Chapter Three
The walk into Fury's office had taken what felt like an eternity. Silence surrounded them as Alex walked alongside Steve knowingly. He was annoyed with the way Natasha had handled the mission, and that she hadn't said a thing about Natasha's mission with Fury. What surprised her, though, was that Steve hadn't placed the blame on her. After all, she had known about the side-mission and that Natasha was only there to back up the files on the Lemurian Star.
The elevator finally reached its destination, and Alex found herself fumbling with whatever she could to keep herself distracted.
"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve started once he reached Fury's office.
The Director threw both Steve and Alex a look that said it all. As much as she hated to admit it, Alex didn't want to be any part of this. But, she did know that Steve made a valid point when it came to knowing why people were part of his team. Natasha had lied to him, though, Alex suspected Natasha lied more often than she told the truth.
"I didn't lie; Agent Romanoff and Miss Hendrickson had a different mission than yours," Fury replied from where he sat, keeping his own expression impossible to read.
Alex almost rolled her eyes at Fury's response. She had a feeling he was expecting Steve would complain about the mission. Fury must have been waiting for him, otherwise he wouldn't have prepared such a response.
"Which you didn't feel obliged to share," Steve shot back, crossing his arms.
"I'm not obliged to do anything," Fury retorted.
Well, he wasn't lying about that. Being the Director of SHIELD meant that Fury could keep whatever information he had away from prying eyes, including Steve's. That didn't sit well with Steve, though. Alex noticed his lips purse for a moment as he debated whether or not he should glare back.
"Those soldiers could've died, Nick," Steve snapped.
"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen," Fury replied, turning his chair so that his back faced them.
"Soldiers trust each other, that's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns."
Steve's statement reminded Alex a bit too much of the bond shared between Rider and dragon. On Berk, the bond between them meant they had the ultimate trust in their dragons. Alex knew that without that trust, the dragons would just as easily turn on them.
"The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye," Fury told him in a stern tone. Alex rose an eyebrow at that. She had always wondered how Fury lost his eye. Clint would always make a joke about it, but, even he never knew the truth behind it, "Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything, along with Hendrickson, in moderation."
"Damn right about that," Alex snorted in response, crossing her arms as she looked back, ignoring Steve's incredulous look, "Just for the record, I didn't agree with what he did, back there."
"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own," Steve snapped.
They could go on forever, if Fury allowed it. Alex knew that Steve had a valid point in trusting others. Despite the fact that Fury didn't seem to trust anyone, he should have at least trusted Steve with the knowledge of Natasha's mission.
"It's called compartmentalization," Fury informed him, "Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."
"And then you wonder why the dragons never trusted you," Alex muttered under her breath.
Of course, she doubted Fury cared whether or not the dragons trusted him. Snowfire would have had a few choice words for his response if she had heard his remark.
"Except you," Steve snapped knowingly.
Alex narrowed her eyes as Fury turned so that he was facing them, again. His expression was impossible to make out. Fury was the kind of person who could easily hide any emotions, much like Natasha. It drove her crazy, at times, because she knew that he could be angry and would never show it unless he snapped at someone.
"You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that."
I'll believe that shit when I see it, Alex retorted silently.
Fury stood up from his desk and walked between them, gesturing for them to follow. Alex rose an eyebrow as she did just that, reaching the elevator with Steve only taking a couple of strides to reach them.
"Insight Bay," Fury said once they stepped inside the elevator.
"Captain Rogers and Miss Hendrickson do not have clearance for Project Insight," a computerized voice responded.
She didn't want to know how the computer had already figured out her name. Though, something told her that SHIELD had files on just about everyone the agency crossed paths with. Frankly, it was strange enough and creepy enough to know that they had files on her to begin with.
"Director Override; Fury, Nicholas. J," Fury replied.
"Confirmed."
The elevator began to go down. Alex found herself feeling uncomfortable standing between both Director Fury and Steve. The silence that followed was awkward, at best.
"You know, they used to play music," Steve said, cutting through the silence.
"Yeah," Fury replied, "My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years. My granddad worked in a nice building, he got good tips. He'd walk home every night, roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say "hi", people would say hi back. Time went on, neighborhood got rougher. He'd say "Hi", they'd say, "Keep on steppin'." Granddad got to grippin' that lunch bag a little tighter."
"Did he ever get mugged?" Steve asked.
"Every week, some punk would say, 'what's in the bag?'"
Alex closed her eyes for a moment as she imagined how terrifying that must have been. She knew from experience how to deal with thugs, now, thanks to Natasha and a few years of working alongside Astrid. Still, that hadn't stopped her from facing her past in the face of her father.
"Well, what'd he do?" Steve asked curiously.
"He'd show 'em. A bunch of crumpled ones and loaded 0.22 Magnum," Fury replied. His smirk told Alex that that wasn't the only thing his granddad would show them. "Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much." He paused as the elevator doors finally opened, revealing what looked like a huge hangar bay filled with three large Hellicarriers. Alex's jaw nearly dropped at the sight. People were running to and from construction sites, shouting orders to one another. The chaos involved was enough to make her head spin. "Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a 0.22."
"This is… huge," Alex whispered, earning a look from Fury.
He knew she was capable of keeping secrets – hell, she'd kept the secret of her abusive father from Hiccup and the others for as long as she could. The only reason it slipped out in the first place was because of his untimely return. The end results had been disastrous, even though Hiccup and the other Riders were able to stop her father once and for all.
"This is Project Insight. Three next generation Hellicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites," Fury explained once they had a full view of what was going on around them.
"Launched from the Lemurian Star," Steve guessed after glancing at Fury warily.
They continued walking on, and Alex couldn't help but take everything in with a mixture of awe and worry.
Power like this in the wrong hands could be dangerous, she thought. She knew that one wrong move could lead to disaster.
"Once we get them in the air they never need to come down," Fury explained to them, "Continuous suborbital flight courtesy of our new repulser engines."
"Stark?" Steve asked in surprise.
"Well, he had a few suggestions once he got an up close look at our old turbines," Fury replied with a shrug, "These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."
"Whatever happened to judge and jury?" Alex asked warily, chewing the bottom of her lip, "What if this kind of technology fell into the wrong hands?"
Steve looked at her in surprise when she voiced her own opinion. She knew she didn't really have a say in the matter. Not only was she technically still new to all of this, but, she'd been on Berk more often than her own world.
"We won't let that happen," Fury reassured her, though, she didn't miss the doubt in Steve's eyes.
He didn't like the idea anymore than she did.
"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime," he said thoughtfully.
"We can't afford to wait that long."
"I hate to ask this, but, who's this 'we' thing you're asking?" Alex asked.
"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surgeon threat analysis. For once we're way ahead of the curve." The firmness in Fury's tone was enough to send a shiver through Alex.
No, she didn't like this one bit. Something told her that this could go wrong, very quickly.
"By holding a gun at everyone on Earth and calling it protection," Steve voiced her thoughts, looking at Fury accusingly.
"You know, I read those SSR files. Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff," Fury retorted.
Alex narrowed her eyes when Fury brought that up. Steve was also clearly put off by that. While he did a good job at hiding it, he was clearly unhappy with the thought of his era being brought up.
"Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so the people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear," he snapped.
"SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. It's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."
It was Steve's turn to narrow his eyes, this time. As much as Alex didn't want to admit it, there was a reason she didn't fully trust Fury. This was one of those reasons. His lack of trust in them was enough for her to remember why she had been so reluctant to sign up for this crap in the first place.
"I may not know much about SHIELD politics, but, I do know that this is wrong," she snapped, ignoring the warning look Steve gave her, "Maybe you should rethink your idea of 'justice' and what this is going to do to the public if word ever got out."
Fury looked as if he was ready to argue when Steve stepped between them. The look in his eyes told her that this confrontation was far from over. Alex only crossed her arms and looked back defiantly. She didn't care whether or not she was breaking some kind of rule by speaking out. He needed to hear that, whether he liked it or not.
"Don't hold your breath," Steve said, giving Fury a look that dared him to speak out before he led the way out.
She only shook her head as she trailed after Steve, knowing that the sooner she left this place, the better she would feel.
The moment they reached the elevator was when Alex let out a rush of air she hadn't realized she was holding.
"I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered signing into this," she muttered crossly, watching the numbers change as the elevator reached its destination, "At least on Berk, life is a lot simpler, aside from the usual threats."
Steve was quiet as the elevator doors slid open. She couldn't help but glance at him warily, wondering if what Fury had told him was getting to him. She knew that Fury wouldn't hold back when it came to convincing someone otherwise. He'd used the same tactics on her when it came to signing up with the STRIKE team, and working with Steve and Natasha.
"Your life is beginning to sound more and more appealing," he finally admitted out loud. "You were right about what you said, back there."
"Doesn't mean that isn't what Fury wants to hear," she rolled her eyes knowingly.
"You aren't afraid to voice your opinion, though," Steve pointed out as they reached his motorcycle.
"Sometimes I wonder if that's gotten me into trouble more often than not," she sighed, looking down at the ground, "I guess I got that from Snowfire."
There were a lot of things she could thank Snowfire for. Her best friend had taught her to open up, more. She could never forget the moment when they first met and bonded. Those were the kind of memories that she would always cherish, because they had opened her world up in more ways than one.
…
After learning how to ride on a motorcycle thanks to Steve and his remarkable patience, they had finally reached the Smithsonian Museum. The Smithsonian was actually a series of buildings that were separated into different sections. The Air and Space Center was Alex's favorite building, because there was so much to see. She'd learned that it took at least a week to get through all of the buildings, and that they were usually almost always packed with people.
Today was no different, as she found herself weaving through the crowd with Steve ahead of her. He'd chosen to put on a disguise in the attempts of blending in with the crowd. So far, it had been working. The last thing he wanted, or needed, was to be harassed by hundreds of people.
They had already reached the Captain America exhibit. Alex had read from the brochure that the place was filled with World War II objects, along with Steve's original Captain America outfit. She had promised Hiccup that when things had settled down, they would stop by and visit the Smithsonian. His interest in modern culture had taken Alex by surprise, but, she didn't plan on turning down the opportunity to show him everything she could.
"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice," the narrator began, "Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier."
She watched in amusement as a couple of boys and girls tried comparing their sizes to the Captain America cutout placed nearby. A smaller, skinnier version of Steve stood beside it. Alex quirked an eyebrow when she noticed that despite the size comparison, he didn't look entirely different.
"I didn't know you were this skinny," she admitted when Steve reached her.
He almost smiled at the sight, clearly remembering the days when he had just been Steve Rogers.
"Back then, Bucky was usually there to defend me from bullies," he explained. "I was usually too stubborn to back down from a fight."
"He must have been a good friend," she murmured thoughtfully.
Alex couldn't help but think of her own friendship with Jacob. They had been friends since the beginning of school. Things hadn't changed, much, since then.
Steve only nodded in agreement and moved on to the next exhibit. Alex decided to leave him be and turned her attention to a wall that had more than a dozen names inscribed on it. She studied each name carefully, recognizing a few as the Howling Commandos and others that she didn't recognize.
"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division," the narrator went on as Alex moved from one exhibit to the next, "Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both school yard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling commando to give his life in service of his country."
Her eyes widened as she saw an image of Bucky Barnes standing beside Steve. She couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like, to live in that time and see them all in action. It must have been both amazing and terrifying, at the same time.
She hardly noticed Steve's arrival until spotting a kid out of the corner of her eye. Dressed in his own Captain America t-shirt, the kid was staring at Steve in awe when he recognized him. She almost laughed when Steve held a finger to his mouth, and the kid gave a subtle nod of understanding.
The moment the kid left was when Steve returned to the exhibit regarding Bucky and the Howling Commandos. Alex could see guilt and regret written across his eyes, telling her that he still felt responsible for what had happened to Bucky. She kept her mouth shut as they reached a room where a movie played.
"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line," the familiar image of Peggy Carter appeared on the screen. Steve hadn't mentioned her, much, but, Alex recognized her from the history books as the first woman to become a spy and help begin SHIELD, "Steve… Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would… who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life."
Seeing her smile told Alex that Peggy had never fully gotten over the loss of losing Steve. She wondered if Steve still felt the same. Peggy was still alive, but, suffering from Alzheimer's. She had never met Peggy in person, and doubted she ever would. But, Steve still had the option of seeing her, again.
"I should probably get going," Alex sighed after realizing how late it was.
Time in their world worked similarly to time on Berk. She'd promised Hiccup that she would be back in time for an evening flight before they went to sleep. Sunset flights were probably her favorite time of the day, because it gave her the chance to think of everything that happened.
"Thanks for coming with me," Steve nodded his thanks as they made their way back to the apartments. He planned on visiting Peggy, after seeing that video. She could see the faint light in his eyes that told her everything she needed to know. "It helps, having company."
"I know the feeling," she replied with a smile of her own. "You sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he reassured her with a nod.
Alex couldn't hide the frown that followed as she slipped into her apartment. She hoped that he was right. Usually, when something went wrong, she was either dragged into it along with the others, or the first to hear about it.
AN: Yay for new chapters! And, onto a short explanation: So, I realize that in the movies, Steve had no idea Hydra was back, and didn't put that into play until now. I may or may not be running some edits here and there to tweak around with that lack of knowledge. Hopefully, not to the extent of ruining the movie. We'll see what happens. I also ended up getting the Interstellar soundtrack. Kind of random, but, music is the main reason behind how my writing goes :P Interstellar has beautiful music to it, and now I need to see the movie. Onto review replies!
Sil - Yeah, things are happening a bit too fast for their liking. Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse before it gets better. But, she does have support from Cap, and the rest of the team. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, too :)
Scout107 - Hehe, I actually do have a series of one-shots in mind to where Alex introduces Hiccup and the gang to modern technology. Obviously, it won't tie in directly with the story, but, I feel the need to write it. And yep, she's finally grown a backbone towards her mom. Let's just hope that doesn't backfire on her, or the others ;)
MMM - You'll have to keep reading to find out :) I don't plan on giving away spoilers.
