Raven||Natasha Romanoff

28: Camp Lehigh

ALE SLASHED WATER over face, washing away the tears, and stared at herself in the mirror. Nat was still out in town, and Val had gone to the gym at the Triskelion to let off some steam as well as to get some training in, which left Ale alone at the apartment she shared with the two girls.

Her phone started ringing. She picked it up, and saw it was Natasha. She answered it, and before she could say anything, Nat spoke in Russian, "Vstretimsya v etom meste."(Meet me at this location.)

She hung up, and then Ale got a text. It was coordinates for an army base in New Jersey. Ale furrowed her eyebrows, and thought, Why does Nat want me to go to New Jersey?

𓄿ⴵ𓄿

Ale pulled up behind a blue truck that Nat and Steve had just gotten out of, which was parked outside the army base that Nat had told her to come to. On the drive there, Nat had filled her in that she and Steve had used the drive to figure out where the drive had come from, and it had led them here. They were trying to figure out why the Winter Soldier had killed Fury. She also explained that she and Steve were now also on the run from SHIELD, even though they had no clue what they had done.

When Steve and Nat noticed Ale's car, Steve pulled the redhead behind his shield and she raised my gun. Ale got out of the car, causing  the two to relax, and Steve to ask, "What are you doing here?"

"Doing what Nat told me to," Ale shrugged.

"You called her?" he turned to the redhead.

"I didn't know what would be here, so yes, I called her," Nat shrugged.

"Did you make sure no one overheard you?"

"I didn't even say where we were going," Nat rolled her eyes. "Besides, if anyone did hear me, they would have to speak Russian to understand me."

"If you didn't tell her where we were going, how did she know where to find us?"

"My girlfriend sent me the location you were going to, and I deleted the text as soon as I saw it," Ale gave him a look.

"Wait, you two are-are girlfriends?" Steve asked. "Like dating?"

Nat walked over, and wrapped an arm around Ale waist, "Got a problem with that, Cap?"

Steve shook his head quickly, "No, no. It's fine. I was just...surprised."

"Didn't know a lot of gays in the forties?" Ale guessed.

Steve looked down blushing a little.

Ale chuckled, "I'm only teasing, Rogers. Now let's get inside."

The three of them climbed over the fence and jumped inside. Nat and Ale trying to find anything that would tell them where the signal had come from, but so far hadn't found anything.

"This camp is where I was trained," Steve spoke up.

"Changed much?" Nat asked.

"A little," he replied, his gaze landing on a building, looking as if he were reliving a memory.

"This is a dead end," Ale said. "Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off."

Steve narrowed his eyes at the building in front of the group and started walking toward. It seemed normal to Ale and Natasha, but it must have not been to him.

"What is it?" Nat asked.

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks," he explained. "This building is in the wrong place."

He broke the lock with his shield and they walked inside. Once they turned on the lights, Ale's eyes landed on a familiar symbol.

"This is SHIELD," Nat realized.

"Maybe where it started," Ale added.

The three of them walked into a room with three photos in it. There was one of Tony's father, another older looking man, and a very pretty woman. Ale recognized all of them as the founders of SHIELD.

"There's Stark's father," Nat pointed out.

"Howard," Steve nodded.

Ale noticed him looking at the girl and asked, "Whose the girl?"

Steve didn't answer, but walked over to the bookshelf, obviously noticing something.

"What is it?" Ale asked.

"If you're already working in a secret office..." Steve pulled the bookcases open to show the elevator. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

Nat scanned the key pad with her phone and typed in what code it gave her, which opened the elevator. The three of them got inside and Ale couldn't help but feeling like going down there was a bad idea.