Avengers: Liberation

Chapter 23- Edge Of The World

In his muscular arms lay a large metal chest, locked with deadbolts, worn with age and war. He pushed the magazines off the coffee table and laid the chest on the table. The chest hummed with history and memories. Steve pulled out the deadbolts with a sharp cry from the rusted metal and flipped the lid causing it to crack against the glass coffee table.

I leaned over the war torn chest and saw folders layered and slotted into one another, some with pices of paper with names crossed through, most with a German origin. I tentatively reached in and pulled out a folder with S.H.I.E.L.D’s coat or arms stamped across it. This one was newer, it had bright neon green and orange sticky notes winged across the multiple pages.

I opened the folder then began to read. I could see from the corner of my eyes Steve running his hands through his dirty blond hair. I dragged my nail across the ink printed across the thick pressed paper causing the ink to rise just slightly. As my nail trailed across the raised in my eyes followed, the words which led to lies, betrayal and deceit.

Steve watched me intensely with his baby blue eyes as I tried to understand what I was reading. I snapped up my gaze to meet Steve’s tears shinning in my eyes, regret in his own.

“So that’s why James didn’t want me to leave?” Steve nodded and grasped a large clump of hair at the back of his head and tugged. He nodded and sighed.

“Before Fury disappeared he gave me all of this, it’s a collaboration of past Hydra information and the most recent, and some of it I’ve had to dig up myself.” I looked back down at the folder, Fury knew that there was possible Hydra contamination in MI6 and never told me, maybe he never fully trusted me, just like Natasha.

“Did you know about any of this six years ago?” Steve looked down at me with wide eyes and quickly shook his head and took a large step towards me.

“God no, none of us did, except for Fury. This isn’t a shared piece of information Liberty, he gave me all of this information when he knew he could trust me with it, with of coarse took a lot of work.” He sighed and turned away from me his shouldered hunched and muscled tense.

“You have no idea how hard it was to make people trust me again. I’m not talking about the public and civilians, I’m talking about the avengers, Tony still doesn’t fully trust me, banner was too forgiving, while the Hulk not so much. Clint’s still weary of me, and will very quick to shoot if I step a toe out of line, and Natasha well she seems to have forgiven me.” I sighed and placed the folder back into the box. I walked towards Steve, and placed a light hand on his shoulder.

I was cautious I didn’t know how he would react, to me touching him. His tense and bulging muscles relaxed underneath his tight navy blue t-shirt. He sighed and looked over his shoulder down at me.

“Why are you so casual about this? If anything I’m the reason you died.” I smiled up at him as he turned slowly around my hand still resting on his shoulder. I shook my head causing his deep gaze to become confused.

“You are not the reason I died, the reason I died was to kill Thanos, and if I didn’t die we wouldn’t be here talking right now.” He nodded and bowed his head slightly, admitting I was right but still I knew he felt extremely guilty.

I looked over his shoulder to see the black inkiness of the sky was lightening into a deep turquoise. I slid my hand down from his muscular shoulder trailing my nails over the fabric of his t-shirt.

“I should be leaving soon. I know a few people who may wonder where I am if I’m not back soon.” Steve nodded and smiled down at me. I turned away from Steve and picked up the Mark V suit. I looked back over my shoulder to America’s hero.

“You should come back.” Steve nodded, and smiled at me.

“As long as there’s a place for me.” and he knew as well as I did that there would always be a place for America’s greatest hero.

The plates of metal curled around my body, pulling me into a cold metal embrace, as I watched the turquoise horizon growing ever closer to the norm

“Hello Miss Davis, was your meeting with Mr. Rodger’s productive?” I watched the view screen flickered to life and the pinpoint focus circle my eye.

“Very Jarvis, I wish to go back to the safe house if that ok?” the suit came alive with charge as the Mark V seized around my body, and took off from the roof top of Steve’s apartment building. I watched as the city pulled away from me as we travelled through the sound barrier, deafening for a few seconds.

I couldn’t help thinking about what I had just read. Fury knew that something was going on inside of S.H.I.E.L.D and MI6 but never thought once to say anything. But when you work for an agency like S.H.I.E.L.D for as many years as he had, no wonder he couldn’t trust anybody, he must have seen his fair share of betrayal before he disappeared.

I sighed and mentally shook myself, I didn’t know what to think. If anything I didn’t want to think at all. I sighed as Jarvis pushed to reach the safe house before daybreak. I looked at the viewer and saw the crystal clear image of the turning sky fading and burning all at one. The breaking dawn burned my eyes as we neared the coast, the sunlight glinting off the edge of the world.