𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒕 || s. rogers & b. barnes

8||; 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒋𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒚

⤷ march 27, 2014
━━━━━━━━━━━

They pull into Wheaton, New Jersey late in the evening, the sun hidden by the trees and buildings that surrounded them.

"This is it," Steve says as Irina steps out of the truck, slamming the door shut behind her. She steps up to gates with the others.

"The file came from these coordinates," says Romanoff.

"So did I," says Steve. Irina follows his gaze to a sign hanging by the gate.

Camp Lehigh
U.S. Army Restricted Area

"Huh," she hums.

They climb their ways over the fence, which had thankfully been non-electric — if it was, it had long since been shut off. The trio walk around the old army training base. Irina turns around slowly as she surveys their surroundings, and the night sky above them.

"This camp is where I was trained," the soldier explains as they walk. Irina walks alongside him, looking up at his melancholy expression.

"Change much?" Romanoff asks, phone high in the air, tracking the coordinates.

Steve's eyes glue to an old flag post. "A little," he mutters, eyes filled with nostalgia.

Irina purses her lips, nudging his arm with her shoulder. "You okay?" She whispers, peering up at him with concern.

Steve's eyes flicker down to her face, and he breaks out into a small smile at her worrying expression. "I'm fine," he says.

"This is a dead end," Romanoff says as she comes back to them. "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off."

Irina groans softly. "So we're back at Square One," she concludes with a mutter. "Is it too late to call Tony again and set us all up with that safe house?"

Romanoff seems to catch a look on Steve's face, and frowns at him. "What is it?" She asks.

Irina's eyes dart back to him, the soldier's eyes stuck on a bunker not far off from them.  "Steve?"

"Come on," he mutters, already walking speedily to the bunker. Her and Romanoff share a look, before trailing after him. "Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place," he says.

Steve steps up to the bunker door, holding up his shield before slamming it against the lock, the rusty mechanism breaking with a clunk.

They carefully walk down the steps into the bunker. Irina sticks closely by Steve as Romanoff branches off, finding a switch and turning it. With a low hum, lights begin to flicker on, and across from them, Irina sees the familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.," the agent states.

"Maybe where it started," Steve says as they walk past the computers and desks lining the room.

Irina brushed her fingers over the dusty surfaces, feeling it build up on the pads of her fingers. She lifts her hand up, examining the excess amount of dust with a curious look. "No one's been down here in awhile," she notes. "So how could a file as brand new as that originate from a place like this?"

"I'd like to find that out myself," says Romanoff.

Steve pushes through a door to an office on the other side of the room. Irina follows in close behind, with Romanoff tailing her. They walk up to a wall lined with photos. No doubt the original founders of S.H.I.E.L.D..