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Chapter Text

Steve finished drying off his hair and draped the towel around his neck, glancing around at his team members when he walked into the common room. He’d gone on a long run this morning, and had forfeited the comfort of a long, relaxing shower in favor of rushing downstairs to eat. Bucky still wasn’t awake but that wasn’t surprising— he liked to sleep in now that he got the chance, since he’d never been able to do that in during all his years with Hydra. Bruce was awake however, and was busy making an ungodly amount of bacon and scrambled eggs to feed the other inhabitant of the Avengers tower- most of whom would, if given the chance, survive on takeout, coffee, or in Thor’s case, Pop Tarts. These aforementioned superheroes were currently slouched around the living room and kitchen of the common room in various stages of awareness while waiting for Bruce to finish cooking breakfast. Natasha was curled up with Clint on the couch, the former reading a book and the latter watching a cartoon. Sam was still taking a shower after his run, and Bucky was still sleeping. Something Tony looked like he probably should be doing too. He was slumped into a steaming mug of coffee and blearily poking at a holoscreen showing something Steve probably wouldn’t understand if someone spent an hour trying to explain it to him (something Tony did unsuccessfully try to do rather often).

“Morning, Bruce,” Steve greeted, walking up to the kitchen. “Want any help cooking breakfast?” He felt bad leaving someone else to most of the cooking when he himself ate a inhumanly large portion of it every meal.

“Thanks, but I think I probably got it,” Bruce chuckled, stirring the eggs with one hand and checking something on his phone with the other. “None of us need a repeat performance of the last time you tried to cook breakfast.”

Steve had somehow cooked the eggs even worse than Tony normally did. They were, in Clint’s eloquent words,

“Burnt to a disgusting degree on the outside and yet still liquid on the outside. How do you even do that Steve, the stove was on medium heat the whole time!”

The bacon he attempted hadn’t even make it onto the table, just went straight into the garbage. Steve retains the opinion that it was the stove’s fault. His teammates don’t let him cook anything anymore anyway.

Steve shrugged, and walked over to the huge fridge instead, opening it to grab the carton of orange juice that needed replacing almost daily and drinking straight out of it without bothering to grab a cup.

Tony finally seemed to come fully awake now when faced with both the atrocity of someone drinking straight out of a carton and the chance to tell off the captain.

“Steve, that’s gross. Like, Barton slob levels of gross,” He sat up and brandished his mug at Steve. “You see what this is? It’s a cup! Which I use to drink coffee out of instead of the coffee pot, so the coffee pot is clean for everyone else to use after me!”

Steve had watched Tony drink straight out of the coffee pot yesterday morning. It was something he did rather frequently when he was either too lazy to get a mug, or wanted to drink the entire pot so he could continue his science bender throughout the night. He didn’t bother arguing though and just quirked a judgmental eyebrow at him over the top of the juice. He had been told on many occasions that he was good at “judgmental puppy eyebrows”, whatever that was supposed to mean. (He knew exactly what that meant and in fact did it on purpose most times).

Tony took a deep breath, probably getting ready to continue the argument until someone stepped in and told him to shut up before they smothered him with one of the pillows from on the couch, when he was interrupted by JARVIS, who spoke up through the speakers in the corners of the rooms.

“Pardon me Captain Rogers, but you have an incoming call from Director Fury.”

Steve sighed and put the juice down to fish through his pockets for his phone. He appreciated Fury as a boss, he really did. The man was no-nonsense and did everything he could to make sure the Avengers were a functioning team, helping out wherever needed. That didn’t mean Steve had to like talking to him though. He had a way of making Steve feel small, which was something Steve didn’t like feeling. He’d been small for enough of his life. Once he finally found his phone— he had apparently set it down on the counter when he walked in— and grabbed it, he quickly answered the call, hoping Fury just wanted to clear up details about the mission they had last week, a mutated penguin that had been running rampant through midtown. If there was one thing Steve had learned in his time in the future, it was that biologists were weird.

Fury started the call out with a gruff, “Gather your team, Rogers.” Which dashed almost all of Steve’s hopes for a relaxing day.

“Why, what’s going on?” He distracted asked, trying to grab the orange juice that Tony had confiscated as soon as he set it down. Tony perked up hearing that though, and relinquished the juice in favor of leaning closer along with Bruce so they could hear Fury over the phone. Natasha and Clint were also paying attention now, everyone preparing for the bad news that meant they needed to head out and stop whatever disaster was currently ravaging the world.

“No current emergency,” Fury clarified. “Intelligence has been monitoring a Hydra base for awhile now, waiting for a good time to clear the base. However, starting about an hour ago there was a huge power usage serge in the base and we think they may be powering something up.” Everyone sighed here, knowing what was coming. “Anyone currently mission ready needs to gear up and head to the quinjet for transportation to the base. We’ll go over more details on the flight.” With that, Fury ended the call. Luckily, he did so before he heard any of the groans echoing around the common room as everyone dragged themselves upright and started heading towards their rooms to get geared up.

Steve really should have expected something to happen, he thought as he headed back across the common room and into the elevator. Hydra had been suspiciously quiet for the past couple of weeks, leaving him with plenty of spare time other than the occasional emergency from whatever terrorist/mad scientist wanted revenge on the world for whatever stupid reason. He’d been enjoying the downtime with his team, minus Thor who was currently away visiting his girlfriend Jane.

The elevator beeped quietly when it reached the floor he shared with Sam and Bucky, both of whom were standing waiting for him when the doors opened.

“What’s going on?” Sam questioned as soon as he saw Steve, Bucky groggily squinting at him from next to him. “JARVIS told us we needed to get ready for a mission.” Both of them were halfway in their uniforms.

“There’s been a huge increase in power usage at a Hydra base SHIELD Intelligence has been monitoring,” Steve sighed. “Fury is worried they’re getting ready to do something and wants us to shut it down.”

Bucky, eloquent as he always was in mornings, groaned and tossed himself down onto the couch next to the elevator. Sam chuckled, patting his leg, “Cheer up dude, at least we get to go kill them, rather than just surveillance or infiltration.”

Bucky perked up a bit at this.

“Come on guys, quinjet leaves in five.” Steve waved them towards their rooms. “Finish getting ready, we need to get dressed and moving.”

When Steve headed into own room he sighed heavily. He’d been doing that a lot this morning. Since he’d just taken his run he was starving but Bruce hadn’t been able to finish breakfast before they were called out so it looked like he would have to fill up on the nasty, cardboard-flavored protein bars Tony kept stored on the quinjet for situation like this. He sighed, again, and pulled his suit out of the closet it was piled on the floor of and shrugged it on over the plain t-shirt and shorts he’d pulled on after his shower. He’d learned the hard way that the suit chafed if he didn’t wear anything under it and, super healing or not, chafing sucked. He’d also apparently forgotten to wash it after his last mission and had just dropped it on the floor so it was creased, dirty, and smelled a bit like penguins. Did he mention that he hated biologists?

Once he was dressed he grabbed his shield off of its hook next to his bed and headed into the living room to meet Sam and Bucky. He didn’t bother strapping on his boots and gloves though, figuring he could put them on during the flight to the base.

“Ready to go?” He figured they were since they were both standing there waiting for him, and with nods in conformation the three of them headed into the elevator, which automatically took them up to the flight deck.

When they got there it looked like almost everyone else was ready to go. Bruce was being brought along since they weren’t actually sure what the device Hydra was attempting to power up was and Tony only pretended to know everything— another scientist would be helpful in figuring out what was going on there. He had probably gotten there first since he just had to throw on his shoes, no tight super-suit for him to deal with. Nat had somehow had time to do her hair while she got dressed and it was styled nicely, making her look much more put together than all the other still-half asleep superheroes gathered around. Clint’s purple suit was once again missing it’s sleeves and had what looked like ketchup spilt on the chest. Not that Steve could really judge, given the state of his own suit. Bucky had woken fully in the time it took him to get dressed and was wearing the full Winter Soldier ensemble, complete with a shown-off metal arm. The only difference between this suit and his Hydra one was that this one didn’t have a mask, and the star on his metal arm was painted blue to match Steve. Which made Steve smile every time he saw it, but that definitely wasn’t why Bucky did it. Right. As Steve looked around he realized there was one person missing.

“JARVIS?” He looked wearily up at the ceiling. “Where is Tony?”

JARVIS paused for a minute, and when he answered he sounded rather reluctant. “Apologies, Captain Rogers but Sir decided that since this was a ‘totally sciency base, not a gooney-soldiery one’ it would be a good training exercise for Mister Parker. Who he flew away to grab 4.3 minuted ago. He is planning on meeting you on the flight to the base.” JARVIS used sound clips from Tony when relaying messaged frequently because, in his words, he didn’t have the server capacity to bother translating the stuff Tony said into proper English.

Steve considered slamming his head into the wall, an urge that often appeared when he had to deal with Tony Stark. He sighed, again, and wow he really needed to stop doing that before Bucky thought he got asthma again, and gestured to his teammates.

“Come on, guys. We need to head out now so we make it to the base in time to stop whatever it is they’re trying to do. Tony can meet us on the plane, but I guess that’s what he was planning on doing anyway.”

Everyone complied, and shuffled onto the quinjet. As Natasha passed she leaned towards his ear and whispered, “I wouldn’t even bother trying to tell Tony off. As far as him doing his own thing goes this really isn’t that bad, and he’s not going to listen to you anyway.”

The worst thing is, Steve knew she was right. Tony was a genius, a fighter, and in invaluable member to the team. He provided them with all the upgrade gear they could need, a home, and gave them every material they could ever ask for. He had a heart of gold and wanted to help everyone. He was also a total wild card and did whatever he wanted which made being his leader one of the hardest and most annoying things Steve had to do in the future. But dealing with Tony was a problem for future-Steve since he wasn’t there right then and huh. Maybe Steve should be glad he decided to travel on his own to pick up Peter. Now he wouldn’t have to deal with him for a little bit at least. He felt kinda bad thinking that since Tony was one of his friends but sometimes he really just needed a break from him. Or his poor head would pay the price from getting slammed into the wall in frustration.

Steve sat down and strapped into his seat after grabbing the box of cardboard (probably) flavored protein bars. His boots and gloves got dropped on the floor next to him. Clint and Natasha had taken up the pilot and co-pilot seats and started the quinjet, loading the coordinates of the base Fury had provided into the jet’s computers. Sam and Bucky sat on either side of him, and after a moment Bucky reached over and grabbed one of the protein bars. The jet was perfectly smooth as it started its ascent, climbing into the clouds. Did Steve mention that Tony only had the best of the best? Because that was definitely true in the case of their transportation today.

Sam leaned forward onto his knees, clearing his throat, “So where exactly are we going?” He asked. “JARVIS told us there was a Hydra base that started powering something up and we needed to go stop it, but not much else.”

Bruce shrugged, “We didn’t get told much else either, only that they knew something was going on and we needed to stop it— that’s why I’m going; to help Tony figure out what whatever it is they’re powering does.”

“Fury did send us the location of the base though— it’s in Europe apparently, near the Austrian/Italian boarder,” Natasha called back to them. “It should take about three hours to get there.”

Steve leaned back when he heard that. He had time to relax before the mission, get his head together. He slouched over onto Bucky, who glanced at him for a minute then went back to devoting his protein bar. He didn’t have a problem eating the nasty, dry, protein bars. Probably because it was one of the only things he ate for about 70 years. Food probably gets much better when nutrient drips make up the majority of your meals for decades. Or maybe Steve was just picky and jealous of his friend who were able to have normal, delicious food for snacks since they didn’t need as many calories. He let this train of thought trail off as he leaned deeper into Bucky’s shoulder. His teammates had started arguing about which season of Dog Cops— the cartoon Clint was watching this morning— was the best. Their voices washed over him as he, now full from the controversial protein bars, drifted off to sleep.

————

Steve jerked awake when a loud thump shook the quinjet. He sat up and watched as Ironman entered the quinjet through the roof hatch. Spider-man was plastered to his back and he waved cheerily when he saw Steve looking at him.

“Hi Mister Steve!” he was enthusiastically greeted. “Sorry if we woke you! There’s not really a quiet way to get onto the plane.”

Tony shrugged him off and stepped out of his suit. “Don’t stress it kid— as much as Spangles over there needs his beauty rest, he would’ve had to wake up in—” he glanced over to the monitor, “eleven minutes, anyway.”

Peter still looked guilty as he sat down next to Bruce.

“It’s okay Peter, I was just napping anyway.” Steve reassured him. He was surprised he slept so long, especially so early in the day. It’s too bad he couldn’t have slept through Tony though. Who was currently trying to push Clint out of the copilot’s chair so he could sit and look out the front window when they landed. Even Tony wasn’t stupid enough to try and move Natasha.

Steve cleared his throat before interjecting into the various conversation occurring in the jet.

“Alright, guys, we need a plan for clearing the base.” He paused looking around at everyone, deciding what would work best. “Tony; you, Peter, and Bruce will stick together and try to get quietly to the center of the base to investigate and shut down the machine. Me, Nat, Clint, Bucky, and Sam, will clear a path and keep the room clear for you. When you’re done and we’re out, you can blow the base up.”

Tony grinned, sharp and calculating, already thinking over the plan. “My my, Captain. I get engineering and explosions? You spoil me.”

Steve knew that was as close to approval and agreement as he was going to get from him. He bent down and started pulling on his boots, lacing them up as Natasha called back to them from the pilot’s seat,

“We’re approaching the base.” True to her word, the massive concrete complex came into view as the quinjet silently lowered before settling down just behind the tree line of the large forest the base was hidden in. Remote bases were annoying to get too, but it paid off in not having to deal with civilian casualties or much property damage. Other than Hydra’s property, of course. Steve took great delight in damaging that.

From on the ground the base looked almost innocuous, just a grey building with a few windows and several satellite dishes on the roof. This affect was rather ruined by the guards in decked-out body armor and large guns patrolling the grounds at steady intervals. The quinjet’s cloaking mechanism worked like a charm though, and none of them were aware of the Avengers presence as they prepared to attack.

With a soft swoosh the quinjet ramp lowered and they charged out. Steve threw his shield first, and it clanged as it ping-ponged between three guards, knocking them out before returning to his arm. He heard Bucky’s beloved machine gun whirring as it shot guard after guard. Peter and Sam worked together to restrain several of their assailants before they could counterattack. With the additional help of Clint sniping several of the remaining foes from on top of the quinjet, it didn’t take long for the outside of the base to be completely cleared. Tony hadn’t done anything and was out of his suit, leaning against the quinjet and checking something on his phone when Steve looked over.

“Tony!” He called softly over. “What the hell are you doing? Get in your suit and get going!”

Tony slid his phone in his pocket and straightened up.

“Sorry, Pep was yelling at me and I had to tell her what was going on. Apparently I missed a meeting with an important Japanese executive, which wouldn’t have normally been that much of a problem since I miss meetings al the time but apparently I also missed the last meeting I had with him so now we look really bad.” He shrugged. “Not the worst thing that’s happened, but enough to warrant a scolding, I guess.”

“Checking your phone and doing really anything except for being helpful also warrants a scolding. So don’t do that. Now get in your suit and,” now addressing everyone, “Get behind me.”

Steve pulled his shield up in front of him as he approached the ominous set of black, reinforced double doors.

His team obediently fell in line behind him, Peter sticking close to Tony. Bruce chose to stick to the back of their little pack, hopefully to prevent any possible Hulk incidents stray bullets may bring about. Everyone readied their weapons as Steve brought his shield back, then threw it into the doors with a loud clang. The doors may have been reinforced but they held no chance against a shield made from the strongest metal on the planet, thrown by a super soldier. They bent back, breaking through the locks and supports with the shriek of tearing metal. Steve caught his shields rebound and bounded forward the last foot towards the doors to kick them the rest of the way in. He couched down just behind the doors, shield raised and ready, trusting his teammates to cover him from behind. They all paused for a minute, looking around for Hydra agents but the concrete hallway the doors opened into was surprisingly empty.

“I’m not really sensing anything dangerous right now.” Peter finally spoke up. His sixth sense really came in handy when the team was worried about an ambush. Which the team currently was.

“This is… not what I was expecting to happen.” Clint remarked as he straightened up, looking around.

“Yeah,” Bucky agreed. “I thought there would definitely be more people to shoot. Especially after all the guards outside.”

Steve shrugged, finally straightening out of his defensive crouch. “Maybe everyone in here is preoccupied with whatever they’re trying to do.”

“That definitely makes this more suspicious.” Tony remarked. Natasha hummed from behind him.

“Let’s keep moving.” Steve decided. The cavernous empty hallway with dimmed lighting stretching out before him reminded him eerily of the old Nazi bases he had raided him with his original team, the Howling Commandos. “When we reach the room with the device, which should hopefully be in the room at the end of this hallway, we can break apart into our groups. Tony, your group will go investigate and deactivate the machine. My team will cover you while you do that.”

With a plan in mind, the Avengers set off down the hallway. The crumbling concrete made their step echo creepily as they walked.

“Hey Stevie?” Bucky jogged up next to Steve. “Does this base remind you of a base we raided with the Howlies?”

Steve looked over at Bucky. “You know, I was just thinking about that! Maybe this was an old Hydra base left over from the war they decided to use for whatever this mystery project is.”

“It’s location in Austria definitely makes sense if that’s the case.”

“Back to our original stomping grounds then!” Steve tossed a crooked smile at Bucky over his shoulder, pulling ahead as they reached the end of the hallway.

A large loading bay door was ahead of them, and behind it was, if their building schematics were correct, whatever device Hydra was making.

“Everyone ready?” Steve asked his team. Everyone nodded. It may have been a sign of needed therapy but to many of them, a brutal fight was a fun time. If only Thor was able to be there, Steve thought. There was few things Thor enjoyed now than smashing and electrocuting Hydra agents.

Steve ran forward, jumping as he raised his shield and twisted, crashing into the bay door about head hight and smashing through its support. The door came crashing down around him and the Avengers charged forward. Unlike the hallway, this room was definitely not empty. There was a large, ominous machine in the middle of the room with wires and pipes coming out of it in all directions. The walls were lined with levers and and computer monitors that likely controlled the machine. The room was also chock full of Hydra agents, but not Hydra agents ready for a fight. Many of them were burdened with several heavy bags of gear, and all of them were huddled together near the middle of the room. Technicians and scientists were also scattered throughout the room, tapping on computers or observing the machine and ready to step in if something stopped working.

There was dead silence for about three seconds as the Avengers ran into the room, ready for the agents to make the first move and start the fight. The agents were staring at the Avengers in shock and horror. One of them glanced up at a digital screen mounted on one of the walls with a countdown clock on it that Steve hadn’t noticed before. The clock had one minute and fourteen seconds on it.

The Hydra agents got over their shock quickly, and with a shout the they started pulling out guns and dropping the gear they were loaded up with. Tony grabbed Peter and Bruce and ran towards the middle of the room to investigate the machine. Immediately, everyone fell into place around them, weapons turned outwards to cover them while they poked around the machine. Their foes opened fire immediately. Steve had to give them credit for a quick reaction as he threw up his shield to block the bullets while he charged towards them. He noticed the scientists fleeing the room out of the corner of his eye. Cowards. Hopefully the machine wouldn’t go off without them. He glanced up at the clocked when he made contact with the first Hydra agent, throwing them back and into another. It was still ticking down, unfortunately.

"We need to get them out of here!” One of the agents shouted at the others in desperate, accented English, gesturing at the pack of Avengers. Natasha shot him before he got a chance to elaborate on why. The other agents seemed to get the memo though, and most of them abandoned fighting in favor of running to the exits of the room, presumably to draw them away from the machine. Steve wasn’t about to let them get away that easily though, and definitely wasn’t about to let them get him away from the machine he was getting increasingly curious about. He threw his shield forward to slam the door shut and looked back to see Peter turning away from the machine to jump up onto the wall above the bay door he had smashed in and stop agents from escaping out of it. Steve ran up, nearly tripping over one of the pipes on the ground, and grabbed his shield again and swung it at the pack of agents gathered around his door. They seemed to realize they weren’t getting them out of the room and turned to fight him instead.

“Need a hand?” Sam dropped down next to him (when had he gotten airborne?) and the two of them worked in tandem to clear the agents surrounding them. They were swiftly taking care of them when a loud, resounding beep resonated through the room. Then another. Steve looked around to see the countdown in it’s last ten seconds, beeping with every passing second. He watched in horror as the clock ticked down the final seconds on the timer, the screen flashing menacingly with pulsing red numbers. He quickly shoved the Hydra guard trying to rip his shield away off of him so he could run over and try to stop the countdown. He was too late though, and there was nothing he could do to stop the timer. When it hit zero the machine pulsed out a blast of green energy, throwing everything in the room backwards. He heard shouts from both his team and the Hydra agents as they were all thrown towards the edges of the room. Steve cracked his head on the edge of a desk as he came down, crumpling to the ground with a gasp. He immediately tried to stand up but staggered sideway with the dizziness that suddenly pulsed through his head. He was on the ground when the energy hit the edges of the rounded room then bounced back, this time pulling things in with it. Steve yelped as he felt himself getting yanked into the machine, which was now acting like a vacuum, sucking everything in towards the growing ball of energy forming above the machine.

The battle was forgotten, and everyone started panicking. Steve slammed his shield into the ground and hooked his arm into the straps, keeping himself from getting pulled into the machine. Natasha saw what he did from where she and and Bucky were trying to hang onto a broken pipe, and kicked off in his direction. They latched onto him and the three of them held tight to stay in place.

The machine’s pull was getting stronger, and Steve could do nothing but hold on and look up to where Peter was sticking to a wall and holding Tony and Bruce back. As Steve watched, he shot a web out and caught Clint, then pulled him into their huddle. Peter scanned the room one more time, looking for anyone else. The agents were all gone now, and the scientists had abandoned the room before the machine had started going off.

“Steve! Grab Sam,” he shouted.

Steve looked up at him to see him pointing to Sam, who was hooked on a wire just behind him. Who knew a bunch of tripping hazards could be so helpful. As he watched though, the wire was breaking and ripping out from the wall.

“Sam, let go of the wire!” He called out. “I’ll grab you when you come past.”

Sam looked down at him and nodded in assent. Steve watched as he braced himself, then released his hold and immediately flew back towards the machine. Steve let go of Bucky with one hand, trusting him to be able to hold on with his metal arm, and reached out to grab Sam as he slid past. He caught his arm and pulled him in. Everyone was holding on and for a minute Steve allowed himself to hope they could outlast the vacuum machine. That was how long it took for the machine to pulse one final, powerful time. There was nothing Steve could do to stop himself from getting wrenched into the machine, his grip on his teammates automatically tightening as he tensed up to brace against the impact of whatever was coming. Steve, Nat, Bucky and Sam all shouted involuntarily as they flew straight into the green ball of light making up the center of the room. Steve sucked in one final breath as he hit the vortex, the world flashing green one final blinding time before everything faded into oblivion.

Chapter Text

Bucky was sick and tired of mud. No matter where in Europe he was stationed, there was mud— it was everywhere, got in everything, and made him cold and wet. He’d been cold before, in his youth, but it wasn’t until he was trying to sleep on a thin bedroll on top of frozen dirt in Italy that he truly understood what it meant to be freezing cold. He’d taken the rickety bed and thin blankets he shared with Steve growing up for granted, and he definitely wasn’t going to do that again. He shouldered his pack and rifle higher and walked a little faster, pulling Gabe and Dernier along with him.

“Hurry up, you sloths,” he groaned. “The faster we make it to the base, the sooner we can hunker down and warm up.”

“And take my boots off.” Gabe had tripped on a root two days ago and ripped the sole of his boot, and there wasn’t a replacement they could find in his size so he was sticking wearing a a shoe they’d found in an abandoned house that was a size and a half too small.

The three exhausted soldiers had been marching through the forested mountains of southern Austria for over three days. The Allied forces discovered an approximate location of a Hydra base and had sent the Howling Commandos out to find it. Apparently by “approximate location” they meant “It’s somewhere in southern Austria. We think.” The team had split up into groups and spread out to try and find the base. It was slow going though, and the steady drizzling that had been coming down throughout the whole mission made it even worse. Their only consultation was that there was supposedly there were Allied troops just past the Italian border, and eventually they would run into them if they couldn’t find the base. Nevertheless, walking over ten miles a day sucked, and doing so in ankle-deep mud sucked even more. Bucky would’ve traded his last three cigarettes to find the base and just be done with the mission that night. It definitely would’ve seemed like a hopeless mission if they hadn’t found an old service road earlier that day that winded steadily south and had somewhat fresh tire tracks on it. If their suspicions were correct, it lead straight to the base. Gabe had radioed the location of the road to the other Howlies and hopefully they were all headed in the right direction now.

The trio walked in almost silence for several hours, only pausing when they had to duck behind trees so they weren’t seen when trucks came rumbling up and down the road. Eventually it stopped drizzling, thank god, and a large grey base finally came into view ahead of them when the sun started going down. Dernier led the three of them off of the road and into the trees then, so patrols from the base didn’t see them walking on the road.

They went hunting around the forest for a place to set up camp, and found a small alcove in a boulder to huddle in while they waited for the rest of their team to arrive. Gabe almost sobbed in relief when he yanked off the too-small, wet shoe that had been torturing his feet for the last seven hours. Dernier patted his shoulder in sympathy and passed him a k-ration to eat. The two of them started up a quiet conversation in French as they leaned back against the rough rock behind them, finally able to relax for a few minutes in the towering trees and golden orange sunset, the clouds having drifted away at long last. Bucky didn’t take the same chance to relax. He took the first watch instead and patrolled near the road, far enough from the base he didn’t near to worry about someone in it seeing him, but close enough he could see it looming in the distance. He was looking for his teammates, who were hopefully finding their way soon.

He didn’t have to wait long. After about two hours he overheard a truck rattling up the road, and he jogged behind a tree to wait it out. When it passed him, he leaned out from behind his tree to watch it leave, keeping his body pinned close so nobody noticed him. He did, however, notice other people. Four other people specifically, who were hanging onto the back of the truck and riding it up to the base. He stuck his arm out and waved, knowing Steve’s enhanced vision would see it. He did, and when the two of them made eye contact Bucky gestured for him to get off of the truck. Steve, Falsworth, Dum Dum and Morita jumped off the truck, the sound hidden by the rattling of the engine, and ran towards the trees one by one, then headed over to meet him.

“Hey, Buck!” Steve was first, and he gave him a hug when they reached each other.

“Hey, Steve. Took you long enough.”

“We wanted to wait until we found a truck so we didn’t have to walk all the way, in case someone saw our footprints.”

That… was actually a smart plan. It also would have been nicer on poor Gabe’s foot. Too late now though. He waved as the other three men approached them.

“Gabe and Dernier have a little camp about a half mile towards the base.” He pointed in it’s direction. “We should head over there so we aren’t standing so close to the road where anyone could see us.”

Steve nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea.”

The five men set off, chatting about their different experiences trying to find the base. Apparently Dum Dum had found a deer and tried unsuccessfully hunt it, ending up face down in a mud puddle after he tripped while pulling his gun out. He was still covered in now-dry mud and look completely ridiculous.

Monty called out as they approached the camp so the two knew who was coming, not that they wouldn’t have known based on the laughs and teasing occurring in the group as they walked. If there was one thing the Commandos weren’t, it was quiet.

The sky was fully dark by the time everyone settled down and pulled out their rations. Dernier took first watch since he had already eaten, and Gabe’s foot really needed a night to rest so the terrible blisters and sores rubbed on it could heal some. They didn’t bother setting up a tent since they were so close to the base and didn’t want to be seen. Hopefully it wouldn’t rain overnight. Steve thought they’d stay dry since it had rained the previous three days, and Bucky was inclined to believe him, because the sky was finally clear and they could see all the shining stars.

After Bucky finished eating, he laid his still-damp bedroll next to the one Steve was resting on then dropped to the ground at his side.

“You have a plan for tomorrow?” He asked as quietly as he could. Falsworth was already snoring away next to him and the men deserved all the rest they could get.

“Not yet,” Steve responded, just as soft. “I haven’t really gotten a chance to see the base yet. I figure we can watch it tomorrow morning then decide what to do. Did you notice anything while you were patrolling?”

“I think I might’ve seen a back entrance to the on the far wall. Several people walked back around the building and didn’t come back.”

Steve hummed thoughtfully, nodding his head slightly. Bucky laid all the way down next to him, crossing his hands under his head in so he could look up at the stars. The two rested in companionable silence (other than Dum Dum’s snores) until Bucky’s eyes closed, his breathing slowing, and he fell fast asleep.

————

“Rise and shine, sunshine!”

Steve awoke with a groan. Someone was shaking his shoulder. He squinted his eyes open to see Dum Dum grinning down at him from under his stupid mustache. He’d taken last watch so he’d probably been awake for several hours now. Steve looked around the dim, still-rising sunlight to see everyone in various stages of waking up. Gabe was bent over his pack, digging food out of it to share. Everyone else was in the process of packing their bedrolls up and getting their shoes back on. Since it was so cold at night, they all slept in their clothes. Bucky was the only one of them who wasn’t awake, and he would likely sleep until someone physically dragged him out of his sleeping bag. That job generally went to Steve.

He pushed himself upright and reluctantly started the process of packing his sleep gear up. His bedroll was still slightly damp and it had gotten his clothes wet and sticking to him. They dried out as he moved around though, and his shoes had dried overnight so they weren’t freezing cold when he pulled them on. Gabe passed him his ration when he walked over and he scarfed down the slimy, unseasoned meat sitting against the boulder they were sheltering at. When the war was over he was never going to eat spam again.

Once he finished eating, he walked back across their soggy little camp and started the process of waking Bucky up.

“Hey, time to get up.” Steve reached down and shook his leg. He got a groan in response, but no movement.

Steve shook his leg harder. “Seriously Buck, it’s time to get up.” He got a louder groan this time.

Steve grabbed his sleeping bag and yanked it away, then walked to the other side of the camp, ignoring the furious screech Bucky lobbed in his direction. He started packing up the sleeping bag, and when he looked up he saw Bucky reluctantly rolling up his sleeping pad.

After everyone was awake and had eaten, they grouped up to talk about how they were going to take the base. Dernier, via Gabe, said that they should just blow the base and be done with it but, 1) that’s what he said literally every base, he just liked doing that, and 2) There was supposedly some research project at this base Phillips thought they should collect their data from. Exploding the base would ruin that data.

Everyone, albeit reluctantly in some cases, finally agreed their best bet was to infiltrate the base through the back door Bucky noticed yesterday, clear the enemy soldiers, then investigate the base. With a plan in mind, they set off to the backside of the base, making sure to stay hidden in the trees while they walked.

About twenty minutes later they silently crested the hill behind the base, still hidden in the trees. There were guards patrolling the outside of the base every few minutes, but that was plenty of time for them to run from the trees and get inside the building.

They waited until a guard passed, then ran for the door in a single file line, Steve leading the charge. When they reached the double doors Steve kicked them open without hesitation and Dernier tossed a grenade inside. The team leaned against the outside wall until it went off, the explosion echoing through the forest and shaking the walls. An alarm immediately started wailing, and they heard voices shouting in a mix of German and Italian. Gabe and Dum Dum drew their guns and started shooting at the Hydra guards that rounded the outside of the building, and the rest of the rather noisy team ran inside the doors to fight the agents inside.

Steve led the charge, throwing his shield into a table so it flipped and hit a group of scientists that were cowering against a far wall. Then he dropped to the ground to avoid the blast blue energy an agent fired at him. Bucky quickly shot the guy in the face before he could do it again. The team of five fanned out, filling the long hallway the best they could to take on all the agents. Steve did the brunt of the work, throwing his shield and punching as many agents as he could, taking most of them down in just one hit. His teammates really just needed to avoid getting shot, and shoot the agents that tried to run into the hallway via the large door at the end of it. It didn’t take long at all to clear the base of agents, and before they had even finished Gabe and Dum Dum had rejoined them.

“C'est presque insultant de voir à quel point ces idiots nazis sont faciles à vaincre. Ils pourraient au moins constituer un défi” Dernier declared as he surveyed the room, which now contained only seven living people.

Gabe shrugged in response, “pour être juste, nous avons un super soldat et ils ne le font pas.”

“Gabe, you’re supposed to translate what Dernier says, not just have secret conversations with him.” Steve rolled his eyes as he brushed past them, headed towards the bay doors at the back of the hallway. “Also, Dernier, I know you know more English than you pretend.”

The two just giggled at each other, not bothering to explain what they were talking about. Not that the rest of the team really minded, they knew the two would tell them if it was anything important. It just made Steve feel like an incompetent leader to not know what his teammates were saying.

Steve pushed the door open when he got to the end of the hallway, glancing into the room beyond as he did. It looked like a science lab, desks and chalkboards filling most of the room. The chalkboards were covered in equations and notes, though for what, Steve didn’t know. After making sure the room was clear, he waved his team in. They explored the room for a bit, recording the things on the chalkboards and grabbing the papers on the desk before heading out. For as large of a building the base was, it was surprisingly empty. Morita headed outside to radio Colonel Phillips and let him know the base was clear, and the other Howlies split up to investigate the rest of the base.

Nothing exciting had happened when the Howlies met up again a few hours later, outside the empty base that was now lined with bombs that were ready to be detonated. Dum Dum found a file with transmission records he was sure Phillips would be thrilled about, but other than that the base was oddly empty. None of them were exactly sure what it was for other than holding a few scientists and the one project.

The seven of them gathered together, tucked behind the hill they used to cover them when they raided the base as Dernier prepared to blow up the base. However, right before he hit the button to set the detonator on the bombs, they were all blasted forward by a glowing wave of force. Steve regained his footing and whirled around to see a glowing ball of green energy form about thirty feet off into the woods. It pulsed, getting bigger and brighter. He felt the hair on his forearms standing straight up, and he had to squint to look directly at the mass of energy.

“The hell is that?” Dum Dum implored in shock, the rest of them sharing the sentiment as they all stared in horror.

“Should we.. run?” Bucky asked cautiously, bracing himself back against the hill.

Before any of them could get anywhere though, the green ball of light pulsed one final time, the wave of energy throwing them back down into the dirt, then disappeared.

“Was that it?” Dum Dum wondered, pushing himself to his feet.

“I certainly hope so,” Falsworth responded. “But what was it? What did it do?”

“I don’t know, but the four people it spat out might.” Gabe wasn’t looking at where the energy had been, but at the ground underneath and his words drew the attention of the rest of his team there as well.

Sure enough, four figures were currently sprawled out on the dirt, laying lifelessly in a messy pile.

Everyone stared at them silently for a minute, before Falsworth decided approach them, pushing away from the hill to cautiously check and see if they were still breathing, were alive. He stopped short though, about ten feet from the bodies, turning slowly to look at Steve and Bucky, then back to the prone figures.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, stepping up behind him to see what he was looking at.

“Have I gone nutter, or are those two people,” he paused here, taking a breath as if reluctant to voice his thoughts, “you?”

Curious now, everyone else approached the bodies. Sure enough, two of the people laying unconscious were dead ringers of Steve and Bucky. Curiously enough, the “Steve” was even wearing an odd version of the Captain America suit, and had a matching shield dropped next to him.

Bucky gasped, “What the actual hell. What was that thing.” He jogged the last few steps forward and dropped to his knees next to the person who shared his face. Reaching out, he pushed the man over so he was laying on his back and they could see his whole body. Curiously, even though the figure shared his face, his body was much more built than Bucky’s. He also had long hair like a dame, and had a gimmicky metal… thing, on one of his arms. He was wearing thick black leather and oddly baggy cargo pants with several pockets along the sides.

“This is without a doubt the oddest damn thing I have ever seen.” Falsworth remarked with his hands on his hips, surprisingly calm.

“You think?” Dum Dum breathed in response, taking a closer look at the other people laying next to the Steve and Bucky lookalikes. “I’m personally having trouble convincing myself I didn’t just drink too much last night”

“Do either of these people look familiar to you guys?” Gabe asked, examining the other two bodies.

Everyone’s attention shifted to them.

One of them was a dark-skinned man wearing odd red goggles. He had someone sort of metal backpack on and was wearing an oddly skin-tight, leather-like armored suit, rather similar to Steve’s costume but red and white. The final person laying there was a striking dame with fiery red hair and pale skin, also wearing a similar skin-tight suit. Her’s was the most inconspicuous though, solid black except for the red hourglass symbol on her belt.

“I’ve never seen them before.” Steve answered honestly, crouched next to his own double but looking at the unidentified figures.

“Non, je n'ai jamais vu ces gens auparavant.” Dernier jumped in. Gabe didn’t need to translate what that meant.

“So who are they then? Come to think of it, who are the other two as well, because they sure as hell ain’t Cap and Sarge.”

Bucky shrugged, “I honestly have no idea. Maybe when they wake up we can interrogate them.” He reached out to touch his double’s face, as if to see if it was real.

Right as his fingers made contact however, the man laying on the ground gasped, his eyes flying open. He moved almost too fast to be seen, grabbing Bucky’s hand and wrenching to the side, spinning him off balance so he could push him into the dirt and restrain his arm behind his back.

Everyone shouted, scattering. The noise must have woken up the other Steve as well, because he came awake with a jolt, immediately jumping onto the offensive. He grabbed his shield and pulled it up, crouching in a defensive stance as he looked wildly around, taking in the scene. When his eyes landed on Bucky being restrained by his double he paused, visibly shocked. He spun then, taking in everyone standing around the clearing. When his eyes landed on himself he froze, mouth gaping and shield hanging loose.

“What,” that seemed to be the only thing he could get out of his mouth. He looked down again at the Buckys tangled on the ground.

“Hi?” Bucky asked, muffled into the dirt his face was squished into. “Who are you? Why do you look like me and Steve? Can you let go of me please?” The last part came out rather strangled and directed in the direction of the person holding him down.

“Bucky,” Fake-Steve directed softly, still staring in shock. “Stand down.”

Fake-Bucky huffed, but released his hold and scrambled backwards so his back was against Steve’s legs.

“Stevie? What’s going on?” His eyes were wide, darting around the semi-circle of Commandos, sticking on the Steve that was standing next to them.

“That’s a question we think you should be answering.” Dum Dum spoke up. “Who are you and why do you look like Steve and Bucky?”

“We are Steve and Bucky,” he didn’t seem sure of that though, looking up at Fake-Steve for reassurance.

Fake-Steve was too busy gaping like a fish at all of them to answer.

That was the moment that the other two people the energy ball (maybe it was a portal?) dropped off, woke up. The man with the red goggles was first, groaning and flipping himself over before stopping to stare at everyone, particularly Steve and Bucky’s doubles.

He had a much different reaction to everyone else though. As soon as he made eye contact with Bucky he seemed to realize something, shock coming over his face, but quickly being taken over by unadulterated joy.

“Oh my god, it’s Baby Bucky! It was a time machine Hydra was making, and now I get to meet Baby Bucky!” He pushed himself upright to get a better look, pulling off his goggles as he did.

Everyone paused when he said that. The idea hadn’t even remotely occurred to Bucky, but the more he looked at their visitors the more sense it made. The odd, futuristic suits, the fact that Bucky was looking at a version of himself. Who was also looking right at him now, an odd, pinched expression on his face. He hesitantly waved at him, and Bucky waved back, no longer worried about Hydra clones. Bucky then directed his attention to Future-Steve (They really needed to figure out the name situation here) and took him in more closely. Future-Steve (Who he was just going to mentally call Rogers) had a hopeful, guarded look on his face now. As he watched though, the final traces of worry faded out and he just looked, happy, to see all of them.

Rogers took a hesitant step forward, waving at everyone as he did.

“Hi, I’m Steve. And apparently from the future. It’s good to see all of you.”

“We know who you are, you’re literally standing right there,” Dum Dum pointed at their Steve. Rogers blushed slightly, but underneath the embarrassment seemed delighted at the jab.

Bucky wondered what happened in the future to cause him to be so happy when faced with a normal interaction in their team. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Please don’t tell what I think is happening is happening.” The red-haired dame was awake now, and apparently unhappy. She had gotten to her feet and was surveying the group with mistrusting eyes and hands on her hips.

Rogers shrugged. “Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure it is.” He turned to address the Commandos. “It’s sometime in 1943 or 44, right? You’re the Howling Commands, and you’re working to destroy Hydra.”

The seven of them cautiously nodded.

“It’s December of 1943.” Steve didn’t seem as happy to see his double as Bucky was. “And you’re… me, from the future.”

Rogers nodded “I guess so. It’s good to see you guys again.”

Now Bucky was really curious as to what happened in the future. Now wasn’t the time to ask though.

“Want to walk and talk back to our base? We have food there.” Dum Dum was always focused on the important stuff.

————

Visitors from the future. Bucky still couldn’t wrap his head around it, reeling at the very idea. The little part inside of him that grew up reading sci fi books was jumping up and down with joy, practically screaming in excitement. He probably wouldn’t have believed it at all, if there wasn’t both Steve and him that were from the future. He saw the way Future-Steve looked at Future-him and he recognized the look; it was on his Steve’s face every time he saw him, and there was no way anyone could have faked it as well as he did.

Natasha reminded him a lot of Agent Carter— strong, smart, and a presence that seemed to control every room she walked into. She was very small, but Bucky had a feeling she was stronger than she looked, and could probably hold her own in a fight.

The Sam fellow though, Bucky was not impressed with. First, his outfit looked stupid. Second, he was way friendlier than anyone needed to be with Steve, other than him. Third, the fact that Gabe Jones was his “hero”? Okay admittedly that did make sense, especially if the Howling Commandos kept getting more fame at the rate that they had. But as someone who had to practically live in Gabe’s pocket for weeks at a time for missions, there were much better people to have a hero worship for, such a someone who didn’t consistently cheat at poker by conversing with Dernier in French so none of them could tell what they are saying. Fourth, did Bucky mention that his outfit looked stupid?

Bucky was possibly a little offended that Sam would only refer to him as “Baby Bucky”. And kept making comments about how adorable he was. And patting his head. Bucky may not have been as old as his future counterpart, but that was kind of implied in the “Future” part of that title, and Bucky was still a grown man. He hoped Sam knew he was embarrassing himself but something told him that he wouldn’t particularly care.

Sam did seem to have the same teasing relationship with Barnes (The name they decided to call Future-him to avoid any confusion amongst the group.) though. And Bucky thought it was reciprocated by Barnes, though it was hard to tell. Future-him kind of freaked him out. Bucky had no idea what must have happened to him to give him the mannerisms he did. The stiff-straight spine, and to-the-point way to talking. He may have just been overwhelmed by being in the past, but Bucky thought he would have been excited by the opportunity, not scared. Barnes was sticking next to Rogers for the most part, so at least that hadn’t changed. Bucky couldn’t even imagine a future of his that didn’t have a Steve by his side in it. He also couldn't imagine a future where he had that weird long hair though, so who knew what the future held. Other than their future counterparts, obviously.

He shifted, sitting more comfortably while he finished his ration. The now-eleven of them were relaxing in a loose circle in their base. They didn’t have enough supplies for all of them, but Steve was hopeful they would be able to find that troop of Allied soldiers soon, and would find support there. They had enough food to share for the next few days, so there wasn't a worry about immediately starving, and Bucky was comfortably full (as much as you can be on rations) as he sat, surrounded by his chatting friends.

————

Tony opened his eyes, groaning. The last thing he remembered was being held by Peter so he didn’t get sucked into that… glowing thing. He thought he remembered screaming as the wall behind Peter crumbled and the four of them were sucked straight into the ball of energy. He was afraid they were going to die, but apparently they didn’t. He quickly looked around, appeased when he saw the other three people laying right around him, alive according to his suit display, and relatively unhurt.

He took stock of his surroundings, but didn’t recognize them. It looked like they were in the forest the base was in, but he couldn’t see the base, or anyone else. He hoped Steve and the others were okay.

Beside him, Bruce groaned and pushed himself up onto his elbows.

“Hey, Brucie Bear. Any idea what happened?” Bruce just looked at him with groggy, confused eyes, clearly trying to remember how they ended up dog piled on the floor of a forest.

“No, but I wish it hadn’t happened.” That was Clint, grouchily adjusting his hearing aids behind him. Tony hadn’t realized he was awake. “I seriously nearly wet myself when we got yanked into that green thingy.”

Tony snorted, not admitting that the same had almost happened to him.

“I just wish we had been able to figure out what it was before getting sucked into it.” Bruce was apparently in a bad mood, but that really wasn’t surprising. The scientist didn’t get angry very often but he certainly did get grouchy.

Tony realized that Peter hadn’t woken up yet, and leaned over to make sure he was okay.

“Hey, kid, wake up.” He shook Peters calf, which was pressed against his thigh.

“Gimme five more minutes.” Peter groaned, which normally would’ve made him crack up, but only made him shake his leg harder.

“Peter, seriously, get up, something happened.” Peter opened his eyes then, sitting up so fast he nearly whacked his head against Tony’s.

“What? Is everyone okay?”

“They’re fine, well at least some of us are.” Tony hadn’t even thought about what might have happened to the other four of them when they got sucked into the green energy. Maybe they had managed to avoid it, or maybe they were also stranded somewhere unfamiliar. Maybe they were nearby. Tony kind of hoped that was the case. As much as he teased Steve, he really was a good captain and he would have a plan for what to do.

He retracted his suit into its nanotech housing, then got up and looked around.

“Do any of you have any idea where we are?”