Gold to Airy Thinness Beat

Chapter Forty

By the time Phillips and the rest of the group arrived, Bucky had established there was, in fact, a pattern. He relayed it to Phillips who ordered everyone to get in place and wait for the next time the door would open.

Bucky, meanwhile, put his shield down and carefully climbed the tree he was hiding behind to settle on a branch. Dum Dum tossed his rifle up and Bucky caught it in one hand and aimed it at the door into the mountain.

The next time it opened he dropped the man coming out, leaving the door ajar and temporarily unguarded. Philips gave the order and their forces charged en masse. Bucky saw another Hydra soldier running for the door to close it and dropped him as well as a third coming from inside to try and do the same.

Bucky waited for it to become clear the SSR was going to take the yard before he dropped out of the tree, retrieved his shield from Dum Dum who'd waited below to provide him cover, and joined in.

They made entry fast, before Hydra could muster enough troops to block the narrow corridor into the mountain and turn it into a fish in a barrel scenario.

They spread out, running through identical looking corridors and halls as they fought their way through. Bucky took the lead, using his shield to both provide cover for the others and to clear out the way ahead. He spotted elevators several times and felt his heart sink at the realization the base was similar to SSR headquarters in that it had multiple levels. There was no way of telling which floor Stephanie was on.

Left with little choice, he simply started moving going where Carter and the Commandos wanted, and praying that he was headed toward his girl and not away. He was afraid of what Hydra might do to her simply to spite him but, more than that even, he was afraid of what some of his own people might do. There were some who didn't believe the story that Stephanie had been brainwashed. They bought Hydra's bull and seeing Stephanie fighting her way across the strategy room floor, decked out in her full Lady Liberty gear, and freeing Zola had merely cemented the belief they already held. They weren't fool enough to voice their opinion where Bucky could hear it but word had gotten to him. He didn't know how many of the men they'd brought with them had bought the idea that Lady Liberty had turned traitor, and similarly had no idea what they'd do if they found her before he did.

The shrill sound of electronic feedback screeched through the hallway from an intercom overhead and then Bucky heard the metallic sound of Schmidt speaking.

"Greetings, Captain," the man said, his voice sounding strangely calm given the circumstances. "I have prepared a gift for you." Bucky felt his blood run cold at the words. He saw Carter give him an almost frantic look and he started moving faster, ripping doors off their hinges in his haste to find his girl but every room he looked into was empty.

On the intercom, Schmidt was still speaking. "Let it never be said I was not a good host."

There was the sound of movement and something clicking.

And then all Bucky could hear was Stephanie.

Screaming.

***

The man with the red skull released her from the chair and ordered her to follow him. She obeyed and was taken to a large room with a raised platform at one end with a desk on it. Behind the desk was a tall window that dominated the wall, offering a view of distant, snowcapped mountains. The man with the red skull led her to the platform and had her stand near the desk. From there she could see to the far end of the room where double doors opened into a corridor.

She wasn't sure how long they stood there before she heard shouting and men in black uniforms rushed in, slamming the doors shut and barricading them. Almost as soon as they did the doors rattled, bowing inward before bouncing back again.