Something To Marvel At :||: Steve Rogers

Prologue

Baron Wolfgang von Stucker played by Thomas Kretschmann

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Natasha made it look easy. She smoothly dodged the bullets, the explosives, the other vehicles and soldiers coming at her from every direction. Barton stood in the back of the military jeep she drove, bow raised, arrow notched. Tony and Thor were covering them from above, while Steve and I attacked from another angle.

I propelled my body through the air, feeling the particles moving around me. Steve was below riding a motorcycle, effortlessly controlling it with one hand and tossing his shield with the other. He used it to clear the path ahead while I dealt with our enemies flying toward us. The soldiers had new-age suits allowing them to hover and shoot through the air at dizzying speeds but that didn't mean they could make it past me. I knocked them out, leaving them behind as I move on to the next. There were hundreds of the men, dressed in white camo gear to help blend in with the snowy landscape.

Hulk's roar echoed throughout the forest, bouncing off the rocks and pine trees. Steve glanced over his shoulder to check on me before we came over a ridge of snow. A dozen men with automatic weapons were waiting for us. Sweeping my hand away from my body, the few trees and shrubs behind me ripped themselves from the earth and flung themselves at the men, wiping them out. Turning back, I raised my other hand and watched the vegetation regrow.

Overhead, Tony in his gold and red Ironman suit zoomed toward our target, the HYDRA Research Base, lying heavily fortified in the Sokovia mountains. He'd only disappeared over the town for a moment before, "SHIT!" Tony's voice came through the comms.

"Language!" Steve instantly scolded. A soldier came up behind him, his suit easily keeping up with the bike. I crash-tackled him into a tree.

"Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some sort of energy shield," Jarvis was able to view the scene from the Stark satellite Tony and I had launched a few months ago. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

Wolfgang von Strucker is one of the last remaining leaders of HYDRA, who used to be a sleeper agent within S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Loki's sceptre must be here," Thor's voice came through. "Strucker couldn't mount this defence without it."

"Yeah," Clint drawled. "I think we lost the element of surprise, this attack is taking a little longer than expected."

I grunted as something or someone crashed into me from the side. A soldier's arm went around my middle as we went careening off-path and chit the snow. "Iz!?"

"One moment," I groaned out as the soldier got on top of me, pinning me down by straddling my waist. He raised his gun to my face.

With a flick of my finger, the gun went flying out of his hand and I threw my fist into his face, sending him toppling back. Leaping to my feet, I kicked the soldier in the crotch, watching his face cringe behind his mask and his body curl up into the fetal position. "You tried to shoot me in the face, asshole. Goddamn, I have a photo shoot tomorrow."

The sound of a revving engine had me looking up as Steve slid to a stop next to me. "Are you alright?"

"Is my face still intact?" I grinned, his eyes racked over my body searching for injury. "I'm perfect."

"Wait a second, no one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said "Language"?" Tony asked.

Steve sighed and I patted his shoulder in support as I climbed on behind him. "You're never going to live that one down."