Again || Steve Rogers

Thirteen

"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Simmons, Elizabeth. Born, 1919. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984." a thick German accent voice spoke. As it spoke, the trio noticed an old camera above them, moving as it analyzed each one of them. 

"It's some kind of recording." Elizabeth whispered, trying to calm her nerves. She had no clue how the computer would know that from the file, but it made her very nervous. She took a step closer to Steve and clung to his arm as the computer spoke again. 

"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." Natasha's eyebrows arched in confusion as she stared at the picture that popped up on the screen. 

"Do you know this thing?" she asked Steve, turning to face him.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years." Steve sounded shocked. 

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive." the computer spoke up again. The trio looked around and, all at once, came to the sudden realization that he was indeed very much 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 data banks. You are standing in my brain." Zola explained. Elizabeth gasped as her grip on Steve's arm tightened slightly. 

"H-How did you get here?" she stuttered. 

"Invited." he replied simply. 

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic values." Natasha explained to the confused couple. 

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Zola spoke mysteriously. Steve and Elizabeth shared a glance before Steve spoke up.

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." he stated. 

"Cut off one head, two more shall takes it's place." Zola reminded the Captain of HYDRA's old phrase. 

"Prove it." Elizabeth challenged the computer. 

"Accessing archive." As images of Johann Schmidt and the original SHIELD founders flashed across the screen, Zola began to explain what he knew. 

"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, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." As he finished talking, a shiver ran up each one of the trio's spines.

"That's impossible. SHIELD would have stopped you." Natasha pointed out. 

"Accidents will happen." If Zola had actually been standing in front of them and not a computer screen, Elizabeth knew that he would have been smirking and shrugging nonchalantly. Then, pictures of Howard and Maria Stark's deaths flashed across the screen, followed by Nick Fury's recent death. Elizabeth cringed at this one, she still couldn't believe it had happened, especially right in front of her.

"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. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum." the computer continued to taunt the trio. Steve, fed up with Zola, suddenly raised his fist and let it fly towards the computer screen, shattering it.