Journal

Winter still clings to the Austrian Alps. Steve thinks with a grim smile that of course, even at this time of year, they don't have a mission someplace warm.

Between the intel from MI-6 and the ever-mysterious Doyle, they have a location for Zola. Location is a generous term: they have a train, and a track, and a hope that the two intersect.

Falsworth is watching the track through binoculars, while Morita and Jones listen to encrypted messages on an Enigma machine they liberated from one of the HYDRA bases. Dernier prepares the zip line equipment and Dugan paces, his weapon at the ready.

The cable for a zip line is in place. They're just waiting for the train.

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...

Italy, November 1943.

The European tour is not going well.

Steve has been looking forward to this for months--finally! being in Europe! near the front!--but he's not a symbol of hope to the soldiers. He's Tinkerbell. He's a laughing stock.

He's a dancing monkey.

As a dense winter storm pours down, Steve draws.

Making fun of himself doesn't help much, either.

( Hello, Steve )

To be continued...

"O'Connell, Michael."

"Kaminski, Henry."

The fellow next to Steven says, "Boy, a lot of guys getting killed over there."

"Rogers, Steven."

"Kind of makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?" says the guy next to Steve as Steve rises from his chair and puts the newspaper aside.

He says simply, "Nope," and gets in line. As with his previous attempts, he's the shortest man in it. The usual interrogation begins once it's his turn. His father's death in France, his mother death , the long list of his own medical history. Every chronic illness and disease, even more than the usual childhood ailments, and when Steve pleads, "Is there anything you can do?" the expression on the doctor's face is almost kind.

"I'm doing it. I'm saving your life."

4F, says the stamp on his form.

4F.