13. HARBORING

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HARBORING

     "I AM NOT A RECORDING, Fräulein

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     "I AM NOT A RECORDING, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am . . ." Said the computer as another screen shows an old photograph of Dr. Arnim Zola.

     Steve and Natasha arrived at an abandoned military base which was revealed to be where S.H.I.E.L.D. had started.

"Do you know this thing?" Natasha asked Steve.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years."

"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain." He replied.

"How did you get here?" Questioned Steve.

"Invited."

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited German scientists with strategic value." Natasha explained to Steve.

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own." Said Zola.

"HYDRA died with the Red Skull."

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

"Prove it."

     "There is no need to go back decades for proof. There is an Avenger who is the offspring of two dedicated HYDRA scientists." He stated. Both Steve and Natasha looked at one another, the trust between them noticeably fading slowly.

     "Accessing archive." The computer screen then showed an old footage of Johann Schmidt, who was also known as the Red Skull, and HYDRA.

"HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly.

"After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." He finished.

"That's impossible, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have stopped you." Said Natasha.

"Accidents will happen." The screen changed to show them HYDRA had killed Howard and Maria Stark and made it look like a tragic car accident along with the recent death of Nick Fury.

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