Lilith-Captain America: The Winter Soldier AU

Chapter Two

Steve and Rachel went into Nick Fury's office. "You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve said. "I didn't lie", Fury replied. "Agent Romanoff 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", Rachel said.

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

"Soldiers 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 Romanoff is comfortable with everything"

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

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

"Except you"

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

He took them to the elevator. "Insight bay", he commanded. "Captain Rogers and Agent Howard do not have clearance for Project Insight", the computer said.

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J"

"Confirmed"

"You know, they used to play music", Steve said after a moment of silence. "Yeah", Fury said. "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, a roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say, "Hi". People would say, "Hi" back. Time went on, the neighbourhood got rougher. He'd say, "Hi". They'd say, "Keep on steppin'". Grandad got to gripping 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"

Rachel and Steve looked out the clear elevator in shock at the storage unit full of very large helicarriers. "Yeah, I know", Fury said. "Little bigger than .22s".

"This Project Insight", Fury explained as they walked through the unit. "Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites". "Launched from the Lemurian Star", Steve added.

"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 neutralise a lot of threats before they even happen"

"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 SSR files. "Greatest Generation"? You guys did some nasty stuff"

"Yeah, we're 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"

"SHIELD 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"

"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honour, bravery and sacrifice", the narrator at the Smithsonian exhibit said as Rachel and Steve walked through, looking at all the Captain America memorabilia. "Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first Super-Soldier". A young boy spotted the two and looked stunned. Steve smiled softly at him and put a finger to his lips. The boy nodded and the two walked off to another part of the exhibit. "Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission: taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division". They walked over to a large sign that told the story of Bucky's life. "Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes, along with Heather Anderson, were the only Howling Commandos to give their lives in service of their country". Rachel sighed with tears in her eyes and Steve opened his compass, looking at the picture of Heather. 

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