Deception || Steve Rogers Daughter

Chapter Seven

Clint parks the car between two other vans that looked similar to the one that they were inside. Both Sam and Clint climb out of the car at the same time and start towards the entrance where other agents were waiting. Emma doesn't move and neither does Bucky, he didn't want to leave her alone at this moment. 

"Emma?" He whispers. "If you need me to go, I can give you a moment." 

"No." She replies while staring down at her hands. "I don't need a minute, I'm ready." 

"Are you sure?" Bucky demands.

"I'm sure." She nods and pushes herself to her feet, despite still being in the van. Bucky jumps up and quickly opens the door, he climbs out and offers his hand to help her down. Emma doesn't take it and jumps down next to him with a small sigh. 

Why was he acting this way now? Was it to make up for the years that they had worked together? Emma didn't need him to do this, it would only make things more awkward. She didn't want him to stop completely but maybe if he'd just reel it in a little, that'd make her feel better. The two start to walk towards the agents that were waiting with Sam and Clint in front of them. The conversation stops when they get close, which makes Emma scoff her shoe against the ground once again. 

"Emma, it's nice to meet you." A man smiles while extending his hand for her to shake. "I'm Phil Coulson, these three agents need to go through debriefing. So you'll be with me for a little while, if that's okay." 

"Y..." Emma clears her throat. "Yeah, that'll be okay." 

"Great, come with me." He gestures to the doors behind him. "I'll get you through the tracker system, enter you into our system, and introduce you to our director...maybe a few other agents along the way." 

"Sounds good." Emma nods before she starts to follow him back into the base, without looking back at the other agents. Especially Bucky. 

Coulson leads her down the different halls, passing by different agents that all seemed to be doing their own thing. They either had their noses deep in books, files, or iPads. Some look up and wave to Coulson or stare at Emma out of curiosity. 

After a few hours, Emma had gone through almost every test that SHIELD could throw at her. Blood tests, eye tests, and everything in between. Emma had a small, daunting feeling that SHIELD knew more about her than she did about herself, even after all the work she had done before leaving last time. Now, she sat in Coulson's office with a small thing of yogurt and granola in front of her, courtesy of Phil himself. 

"Emma." Coulson smiles while walking into the room with a man dressed in all leather behind him. He had an eye patch over his left eye and a few scars protruding from underneath it. "This is Director Fury-"

"It's nice to see you again, Emma." He interrupts with a small, sly smile. "Who knew Barnes could get you to come back." 

"I didn't want to but after figuring out April was...." Emma trails off and shakes her head, she didn't need to relive that now. Emma stands and gives Fury a quick hug, despite the surprise thrown at her from Coulson.

"Y-you two know each other?" He stutters in confusion.

"Yes, Emma and I were quite close when I first found her." Fury admits. "Then she became a teenager and all hell broke loose." 

"I wouldn't say that," Emma mumbles. "I just...wanted to see the world." 

"Yeah, you did plenty of seeing alright." Fury rolls his eye. "We couldn't track you after month one. Did that April have something to do with it?"

"That was actually me." Emma sheepishly admits. "I was mad at you, for no reason, I wanted to do things on my own and prove that to you. I guess I messed that up, huh?"

"You weren't captured or tortured." Fury states, hesitating a second as if anticipating that she'd correct him. When Emma doesn't say anything to argue, Fury continues. "So, I'd say you did a pretty good job in a technical undercover situation."

"Wait, so she didn't need to do testing? All of her information is already here?" Coulson demands while putting his hand in the air, his brain was having a lot of trouble wrapping itself around this concept. 

"Oh, she needed testing. Someone messed up all our labs and information the night Emma left. Now I wonder who that could be, we're still looking for the culprit, so I'm glad you could update everything." Fury sarcastically replies while glaring (slightly) at Emma, who innocently shrugs in response. 

Why couldn't he have been the one to retrieve her? Emma would've put up a fight, stubbornness ran in the family, but it would've been a lot easier to cooperate with Nick then that awkward ride here with those three agents. Yes, she would have met Bucky at one point but then Nick would've prepared her. Emma would have been ready.

"You're running again." Fury comments while tapping his thigh, this was something he'd always say when Emma was anywhere but the same room as reality. "Hasn't that gotten any better?"

"Not with nightmares." Emma attempts to joke but the room just falls into silence. She clears her throat and awkwardly scratches the back of her neck, Fury always hated to hear about the nightmares.

"You know Sam, the one you rode here with, can help with that." Fury offers. "He helped a few of our agents before he became one himself." 

"Maybe I'll check it out." She offers, trying to get Fury off her back. 

"But for now, I need to put you through debriefing." He sighs. "We've got a problem."

"A problem?" Emma inquires.

"Your old partner?" Coulson starts. "He's teamed up with your new-old partner."

"My what?" Emma questions while turning to Fury.

"It's Edward." Fury replies. "He's been compromised."