Fury was dead.
Steve had returned to S.H.I.E.L.D for questioning, and (Y/N) had returned to his base in Gotham to figure out who the shooter was.
Alfred was there too, assisting in any way he could.
"Master (Y/N), have you ever considered that maybe you don't want to find this man?" The butler asked suddenly.
"This man killed Nick Fury. And not by accident."
"What if you find out who they are, and they come after you? What then?"
"I'll fight, Alfred. I always have, and I always will."
"And maybe that's the problem."
Before he could respond, (Y/N) heard the security alarm coming from the monitor. He rolled his chair over and looked at the live feed.
Steve and Natasha were there, both clad in civilian wear.
"Um, hi?" Steve said to the camera. On the outside, the base was just a shipping crate locked from the outside. "There's nowhere for me to put in the password Dr. Banner gave me - do I just say 'Ironmansux?'"
(Y/N) walked over to the elevator, rising up and opening the false crate.
"Hey," was all he said.
"We need your help," Nat said, getting straight to the point.
"Does this have to do with the man who killed Fury?"
"Something like that," Steve said. "STRIKE turned on us. They tried to kill me."
"What? Why would they do that? You didn't make a bad joke, did you?"
"No. It has something to do with this." Steve held up the flash drive that Nat used to grab data from the Lemurian Star.
(Y/N) nodded. "Where we heading?"
—-
They took one of (Y/N)'s less-suspicious cars as he drove them to their destination. He eyed Natasha annoyedly as she rested her feet on the dashboard.
"Get your feet off the dash," He said, half yelling. She did so.
She turned to Steve in the backseat. "Was that your first kiss since 1945?"
"I'm sorry, what?!" (Y/N) said, full-yelling this time.
"That bad, huh?" Steve responded.
"You guys kissed?"
Nat nodded. "M-hm. Did it to distract some STRIKE agents." There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "You seem pretty triggered about that. Did you hope it was you?"
(Y/N) again thought of Rachel, but answered honestly. "Maybe." He shrugged.
She smirked at this, leaving the three of them in silence for the rest of the ride.
After a while, Steve told (Y/N) to stop. He did so, and looked out the window before getting out.
"This is it," Steve said.
"The file came from these coordinates," Nat said.
The sign out front revealed this was the military base, Camp Lehigh. (Y/N) recalled that this was where Steve was trained in the 40s.
"So did I," Steve said, mirroring (Y/N)'s own thoughts.
"Anything different?" The billionaire asked.
"A little."
Natasha was scanning the area with her device. "This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio."
Steve gave an odd glance to one of the buildings, like something was off.
"You good?" (Y/N) asked.
"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within 500 yards of the barracks," He explained. "This building is in the wrong place."
Steve smashed the building's lock with his shield - surprising (Y/N), as he could have done the same to get into his base - and led the two other Avengers inside.
The lights flickered on and they noticed the gray eagle symbol on the wall.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D," Natasha said in awe.
"Maybe where it started," Steve added.
The trio entered a room, finding portraits of who appeared to be S.H.I.E.L.D's founding members.
"There's Stark's father," (Y/N) said. "I recognize him."
"Howard," Steve added.
Natasha noticed Steve glancing at one of the photos. "Who's the girl?"
Steve gave no reply and continued to explore the room.
(Y/N) looked at one of the bookcases with suspicion. "It's ironic. If your office is already secret..." He pushed the books and the bookcase slid away, revealing an elevator. "Why do you need to hide an elevator?"
"How'd you know?" Natasha asked.
"I've got a similar thing going on at my place."
They descended in the elevator, coming to a room which appeared to house an old computer. It was dusty, and cobwebs covered much of the system.
"This can't be the data point, the technology is ancient," Natasha said, before plugging the flash drive in an oddly-placed port.
The computer's monitor activated.
Initiate system?
>Y >N
"Y-E-S spells yes," Natasha said, typing the word in.
"Wake up, Neo," (Y/N) remarked. "The Matrix has you." He turned to Steve. "It's from a movie..."
"I'll put it in the book."
A green shape suddenly appeared on the monitor, and a heavily accented voice came through the computer. "Rogers, Steven. Born 1918. Romanoff, Natasha Alianova. Born 1984. (L/N), (Y/N). Born 1981."
"It's some kind of a recording," Natasha said.
"I am not a recording, fraülein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am."
"What is this thing?" (Y/N) asked.
"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull," Steve explained. "He's been dead for years."
"First correction," Zola barked out, "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, was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain."
"How did you get here?" Steve asked.
"Invited," Zola answered simply.
"It was Operation Paperclip," Natasha explained. "After World War 2, S.H.I.E.L.D recruited German scientists with strategic value."
"I should've paid more attention to Social Studies," (Y/N) mumbled.
"They thought I could help their cause," Zola said. "I also helped my own."
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull," Steve said.
"Cut off one head, two more take it's place."
"Prove it."
"Accessing archive. 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 inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. When a deal was made with the League of Shadows, it became easy. When history did not cooperate, history was changed."
"The League of Shadows?" (Y/N) asked. "Why would Ra's Al Ghul help you?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D had the resources necessary to reverse-engineer the super soldier serum, something Ra's Al Ghul wanted desperately. We secretly gave him enough for one test subject in return for his help."
"That's impossible," Natasha said. "S.H.I.E.L.D would have stopped you."
"Accidents will happen. HYDRA and the League of Shadows created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to goon it's security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts the same as your life, a zero sum."
Steve punched the computer screen, shattering it.
Zola reappeared on a smaller one nearby. "As I was saying..."
"What's on the drive?" (Y/N) asked.
"Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm."
"And?"
"Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to know."
The doors began to close, but Steve threw his shield in between them to stop the process.
"Steve, we got a bogey," Natasha said. "Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops."
"Who fired it?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
Zola spoke up. "I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it's better this way. We are, both of us... out of time."
Steve noticed a small opening on the ground. He grabbed his shield and herded (Y/N) and Natasha inside, using his shield to cover them as the building exploded.