House of Cards - Tyler Shaw.
"Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." - David Ogden Stiers.
Katie couldn't help but sigh as she closed the door to her apartment behind her.
After a month long mission in the coldest depths of Canada, she was finally home. And she was finally able to take a nice, long, hot bath.
Unfortunately, Katie was slowly learning that it seemed impossible to just finish the mission, return to home base, then go back to her apartment until the next mission.
She was actually starting to feel like coming home from a mission was almost as bad as the mission itself.
Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch. Obviously she knew that being away on a mission - especially a month long one - was way worse. But when Katie finished a mission, she wanted to go back to her nice, warm and cozy apartment building. She didn't want to spend all day at S.H.I.E.L.D.. She wanted to spend all day in a bath and relax. But that never happened.
Katie dropped her duffel bag on the floor beside the door before kicking off her boots. She'd unpack later. Not that she had much to unpack anyways. Right now, she just walked right past the kitchen, down the hall, and into the bathroom.
She turned on the taps to the tub, letting the hot water fill up the space. It was May and she was in D.C. so it wasn't cold anymore. But she'd been cold for the last 4 weeks. Now Katie felt like she would never be warm again.
She suddenly wondered how her father got over the cold.
Katie stripped out of her shirt and leggings before throwing her short, blonde hair up in a bun (she chopped it off a few months ago, a spur of the moment decision). She washed it in the showers when she'd changed at S.H.I.E.L.D. anyways.
Once the tub was filled up, Katie stepped inside. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the hot water started to scald her skin. She could feel her muscles starting to relax.
Coming home and hot baths were definitely on top of her 'favorite things about being an agent' list.
Really, being an agent wasn't a title Katie thought she'd ever have. Even though she grew up around agents. Hell, her mother was one. And she idolized her mother and everything she did. After all, how many people - women - in the 50's could handle being a mother and an agent. Katie wanted to be just like her mother and be everything she stood for. But being an agent just wasn't her. Katie was more of the type to fight at the front lines. She wasn't the type to do the dirty work under peoples noses. She'd rather catch the bad guy and fight her way. Like her father. At least, that's what she was like until a year ago.
Seems like a lot can happen and change in a year.
Because now she was 'Agent Katherine Rogers'. And she loved it. Well, not all the parts of it. There were some things that came with that title that Katie didn't like.
Like debriefings. Because debriefings sucked.
Who wants to come home and re-live every little detail about their endless missions? Not Katie. But, it was part of the job.
Katie really wanted to be happy when she felt the quinjet touch down at the Triskellion late that morning. But, she knew that she still had a number of hours to go before she'd be walking through her front door.
First, they had to endure the pain of a debriefing. And because the mission was long, it caused the debriefing to feel just as long. Then, once they were finally dismissed from the meeting, the agents had to head to the infirmary. Unless you had life-threatening injuries, the check-ups always came after the debriefing. But really, why did Katie need a check-up? She could see why if she was seriously hurt. But otherwise, checkups were a waste of time.
It was only after that, that Katie was able to head to the changing room. It was there that she slipped out of her uniform and had a very quick shower. Then, she changed and placed her uniform in her bag before finally leaving.
Grabbing her phone off the toilet seat, Katie turned it on. 7:09pm flashed before her as well as the picture of her, Steve, and her mother. It caused a smile to form on her lips. It was the same picture Steve had at his place.
If only her mother knew that Katie was now an agent. Though, Katie had a sense that Peggy always knew her daughter would become one. One day. Like her motherly sixth-sense or something. Katie couldn't help but wonder if her mother would have worried about her as much as her father did. Because no matter how long Katie was gone on a mission, Steve worried. But why wouldn't he? This was his daughter, going out on dangerous missions. Of course he would worry.
But, he kept himself busy.
To this day, Steve was still educating himself. Learning all about the world we lived in today. And Nick also sent him out on his own missions. One or two times was with Katie, but mostly they were by himself or with Natasha and the STRIKE team (who okay, some of them were a bit rough around the edges - cough Rumlow cough - but Katie found they were decent guys).
Unlocking the phone, Katie went right to her contacts and quickly found her father's number. However, she couldn't help but stare at it for a moment.
Katie and her father where in a good place. An amazing place really. They had trust built up. They were finally acting like father and daughter. Well, most of the times anyways. They still got in their fights. But no one hopped on a plane to leave and someone - usually Natasha - always talked some sense into them. But Katie finally saw Steve as her father.
And yet, the name Steve still looked back at her in her contacts.
She had yet to call Steve 'dad'. Maybe it was the physical age difference thing. And the fact that they could pass as brother and sister instead of father and daughter. Maybe it was the fact that the moment Katie said 'dad', it all became real. And then everything really did change. And Katie didn't want anything to change. Because she liked her life the way it was right now. Either way, she never called him 'dad'. She would say 'my father' to other people. But not 'dad' to Steve's face.
Pushing all thoughts aside, Katie clicked on Steve's name before putting the phone to her ear.
Steve knew she was home now. When she contacted Nick from the quinjet when she was coming home, she told him to let Steve know she was on the way back.
"Katie." Steve answered with a sigh after a few rings.
Katie's eyebrows instantly pinched together at the sound of his voice. There was an edge to it. Almost like he had been under a lot of stress these past few days.
"Hey." Katie said. The water in the tub slowly started to turn cold again. "You okay?"
Another sigh was heard from Steve's end. "Yeah. Just… it's been a long day."
"Well, I'm home now," Katie could tell by Steve's tone that it wasn't something he wanted to talk about. Not over the phone anyways. "And I could really go for a home-cooked meal."
"I'm not home right now," Steve stated. "I just visited Peggy."
"How is she?" Katie rest her arm on the edge of the tub, her fingers dangling in the water.
"The same."
"Well, that's better than getting worse." Katie replied with a light sigh. "You on your way home now?"
"Almost. I have one more stop I want to make."
"You sure you're okay?" Katie couldn't help but ask again.
"You want the honest answer or the lie?" Steve asked and Katie couldn't help be snort, rolling her eyes. "I just have to make one stop, then I'm going home."
"Alright well, text me when you're on your way home and I'll meet you at your apartment."
"Sounds good."
Katie said goodbye to her father before hanging up. The water was luke-warm now. Katie pulled the plug before standing up and stepping out of the bath. She dried herself off before pulling on her robe.
In just her robe and her hair still in its bun, Katie walked out of the bathroom. She wasn't in the mood to change. Not just yet. She just spent weeks in her skin tight uniform. Plus, the robe was too comfy to take off yet.
Katie padded barefoot down the hall. She decided to relax and watch some TV before she changed and headed over to her father's place.
A sigh escaped Katie's lips as she flung herself onto the couch. It felt so good to finally be able to sit down and just relax. However, just as Katie started to reach for the remote on the coffee table, there was a knock on the door.
A different type of sigh left Katie's lips this time. Reluctantly, Katie pushed herself off the couch and dragged herself over to the front door and pulled it opened.
"Tash?" Katie raised an eyebrow at the red-head in front of her. "Since when do you knock?"
"I wasn't sure if you were home yet or not." Natasha stated before walking into the apartment.
"I got back late this morning." Katie told her, closing the front door.
Natasha just nodded. Katie watched as she walked over to the window, standing in front of it. Katie was just about to ask if there was a reason behind Natasha's little visit, when the red-head turned around.
"Have you talked to Nick yet?" Natasha questioned with crossed arms.
"No, I haven't seen him since before I left." Katie slowly walked over and sat on the arm on the couch. "He sent an agent to do the debriefing. The last time I spoke to him was just as we were leaving Canada."
Natasha nodded once more. Her face was blank, but her eyebrows were pinched together ever so slightly.
"How about your father?"
This time, Katie nodded.
"I spoke to him just a little while ago," Katie said. "I'm actually meeting up with him later."
Again, Natasha gave a simple nod as silence fell around the two. Katie watched with narrowed eyes as Natasha starred off. The blank look still on her face. But Katie could tell was she thinking of something.
"Natasha." Katie spoke up, breaking the silence. "What is it?"
Green eyes turned to Katie. Natasha brows pinched together just a little bit more as she leaned against the wall behind her.
"Nick sent me and Steve on a mission earlier." Natasha started to tell Katie. "We had to save the Lemurian Star, this battle ship, and several S.H.I.E.L.D. hostages from Algerian pirates. However, Nick gave me another mission."
"Natasha." Katie sighed as she rubbed her forehead.
She knew where this was going. Katie knew how Nick worked, and how Natasha and her father worked. Steve wasn't one to deal with computers or drift away from a mission for a few documents. Therefore, Natasha was the one who did the hacking. Usually under Steve's nose. Which had already caused more than one problem in the past.
"My job was to extract S.H.I.E.L.D. intel while your father dealt with the pirates," Natasha continued, unfazed by Katie's interruption.
"Intel? About what?" Katie questioned, but Natasha just shrugged.
"I don't know. They were secure files and I didn't really have time to look through them."
Katie gave a little nod. Her eyebrows were pinched together. She still didn't understand why Natasha stopped by to tell her this. There had to be more to this visit.
"But I may have an idea."
Katie's head snapped up and she raised her eyebrows. "And?"
"Has Fury told you about Project Insight?"
At the shake of Katie's head, Natasha went on to explain all about the Project. Well, what she knew anyways. And with every word, Katie felt anger boil and grow in the pit of her stomach. If Katie was pissed about all the Phase 2 crap Tony found out about two years ago, it was nothing compared to the plan with the three helicarriers. She was furious.
"That…" Katie tried to speak once Natasha finished. "That has to be the dumbest idea… Nick's seriously going through with this?"
Natasha nodded her head causing Katie to pinch the bridge of her nose. Whether people knew about it or not, having a gun pointed at the whole world wasn't called 'safety'.
"Does my father know about this?" Katie asked. Because even though she was furious, Katie could just imagine what Steve would be like. He'd be livid.
Katie knew her father. She knew him pretty well at this point. Therefore, Katie knew how touchy he was when it came to freedom and trust. And she knew for sure that her father would never think of having those helicarriers in the air as 'keeping the peace'.
"I don't know," Natasha answered honestly. "The last I saw him was when the mission was completed. But I do know he had a talk with Nick after."
Katie nodded. She was unable to form words for a moment as she mind tried to process everything she was just told.
"And Nick actually supports this idea?"
"Well, the Council supports it." Natasha stated.
At Natasha's words, Katie couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. "Of course he does."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You know the Council is made up of more than one person right?"
"Yes, Tash." Katie couldn't help but roll her eyes. "But Alexander freaking Pierce is the leader. So of course he's on bored with this damn plan. I mean, the man would do anything to 're-shape the word'."
"He said that?" Katie could see the tracing of a smirk starting to pull on Natasha's lips. Because if there was one thing that Natasha loved to see, it was Katie getting riled up.
"He basically screams it to anyone that listens." Katie said. "I thought you were a super-spy. Aren't you supposed to know these things?"
"You're funny," Natasha rolled her eyes.
"I try to be," Katie tried to smirk, but a sigh escaped her lips instead. "How come you're telling me all this anyways?"
"You have the right to know." Natasha shrugged. "Plus, something just doesn't… seem right."
"How so?" Katie tilted her head to the side.
"Some agents, they've been on edge lately. A lot more than normal." Natasha explained. "Something just isn't adding up."
"Do you have a sixth-sense for danger now?" Katie tried to joke, but it didn't sound right to her ears.
"I don't know," Natasha pinched her eyebrows together slightly. "I have that same feel I had just a few days before the Battle of New York."
A sigh managed to escape Katie's lips once more. "Why do I have a feeling my next few days off are going to be anything but relaxing?"
"Well, we haven't had much drama lately." Natasha started.
"Yeah well, tomorrow I'll be heading over to the Triskelion and giving Nick an ear full." Katie suddenly felt her phone go off in her robe pocket. Pulling it out, she found a message from Steve.
About to head home now. Meet me there?
"Steve?"
"Yeah." Katie sent Natasha a nod as she typed back.
See you then.
"Well then, I better get going." Natasha pushed herself off the wall and headed towards the front door.
"I'll call you tomorrow," Katie followed her to the door.
"You better. I want to hear about the ear full you give Nick." Natasha sent her a smirk before disappearing out the door.
Katie couldn't help but roll her eyes at her friends antics. But a smile did start to form on her face. However, the moment the door clicked close the smile fell and Katie sighed.
She suddenly felt a headache coming on. Which was impossible because she couldn't get headaches. But she swore she could feel a pounding in her temples. And as Katie made her way to her room to change, she thought over everything Natasha just said.
Were Nick and S.H.I.E.L.D. actually going to go through with this? With Project Insight? Did they really believe holding the whole world at gun point was the best way to keep everyone safe? Sure, it may work at first. But once people started finding out - and they would - Katie was sure they would have World War Three on their hands.
It was times like these that Katie missed the S.H.I.E.L.D. she grew up with.
Katie was used to change at this point. Nothing in her life was the same as it was years ago. But that didn't mean she had to like it. And she knew for a fact, the S.H.I.E.L.D. she knew when she was younger would never even think of Project Insight.
And Katie normally trusted Nick and his decisions. He was the director for a reason. But this, this wasn't right. And the fact that Alexander Pierce was basically in charge of this whole Project rubbed Katie the wrong way even more.
She hated Pierce from the moment she first met him years ago. And she had a feeling the feeling was mutual. Pierce and Nick were really good friends. But Nick seemed to listen to Katie more. He seemed to trust her more. And Pierce didn't like that.
Walking into her bedroom, Katie threw on a pair of black jeans and a loose white t-shirt. She moved over to her mirror before ripping her bun out. She pulled the top half of her hair up in an elastic and let the rest fall straight down to her shoulders.
Katie stared in the mirror for a moment. She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts before grabbing her red jacket and black boots.
She left her apartment and made it to Steve's in record time. It was already dark out but all the lights brightened the city up.
Katie climbed the stairs of Steve's apartment building and pulled her keys out of her bag at the same time. She only came to a stop when she made it to the door. Her eyebrows instantly pinched together.
She could hear music. It was faint, but she could hear it clear as day from her spot in the quiet hallway. And she knew her father would never leave anything on in his apartment.
There was a chance that Steve made it home before Katie got there. But as she looked down at the floor, she could see no light shining out from under the door.
So there was music playing but no lights on. Steve was definitely not home.
Slowly and quietly, Katie places her key in the lock. She unlocked the door before slowly pushing it open, toeing her shoes off as she did so.
Katie stepped into the apartment. She reached into her purse and soundlessly pulled out her gun before padding across the floor. She stopped once she reached the corner. Gun out and back to the hall, Katie slowly peaked around the corner.
She almost sighed when she found Nick sitting in the chair in the corner. Almost. Nick hardly ever made house calls. Whenever he did it was really important. And as Katie's eyes landed on his slumped form sitting in the dark, she knew something was wrong.
"Nick," Katie came around the corner. There was an edge to her voice as she stood guard. "What are you doing here?"
Katie's hand went to the light switch next to her but Nick held up his hand, stopping her.
"My wife kicked me out."
Katie's eyebrows immediately pulled together. Her guard went straight up as her eyes swept over the room. She couldn't see anything out of the norm. But she knew Nick. And his voice and body language was telling her something was definitely wrong.
Her eyes landed back on Nick's dark figure. Before she could open her mouth, however, Nick turned around his phone for her to see.
CAREFUL. EARS EVERYWHERE.
Katie internally groaned. This was one of the reasons her and Steve didn't want S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help finding a place when they decided to move to D.C.. S.H.I.E.L.D. loved to bug their places. But now, it seemed none of that mattered. Because somehow, the place was bugged anyways. She should've expected it. She should've realized. She should've been more-
Katie took a deep breath through her nose. If Steve's place was bugged, what was stopping them from bugging her place?
Katie stuck her gun into the back of her jeans before pulling her phone out of her back pocket.
"What for this time?" Katie questioned, keeping up with Nick's little act. She quickly typed on her phone before showing it to Nick.
EVERYWHERE?
Nick's eyes moved from Katie's scene to his own as he spoke. "It was nothing really. I did something stupid and it caused us to get in a fight."
YES.
This time, Katie did let out a light groan as she glare slightly at Nick.
"Well," Katie started typing on her phone again. "It's not the first time you've done something stupid."
NAT TOLD ME ABOUT INSIGHT.
Nick's eyes met Katie's glare. If they were able to talk freely right now, she'd be giving him an ear full. But for now, Katie was just going to have to settle with a meaningful glare.
"I was hoping she'd give me a change to explain myself," Nick leaned forward ever so slightly. "But it doesn't look like that's going to happen tonight."
WE HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM.
Katie's glared turned into a confused look. Yes, Katie knew that Project Insight would lead to problems and it wasn't a good idea (in her books). But didn't Nick agree to it? And now, not only was he saying that he thought Insight was a problem, but he also said that they had a bigger problem to deal with.
"So you're looking to crash here tonight?" Katie sent Nick a confused look as she turned her phone around.
LIKE WHAT?
Nick leaned forward. He's arms rested on his knees and half his face came into what little light was in the room. But it was still too dark to really make out his face.
"At this point," Nick stated slowly, looking down at his phone. "I have nowhere else to go."
Katie felt her breath catch in her throat. Her eyes went wide. She had to stop herself from gasping out loud as Nick slowly turned his phone around for her to see.
SHIELD COMPROMSIED.
Katie's phone almost fell out of her hand. Her eyes flicked from the phone scene to Nick's face. She hoped to see some trace of a smile, a joking eye, anything to tell her that this wasn't happening. But Nick's face - from what Katie could see of it - was dead serious.
However, Katie's mind didn't have time to really process what she just read. Because at that moment, she heard the faint sound of the window opening. Followed by the light patter of soft footsteps.
Her first thoughts were intruder and her hand went straight to the gun in the back of her jeans. But then she remembered that she was at Steve's apartment. And she was meeting him here. Still, Katie stood guard as she pulled her gun out.
Katie watched the corner with a wary eye. It was then that Steve slowly came into view, shield in hand, and Katie relaxed a bit.
She watched as Steve's narrowed and confused eyes shifted from the record player, to Nick's form in the chair, and finally to Katie.
"Nick," Steve sent a hard gaze Nick's way. Then he turned to Katie and his eyes softened slightly. "Katie."
Katie managed a smile. Through she honestly didn't know how. This was the first time she was seeing her father in over a month. And this wasn't how she imagined they'd be spending the night. She thought she'd be coming over, having a small cooked meal, maybe call up Natasha. She thought she'd be listening to Steve list off all the people Natasha was trying to hook him up with - because for some reason she made that her personal mission these days. Not standing in a dark living room with Nick telling her that her second home was in danger.
"I didn't realize we were having company." Steve's eyes were pinched together in confusion as he watched Katie. He could probably tell by the look on her face and the gun in her hand that something was very wrong.
"Sorry for just showing up," Nick spoke up from the chair before Katie could speak. "But my wife kicked me out."
Steve raised an eyebrow as he stepped farther into the room. "I didn't know you were married."
Katie cleared her throat slightly. Steve turned her way as Katie gave him a look.
"Nick was wondering if it was all right to crash here," Katie looked down at her phone as she spoke. "Just for the night."
Katie looked back up at Steve. His eyes shined with confusion before narrowing as Katie turned her phone around.
THE PLACE IS BUGGED.
Steve's eyes flicked up to Katie's face. She could basically see the wheels turning in his head as he turned back to Nick.
"How long were you looking to stay?" Steve questioned, an edge to his voice as he flicked on the lights.
Katie's month almost dropped as Nick finally came into view. He was covered in bumps and bruises. Fresh and dried up blood mixed together on his face and he was holding his arm in a way that told Katie is was broken.
What the hell was going on here?
Nick held a finger to his lips before turning off the lights again.
"Hopefully just for the night," Nick slowly stood up. "I have nowhere else to crash right now."
Nick then turned his phone around and showed Steve what he just showed Katie. Steve looked over at Katie and she gave him a nod, her face serious. Though she still couldn't really believe it.
"Who else knows about you and your wife?" Steve question in a hard voice. His face was serious as he turned back to Nick, who was typing on his phone again.
"Just my friends."
YOU TWO AND ME.
"Friends?" Steve's voice still held a hardness to it. Causing Katie to narrow her eyes slightly. "That's what we are?"
Katie could feel some tension between the two men in front of her. Katie knew Steve had a talk with Nick earlier, Natasha told her. But by the body language Steve was giving off and the tone of his voice, Katie was starting to think it didn't go well. Which lead her to believe that Nick may have told him about Project Insight.
"That's up to you."
Katie didn't even have time to breathe as the next few seconds past by in a blur. One minute Nick was standing in front of her. The next he was on the ground, the sound of shots being fired echoed off the walls. Katie jumped backwards. Her eyes were wide in shock as she lifted her gun, pointing in the direction where the shots came from. But she was only met by a solid wall. A solid wall with bullet holes.
Katie's eyes narrowed in amazement and confusion. Who the hell can shoot through a solid wall and hit their target? Because there was no way Nick wasn't this persons target.
Nick.
Katie lowered her gun and looked to find Steve pulling the fallen director over to the hallway, out of the way. Quickly Katie ran over towards the them and knelt down beside Nick, dropping her gun next to her.
Katie's eyes locked with Steve's for a moment. She could tell by the look on Steve's face that he was telling her to stay with Nick. However, just as Steve made a move to go after the shooter, Nick stopped him.
Katie watched with curious eyes as Nick opened his hand to Steve, showing a flash drive.
"Don't… trust… anyone…" Nick spoke in between deep and sallow breaths. His eyes flicked between Steve and Katie before closing all together.
The sound of the door being kicked in was suddenly heard and Katie's hand instantly flew to her gun, bringing in close.
Steve quickly walked over and peaked around the corner. Katie reached up and grabbed one of Steve's jackets off the hook from above. With her gun still in one hand, she pressed the balled up jacket over Nick's bullet wound. But she knew it was no good. The bullet went clean through.
"Captain Rogers."
Katie looked up sharply. She knew that voice.
"I'm Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D. special service."
Katie watched as the blonde haired women came into view. She froze when her eyes met Katie's, clearly taken back by Katie and the fallen director
"Kate?"
"What are you doing here?" Katie asked, her voice a lot harsher then she meant it to be.
"I've been assigned to protect… you." Agent 13 - Sharon - glanced over at Steve, clearly not fazed by Katie's tone.
"On whose order?" Steve questioned.
It was then that Sharon seemed to remember - or notice - Nick on the ground. Because she quickly ran over and knelt down at Nick's other side, across from Katie.
"His."
Katie pressed the jacket down hard. She dropped the gun again and used her other hand to apply even more pressure as she watched Sharon. As she watched her cousin.
Katie knew Sharon. She was family after all. Katie knew of her from her mother. Through they never officially meet until Nick introduced them, just a few days after Sharon joined S.H.I.E.L.D.
However, Sharon didn't find out who Katie actually was until a few months after they first met. She was the only family member aside from her mother, father, and step-father, who knew exactly who Katie was.
Katie looked down at Nick. Why the hell did he assign Sharon to watch her father? In fact, why would he assign anyone to watch over Steve? What else was Nick hiding from her?
Katie looked back up and watched Sharon as she pulled out a walky-talky. She quickly started reporting that Nick was down.
"Do you have a twenty on the shooter?"
Both Sharon and Katie looked up at Steve. Steve's eye locked with Katie for a moment before he turned to the wall that held the bullet holes.
"Tell them I'm in pursuit."
Steve took off, jumping out the window with a loud crash. Katie turned back around, pressing down hard on Nick's chest as her eyes met Sharon's.
Maybe coming home was starting to become worse than being on a mission.
Welcome to part 2 of the story!
I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for all the love and support. The number of messages I get here and on tumblr from people telling me they love the story is overwhelming. I appreciate it so much.
Now, I have a proposition for you all. A number of people have said they wanted longer chapters. And I can do that, no problem. However. Because of my busy work schedule and my beta's busy schedule, there is no way we can write and edit 8000+ word chapters EACH week.
So. Here are your options. I can keep the updates to 4000+ word chapters each week. Or give you 8000+ word chapters every two weeks. You guys decided.
Anyways, I hope you guys are looking forward to upcoming chapters as much a I am! I have a very big twist planned and I can't wait to write it! Things are about to get very dark... :)
Oh, and happy belated birthday going out to UltimateGingeDW (June 9th) and happy birthday to larayray132434 (June 17th). I hope you both enjoy/enjoyed your day!