UNKNOWN GUEST

#85 Something For Herself

A hand flew to her mouth as the realization struck her like a blow. The shock rippled through her body, and I could see it in her eyes—the truth finally hitting home. I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I had to say next.

"You knew about it," I said, my voice low but firm, "so try correcting me. You and Cap had time. You had years to confess everything. But you didn't. Now, this truth... it's going to ruin everything."

She shook her head slowly, still trapped in the shock, her hand trembling slightly over her lips. "I should have told Tony about it. We should have told him."

I nodded, the weight of her words hanging heavy between us. "That's right. You should've."

They should have told Mr. Stark a long time ago. If they had, maybe things wouldn't have spiraled this far out of control. The damage wouldn't have been so catastrophic. Mom and Dad knew—knew that the Winter Soldier had assassinated Howard Stark and his wife on that cold December 16th night in 1991. Uncle Tony's parents. And instead of revealing the truth, they buried it deep, hidden in the shadows, because in the end, Dad chose to protect Uncle Bucky over telling Tony.

This truth... this one truth, it would be the stone that sank the ship, that shattered everything into pieces. And now, that moment had come.

Guilt was etched across her face, so deeply it looked like it was suffocating her. She was barely holding back the tears. I could see her fighting them, her lips quivering, her hands curling into fists by her side, clenching onto the last threads of composure.

She finally looked at me, her voice raw and broken, "What should I do, Jason? Maybe for the first time in my life, I'm feeling clueless and lost. I don't know what to do."

I swallowed, feeling the heavy burden she carried. She wasn't supposed to feel lost. She was supposed to be the one who knew the answers. But here we were. And this wasn't something I could fix either.

I nodded, the answer painfully obvious. "First, you need to leave. Ross' men will be here soon."

She nodded back, her gaze far away, still reeling from the truth. "Tony already warned me."

Her fingers pressed tightly against the bridge of her nose, a familiar gesture of someone weighed down by impossible choices. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was tinged with exhaustion and guilt. "But... how can I leave everything behind? Clint, Wanda, Sam... they're in the Raft."

I sighed, the heaviness of her words settling in the room like a storm cloud. Slowly, I knelt down in front of her, positioning myself so that our eyes could meet directly, forcing her to see me and what I was about to say.

"Ma'am, in your entire life, have you ever done something just for yourself? Willingly?" My question hung in the air, daring her to answer.

Her lips parted slightly, as if to respond, but no words came. Silence. A silence so thick, it could break hearts. The weight of her life's choices seemed to press down on her, yet she couldn't bring herself to speak.

I held her gaze, my voice soft but insistent. "All you've ever done is obey orders. From everyone. Everyone you've worked for—they used you. They took advantage of your skills, your loyalty. In the Red Room, they told you that you were fighting for peace, but all they did was cause chaos and disaster, through you."

Her eyes fluttered shut, and I saw her shoulders tense as if bracing against the truth. But I couldn't stop. She had to hear it, the pain she carried, even if it was unbearable.

"And when you left that place and came to SHIELD," I continued, my voice steady despite the tremor in my hands, "you were searching for a new light in the middle of that hollow darkness. But there was Fury. He used you too."