Returning to the Field
Washington, D.C., United States
April 2011
His fists were raw and aching.
Gunfire rattled. Men fell around him. Bullets pinging off the shield.
Burning lungs, racing heart.
“I’ve got to put her in the water!”
Sore feet, gritted teeth.
An impact that seemed to shake the world down.
His knuckles slammed through the punching bag. Sand exploded across the dimly-lit gymnasium, and the chain snapped, landing it on the floor.
Steve Rogers sighed, counted to ten and focused on the physical world and sensations, the way the oh-so-brilliant twenty-first century therapists had told him. It took a few seconds, but once he had himself under a tenuous control, he reached for the next punching bag in a pile of them.
“Can’t sleep?”
In a millisecond, he processed the familiar voice and controlled his body’s natural screaming attack now danger danger reflex, the souvenir of having lived in a war zone, and turned it into a simple turn. “Sir,” he said, his army training eliciting the respectful greeting. “Not well, no. Too many memories.”
“Steve-”
“We need you.”
Steve resisted the urge to drop his shoulders. A mission would be excellent. He’d be able to get back to what he was good at, fighting to protect freedom and justice, and he could do some independent evaluation of this organization. He trusted Fury and what he’d seen so far of SHIELD, as much as he trusted anyone.
“Finally going to tell me what’s going on?” he said, unable to hide the bitterness.
Fury blinked. Score one for me. “What makes you think there’s something going on?”
“I'm not a dunce,” Steve said coldly, beginning to unwrap the cotton from his knuckles. “You thawed me out in four days, but I know how much debate there was in SHIELD about whether to wake me up at all. If it was worth the risk of me coming back unstable, damaged, or wanting revenge. Something made you decide the risk was worth it.”
The director’s face was unrepentant. “We had no way of knowing what your reaction would be. Captain America is a formidable enemy.”
Steve resisted the urge to say that’s not who I am anymore. He was unsure about a lot of things in this strange modern world he’d woken up to, but he knew one thing for sure: the shield and the man remained, but Captain America was gone.
He’d be Steve Rogers now, or no one at all.
If only he knew who that was.
“I understand, sir.”
“Here.” Fury pulled a folder from inside his jacket and handed it over.
Steve dropped the last of his wraps into his bag, zipped it up, and took the folder. Inside were papers, detailing scientific readings and theories he didn’t understand, but he didn’t have to. He stared at the picture on top of the stack.
“Howard Stark fished it out of the Atlantic looking for you,” Fury said. Steve could feel how closely the other man was watching him, that one dark eye burning into his blond hair. “We’ve been studying it. There’s enough energy in that thing to power the entire world. Unlimited energy, if only we could tap it. But there’s been a situation.”
“Let me guess,” Steve sighed. “Someone took it, or tried to.”
“Got it in one.” Fury’s expression, when Steve looked up, was as lined as if he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. Steve felt an odd moment of kinship with this man, this soldier, fighting for the same dream Steve still clutched close in his heart. Freedom. Safety.
The difference was that Fury didn’t care who got in his way.
“It’s gone missing,” Fury continued. “Taken by an unknown foreign entity, surmised to be from Asgard - you remember the briefing on the Puente Antiguo incident?”
“Vividly,” Steve said drily. It was hard to forget the footage of a seemingly invincible metal monster and five armed warriors with brilliant weapons, far stronger than ordinary humans.
Fury’s lips twitched. “Yes, I thought you might. The working theory is that our thief is of Asgard, simply because it’s highly unlikely that there’s another alien race out there that looks more or less identical to humans. SHIELD is mobilizing. The world needs you again, Cap.”
Steve examined his new commanding officer. “But that’s not the reason you woke me up, is it?”
Fury raised his eyebrow.
“This says the Tesseract was stolen two days ago,” Steve said, tapping the folder and fighting the images that swam in his head. He was already on edge from his flashback of a few minutes ago, and it was all too easy to remember the sinister blue light that permeated the ship and lit his battle with the Red Skull in that cruel glow. “You had me pulled out of that coma six weeks ago. What else is going on?”
Steve wasn’t the best at reading people’s faces, but he was no amateur, either, and he definitely picked up on a trace of irritation before Fury tucked it away. “Soldier-”
“Don’t give me that,” Steve interrupted.
Fury glowered. “Fine. If you must know, there was a… situation with another of our agents. The Black Widow.”
Steve thought back; his memory was nearly perfect, but what came to mind made him frown. “That file was almost empty.”
“That’s because she’s one of our most clandestine operatives. Not to mention her past isn’t something she’s particularly inclined to share,” Fury said. “All information we have on the Widow is kept strictly confidential. Meaning no one sees it but me, Coulson, and Hill.”
“Sir, such compartmentalization will limit my effectiveness,” Steve said, trying to stay calm. He hated when COs withheld information, tried to sideline him and box him in. He was a super soldier, for crying out loud.
“Which is exactly why I’m about to fill you in,” Fury snapped.
Steve glanced around.
Fury waved a hand. “Don’t worry, this place is clean. I had it swept weeks ago and it’s under constant surveillance. Don’t give me that look. Of course I’m keeping tabs on the gym one of our most valuable agents uses.”
“I’m flattered. Tell me about the Widow.” Her name had been blacked out of the forms.
“A woman by the name of Natasha Romanoff,” Fury said. Steve noticed that the man’s voice dropped several levels despite his surety that there were no listening ears. “She was born in 1921, as best we can tell, and went into a Russian experimental espionage program known only as the Red Room. She was their best student, their prize and greatest accomplishment, and a massive pain in the ass for SHIELD for decades.
“Sometime in the nineties, she defected and played contract killer for a few years. Then in 2001, she had a run-in with Agent Barton. Hawkeye.” Steve remembered that file, too; he’d been impressed, and still wanted to meet the man. “He’d been sent to kill her, and made a different call.”
Steve definitely wanted to meet this man. There weren’t many soldiers - call them Agents, that’s what these people really were - who’d have the guts and confidence to defy orders in such a major way.
“She came in with him, and we spent two years picking apart the psychological triggers and brainwashing of the KGB. She’s been one of my best agents for almost a decade now, and as such, she gets a little latitude in between assignments. She went off the grid two months ago. We lost her about a week in, and since then, it’s like trying to track a ghost. I got worried. And here we are.”
Fury made it seem like he’d given a lot of confidential details, but Steve noticed several gaping holes in the story. He ignored them, saying only, “Are you pulling together the Avengers Initiative over one woman?”
“One woman? No,” Fury said. “In fact, she was originally considered for the team. That may or may not be an option. Depends on her story when she resurfaces.” Something in the man’s scowl made Steve decide to shore up the drop package he’d hidden in case he ever had to run. Fury obviously had no qualms eliminating agents who had become liabilities. It was equal parts impressive and chilling. “But given the theft of the Tesseract, yes. Barton is pulling in Dr. Banner as we speak, and Coulson is speaking to Stark.”
Steve grimaced. He did not like what he knew of the billionaire.
“I know, he’s not your type,” Fury said. “I expect you to suck it up and work with him. He brings unique resources and abilities to the team, and trust me, he’s been carefully vetted. Might not seem like it, but he’ll do what it takes to protect this world.”
“Hmmm,” Steve said noncommitally, and slung his bag over his shoulder. “I’ll be at headquarters in the morning, sir.”
“Is there anything useful you can tell us about the Tesseract?” Fury called as Steve walked for the exit.
The blond man didn’t pause or look back as he spoke in a hard voice. “You should’ve left it in the ocean.”
Fury didn’t reply, and Steve kept right on walking.