Two hours later I'm in an airfield away from the main camp and dressed in a field uniform belonging to Peggy to meet with a man I never thought I'd miss as much as I have.

"Adelina Morgan," Howard grins as he brings me into an embrace. "God is it good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Howard," I say, returning the embrace gladly, although I shouldn't be surprised by the words that follow.

"You're looking more beautiful than ever but I have to admit that brown doesn't do you the same justice as red, white and blue."

"I'm more pissed off than ever," I state frankly and he smiles. "Do you have any idea how close I've been to punching that stage manager?"

"God I've missed that voice," he says and Peggy rolls her eyes before interrupting.

"Thank you, Howard. Truly, but we must get going since they no doubt know by now that they're missing."

"Don't sweat it, I've been dying to get out of the lab," he shrugs before pointing us to his plane. "Your chariot awaits."

Peggy heads to the cockpit of the plane with Howard to give him coordinates while Steve pulls me aside, the sun having set.

"I just want you to know how thankful I am that you're doing this," he says and I offer a smile in return. "I'm not exactly sure what you were trained to do but from what I've heard I know that I'll be glad to have you there.

"I was trained to infiltrate and take out whatever target I was given," I say, upon realising that Steve wouldn't have access to the same information as Peggy and Howard. He knows that I was a Russian spy, but not the specifics. "I've dealt with Hydra's forces before, so I know what to expect, and you don't hav to thank me for killing Nazis. It will be a pleasure I can promise you that, I'm just glad to actually be doing something."

"I'm surprised you haven't tried to talk me out of this," he mentions and part of me wants to keep him on this plane but I know better than that. "It'll be my first time on the front lines."

"Well, I did consider it briefly," I admit before remarking "But I'm not going to try to stop the guy with five failed enlistment attempts from going after his best friend."

He stops me now as I go to head to the cockpit, blinking in confusion. "Hold on, how do you know about that?"

Slowly I realise it wasn't Steve who told me about that, it was Bucky. I glance over at Peggy and Howard who are still deep in conversation before finally confessing to Steve "I might have met your friend the night before he shipped out."

He does a double take. "What?"

I sit him down inside the main area of the plane, keeping things as vague as possible. "I was with Doctor Erskine at Stark Expo when I saw the two of you arguing over your enlistment. Later that night I ran into your friend and he asked me to dance, at some point he told me about his friend who was going for his fifth attempt at enlisting."

He continues to stare at me in equal surprise and disbelief. "You know Bucky? All this time you've known who he is?"

I nod before explaining "I spent a nice night with a charming sergeant who was getting shipped out to die the next day... the more news we received from the front the more likely it was that I'd never see him again so I never thought it was worth mentioning. Besides, it's a little awkward to introduce yourself as the girl someone's best friend danced with once."

He stammers slightly. "By nice night you mean..."

"That I left him at that expo and went back to the room I shared with Peggy," I clarify pointedly. "Although he certainly tried whatever you no doubt thought."

And I almost went along with it.

That manages to make him laugh just a little. "Yeah, that sounds like Bucky."

His laugh turns awkward at the expression that comes to my face and Peggy comes out to start briefing us on the situation ahead.

"The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges," she tells us. "It's a factory of some kind."

"So a labour camp?" I realise and for the first time since this began I actually have some hope that Bucky could be alive, although my stomach sinks when contemplating the state he would be in. "So Stalin and Hitler have that in common then too."

Steve grows more uneasy despite how he tries to mask it and Peggy's face is tense as she says "Yes, I suspect they do. Our intelligence points to there being multiple labour camps within the Reich but we can't be certain if this is one of them or simply a factory with Hydra workers."

"I'll lean towards the former."

It's habit now to assume the worst, and when it comes to Hydra it's the most logical way to go about things. Wherever those captured men are... I dare say I won't have to imagine the conditions they're being held under for much longer, but whether Bucky will be among them is another question entirely.

"We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep," Howard calls out and I head into the cockpit to take a look at the mountain range ahead. "Ready to finally get out in the field?"

"Desperately."

"Just get us as close as you can," Steve calls out and says "You know you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble when you land."

"And you two won't be?" Peggy retorts.

"Where I'm going if anybody yells at me I can just shoot them," Steve says, despite having never shot a man in his life, and I actually have to force back a laugh.

"They will undoubtedly shoot back," Peggy reminds him. "Which is why I recommend that you follow Ada's lead on this one. She's familiar with Hydra camps and the soldiers that you'll encounter."

"I'm a little rusty, but I've been aching to shoot something," I call out before looking ahead and asking Howard "How's the airspace?"

"Nice and clear for now, but even if we run into some trouble don't get too worried," he says and while I have faith in Howard's capabilities as a scientist, I haven't experienced his abilities as a pilot. "How about I show you a thing or two about these controls?"

"They gave us aviation training when the war broke out in Europe, so I know how it works," I say and he gives an impressed hum. "The only difference is that you can't fire back in this thing."

"We'll be fine," he tries to assure me before saying "I brought you a surprise."

"Those cigars you mentioned before they shipped you off to England?"

"Better," he says and nods to the duffle bag beside him. "You're welcome."

A grin spreads across my face upon opening it and Steve suddenly looks a little paler when he sees the small armoury that I pull out of the bag. "Are you sure those will be necessary?"

"Very necessary," I say as I sling the strap with the grenades over my shoulder and secure it a tactical belt around my waist which holds blades and two separate pistols with plenty of ammunition to spare. "Are the pistols silenced?"

"Indeed they are."

"And the knives-"

"Freshly sharpened," he says and adds "You can find a grappling hook in that utility belt there too."

"You do know the way to a woman's heart and not just between her legs after all, Howard."

"I knew the knives would do the trick," he grins and Steve looks properly mortified, even more so when Howard calls out to Peggy. "Agent Carter, if we're not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue."

I hum, almost jealous at the thought of fondue, but Steve seems to take it the wrong way from the way he looks at Peggy. Although she misinterprets Steve's worry. "Stark is the best civilian pilot I've ever seen. He's mad enough to brave this airspace, we're lucky to have him."

Steve nods but his concerns are elsewhere as he stammers. "So are you two- do you... fondue?"

Peggy stares at him dumbfounded while I have to hide a smile as I say "If you do stop by there can you please save me some decent food for when we make it back, if we aren't immediately all arrested that is."

"Will do," Howard promises and I squeeze his shoulder before heading back out into the main cabin where Steve takes in my weapons with apprehension, swalling at the sight of the grenades.

"Have you uh- used all those before?"

"Yes, and I'm quite good at it," I assure him. "Just follow my lead and I'll get us in and out."

"This is your transponder," Peggy says and hands it to me so I can put it in my belt. "Activate it when you're ready and the signal will lead us straight to you."

"Are you sure this thing works?" Steve asks sceptically.

"It's been tested more than you pal," Howard jests and it's then the first shot hits.

"Shit," I curse and reach for my parachute. "Howard get us closer to the mountain and then get the hell out of- Steve!"

He rushes to the door, prepared to jump without so much as a parachute while I have to steady myself against the wall of the plane as Howard swerves to avoid the anti-aircraft fire.

"Get back here!" Peggy orders. "We're taking you all the way in."

"No, you aren't!" Steve argues while I look down below for a landing spot. "As soon as I'm clear you turn this thing around and get the hell out of here!"

"You can't give me orders!" Peggy argues back.

"The hell I can't! I'm a Captain!"

"You're taking my orders!" I remind him as I throw a parachute at him before securing mine. "Now follow my lead!"

He nods and I lock eyes with Peggy, giving her a reassuring nod before I throw myself from the plane into the war zone below.

~

After a rough landing Steve and I approach the base in plain sight.

The helmet of the Hydra soldier I killed hides Steve's face as he holds a gun to my back, my weapons concealed by his oversized jacket that I wear. I spent the entire walk here convincing him of the plan, yet he's still sceptical.

And in truth so am I considering only one of us is fluent in German, and it's not him. Although to his merit he is a quick learner.

"Say as little as possible," I order him. "And it wouldn't hurt to shove me about a little bit."

"I don't shove wom-"

"Well these soldiers do that and worse so it's the least you can do to play the part," I dismiss, but he's still too caught up in moral considerations for my liking. "I promise that your chivalry will remain intact."

"I don't-"

"Do you want to get out of this alive?" I ask as we near the factory, my patience waning thin after a very long walk together. "Now Steve, if we can't find your friend-"

"We're going to find him."

"Steve," I say seriously. "If we get in this factory and you see something you don't want to see you need to be prepared for it."

"I am-"

"You aren't," I argue and he shuts up. "You've never so much as shot a man and despite all your big words to Peggy you aren't going to learn to compartmentalise within the next hour so don't pretend otherwise. Follow my lead, take my orders, and if I tell you to move you move. Do you understand?"

"Yes Ma'am," he sighs before remarking "I don't suppose you gave Bucky this speech."

"I did actually, more or less."

"And what did he say?"

With another few hundred metres to go I admit "He asked me to go home with him."

He shakes his head in disapproving fondness. "Of course he did."

"I didn't take you as the kind to approve of womanising, Steve," I tsk, and he can't quite argue with that, although I know I'm hitting a nerve when I tease "Certainly not Howard's flirting towards Peggy at least."

That causes him to push me forward a little bit with the barrel of the gun and I just smile as he says "I don't approve of womanising, and Agent Carter is free to fondue with whoever she likes."

"Sure," I say, having clocked Steve's fancy for her a long time ago. "Although for your own peace of mind I'm the one that Howard's been trying to fondue with, not Peggy." A slight lie but I'm the main target of it. "Not that he's had any success in that mind you."

I don't miss his relieved breath and shake my head, wondering if he's truly that blind he can't see that for Peggy to do something as mad as this for him that those feelings must be reciprocated.

"And as for Bucky," he continues. "He might get carried away but he's my best friend. He's family." I fall quiet then. I've learned enough about Steve to know that he's an orphan, and that he and Bucky have a bond I can't truly understand, because it's one I've never experienced. "And I'm going to bring him home."

"Then follow my orders and we'll make it out alive," I say and tell him one last time. "They'll instruct you to take me to whatever holding cells they have, and from there we'll be deep enough in the base that I can do the rest."

"I thought spies were trained to sneak in, not walk right through the front door."

"They expect you to sneak in, which is why I find a direct approach more favourable," I say as we approach the gates and I lower my head, putting faith in the fact they won't question the stolen uniform Steve wears, his shield hidden in a supply bag we'd stolen from the soldier. "Whatever they say, just nod, and if you have to speak please make it sound German."

"I did take a semester of German with Bucky," he points out. "Although he was always better at it."

"Then I trust you remember how to say yes and no."

Steve's body's stiff as he brings me towards the entry and two Hydra guards come forward. "A prisoner?" Steve nods. "A woman?" Steve gives another nod and they look at each other before opening the gate. "Throw her in with the men, Schmidt's been complaining about their morale."

My mouth curls in a scowl and Steve pushes me forward past the entry point towards the main factory. When we enter I'm stunned to find technology that I've never even seen despite all my time in different labs, following the signage I nod for Steve to proceed down one of the halls leading off from the factory and we come across a platform, both of us immediately seeing the cages beneath.

A hydra guard stands ahead with his back to us, and Steve reaches to open the bag for his shield at the same moment I reach beneath the oversized jacket and pull free a silenced pistol, without hesitation firing a single clean headshot. Steve discards of his helmet and runs forward with his shield now in hand to get the keys off the guard whilst I look down below but fail to spot a familiar face.

"Who are you supposed to be?" One of the men asks Steve.

"I'm Captain America."

A British man looks up in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

I follow Steve down to the level below and my hand brushes one of the bars before forcing back those memories and turning back to Steve who's begun unlocking the cages.

Even from this angle, a quick survey tells me that Bucky isn't here, and Steve soon begins to panic as he asks one of the men "Is there anybody else? I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes."

"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one's ever come back from it," the British man says and I stop Steve with a hand on his arm.

"Take these men and get them out, be prepared for a fight," I order and put a spare pistol into a nearby Frenchman's hand, immediately gathering that he must be French Resistance. "I'll search the isolation ward."

He's hesitant as I peel off his coat and hand it back to him, several of the men gaping at the sight of the grenades which I distribute amongst them and the Englishman studies me with a critical eye, clearly possessing espionage training.

"You're that spy aren't you, the one the Americans intercepted?"

The Frenchman stills as well considering the French Resistance certainly know about me. As far as governments go the United States would have been one of the last to identify me. "The Red Widow?"

Their apprehension makes Steve look at me slightly differently now, not having been aware that my reputation extended beyond the SSR, and I nod matter of factly. "Yes, I am. Now, you best run before the guards realise that the base has been compromised."

Steve's patience begins to wane and he grabs my arm with a panicked voice. "If you find Bucky-"

"I'll find him," I promise Steve, despite fearing the worst. "No man left behind."

He gives me a single nod before assembling the men with an authority that leaves me slightly stunned before I take off back towards the factory, but with every step parts of these halls slowly start to seem familiar and my chest tightens.

Although when I step back out into the factory and alarms start blaring, a smile creeps across my face at the feeling of the pistol in my hand and the sight of Hydra guards rushing in.

Before I'm sighted I take a grenade in my hand and step into the view of one of the security cameras. Wanting to be recognised. Wanting Hydra to know that it was me. And with my head raised high I get just that. "It's her- it's the Red Widow!"

At the sound of the pin hitting the floor they scatter, and as soon as the grenade rolls I'm ducking for cover, moving fast across the length of the factory and firing with precise accuracy to ensure that no Hydra soldier escapes alive.

The explosion sets off a chain reaction that causes the building to shake and I'm dashing for the stairs, taking out the first guard that intercepts me with a headshot and throwing the next over the railing into the flames they begin to erupt below. Three more appear at the top of the platform and they're dead by the time I rush past their bodies and out into the hallway leading to the isolation ward.

The hallway is cold and my eyes water upon the realisation that I have indeed walked these halls before, or rather dragged through them with veins shot full of whatever drugs it took to sedate me. My jaw clenches as I round a corner, and I proceed with determination only to be stopped in my tracks by a face that I never thought I'd see again.

Zola.

Even in the low light I can make out the shock on his face, and the second my hand raises to pull the trigger he's dashed around the corner with a briefcase, the bullet landed where his head had been just the second before. A curse leaves my mouth and I break into a run, taking off after him only to be met with the sound of metal doors being slammed shut and bolted.

"Damnit!" I curse as I pull on the handles and slam my fist into the heavy door, my Russian accent coming out thick as I shout profanities at him through the door until my voice is exhausted, knowing that my mission has changed.

Still, with no way through I turn back, my heart pounding now as I make my way through the hall and try to shut off the noises inside my head enough to listen until finally I make out murmurs.

When I enter the room it becomes clear to me that these are anything but the isolation cells I had been expecting, instead I'm sick to my stomach upon walking straight into a lab. That sickness only grows when I find a man strapped down to an operating table and immediately I know.

I rush to his side, and any relief I feel upon recognising his face is quickly replaced by horror at the realisation of what's been done to him. His eyes are open but there's nothing behind them, murmuring an incoherent string of words.

"Sergeant Barnes," I say, but there's no response as my knife cuts through the restraints strapping him down. "James?"

He blinks now in vague recognition of his name and I pat his cheek, taking in the cut on his cheekbone as I turn his head towards me. Finally his eyes focus as he blinks at me, an expression in them that I can't make sense of. There's no recognition in them at the sight of my face, but the relief and confusion is unmistakable.

"James," I repeat softly, knowing exactly what scrambled state his mind is in. "I'm with the United States Army, you're safe now and I'm going to get you out of here."

He struggles to form words but gives a determined nod as I visually search him for other wounds before attempting to move him, gritting my teeth at the blood coating the insides of his ears.

"Who-"

"I'll explain that later," I say as I try to help him sit upright, not wanting to add any additional bewilderment when he's in this state, but still tell him "All you need to know is that I am here with Steve Rogers and we've freed the rest of your men."

"Steve," he repeats, the mere mention of him bringing some life back to those eyes just as I catch a glimpse of a map on the wall, taking note of the locations marked. "Steve's here?"

"He's helping the rest of your unit escape," I answer as I look back into his bloodshot eyes, wide and filled almost equally with hope and confusion. "I know what's happened to you and I know that you aren't able to properly comprehend what I'm saying, but we need to get out of here. Now James, will you let me help you?"

Still dumbfounded by the revelation about Steve, and no doubt by the fact that it's a woman helping him escape instead of one of his men, he nods and groans in pain as I help manoeuvre most of his body off of the operating table. "Can you stand?" He nods again in determination considering that he has no choice but to keep fighting despite his current state. "Then on your feet soldier."

With a careful arm around him I help him to his feet, having to hold him up as he sways. "It's alright I've got you," I promise him, slinging his arm around my shoulder when it becomes clear just what state he's in and I wonder how long he's been in this lab for. "Let's get out of here."

"You don't need to tell me twice," he says as I half drag him out of the room, not letting go until he has some stability. "It's alright, I've got it."

He removes his arm from around me and after a brief stumble he finds his footing, following me out the way I came in and only now taking in the pistol in my hand, and whilst I know I shouldn't look back I can't just leave.

"Thank you," he says, his voice hoarse as I turn back towards that room. "I- I didn't catch your name."

"You can get it when we've made it out of this damn base," I say pulling a grenade from the holder slung over my shoulder, having put enough distance between us and the lab to ensure that we won't get blown up with it. "Now let's light this place up."

He shields his eyes as I throw the grenade down the hall into the lab and I hold his arm to steady him as the explosion shakes the entire wing, but I'll be damned if I leave that lab intact after what they've been doing in it.

"Someone would have heard that," he says as we begin running down the hall.

"I assume Steve has them occupied," I reply and we turn a corner to find a dozen guards running at us. "Or not."

I fire without hesitation until the magazine's empty and duck back behind the corner, dragging Bucky with me as I pull free the last grenade and tear the pin out with my teeth before throwing it down the hallway. Sure enough a moment later another explosion shakes the wing and I switch out the empty magazine for a loaded one before peaking back out into the hallway only to curse as shots are fired.

"Stay behind me," I order before I run out from cover, firing through the flames and smoke until they're dead and pick up an assault rifle, putting my pistol in Bucky's hand considering he can't walk straight enough to handle a larger weapon. "There should be two bullets left."

He's looking at me now in slight shock, but he goes along with it. "Two bullets, alright."

"Stay close to me and I'll get us out of the factory so we can regroup with the other men," I instruct and he nods, but before we can move I catch a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and the split second before I shoot I recognise the shield he carries.

"Damnit Steve!" I exclaim as he looks at the bodies of the hydra soldiers. "I nearly killed you!"

"Steve?" Bucky murmurs at the sight of his friend who's twice the size he was the last time he laid eyes on him.

"Bucky!" Steve yells and I watch the two friends reunite in the hall. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought you were smaller," Bucky says, eyeing him up and down in concern. "What happened to you?"

"I joined the army."

They embrace yet sure enough more guards come to break up the party, but before I have the rifle raised Bucky's fired a shot into the heads of two of the soldiers, the rest taken out by the assault rifle.

"You're a good shot," Bucky says, eyeing me with adrenaline-fueled astonishment as I give him another magazine to reload with. "Do I want to know where you learned how to do that?"

"No," I answer as another explosion rocks the building and I know what I need to do. "Sorry to break up the reunion boys but you better get moving."

"Alright, let's go," Steve says but stops when he sees me stay put. "What are you waiting for?"

"Go on ahead, I'll meet up with you."

"What?"

"Zola's here, and I need to kill him."

"Who's Zola?" Steve asks and my stomach sinks as I pass him the transponder, knowing that Peggy will fill in the blanks for him if I don't make it out of here. That Peggy and Howard will understand.

"A Nazi scientist," I answer, aware that time is ticking. "Get out of here and don't come back for me. I'm not leaving this base until I find Zola."

But when I go to leave he grabs my arm, pulling me back with a strength I haven't felt since he knocked Peggy and I to the ground that day in Brooklyn. "Oh no, you're coming with us.

"I don't take orders from you, Captain," I remind him as I pull my arm free with a strength that until now he hasn't realised that I also have. "This is personal-" I'm cut off by the sound of distant explosions shaking the building, more powerful than any grenade or tank. "Shit, they've initiated self destruct. You need to go!"

"No man left behind remember!" Steve argues, not knowing what Zola's done to me.

"Not until he's dead!"

It's Bucky who grabs my hand and looks me in the eye, telling me in a low voice "He isn't worth it. We need to get out of here."

I'm not the only one this is personal for, which is the only reason I listen.

"Then follow me."

The boys follow me through the base as I mow down the soldiers with an assault rifle, Steve using the shield to deflect the fire coming our way and make sure Bucky doesn't collapse on us.

Finally, we reach the main room of the factory, unsurprised to find it collapsing in flames, but it means we need to get the hell out of here.

"Keep running," I say, looking back to make sure Steve has Bucky as we run up the stairs, but before we can make it to the other side of the platform an all too familiar voice calls out and I look up with a pit in my stomach.

"Ah, the Red Widow herself, they finally let you out of your cage I see," Schmidt taunts from the other side. "And Captain America. How exciting! I am a great fan of your films."

Without hesitations I raise my rifle and pull the trigger, only to find the magazine empty and in frustration throw it down over the railing below. "It appears you're out of bullets." He hardly reacts to the knife I throw, catching it with ease before it meets his head. "Oh Miss Adelina, you should know better. After all, we know all about the little tricks they teach you in Russia thanks to your mother's co-operation with Hydra."

My jaw clenches as he steps closer, whilst Zola remains standing a safe enough distance away. Steve goes to meet Schmidt on the platform but I raise a hand to keep him back, moving across to meet him myself.

"I didn't think Americans liked their women in charge, but your SSR has been full of surprises," he taunts as he looks past me at Steve and my hand slips behind my back, wrapping around a second knife in my belt. "So Doctor Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive."

I'm silent as he turns his attention back to me.

"Agent Vetrova, the Soviet Union's greatest asset... now their greatest disappointment. Although it seems that your sister may yet fill that mantle. Oh how she cried for you, only to realise you weren't coming to save her-"

He moves just in time to avoid his throat being slashed to the bone, the blade still making a shallow incision across his neck before he grabs me by the hair of my scalp and slams my head into the railing with such force the metal bends and I'm thrown hard to the floor of the hot platform.

Steve rushes forward as Bucky fires at Schmidt, two bullets landing in his chest at the same moment Steve lands a blow across his face and from the floor I grab Schmidt by his jacket for leverage as I bury my blade in the back of his leg, slicing clean through the tendon before bringing my feet up to kick him back across the bridge just as Zola retracts it.

Steve quickly helps me to my feet and pushes me back behind him, passing me over to Bucky who holds me back with one hand on the railing and the other bunched in the fabric of my shirt, but I'm smiling at the sight of the blood spurting from Schmidt's leg. Even if the bullets in his chest won't be fatal, not even serum can heal a severed tendon alone.

"Do you truly think a blade is all it will take to kill me!" he exclaims, despite being hardly able to stand. "No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see, I was his greatest success!"

"His greatest monster," I retort as he tears off his flesh mask, revealing the red skin beneath that I've heard rumours of for years now. "So it is true."

"You guys don't have one of those do you?" Bucky asks, still half delirious, and I shake my head as I take the pistol from his hand and reach for my last loaded magazine.

"You are deluded, Agent. You pretend to be one of them, but you never will be. For as long as you live, the governments of the world will want you dead," he says as I slam the fresh magazine into the pistol. "And you Captain, you pretend to be a simple soldier but in reality you are just afraid-"

He ducks as I fire at his head only to find that my vision isn't accurate after the collision with the railing when the bullet nicks his ear and he makes a dash to the elevator, and so I turn my weapon to a larger target, firing at Zola only for the bullets to land in the metal of the elevator doors as it closes with them inside.

"Bastards!" I curse as the reactors below continue to explode and Steve physically moves me along before I can think of finding a way across to go after them and I grab Bucky by the hand, pulling him along as we run for safety towards the exit door.

Bucky and I both stumble as we make our way up the stairs, although despite the head wound my steps are still slightly more stable than his and so I lead him as we follow Steve upwards, only to find that our one way across is an unsteady beam.

"Its weight should hold us," I say as I look at Bucky, malnourished from imprisonment, but I definitely can't say the same for Steve.

"Ladies first," Bucky says and I don't argue considering I'm the lightest, and that way I'll be able to make sure he makes it across after me.

"I'll cross, then you and then Steve," I affirm as I climb over the railing, finding my balance having thankfully steadied on the way up.

"Alright I've got your back, just take it steady" Steve says and I make it across with ease despite the flames raging below, all those years of ballet ensuring that my footwork is impeccable even under the worst circumstances. When I make it over the railing I bend the metal back to save Bucky from having to climb over it.

"Bucky, your turn," I call out and Steve helps him over the railing.

Despite the initial fear he quickly turns it to determination, taking a deep breath and setting his jaw as he makes his way across until the beam suddenly begins to give way beneath him with a clang and I rush forward as he struggles to steady himself.

When he finally has his balance he looks at me and I give an affirmative nod with my hand outstretched. "It's alright, I've got you."

He nods and begins moving again, eyes fixed on me until the beam creaks and second thought he runs forward as it fully collapses and jumps across to me, grasping my arm as I pull him onto the platform and we topple to the floor with his weight on top of me.

His face hovers above mine, and I don't miss the irony at the fact that this is hardly the first time he's slammed into me as he breathes "Sorry."

"It's alright," I murmur, although the relief is short lived as I look over his shoulder to Steve and we both realise that he can't get across. Bucky helps me to my feet and looks across the flame filled gap in despair, but still he desperately tries to find a way.

"There's gotta be a rope or something!"

"Just get out of here, go!" Steve insists and that unlocks something truly uninhibited within Bucky as he yells back.

"No, not without you!"

My hand brushes my belt and my heart skips a beat as I pull Bucky back. "Move." He steps back, watching as I pull out the grappling hook from my belt and throw it across to Steve. "Attach it to the beam above, it will hold as long as the beam does and swing across!"

Bucky grips the railing tight in fear for his friend and I hang onto his arm in almost equal anticipation as Steve readies himself and swings across. When he let's go Bucky and I both reach for him, pulling him onto the platform and not another moment is wasted as we get the hell out of there.

My hand's wrapped around Bucky's as I pull him along, Steve leading the way out of the damn factory and we make our way outside just as the building truly goes up into flames; leaving nothing of the technology they'd been working on, not in this factory at least, and we look back to find the men celebratory their freedom.

Their victory.

"We did it," Steve breathes and I look on stunned at the scene, at the celebration.

"Yeah, you did it," Bucky exclaims and I watch as they embrace each other with breathless laughter, high on adrenaline and slapping each other on the back as boys do.

"We actually did it," Steve repeats as I survey the scene in front of me, finding dead Hydra soldiers and wounded Allied men, knowing there's still work to do.

"Come on get in here," Bucky says when he notices me standing there and when I hesitate he pulls me into their embrace and I allow myself a moment of awe at the fact we actually survived, letting my head fall on Bucky's shoulder as he wraps his arm around my shoulder's. "I can't believe we made it out of there alive."

"Hell, neither can I," I admit as Bucky laughs and for the first time in so long so do I, even if all I can smell is smoke. "I think my hair got burnt."

"We nearly got burnt alive and you're worried about your hair?" Steve exclaims and I feel Bucky's fingertips playing with the ends of it, confirming that it isn't in the best shape.

"It's alright, you've still got the best hair out of anyone here I can promise you that."

He manages to make me laugh again as I look over at the men, knowing that every pub in England's going to be out of liquor by the time the men are done, but first "We need to get these guys out of here, put distance between us and this factory."

"Do you think Hydra will send reinforcements?" Steve asks and I shake my head.

"No, if they were going to bother with that they wouldn't have destroyed the factory, and Schmidt wouldn't have run," I say, bitterness creeping into my voice. "That bastard."

Bucky squeezes my shoulder and Steve steps back to figure out a plan of action. "There's a thirty mile walk back to camp."

"Peggy gave us the transponder for a reason," I remind him and he reaches for it only to press his mouth together. "Steve?"

He pulls out the damaged remnants of the transponder, a bullet having pierced it. "Yeah, that might be a problem."

"Fuck," I curse under my breath and he blinks in offence.

"Language."

"I'm sorry, we have injured men and thirty miles to cover," I say, Bucky's arm falling as I step out of his embrace to take in the situation. "Steve, make yourself useful and see if any trucks have survived. Sergeant Barnes, you can help him."

"Yes ma'am," he says while Steve is a little more reluctant to follow orders, but upon a look from Bucky he goes along with it. "Anything else?"

"We need medical supplies, anything we can use for emergency triage," I say, knowing that some of these men would have had to have taken damage in the escape. "Sergeant do you know if any of these men have training in administering combat aid since the nearest nurses are thirty miles away."

"I know a few," he says and I nod, immediately springing into action.

"Alright then, Sergeant you come with me and help me round them up. Steve, you find those trucks."

"Yes ma'am," they both say this time and Bucky follows me as we make our way back to the men, several injured soldiers having been propped up to the side with others dead on the ground. Although I can't blame the men for celebrating despite the losses, any victory is still a victory despite the men lost.

At the sound of a tank Bucky and I look back, only for the Englishman to poke up from the top of it. "Barnes, you're alive! Come have a look at this!"

"Good god," I murmur and order "Get down from there and help move the wounded, we need to get moving."

He blinks in surprise but doesn't refuse, and half an hour later Steve's overseeing the wounded men being moved into the surviving trucks while I give orders to the few trained medics Bucky was able to gather as we give what aid we can with the very limited resources they were able to find.

"I want us to make ten miles now before we stop for the night to make camp, give these men a rest," I instruct Steve when he comes to see what assistance he can provide. "Then when the sun rises we'll finish the trek back to camp."

"Yes ma'am," he says, having learned that's the most convenient response for him to give. "How are the men looking?"

"They should live," I answer as he looks at the blood on my hands. "I don't know why you seem so surprised Steve, you know that I was a nurse."

"I know that but... seeing you out here's another thing," he says and looks over to where Bucky sits with some of the other men, regaining his strength per my orders before we start moving. "What happened to him?"

Despite my hesitation to even mention it, I tell Steve the truth. "He was tortured and experimented on by the Nazi doctor. When I found him he was strapped down, disorientated." Steve's face pales as he looks at his best friend. "I know because Zola had done the same to me. He'll need time, but he's strong."

Those last words are for Steve's comfort alone, because I know damn well the mind doesn't heal how other wounds do. But that is something one cannot understand unless they've experienced it.

"What can I do?" he asks as I clean my hands off on a bloody towel.

"Be patient, and let him come to you when he's ready," I gently advise before saying "I'll stay in the truck to keep an eye on the men, make sure the bumps don't cause any bleeding to start again. Get the rest of the men ready to walk back to base."

"Yes ma'am," he says again but before he can go I stop him.

"Tell Sergeant Barnes that I want him in the truck with me to provide assistance," I say, knowing that he'd refuse if he knew it was because I'm worried about him walking ten miles in his current state. "And that he better not refuse."

"Trust me, I don't think he'll be refusing any orders from you," he says and I smile to myself, although it fades slightly when he struggles to get to his feet now that the adrenaline's worn off. He quickly steadies himself, brushing off Steve's concerns and nodding his head before he comes over towards me, accepting the hand I extend to him as he climbs up into the truck.

"Thank you for your help Sergeant," I say and he nods again, but I notice how he struggles to focus on anything, even my voice. "We'll travel ten miles back towards camp then stop for the night to rest before making the last twenty miles in the morning."

His voice is quiet, worried. "Shouldn't we keep walking through the night if there's a chance of an attack?"

"It's alright, I'm not expecting an attack," I try to assure him, knowing that he must still be rattled from the circumstances of his capture. "We've got them running, and now we've got their weapons too. If Schmidt was going to attack us then he wouldn't have run."

He nods slowly, but I know he won't feel any sort of security until we're back at camp and we feel the truck begin to move. The few injured men we have in this one are asleep towards the front of the long tray, while we sit at the back by ourselves. As alone as we'll likely be until we make it back.

"Now," I begin, reaching for the mixture of water and rubbing alcohol that I'd managed to put together. "Will you protest if I try to treat you?"

"I promise to be a good patient," he says and I take as clean of a cloth as I can find before sitting him down on one of the built-in seats and standing in front of him to examine him properly.

"Good, because you don't have a choice."

A smile comes to his face and his eyes focus on me. "I should be honoured," he begins as I clean the cut on his cheek. "Getting treated by a nurse from Pearl Harbor."

I still now and look him in the eye, finding that same warmth that attracted me what seems like a lifetime ago. "So you do remember?"

"It might have taken me a minute," he admits a little sheepishly. "But the moment I heard you giving orders it clicked."

I hum, becoming slightly nervous now after all he saw and heard. "I imagine you have some questions."

"That's an understatement," he laughs weakly before trying his luck. "I thought we could get into that over a drink when we make it back."

And just as I did in New York, I laugh in disbelief at his timing before telling him "You're disorientated."

"I'm fine," he insists, but the blood around his ears says otherwise, the internal damage he's suffered worrying me more than a bullet wound ever could.

"Malnourished."

"I said I'm-"

"James," I say gently and he closes his mouth. "I'm making medical observations and besides..." I trail off as we look over at the sleeping soldier's nursing bullet wounds, knowing that in his eyes they are the ones deserving pity, not him. "No one's looking, you don't have to be fine."

"Considering I've got a beautiful woman in front of me I beg to differ," he says and I shake my head at him. "A beautiful woman who saved my life."

"James," I say again, cupping his cheek as I look him in the eye. "I can promise you that I'm the last person to judge you for the state you're in."

Something in his eyes changes and he leans into my touch, his eyes falling shut as his stubble grazes my palm, and he murmurs "You were right." It takes me a moment to realise what he's referring to as he clarifies "What you said to me that night."

"I wish you didn't have to find out this way," I say quietly and he looks back up at me. "But you're safe now, that's all that matters."

"You came for me," he says and manages a smile. "Must really want that dance huh?"

Even now, I find myself struggling against my own smile. "Do you really think you should be trying your luck?"

"Hey, I told you I'd make it back didn't I?" he smiles and I see that spark come back to his eye. "My luck hasn't run out yet."

His breath hitches as my thumb strokes his cheekbone in contemplation. "No, it hasn't," I agree softly and find my eyes fall down to his lips before moving back up his face. "You did make it back in one piece after all."

"Thanks to you," he says and my own breath hitches as he turns his head enough so that his lips can brush the inside of my palm. Concern quickly replaces the other feelings that his touch brings when he winces, and despite how he tries to hide it he lets me lift his face up. "I'm fine I just-"

"It's alright," I say softly, knowing how difficult it is to put into words. "You don't have to explain. I know. I... I was one of Zola's prisoners once too." Confusion and alarm flashes across his face and I sit down beside him, my voice weak "When I told you that I'd spent some time in Europe... that might have been an understatement."

He searches my eyes and reaches forward to brush the hair out of my face, examining the wound I received from Schmidt with a cautious eye. He drove my head hard enough into that railing to bend it, and yet here I am working almost in full capacity.

"We can get into that later," he says and his hand moves down to cup my own face now. "But considering you've been taking care of everyone else tonight let me be the first one to ask if you're alright."

"I've had worse," I say and his brows draw together in concern. "There's um- a lot for you to get caught up on."

He nods in agreement, before asking "So, you're not just a nurse then?"

I glance down to the now empty pistol by my side before asking "What do you think?"

"I've just never seen a nurse with a grenade," he says and I smile a little. "But if you are it's pretty damn incredible what they're teaching nurses these days."

That draws a laugh out of me. "Well, let's just say that being a nurse wasn't exactly my calling."

"No shit," he laughs softly. "I'd apologise for my language but Steve's not around."

"Yes, poor Steve is quite averse to that isn't he?" I jest and see the question in his eye of how I know Steve, but it's one of the thousand others that will have to be answered. "I'm sure he'll fill you in on all of that when we make camp."

He nods again before asking "Are you... are you like Steve and that other guy? Because anyone else should have been knocked out cold by a hit like the one you took."

"I am," I answer, wincing slightly as his fingers brush over my temple. "Although I don't receive quite the fuss he does."

"Well you should," he says much to my surprise. "These guys, they haven't said it yet but they know what you did for them, for me. You saved our lives, especially mine." He's quiet in contemplation before adding "I don't know what history you've got with those Nazis, but it seemed personal."

Knowing what he'll find out sooner or later I tell him just enough to prepare him for what he'll hear. "Before I enlisted as a nurse I grew up in Russia where I was trained for a very specific job, one that usually meant taking lives rather than saving them." No judgement passes his face as he listens, my voice wavering slightly. "During that training I was a patient of Zola's, or rather a prisoner... so I'm sure you can understand why I tried to go after him."

He nods, but my past is the last thing he's concerned about as he stresses "Taking him out wasn't worth risking your life."

"I know," I say quietly, despite believing otherwise. "But I still wish I had."

"Hey," he says softly as he reaches for my hand, both of us suddenly vulnerable with a shared understanding between us. "We will."

I nod, having to believe that and tell him what I wish someone had told me. "What they did- it doesn't heal like a bullet wound. It's the sort of thing that stays with you long after the bruises have faded, but... slowly it- it becomes bearable."

He chokes up slightly, having to force his next words out. "I'm alright."

"Sergeant Barnes," I begin to argue and his voice becomes defensive, but I shouldn't have expected anything else with the state he's in.

"No, I do have to be."

"James," I say softly and that defensiveness falls away. "You don't have to be in front of me."

His lip quivers slightly and his head falls down onto my shoulder. The suddenness of it takes me by surprise, as do the tears I blink away as I bring a protective hand to the back of his head.

"You will be alright, but you're allowed not to be," I say, the words I ached to hear when I was still just a teenager, the words I still ache to hear on my worst days. "You're strong for surviving what you have."

He pulls back enough to look at me with raised eyebrows. "Sweetheart, you're the one that tried to throw hands with a red faced Nazi."

"I may have some slight impulse issues," I admit, despite all the years they spent trying to train it out of me, and he smiles.

"You really are something else."

"And what is that exactly?" I ask, testing him.

"I don't know," he admits and I can't tear my eyes away from his. "But I'd like to find out."

There's a sadness in my voice as I reply. "No, no you don't."

Yet he only sees it as a challenge. "And why's that?"

I struggle to find the words, the words to tell this man that as much as I wish to know him that I can't. That I'm not the girl I made myself out to be. That I'm a weapon in the hands of those who misuse me, not a woman. Not the type of women men like him can have a future with.

The truck comes to a stop and we hear Steve giving the orders to set up camp, and so I look at him and quietly say "You've been through quite the ordeal Sergeant Barnes, you should get some sleep before we have to keep walking."

He wants to protest, but he nods his head in respect. "Yes ma'am."

I don't expect the pang in my chest when he lets go of my hand, and Schmidt's words play on my mind. Words that were cruel, but truthful.

That I can pretend all I want, but I'll never be one of them.