5

I sat in a room made of red bricks. Inside was a bed and a metal table. On the table was a large ceramic bowl with water inside. Next to it sat a bar of soap that smelled like lavender with a hint of honey. I used the isolation as an opportunity to clean some of the blood and dirt off my arms and face. I wasn't locked in the room, but I knew that I should stay there. It was best not give the U.S Army a reason to lock me up.

When I was finally graced with some company I was using the now black water to try and get all the matted blood out of my hair and wash the cuts on my skull as well. The woman who entered the room was wearing army brown. Unlike the other ladies she wore pants in the place of a skirt. She was roughly my height with brown hair in the style for the decade. She held a very professional air and the facial expression she was giving me meant that she had a job to do.

"Ms. Kingsley," she said in a British accent using the name I had given them upon my arrival. "My name is Agent Carter." She held out her and I stood to shake it.

"It's nice to meet you Agent," I replied calmly.

"So Ms. Kingsley, I believe it's time we got started," Carter kept her voice at a nice even tone. She reached down into a large black leather briefcase and pulled out a thick brown folder stuffed with stacks of paper. Carter let out a sigh and pulled out a single slip from the chaos. She reached back down into her case and retrieved a blue pen. She slid the pen and the slip of paper towards me.

"Howard Stark wants to run some test on you," she said, "you know, just to make sure you didn't bring any decease back with you." My eyes were trained on the sheet of paper. I wasn't listening to all the excuses they were making trying to convince me this was for my health.

I wasn't sick, I knew it, they knew it. The point of the tests was so they could figure out what I really was. I had been hiding who and what I was for so long. Bucky and Steve knew and that was already to many for me, but maybe if I helped these humans they could train me. Or at least do the best that they could. I had already been offered a home when the war ended. Bucky had always made sure Steve was never alone and they had both teamed up on me to make sure I wasn't ever again. I closed my eyes and saw myself actually being happy again.

My fingers gingerly reached forward and grasped the pen. I opened my eyes and made sure I was looking right into Agent Carter's as I signed the paper. As I finished off my signature I spoke a line that would follow me for the rest of my life, "You know, if you wanted to know what species I was," I paused and stood up. "You could have just asked."

"We've finished analyzing your blood sample," Howard Stark told me as a doctor took my blood pressure. "We found light traces of the formula in the HYDRA weapons."

The doctor took off the cuff and began to clear his equipment out of the room. I watched him leave and turned my grassy eyes back to Stark, "how long until it's out of my system?"

"The fact that you aren't human makes me sure of nothing with your health," he placed a glowing vile next to me full of only some of the infernal substance that was taken from my blood sample. "I hate to admit this, but I need your help with this piece of my research."

I picked up the glass vile and stood to match Howard. "Mr. Stark," I stuck my hand out, "Whatever I can do to repay the SSR."

For the next few days my schedule consisted of helping Howard test the modified Tesseract extract, training with Agent Carter to bring my strength back up, and sitting in on mission planning's with Steve and Bucky. I never told anyone back then about the Tesseract because if I could get it from HYDRA and hidden again, then it would be safe. Then no Warlord would seek out the power they would surely sense.

So, the plan was that Steve's team would head in first and give me ten minuets to search for the cube. The morning before the first mission Howard and I were finishing the daily tests on the Tesseract extract, when we were cut off by Steve and Peggy. Howard left to go greet them while I stayed behind to clean up.

Steve was the last of his squadron to receive a uniform. I closed the cupboard doors and strolled over to where Howard was standing with Steve. Peggy was gone and they were talking about something.

"But I thought-"

"The moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked." When Howard said that Steve turned his head to ask me if that was true, but before he could say anything, I held up my hand and nodded.

So, Howard and I lead Steve through the inventory on the tables.

"Me, I concentrate on work," Howard said. "Which right now is making sure you, Lea and your men don't get killed."

I held up a piece of the fabric that was used to make all of the commando's uniforms. I felt the fabric and was actually quite impressed with the sturdiness of it.

"Carbon polymer," Stark told us. "Should withstand your average German Bayonet, and it will regulate your body temperature in any climate."

"Yeah, but how likely is it that HYDRA'S gonna come at us with pocket knives?" I asked.

"Which is why I made you and Steve some toys." That sparked my interest. Howard lead us to a table full of different shield prototypes. "I, uh, heard you were kinda attached."

Steve looked through them, "It's handier than you might think."

"Well I took the liberty of coming up with some options," Howard looked down at a large shield with guns in it, "This one's fun. She's being fitted with electrical relays that will allow you to-"

"What about this one?" Steve asked holding up a round simple shield. Howard went to take it away from Steve, "No that's just a prototype." I moved between Howard and the shield.

"What's it made of?" I asked touching the metal. "I don't recognize the structural composition."

"Vibranium. Stronger that steel and a third of the weight." Steve spun the shield in his hands.

"How come it's not standard issue?"

"What you're holding there, that's all we got.

"Whadya got for me?" I asked.

"We got you a uniform that is as protective as the rest of the team, but I made sure it was as functional as you requested."

"It's blue," I said shocked.

"We can change it for some of the later missions if you don't like it."

"No," I rubbed the fabric of the pants. "This is the colour of my house, I love it."

"I'm glad. We also developed a staff for you at the request of Agent Carter. She said that that was the weapon you were best at during training. Your coat has built in pockets, as well, for throwing daggers. The left sleeve holds three and the right two."

"Thank you, Howard," I said in the most grateful tone I could. I really was shocked at home much consideration was put into pants that were tight around the ankles, combat boots, and a dark trench coat.

"You almost done there Mr. Stark?" Peggy walked back into the lab, and I don't know what Steve did, but boy did she look pissed.

"Well," I clapped my hands together, "I have a very important training session to get to."

In all honesty I was just trying to get out of the room. I had worked all my strength back up to what it used to be. I went in the complete opposite direction of the gym and went up to the roof instead.

I loved it up on the roof. Tt was dirty and showed a view of a ruined London and I should have hated it, but I didn't. The devastation and destruction that this city was in only reminded me that I had to help the SSR take out HYDRA.

"You know this is not the safest place for you to be," a voice called out from behind me. I whirled my head around.

I clutched my heart, "You scared me Bucky."

"Sorry, Steve's here too," Bucky rubbed his neck. I rose up from the ledge where I was sitting and met them at the stairwell door.

"Hi," Steve said.

"Hi, did Carter chew you up?"

"Shut up Lea," Steve smiled.

"Yeah, okay," I spun on my heel. "Well come on into my room boys." They both came up onto the roof. I had my arms spread out to welcome them to where I spent all my free time.

"Do you actually sleep up here?" Bucky asked astonished.

"Well yeah, I spent six months in a sunless bunker." I sat down against the wall of the rail. "Come on sit down, let me show you how I see your world."

We spent the rest of the night on the roof. I told them of all the nine realms and how my people kept them in balance. I mention the stories that I had fed into literature about my great-grandmother and her daughter. I explained to both of them how contrastive our two worlds actually were.

"I grew up in a world that looked a lot like earth," I started, "but unlike earth the OZ was in complete harmony with itself.

We had one major city which served as the capital for the OZ. There were two sides to order though. The darkness used to cause chaos and control the west of the OZ. Their leader was cruel and ruthless. She was a witch and used the power that the magic stone in her necklace gave her. There was a war to take down the witch and afterwards my grandmother, Alice, taught the dark children that even though they were of darkness that didn't mean that they had to be evil.

After two generations the darkness and light were in perfect harmony and the people renamed themselves. The Zoners were no longer divided by prejudice. They hid away the witch's stone and the other five like it for no one living being in all the nine realms should have that much power.

My sisters and I were supposed to represent a new breed of Zoners that were of both light and dark. We could be in touch with all of nature. My oldest sister, Dahlia, was the only one of us to get far enough to declare a single element, but she knew all of them. Clove and Bramble, twins, had begun their training and Clove was getting close to an element. I was about to start training.

Then it was all gone. My entire species wiped out."

"Except for you," Steve laid a hand on my shoulder. "You survived."

"We want to help you in every way we can when this war is over." Bucky said.

"I didn't think…" my voice cracked. Steve and Bucky got up from the ground and sat next to me on the ledge.

"We are your family now," Steve put his arm around my shoulders. "We can be the brothers you never had." And in that moment everything was right. I had friends, a new family and I was finally at home in this world and in my heart. But my happiness is never meant to last.

The commandos were the best unit that the SSR had. With each mission they would hold off HYDRA for just enough time for me to search for the cube. Every time we went in a HYDRA facility went down, but so far I had the crappiest luck with coming across the cube.

I had to find it and hide it again. The power in the cube is too much for one man alone, especially a man like Schmidt. The most annoying part about my search was that I had a natural homing beacon in my head to find objects like the cube, but the fact that all of HYDRA'S weapons were powered by it threw me off completely so I actually had to search each compound.

Months passed and with each victory I was still defeated, until we found him.

"I am NOT staying behind," I protested. Steve was listing off the orders for the next mission and my name never came up. "I have to go, what if the cube is on that train?"

"There is a reason you are not on this mission," Steve said gently trying to calm me down. "Zola is on that train and the team doesn't need emotions getting in the way. You are way to close to this one Lea."

"So are Bucky and Dugan. Please Steve I can handle it."

"I said no Azalea," all the calmness in his voice was gone and I knew he meant business. "You were down there longer than anyone else and who knows what seeing Zola again will spark." He ran a hand through his blonde hair and brought the serenity back into himself. "I'm asking you to just stay put on this one."

I lowered my head and sighed, defeated. "Fine, but if you don't put me one the next one I'm going anyway."

"I don't doubt it," he said smiling. We walked to the hangar to meet the other commandos. I wished them all luck before they left. Just as Steve and Bucky went to get on the plane I ran towards them and hugged them both.

"Well this is new," Bucky said surprised.

"I know I have said this before, but thank you for giving me back my family," I whispered still holding on to them both. I let go after another second and backed away from them. "Now please don't die and ruin this."

"Yes, Ma'am," they said together saluting.

"Oh, shut up, and get on the damn plane." We said our final goodbyes and I left the hangar.

Hours later Peggy came into the gym where I was working out some stress. She gave me the mission report, and for the first time in centuries I sat down and cried over the family I lost once again.