In the Still of the Night
Chapter Twelve: Don't Be That Way
It wasn't long before Vera found herself in the place she thought she would never have to set foot in again. The SHIELD base they took her to was different than the one she had worked in in New York City: this one was smaller, but more state-of-the-art than the NYC one (although, Vera figured this could be because it had been a few years since she had been in a SHIELD base and technology had changed a bit since then). There were much fewer agents in this building, too, and Vera wondered why that was.
She followed Agent Hill down hallways, passing rooms of various sizes and purposes. One room, which Vera saw through the glass panels dividing the hall from the room, had a large, wall-sized screen with pictures and blocks of text flashing on it. There were rows and rows of desks with computers, most of them on and being used by several SHIELD agents. Another room they passed by was circular and had TV-sized screens all around the walls, with different people on each screen who were listening to a single person standing in the center of the room, addressing all of them.
The room that Agent Hill brought Vera to, however, had much less grandeur than the previous ones they had passed by. It was a simple interrogation room: the walls and floor were pale white, there was a silver table and two chairs in the room's center, and there was a two-way mirror on one of the walls. It looked like an interrogation room one would see in a cop show. Vera was surprised, given that she had never been in a SHIELD interrogation room before (that kind of thing didn't fall under her line of work) so she thought it would be more advanced and impressive than it actually was.
Agent Hill ushered Vera inside, and then went for the door. "Wait here," Hill told her, and without another word she exited the room, shutting the large, heavy door behind her.
Vera was still standing in the room after Hill left. She looked over at the two-way mirror curiously, trying futilely to look past her own reflection, but she saw nothing. She wondered if she was being watched at that exact moment. She probably was, but who was watching her? Hill? Natasha? A random SHIELD agent? Vera's head was starting to throb so she sat down in one of the stiff, cold chairs, rubbing her temples.
She waited. She waited and waited and waited and nothing happened for a long time. Vera deduced that the room was soundproof because she could hear nothing beyond her own breathing and occasional movements. There were no sounds she could hear from outside – no one walking by, talking, or making any kind of noise. Even though she was exhausted, she was still on edge because she had no idea what she was doing there and when she would be able to go home. What if they keep me here? she thought dully, trying to fight through the pain of her headache. What if they make me stay here and rejoin SHIELD? What if they forgot that I was in here and I just wait forever and ever and I grew old and died...
Suddenly the heavy door opened. Vera looked up, and was shocked to see who walked into the room.
"Agent Coulson?" she asked incredulously at the man who gave her a warm smile.
"It's Director Coulson, actually," he corrected politely. "And I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met."
"Oh," replied Vera awkwardly. "We haven't. I just know you from...well, in my old department we heard legends about some of the field agents, and you were one of them."
"I'm flattered," he replied earnestly, taking the seat across from Vera on the side of the table. It was then that Vera noticed he was carrying a clipboard and various tan files and papers with the SHIELD logo on them. He set them down gingerly on the table between them.
"What happened to Director Fury?" Vera asked, curious. "I haven't really been keeping myself updated on what goes on in SHIELD." Mostly because I stopped caring, she said to herself.
Coulson blinked. There was a sadness in his eyes. "He was killed last year."
Vera said nothing, and just looked down at her hands folded in front of her on the cold metal table. Although it was sad that he was killed, Vera never really liked Fury as a Director anyway; she had heard about some decisions he had made that were, in her opinion, rather questionable.
"A lot has changed since you left, Agent Rochester," said Coulson, and Vera gave a quiet scoff. The Director noticed this.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, it's just...I haven't been called 'Agent' in a long time," she admitted.
"I see," he responded in a manner that Vera couldn't quite place. "Agent Romanoff informed me that you're a former SHIELD agent."
"'Former' is right," Vera said, a little more sourly than she had intended.
"You worked in archives, right?"
Vera nodded. She had a feeling she was about to be drilled questions just like Agent Hill had in the car, and she wasn't looking forward to that.
"And for how long did you hold the position of archivist?"
"What, that's not in your file?" she asked accusingly. Vera didn't know exactly why she was being so defensive; but, she realized, she was in a place that reminded her of a bad time of her life, so of course she was on edge.
Coulson gave her a weak smile at that remark. "It is. I just want to make sure we're both on the same page."
Vera didn't know what he meant by that. Was he insinuating that he didn't trust her? Well, she couldn't really blame him. Her life had become shrouded in secrecy once she left SHIELD, so anyone just learning about her life story would naturally have some curious questions. She sighed.
"I worked there for about two years."
"Mm-hmm. And what was your reason for leaving?"
Vera hesitated. "I...I'm sorry, Director, but I'm just not comfortable talking about that."
"And why not?" he asked without hesitation. Vera stared at him for a second.
"Let's just say...I made some bad memories when I worked at SHIELD. Painful memories."
"We all have painful memories," he said sagely, and Vera looked down into her lap. "But I have your file here."
Vera's heart hammered as he pulled out one of the tan files with a stack of papers inside. He opened and read it.
"According to this file, you never quit. Your termination was never put in our records."
Vera did not react to this, making her remember the same lack-of-reaction she had exhibited when Agent Hill had told her the same information not too long ago.
"But thankfully, Agent Romanoff did some digging, and we found something that happened two years after you became a SHIELD agent. It was wiped from personnel records and kept off-the-books, but Natasha has a way of retrieving secret information."
Vera sat in silence, knowing what was coming. All those years of suppressing the memories and pretending like it never happened started to dissolve, and pain and sadness took its place.
"There was an...incident a few years ago," said Coulson. "Several field agents were killed in a training session gone wrong. Most of them were in their first or second year of training. It was kept off-book because SHIELD didn't want that fatal mistake to be made public, so they destroyed the reports and kept the families of those who were killed quiet."
He looked over at Vera carefully, making his tone softer. "You knew one of those agents who was killed. You left because you were angry at SHIELD for letting that incident happen, which resulted in that agent's death."
She neither confirmed nor denied this; she just stared at a spot on the wall to Coulson's right, trying to hold back tears.
"That agent you knew," continued Coulson, perusing the file in front of him. "You went to college with him, and the two of you joined SHIELD at the same time. Agent Joseph Hockett –"
"Stop," Vera burst out in a plea, her throat constricted, using all her energy to keep her tears from falling. She did not want to show weakness in front of the Director and whatever other SHIELD agents were watching her behind the mirror. "Please. Don't say anymore. I can't..."
Coulson nodded in understanding, although Vera couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking.
"Let's change the subject, then," he said in a different tone – one that Vera couldn't quite place. This man was rather enigmatic, she deduced. "How did you know about the hacked computer in the Smithsonian?"
Vera's heart dropped. So it was connected to the break-in. But what did SHIELD have to do with it? How did they know she knew about it? Vera had so many questions...and yet, she didn't want to answer any of Coulson's. Maybe it was her bad mood, or her residual distrust of SHIELD after all these years, but something told her to play innocent. Something told her not to tell anyone else what she knew. So she lied.
"What computer?" she asked, hoping she was a good liar. Hey, the back of her mind bitterly told her, you keep secrets from everybody, you can't be that bad of a liar...
"The computer in the archives of the museum," Coulson goaded. "You accessed a file that might have seemed odd to you?"
"Not that I know of," she replied smoothly. "Maybe you have me confused for someone else?"
Coulson leaned forward, placing his folded hands on the table. "No, I think we have just the right person. You used your keycard tonight and the file was accessed at roughly the same time. You think that was just a coincidence?"
"How do you know I accessed that file?" she asked adamantly. "What if someone broke in to the archives and accessed it? Just because I used my keycard doesn't mean it was me who accessed the file. Maybe it was just a coincidence."
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe in coincidences," he replied, starting to show a side of him beyond the politeness and manners. Vera wasn't afraid, though; as long as she kept denying it, no matter how bad of a liar she was, she knew they couldn't hold her responsible because they didn't have solid proof.
"Well, I do," she quipped back. "And I think you have the wrong person."
Coulson just looked at her for a few seconds. "You know, you're being rather difficult," he said without pretense. "I'm having a hard time believe you're one of the good guys."
"I'm just taking precautions, Director," she sighed, although she said it in a serious matter. Coulson nodded in understanding, but Vera knew he still doubted her. I don't have to convince him I'm oblivious about this situation, she told herself, I just have to convince him that I didn't do anything wrong.
Unbeknownst to Vera, just outside the interrogation room, there were people watching her. And those people happened to be Agent Romanoff and Steve.
They had been watching the entire interrogation since Coulson walked in the room. They were both listening to what Vera had to say in response to Coulson's questions; Steve, especially, was hanging on to every word she said. Until today, he had had no idea that Vera had worked for SHIELD and had something to do with the computer file. Granted, she had just found out her boyfriend was Captain America, but it was still a lot for Steve to take in. He just never pegged her as a...liar.
He and Natasha continued watching the interrogation. Not taking her eyes from the two-way mirror, Natasha said quietly, "She's not who she says she is. Surely you must see that, Steve."
Reluctantly, Steve nodded slowly. "She's kept things from me," he replied in seriousness. "But...that doesn't make her guilty."
"Come on, Steve," Natasha said angrily, turning to look at him, her arms folded. "You can't possibly trust her after everything you've just heard!"
"I do trust her, I know her better than anyone here –"
"And your judgment is clouded because you're attached to her!" Natasha spat back. "You trust her because you want to trust her. If this was any other mission, and she was just some random person we apprehended, you wouldn't believe them for a second."
"But the fact that she isn't some random person makes a difference!" Steve replied angrily.
"Maybe to you, but not to me. She's still a liar no matter how well one of us knows her."
Steve exhaled sharply, frustrated. He told himself that he could trust Vera, and Natasha didn't know what she was talking about because she didn't know Vera...
Although...it was apparent that Vera was capable of lying...She had kept her past a secret from Steve for months, and that worried him. If she was lying about this, then what else could she be lying about?
He also trusted Natasha. He had known Natasha longer than he had known Vera...And he trusted Natasha's judgment. If she had her doubts about someone, then that person couldn't be trusted.
Steve was doubting. And he was doubting someone that he thought would never make him feel this unsure.
He looked into the two-way mirror and saw that Coulson stood up and left the room, leaving his files and papers behind. He exited through the metal door and approached Steve and Natasha.
"She's not cooperating," he said simply. "She's hiding something, but I don't know why. Maybe because she's protecting herself or someone else, but I'm not sure."
"Or she's just a liar..." Natasha mumbled under her breath, and Steve shot her a sideways glance.
"Captain," said Coulson, "you said you know her, yes? Why don't you try talking to her?"
"You want me to interrogate her?" asked Steve, and Coulson nodded.
"Right now she seems scared," said Coulson. "She's in an unfamiliar place, she's being asked questions by people whom she doesn't know...It might do her some good to talk to a familiar face."
Steve hesitated. He glanced over at Natasha, who gave a noncommittal tilt of the head. Steve sighed, turning the decision over in his mind. He didn't want to interrogate his own girlfriend...And yet, he really wanted answers from her and maybe he was the best person to get those answers...
"Alright," he eventually conceded, and walked over to the interrogation room door.
Inside the room, Vera was looking at the papers Coulson had left behind, tempted to leaf through them, when suddenly the door opened again. The person who walked through the door surprised her more than the previous one who had.
"Steve," she said, in a harsher voice than she was used to saying Steve's name. Even though privately she was glad to see him, Vera was undeniably angry with him, so she did not bother trying to hide the contempt in her voice. "Or should I say, Captain America."
Steve frowned and slowly walked over to the other chair, sitting across from her. "Now you know," he replied simply.
Vera leaned back in her chair, shaking her head in disbelief. "I had my suspicions about you, you know. Even after you told me you were 'related' to him. I just didn't want to vocalize the fact that I thought you actually were Captain America for fear of being called crazy."
Steve nodded. "It's true."
"How?" she asked quietly, her brows furrowed in confusion. "How are you here right now if you fought in World War II?"
Steve sighed heavily; heavier than Vera had ever seen him sigh. "I was frozen in ice. My super-soldier genes kept me alive this long and they found me only last year. They, in essence, thawed me and revived me, and I've been working with SHIELD ever since."
Vera remained silent for a moment, taking all that in. "Your plane disappeared. The HYDRA plane you had been flying right before you were declared killed-in-action."
Steve nodded sadly. "I crashed it in the ice."
Vera became silent again, thinking. It was all so hard to believe, yet it made sense. It made a lot more sense than the half-crocked theories she had idly thought of when she saw Captain America last year on TV, fighting in the Battle of New York.
"Vera," Steve said slowly, and she looked up at him. "I know what I just told you is a lot to take in –" That's an understatement, she thought – "but I need you to help us out. SHIELD needs to know what your involvement is with that computer. If you could just tell me –"
"That's why you're here? To interrogate me?" she asked incredulously, fuming.
Steve sighed sharply. "You're not cooperating. They needed someone –"
"–To loosen my tongue? Get me to squeal?"
"Vera –"
"Jesus, and just when I thought SHIELD could sink no lower," she muttered coldly. "Here I thought you came in here to apologize, but I was wrong. You're just following SHIELD's agenda."
"Apologize for what?" Steve shot back angrily. "Saving you back there?"
"For lying to me! You're Captain-freaking-America! You couldn't have told me that, I don't know, months ago?"
"Don't act like you're completely innocent, you lied to me too, Vera! You kept your past from me, you used to work at SHIELD!" He shouted, pointing down at the files on the table.
"So do you! And I don't remember you ever telling me you work for SHIELD! If I had known you worked for them..."
"Don't turn this around on me and blame me for everything. You've done nothing but keep secrets and tell lies, and I don't even know why!"
"I'm sure you'll think of a reason," she replied coldly. "You are Captain America, after all."
Steve blinked hard, clearly angry, and stood up. He was about to leave but he stopped himself.
"Just tell me one thing," he said carefully. "Do you have anything to do with that hacked computer?"
Vera sighed, but said nothing. She just looked up at him, her eyes a little softer than they had been a few seconds ago when she had been yelling at him.
Steve's brows furrowed at her lack of response. "Why can't you just tell SHIELD what you know?"
"I can't," she replied earnestly, shaking her head. Steve looked skeptical, and she pleaded, "Steve, just trust me, okay?"
Steve turned away from her. He put his hand on the door handle. "I don't know who to trust."
He turned the handle and left Vera in the interrogation room, shocked and hurt and alone.
Coulson and Natasha were waiting outside the room, and they approached Steve, who looked over at them tiredly.
"I don't think we'll make any more progress with her," Coulson admitted, and Steve nodded somberly. "Since we have no solid evidence that she's been directly involved in any foul play, we have to let her go."
Steve nodded again, too hurt and too tired to even speak.
Coulson then went back into the interrogation room and informed Vera she was free to go. He gathered up the papers from the table and ushered her out into the hallway. They passed by Steve, who was standing outside the door with his arms crossed. Vera said nothing to him; she didn't even cast a glance in his direction.
He lied to me...she thought as Coulson led her away. He doesn't trust me...How can I trust him?
As she lay in bed that night, back in her own house hours later, one sentence kept bouncing around in her head, making it impossible for her to sleep:
I don't know who to trust...I don't know who to trust...I don't know who to trust...
A/N: Ooooh, lotsa stuff going on here! More of Vera's past has been revealed, gasp! And she and Steve had their first fight, gasp again! Things look pretty bleak right now, right? Well, just you wait and see what happens down the road...
As always, please favorite/follow/review. :)
-PenPaperParadise