[movie canon: the rescue]

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Previously:

"You can't give me orders!"

"The hell I can't! I'm a captain."

It occurs to Steve as he makes his way through the woods outside Krausberg that this is the first time he's really been tested. Stark was right about that. The day he was given the serum and chased down the HYDRA agent was only a dry run. This matters more than all the dancing and all the shilling for war bonds. This is about saving his fellow soldiers, possibly even his friend, and he hasn't given a thought to what will happen after.

The woods are dark and foggy, thick with old growth. Steve doesn't know the countryside, but he's got the map Agent Carter showed him memorized, and gets his bearings without much trouble. The factory is hard to miss--it's ablaze with light and activity despite the late hour. It's more like a fortress than any factory Steve knows.

The simplest way to get into the factory is to hitch a ride in one of its trucks. The two HYDRA agents in the back are easily disposed of, as is the guard when the truck stops. The guard inside the first door he tries lets him in at a knock, and Steve takes him out quickly, too.

Inside, the place is full of bombs, tanks the size of houses, and tubes of a substance that glows with an eerie blue light. He grabs a gadget for analysis later--maybe it'll help his case if they decide to court-martial him once he returns--and then focuses on his real goal: finding the prisoners.

Finding Bucky.


To be continued...

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[nerves_of_ice]

From the sound of it, there's one god-awful fight going on outside. They've got to get moving, which means he's got to get his legs to work.

Bucky shoves one foot at the ground, then the other, limping along with Steve's support as he grimly sets about finding his balance.

Battle or not, he's got to ask.

"What happened to you?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Oh, so much.

Steve, as has been noted elsewhere, enjoys understatement.

"I joined the army."

He takes Bucky out of the ward, toward the doors and freedom.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Right."

They round the corner into another hallway as eerie blue light from outside flashes through the high windows, accompanied by another explosion. Bucky grits his teeth with the effort and pushes himself the rest of the way upright so that he's walking on his own two feet, starting to move faster as he gets his balance back.

He's not going to slow them down. They can't afford it.

"Did it hurt?"

Dim memories of things that happened on that damn table flicker. He shoves them away; they can't afford any time for that crap, either.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

It was the worse pain he'd ever felt--worse than not being able to breathe, worse than breaking bones, worse than anything physical he'd ever endured.

He says simply, "A little."

[nerves_of_ice]

Same old Steve. He grins at the floor as they hurry along, picking up speed, then looks up at him again.

Yeah, still the same old Steve - except for how he's taller than Bucky, and built like some kind of weightlifter, and it's all impossible - or should be.

"Is it permanent?"

Maybe he's still dreaming. It doesn't feel like it, though.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"So far."

He looks back to make sure they're not being followed.

They're not, but they've been spotted anyway, because that's when the explosions begin.

Okay. They'll just have to find another way out.

[nerves_of_ice]

The entire place is self-destructing around them from the ground up, which means that going anywhere down there's going to be suicide.

Evidently Steve agrees, since he looks around fast and runs up a flight of stairs toward the metal catwalk above. Bucky dashes after him, hard on his heels, and they barrel down the walkway toward the bridge crossing.

Steve reaches it first-- and stops, staring at something. Bucky catches up and grabs for the railing as the sudden stop threatens to knock him off balance again.

"Captain America! How exciting!"

Bucky's head jerks up, and he stares across at the smug Nazi bastard and the doctor who trails him.

Somehow, he doesn't know how, that bastard recognizes Steve.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve has imagined meeting this man. Imagined the horror that Dr. Erskine's incomplete formula created. Imagined what he would say, what he would do--the vengeance he would take on Dr. Erskine's behalf.

He did not imagine, "I am a great fan of your films!"

Steve walks across the catwalk to meet his forebearer, his nemesis.

Johann Schmidt.

[nerves_of_ice]

Another series of explosions rocks the factory. He clings grimly to the railing as the metal under their feet shudders, waiting it through.

It doesn't seem to bother Steve, who's squared off to confront the Nazi in the middle of the bridge. He's too far away to hear what they're saying, so Bucky keeps a weather eye on the doctor, as much as he can, and watches.

Steve throws the first punch; the Nazi rocks back a step, slams his fist against that flag-painted shield Steve's been carrying, and then the fight's on in earnest.

Bucky doesn't have the chance to figure out what he can do to help, though; Steve kicks the arrogant S.O.B. backward several feet, and the doctor scurries forward and slaps a lever in panic. The bridge splits in the middle and begins to draw back on each side. He does what he can to help it, pulling at the railing as it slides along, bringing Steve back to precarious safety.

The Nazi shouts something else -- "I was his greatest success!" -- and begins to claw at his own face. Standing beside Steve, Bucky stares in horror as the man peels off his own skin, revealing the hideous visage beneath.


Maddened eyes glare at them from a blood-red skull, and Bucky swallows hard.


"You don't have one of those, do you?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve can only watch in horror as Schmidt tosses the flesh-colored mask into the fire.

This is the fate that he avoided. Schmidt thinks it's made him superhuman, the next step in evolution--but Steve can only remember Dr. Erskine pointing at his heart and saying Stay who you are. A good man.

That's something Schmidt, for all his plots and plans and strength and speechifying, will never have.

"Unlike you," says Schmidt as he and the little doctor get into an elevator, "I embrace it proudly! Without fear!"

"Then how come you're running!" Steve shouts back.

In response the elevator doors slide closed.

The explosions are only growing more intense. The air is thick with smoke and ashes. Enough time has been wasted with Schmidt--it's time to go. There's a beam overhead that stretches to the other side of the factory--it looks like that's their way out.

"Come on," Steve tells Bucky, "up." They make for the nearest stairs.

[nerves_of_ice]

Two flights of stairs, with the entire building shivering around them, and then they're standing on another catwalk, facing one of the structural beams that holds everything together.

"Thought we joined the army, not the circus," Bucky mutters.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Fine line between 'em," says Steve. "Let's go. One at a time." He helps Bucky over the railing.

[nerves_of_ice]

He holds on to the railing just long enough to make sure he's got his balance, then turns and lets go.

The beam's just barely wider than his shoe. Bucky holds his arms out a little, one to each side, and starts cat-footing his way across. He keeps his eyes fixed on his goal, only looking down in brief glimpses to check his footing -- just enough to see the explosion blooming beneath him like the pits of hell.

Metal groans, and the beam shivers; he sways with it but catches himself, and starts moving faster.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve starts forward in dismay when the beam shudders, but Bucky finds his balance and keeps moving.

Not that there's any way to help him from here.

Just let him get out, Steve prays. Let him reach the end and get out.

[nerves_of_ice]

It's when he crosses the joint in the center that it all comes apart.

Steel shrieks as the beam ratchets downward and begins to tear free of its anchor on the far side. He abandons caution and breaks into a mad dash, then leaps for the far railing as the whole thing gives way beneath his feet.

Bucky pulls himself up and rolls over the top of the rail to the dubious safety of the catwalk, then stares back across the abyss at Steve.

"There's got to be a rope or something!" he shouts.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

There isn't, of course. There's nothing but twisted metal and fire.

Steve waves him on. "Just go! Get out of here!"

Bucky's on the other side and that's all that matters.

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve can't possibly be serious.

"NO!"

Bucky's yell is harsh and raw - and there's no room in it for argument.

"Not without you!"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Of course. Of course Bucky won't go on without him.

"Hell," says Steve.

He looks around to get an idea of how to manage this. He bends back the railing to give himself more room, and takes several steps away from the chasm. The explosions grow only more intense--it won't be long until the building comes down around them.

There's a moment--just a moment--of doubt. I don't expect you to understand this because you're just a chorus girl. He knows he can run fast and far. He knows he can leap high.

He doesn't know if he can do this.

He runs, and at the edge, he jumps.

It's truly a leap of faith.