The next morning, Laura and Steve angrily marched into Fury's office on the top floor of one of the tower of The Triskelion.
Still upset over the Lemurian Star they walked up to him who was at his desk.
Him facing away from them.
The floor to ceiling windows revealing the perfectly clear day.
"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve accused, still in his uniform.
Her in her jeans and hoodie.
He spun his chair around.
"I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours." Fury argued.
"Omitting the truth is still lying, Nick. I seem to recall this was the nonsense that kept me away from SHIELD." Laura spat
. Steve looked at her with surprise.
Fury got up to face her.
"I seem to recall you being far aware of how SHIELD operates, Watson." he indicated.
She frowned, remembering her mission with Nat in Ukraine.
"Those hostages could've died, Nick." Steve countered.
"And I sent the greatest solider in history along with a person trained by the greatest spy in history to make sure that didn't happen." Fury defended himself.
"Soldiers trust each other, that's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around and shooting guns." Steve stated.
"The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye. Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything." he said, Laura listening on silently.
"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their owns." Steve argued again.
"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all." Fury replied.
"Except you." Steve continued to accuse.
"You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that." Fury said and got up.
Laura frowned as she and Steve followed him to the elevator.
The door closing behind them as they turned around.
"Insight bay." Fury ordered.
The A.I. on the touch screen highlighted Steve and Laura's face, denying them entry.
"Captain Rogers and Ms. Watson do not have clearance for Project Insight." it announced.
"Director override, Fury, Nicholas J"
"Confirmed."
"You revoked my security clearance?" Laura asked Fury confused.
"The Security Council has decided to revoke it after the events in New York." Fury answered.
"After I, along with everyone else, cleaned up their mess regarding Phase 2 and an actual alien invasion." she spat.
He looked down at the small woman.
"You'll be surprised to learn Watson that even I have my orders to follow." he replied.
She raised an eyebrow curiously.
The three stood in silence while the elevator rapidly descended.
"You know, they used to play music." Steve told them.
"Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years. My granddad worked in a nice building, he got good tips." Fury began.
"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." he replied.
"Did he ever get mugged?" she asked.
He chuckled.
"Every week some punk would say, "What's in the bag?" Fury answered.
"What did he do?" Steve asked.
"He'd show 'em. Bunch of crumpled ones and loaded .22 Magnum." he said, Laura smiled approvingly.
"Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."
The elevator descended into the basement underneath the Potomac, revealing the Insight Bay.
Laura and Steve turned around to see three giant Helicarriers.
She dropped her mouth in shock.
"Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22." Fury said sarcastically.
The elevator stopped at the basement and the three walked around.
Laura watching the hundreds of SHIELD agents scrambling around them.
Loading dozens of Quinjets by crane onto the decks of the carriers.
The ships themselves having thousands of guns and artillery pieces on them.
High above their heads.
Laura swallowed with unease while they walked on a gangplank.
"This is Project Insight. Three next generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites." Fury announced.
"Launched from the Lemurian Star." Steve realized.
"Once we get them in the air they never need to come down. Continuous suborbital flight courtesy of our new repulsor engines." Fury said as they walked underneath one. Laura easily recognizing the Stark design.
"Tony helped you guys?" she asked.
Feeling betrayed, since he never told her.
Fury stopped in place and turned back to her, hearing the betrayal in her voice.
"He had a few suggestions once he got an up close look at our old turbines. 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." he said confidently.
"So, you're response to what happened in New York is to give the Security Council three gigantic helicarriers…" she began angrily.
Steve listening on.
"The Security Council who's first response to an alien invasion of New York is to nuke it…" the New Yorker said through her clenched teeth.
"Watson…" Fury began but she put her hand up, stopping him.
"Vaporizing millions of innocent people. Let alone the fallout afterwards. Destroying my home. After only a few hours, which by the way, wouldn't have actually solved the problem since the ship was in that portal… in space." she said sardonically.
"SHIELD takes the world as it is Watson, not as we'd like it to be." he justified.
"This is fear." Steve argued, agreeing with her.
"It's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap." Fury sighed.
"Don't hold your breath."
The two walked out to the parking garage, Laura still fuming.
"I'll meet you over at the Smithsonian. I need to talk to Tony first." she hissed as they walked towards her car.
Steve's bike parked in the spot next to her.
"Okay, thanks for backing me up in there." he said with a smile.
"Trust me. I've had my own personal issues with SHIELD over the years. And the whole me only trusting the amount of people on my hand." she said while opening up the driver door.
"I hope I'm one of those people Laura." Steve said hopefully.
"You are."
Laura drove out onto the bridge over the Potomac, heading for the Smithsonian while talking to Tony via the large touch screen in the car.
Her arguing with him over Project Insight.
He countered, saying how dangerous the world is, despite him not agreeing with SHIELD mostly.
Her arguing that she never forgave them for New York.
She was driving down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the mall with them still arguing.
"Look, Watson, all I did was offer some help. I don't see why you're getting so worked up about it." she heard Tony's voice.
"Because you went around me!" she said loudly.
She could hear Tony silently wince on the other end.
"You knew I would disagree and decided to just not tell me. Did you think I just wouldn't find out?" she said, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"That's not what I…" he said but sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry for going around you. That wasn't my intention." he apologized.
She stopped at a red light in the middle lane and sank back into her seat.
Relaxing.
"Thank you. I just don't trust people. So, uh I'll be in D.C. till tomorrow then head back up to New York. Then we'll launch the streaming service." she told him.
"Assuming you won't bail on anymore meetings." he joked.
She scowled at the screen.
"You can only make me do so much. Like I told you when I accepted this job. I'm an engineer. I hate the corporate world." she repeated.
"And yet you're still in it." Tony said smugly.
"Only because I like money." she joked.
"Uh, huh…" he said before hanging up.
The light turned green and she sped ahead of the heavy traffic.
Enjoying the brief moment of silence.
She shook her wrist to reveal her bracelet underneath her Knicks hoodie and smiled.
Wishing she with him instead of here.
She met up with Steve outside the Air and Space Museum who was hidden underneath a baseball cap.
She pulled the hood over her curls and followed him inside.
Walking around the crowded exhibit of families walking around the exhibit of Captain America and the Howling Commandoes.
Not recognizing them.
A voice over was heard over the speakers.
"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice. 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."
They walked farther inside but a boy dressed in a Captain America SHIELD shirt recognized them.
He went wide eyed and Laura smiled and gave him a wink.
Steve gestured with his finger to shush him and he nodded in understanding.
"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission, taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division. The two walked up to a display of the commandoes.
Steve staring intently at a screen showing black and white video of the two smiling.
Laura noticing him.
"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."
They walked to an adjacent room which was showing footage of Peggy Carter from 1953.
"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. 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."
Steve discreetly opening up an old compass with a photo of Peggy in it.
After going through the exhibit, the two walked out back towards her car parked in a spot along the street.
"So I never got to thank you for backing me up with Fury earlier. I appreciate it." he smiled at her.
She smiled back.
"Trust me. The only reason I'm still occasionally involved with SHIELD is Nat." she replied, he frowned.
"Romanoff? Really?" he asked surprised.
"Listen, I know she can be a bit… well you know. You're her partner now and everything but I trust her with my life. We've been out in the field and everything so when she hit the fan, which it did, I do trust her to make the right calls. I just ask you to not be so hard on her. She can only do so much." she explained.
"The two of you were out in the field?" he asked surprised, she nodded.
"Yeah, it was before you were found. Long story short, it didn't go down well…" she sighed but her Stark Phone vibrated in her pocket.
She pulled it out to read a text from Nat on the large screen saying "I've got a bottle back at my place. Don't think you can hide with Rogers all day to escape your interrogation :)" she read and frowned.
"Romanoff?" Steve asked and she nodded.
"Yeah. I've gotta meet up with her before I head back to HQ2. It was nice seeing you again, Steve. And I'll swing by tonight with Empire Strikes Back. Trust me, it's so much better than "A New Hope." she said and reached up to hug him. He hugged her back.
"You too, Laura. And I'll trust your word on that."
Laura made her way back to Nat's one bedroom walk up apartment.
She was staying with her while down in D.C. on the pullout couch in the living room.
The two currently on it, spending the afternoon drinking.
The half empty bottle of Vodka on the table with two shot glasses.
Nat trying to pry info about "her boyfriend" out of her to no avail.
The alcohol not having its desired effect.
"C'mon, Laura this guy can't be that important to even not tell me anything." she tried again.
"I really can't tell anything. I don't even want to say anything. This is one thing I want to keep secret with so much of my life in the public sphere." she said, leaning back into the cushion.
Nat eyed her curiously.
"This guy is important to you isn't he?" she asked surprised.
"He is." Laura confirmed with a nod.
"So when is the wedding happening?" she joked.
Laura scowled.
"We've barely been going out. Now you want me to get married. What's next, having kids?" she said dramatically.
"I never said kids but I wouldn't mind having another nephew and niece to spoil." Nat joked.
"Well, you're gonna have to keep waiting. Like forever."
After spending the afternoon with Nat, darkness had fallen over D.C.
She picked up Thai food, which he told her he wanted to try which she was carrying in a bag in one hand and a copy of Empire Strikes Back in another.
She walked up the stoop of his apartment building with him waiting for her.
"So I've got the food and movie." she held them up.
"Sounds good." he smiled.
The two walked up the stairs where a woman was walking out of the apartment across the hall on her phone.
A basket of laundry in her arm.
Hanging up while turning around to face them.
"My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac." she said but spotted Laura.
"Hi, I'm Steve's neighbor. It's nice to meet you." she offered a handshake.
"You too." Laura said politely while shaking it.
"Hey, if you want... if you want, you're welcome to use my machine. Might be cheaper than the one in the basement." Steve offered kindly.
Laura stepping back a few paces.
"Oh, yeah? What's it cost?" his neighbor asked.
"A cup of coffee?" he asked hopefully.
Laura smirked with amusement.
"Thank you, but um... I already have a load in downstairs, and, uh...you really don't want my scrubs in your machine. I'm just finished orientation in the infectious diseases ward, so." she replied.
"Ah, well, I'll keep my distance." Steve smiled.
"Well hopefully not too far…" she said and Steve nodded.
He and Laura began to walk into his apartment but his neighbor spoke up.
"Oh, and I think you left your stereo on." she let him know.
The two shared a confused look, hearing the music from behind the door.
"Oh. Right, thank you." he said before she walked down the stairs.
They gave each other nod and Laura brought out her revolver from her jacket pocket.
Aiming it ahead and turning the safety off.
They headed back outside and climbed up to the window.
Steve slid it open and they discreetly crawled through it.
They silently crept through the kitchen towards the living room.
Laura had her gun aimed while she tilted her head around to see the record player playing and Fury sitting on the couch in the dark.
"I don't remember giving you a key." Steve stated.
Laura heard him wince while getting up.
"You really think I'd need one? My wife kicked me out." he replied.
"You're married?" she asked surprised.
"A lot of things you don't about me."
"I know, Nick. That's the problem…" Steve said while walking over to flip on the light switch.
That revealed a gun shot wound in the stomach and Laura went wide eyed.
He held up his hand silently and turned the lamp off next to the recliner.
He wrote a text on his phone saying "EARS EVERYWHERE"
Laura frowned.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, but I had no place else to crash." he hinted.
Showing another text saying "SHIELD COMPRIMISED"
"Who else knows about your wife?" she improvised.
He showed them another text saying while managing to get up.
"YOU. HIM. ME."
"Just...my friends."
"Is that what we are?" Steve asked carefully."
"That's up to you."
Suddenly three bullets were shot through the wall and Fury cried out in pain before collapsing.
"Nick!" Laura shouted before rushing down to catch him.
Supporting his weight against him.
She and him looked out the window to see the shooter on the roof across the street and a flash of medal reflected off the street lights.
Her eyes going wide eyed in realization behind her glasses.
Laura shared a grave look with Steve while he coughed in agony.
Managing to pull something out of his jacket pocket, revealing a drive.
Giving it to her from his bloodied hand.
"Don't… trust… anyone…" he coughed out before passing out.
"Shit…" she quickly took off her jacket.
Placing the drive in her jeans pocket while ripping a piece of the sleeve off so she could put pressure on one of his wounds.
Dropping her gun so she could use her other hand to press the jacket on another on the side of his waist.
They heard the door get kicked down and quickly turned their heads towards it.
Seeing his neighbor slowly walk in her pajamas with a gun aimed at them.
"Captain Rogers? Ms. Watson? Captain, I'm Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Service." she revealed.
"Kate?" he asked shocked.
"I'm assigned to protect you." she clarified.
"On whose order?" he asked but saw Laura applying pressure to his wounds while being held against her.
"His…" she rushed down to grab a radio from his pocket.
"Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive. I need EMTs." Kate ordered.
"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?" the agent on the other end asked.
Steve and Laura looked back up through the window and she saw the man with the familiar looking medal arm climb down the fire escape.
"Tell him I'm in pursuit…" Steve grabbed his Shield and smashed through the window.
Laura watched him go but looked down to see her jacket quickly getting soaked in blood.
"Hang on. I've got supplies back at my place." Kate said and she watched him rush out.
Realizing how rapidly she was breathing she forced herself to calm down, still holding an unconscious Fury who was slouched against her.
Fury was transported to a SHIELD operating room where Laura and Steve were watching the team of surgeons performing the emergency operation him.
Laura texted Nat while they were heading over who was in her bloodied T-Shirt.
The collar and hem of it stained in Fury's blood along with her hands covered in it.
Nat ran in and paled, seeing her boss under.
"He's he gonna make it?" she asked quietly.
"I don't know…" Laura managed to say.
Nat turned her head, just noticing her condition.
And her looking like she just saw a ghost.
"Tell me about the shooter." she asked.
"He's fast and strong. Had a metal arm." Steve answered.
Nat glanced towards him then back to Laura who was stills staring at Fury.
Slowly placing her hand on her shoulder, who turned to her.
"It was him." was all she said.
Nat swallowed while Agent Hill walked in.
"Ballistics?" Nat asked her, taking her hand off Laura.
"Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." Hill answered.
"Soviet-made." Nat stated.
"Yeah…" Hill said surprised.
Suddenly, the heart monitor began to beep more rapidly, getting their attention while the surgeons began to scramble.
"He's in V-tach."
"Crash cart coming in."
"Nurse, help me with the drape."
"BP is dropping."
"Defibrillator!"
"I want you to charge him at one hundred."
"Don't do this to me, Nick." Nat begged.
"Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!" the doctor gave Fury a shock with the defibrillator.
"Pulse?"
"No pulse."
"Okay. 200, please. Stand back! Three, two, one. Clear!"
"Give me epinephrine! Pulse?"
"Negative."
"Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me…" Nat continued to beg.
Laura reached over to grab her wrist comfortingly.
"What's the time?" the doctor asked.
"1:03, Doctor."
"Time of death, 1:03 a.m."
