Chapter Two: Fearing the Future, Missing the Past

"Does even a single truthful word come out of your mouth," Peggy accused Director Nick Fury when she met up with him at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ in Washington, D.C.

"I told you what you needed to know. Agent Romanoff just had a different mission than yours."

"Which you didn't tell me in advance."

"I didn't need to tell you anything more than you already knew."

"When I run point on missions I need to know where all my assets are and what role they have, Nick. I thought Natasha would be watching the hostages back, that left them vulnerable, they could have still died."

"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen. You made sure all hostiles were taken out, so I knew Natasha wouldn't be needed."

"It went well this time, but if in the future something goes wrong and I am left in the dark people will die. When I was fighting in the war, the Generals didn't like me being in all the meetings, but they didn't keep me in the dark."

"This isn't 1945 anymore, nor is this an army, this is a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency."

Peggy just scowled, these answers all felt like avoiding her concerns that could put entire missions in jeopardy.

"Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything."

"You can't expect me to lead squads into extremely risky situations when I don't even know the true plan."

"Well you better learn to compartmentalize fast, because that is needed to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Nobody spills the secrets, because nobody knows them all."

"Nobody except you I presume."

Fury got up from his desk, "You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that."

He then walked towards his private elevator on the exterior of the building, gesturing Peggy to follow. As they entered the elevator computer spoke.

"Insight bay...Captain Carter does not have clearance for Project Insight."

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J."

"Confirmed," said the computer, and the elevator started to descend.

Peggy didn't quite feel like talking to Fury anymore at the moment, but she couldn't help be in awe of the elevator.

"Its been over a year and advancements like this still amaze me. Do you even remember a time when these things used to be rickety and slow?"

"My grandfather operated one of these for 40 years."

Peggy had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, she could feel this turning into a signature Nick Fury monologue.

"Granddad worked in a nice building. Got good tips. He'd walk home every night, a roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say, 'Hi.' People would say, 'Hi' back. Time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say, 'Hi.' They'd say, 'Keep on steppin'.' Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Was his money ever pilfered?"

Fury gave a smug smile, "Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?'"

"And he'd then get pinched?"

"Nope. When they looked inside what they found was a bunch of crumpled ones, and a loaded .22 Magnum."

Nick looked like he was expecting some 'awes' or 'wows', but Peggy didn't satisfy him with a reaction as she was to focused on the fact they were now descending below ground, so he finished his story.

"Yeah, Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."

What Peggy saw now nearly had her jaw drop. They were now entering a humongous hanger bay, with three large occupants.

"Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22."

What Fury was referring too were three ginormous, armed to the teeth, flight capable war ships. Not only did they appear to have machine turrets every couple meters, but on top of each one was over a dozen Quinjets.

"This is Project Insight. Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites-"

"The true purpose of the Lemurian Star. It was to help launch your secret satellites, wasn't it?"

"Correct Carter. Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down. Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines."

"That sounds like Stark tech, why would he help you make a super weapon?" Although she did find this new Stark more reckless than her former best friend, she did know this current Stark had made a vow never to make weapons that could kill large amounts of people ever again.

"He was left in the dark about the helicarriers true purpose. We just told him we needed new turbines and he had a few suggestions, especially after he got an up-close look at our old ones."

Nick Fury led her to an observation platform before continuing to discuss the project.

"These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before they step outside their spider hole. We're gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

"Before. Forgive me if I'm wrong but doesn't this country have a Presumption of Innocence amendment."

"We can't afford to wait until after an attack."

"Who is this 'we' you keep referring too?"

"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once, we're way ahead of the curve."

"By killing thousands of people before they potentially commit a crime."

"You know, I read those SSR files. 'Greatest Generation'? You guys did some nasty stuff."

"It was war, I won't pretend everything we did was by the books but we did what we did so the killing on both sides would stop. So that the world wouldn't be devoured by devastation, so that everyone could live in freedom. What you are trying to do isn't freedom, its a dictatorship in the sky."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

"Then you'd better get used to disappointment."

Peggy then left Insight Bay, and left S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. She was frustrated and needed to calm down. There were two ways she would normally do this since walking through that portal, one was punching a hole through every bag in the S.H.I.E.L.D. gym, and the other was the only place that made her feel somewhat at home.

"Welcome to the Smithsonian."

Peggy knew it probably wasn't heathy, but she felt like she was surrounded by her old friends when visiting the Captain Carter section of the museum. She traveled up the stairs to where images of herself and her squad fighting the war were all around her. It made her feel like she was among them again.

The recorded history lesson played all around her.

"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world. The story of Captain Carter is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice."

"Denied enlistment due to her gender, Margret "Peggy" Carter eventually joined the Special Operations Executive to do her part for the war. During a one time experimental procedure on a friend of Carter's there was an attack, to have the experiment not be in vane Carter took Steven Rogers place and became the world's first Super-Soldier."

Peggy saw a picture that showed what she looked like before and after the serum, it also mentioned that she was 5'7ft tall, and weighed 150 pounds before the serum, and became 6'feet tall, and weighed nearly 200 pounds afterwards. This was slightly inaccurate however, they must have thought her heel height before the war was her actual height, because before the serum she was actually less than 5'5ft tall.

Peggy turned around and saw a little girl wearing a Captain Carter t-shirt staring at her in awe. Peggy was wearing her civilian clothes but given her height it was often hard to hide in public. She winked at the little girl than continued on through the exhibit.

"Battle tested, Captain Carter, the Howling Commandos, and the Hydra Stomper quickly earned their stripes. Their mission: taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division."

Soon she found herself in the HYDRA Stomper section, looking at a picture of Steve Rogers.

"Meeting through Project Rebirth, Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter quickly became inseparable. After Peggy became Captain Carter, Steve Rogers worked with Howard Stark to man the worlds first mecha-suit, the HYDRA Stomper. The two could often be seen together both on the battlefield and off of it."

Peggy went to a little room dedicated to Steve, she had been here a hundred times and yet it hurt each time.

"In the late forties, Steve Roger's health had continued to decline, but that did not stop him from spending years searching for Captain Carter when she disappeared in 1945. Steve Roger's was last seen in June of 1950 searching for another companion, Howling Commando James Barnes, both Barnes and Roger's were never seen since. Steven Rogers was one of three founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Oh Steve," Peggy said when the room was empty, "Where did you go? Did you just end up living somewhere where no one recognized you and danced for the rest of your days, or did your body give out and you are buried somewhere in an unmarked grave?"

It had been over a year and a half and not an hour went by where she didn't think about Steve, she had loved him, and she was almost certain he had felt the same, but it was war and she felt she should wait until the fighting had ended to act upon her feelings. Now she was seventy years to late and Steve had likely been dead for 64 years.

She knew she had to move on, to start building her own life where she was, and yet she continued to sit in that room, staying seventy years in the past.