16 Hydras End Part 2

While Falsworth watched the train Arnim Zola was on, Adam stayed quiet, still debating whether to save Bucky or let things stay the same. Looking at the two joking and having a good moment, Adam steeled himself to let history remain the same.

"All aboard, gentlemen! Mind the gap!" Falsworth tells them

"Okay, this is a very short, very fast train. We've got a ten-second window, tops. Mistime it, and you're a bug on the windshield." Steve told Bucky and Adam.

"Good luck," Adam tells the two.

With a ten-second timeframe, only him, Steve, and Bucky were going on the train. While Steve and Bucky went through the train, Adam would stay on top and make his way to the front.

"GO go go." At Dugans Word, the three went down one after the other and landed on the train.

With one last look at Bucky, Adam starts heading to the front. After moving a bit, Adam already heard shooting but kept going, and when he was a train cart away from the front, he heard an explosion and looked back to see one train cart had its sides blown apart, knowing Bucky would soon be lost.

Turning back, Adam got to the front, busted his way into the cart, and held Zola. The train driver took them into custody, stopping the train, and while waiting for extraction, they searched for Bucky, but with more enemy troops on the way, they had to leave.

When they returned to the headquarters, Steve closed himself off, and Zola was taken and put in prison, where she would be later interrogated by Colonel Phillips. While waiting for them to get information out of Zola, Adam got some good news that James and Victor made their way to China and then to a U.S. military base near Japan and joined them to fight.

In the ruins of The Whip & Fiddle Pub, Peggy stepped through the makeshift door. At a table, Steve sat, cradling a beer in his hands, his eyes lost in thought.

Steve broke the silence, his voice tinged with a sense of revelation. "Doctor Erskine told me the serum wouldn't just enhance my muscles and reflexes. He said it would work within my cells, creating a protective healing and regenerating system. This means..."

Turning towards Peggy, his expression grew somber but resolute. "I can't get drunk. Did you know that?"

Peggy, never one to be caught off guard, replied, "Your metabolism burns three times faster than average. He thought it might be one of the side effects."

Steve quipped, "Probably didn't want anyone stealing his schnapps."

Peggy shook her head gently. "It wasn't your fault."

Steve's gaze turned to her, his eyes filled with the weight of guilt. "You read the report?"

"Yes," Peggy affirmed.

"Then you know that's not true," Steve muttered.

Peggy leaned in, her voice softening. "You did everything you could."

Steve's voice carried a hint of regret. "I got in over my head. Bucky always rescued me, just like he always did. And the one time he needed me to return the favor, I couldn't."

Peggy offered a perspective, her eyes searching for his. "I doubt it's that simple."

Steve looked up at her, his respect for Bucky evident in his eyes.

"Did you believe in your friend? Respect him?" Peggy asked.

Steve nodded, the memories of their friendship flooding back.

"Then stop blaming yourself," Peggy advised. "Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice. He must have thought you were worth it."

Steve stared into his beer, contemplating her words.

"As soon as I finish this," Steve declared, "I'm going after Johann Schmidt. I'm going to chase him to every corner, leaving no place for him to hide. I won't rest until he and all of Hydra are either captured or dead."

Peggy, ever the steadfast companion, nodded resolutely. With a sly smile, she swiped his beer and took a hearty sip.

"Let's go then."

In the dimly lit confines of Allied Headquarters' briefing room, a sense of urgency hung heavy in the air. Colonel Phillips, a stern figure with a determined look, stood firmly at the head of a long wooden table. Gathered around him were stalwart comrades, including Steve, Peggy, Howard, and the Invaders. Their faces mirrored the gravity of the situation.

Colonel Phillips, his voice laden with gravitas, addressed the assembly. "Johann Schmidt belongs in the bughouse. He thinks he's a god, and he's willing to unleash destruction upon the world to prove it." His accusatory finger punctuated his words as it pointed forcefully at a map of the United States.

His statement was met with a chorus of concern from the group. Dum Dum Dugan, a rugged soldier, voiced what they all felt. "That's insane."

Peggy Carter, her resolve unyielding, added, "So is Hitler, but he's made significant progress with fewer resources than Schmidt possesses."

Falsworth, the voice of reason, contemplated the logistics. "But Hydra would require an army of millions, a fleet of transport, and supplies for them all."

Howard Stark, the inventor and visionary, shook his head in grim acknowledgment. "Schmidt is dabbling in powers beyond our comprehension. If he manages to cross the Atlantic, he could obliterate the entire eastern seaboard in a matter of moments."

Steve, ever the leader, gazed intently at the map, his eyes inevitably drawn to New York. "Every able-bodied man we have is either here or in the Pacific. Our borders are undefended."

Jones, in a voice of practicality, inquired, "How much time do we have?"

Colonel Phillips, the bearer of grim tidings, replied, "According to my new best friend, less than twenty-four hours."

A heavy silence settled over the room, brimming with dread and uncertainty.

Adam raised a critical question. "Where is he now?"

Phillips directed their attention to a spy photo of a forbidding mountain. "Hydra's last stronghold lies here, hidden deep within the Alps, some five hundred feet below the surface."

Morita, ever attentive to detail, examined the map closely. "What can we possibly do? We can't just walk up to their front door."

Steve looks up. "Why not just do that?" He tells everyone with a determined look in his eyes.

Next Hydras End Part 3