AN: Jessica still has the same outfit as the last chapter. She's only briefly in it.

Next chapter is when it's going to get interesting.

✧

Steve sighed as he stepped out of the truck they had stolen from the mall, gravel crunching under his boots.

His eyes were locked onto the front gate as he brought his hand out and knocked on the door Chess was leaned on. The brunette woman stirred and slightly sat up, allowing Steve to open her door and put out his hand for her to take.

"Are we here?" Chess sleepily grumbled, eyes fluttering open under the tendrils of her bangs. Steve nodded, "This is it."

Chess took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the truck, her heels clacking as she set foot on the ground. Her eyes wandered over to Natasha, who looked away as Chess caught her staring back at her.

The Stark woman only sighed, a hardened look crossing her features as Steve moved behind her to grab his shield that was beside her in the truck.

Steve slammed the door shut and began walking as Natasha spoke aloud, "The file came from these coordinates."

"So did I," Steve whispered, jaw clenching and unclenching after a moment.

A few minutes later, after Steve broke the lock, the trio was silently walking through the dark camp, the sun having disappeared under the horizon.

Natasha was scanning the camp as Steve said, "This camp is where I was trained."

"Change much?" Natasha asked, not looking at Steve. The man simply blinked, looking up at a flag pole, "A little."

Steve couldn't help his heart clenching in his chest as he felt as though he was sucked into a memory, the image of Jessica dancing through his head.

He heard the yells of his drill sergeant, Jessica beside him urging Steve on with a small smile. His eyes drifted over to the side of the camp, the man intaking a sharp breath as he caught sight of the now much larger willow tree Jessica had kissed him under.

He shook his head at his past self.

You walked away from her, you idiot.

From beside him, Chess tilted her head, whispering, "Steve? You okay?"

Steve blinked rapidly for a moment, lips pricking at the memory of Jessica's pink ones on his. He sniffed, turning to her with a brief nod as his lips pursed.

"This is a dead end. Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off," Natasha huffed, causing Chess and Steve to turn to her.

Chess rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, "I think I got the location correct. There's no way that they lied, Natalia."

The brunette woman looked back to Steve, who was glancing behind her girlfriend and said, "What is it?"

Steve turned and began walking up the stairs Natasha was on, jumping over the railing prompting the redhead to do the same. Chess watched as they walked away and slapped her hands on her thighs, curling under the railing and hitting the ground with a click of her heels.

The woman was muttering to herself as Steve spoke, reaching the building, "Army regulations forbid storing munitions within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place."

The trio stopped in front of the building and Steve thought for a moment before smashing the lock on the door with his shield. He groaned as he pushed the door open, holding it for Natasha and Chess, who pulled out their phones to use the flashlight to see.

Upon getting down the flight of stairs, Natasha found the light switch and flipped the lights on, everyone's eyes adjusting to it as they pocketed their phones once more.

"This is SHIELD," Natasha observed, eyes landing on the large logo at the end of the long hallway they were in. Steve sighed, "Maybe where it started."

The trio looked around for a few minutes before they entered a room filled with several bookshelves, eyes landing on a wall of photographs.

"Grandpa," Chess tilted her head to the side. Steve chuckled a bit, "Howard."

"Oh, did you know him?" Chess turned to Steve with a smirk, "I only didn't hear about it from my father for my entire life. From someone who didn't like to hear the Captain America speech, he sure said it enough, too."

Steve laughed and shook his head at her comment, looking back to the picture of Peggy and Lorraine, who was beside her.

Natasha gestured to Lorraine, "Who's the girl?"

"Peggy Carter's late wife," Steve smiled, "Had me fooled. Not Jess, I guess."

"Oh, does she know now?" Chess asked him, not having heard the conversation earlier since she was asleep.

Steve nodded, "I suppose it's time that the world know I was in love with Jessica Lynne Martin."

Chess smirked once more, "Even her name sounds delightful."

Natasha turned and narrowed her eyes at the woman, Chess only shrugging when she met her eyes.

The trio began walking off and Steve's gave them a confused look, bright blue orbs settled on a bookshelf with a small gap in the middle.

"If you're already working in a secret office..." Steve tailed off, pushing the bookshelf to the side to reveal two metal doors, "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

The two women didn't respond as Natasha scanned the keypad with the black light feature on her phone, the device figuring out the code to the elevator. She entered the four digit code, the metal doors sliding open with ease.

They quickly entered and went down to the lowest level, the trio looking around uneased as they stepped into the dark room. Chess found herself unconsciously leaning toward Natasha as they walked to what seemed to be a lit-up control panel, eyes glancing down at the floor to make sure she didn't get her heel caught in the grate below.

Steve's eyes flashed around the room as a loud whirring sound was heard, the lights clicking on to reveal hundreds of old computers.

"This can't be the data-point, this technology is ancient," Natasha scoffed, shaking her head. Chess rose her hand and pointed to what looked to be a new USB port, saying, "Want to explain that?"

The trio looked to one another before Chess reached into her pocket, pulling out the flash drive with a sigh. She placed the device in the USB port and stood back as the computer began whirring, lights flashing on quickly.

Chess jumped slightly at a mechanical voice, looking at the larger of the computers in front of her as it said, "Initiate system?"

Steve and Natasha looked to her and Chess rose her hands in the air, saying, "I don't have the patience to deal with old computers today."

Natasha leaned forward and began typing on the keyboard as she said, "Y-E-S spells yes."

The woman's lips lifted upwards toward her hairline as the computers began cranking up.

She turned to Steve, brow raised teasingly, ""Shall we play a game?" It's from a movie that was really-"

"-I know, I watched it with Chess," Steve interrupted, the said woman giving him a light smile.

Her expression hardened as she met Natasha's eyes, going to say something when she was cut off by an accented voice speaking. Everyone's eyes widened as they sat a green light erupting from the computer, Chess tilting her head at the shape.

"It's a face," She whispered, shuddering a bit, "That's just freaky."

"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984. Stark, Marchessa. Born 1990."

Natasha shook her head, confused, "It's some kind of recording."

"I am not a recording, fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am."

Steve furrowed his brows at the picture of Armin Zola that came onto the screen beside the other and both Natasha and Chess spoke at once, eyes wide toward Steve, "You know this thing?"

The man's jaw clenched as he began walking around the computer, "Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years."

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain."

"I know it's metaphorical and all, but that still is gross," Chess wrinkled her nose, swiping a stray hair that was in her eye behind her ear.

Steve hid a smile at that as he spoke to the computer once more, "How did you get here?'

"Invited."

Natasha finally spoke, pulling Steve from his thoughts of how SHIELD would have ever worked with Armin Zola after he worked for Johann Schmidt, "It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value."

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."

Steve let out a growl, lip furrowing as his teeth grinded against one another while anger pushed through this veins at the very thought, "Hydra died with the Red Skull."

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

The Hydra symbol appeared on the screen before Armin Zola's face split into two, causing Steve's heart to begin rapidly beating. Anxiety flooded his veins as his hands began shaking, a lump in his throat making his voice hoarse.

"Prove it."

Pictures began moving on the screen and Chess tilted her head, furrowing her brow at the picture of Jessica that had popped up, feeling an odd sense of familiarity to her but not being able to put her finger on it.

"Accessing archive."

After a moment Armin Zola began speaking once more, showing them video footage of everything he was speaking of, including footage of Steve and Jessica in the battlefield.

"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, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new Hydra grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For seventy years Hydra has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

Steve shook his head at the sight of two shooters, the same ones that had been to his house. The woman was in front of the man, wrist angled oddly as her fingers were toward her palm- almost as if she had been moving them.

Everything in him knew who it was, the waist length red braid hanging over her shoulder as part of her face was hidden but showing the one thing Steve needed to see to know.

It was Jessica.

"No," He whispered, tears almost coming to his eyes, "It can't be."

"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you," Natasha shook her head, not believing the computer.

Dr. Armin Zola's voice was heard again, the computer showing them a newspaper clipping of Howard and Maria Stark, making Chess' eyes widen a bit.

Steve's mouth dropped at the realization that Hydra must have killed his old friend, making it look like a car accident along with the recent death of Fury.

"Accidents will happen. 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-"

Steve Rogers cut the computer off by smashing the screen with his fist, eyes moving to the side to see Armin Zola move to another screen.

"As I was saying."

"What's on this drive?" Steve immediately questioned, walking past Chess and Natasha to the other computer.

"Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, asking, "What kind of algorithm? What does it do?"

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

The doors to the elevator began shutting and Steve threw his shield toward them, trying to keep it open. His shield bounced off the metal and came back to him as Natasha pulled out her phone, the device chirping to tell that something had neared the area.

"Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops," She shoved the phone back into her pocket, hand grasping onto Chess'. Steve's eyes widened as he looked around, "Who fired it?"

Natasha almost looked scared as she said, "SHIELD."

The woman began dragging Chess over to Steve, the brunette digging her heels into the ground before leaning back and grabbing the flash-drive out of the USB port. She let the woman she loved drag her back to Steve as the computer continued talking.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us... out of time."

Steve ran to a opening on the ground and threw the metal grate aside, Natasha and Chess running to Steve who grasped onto them as they fell into the hole. The ground shook as the explosion racked through the room, Steve holding his shield above himself and the couple.

Concurrently, Jessica Lynne sat beside Bucky Barnes, legs propped up on the kitchen table in Alexander Pierce's home.

Her arms were crossed across her chest when she looked to Bucky, voice low as she said, "So, want to leave and get ice cream for old time sake?"

The Winter Soldier turned to her expressionless, not saying anything making Jessica roll her eyes and say, "You used to be a lot more fun."

Bucky only turned away and Jessica sighed, doing the same before they heard footsteps approach the kitchen they were in. They watched as Alexander Pierce came into the room unalarmed of the pair in the dark corner.

Pierce turned as he placed the milk carton he had gotten out of the fridge down, eyes glancing on Jessica and Bucky making him pause for a moment.

He closed the fridge as one of the his maids spoke aloud, making the pair turn toward the wall where she was behind, "I'm going to go, Mr. Pierce. You need anything before I leave?"

"No, uh, it's fine, Renata, you can go home," Pierce told her, not looking away from the pair as Jessica smirked at him from under the moonlight.

"Okay. Night-night."

Alexander gulped, "Night."

The man only spoke again when he heard her footsteps dissipate, the door closing behind her as she left for the night.

"Want some milk?" He questioned, moving to grab a glass from the cupboard.

Jessica shrugged, narrowing her eyes at the man, "Sure, why not. It's been a long time since I was offered something other than torture."

Alexander turned with two glasses in hand, beginning to pour the beverage as she said, "The timetable has moved. Our window is limited."

He sipped on his drink, carrying Jessica's as he walked toward them, "Three targets, Level Six."

The man joined the two sitting beside one another, glancing between them as he handed Jessica a glass and continued, saying, "They already cost me Zola. I want confirmed death in ten hours."

Jessica went to say something when movement behind Peirce caught her eye, causing her to look behind him as Renata walked back into the room.

"Sorry, Mr. Pierce, I," She trailed off, noticing Jessica and Bucky behind Peirce, "I forgot my phone."

The Hydra agent sighed, Jessica's eyes widening slightly as she noticed he grabbed Bucky's gun that was laying beside her legs.

"Oh, Renata. I wish you would have knocked."

Jessica closed her eyes as she turned her head away, feeling the woman's soul go back into the Earth as Alexander Peirce shot her three times.

The woman didn't look back as she opened her eyes, bringing the glass to her lips and sipped on her drink. From under the table, Bucky placed his gloved flesh hand on Jessica's thigh, squeezing it once as he felt the need to comfort her.

Bucky Barnes didn't exactly remember Jessica Martin fully, but the man still felt a need to protect her.

After every time he had come out of cyro, the woman had to re-explain that they had been best friends, excluding the fact that Steve Rogers had also been their friend since she didn't remember that specific detail.

All Jessica remembered were the memories without Steve and if she happened to have one that included him, everything was blurry.

That is, except for his eyes.

Jessica felt drawn to the blue eyes that were in her memories, the woman knowing she had seen them before and finding comfort in them. She never had truly experienced that feeling until she saw the man the eyes belonged to today on her mission.

Which is why everything in her screamed to follow them while she could, hence why she put a tracking device on Chess without her knowledge.

She would have left to find them if it weren't for her own tracking device on her neck, the light blue hue lit up under her hair.

Jessica was shaken from her thoughts of the blue-eyed man as Alexander spoke once more, tone more hard, "Agents, we expect this done."

"What have they done?" Jessica grit her teeth, turning back to him, "It'll help us track them easier."

Alexander thought for a moment and he leaned toward the woman, glass still in hand, "Is there something you know that we don't, soldier?"

"No," Jessica shook her head, lying smoothly, "Just wandering what all the fuss is about regarding these three class sixes."

"The fuss is, soldier, that three class sixes are getting away and are a threat to the new world. Last they were seen was in New Jersey, we expect them to be coming back to Washington to seek shelter."

Jessica nodded, tilting her head to the side as her pinkie outlined the glass on the table, "It's smart. Where would they hide that we don't know about?"

"That's the million dollar question, soldier," Alexander narrowed his eyes at the woman.

Jessica shrugged, "Start scowering for reports of missing vehicles. They can't get from that camp to the capitol on foot. Track it. They won't stop until they're at least two miles off from their location; too afraid that they will be spotted on foot."

Alexander hummed, saying, "You can find them?"

Jessica was quiet for a moment, knowing the device in her pocket would tell her where they were, but chose to say, "If you get me what I need, yes."

"Then you better get to work."

✧

The next morning, Sam Wilson had just gotten back from his run when he heard a knock on his back door, prompting him to put down the jug of orange juice that was in hand.

He opened the sliding door to reveal an ash covered Steve, Natasha and Chess, causing him to furrow his brows.

"Hey, man," He trailed off, eyes glancing between the trio. Steve gulped and said, "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."

Natasha sniffed, meeting Sam's eyes, "Everyone we know is trying to kill us."

Sam looked at the three once again, nodding when he saw the scared look on the Stark woman's face, making him say, "Not everyone."

He moved to the side and the trio immediately ran into the room, Sam looking around the backyard of his home before closing the door and blinds.

Twenty minutes later, Marchessa Stark was digging through his fridge, eyes wide as she grabbed the last can of cherry Pepsi while her girlfriend was in the next room drying her hair.

She turned to him with an excited smile, "Can I have this?"

"The last one?" Sam huffed over his shoulder, scrambling the eggs he was making, "I was saving that for my next cheat day."

"As soon as this is all over, I'll buy you as many as you want. I'm in definite need of caffeine, the withdrawal headache is kicking in," Chess explained, a cheeky smirk on her face.

Sam only sighed, "Fine. But you owe me."

"Done."

As the two were in the kitchen, Steve was washing his face, door open to Natasha who was on the bed towel-drying her hair.

Steve looked at her through the mirror, brows furrowing at her expression when he turned to her.

He stood in the doorframe as he asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," She shook him off, continuing what she was doing. Steve sighed and threw the towel down before sitting beside her, "What's going on?"

Natasha was quiet for a minute, shaking her head, "When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for Hydra."

The former assassin scoffed silently, pursing her lips as she looked to her lap helplessly, "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business," Steve shrugged, Natasha faintly smiling at his joke.

The woman sighed, licking her lips, "I owe you. Saving me is one thing, but saving her... that's something to me."

"She's my friend, Natasha," Steve grinned lightly, "I would do anything for her."

"That makes two of us."

The two Avengers shared a smile before Steve sighed, saying, "What are you doing, Natasha? If you can show me through your words just now that you love her, why can't you do it in front of her?"

Natasha was quiet for a moment, eyes flickering back and forth, "Growing up how I did taught me to hide those emotions. They saw something that I loved? They took it away."

"And you're afraid she'll leave," Steve concluded, nodding to himself. Natasha simply shrugged, humorlessly chuckling, "Can't always have your cake and eat it, too."

Steve laughed at that and silence overcame them once more before Natasha broke it, "I was serious when I said I owed you, though."

"It's okay."

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?" Natasha asked, vulnerability shaking her voice.

Steve nodded once, "I would now. And I'm always honest, Jessica hated it."

"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died and lost of the love of their life for nothing," Natasha smirked, raising a thin brow.

The man shook his head, chuckling to himself at what is life was, "It wasn't for nothing at the time. It was for love."

"Love," Natasha repeated, "What a word."

"To answer your question, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

The pair's conversation ended as footsteps approached, the two turning to see Sam leaning on the wall as he said, "I made breakfast... if you guys eat that sort of thing."

"I do!" Chess yelled from the kitchen, earning a laugh from Steve and Natasha.

Sam rolled his eyes, "I noticed. You already started eating the eggs out of the pan."

"What can I say? People trying to kill me and making me run in heels makes me hungry."

Everyone gave the Stark woman a light chuckle before Steve and Natasha left the room with Sam.

Natasha immediately went to sit by her girlfriend, who was happily chewing on a bright red strawberry, and kissed her head prompting Chess to turn to her with a confused look.

"I'm sorry for being a jackass," Natasha whispered, grabbing her hand that was in her lap and lightly kissing it, "Think you can forgive me?"

A light blush dusted Chess' cheeks and she let out a long sigh, saying, "Should I?"

"I think it would be in your best interest to say yes," Natasha smirked, eyes brightening a bit. Chess rose a brow, "I'm serious, Nat."

Natasha nodded, "I'm sorry. I'll try to do better, I promise."

"Okay," Chess whispered, biting her lip after a moment, "But you need to stop running all the time. I kind of like you."

"You're pretty alright too, Marchie."

Steve smiled at the pair before he went to grab a plate for himself and Natasha, thanking Sam as he did so.

He quickly sat down at the table and handed the redhead a plate, who immediately said, "So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"

"Pierce," Steve concluded, clenching his jaw a bit. Natasha sighed, "Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."

"I could always hack into it. I've done it before," Chess swallowed another strawberry, "Could get it down long enough for you two to get in."

Steve shook his head, "They'd realize what was happening instantly. There wouldn't be enough time, especially because he's not working alone. Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell," Natasha reminded. Steve sighed in frustration once more, "So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

"I never asked to be on the most wanted list, doesn't that count for something?" Chess pouted slightly.

Steve chuckled and went to say something before Sam walked over and placed two files on the table, saying, "The answer is: you don't."

"What's this?" Captain America leaned forward, taking the top file in hand. Sam crossed his arms over his chest, "Call if a resume."

Steve furrowed his brows as he opened the manila folder, Natasha plucking the picture in the front out of his hands.

Chess looked over her girlfriend's shoulder as Natasha said, "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you."

Sam nodded and Natasha smirked, "You didn't say he was a Pararescue."

"Was this Riley?" Steve questioned as Natasha handed him the picture of Sam and his wing-man.

Sam softly nodded again, whispering, "Yeah."

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?"

The man leaned forward and grabbed the other file, handing it to Steve, "No. These."

Steve couldn't help but breathlessly chuckle as he stared back at the paperwork, meeting his eyes after a moment, "I thought you said you were a pilot."

"I never said pilot."

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam," Steve shook his head, "You got out for a good reason."

Sam scoffed, "Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

Steve pursed his lips, taking in his answer, "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall," Sam explained, meeting Natasha's eyes who simply shrugged."

"Shouldn't be a problem. We always have a hacker who can help us, too."

Natasha looked over at Chess who was sipping her cherry Pepsi, stopping when she felt eyes on the side of her head.

Chess pulled back from her drink, red around her lips from the strawberry juice.

"Wait, what?"

✧

AN: I'm so sorry it took forever for this update. I've had a lot going on in my personal life such as college and my physical/mental health.

If anyone was unaware because you haven't read Dark Star, I'm going through chemotherapy for my cancer treatment and this week was not a good one. I hope you all understand <3