𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asks curiously from the passenger seat.

"Nazi Germany" Steve answers simply.

"Mmm" My sister hums.

"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash" Steve orders and she listens, making me smile in amusement "You too, Ana"

I curse under my breath, taking my feet away from the middle console and placing them on the floor.

"Language" He warns me and I wink at him, causing him to shake his head at me with a small smile.

"All right, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer" Natasha speaks up "I feel like, if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know"

"What?" He asks.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Natasha grins playfully.

"That bad, huh?" He asks, glancing at me.

"I don't think it was bad at all" I shrug.

"You don't seem very sure about that" He comments and I roll my eyes with a smile.

"You're a very good kisser, Stevie" I assure him.

"I just wondered how much practice you've had" Natasha shrugs.

"You don't need practice" Steve argues.

"Everybody needs practice" She retorts.

"It was not my first kiss since 1945" He admits, glancing at me in the mirror "I'm 95, I'm not dead"

"Nobody special though?" She inquires.

"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience" He says sarcastically.

"Tell me about it" I huff.

"Well, that's all right. You just make something up" Natasha tells us.

"What, like you?" Steve retorts.

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstance. It's not all things to all people, all the time. Neither am I" She clarifies.

"That's a tough way to live" He states.

"It's a good way not to die though" I respond.

"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who that someone really is" Steve declares.

"Yeah" Natasha nods.

"Who do you want us to be?" I ask curiously.

"How about a friend?" He suggests and I smile.

"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers" My sister replies.

We arrive at our destination and climb out of the car.

"This is it" Steve declares.

"The file came from these coordinates" Natasha adds.

"So did I" He counters.

We slip through a gap in the fence and begin making our way through the forgotten US army base.

"This camp is where I was trained" Steve tells us.

"Change much?" Natasha asks, trying to get a signal on her tracker.

"A little" He answers.

Steve seems to drift off into a daze as he looks at the grounds and I look around, trying to imagine what it would have looked like years ago.

"This is a dead end" Natasha huffs "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even a radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off"

Steve looks off into the distance and his brows furrow in confusion. He starts walking and I follow him, Natasha by my side.

"What is it?" I ask him curiously.

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place" He explains as we approach the building.

He uses his shield to break the padlock and we enter, heading down the stairs. Natasha flicks on the lights and the first thing I see is the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the wall.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D." I declare.

"Maybe where it started" Steve suggests.

We look around before finding a back room, three pictures on the wall catching our attention.

"And there's Stark's father" Natasha says.

"Howard" Steve counters.

"Who's the girl?" Natasha asks when she sees Steve looking at the last picture.

Instead of answering, he just walks away and my sister looks at me in confusion.

"It's a touchy subject" I elaborate and she nods.

Natasha and I go after Steve who we find looking at some empty shelves.

"If you're already working in a secret office..." He drawls off before heaving the shelves along to reveal an elevator "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

Natasha scans the keypad and gets the right passcode, punching it in. The elevator dings and the doors open. We get inside and press the down button, the doors closing. The doors open once we reach the bottom and we step out into the dark space. My sister and I walk along side Steve, further into the darkness until the lights flicker on by themselves.

"This can't be the data point. This technology is ancient" Natasha scoffs.

She then notices a newer piece of tech, plugging the hard drive into the box. The large warehouse like room is suddenly lit up as the old technology all turns on and starts up. The words 'Initiate system?' are written across the screen in front of us and my sister steps forward.

"Y-E-S spells yes" She hums.

The computer powers up and I cross my arms over my chest, watching in scepticism.

"Shall we play a game?" Natasha smirks before turning to us "It's from a movie that was really-"

"I know, I saw it" Steve assures her and she gives him an impressed nod.

"Rogers, Steven, born 1918" The computer suddenly speaks and Steve looks at it in disbelief.

"Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna, born 1984" It continues.

"Novikov, Anastasia Mikhailovna, born 1986" It then says and my eyes widen.

"How does it know us?" I ask in shock.

"It's some kind of recording" Natasha replies.

"I am not a recording, Fraeulein" The computer retorts "I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am"

"You know this thing?" Natasha asks Steve.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years" Steve explains to us, walking around the computer.

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive" Zola informs us "In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving, on 200000 feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain"

"How did you get here?" Steve asks.

"Invited" Zola responds simply.

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value" Natasha elaborates.

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

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull" Steve declares and I shake my head, knowing he's wrong.

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

"Prove it" Steve demands.

"Accessing archive" Zola says before showing a video to us "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realise 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 70 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 have stopped you" Steve snaps.

"You can't stop what you don't know is there" I state.

"Accidents will happen. HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once a purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise" Zola speaks confidently "We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero sum"

Steve sends his fist pummelling into the computer screen and I wince as it smashes.

"As I was saying..." Zola huffs, appearing on another screen.

"What's on this drive?" Steve barks.

"Project Insight requires insight. So, I wrote an algorithm" Zola answers.

"What kind of algorithm?" Natasha questions.

"What does it do?" I inquire.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it" Zola announces and I hear a clang.

I turn my head to see the elevator doors being sealed and Steve throws his shield but it's too late, the vibranium just bouncing back to him. Natasha's phone beeps and she pulls it out.

"Guys, we got a bogey" She informs us "Short range ballistics. 30 seconds tops"

"Who fired it?" Steve asks in confusion.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." I state in realisation.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it. It's better this way" Zola expresses as Steve rips up an air vent cover from the ground "We are, both of us, out of time"

I hear the explosion before I see it, Steve grabbing me and following behind Natasha as she jumps into the vent. The blonde man uses his shield to cover us as we all huddle together, trying not to get crushed by the falling stone structure above us.

The debris finally settles and I cough loudly, the smoke invading my lungs as I push a slab of stone away from me to see my sister. I notice the redhead isn't moving and my heart drops.

"Natasha!" I gasp as Steve grabs her, picking her up bridal style.

"Ana, we have to go. Now" He warns me and I nod, a tear rolling down my cheek.