[ WWII AU ] Chantez, compagnons, dans la nuit la liberté

[from_the_outside]

There's nothing strange about Yvette Rheaume or the credentials she provides to Monsieur Lavigne when she arrives to replace Amelie. "Her mother is ill," Lavigne explains to the girl. "You will fill in for her duties until she returns, yes?"

Yes, of course. And it's a relief when the girl proves both capable and well-mannered; he simply cannot afford to force Herr Schneider to wait. If the facility were to cancel their monthly orders, he'd lose hundreds, thousands of francs in profit, money which assuages his guilt at assisting the enemy. He explains the process to the girl as they ride in a jeep towards the facility, and impresses on her the need for perfect discretion. "I will expect you to take clear and comprehensive notes," he reminds her. "We cannot miss any opportunity to re-supply."

"Yes, sir," she promises, and dutifully notes his instructions.

His ears are ringing by the time they reach the facility and Herr Schneider steps outside to greet them, his sharp eyes resting for a moment on Yvette. "Who is this lovely creature?" he asks, and Lavigne hastens to assure him of her loyalty and credentials. The German nods and politely ushers them inside. Lavigne is too relieved and too focused on the robust order to come to pay much mind to the way the man keeps half an eye on Yvette.

But she doesn't miss it. Not a single glance.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"Well, flowers didn't seem right for the occasion," Sharon says, amused, as Steve starts hauling Levigne and the driver out of the backseat once more.

Gabe chuckles and shakes his head. "I guess you really can take care of yourself, and then some."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Better believe it,” Bucky laughs, as he lifts the first prisoner out of the trunk, passes him to Gabe, and reaches in for the second. “Our new agent’s a guardian angel.”

[from_the_outside]

"Just doing my part, soldier."

She looks around at the quiet chaos that is the result of the fight. "Looks like you guys did pretty good, yourselves."

[nerves_of_ice]

“One more down,” Gabe starts, and Bucky chimes in, “Another step closer.” They both nod to Steve, who nods back.

“Let’s get these prisoners over to the others,” Steve says. “Gabe, how’s the sweep going?”

“Ready for the final walkthrough, Cap,” Gabe says. “Dernier’s setting charges now.”

[from_the_outside]

Her glance catches for a moment on a knot of scraggly ex-prisoners. One of them, a lanky tow-headed young man, stares back at her in surprised recognition. She lifts a hand in a wave and offers him a faint, apologetic smile before she turns to Steve.

"Anything I can help with, Cap?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Walk through with us,” Steve says, immediately. “You saw the place from their perspective, so if there’s anything we missed you might catch it.”

[from_the_outside]

She nods and falls into step with him and Bucky as Gabe takes up a guard position with the HYDRA prisoners.

"We didn't go into Schneider's office," she tells them, "but one of his aides came from up there." She points to an upper level catwalk. "My guess is that's where it would be."

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve nods to her as Dugan approaches. "Agent Carter thinks Schneider's office was up there," he says, and the other man nods, touching his hat to her in acknowledgement of her perception.

"Looks like he liked to look down on everyone from above," he confirms. "See everything that was going on."

[from_the_outside]

"He seemed like the type," she says, dry. Dugan grabs Jim and heads up to the second level as Sharon looks around, trying to think of anything they might have missed.

[nerves_of_ice]

Very quietly, Bucky asks, "Did they have a lab? Or supplies for one?"

[from_the_outside]

She glances at him, her expression quiet and complex. "All the experimentation here was on weapons," she tells him. "There's a lab, but it's small, and all chemical research. Nothing like Azzano."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hmm," Bucky says, and looks at Steve. "We're probably not going to find anything on Zola or Schmidt, then. More likely it'll all be mundane stuff."

Steve nods. "You're probably right, but we should check anyway. Be thorough."

"And in any case, it's another factory they don't have any more." Bucky sounds grimly satisfied. "Let's go, Cap."

[from_the_outside]

"It's this way," Sharon tells them, nodding to a corridor off to the right before directing her steps towards it. "And, honestly, it might not be Schmidt or Zola, but this stuff's bad enough. You really don't want it getting out onto the battlefields."

[nerves_of_ice]

"No, we definitely don't want that," Steve says, firmly, as they walk with her toward the corridor.

"The squad'll have swept anything we can find on paper to bring back. Your supply list will be helpful too."

Bucky stops at the door of the first room, scanning it. "Well, that's a mess of poison," he says, flatly. "No wonder the smoke looked so hideous when the first round of charges went off."

"You're right," Steve notes. "We better make sure everyone's back further than usual before we send this one up."

[from_the_outside]

"It's nasty stuff," she agrees. "I wouldn't touch any of it, if I were you."

"Don't worry," Steve tells her. "By the time Dernier's done, even this will be ash."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky does a quick, careful walkthrough of the room itself, without touching anything, then calls it clear and follows them to the next one, where Steve's the one who walks through while he watches.

It's very, very evident that the two of them have an easy habit in the way they work together.

[from_the_outside]

There are a few other areas she points out to them as they do the final walkthrough, but the Howling Commandos have by and large been over the place with a fine-toothed comb. By the time trucks from the camp have arrived to pick up the HYDRA staff and ex-prisoners, she's made her way outside with Steve and Bucky and Dernier is almost cackling with anticipation as he unwinds a long fuse through the facility door.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Like I told you before, we've each got our specialty," Bucky says. "This's his. Prepare to be impressed."

[from_the_outside]

"I only wish I had popcorn," she teases. "How far away do you think this explosion will be visible?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"If I have anything to say about it, all the way to Berlin!" Dernier declares, fiercely. He studies the layout and turns to Steve.

"It's ready, Capitaine."

Steve nods. "Light it and fall back to the safe distance."

[from_the_outside]

Maybe unsurprisingly, Steve is the last to go, keeping a careful eye on the fuse, his shield at the ready. Sharon finds herself in the middle of a pack of Howling Commandos, Dugan at her back and Jim and Gabe to either side, once they've reached the safe point.

"Un... deux... trois..." counts Dernier, right before there's a shattering explosion, followed by a whump of air that goes rattling through the trees and an enormous billowing cloud of acrid black smoke where the facility used to stand.

[nerves_of_ice]

The cheer goes up seems almost as loud as the explosion. Dugan pounds Dernier on the back as the others offer their congratulations on a job well done.

Steve smiles and lets the exuberance go on for a few moments before he clears his throat. The rowdy squad - his squad, the tight-knit team that he sometimes still can't believe he's part of much less leading - simmers down pretty fast and turns back to him.

"Good work," he approves, and Dernier beams, echoed by a slew of grins. Even Bucky's smiling, small and quietly satisfied. "Now let's get back to base and see what we can learn from it for the next time."

[from_the_outside]

The mood during the trip back to base is celebratory, if not exactly giddy. They all know this facility wasn't one of the bigger fish, but to have helped more soldiers who had been in the same situation they themselves had once faced leaves the Howling Commandos cheerful and talkative.

Back at base, Phillips and Aunt Peggy meet them with a coterie of soldiers who take the HYDRA prisoners away for detention. The debrief takes up most of the rest of the day, until Phillips leaves to interrogate Schneider, who has regained consciousness and is stable.

Sharon doesn't even bother changing before she heads over to the pub after a dinner and much less formal debrief with Aunt Peggy; if she goes back to her tent right now she thinks she might just go straight to sleep.

[nerves_of_ice]

Most of the guys are already there by the time Bucky and Steve make their way over to the pub to blow off some team. As they head over to the table, Gabe's earnest protest carries loud and clear.

"I'm telling you the truth! She drove up with Cap and the Sarge and had four prisoners that she'd taken all on her own!"

[from_the_outside]

The pub is as busy as it always is right after a mission, and it takes her a little while to make her way over to the table where the Howling Commandos are clustered around several pitchers of beer. On her way, she spots Steve and Bucky and lifts her hand in a wave, then has to laugh at the conversation she overhears.

"Four?" Falsworth is saying. "I know what we saw the other day, but that can't be right."