Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 21 - Winter Soldier Part 4

"The first rule about going on the run is don't run, walk."

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

I walk a few paces behind Natasha and Steve. SHIELD will be looking for us to be close together. I'd rather keep my distance from the other two, plus I've noticed that they seem to be better together than apart. After we changed into civilian clothes, we headed to a mall where we easily blended in. Our top priority was to see what was on the drive, even if it meant being out in the open.

Natasha pointed to an Apple store where she and Steve would access the drive. Once the drive is activated, SHIELD will know our exact location. I'll keep watch on the outside while they get what we need.

"Kate, t-minus nine minutes from," Natasha says. Even though we don't have comms, she knows I can hear her. "now."

I catch Steve's eye and nod once. Picking up a book, I open item and scan the pages while watching my surroundings.

Children running in circles, friends shopping, more tourists than this state knows what to do with. Then I see him. Rumlow, standing at the top of the escalator directly across from me. I pull my hat down more over my hair and set the book back on the shelf before making my way towards Steve and Natasha.

"Can I help you two with something?" an employee asks just as I walk up.

Natasha is quick to respond, "No. I was just helping my friends pick out a honeymoon destination."

I follow her lead, wrapping my arm around Steve's waist and leaning my head against hit shoulder. "Yeah. Less than two months now." I smile at the man, hopping that he leaves soon.

"Right. We're getting married." Steve remarks not missing a beat.

"Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?"

"Uh," Steve looks at eh computer, "New Jersey."

Really? You couldn't say Hawaii? "Our family lives in the area. We don't want to go too far." I turn towards Romanoff, whispering, "They're here. We need to go. Now."

"Almost finished."

"You know, I have the exact same glasses." the Apple guy says.

"Wow, you two are practically twins."

"I wish." I smile as the men gestures at Steve's body. "Specimen." he laughs as he backs away. "And if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron."

"Thank you." I remove my arm from around Rogers's waist and step to the other side of Natasha, peering over her shoulder. "Hurry up."

"You said nine minutes. Come on."

"Both of you, relax." a few keystrokes later, she's in. "Got it."

Steve leans in at the location that popped up on screen. "Do you know this place?" I question when I see his brows furrow in recognition.

"I use to." he grabs the drive and we head for the exit, spotting SHIELD agents and the STRIKE team right away.

We walk in long strides but at an even pace. Running right now will only blow what little cover and advantage we have. "Standard tact team. Two behind, two across. And two coming straight at us."

"We can't get into a shoot out with them here." I know I can give them enough cover to escape. But the risk of innocents getting hit in the crossfire is high. "I'm open to suggestions."

"If they make us, I'll engage while you two make for the south escalator to the metro." Steve volunteers.

"Not a good plan. You have the drive. I can give you two the cover you need to get out."

"Will both of you shut up, put your arms around each other and laugh at something I said." Natasha swipes a magazine off a stand and films it open right at I am about to question what she was doing. I jump slightly when I feel Steve wrap his arm around my shoulder, while my own goes around his waist again. Romanoff starts laughing at something and Steve and I join in, keeping out heads down and on what was on the colorful pages.

I recognize one of the STRIKE agents I threw against the elevator wall, the cut above his eye promoting the work I did to him shows right as he passes us. I can feels his eyes gaze back towards the three of us, but he doesn't pursue. "Holy shit, I can't believe that worked." I remark.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Romanoff steps on to the downward escalator a few people ahead of Steve and I. Rumlow is coming up on our left, scanning each face he passes. We're screwed.

"Kiss me." I say, turning towards the soldier. Shock covers his face at my sudden request.

"What?" he asks stunned.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes they do."

I lean in fast, gently pressing my lips against his, cupping his head with my hand. After a few seconds, I back up, and turn around. There's a strange feeling in my chest, one I've never felt before as I realize what I just did. I clear my throat and ask, "You still uncomfortable?"

"That's not exactly the word I would use."

New Jersey. That's where we're headed. After we evaded SHIELD, we stole a car and began the journey. Steve drove and Natasha took the seat beside him. Thankfully he chose a large pickup truck because I'm stuck in the back.

They go back and forth but I pay no attention. The trees go by in a green blur and any cars we pass go by in a flash. These last few hours have worn me down. I'm tired or running, something I'd think I'd be used to. Except I'm not. I couldn't live on the run forever.

I notice a pen on the floor, covered partly by a store receipt. Tilting my head to the side as I focus, I motion with my finger, picking up the item and twirling it around in a white hue. Almost instantly a copper taste fills my mouth, my concentration breaking when Natasha mentions my name.

"Was that really your first kiss since 1945?" she asks with a hint of amusement. "I mean, I watched you and Kate, and I just have to know."

Steve chuckles, "That bad huh?"

"I didn't say that? I'm sure that wasn't Kate's first kiss since, whenever, but still."

I sink lower into the seat, "Couldn't we talk about something else?"

"Now, don't be shy, Kate. You seem like a woman who's had plenty of experience in this area that Steve lacks."

"Natasha-" I warn.

"I'm just saying that everyone needs practice."

"I don't need practice," Steve interjects. "And that was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, I'm not dead."

Romanoff pauses for a second, adding, "Nobody special, though?"

I ponder those words. Did he have someone special? Someone he could be Steve Rogers around, not Captain America? Was that something I could have myself? I soft snap brings me from my wondering thoughts, my eyes scanning the cap for the source before landing on the pen now laying in three pieces on the floor.

"Believe it or not, it's kinda hard to find someone with shared life experiences."

"Huh, that's not so bad. Just make something up."

"What, like you two?"

Leaning my head against the cool window, I close my eyes. "I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes, it's good to be something different." I reply, even if I didn't believe that myself.

"That's a tough way to live."

Yeah. It is.

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

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

"Yeah." Romanoff says. "who do you want me to be?"

"How bout a friend?"

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

I open my eyes when the truck rolls to a stop. Sitting up, I peer out the window and see that we've arrived at what appears to be an old military base. I get out, following Rogers and Romanoff to the front gates.

"This is it?" I question as I look everything over.

Natasha looks up from her device. "The file came from these coordinates."

"So did I."

Steve is staring at an old side the reads, "Camp Lehigh. US Army Restricted Area."

So, this is where Captain America was born? I wonder what other secrets this base is hiding.

"You find anything?"

"Nothing." I slow to a stop near Steve and Natasha. "Just an old military base."

"This isn't just an old base; this camp is where I was trained."

"Change much?"

"A little." Steve stops and stares at an old flag pole. I can imagine a flag waving in the wind as the soldier trained nearby. Memories of my own training come to mind, a time I know was different than others.

"Guys, this is a dead end. No heat signatures, no waves, no radio. Whoever wrote the file must've used a route to throw people off." says Romanoff.

I look around the darkness, "So where does that leave us?" Steve is staring at something behind me. "what is it?"

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the place."

After cracking the lock, we walk down into a basement like area and wait for Natasha to find the lights. Once those were on, we saw what the place actually was.

"This is SHIELD," I say in awe. Old desks, covered in years worth of dust, sit in front of an older version of the agency's logo.

"Maybe where it started."

We continue on, eventually coming to an file office. When we walk in, we see photographs hanging neatly on the wall. I don't know who any of the people are, but they must have been important in the beginning.

"There's Stark's father."

"Howard." Steve confirms. His face falls a little when he looks at the photo next to Howard Stark.

I ask, "Who's the girl?"

He doesn't reply.

I walk further in, looking for something that's out of place. First I hear wind, then I see a spider's web moving ever so slightly. I wonder...

"If you're already working in a secret office," I grab the shelf and grit my teeth as I push it aside. "why do you need to hide the elevator?"

Romanoff uses a device to figure out the code for the lift. We take it down to the last level, and when the doors its like we stepped back in time.

"What is this place?" I say about, though I don't expect an answer. A secret office beneath a secret office, beneath a secret agency on an army base. Nothing good can come from this. I just know it.

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

"Do we know how old that file really is?" I say. "We can't be sure. Not yet."

When things whirl to life, I turn around just as Natasha finishes typing on the keyboard. "Shall we play a game?" she smiles. "Its from a movie that was really-"

"I know, I've seen it."

I have no idea what they're referring to.

Slowly the computer screen comes to life, green lines forming a face. "Rogers, Steven. Born 1918." it says with a German accent. The camera mounted atop the computer turns towards Natasha. "Romanoff, Natalia Alianova. Born 1984."

Finally it turns towards me. I wait. It seems to be taking longer to read me than it did for Steve or Natasha. "Reynolds, Brooklyn. Born 1988."

Brooklyn Reynolds. I freeze, feeling the eyes of Steve and Natasha on me. That moment was the only thing I needed to be sure of who I was. I just hadn't realized that I need it until now.

"It must be some kind of recording." Natasha says slowly. "Why did it call you Brooklyn Reynolds?"

"I am not a recording. I am not nearly the man I once was when the captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am real."

Steve goes on to tell that Zola was a German scientist for the Red Skull. And that he's been dead for years. If that's so, then this shouldn't be happening.

"Then how is this possible?"

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive." Zola says. "In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on 200,000 feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain."

I walk in circles, still not understanding. "How did you get here?"

"Invited."

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists." the Russian says.

"They thought I could be of use to them, yes. To help their cause. But I also helped my own."

Steve says, "HYRDA died with the Red Skull."

Zola's screen turns to a logo that appears slightly familiar, but I can't place where I may've seen it.

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

"No," I freeze. Schneiden Sie einen Kopf, zwei mehr nimmt seinen Platz ab. I heard that saying in German many times when I was younger, back when my translations weren't as good. It never made sense to me, not as a kid training to be a killer. But now I know.

I worked for HYDRA.

I killed for HYDRA.

HYDRA killed my father, and raised me as their own

HYDRA made me who I am.

And for that, they'll pay.

Zola continues to talk as an old video plays on his screen."HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize is 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, inside SHIELD, a beautiful parasite.

"For 70 years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

In the flash I pictures, I see the base where I was trained. A photo of Scott Reynolds, next to one of five year old Brooklyn Reynolds. Five year old me. I don't know how this is even possible.

"SHIELD would've stopped you, before any of this happened."

"Accident will happen."

More of my kill missions go by in a blur, a news article of the death of Tony's father, Howard, follow. "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." says Zola. "Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero sum."

Steve punches the screen, glass shatters under the force.

"As I was saying,"

"What's on this drive?" I demand. "Why is it so important?"

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

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?"

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

Suddenly, the doors we came in slide closed, trapping us in this hole. "Guys, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic, 60 seconds tops."

"Who fired it?" he asks. I already know the answer.

"SHIELD."

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it. It is better this way. We are both of us, out of time."

"Wait!" I say. Romanoff grabs my arm, but I jerk away. "What you said earlier, about me. How do you know that?"

"Kate! Kate, come on!" I hear their voices, but I ignore them. I have to know.

"Your father was a great man, who was on to even greater things." the Swiss starts, pulling up more images on the screen. "It was a great lost to HYDRA's cause when his time was up, we believed his works were gone. Then, we realized his greatest creation wasn't what we thought at all, no no no."

"Kate!"

I know my time is nearly up but I can't pull myself away until I hear what Zola has to say. "Tell me! What was it? Why did you kill my father? WHY?!"

"Scott Reynolds's greatest creation," Zola says. "was you."

The ground rumbles as the missile strikes. I jump into the hole with Steve and Natasha, just as a blast of fire chases me. The heat is strong and nips at my back.

The last thing I see is a soft white glow, then, nothing.

A lot of information and realizations in this chapter. But remember, this is only the beginning.