“Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?” I asked Cap, finally breaking the silence.
“Nazi Germany.” Cap answered. “And we’re borrowing, take your feet off the dash.”
A smug look on my face, I took my feet off, reveling in getting under Cap’s skin.
There was yet again an awkward silence between the three of us as we continued driving.
“Alright I have a question for you Steve,” Natasha asked leaning forward. “Have you kissed anyone since 1945? I mean, you looked pretty uncomfortable when O’ and I kissed.” She smirked.
“Yeah, you should’ve seen his face, he looked like a fuckin’ tomato.” I said, a laugh in my voice.
“Shut it Romanov. I’ll have you know that it’s a little difficult to find someone with shared life experience when you’re 95 years old. Also watch your damn mouth, St- I mean Rogue.” He scolded.
“Well that’s alright. Just make something up.” I shrugged, glancing towards Cap.
“What, like you?” Cap looked pointedly at me, as if he’d won our battle of wits.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged once again. “The truth is a matter of circumstance. It’s not all things to all people, all the time.” I tell him. Getting a wistful look in my eyes, I stare out of the window and mutter under my breath.
“That’s a tough way to live.” Cap says, feeling sympathetic for someone so young to live such a way.
“It’s a good way not to die though.” I fire directly back at him.
It’s silent for a moment, and the only noise is the steady hum of the engine and the cars passing by.
“You know it’s kind of hard to trust someone, when you don’t know who that someone is.” He tells me softly.
Looking straight into his eyes, I can’t help but agree with him.
“Yeah,” I breathe. “Who do you want me to be?” I ask him.
He pauses for a moment, thinking. “How about a friend.”
I laugh and look away. “Well there’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers.” I say, not looking at him.
He just gives me a knowing look, and continues driving. But now I have a strange feeling in my heart. For the first time in years, I have a friend. For as long as I can remember, I never had any trustworthy friends besides Nat, all of them were friendly to me because of my name. Because of who my father was.
It’s silent for a few minutes and nobody utters a word. Not even Nat whose been silent for a while now.
“Well look at that, we’re there.” Nat states pointing straight ahead at a wire fence surrounded by a field of tall grass. I spoke thought too soon, I guess.
Steve stops the car and we all climb out. I pull out the flash drive and take a look at the tracing program I was running.
“Nat’s right. The file came from these coordinates.” I state, walking towards the fence.
“So did I.” a soft voice comes from behind me. I whip around and see Steve staring at the building behind the fence with a nostalgic look on his face.
We walked for a bit before Nat broke the silence.
“Steve, is this where you were trained?” She asked him, tentatively. Which was rare for the spy.
He gave a stiff nod as we continued on our trek through the base.
“Change much?” I asked him, holding up the flash drive and trying to pinpoint the exact origin point of the file.
“A little.” He says, staring into space, seeming to get lost in his memories.
I hand the flash drive to Natasha and walk back over to him, looking at the field of grass he’s staring at.
“Hello? Earth to Captain Rogers? You there?” I ask him, waving my hand in front of his face.
He blinks a few times before responding. “Just taking a little trip down memory lane.”
“This is a dead end.” Natasha’s voice echoes between the walls of the buildings. “Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio.” She says, a hint of dejection in her voice.
“Whoever wrote the file must’ve used a router to throw people off.” I conclude, taking the flash drive from Nat. I look up at Steve, about to tell him we should get back in the car and continue trying to hack the file, when I notice a look of realization spread across his face. “What is it?” I ask him, confused for a moment.
He starts walking towards a dark metal building surrounded by green grass. Nat and I just look at each other before shrugging and jogging to catch up to the super soldier. I just walked.
“Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks.” He states, quickly walking towards the metal door of the building. I quickly catch on to what he is saying and look up at him.
“This building is in the wrong place.” I realize.
When we get to the door, Cap slams the lock with his shield, effectively breaking it. And with that, we all step inside.
As we walked down the creaking stairs, I can barely make out anything in front of me. I brush a couple of stray cobwebs off of my shoulders and only hope that there aren’t any spiders in them. I shudder at the thought. Finally, Nat finds a light switch and one by one, the lights in the storage bunker flicker on.
“This is S.H.I.E.L.D.” Natasha notes, seeing the agency’s logo on the far wall.
“Maybe where it started.” Cap tells her.
It’s silent as we walk down the dusty hallways, filled with ghosts of the past. Steve carefully opens a creaky door we see, leading to a dusty office.
We looked around the room for any source of where the file came from, when a painting caught my eye. I felt my breath catch and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. For I was staring straight at a man who resembled my father so closely, I could’ve mistaken him for, well, him.
I was frozen at the spot, and I could practically feel Natasha’s concern as she followed my gaze and came to the conclusion of why I was dumbstruck. I saw Cap turn his gaze to the painting of Howard Stark and his brow furrow.
“There’s Stark’s father.” Steve observes, not thinking about the person standing right next to him.
Natasha’s head whipped towards him and she gave him a taste of her emerald glare. If looks could kill, he’d be dead many times over. She looked as if she was about to give Steve a piece of her mind, but thought better of it, seeing as it might make things worse since I was still there.
Steve at least had the nerve to look apologetic for upsetting his newfound friend and was about to stammer out an apology when I cut him off.
“Who’s the girl?” Nat asked Steve, changing the subject.
Steve stares at the framed photo of the young brunette for a moment, before walking away with a dejected look on his face. I guess we both had ghosts haunting our pasts.
The golden trio The three of us continue walking around, not seeing anything except empty shelves, filled with cobwebs and dust. Something about this doesn’t seem quite right. I held up the flash drive, and the tracing program showed that we were getting close. I moved forward even more, and I could see that we were very hot figuratively and literally.
“This can’t be right.” Natasha mutters under her breath, scanning her surroundings.
But it seemed like the infamous Black Widow had lost her touch.
“If you’re already working in a secret office,” I vaguely say, unaware of Steve and Natasha’s curious glance to each other. “Why do you need to hide the elevator?” I finish with dramatic effect as I push the old shelf aside to reveal a hidden elevator behind.
I take out my password scanner, and type in the password it reveals. When I finish typing in the code, the elevator bell dings and the doors slowly open. The ride down is quiet, none of us daring to speak a word or make a noise. When the doors open, we’re met with, yet another, dark and dusty room.
As the three of us walk in, it’s dead silent. All of the sudden, the doors slam shut behind us, like something out of a horror movie. Instinctively, I grab Nat’s hand, and it seems like she had the same idea in mind. She gives me a knowing look, as if she can read my mind and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.
As we walk further into the room, we can make out the glowing buttons and switches of computers and machines all around us in the dark. As we continue walking towards the end of the large room, the overhead lights flicker on with a loud clanking sound. The three of us spot what seems to be the files origin point.
There are multiple computers, all from the mid 1900s, covered in dust and god knows what along with a desk and a chair. I can feel Nat and Steve’s confusion as well as mine while we examine the file’s origin point.
“This can’t be the data point,” Nat says, confusion laced in her voice. “This technology is ancient.” She scoffs.
I’m about to agree with her, when I notice a USB port, glowing a dim blue. Curious, I walk closer towards it and notice several places to insert the flash drive. From the corner of my eye, I see Steve and Natasha following my gaze and examining the USB port.
“Is that- ” Steve starts.
“Here goes nothing.” I cut him off, not wanting to delay our findings anymore.
I carefully insert the flash drive into the USB port, and instantly, a whole bunch of switches, buttons, and circuits light up and turn on. The discs that were previously still, now spun around in certain patterns. We all looked up to see a security camera lift its camera up, almost as if scanning us. We could still hear the whir and buzz of the newfound machines, but our attention was primarily focused on the camera.
All of the sudden, a strange electronic voice spoke, coming from one of the computers. “Initiate system?” It asked in its really fucking sketchy voice.
Coming to my senses, I tentatively walked forward towards the computer that was just sketchily talking.
“Y-E-S spells yes.” I say, typing in my simple command that would ultimately change our lives.
I could hear the machines powering up even more, and making that soft electronic hum that I’d learned to love, growing up.
“Shall we play a game?” I say, referencing one of my dad’s favorite movies. I glanced over at Nat, smirking.
“I’d love to.” She smirks back (understanding my reference;)
The computer beeps, and a strange, electronic face appears. We instantly fall silent, all trace of humor gone from our faces. To our astonishment, the sketchy green man in the computer starts to speak.
“Rogers, Steven,” It states, scanning Steve. “Born 1918.” It finishes.
“Romanov, Natalia Alianovna,” It states once again, this time scanning Nat. Her head whips around to stare at the camera in shock. “Born 1987.” Natasha’s eyes narrowed at the camera. Her D.O.B. was classified information, and only a handful of people knew her full name.
In shock of how the voice in the computer knew Nat’s full name and D.O.B, I didn’t notice the camera turn towards me until it was too late.
“Stark, Octavia.” It said in its creepy robotic voice. I groaned, I hated my last name and my father. “Born 1989.” It finished scanning me.
“It’s some kind of recording.” Natasha stated, trying to find an explanation for how it knew such classified information about her.
“I am not a recording fräulein!” It angrily said, if computers could be angry?? nothing made sense anymore.
Confusion etched all over Nat’s face, and I reached over to give her hand a comforting squeeze. She gave me a fleeting look of appreciation before turning her attention back to the computer.
“I may not be the man I was when the captain took me prisoner in 1945,” It continued. “But I am.” It vaguely finished, earning a spooked look from Cap.
“You know this thing?” Natasha stiffly asked Steve, not making eye contact with him.
He looks around for a moment, thinking to himself. Then he remembers.
“Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull.” He said, anxiously pacing the floor. Steve looked up at Natasha. “He’s been dead for years.” He finishes.
“First correction,” Zola interupts, causing us all to look at him, startled. “I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive.” He mysteriously finishes.
“In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however was worth saving. On 200,000 feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain.” Zola informed us. Just lovely.
“How did you get here?” The Captain demanded.
“Invited.” Zola mysteriously answers.
I looked over at Nat to see what she thought, but I noticed that she had a look of realization etched in her features. I was about to ask her what she was thinking about, when she answered my unasked question.
“It was Operation Paperclip after World War II,” she informed us. Steve and I looked at each other, confused. “S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value.” She told us, sensing our confusion.
“They thought I could help their cause,” Zola tells us. “I also helped my own.” He sketchily finishes.
“HYDRA died with the Red Skull.” Steve stubbornly says, refusing to believe the German, excuse me, Swiss scientist.
I scoff, I mean just how naive was the golden boy of America?
“Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.” Zola scolds us, as the HYDRA symbol appears on the screen.
“Prove it.” Cap challenges him.
“Accessing archive,” Zola starts. “HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed.
“That’s impossible, S.H.I.E.L.D. would’ve stopped you.” Natasha states, refusing to believe that she was living inside of a lie.
“Accidents will happen.” Zola tells her, as old news clippings and photos of my grandfather, Howard Stark dying appear. Fury’s death certificate also is shown on the screen, mocking us.
“HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum.”
In blind fury, Steve punches the computer screen, cracking the glass beyond repair. “What’s on this drive?” He demands.
“Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm.” He vaguely answers Steve.
“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” I inquire, keeping my “mission face” on.
“The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it.” He tells me.
In shock I turn to Natasha and is about to tell her to run, but the metal doors bang shut, locking us in. Cap tries to throw his shield to prop it open, but he’s too late. My thoughts are interrupted by the phone I used to hack my way in here alerting me.
“Guys, we got a bogey,” I say, dread filling my voice. I can feel my heart rate rise slightly and my pulse quicken. I look up at them. “Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops.” I finish, internally cringing at their facial expressions.
“Who fired it?” Steve once again demands.
“S.H.E.I.L.D.” I slowly say, scared of Natasha’s reaction. She’s quiet, but I can tell that underneath she’s having an internal crisis about her life being a lie.
“I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain.” Zola says once again in his annoying Swiss accent that really sounds german.
At this, I quickly yank the flash drive out of the USB port and put it in my pocket as Cap rips an air vent out of its hinges so we can hide inside of it.
“Out of time.” Zola finishes with dramatic effect.
The three of us jump inside the DIY military trench, with Cap’s shield above our heads, protecting us.
The building begins to cave in, and rubble starts to fall from the ceiling and into our trench thing. Quickly I realize that Cap’s shield can’t protect all three of us effectively, and I’d never live with myself if I let one of them get hurt because I was taking up too much space.
“NAT!” I scream, over the sound of rubble and debris falling. “Nat, no matter what happens, I love you, I will always love you.” I finish, tears welling up in my eyes.
Her eyes widen as she realizes what I’m about to do. “NO!” She screams at me, pulling me closer to her. She looks me in the eye, and I frantically scan her face, etching every single detail into my memory. “Please, O’! I love you too, you can’t- ” I cut her off by pushing myself away from them and into the falling debris.
I can hear Steve’s yells and Nat’s frantic screams as the rubble begins to pile up around me. Well, here goes nothing. I thought as I close my eyes and prepare myself for the worst. I can sense the huge piece of concrete ceiling falling towards me, fast. I close my eyes and concentrate on the thing that calms me the most. Natasha’s voice. I focus on her silky and smooth voice saying my name over and over again. I remember her piercing green eyes staring into my soul, and her fiery locks falling through my fingers as I kiss her. I think about all the times she healed my cuts and bruises after training, and all the times I stitched her back up. I take a deep breath as I feel time seemingly slow around me and brace myself for the impact that never came.
I open my eyes, and I’m not in Arnim Zola’s hidden bunker anymore. I’m in an empty yet full void with nothing but white seeming to stretch miles and miles around me. The only way I could tell the difference between up and down was, well, because I was standing.
I look down at my hands, and I can see my hands glowing a dim silvery white, which was slowly fading away. I looked around my Void, and a sense of familiarity washed around me. I hadn’t been here for years, ever since then. I shake my head, clearing all thoughts of the incident, and instead I focus on getting back to Natasha.
The funny thing is that time passes by the same in the Void. It may not seem like it, but since everything is just white, it’s hard to tell how long it’s been.
Seconds? Minutes? Days? Years?
Clocks also don’t work in the Void, so there’s no way in telling what time it is besides counting.
I count to myself in my head, but I soon lose track of that. How long until it’s safe to go back? If I go back to early, I could get crushed by a bigass piece of debris. If I wait too long, well I could end up in the hands of HYDRA.
Taking a deep breath, I give in to the temptation to go back. I don’t even know how I’m going to begin to explain this to Nat. She’s probably gonna kick my ass
In the blink of an eye, I appeared back where I was standing before the entire fucking ceiling collapsed. I looked around, trying to see if Nat or Steve was nearby. I slowly dug my way through the rubble to get to Natasha and Steve.
“NAT! STEVE! I’m here!” I shouted, frantic to get to them. I grunted and groaned, trying to push rubble out of the way when I heard it. I turned and saw the headlights of a S.H.E.I.L.D, or should I say HYDRA plane with agents on it coming straight towards me. Instinctively, I ducked and ran, narrowly avoiding the bullets their snipers shot at me.
Realizing that I wasn’t going to be able to get back to Steve and Nat, I wished them good luck and goodbye. I’d come to the conclusion that they’d upped and ran at the first sign of S.H.I.E.L.D. HYDRA so the car was gone. I sighed, this was going to be a very long day (it already was lol)
I decided I needed to surprise them and wait for them to come onto the ground, when they *cough* thought *cough* it was safe for them (it really wasn’t)
A few minutes later, I heard the sound of the plane’s back deck opening, and the sound of engines coming out. Great. Motorcycles. I thought. A Lambo or an Audi would’ve been much better for a getaway vehicle. I crouch behind a large piece of fallen rubble, waiting for my chance to strike.
“Thermal vision and heat sensors are picking up a signature over here.” A voice calls out.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. HYDRA motorcycle speeds towards the piece of rubble that I’m hiding behind. As soon as he’s close enough, I leap out of my hiding place, whip out my gun, and shoot him point blank in the head, killing him instantly.
I push his dead body off the motorcycle and swing my leg onto it. I can hear the steady hum of the engine and and softly stroke the shiny black metal. I rip the yank the license plate off the back so they can’t track me, and check for any other trackers.
“Adios.” I smirk, looking back at the approaching HYDRA agents.
And with that, I grip the throttle and speed away, leaving the HYDRA agents in my dust.
Now I just gotta find the love of my life Natasha and Steve. Yay.