//------------------------------// // Get Burned // Story: Thorax: Cavalry Drone // by Authora97 //------------------------------// Thorax’s shift outside the lab ended. Zola stayed behind. A new soldier came to take his place. He tried to convince the other soldier to let Thorax cover this shift too, but the HYDRA soldier simply took his place and didn’t allow protest. Queen-dammit. Thorax wished he could pull that off. He’d lost any confidence that he gained. That phone call gutted him in all the worst ways. Months of waiting for her, wanting to hear her oh so perfect excuse, thinking it wouldn’t measure up to his months of torment. In the end, Morgan gave the perfect excuse. What did Thorax do to his loving, insane wife in return? He yelled at Morgan. Morgan, love of his life, and he yelled at her. Terrible, mean things to her. It’s not like he meant to say all of those things! Thorax just got so frustrated. Four months alone does that to a changeling. Four days apparently did that to her. A part of him kept reminding him about that. She suffered too. For a while, he thought she was also suffering four months without him. Thorax sighed, slumping against the cot. He needed to move. Being stuck here wasn’t doing anything to help him. He pulled the blanket over himself. He made sure it covered him completely. In a green flash, he was a fly. He buzzed out from the cot. With the other soldiers none the wiser, too deep in dreamland to notice him. Thorax buzzed off. It took no time at all to reach Zola’s lab. He wasn’t given a second glance. Thorax appreciated the solitude. She had to be knocked out after four days without him. He doubted, and she overworked trying to help. But fuck her powers were so weird. Thorax needed to get to work. He checked the hallway to Zola’s lab. No soldiers around. Good. That’s good for him. The last thing he needed today was getting caught. He’d actually shoot someone with the high tech weapon on his hip. Zola usually left the door wide open. Cause only someone crazy would break into the lab. The soldier still stood at the entrance. Thorax either needed to shift into a bug, or some kind of alarm going off. That’s so dumb. What even were the chances of- Loud sirens went off. Thorax turned towards it, trying to get a better read. Sirens, yes, along with gunshots. An explosion or two. Thorax grinned. He suddenly remembered it. A scene from the movie. The one with Steve Fucking Rogers. Thorax stepped out from the hallway. The soldier eyed him. “Soldier. Didn’t I tell you-” Thorax held up his gun. He fired. The goggles over his eyes made it easier for him to watch as the blast hit the soldier. The HYDRA soldier went flying back.  He let out a long breath. “Oh that felt so good.” The sirens kept going. Thorax heard a new sound. That song again. Thorax quickly scrambled, pulling out his phone. As he answered, hr went into Zola’s lab. “Morgan?” He began. All around the lab were documents and maps. Results of his many tests on innocent soldiers. “Morgan, is that you? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I know it’s not you-” “You have a cute face.” Thorax shut up. He looked around, trying to see if she was there. The sirens in the movie came from Captain America. If it turned out to be Morgan, his entire body would crumble. While it was unlikely, if anyone could sneak into a HYDRA base just to save him it was Morgan. Also the lab had no windows. Or cameras. “Where are you?” Thorax asked. “The Smithsonian museum. They have a Captain America exhibit, with the Howling Commandos. Only one face is different...but a good different.” Thorax relaxed. While he would’ve loved to see her again, to hold her close and laugh about the oddness of this world, he didn’t want her in Nazi Germany. Still. He was disappointed. “Right, yeah.” “But he’s cute. Not like your normal face but his own kinda cute.” He grabbed papers off the desk. His magic flared, blue flames quickly covered the pages. He tossed them in a bin. “I get it, you think he’s cute.” Human faces weren’t cute. They were flat and square. Her face was the only exception. His human faces were never right. The noses were too short and thin. The jaws too. How did humans talk with jaws this small? Why did she think they were cute? “Your green face is cuter.” Morgan told him. He flushed. He dropped a huge stack of papers into the bin. “Uh- right.” “Theo Price...Becky Stark. What a power couple.” Thorax chuckled, face still red. The flames were killed by the sudden stack drop. He fired a magic blast. The flames were bigger and brighter. “A superpower couple.” “Oh my Author.” Morgan laughed. By the queen, that laugh only could kill him. He’d let it. “You’re perfect.” “Yeah.” “Where are you right now? Is this safe? It wasn’t safe last time.” Morgan asked. “I think it’s fine.” Thorax replied. At that moment, a familiar voice exclaimed “What are you doing?!” Thorax turned. Behind him, the fire spread out over the desk. Dr Zola gawked at him, at the research. Morgan groaned, giggling. “Wow. You said that. You really said that.” Thorax glanced back at the moving flames and back at Zola. “Did you not want me to do that?” “My research!” Zola reached for it, pulling half burned documents in his arms. He glared at Thorax, who gleefully watched him scramble. “You-” “Ooh. Kiss your mother with that mouth?” Thorax kicked the trash bin on its side. More flames went out. They spread to a cupboard, full of files and equipment. “She’d be so upset.” “You-” Dr Zola pulled out a handgun. Thorax inched his hand toward a thick folder. “I’ve got time to burn.” Thorax grinned. “Do you, doc?” “Burn. Why did you say burn?” Dr Zola fired. Thorax tossed the folder at him. He dodged the bullet, narrowly avoiding it. Dr Zola cursed, before rushing off. Thorax pushed himself to his feet. Bucky was still strapped on the table, muttering his numbers. “Hey there, Jimmy. Remember me?” He grunted. Progress. No more numbers. “It’s- Bucky-” “Nice!” Thorax leaned into the phone. “Hey, gotta go. We’re escaping. Love you.” “Come back in one piece-” Thorax tucked the phone away. He unlocked the straps holding him down. “Let’s get you home, alright?” The locks popped off. Thorax tossed them aside. “Hey!” Thorax lifted his head. A fist hit him in the flat face. Another issue with human faces. The goggles dug into his face. That’s worse. The pain got worse. “Ow!” Thorax yelped, stumbling back. The punch came at him with the force of a truck. Should he be standing? Probably not. Concussion? Other head injuries? Killjoy made him watch videos about this. “That was mean!” He pulled off the goggles. They snapped, hanging uselessly in hand. Standing across, proposing another punch, stood a very angry American flag. “Whoa whoa HEY! I’m a friendly! I’m a friendly!” Thorax called out. He held up his hands, the goggles clattering to the floor. “I’m trying to help him escape!” Steve glared, pulling back his fist for another hit. “Steve?” Bucky mumbled. Steve stopped, looking down at Bucky. Bucky blinked up at him, bleary. “Yeah, it’s me. Steve.” The alarms and explosions got louder, and more frequent. That and the fire started to spread towards them. “We need to go.” Thorax warned. “Come on.” Thorax went to lift Bucky’s side. Steve, stretched for time, went along with it. Bucky shook, nearly falling back down. “Come on.” Steve encouraged him. Without Thorax helping, Steve lifted Bucky to his feet. “I thought you were dead.” “I thought you were smaller.” Bucky countered. “What happened to you?” “Wait, he wasn’t always this big?” Thorax asked. “Uh-Uh.” “I joined the army!” Steve replied. Together, the three went out into the hall. Thorax made sure the coast was clear. “Did it hurt?” Bucky asked. “A little.” “Is it permanent?” “So far!” A HYDRA soldier rushed out. Thorax raised his weapon, firing. The soldier went down. Steve paused. Bucky as his side stopped too. He pulled himself from Steve, managing to stumble on his own two feet. Thorax beamed. Bucky grinned at him. “Hey Fritz.” Thorax smiled back. “Jimmy!” Bucky laughed, tired. “Bucky.” The three went back to their escape. “Say my name, I’ll say yours.” Thorax bargained.  “And just who are you?” Steve asked. Thorax opened a door for them. “Theo Price. Let’s get you out of here.” Explosions rocked the building.  The three men got back to running. ==TCD== Those building rocking explosions weren’t coming from outside. Explosions were happening outside, but not to this scale. Nope. The bigger explosions came from inside the factory. The part of the factory that Thorax was currently running towards, yes. They kept on running. Thorax, Bucky, and Steve. More of the ground below lit up in flames. Thorax stumbled to a stop. The heat rose up and around, spreading to touch every part of the factory floor. Going that way wasn’t an option.  Steve found a better way. Up some stairs, yeah that was smart while a building was on fire. Except, wait, no it’s not. Humans can’t fly. Unless those wings on his helmet helped him fly? Humans were weird. Once up the stairs, Steve led them towards a walkway. The only way, unfortunately, out of this place. Unless you could fly. “Captain America! How exciting!” Thorax, Bucky, and Steve stopped. Across the factory, on the large metal walkway, a man called out to them. A heavily accented German man waved. His arms movement was stiff in his heavy military jacket. But Thorax knew that face. Johann Schmidt He tensed, stepping back from the friends. Schmidt handed Dr Zola a file folder, stomping after them. Even in the alarms and explosions, his footsteps went off like bombs in Thorax’s ears. “I’m a great fan of your films.” Schmidt said, still talking to Steve. Steve stood stronger, shoulders broadened. “So Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive.” Steve punched him in the face. Thorax flinched, hand grappling out for a balancing force. He caught Bucky. Bucky patted his hand, visibly understanding his concern.  “You got no idea.” Steve warned the man. “Haven’t I!” Schmidt threw a punch at Steve. Steve blocked it with his shield. It wasn’t the special round shield made of that- that Vibrating metal. Whatever. Schmidt’s fist left a dent. “No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!” Schmidt walked off the walkway. He sneered at Steve, not paying any attention to Thorax or Bucky.  As the three watched, Schmidt reached for his neck. He pulled and yanked at his chin. He shed the human mask. It fell to the flames below. Only a red face remained. He didn’t even have a nose. “You don’t have one of those, do you?” Bucky asked. Thorax winced. It wasn’t the weirdest face he’d ever seen. It was just the grossest. “You are deluded, Captain.” Schmidt warned. Dr Zola called an elevator, stepping inside it while waiting for Schmidt. “You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!” Steve Rogers “Then how come you’re running?” Steve called out. Schmidt disappeared down the elevator. “Maybe because the building is on fire!” Thorax shouted. To prove him right, the building shook again.  “Come on. Let’s go!” Steve commanded. He rushed back down the walkway, rushing for a nearby staircase. “UP!” Bucky and Thorax exchanged a look. Thorax nodded. It was the only way out. Granted it involved a window but Thorax figured they wouldn’t mind. They reached the top of the building. A large support beam being their only way across to safety. “Let’s go. One at a time.” Steve instructed them. Bucky went first. He went as fast as he could. The support beam crumbled under his weight all the same. “There’s gotta be a rope or something!” Bucky called out. “Get out!” Thorax yelled. “Just go, get out of here!” Steve shouted. “No. Not without you!” Bucky called back. Steve rushed at the fence, trying to jump across the flames to safety. Humans were insane. The flames went up. Thorax’s hands flared blue.  ==TCD== The prisoners stumbled into the woods. They brought a truck along, their most wounded sitting inside it. The rest walked. Dum-Dum led the group, best he could. The survivors grouped up once they reached the safety of the woods.  He heard a sound ahead. He, and all the other soldiers, raised their stolen weapons. Instead of the HYDRA soldiers they expected, three men walked out. One of them being the crazy bastard that led their escape, and the other being their buddy. The third was the Fritz from the cells. The soldiers raised their weapons at him. The Fritz sighed, but raised his arms. Jimmy- no, Bucky, stood between them at the Fritz. “Hey! Calm down. He’s with us.” “He’s one of them!” A soldier shouted. “He’s with us.” Captain America replied. “He saved our lives, and reportedly the lives of others.” “He gave ‘em all to that quack doctor!” A different soldier called out. “Then let our commanding officers decide what happens to him.” Captain America told them. “There’s a camp- my camp- that way. It’s a long walk, but we can make it that far. We don’t have time to fight.” “It ain’t worth it.” Dum-Dum agreed. He lowered his weapon. He owed the Fritz one, he supposed, after what he did for Bucky. One by one, the others of Dum-Dum’s cell agreed. Besides, if the Fritz did betray them, Dum-Dum had himself a fancy new gun to kill him with. Captain America nodded. “Follow me!” ==TCD== Captain America led the survivors into the camp. The camp saw them long before that. A lot of soldiers came forward, cheering and hollering back to the main camp. Thorax welcomed it. The smiling, happy faces warmed his chest. Shedding the ugly HYDRA uniform helped too. It left him in just his military shirt, and the military pants and boots. He was happy to be rid of it all. Even the gun. One of the other soldiers took it- practically caught it when Thorax tossed it away. Bucky eyed him oddly a few times. Steve too. It’s only normal. Thorax did use magic to get himself and Steve away from the flames. They were totally right to be weirded out. Thorax even got them to the head of the group of survivors, during their escape. He could fly, after all. The wings were a surprise to the friends. Thorax took it in stride. The sun shone down on his face. Warmth reached him, for the first time in four months. His phone burned in one of his pant’s pockets. He hoped the perception filter stuck to it, so that the commanders at this camp let him keep it. An officer marched up to Steve. A pretty lady- Peggy Carter, Thorax would spot her anywhere. “I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action.” Steve told him. The officer glanced at the large crowd, then dismissively back at Steve. “That won’t be necessary.” “Yes, sir.” Steve looked at Peggy. Thorax turned to Bucky. “Did you say he was tiny earlier?” “You got tiny. And green. With wings.” Bucky replied. “And that man, he turned red.” “Yeah but I was born like that- wait was he born red?” Thorax gawked at him.  Bucky blinked at him. “Wait no. Dr Erksine did it, right? That’s what he said?” Thorax asked. He really hoped that’s what he said. Bucky clenched his jaw. “Did it?” “Like- like a science thing? Was he a science thing?” Thorax asked. “For the army?” Bucky sighed. “Hey! Let’s hear it for Captain America!” Bucky stared at Steve with a look that Thorax recognized. Morgan gave it to her sister whenever she did something stupid.  The crowd around them cheered. Thorax cheered with him. Sure, he was no Captain Equestria, but he was alright. His applause was interrupted by two men grabbing him by the arms. Yeah. Right. Former HYDRA agent. In an American camp. He was being arrested. Fair.