A Truly 'Howling' Commando

|8| An Unexpected Arrival

——November 1943——
——??:??——

Memories flashed in front of my eyes as I laid there on the icy cold concrete ground. My muscles were weak from lack of use, but considering I hadn't even twitched for the past 4 hours that wasn't surprising. Oddly enough, I was remembering the winter of 1942 when Bucky went to Wisconsin for training with the 107th. I had stayed behind on that mission due to Steve. He seemed to get into a fight every other day, and Bucky didn't need my help on this trip. So I stayed behind to be a companion for Steve. I remembered walking beside him as we went around Brooklyn, neither of us oblivious to the horrors of war happening all around the world against the Nazis.

They had injected me again, what I assume to be quite a few hours ago, and the pain stopped around four hours before. That was when I stopped moving to rest my aching muscles, and since hadn't found a reason to move at all. Each breath pushed out a soft growl, stopping occasionally as I took a breath.

A muffled whistle sounded and my dark eyes flicked up at the familiar sound. Every once in a while, I would hear Bucky whistle from wherever he was. It would echo down the halls and carry to my room, but it was still muffled from the thick walls. My mouth opened as much as it could in the muzzle as a soft vocalization hummed out from my throat. It was filled with sadness, pain, and woe, but the real noise that echoed through the hallways was me lifting my weak paw and letting the metal shackle fall to the floor with a clang. These back and forth noises somehow acted as sounds of hope to the two of us. My vocalizations could be heard by the entirety of the 107th from their cells, and served as subtle reassurance that I was okay. Although that was a side benefit, Bucky and I simply wanted to know if the other was okay...

I closed my eyes again, one ear was torn a bit with a nick in the side and fresh scars lay hidden under my fur.

A single set of footsteps hurried down the hall and I recognized it as being Arnim Zola, the head scientist of HYDRA. Not a moment later, another set of footsteps came from further down the hall to the left. They were big, belonging to someone at least 6' tall, but the tempo was oddly familiar at the same time. They didn't reach my door, but instead crashed into another one. I didn't hear anything until muffled voices began to get clearer as now two people walked down the hall.

"Did it hurt?" An achingly familiar voice reached my ears; Bucky.

"A little." My ears shot up at that voice. 'No... it isn't him... it can't be... right?'

"Is it permanent?"

"So far!"

I shifted my foot and caused the chain to scrape against the floor. The footsteps stopped nearby my door as they heard it. A soft whimper escaped my jaws as the door was opened, but it turned into a soft growl as an unfamiliar figure walked in. He held a shield and was taller than Bucky, but his baby blue eyes were achingly familiar.

"Mallow?" He sounded shocked and began to walk slowly towards me. I struggled to my feet in the heavy chains and growled a little louder through the muzzle. "It's me, it's Steve."

I froze, my eyes traveling over his face as I began to recognize him. It was Steve... although he was a lot bigger than the 5'6" man we left in Brooklyn. He reached for the shackles around my paws and easily broke them open. He grabbed the muzzle and forced it open before moving to the heavy collar.

I looked up at him, studying his eyes to be sure it really was Steve. The baby blue eyes with the perfect amount of green mixed in to tint the color slightly. I pushed my head into his broad chest and snuggled it against him, a crooning growl rumbling in my throat. the movement reminding me of my stiff muscles as they ached in protest.