Mister Rogers ⍟ || Steve Rogers

6

"Addy..." Steve sang my name quietly, waking me.

I tiredly ran my hand through my hair, squeezing my eyes before opening them fully. I looked around, checking our surroundings to see a tall fence ahead.

"Morning," he chuckled, unbuckling his seat belt, "We're here."

I opened the car door and stepped outside; surrounding us were acres of empty grassland. I stepped towards the fence, "Looks creepy," I pointed.

"This is it," Steve said.

Steve began to climb up the fence, holding his shield in his arm. I ascended over the fence and landed softly on the other side. Steve hopped down after climbing over, landing on his feet.

We walked forward slowly, surveying the area. Steve was unusually quiet. I turned to him, "Cap?"

"This camp is where I was trained," he said in a quiet voice.

Judging from Steve's body language, he seemed more distant, reliving memories from his past. I gave him space, quietly walking away and exploring the area further.

Suddenly, Steve began walking away quickly. I followed. "What is it?"

"Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place," he stated plainly.

As we approached the building, Steve struck the lock with his shield, hard. It crumbled immediately, letting us into the building. I trailed behind Steve as we walked down the steps cautiously.

I summoned light into my palm, illuminating the dark room. I crouched to touch the ground lightly with my fingertips. Energy coursed from my body into the floor, booting the lighting system. I stood, taking in our surroundings, "Is this S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first headquarters?"

"Likely."

Together, we stepped into a room, pushing the door open gently. Immediately, we noticed three black and white framed pictures on the wall: two men and a women.

"Howard Stark," I nodded at the picture in the middle. Studying the picture on the left, I pursed my lips, "Unknown."

I turned my head slightly to the picture on the right, the woman. At the same time, Steve and I said, "Peggy Carter."

Steve looked at me, "How do you--"

"I've done my fair share of research on the history of S.H.I.E.L.D." I replied, my interest suddenly taken by the bookshelves lining the wall.

I noticed a gap between the bookshelves. Steve seemed to also, and began prying. "If you're already working in a secret office," he grunted with a final pull, having created a wide opening between the two shelves, "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

I walked through the opening, seeing a closed elevator and keypad in front of us. Placing my hand on the keypad, I filled it with light energy, allowing the elevator doors to easily open for us.

"Smooth," Steve noted, stepping into the elevator.

"I try," I shrugged.

The elevator door closed and I felt us moving downwards. For an abandoned elevator, it worked surprisingly well.

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened revealing a dark room. We stepped inside and lights began to flicker on as we continued forward, revealing dozens of computer desks lining the room, clunky blocks of computers on top.

I held my hands in front of me and they glowed softly, ready. Slowly, I stepped closer to the dusty computers and observed them.

I tilted my head. "There is no way this could be the data point. This technology is," I touched a screen with two fingers, picking up dust, "ancient."