The Final Initiative

43.

She landed clumsily on her feet and stumbled to the side, coming to fall disorderedly on the soft dirt. Going through the quantum realm is something that she'll never be able to get use to, even after the amount of times that she's traveled inside of it. She shook her head to clear her fuzzy mind, then looked up to see her dad reaching down to help her back up "dizzy?" he asked humorously as she took his awaiting hand gratefully.

"Never better" she replied, wiping the dust and blades of grass from her pants "but now my hand hurts like hell" she pouted, noticing the tiniest abrasion on her palm just above her time device.

      "Shh" Tony placed his pointer finger to her lips, darting his brown eyes to Steve who had just arrived as well "Cap's here, and he doesn't like that word"

"Are you serious, right now?" The Captain muttered as his suit retracted.

      "Ohh yeah" Jessi remembered, shaking her finger at him and smirking "I almost forgot about that, language!" she mimicked and laughed out loud, holding her stomach.

"Alright, we have a stone to find" Steve reminded the pair, wanting for this banter to end.

      "Right, so... where are we?" Jessi asked her dad, taking a look around at the open, green field that surrounded them. Tall oak trees dotted the lush landscape, with a forest bordering them on the left side. Jessi placed her hands above her eyes to block out the glowing sun rays "and... when are we, dad?" she added as a gust of wind blew through the tall blades of grass. It all seemed rather normal to her here. On the opposite end of the field, she could make out a high, silver barricade fence through the trees. The sound of faint voices and motored cars could be heard through the wind.

"1970, New Jersey" Tony replied "Just outside of Camp Lehigh Army Base"

      "Camp Lehigh?" her mouth fell open in surprise, having had only heard of that famous military base camp in history textbooks and on boring History Channel documentaries "This is where you trained, Steve, and knocked down that pole to get the flag!" she told Steve, noticing that he was giving her an untypical eyebrow raise "It was... in a book" she shrugged "It was in several books, actually"

Steve chuckled "how many books did you read about me when you were a kid, Jes?"

      "Quite a few, and I have your Wikipedia page memorized" she cracked her fingers as she spoke, tilting her head back to see him. Steve gave an impressed smile. Tony rolled his eyes for what seemed to be the hundredth time today "But do you want to know what's really crazy? I have a Wikipedia page too! It's kinda scary how accurate they are with that stuff. Do they have Wikipedia pages in the seventies?"

      "They don't even have internet" Tony crossed his arms, but then he remembered what they're actually here in 1970's New Jersey for "Never mind that" he threw his arms up "we need to get going. Follow me"

"Where're we going?" Steve asked.

"To find some clothes"

***

      Steve knew the insides and outs of the Army base. He led Tony and Jessi right up to the outskirts of the fence where it was least guarded. They stood at the fence in the shadow of a large, concrete supply storage building. Beyond the building was the yelling of drill sergeants and the sounds of the exhaust from military vehicles. Jessi placed her hands on the fence, not being able to see much from this position "so, now all we need to do is find some clothes. Because, you-" she cut her gaze to Steve and his Captain America attire "-stand out a bit, and also I don't know how many people on this base wear Gucci shoes" she referenced to her sneakers.