Three's A Crowd

3AC Notes Draft | Tumblr Standalone: The L.U.R.E. Files (1)

The L.U.R.E Files MASTERLIST
Summary: I (y/n) Celastiel's life has been planned and pinpointed the second she decided to put her life on the line for the future of Peggy Carter's legacy: SHIELD. [Branch Reality of the "Three's A Crowd" AU, can be read as a stand-alone]

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'The Luck Rebirth Experiment. The L.U.R.E Files.' you roll your eyes, more in amusement than annoyance. If you had found these files a few years earlier, you know you'd be hunting Howard's ass down. Maybe sooner, you'd have also learned he was murdered by a past lover. 'Leave it to Howard Stark to name my file.' you thought with a small smile settled over your features as you stared at the file for a second longer, thumbing the fading print of letters on the front cover.

"You know, you can't read what's inside that folder by touching the print like it's Braille." Sam's voice echoes from the safehouse's kitchen. Your hands fall limp into your lap as you roll your head to the side to catch a glimpse of the ex-pararescue, his back to you as he stirred himself a fresh cup of coffee from the counter.

"Then it's a good thing that I don't have to do any of that reading."

"Really now?" he finally turns around, an eyebrow raised up as he kept a steady grip on two steaming cups of coffee. Sam walks over and sets them on the coffee table before proceeding to take a seat on the chair adjacent to the one you have lazily sprawled yourself over. Sam leans over his knees, head tilted to the side. "Cause I don't recall seeing you go past that front cover."

"The file has about three to five pages in it. They're just stupid little notes on how to control me, what I am." you toss the folder towards him, exchanging it for the warm coffee cup. "Nothing on who I am... was." you corrected yourself, a barely-there quiver in your brow.
You let out an exhausted sigh. "This file is just not worth the read."

Sam gives you a look, one that held some form of pity, one that sought permission to open such a delicate, personal piece of information that SHIELD didn't even have for reasons beyond what you know. If you played with your speech better, you knew you could hide your true intentions. But even if you did, you knew you could trust Sam, however, it would be better to keep some things to yourself, at least for the meanwhile. Your face relaxed, seeming less tense and calculating than earlier. "Be my guest."

Sam studies you for a second longer before flipping over the front cover. Loose papers ripped from an old notebook slide down to his lap, bond papers with typewritten text inked over it, some in German and more in Russian, the edges stained yellow and brown with age.

The few pictures inside were taken from the later 40's, most of them candid images of you with Agent Carter on a morning stroll or in a medical lab with Howard Stark. There was a newspaper clipping that had your face encircled in bright red marker, among the nurses who had assisted in the super-soldier experiment that had caught Sam's attention, along with a circular-cut picture of you at the base. The pictures seemed sentimental enough to be in HYDRA's possession.

"You should've burnt these papers a long time ago,"
Sam mutters under his breath, loud enough for you to hear it but quiet enough to consider it as something he didn't want you to hear. His eyes flicker back to you.
"(y/n), if anyone gets a hand on these files--"

"Even if they did, you know it wouldn't work," you interrupted, eyes burning with tears and a ring of (f/c).
Sam gave you a pitiful look, coffee brown eyes gone soft. You mutter a meek apology, shaking your head at your sudden outburst. "No one's... worthy enough to have that kind of power... not anymore."

Sam lets out a deep sigh, closes the folder shut, and leans back into the chair. "(y/n), I know how much Steve means to you."

"Then you also know that only someone I love enough can have that power over me," Sam poked his tongue out to wet his lips, the previous look plastered on his face as silence takes over the room. "I'm going to be fine, Sam."