Special Agent 2: The Dark Soldier

Chapter 55

Gibbs pressed down on the gas pedal, coaxing Sam Wilson's old car over eighty miles an hour on the interstate heading north. There weren't many cars on the highway, this late at night, although that didn't stop Rogers from looking a bit uncomfortable in the passenger seat. McGee was curled up in the back, asleep with Wilson's laptop clasped to his chest.

The Air Force veteran had willingly lent them his computer and his car for the drive to Camp Lehigh, located in Wheaton, New Jersey. With DiNozzo running point, he, Wilson, Kate, and Bishop would steal the EX0-Falcon suit from Fort Meade. The other three would investigate Camp Lehigh, following up on Heimdall's advice.

They were getting close to the camp, and would be there shortly after the sun rose. Gibbs wondered what they would find there, and what it was McGee would have to do. All three of them had guessed it would have something to do with a computer – hence, why they had requested to borrow Wilson's, since they had left McGee's back on Ghost Street with Jane Foster and Agent Torres.

As the sun was beginning to rise, they crossed the New Jersey border. McGee woke up within twenty miles of Camp Lehigh, rubbing his bleary eyes and yawning.

"We're almost there," Rogers told him. "Right?"

Gibbs gave a brief nod.

When they reached the Wheaton exit, Gibbs pulled over to get gas and Rogers and McGee ran into the gas station to buy some coffee and breakfast. Gibbs filled the gas tank as they came back out, with a tray of three black coffees, a handful of sugar packets and half-and-half creamers, and some breakfast sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil.

"Not much further," Gibbs said quietly, as they climbed back into the car and left the gas station. He took a long sip of his black coffee.

It didn't take them much longer before they pulled into the abandoned Army base of Camp Lehigh. They stepped out of the car, Gibbs resting his hand on his holstered pistol as they approached the installation.

"When were you last here?" McGee asked Rogers in a low voice.

"1943," Rogers answered, his expression pensive. "Project Rebirth."

The base was deserted, grass overgrown in the training area. The two agents and the Avenger entered through the gate after Gibbs picked the lock, gazing around at Camp Lehigh.

"What are we looking for?" McGee queried.

"Anything out of place," Gibbs stated, easing his gun out of its holster.

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within five hundred yards of the barracks," Rogers stated, pointing to a lone building. "That's where we look."

They entered the building, the lights flickering on and showcasing the SHIELD logo on the far wall. Gibbs raised his pistol, glancing around to make sure they were alone as McGee gripped Wilson's laptop tightly. Several portraits hung along one wall.

"Stark's father," Rogers said quietly, nodding to one. His gaze saddened as it fell on the picture next to it, one of a woman with short dark hair.

Gibbs saw recognition flash across McGee's eyes before his gaze flickered to Rogers, but the computer geek didn't say anything. He himself remembered the woman, Peggy Carter, who had come to Stillwater several times to speak with his father, Jackson Gibbs, when he was still a kid.

She had even been at his mother's funeral, standing behind everybody else in a black dress, her gaze downcast and distant, her expression sorrowful but not because of Gibbs' mother.

Rogers moved away from the portraits, continuing over to a wall of empty bookcases. "If you're already working in a secret office," he remarked, grabbing one of the bookcases and shoving it over, gritting his teeth at the exertion as the elevator behind the secret panel was revealed. "Why would you need to hide the elevator?"