The Avenger's Witch

Chapter 18: Camp Lehigh

The fence was intimidating. It rose up above them with giant stop signs on it. The largest sign read CAMP LEHIGH in big white font with a dark faded background. The three of them got out of the truck. Tasha was holding up a device to keep an eye on the signal. "This is it?" Steve said. He had his shield ready on his arm, just in case.

The device in Tasha's hand went off and she tucked it into her pocket. "The file came from these coordinates."

Steve looked at the sign sadly, "So did I."

Ayda narrowed her eyes at the sign. "I don't like this place. It feels off." Both of her mates looked at her confused. Ayda rolled her eyes. "It's a military training camp, yes?" Steve nodded. "Then why do I sense death here." Steve looked even more confused but Tasha seemed to understand.

"Let's be careful while we look."

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They searched the camp twice, not finding anything. By the end of their second circuit, the sun was setting and Ayda's stomach was growling. She held her arms over it in an attempt to cover the sound. If Steve looking back at her with concern was an indicator, she was unsuccessful.

Tasha had the device out again, trying to find the place where the signal was strongest. Steve walked next to her, with Ayda a little behind and Circe curled on her shoulder.

"This camp is where I was trained," Steve spoke. Both women looked at him.

"Change much?" Tasha asked before looking at her device again. Steve stopped, staring up at the top of a flag pole.

"A little." Steve looked lost in the past for a moment. Ayda came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her head against him and they stood there together for a short time.

"This is a dead end" Tasha finally spoke. Ayda let go of the soldier in front of her. "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw us off." The spy tucked her device back into her pants. Steve turned her way when she spoke. Ayda watched as he looked past her, his eyebrows suddenly creasing.

"What's wrong?" Ayda followed his eyes and saw a low concrete building with flat ramp-like sides. It was as dirty as everything else and almost blended in. Steve started walking toward it, hand tight on his shield. The two women looked at each other before following close.

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." They reached a solid metal door with rust all over it. An old lock also, covered in rust, was all that stood in their way.  As Steve lifted his shield to break the lock, Ayda put a hand on his arm.

"Let me." She held a hand over the lock. After a second, purple mist came out of her hand and touched the lock. It turned red then white as it melted away. The door creaked open loudly, revealing a dark opening with metal stairs leading down to an even darker, unseen area. "Totally not creepy."

With Steve in the lead, they walked one after the other down the narrow stairs. At the bottom, Ayda could just make out rows of desks before Tasha flipped a switch. With the lights on, the size of the room becomes obvious. Rows and rows of desks and on the back wall, the SHIELD emblem. 

"This is SHIELD," Tasha realizes. Her eyes look around in awe of the history. Ayda shivered. The place felt cold. Unnaturally cold. She wrapped her arms around herself in comfort.

Steve looks around with disappointment. "Maybe where it started." He remarked. He wanders to one side and finds a closed door. Opening it, the women follow him through. This room had square shelves like those in an old mail room. Just like the other room, everything was covered in dust. Directly across from the door, was a row of pictures. Two men and a woman.

Tasha nodded to the picture in the middle, "That's Tony's father."

"Howard," Steve said.

He looked down as Tasha spoke again. "Who's the girl?"

Ayda spoke this time, surprisingly. "Peggy Carter. One of the women in the Special Operations Executive and also a founder of SHIELD." Both of her soulmates turned to look at her. "What? She's a badass female who helped create the very organization I was hiding from, it was research."

Steve cracked a smile before walking away. Circe nuzzled my neck. Why not tell him the truth? I thought you weren't gonna keep secrets anymore?  Ayda looks away from the sorceress and doesn't respond. Ayda stares at the picture in thought.

Further down, Steve stops at one of the shelves. Listening closely, he steps away and turns to Tasha. "If you're already working in a secret office," He pulled on the shelf, it slid to the side with a creaking groan. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

Ayda walked over to the sound and whistled. "It just keeps getting weirder." Circe nodded in agreement. She watched as Tasha held up her little device to a keypad next to the door. The marks from previous uses lit up and within a minute, they had the password, opening the door with a ding.

Ayda watched as Steve and Tasha got on and looked at her. "Are you coming?" Steve asked.

Ayda winced, "Follow you down the secret elevator to a secret room inside a secret office? Totally not the opening to a horror movie." She stepped forward and stood next to her soulmates. She had to fix her mistakes and protect them.

"I hate this plan," Ayda muttered as the doors closed.

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WOOHOO!! That took way too long. I'm so sorry. I know so many people have been waiting for this. Next chapter is sadly also probably going to take a while. I didn't realize Winter Soldier was so long. I do have some good news though. Circe's gonna have a soulmate. Within the next few chapters, i'm going to explain her whole back story and give you a glimpse of who it is. 

Feel free to guess!!

In case I don't see you, Good Morning, Good Evening, and Good Night!