"Some days she felt like she was swimming in lies, treading water in a sea of deception. One day, surely, she would drown in her own secrets."
*~*~*~*
Venetia Sarafian was never like other women. Rather than sitting back and thinking of how she coul...
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"We're about forty minutes out from base, sir." The pilot of the quinjet told Phil as the agent rode aboard the jet with Steve and Venetia later that day. A silence had fallen over the jet from the moment they had boarded, both Steve and Venetia throwing themselves into the files they'd been provided about the rest of the team.
While Steve found himself reviewing footage of Hulk's attack on the Army at Culver University several years ago, Venetia found herself staying on Clint's file. Before she had even opened it she knew that it wasn't complete, having been one of the forces behind making sure a part of the agent's life would never be known by the rest of the organization. As she stared at the provided picture of Clint Barton, Steve took the chance to glance across the jet at her. He noticed that she didn't dress the same as before, she no longer seemed compelled to hide the marks that littered her skin. Instead they were on full display in her short sleeve shirt, standing out against her naturally tanned skin. One thing that hadn't changed though were the dog tags that rested against her chest, just as they had the last time he saw her. A constant reminder of what she had lost in the war.
"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked, trying to break the silence that had fallen over them.
"A lot of people were," Phil nodded when Venetia remained silent. Though her lips did quirk upwards slightly at the mention of the serum, no one knowing that he blood had been the missing ingredient. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."
"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve commented, watching as the Hulk roared in fury as he tore a jeep apart.
"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." Phil assured him, only earning a look of confusion from the blond.
"He's a really smart man," Venetia clarified for her friend.
"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." Phil started to ramble, in awe at the fact that he was talking to the man that had been his idol growing up. While a smile had started to fill Steve's lips, it quickly disappeared at Phil's mention of him watching him sleep. "I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board."
"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve said as he set his tablet aside.
"Oh, you are. Absolutely," Phil assured him. "Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had al little design input."
