"You should have got his number" Riley whispered as she elbowed Natasha and Natasha snorted as she watched Steve working his magic on stealing this car

"I highly doubt I would see him again" Natasha sighed and crossed her arms and looked at Riley

"So how was that kiss with the super solider?" Natasha whispered wiggling her eyebrows and Riley narrowed her eyes but shrugged

"It was really nice, but I can't focus on that. We need to find out where this chip came from" She said as the car roared to life and she just sat in the back while Natasha took the passenger seat and Steve looked back at Riley before getting into the car to drive

"I'm gonna rest, let me know when we're there" Riley said as she snuggled into her sweater and closed her eyes and she pretended to fall asleep as Steve looked back to check up on her and Natasha chuckled at him

"You really do care about her huh?" She asked and Steve bit his lip before nodding

"She's like her grandmother, but I know she's her own person too. She grew up listening to stories of me because of her and it's like she knows me and I'm glad. I'm just scared" Steve said quietly and Natasha raised her eyebrow and Steve saw that and sighed

"I was in love with Mary, since we were children and sometimes I wondered why did she like me? What about Bucky? He's attractive and he would take care of her, but she was scared that Buck would break her heart and she saw something in me that no girl ever had. Natasha, she was actually mine.. I had her and didn't want to let her go but I was forced to because of the war and I wanted everything with her" Steve whispered looking at the road

"I had the engagement ring in my boot, once we took down the base and the war was over I was going to ask Howard to take us to a dance club with everyone there and I was going to dance with Mary and all of a sudden I was going to go down on one knee an pop the question to her and I knew she was going to say yes.. We could have had a family and lived our life together and died together" Steve said and he looked back at Riley

"But Mary got to live her life, and now I get to live my" He said and Natasha nodded understanding him

"What happened to the ring?" Natasha asked and Steve looked down shaking his head

"When I asked the team who changed me, they said there was no ring in the boot so I expect that the ring is currently under the water" Steve said and Natasha nodded as they were talking they didn't notice Riley turn her face away as she had tears in her eyes for Steve.. For the life he should have had.

The three were talking through the camp as Natasha and Riley on the steps as Steve was walking around the base, Riley knew Steve was holding back as she watched his face expression, his eyes telling a story.

Riley realized that she sometimes forgets that even though Steve looks her age, he was much older and his eyes tell his story but he always manages to keep a smile.

" This camp is where I was trained" Steve explained to the girls as they walked around, Natasha holding a machine while Riley was looking around the walls and was amazed.

This is where her grandmother and Steve were at during World War Two, this is one of Doctor Mary's humble starts before becoming one of the co-founders of Shield.

"Changed much?" Natasha asked, holding up her machine as Steve stopped as Riley stopped and looked behind her to see Steve looking at a flag post, she swore she almost saw Steve have a tear in his eyes "A little" He said as he remembered the memories of being trained.

It was like his mind was playing with him as he saw all the soldiers running past him and saw himself- his old self.. Before he became Captain America.. His little self. It was like they were looking at each other until his old self was being yelled at but soon Mary came into view and the little Steve looked at her and smiled but he was being yelled at and Little Steve just started running again before Mary looked at the current Steve for a moment before Riley touched his shoulder and he looked away

"Are you okay Steve?" She asked, knowing it must be hard for him as he just nodded and they walked as Natasha was pointing out it was a deadend and there was literally nothing here until Steve noticed a building and it was weird because he never saw this building here before as he used his shield to break the lock as Riley and Natasha nodded to Steve and Steve interlocked his fingers with Riley's before entering the building, having no idea what was in there.

They walked downstairs and Steve found the switch and flicked it on, there was the old Shield Logo and Riley's eyes widen as Natasha breathed in

"This is Shield, it's the old logo.. When Mary, Peggy and Howard founded it" Riley said softly as Steve looked at the old logo, to believe his ex-girlfriend founded Shield and made it better. It gave him hope.

"This is where it started" Steve looking at the old logo as he looked at a room that seemed important as he opened the door and they found a lot of bookshelves and there were pictures, pictures of Howard, Peggy and Mary

"There's Stark's father" Natasha pointed out Howard, he looked somewhat like Tony at his time. Steve swallowed hard as he saw the picture of Mary and he felt Riley hold on to his hand and squeeze it

"Whose the girls?" Natasha asked Steve, Steve just looked at the pictures for a moment before walking away. He just hoped Peggy and Mary looked after each other after he was gone

He saw a book-shelf that looked movable as he let go of Riley's hand and pushed the shelf away to reveal a elevator

"Why do you need to hide an elevator?" He asked himself as Natasha used her machine to see the buttons, the most used ones as Riley soon pressed those numbers and the door opened and Riley looked over at Natasha and Steve and nodded

"You guys head down, I'll stick around here and keep a look out incase any HYDRA agents come by" She said as Natasha gave her a be careful and Steve nodded and kissed her forehead before they entered the elevator.

As the elevator was going down, Steve sighed and looked down it was like memories where coming back to him thinking about his humble starts and to think that Mary and Peggy made this happen and now that the world was safe at one point made him somewhat relax.

The door opened and there was a huge office, a lot of old screens and machines it looked so weird to them, Natasha was shocked as she shook her head

"This can't be the data-point. This stuff is so old" Natasha pointed out as she saw a place to put the chip in and Natasha took out the USB chip and inserted it as the machines roared to life and Steve squeezed Riley's hand

"No matter what, stay with me at all times" Steve ordered Natasha, she nodded as they noticed the camera moving and the old computer saying "Initiate system?"

Natasha went towards the keyboard and started to type

"Y-E-S spells Yes" Natasha said softly and the machines started to make noises as Natasha raised her eyebrows

"Shall we play a game?" She asked smiling and looked back at Steve and thought he didn't understand it

"It's from a movi-"

"I know, Riley and I watched it already" Steve said as Natasha nodded and the screen light up, with a face and voice Steve knew so well and Natasha swore she felt him shaking.

"Rogers, Steven born in 1918." A German voice said as the camera was pointed to him and soon the camera moved towards Natasha

"Romanoff, Natalia born in 1984" The voice said as Natasha scowled

"This must be some kind of recording" She said as the machine sounded like it scoffed

"I am not a recording, I may not be the man I was when The Captain took me in 1945 but I am" The machine said showing a picture of himself, Steve looked in horror for a moment as Riley stepped beside him and shook her head

"You know him?" Natasha asked as Steve breathed for a second and spoke

"Doctor Arnim Zola was a Doctor during the war, a Nazi German, he was a part of the Red Skull and he's been dead for years" Steve as he was walking around the machine now observing it as Zola spoke

"First correction I am Swiss, Second look around you I've never been more alive.. In 1972 I was received the news that I was very sick. Science could not save my body but my mind however, was worth saving on 2000 feet of Date base. You are standing in my brain" Zola said proudly as Steve snorted as Natasha looked uneasy as she clearly saw this fight was between Steve and his enemy from long ago

"How did you get here then?" Steve asked

"I was invited"

"Operation Paperclip, after World War Two Shield recruited German Scientists with very good skills, Howard and Mary founded the operation while Mary was in charge of the operation.. Riley told me about this a few months ago" Natasha said as Steve looked forward at the computer

"There was a reason, but I will not tell you just to anger you Captain Rogers but they thought I could help the cause but I also used them for my own" Zola said as the machine was remembering the memories of working with Shield

"But Hydra died with the Red Skull" Steve said as Zola snorted

"Cut off one head, two more takes it place" Zola said as the machine showed the HYDRA logo and Steve shook his head

"Prove it" Steve said as Natasha scowled, she knew there were German Scientists in Shield but didn't think they would still have a taste for blood as Zola started telling the story

"Hydra was formed of the belief that Humanity could not be trusted with it's own freedom, what we did not realize.." Zola said showing clips from World War Two and then clips of Steve, in his old Captain America suit taking down HYDRA bases with Mary at his side

" If you try to take that freedom they resist" Zola said showing a video of Steve in action, these clips were never seen before as Natasha looked shocked and Steve was frowning showing how Steve and Mary and Bucky were taking down HYDRA as three members of the Howling Commando

"The war taught us much, but Humanity needed to surrender their freedom willingly" Clips of Captain America holding Mary close to him as they kissed and then a clip of Mary crying alone in her office as there was a baby's cry, clips of the president and world leaders coming together to sign treaties

"After the world, Shield was founded and I was recruited" Clips of Peggy, Mary and Howard in an office with other people but then instead of a Shield logo there was the Hydra logo

"The new HYDRA group was a beautiful parasite inside Shield" Zola explained as Natasha came closer, her mouth opened in shock as Steve followed her and they looked shocked on what was happening

"For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly weeping wars and causing messes and when History didn't agree with us.." Clips of a metal arm with a red star was moving and a clip of kids being trained by adults with knifes

"History would change.." A photo came up on the screen of those same kids standing together with cold and hatred in their eyes..

"That's impossible, Shield would have stopped you" Natasha even sounded shocked as she came closer to the screen and Zola let out a wicked laugh

"Accidents happen, it's a good thing we started them young" A clip of Howard dead showed in his car with a bullet in his head, his wife sitting next to him in the car dead, Riley's father on the floor with a bullet in his head while Riley's mother was shown dead in her own car, soon there was a picture of a piercing blue eye and a Viper before showing The Metal arm

"However they even changed and we had no choice but to slowly take away their spirit and make them monsters" A clip of two hands coming together but it was interrupted by a gun shot and an infant's cry before there was a clip of what looked like a man running with a baby in the pouring rain

Soon clips happened of Fury's status was deceased and soon Mary's status decreased as Steve bit back tears on that before quickly wiping them away

"Hydra will become great again after what will happen now" Zola showing clips of the ships from downstairs of the shield office that Fury showed them a few days back and Zola laughed

"You can't win now Rogers, now that you lost your Doctor too. She was your rock and helper and without her you were nothing.. How does it feel that after you left she moved on and lived the life you always wanted? Now you're after her granddaughter? Is it because she reminds you of your lost love? She will never be like M-" Steve was fuming at the point and punched the screen as Natasha stood there in silence looking down before Zola came back on screen

"It doesn't matter anyways, because you won't be able to protect her anyways" Zola said as they heard the door shutting and Steve turned around quickly and threw the shield but it was too late as the door closed and Steve huffed as he caught his shield

Natasha's machine started bleeping and all of a sudden Riley burst through the doors and looked panic as her and Nat at the same time

"Steve we have a boggie" Natasha said trying not to panic while Riley was trying to look calm but she looked really confused at the Zola and everything that was happening as Natasha looked at Steve and Riley

"We have 30 seconds top" Natasha said and Steve looked at her

"Who fired?" He asked, he was panicking because he needed to think of a quick plan because not only does he have Riley to look after, he needed to make sure Natasha was saved too

"Damn it why is he here?" Zola said out of nowhere as he started to curse in his native language as Riley and Natasha and Steve thought Zola forgot Steve for a moment and he was freaking out

"Shield fired" Natasha said ignoring Zola as he soon was glad that he stalled the three and Steve looked around and Natasha grabbed the memory stick before Steve found somewhere as Riley ran towards him as Steve ripped the door opened and they heard the airstrike coming in as Natasha was the first to jump in and before Steve could help Riley in, there was a huge explosion as Steve did his best to cover Riley from the blast but it was too late as Riley hit her head hard on the way down, causing her to be knocked out as Natasha was getting weak

"Steve!" Natasha called weakly as Steve was holding his shield in the air and he couldn't get to her in time as some rocks blocked his way as he was doing his best to keep Riley close to him, praying she wasn't dead.

Soon after the blast was over, Steve found an opening as he picked up Riley bridal style as he moved his shield to his arm and he looked over at Riley's face. It looked peaceful and he was scared that he would lose her

That they wouldn't train anymore
No more pizza night
No more movie night
No more missions together

Everything would be taken away from him again, because he cared about Riley.
It took him awhile but in that moment he knew he cared for her and he was now scared to death he would lose her, if he wasn't a good man he would run right now as fast as he could and leave Natasha to fend for herself but he knew Riley would never forgive him for that. He knew he should trust Natasha because he knew she's the only person besides Riley that hasn't tried to kill him yet.

He started breathing hard as he made it out the rubble with Riley in his arms, all of a sudden he found a dark figure but he couldn't see the figure because it was so dusty but it looked like the figure was carrying something- someone. The figure walked a few steps closer until he bend down and laid the other person down gently and turned around and walked off

"Hey! Who are you!" Steve shouted as he ran but he stopped once he saw what the figure put down.

Natasha.

Natasha was saved.

Steve saw that Natasha was started to wake up and he placed Riley on the ground for a moment to help her

"Nat you need to get up, you can lean on me but I have to carry Riley, she's knocked out.. We need to go now before Rumlow comes" Steve urged as he was trying to get Natasha awake, soon she was awake but weak as he picked up Riley again and helped Natasha up as she leaned on him as they made their escape

Steve managed to put Riley in the back of the car and helped Natasha in beside Riley as he started the car and he drove as fast as he could

"Where are we going?" Natasha asked and Steve sighed

"Sam's house, hopefully we can trust him.. Is Riley alive?" Steve asked quietly as Natasha went to check her pulse and she nodded and he sighed in relief and Natasha raised her eyebrow

"How did you find me?" She asked confused as Steve sighed quietly

"There was a figure.. Someone, I couldn't see because there was so much dust but they saved you" Steve said as Natasha snorted

"My guardian Angel" She said as she saw Riley groaning and Steve was ready to stop the car until Riley spoke weakly

"Where are we?" She asked and Natasha spoke

"We're in the car, we're safe" She said as Riley sighed and leaned her head on Natasha's shoulder and she whined

"My head hurts"

"Don't try to fall asleep, we're going to get you checked out, we're going to Sam's house" Steve explained as Riley was quiet for a moment before she sighed and Steve looked out the window as the sun was rising

"Can we trust Sam?"

"He's the only one I can think of" Steve said quietly as he parked his car and got out

"We're a couple of blocks away from Sam's place, Riley do you need help?" He asked as Riley shook her head but once she opened the door she was about to fall out the car and Steve went to help her but Riley shook her head and Natasha was next to her and Natasha nodded as Riley relaxed herself on her shoulder and Steve sighed quietly before closing the door, he was behind Natasha and Riley in case one of the girls fell.

Soon they knocked on Sam's door and Sam opened the door confused at first until he saw a badly injured Riley

"We have people after us, everyone we know are against us" Riley said weakly as Sam smiled softly and shook his head

"Not everyone, let me help you in" Sam said as he opened the door and helped Riley inside as Steve helped Natasha and Sam went to his room to lay Riley on his bed as Natasha took the sofa and Sam went to his drawers to find his first aid kit and Steve followed them inside and Riley shook her head

"Steve, check up on Nat and make sure she's okay.. Let Sam treat me" She whispered softly as Steve was wondering why she was acting this way towards him and he nodded as he stepped outside the room and helped Natasha and they started talking about trust.

Soon Riley limped out of the room and Natasha took that chance to leave the both of them alone and Riley saw that and sighed and sat down beside Steve and she didn't know what to say first but she went into her pocket and took out the letter

"Mary thought you would come back, but you would be around.. Her age and that you would experience your life too so she wrote this letter for you to tell you everything that happened in her life.. She didn't hold back either" Riley said as she handed Steve the letter, Steve took the letter and nodded and looked at her

"Why are you acting like this?" He asked and she sighed and stood up

"Steve, I think it's best we don't talk about this right now.. About us.. I think we're better off as friends" Riley said and Steve opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, he watched as Riley limped out of the room and Steve looked down at the letter, he knew Mary's handwriting so well and it took him a few moments to open the letter and he started reading it, his eyes widen and he made a sound.. It was like there was a lump in his throat and he kept reading it over and over again before dropping the letter as he started sobbing. The world wasn't fair.

His Worst fear came true.

"Dear Steve,

By the time you've read this I'm already gone, and you're here.. Hopefully my age, I don't know. I miss you Steve after all these years and my feelings for you have never changed and I know one day we'll meet again, if not now then maybe in another life but since I'm writing this.. I wanna tell you that I've lived my life. I ended up getting married to a wonderful man, you would have loved him too he treated me so right and understood the things I went through, he was a Shield agent too and he was a great father to my children... I ended up having a daughter and a son with him.. But I must write this to you, something that I haven't told my two children and only Howard, Peggy and my husband knew and all promised they would take this secret to the grave.. Something I will be taking to the grave too but..

You had a son..."

Next Chapter:

A flashback chapter.

Who is Captain America's son? Is he still alive?

We actually find out who The Viper and The Snakes are (I believe if not next chapter)

The highway fight

James and Natasha meet again

A secret is exposed