Work Text:
Jump Wings (you have to earn them otherwise, you're just a Replacement)
By: Shadow Chaser
Story:
January 9th was the last of the shellings, but none of them knew that. It was January 10th when Captain Winters had relayed to them, that Foy was to be taken the day after January 11th. High Command wanted to take advantage of the retreating Germans and get the Armored Divisions in place for the main attack on Noville, but Foy needed to be secured. Steve also knew that their scouting of the HYDRA base near the area had been completed and it would be time for the Commandos to make their move.
They had spent the last five days with Dog Company of the 2d Battalion, scouting out the area east of Foy, learning the HYDRA patrols, how they acted with their German counterparts in Foy, and occasionally going out of their way to relay a few nuggets of information about Foy back to Captain Winters to help plan his eventual attack. Steve knew that Winters appreciated the information, however little. Towards the early morning hours of January 10th, Steve moved the Commandos and their foxholes to where Easy sat.
Captain Winters wanted a tightening of the perimeter in anticipation of attacking Foy. With the woods cleared east and west of the main line of resistance, there was some freedom of movement for the Battalion. The 1st Battalion was holding the west side of the line, pulled back in reserve while the 3d Battalion was moving around where Dog Company used to be towards the other side of Foy. 3d Battalion was moving close to the HYDRA area, but Steve and the Commandos had provided accurate intelligence for them to avoid most of the patrols and be able to surround Foy to take it over.
The Commandos would have linked up with the 3d except where it had planned on staying was not the most viable entry into the HYDRA outpost and instead was more towards Winters' plan to take over Foy. Staying near the railroad tracks that led towards the HYDRA outpost was also not viable as it would have exposed their flanks to the Germans still in and around Foy. So they moved with Dog Company and set up within Easy's perimeter.
Easy's foxholes and the trees around them looked like it had been through hell and back, far worst than the shellings Dog had taken. Steve noted that the men looked weary, surly, and more than one was bleeding from wounds, but seemed to ignore them as they help dig out their fellow soldiers from under fallen trees, trapped in foxholes. More than one eyed them and Steve knew by now that the whole of the Battalion if not all of the 506th in the area, all three Battalions, knew that Captain America was somewhere on the MLR near Bastogne. There was a chance that HYDRA knew too, but it was a risk that Steve gambled with each time they were on a mission to destroy a HYDRA base or outpost.
“All right, pick a few spots,” he stopped and turned to the rest of the Commandos the dim moonlight illuminating them and the other wandering members of Dog Company and some Easy Company crawling out of their foxholes, but he saw everyone well enough, “Bucky, make sure we're settled here. Briefing at 0600. I'm headed to Battalion CP to let Winters know of our situation.”
“Got it,” Bucky nodded as the others started to wander off, set to dig new foxholes to hide in during the daylight hours. Steve noted that Falsworth had bidden farewell to two of his fellow British para-infantry soldiers whom he had befriended during their five-day stay with Dog Company. Most of the other Dog Company members waved at them, having become friends after Bucky had gotten rid of four snipers and forced a premature shelling on Dog that everyone had ended up laughing off with a few minimal injuries.
The Germans had been incensed, seeing that their initial plan was thwarted by a lone sniper, but there was nothing they could do about it once they realized they only had two options – shell right then and there with half of their resources in place or run the risk of having their troops being picked off by Bucky's scarily accurate sniping. They shelled and also tried to take a third option by sending out several combat patrols and were easily rebuffed by Dog Company.
Steve made his way back the fifty yards to where Captain Winters and Nixon had made their CP. So far, Winters did not seem like some of the commanders that he had encountered that wanted to use the Commandos as a resource, but he was also aware that Winters knew that he knew both were going to end up being bait for one another, Captain America for the Germans, the 2d Battalion for HYDRA. He could already see that Winters was deeply attached to the 2d Battalion, especially Easy Company judging by what he had picked up from the briefing as they had first approached days ago.
Winters had been quietly chewing out Lieutenant Dike, apparently the commanding officer of Easy, for the shelling the day before the Commandos had arrived. It wasn't exactly a chewing out and to any other person sounded more like suggestions and advice, but Steve recognized the quiet undertone beneath Winters' polite words. At the same time, he had also been explaining where the three companies he was in charge of were going to do until Colonel Sink and those above decided they would attack Foy. It was very effective commanding Steve had thought before everyone had gone quiet and that was when he had introduced himself to Captain Winters.
He nodded a greeting to Captain Nixon as he saw him wander out of the small post, still sleep-addled, but apparently going to relieve himself. Nixon nodded back with a half-covered yawn and Steve peered inside to see Winters huddled in blankets, shivering a little, but bright-eyed and awake in the dim moonlight.
“Captain,” Steve greeted quietly and Winters nodded, gesturing for him to share the small kerosene fire he had going.
“Got some coffee, want any?” Winters' teeth chattered a little.
“Thanks,” Steve shucked his gloves off and removed the cup, warming his cold fingers against it before taking a small sip and savoring the warm liquid going down his throat and warming his belly. He set the tin back down and faced Winters, “You and Captain Nixon need extra blankets? I have one-”
“S'okay,” Winters shook his head, “it'll pass. I just stopped moving about...ten minutes ago?”
“Ah, yeah,” Steve realized that Winters had worked up a sweat trying to keep warm, but also knew that he needed to sleep and so tried to settle down. The sweat he had worked up was making him shake and it would soon pass as his body temperature adjusted to the cold once more.
“Waiting for a combat patrol to report back too,” he said and Steve nodded in understanding, his liking of the man growing a little. It was information that was not readily offered to anyone else, but Steve understood why he had offered it. The intelligence he had given back to him made Winters put his men into action to ensure that both missions would be completed with minimal casualties to either the 2d Battalion or the Howling Commandos. Steve knew then that Winters was one of the really good commanders leading the war, one that understood the use of resources and the conservation of men, but also understood the sacrifice made.
“We're settled in near the edges of Easy, sir,” Steve knew that while they were of equal rank, Winters technically outranked him because he commanded a Battalion and Steve was currently serving within the 2d Battalion by integrating the Commandos with them. “I'm set to brief my men at 0600.”
“I'm having mine at 0930 before sending out another patrol and then finalizing it at 1600 before letting the men get some rest before the attack in the morning at 0900.”
“0900?” Steve frowned. The morning light would have been the best time to attack, but he saw Winters shrug underneath his blanket, a sign that he too was not happy with the timing of the attack, but could not do anything. High Command's orders, apparently.
“I'd like to sit in both of your briefings if possible? Would like to know when the Germans are going to run towards us while we blow the outpost sky high,” Steve smiled a little and Winters nodded.
“I'll allow it,” he said before a slightly hesitant expression crossed his face, “Captain...” Winters shuffled a little under his blanket, “if there are any of the men there-”
“I'll get them out, sir,” Steve nodded solemnly and Winters returned it with one of his own, an amicable silence filling the small CP for a brief moment.
It broke a second later when the distant screams of a soldier yelling, “Medic! Medic!” made the two of them look up and towards the sound of the screams. Winters made to scramble out of his blankets as Nixon came running out of the woods, adjusting his pants, but Steve was already ahead of the two.
“I'll see what's happening sir,” he said before taking off, running towards the sound.
He came upon a scene of chaotic yelling and sporadic fire as he saw men of both Easy, Dog, and Fox Companies apparently a mixed group combat patrol running the opposite direction, dragging a couple of wounded men or hurrying their fellow companions while ducking under heavy fire. Steve heard the distant sound of machine gun fire, rifling, and the loud cracks of sniper fire. Screams, moans, and yells still echoed in the distance.
“What's going on!” he grabbed the nearest private, one he recognized as one of the newer members of Dog when he first arrived, and saw his wild-eyed look settle on him.
“Sir! We ran into heavy resistance, the others-sir, there are others still trapped-”
“Which way,” Steve demanded as he unhooked his shield from where it sat on his back over his winter gear.
“T-That way,” the soldier looked at him, fearful before Steve let him go and dashed off.
“Wait, sir-!” he ignored the soldier's exclamation as well as the others he ran by, a red-white-blue-dark-winter-coat blur.
There was a brief winter fog in the dense night, but Steve could see well enough, the serum enhancing his night vision and surmised that the combat patrol sent out at night was probably to ensure that that the Germans were not making any overt moves after the last shelling. It seemed that the Germans tried to outflank the ring 2d Battalion had put up around Foy and both groups ran right into each other. Steve burst through the fog and saw that the men still trapped behind wooden logs and other logging equipment left on the small log road were firing blindly into the area that the Germans were hiding in.
“Get going!” he called out, startling more than one who turned their rifles on him, but did not fire as he moved past them, too quick for them to draw a line on him, “I'll cover you!”
He heard more than one swear in surprise as he threw his shield, hitting two Germans before grabbing it out of the air and holding it in front of him to block the bullets coming his way at his surprise attack. He twisted and turned, throwing his shield again, cutting through a machine gun while killing the gunner and spotter. A whisper of his senses told him to drop and roll to the ground as sniper fire peppered the area he had been standing in. He immediately spotted the source of the bullets and drew out his gun, firing once in each direction of the darkness before continuing on.
He moved through the German patrol ranks, throwing his shield, reflecting bullets fired at him back at the others, firing his own pistol - his rifle back at the MLR - and in the span of a few minutes, there was nothing left save for the moaning sounds of the wounded men of the initial patrol. Steve felt his breath coming in hard as he stared at the strewn bodies around him, all of the German soldiers either dead or unconscious, he did not know.
He swallowed heavily, and holstered his gun before securing his shield to his left arm and walked back to where a few that had not fled after he had jumped into the fray stayed, crowded in groups of two and three. One group of three picked up one of their comrades and started back and Steve saw that some of them flicked looks at him before hurrying away.
“Easy there, soldier,” Steve turned his head at the familiar voice of Lieutenant Speirs and saw him crouched by several logs that had fallen in the ensuing firefight. He realized that someone was half trapped underneath and hurried over.
Speirs only spared him a glance upwards before turning to the soldier that had also knelt next to the fallen one. “Hey, I need you to go back, grab some of the men and come back to move this off of-”
“I can get it,” Steve offered as he instantly figured out that the fellow soldier was close friends with the one who was half crushed underneath the logs.
Speirs only looked at him before gesturing for the soldier to be ready to drag their friend out from underneath and Steve looked at the logs before pushing two of them out of the way. They immediately dragged out the soldier trapped underneath.
“Fitch, go back and get a medic-”
“But-”
“Go,” Speirs' voice was hard and unmoving and the private nodded numbly scrambling away as Steve set the logs down. He turned and saw that the situation with the soldier on the ground was very serious. Besides having half of his arm and leg crushed, there was a giant splint of wood embedded in the man's side. Blood washed the ground in a ink blot of red against white. There was some ropey looking thing nearby that Steve realized was intestines.
Steve immediately knelt down and gently picked the man's head up, cradling it at an angle so that he would not freeze to death on the snowy ground. Speirs was doing a cursory examination of the wounds and crushed appendages.
“I-It's not good, is it?” the young man asked, his voice squeaky high and Steve realized that the soldier was younger than he looked. He must have lied on his enlistment form about his age.
“Battlefield wounds, Marks, battlefield wounds,” Speirs looked to his right and Steve could hear the pounding steps of several coming towards them. “Guess what, you've got your hero holding your head up, so make sure you smile and look pretty, Marks.”
“Excuse me,” the soft roll of a southern accent mixed with what sounded a bit tinged with French made Steve glance up to see a medic with dark hair kneeling down next to them, already working on Private Marks' wounds.
“ Doc Roe?” Speirs stood up, shouldering his rifle and stepping back to let the medic work, but also holding out a hand to stop what was apparently the rest of Marks' friends from crowding around.
“Don't know sir,” the medic, Roe, did not look at Steve, but he understood that the situation was dire.
“Hey Marks,” he started quietly, bringing the boy's dark-eyed gaze on him before the widening of surprise followed by hisses of pain filled him. “Hey...you did good out there.”
Marks smiled weakly, “It's really...C-Captain America...holy...shit...” He winced before as Roe pulled at something, “C-Can I a-ask you...question?”
“Sure, anything son,” out of the corner of Steve's eyes, he saw Roe silently swearing, his lips moving as he tried to stabilize the young Private's wounds.
“Is...it true you jumped...rescue 107th?” the man looked wide eyed and a bit glassy eyed too.
“Only combat jump I'm afraid,” Steve answered honestly, “most of the HYDRA bases are too high in the mountains or are too fortified for combat jumps.” He gave Marks a quick grin, “I miss it though...would have liked to have jumped with the 2d Battalion into Normandy or Holland...maybe we'll be able to jump together into Berlin.”
“Y-Yeah...” Marks sucked in a breath as he twitched and shuddered. “G-Got...my jump wings...'cause of you...”
Steve bit the inside of his cheek at that, feeling an immense sorrow as he met Roe's look of disappointment and shaking of his head as he sat back a little. Marks was too far gone for him to do anything... The wood embedded in his side must have caused severe hemorrhaging and internal damage and combined by the shock of having his arm and leg crushed underneath the logs, his body was not taking the shock well and was shutting down.
“Anything else you want to know?” Steve asked gently, keeping the young man's eyes focused on him. He could see that glassy eyed look growing and knew that he was going to die soon.
“Did you...punch Hitler 200 times?” the young man asked and Steve smiled a little.
“Yeah...” he answered quietly, “I'll punch him some more when you and I jump into Berlin, okay?”
“...Okay...” Marks sighed softly as he blinked several times before his eyes half-closed on a blink and Steve felt him go limp. He steadied his own breaths as he just stared for a few seconds, numb to everything around him before reaching over and closed the man's half-open eyes.
The loud bang of a bullet being fired should have startled him, but it did not and he only looked up to see Speirs firing a bullet into the bodies of each German that had fallen, effectively killing them even if they had been knocked unconscious.
“Sir-”
“I'll carry him to the jeep,” Steve turned to meet Roe's hooded look before the medic nodded and Steve gathered Marks up in his arms, carrying him past the small group of men who had been held back by Speirs. He noted all of their solemn gazes and respectful nods as he walked by with their friend's body. He heard them trail behind him, but resolutely kept his gaze forward.
* * *
It was a few hours later, just a little before 0600 did the first men of Easy Company approach him with an offer of some lukewarm food. He took the offering, a wan smile on his lips and saw beyond in the other foxholes, heads peering at him, respectful smiles and nods on their faces. Marks had been one of them and while before there had been calculating looks, derisive whispers behind his back, nothing more than just whispers of a glorified Captain-level Replacement, they now considered him one of them. Steve ate his food, focused himself, and started to brief the Commandos on their attack.
At 0930 he joined Winters and his briefing, returning at 1600 for finalized plans.
At 0630 the next morning, he and the Commandos left the safety of their foxholes and launched their attack on the HYDRA outpost.
At 0900, the 2d Battalion launched their attack on Foy with the men of Easy Company at point. Indecisive Lieutenant Dike was replaced by Lieutenant Speirs in the midst of the operation and Foy was taken.
~END~