First Light | Steve Rogers (Book Two)

Chapter Fifty: The Time Heist (Detour)

CAMP LEHIGH, NEW JERSEY, 1970

"Clearly you weren't actually born here, right?" Tony asked as the three of us walked through the base. Steve and I had managed to get changed into the army green uniforms, trying to keep our heads down and not attract attention.

"The idea of me was"

He nodded slowly as he surveyed the area, "Right. Well, imagine you're SHIELD, running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organisation. Where do you hide it?"

I paused and nodded over to a large bunker where two men were cautiously entering, "In plain sight"

Tony and I stood in front of Steve, trying to hide him from the view of the woman next to us in the elevator. There was a pause as the doors opened and Tony nodded to him, "Good luck on your mission, Captain"

"Good luck on your... project, Doctor"

As soon as the doors closed, the woman smiled sweetly at us, "You two new here?"

"Yes"

"Not exactly"

We stepped out of the elevator, heaving sighs of relief. I strode past a group of women, tilting my head slightly as I heard one of them talk, noticing the clipboard in her hands and the ID lanyard around her neck. Pulling Steve along with me, I made my way over to the wall-mounted telephone in the shadows of the corridor and nodding for him to hide me from view.

"Hello?" a man called from the other end of the line.

I remembered the woman from earlier, trying to imitate her sweet tone as I spoke. "Hello, am I speaking to Doctor Pym?"

There was a pause, "That would be the number that you called, yes"

"Hi, this is Betty from shipping. We've got a package for you" I silently cursed at the hint of uncertainty in my voice.

"Well, bring it up"

My eyes widened as I tried to come up with an excuse, "That's the thing, sir. We can't"

He chuckled softly, "I'm confused, I thought that was your job"

"Of course, sir. It's just..." I lowered my voice to an anxious murmur, "The box is glowing and, to be completely honest, some of the people here aren't feeling that great"

"They didn't open it, did they?"

I glanced around nervously, "Uh... yeah, they did. You better get down here"

The line went dead. The man's voice could be heard from down the corridor and we saw him sprint past. Steve turned to me with a wide grin, "Good job, Betty"

The lab was large and brightly lit, filled with lots of shelves and glass cabinets. A strange assortment of objects were lying around, including some sort of helmet with antennae. A few ant farms were stood in the corner, surrounded by magnifying glasses and notepads covered in frantic scribbles.

Steve gently nudged me, nodding over to the small vials of scarlet chemicals in one of the cabinets. "Be careful" I hissed, holding out a small case for him to put them in.

We hurried down the corridor, eyes darting around in paranoia. I spotted a couple of security guards talking to the woman from the elevator, "And you're sure you've never seen these people before?"

She quickly shook her head, "No, I've got an eye for this. The three of them looked fishy"

"Can you describe them?"

"One of them had a hippie beard"

There was a pause "Hippie... Like Bee Gees or Mungo Jerry?"

They began to walk our way and I grabbed Steve's arm, pulling him into a side room. There was a tense silence as we waited, watching figures pass through the frosted glass windows of the door. I went to leave, pausing when I realised that Steve wasn't standing behind me anymore.

He was stood by the desk, staring at a framed picture of a young man. I moved closer, letting out a quiet sigh when I realised that the picture was of him. Steve's eyes went wide as he glanced at the name printed on the door: 'MARGARET CARTER '

And there she was, just visible through the blinds of the next room. I couldn't help but notice the sinking feeling in my chest as he watched her, an unreadable expression on his face. He was too dazed to even notice when I left the room, letting the door stay open behind me.

"Rory?" I continued to walk along the path outside the base, trying to ignore the calls from behind me. The sound of footsteps grew louder as Steve caught up to me, "Rory. What the hell? Why'd you leave like that?" My eyes narrowed and I looked down at his hand, which had gently taken hold of my wrist. I tore myself away from him, striding over to the rendezvous point. "Hey, talk to me. Please, doll" he tried again.

We entered the abandoned shed at the edge of the base and I span to face him. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd notice," I snapped at him, "You were a little distracted"

He scoffed and shook his head as he stared at me in confusion, "Seriously? I haven't seen her in seven years, of course I was surprised"

"You're not gonna stop are you? I'm sick of all this bullshit about her being your 'first love' and that you've moved on. I know about the compass, I'm not stupid. You can't trick me with your talk about 'soulmates' and 'the love of your life'"

There was a pause as his gaze fell, "That wasn't a lie. The compass is just... a reminder of the past. If I wanted to be with her that much, after everything, I'd have found a way. Instead, I'm here with you. I always will be"

I sighed and angrily rubbed at my eyes before turning to face him again, "Really?"

"Really. It's you and me, okay? I'm in this for the long run, come what may. I love you"

We both hugged each other tightly and I buried my head in his shoulder, "I'm sorry"

"It's okay, I get it. I'm sorry, too, for ever making you feel like you're not special. I promise it'll never happen again"

The door swung open and we span around to see Tony stood there. He chuckled quietly, "No, please. Don't stop on my account"