Chapter 7

The camp had been set up in record time within a European forest close to a HYDRA base that was close to their location. Soldiers under Captain Americas command worked closely with British soldiers who were under Nightshade's command as orders from Winston Churchill. Tents were being set up all around the makeshift base. Men shouting at each other as the tents rose from the ground to stand tall and proud providing shelter for the soldiers during the night as they stayed in Europe. They didn't know how long they would be staying in their makeshift camp.

The cooking staff were already working in their tent as the prepared the night's meal for everyone in the camp. The chiefs shouted at other chiefs as rations were prepared. They had to make sure that there was enough food for soldiers that had been with them for months and the newly arrived Howling Commandos and the Argentix's. They knew that the Howling Commandos and the 107 Division were the main force the Allies had against HYDRA, but they didn't know why the Argentix's were there. But it was not their place to argue with High Command. Even though they couldn't argue with High Command it didn't stop them from talking.

There was not just the cooking staff that were already working away as the camp was getting set up for the night. Men who had volunteered to take the first night watch headed out to their positions around the camp after they had something to eat of their rations for the night. These men would be watching the camp as the rest of the prepared for their first mission against HYDRA.

The men who were still in the camp relaxed and talked with comrades from either the 107 Division or the Howling Commandos as they prepared for their mission. Many of them checked that their weapons were fine before they were used in combat. Other men were getting a check-up by the nurses and doctors in the camp. There were some who had to still do important jobs as the camp was set up. Many of them were making sure that everything was being set up quickly and effectively; and others were reporting to Colonel Phillips and Nightshade as they sent messages to the different ranks in the camp.

As the men worked on getting the camp ready for the night Captain Steve "America" Rogers walked towards the command tent. The command tent was by far the biggest tent in the camp with the Brig Tent being slightly smaller and in the middle of the camp. The command tent was already buzzing with life as men of different ranks worked together as they got ready to start their mission against HYDRA in the morning. He could see Colonel Phillips with Agent Carter but there was no sign of the Argentix's.

Walking into the tent he found Agent Carter and Colonel Phillips looking over at the maps they had brought with them. "Ah, there you are Rogers!" Colonel said as he looked up from the charts to see the super soldier approaching. "I hope you are ready for tomorrow for tomorrow?" he as the Captain as he slowly looked back at the maps that were spread out on the tables surface.

"That I am, sir!" the Captain replied saluting the Colonel who didn't even look up at him. Looking around the tent in hope of finding the Argentix's somewhere else in the tent but with no sign of them he looked back at Colonel Phillips. "Sir, what are the Argentix's going to do in this mission?" he asked the older man who was slowly becoming his friend in this new world that he found himself in.

Colonel Phillips rose his head back up as he regarded the younger man. "They will be going with you, Rogers! How they will help you I don't know. You will have to ask Nightshade for that information" Phillips said as Nightshade walked into the command tent. Her Victorian styled pirate was slightly damp as it had started to rain as the night slowly crept in and putting a cold chill in the men's bones. "So good of you to join us!" Phillips said to her as she took another step into the tent.

"Forgive me, Colonel Phillips but I had to make sure that there was no HYDRA spies or scouts in the area and so far, I am happy until I get the next record in a couple of hours!" she replied walking to stand next to Captain Rogers. She didn't seem to acknowledge that the young Captain took a side step to the side and away from her.

Phillips didn't pay much attention to Nightshade as he got back to looking at the map. "I take it all of your men are ready?" he asked both Steve and Nightshade with the only response was the both of them saying "Yes sir!". "With that you are both dismissed!" he said still not looking up at the two young leaders as they both walked out of the tent.

Outside Steve tried to get away from Nightshade only to find the alien with the Scottish accent walking beside him. Her hat protected her hair from the little drizzle that was falling from the darkening sky. No matter how fast he tried to walk to get away for her, she caught up with him. "I can tell you don't trust me, Captain Rogers!" she said keeping up with his fast pace.

Not looking at her Steve asks, "What makes you think that?" He kept walking hoping to get away from the British army leader. He knew from the reports of her men she was understanding but talking to her in the drizzle he couldn't help but feel afraid as if she was hiding something about herself.

"The way you and your men look at me and my friends! I have grown use to it as I have been on Earth!" she said putting her hands by her back as she kept walking beside Captain America. "But I will tell you this, I am not you enemy and I will never be! You have to understand that, Rogers!" she finished hoping that he would start talking and would stop looking at her like she was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

There was silence between the two of them as they continued to walk to walk through the damp camp Steve broke the silence between them. "You said your world was destroyed by a war? Was it like this one?" he asked knowing that she was in one of her rare moments that she would speak since she had just called herself his friend.

Nightshade was silent, and Steve looked at her to see her eyes were lowered to the ground as she remembered painful memories. "The war that destroyed my world was called the Time War. The Time Lords called anyone else of great significance fought for all of creation; while another race called the Daleks fought to become the supreme beings much like what the Nazis and HYDRA are doing during the war!" she began still looking at the ground remembering that she had been plucked out of own time zone and forced to fight alongside the Time Lords and others who had been plucked from their time zones in hopes that the plan would deter the Daleks from attacking Gallifrey but it only led the fight to their home worlds. "My home world along with many others were destroyed by the Daleks in hopes of getting us to surrender or change over to their side. But what they didn't expect was us wanting revenge. Because of Leatherback me and Edward became alone in the universe! We vowed when we heard that Leatherback had escaped and survived the Time War was that we would bring him to justice after all the crimes that he had committed!" she finished still looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry Nightshade! I didn't think it was that bad!" Steve confessed which caused Nightshade to look over at him with those strange eyes of hers. "What?" he asked seeing the look that she was giving him.

The look she was given him was a strange look. It was a look someone gave another when they thought they knew that person but then it appeared they didn't. "Why are you asking me these questions, Steve?" she asked tilting her head to the side like a bird does.

"I just want to figure you out, Nightshade! And I have only noticed that you are in pain!" he said which caused the alien to winch at the mention of pain. "Who did you lose?" he asked hoping that she had some form of family before her world was destroyed in a war that was apparently much bigger than the war they were fighting in at the moment.

A strange noise came from Nightshade as she considered what she was going to say next to him. There was a lot of things that she didn't want to say. There was a lot of memories that she had hide even from herself after the Time War. "I lost everyone, Steven. My entire race was destroyed when the Daleks with the aid of Leatherback destroyed our world!" she said looking away from Steve.

Steve watched her in silence. He got a feeling that she never really talked about what had happened in the Time War and thought that it was best to leave it. He didn't want to see what she was like when she was upset, but already he had seen her trying to control her emotions as events that made her were remembered. "If you don't walk to talk about it you don't need to. But from what you said there it makes you more human!" he said.

"More human? What do you mean by that?" she asked stopping in her tracks.

Also stopping to look at her Steve thought of what he meant by that. After a moment of intense silence between them he spoke. "When the first time I saw you back in London I thought you were strange. Later when I heard that you were an alien from another world I thought there was nothing similar between the two of us!" he started seeing Nightshade place her left hand on the basket case of her sword. "But hearing what you have been through I think you are more human with the loss of your entire race. I don't know what I would have done if I was in your shoes but you seem to have kept yourself together!" he explained himself as he studied her.

Nightshade watched in silence as Steve finished what he was saying. In all the years that she had been on earth, she had never been called human. She had taken human form to blend in and not to be called human. That was not the original intention of her taking the form of a human, she had shifted her bones to hide the fact that she was the last Dragonoid and didn't want to be reminded of that. But hearing Steve call her human was beginning to make her reconsider what she was. Was she the last of the Dragonoids or was she a human who could manipulate the shadows all around her. Looking up at the darkening sky she watched as an owl glided over their camp. "Steve if I saw you what my race truly looks like would you be afraid?" she asked looking back at him.

Shaking his head Steve replied, "No I know it's going to be you. You might be smaller and green and might not have any hair in your true form but I know that it's you!". He was unaware of the look that Nightshade was given him.

Returning her face too neutral when Steve looked back at her. "Yeah, I am a little green thing from the planet Mars!" she said sarcastically before walking away from him and back to her tent that was getting set up by the always bickering Edward and Julian. Stopping suddenly, she looked over her shoulder, "Thank you, Steve for listening! I have kept that bottled up for many years!" she said before returning her sort trip back to her tent.