on_ur_left: ([tws] too many thoughts; introspective)
Steve Rogers ([personal profile] on_ur_left) wrote in [community profile] rogue_america 2017-01-15 09:35 am (UTC)

If Rogue had bristled, Steve would honestly be confused as to why; he'd meant nothing insulting by the comment, merely that as children, everything was always overly wrought with emotions and internalized guilt - Lord knew that's how his own childhood had been - and now she was old enough to understand circumstances and people better.

Kissing her hair after she'd shaken her head, he settled his arms around her a little more securely.

"Well, first of all, I was still doing stage shows. Captain America, proclaiming that everyone could help out the war effort by buying bonds, punching Hitler every night, showing off great feats of strength.

"It went over great in the States. For the troops in Europe, not so much." He gave a huff of self-deprecating humor, time and distance allowing him to see the ridiculousness of the whole thing, how silly it, and he, had been.

"When I was telling Peggy how foolish I felt, after being jeered off the stage after beginning to believe my own hype - she told me this particular troop had had it worse than most, because they'd just suffered a massive defeat, losing 250 of their men, and this was all that was left of the 107th.

"107 was the group Bucky was assigned to. When I went and asked after him, Col. Phillips told me basically if he wasn't dead already, he was as good as. He wasn't going to stage a rescue operation, because he'd already lost too many men. He was right; as a leader, I can understand where he was coming from, but... I couldn't accept that. He told me I wouldn't understand, because I was a glorified chorus girl, and to just keep my head down, and my mouth shut, basically. I didn't accept that, either.

"So I... with Howard and Peggy's help, I dropped from a plane, by myself, into the middle of enemy territory, infiltrated the base where the prisoners were being kept, and..." he shrugged. "Rescued them. All of them. I found Bucky, and we made it out of there.

"I could've been court-martialed. Should've been, actually. I was ready for it. I never thought I'd get away with it without punishment, but I knew I couldn't just leave him there. Even if he-- if he were dead, I had to know. I couldn't leave him," he repeated quietly. "He was one of mine, and you don't just leave someone you love, just because it's not easy, or fun."

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting