Chapter 2 – The Project

Rose Sousa, once Rose Ward, was used to hard work. It taken a lot of it to escape her parent's house and even more to stay out of her brother's reach, especially once he had become a senator. Rose had taken whatever jobs she could, as long as it was off the books, one less way for Christian to track her. The last few months had been heaven, without Christian constantly seeking her out Rose had been able to change her name, legally, she had been able to take proper jobs but the guilt was there. A constant reminder of what she had done all those years ago, a constant reminder of the price her brother had payed. With Fury's offer of help, for both her and Grant, Rose worked night and day to track the brother she had let slip away all those years ago. Fury's files were extensive, tracking Grant's every movement from the time he joined the academy to his shooting less than a week ago. Rose was surprised to learn that Fury had kept an eye on him even when Coulson has lost track. It made Rose wonder if Fury really was serious about helping her brother, he could have brought the fugitive in the second he had escaped FBI custody but he hadn't. Rose knew Fury's interest wasn't charitable, he had called Grant and asset more than once but that didn't mean Rose couldn't use Fury's resources to find Grant.

Three days of searching night and day had produced no results. That didn't surprise Rose, Grant had never been particularly easy to find, even when he was technically on the grid. Now that he was off it was impossible. However Fury was right, if there was something her family did well it was the impossible.

Rose had found her brother before, she had been eighteen, he had been at SHIELD academy and didn't need his baby sister crashing his life. So Rose had stayed away, happy in the knowledge Grant was safe. It had taken her ten years to learn how wrong she had been. This was her chance to make up for it, to make up for everything.

"You're thinking too hard."

Rose looked up from the desk piled high with files and glared at the man sitting across from her, "What do you want?"

Steve Rogers smiled, the kind of smile that made most women weak at the knees but had absolutely no effect on Rose, most likely because she had met the man while visiting her grandmother in a nursing home or even the fact that the good captain had kissed that same grandmother during the war. Either way Captain America's charm didn't work on Rose but still he tried, "Making sure you eat and sleep."

Pulling a file off the pile Rose resumed her search, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." She paused briefly before adding, "And I ate breakfast this morning."

Steve lent forward, "It's eight o'clock at night."

Rose paused again, this time glaring up at Steve, "Don't you have a brainwashed ex-HYDRA agent to find?"

"Don't you?" Steve retorted.

"I'm trying," Rose snapped, "But people keep interrupting me."

"You're angry with me," Steve replied simply, it wasn't a question.

"What gave that away?" Rose snapped again.

Again Steve smiled, "You really are her granddaughter. The only difference is when she was angry she shot at me."

"Shut up, Steve."

Captain America held his hands up in surrender, "Peace, Rosie, peace." He lent forward, "What did I do this time?"

"Fury knew what I did for my brother," Rose paused before correcting herself, "What I did to him." She glared at Steve, "Very few people know what I did. Garrett, Christian and Christian are dead, my grandmother has dementia. Grant never had a clue, so that leaves you. I told you want happened and less than a month later Nick Fury learns. That's not a coincidence, Steve."

Steve Rogers didn't even try to hide his guilt, "You felt so guilty, Rose, and when your grandmother remembers she feels guilty too. When I learned Fury was keeping an eye on your brother I offered my help and when Grant disappeared I told Fury about you. You were spiralling, Rosie, you needed a project and …"

However Rose was no longer listening, desperately searching for one file that she had come across a couple of hours, or maybe days, ago. It wasn't a file on Grant himself so she had only skimmed it but what Steve was telling her brought the fil to the very front of her mind.

Steve had stopped talking instead choosing to watch the woman work, they may not have known each other long but he still knew better than to interrupt.

Eventually the shuffling stopped and Rose read the file again and again, kicking herself for not having found it sooner. She had been so focused on Grant she had forgotten to widen her search.

"You found him?" Steve finally spoke.

Rose looked up and shrugged, "I might have."

Steve seemed to choose his next words carefully, "Are you going to tell him what happened?"

"You mean am I going to tell my brother that the reason John Garrett found him, the reason he is a hunted man," Rose sighed, "Is because of me?"

Steve stood up, "You were a kid."

"I was thirteen," Rose snapped, "Old enough to know better. Years of experience with my own family should have taught me better than to trust someone, especially someone I never met."

"You can't blame Peggy for what happened."

"I don't," Rose assured the captain, "I contacted her, and she contacted Pierce, who contacted Garrett, who got to Grant. I started the chain, I can't blame one of the links. No one knew Pierce and Garrett were HYDRA, how could she?"

"How could you?" Steve asked.

Rose actually smiled, "I walked into that one didn't I?"

"You did," Steve admitted, he sighed, "So did you find him?"

"Maybe," Rose admitted, "There is five years missing from Grant's file, between leaving juvie and joining the academy. The file says he was at home, only he wasn't. I couldn't find out where he was, but I found out where John Garrett spent his down time." She smiled, "He had a non-SHIELD project, a cabin he was building in a forest."

Steve looked doubtful, "You think your brother is there?"

"Maybe," Rose sighed, "But it's worth a try." Steve nodded but didn't interrupt so Rose continued, "Can you keep Fury away for now. He brought me in because Grant might actually let me find him, if he sees Fury, or anyone else, he will run and I'm not sure I'll ever catch up."

Steve nodded, "Whatever you need."

The cabin took longer to find than Rose would have liked. Garrett had acted like a good little SHIELD agent and informed the agency what he was doing in his down time, building a cabin for his retirement. Garrett had told them about the cabin so they hadn't asked too many questions. Only Garrett hadn't exactly detailed the cabin's location, a forest and a state were as close as Rose could get. Garrett had wanted SHIELD to trust him but he hadn't wanted them to find him.

The cabin was in a clearing, somewhere that had once been a clearing, years of disuse and neglect had let the forest creep back in, but still the cabin stood. Someone had been through the area recently, they had hidden their presence well but years of hiding from Christian and her parents had taught Rose to spot a single blade of grass out of place. Someone was here, and they didn't want to be found.

Rose could almost feel the gun trained on her as she made her way towards the cabin. She suddenly wished she'd accepted Steve's offer to join her. However Rose didn't back down, she had come too far to give up now. Before she really could give in Rose knocked on the door.

The door opened and Rose couldn't help but smile as she crossed her arms, "Well brother dear, what trouble have you gotten into this time?"

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