Winter's Fire. ~Book Three~

Chapter Nine: Project Insight.

Steve was waiting for her when she got home from getting take out from the local Thai restaurant, and to her surprise, he also had Thai sitting next to him on the coffee table. She silently set her keys down on the table by the door before she closed it and locked it behind her. 
"Where were you?" Steve asked as they finally made eye contact. This was going to be an amazing conversation. 
"I was getting my badge from Fury." Levi said as she set the bag down on the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. "And then I was getting food for us." 
"And you didn't feel like you should tell Red and I that?" 
"Well, I figured that as a grown ass adult, I didn't need to tell you that I was getting my SHIELD badge... especially since you guys knew that it might be happening." She was really hoping that this wouldn't turn into a shouting match, Red didn't need to be woken up this late by the two of them yelling. 
"You could've told me that you and Natasha had a side mission." 
"Actually, I couldn't have told you." Levi said as Steve got to his feet. "Gods, Steve, you're acting like I killed someone." 
"You could have!" He finally yelled. "We needed you. What the Hell was that about?" 
"This was my final test to see if I could be one of you, that's what Fury told me." She explained, trying desperately to get him to stop yelling at her. She hated it when he yelled. "I was only ever supposed to help Nat and tell no one about it. That was my mission." 
"Of course it was Fury!" He ran his fingers through his hair and took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down. "You three just do whatever he tells you, don't you?" 
"Like you don't?!" Levi yelled back. She could feel the prickle of years starting to form in her eyes. She hated that when she got angry, she cried. It was humiliating, and it wanted to make her run and hide, which really didn't help her feel better about the whole crying thing. 
"Levinia, I know-" 
"No, you don't know! I worked for a man who told me hurt people, that man raised me!" As she yelled, she felt her tears roll down her cheeks. "I just wanna be good like you and Red and Natasha and everyone else." 
In an instant, he was back to normal and all anger and tension had left his body, he was back to being Steve again. Without even caring that her electricity was dancing and sparking over her skin, he reached out and wiped her tears away and off of her cheeks, it still amazed her that he didn't care when she was shocking him or when her emotions got so out of control that she accidentally blew the power out on the block and he was able to calm her down. 
"Lev..." He whispered as he pulled her against his chest and caressed her hair. "I know want to be good, and I know you're trying, okay?" He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry." 
Levi couldn't say anything as she leaned against him and closed her eyes. She just silent cried and let him gather to her into his arms and take them over to the couch, where he let her curl up in his lap and whispered to her that everything was going to be find, that she was okay and safe and everything was going to be okay until she fell into a dreamless sleep. 
+++
Standing on the roof with Tony by her side, Red ate burgers that he had brought over after she, Steve and Levi got back from their rescue mission. Not too far away, the Iron Man suit was idly waiting for him to get back in and head home. 
"so, how did the mission go?" Tony asked as he took a wrapper from her and shoved it into the Five Guys bag. 
"It went fine, but apparently Fury gave Levi and Tasha a different mission." Red explained as she leaned against the edge of the roof, bracing herself on her elbows as she looked over the neighborhood. "Steve is still kind of pissed off." She sighed as she turned to face him. "Then she snuck off, and we don't know where." 
Tony chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her and held her against his side. "Do you think they'll ever stop fighting like an old married couple?" 
Red let out a bark of laughter. "I don't know, maybe one day." 
"I bet they're into each other." 
She gave a snort to cover up another, disbelieving laugh. "My best friend and my daughter?" 
Tony smiled as he rubbed her arm. "I'm not saying it wouldn't be weird for you, but it'd make sense." He gave a small smirk. "Where he goes, she follows. When she sparks, he comforts." He shrugged. "It's kinda cute, really." 
Red stayed silent as she thought about it, they were around the same age. Steve was just as a little bit older than Levinia and they did seem rather attached to each other, for lack of a better term. Did they have a thing for each other and she was just to blind to see it?
"I guess it could work." She said finally as she leaned against his side. 
Tony fell silent as he played with her hair and the two of them enjoyed the moment, with him holding her as they watched the DC nightlife pass under them. "This is nice." He finally said as he kissed the top of her head. 
Red smiled as she turned to look up at him. "It really is, I'm glad we were able to do this, I know it isn't what we were going to do, but it's still nice." 
He kept running his fingers through her hair as they spoke. "We can always try again another time." 
"It would be nice if work wasn't getting out of hand, but at least they pay's good." She said as she closed her eyes. 
There was another moment of silence, where the only thing the two of them could hear was the sound of her heart beating and the traffic passing below them as the wind blew around them. And then, Tony spoke up again. "Do you ever think about retiring?" 
Red suddenly felt sad as she lifted her head from his shoulder. "Yeah, I used to, but now... I don't know. Maybe one day." 
"Maybe when all of this is over." 
"Yeah..." Red said softly. "If all of this suddenly stops." 
"That's a massive sized if." 
"We have a job to do, Tony." 
Tony sighed heavily as he cupped her face in both of his hands. It was only then that she realized how big his hands were. She guessed that in all the time she spent fighting for her life, or for others, she had never stopped to think about something like that. 
"Hey, I know." He said, his voice as soft as hers as his thumbs ran over her cheekbones. "I just think about it sometimes. I know it's not going to happen right away-Hell, it might not happen at all." 
"I think about it too, but I'm not ready for that yet..." She offered a small smile. "Not when the world still needs us." 
He pressed a light kiss against her forehead. "Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know." He then kissed her cheeks before he pulled her closer to him. "We'll be in this business for a while." 
Red chuckled as she leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Until such a time as the world can take care of itself, we'll just be here." And hopefully, you'll still be mine, she added silently. 
Tony grinned as he gave her a kiss in return. "As long as we'll always be on the same side." 
Red giggled as she gently pushed him down and against the floor of the roof, moving so she was hovering over him. "It'll take a world changing event to make that happen." 
"Then I guess we'll always be fine." He said with a chuckle as his hands found her waist. 
"Yes, always." Red said as she carefully touched the side of his face and laid down against his chest, her face nuzzling against his neck as she did. "So, what should we do for our next date?" 
"I was thinking that I could take you for a little ride." 
Red couldn't help but give a snort of laugher. "A ride, or a ride?" 
"Oh-ho-ho." Tony said with a grin. "So that's where your mind is this evening?" 
"I mean, I wouldn't be opposed." At least it gave them something to do before she got pulled away by Fury to take care of another thing he didn't want to do herself.
"I know you wouldn't." 
And they spent the rest of the night on the roof, making light conversation or enjoying themselves under the stars.
+++
Steve was walking through the headquarters for the DC division of SHIELD with Red by his side. They were on their way to talk to Fury about their most recent mission-or more accurately, he was there to talk to Fury and she was there to talk him out of it.
"This isn't going to end well, Steve." Red was whispering to him as they walked into the building. "You know this, I know this." 
"I still want to talk to him about Levinia and Natasha's side mission last night." He told her. He didn't understand why she was being so stubborn about this. Fury was the reason behind the mission getting jeopardized, he was also the reason people could've died, the three of them almost did. 
"That's what SHIELD does, they always have side missions for their agents, it's just normal." Red said hurriedly as they continued through the building and toward the elevators. 
"He didn't tell you to do anything else." 
"He didn't need to me to do anything else." 
As they walked through the computer room, Steve noticed that a few of the surrounding agents were turning their heads to watch the two of them go by. Levi would've said that it was because they were legends in the agency... Steve thought it was because they were nosey. 
"Do you think that that will ever stop?" 
Red sighed as they entered the elevator and headed toward Fury's office. "No, I don't think so." 
Steve gave a sigh of his own as they went up to Fury's office. He felt like the two of them spent most of their time in that place, whether it be for a mission or because he had something new he needed to know. 
"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve said the moment they entered the room. 
"I didn't lie, Agent Romanoff and Lokidottir had a different mission than you two did." Fury said as he gave them a bored look from across the desk. 
"Which you didn't feel obligated to share." 
"I'm not obligated to do anything." The Director said as he leaned back in his seat. 
"While I understand why you did it," Red said as she finally broke out of her agent mold for a moment. "As your friend, I would've appreciated being told that my daughter was going to be on a mission while the rest of us were in the middle of chaos, Nick." 
"Red, you didn't need to know." Fury said, "if I thought you did, I would have told you myself." 
Steve expected her to bite back, to give a witty come back and snide comment, but when she stayed silent with her arms crossed over her chest, it only made him even more angry. 
"Those hostages could've died, Nick." Steve said after a moment's pause. 
"I don't know about that." Red said from behind him. "But it was a small possibility." 
Fury gave them a measured look as he spoke. "I sent out the greatest soldier and agent in history to make sure that didn't happen." 
"Soldiers trust each other. That's what makes them an army, not a bunch of guys, running around, shooting guns." Steve said as he backed up to stand beside Red.
"The only thing that bothers me is that you didn't give me a heads up." She said, finally giving a little bit of bite.  There's the Red he's always known and loved. "When I am the reason you are the director of the organization I helped find." 
Fury glared at them. "The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." Red coughed to hide a snort of laughter, but still, a small giggle slips out before she cleared her throat. He sighed and continued on by saying. "Look, I didn't want you two doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff and Lokidottir are confortable with everything." 
"So, it's true that Levinia became an agent last night?" Red asked, quickly following his words with another question. 
"Yes." 
"I would bloody well hope so." She muttered as she looked down at her feet. 
"Red and I can't lead a mission when the people we're leading have missions of their own." 
"It's called compartmentalization." Fury said, "nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all." 
"Except you." Steve said as Red took a seat in front of the desk. 
She shrugged. "I mean, he's not wrong." 
"And you, Agent North, know them better than I do." Firy said as he pushed away from his desk and got to his feet. "You're wrong about me, Rogers, I do share. I'm nice like that." 
"That's not true, if I knew all of them, I wouldn't be as pissed off as I am right now." Red said as she got to her feet, Steve could almost see her fire dancing in her eyes. 
Fury didn't say anything else as he led them out of the office and into his private elevator. The two of them stood on either side of him with their hands behind their backs. What was he about to show them? Judging by the look on Red's face, he could tell that she already knew-or at least had an idea of-what they were were about to be shown. 
"Insight Bay." Fury told the computer in the elevator.
"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight." 
"Director Override. Fury, Nicholas J." 
Slowly, the elevator started going down as Red moved around so that she could look outside. Steve would have to ask later about what she was thinking about when they were done there. 
"You know," he said, trying to cut the awkward tension in the elevator. "They used to play music." Red gave a small huff of air that Steve knew was a silent chuckle.
"Yeah," Fury said with a small smile. "My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years. He worked in a nice building, he got tips. He'd walk home every night, roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag." He explained, sounding very fond of the person he was talking about. "He'd say hi, people would say hi back." Fury shrugged as he turned to face them. "Time went on, neighborhood got rougher. He'd say 'hi', they'd say 'keep on steppin', granddad got to grippin' that lunch bag a little tighter." 
"Did he ever get mugged?" Steve asked. 
"I'd be surprised if he didn't." Red said as she glanced in his direction. 
"Every week, some punk would say 'What's in the bag?'" He continued to speak as he looked at the two of them. 
"What did he do?" 
"He'd show 'em. Bunch of crumpled ones and a loaded .22 magnum." He gave them a small smile. "Granddad loved people, but he didn't trust them very much." 
As he finished speaking, the elevator doors opened as they arrived at the place Fury had called the Insight Bay. Before them, hidden in a secret bay, were three massive helicarriers, almost identical to the one that they had used when they were hunting down Loki. Steve glanced at Red, who smiled but stayed silent. 
"Yeah, I know. They're a little bigger than a .22." Fury said as he led the way out of the elevator to show them-or more accurately Steve-around. Red hovered above the ground as she followed behind them. "This is Project Insight. There next generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites." 
Steve glanced at Red before he sighed heavily and scratched at his temple. "Launched from the Lemurian Star." 
Red flew forward and landed beside him. "Tasha tried to tell you that they had a reason to be there, you should've believed her." 
Steve almost rolled her eyes at that. "Sorry for not listening, I was a bit upset at the time." 
Fury nodded as he looked at Red, who nodded in return before he turned his gaze back to Steve. "Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down. Continuous suborbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines." 
Steve looked at Red with an eyebrow raised. "Stark?" 
Red nodded again as she shoved her hands into her pockets. "He had been very helpful when we asked for it." 
"He had a few suggestions once he and Red got an up close look at our old turbines." Fury said as he turned around to look up at the new helicarriers, "these new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorists DNA before he steps outside his spider hole." Fury explained as he and Red lead Steve around the bay. 
"I thought the punishment came after the crime." Steve said as he glanced at Red, trying to figure out if she had anything to do with this.
Fury glanced over to her as well. "We can't afford to wait that long." 
Steve kept his eyes on her, he knew all too well that she was involved in the 'we' statement, but still, he said. "Who's we?" 
Fury sighed heavily. "After New York, Red and I convinced the World Security Council that 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." Steve said as he fought off a glare. "And you did all of this while we were searching for Levinia." 
Red doesn't even bother to try and hold back her glare as she sets her hands on her hips. "I am still an agent, Steve, I have to do my job for the world I love." She calmed herself down before she continued to speak. "But after New York and our fight with the Chitauri, I believed that we needed more than just us to keep it safe." 
"Red, you know that if these things get in the wrong hands, it could mean the end." 
"And if we don't have them, that could mean the end, Steve. Either way, we lose." 
"You know," Fury interrupted. "I read those old SSR files. Greatest Generation? You guys did some nasty stuff." 
"It was our job to do what needed to be done, Steve. The world needs this." Red pressed. 
"Red, we used to make compromises. Sometimes, in ways that made us not sleep so well, but we did it so people could be free." He thrusted his arm out to point at the helicarriers. "This isn't freedon, Red. This is fear." 
"I know, but this is the world we live in!" Red yelled back as she looked up at the helicarriers. 
"Red's right, SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. It's getting damn near passed time for you to get with that program." Fury said as he looked between them. 
"Don't hold your breath." Steve said as he gently took hold of Red's arm and started to lead her away. "We're going home." 
Red didn't put up a fight as they left the building and got onto his motorbike before they headed toward a small diner that they liked. 
+++
Red sat across from Steve as they ate lunch at a small diner that they had grown rather fond of over the last couple of years. She slowly ate a plate of fries as she started to talk to him.
"Steve," she said after she had chewed and swallowed. "I know it's not-" 
"Safe, Red. It's not safe." 
"... Ethical was the word I was looking for. I know that something has the chance to go wrong, but SHIELD is a very secure agency. It won't go wrong." 
"In our line of work, everything that could go wrong, will go wrong." Steve said as he put a bit of ketchup on his plate. 
Red sighed heavily as she looked down at her food. She could force herself to be an agent first all she wanted, but she can't lie and say that she's never been one to put her friends and family first. "And what should I do about it? Shut it down? You know I can't do that easily." 
"But it's not impossible." 
"I will see what I can do about it, but it might be too late. Our launch of the helicarriers is at the end of the week." 
After they had finished eating, Steve took them to the Smithsonian, she put her hair up and into a ponytail before putting her hood up to hide it. Once they had paid for their tickets, they made a b-line for the exhibit they made about Steve and the people who had fought by his side in World War II.

"A symbol to the nation, a hero to the world. the story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice. Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that transformed him into the world's fist Super-Soldier." 

As they looked at the first part of the exhibit, a boy-no more than nine-spotted them. He almost seemed to be in awe as he looked between the two of them. Steve pressed a finger to his lips, silently telling him not to tell anyone that they'd seen them. Red flashed him a grin and dropped a wink before he nodded and went back to his family. After a moment, they went and watched old footage of themselves, it was always odd to watch themselves. 

"This is rare footage of everyone's favorite warrior, Captain America." 

The narrator said as they silently walked to the display that showed them and their old team, their manikins in front of the picture, still wearing their old uniforms with Red's standing between Steve and Bucky's. 

"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their tripes, their mission? Taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division." 

As they walked into the next room, Red smiled as she saw a picture of herself, Bucky and Steve together. He was always the best thing she saw every morning, and he still was. 

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Red North quickly joined them and the three became an inseparable trio years before the three joined the army to help win the war. While North was the first known woman to join the army, Barnes, however, is the only Howling Commando to give his life in the service of his country. He left behind the love of his life, and fiancé, Red North, who is believed to not have taken another partner." 

Until literally two weeks go when she and Tony made it official, but she was supposed to be dead, or believed to be until the Battle of New York. 
"Do you think he's happy? Up there with everyone else?" Red asked as she reached up to touch his dog tags, she's never taken them off in the nearly seventy years since he'd been gone. 
Steve smiled as he reached over to rub her shoulder. "Yeah, they're all drinking and singing old bar songs." 
"Yeah." Red said with a smile as she reached up to wipe away a tear before it could fall. "I hope so." 
They turned around to watch an interview with Peggy Carter. Red shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she looked up and watched Steve watch the screen. She remembered how hard she, Peggy and Howard had worked to make sure that SHIELD got up and running when Steve went under. So that they could try and prevent it from happening again. 

"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half out battalion behind the German line, Steve-Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned out allies down for months, he saved over a thousand men, including the man who would-" Peggy paused as her voice cracked and she fiddled with the ring around her fingers. "Who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was changing my life." 

Finally, they turned around to watch the interview Red had been in. It was three days after Steve had gone under, two weeks after Bucky had died. Her face was puffy, and even with all the makeup she was wearing, anyone could tell that she was sleep deprived and had been crying nonstop. 

"Steve... God, Steve is-was, a brave man and not only that, a great friend. I know you guys want me to talk about his fight for America, but to me, and I know that James would have agreed, the most memorable moments for me were the ones where he could have done anything for his friends and family. He would've thrown himself in front of a moving train if it came down to it." She gave a sad smile. "I just hope we can carry on his legacy of always doing what need to be done, even if it's not by following the orders you were given." 

Red sighed inwardly. Of course, nearly seventy years later, she'd make a hypocrite of herself, that just had to happen, didn't it? Her orders were to make sure that Project Insight went about uninterrupted, but her loyalty was with her friends. Agent North wanted to do what SHIELD needed her to do, but Red North... well, she wanted to make sure that Steve's concerns were addressed and taken care of.
Red glanced at Steve as he took a compass out of his pocket and looked down at the picture of Peggy that he kept in it. She smiled as she gently dumped his arm with her shoulder. "You should see her. I can find a ride home." 
"Are you sure?" 
"Yes, go. I'll get Tony to pick me up and take me to dinner." 
They quickly exchanged a hug before he left the Smithsonian. Red stood there for a long moment, looking at her younger self as she fiddled with the dog tags, she thought of the life she could've had back then, of the kids she and Bucky would've had... she would've been dead by now if she was bale to give up her Asgardianship for him. 
As she left the museum, she took her phone out and texted Tony to come and pick her up. She needed to find a way to shut down Project Insight.