October 2011
Tiskellion, Washington D.C.
"You wanted to see me Secretary Pierce?" Agent Brooklyn Hayes of SHIELD said as she peeked her head around the door of the top floor of the Triskellion. Called straight from the gym, her freshly colored mahogany hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, making her look at least a little put together in her tight yoga pants and racerback tank top. She was uncomfortable seeing the head of the World Security Council in such a state of disarray, but she knew Alexander Pierce was a fan of hers, for various reasons.
The older man smiled when he realized it was her and he motioned for her to enter, "Come on in, Brooklyn. Good to see you again."
"Good to see you, too." She answered cautiously as she clamped her hands in front of her stomach, "What can I do for you, Sir?"
"Take a seat. I have a mission for you."
She tilted her head as Secretary Pierce sat on his couch, not behind his desk. She sat on the other side of the sectional, watching him curiously as he poured a glass of champagne and handed it to her, "No, thank you."
"You sure?" Pierce pressed and Brooklyn smiled and nodded, assuring him she didn't want the beverage. He tipped back the champagne flute and drained it as Brooklyn watched. She breathed slowly through her nose, something she always did when she had to keep her cool under pressure.
She crossed one leg over the other and leaned back against the couch cushions, wishing her home furniture were half as plush as his office pieces, "You said you have a mission for me?"
Pierce hummed as he reached across the glass table and grabbed a pitcher of water, pouring it into a small, square glass. He handed to Brooklyn. She swished it for a moment before sipping it slowly, waiting for him to show his cards. "Agent Hayes, we got word early this morning that the Valkyrie was found off the frozen coast of Greenland."
Brooklyn raised her brow as he handed her a file. She picked it up, feeling it was light, "Am I supposed to know that that is?" She asked before lifting open the file and seeing a fuzzy photo of the massive airship, followed by a blurb about how it was a Hydra vehicle built by Johann Schmidt and it was taken down by Captain America. "Oh." Brooklyn lifted her eyes to look up from under her thick lashes, "After all this time, they found the golden boy."
"They did." Pierce said thoughtfully, throwing his arm over the back of the couch as he seemed to study Brooklyn, "He's still alive."
Brooklyn almost spit out the water she was swallowing, choking it down in an effort to not soak Secretary Pierce, "Excuse me? He's still alive? That's not possible…"
"Isn't it?" He asked her as he filled up a second champagne flute and pushed it toward her, "They thawed him out and realized he was still breathing. He's been transported to New York, but he hasn't woken up yet. I want you to be there when he does."
Brooklyn set down her water glass and glared at the champagne. Two years of sobriety stared back at her in the golden liquid. "Why me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Pierce chuckled and Brooklyn flinched, knowing what he would say. She picked up the flute and slowly drank the champagne, letting it burn her throat and give her courage to face what Pierce would ask of her. "You are one of the most elite spies in the agency. You are trusted and you are good at what you do. Your undercover work is unparalleled, not even by Romanoff." Brooklyn smirked at that, knowing full well that Natasha may have been Director Fury's pet project, but Brooklyn had spent months undercover without being discovered. She was pretty, but she wasn't Natasha Romanoff. She blended in much better.
However, Brooklyn had the sneaking suspicion her uncover work wouldn't be needed, unless Pierce wanted her to pretend to be something she wasn't… or unless Pierce wanted her to manipulate Captain America. "What do you want me to do with him?"
"I want you to make sure he isn't a problem. I want you to get close to him to make sure he doesn't figure out what we're up to. Big things are in the works, Agent Hayes. We can't risk Captain America getting suspicious, given his history with our organization."
"You want me to seduce him, Sir?" Brooklyn tried to sound sure of herself, because she knew this was a big honor, but she didn't want to sleep with a ninety-year-old man. He'd been handsome when he was young, but it had been sixty-six years since he was frozen.
"I want you to befriend him." Pierce clarified, sliding his phone across the table to her, "But if you choose to seduce him, be my guest." Brooklyn squished her face in unrestrained disgust, causing Pierce to laugh as she picked up the phone, "I'll let you be the judge, but personally, I find him pretty easy on the eyes."
Brooklyn's eyes fell to the phone and her throat tightened at the sight. Pierce was right, the man looked young as the day he died, but his body was frozen solid. His face was frostbitten, but most of the ice was at least chipped away. He looked almost peaceful, which made Brooklyn sick to her stomach. Captain America had accepted his death, welcomed it even.
"Is that pity I see?" Pierce questioned and Brooklyn handed the phone back to him as she clenched her jaw. She looked past him to the sweeping view of the Potomac and Washington D.C.
"I'm an agent, not a monster." She muttered, uncrossing her leg and leaning forward to press her palms to her thighs, "Just because I'm a trained killer doesn't mean I'm completely heartless." Brooklyn considered the frozen Captain for a moment, and what getting involved would mean, "So you want me to act as his handler? Keep him out of trouble?" She finally lowered her gaze to meet Pierce's eyes, "What happens to him if he figures out what we are?"
"Then you have two options: you sway him to our side, or you eliminate him. Or, since you aren't so heartless, just keep him in the dark, and nothing bad happens to anybody."
"That's not true. Project Insight may be in its earliest stages, but in theory, he'll fit the algorithm."
"Then that isn't your problem anymore, is it?" Pierce asked, leaning forward to get closer to Brooklyn, "I want it to be you, because you're the best undercover agent on our side. Nick has all the rest. If one of his people gets close to Cap, he's as good as lost. Think of what an asset he could be." Brooklyn twisted her lips thoughtfully, considering this, "Think of what we could accomplish with both of them."
"Oh. Yeah, I'm sure that'll go over real well-"
Pierce chuckled and looked to his phone as it buzzed, "We don't even know what we're working with yet. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. All I know is that nobody knows super soldiers like you do." He stood quickly and Brooklyn followed suit, placing her hands in front of her stomach again as she waited for instructions. "He's arrived in New York. I want you to head there now, get him as your asset, no matter what it takes. Nick likes you. He trusts you, and he knows you'll be good at anything you set your mind to. We're all counting on you. This could make or break our entire organization."
Brooklyn nodded, "Yes, Sir. I won't let you down."
"I know. That's why it's you." Pierce told the woman as he reached out to shake her hand. Once her hand was in his, he pulled her forward and leaned towards her ear, "Hail Hydra."
She breathed slowly through her nose, focusing on her mission, "Hail Hydra."
The moment the glass elevator doors opened, Brooklyn sprinted back to the gym to gather her things from her locker. She pulled out her duffel bag and makeup bag, then checked her phone, finding several texts from her friends asking if she'd heard the news about Captain America.
Brooklyn could feel her hands shaking as she texted her coworkers back to explain she was heading to Manhattan and couldn't talk until she was settled.
As she swung the duffel bag over her shoulder, she felt her cell buzz. She looked down to see a text from Nick Fury requesting her presence in New York as soon as possible. The seed was being planted, and her fate was almost sealed. Brooklyn walked out the front doors of the Triskellion and raised her hand to hail a taxi, needing to pack up her things. She didn't know how long she'd be gone.
Two hours later, Brooklyn arrived back at the Triskellion with nothing but a rolling suitcase and her duffel bag packed with what few personal belongings she thought she may need. Dressed in a tight black dress and kitten heels, Brooklyn was ready to make an impression, hopefully after a shower and a chance to wash the heap of hair she'd piled on top of her head in a messy bun.
"You ready Agent Hayes?" Agent Rollins asked as he gestured toward the tarmac. She nodded with a subtle smile as she followed him, rolling her little black suitcase with her duffle draped over it behind her to the quinjet.
About ten minutes after landing on the roof of the New York SHIELD base, Brooklyn received a message from one of her coworkers to the group text- Agent Johnson has been picked to be Captain America's handler. He's starting to wake up now.
"Shit!" Brooklyn abandoned her luggage and took the stairs two at a time until she reached the bottom floor, pushing through the doors to the lobby in time to see a tall, casually dressed blonde man looking around before sprinting past her in a blind panic. He looked like a terrified animal trying to run for his life, and Brooklyn wondered what seven decades in the ice had done to his mind. This didn't seem like the Star Spangled Man with a Plan from the promotional war bond reels Brooklyn had watched on her tablet all the way from D.C.
She turned with a sigh and strode through the double doors he'd burst through, seeing Agent Johnson standing in the middle of rubble with a radio in her hand. The brunette was shaking, and Brooklyn laughed as she approached, clapping loudly to get the woman's attention.
"I see it went well." Brooklyn teased as she came to a stop next to Agent Johnson, kicking away a piece of the shattered wall. She peeked past Johnson to see a set up looking like it was straight out of the forties, "Ohhh, I see what we did here. He figured it out, didn't he?"
"What do you want, Brooklyn?" Agent Johnson growled as she scratched at her scalp, unbuttoning her white top. "What are you even doing here? I thought you were stationed south?"
"I was, but I heard about all the excitement and I wanted in on the action."
"Well, you'd enjoy it more than me. I expected a little confusion, I didn't expect him to jump me in less than two minutes." The other woman grumbled as she finally stepped away from the forties set, "Scared the shit out of me."
Brooklyn hummed, pulling liquid lipstick out of her bra and turned on the front-facing camera on her phone to apply the mahogany color that matched her hair, "So, what are you supposed to do, babysit him?"
"Pretty much." Johnson answered slowly, "Why? Would you rather do it?"
"I didn't say that!" Brooklyn exclaimed, pulling a bottle of water out of her purse and handing it to Johnson before tossing her lipstick into the bag. "You were chosen for a reason, I'm just saying, you look really shaken."
Agent Johnson seemed to calm herself as she drank the water, considering Brooklyn's words. "He's big as an ox. You know how he broke through that wall? He tossed two men through it. Tossed them, Brooklyn! Like they barely weighed anything."
"Sounds like a fun time." Brooklyn teased, but Johnson didn't find it funny. Brooklyn sighed, "Put yourself in his shoes. Wouldn't you be scared?"
"I'd be scared and skeptical, not angry."
"Last thing he remembers is crashing a Nazi vessel into the ice, as far as he knew, we were Nazis. Are you a Nazi, Alex?"
"Ha. Ha. Whatever. I don't care if he is Captain America. He's frightening."
Brooklyn shrugged, wiping the corner of her lips with her finger, "Listen, Alex, if you aren't up for the task, I'll take a whack at it."
"You? You want to rehabilitate Captain America?" Alex asked incredulously, "It's basically the opposite of what you do."
"I want a challenge and a change. Plus, I'm not afraid of him."
"Alright. Go for it. If you can convince Fury, he's all yours. Have fun being used as a human bowling ball." Agent Johnson shrugged as she handed off her radio and stormed away.
Proud of herself, Brooklyn pushed through the double doors to the lobby in time to see Director Fury leading Captain America back into the building. Brooklyn bit the inside of her cheeks as she tried to figure out how to make her move. Fury would want to talk to Captain America alone. They'd go to his office. The elevator. She power walked back to the stairwell, trying not to draw unnecessary attention.
"One, two, three, four…" Brooklyn counted to herself as she took the stairs three at a time to the third floor before bursting into the hallway, continuing to count how long it would take for Director Fury and the asset to reach the elevator. "Five, six, seven, eight…"
She took a deep breath as she stopped in front of the elevator, pulling the hem of her dress down so it was less revealing. She hit the up button, knowing soon the doors would open and she'd have to weasel her way into Captain America's life.
Ding.
The doors slid apart and Brooklyn smiled at Nick Fury as he greeted her with a scowl.
"Director."
"Going down, Agent Hayes?"
"Nope. Going to your office to have a meeting with you." Brooke answered firmly, situating herself in front of the men in the elevator as she turned to face the closing doors. She spared a quick glance at Captain America, but she couldn't keep his gaze. Alex was right, he was massive, and his imposing frame was suffocating her in the small space.
The ding alerted the three that they'd arrived at Fury's office, and the man behind Brooklyn gasped. She turned to look at him, needing to see his expression and finding him shifting uncomfortably in her gaze. She smirked, realizing the brute was shy. "I'm Agent Hayes."
The doors opened as he finally spoke to Brooklyn, shoving his hand forward as he blurted, "Steve Rogers." She studied his hand for a moment, nervous to touch the super soldier. In a moment of weakness, Brooklyn turned and strode out of the elevator, pausing only to wait for Fury to let her into his office.
"Why don't you wait out here for a few minutes, Cap? I'd like to speak with Agent Hayes in private."
Brooklyn stiffened. She didn't want to speak with the Director alone. She'd get an earful for barging into the elevator with them. Steve Rogers didn't seem to mind her getting her ass chewed, as he answered like the soldier he was, "Yes, Sir."
Brooklyn felt her stomach drop as Fury led her into his office and immediately turned on her the moment the door closed, "What is it, Hayes?"
"I want to be his handler."
Fury raised his brow, gnawing his molars against each other as he stared down the agent, "Why?"
"Agent Johnson is shaken. She's not up for handling him, I want to do it. I've never had an asset; I think I'd be good at it."
"I called you here to send you to New Mexico with Barton, not hang out with Captain America."
Brooklyn tilted her head curiously, looking out the window as she considered which assignment would be more fun. Going into solitary confinement with an elderly veteran or hanging out with Hawkeye in the dessert. She knew which companion would be more fun, but she had orders of her own. "Sir, I'd like you to reconsider. I think I'd be better suited for this. Johnson is scared."
"She's a professional, she'll shake it off and be fine."
Brooklyn threw her arms to the side and waved them around, "That man's had a traumatic experience that we can't even imagine, and you want him to be brought up to speed by a woman who's too scared to be in the same room as him? I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything, you know this." She placed her hands on her hips and stared at Fury, "Please, Director Fury. I'm the best person for this job."
"Fine. You'll take him to the Retreat for a few weeks. If he's happy with the work you do with him, you can keep him as your asset moving forward. If he's unhappy, you go to New Mexico and we'll bring in somebody else."
"Thank you! I promise, you won't regret this." Brooklyn lied, feeling her heart settle in her chest. Secretary Pierce would be happy.
Informing Steve Rogers that Brooklyn would be his handler went about as well as she'd expected from her brief encounter with him in the elevator. He was stiff and resigned. She thought for a moment he was going to argue for Alex to take over, but he accepted Brooklyn as his handler.
After a few more minutes, Brooklyn began to see that she wasn't the only person he was wary about. He was wary about the whole situation. She decided to push him a little and see what he said. She stood and walked away, noticing how his blue eyes followed her, "You do know who started SHIELD, don't you?"
"Why would he know that Hayes, he's been awake for an hour and a half." Fury spat to Brooklyn, but she looked to see Steve's response. He didn't answer her taunting, so she looked back out the window.
Just thought maybe he'd want to know."
"That's your job, Agent Hayes. Why don't you get packed? I'll have transport pick you up at 0600 hours tomorrow morning to accompany Cap to the Retreat." Director Fury suggested, and Brooklyn knew it was time for her to leave. Fury knew she'd just flown in from D.C. and had nothing to pack up. He just wanted her gone.
Brooklyn stared at Fury for a moment, then looked to the stiff soldier sitting across from the Director. She gave him a flirty wink and purred, "See you in the morning, Captain."
He didn't answer as she swept out of the room. She didn't look back. Brooklyn pulled her cell phone out the moment she got in the elevator and sent Pierce a message- I'm the handler.
She rode to the roof and grabbed her discarded luggage before finding the base's receptionist to get a free room for the night. It would be an early morning briefing.