The trio slowly made their way over to the elevator. Natasha pulled out that same device that could seemingly do everything and scanned the buttons for the passcode to get into the elevator. It only took a few seconds to pick up on which buttons were used the most and organised it into the exact passcode. It was impressive tech that it gave the code instead of a few variations that they had to test. Eleanor wasn't quite sure how it worked to do that.

Nat typed in the code and a green light flashed along with a beep, and the doors opened. There was a nice amount of light in there that Eleanor was appreciative of, and it was quite spacious. It was well rated on the list of elevators that she's been on.

When the doors reopened after the short ride, they were greeted with yet another almost pitch-black room, making Eleanor internally groan, though it wasn't surprising. They were underground. They all looked around cautiously, usually, people don't like it when others access their super-secret underground room, so who knew what was around or whether it would alert people of their presence.

The three walked forward slowly, and the room only got darker when the elevator doors shut, sending a chill down Eleanor's spine. In front of them seemed to be some sort of tech, judging by the lit-up coloured dots ahead, but they couldn't really make out what was around. As they neared it they must have crossed some sensors, as the room slowly lit up. It was a bright white type of light so Eleanor had to squint before adjusting to it.

She had been correct, there was technology, but it was incredibly old, she couldn't help but look forward with interest. Even though they were on a mission of sorts, she loved looking at things like this, old tech, rooms from the past, older versions of equipment, so she was enjoying looking around the place, even if it did give her the creeps.

Eleanor moved to look around some of the machines to the side, whereas Nat and Steve stood on the spot in the centre, looking confused, "This can't be the data point. This technology is ancient", Nat told the small group.

Eleanor turned to face her and saw that she looked slightly amused at the thought of this being the data point. Eleanor smiled a little as well, it was funny to imagine someone booting up the software needed on these old machines. But both of their faces soon turned to confusion when they noticed a small black box sitting on the desk. Eleanor walked over and noticed that the dust around it had recently been disturbed too.

The little black box was a port of some kind for hard drives, so it was certainly out of place in this room. Nat took out the SHIELD drive from her pocket and looked at it in thought, plugging git in would alert people of their whereabouts, but they needed more information on the file, and this was probably the only place that they would get it.

So, she plugged it in. Eleanor braced herself for something to happen, but still jumped a little bit when all of the rows and rows of old computers in the giant room started whirring all at once. This definitely didn't seem right.

She jumped again even harder when a robotic voice spoke at them, and green text appeared on one of the screens in front. "Initiate system?".

Nat moved forward to type "Y-E-S spells yes", she spoke as she typed 'YES'. The system then started booting up, Nat smirked slightly but Eleanor was now filled with dread. This didn't sit right with her at all, so she moved to the right-hand side of Nat to see if there was anything else on the desk, but there didn't seem to be.

"Shall we play a game", Nat joked, making Eleanor break out into a smile even though she felt like the room was just going to burst into flames at any given moment. "It was from a movie that was really-", she turned to Steve.

"I know, I saw it".

Nat looked slightly dejected but turned back to the computer. Green lines started appearing on the screen, but the lines weren't steady and kept flickering, but it seemed to be making the face of someone, and there was a camera above it that moved. Eleanor's face scrunched in confusion, and she turned to see that Nat's face was blank with misunderstanding, but she was glad that she wasn't the only one completely not in the know.

"Rogers, Steven. Born 1918", it spoke, this time it had a German-like accent. Okay, what the fuck. The camera then moved to Nat, "Romanova, Natalia Alianovna. Born 1984". And now it was Eleanor's turn, she got goosebumps as it turned to her, "Hughes, Eleanor Irina. Born 1987".

"It's some kind of recording", Nat spoke but she sounded hesitant. How would a recording know that those exact three people would be here? In that order? And then where would the camera come into it?

"I am not a recording Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am". An image of a man who looked like the one being depicted on the screen then popped up on a smaller screen to the right. Eleanor felt as though she recognised him but she couldn't think from where.

"You know this thing?", Nat asked Steve as she gestured to 'him' with her head.

Steve looked around the screens hesitantly before walking around to the back of it and answering, "Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years".

"First correction, I am Swiss", the computer they now knew to be 'Zola' spoke again, "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 databanks. You are standing in my brain". Eleanor visibly cringed at the comparison and moved her feet around slightly, not liking the idea of standing on a brain.

"How did you get here then?", Eleanor asked as she watched Steve circle back.

"Invited".

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War Two", Nat spoke making Eleanor nod slightly in realisation, that was why she recognised Zola, she saw an article or two where he had made an appearance, "SHIELD 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 stated, so sure of the fact. Eleanor looked over to him with her mouth slightly agape before looking back to the screen, it didn't sound like it had died with the Red Skull after all.

"Cut off one head", the HYDRA symbol briefly replaced Zola's face on the screen, "Two more shall take its place". Eleanor suddenly felt very sick and felt her stomach drop.

"Prove it", Steve demanded.

"Accessing archive", images and videos then began playing on a screen to their left, starting with the Red Skull, before he turned red. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom". Clips of HYDRA during the way then started playing along with clips of soldiers, including the Captain. Everyone knew that Steve did first live is life in the early 1900s, but it was still odd seeing it being played out on a monitor.

"What we did not realise 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, SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited". Images of the early days of SHIELD and the German scientists were then provided. It reminded Eleanor of the visual aids that people used in presentations at work, just with a lot more thinking 'What the fuck is going on?'.

"The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside of SHIELD", Eleanor and Nat both moved forward towards the screen a few steps, not believing what they were hearing. "For seventy years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war", now it was time for clips of fights and tragedies to be played.

"And when history did not cooperate, history was changed".

"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you", Nat spoke at the computer.

"Accidents will happen". Clips of death announcements of different SHIELD members were now on the screen. It went through Howard Stark, Nick Fury, and a few others, ending with Eleanor's father. She exhaled deeply, fighting to push back the bile that was crawling up her throat. She had always been aware that the Red Room had coordinated her father's assassination, but knowing that HYDRA had also benefited from this and that she had been unknowingly working for that organisation was a lot. Nat sent her a sad look before turning back to the screen when Zola began again.

"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security". Images flashed of CCTV clips of fights between military and civilians, and videos of satellites. When SHIELD's new helicarriers designed for security came up on the screen, Eleanor's jaw dropped slightly when realising that HYDRA was going to use them and have easy access to them right now.

"Project Insight...", Eleanor mumbled in disbelief at the screen.

"Yes, well done", Zola sneered, "Once a purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life. A zero-sum".

This was it for Steve, he went ahead and punched the screen with Zola's face on, making it power down. So, he instead popped up on another screen, "As I was saying...". If it was any other situation that would have been quite amusing.

"What's on this drive?", Steve once again demanded.

"Project Insight requires insight. So, I wrote an algorithm".

"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?", Nat hurried out, they all knew that they would run out of time with the homing beacon on the drive at some point so time was really ticking now.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you will be too dead to hear it".

Eleanor suddenly popped her head out from behind Natasha, "Pardon me?".

Thick metal doors then started covering the elevator, trapping them. Steve tried to throw his shield over to stop it from closing, but he missed it by a fraction of a second.

Natasha's device started beeping, making Eleanor whip her head around, what was happening now?. "We got a bogey. Short-range ballistic. Thirty seconds tops". Fuck.

"Who fired it?", Eleanor asked as she moved closer to look at the device.

"SHIELD". Well, that's lovely, the organisation that Eleanor had called home for eight years was now literally sending a bomb at the building she was currently in.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain", Zola spoke once again as Nat grabbed the drive, "Admit it, it's better this way".

Steve looked around and ran forward towards some metal grating on the floor, throwing it away so that they could avoid the explosion.

"We are, both of us, out of time".

Eleanor ran forward, Natasha half a pace behind. Steve wrapped his arm around the both of them and guided them in there as he jumped down, trying to cover them all from the explosion.

Debris came firing down on them like there was no tomorrow. The sound was deafening, and the shield was barely covering them. Eleanor was closer to Steve, so she pulled Nat into her as much as possible, just like Nat did to her in the Battle of New York, but she could still feel the debris hitting them, and the small space that they were stuck in was getting increasingly hotter. It was getting painful.

The rocks falling on them that managed to get past the shield hurt a lot, it felt like being hit with a hammer, but she was trying her hardest to stay awake to try and keep Natasha pulled into her as much as possible. The last thing that she heard was Steve screaming to try and keep the shield covering them, but then everything went black.

---

Eleanor woke up to hear Steve groaning and coughing after lifting a heavy piece of debris from them to get out into the open. Her eyes were barely open, she honestly thought that they were going to shut again, and her head was pounding.

Steve looked over and looked slightly shocked, yet relieved, at seeing Eleanor awake after knowing that both of the women had been knocked out. "Hey, El, don't go to sleep again, stay awake", he shook her which helped, but her vision was still incredibly blurry.

"Steve?".

"Yeah, it's me", he smiled softly, not that she could tell. "Nat's out cold still, I need to carry her, are you good to walk?".

Panic passed through Eleanor as she suddenly became aware of the figure slumped against her, "Shit". She grabbed Nat's hand and checked for a pulse, she couldn't see what she was doing properly, but muscle memory helped so she was able to find it. Sighing in relief she responded, "Yeah, but be careful", she added quickly at the end.

Steve nodded and helped her stand, before picking Nat up bridal style and walking out. Eleanor was stumbling behind Steve as best as she could, but there was so much debris and paired with her blurred vision it didn't take long before she slipped on a rock and crashed onto her knees. "You okay?", Steve looked back as she shakily stood again.

"Mhm", was the only response that she could get out.

"Grab onto me, okay?". She nodded and moved forward, grabbing onto Steve's jacket as he moved forward, a bit slower this time.

When they reached an area that was more out in the open, Steve saw that there were some SHIELD jets that had come to pay them a visit. In a panic, he rushed forward to get out of the way of the lights that were shining down on them to check for survivors. Eleanor had to work really hard to keep ahold of Steve and was just being dragged along behind him at that point.

They settled behind some debris on the edge of the camp, and luckily no one came to see if they were there. Steve gently placed Nat down next to Eleanor, who promptly wrapped an arm around her unconscious girlfriend to keep her secure. Steve knelt opposite the two sat against the concrete, and tried to look around to get his bearings, which was quite difficult with the sheer amount of smoke around.

"We can't leave until they've gone", he stated.

"Wonder if the car's okay", Eleanor mumbled, she wasn't really sure how they were going to get back without it.

Steve just looked at her as he regained control of his breathing. "Thank you for carrying her", Eleanor did her best to smile but it came out as more of a grimace with the way the movement made a stabbing pain go through her skull.

"Any time".

They sat for a while before the jets left, so Eleanor tried to wake Nat up one more time, all of her other attempts had been of no use.

"Nat", she whispered whilst shaking her slightly, "Nat". Then she got a bright idea, "Tasha", she whisper shouted, knowing that she hated that nickname. Eleanor held back a laugh as Nat groaned and opened her eyes ever so slightly, so she lightly chuckled instead, happy to see her moving. It was scary not knowing when or if she would wake up on her own. "Welcome back to the land of the living baby", Eleanor mumbled against Nat's hair as she increased the grip on her.

"It's great to be here", Nat groaned as she let her body flop more against Eleanor, having no energy to keep her body upright.

Steve and Eleanor allowed Nat to wake up a bit more before moving, she also sported one hell of a headache and blurry vision, so it wasn't fair to make her abruptly move when they had time to sit for a few.

When she said she was ready, Steve and Eleanor held her upright and supported her in their slow walk to the car. Eleanor thought that she was going to throw up a few times but managed to hold her own as they reached the front of the camp.

Luckily, the car was there. Damaged, but there. Steve wiped some rocks off of the front of it whilst Eleanor held Nat up on the sidelines. The front mirror was cracked, the bonnet dented, and the passenger side mirror completely smashed, but all in all, a decent shape for the situation.

Steve helped Nat and Eleanor into the back seat before he got into the driver's seat. In the front mirror, he saw the two women pressed against each other, Nat's head leaning on Eleanor's shoulder, and Eleanor resting her head on Natasha's, all whilst holding each other tightly. Steve smiled slightly at the sight, remembering what Eleanor had said earlier. They really were just regular people, even whilst on the job, and now he knew that he trusted them.