See you again (Steve x Reader) - Part 7

1943, Italy - HYDRA territory


'Steve!' you cried out, hanging out of the plane, holding yourself in with one hand. You saw him falling down to the ground until his parachute was activated. 'Odin be damned...' you mumbled, cursing Steve for leaving you in the plane like this.

You knew he meant well, but he was going to need your help and you weren't nearly as fragile as he thought you to be. The fact was: you were almost as strong as he was, but he didn't know that of course. None of them did.

'I'm going to turn her around. Hang on!’ Howard cried out from the pilot seat.

'No, wait! I'm going after him.'

You grabbed the nearest parachute and threw it over your shoulders, clicking the straps around your waist.

'Are you insane? What am I going to tell Phillips?'

'Tell him you had faith...' you replied, looking outside the plane, trying to see what the best timing would be.

'Don't be stupid, [Name]. You'll die. Steve was made for things like this... He's practically a God...'

'So am I...' you whispered, pushing yourself out the plane before Howard could object any more.

For the first couple of minutes you were sent into a free fall, until you thought it was about the right height to deploy the parachute. The last couple of hundred meters seemed to last for minutes and when you were almost at the ground, you detached yourself, falling from the sky.

You landed on your feet perfectly and looked around to see where you were. Judging by the gunshots that echoed through the building, Steve was already inside. You on the other hand were still a few miles from the guarded gates.

You started running as fast as you could - happy you had changed into something more fitting for battle.

When you had reached the gates, chaos had erupted outside. HYDRA agents and normal soldiers were running around shooting each other. With one large jump, you made it over the fence, hoping no one had seen you do that. On your way inside the building you knocked down several agents, sending then flying through the sky.

'Miss,' one of the soldiers cried out to you. 'It's not safe for you here. Follow me.'

'I can handle myself,' you yelled back, avoiding the blue flares that one of the HYDRA agents was shooting at you. You ran over to him, caught the gun from his hands and knocked him back with it. With the gun itself, you started shooting down other agents and when it was empty you just dropped it, stepping over the body of the agent you had just knocked unconscious.

'Get everyone into the forest,' you ordered the soldier that had spoken to you. He looked at you astonished and swallowed hard as you wiped the sweat from your brow.

'Yes, ma'am!' he nodded, before running away and yelling at other soldiers to make way for the woods.

'And someone get in that tank!' you cried out, pointing to the large tank stationed in front of the entrance.

Without making sure they actually listened to you, you ran inside the building, slamming your fist into stomachs left and right. They wouldn't get up for at least a minute.

You looked around you, trying to spot Steve, but the complete and utter chaos that had erupted, made it difficult for you to even see who was agent and who was soldier. When the alarm started echoing through the whole building you realized there wasn't much time left. You had to find Steve.

HYDRA agents were pouring in from all sides and you had to fight your hardest not to get shot or killed.

You just slammed one of the agents down to the ground, screaming to the soldiers to get out and throw you a gun, when you spotted Steve up on the platform overlooking the whole warehouse.

'Ma'am!' one of the soldiers cried out to you, throwing you a small gun. 'This side is clear. What do you want us to do?'

'Go back to camp. Warn colonel Phillips.'

'Yes, ma'am, but... What about you?'

'Just do as I say. Get everyone out and into the forest. If I don't come back, you go to camp. Understood?'

The soldier nodded, clenching his gun against his chest and making his way outside the building. You didn't wait a second to follow Steve into a back area of the warehouse. You were running through a large hallway, when you heard voices from within one of the chambers.

You walked in, seeing Steve standing behind a metal bed, together with his best friend, Bucky. You smiled, seeing them together.

'Steve, look out!' Bucky cried out, grabbing the gun from Steve's hand and firing at you.

Luckily, his aim was terrible and you were able to dodge the bullet quite easily.

'No!' Steve yelled, seeing it was you. '[Name], are you alright?'

'I'm fine...' you mumbled, walking into the door opening again, keeping an eye on Bucky just to be sure. 'We have to go now. I don't think this alarm is telling us it's tea time.'

Steve nodded, supporting Bucky while you all made your way towards the platform again.

'What are you doing here?' Steve asked you, looking at you worriedly once Bucky was able to walk on his own.

'I told you,' you whispered. 'I want to help you.'

'I don't want you to get hurt...'

'I know, but you have to trust me. I have been doing this way before you were even...'

You wanted to say born, but you realized this wasn't the right time or place to tell him you were not from Earth.

The platform shook underneath you as explosions went off. You grabbed a hold of Steve and you looked in each other’s eyes, both your cheeks turning red, realizing you were both holding on to each other very tightly.

'We need to get to higher ground!' Bucky stated, pointing at the stairs that would lead you further up. 'If we stay here, we'll die.'

Steve and you both nodded, following Bucky up the stairs. Once you reached the platform above, you could see more of the warehouse being destroyed by bombs and the rest being consumed by flames.

'Captain America!' a voice echoed through the warehouse.

You all turned your heads towards the sound, seeing Johan Schmidt and Armin Zola standing on the other side. A small bridge connected the two sides of the platform.

'How exciting,' Schmidt continued. 'I'm a great fan of your films.'

Both Steve and Schmidt made their way onto the bridge, while Schmidt was still talking. You wanted to go after Steve, but he gestured you should stay back.

Steve punched Schmidt in the face, but instead of pain, you could see amusement in his eyes. The fight continued for a minute, until they were both down and Zola pulled a lever, separating the two platforms.

'Steve...' you swallowed hard, laying your hand on his arms. 'Are you alright?'

He nodded, but kept his eyes on Schmidt.

'No matter what lies Erskine told you,' Schmidt cried out. 'I was his greatest success!'

He pulled a mask from his face, revealing a red skull. The toll the unfinished serum had taken upon him. Without your interference Steve would have ended up almost the same.

'You are deluded, captain,' Schmidt smiled. 'You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind.' He walked over to Zola, where an elevator awaited to bring him to safety.

'And you!' he cried out, pointing at you. 'I have seen what you can do, but has he?'

Schmidt stepped into the elevator and disappeared from view. Steve in turn turned his head towards you, his eyes filled with confusion.

'I...' you started not sure what to say.

'We don't have time for this,' Bucky said desperately. 'We need to leave. Now!'

Both you and Steve nodded, following Bucky as he made his way up the stairs, leading you even further up in the warehouse. There was a door on the other side, but it could only be reached through a small bridge, nothing more than a railing.

'Let's go,' Steve said, gesturing you and Bucky should get on. 'One at a time.'

Bucky was able to get across relatively easily, even though you could see the railing bend under his weight.

'Now you,' Steve nodded, laying his hand on your lower back and pushing your forward.

'What about you?' you asked, turning around, looking in his eyes. He knew as well as you did that another person would break the railing off.

'I’ll be fine,' Steve smiled. 'Go...'

He helped you get on the railing and slowly let go of you as you were making your way onto it. You could hear it crack underneath your weight and even though you jumped most of the way, grabbing Bucky's hand, the railing still broke off, plunging into the depths of fire.

You turned around, your eyes locking with Steve’s. He was trapped.

'There's got to be a rope or something!' Bucky cried out, looking around him frantically.

'Just go!' Steve yelled back. 'Get out of here...'

Tears stung in your eyes. No. No. You weren't going to let Steve die here like this. The only man that had ever shown any love for you and you had started to love yourself... No. You couldn't let him die. You wouldn’t.

You climbed back over the railing of the platform and folded your arm around the metal bars. You reached out to Steve with the other and nodded at him.

'[Name], what are you doing?' Steve yelled desperately, seeing the fire rise up with every explosion. Soon there would be nothing left of either of you.

'Jump,' you told him. 'I’ll catch you.'

'Are you insane?' Bucky asked, as Steve nodded at you and took a few steps back. 'You're not strong enough! You'll both fall.'

But you weren't paying any attention to Bucky. Instead you had your eyes focused on Steve who looked at you with a mix of doubt and determination. In that moment you knew he realized you were as strong as he was.

Steve started running and jumped from the platform. You swallowed hard seeing him fall from the sky. You could only hope you would be strong enough to catch him.

Else, you'd both be dead.



TO BE CONTINUED...