Chapter 4

Choices


Jones sat in her room inside the SSR headquarters, fiddling with a set of knives. She'd picked them up from an old friend in Japan, many years ago, long before she had decided to relocate to the US.

She had never had any need to use them since she had been gifted them, but she wondered if perhaps that was about to change.

The problem was, she didn't know whether she was ready to do that. She had been hiding in plain sight for so long, the thought of more than a handful of people knowing what she was, what she had done and how long she had been doing it, made her very nervous. Sure, times were changing once again, but she wasn't sure if they were changing THAT much yet.

She replaced one of the throwing knives back into its holster, admiring it one more time, before carefully putting it away. And not a moment too soon. There was a knock on the door. Jones took a minute, listening and waiting for a hint of the scent of the owner on the other side of the door.

"Sarah?" It was Peggy.

Jones stood and opened the door. She was surprised to see Peggy wearing a very fitted red dress. It was conservative, but certainly showed her curves off well. She raised her eyebrows and pinned Peggy with an expectant look. "Good evening."

"I was hoping you would join me down at the bar this evening, I need to speak with Captain Rogers, and I believe he wants to speak to you too," Peggy said, looking at Jones hopefully.

The taller woman sighed. There it was. After Krausberg, she knew it had to be coming eventually. "I don't think that's a good idea, Peggy." Jones turned and walked back towards her desk, sitting down on her chair.

Peggy walked into her room, standing in front of her with an encouraging smile. "Come on, you did great at Krausberg, all the men are in awe of you."

"You say awe, I say afraid."

"Don't be daft, you're their hero."

"Steve's their hero."

"Steve needs help. He's putting together a team-"

"I got the memo," Jones quickly cut in, holding up her hand. Colonel Phillips had already been on her case about it. She leaned her elbow on her desk, resting her chin in her hand. "It's just not easy, Peggy. So few know, it's just safer that way. And it's not something that's easy to hide."

"You won't need to. You're not like the others. And we will do whatever we can to help you, you know that," Peggy implored.

Jones didn't meet her gaze. "I'll think about it. You need to know, I'm not comfortable with this."

Peggy looked at her sympathetically. "I know, but you need to make the best out of what you've got."

"I'm cursed, Peggy. There's not meant to be a good side to it."

"Depends how you look at it," Peggy said squeezing Jones' shoulder. She glanced at her watch. "Oh, I've got to get going, please speak to Steve."

"And if he asks?"

"I'm sure he won't. He has a lot of respect for you."


Bucky knocked back another drink. He's lost count at about five. That was a good hour or two ago. He was still reeling over the fact that his best friend, sickly little Steve Rogers was now six foot of muscle and had rescued him and his troops from the clutches of HYDRA, with the help of only one other person. Not only that, but now he had found himself a gorgeous dame, and he hadn't even needed Bucky's help!

"My boys all grown up," he murmured with a slight grin to himself.

He had happily offered his services to his friend for his future endeavors to shut down HYDRA's plans throughout Europe. He along with several other fellows who had survived the HYDRA camp had all raised their hands to help Captain America.

Steve slid back into the seat beside Bucky, after refilling his new team's glasses for what could very well have been the one hundredth time, or at least it seemed that way. "Good thing we don't move out for a few days."

"Ah, they'd probably still get up and go if we were." They both chuckled. "So, what next?"

"I'm still waiting on one team member," Steve answered, wrapping both hands around the glass in front of him.

"Who? That gorgeous brunette? I thought she was in?" Bucky asked, frowning slightly. She had just been in, telling Steve to report to HQ the next morning.

"No, the Lieutenant."

Bucky raised his eyebrows. The thought of the mysterious Lieutenant Jones always caught his attention quickly. Her behavior was definitely strange, but there was something else about her that caught his eye, aside from the fact that she wasn't unpleasant to look at. "You're signing her up?"

"Agent Carter's recommendation. She said the Lieutenant possesses special skills that could prove useful on missions," Steve replied. "Personally, she makes me a little nervous. Just something about her, doesn't seem right."

Bucky could understand where Steve was coming from. She very rarely spoke to anyone other than Agent Carter or Colonel Phillips, although if spoken to by Steve she would usually answer. She just never went out of her way to speak to anyone. And he recalled seeing her catch Steve inside the factory. No way would an average woman have been able to bear his weight, let alone lift his weight up like she had. "So why are you wanting her on the team?"

Steve was thoughtful for a moment. "After all that's said and done, she helped me when I needed it, and she's proven that she knows what she's doing. I don't believe for a moment that she's 'just a medic', though."

Bucky grinned. "She can work on me any day."

"I would really prefer not to," came the familiar chill of a voice from behind them. They both spun in their seats in surprise. She looked at both of them with an expressionless face. She was wearing her service uniform, same as Steve, her finely pressed skirt showing just a small amount of leg. She turned a lot of heads in the bar, although she seemed to pay them no mind. Bucky noted her eyes seemed more brown than red today, as she seemed to look at both of their chests, something he noted she did a lot of. She settled her gaze on Steve. "You wanted to see me?"

"Always a pleasure to see you," Bucky said, winking at her. Her eyes shifted to him, an icy edge to them, as if she looked straight through him and not at him. Her expression didn't change once as her gaze shifted back to Steve. Bucky was starting to think the roles of he and Steve had reversed dramatically since the last time they had hung out at home in Brooklyn.

"Colonel Phillips speak to you?" Steve asked, getting straight to the point.

"He did."

"And?"

The Asian glanced away sideways for a moment, appearing hesitant. "I'm not sure." Bucky furrowed his brow and looked at Steve. After what Steve had told him, he was sure the medic would agree. Steve pressed his lips into a thin line, waiting for her to continue. "I've got a…condition, it can make things hard."

"A condition? What, like an illness?" Bucky asked, frowning as he stared at her. From what he'd seen, she was fitter and healthier than half his men had been. Although, it could explain her strangely pale skin, it just didn't seem to match up with her exotic appearance.

She grimaced, sighing as she fixed her gaze back on them. "You could say that."

Steve shook his head, leaning forwards on his stool slightly. "Whatever it is, we will help you where we can."

She gave a weak smile. "That's kind of you. However, I need you to understand, I'm a monster." Bucky frowned and stared at Jones. The iciness was back in her eyes, her face expressionless once more and she watched them both. He wasn't sure why this woman thought so little of herself, but it broke his heart to see such a thing.

Steve seemed somewhat flabbergasted but recovered quicker than Bucky could. "I find that hard to believe."

"That may be the case, Captain. However, it's the truth," there was a raucous from the other side of the bar, all three turning to see the rest of Steve's team singing, if you could call it that. They were terribly out of tune. "Then again, listening to that, I might not be the only monster on your team."

Bucky chuckled, even though Jones didn't even show a hint of a smile when she spoke. "If we can deal with that lot, we can deal with your 'monstrous' side." Steve nodded in agreement, smiling warmly at Jones.

Jones sighed again, blinking once before nodding. "We'll see, I guess."

"So that's a yes then?" Bucky said, grinning at her. She didn't answer, instead turning and heading for the door. Bucky leaned closer to Steve. "I think she likes me."

"Not even close, Sergeant!" she shouted as she slipped out the door. Bucky paled and looked from the door to Steve, while his friend did his best not to laugh at his reaction.


Jones walked alongside Peggy as they headed to meet with Steve and Howard.

"You will be fine," Peggy tried to ease Jones' concerns.

"I've heard that before."

"You're not like the others, and he knows I trust you with my life," Peggy hissed, nudging her with an elbow in the side.

"How many have you met? To say that I'm not like the others?" Jones demanded indignantly.

Peggy pursed her lips slightly, knowing she had been caught out. "Well, I…" they turned a corner and Peggy trailed off, staring straight ahead with a look of disbelief, her heart rate increasing rapidly.

Jones followed her gaze and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh…" Before them, Steve was in the embrace of Private Lorraine, her lips pressed against his and she had him pinned against a desk. "Ahem."

Both Private Lorraine and Steve jumped apart, Steve looking completely bewildered as he saw Peggy beside Jones.

"Captain, we're ready for you, if you're not otherwise occupied," Peggy said coldly, making even Jones feel frigid.

She grimaced at Steve as Peggy began to walk away. She nodded her head towards the direction that Peggy walked off, urging Steve to move. He was quick to follow her, while Jones looked pointedly at Private Lorraine, taking a few steps closer to her. "You and I will be having a conversation very soon, Private." The blonde paled instantly at the cold words of her Lieutenant, nodding sheepishly. "Move, you've got papers to sort." She hurried away, while Jones made her way to Stark's corner of the bunker.

When she found them, Peggy was no where to be seen, but Steve and Howard seemed to be chatting as they moved through the lab. She moved to stand by a nearby wall, listening intently for a few moments.

"Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend."

"Really? I didn't think…" Steve began, clearly getting flustered.

"Nor should you, pal. The moment you think you know what's goin' on in a woman's head, it's the moment your goose is well and truly cooked. Me, I concentrate on work. Which at the moment is about making sure you and your men," he looked up to see Jones standing against the wall. "And woman, do not get killed." He waved to Jones, and she gave a weak smile in response. The man was strangely perceptive of his surroundings for someone with such a big ego. While she hated the way the man liked to talk about himself or threw himself at women, she admired the man for his intellect. She moved to stand beside the table he now walked towards, grabbing a piece of cloth and holding it up for them to see. "Carbon polymer. Should withstand your average German bayonet. Although, Hydra's not going to attack you with a pocket knife. Her on the other hand, I hear it's her preference." Howard motioned towards Jones, and Steve looked at her questioningly.

"They're quiet," she murmured, pouting slightly, although that wasn't the only reason. She hated patching up bullet wounds. The patients were always butchered, but with knives you could choose the severity of the wound inflicted on your victim. She considered it...nicer. Steve raised an eyebrow at her comment, while Howard grinned at her, causing her to roll her eyes.

Howard moved onto another table, motioning to the shield Steve had taken with him to Krausberg. "I hear you're…uh… kinda attached?"

Steve nodded, touching a hand to it. "It's handier than you might think."

Howard motioned to a few other designs he had lying out around the shield. "I took the liberty of coming up with some options." He lifted one up, showing it first to Steve and then to Jones. "This one's fun. She's been fitted with electrical relays. It'll allow you to…"

Steve's eye had been caught by something else below the table and he stooped down to pick up, Jones peering down as he pulled it out. "What about this one?" It was a plain round shield, nothing fancy about it like some of Howard's other designs. Jones peered at it closely, before reaching forward and tapping against it with a fingernail. The sound it made was familiar.

"No! No! That's just a prototype," Howard tried to palm it off.

"What's it made of?" Steve asked in wonder, looking it over closely.

Jones answered before Howard could. "It's Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight, very rare." Howard and Steve both looked at her in surprise. "What? I read…"

Steve looked back at the shield in his hand, running his hand along the edge of it. "How come it's not a standard issue?"

"As Jones said, that's the rarest metal on earth. What you're holding there? That's all we've got," Howard explained. Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise, before looking at Jones who shrugged at his questioning look.

Peggy appeared on the other side of the room from them, looking annoyed. "You quite finished, Mr. Stark? I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business." Jones grimaced at Peggy's tone, she was glad not to be in Steve's shoes currently.

Steve looked behind him to Peggy, holding up the shield towards her. "What do you think?" The brunette looked at it for a moment, before looking back to Steve's face. Without warning, she picked up a nearby handgun, aiming at the shield and firing off three shots. The noise of the bullets hitting the shield caused Jones to cover her ears, the ringing making her head ache painfully.

"CARTER!" she shouted at her.

Peggy looked at the shield again and then back at Steve, ignoring Jones. "Yes. I think it works." She put the gun back down, before turning and striding away. Steve, Howard, Jones and several of the lab technicians stood watching her walk away in awe.

Steve put the shield back down, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper, handing it to Howard, still watching Peggy walk away. "I had some ideas about the uniform."

Howard reached across, taking the piece of paper without looking at it, his eyes still watching Peggy as she turned the corner. "Whatever you want, pal." Jones finally snapped out of her stupor, the pain in her head subsiding and began to follow after Peggy. "Hey!" Howard called after her, making her snap her head around to look at him. "I fixed you up a uniform too, it's over there." She wrinkled her nose slightly, but nodded, quick to run after Peggy.


xo

Krayzee