Chapter 24: Grand Plans

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS - INTERROGATION CELL

In a tabletop, a scrape 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. She can't deny it anymore. She really did fell deeply in love with Steve, a man she can never have. Sometimes she wonders if Agent Sakura wasn't around anymore to walk the Earth, will she finally have a chance to pursue her love for Steve. And every time she felt guilty thinking that way. She takes his beer and drinks it down. "Let's go then."