Thorax: Cavalry Drone

American Sarcasm Again

He woke up in a cell. Warm, and dressed down to his basics. A basic steel bed, no pillow or blanket. His old cell, from when he arrived at base camp.

He kicked the wall. It knocked him back on his ass.

Thorax wanted to turn into a big, ferocious bear. He wanted to be a monster that could tear the building apart. Maybe even be a fucking squid and beat up Schmidt as his own mascot.

Bucky Barnes fell, and Thorax failed to stop it.

==TCD==

It took hours for someone to notice him. Not that Thorax cared for guests right now. He barely cared for any of them.

They pushed open the door.

Thorax stayed still. What's the point of turning to them? He could barely get out of this steel bed.

"You abandoned your post, Price." Ah, Colonel Phillips stopped by. That's not reassuring at all. "Wanna tell me why?"

"They were gonna hurt Bucky." Thorax replied. "I wasn't gonna let them hurt him again. Or Steve."

"You disobeyed orders, jumped on that train, to save your men?"

"Yes sir."

"Some can say you left to protect Zola. Your old commander."

Thorax normally wanted to growl at the mention of that scientist. The one that tortured Bucky, and all those other innocent humans. "He eat his suicide pill yet?" He sniffled, brushing his sleeve over his cheek. "I don't remember anything else about his lab. Sorry Colonel."

"He hasn't."

Thorax flipped around. He sat up, gawking at Colonel Phillips. "What?"

"Arnim Zola is in our custody." Phillips said. "Jones and Rogers completed the mission."

His fists curled up. He missed having hooves. "What are you doing to Zola?"

"Right now? Leaving him alone. He could use the space." Phillip walked closer to Thorax. Thorax stiffened, but otherwise stayed still. "You got a suggestion?"

"Beat him up?"

"See, the Germans probably approve of that kind of treatment for their prisoners. Us in the Allied Forces have this thing called 'ethics'." Phillip remarked.

"That's for humans." Thorax countered. "Arnim Zola isn't a human. Nobody human could do those things to another person. He enjoyed it- I know he did, cause he used to go on these rants about the new wonders of science discovered from their corpses. He used to get upset when they died, because he didn't get to do all the experiments he wanted. Okay? He wanted to hurt them. Hurt them so bad they never got better. We're not alive to him, we're just- just lab rats that he hasn't used yet. You can't trust a person like that. You can't treat a person like that as a person at all!"

Phillips hummed. "Tell me how you really feel, Private."

"I- I did? Colonel, sir. That's how I really feel." Phillips stared at him flatly. "Oh. American sarcasm again."

"It's not looking good for you. No matter your intentions, you still broke protocol and ignored direct orders. That means reassignment." Phillips instructed.

Thorax gulped, but nodded.

"You're being assigned to a task force." Phillips explained. "Commanded by an officer that you'll actually listen to. Captain America."

Thorax widened his eyes.

"He's forming a special force to take out HYDRA head on. He plans to take his task force to Johann Schimdt directly. The mission briefing is in twenty minutes. I trust you can find the way?" Phillips asked.

Thorax nodded.

"Still hate HYDRA, Price? Now's the time to prove it."

"I will, Colonel. I swear I will." Thorax stood upright. He saluted Colonel Phillips.

Phillips nodded. "At ease." Thorax obeyed. "Now get out of my face."

Thorax beamed. He rushed past the Colonel into the hall. He needed to get ready for the mission briefing.

==TCD==

He couldn't find his stuff. Reportedly, it'd all been boxed up and stuffed away in storage. His phone was somewhere in that mess. He'd appreciate having that back. Nobody allowed it, not until after the briefing.

The whole base gathered for this meeting. The main team sat around a large round table, Colonel Phillips stood by a large bulletin board, and Agent Carter sat beside Steve. Thorax took the last seat left.

DumDum gave him a long, odd stare. Falsworth elbowed him. DumDum elbowed him back. A look from Agent Carter shut them both up.

In their defense, Thorax did change into an eagle in front of them. It's a very strange sight to see your teammate turn into the national creature of another country. He assumed, anyway. He always thought it was weird to see his fellow changeling disguised as ponies.

"Johann Schmidt belongs in a bug house. He thinks he's a god. He's willing to blow half the world prove it, starting with the U.S.A." Phillips reported to the group.

"Schmidt's working with powers beyond our capabilities." Howard Stark warned. "He gets across the Atlantic, he will wipe out the entire eastern sea board in an hour."

"How much time we got?" Jones asked.

"According to my new best friend, twenty four hours." Thorax grimaced at the idea of Zola being anybody's friend. "Hydra's last base is here." He held up a picture of a mountain range. "In the Alps. Five hundred feet below the surface."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Morita asked. The team turned to him. "I mean, it's not like we can just knock on the front door."

"Why not?" Steve asked. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."

"Haha, oh Steve. I finally get the American sarcasm." Thorax laughed. Everyone looked at him. Some were clearly smiling while others were poorly hiding them. "I still don't get American sarcasm, do I?"

DumDum patted his back. He was pushed forward in his chair, nearly knocked out of it. The team just laughed.