Rumors of War || The First Avenger

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Different Kind Of Valor

Picture is of the Howling Commandos.

Music is "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: A Different Kind Of Valor

Less than a week later, most of the soldiers that were wounded or captured by HYDRA were either medically or honorable discharged, or reinstated somewhere else. Bucky, Steve, and I were all moved to London, where Rose had been stationed as part of her nursing training. She worked in the medical wing of Camp Henry, the camp where Bucky was stationed before Italy. It's also where Dolly, Mary Ellen, and I joined forces to cheer up the soldiers a little less than nine months ago.

Steve and I had been highly praised for our idiot move to rescue the soldiers. We'd even been offered the Medal of Valor. We both agreed that they were just trying to suck up to us after sending someone we loved to a prison camp, so we decided to skip the whole thing without telling anyone and leave Senator Brandt standing there looking like an idiot.

Instead, we kept our efforts focused on the remaining HYDRA bases. Our gameplan was divide and conquer, and since now the Army is actually taking us seriously, we've been able to help much more than we ever did on stage. Steve had memorized the locations of the bases, and as soon as we got stationed in London, he wrote them out on a large map. "This one was here in Poland, near the Baltic," he says, marking the base on the table-map. "And the fifth one was...about...here: thirty, forty miles west of the Maginot Line."

I point towards the Aegean Peninsula. "You forgot the sixth just north of Lamia, Greece." Steve hands me the marker, and I mark it with an "X" on the map.

A soldier pulls the map from the table and takes it to the Colonel. "I just got a quick look," Steve defends.

Agent Carter, who's standing adjacent to us, just raises her eyebrows. "Well, nobody's perfect." She offers a sly smile as she walks over the much larger table. Steve and I follow suit and join her and Colonel Phillips.

This table is the one where everything is labeled in our division. Everything we know about HYDRA in Europe is marked on the map. Every base, every safe house, every factory, every major player. 

"These are the weapon's factories we know about," Steve explains to the Colonel. "Sergeant Barnes said that HYDRA shipped all the other parts to a facility that isn't on this map."

Phillips walks around the table, ordering, "Agent Carter, coordinate with MI6. I want every Allied eyeball lookin' for that main HYDRA base."

"What about us?" she asks.

"We are gonna set a fire under Johann Schmidt's ass." Private Lorraine hands Phillips a heavy file. "What do you say, Rogers? Holmes? You two drew a map; do you think you can wipe HYDRA off of it?"

"Yes, Sir," Steve replies.

"With pleasure," I add. "We will need a team."

"We're already puttin' together our best men."

I turn to Steve and grin. "With all due respect, Sir, so are we."

Phillips raises an eyebrow. "And who might those fine gentlemen be?"

Steve remains stagnant where he stands. "Private Timothy Dugan, Private Gabriel Jones, Corporal Jacques Dernier, Corporal James Morita, Lieutenant James M. Falseworth, and Sergeant James B. Barnes."

"And Agent Carter, of course," I add, turning to nod towards Peggy. "Someone responsible must take care of these idiots."

Phillips looks at Steve and I like we're crazy. "You want the Howling Commandos? They're damn fools, Rogers. Are you sure those men are the ones you want?"