Earth-717: Captain America Vol 2
Chapter 7: Sharon is Caring
Fury had been sitting for hours in a dark room. His hands were cuffed, his face was bruised, and there were cuts on several parts of his body. His bones were in constant pain, and he could still hear a faint buzzing in his ears from the sound of the explosion. He groaned as he shifted his position in his chair, finding that there simply wasn't a comfortable way for him to sit.
Finally, the door opened. A blue ray of light filtered into the room. A second later, a familiar figure stepped inside.
"Director Fury."
"Senator. The exact person I was hoping not to see."
Abigail coughed as she closed the door and walked to the chair on the opposite side of the table. Fury noticed that she had changed her dress, but there was still a cut on the right side of her forehead. She took a seat and placed both of her hands on the table. Once again, Fury and Abigail found themselves glaring at each other, but this time, Fury knew just how dangerous she really was.
"It seems that your little assassination attempt didn't take, Director. I'm still here."
"I didn't plant that bomb."
"Oh really? And who did?"
"You did."
Abigail laughed out loud. Fury was somewhat perturbed by how openly she did it.
"Come now, Fury. You have to do better than that. You have no proof."
"No proof, sure. But I've worked this job long enough to know there's no such thing as coincidence. You try to take down SHIELD through official channels, but to force it through faster, you fake an assassination attempt and blame it on us. You're good, I'll give you that."
"I don't believe in coincidence either, but you've got it all wrong. SHIELD planted that bomb. You were afraid that I might actually take control away from you, so you tried to take me out. Made sure you were in the blast zone too, to try and ward off suspicion. Maybe you could blame it on any of your enemies. AIM. The Syndicate. Doctor Doom. Take your pick."
"I'm thinking of a different enemy."
Abigail smirked.
"And who would that be?"
"You know, you almost had me fooled. I was this close to believing that maybe you were just a genuinely concerned citizen."
Abigail tilted her head slightly to the side as she listened to Fury.
"You've been working hard to cover up your tracks, but you couldn't help yourself, could you?
You thought you had me nailed to the wall. So you showed your hand just a second too early. Shame. You might have had a chance if you didn't."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Think on your sins, Senator."
Abigail sneered. Fury chuckled.
"I know exactly who you are now. And now that I know, you won't get away with this."
Abigail shrugged.
"What you think you know is irrelevant. You're the one in handcuffs, not me. So tell me, Director . . . . where is the SHIELD helicarrier?"
"I have no idea."
Abigail slammed her right fist against the table.
"Don't you fucking toy with me, Fury! I have been given direct authority to dismantle SHIELD. President Ellis had no choice but to declare you a rogue organization. Every single SHIELD agent is wanted by the United States government. You tell me where they are, and there's a chance they get out of this alive. You don't . . . . and there isn't."
"They can take care of themselves. And you and I both know you have no intention of sparing the lives of any SHIELD agents."
"Perhaps not. But when I kill all of them, it will be perfectly legal. This will only end one way, you know."
Fury scoffed.
"You'd be surprised how fast situations can change."
"Not this time."
Abigail then stood back up. She pulled on her collar with both hands as she walked towards the door. Before opening it, she glanced over her shoulder.
"We will find them if you don't tell us. You know that, right? And if you make us search for them . . . . we'll make them suffer."
Abigail opened the door and walked out. As she shut it behind her, Fury looked to the side and took in a deep breath. He didn't want to show it, but inside, he was worried.
He was very worried.
"Not the comfiest place, I know, but it'll have to do."
Steve sat down next to Sharon on the cold, metal floor. They were stowing away inside of a cargo freighter that was making its way across the Atlantic Ocean. No one knew they were on the ship. They were both exhausted from going on the run, barely avoiding the authorities at every turn. Now, bruised and dirty, they finally had a chance to rest.
Sharon had received a data packet from Maria Hill as they were making their escape, telling them to head for an address in the Ukraine that had been provided to her by Moses Magnum. The packet also mentioned that SHIELD was undergoing Condition Zero, which was an emergency protocol that had the helicarrier go silent and into hiding until Fury gave the all clear.
For several minutes, the two of them stayed silent, just staring forward and absorbing the gravity of their situation. Finally, Steve broke the silence.
"Tell me something."
"Hmm?"
"The name Fury said before we got away. Zemo. You heard it before?"
Sharon looked down.
"Yeah."
"So have I."
Steve scowled and clenched his fists. He closed his eyes as his throat seized up in anger. Sharon frowned as she watched his body language. She knew what was coming next.
"Baron Zemo was a member of Hydra," said Steve. "Back in the war. I killed him. Just like I killed Hydra. Right?"
Steve turned his gaze to Sharon, who refused to look him in the eyes.
"Right?!"
Sharon gulped. Steve then stood up and shouted before punching the side of the ship's hull, leaving a sizable dent. Sharon jumped to her feet and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey."
Steve knocked her hand away in anger. She blinked and took a step back. He immediately frowned and shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have . . . ."
"No," said Sharon. "I'm sorry. We were . . . . we were going to tell you."
Sharon rubbed her left elbow with her right hand.
"Just never felt like the right time."
Steve and Sharon both sat back down in their original spots.
"How about now?" he asked.
Sharon sighed before she started.
"You defeated the Red Skull. Destroyed Hydra's Arctic Base. For a few years, everyone thought they were gone. But some of them survived. Baron Strucker. Madame Hydra. Daniel Whitehall. Heh. Funny enough, it was Peggy who finally proved they were still around. SHIELD and Hydra have been at each other's throats ever since."
Steve closed his eyes and placed his head back against the hull.
"They've tried to take over the world over a dozen times," said Sharon. "Every time, SHIELD steps in to stop them. Most don't know they're still around. How do you explain that a group of people who used to work for the Nazis still exist in the twenty-first century? But Hydra prefers it that way too. They like working in the shadows."
Sharon put her hands together.
"Many of the Hydra members had children who took up the cause. Zemo, Strucker, Whitehall. All of them are family names in Hydra. Not Madame Hydra though. She's still the same woman, even today."
Steve raised an eyebrow.
"She'd have to be . . . ."
"A hundred years old, yeah, I know," said Sharon, chuckling. "Doesn't look a day over twenty-five. Nobody knows how she pulled that one off."
Sharon then looked over at Steve and gave him a smirk.
"Then again, you managed that one too."
Steve and Sharon both laughed. Steve then let out a deep breath.
"So strange," he said. "Back in the war, I tried so hard to keep myself the same. To make sure I never lost my compassion, despite all the horrible things I saw. But even now, I realize, that on a certain level, I forgot that the members of Hydra were people as well. They committed so many atrocities, that even I forgot that they might have families."
Steve looked to the side.
"I didn't intend to kill Baron Zemo. We were assigned to capture him. We cornered him at his castle. He was working on some . . . . chemical weapon for the Skull. There was a struggle. The fight got out of hand. I threw him too hard, and he fell into a chemical vat. I tried to save him, but he was already gone."
Steve shrugged.
"By the next day, we had moved on to another mission. Didn't even stop to think that he might have had a wife and kids. And that's on me."
"You shouldn't blame yourself for something like that," said Sharon. "You didn't know."
"And this Zemo? Who is he?"
"I don't know. I thought the last Zemo was dead. Heinrich, son of the one you killed. I have no idea who this one's supposed to be."
Sharon sighed.
"Guess it's just another thing Fury kept from me."
"You and Fury."
Sharon slowly turned her head to look at Steve, who met her gaze.
"If I may, you two seem . . . . close. Closer than I've seen him be with anyone."
Sharon weakly smiled before looking forward again.
"Yeah. That's me and Fury."
"You called him by his first name back at the Capitol Building."
Sharon shuffled her feet.
"Yeah."
"Bit of a story there?"
"You could say so."
"We're gonna be here for a while."
Sharon knew he was right.
"You remember how I said I wasn't following in Peggy's footsteps when I joined SHIELD?"
Steve nodded.
"I was really following in Nick's. There was a time when I just wanted him to be proud of me. I wanted him to approve of the life I led. I wanted him to look at me and . . . ."
Sharon paused.
"But that's not the start. It all goes back to Peggy, and what she did."
"What did she do?"
"You won't want to hear it."
"Try me."
Sharon shook her head.
"Peggy . . . . never stopped being in love with you. She always was. Even when she got married to Grandpa and started her family, everyone knew her heart was somewhere else."
Steve felt his heart start to sink.
"She had two kids. Dad, and Aunt Claire. Kept her own name in the marriage. Even asked for her kids to keep Carter name alive. Grandpa would do anything for her, so he said yes. But it was never enough. She would always . . . . Dad told me, how she would compare the men in the family to you. Would always talk about how great you were, and how they would never live up to you."
Steve felt his eyes start to water.
"Wasn't always said out loud. Most of it was implied. She was always off working, but, when she was around, she couldn't stop talking or thinking about you. She never let it go. Never let you go. Grandpa . . . . Grandpa turned to drinking. Ruined his marriage, his relationship with his kids. He was trying to drown how inferior he felt. Drank himself into the grave."
Steve sighed as he put a hand on his forehead.
"Dad married Mom, and they had me and my brother. And Aunt Claire, well . . . . after Grandpa died, she wanted nothing to do with Peggy, so she left. Changed her name, last I heard. No idea where she is. Thought about trying to find her, but, never got around to it. Peggy tried to turn things around, but the damage was done. Even if he didn't say it, Dad never felt like he was good enough for anyone."
Sharon's cheeks turned red as tears fell out of her eyes.
"I know Peggy wanted to do better, but she never got the chance, because Hydra found out where we were living."
Steve gulped.
"They sent assassins after us. Found us at our cottage. It was on a lake."
Sharon smiled again.
"I remember fishing at that lake with my brother, David. We did everything together back then."
Sharon closed her eyes as she continued to cry.
"There was a fight at the house. I remember Mom trying to get me and David out of there. I was only twelve years old. I had no idea what was going on. I just remember being so scared, and hoping that maybe, somehow, we would all be okay."
Sharon sobbed and put her face in her hands for a moment. She then wiped her eyes and continued her story.
"I got out, and ran to the lake. I thought David was right behind me, but when I looked back, he wasn't there. Then the house exploded. I fell to the ground, and . . . . the next thing I remember, I was being carried."
Sharon looked back at Steve.
"It was Nick," she said, smiling through her tears. "He saved me. Told me what happened. That Peggy and I were the only survivors. The only two Carters left. But he said to me that from then on, he was going to take care of me. He said he would always keep me safe. He's the only person who ever felt like family to me after that."
"And Peggy?"
"Over time, I learned the truth about her. SHIELD. You. How Hydra only killed my mother, my father, and my brother because of her. And since then, I hated her with every bone in my body."
Sharon spoke through her sobs.
"She tried to patch things up between us, and I spat in her face. I hated her for caring more about you than her family. I hated her for surviving when everyone else died. I hated her just for existing. For so many years, I was just waiting for that woman to die. Only now, I see that spending so much time with that hate, that boiling acid in my heart . . . . I'm doing the same thing she did. Holding on to the past. It was just so painful, and . . . ."
Sharon couldn't go on. She was finally broken, and just let out her tears. Steve moved towards her, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and placing his right hand on her knees. She leaned into him, clutching his right arm with her hands. He pressed his cheek against the top of her head, and gently cradled her as she cried.
After a while, the tears stopped, and Sharon rested her head against Steve's chest.
