Secrets | Steve Rogers

2

After the successful mission, Lauren stands in front of Fury's desk. He dismisses her and she leaves.

She heads down to the lower level to find out her best friend's location. Unfortunately, the agent isn't allowed to tell her.

Lauren squints her eyes, unsure of why that is. She and Natasha are both level 8.

She peers into the agent's thoughts, poking around for something useful.

Langley.

Lauren keeps a straight face, and then walks away. She's able to go home for the day. She gets into her car and drives home.

Meanwhile, Steve walks into Fury's office.

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?"

"I didn't lie. Agent Stone had a different mission than yours."

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share."

"I'm not obliged to do anything."

"Those hostages could have died, Nick."

"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen."

"Soldier's trust each other. That's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns."

"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye. Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Stone is comfortable with everything."

"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own."

"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."

"Except you."

"You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that."

Fury leads Steve into the elevator, trying to prove that he's nice like that.

"Insight bay."

"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight."

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J."

"Confirmed."

The two sit in silence for a bit, both standing on opposite sides of the elevator.

"You know, they used to play music," Steve says.

"Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for 40 years. Grandad worked in a nice building. Got good tips. He'd walk home every night, roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say Hi. People would say Hi back. Time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say Hi. They'd say Keep on steppin. Grandad got to griping that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Did he ever get mugged?"

"Every week some punk would say What's in the bag?"

"What would he do?"

"He'd show them. Bunch of crumpled ones, and a loaded .22 Magnum. Yeah, Grandad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."

As Fury pauses, the elevator goes down to the lowest level to reveal three fully operable helicarriers.

"Yeah, I know. They're a little big bigger than a .22. This is Project Insight. Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites."

"Launched from the Lemurian Star."

"Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down. Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines."

"Stark?"

"He had a few suggestions once he got an up-close look at our old turbines. These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We're gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime."

"We can't afford to wait that long."

"Who's we?"

"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once, we're way ahead of the curve."

"By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection."

"You know, I read those S.S.R. files. Greatest Generation? You guys did some nasty stuff."

"Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so that people could be free. This isn't freedom. This is fear."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

"Don't hold your breath."

Steve walks back on the elevator, changes his clothes, gets on his bike and pays a special someone a visit.

"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy."

Peggy looks at the table next to her, all full of pictures from her life.

"I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours. Steve... you... you have that look on yours. What it is?"

" For as long as I could remember, I always wanted to do the right thing. I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders. Serve. It's just not the same."

"You're always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather.. mucked it up."

"You didn't. Knowing that you helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. is part of the reason I stay."

"Hey. The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do, is our best. And sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."

Peggy starts coughing, so Steve gets up and pours her a glass of water. He sits back down and hands it to her. She looks up at him as if it's for the first time.

" Steve," She whispers.

"Yeah?"

"You're alive. You came back".

"Yeah, Peggy."

"It's been so long. So long."

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance."

" Oh, Steve... we both know that's not true. There's someone else in your life."

" She's just a friend."

And of course, Peggy doesn't believe in.

" You can't lie to me, dear."

" If I'm going to do something... I'm going to do it right this time."