1 Week Later
"Would you like another helping of pot roast, sweetie?" Felicita asked as she got up from her seat.
"No, I'm fine Mom, but thank you." Serena said with a warm smile.
"It's your favorite…are you sure?" Her father asked.
Serena hesitantly nodded. "I'm not really hungry."
Serena was eating dinner at her parents' house, and for the first time in her life she felt intimidated being in their house. After meeting with Fury a week ago, she hadn't been getting much sleep…wondering if her father was dealing with some shady people. She didn't want to believe it…she couldn't believe it. This is the man who was at every single dance recital of hers, every single horse show, every talent show, every PTA meeting, every graduation…she couldn't believe it. It can't be true, right? She felt a big pit in her stomach.
"Are you ok, Sera? You look a little green." Alexander asked.
Serena forced a smile and nodded. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine…I'll be right back."
She immediately got up from the dining room table, and quickly walked down the hall, once she was out of sight, she started to head towards the first-floor bathroom, but right across from the first-floor bathroom, was a room that may have the answers Fury needs. Her father's office.
She quietly walked up to the door and entered the passcode which was 04191989 (which was her birthday) and entered the room. Her father's office was mahogany, with bookshelves sitting behind his desk. She carefully closed the door behind her, so the sound wouldn't attract the attention of her parents before quickly walking over to his desk. She turned on his computer and while it was loading, she began to search his desk drawers for anything related to SHIELD…she found nothing. Once the computer was on, she was met with a passcode. She tried everything from her birthday, her mother's birthday, his birthday, the day SHIELD was founded, her grandfather's birthday, and even the day her grandfather died…nothing, they were all wrong. That's when it hit her, the one date she didn't enter…The day in Bogotá. As soon as she entered it, the words success came across the screen and her father's home screen popped up. That's when she started to look for anything related to SHIELD and once again…nothing…he was good…too good. She then started to hear footsteps coming down the hall.
"Serena?" She heard her father say. "Are you alright sweetheart?"
"Yeah!" Serena called quickly shutting down the computer and closing all the desk drawers along with removing herself from his desk seat. Her eyes widened when she saw the doorknob turn, so she quickly grabbed a picture off her father's desk. It was of her as a kid on the beach.
"What're you doing in here?" He asked as he walked in.
She nonchalantly shrugged even though her heart was beating like it was going to come out of her chest. "Just looking around."
He looked down at the picture in her hands. "I remember when that was taken…it was just after your 12th birthday."
"We were at the house in Martha's Vineyard, right?" She asked.
He nodded. "You were so excited to be there for whale watching season. I remember taking you out on the boat and you almost fell in because of how much you wanted to see the whales."
She laughed. "I also remember coming home and Mom yelling at the both of us because we were drenched."
He laughed as well. "That too. Your mother and Renata have dessert ready."
She nodded before placing the picture back on his desk and walking out of his office, knowing in the back of her mind, there were so many unanswered questions she had.
The Next Day
"I searched through everything." Serena explained as she stood before Fury. "I couldn't find anything."
Fury leaned back in his desk chair, deep in thought.
"Are you mad at me?" She hesitantly asked.
He shook his head. "No. Not even in the slightest. However, this makes me believe that potentially he encrypted them."
"What do you want me to do?" She asked.
"Nothing now. Continue with the assignment. Don't go into your father's office again." He instructed and she nodded.
She immediately walked out of his office, and sighed as she walked down the quiet corridor, the only sound being her 6-inch black heels clacking down as she walked. Since she was Assistant Deputy Director, she had to stop wearing casual clothes to come in, and now had to wear the uncomfortable business casual, so that meant dresses and suits (today though, was a dark grey sleeveless dress). Once she was on the elevator, she hit the floor for her office, and as soon as she was back in her office, she turned the lights off, she kicked off her heels and laid down on the couch she had. She didn't sleep at all, as she didn't know what Fury's reaction would be. She had no meetings today, so she figured sleep would be the best thing to do. She must've fallen asleep quickly because the next thing she remembered was someone calling her.
"Ser. Ser. Serena?" A familiar voice said.
Serena slowly opened her eyes to see a very blurry version of Steve standing before her. She blinked quickly so that his figure would become clearer.
"Hey, how'd the mission go?" She said biting back a yawn as she slowly sat up.
"It went well." He explained. "Rumlow got injured, but everything else went as planned…it wasn't the same without you though."
"As you can see, I'm living my best life being parked behind a desk." She smirked as she stood up. "So many papers…it gets so violent at times."
"Oh, I bet." He said with a small smile.
"I have to fight off so many paper cuts." She said with a laugh before biting back another yawn.
"Are you that tired?" He asked. "Do you want me to drive you home?"
She shook her head. "No that's not necessary…I-I can drive myself."
"You have dark circles under your eyes." He explained. "I'll drive you home. It's no bother, really."
She sighed, knowing she wouldn't win before nodding tiredly. "Ok."
He grabbed her bag as she lazily put her heels back on. He then helped her put on her coat on before guiding her out of her office. Once they were in the elevator, she handed him her car keys as she leaned her head back against the elevator wall. Just as Steve was about to say something to her, the elevator dinged and in walked Natasha.
"Rogers, thought you would've gone home by now…oh hey Pierce." Natasha said warmly as she had taken a fond liking to Serena and vice versa.
"Hi Nat." Serena mumbled with her eyes closed.
"Is she ok?" Natasha asked looking over Serena's tired look.
"I found her sleeping in her office. I'm going to drive her home." Steve explained.
Natasha smirked. "Really? Does she know that?"
Serena nodded weakly, still not opening her eyes. As soon as the elevator door opened Natasha was off.
"Have fun." She smirked making Steve roll his eyes.
Serena was too tired to notice Natasha's comment and was silent as she walked off the elevator with Steve. The entire car-ride home, Serena slept. Steve didn't bother to wake her, as he knew she had a lot on her plate. So, she didn't have to do stairs, Steve picked her up and carried up the stairs.
"Why're you carrying me?" She tiredly asked.
"You could barely walk in a straight-line walking to the car." Steve explained as he walked up the stairs. "Figured this be easier than you trying to drag yourself up the stairs."
She lazily nodded before dozing off again.
He carefully opened the door to her apartment without waking the girl, and Molly, who had been sleeping in her bed, automatically jumped up upon seeing Steve.
"Good to see you too, Molly." He said quietly as he carried Serena to her bedroom, with Molly following closely behind him.
Steve carefully took off her shoes and placed her under the blankets in her bed before he quietly closed the door, making sure not to wake her. Steve, being the kind-hearted person he was, decided to sleep on Serena's couch, knowing in the back of his mind, it was the right thing to do, and she wouldn't mind. He cared about her quite a bit, and if she had an issue during the night, he could be there to help her handle it.
She must've slept through the night because the next thing he remembered when he woke up was the sound of Serena's voice.
"Steve." She began. "What're you doing here?"
"I drove your car home." He began sitting up from the couch. "I wanted to make sure you were alright…so I stayed. I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "No, it's alright, it's just when I woke up this morning, I was confused as to why Molly wasn't in my bed, along with why I was in yesterday's clothes."
"She followed me out here." Steve explained. "And the other thing…"
She laughed. "Alright, I get it. Thank you though…for driving me home."
He nodded with a small smile. "Of course. I uh, should probably get going."
She nodded. "Sure. You don't want Romanoff yelling at you."
"She won't yell at me…hopefully." I said with slight hesitation as he stood up and started walking towards the door.
"See you later Steve." She said warmly.
"You too." He smiled as he walked out of her apartment.
3 Weeks Later
"Ok, do you have everything?" Felicita asked as Serena shoved the black duffle bag into her car.
"Yes Mom." Serena replied. "Do you have everything to take care of Molly?"
Felicita nodded. "Yes, dear, I have everything…I can take care of her. Remember, I love animals."
Serena smiled. "Of course."
Serena walked over to her mother who was holding Molly on a leash. Serena knelt and hugged the dog.
"I'll miss you." Serena said quietly and the dog licked her face making her laugh.
She then stood back up and hugged her mother.
"I'll miss you sweetie." Felicita said in the hug. "You really can't tell me where you are going?"
Serena shook her head. "It's classified, Mom. I wish I could."
She nodded as she pulled out of the hug. "I know. Be careful, please. You're my only daughter."
Serena nodded. "I will. I love you mom."
"I love you too, Serena." Felicita said warmly.
As she pulled her car away from the curb, she beeped the horn, making her dog bark and her mother wave. She'd miss them…but she had a job to do. Today was the first day she walked into the Triskelion in athletic clothes in a few weeks. So when she walked in wearing black leggings with a black tank top, a dark blue athletic jacket, aviator sunglasses on her head, a high pony tail, and carrying her black duffle bag filled with her clothes, she drew looks from the other agents. They hadn't seen her this casual in quite a while.
"You heading out?" Hill asked as she walked alongside her, as they walked into to the Quinjet hanger.
"Yep. Can't wait for it. The middle of nowhere, beats sitting behind a desk all day. Are you heading to New York?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I have a meeting with Coulson, he's setting up his own stealth ops team."
"He deserves it, especially after all that he's been through." Serena said with a sigh.
"I'm going to miss you Ser…it's going to be quiet without you." Hill said with a small smile.
"You have Nat…I'm sure you can talk about something." Serena smirked as she turned towards the Quinjet she was taking to head to the Lemurian Star.
"Yeah, but she's going to be here, you are going to be literally in the middle of the fucking ocean." She began making Serena laugh. "And I am going to be in New York dealing with morons left and right."
"You wouldn't have it any other way." Serena smirked.
"Very true." Hill replied before giving Serena a hug. "Be careful Ser, don't do anything crazy."
"I will, but when have I ever been crazy?" Serena asked with a small smirk, making Maria give her a slight shove.
"Get the fuck out of here, before I literally kill you." Maria said making Serena flip her off as she walked onto the Quinjet.
Maria watched as the Quinjet carrying Serena and a couple other agents to the Lemurian Star. 10 minutes after the plane was in the sky, Steve came running into the hangar.
"Where is she?" He asked Maria. "Is she gone yet?"
"You wanted her gone that bad?" Maria said in disbelief.
"I wanted to ask her something and to say goodbye before she left." Steve explained.
Maria sighed. "You're too late, Quinjet took off about 15 minutes ago."
"Where's it heading?" He asked.
"That's classified." Maria explained. "Sorry Rogers, you're out of luck."
Steve sighed before looking up at the sky, not knowing when she'd return, as he didn't know when he'd have the chance to finally ask her on a date.