CROSSING PATHS - PART FIVE
PART 5 - warnings: explosions, running from cops, trauma, anxiety, missiles, etc (i never know what to put here)
a/n: following CATWS, funnily enough this is only like 20 minutes worth of the movie which is insane
GIF by animatedglittergraphics-n-more
They needed somewhere to look at the drive, so they went to the mall where there was an Apple store. You changed into some plain clothes you had stashed. You told them to go in and you would ditch the car in a nearby parking garage and find a new one, while also keeping an eye out for any SHIELD or STRIKE agents. You did exactly that, and while you were walking back to the lot nearest to the exit the three of you had agreed on, you saw STRIKE agents at each entrance. You pulled your hood farther down and turned quickly to walk towards the middle of the parking lot. You found a small, average looking SUV and used your powers to unlock it from the inner mechanism, and started the car. You saw them walking out of the doors and quickly drove over and told them to jump in. Natasha got in the front and made Steve take the back.
“So where are we going?” You asked, rushing out of the parking lot and heading for the nearest thruway.
“New Jersey.” Natasha said and the two of them gave you directions for the drive.
As you entered New Jersey, Natasha threw her feet up on the dash.
“Yknow if we got into an accident your shin bones would merge with your femurs while you’re sitting like that.” You warned, glancing over at her.
“Noted.” She laughed, pulling her legs back down. “Alright Steve, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don’t answer it though, you’re kind of answering it, you know?”
“What?” He cut off her rambling.
“Was that your first kiss since 1945?” She asked, turning in her seat to look at him.
“What happened in that mall?” You asked with a laugh, making eye contact with the now blushing Steve through the rearview mirror.
“Listen- we did what we had to do to not raise suspicions- and was it that bad?” He smiled.
“I didn’t say that.” She said earnestly, returning his smile.
“Well, it kind of sounds like that’s what you're saying.” He shot back defensively.
“No, I didn’t. I was just wondering how much…practice you’ve had.”
“You don’t need practice.” He responded, shaking his head.
“Everybody needs practice, right?” She looked to you for help, to which you nodded.
“It was NOT my first kiss since 1945. I’m 95, I’m not dead.” He joked.
“Nobody special though?” You asked, glancing back at him again. He chuckled and looked annoyed, but was still entertaining the conversation.
“Believe it or not, it’s kind of hard to find someone with shared life experiences.” He shifted his gaze towards the window.
“Well, that’s all right. Just make something up.” Natasha said with a smile, staring out the windshield and giving you another direction.
“What, like you?” Steve jabbed, staring at Natasha.
“I don’t know.” She responded, ignoring his stare. “The truth is a matter of circumstance. It’s not all things to all people, all the time. Neither am I.” She said, turning back to Steve with a sly smile.
“That’s a tough way to live.” Steve said, keeping a straight face.
“It’s a good way not to die, though.” She said with a shrug.
“That’s why I just don’t talk to people if I don’t have to, I don’t even have to lie, and it keeps me from dying… most of the time” You said, which got a chuckle out of Natasha.
“Y’know it’s kinda hard to trust someone when you don’t really know who that someone really is.” Steve looked at Natasha with a serious but meaningful look.
“Yeah… who do you want us to be?” She asked him.
“How about a friend?” He requested, smiling at both of you. Natasha looked at you before responding and you two shared a smile and a nod.
“Well there’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers.” She laughed, speaking in a sing-songy tone at the end of her statement.
“But I think we can manage that.” You added, to which she nodded in agreement and shot him a smirk, before turning back to the front to give you directions again.
You arrived at the location, which used to be an Army base.
“The file came from these coordinates.” Natasha confirmed, after doublechecking.
“So did I.” Steve said somberly. You walked onto the base further and he explained it was where he was trained, staring longingly at the surroundings, like he missed when things were that simple.
“Well this is a dead end.” Your words seemed to pull him away from his thoughts. “No heat signatures, no waves, not even radio.”
“Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off.” Natasha added. Steve turned and stared at something behind you.
“What is it?” You asked, following his gaze to the structure nearby. He started walking towards it without an explanation, you and Natasha following.
“Hello?” Natasha asked sarcastically.
“Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place.” He stated firmly, before breaking the lock on the door with his shield. You followed him down the stairs, where he flipped a lightswitch. This revealed a large room with tables, chairs, and a large SHIELD symbol painted on the back wall.
“This is SHIELD.” You remarked.
“Maybe where it started…” Steve replied. You followed him through the building to what looked like shelves, but was clearly a very poorly hidden “secret” door. “If you're already working in a secret office…” He paused, pulling the cabinets apart to reveal the door. “Why do you need to hide the elevator?” You used your powers to force the keypad mechanism to disengage, the elevator dinging and closing its doors in response. You rode it to what felt like the core of the earth, the elevator clunking and dining again before opening to another dark room. Steve walked out first, walking into the center of the room where there was an archaic-looking computer set up.
“This can’t be the data point, this technology is… ancient.” Natasha joked, the three of you looking around at the room.
“Not…all of it…” You said, noticing an incredibly modern USB drive connector attached to one of the computers.
Natasha walked over and plugged in the drive, kicking on all of the monitors, cameras, and various technological parts you didn’t recognize. Natasha used the computer to initiate the system.
“Shall we play a game?” Natasha imitated the voice from Saw. “It’s from a movie that was really-” She began to explain, turning to Steve.
“I know, I saw it.” He cut her off. The computer beeped and brought up something that vaguely looked like a mask or a face, but the picture was very unstable and continued to glitch on the screen.
“Rogers, Steven. Born 1918.” The computer spoke, in an accent you assumed was European. It continued to read out the same information for you and Natasha.
“It’s some kind of recording…” Natasha said.
“I am not a recording, Fräulein.” The computer voice remarked back. “I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am.” The computer displayed a black and white photo of a man on another screen.
“You know this thing?” Natasha asked Steve. Steve explained that it was Arnim Zola, who was a German scientist for the Red Skull, and that he had been dead for years. The computer didn’t like either piece of information, and corrected that he was Swiss, and had “never been more alive”, since he was going to die in 1972 but they saved his consciousness by transferring it into the databanks surrounding you. He went on to explain how Hydra was founded, and how they learned from the war, infiltrated Hydra, and just as the voice started explaining how they had been “changing history”, the screen flashed with blurry and unfocused clips of James. You inhaled sharply, and Steve looked over at you.
“This doesn’t make sense, SHIELD should have stopped you.” Natasha argued.
“Accidents…” The screen flashed with articles and photos of Howard Stark’s and Nick’s deaths. “...will happen. Hydra created a world so chaotic, that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom, to gain its security.” The screen now showed images and plans for the initiative SHIELD had recently been planning, the same one Nick had put on pause. It continued to explain how they had won, that the initiative was now in order, and that Steve’s efforts were useless. Steve responded by punching and shattering the screen the face was talking from, causing you to gasp.
The face showed up on another screen and continued, refusing to answer any questions about the drive or the initiative, and warned that you three would be too dead to hear the answers to any other queries. The doors behind you suddenly shut with a loud bang, the metal sealing. Steve attempted to throw the shield to stop it, but it was too late.
“Steve, we got a bogey!” Natasha said, holding up her phone which displayed an incoming missile. “Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops.”
“Who fired it?” You asked, starting to panic.
“SHIELD.” Natasha said, dishearteningly, her breath quickening.
“I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain.” The computer said snarkily. “Admit it. It’s better this way. We are, both of us, out of time.” As the computer talked Steve ripped a grill for what looked like an air duct out of the floor, and directed you and Natasha into it before jumping on top of you two and covering all three of you with his shield, holding you two tight against him.
The missile struck, as the building collapsed around you. It felt like your body shut down for a second, being forced to confront all of your feelings at once, you started feeling like you couldn’t breathe. Pieces of the building were falling on you, Steve trying his best to shield the two of you from them, you covering Natasha wherever Steve couldn’t. You shut your eyes as you felt a piece of concrete fall directly onto your leg, breaking it immediately, and pinning you down. With a loud cry of pain, you were knocked out of your state of panic.
You started throwing pieces of the ceiling out of the way as much as you could, but it didn’t do much, it was falling faster than you could catch, especially with you being unable to move. You were more worried about keeping Steve and Natasha as safe as you could than about your own leg. After a few minutes of exhausting attempts, the crushed building finally settled.
You could hear Steve grunting, as you used what little focus you had left to help Steve free the three of you from the rubble. You took care of your leg next, knowing you needed to get out of there, and Seve was occupied carrying unconscious Natasha. He ran as you heard helicopters and jets overhead, and followed as soon as you could use your leg again.
