XIV

294 5 1
                                    

They arrived at their destination and it was already dark out. It was an abandoned military base.

"This is it," Steve told them, stopping the car.

"The file came from these coordinates?" Natasha asked.

"So did he," Nina said, pointing at Steve. "This is where Steve was trained."

"Changed much?"

"A little," Steve answered. He looked around for a bit, remembering the old days.

"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." Nina frowned. She was about to say something but Steve seamed had thought the same thing.

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place," Steve explained.

"This isn't just an army facility," Nina told them. "This is SHIELD." Nat and Steve frowned in awe and in confusion.

Natasha, Steve and Nina walked to the building, whose door was closed by a big and old padlock. They got in and turned on the lights, only to see a big office with the SHIELD logo on the wall.

"So this is where you started," Nat guessed. Nina nodded. She and Steve both walked to different walls of the office. Steve looked at photos of the founders of SHIELD, and Nina at the ones of the Fallen Soldiers.

The first fallen soldier of SHIELD was, of course, Sargent James Buchanan Barnes. Nina had made sure he was to be the first one. Second one was Steve Rogers. His photo was still up, since no one had been inside this old facility in years. She stared at Bucky's face, smiling on the wall. She couldn't help but smile at him. He had dark short hair and lovely blue eyes. He also had those kind of smug smiles that you never knew if he was smiling or smirking, ever so charming.

Natasha approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at where Nina's eyes were landing. Nina just took a final look at Bucky's picture and turned away, walking to Steve.

"Who's the girl?" Nat whispered to Nina, making sure Steve wasn't listening. Steve was staring at a picture of Agent Peggy Carter, Steve's old lover. Literally. Nina just shook her head, warning Natasha not to go there.

Suddenly, Steve frowned. He walked further into the room, stopping by a giant book shelf. "If you're already working in a secret office," Steve started, pushing the shelves away to show hidden elevator doors. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?" He looked back at Nina, looking for an explanation. Nina quickly shook her head.

"Don't ask me. Had absolutely no idea that was there."

They walked into the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, it started to move down, without anyone pressing any buttons. When the elevator stopped, they walked out and found themselves in a room filled with computers. Old fashioned computers, most likely form the 50's.

UnexpectedWhere stories live. Discover now