Disclaimer: I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agents of SHIELD, etc. I own Jamie.

Chapter 23
The Interview

"Pepper, I really don't think this is such a good idea," Jamie muttered.

Pepper just chuckled, checking her emails on her phone as she sat on the white sofa in the dressing room. Jamie was sitting at the vanity, a makeup artist standing next to her touching up on her with powdered foundation. She kept glaring at her, forcing her to sit still as Jamie fidgeted and kept talking to the strawberry blonde.

"I mean, this isn't me," Jamie muttered. "I-I don't do things like this. Why am I doing this?"

"Because the Avengers need some positive press and you're the best candidate for that," Pepper answered.

"How am I the best possible candidate?" Jamie gaped. "I mean, I've never done anything like this before."

"Because the public will want to hear from one of the Avengers, and preferably one that was involved with what happened with SHIELD. Natasha's not the right candidate with her colored past before SHIELD, and Sam's never been in the public eye before, plus he isn't an Avenger. And Steve…" Pepper didn't go on, but she didn't need to.

It had been almost a month since the fall of the Triskelion and SHIELD. And he barely spoke. As each week passed, he spoke a bit more,but for the most part, Steve was always lost in thought. What time he didn't spend training was spent searching for any sign of Bucky's whereabouts.

It scared the hell out of Jamie, to say the least. It wasn't healthy. Steve barely ate, and that was very concerning when you factored in that Steve's metabolism burned four times faster than a regular man's. He didn't sleep, and when he did he had nightmares. Steve had temporarily moved into Jamie's place since his was a bit in shambled after what happened with Fury. Now the place was littered with boxes. So Jamie knew just how many times Steve woke up from nightmares. He would get up, pace around his room, go and research more. She would get up even though he insisted for her not to.

Jamie didn't know how to help. She was already helping him look. She tried to talk to him about it, but he always shut her down completely or would change the subject. She was scared. And she knew Sam was worried too.

Jamie sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You an talk anybody into anything, can't you," Jamie muttered.

"Except getting Tony to put my name on a lease," she chuckled, as if it were some sort of inside joke. "You will do just fine, Jamie." Pepper put her phone away and got up. She walked over to Jamie, sending away the make up person. "Cat Carter is a great reporter, and she's respectful to those who deserve it. She's always been a supporter of the Avengers. She's already agreed not to ask questions about the investigation of what happened with SHIELD, so you'll be fine. I promise," Pepper assured her. "And you look fantastic."

Jamie's blue eyes rolled in was dressed in a short dress Pepper had brought she had one was picked out by Pepper herself. The dress was short, and the skirt of it was stripped black and white, while the top, with cut out sides was solid black. Around her feet were black ballet flats with ankle wraps, much like ballet point shoes, only much thinner and less showy. One her wrists she had black and white bangles, and her ears had simple black studs.

"There's just one last thing," Pepper said, a small smirk on her lips. She reached down at the drawer at the vanity, pulling it open. She reached inside and pulled out a small, velvet jewelry case. "Tony specifically told me to give this to you," she said.

Jamie took the case cautiously. She opened it, her eyes landing on a silver necklace, the pendant shaped with an outer circle, and in the middle was a single star. It looked like Cap's shield. Jamie looked up at Pepper, giving her a pointed look. "This is Tony's version of a joke, isn't it?"

Pepper chuckled. "Probably, but it is pretty."

She had a point. Jamie pulled it out, holding the light material in her hand. It is pretty, Jamie thought. And it was the most expensive piece of jewelry she now owned, no doubt. "He's going to give you hell if I don't wear this, isn't he?"

"Yes," Pepper said.

Jamie sighed, putting the necklace on. At the same time, one of the set managers came in to retrieve her. Pepper and Jamie followed. She was seated out on set, Pepper watching from just off to the side. It was about five more minutes before Cat Carter walked out onto the set and tool the comfortable chair next to her.

"Private Roe, I have to say, I am very excited to have you here. Thank you for coming," Cat said, shaking her hand excitedly.

"We're live in one minute!"the cameraman informed them.

"Thanks for having me," Jamie said, taking her hand before she sat down.

"I just wanted to assure you that I respect the boundaries put forth by your representative. Having guests is an honor, not a privilege," she went on.

Jamie was impressed. "I like the way you operate, Ms. Carter."

"Please, it's just Cat," she insisted.

"On in five, four, three two…" He motioned for Cat to go on.

"Good evening, This is Cat Carter," she said, looking directly into the camera. "And tonight we have the privilege of having Private Jameson Roe, more commonly known as Solace of the Avengers."

"Again, thank you for having me. I'm honestly not fond of politics, but I do have a soft spot for your show," Jamie admitted.

Cat seemed to enjoy hearing that. She went on with the interview. "Well, since a lot of your past was revealed recently, why don't you tell us a little about yourself? Get the facts straight. Let us in on who Jameson Roe, Solace really is," Cat said.

"Well, first of all, I don't like to be called Jameson. Jamie's fine. Uh, let's see. I lived with my brother and father until I was thirteen. They both were in the military and died in the war. After that I was in foster care. Joined the United States Marine Corps when I was eighteen. Went through Sniper training. Did that for several years."

"Was that what you always wanted to do?" Cat asked. "Follow in your family's footsteps?"

"Yes, actually," Jamie said. "My family has been in the military for as many generations as I'm aware of."

"What about your mother?"

"Never knew my mother," she answered. "She died when I was little."

"Where did you obtain your abilities?"

"That is a long story," she muttered. "Let's just leave it at unauthorized experimentation on a foreign party's behalf."

"Okay, why don't we change things up a little bit," Cat suggested. "How about something a little lighter. Have you ever googled yourself?"

Jamie laughed, nodding her head. "Yes, I have. And it's the weirdest thing. Before all of this information came out, a friend of mine told me about the fanfiction community and I checked a couple out. Some were really well written."

"I did my own research on that as well," Cat said. "There seem to be a lot of pairings between you and a certain Captain Rogers. Care to elaborate on that?"

"Well, Steve and I aren't romantically involved, if that was what you were trying to fish out. We're good friends and Teammates."

"Why don't you tell us a little about your friend? Perhaps things people don't always see from him, or common misconceptions."

"Well, I guess Steve often strikes people as simple. And he is. Where people go wrong is when they think simple means the same thing as stupid. And he's far from stupid. He has one of the best calculating, strategic minds I have ever worked with. And that's one of the things that really makes him capable of doing his job.

"But primarily, it's everything that makes him him that really allows him to do what he does. You see, if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an idea, you become something else entirely: a legend, or a symbol. And that's what Steve is. All he wants to do is the right thing. Protect people. That's his ideal. And in trying to do that, he's become the legend everybody knows today. They say Captain America is Steven Rogers, but Steven Rogers is Captain America. Not the other way around."

"It seems to me that you think very highly of our dear Captain," Cat said with a smirk.

"I do," she said. "I think highly of all the members on our team."

"Other than Captain America, who do you find you are around most?"

"Widow," she answered.

"Tell us more about her."

"She is a woman, and she has a life outside of work, just like the rest of us. She likes to play matchmaker, that's for sure," Jamie chuckled.

"Is that so? Who has she tried matchmaking with?"

"Me, Steve."

"You two together or separate?"

"Uh, I'm not going to answer that," Jamie chuckled.

"Okay, okay," she laughed. "You can't blame me for trying. Why don't we go back to a little bit of SHIELD. We still don't really know much about what SHIELD agents were like, what they did. We all know the stereotypical version of CIA agents, but we don't know anything of what SHIELD agents were like."

"Well, I guess you could say," Jamie muttered, thinking of how to word it. "Most of them looked like accountants, but kicked butt like Navy Seals."

"What do you plan on doing now that your career with SHIELD is over?" Cat asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, to be honest," Jamie said. "I may just take some time to relax. Visit some friends. SHIELD kept me rather busy, and I'm afraid my friends have been a bit neglected."

"That sounds like it'll be lovely," Cat said. "One of those friends, I assume, is Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four?"

"Yes, actually, he's been bugging me to come up and visit for quite some time, especially the last couple of weeks," Jamie answered.

"We only have time for one more questions," Cat said. "Now, I'm curious. The military, the Avengers, SHIELD, all things that some would consider heroic paths. Why do you do what you do?"

"Recently,, I was reminded of that," Jamie said. "A man that I didn't always quite understand at first, but I now respect a good deal, said that "Man can accomplish when he is a part of something bigger. SHIELD was founded for the specific purpose of protecting everybody no matter who they are. It doesn't matter what it's from.

"That's all I want to do. I've been through bad things because of some horrible people. As another very close friend of mine says, "I don't like bullies. I don't care who they are." I like to go by that," Jamie said.

"That was very nicely put, Jamie," Cat said. "Thank you so much for coming today.

"No, it was my pleasure," Jamie said.

Jamie went back to the dressing room to grab her bag before she left. Pepper offered to take her out for lunch before she had to fly back to Malibu. Jamie wasn't one to pass up free food. All she had to do was grab her bag and her jacket and head out.

However, the second she opened her door, Jamie was met with the overwhelming smell of something utterly disgusting. Her stomach lurched, the content of her breakfast threatening to come back up. She held herself together though, her eyes never leaving the source of the smell.

Rose of Sharon. That was the choice of poison this time. Or, the choice of gift from her stalker this time around. Reluctantly, Jamie walked up to the flowers and grabbed the card, reading it over:

"I desire to be with you. I miss you. I feel lonely when I can't see you. I hunger for your taste, your smell, the feel of your soul touching mine. I suppose that until we are reunited once more, I shall share you with the public that adores you so, and shall protect you from those who dare dirty your name, my dearest Solace.

Until we meet again, my dearest."

And I desire to be left the hell alone, you sick fucking son of a bitch, Jamie though, crumpling it and putting it in her bag. Let me the hell alone you asshole. She shook her head, departing without a single flower, trying her best to not think about them at all as she went out with Pepper.

I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Cat Carter was created for this specific purpose. I didn't want to just those Jamie into an interview with someone nobody knew, so that's why I fit her into a couple other chapters. Anyway, this was so much fun, and I hope you guys had fun reading it!

Also, just posted a new Marvel story, one that's rather different from this one and will have a whole lot of Phil and Tony in it, if anybody's interested int that.

Thanks go to the following people for their reviews on the previous chapter:

Jedi Jelsa777- I'll be here before you know it! I really can't wait for it. Too excited. I love Trip. I can't wait to have more of him in the story too. He's just the sweetest little thing!

Jo- I'm too excited. They just keep coming out with little tiny bits of new scenes in the commercial and I'm just pumped! I can't wait to see Bucky again! I just keep keep falling more in love with him.

CJ/OddBall- Of course it's Phil. I love Phil. I know, their abilities are just amazing, isn't it? I just posted a new marvel story, and Phil plays a very important part in it. As does Tony.

seasidewriter1- Oh, and they'll play an even larger roll to come (And even more so in the new fic I'm doing as well). I love how big the universe is, and all the little connections and references there are. I'm glad everything with the play has gone well. I'm glad that reading this story helps you calm down. I know the same thing (though obviously not my story) does the same for me. And your statement about how this shows just how much Jamie cares for Steve is great. Just keep that in mind for future reference when things start to go down...You'll know what I mean when it comes up. ;)