Katherine Baker had better things to do with her time than watch over Captain America, like finding the murderer who single-handedly took out her entire family in one fell swoop. But Director Nick Fury is determined to make sure Steve Rogers has a f...
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CHAPTER EIGHT BACK TO BASICS
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Nicholas J. Fury was a frightening man. Katherine had only been ten when she'd met him, teary-eyed and still riding the lows she felt from her family's death. Back then, he had been this looming presence that just exuded importance, like nothing you said would ever be important enough for him to listen to. That feeling hadn't gone away over the years, but she had built up a hesitant relationship with him. He respected her as an agent, and that was all she could ever ask of him. When Austria had happened, he had even looked at her with a shred of pity he tried to hide, but she had caught the glimpse of it.
Him behind the screen of a computer didn't make him any less intimidating.
They had scheduled a briefing for when Lionel was going grocery shopping, and she had encouraged Steve to accompany their driver. That way she and Fury could discuss his progress without feeling like they had to tone it down for Steve's sake. Well, without Katherine feeling like she had to tone it down. She knew Fury well enough to know that he would never hold back for anyone's sake. Since Katherine didn't know just how much Steve trusted Fury yet, she figured it was a better idea to keep them apart.
"Status report," Fury said through the grainy speaker before Katherine could even say hello.
"Signs of PTSD, but that's normal. Nightmares, depression, anxiety. Normal stuff given what he's been through."
"Physically?"
"He's fine. I'm not sure what the limitations of the serum are, since Erskine didn't leave much notes, but I'd imagine his stats haven't changed since the forties."
"Socially?"
"He's been out of the house approximately twelve times now. Some nervousness in big crowds, but he does better one-on-one. Our outing at the museum proved to be successful."
"This is a significant improvement. I knew you were the right person for the job," Fury mentioned, leaning back in his chair. It was rare that he handed out compliments, so she took it with a respectful nod. Truthfully, there really hadn't been any other choices. Sure, there were agents that didn't work in the field, but they were rookies and didn't have the kind of security clearance to take on Captain America just yet. "And getting him up to speed on the modern world?"
"It's happening slowly but surely. It wouldn't be beneficial for his mental health to stress him about this now."
"I'm trusting your judgement on this," Fury agreed, nodding his head and crossing his arms over his chest. "Continue on with the work you're doing, Agent Baker. It's my assumption that you'll come home sometime around May or June, like we previously discussed. That will give him enough time to get used to the modern world and you enough time to figure out what the hell happened at Austria."
