AN: Before you get mad and possibly throw things at me, let me apologize for being easily distracted by another story idea!

Secondly, if you haven't watched CA:TWS, don't read because there may be spoilers.

Please read and enjoy!

Chapter One: Death of a Friend

"Have a seat, Captain." Director Nick Fury stated, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Steve sat down without question. He felt like Fury wasn't in the mood to be argued with. Fury sighed as he sat down in his own chair, rubbing his forehead like it was causing him pain. Steve looked around and noticed that Natasha was standing in the corner, arms crossed over her chest. She looked disinterest, but Steve knew better. He could see that underneath her mask, she looked slightly uncomfortable. And that wasn't a good thing.

"Why the meeting?" He asked, facing Fury. Fury leaned forward in his chair, hands clasped together on the desk. Something was up.

"Does the name Maria Costello ring a bell?" Fury asked. Steve's body became rigid as memories of his old childhood friend came flooding back to him.

"Capt?" Natasha asked, stepping forward to take the seat next to him. He nodded, taking a deep breath. Fury watched Steve's eyes and how they had glazed over at the mere mention of the name. Obviously, Steve knew who he was talking about.

"What about Maria?" He asked, though it sounded a little choked on his part. He cleared his throat and cleared the memories away.

"I don't know how to say this gently, so I'm gonna be straight forward with you. She's dead." Fury said. He stood up and picked up a thick manila file on his desk. He flipped through while Steve processed this new information. He had to admit. It was hard, he wasn't gonna lie.

"How?" He asked softly, clenching his fists. He should have known she wouldn't be around forever, but he had hoped. Just like with Peggy. He held onto the memories of them, thinking that maybe, just maybe, they would still be around. He should have known better than to hope. After all, he was no stranger to losing friends, so why should this be any different? Because this had been Maria, his best friend since elementary school. She had been his first friend, the one to always stand up for him. She had been the one to help him choose his future, always telling him that he was the one in control, not his parents, and not his country. Then, when he met Bucky, the three of them had been inseparable, even vowing to join a worthy cause. Maria as a pilot for the newly formed Air Force, Bucky in the Army, and Steve, later becoming the legendary Captain America. They had been the tightest friends, and had always remained that way. Even when Bucky had confined in Steve his secret love for Maria, nothing had changed.

Until Bucky died because Steve hadn't been fast enough.

Until Steve choose the world over seeing his friends again.

And now, Maria was dead. Guess he was the lonely musketeer.

"Heart attack. She was 82, Capt. None of us saw that coming." Fury said, setting the folder down in front of Steve as he sat down on the corner of his desk. Steve nodded, numbed with the realization that he was truly alone.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking up. What did Fury mean when he said that no one had seen her death coming? She had been 82, they all should've seen that coming.

"Maria was healthy. Healthiest she had ever been. When she had died, it had surprised everyone. Her family hadn't seen it coming." Fury explained.

"Family? She had a family?" Steve asked, looking confused.

"Yeah. After the war, she moved back to Brazil as a commercial pilot and had a family. A big one, from what I last heard. She's survived by her two children, her four grandchildren, and her eleven great grandchildren." Fury stated, whistling low after saying all that information. Even he hadn't known just how big her family had been. Steve chuckled and shook his head.

"She had always said she wanted a big family one day."

"The reason why I asked is because her great granddaughter, the one she was the closest with, has recently moved to D.C." Fury said, handing Steve the file. "Before you look through that, you might want to know a few things about Teddy."

"Teddy?" Steve asked. "Weird name for a girl."

"Her full name is Theodore Maria Costello. She's named after her great grandparents. Her parents thought it was a great way to honor them." Fury said, getting up to go look out his office window. He took a deep breath as he heard Steve open the file and flip through a few pictures. "You should know that Teddy looks exactly like a young Maria."

"You're not kidding." Steve said, looking at the picture of a smiling Teddy. She had her hand on her hip with her hip jutted out, just like Maria used to do. She was smiling widely, and he noted that her smile came out lopsided. He thought it fit nicely on her. She had bright, hazel eyes that sparkled with happiness. Her skin was a dark tan, native to her home, and her hair was a dark brown, like melted chocolate. All in all, she looked a lot like the Maria he remembered. He looked through a few more pictures, seeing a happy Teddy, a laughing Teddy, a Teddy flipping backwards through the air. He raised his eyebrows at that one. Natasha smirked when she saw it. She had read through Teddy's file already, so she knew what the Capt was about to see. "What is she doing?" Steve asked. Natasha was happy to answer him.

"Parkour. It's also called free running. You might want to research that when you get a chance."

"Right, I'll add that to my list." Steve said, pulling out a small notepad and quickly writing down 'free running'. He returned his notepad to its original place and went back to the file. The next picture he saw, shocked him. He saw Teddy, but he also saw not Teddy.

She was in a hospital bed, with wires and tubes connected to her. She had a bandage wrapped around the right side of her head, covering her right eye. Her left eye looked black and blue, like she had taken a few hits to it. Her arms were wrapped in bandages as well; the left one was completely wrapped from shoulder to hand, while the right was wrapped from her elbow down. Her legs looked bruised and her right ankle was in a cast. Overall, she looked like she had gone through hell and back.

"Teddy was kidnapped a year ago, a few days after burying her best friend." Fury said.

"What happened to her friend?"

"Teddy was visiting her friend in India for a school holiday. The two had gone to college together in New York, both studying law and music. Teddy was studying dance, Asa was studying painting. They had been walking through the streets when some crazy son of a bitch threw a bucket of hydrochloric acid into Asa's face. Teddy had watched her friend in pain before she attacked the person responsible. Natasha happened to be there to stop her from killing the man. If Teddy had been allowed to continue, she would have killed the man." Fury said, looking more tired than usual. Steve set the pictures of Teddy aside, flipping the ones of her injuries over so he wouldn't have to see what happened to her. He got a glimpse at the cut over her right eye. Instead, he looked through the medical report and was astonished that she had survived what she had.

"Teddy had flown home when she had been taken off the streets right in front of her home. Her mother reported her missing an hour later. She was held captive for 8 months and was repeatedly tortured and raped." Natasha said just Steve read through the report. He slammed it down and clenched the armrests of the chair. He was dangerously close to breaking them off.

"Why? Why was she kidnapped and why did this happen to her?" He demanded.

"Someone had seen me pull her off the man she was close to killing. They thought that she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. and tortured her for secrets. She kept her mouth shut the entire time, didn't even utter a sound while she was with her kidnappers." Natasha said. So that's why she had looked uncomfortable. She had thought she had been responsible for Teddy's torture, when really she couldn't be blamed.

"And the men responsible?"

"Dead." Fury stated. He was waiting for Steve's next question.

"How?"

"Her Uncle-in-law just happens to be a very powerful drug lord in Rio. When he found out what they had done to her, he had the men hunted down like pigs and slaughtered them. Teddy still doesn't know."

"Is that why she's here? To get away from her "alive" kidnappers?" Steve asked, even using the air quotes. Natasha bit back a chuckle. That had been a hilarious sight. But this was not a time nor place for humor.

"No. Sources say she's here to speak with you, Captain."

"Me?" Steve asked, looking through the file again. There were a few more pictures of Teddy, only this time, her hair covered her right eye and her arms were covered with Henna tattoos that stretched across her scars, effectively hiding them. He could only guess that was why she had gotten them.

"Yes. Apparently Maria had told her stories about you and and everyone else during the war. She wants to talk to you and hear more about her great grandmother." Fury explained. Steve closed the file after putting everything back where it belonged. He still couldn't get the image of her lying in a hospital bed out of his mind. It was the resemblance to Maria that made it hard to bear.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't keep her waiting, should I? Where is she?" He asked, knowing Fury would already know the answer.

"She's at a coffee shop near the monument." Fury said as Steve walked out. He shared a look with Natasha, both unaware that someone was watching them and that they had heard the entire conversation.