The Liberty War || Infinity War & Endgame

Chapter Forty-Three: Idea of Us

Music is "Call Your Name x Call of Silence" by Samuel Kim, originally composed by Hiroyuki Sawano.

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Barnes.

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CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: Idea of Us

{April 7, 1970 -- Fifty-Three Years Ago}

Tony snickers at the sign at the front of the gate. Camp Lehigh looks the same as it did all those years ago, but I have to admit my reaction was very similar when I first saw the gaudy plaque reading, "Birthplace of Captain America and Lady Liberty."

"Clearly, neither of you were actually born here, right?" he inquires.

Steve keeps his head low as he treks forward, blending in perfectly with the turn-of-the-decade military installation soldiers and staff. His cover is the greens of a soldier named Roscoe; luckily, it's been long enough that the mythos of Steve Rogers has grown far beyond a humble man behind those sunglasses. If anyone were to suspect Steve as the Captain America, well, those people are few and far between.

Thanks to the good ole Stark technology, my cover is even more inconspicuous. Thanks to Peggy, women at the Camp Lehigh facility had much more varied roles than other branches of military at the time. SHIELD always strove to be inclusive, and that included allowing women in all sorts of non-administrative roles. My chosen cover is that of an MP, donning the khaki jacket and pants. Paired with a black cap and thick, '70s glasses, no one is going to catch on.

"In New Jersey?" I sputter, rolling my eyes. "Please, hardly the truth, but that didn't stop every military installation between here and Brooklyn from claiming it. We weren't born here, but the idea of us was."

Tony wears a navy blue SHIELD jacket and tie; his attire is otherwise unremarkable, sans the golden eagle insignia on his left chest pocket and the badge clipped to his tie that reads "Visitor." "Right, well. Imagine you're SHIELD, running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization, where do you hide it?"

"That's easy," I retort, nodding my head casually towards the building marked E47. Two men disappear through the door as we survey the area. "In plain sight."

Tony taps the side of his glasses, and I do the same. The Stark tech shows us an infrared scan of E47, showing two warm bodies entering a lift that takes them several levels below the surface. The eldest of the trio nods and moves for the entrance, Steve and I following close behind.

"Everyone know what they're supposed to do?"

Steve nods once. "Crystal clear. You're on Tesseract, we're on the Pym Particles."

Tony straightens the collar on his jacket, an obvious nervous tick. "If I don't get the Tesseract, we're stuck in 2023 with no help. If you don't get the particles, we're stuck in 1970 with no way out but the long-way-round. If we get caught, both are gonna happen."

"No pressure," I scoff.

Just as the doors are about to close, an African-American woman in a beehive hairstyle and SHIELD badge around her neck boards with us. Tony takes the spot closest to her, between her and Steve. I keep my back towards her in hopes that her not seeing either Steve's nor my faces will make her none the wiser.

The lift dings, Tony turns to Steve and says, "Good luck on your mission, Captain."

Steve replies in an unconvincing tone, "Good luck on...your project, Doctor."

Internally, I sigh and give a look to Tony as the doors close once more, one that says, "Oh god, I hope this works."

The woman riding with us to a different floor asks, "You new here?"