Only Human - Christina Perri.

"If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance." - George Bernard Shaw.

"Are you serious?"

"It's a general question."

"Yes. But I thought that was something therapists only said in movies."

Sam chuckled as he sat back in his chair and Katie gave him a loose smile. It was starting to become hard to believe that over a month ago, Katie had been afraid to trust Sam. Now, Katie couldn't imagine not trusting him. It was so easy to be relaxed around him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he knew everything she'd been through, or just his nature. Either way, Katie now knew why her father trusted Sam so much and was good friends with him.

"But I mean it," Sam said. "We've talked so much these past few weeks about your… experience that we haven't actually gotten the chance to see how you are feeling lately."

"Good. Great." Katie paused for a moment before meeting Sam's eye. "A lot better than I did a few months ago."

This was true. Over the past few weeks, Katie opened up to Sam more and more. He basically knew everything that had happened to her at this point. From Strucker and List to Wanda and Pietro. It was hard. Unbelievably hard, to open up like that. But she did it.

Sam leaned forward, eyes narrowed slightly. "But there's still something there."

"There'll always be something there." Katie stated before she sighed. "I guess, I'm just scared about what will happen once… once this ends."

"What do you mean?"

"Months ago, I would hardly talk to my father." Katie started to explain as she picked at her finger nails. "Now, I'm able to leave my room. I can go hang out with everyone without a second thought, really."

"That's really good progress, Katie." Sam leaned back against the chair, but Katie just shook her head.

"But I always come back to this room. I always wake up, shower, and talk to you." Katie said. "That wouldn't be the case once I permanently leave this room."

"I'm only a phone call away, Katie." Sam tried to reassure her. "Plus, I don't think that once these sessions are over I'll be leaving forever."

Katie nodded and gave Sam a small smile. He was right and what he said was true, but all this still did nothing to calm her nerves.

This had been on her mind a lot lately. It started over a week ago, a few days after she finally told Sam about what Wanda did. Maybe it was because she was so nervous about telling Sam about that, that once finally she did, a new fear settled in. Either way, the thought of suddenly leaving the room and actually going out on her own again, it scared her a lot. She should have more faith in herself, she trusted that Bruce and Sam wouldn't send her off on her own if she wasn't ready. But it was like moving out on your own for the first time. There would be no real control.

"Am I right it saying that this isn't the only thing on your mind?"

Katie looked up from her hands and met Sam's eye. She didn't know if it was because she let him in on one of her darkest secrets or because they'd spent so much time together lately. But he could read her like a book. Katie couldn't help but sigh as she bit her lip slightly.

"When this session is over, I'll go out and hang with everyone," Katie started to explain. "There'll be teasing, jokes. Everyone with be all smiles and laughing and acting like they're having the time of their lives. And… and it kinda hurts."

"What do you mean?" Sam narrowed his eyes as he listened to Katie's every word.

Katie sighed as she ran a hand though her hair. "I used to like it, you know. The way there was almost like a silent agreement to keep everything light. Like we were the perfect family or something. But now, the more sessions we've done and the more clear my head has become… I just realized it hurt more than everything. Almost like, they've all forgotten what I could do before… everything, you know?"

"Because you're an agent." Sam stated. Katie resisted the urge to correct him. As far as she was concerned, she wasn't an agent anymore. But she still nodded her head.

"I was trained to see through facades like those," Katie continued. "I've knew all those guys for years, some longer than others, but I can tell when they're all acting. I can see the wheels turning in their heads before they say something. I can basically hear them recite a sentence to themselves before they say it out loud because they're afraid they're going to slip up on something." Katie paused to take a breath. She could feel her eyes started to string with tears but she wouldn't let them fall. "No one has said a word about S.H.I.E.L.D. or anything since I got here three months ago. It just… it just stings the way they all treat me like I'm the injured puppy of the group."

"But they're your friends and family," Sam stated in a calm, cool voice. "They're just doing it because they care for you and don't want to hurt you."

Katie knew Sam was just doing his job, being a friend and trying to reassure her. But that didn't stop a small ball of anger of swelling up in the pit of her stomach. Because she knew that. She knew why they were acting the like they were and that they loved her. But it still just hurt.

Katie took a few moments to calm herself down. She took a few deep breaths as she looked out the window before she turned back to Sam, meeting his eyes.

She could basically see the wheels in his head turning. The way her was studying her with a careful eye, eyebrows pulled together slightly. It was almost like he was planning something.

"I know why they're doing it," Katie finally spoke up. "But… how does everyone expect me to get better if they wouldn't actually tell me anything."

Sam didn't say anything. Silence filled the room for a few long moments as Sam just continued to watch Katie. She held his eye for a few moments before looking down at her nails, only looking up again when Sam finally spoke.

"You've been thinking about this for a while now, haven't you?"

Katie nodded slowly as she looked at Sam, giving him a small, sad smile.

"You keep saying I'm making amazing progress. But I need to see it for myself," Katie explained. "And that's hard to do when your own friends and family are afraid to be themselves around you."

"Are you serious?"

Steve sighed as he basically threw himself down onto his couch. He was planning on having a nice, relaxing night on his floor at the Tower. Maybe hit the gym for a bit. But all those plans went out the window when Sam showed up at his door with Bruce and Natasha behind him. And Steve could tell by the look on Sam's and Bruce's faces that whatever they had to say, was going to make his night anything but relaxing.

Sam nodded his head from his spot in the chair across from Steve.

"She's making amazing progress, Steve." Sam informed him. "Way better than anyone I've seen before."

"But that doesn't mean that she's ready to find out about what went down with S.H.I.E.L.D.." Natasha pointed out, and Steve couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s basically her life, Sam." Steve said. "And she's finally on the right track. If we tell her that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s no more-"

"Better to tell her now then have her find out on her own." Sam leaned forward. Her rested his elbows on his thighs as he watched Steve sigh and run a hand through his hair.

"I'm not saying that we won't tell her. I'm just saying… Are we sure she's ready. I mean, she's only been here for a couple of months."

"We've been watching her closely since these sessions started, Steve." Bruce spoke up from his spot in the other chair. "Trust me, I wouldn't have agreed with Sam if I didn't think Katie was ready."

Steve was silent as he thought everything over. He wasn't ready to tell Katie. Not that he didn't think she was strong enough - well, look at everything the poor girl had been through. And Steve only knew the minor details - but he didn't want her to go back to square one. She was finally getting better. Opening up again. Becoming Katie. Her life was finally starting to piece itself back together, and he knew, Steve just knew, the moment they told her S.H.I.E.L.D. was no more and everything that went down at the Triskelion, her life would shatter once again.

Steve glanced up at Natasha, who was standing to his left. She seemed like she was going through the same inner monologue as he was right now. She must have felt his eyes on her, because she suddenly met his gaze. Steve could see the same uncertainty in her eyes that he knew for sure was in his.

"Listen," Sam finally broke the silence, causing Steve to slowly turn to his direction. "I haven't known Katie as long as all of you have. But I do know her, and I wouldn't push this on you all unless I didn't think she was really ready." Sam paused for a moment as he looked between Steve and Natasha. "We can all agree that Katie has made the most amazing progress through all this. We can see it. But sometimes, a patient needs to face a huge obstacle in order to see their own progress."

"So you're saying that we should tell her that, the one thing that was constant in her life is gone just to prove to her that she's made progress?" Natasha crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes in on Sam, obliviously not trusting his judgement right now. And Steve had to silently agree with her. That did seem pretty farfetched.

Sam didn't reply right away however. He seemed like he was in the middle of some internal struggle as he turned to Bruce, who just gave him a small nod before he turned back to Steve and Natasha.

"Okay, this is a breach of doctor-patient confidentially but," Sam pushed for a moment to take a breath. He licked his lips before continuing. "This morning, Katie, she told me that she can see that we're all wearing masks around her. And she… she said that she's hurt by it."

Steve narrowed his eyes slightly as he leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"She said that it's almost like you've all forgotten that she's an agent. That she was trained to see when people are faking and acting around her. And that she's kind of hurt by it." Sam explained. "She said she can see through the perfect little family act."

"How is this just coming to light now?" Natasha questioned. "I mean, I don't think this was a problem before."

"That's because Katie's only just started to realize it herself," Bruce stepped in. "Before, in her mind, Katie needed perfect. She needed laughter and jokes to help her see the good out there. Especially after what she's been through. But now, the more she's opened up to Sam and the clearer her mind has gotten, she's starting to realize that everything's an act."

"She scared of what's going happen when she moves on after the sessions because she's comfortable with this routine," Sam carried on. "But she's also worried that you guys are never going to drop the act. That you're all going to always see her as the injured animal of the group from now on."

Steve slowly moved back against the couch cushion as he took everything in. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want Katie to think that they didn't trust her, but at the same time, this was a big step. She'd only been with them for three months at this point. In Steve's eyes, she wasn't ready. They could keep up the perfect little team act for a little while longer. But to Sam and Bruce, it was time. Yet, Steve couldn't help but try and come up with other ideas to prove to Katie that she was getting better.

"There's no other way." Natasha finally spoke up before she sighed. "Because you know, this is going to cause her to break down. It's going to overwhelm her."

"That's why we're going to make her as comfortable as possible." Bruce said. "And that's why it's only going to be you three to tell her about everything."

Natasha nodded sharply. It was her way of agreeing and telling them she was in. But Steve was still uncertain. There had to be another way. He didn't want to tell his daughter about S.H.I.E.L.D. There had to be another way. There just had to be-

"Steve."

Looking up sharply, Steve found Sam watching him.

"If I didn't think she was ready and could handle hearing the truth, I wouldn't have brought it up." Sam informed him in a comforting voice. "She's ready Steve. This is going to upset her, but it's going to help her in the long run. She's ready."

Steve looked from Sam, to Bruce, and to Natasha before he sighed. He may not agree 100% with this idea. But he trusted his closest friends. He knew they wouldn't do anything that would harm Katie, especially Natasha. And if this was going to help Katie in the long run, there who was Steve to say no?

Natasha gently placed her hand on Steve's shoulder as he let out another sigh.

"She may be ready. But I'm not sure if I am."

Katie shut off the steaming hot water before stepping out of the shower, into the cold of the bathroom. She had a lot on her mind after her session with Sam yesterday, but her hot shower did help her relieve some of the stress.

She meant what she`d said it him. She knew that if she was ever going to truly get better, everyone would have to stop babying her. And she was going to have to suck up whatever news they had to say to her. She just hoped she'd be ready whenever that time came.

Katie's feet hit the cold tile before she quickly dried herself off. She pulled on a pair of tight sweatpants and a comfy sweater before leaving the bathroom, toweling drying her hair on her way.

She almost jumped as she stepped into the bedroom just as her door opened. She expected it to be Sam, though he would be early for today's session. But she couldn't keep the surprise off her face at the sight of her father walking into the room.

"Hey." She managed to smile once the confusion left her face. "I thought you were Sam."

Katie continued into her room, rubbing the towel through her hair as she did so. However, she slowly came to a stop when her father didn't reply. She turned to him only to see a grim look on his face. Almost as if he was about to deliver some terrible news.

"What's wrong?" Katie questioned, taking a deep breath to calm herself before she started to get worked up. She lowered the towel from her hair and tossed it into the laundry basket behind her before turning back to her father.

"We, umm.." Steve started to say before he came to a complete stop. He looked up at his daughter before giving her a heartbreaking look, almost as if this was causing him pain. "Follow me."

The confused look made its way back onto Katie's face. But this time, it was laced with worry. Steve sent her a tight smile, as if he was trying to reassure her. But it didn't work.

Slowly, Katie followed her father as he made his way out of the room. They walked in silence towards the living room. Katie couldn't help but feel like she was on the walk of death or something.

Once they rounded the corner, Katie came to a stop as her eyes landed on Sam and Natasha, both already sitting down on some chairs. Her eyes shifted from them, to her father with slightly narrowed eyes but she took a small step forward.

"What's going on?" Katie questioned as she slowly walked around the couch and sat down next to her father. For some reason, she felt like she was going to have to be sitting for this.

Sam, Natasha, and Steve all shared a look. Katie suddenly felt like she was an outsider crashing their secret club meeting.

"Katie," Sam started calmly in the voice her always used when he talked to Katie. "You told me yesterday that you didn't know how everyone expected you to get better if they won't actually talk to you, right?"

Katie's eyes shifted between Natasha and her father. But this didn't seem like news to them, that Katie had said this. And for a split second, rage boiled in her stomach at the thought of Sam telling them everything. But just as fast as it was there, it was gone. She knew Sam would never do that. Besides, if he did, she was sure she'd be able to tell. Especially by how her father would have reacted.

"I know that sometimes, patients need to face an obstacle in order to see their own progress." Sam continued on as he shared a look with Natasha and Steve. "Well, we've decided, that because you've made the most amazing progress, it's time to fill you in. On everything you missed."

Katie's head snapped up and she sat up straighter. Her heart started to beat faster. But it wasn't like when she started to feel overwhelmed. It was more out of excitement and nervousness.

"With S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything?" Katie's eyes flickered between all the people before her.

The last she actually heard about S.H.I.E.L.D., was when her, Natasha, and her father were at the old S.H.I.E.L.D. base and Katie found out HYDRA was secretly growing inside S.H.I.E.L.D.. She didn't know anything after that. She didn't know if they managed to be stopped. If S.H.I.E.L.D. was completely overrun by HYDRA now. Or if HYDRA was gone from S.H.I.E.L.D..

Sam paused for a moment before nodding. "Yes."

Katie couldn't believe this. They were finally opening up to her. They weren't going to treat her like the baby of the group. They were going to talk to her. She was excited, yet very nervous. She wanted nothing more to be able to handle whatever news they through her way.

"If it gets to much," Steve gave her a concerned and worry looked. "Just let us know."

Katie took a nice, long, deep breath before she nodded. She expected someone to start talking once she gave them the single, but no one did. And it took Katie a few minutes to figure out why. The story started where Katie got taken. And Sam wasn't there, so he didn't know how to start and Natasha and Steve looked a bit nervous to bring it up. Therefore, as Katie bit her lip slightly, she decided to take the lead.

"So," She let out a breath as she started to self-consciously pick at her nails. "What happened after the… explosion?"

Natasha and Steve turned to her with slightly wide eyes while Sam had a knowing smile on his face. Katie never talked about anything regarding what happened to anyone besides Sam. So for Natasha and Steve to hear Katie talking about what happened so openly and calm, it was a shock to them.

"We made it to Sam's house," Natasha explained as she came out of her shock. "He was the only one who wasn't part of S.H.I.E.L.D. that we, well, Steve knew, we could trust at the time."

"I wanted to go find you," Steve all but jumped in. Almost as if he'd wanted to say this for a while now. "The moment I realized… There was nothing more I wanted to do than go and find out. But, I knew I couldn't." Steve paused and sent Katie the most apologetic and heartbreaking face that she'd ever seen. She could already feel the tears making their way to her eyes, but she kept blinking to keep them away.

"Natasha managed to keep a cool head." Steve continued on, send Natasha a small smile. "And she managed to convince me that it wasn't a good idea," Steve turned back to Katie, his face serious. "There was no way we could get to you, not when S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were out to get us. And Katie, I just wanted to say, I'm so-"

"Don't." Katie cut him off, sending him a loose, sad, smile. "I understand. Completely."

Steve returned the smile and reached over to give her back a fatherly rub.

Katie let out a breath. "So. You seemed refuge at Sam's place. Then what?"

"I was able to offer more than refuge," Sam smiled before he explained to Katie. "I was part of a military project involving advanced personal flight suits."

Natasha's lips started to turn up in the corner. "We call him Falcon."

"So you got a codename. Nice" Katie let out a light laugh before her face got more serious again. "Then what?"

"We figured out that Pierce was behind the missile strike that blew up the base," Natasha informed Katie, who clenched her fists and had to take a deep breath at the mention of Pierce's name. "And that Jasper Sitwell was working for him."

Katie couldn't help it. She couldn't keep the surprise off her face. It still came as a shock to her whenever she heard about people she worked with were HYDRA agents. She didn't know Sitwell overly well, but he seemed like a nice guy at when she did speak a few words to him.

"We couldn't kidnap Sitwell ourselves," Steve continued. "Not when we were the two most wanted people in Washington. That's when Sam came in to play."

"Sam managed to get Sitwell to a rooftop and we were able to get him to explain Zola's algorithm to us."

Katie's head snapped towards Natasha. "Zola's algorithm?"

Natasha nodded. "It could calculate if a person would be a threat in the future based on their past actions. HYDRA was going to use Project Insight as a weapon to eliminate what they viewed a threats against themselves and the world."

"And what good would it be to bring them in? Besides, Project Insight will take care of all them once it's launched."

Katie remembered Pierce saying this when she'd woken up and realized she was in HYDRA's hands. She didn't know what he'd meant at the time, but now it all made sense. HYDRA was going to use Project Insight to get rid of people they knew could stop them.

"We were on our way to the Triskelion to try and stop Insight when…" Steve trailed off. He shared a look with Natasha who just returned his gaze. Then he turned to Sam who slowly nodded as Katie narrowed her eyes slightly. "When we were attacked by the Winter Solider."

Katie's head snapped up, eyes slightly wide. "The Winter Solider?"

She knew about the Winter Solider. About all the ghost stories. She knew he was behind Nick's… But she never believed that he was just a ghost. She didn't know why. There was just something so real about all the stories. Besides, she'd heard Strucker and Pierce and List mumble the name more than once. She couldn't remember at this very moment what they'd said, but she knew for sure she heard the words 'Winter Solider'.

Thankfully, Katie had never come face to face with the Winter Solider before in her life. But by the sounds of it, the three people before her hadn't been so lucky.

"What… what happened?" Katie spoke in a low voice as she leaned forward slightly. This was slowly turning into one of those scenarios were you couldn't watch, but you couldn't look away.

Steve turned to Natasha and Sam once again. It was almost like there were all having a very silent conversation, because soon, Sam nodded and Natasha turned to Katie.

"Long story short, there was a battle." Katie knew she was holding back on something, but she didn't push it. Not now. "By the end of it all, the Winter Solider escaped and we were taken into custody by Rumlow and his men."

Katie's eyes grew wide as she listened on to the story. She caught Sam's eye for a moment and watched as he took in a deep breath. Katie copied him by taking a few deep breaths to keep her nerves in check.

"However, when we got in the van, we found out one of the guards was Hill." Natasha continued on. "She helped us escape and took us to a secret facility. Where Fury was resting."

"What?" Katie narrowed her eyes as she sat up straight. She heard Natasha wrong. Nick was dead. She'd been there herself. She'd seen him dead on the hospital table.

"That's impossible." Katie continued to mumble on. Her heart started to beat faster and palms got sweaty as she took deep breaths in between her sentences. "I saw him… Nick… Nick's dead. I-"

"We all thought so." Steve place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He was just severely injured. He kept this from everyone but a handful of people. His death had to look convincing."

"He took an anti-stress serum that Bruce developed," Natasha explained. "It lowered his heartbeat to only one beat per minute so it would seem like he was dead."

"So Nick he's… He's alive." Katie looked around the room with wide eyes and watched as they all slowly nodded. "Where is he?"

"We don't know," Steve sighed. "To pretty much everyone, he's still dead. God only knows where he's hiding now."

Katie glanced down at her hands. She couldn't believe this. Nick was alive. She was over the moon, though she was still in shock. Nick was alive. Nick Fury was actually still alive. She knew that nothing could kill him.

"You okay?" Steve asked her gently. Katie took a long, deep breath before nodded.

"Yeah. I'm good. What happened after that?"

"At this point, Insight was only hours away." Sam spoke up in a gentle voice.

"Fury and Hill filled us in on everything, on how Insight was going to work." Steve added. "Once the three Helicarriers reached 3000 feet they would connect to the Insight Satellites before locking on all its targets and firing."

"How did you stop it?" Katie questioned. "I'm guessing Insight didn't happen if we're all still sitting here."

Natasha nodded. "The only way for us to stop it was to use three special chips that would take away S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control over the Helicarriers."

"So you guys worked out a plan." Katie stated, and Steve sent her a small smile.

"We broke into the Triskelion as the World Security Council arrived," He told her.

"That's when you're father made up a very moving speech about HYDRA and fighting against them." Sam sent Steve a small, teasing smile. Steve just rolled his eyes.

Katie couldn't help but smile slightly. Something inside her told her she was seeing the real Sam Wilson for the first time. Not therapist Sam Wilson.

However, that small smile that was hardly there soon slipped off her lips as she listened on.

She was leaning forward, elbows resting on her legs as she listened to Sam's, Natasha's, and Steve's every word. She listened as they told her how Natasha disguised herself as Councilwoman Hawley, who was apparently the only living Council member now. They told her how, after some fighting, Sam and Steve managed to get two of the three chips in the Helicarriers. But as Sam was going for the last one, the Winter Solider came out of nowhere and forced him to skydive down to the Triskelion. She listened as Sam went on to fight Rumlow while her father attempted to place the final chip in place when he was confronted by the Winter Soldier.

She didn't think she took a single breath the while she listened to her father relaying the fight that broke out between her father and the ghost. She knew they were leaving out details, but Katie could still feel every punch and kick, every gunshot as they went on to fill her in on how Pierce was killed.

Katie cold feel tears form in her eyes and anger boil in her stomach as her father informed her about how he finally got the final chip in place seconds before the Insight Helicarriers fired at each other. She listened as Steve told her how he fell into the water only to be saved by the Winter Solider in the end, something Katie could hardly believe.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked gently once they were done explain everything to Katie.

But the thing was, Katie didn't know if she was okay. She didn't know how she felt. after hearing everything… The only thing she could think about right now was her breathing.

Shaky breath in, shaky breath out. You are safe.

After a few long moments, Katie slowly nodded.

"Yeah," She spoke in a dry voice once she was sure she was okay. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You're handling all this very well, Katie." Sam informed her, going back to his therapist voice.

Katie nodded as she looked around at Sam, Natasha, and Steve. She thought she'd feel like less off an injured puppy once they finally talked to her about everything, but she didn't. And Katie now knew why.

They were still holding back.

She could see it in their eyes. There was still some stuff that they weren't telling her. Some things they had yet to open up about. But Katie had made it this far, she wasn't about to half-ass this whole thing.

"What aren't you telling me?"

A few more moments of silences filled the room as the three shared a look once again. Until Steve sighed and turned to Katie. The worry and concern on his face made him look years older than he physically was.

"Well, while we were fighting the Winter Solider on our way to the Triskelion, we found out something." Steve said. He shared one last look with Natasha and Sam before he turned back to Katie. She didn't like the look in his eyes. "The Winter Solider is actually Bucky."

"Kitty Kat!"

"Well, with all the training you're doing, you'll be the best agent S.H.I.E.L.D.'s had in years,"

"Can't you see me and my goddaughter are having a conversation here."

That Bucky.

The same Bucky who would have basically been her Uncle. The same Bucky who was her father's best friend. The same Bucky who died back in 1945.

"How?" Katie managed to breath out.

"HYDRA got a hold of him." Steve informed her in a low voice. She knew there was more to it than that. But she honestly didn't think she could handle any more.

All these years, not only was HYDRA right under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nose. But they'd had her Uncle Bucky this whole time.

Katie felt like she was going to be sick.

"There's more," Natasha spoke up. Katie snapped her head towards the red-head, silently telling her to go on.

"While we were in Pierce's office, I knew we had to let everyone we could know about HYDRA in order to stop them," Natasha informed her before she paused for a moment. "And I uploaded all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s and HYDRA's secure files on the internet."

Katie's heart stopped. She stared at Natasha with wide eyes. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files where all over the internet. People now knew. The secret that she kept for over sixty-five years of her life… It was all out there now. Everyone knew who she was. Everyone now knew about the real Golden Girl.

"W-why?" Katie couldn't help but ask. Even though she knew why. In order to put HYDRA out there, they had to do the same to S.H.I.E.L.D.. Katie's head was pounding. "What about S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

With all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files out there, Katie didn't know what was happening to the agency. All their secret were out there for any nosy teenager or government to see.

Katie's eyes flicked between Sam, Natasha, and Steve. They all looked like they were having an internal argument over who was going to tell her something. Katie didn't like it. She didn't like the looks that they wore on their faces. She didn't like the way her father sighed next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She didn't like the way her tears started to water before she even really knew what was going on.

"Katie." Steve said her name so gentle that Katie basically already knew what he was going to say. "There's no more S.H.I.E.L.D."

Katie's heart completely stopped. Her head was spinning as her father's words repeated over and over in her head. The one thing in her life that was always there. The one thing that she could always come back to no matter how long she was away. It was gone. S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone. It was no more.

Katie looked from her father, to Natasha, to Sam, and back. She waited for them to tell her this was a joke. That of course S.H.I.E.L.D. was still around. But the moment never came.

And Katie didn't know what to say. She just sat there. Taking long, deep breaths to calm herself down and to stop her head from spinning. Tears were falling from her eyes and down her cheeks.

"There's something else-"

"Natasha." Steve cut off the red-head, shaking his head slightly.

"She has a right to know." Natasha's eyes looked over at Steve before flicking back to Katie. "Katie. I'm so sorry. But… Agent Taylor was killed."

Katie stopped breathing all together. Her mind went blank. The knot in her stomach tightened and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.

Dylan, the guy who risked his life to save her from HYDRA when everything started, was dead.

Katie sat there like a statue for the longest time, the room filling up with silence. They, she suddenly stood up. She needed air. She was done talking. She was done thinking. She just needed air.

Without so much as a word to Sam, Natasha, or her father, Katie turned and made her way towards the balcony.

She opened the door and stepped outside. It was mid-December and there was a fair sheet of snow covering the ground. It made her feet go numb the moment she stepped outside. The air was bitter and cold, but Katie didn't care. She just stood there, looking out into the sky as she calmed herself little by little, just like Sam showed her.

She didn't know how long was stood out in the cold evening air. But she suddenly felt someone else moving towards her.

"Here." Steve handed her a blanket.

"Thanks." Katie mumbled as she wrapped it around her shoulders, to keep in some warmth.

They both stood there in silence for a number of long moments. Steve wrapped his arm around Katie's shoulders and pulled her close as they both let their minds wonder, thinking about everything that just unfolded. Then, after a while, Steve spoke up in a soft voice.

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay." Katie sighed, but the tears still gently made their way down her face. "It's just… a lot."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Steve asked her gently, but Katie just shook her head.

"No," She said in a whisper. "I don't think I can talk about everything right now."

"Or you can't talk about it to me."

Katie took a step back as she looked up at her father with wide eyes. She didn't know where the hell he got that idea. But as Katie looked at his face, she realized there was no hurt behind what he said. In fact, it was the opposite.

"Natasha told me that there's only one person you like to talk to in hard times like this," Steve informed her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone before handing it over to Katie.

Katie looked down at the phone now in her hands. A fresh new set of tears started to form in her tears as she glance up at her father, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Thank-you."

Steve smiled as he leaned in and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll just be right inside if you need anything." Steve informed her before making his way back towards the door.

"Dad." Katie called out suddenly as she spun around, only to meet Steve's eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too, Katie." A smile formed on Steve's lips. Then he was gone.

Katie turned back around and looked out at the evening sky for a few moments before glancing down at the phone. She tapped the screen a few times before bringing the phone to her ear. A smile formed on her lips and a tear rolled down her cheek as she heard the phone be picked up.

"Hi Mum."

So sorry for the late update! Something came up and the chapter wasn't 100% done yesterday! But better late then never :)

Only one more chapter before part 3 starts. Think we can reason 500 reviews before then? Also think we can get more then 44 reviews this chapter... I think we can!

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(And for those of who you want to see Bucky, he may be coming sooner then you think...)