Captain America: The Timeless Love

(Story Note: This story will mainly follow the Marvel Movie Universe Canon. It will take place after Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since this is a story about time travel, shit gets very complicated with keeping universes intact. So ill keep this story simple and easy. Plus I suck at titles, just read the meat and ignore my cheesy titles. There will be lots of Steve and Peggy fluff which is the original intention of this story. I did a lot of research and a lot of comic book diving just to figure out how Steve and Peggy could bang each other in a canon Marvel Universe way involving time travel. Enjoy this "new" Marvel Universe I kinda just opened up for the sake of fuckable romance for my favorite Marvel ship of all time.)

Summary: Steve Rogers gets transported back in time to the 1940s. The goal of this story is to have a sappy happy ending for Captain America, Peggy Carter and Bucky Barnes.

Warning: Rated M for sexual themes, violence, language!

Chapter 1 Revival

"Everyone into position?" Captain Rogers whispered as he touched his ear piece. He scanned his visual surroundings looking for the rest of his team.

"I got eyes in the air, the base is just up to your 10 o'clock. I count 8 life readings. 2 outside, 6 on the in." Sam Wilson responded over their radio. Steve briefly caught the Falcon looming in the thick fog above him.

"Alright, we go in fast and quiet." Captain broke into a light jog, the piney wet earth squished under his boots. "We don't wanna scare anyone inside and send them sprawling out thru this forest."

"Yeah the terrain is so dense, no wonder no one found this place." Romanoff retorted. "Hiding right around DC in Anacostia Park, like little moles." The Black Widow could spot Cap trotting towards the base's location, she picked up the pace as well coming in from the left flank.

"Moles do best underground, I doubt they vould run. Not like they vould make it far." Wanda responded, coming up on Steve's right flank.

"Well we cant get too cocky Wanda, Hydra's leaked intel about this special research department was very vague. We don't know what we're about to face." Steve peaked his head over a bush and could see an old fire watch tower. The wood looked very faded and old, the structure beams could use some work. Definitely not a government funded fire watch tower.

"I got two guards in the tower. Want me to take em out Cap?" Sam reported.

"Gas em, we don't want anyone raising a red flag before we find our way in." The other three held position as they watched Sam fly by the tower's edge and threw in a sleeping gas grenade.

"Speaking of red flags, how was that date with Lillian from accounting?" Romanoff's voice chimed in on the radio. "I saw what she was wearing, yikes. It screamed….."

"Is this….really the appropriate segway to be discussing my dating life? And plus how do you know what she was wearing?" Cap shook his head.

"Oh cmon I'm sure Sam and Wanda wanna hear this."

Wanda giggled, "Lillian? Sounds like a cat lady's name."

"Well with a job as boring as accounting, 5 cats would be a welcoming life." Romanoff smirked.

"She's not…" Cap sighed, "She was just too reserved."

"Definitely cat lady material."

Sam cut off the conversation by flying into the tower, the gas had done its effect of knocking out the 2 guards. "Alright I'm in, opening up the main door." With a buzzing sound followed by a screeching metallic door, a secret opening appeared right below the fire watch tower hidden within the tall grass. "And for the record, my great aunt owned like 9 cats and had like 3 husbands."

"Well, I rest my case." Romanoff approached the opening first. It was a steep well with a rusty metal ladder. One by one the team of four descended down into the dark bunker. The air was thick and musty, the cement walls were coated with corrosion and moss. This place had definitely been here for a long time.

Cap led the team down thru the hall, down a dizzying set of stairs and to some heavy metal doors. Romanoff stepped forward towards the door's keypad. With a few minutes of button mashing, Natasha was able to work her magic and the door automatically opened. "Strange, even the technology is ancient, that's a keypad from like the 60s."

The Avengers entered thru the blast doors with their arms at the ready for an attack, but all was quiet. As they entered the giant room, their feet echoed thru, making their presence known. Large computers filled the room, humming with some life.

"Much like their base back in New Jersey eh Steve?" Romanoff scanned the room with her hand hovering over her holstered pistol.

"Yeah old tech and disconnected from any main Hydra operations." Captain America studied the layers of dust on the keyboards, they had been used recently. There were also blueprints plastered over some of the bare walls. As he walked towards the center of the room he noticed an unusual design on the floor. It looked like a man sized disk with lots of tech wired all around it as well as some foreign written characters drawn into the metal.

"Ahhhh Cap." Sam called out. He was on the other side of the room looking at some green tubes that were bubbling with water. Steve squinted to see that there was something in the tubes, some very odd things. There were a few toes in one tube, a partial arm in another and what looked like part of a face in the last one. The 4 stared at the oddity of the tubes, until the arm began to twitch. Wanda gasped and took a step back.

"These three body parts are all cut from the same person." Romanoff pointed out, "Notice the unusual redness hue of the skin ton…" She was cut off by the sound of men shouting.

5 armed Hydra soldiers came bursting thru another entrance into the room, they drew their weapons on them and shouted commands in German. Steve took the first defense and drew his shield forward. He motioned Wanda to stay behind him.

"Captain America. It is wonderful to finally meet you again." A voice came from the other entrance. An old man in a remote controlled wheelchair glided into the room. He must have been about 90 years old and he looked like he hadn't seen the sun in several decades. Steve noted that he had a Russian accent. "Don't worry there is no need for violence, cmon on now men withdraw your weapons. Beruhigen." Slowly the guards lowered their weapons and remained still.

The Avengers loosened up a bit.

The old man wheeled up closer to the team, he smiled humbly at them. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when I would meet you again Captain."

Steve lowered his shield, "You know me?"

"Yes, we met. Oh yes we did. I was once a young scientist who was among the elite group of intellects of Hydra. A master of the art of mixing science and magic. I use to stand by Red Skull's side. But that was a long time ago and look at us now, or rather look at me. A very long time ago that was. And yet, we are still stuck in the same conflict." The old man gestured out a bony finger. "You single handily destroyed the Hydra that was hidden beneath SHIELD and destroyed Project Insight."

The old man looked down at his watch and smiled, he then turned his chair around and went to one of the computers. "If everything was going according to plan, those Helicarriers would be up in the skies right now. It would have already killed people like you by the millions."
"Then what are you doing here? Hiding? We disbanded all Hydra bases of operation and you seem to be the last one." Captain America could tell that his old man was stalling. If he wasn't so eager to fight then he was only prolonging the inevitable.

"This is true. But that's what this base is all about. I was to research and carry out Project Last Hope." The old man pressed a bottom which made the ceiling open up. The morning light shined thru, illuminating the metal center of the room. "If everything had gone according to plan, the Helicarriers would have killed everyone on the planet who was unworthy of Hydra. And with all political leaders and governments destroyed, a new one would take its place. Tell me Captain Steve Rogers." The old man turned to smile at the star spangled hero. "When was the last time you saw Johann Schmidt?"

A shiver ran down his spine, "He was consumed by the power of the Tesseract. The poor bastard got to greedy and flew too close to the sun." Captain America didn't like where this was going.

The old man laughed, "You think that's what happened but I would have to prove you wrong. You've seen it with your own eyes. A portal to another place in another galaxy. That's what the Tesseract is a portal, not a weapon."

"Well I saw the Red Skull get disintegrated by that thing, as I've seen many of my own men as well. Listen Doc, there's no point in arguing. You are outnumbered and outmatched here, give up now and we can make this easy." Steve felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to see Wanda, her face was white.

She swallowed, "I feel something coming."

The old man laughed as he stared at his watch. "Outnumbered? Outmatched? Oh I love proving you wrong." The morning sun was soon covered up by thunderous dark clouds, shrouding the room into darkness once more. The old man's laugh echoed in the lab. The 5 guards holstered their weapons and all took a knee before the metallic center piece of the room. The metal glowed a bright blue, similar to the glow of the Tesseract.

"That's not possible! The Tesseract is safe in Asgard! Another dimension!" Nastasha took several steps back, motioning Sam to do the same.

"You think there's only one form the Tesseract can take?! I'll prove you wrong again!" The old man chuckled.
The room intensified with electricity and the familiar blueish glow. With a roaring thunderous clap, the metal center blasted to life with a bright white light, blinding the 4 heroes. Perched right in the middle of the center was a naked red body. A blue glow came from the body's hand, a small blue gem around a silver band embraced around the finger. And then the finger twitched. The red body stood up. Captain America lowered his shield from the blinding light and stared dumbfounded at the man who appeared from the beam of light. It was Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull. His body looked massive, large muscles, pulsing veins, lean flesh. His face was the dead giveaway about how old he really was. There were more wrinkles, but he certainly looked more powerful than he remembered.

The Red Skull opened up his deep sunken eyes. He looked down at his hands, and then his feet. "Dr. Braunein. It appears that together we have finally mastered a full transformation. I'm no longer just a torso like I was last time." Schmidt's voice was deeper and more confident than Steve remembered. The Red Skull scanned the room and he froze to see that familiar Star Spangled Shield. His immediate reaction was a burst of laughter. A dark echoing cackle. "Captain Steve Rogers. My my. The Doctor was telling me how you stupidly crashed my ship into the Atlantic, froze your ass and woke up 70 years later. He also told me that you are working for SHIELD."

The old man interjected by raising a black coat and pants for the Red Skull to adorn. "Ah sir, if I may catch you up to date. Captain Rogers …"

"Oh I know. I know about what happened to Project Insight and the disbandment of Hydra." The Red Skull accepted the clothes.

Sam Wilson glanced at Rogers and then to Schmidt, "Cap what's going on? Who is this guy?"

"The founder of Hydra during World War 2." Romanoff's eyes were white with fear. It was a sight Sam had never seen from her before and it scared him. "He has the same abilities as Steve."

Wanda shook her head, "No, he has an energy about him that is not like Steve's at all. It is beyond even my level of power."

The Red Skull chuckled silently at their comments. After tugging firmly on the collar of his coat, he turned on his heels to face Captain America. He held up his hand, "I'm not usually one for jewelry, but to answer your burning question Steven, I'm here because of this. Its called the Cosmic Ring. A high concentration of the Tesseract's power. Little did I know that upon touching the Tesseract that I would be disintegrated and have my molecules spread out in 2 different galaxies. Galaxies that I never knew existed until I remained there for about 15 years trying to build by body back together. Molecule by molecule. Turns out old Abraham Erskine's Super Serum combined with the power of Tesseract allowed myself to fully regenerate and withstand the climate of space. I discovered that I could use the Cosmic Ring to travel thru space. I made it my mission to return back to earth, to finish what I started. And kill you." Schmidt paced across the floor, "My first attempts getting to earth were challenging, mastering the art of teleportation over the stretch of 30 galaxies took years and several failed attempts." He gestured to the green tubes behind them. "Eventually Dr. Braunein discovered my body parts and knew it was a sign, a sign for my eventual return to Hydra. Over the last decade of trying and failing to get my whole body together here, Dr. Braunein has told me about you. In between my screams of pain of having my body split into different galaxies, he told me all about your recovery from the ice, your run in with the Tesseract, your disobedience with SHIELD, your discovery of the Winter Solider and your dismantling of my empire."

The Red Skull shook his head, the room was silent. A twisted smile creeped across his face, "You may have been frozen in ice for 70 years, but I have been plotting for 70 years for my revenge on you."

With quick speed, faster than Captain America, the Red Skull charged forward and punched Steve's Shield. The force of the blow, knocked Steve several feet back. Sam responded by taking flight and dropping down for an aerial kick attack. The Red Skull easily grabbed Sam's leg in mid air and threw him across the room with only one hand. Natasha drew her guns and fired at Red Skull's head, he flinched at the bullets as they impacted his skull, but he didn't seem to mind the pain. He charged forward at Romanoff and the two engaged in a brief hand to hand combat. Clearly the Red Skull had the upper hand both in strength and speed. Within 5 moves he was able to grab hold of Romanoff's throat and began squeezing. She wheezed and punched his inner elbow but to no avail. Cap's shield lunched into the Red Skull's stomach, making him drop Romanoff. She gasped for air.

Just like old times, Captain America and the Red Skull were engaged in a fist fight. Steve could see that Schmidt's fighting style was sloppy. It had been decades since he sparred with anyone, but clearly he was outweighing Steve in strength. His blows knocked him off his feet, his kicks broke a few of his ribs, his stance was overpowering.

"Ha I thought you would have gotten better over the years." The Red Skull threw a massive upper cut to Steve's jaw, making him spin off his feet. He got up on his elbows and spit out some blood. Steve looked over at Wanda, she was cowering in a corner of a room. She barely had any combat training other than that fight with Ultron and a few small Hydra missions.

For what was suppose to be a simple research team extraction mission turned into something far out of their league.

"Wanda go! Go get Tony and Vision!" Steve yelled out.

"Oh no, that wont work." The Red Skull grabbed hold of Steve's collar and yanked him to his feet. "You see Captain, beating you senseless isn't my plot for revenge. Its too simple, too easy. And frankly I'm wasting time with it. Dr. Braunein, start up the systems." Schmidt dragged Steve over to the metal center, the machine hummed to lift. The blue gem in Schmidt's hand began to glow.

"Steve!" Natasha screamed, she got to her feet and raced towards Schmidt. She pounced on top of his shoulders and stabbed his face with her knife. Schmidt let out a startled scream. He used his free hand to grab Natasha's waist and throw her off his back. She was flown across the room and landed on top of Sam. Schmidt grinned with the knife still lounged into his eye socket.

"I bid you elude Doctor, I'll be seeing you….in another time." Electricity began to pulse around the circle, the blinding light returned. "You know Captain I haven't tried this before. But it seems that you and I are out of place in this generation. What year is it Dr. Braunein?" The Red Skull craned his head over to the old man's direction.

"2016 sir!" He called over the growing pulses of the machines.

"2016, how does 1947 sound to you Captain? The year that SHIELD was first founded. I must warn you, this may hurt quiet a lot so it would be best to hold your breath." The Red Skull firmly took hold of Captain's collar and the Cosmic Ring enveloped them both in a sphere of blue light.

"STEVE STEVE!" Sam called to the sphere of light, but within the blink of an eye the light vanished.

Pain overwhelmed Steve, it felt like his body was taking on an incredible G force. His skin vibrated and his bones rattled. In between passing out from the force, he could see the sphere moving their environment. Trees, buildings, cities passed them by. Even the sun and the moon rapidly ran across the sky overhead. The Red Skull chuckled at his struggle, blood still poured from his eye socket and his few bullet wounds on his head.

Then suddenly it all came to crashing halt. Steve was met with solid ground as Schmidt carelessly dropped him. Steve gasped for air like he got the wind knocked out of him. His head wouldn't stop thumping, his hands trembled. His skin felt like he had severe road rash. All in all, it felt like he was hit with freight train. Multiple times.

The Red Skull loomed over him, barely fazed. He paced around smirking, "Ahhhhh, this feels like home doesn't it Steve?"

Weakly Steve craned his head up from the dirt. He knew this dirt ground, he was all too familiar with it. Many a times he had face-planted in this soil when he was a younger man. He was in Camp Lehigh, New Jersey. But how was that possible, a nuke had destroyed the camp after Romanoff and he discovered the living remains of Doctor Armin Zola.

"This is where the real fun begins. Where it all starts again for Hydra, I shall try again from the ashes of your loved ones." The Red Skull gestured over to Steve's right. From the distance he could see a couple of men dressed in suits all with hand guns drawn. Their attire was not similar to that of any "modern" assemble.

The men began circling around the Red Skull and Captain America, a few stayed behind to stand guard behind an artillery bunker door.

"Gentlemen!" The Red Skull confidently stood before them.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Stand down now! You are trespassing on private property!" One of the men shouted.

"No I think I'm right where I want to be." Without a moment's hesitation, the Red Skull lunged at the man and punched his face into the ground, killing the man instantly.

The other guards immediately began firing at Schmidt, but to no avail. Bullets were just not affecting him. He gleamed his white teeth and began charging the other guards.

"No!" Steve couldn't take it, no more men had to die, not SHIELD agents. Steve sprinted at Schmidt with all his force he had left in him, he was able to knock him to the ground. Captain threw a few punches to his face. He hammered Romanoff's knife further into his eye socket. The Red Skull grunted in distain.

But the Red Skull had him outmatched in power, he placed his foot underneath Captain's chest and shoved him off. Steve tumbled backwards, colliding with the guards. The men were able to catch Steve, they stared at him with disbelief. Their eyes were wide and they were rendered speechless.

"We need bigger guns and more men. You guys got any?" Steve grunted as he held his chest, yup that kick further broke his already broken ribs.

One of the men was already on it, with a walkie talkie in hand.

"I'll keep him distracted. Keep the focus here. And then come in on all sides." Steve got to his feet and staggered a bit. He readjusted the straps on his shield and prepared for possibly the most intense combat of his life.

"Sir?" The guard with the walkie talkie stopped him, "Director Carter would like you to prove your identity, and to be honest I'm having a hard time believing it myself sir."

So he really was back in time, this was the original base of when SHIELD was first created. Peggy Carter was here, she was at this base. If he wasn't in such immense pain, he would crack more of a smile. "Tell her that I still owe her that dance, I'll be there 8 o'clock sharp this Friday."

Without another word, Steve clenched his fist and staggered forward towards the Red Skull. He was prepared to give this fight his all.

Steve rushed at Schmidt and punched at him with his right hand. Schmidt countered as Steve expected, he followed thru with his left arm slicing at Schmidt with his shield. It impacted his chest and pushed him back. Schmidt grew angrier. With a swift motion he yanked the knife that was lodged in his eye socket by Romanoff and sliced back. The air filled with the sounds of metal whipping around, punches hitting shield, kicks and fists being dodged. Steve was gaining the ability to match Schmidt's aggressive boxer style but certainly not his strength. Steve was getting hammered with his fists. If this fight continued, he would surely loose.

As Steve spat out another mouthful of blood, he became aware that he wasn't gonna last much longer. His strength was failing him, it was becoming harder to think. His brain was still scrambled from the Cosmic Ring and the overwhelming feeling of being back in his era. It was too much, it was all too much.

As Schmidt crackled once again at Steve, another sound blasted thru the air. Heavy artillery fire and convoys. Out of nowhere 5 large army jeeps with 10 men each came storming out from the bunker, tanks and a large artillery gun that had Stark's name written all over it both in design and literally.

Steve rolled into a ball and took cover under his shield as the tanks and armed soldiers opened fire upon the fighting grounds. The air sprayed with dirt and fire, and the screams and grunts of Schmidt. Steve peaked over the edge of his shield to see that the bombardment of bullets had Schmidt down on his knees. The jeep carrying the large Stark weapon planted its anchors and prepared to fire. He could see a tiny man with a mustache jump to the controls of the massive gun. He was waving his arms and shouting. Steve took it as a signal to run. The gunfire decreased and Steve got to his feet and sprinted towards the jeeps. The Stark gun fired a blast of green and hit the Red Skull right in the chest. He howled in agony as his muscles began to contort and twist, shattering his bones in different places.

As Steve neared the Stark weapon, he could see 3 people manning the jeep. 3 very familiar faces. Faces he thought he'd never see again like this. Behind the wheel was Colonel Chester Philips. The man hoping down from the Stark weapon was his old dear friend and genius Howard Stark. And the woman in the passenger side ordering her men to stand down was her. Peggy Carter. All 3 of them were looking at him with different expressions of disbelief. Philips couldn't stop blinking. Howard was smiling and shaking his head. And Peggy, she seemed very keen on getting out of the jeep. Her eyes never left his as she exited the vehicle and broke into a sprint towards him. Her eyes became more and more gentle the closer she got. Steve couldn't tell if she was going to burst into tears or run up to him for an embrace. In fact he didn't know if we would do either. He was so choked up he didn't know how to respond.

Once Peggy was within a foot of him, without any kind of warning, she slammed him hard across the cheek with her hand. The slap echoed and it made all of her men flinch at the sound. Steve's jaw, which already felt dislocated from all of Schmidt's punches, definitely was broken after her hit.

"You're late." Her voice trembled.

Steve gave a small chuckle, "Sorry, my ride crashed in the Atlantic and then a lot of crazy stuff happened after that."

Gentle hands captured Steve's face. Soft lips locked on to his. A lush warm relief overcame him, as if his broken body was healed in that one instant. It was just Peggy and him in that moment, united after such hardship and distance. Steve embraced her, holding her close. This whole fight felt like a bad dream, the return of the Red Skull and being transported back thru time. Peggy was his angel who would wake him up in the end of this bad dream.

They parted after what felt like minutes of an intense embrace. Steve could see the gleam in Peggy's eyes, soft tears of joy threatened to fall. But her smile remained determine to stand strong.

"Hey Peg!" Howard shouted, shattering the moment. They both turned in his direction, he looked frightened as he pointed towards the Red Skull.

Schmidt, a limp broken mess, was struggling to get up. The Stark gun had broken nearly every bone in his body due to intense muscle contraction reaction. But the Cosmic Ring's glow illuminated around his body, all his joints cracked back into place and the bones began to reset at an inhuman rate.

"Well that's very abnormal." Howard commented as he backed up towards the weapon.

As Schmidt set his bones back by hand, he began chuckling again. Steve was getting really tired of this joke. "Well Captain this couldn't have played out more perfectly. Here I thought I could dig out the founders of SHIELD and wipe them out, but I've stumbled on something even more personal haven't I?" He stood tall again, it looked like there was barely a scratch on him. "Soldaten, attacke!" He shouted angrily as he raised his hand.

On that command, several men from the 5 jeeps as well as 2 tanks turned their guns towards their fellow other soldiers and began opening fire. The startled soldiers scattered as several of their brothers fell at the hands of their mutinous comrades.

Colonel Phillips grabbed his shotgun and ducked for cover beside the jeep, "Son of a bitch!" He opened fire at some of his mutinous soldiers. Howard took cover behind his large Stark weapon. Steve threw his shield in front of Peggy as several shots were fired in their direction. Peggy pulled out her hand gun.

"Steve, what's going on? Why are some of my own men firing at us?" Peggy shouted over the sound of the bullets bouncing off the shield.

"Long story! Short summary, Hydra has its hands under SHIELD. Schmidt's return has brought them out." Steve grabbed Peggy and made a dash for Philips and Howard's jeep.

"Hydra double agents huh?!" Philips responded, "Well this just gets better and better. Anything else that could possibly get any worse?" The jeep took another bullet hell.

Steve gritted his teeth as he analyzed a new plan of attack, "That gun is the only thing we got against Schmidt, we need to keep firing it at him. It will give me a chance to sweep in and grab that ring off his finger. It's a miniature tesseract. Without that ring, he can't regenerate. Grab the rest of your men and go on the defensive. We take out Schmidt, they'll surrender."

The Colonel smiled wide, "Aye Aye Captain." Carter and Philips stepped out of cover and fired several shots at the gang of Hydra double agents. Many of their bullets took down several men. A handful of SHIELD agents saw Carter and Philips stand, they rushed towards the jeep to guard their founders.

Stark hopped on top of the weapon again. This time he readjusted his target on the several Hydra agents. In a flash of green, 3 men fell to the ground hollering in pain as every muscle contracted in their body, straining and breaking their skeletal systems.

With the line cleanly divided now, Steve could take on his opponent. The Red Skull had just finished rearranging all his bones again. He stared Steve down with that same mocking grin.

"If you continue to fight, I'll only make this more….." Schmidt was cut off with another blast from the Stark weapon. He hollered in rage more than pain this time. He collapsed to the ground again but this time the green light was infused with the growing blue light from his ring. In the blink of an eye, Schmidt had disappeared.

A scream from behind made Steve turn towards the jeep. Schmidt had reappeared in front of the gun, a solid body once again. He grabbed the tip of the gun and collapsed the barrel. He shot an annoyed glare at Howard who was aboard the weapon still.

Howard stared at him with horror, he didn't know what scared him more: Schmidt's ability to teleport or the destruction of their only force against him.

"I grow tired of your games. I've waited 70 years for the moment. Now I wanna see you cry in agony Rogers!" The Red Skull's face was no longer menacing, he looked dead set on something diabolical. He began ripping the gun out from the ground. Howard scrambled off the weapon and lied in the dirt feeling helpless. Schmidt raised the gun above his head and stood threateningly before Howard. A gunshot impacted Schmidt's right hand, causing him to drop it on his shoulders. He grunted and let the weapon collapse to the ground. He looked at his injured hand and turned towards the origin of the bullet.

Peggy stood firm a few feet away from Schmidt, "Philips, grab Mr. Stark and head for cover now!" Philips abandoned his cover and ran for Howard. He yanked him to his feet and they dashed towards a friendly tank.

Peggy fired another round to his head, it left a mark but didn't stop him. Schmidt turned on his heels and walked towards her.

"NO!" Steve screamed from the distance as he ran for Peggy. He threw his shield, aiming for Schmidt's head. He easily blocked it with his forearm, the shield lodged into the dirt.

Peggy emptied her clip on his head but it didn't stop him. When he was in arm's length, he reached out with his hand and attempted to grab her. Carter countered with a sweeping kick, but Schmidt followed thru with a fast lounge with his other arm. His red ringed hand clasped around Peggy's throat, with ease he lifted her off her feet.

Carter clasped both of her hands around his wrist, she choked and gasped for air. Schmidt turned to Steve who arrived too late.

"That's close enough Captain, one more step and I'll crush her neck like a twig."

Steve remained frozen in his tracks, his mind raced for a solution but it was all too risky. Not with Peggy in his clutches. "Put her down Schmidt, this fight is between you and me."

Schmidt laughed again, "This is part of the fight you imbecile. I knew friends of yours founded SHIELD. I planned to kill all 3 of them, letting Hydra take their places. But it gets better than that, I'm shocked to discover your connection with this woman. I can't wait to see your reaction when she dies."

As Schmidt was talking with his head turned to Steve, Peggy snapped off one of her bracelets and wrapped it around Schmidt's wrist. By pressing a switch on the end of the link and using a downward motion, the bracelet became a razor sharp hot wire. The wire sliced off Schmidt's hand, releasing Peggy. Schmidt gripped his arm and screamed. Ceasing the moment, Steve tackled him to the ground throwing a series of punches. His head whipped back and forth with each punch. Steve didn't think it was possible but the Red Skull's face was growing redder with rage. With a terrible cry, the Red Skull shoved Steve off.

The two got to their feet, both panting and feeling a little punch drunk. The Red Skull looked down at his severed hand, and for the first time that stupid smug was replaced with distress. His Cosmic Ring was on that hand.

Peggy, who was still coughing from being strangled, held up his severed hand. The Cosmic Ring shimmered in the sun on the lifeless ring finger. The Red Skull cussed in German and made a lunge at Carter. But Steve stood in the way with his shield in hand. He prayed he had just enough strength in him to finally end this.

As the gunfire continued to ring thru the air between the Hydra and SHIELD agents, a subtle thunderstorm began creeping in from the north. A distance rumble of thunder was hidden under the gunfire.

Steve could see fire in Schmidt's eyes, he was fuming. The Red Skull was going into a berserk rage. With what might be his last battle cry, he jumped at Steve with his fist in the air. Bone met with shield but Schmidt kept throwing punches with his only fist. He used his wounded arm as a guard. He was much faster than before, more anger behind his punches, more hatred in each step. Steve was running out of strength to block his punches, and he was getting too dizzy from all the smacks to his face. His chest ached from the broken ribs, each heartbeat and every breath rattled the damaged bones. His vision was going in and out of focus, this wasn't good. He couldn't pass out now.

Rain began to fall as Schmidt continued his bombardment of punches and kicks. Steve couldn't feel the rain on his face, it was so swollen and numb. His clothes became damp with the rain and they felt heavier. As lightening clashed across the sky, Schmidt jumped in the air again. Steve brought his shield up high for a fist block. But Schmidt faked him out, instead he went for a kick. It was aimed right for his chest. There wasn't enough time to block him. The powerful blow knocked him off his feet, a spray of blood bursted from his mouth.

Peggy watched as Steve fell backwards into the mud. The world felt like it slowed down as her heart sped up with adrenaline. The Red Skull loomed over Steve's broken body, he got down on his knees and was reeling back to deliver another brigade of punches. In her haste, she got to her feet, her bracelet in her hand. As Schmidt threw his fist forward, Peggy wrapped the tiny wire in front of his throat. With all her might she pulled back, Schmidt let out a screaming gag as the hot wire cut into his throat and syringed the skin. The harder he struggled the tighter Peggy held it against his neck. She could feel the wire's tension coming closer towards her as it dug thru muscle and then bone. With a sudden snap, the Red Skull had left its body and toppled into the mud.

Peggy let out a choked gag, it took everything she had not to stare at what she just did. She threw the lifeless headless body off of her and kept her focus on Steve. His chest was heaving rapidly.

"Steve! Oh my god Steve!" Peggy kneeled down by his side. Her shaking fingers fumbled with the chin strap to remove his head piece. She cupped his swollen cheeks. She stared deep into his blueish eyes, the only part of him that was unbroken or bruised. His face lit up when he saw her, she smiled back.

"Hi."

Steve swallowed and let out a raspy, "Hi." He cleared his throat, "So the Stork Club is pretty far from here. Should we take a cab?"

Peggy let out a giggle and a contented sigh, this was definitely her Captain. "I know a driver who can take us."

"Good." Steve attempted to sit up to get out of the mud. His entire chest screamed with pain and forced him back down, Peggy soothed his cheek.

"Hold up there big guy." Howard came rushing towards Steve's left side. "You just got here, we don't need you banged up any more than you already are." Howard pulled out a syringe loaded with some weird blue substance. He stuck it into his left collarbone, "Plus now that you're here you get to try my new miracle drug. A combo of morphine and fast acting collagen." He gave Steve a light tap on the shoulder.

"Glad to see you too Howard." Steve said with a sarcastic tone but finished with a genuine smile. It was good to see one of his best friends again.

"You two hold tight I'm gonna grab a ride to the hospital." Howard dashed away towards the jeep and picked up a portal radio phone. As they looked across the battle field, they could see several Hydra agents all lined up with their hands up. SHIELD agents were disposing of weapons and seeing to their fallen comrades. It had finally ended. The rain began to glisten as the sun peaked out between the massive storm clouds. Steve looked back up at Peggy, the sun light casted her in a warm glow. She really was an angel. She stared down at him with those soft hazel eyes. A raindrop or perhaps a tear trickled down her cheek. Steve raised a rough beaten hand to wipe it away, she smiled back. Without really thinking, she craned her head down to embrace his lips once more with hers. They were swollen and cut but still tender and gentle. Steve clasped the back of her head to deepen the kiss, she responded back with a little more force.

"Ouch." Steve pulled away holding his jaw.

Peggy laughed and soothed his cheek with a light finger, "Maybe we should hold off doing that."

"Ah but it was worth the pain just to kiss you one more time."