Author notes in Chapter 1

Holly's POV
Seated across from him in the diner booth, Holly still couldn't believe she was seated across from the man she'd been told stories about all her life. Unlike other people who'd vaguely known about his actions in World War 2 or more recently during the Battle of New York, he'd always seemed familiar to her thanks to those stories and her own research. Maybe that's why she hadn't reacted to his presence in her classroom, he was too familiar to her even though they had never met. She only wished her father and Eddie had been alive when he'd been discovered. Or Uncle Dum Dum, he would have been over the moon about being right. In her mind, she could imagine Dum Dum being near tears at seeing his old friend safe and sound. Telling him it was a brave fool thing he did and he was a son of a bitch for it before hugging the stuffings out of him.

"So can I guess that you were a surprise baby for your parents?" Steve asked, mixing sweetener into his third coffee. She knew he only drank it for the familiarity of it, his metabolism not allowing either caffeine or alcohol to affect him. It was strange to think that the waitress probably had no idea that Steve technically could qualify for the senior menu. By the look the waitress gave him, which he either didn't notice or ignored, the only thing on her mind probably had being naked involved. She couldn't blame the girl. Steve was an incredibly handsome man, even more so in person. But ironically, his personality was what made the rest work. If he had looked like that, with the jawline that launched a thousand hearts and eyes as blue as the Aegean, but a shit personality, the rest wouldn't really matter.

"Yes, very much so. My father married late and my mother was 14 years younger. Eddie was born within the year and then I was born 15 years later."

He nodded. "Do you know why Dum Dum never married? Or Peggy?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. I think for Dum Dum, maybe it had to do with the fact that he couldn't find anyone who would be able to understand what he went through during the war or would be able to look beyond it. The Howling Commandos were quasi-celebrities after the war. I think Uncle Dum Dum just focused on what was familiar and that's how he helped create SHIELD. He wanted to try and help make a world that wouldn't need it's children to sacrifice themselves to save it. He doted on Eddie like he was his own and was always there for me too." She didn't say anything about Peggy. Deep down he had to know that part of her could never truly give herself to another man when she was still missing him.

"What do you remember about him?"

She smiled. "I remember his laugh. He still wore that bowler, even then. I think there's a picture somewhere of me sitting on his lap wearing it. I remember how fun he was and how big his hands were. I remember thinking he was the tallest and strongest man ever because he could lift me so high with one hand. All while yelling his usual Wahoo of course." She took a drink of her Pepsi, shaking her head and pushing down the familiar pain of yet another family member that was no longer around. "He was always so supportive. Telling me that anything a boy could do, I could do better if I wanted to. That it was up to each person, myself included to make the world a better place, one day at a time. It's been nearly 25 years, but I still miss him."

"He was a good man. One of the best." Steve said supportively. "He never backed down from a fight or from having the back of his friends."

"I can't imagine what it's like for you. It has to be so difficult. I mean, you look younger than 30, but you are honestly 97 years old and everyone you knew with the exception of Bucky is gone."

Steve flinched and she felt embarrassed like she'd revealed that she knew something she shouldn't have. "You know about Bucky?"

She held out her hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you didn't know I knew. Natasha told me that the Winter Soldier was Bucky Barnes. That he'd been taken by Hydra and brainwashed. She told me because he'd been a Commando, you know? Commandos are family." She paused. "Have you been able to get any leads on him?" She would have heard if he had been found.

Steve's jaw tightened and he stared out the window. "No."

She took a risk and put her hand over his tightly clenched ones. She was struck by how tiny her hand seemed to his. He seemed to be the type to appreciate small gestures of physical comfort. "You will. It won't be easy but you can help each other. Uncle Dum Dum always told stories about how close you two were. Somewhere deep down, Bucky remembers. Even Peggy would agree with me. You don't forget family."

Steve turned his head and looked down at her hand over his and moved his hands to hold her one. "Thank you for that. I know he's in there. That's why he couldn't kill me." He paused and she watched as he consciously pushed away his sadness and anxiety about his oldest friend. "I hope someday to bring him to meet you. I think he'd get a kick out of meeting Dum Dum's niece."

Holly smiled, trying not to react to the fact that Captain America was holding her hand. "If there's anything I can do, let me know. I could try to put together a behavior profile, study his case, what we know of his past. It might just show us his mindset and where he might go next."

Steve nodded. No doubt any kind of help was welcome at this point.

"You know what's strange?" She asked after he'd released her hand and they'd sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. "You are technically 62 years older than me but physically, I'm older than you."

Steve laughed his eyes bright with amusement. She had to keep reminding herself that deep down, he was just a normal guy. "That's true. Natasha takes great joy in the old jokes around me when actually she's physically older. I'll have to remind her of that."

He had no idea just what a huge thing it was to have Nat joking around with him. She tended to be very reserved around most everyone except a few select people. She still remembered the first time she'd made Natasha laugh. It was a top ten moment. "You do realize that she will probably team up with Tony and Clint to torture you on your 100th birthday, right?"

He groaned, letting his head drop. "Don't remind me. I'll be 100 and 30 at the same time or something since I don't quite age at the same rate as everyone else. It's very confusing."

"You seem to be adapting to the 21st century rather well though." She was impressed with what he'd told her about his list of things to catch up on, showing off his cellphone which he actually was pretty good at being able to use without problem.

"Thanks. There's still so much to learn and it changes everyday. People act and dress so completely differently and yet somethings haven't changed at all. I sometimes actually feel like the fossil Natasha teases me about being."

"I think that's her way of making sure you don't get bogged down in it all. She had a hard time when she defected from the Soviet Union and joined SHIELD. She left everything and everyone familiar behind her. And now that all her secrets are out there, she can't hide like she tends to do, like she was trained."

"You don't hide."

"I used to and I have on occasion. Relocation is sometimes necessary in this life. Granted I wasn't an assassin like Nat, but there's always that feeling that you need to blend into the background. If they can't see you, they can't judge you or hurt you. It's always safer if you don't stand out. But a wise man once said, once you start running, they'll never let you stop."

He gave her a nod, recognizing something he'd said to Peggy before he'd gotten the life altering serum. It was a bit of a mantra for her. "I get the idea there's something more to that."

He was as quick as Dum Dum and Coulson had told her. She smiled. "Well done, Captain. Most of the times I've had to hide has had to do with my status as a Delta Level mutant."

No reaction. Interesting. She knew that he knew of mutants, there was no way to not know about them these days. He probably wouldn't have met very many or known about them back in his day but since then had probably met a few without even realizing it. "What does Delta Level mean?" He asked politely with some interest.

"It means I'm not a high power mutant, my ability is more specific and latent and doesn't manifest physically so I'm better able to pass as a normal human." She explained as simply as possible. She'd seen more than one person outed and even for a trained SHIELD agent, it was a frightening possibility. The fear of mutants and the violence perpetuated against them in response to that fear was disgusting and seemingly never ending.

"May I ask what your ability is or is that considered rude? I don't believe I've ever met a mutant. I mean, that I know of."

She smiled and checked to see if anyone was paying attention before looking to his coffee cup and watching as it rose and the coffee rose out of it like they were in zero g. Then, just as easily, the coffee returned to the cup and the cup returned to the saucer. "Tada."

"Oh...that's...telekenesis?"

She nodded, impressed. "Well done."

"I'm still learning about the entire thing, though it's hard to escape it in the news or on the street. He leaned forward a little. "I want you to know, might be from 70 years ago, but I'm not a bigot. Never have been. Race, religion, genetic ability, it doesn't matter to me."

"Thank you. I didn't think you were. I mean, just having Uncle Gabe and Uncle Jim in your unit back in the day was a huge step. And no, Dum Dum didn't know. My ability didn't manifest until after he passed. But he was very supportive of my mother. She's where I get the gene from. She was able to meld into shadow."

"Oh. Did SHIELD employ many mutants?"

She chuckled. "Wouldn't have been much of a secret agency if they did. There were a few of us, but only Deltas. Otherwise it would have caused too much attention."

He nodded, taking that into consideration. "Can I ask what you did for SHIELD?"

She nodded, appreciating his not focusing on her mutant status as some others would. "Mostly undercover domestic terrorism. Some cleaner work. Behavior profiling of targets. Protective details. Lots of going undercover in high schools to assess metahumans and their potential threat or use. I was part of Strike Team Delta with Clint and Natasha, the name just being ironic. Sometimes I would help my brother out, he had a long haul cover as a Hollywood stuntman and coordinator. He was a section chief out in the Pacific territory. I guess I was a bit of a Jill of all trades."

"Behavioral profiling?"

"It's where you observe a person's actions, both past and current, their behavior, reactions, reasoning to get a better understanding of who they are, their motives and what their next action might be."

"And have you profiled me?"

She let out a sigh. "It's not exactly something you turn on or off. You just do it. Think of Sherlock Holmes, but more realistic."

"Alright. Then do it. Tell me about me."

She shook her head and sat back. "You were nervous, being at the college today because you didn't get to go to college, only a year of art school. You still think of people who go to college as being those with money or somehow better because it seemed so exclusive when you were a kid. But at the same time, you feel a bitterness because you didn't get to experience what these kids have. The chance to learn whatever they want and the potential to do most anything but they completely take it for granted. They have no fear of contracting TB, no soup kitchens, no war that took over the entire nation. They throw away clothing and food that could have fed all of Brooklyn on a daily basis. They don't understand what you were fighting for and feel like you are still fighting for today. You don't advertise it, but you are always observing people, looking for threats and are adapting to the 21st century faster than most people realize or give you credit for. Tony drives you insane because he has no sense of modesty and no respect for his father and thinks money is the answer to everything. Natasha reminds you of Peggy in many ways but you don't like that she kept secrets from you when you were partners before the fall of SHIELD."

His eyes widened and he tried not to gape at her. "You could tell all that from knowing me for a few hours?"

She shrugged. "Remember, past influences present and future. I've heard many stories about you, not just from my uncle but from Tony, Nat and Clint. Peggy told me quite a few as well."

"Did you work with Agent Coulson?"

She smiled, seeing that her profiling had not necessarily startled him, but had made him uncomfortable, more so than showing off her mutant status. She allowed the ham fisted change of subject. "Yes, I did work with Coulson quite a bit. Though I guess I should call him Director now. He was pretty much Delta's handler. Don't know how he managed to deal with the three of us."

"Did you uncover many threats among the students of the schools you went to?"

She shook her head. "Not too many. Just the usual amount of anger and hormones. Mostly harmless mutants and a few accidental metas. The mutants I would send in the direction of Xavier's School. SHIELD tried to help the others. The ones who wanted help, that is. You've heard of Daredevil?"

Steve nodded. The world had become a strange place since 1945, not that it was normal then, with people like Red Skull around. Watching the news probably saddened him, the way people spoke about mutants was the same as they had talked about race back in his day. Even during the war, when there had been slurs muttered about Gabe just because he was black. Or Jim because he was Japanese. What difference did it make if they were good men? The same applied to Dum Dum's niece. "The guy in the devil suit in Hell's Kitchen."

"Would you believe he's actually completely blind?"

Steve looked impressed. "How does he fight or anything if he can't see?"

"It's difficult to explain. When he was a kid, there was an accident and he got splashed in the eyes with chemical waste and it took his sight. But it also increased all his other senses to an incredible degree. He told me that it gives him a kind of sight, but not how we see. It helps him be a very good fighter. I know Fury considered him when he was beginning the Avengers Initiative. The only time I was ever confronted by my target. Very embarrassing."

"He figured out who you were?"

"He knew I wasn't a potential client." A pause. "He's a lawyer." She explained. "He could tell I was lying from my heartbeat and recognized that I was carrying weapons and was trained in their use by the way I walked and that I'd been tailing him by the soap I used."

"Impressive."

"Fury thought so." She shrugged. "SHIELD keeps an eye out for him, help if they can. He's my lawyer, Peggy's too. Best lawyer to have, he can always tell if the other guy is lying just from his heartbeat. Though now, I don't know how much Coulson is able to do for him. He's a good guy, you'd like how he fights for his neighborhood." Or how he would fight for his friends.

Just then, Steve stiffened, looking at something or someone over her shoulder and Holly saw his face change into the serious expression of Captain America. It was as good as if he were wearing the cowl. His eyes narrowed, brow furrowed and jaw clenched. She reached for the collapsible staff she kept in her boot, adjusting herself to prepare to vault from the booth and use the nearby table as cover when she turned and then stopped when she saw exactly who Steve was looking at.

It was Tony and Nat.

"Wow, they'll let anyone in this diner, won't they? Such shady clientele." Tony teased, a big grin on his face. He was dressed casually in a vintage The Who t-shirt, his arc light shining through and jeans that probably cost more than the diner. She could never figure out if he was consciously trying not to be a formal businessman like his father or if it was purely unconscious. "Capsicle, have you been boring my honorary little sister agent with your old war stories? Or has she been scaring you with her stories about me? It's all true, by the way."

"Tony! Be nice!" Holly admonished, sliding out of the booth and quickly stepping over to hug the older man who pretty much was like an honorary older brother. He looked much better than he had after everything in New York and then with the Mandarin. Thankfully he'd come to grips with his own PTSD and was moving on. Deep down he was very strong, she'd always known that. She smiled as he wrapped his arms tight around her and pressed a kiss to her head, like he had when she was little. Of course now, there was the arc reactor in his chest, making the slightest hum in addition to his heartbeat. He'd kept it even though he didn't need it to keep the shrapnel away from his heart anymore. "Hello Jarvis." She greeted, knowing the AI never left Tony.

"Hello Holly. It is nice to speak to you again." The AI's voice came from Tony's watch.

She turned to her old friend and fellow agent and grinned, Tony's arm still around her shoulder. "About time I get to see you! Do you have any idea how much I worried about you after SHIELD fell? You barely call, barely text, can't even be bothered to stop in!"

Natasha shrugged noncommittally, her body language meant to show her as bored even though Holly could see that she was far from it. Holly had known the redhead for going on 15 years and knew nearly all her tells, few as they were. "Told you I was fine."

"No, I had to see it when you spoke before Congress on friggin' CSPAN!" She threw her hands up in the air. "How are you? You look fat."

The former Russian spy broke her nonchalant expression and laughed before pulling her into a hug, affectionately cursing her in Russian under her breath. It was good to see her again. The hard part about leaving active agent duty was not being able to work with and see the people she'd all but grown up with on a regular basis. And it was always good to actually see them and know they were safe.

The two women broke their hug and Holly looked at what was effectively half of the Avengers. "So I guess you two are here to take Cap on a mission to save the world again?" She was a bit disappointed, enjoying getting to know the man she'd only ever heard stories about. It was a thrill to realize they got along so well.

"Actually, honorary sister from another mister, we're here for both of you to take on a mission to save the world. Again." Tony said with his near permanent smirk and his eyebrow raised in challenge, arms crossed over his chest.

That threw her for a loop. "Whoa whoa whoa Iron Shorts. I'm not an active SHIELD operative. I haven't been for nearly 12 years. I'm a damned teacher now. I deal with term papers and entitled frat boys."

"One who continued to assist via profiling and consulting and is one of the deadliest trained fighters in the world. I know for a fact that you've kept up on your skills." Natasha spoke up, an eyebrow raised to match Tony's.

Holly cursed mentally. Of course Nat would have found out, probably from Tony, about the small Hydra cell that had been at the University that attempted to take her out when her identity was fully revealed. The four fake students had been easy to take down and had nearly gotten her fired from the University. It wasn't exactly smiled upon when a professor killed or crippled 4 students in a lecture hall. Not to mention that she had been and still was part of an organization that was considered by some to be a terrorist group for a brief time. And there had been rumors of her mutant status that would have probably led to dismissal on that alone. Of course that was until there was a generous endowment to the Science Department from Stark Industries with a cravat that her job not be endangered because she had not only defended herself but the student body who could have been in potential danger.

"It's not fair to expect her to want to drop everything for a fight, Natasha. She has the right to a normal life. Who thought this up? You?" Steve spoke up, moving to stand behind her. She looked behind and up and was surprised at the serious expression on the man's face. It was interesting that he automatically blamed Tony. It would make more sense for Natasha to want to bring her along since they'd fought together before. Either way, it was quite flattering that he was acting so protective to someone he barely knew.

"Actually, it was me."

The four turned to see a familiar figure standing in the now emptied diner, the remaining customers made to leave by what Holly assumed to be newer SHIELD agents. The new ones always dressed like they were trying out for the next Men in Black movie. There in the doorway in his ever immaculate suit, was Phil Coulson, the new Director.

"Coulson!" Holly said with a grin, temporarily forgetting what was being asked of her. Natasha moved aside and she moved forward quickly and affectionately hugged the man who'd been her handler for years. "It is good to see you. You look great!"

It was obvious that Coulson's experience of dying and being brought back had changed him because he hugged her right back and gave her a smile. Neither was strained like it would have been years earlier. Being Director suited him. "Thanks. Wasn't sure about this tie with this shirt, but it worked out. It's good to see you too." He stepped to the side, his hand still resting affectionately on her shoulder. "You remember Agent May of course?"

"May. It's good to see you active again. I knew you just needed time." She put her hands together and bowed in respect to the elder agent, nicknamed the Cavalry. She remembered hearing about the events that led May to go from an active agent to a simple pilot for SHIELD and knew the woman would soon come back to what she did best. Kicking ass. She'd both fought with May and had her ass saved by her, SHIELD needed her skills. Especially now.

May bowed in return, a warm smile on her face. "Holly. Something tells me that you could follow that same advice. It's been nearly 13 years."

Holly let out a breath and shook her head. Could she get right back into that groove of fighting for her life and the life of others? She'd made a life, a new life for herself as a professor. She was still skilled but self defense was ingrained into her, going on the offensive was something different. Not to mention fighting with an entire group and not just a few SHIELD agents as her back up or with just Clint and Nat. "It's been too long."

"Then come along as a consultant. Backup. Whatever you want to call it." May encouraged. "Come with us and catch up at least. It'd be nice to have someone around with as much experience as myself besides Coulson."

"I have a new saber for you to try out!" Tony sing-songed from behind her, clapping his hands together and rubbing them like a little boy on Christmas. "You know you want to see it!"

Holly sighed and let her shoulders drop. If she knew anything, it was that when Tony was excited about something, there was no dissuading him. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Not in the least." Tony said, wrapping his arm around her again. "We've already made the arrangements for your classes to be taken care of and everything! You don't even have to lift a finger or fly coach!"

"Of course you have a choice, Holly." Steve glared at Tony who dismissed it. "If you don't want to go, just say the word and that will be it."

She felt everyone's eyes on her as she gave it a moment and shrugged. "What the hell. It's been a while since I've traveled."

The smirk Tony gave Steve was epic and she couldn't help but give him a reassuring look that she really had made the decision on her own, even though she knew Tony well enough that he would have made her come anyway. She had to admire Steve's chivalry and how quick he was to defend her.