Agent Sakuara

GREECE - HYDRA FACTORY

The Red Skull is screaming. "YOU ARE FAILING!"

Zola cringes before him. Around them, Hydra troops search the rubble of another burned factory.

"We are close to an offensive that will shake the planet, Doctor. Yet we are continually delayed because you can't outwit a simpleton with a shield!" Schmidt berated.

Zola gestures at the devastated facility and defended "Sir, this is hardly my area of expertise. I merely develop the weapons, I cannot fire them... And the Allies did not take this installation easily. Your troops fought to the death."

"And now they are dead. I trust you see the problem... Finish your mission, Doctor. Before the American finishes his." He puts his hands on either side of Zola's head, squeezing a little, bringing their faces close. "You have done great things. Do this one more." Zola contemplates his task.

"Sir!" A soldier interrupted. The troops haul the injured plant manager, Velt, from the rubble. Red Skull bids them forward.

"We fought to the last man..." Manager Velt tried to defend.

Dr. Zola cringes as Red Skull pulls his Luger. "Very nearly."

Zola turns away, his face illuminated briefly by an inevitable flash of blue light.

"How's the experiment going on doctor?" Schmidt asked indifferently.

Dr. Zola took a few seconds to regain his composure before answering. "The girl is definitely a lot more sturdy than my other subjects. So I planned for them to undergo the same process she did...unfortunately, his father doesn't agree until now."

"I'm confident that we'll be able to replicate his work. It's only a matter of time. Besides, we have in our hands a more persuasive bargaining chip for the woman. Dr. Erskine is no longer needed." Schmidt smiled creepily. "Make her watch." Then he laughed maniacally.

ALPINE PA.S.S, RUSSIA. JANUARY 1945.

Steve and the Howling Commandos gather on a high plateau. Morita crouches over the transceiver. Jones listens to the transmission. Falsworth wields binoculars. Dugan and Dernier adjust a winch at the cliff's edge. Steve and Bucky stand in conversation.

"The engineer just radioed ahead. Hydra dispatch gave him permission to open the throttle." Jones slipping off the headphones. "Whatever's on this train, they must need it bad."

"Well, they're not going to get it." Morita confidently said.

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Falsworth said. In the binoculars he is using, he can see a far-off, speeding train in the distance. "Because they're moving like the devil."

Steve checks his rifle. Bucky looks over the cliff's edge. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"

"And I threw up?" Steve said.

Bucky looks over the edge again, leery. "This isn't payback, is it?"

Steve looks up with a grin. "Now why would I do a thing like that?"

"Jerk." Bucky replied.

"Punk." Steve countered.

A train whistle shrieks through the pass. In the binoculars, Falsworth can see a futuristic Hydra train approaches. "All aboard, gentlemen! Mind the gap!"

Steve, Bucky and Jones attach T-bars to the cable. Steve said to Bucky and Jones "Okay, this is a very short, very fast train. We've got a ten-second window, tops. Miss it and you're a bug on the windshield."

Dugan checks the speed of the train against his watch and said "Better move it, bugs."

Steve, Bucky and Jones hook to the cable stretching across the pass. Dernier raises his hand and...drops it. Steve jumps shooting away. Jones and Bucky follow.

HYDRA TRAIN - ROOF

The Hydra train rockets along. Steve, Bucky and Jones drop hard onto the slick roof. Jones almost not making it if Bucky didn't help him. The three meet eyes: whew.

HYDRA TRAIN - REAR CAR

Steve kicks open the back door. He and Bucky rush in, weapons ready, only to find nothing. They look at each other. Steve heads for the next car.

Meanwhile, on the roof, Jones crawls toward the engine.

HYDRA TRAIN - MIDDLE CAR

Bucky and Steve bang into the next car and find it empty.

"I thought they were supposed to be hauling something." Bucky anxiously said.

Steve unhooks his shield, wary. "They were." He yanks open the next connecting door, stepping into the Hydra train's forward car. Another darkened car.

Steve and Bucky creep forward then a steel plate drops over the door, sealing them in. The lights brighten, revealing a massive Hydra trooper. Six and a half feet tall and heavily armored, both of his arms sport huge cannons.

Steve and Bucky open fire, but their machine gun bullets bounce uselessly off the trooper's armor.

The trooper takes aim at Steve. The blue pulse blows the shield out of Steve's hand and slams him into the back wall. The shield drops to the floor. The trooper turns to Bucky and fires.

Bucky dives. The blast rips a hole in the wall behind them, outside, a jagged ravine wh.i.p.s past the moonlight. A red light blinks from a camera on the ceiling.

HYDRA TRAIN - ENGINEER'S BOOTH

Dr. Zola watches on a monitor as the trooper presses in on Bucky. He leans into a microphone. "No. Finish the other one." He ordered the trooper.

HYDRA TRAIN - FORWARD CAR

The trooper turns back to Steve as he gets to his feet. The trooper aims at the star on Steve's c.h.e.s.t. Bucky grabs Steve's shield off the floor and leaps in front.

"Bucky, no!" Steve shouted, alarmed.

BAM! The cannon fires, hitting Bucky square in the shield blowing him through the hole in the wall. With a last desperate effort, Bucky snags the jagged edge. The trooper's weapon is momentarily spent by the blast. As it starts to power back up, Steve lunges, grabbing Bucky's slipping hand. Steve starts pulling him back in. Then...BAM. The trooper fires again, vaporizing Bucky's arm into a blue mist.

HYDRA TRAIN - ROOF

On the roof, Jones stares in horror as Bucky's body wh.i.p.s away, tumbling into a bottomless gorge.

HYDRA TRAIN - FORWARD CAR

Steve reaches out in anguish. "BUCKY!" The only response is wind and the clatter of train wheels. The trooper takes another step. Steve grabs his shield and turns, enraged. The trooper fires. This time, Steve holds on, knocking the blast away with his shield. He advances.

HYDRA TRAIN, ENGINEER'S BOOTH

Dr. Zola slams his hand on the console. "Again! Fire again!"

HYDRA TRAIN - FORWARD CAR

The trooper fires again. Steve deflects it and keeps coming. The trooper re-aims. Steve charges, red-eyed. He throws his shield at the trooper.

HYDRA TRAIN - ENGINEER'S BOOTH

The screen goes dark. Dr. Zola swallows, frightened. He turns for the train controls. But he heard a click sound. A .45 presses into his temple.

Jones hangs from the roof, gun arm extended into the window. "Stop this goddamned train."

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - INTERROGATION CELL

In a tabletop, a scr.a.p.e is heard as something is pushed and from the bottom of the frame comes a plate of steak, with potato and broccoli on the side.

Dr. Zola sitting, looked at it suspiciously. "What is this?"

On the other side, Colonel Phillips slides over some silverware. "It's a steak."

Dr. Zola didn't believe it was that ordinary. 'I'm on to you' he thought. "What's in it?"

"Cow? Doctor, do you have any idea how hard it is to get hold of a prime cut like this out here?" Colonel Phillips said.

"I don't eat meat." Dr. Zola stated.

"Ever?" Colonel Phillips raised a brow.

"It disagrees with me." Dr. Zola simply replied.

"How about cyanide? Does that give you a rumbly tummy too?" Colonel Phillips slides the plate to his side and cuts into the meat himself, munching contentedly. "Every Hydra agent we've tried to take alive has cracked a little tablet before we could stop them. But not you. So here's my brilliant theory: you want to live."

"Are you trying to intimidate me, Colonel?" Dr. Zola sarcastically asked.

"I bought you dinner!" He slides a piece of paper over to Dr. Zola, who reads aloud "Given the valuable information he has provided, and in exchange for his full cooperation, Doctor Zola is being remanded to Switzerland—"

"Sent that to DC this morning. Of course, it was encoded...say, you haven't broken those codes, have you? That'd be awkward..." Colonel Phillips explained.

Dr. Zola, without confidence, replied "Schmidt will know this is a lie."

"He's still gonna kill you. You're a liability, Doc. You know more about Schmidt than anyone. Oh, and the last man you cost us was Captain Rogers' closest friend, so I wouldn't count on the very best in protection. Plus...your people kidnapped his woman who was currently pregnant at the time with her step-father." He puts down the utensils. "It's you or him."

Dr. Zola knows he's right. Genuine fear tinges his response. "By the time you act, it will be too late. Schmidt believes he walks in the footsteps of gods. Only the world itself will satisfy him."

"Huh." Colonel Phillips paused for a moment before continuing. "You do realize that's nuts, don't you?"

"The sanity of the plan is of little consequence." Dr. Zola replied.

"And why's that?" Colonel Phillips probed.

"Because he can do it." Dr. Zola said matter-of-factly.

"What's his target?" Colonel Phillips tried again to get more specific information.

Dr. Zola just looks at him, incredulous. "Everywhere."

Colonel Phillips is skeptical but still took his response seriously. "Where's the girl?"

"Even if I say where, I'm pretty sure Schmidt already moved her to another facility when you captured me." Dr. Zola honestly said.

"Dr. Erskine?" Colonel Phillips asked.

Dr. Zola looked at him straight. "Dead."

Colonel Phillips, surprised, asked "Why? I thought Schmidt wants him for the serum he created."

"Well...Schmidt is confident that we can recreate it with the help of Agent Sakura. So the woman is more valuable to him. Schmidt has her son, so the doctor was no longer needed for the subject to follow his every command." There was silence for a moment before Dr. Zola spoke again. "Did you know...that Agent Sakura has regained all of her senses through a series of experiments? And that Dr. Erskine was slowly tortured and brutally killed in front of her?"

Colonel Phillips felt angry and it showed in his face and demeanor.

"Schmidt promised her that her son will undergo a much more worse treatment if she doesn't cooperate." Dr. Zola informed.

"What does he need her for?" Colonel Phillips asked.

Dr. Zola averted his eyes and remained quiet.

THE WHIP & FIDDLE PUB

Agent Carter steps through the make-shift door. Steve sips from a beer at the bar.

"Doctor Erskine told me the serum, wouldn't just work on my muscles and my reflexes. He said it would work in my cells, create a protective system of healing, of regenerating. Which means..." Steve turns to her, somber but clear-eyed. "I can't get drunk. Did you know that?"

"Your metabolism burns three times faster than average. He thought it could be one of the side effects." Agent Carter replied.

"Probably didn't want anybody stealing his schnapps." Steve jokingly said.

"It wasn't your fault." Agent Carter tried to console.

"You read the report?" Steve asked.

"Yes." Agent Carter sighed.

"Then you know that's not true." Steve said severely.

"You did everything you could—" Agent Carter tried to reason out but was cut offed.

"I got in over my head. Bucky waded in and pulled me out, just like he always did. And the one time he needed me to return the favor, I couldn't." Steve felt angry and depressed.

"I doubt it's that simple." Agent Carter retorted.

"All I had to do was hold him." Steve said weakly.

"Did you believe in your friend? Respect him?" Agent Carter asked.

Steve looks up at her. "Of course."

"Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it." Agent Carter seriously said.

Steve stares at his beer. "As soon as I finish this, I'm going after Johann Schmidt. I'm going to burn out every hole there is for him to hide in. And I'm not going to stop until he and all of Hydra are captured or dead. I'm not going to stop searching for Yumhee and our child. I'm going to save them."

Agent Carter nods despite feeling jealous at the woman in his last sentence. Then she takes his beer and drinks it down. "Let's go then."