Chapter Ten

Zoë yawned as the GPS led them to an abandoned military base.
"This is it," Steve said.
"The file came from these coordinates," said Natasha.
"So did I," Steve said. "This camp is where I trained."
"Changed much?"
"A little," Steve nodded. Zoë could see him thinking back to the forties.
"This is a dead end," Natasha said. "Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off."

Following Steve's eyes, she stared at a building ahead of them.
"What is that?" Steve asked. "Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." He slammed his shield against the lock and the trio walked inside.

Looking around, Zoë saw rows of files.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.," she realized. "Maybe where it started." They walked further in and paused besides old, framed portraits.
"There's Stark's father," Natasha said.
"Howard," Steve said.
"Who's the girl?" asked Natasha.
"Peggy Carter," Zoë answered. "She and Stark founded S.H.I.E.L.D."

The two women turned their heads at the sound of a heavy object being moved.
"If you're already working in a secret office," Steve began, "why did you need to hide the elevator?" Zoë peered at the old-fashioned contraption. She sighed as she followed the other two into it.

It creaked as it lowered them down into the ground. The doors opened to a room filled with old computers. Natasha shook her head.
"This can't be the data-point, this technology is ancient."
"Over there," Zoë said. She pointed to a small flash drive port. Natasha placed the flash drive inside, activating the largest computer.
"Initiate system?" the device questioned. Natasha leaned forward, typing on a dusty keyboard.
"Y-E-S, spells yes. "Shall we play a game?"" She glanced over at Steve. "it's from a movie that—"
"Yeah, I saw it."

The computer began to boot up and suddenly a voice filled the room.
"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born 1984. Aetós, Zoë. Born 1981." Zoë looked around, seeing a camera moving above them.
"It's some kind of recording," Natasha said.
"I'm not a recording, Fräulein." The screen showed a picture of Doctor Arnim Zola. "I may not be the man who I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am."
"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."
"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 on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain."
"How did you get here?" Steve asked.
"Invited."

Confused, Steve looked to Zoë for an answer.
"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II," she explained. "S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value."
"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull," Steve snapped.
"Cut off the head, two more shall take its place."
"Prove it."
"Accessing archive."

The screen began showing old footage of Johann Schmidt and the original S.H.I.E.L.D. 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, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite within S.H.I.E.L.D. For seventy years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history has change."

Zoë started shaking her head.
"No. That's impossible, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have stopped you."
"Accidents will happen." The screen changed to allow them to see an old news article about the death of Howard and Maria Stark in their car accident. Then a more recent article of Fury's death. "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 save as your life; a zero sum." Angrily, Steve smashed the screen, but Zola kept speaking. "As I was saying—"
"What's on the drive?"
"Project Insight requires insight. So, I wrote an algorithm."
"What kind of algorithm?" Natasha asked. "What does it do?"
"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

The doors began to clang close. Eyes wide, Steve tried to stop it by throwing his shield between them but was too late. A beeping caught Natasha's ear and she turned to see a small dot heading towards them.
"Steve, we've got a bogey. Short range ballistic. Thirty seconds tops."
"Who fired it?" Zoë asked.
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I am afraid I've been stalling, Captain," Zola admitted. "Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us… out of time."
"Over here!" Steve shouted. Zoë turned to see him prying open a metal hatch. Natasha grabbed her arm and yanked Zoë over as Steve pulled them with him into the hatch, covering them with his shield.

As soon as the rumbling ceased, they crawled through what seemed to be an air-duct. Steve crawled out first, helping Natasha then Zoë out of the air-duct. They made for the trees, tripping over rubble just as Strike agents began to arrive.
"Where are we gonna go?" Natasha asked. Steve took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair.
"Back to Maggie's?" Zoë questioned.
"No!" Steve exclaimed. He took another breath. "But I think I know someone else that will help."
"Who?"
"Sam. The guy we met during the run."
"Ah, the veteran?"
"Yeah." Natasha eyed the two of them.
"Can we trust him?"
"Can we really trust anyone?" Zoë questioned.
Natasha sighed, "Okay. What's his address?"

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