The Dragon Princess (Bucky Pairing)

3

"Steven. Steven." Erskine calls. Peggy and Ashley hurry down the stairs.

"The son of a bitch did it." Phillips smiles. Everyone pours out of the observation chamber. Kruger leaves a small, metal object like a cigarette case behind.

"I did it." Steve announces as he stumbles out of the pod, supported by Howard and Erskine.

"Yeah, yeah. I think we did it." Erskine smiles.

"We actually did it." Howard breathes. Ashley and Peggy arrive in front of Steve.

"Woah." Ashley blinks, shocked.

"How do you feel?" Peggy inquires.

"Taller." Steve pants.

"You look taller." Ashley grins.

"How do you like Brooklyn now, Senator?" Phillips mocks.

"I can think of some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous. Congratulations, Doctor." Brandt shakes hands with Erskine.

"Thank you, sir." Erskine thanks. Kruger detonates the bomb in the observation room and uses the confusion to steal the last vial of the serum. "Stop him!" Kruger shoots him and flees with Peggy chasing after him. Steve kneels beside Erskine who points at Steve's chest and dies. Kruger shoots his way to a get-away-car but soon after he drives away, Peggy shoots the driver and the car crashes into a taxi so Kruger changes cars.

"What are you doing? Buddy, are you all right? Hey, this guy's been shot!" The taxi driver exclaims. Kruger drives off in the taxi, straight towards Peggy. She shoots at him but he just ducks and keeps going. Steve shoves her out of the way.

"I had him!" Peggy snaps.

"Sorry!" Steve runs after the cab. While chasing the car he loses control over his new power and crashes into a bridalwear store. "I'm sorry." He runs out into a street full of cars. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Steve catches up to Kruger's car a the pier and causes him to lose control. Kruger gets out of the car and takes a jung boy hostage.

"No! No! Not my son!" The boys mother wails.

"Stop it!" The boy begs.

"Don't hurt him!" The mother pleads.

"Get back!" Kruger with the boy dangling in his arms runs away.

"Let me go!"

"Let go of my son! Don't hurt him!"

"Wait, don't! Don't!" Kruger points the gun at Steve and pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty. So instead he throws the boy into the water. "No! Don't!" Kruger runs, Steve looks down at the boy.

"Go get him! I can swim!" The boy exclaims. Kruger tries to escape in a submarine, but Steve jumps into the water, breaks the window an pulls Kruger out back onto dry land. As they struggle further the vial breaks.

"Who the hell are you?" Steve demands.

"The first of many. Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hail Hydra!" Kruger pops a fake tooth loose and swallows it, he starts to foam at the mouth and then die. Ashley runs up to Steve, panting and cursing under her breath. She looks at Kruger and looks worried.

***

Back at the SSR compound.

"Think you got enough?" Steve asks, referring to the amount of blood samples taken from him.

"Any hope of reproducing a program is locked in your genetic code." Peggy explains.

"But without Dr. Erskine it would take years." Ashley points out to Peggy who shoots her a look.

"He deserved more than this." Steve growls.

"If it could only work once, he'd be proud it was you." Peggy assures him.

***

SSR tech lab with the Hydra submarine.

"Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers." Brandt scowls.

"Great. Why don't we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" Phillips demands. He turns to Howard who is working on the submarine. "What have we got here?"

"Speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don't know what's inside this thing or how it works. We're not even close to this technology." Howard answers crossing his arms.

"Then who is?" Brandt questions.

"Hydra. I'm sure you've been reading our briefings." Phillips sighs.

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel." Brandt points out.

"Hydra is the Nazi deep science division. It's led by Johann Schmidt." Ashley explains.

"But he has much bigger ambitions." Peggy agrees.

"Hydra's practically a cult. They worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible." Phillips adds.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Brandt demands.

"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being retasked." Phillips states.

"Colonel?" Peggy frowns.

"We are taking the fight to Hydra. Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too, Stark. You're flying to London tonight." Phillips elaborates.

"Sir, if you're going after Schmidt, I want in." Steve states.

"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo with Agent Barnes overseeing everything." Phillips argues

"Pardon me?" Ashley scoffs putting a hand on her chest. "The serum worked!"

"I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough." Phillips tells Steve.

"With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I've seen you in action, Steve. More importantly, the country's seen it." Brandt counters. To his aide. "Paper." The aide shows them the news paper ('The New York Examiner' Vol. XCVII No. 33.634, Wednesday, June 23, 1943), headlines: "Nazis in New York - mystery man saves child"). "The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands. You don't take a soldier, a symbol like that, and hide him in a lab. Son, do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?"

"Sir, that's all I want." Steve states.

"Then, congratulations. You just got promoted." Brandt smiles.