I'm so mad. I thought TODAY was Sunday so I was like, "yay, I get to update!" Come to find out, it's Monday. THEN, I said I would update early if I received four reviews on the last chapter. Apparently my fourth review was received on June 29th...but I didn't get an e-mail notifying me like I always do! *sigh*

This chapter is a bit long because it was difficult for me to find a place to stop. If I stopped it too early, it would be uneventful and boring. I just hope it's not too long. Don't worry, things will start to pick up next chapter. :)

Thank you to all those who reviewed!

stellarstarlet: haha thank you! I'll try and update this story every week or so.

Guest1989: Glad you do! And I will. :)

BarbyChan4ever: thank you for reviewing not only once, but twice. :) sooooo happy you love their interactions!

kiroroblue: I will! Thanks for reviewing!

Remember, five reviews and I'll do an early update! :D

Dressed in civilian attire and sporting a pair of freakishly ugly shoes, Steve discreetly walked through the hospital to retrieve the thumb drive he had hidden in the vending machine. Steve reached the vending machine and peered inside, only to find that the whole entire selection of bubble gum and the thumb drive were all gone.

Before he even had time to react, Natasha appeared in the reflection of the vending machine window behind him. She made eye contact with him through the vending machine window before purposefully smacking on the gum she was chewing and then blowing a bubble. It was then he knew she had the thumb drive.

Steve could feel himself losing his patience. He didn't have time for this. Not to mention the fact that he didn't know if he could trust her with the thumb drive. He forcefully pushed her into the room right across the hall and out of sight.

"Where is it?" He demanded as he threw down his hood.

"Safe."

"Do better."

"Where did you get it?" Natasha asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve countered, remembering what Fury told him.

Trust no one.

But Natasha put two and two together.

"Fury gave it to you," she accused. "Why?"

"What's on it?" Steve completely ignored her question.

"I don't know," Natasha answered truthfully.

Steve lightly slammed her against the wall. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"Stop lying," he said through gritted teeth.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers."

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

"I'm not gonna ask you again," Steve threatened.

"I know who killed Fury..." Natasha started to say. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So he's a ghost story."

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran and somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him, straight through me."

Natasha pulled up her shirt, revealing a scar on her lower left abdomen.

"Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye bye, bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now," Steve half joked.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried."

Natasha pulled out the thumb drive and held it in front of their faces. Steve eyed her before taking it and putting it in his pocket.

"Let's find out what the ghost wants."

"That was pretty intense," Autumn blurted from her where she was hiding. She had casually watched the whole thing while sitting Indian style on a small table. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Rogers."

Steve turned his attention just in time to see her pop out from the darkness. She must be damn good at staying out of sight if he didn't even know she was there.

"What is she doing here?" Steve asked Natasha.

Autumn rolled her eyes at his tone. She knew he had been through hell today, but it didn't mean she took kindly to it.

"Or you could ask me, you know," Autumn told him while waving her hand.

"She's useful, I promise," Natasha smirked.

"I'm more than that," Autumn defended.

"SHIELD is looking for me. I don't want you getting dragged into all this," Steve told her. "It's going to be difficult being on the run with Natasha, and even more difficult with two."

Autumn bit her lip. She knew he wasn't being mean, he was just being truthful and she could honestly understand his point.

But he didn't know her. And he didn't know what she was capable of. Yet.

"Either you let me come along, or I can go back SHIELD and help them hunt you down, which I don't want to do."

"SHIELD did a mass recall of all agents, Steve. We can't go back," Natasha informed.

Steve looked Autumn over. He surely wasn't one to judge size; he was small at one point too. But something about her looked so...off. She looked so young and inexperienced.

Autumn could feel her eye switching as Steve silently judged her.

"I have the ability to conduct electricity. I can electrocute anything by simply touching it and I can shoot it out too. I'm also computer savvy so if it's intel you're trying to find, I'm your girl. And I'm coming along."

Steve then remembered how Autumn tried to destroy the grenade Batroc had thrown at them. He remembered a jolt of electricity leaving her hands. It all happened so quick he had almost forgotten about her abilities.

"Paxton's Mall is three miles away and it has an Apple Store. We can find out what's on this hard drive there," Natasha informed.

Steve said nothing and stayed silent for a few moments. He seemed as if he were having a mental battle with himself. Then after a moment, he let out a sigh.

"Okay, then. Let's go, ladies."

First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha explained quietly.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off," told Steve.

"You need a change of shoes, sir," Autumn told the man, grimacing at his shoes. "Where did you get those?"

"Stole them."

"Yikes."

The trio walked into the Mac store and walked up to one of their computers.

Steve pulled out the thumb drive and gave it to Natasha.

"This drive has a level six homing program so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are," she warned.

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked.

"Should be about nine minutes," Autumn supplied.

Natasha quickly popped in the thumb drive into the MacBook Pro.

"Starting...now," Natasha confirmed. "...Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve hurriedly asked.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly."

"And that's where I come in," Autumn announced and took over the laptop.

Natasha shot an aggravated look at her friend but let her do her thing.

"I'm going to try and run a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware so if we can't read the file, then maybe we can try and see where it came from," Autumn explained.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" An Apple employee asked as he walked up to the trio.

"Oh, no. My friend here was just helping me look up some honeymoon destinations for me and my fiancé here," Natasha cheerfully explained to the man and latched onto Steve's arm.

"Right! We're getting married." Steve played along, though it was obvious he was feeling awkward. At least to Autumn, it was.

"And I'm the Maid of Honor!" Autumn happily played along, flashing the man an overexcited smile.

"Congratulations. Where you guys thinking of going?" The employee asked.

Steve looks at the monitor and sees the signal was traced to somewhere in New Jersey.

"New Jersey," Steve quickly muttered.

Autumn raised an eyebrow as she continued to type away. Where the hell did Steve get his training?

"Oh."

Then, the employee looks at Steve for a moment, eyeing him suspiciously.

For a moment there, Steve thought the man may have figured out who he was.

"I have the same exact glasses," the man finally pointed out.

"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha smirked at the two.

"Yeah, I wish...specimen," the employee takes a step back and motions at Steve. "Uhh, if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron," the man said before awkwardly stepping away.

"Where the hell did you get your training, Cap? Being undercover is basic 101 at the academy," Autumn informed Steve, taking a moment to glance up at the man.

"I'm not a spy, Autumn. And I was around before SHIELD ever came to be, so take it easy," Steve explained as a matter-of-factly.

"Fine. Point taken."

"You said nine minutes, come on."

"No worries...okay, got it. Do you know this place?" Autumn could only assume he did from the way Steve was staring at the screen.

"I used to. Let's go."

Autumn quickly pulled out the thumb drive and the trio made their way out of the store. As soon as the left the Mac Store, she saw several SHIELD agents, all dressed in black attire. Members of the STRIKE team.

"Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they see us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro," Steve explained, getting ready to go into attack mode.

"Shut up, put your arm around me and laugh at something I said," Natasha commanded.

"What?"

"Do it."

Steve was quick to follow her orders and did just as she said. When Steve turned his head, he saw that they had successfully evaded the two agents in front of them.

Even though Autumn was technically recalled to SHIELD and unaccounted for, she wasn't a well-known agent and only Director Fury knew she trained directly under Natasha. Unless SHIELD remembered her being at the hospital, she wasn't a familiar face and hopefully it would be easy for her to remain under cover.

Steve, Autumn and Natasha started to head down on the escalator. Natasha was in front of Steve and Autumn, who stood side by side. She was the first to notice Rumlow on the escalators next to them going up and quickly turned around to face them.

"Kiss each other."

"What?" Steve and Autumn questioned at the same time.

"Rumlow is about to pass us. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes, they do," Steve told the red head.

Autumn quickly realized who Natasha spotted on the opposite escalator going up. It was the same man she saw earlier from the hospital.

Not wanting to be caught, Autumn grabbed Steve's shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. His lips crashed onto hers but at least he was quick to settle into the kiss without being awkward. Well, too awkward.

Even she had to admit, her heart damn near skipped a beat. She knew it meant nothing, but never in a million years would she ever imagine kissing Steve Rogers. She could taste the coffee she gave him earlier and she could feel how warm and smooth his lips were.

When she pulled away, she saw a slight hint of pink on his cheeks and his eyes seemed a slightly unfocused as he looked at her.

Was he blushing?

Never mind him, she was sure she was blushing too.

Natasha cleared her throat and both Steve and Autumn looked away from each other.

"Still uncomfortable?" Natasha sarcastically asked the duo.

"It's not exactly the word I would use," Steve told her.

"It's the word I would use," Autumn chimed in. "I don't think I've kissed someone since high school."

"And that's probably still not as long as Cap here," Natasha smirked.

"Let's just please get out of here," Autumn sighed and led them out of the mall.

"I think you got her all riled up," Natasha whispered to Steve.

Steve shoved his hands in his pocket and kept his head down.

"She's the one who kissed me," Steve muttered.

He hardly remembered the kiss since it happened so fast. But what he did remember was how soft her lips were and the scent of her hair. Even though it was pulled up into a ponytail, he could still smell her apple scented shampoo. It felt like it had been forever since he last kissed a woman. And it had been. That was literally a lifetime ago.

Truthfully, he had not expected her to do that. But he was thankful she did or otherwise there may have been a chance Rumlow would have caught them all.

"So where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asked.

After exiting the mall, Steve, Autumn and Natasha ran to a nearby restaurant, stole a SUV, and now the three were on their way to New Jersey.

"Nazi Germany," Steve answered, his voice laced with irritation. "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."

"You can say stealing, Steve, it's okay," Autumn muttered sarcastically to the man. "I think we all know this car isn't going to be returned to it's rightful owner."

"Alright," Natasha turned in her seat to face the Captain. "I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer. But I feel if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?"

"What?" Steve gave an exasperated sigh.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"

Autumn's head snapped up in their direction. She could feel her cheeks reddening again.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you looked like an innocent little boy after she kissed you."

"Come on, guys," Autumn groaned in frustration and slapped her arm over her eyes. "Can we not talk about this? I'm just trying to enjoy our time while we're not being chased by SHIELD."

"That bad, huh?" Steve asked the younger agent.

"I'm not commenting, Steve. I hardly remember the damn kiss," Autumn retorted and crossed her arms in defense.

"Well, you both are making it sound like I'm a bad kisser."

"I didn't say that at all!"

"It kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."

"Wow, someone's defensive," Autumn scoffed.

Autumn, though embarrassed, was also a little amused at his reaction. Steve was actually getting defensive over his kissing skills.

"Nobody special though?" Natasha asked, changing the tune of the conversation.

"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience," Steve admitted with a sigh.

"That's alright, you just make something up," Natasha suggested.

"What, like you?"

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."

"I don't know, Nat. The truth always matters to me," Autumn chimed in.

She knew Natasha's life was a complicated one. She had a past before she joined SHIELD and even after she had joined, she spent much of her time as a spy and has accumulated many identities and covers throughout the years. She had a complicated life and it would make sense as to why she would make up or hide certain truths about herself.

"That's a tough way to live," Steve told the red head.

"It's a good way not to die, though," said Natasha.

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

"Yeah. Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?"

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

Autumn stayed silent. She hadn't been around SHIELD too long and aside from a failed mission and a few months training under Natasha, she wasn't too experienced. She certainly had her opinions but maybe it was just better left unsaid. She hadn't been around the block like Steve or Natasha.

Another hour or so passed and it was just after sunset when they pulled up to an abandoned military base.

"The file came from these coordinates," informed Natasha as she looked at her phone.

"So did I," answered Steve. "This camp is where I was trained."

"Wow..." Autumn whispered, looking around and taking in her surroundings. "I know it's abandoned and all, but has it changed much?"

"A little."

Autumn watched as Steve momentarily paused, his eyes fixated on nothing in particular.

"Flashback?"

"Yeah," Steve answered, turning to smile at her. "Something like that."

"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," says Natasha.

Autumn noticed Steve's eyes again were fixated on one of the buildings.

"Steve, what are you looking at?" Autumn approached the man and asked.

"This building is in the wrong place," Steve informed and walked over to what looked like an ammunition supply point. "Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards from the barracks."

Steve used his shield to break the door lock and entered, followed by Autumn and Natasha.

They cautiously walked inside, scanning every area and corner for threats.

"Still no heat signatures. We should be good," Natasha assured as she flipped a nearly light switch.

"Yet, I'm still freaked out," Autumn admitted.

"This is SHIELD," Natasha pointed out.

Autumn saw several desks and of course SHIELD's emblem, confirming Natasha's accusation.

"Maybe where it started," told Steve.

They enter a room and find old framed photos of familiar faces.

"There's Stark's father," Natasha gestured over to the man. "Who's the girl?"

Autumn knew every single one of them. She learned who the founding agents of SHIELD were at the academy. She knew Natasha knew as well so why would we ask that?

From the way Steve was staring at the photo, it seemed like he very well knew who she was.

Steve doesn't reply and instead walks off further down the room. He stops in front of a massive book shelf.

"If you're already working in a secret office..." Steve pushes the shelf open to reveal an elevator behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

"Very intuitive," Autumn complimented. "Yeah, I don't trust elevators."

"Fine. You can wait out here by yourself while Romanoff and I head down," Steve suggested.

"Uh, no thank you," Autumn grimaced. "I'd rather stick with both sets of guns."

They go down the elevator which takes them to a room with old looking computers.

"This can't be the data-point," Natasha observed. "This technology is ancient."

"Hey Nat, look," Autumn pointed to a flash drive port. "Try it out."

Natasha places the drive into the port.

"Initiate system?" The computer asks in a dull, robotic voice.

"I have a bad feeling guys..." Autumn trailed off while taking in all her surroundings.

"Y-E-S, spells yes," Natasha says while typing. The Black Widow smiles as the old computer starts to whir and crank up. "...Shall we play a game?"

Natasha looks deviously at Steve, but doesn't gain a reaction from him.

"It's from a movie that-"

"Yeah, I saw it," Steve informed.

The computer turns on and a photo of Steve's SHIELD ID pops on the screen.

"Rogers, Steven Grant. Born, 1918," an accented voice spoke. A camera pointed in Steve's direction as if it were studying him.

Then, the camera pointed to Natasha and her SHIELD ID appeared on the screen.

"Romanov, Natalia Alianova. Born, 1984."

The camera pointed to Autumn and her ID appeared on the screen. Steve didn't miss the date the photo was taken. It was 2014. Earlier this year.

"Carmichael, Autumn Annette. Born 1988."

"I'm about to blow this thing to bits, guys. This is way too freaky..." Autumn half joked. She loved technology and had an undying passion for understanding it, but talking computers was a little outside of her comfort zone.

"It's some kind of recording," Natasha stated.

"I don't know, Nat..." Autumn walked up to the camera and cautiously eyed the thing. From the way the camera and computers were functioning, it almost seemed alive.

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

The computer screen showed a photo of an odd looking man with round glasses.

"Who is that?" Autumn asked.

Steve was glaring at the photo on the computer screen. It seemed like Steve knew exactly who he was.

"Do you know this thing?" Natasha questioned.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years," Steve explained.

"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. Two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing on my brain," Zola explained.

"How did you get here?" Steve questioned.

"Invited."

"Operation Paperclip after World War II," Natasha supplied. "SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic values."

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

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull," declared Steve.

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

"Prove it," Steve challenged.

"Accessing archive."

The computer screen shows them old footage of the Red Skull and of the original SHIELD founders.

"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.

Autumn inaudibly gasped. So SHIELD is really Hydra? No, that's not possible. The thought of she herself being affiliated with Hydra made her very bones chill. Hydra was gone. It ended when Steve killed the Red Skull.

"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you," said Natasha.

"Accidents will happen."

The computer screen revealed Howard and Maria Stark. Their deaths were staged as a car accident. Next was a photo of Director Fury, and the photo shown after that was of a tall Caucasian man with blonde hair donned in flight gear. His helmet was cradled in his arm and a smirk adorned his face. He was posed in front of a SHIELD fighter jet. The name on the jet said 'LT. Joesph "Fireball" Carmichael.'

"Dad...?" Steve heard Autumn gasp. He turned to look at her and saw that her eyes had gone completely wide as she stared at the man on the computer screen. "Is that my...why are you showing me this? Did...did he work for SHIELD?"

Or even worse, maybe he worked for Hydra..

Autumn ran closer to the computer screen and put her hands over the photo. She felt her throat go dry when she saw it was in fact her dad. Since when was he ever affiliated with SHIELD? He was a cargo pilot for Windsor Airlines...

"What did you do to him?" Autumn raised her voice at the camera. Her fists were balled in anger and sparks were already starting to fly out from her body.

"Nothing," Zola spoke. "Yet."

The computer screen then showed a photo of her entire family. Her mom, dad, her three older sisters and herself as the youngest. It read, 'Location: KNOWN. Brooklyn, New York.'

"He's just trying to freak you out, Carmichael. Don't let him," Natasha warned.

Truthfully, Natasha had no idea that her father was once a SHIELD pilot. She even did an extensive background check on the girl but nothing like this came up. Natasha had a feeling Fury may have been behind deleting his record. That was really the only explanation if she herself couldn't find it. Seeing that he had a family, it made sense as to why Lt. Carmichael "never existed" within SHIELD. Fury most likely wanted to guarantee his family's safety.

But somehow, Hydra had his files.

"No one is safe. Not even after Director Fury deleted LT. Carmichael's record. We always knew," Zola threatened. "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."

Autumn turned her head just in time to watch Steve punch through the computer, smashing the screen and effectively silencing the Swiss scientist.

But only for a moment.

"As I was saying..." Dr. Arnim Zola spoke once again.

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

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

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Natasha asked.

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

Suddenly, the doors start to close.

Steve threw his shield in between the closing doors to keep it open but it misses. Autumn sprinted towards the doors and placed her hands on it. Her body lit up as she started to electrocute the door in hopes of frying whatever circuits or system that was keeping it shut. It didn't budge.

"Come on!" Autumn yelled as she increased her power. "I'm not going out, not like this..." She said to herself.

She was determined to get out of here one way or another. She needed to understand what was going on and she needed to see if her family was safe.

"Guys, we got a bogey...incoming short range missile."

"Who fired it?" asked Steve, who was already starting to look for an escape route.

"SHIELD. Fifteen seconds till impact."

"Shit..." Autumn cursed. She too looked around for an escape route but found nothing.

"Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us...out of time," warned Zola.

Steve spotted an opening in the ground and lifted the barring with Autumn and Natasha's help. It wasn't much of an escape but right now it was their only means of survival.

"Get in!" He yells.

Autumn and Natasha quickly jump into the hole, followed by Steve, who pulls them both in close before holding his SHIELD over their heads.

Then, it happened. The missile hit. Heat, smoke and pressure instantly surrounded them.

Autumn shut her eyes and clung onto Steve and Natasha as the building above them started to collapse. She could hear Steve grunting as he fought with all his might to hold his shield above them.

There you go! Long chapter, but I'm just trying to get to the good stuff sooner.

Hope you enjoyed. How did you guys like it?

Because I made you guys wait an extra day, I'll give you a spoiler for the next chapter...there's a little Steve and Autumn bonding moment you can look forward to. :)