Not An Avenger

HYDRA

There was an awkward silence between us as we drove away. I tried to break the ice.

"I found a few things in the flash drive. It was written at an old SHIELD base near the HQ and it has been used for something called 'Project Insight'." I remembered Steve had used the name when we last met.

This definitely caught Steve's attention.

"Maybe we can find something at the SHIELD base." I noticed the awkwardness in his voice.

I was uncertain what to do next, so I decided to proceed honestly. I had to tell him how I felt about him.

"Steve." I said, contemplating what to say.

"Hmm?" he answered, looking straight at the road.

"Liked the kiss?" I regretted it as soon as I said it.

His eyes widened at hearing the question. He looked more amused than shocked. "Umm… yes? I mean…." He answered, incoherently.

"Me too." I said, cutting him off.

Somehow the atmosphere felt lighter. The awkwardness was gone.

"You're not very good at it, though." He said after a minute.

Ouch!

"Well, that's not my fault. I never had any practice." I defended myself.

"Wow. Really? Not even once?" I looked like he was enjoying teasing me now.

I tried to ignore him. "So, what's Project Insight?"

"I thought you didn't want to know."

"It wouldn't make any difference now." I would already be on SHIELD's wanted list by now.

"SHIELD is launching armed hellicarriers with ability to shoot targets by satellite location technology. I really don't understand what is insightful about it." He told me.

"The targeting software would not be small enough to be present in this device. What other super-secret program is supposed to be used on Project Insight?"

Steve looked at me grimly. He knew if the program had something to do with Project Insight, millions of lives hung in the balance.

…

The SHIELD base looked ancient. No living soul was seen. I was considering a faked location, when Steve discovered a secret door. We went through it to a room which contained a retro tech supercomputer. It really didn't look like the source of the program, but I had learnt not to judge a book by its cover.

Steve took the flash drive and put it in the socket. The computer booted up.

"Ah! Captain Rogers. It's nice to see you again. Do you remember me?" a voice came from the computer. An AI in this tech. Impossible.

I looked at Steve, questioningly. He seemed to recognize the voice. "Armin Zola. He used to work for HYDRA, back in the forties."

"You should get your facts right, Captain. I still work for HYDRA." Said the voice.

"HYDRA doesn't exist anymore. The Red Skull is dead."

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. HYDRA has been growing inside SHIELD for decades now."

It looked like Steve's mistrust of SHIELD wasn't baseless. "That's impossible. SHIELD would have stopped you." I said.

"Only if they knew, dear. Howard Stark was the only one who ever came close to knowing our secret. But he was disposed off, easily."

What? Tony's families' car crash wasn't an accident?

"And now with the launch of Project Insight, all of HYDRA's enemies will be disposed. All 20 million of them." The voice continued.

So, that's was the content of the flash drive. A program to list out HYDRA's enemies and make them targets of the hellicarriers. I had a feeling we would not be getting out of here alive. There was no reason it would be telling us all this otherwise.

"What that noise?" Steve said. A millisecond later something hit the building and an explosion occurred. We were able to see it through a blue force field around us. Nothing was able to penetrate it, the fire, the debris or the smoke.

A minute later, we were standing in a clear zone, surrounded by a completely demolished building. I removed the force field Steve was looking at me disbelief.

"What just happened?" he asked.

"We have to get out of here." I ignored his question. He would figure it out himself soon enough.

Our car had also been blown to pieced. We had just reached the road when a van pulled up beside us.

"Bucky?" Steve said, as a man got out of the driver's seat.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" he replied.

Then he shot a bazooka at us.