet without a qualm in his mind.
“Uh… Steve?” he yells to him, who is a few hundred feet below. “You know how to parachute, right?”
“Nope,” he shouted. Lee groaned outwardly, and grabbed the rope attached to the pack’s opening. He watched as Steve did the same, and waited for his gauge to open the chute.
The closer the ground got, the more nervous Lee felt, until Steve yanked the rope, and… nothing happened. He tried again, and it detached itself from the pack.
“Fucking SHIT,” Lee screamed, and let go of the rope of his own. Think, think, how the fuck can I get there faster, he thought, brain screaming. Instinctually he angled himself downward, as if diving into a pool, and spread out his arms. He glided closer and closer, and Steve was falling, falling, his body tense and frozen. “Steve, turn around!” He screamed, and angled his arms out to grab him. Steve flipped around, and Lee grabbed him, ricocheting him into a free fall, their limbs flying in random directions, no way to tell which is up.
Lee kept a vice grip on Steve, his fingers grabbing hold of anything he can reach, and he carefully tried to reach the chute’s rope, gaining purchase. The floor was coming up, faster and faster, it felt, and he closed his eyes and yanked on the rope, hard. The huge cloth billowed out of the pack, whipping his arm out of the way, and the wind caught hold, snapping them into place, like a huge sail. They were jolted out of their tumble, and painfully yanked upwards a little ways, before everything was calm. Well, calm for their situation. The sound of gunfire and ammunition still rang through the air, and Lee opened his eyes, and was met with Steve’s face in extremely close proximity.
Lee couldn’t help it, with Steve being so close, he couldn’t stop himself from staring. Steve’s pupils were dilated, they were huge, especially in their close proximity. His eyelashes rested gently on his cheeks, and even in this dire situation, he looked fucking angelic. Steve stared right back, his lips parting as if to say something, when Lee broke away and realized holyfuckingshit the treetops are way too close.
Lee tried to shout a warning before they crashed into the trees, branches slapping into their faces, twigs scratching at their legs. Lee felt scratches on his face, his neck, and something ripped a leg of his pants. They finally broke through the trees, and landed hard on the forest floor, parachute tangled in the trees they just crashed through above them. Steve landed on his side, and Lee landed right on top of him, groaning.
They both clambered up, Lee fumbling with the straps of the chute pack. Freeing himself from the chute, they began north, towards the HYDRA camp.
०००
They sneak into the facility, Steve punching a guard in the face, knocking him out cold. Lee crouches down, and searches his pockets. He pulls out a blue cartridge, and hands it to Steve. They rush through the building, knocking out any guards they come across, until the blank hallways open into a huge area overlooking what appeared to be cages, filled with men.
Lee tries to quietly knock out the guard patrolling the catwalk, facing away from them. The guard gives a little shout, before Lee can stop him, and he paused, waiting for more guards. Instead, he glances down at the cages, and see every man in the nearest cage staring up at him. He drops the guard’s body, and turns to Steve, who is busy unlocking the cells. Lee runs to the other cells and begins helping prisoners out of the cages.
One of the soldiers stepped forward, passing Steve as he helps the others file out of the cage. “Who are you supposed to be?” Steve multitasked, pulling prisoners out.
“I’m… Captain America.” Another soldier paused before passing Steve.
He gestured to an Asian soldier. “What, are we taking everybody?”
The Asian soldier in question glared and pulled a set of dog tags from out of his shirt. “I’m from Fresno, Ace.”
Steve searched the crowd again, falling short. “Is there anybody else? I’m looking for a Sergeant James Barnes.”
Another soldier pointed towards the other side of the catwalk. “There’s an isolation ward in the factory, but no one’s ever come back from it.” Steve nodded, and turned to the crowd.
“Listen up. The tree line is northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give ‘em hell. I’ll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find.”
The first soldier called out. “Wait! You know what you’re doin’?”
Steve smiled, defiant. “Yeah. I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times.” Lee finally joined him from the crowd, and rolled his eyes.
“Let’s go, Captain,” he said, and jerked his head towards the labs. Steve nodded again and they took off, leaving the prisoners to escape.
The prisoners escape into the compound, overpowering the guards with their sheer numbers.
Steve and Lee are at the end of the corridor when they finally spot Schmidt and Zola, preparing blueprints and various paperwork to be packed. Steve moves to charge them, but Lee throws out an arm and stops him. Steve turns and gives a puzzled look, but Lee puts his fingers to his lips, then points to his ears. Shut up and listen, idiot. They turn, and one door over, a voice can be heard, weak, but unmistakable.
“Sergeant. 32557… Sergeant. 32557…” Steve and Lee enter the room, and find a thin and weak Bucky, spread out and strapped into an examiner’s table.
“Bucky, oh my god. Bucky? Can you hear me?” Bucky weakly lifted his head and opened his eyes.
“Is that…” Steve gripped his arm, voice shaken.
“It’s me. It’s Steve.”
Bucky’s face seemed to light up in recognition. “Steve?” Lee rushed to unstrap him, fumbling with the buckles before finally freeing him. Steve pulled on his arm, and they both tried to help him to his feet.
“Come on.”
Bucky seemed to start to come to his senses. “Steve.”
“I thought you were dead.” Steve said, supporting his shoulders.
Bucky finally seemed to notice what was different. “I thought you were smaller.”
Steve chuckled and shook his head, leading him out of the room and into the catwalk. “Come on,” he said again.
“What happened to you?”
“I joined the Army.”
“Did it hurt?”
Steve shrugged. “A little.”
Bucky kept staring. “Is it permanent?”
“So far.”
“It better fucking be,” Lee muttered, and Steve shot him a look of confusion, but the look was lost when then entire building seemed to shake, and a distant sound of an explosion wracked through the corridor. They run through the halls, both dragging Bucky with them.
Finally, they exit the corridor, into another open space, what looked to be an airplane hangar with more catwalks.. Schmidt and Zola are rushing towards the end of the hangar on the catwalk, when Lee and Steve spot them. Schmidt hears their footsteps, and turns around.
“Captain America! How exciting! I’m a great fan of your films. So Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive.” Steve is sprinting towards him during his greeting, and meets Schmidt with a hard punch to the face. It doesn’t seem to phase him, and he fights back. He reaches for a lever, and pulls it, and the catwalk splits down the middle. Lee and Bucky rush to one end, and Schmidt kicks Steve in the face, sending him tumbling. He grips the edge of the retreating catwalk, teetering over the edge, and Lee glaces to where Schmidt and Zolar are retreating onto the roof. Lee meets eyes with Bucky, who nods, and Lee takes off down his side of the catwalk towards the roof hatch.
Bucky looks down, where everything is on fire, and then looks left and right at the catwalk, searching for a closer jump point. He spots one, and rushes there, yelling for Steve to pick his ass up and get over here. Steve glances in Bucky’s direction, then swings his body until he gained enough momentum to swing up onto the catwalk. He gets up, and rushes to the galley, a huge space between him and Bucky, but smaller than the ledge he was previously swinging from.
Bucky looks around at his surroundings, again. “There’s gotta be a rope or something!” Steve shook his head, his mind made up.
“Just go, get out of here!”
Bucky screams, defiant, “Not without you!”
Steve backs up some yards, and sprints, straight toward the chasm of flames, and jumps.
०००
Lee sneaks through the roof hatch, where another chamber with a one-man plane is taking off. Zola watches it go, and turns around, right into Lee. Lee kicks him, his body falling backwards, and his head connects with the floor, knocked out. Lee searches his pockets, and finds a set of car keys, a strange-looking gun, and another blue cartridge. He turns back to the roof hatch, then looks farther and sees another hatch, one without smoke pouring out of it. He sprints to that one, which he throws open, and finds the garage, full of luxury cars and German vehicles used in their armies. He checks the key, and sees the brand’s emblem, and rushes to an expensive car with a matching emblem. He jumps in, and turns the ignition.
०००
Back at the camp, a few hours later, the escaped prisoners along with Steve and Bucky are welcomed by Colonel Phillips and Peggy, when they hear the sound of an engine, getting louder. The prisoners rush to hide, Steve holding his ground in front of Peggy and Phillips, shield ready. The sound slowly gets louder, until a sleek luxury car speeds into view and reveals a laughing Lee, one hand in the air in pure joy. He whoops and stops the car in front of the small group in front of him, who relax. Lee hops out of the car, hair flopping.
Steve grins, and meets him in the middle with a bone-crushing hug. “Didn’t know where you went, Bucky said you took off for Schmidt and Zola.” Lee returned the hug and tried not to lean into it too much. I need to get over this sappy shit , he thought.
“Yeah, I missed Schmidt, but I knocked Zola out and stole his fancy stupid car. Who knows what’s in it,” he said, and turns to Phillips. He tosses the keys, and Peggy catches them, reflexes sharper than Phillips. Lee salutes, back straight. “Sir, I’m ready for any disciplinary actions you throw my way.”
“No need, soldier,” Phillips barks. “You earned your right to be here.” Lee nods, beaming, and turns to Steve. The prisoners finally realize there’s no attack, and come back out from hiding. Bucky jogs up from the small crowd, and captures Lee in another hug, softer this time.
“So you finally decide to show up!” Lee laughs and ruffles Bucky’s hair.