Agent Sakuara

Agent Carter walked slowly to Steve and Bucky. "Captain." She smiled and greeted Steve.

Steve stood up and greeted her back. "Agent Carter."

"Ma'am." Bucky also greeted her.

"Howard's got some equipment for you to try. Tomorrow morning?" Agent Carter informed.

"That sounds fine." Steve replied.

The Howling Commandos start singing again. Terribly.

"I see your crack squad is prepping for duty." She observed.

"You don't like music?" Bucky asked.

"I do, actually." Then she eyes Steve. "I may even, when this is all over, go dancing."

Bucky grins and nods at the dance floor. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"The right partner." Agent Carter smiles at Steve and heads out. "08:00, Captain."

"Yes ma'am. I'll be there." Though feeling awkward, Steve politely replied.

Bucky stares, puzzled. Steve pats him on the shoulder. "I need your help."

Steve started to narrate to his best friend all the things that happened to him since the day he met Yumhee until to the news of her being pregnant and that she, with her father, was abducted by Schmidt. He also asked for Bucky's help regarding with the issue with Agent Carter. At first, he dismissed the idea that Agent Carter has feelings for him. But ever since that day he returned with the P.O.W.'s, he had confirmed that Agent Carter do have an interest in him. Though he and Yumhee became public with their relationship, only a few people actually knew about it. But he really thought that the military is aware of it, especially those within Colonel Phillips' close group. Besides, they're the ones responsible of handling Dr. Erskine and his daughter's safety.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - STARK'S LAB

Robot claws handle the cube cartridge inside a blast chamber. Outside, Howard examines it as his engineer takes notes.

"Emission signature is unusual. Alpha, beta and gamma ray neutral. Though I doubt Rogers picked up on that." Mr. Stark commented.

He gently removes a glowing pellet. "Hmm. Looks harmless enough." Mr. Stark steers the robot claw, extending a sparking wire. "Hard to see what all the fuss is ab—" He touches the wire to the pellet then BOOM! An explosion blows out the windows of the blast chamber and sends him slamming against the far wall. When the dust settles, Howard looks over at his engineer and instructed "Write that down." The engineer writes it down.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS

A pretty W.A.C., Pvt. Lorraine, reads STARS & STRIPES: "P.O.W. CAMP LIBERATED, MIRACLE TREK ACROSS ENEMY LINES."

"Excuse me, I was looking for Mr. Stark?" Steve asked.

Without looking up, Pvt. Lorraine replied "I think he went to look for a broom." She looks up. The real-life Steve stands over her. She slips into a smile. "Of course, you're welcome to wait."

Steve sits, hesitant. Lorraine swivels in her chair. He watches her legs cross.

"I read about what you did." Pvt. Lorraine said, still smiling.

"Oh, I was just doing what needed to be done." Steve politely commented.

"Sounded like more than that. You saved nearly two hundred men." Pvt. Lorraine debated.

"Really. It wasn't a big thing." Steve still humbly replied.

"Tell that to their wives." Pvt. Lorraine said.

"I...don't think they were all married." Steve joked.

"You're a hero." Pvt. Lorraine seriously said.

Despite himself, Steve smiles. "Well, maybe. Depending on whose definition—"

"The women of America owe you their thanks." Then glancing around, she continued "And seeing as they're not here..."

Steve's eyes go wide as she leans in and tries to kiss him. He stiffens...then put his hands on her shoulders and push her gently.

"I'm sorry...but I already have a wife. And I very much love her and our child." Steve softly said to her so she won't feel that embarrassed if anyone walked in on him rejecting her. Though he and Yumhee are technically still not married, but for him they already are. Especially now that they are having a baby.

After declaring that, they noticed Agent Carter standing by the desk. Pvt. Lorraine leaps back, fl.u.s.tered. Agent Carter just stares coldly.

"Captain. We're ready for you...if you're not otherwise occupied." She stalks out the door and clicks down the hall.

"Agent Carter. Wait a second." Steve wanted to talk to her and clear everything between them but she doesn't break stride. Steve catches up to her.

"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all." Agent Carter snapped.

Steve was confused. "What?... Nevermind." He shakes his head and continued "We really need to talk." He looked at her in the eyes, his tone gravely serious.

"I don't think we need to talk about anything, Captain. Not one thing." She continues toward a metal door at the end of the hall. "You wanted to be a soldier. Now you are one. Just like all the rest."

Steve stops, confused and frustrated. He really doesn't have that much experience with ladies. It never even crossed his mind that he would one day be rejecting women. He can only think of directly explaining the truth. "I don't really understand what you're on about right now, but I would just like to let you know that Yumhee and I are together. Way before I became 'Captain America'. And just as I said to the woman back there, I'm sorry...but I very much love her and we're actually having a baby already."

Peggy wh.i.p.s around, cold. "Are you bloody serious right now? Are you telling me that all this time, it's just my imagination that you're flirting with me?"

Steve was stunned. He was clearly at a loss for words. He really wanted to ask 'When have I ever flirted with you?' but seeing her expression, he opted to just apologize. "I'm really sorry Agent Carter if I led you to believe that something can start between us. Please believe me that it never was my intention to do so."

Agent Carter storms down a corridor without saying anything. Steve watches her back, at a loss.

"Wow...I never knew that you and Yumhee..." Mr. Stark was surprised.

Steve turns. Howard Stark stands in the now-open metal door.

"Anyway...I advice that you don't go near her for now my friend. Seeing how mad she is, I'm afraid that she might kill you." Mr. Stark laughed.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - STARK'S LAB

Howard Stark leads Steve across his brand new lab. His techs unwrap and install futuristic machines. Workers replace the blast-shattered windows. Mechanics tuneup a motorcycle.

"I really didn't know how else I could have said that any better." Steve felt tired.

"Well...I don't think there's actually a nicer or better way." Howard Stark replied.

Howard Stark stops Steve at collection of high-tech fabrics. "For now, just concentrate on work like I do. Which at the moment is making sure you and your men don't get killed." He unrolls an impressive gray metallic weave. "Carbon polymer. Ought to hold its own against your average German bayonet. Of course, Hydra's not likely to come at you with a pocket knife..."

He turns to Steve's battered shield lying on a worktable. "I hear you're sort of attached."

Steve traces a bullet hole. "It's handier than you might think."

"So's the hotel chambermaid, but I wouldn't take her into battle." Howard Stark pulls up a cart with a number of shields, some built, some half-finished. "I took the liberty of coming up with a few options." Picking one up "This one's fun. It's fitted with transistorized relays."

Steve pulls out a plain, round shield from the bottom shelf. He spins it between his palms. It's light, balanced. Steve pings the simple shield. It rings like a bell. "What about this one?"

"Oh, that's just a prototype. Now this one—" But Steve asked him another question, cutting him off. "What's it made of?"

"Vibranium. Stronger than steel and a third of the weight." Howard Stark replied. Steve slides the shield onto his arm. "It's completely vibration absorbent. Should make a bullet feel like a cotton ball." He added.

Behind them, Agent Carter enters the lab.

"How come it's not standard issue?" Steve is genuinely curios.

"It's the rarest metal on earth. You're holding all we've got." Howard Stark admitted.

Agent Carter reaches them, icy. "Are you about finished, Mr. Stark? I'm sure the Captain has some more pressing matters."

Steve smiles. She doesn't. He lifts the shield. "What do you think?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Agent Carter looks at him, expressionless. Then she turns to a table of guns, picks one up and fires at Steve's c.h.e.s.t. Three shots. He blocks them. The slugs flatten and drop to the ground.

"I think it works." She stalks out of the room. Steve and Howard watch her go for a long moment.

"About my uniform..." Steve decided to dismiss what just happened, but still in high alert. He hands Mr. Stark a sketch. Neither takes his eyes off Agent Carter. "I had some ideas."

"Whatever you want, sport." Howard Stark replied.

FRANCE - HYDRA FACTORY. DECEMBER 1943.

A door crashes open, revealing Steve dressed in his red, white and blue battle uniform, firing a Tommy gun. Bullets bounce off his red, white and blue vibranium shield. The Invaders pour in behind him, blasting away.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - BRIEFING ROOM

Agent Carter replaces an X with an SSR flag on the Hydra map.

BELGIUM - HYDRA FACTORY. JANUARY 1944.

Steve and the Howling commandos fan out across the blazing battleground, wreaking havoc.

The Red Skull roars up to the ruined factory in his car. He glares at the destruction as his windshield reflects the flames.

POLAND - HYDRA FACTORY. FEBRUARY 1944.

Through a sniperscore, Steve stalks a bombed-out factory. The scope wh.i.p.s to see a Hydra gunman aiming at Steve. Bucky shoots the man. The sniper falls. Steve clocks it and gives the thumbs up to Bucky. Bucky grins behind the gun.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - BRIEFING ROOM

Agent Carter replaces another X with an SSR flag. She looks down to the next X, somewhere in Poland.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA - HYDRA FACTORY. AUGUST 1944.

The Howling Commandos scramble out the side doors of a Hydra factory. They dive for cover and wait. No explosion. They peer out from their cover. 'Where the hell is Steve?' Everyone thought. Then Steve crashes through a factory window on his motorcycle. They heard a booming sound. The factory behind him explodes. He hits the ground, roaring toward them.

FROZEN WOODS

The woods stand white and silent. Then six white figures rise out of the snow like ghosts. The Howling Commandos shake off the snow and creep forward. Then a seventh figure rises. Steve in full red, white and blue. A rifle cracks, a bullet bounces off his shield. Steve spins and hurls his shield where the bullet came from. A Hydra sniper falls out of a far tree. The Howling Commandos gape.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - BRIEFING ROOM

Agent Carter drops a Hydra flag into a box and picks up an SSR flag. She sticks it in the map.

HYDRA FACTORY

Steve and Jones ride in the back of a jeep as Dugan drives away from the burning factory. A Hydra fighter plane swoops over them, guns blazing. Steve blocks with his shield as Jones opens up his .30 cal. The plane bears down. Jones stitches it up the middle. It catches fire, spins out of control and crashes ahead of them. Dugan slows to a stop. The three of them stare, impressed.

FOREST

Dernier runs through the woods, a bomb tucked under his arm. Parallel to him, a Hydra fast-track races along a road. Dernier rolls under the fast-track. He magnets the bomb to the bottom of the vehicle as it roars over him. He jumps to his feet in time to see the fast-track explode.

BATTLEFIELD

The Howling Commandos race across a field as the landkruezer bears down on them. They're almost to safety when Dugan's hat flies off his head, landing in the path of the oncoming tank. Dugan runs back for it. The rest of the men shout "Stop!" Dugan dives, grabbing the bowler and rolling out of the way. He wedges the hat on his head, smug. Then he realizes the tank has turned and is coming right at him.

Then, from nowhere Steve dives over Dugan and grabs the tank's cannon barrel. He flips himself into the air and lands atop the turret. Steve spots a glowing energy housing, marked "EXPLOSIVE!" He raises his shield high and brings it down. The tank grinds to a halt. Steve raises the shield again. The house crackles. Sparks fly. Steve brings the shield down one last time. An ominous drone begins to rise. Steve takes a running leap off the tails as the tank explodes.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - BRIEFING ROOM

Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips are watching the footage of the Howling Commandos in action. The camera moves past Falsworth and Dernier drinking from their canteens. Dugan drinks from a flask. Bucky and Steve survey a valley. The camera focuses on Steve's open compass. Taped to the inside is a picture of Agent Sakura. Agent Carter leans forward, a myriad of emotions flashing in her eyes, jealousy being the prominent one. The camera wh.i.p.s up. Steve stares right at the camera, pissed. He snaps the compass shut.

Colonel Phillips eyes Agent Carter, concerned. She stares at the screen and sneers.