"Nick Fury was murdered in cold blood." rained the commanding voice of Alexander Pierce towards the World Security Council. "To any reasonable person, that would make him a martyr, not a traitor."

"You know what makes him a traitor?" Councilman Rockwell interjected from his holographic post. "Hiring a mercenary to hijack his own ship."

"Nick Fury used your friendship to coerce this council into delaying Project Insight." Councilman Singh reposed from his post. "A project he knew would expose his own illegal operations."

"At best, he lied to you." Singh added to Pierce, who opened his mouth to answer, but ultimately decided against such action & let the man berate him. "At worst..."

"Are you calling for my resignation?" Pierce asked adamantly to the Council. "I've got a pen and paper right here."

"That discussion can be tabled for a later time," came the voice of British Councilwoman Hawley. Pierce set his hands to his waist, eyeing the members. "But you do want to have a discussion?"

"We've already had it, Mr. Secretary," Rockwell imposed. "This council moves to immediately reactivate Project Insight. If you want to say something snappy, now would be a good time."

However, Pierce didn't take this option. In fact, this was exactly what he had wanted from the situation.

City Center DC – Washington D.C.

"First rule of going on the run is..." Natasha instructed the group, who now donned civilian disguises as they trekked through the mall. "Don't run, walk."

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve grimaced as the four rounded the corner to find their way to the Apple Store, only a few blocks away from them.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program," Natasha advised as they entered and selected a Macbook Pro to "explore it's capabilities". "So as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are."

"How long will that be?" Ella questioned the Black Widow, who furiously tapped away on the keyboard.

"About... nine minutes from... now." Natasha bluntly admitted, as she slid the drive into the computer, as Ella turned back to eye how crazy she must sound.

Natasha clicked the desktop button and then to the flash drive, which opened another window to the Lemurian Star System logs.

"Fury was right about that ship," Natasha deduced as she looked through the logs. "This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve asked, but Zach looked through the computer and began typing away, as Natasha backed away. "Leave this to me." Zach began and searched through the logs and pulled up a terminal to begin coding away.

"I'm going to run a tracer algorithm," Zach muttered as he employed the tracer's use along with the terminal. "This is something — a friend of mine — whipped up, almost Shield level. If we can't read the file, we can find it physically —"

"Thank... you... Skye." Zach muttered, as he typed the last bits of code.

"Can I help you with anything?" An unfamiliar voice asked the four, as a long haired Apple Employee approached the four.

"Oh, no," Natasha cleverly lied and hooked her arms around Steve. "My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations." Zach & Ella looked in between each other and back to the other two Avengers.

"Right," Steve gritted his teeth, yet smirked. "We're getting married..."

"And our friends here wanted to check out your new products!" Natasha cheered, pointing to the two, especially Zach. "He loves getting to know every new piece of technology he can find."

"I'm a tech-head..." Zach shrugged and looked at Ella, who just shrugged back.

"Congratulations!" The employee congratulated, and clapped his hands. "Where are you guys thinking about going?" Steve looked down to the computer as Zach was typing away on, but looked up and mouthed, "New Jersey!"

"New Jersey." Steve repeated back to the employee, whose face turned. Not a lot of people like Jersey. However, the employee focused on Steve's face, as he had worn a pair of glasses and a baseball cap.

"I..." The employee mused, as Steve started to internally fear. "Have the exact same glasses."

"Wow!" Natasha falsely exclaimed, as Steve had a feeling of relief for not being spotted. "You two are practically twins!"

"Yeah, I wish." The employee joked back, waving his arms over Steve's body. "Specimen! Well, uh, if you guys need anything..." The employee sensed their work had been finished, and pulled their badge up. "I've been Aaron."

"That was weird." Zach commented as he looked back outside into the courtyard, and his eyes flared as Rumlow and more STRIKE agents followed through. "Shit! Rumlow's here."

"The location's Wheaton, New Jersey," Ella glanced at the computer and yanked out the flash drive, handing it to Natasha. "We gotta bounce. You know the place, Cap?"

"I used to." Steve answered as they left the store, and he eyed Rumlow and his squad. "Standard Tac-team – two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, we'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro."

"Shut up, and put your arm around me," Natasha commanded, staying close to Steve. "Laugh at something I said. You two," She turned to Zach & Ella. "Peel off from us, and keep your comms on, rendezvous with us outside the mall."

The two nodded and peeled away to the escalator, while Steve and Natasha ducked their heads down as two of Rumlow's agents passed them. Steve even let out a seeming genuine laugh to fool them.

Zach & Ella however, walked past the STRIKE Team, and made their way to the elevator. Jack Rollins was none the wiser as he walked in front of the Apple Store, peering through the mess of people inside.

"Negative at the source." he reported to Rumlow, who scoured through the pedestrians on the ground floor. "Give me a floor rundown." Brock commanded his troops.

"Negative on three."

"Negative on two."

"Snake the upper levels, work down to me," Rumlow barked through his hidden radio, as he prepared to ascend the escalator, which Steve and Natasha just so happened to be right across from. The Black Widow spotted Rumlow from the corner of her eye, and furiously wiped her head to Steve.

"Kiss me." She commanded to Steve's absolute surprise. "What?" Steve asked right back, out of shock.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." She stated in a matter-of-fact way." Steve nodded in response. "Yes, they do–" He muttered, just before Natasha pulled his head down to her lips.

As Rumlow looked back, he turned away immediately to make it seem like he wasn't looking like a creep. He looked back, and nodded, as he approached the floor above, where Natasha let go of Steve, and turned back around.

"You still uncomfortable?" She questioned sarcastically, as she took off her hood, and walked down the escalator, just as Steve followed after her. "It's not exactly the word I would use."

From across the mall, Ella and Zach had watched their teammates, away from Rumlow's goons, and were both shocked at the act Natasha had done. "So she did that with you too when she was your S.O?" Ella smirked, nudging Zach.

"El — I'm not answering that."

Hours later, the four of them crossed the border to New Jersey in a stolen car. Steve was driving, Natasha sat in the passenger seat with her legs on the dash, and Zach and Ella sat in the backseat, watching the trees pass them by.

"When did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asked Steve, to cut through the silence like a knife. Steve kept his eyes on the road, and took a deep sigh.

"Nazi Germany." He said with a stoic expression, and looked at the dash. "And we're borrowing — take your feet off the dash."

Natasha smirked at him, removing her feet off the dash. "It just has to be Jersey, isn't it?" Ella asked from the backseat. "New York's nicer." Zach sighed. "But lots of Shield history here – Steve, wasn't Camp Lehigh the official birthplace of Captain America?"

"Someone's done their history homework," Natasha teased her former trainee, just as Zach chuckled. "I mean, yeah." He answered. "But when I was growing up, Jarvis – Human Jarvis — told me all the stories about Captain America, since he worked with Agent Carter back in the day."

"Although those stories pissed off Dad." Zach chuckled. "Never took away my Howling Commandos action figures, though."

"They made figures of us?" Steve asked, still not removing his eyes from the road. "Oh, yeah, all the greats that served with you in WW2." Zach glimmered, and named them off. "Dugan, Falsworth, Morita, Sawyer, Jones, you, and..."

Zach's voice trailed off as he recounted the members. "Bucky." He muttered, to which Steve looked down on the road. "Sorry, Steve — I mean, Cap."

"No, no." Steve affirmed to the young Avenger. "It's good you remember Bucky. I just wished I could have saved him."

"He sounded pretty cool." Ella admitted. "You may not know, but there's a memorial at SHIELD Academy – His name is on the Wall of Valor." Steve smiled to himself, knowing his old friend wouldn't be forgotten in history's name.

A few hours later, the four reached an abandoned military base in the outskirts of New Jersey. "This is it?" Steve asked the four, as Zach held up his tracker. The young agent looked around, pocketing the device.

"The file came from these coordinates..." Zach confirmed, then turned to his left, staring at the sign of the Army base. "Well... I'll be damned."

CAMP LEHIGH.

U.S. ARMY RESTRICTED AREA.USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS AUTHORIZED.

"So did I." Steve remarked, looking at the base. "Camp Lehigh..." Ella exclaimed lightly, and nudged Zach again. "Guess you being a history buff worked out."

Night slowly crept on the abandoned base, flooding Steve's mind with decades-old memories. His eyes then fixed themselves on a flagpole in the center of the camp, and suddenly, he felt like he was there all those years ago again.

"Pick up the pace, ladies!" The voice of a drill sergeant roared in his mind, as Steve felt the ghosts of the soldiers he served with. The visions passed him by, paying no heed to him. "Come on, Rogers! Move it!"


In his mind's eye, Steve turned to his left, watching the ghost of his scrawny, mid-20s self stomp along. As the vision came closer, the younger Steve stopped and looked to his older self, as if they both existed in the same moment.

"Rogers!" The drill sergeant's voice roared again, shocking the younger Steve. "I said fall in!" The younger Steve picked up the pace, and soon, it was like he was never there.


"This is a dead end." Natasha spoke up, looking around with her own scanner, just as Zach and Ella were following her lead. "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio."

"So whoever wrote the file threw us off." Zach deduced. "Everyone's got all that equipment now..." Ella nodded in agreement. "Skye certainly did."

However, Steve had an idea, grabbing the others' attention. "What is it?" Natasha asked as Steve marched to a nearby barrack, as the three followed behind him.

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks." Steve stated as he marched to the barrack. "This building's in the wrong place." He looked down to see the lock, and bashed his shield against it, breaking it.

As they walked inside, Ella flipped the light switch. The panel lights began to light up one by one, illuminating a familiar eagle-crested logo on the wall.

"This is SHIELD..." Zach muttered, looking around the office. "Maybe around the time when they changed from the SSR." An investigation past one of the doors led the four into a room with framed photos and shelves of files.

Steve and Natasha looked past the photos of those upon the walls, the founders of SHIELD. Colonel Chester Phillips. Peggy Carter. Howard Stark. "Oh." Zach finally glanced at the photos, his eyes staying attached to Howard. "Grandpa..."

"Yeah, that's Howard." Steve acknowledged. "Tony's father."

"He looks good." Zach mentioned, while nodding. "I don't even know if I could have called him Grandpa. He died a few years before Tony adopted me."

"That's Peggy, isn't it?" Ella glossed over to Peggy's photo. "One of the first directors of Shield." However, Steve didn't answer, and simply turned the corner, looking around the office.

"If you're already working in a secret office..." He said as he looked around cautiously. Steve then reached for the left-hand side of the shelf, pushing it to his right, revealing a hidden corridor behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

After a quick ride down the elevator, it opened to a dark room, with each passing step making the lights immediately snap on. The room was full with retro computers, flashing green lights, and a central computer right smack in the middle. The technology in the room wouldn't have made it after the Cold War.

"This can't be the data point," Natasha commented, looking through all the equipment. "This technology is ancient." However, the central computer had something they could use; a USB-hub. However, it looked too modern compared to the rest.

She fished out the flash drive out of her pocket, and plugged it into the hub. The flash drive glowed blue upon activation, and the entire room seemingly booted up shortly after. The tape recorders on the walls started spinning, more lights turned on...

And the camera atop the computer buzzed to life, as if it were alive. "Initiate system?" The computer spoke in a robotic tone, as the same words appeared on the screen in green text.

Natasha approached the keyboard in front, and laid her hands on the keys. "Y-E-S... spells yes." She smirked to herself as the computers booted more. "Shall we play a game?" She added in a deep voice, her best Jigsaw impression.

She turned back to Steve and the others, smiling. "It's from a movie that..."

"Yes, I've seen it." Steve rebuttal in a no-nonsense tone. "I gave him that book for a reason, Nat." Zach added, as Ella rolled her eyes, thinking how Captain America wouldn't know about horror movies in 2014.

Suddenly, the screen flashed with vertical green lines, resembling a face, with circular spectacles. "Rogers, Steven." A voice spoke up, coming from the computer. "Born 1918."

The camera slowly drifted toward Natasha. "Romanoff." The computer emphasized the pronunciation of her surname. "Natalia Alianova. Born 1984."

"Monroe, Estella." The computer's camera drifted to the center, focusing on both Zach and Ella. "Born 1986. Danvers-Stark, Zachary. Born 1985."

"It's some kind of recording..." Natasha mused, but the computer had surprised her. "I am not a recording, Fräulein." The computer had answered, revealing its sentience. "I may not be the man I was when ze Captain took me prisoner in 1945."

"Son of a bitch..." Zach muttered, recognizing the outline of the human face that showed up on the right. "Arnim Zola, you're still alive?!"

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull." Steve stated, as Natasha turned in confusion. "He's been dead for years."

"First correction, I am Swiss." Zola announced, as Steve walked around the console that made up Zola. "Second — look around you. I have never been more alive."

"In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis." Zola revealed, as the screen showed paperwork of his condition. "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 questioned the once-human scientist. "Invited." Zola said as his third correction.

"Must have been Operation Paperclip." Ella spoke up. "After World War 2 ended, SHIELD enlisted former Nazi German scientists and engineers to work for them. In return, they received full pardons."

"They thought I could help their cause." Zola answered their questions. "I also helped my own."

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." Zach gritted his teeth, and clenched his fists. Zola's screen had shifted again to Hydra's insignia. "Cut off one head." He said as it shifted back to him, then doubled himself. "Two more shall take its place."

"Prove it." Steve grumbled.

"Accessing archives." the screens flashed with documents and infographics. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with it's own freedom. What we did not realize was that if you 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. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

"That's impossible," Natasha remarked. "SHIELD would have stopped you..."

"Accidents will happen." Zola admitted, as the screens revealed the newsletter of December 17th, 1991, announcing the deaths of Howard & Maria Stark globally, and the recent news 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." Zola bragged. "Your deaths amount to the same as your lives; a zero sum—" Before he said another word, Steve slammed his fist into the central screen.

"As I was saying..." Zola spoke up, as he migrated to another screen. "What's on this drive?" Zach asked angrily. "Project Insight requires insight." Zola simply put. "So I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm — what does it do?" Ella asked after.

"The answer to your question is fascinating!" Zola's A.I. exclaimed with a hint of glee. "Unfortunately... you shall be too dead to hear it." Behind them, the doors to the elevator began to close. Steve flung his shield in hopes to close it, but unfortunately, the doors shut, causing it to ricochet back to him.

"Guys, we got a bogey." Natasha declared as she looked to her device. "Short range ballistic — 30 seconds tops."

"Who fired it?" Ella asked her. "SHIELD." Natasha answered.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain." Zola confessed in a not-so-apologetic tone. "Admit it — it's better this way. All of us..."

As Zola continued to monologue, Zach pried a grate open from off the ground, and motioned for everyone to get inside of it. From outside the bunker, the ballistic missile was within range of completely obliterating all of them and Zola.

"Are out of time."

The missile had made contact with the base, and all four ducked into the hole, as Steve covered them with the Shield, while Zach produced small bursts of photons to minimize the rubble falling on top of them.

And everything had gone dark.

Until Steve lifted the rubble off the top of them, as they all gasped for air. Natasha was unconscious, so as Steve paved the way out, Zach carried her while Ella armed herself with her ICER, as they trugged themselves out of the rubble.

However, helicopters flooded the skies just as they left, and STRIKE agents touched ground, canvassing the rubble. Rumlow, leading the charge, went first with a M4AI Carbine rifle. However, to his disgust, the four had survived, as he found their footprints trekking out of Camp Lehigh.

"Call in the asset." He radioed back to his compatriots.

Alexander Pierce's Home

In his lavish home, Alexander walked to his refrigerator for a glass of a nightly glass of orange juice. He took out the carton from his fridge, and placed it on his countertop, but as he looked further from there, he found he wasn't alone.

Across from him sat the masked yet deadly Winter Soldier of spycraft stories. True to his appearances, he wore black eyeshadow around his eyes, while donning a half-mask on his mouth, almost like a muzzle.

He had long, brown shaggy hair, and sported an all black tactical suit. And also true to his legend, clenched his titanium prosthetic arm, clad with the Red Soviet Star on his left forearm.

Yet, Pierce stood unamused by the soldier's appearance. "I am going to go, Mr. Pierce." His housekeeper, Renata spoke up, filling the daft silence. "You need anything before I leave?"

"No... uh, it's fine, Renata," Pierce affirmed as he dismissed her. "You can go home."

"Okay, night-night."

"Night-night." Pierce echoed, yet not breaking the stare between him and the Soldier. Then he moved, unafraid of what his puppet was capable of doing. "Want some milk?" He asked him as he opened a cabinet for a glass.

The Soldier never spoke. "The timetable has moved." Pierce stated. "Our window is limited. Four targets, level Six." He continued, while pouring his juice, and then joined the soldier at the table.

"They already cost me Zola." Pierce grumbled, taking a small sip, before eyeing the soldier. "I want confirmed deaths in ten hours. One of them may prove hard to kill, we'll see what we can do with him—"

"Sorry, Mr. Pierce I..." Renata had unexpectedly come back, and found Pierce sitting with the Soldier, like old chums. "I — forgot my phone."

Pierce crossed his eyes in regret, and he turned his back to her. "Oh, Renata..." He said with no ounce of regret in his voice, picking up the Soldier's piece. "I wish you could have knocked."

Pierce then stood up, quickly aimed the pistol at Renata, heartlessly killing her with two shots.

Washington, D.C.
Sam Wilson's Apartment.

Sam, whilst breathless, had finished his morning routine, and had come back inside for breakfast. He took out a plastic jug of orange juice, and was prepared to drink straight from it, until he was interrupted by a knock at his door.

Sam never had visitors, apart from his sister and two nephews, but they lived in Louisiana. They would have told him if they were coming to visit. Sam placed the jug back down, and trekked to the door, opening the curtains.

He was shocked to find Steve, Natasha, Zach & Ella outside his door, covered in soot and ash, and their clothes were ruined. Sam quickly slid the door open for them, with a look of concern on his face.

Not everyday where not one, but three Avengers arrive at your door.

"Hey, man..." Sam quietly spoke up, knowing of the news of all four of them, but he was a fellow soldier. He knew Steve wasn't like what he had heard.

"I'm sorry about this." Steve quickly spoke up. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha added quickly. Sam quickly looked around the area. "Not everyone." He answered as he opened his door to them.

As Sam had graciously opened his home to them, they all decided to get the ash off of them. While Steve and Natasha had gotten cleaned up, Zach already had, and Sam had given him some clothes to wear for the time being. For the moment, he sat in Sam's living room, but had completely dissociated.

"Hey... you alright?" Ella's voice peered in, bringing him back to reality. "Sorry — you were staring into... nothing."

"Oh, right, sorry." Zach spoke up, and brushed his hand through his hair. "Just... so much. Just more and more secrets. Secrets upon secrets upon secrets."

Ella glanced away for a moment, knowing she had kept her fair share of secrets from him for years. "But we're spies, right?" Zach brought up. "It's our job. But everything that's happening, it's so... overwhelming."

"Mike is alive. We gave Skye some secret miracle drug to save her life," Zach admitted. "And HYDRA is in the mix, with some Clairvoyant asshole... it's so much."

"And yet it feels like there's still so much," Ella clarified, just as Zach took a moment to think and nod. "And I guess... what I did fits in there somewhere."

"Yeah... but it still feels like secrets between us both!" Zach admitted. "I just have some weird gut feeling that there's something you haven't told me." Ella simply placed her hand on his.

"I won't lie, there is." Ella confessed. "But you... you deserve to know. Once this is all over, you'll know everything, Zachy — Zach. I promise."

Zach's eyes darted back and forth from her. "You better keep your word about that, El." He spoke up, with a tone of relief. "Hey..." Sam said as he walked back to the living room. "I made y'all breakfast. If you do eat."

"So the question is..." Natasha asked the group as they ate at Sam's table. "Who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" She stood up, as Sam was buttering a piece of bread.

Steve placed his fist against his jaw. "Pierce." He answered, as Natasha walked around. "Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world..."

"But Pierce can't be acting alone." Zach reminded them. "Zola's algorithm for Insight was on the Star." Ella pointed to him. "And so was Sitwell!"

"Never liked that prick." Zach added under his breath.

"So the real question is..." Natasha began again. "How do the four most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

"We could try shooting him with an ICER when he's alone." Zach shrugged and turned to Ella. "Didn't Jemma do that in the HUB? When Ward and Fitz were on that mission?"

"Yeah, but at least he'd know about dendrotoxin." Ella responded, as Steve, Natasha, and Sam looked at them in confusion. "It's a long story." They both said in unison.

"Well, the answer is..." Sam replied to all of them. "You don't." He said, as he dropped a file in front of Steve. "What's this?" Steve asked as he took a look.

"Call it a resume." Sam answered with a small smile. The four took a look at Sam's file, full of reports and documents as a pararescue with his team.

"Is this Bakhmala?" Natasha asked, admiring one of the pictures. "The Khalid Khandil mission... that was you." She turned to Steve with a smirk. "You didn't say he was a pararescue..."

"Damn, Sam..." Zach whistled as he looked through the files. "These missions, they're extraordinary."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked, looking down to see Sam's wingman, who had tragically died in a night mission. Sam nodded in response.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs." Natasha commented. "What'd you use, a sheath chute?" Sam shook his head. "No... these." He gave them the file, which Steve opened up, as Zach peered in.

Zach looked up, and looked at Sam. "I thought you were a pilot?" Zach asked him, as the former pararescue smirked. "I never said pilot."

"I... I can't ask you to do this, Sam." Steve acknowledged, remembering the reason Sam left the military. "You got out for a good reason." Sam shrugged and nodded like it was no big deal.

"Dude. Captain America needs my help." Sam answered confidently. "There's no better reason to get back in." Zach nodded in approval and looked at Steve. "Wilson's got my vote."

"Where do we get one of these wingsuits?" Ella asked, as she showed the picture she had towards Sam. "The last one is at Ford Meade, behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall."

Steve looked to his companions, and looked to Sam. "Shouldn't be a problem." He smirked as he dropped the file, shaking Sam's hand.

CLASSIFIED: RDEARN
EXO-7
FALCON.