Down the Rabbit Hole

Bleeding Through Part 2

"You're Captain America." She finished.
"What, no, he isn't... he can't be." Dean argued, although he'd lowered his gun completely.
"Why can't he be?" Lacey asked, turning to glare at him.
"Well Captain America was around during 1942. Which this is not."
"I'm sorry." The man finally spoke. "I don't know who you are or where you came from but this is 1942 and yes, ma'am, I am Captain America."
"Ma'am?!" Lacey said at the same time Dean said. "What?!"
"What are you doing here? You do know how dangerous it is to be in this region?" Captain America asked them
"Where's exactly is here?" Lacey asked.
"Austria, behind the German lines." He glanced around as the sound of an engine could be heard in the distance. "I really have to go, but if you wait near the road, I can get you out of here when I come back."
"We could go with you." Lacey offered.
"No offence Ma'am but it's going to be highly dangerous." He turned to go.
"And so am I... when my powers work." Lacey reached out her hand and a nearby branch began so shakily rise from the floor before flying into her hand. Cap stared at her for a moment, weighing her up.
"And what about you?" He nodded to Dean.
"I'm a really good shot." Dean promised him.
"Follow me and stay close behind." Cap instructed before heading towards the engine sounds. Lacey shrugged at Dean and they raced off behind him. They reached the edge of the trees and Cap put out a hand to stop them. They could see a truck heading towards them on the road. Once it had driven past Cap broke into a run following it before jumping into the back of the truck. Seconds later two guards were thrown out the back, falling to the ground unconscious. Cap opened the tarp at the back as they chased behind the truck and helped the two of them jump in.

When the truck reached it's destination they jumped out of the back and ducked behind some crates.
"Do you know where we are?" Lacey hissed to Cap.
"This is the Hydra base."
"Oh, ok, so we're here for the captured soldiers." Lacey guessed. Cap blinked at her.
"How did you know?"
"I'm also psychic." She told him. Cap shrugged and began to move towards the factory building. Dean raised an eyebrow at her.
"What, I'm supposed to say I saw the movie?" Lacey shrugged before following Cap.

They made their way through the building, dodging out of sight of any Hydra soldiers they encountered. Cap led them deeper into the heart of the building until they were underground. Lacey let out a gasp as they entered the next room. The floor was made up of bars, below them were cells filled with prisoners. Cap headed towards a set of steel stairs that led down to the lower level. Dean shot open one of the locks while Cap grabbed some metal piping and used that to open the cells.
"Who are you supposed to be?" One of the prisoners asked as they filed out of their cells.
"I'm... Captain America." Steve told them, a little hesitantly.
"I beg your pardon?" A British soldier chimed in.
"What are we taking everybody?" Another one complained, eyeing up an Asian prisoner.
"I'm from Fresno, Ace." The guy snapped back.
"Is there anybody else? I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes?" Steve asked.
"There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one's ever come back from it." The British soldier supplied.
"All right, the tree line is north west, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell. I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anyone else I find."
"We'll go with you!" Lacey told him.
"Wait" You know what you're doing?" One of the soldiers called after them.
"Yeah. I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times." Cap called back to him. Lacey and Dean raced after him. They followed him out into the factory and up through the levels until they reached the isolation zone. Cap was studying all the charts around them as they passed through the office until they spotted a gurney, a man still strapped to it. Cap rushed over and began to undo the straps holding him down. The man began to stir.
"Is that..."
"It's me. It's Steve."
"Steve?"
"Come on." Steve helped him to his feet, throwing one of his arms over his shoulder. "I though you were dead."
"I though you were smaller." Bucky mused. "What happened to you?"
"I joined the army." Steve told him.
"Did it hurt?" Bucky asked as they headed back the way they'd come.
"A little."
"Is it permanent?"
"So far."
"And who are these guys?"
"I'm Lacey." She smiled coyly and waved at him. Dean raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" She muttered. "It's Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers!" Lacey let out a gasp as an explosion rocked the factory.
"Come on!" Steve led them up a set of stairs until they heard a voice above the roar of the flames below them.
"Captain America! How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films." Two men were standing on a walkway across the factory. "So Dr Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement but still impressive." Steve let go of Bucky and walked towards them on the bridge.
"You've got no idea." Steve said before punching him in the face.
"Haven't I? No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!"
"What's going on?" Bucky asked as he leant against the railing.
"Oh, that's Johann Schmidt." Lacey explained as he straightened back up. "Also known as the Red Skull." She added as he began to peel off the mask covering his face, revealing his emaciated features underneath. Bucky balked at the sight of him.
"How did you..."
"I'm psychic." Lacey told him happily.
"You don't have one of those do you?" Bucky asked cautiously as Steve stepped forward and began to battle the Red Skull. The other man with Schmidt pulled a lever and the walkway began to retract in either direction, separating the two battling foes.
"You are deluded Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"
"Then how come you're running?" Steve called as Red Skull beat his retreat. "Come on, let's go up." Steve said as the fire continued to burn below them, the flames beginning to rise higher towards the platform they were on. Steve led them towards a gantry that led across the factory. "Let's go, one at a time." Bucky went first followed by Lacey and Dean. As Dean stepped off the bridge there was a wrenching noise and the gantry collapsed. Lacey let out a shriek and grabbed hold of Dean, pulling him further onto the platform.
"Gotta be a rope or something!" Bucky called across to Steve.
"Just go! Get out of here!" Steve yelled back.
"No! Not without you!" Bucky yelled back. Steve took a few steps back before running forward and jumping across the gap. He grabbed on to the side and pulled himself up.
"Wow!" Was all Lacey could say in awe. The four of them rushed down the steps and headed for the exit, avoiding the explosions as they went. As soon as they reached the outside they saw Zola racing out of the garage in the Red Skull's car. As they ran across the grounds towards the woods, a figure stepped out of the darkness. Lacey stopped running and Dean trained his gun on them while Cap put himself between the figure and Bucky. As he stepped into the light and Lacey realised it was Chronos.
"I followed the trail of and , and here you are."
"What do you want?" Lacey asked.
"I want out of here. But I can't do that. See I was aiming for 1942 but not this 1942. This is a whole other world. And that's never happened before. So I came to find the only thing that was different about this trip, you. Do you have any idea why we're here?" Dean and Lacey exchanged looks before Lacey raised a hand.
"I used to be able to open portals... to other worlds." Lacey admitted.
"You." Chronos stalked towards them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa there pal." Dean pointed his gun at him. Chronos glared at him but stopped.
"We need each other to get back to our reality." He told Dean. "I open the door, she navigates us back." Dean looked at Lacey, she nodded.
"Any funny business, I'm gonna blow your head off." Dean warned him. Lacey turned back to the other two.
"I guess this is goodbye, I can't believe I got to meet Captain America." She smiled up at Steve before giving him a hug. Steve hugged her back awkwardly. "And you." She gave Bucky a hug too. She turned back to Dean and Chronos. "Okay, let's go." Chronos began to glow and Lacey and Dean grabbed on to him. The red glow blasted out around them. Lacey felt a weird sensation flow through her body, as they ripped through realities, before landing in a heap on the floor.
"Dean! Lacey!" She looked up as she heard Jody's voice.
"Hey!" Sam tried to get Chronos' attention as he got to his feet, but his gaze was focused on Lacey.
"No! You destroyed everything!" He batted Sam out of the way and grabbed Lacey by the throat.
"Hey! Chronos!" He turned just in time to see Sam stab him in the chest with a wooden stake. "Was that the best you got?" Sam asked as Chronos let go of Lacey and collapsed to the floor. He gazed up at Sam, blood dripping from his mouth.
"You want to know your future? I know your future. It's covered in thick black ooze. It's everywhere. They're everywhere. Enjoy oblivion." He managed to choke out before giving one last splutter and expiring. Sam, Dean and Lacey exchanged looks.

Soundtrack:

Captain America Star Spangled Man

Caro Emerald That Man

Sandie Shaw Always Something there to remind me