Agent Carter called me to her tent, she had a mission for me. It was "off the books," but I wasn't complaining. I just did it. I might face repercussions for my decision later, but I doubt it, because I'll be doing this mission with Captain America himself.
"James, I need your help on this," Peggy said, her voice steady but her eyes betraying her desperation. "Please, help Steve save our troops at the enemy camp where Hydra is keeping the prisoners. Steve will brief you on the specifics once you land on enemy soil."
Peggy knew she needed someone she could truly trust. She understood that I didn't give a damn about the Army or the bureaucracy of the upper echelon. She could see it in my eyes, I had been following orders purely for the sake of following them, without any particular attachment to the cause or the uniform.
She trusted me because I never showed any interest in power, I never tried to seize control or take things that didn't belong to me. I'm not a "kind" person by any stretch, but I have a bottom line, a code I live by. She recognized that. If I weren't that kind of man, I would have pursued her a long time ago. Instead, we have an understanding.
"Well, I have nothing to do other than your hellish punishment. After that, I'm free... so when do we start?"
I gave her a grin, and I saw her expression shift. She felt it, the slight change in the air, a flash of the animalistic nature I usually keep hidden from the world. In this camp, everyone sees me as the "cool" guy. And why wouldn't they? With my cigar, my beard, and my general attitude, I look awesome. But Peggy just caught a glimpse of what lies beneath the surface.
.....
The sun dipped below the horizon, and the moon rose to greet us with her silver moonlight. Agent Carter had told me to meet her at 1200 AM sharp for the "off-the-books" mission she needed help with. I was currently making my way toward her and Steve Rogers, the cool night air biting at my skin.
I stepped out of the darkness, the glow of my cigar the only warning of my arrival. I saw Steve relax slightly when he recognized my gait, while Peggy straightened her shoulders, her professional mask firmly in place.
"You're on time, James," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the distant drone of a generator. "Howard is doing the final pre-flight checks. We have a very small window before the radar sweep patterns reset."
Steve looked at me, his eyes searching mine. "You're sure about this, Logan? Once we cross that line, there's no turning back."
I took a long drag of the cigar and exhaled a cloud of smoke into the moonlight. "Kid, I stopped turning back about thirty years ago. Let's get moving before I get bored again."
"So, how are we getting to the mission site?" I asked Agent Carter.
I already knew the answer, of course. My knowledge of the future is for me and me alone; I'm not about to weird people out by acting like a know-it-all or a prophet. I'm no saint, and I'm content to let the world run its course. If I can help, I will but I won't go out of my way to invite trouble by being reckless. If I can be discreet about what I know, I will be.
As I was lost in my own thoughts, the distant whine of a jet engine began to cut through the stillness of the night. It didn't have the heavy, rhythmic thrum of an Army transport, it sounded more like a high-end civilian craft, which meant it had to be Stark.
We made our way toward the sound, moving deeper into the shadows. Right now, in the dead of night and far from the main Allied camp, the world felt empty. No one would hear us out here. The silence of the forest acted as a perfect shroud for the treason we were about to commit.
I boarded the plane with the rest of the team. Stark didn't even kill the engines; he just touched down long enough for us to scramble inside before banking hard and pulling back into the night sky.
Agent Carter is briefing Steve and me right now about a Nazi division called Hydra the research and development arm responsible for all the high-tech weaponry they're fielding. Thanks to the "old reports" I submitted, they actually have a surprising amount of inside information on the facility. I heard her mention something about a mountain pass "Krauss-Maffei" or whatever but I didn't bother committing the names to memory. That's what Steve is for. Why stress my brain when I can let the "Captain" handle the logistics? Heh, I'm a smart man.
I heard Stark ask Agent Carter about "fondue," and Steve bless his heart actually looked jealous. He even piped up to ask if they were "fonduing" together. I didn't say a word, I'm not about to ruin the joke. It's going to be hilarious when Steve finally realizes what Stark actually meant. I'm sitting back and truly enjoying the show.
Trr-trr-trr!
The laughter died in my throat as the rhythmic thumping of heavy anti-aircraft fire vibrated through the floorboards. Big guns. We just crossed the border, and it looks like Hydra's radar picked up our "ghost" plane after all.
Stark handed us each a communication device compact, rugged pieces of tech that looked far too advanced for 1943. Steve, still a bit skeptical of Howard's "magic" gadgets, turned the small unit over in his hand.
"Does this thing actually work?" Steve asked.
Howard looked like he wanted to jump out of the plane himself just to get away from the question. He shot Steve a look of pure annoyance over his shoulder while fighting the yoke. "It's been tested more times than I can count, pal! Just put it in your ear and try not to break it with your new muscles!"
I just tucked mine away. I didn't need a lecture on radio frequencies. Between the screaming wind and the flak hitting the hull, I was more focused on the ground rushing up to meet us.
As I was buckling my parachute to jump, I heard the final exchange between Peggy and Steve. She reminded him sharply that he couldn't give her orders, and Steve, without missing a beat, shot back, "Of course I can. I'm a Captain."
Burn.
I actually laughed out loud as he took the plunge. I followed right behind him, but not before giving Agent Carter a single, reassuring look. She didn't need words, she knew that once we were inside enemy territory, I would be the shadow watching Steve's back. Then, I stepped out into the freezing night.
I lingered for a second in the air, watching the silhouette of Stark's plane disappear into the storm clouds. I wanted to make sure they cleared the radar sweep. What can I say? They're the good guys if I can look after their backs too, I will.
"GERONIMO!"
I'm honestly treating this war like a vacation at this point. As I plummeted through the dark, I watched Steve yank his ripcord, his parachute blooming above him. I followed suit, the silk snapping taut as the freezing Alpine air slowed my descent. We landed in the deep powder, remarkably close to one another.
Steve didn't waste a second. He signaled for us to move toward the Hydra camp. At first, he started off at a standard human running pace, probably trying to be "polite." But when he saw that I was keeping up without breaking a sweat, he signaled again a quick hand sign that he was taking point and doubled his speed. He really opened up his stride, pushing that super-soldier metabolism to the limit.
He was in for a shock, though. He kept glancing back, expecting to see me lagging behind, but I was right there. I stayed perfectly relaxed, my breathing steady and my hands in my pockets, matching his high-speed sprint with a lazy, effortless lope.
He looked at me, his face a mask of pure shock as he tried to process how I was casually keeping pace with a super-soldier. I didn't give him the satisfaction of an explanation, I just gave a lazy shrug, brushing it off like it was nothing. My nonchalant attitude seemed to bewilder him even more, he was seeing a side of the "cool Lieutenant" that didn't make any sense to his world view.
I gave him a sharp hand signal, cutting off the questions before they could start. I'll explain later, the gesture said. Right now, we have people to save.
****
Steve was a whirlwind of motion, taking out Hydra soldiers left and right with a combination of his shield and his newfound strength. Meanwhile, I made my way toward the prison guard. I hit him with a punch so fast he didn't see or hear a thing before the world went black. As I was lifting the keys off the unconscious guard, Steve finished off the last of his targets and started making his way toward me, his chest heaving slightly from the exertion.
" done?" He nod at me, we both move as fast as we can inside we stood at the threshold of the holding cells. The air down here was thick with the smell of damp stone and the metallic tang of those blue energy cells. Rows of heavy iron bars lined the corridor, and as we stepped into the light, faces began to appear from the shadows of the cells, haggard, tired, but suddenly filled with a desperate hope.
I tossed the ring of keys onto the floor in front of the cells. The sharp clink of metal hitting stone startled the prisoners; they jumped at the sound, their eyes wide as they looked up and saw Steve and me standing there.
Steve didn't waste a second. He began questioning everyone, his voice urgent, asking if anyone knew where Bucky was. A few of the men recognized the name and pointed toward the back of the facility, describing a laboratory area further in.
The prisoners were out, but they were dazed and weak. They looked at Steve, waiting for a leader to tell them where to go. Steve pointed toward the main door we had enter earlier.
"Move toward the North exit," Steve ordered, His voice cutting through their panic. Without a word, Steve took off in that direction, his jaw set in a hard line.
I led the prisoners toward the exit as Steve requested. He insisted on going first into the deeper levels to find his friend, and I didn't argue. I knew he could look after himself. Besides, he needed to find out for himself who the other "super soldier" was the one who was a failed result of Dr. Erskine's serum. This was the moment Steve would finally understand why Hydra was so desperate to get their hands on Erskine's work and exactly what kind of monster they had created in the process.
We were raising hell as we broke out of the prison block. I turned to the ragged group of men and yelled, "Guys, go crazy!" I said it with a wide, devilish grin, and I watched as that same expression spread across their faces like a wildfire. They didn't need to be told twice. Frustration that had been simmering for weeks boiled over; they started grabbing everything in sight, rifles, grenades, and even the Hydra tanks weren't left out of the chaos.
They had felt forgotten, rotting in those cells while the Allied forces were stretched thin, fighting tooth and nail just to hold the front lines and stop the Nazi march across Europe. But now, the "forgotten" 107th was awake, and they were armed with high-tech weapons they barely understood but were more than happy to pull the trigger on.
The facility behind us started to rip itself apart. I don't know exactly what Steve did in there, but the building was exploding in a chain reaction of blue fire while we were busy mopping up the Hydra bastards outside.
I'll be honest I was enjoying myself. I hadn't seen any real action since I was transferred to the USSR division years ago, and I wanted to flex my muscles a bit. I moved through the chaos like a blur, my hands doing the work I was born for. By the time I stopped to catch my breath, I saw Steve emerging from the smoke and fire. He was carrying a man who looked exactly like the "Bucky Barnes" he'd been obsessed with finding. What was his rank again? Sergeant? Corporal? I don't remember, and frankly, I didn't give a shit.
I looked at the carnage, the screaming soldiers, and the burning mountain, and I made a silent decision. After this war is over, I'm withdrawing. I'm done being a pawn for the upper echelon. I'll start my own experiments on myself. I need to know the limits of what I am. When I get back to camp, the first thing I'm doing is making a list of everything I want to achieve once I'm finally off the leash.
"You good?" I asked, looking over at Steve.
He looked more than a little distressed. Whatever he'd seen in the heart of that lab the Red Skull's true face, the perversion of Erskine's dream it clearly didn't sit well with him. He looked like a man who had just realized the world was much darker than the posters back in Brooklyn suggested.
"I'm... I'm fine, James," he managed, though his voice was tight. "Just a little bit nauseous."
I didn't press him. I just gave a short nod. We'd done the job, the "why" and the "how" were his burdens to carry. As the 107th began their long, triumphant march back toward the Allied lines, I saw one of the captured Hydra tanks rumbling along, manned by a couple of grinning soldiers.
Without a word, I hopped up onto the warm metal hull. The vibration of the engine was a low, rhythmic hum that felt better than any bed in the barracks. I stretched out, pulled my hat over my eyes, and prepared for a nap. Yeah, a nap. Saving an army is exhausting work for a man who doesn't give a damn.
****
The scream of the camp's welcoming crowd woke me up just as the tank ground to a halt inside the perimeter. We were back. I hopped off the warm metal, stretching my back while the chaos of a hero's welcome erupted all around us.
I caught sight of Colonel Phillips. He was trying his best to look displeased his mouth was set in that familiar, sour line but I could see the truth in his eyes. He was relieved. Not just because his men were back, but because the results of the Erskine program were finally standing right in front of him, covered in Hydra soot and victory.
For a man like Phillips, results speak louder than any lecture or propaganda film. He didn't just want one hero, he wanted an army of them. Seeing Steve bring back a whole battalion proved the "experiment" was a success in the only way that mattered to the brass: on the battlefield.
Colonel Phillips didn't have to say a word. That sharp, sideways glance he shot me was a language I knew well it meant My office. Now.
I hopped down from the tank, my boots crunching on the gravel as I headed toward his command tent. Steve was still being swallowed by a sea of cheering soldiers and back-slapping officers, but I was moving in the opposite direction. I knew Phillips wanted a report, and he probably wanted to give me a piece of his mind for the unauthorized flight. Or maybe he just wanted someone to yell at.
I didn't care much. To me, this war was becoming a fad, a repetitive, exhausting trend. When it goes on this long, the "glory" evaporates, and all you're left with is the truth: it's just people fighting over resources and lines on a map. One side wants to conquer, the other wants to stop them. Meanwhile, I'm just caught in the middle, waiting for the world to stop being so loud.
"And plus, with all this Hydra 'yada yada'... 'Hail Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb, and two more shall take its place!' That whole 'immortal' bit... Pfft. Yours truly is the real one.
Not that they know anything about me, of course. Sometimes it's funny to me; they want so badly to be immortal, but I actually am. If a healing factor counts as being immortal, then I'm it."
*****
"First Lieutenant James Howlett reporting for duty, sir."
I'm standing at attention in front of Colonel Phillips' desk inside his tent. I know exactly what he wants to ask, but I'm just waiting for his instructions. You don't cross certain lines when you're in the military, it doesn't look good on your record, especially if you have any intention of rising through the ranks.
"Lieutenant Howlett, what you just did really doesn't sit well with me. Right now, you've broken so many protocols that I can't just turn a blind eye. So tell me, Lieutenant... what made you decide to do all this?"
"Well, sir... if Captain America asks for help, the first thing that pops into my mind is to just do it. Nothing special, sir."
That was all I could think of to say in the moment. It wasn't exactly a stellar answer, but it was an answer nonetheless. I kept it simple military, straightforward, and just enough of a "shrug" to keep him from digging deeper into my head.
"So, you decided to help Captain America with his rescue mission without notifying me...?"
Phillips leaned forward, his hands flat on the desk.
"Sir, no sir... his rank is higher than mine, sir. I can't exactly say no to him, sir." I paused for a second, adding a silent 'Sorry, Steve' in my head.
As I was feeding this line to Colonel Phillips, Agent Carter chose that exact moment to march into the tent. She caught the tail end of my "I was just following orders" act and shot me a look of pure, concentrated stink-eye for the blatant sell-out. I didn't let it ruffle me; I just gave her a lazy shrug and a hidden "hehehehe" grin.
"You're dismissed right now... wait for your punishment."
Colonel Phillips clearly didn't have the stomach to go on and on about what I'd done. Between my "just following orders" act and the way I sold Steve out to save my own skin, he'd had enough. I could see it in his eyes, though he knew. He knew I was full of it, but he just didn't care as long as the results were on the table. And results like these? They only mean one thing: there's going to be plenty more where that came from.
I didn't care what Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips had to say to each other once I was gone. Whatever politics or "punishments" they were hashing out didn't matter to me as I stepped out of the tent and into the cool night air.
As I made my way toward my personal tent, I spotted Steve. He was sitting alone outside the medical bay, looking small despite his new frame. I knew exactly what he was doing, he was waiting for the results of Bucky's full-body checkup. He needed to know if Hydra had put something inside Bucky that could be harmful, or if they had changed him in ways that couldn't be fixed with a bandage.
"Kid, I just sold you out to Colonel Phillips," I said, letting out a short, rough laugh.
"Yeah, I figured..." Steve sigh
Did he just sigh at me? The kid's got balls now, huh? Hahahahah...
"Kids these days..."
I just shook my head and continued making my way toward my tent. At that moment, I could feel a hateful stare burning into the back of my head. I didn't even need to look back to know it was Peggy still fuming over the "sell-out" or my general lack of respect for the rules.
I just grinned to myself, pulled the tent flap shut, and went inside to finally get some rest.
****
Three days have passed since our little "vacation" to the Hydra facility. The camp has shifted from the high of a victory to the grim focus of a calculated hunt.
Now, we're all gathered around a heavy wooden table in the briefing room. The air is thick with the smell of wet wool and cold coffee. At the table sits the brass and the brawn: Colonel Phillips, looking like he hasn't slept since 1939, Steve, looking more like a leader every second, Agent Carter, who is still giving me the occasional sharp look, and then there's me.
Steve has a map spread out between us, marked with the locations of every Hydra factory he saw on that data drive we liberated. He's already planning the campaign to systematically tear them all down.
"Uhm, can I ask something, guys...?"
I spoke up just because I really didn't want any part of this shit right now. It was a bother, and I didn't feel like doing it either. I'd rather just leave all that heavy lifting and grand strategy to Captain America. Hehehe.
"Yes you may soldier" Colonel philip give permission for me to ask my question.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything... but why am I here?"
Everyone just looked at me like I was stupid. I could practically see the gears turning in their heads, counting the reasons. First, I was damn good at infiltration slipping inside enemy lines like a ghost is second nature to me. Second, I'd just helped Captain America save almost 400 soldiers from Hydra captivity and walked out without a scratch. I couldn't think of a third reason at the time, but honestly, those two should have been enough to answer my own question.
"Are you seriously asking that question now, Lieutenant James?" Agent Carter was the one who finally answered my question well, she gave me an answer with a question of her own.
She wasn't wrong, of course. She knew my value even if I was acting like I didn't. The truth was, I just didn't want the hassle, and I certainly didn't want my name to be known. I need to start my own plans once this war is finished, and I have no intention of taking part in any future conflicts not the Vietnam War, not the war in Japan, none of it.
"Well, just pretend I didn't ask anything."
Everyone just gave me the stink-eye at that moment. The longer they're around me, the more they start to pick up on my behavior. I'm just too relaxed about all this for their liking. To them, it feels weird as if I've already been through all of this more than once. Well, they aren't wrong, after all. This might be my second or third war, I don't really remember anymore.
Right now, spread across the table, is a map of every factory Hydra has left. I have to admit, I'm impressed with the Super Soldier Serum, Steve has developed something close to a photographic memory. He's pinpointing the locations perfectly. This information alone is gold. The Nazi weapons division is about to go down.
As we were making our way out of the room after finishing the preparations to take down the Hydra facilities, I started talking to Agent Carter. "Peggy, does Steve really not know about fondue?" Well, let's just say I've gotten close enough to Agent Carter that I've started calling her by her first name.
"James, please don't start... I am mad enough right now."
Hahahahah! I just laughed at her, and she gave me a glare that could melt steel. I decided to shut up right then and there. I really didn't want to bring the wrath of this woman down on me. Moving her target from Steve to me? Yeah, that wouldn't look nice at all.
As we were walking, I saw Stark hunched over a desk, scribbling something onto a sheet of paper with an intensity that only a man like him possesses.
"Peggy, you go ahead," I said, slowing my pace. "I want to greet our genius playboy here."
Peggy just gave me a curt nod and kept walking toward Steve and the Colonel. She probably appreciated the break from my teasing anyway.
to be continued...