Hey, guys, what's up?

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who's followed this story, added it on their 'favorites' list and reviewed it. Suffice it to say, you're great!

Enjoy the next chapter!

Disclaimer: The characters, settings, and everything else, are not my propriety. It all belongs to fabulous Marvel Studios and Disney.

Chapter two

"It's your choice whether you want this to go the easy way, or the hard way."

Sharon blinked twice before raising her eyes. In the couple of hours after she was brought in by the CIA to one of the interrogation rooms they had in their North Carolina facility, she had zoned out spectacularly. Despite the fine layer of cold sweat that had broken out as soon as she woke up, her mind was clear. She knew exactly what was going to happen and what she was going to do.

It was her ex commander, Everett Ross, who had spoken. He was dressed exactly like the last time she'd seen him. Grey suit, hair combed neatly to the side, and a dark blue tie. "So you're the good cop." Sharon said. "Who's the bad one?"

"You don't want to meet him. And I hope you won't, despite our significant efforts to find you," Ross murmured. He took a chair in front of her and sat down, opening a file that contained her personal information as well as her military career. "Sharon Carter, aged twenty-six. An impressive background as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, but I already knew that," he raised an eyebrow and turned the page. Sharon stared. It was a picture of her talking to Steve after Peggy's funeral. "What I didn't know was that you had such a close relationship with Steve Rogers. I don't suppose that's also part of the inheritance you got from Margaret Carter, is it?"

"Not really," Sharon answered. "I grew up hearing stories of Captain America, but that's it. My friendship with Steve is my own. Not that it's any of your business."

Everett leaned back in his chair. "And still, you dishonor your family name by aiding known fugitives, including a Hydra agent, the organization your aunt has dedicated her life to destroy. Why is that, agent Carter?"

Sharon ignored his direct question, "I always try to stay clear of my family's legacy. I want to walk my own path. There's one thing, though, that I got from her with pride." She learned forward a bit, just to make her point. "And that's loyalty. I know how this works, agent Everett. If you think you can make me feel ashamed of my protecting Steve Rogers and his associates, you're wrong. If there's someone in this room that should feel ashamed, that's you. You're the one who's trying to arrest a man whose only crime was helping his best friend. A friend that, if I remember correctly, was brainwashed for years by Hydra."

"Barnes isn't what this little chat is about. You are. You stormed in, stole the gadgets of Captain America's patriotic gang and quite possibly started a war. Alone. Are you aware of what you might have caused?"

Sharon hadn't actually taken the time to reflect on what she'd done, but now… well, she could have started a war. Truth was, the Sokovia accords had done that way before her when it tried to turn superheroes into puppets for the government to mess with. When she actually sat down with Steve after Peggy's funeral and talked about it, he was sure this could be the beginning of the end for the superheroes. Accepting limitations from the UN was accepting the corruption that followed it. And Sharon was positive she would do everything possible to help Steve with his cause, regardless of the attraction she felt for him.

And so Sharon didn't answer Everett's accusation because frankly, there wasn't a way for her to bury herself deeper than what she'd already done, so what was the point?

"We need you to tell us everything you know about the Captain's plans and whereabouts. And we want you to cooperate. You've worked with us brilliantly before this mess. It's safe to assume you're fired," he stated, "but there's no need for our relationship to go nasty. The sooner you tell us what you know, miss Carter, the sooner we can get this over with."

Sharon wasn't about to spill Cap's secrets to C.I.A, especially after the way they had been treating her. Suffice it to say, the cuffs that bound her wrists to the table she was sitting in front of wasn't comfortable in the least. And she'd be damned if she was going to break Steve's trust after he'd told her his plans.

"Sorry, agent Everett" she said. "I'm not going to betray Captain America."

"This is a matter of world security. You know what this means," Everett said. Sharon noticed he looked sad all of a sudden. "You know what I'll have to do if you don't cooperate."

Sharon knew what would happen.

The world used to look at CIA with trust. People used to think that, despite being controlled by the U.S. government, it was an example of how an Intelligence agency in a democratic country should be conducted. A lot of threats were neutralized thanks to the mutual alliance SHIELD had with CIA. It all changed, though, with the 9/11 attacks. Bush administration waged a war against Terror, which meant the CIA was authorized to activate the Black Bird Protocol when national (and world) security was at stake. In other words, CIA was authorized to torture any suspects of terrorism with valuable information.

Aiding a known fugitive accused of helping a man who'd tortured and killed thousands of people over the last century, and refusing to share information that could potentially end a war that exploded between superheroes and the UN? That (kind of) fit the description.

Sharon knew from the moment she helped the Captain, that CIA would come for her. And she was quite aware that when they did, she'd have to withstand torture.

"I know about Black Bird. It won't change my position." She murmured.

Everett took a deep breath before replying. "It's your funeral."

"Are you sure this intel came from a good source?"

"I've never given you bad intel, Steve. Being on the run doesn't mean being stupid."

Steve chuckled. "Gotta make sure you're still sharp. If you need anything, you know you can count on me."

Natasha took a few seconds to answer. "I'm lying low for a little while. Got things I need to take care of. I'll be in touch soon enough. And Steve? I'm glad you called that nurse."

"She's not a nurse."

"I know" she murmured, and hung up. Steve took a deep breath. He hadn't imagined Nat would actually betray Tony and help him when things got tough. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have gotten out of the airport with Bucky, and he wouldn't have gotten all the intel he needed to break his colleagues out. As it was, he owned Nat a lot. He doubted, though, he was going to see her anytime soon. Black Widow had a habit of being on her own from time to time, and he still didn't know eighty percent of what she did during those periods of isolation. He wondered if she somehow still had connections to people in Russia and in the Red Room.

As Hawkeye and Sam released the rest of the prisoners, Steve put his phone away and checked the communications panel at the security office. No contact was made from the outside world, and no apparent alarms had gone off. They still had some time to escape.

"Finally" Wanda murmured, rolling her shoulders and stretching. "It's impossible to move in that thing."

"I guess that's the point", Scott said as Sam released him, at last. "They don't want you running around with all that… thing you got."

"Regardless of what they want, you're not animals," Steve stated, calling everyone to attention before Wanda could stare at Scott any longer. "You shouldn't be locked away like this when everything you've done has been saving people. It's savage, and that's why I'm here. I'm putting you guys away in a safe location, if you want. It's secluded, but there's plenty of room for you to do… well, whatever you want."

A minute passed as all the heroes assessed their options. "If there's any possibility for my family to join me, I'm in", Hawkeye said. "I can't abandon them, especially now."

"Of course," Steve said.

"I think it's safe to say we're all in" Sam started. "I for once don't want anybody shooting at me. Your friendship is not boring at all, Cap."

There was a general consent from the room, and Steve smiled a little bit as he considered Sam's words. How far had everyone gone for him? Clint and Scott had even put their families in danger when they helped him, and there was no saying in how badly things would still go from now on. They were all fugitives, and despite Steve's hope that Tony would eventually see reason, things looked pretty bleak for Cap's team. Black Panther's help had been a pleasant surprise, and it gave everyone room to breathe.

"So, can we leave? I'm done being hunted," Wanda asked.

"Not yet," Steve said. "We still have a stop to make."

Ps: I don't know exactly what CIA does with its prisoners (I don't think anyone knows, really haha) so everything that concerns it is just my imagination, and how I think it would work in the MCU.

I'll probably post the next chapter in a couple of days, so no worries. What do you think of it so far? =)