The Story of Adelaida Barnes | MCU

xii. i do what he does, just slower

Maria had burned a hole into the floor of the van and into the sewers, and the group had managed to escape. Maria had stolen another van, and she drove them to an abandoned building outside of the city. She slid open the door and Steve and Addi hopped out before helping Natasha out. Sam came out after her. They entered the building and Maria yelled "GSW. She's lost at least a pint." "Maybe two!" Sam yelled out. Someone ran at them. "Let me take her." He said. "She'll want to see him first." Maria pulled back a plastic curtain, and there was Nick Fury lying in a hospital bed. "About damn time." He said.

The same man from before entered the room. Addi pushed Natasha towards him with a look that said 'go.' Fury started explaining everything. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." "Don't forget your collapsed lung." The man said. "Let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good." "They cut you open. Your heart stopped." Natasha said. "Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it." "Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful." Maria said. "Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury said. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust. Did you catch the bastard who did it?" He asked. "The Winter Soldier." Addi spoke up. "I always wondered who that guy is." Fury said. "He knows, Fury." Addi said and sighed. "About your daddy issues?" He asked. Addi nodded and walked off. Steve followed her. He grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier." He said. "Well, I kind of deserved it. I'm sorry for not telling you." She said. "Why didn't you?" He asked. "Because it wasn't important. I thought I was protecting you. But I was just protecting myself. And I just thought that I would never see him again. You know?" She said.

Steve pulled her into a hug. "It's gonna be okay." He said rubbing her back. "I'm sorry." She said, crying a little. "It's okay. You're okay." He said placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Come on." He said pulling away and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks Steve." Addi said as they began walking back. "Hey, it's no problem. I'm always gonna be here for you, you know that, right?" Addi nodded. "Good. I love you, okay?" Addi smiled back and said "I love you too, Steve."

***

Fury sat at a desk looking at a picture of Alexander Pierce. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." He said. "We have to stop the launch." Natasha said. "I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury said opening a briefcase. Inside were three cards. "What's that?" Sam and Addi asked. "Once the helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized." Maria explained, showing a diagram on a computer.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury said. "One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die." Maria said. "We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We have to gest past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left..." Steve interrupted Fury. "We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down SHIELD." "SHIELD had nothing to do with this." "You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised. You said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed." Fury said. "How many paid the price before you did?" Addi asked. "Look, I didn't know that Barnes was The Winter Soldier." Fury said. "Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve asked. "Or would you have compartmentalized that, too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes." "He's right." Maria chimed in. Fury looked at everyone in the room. "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower." Sam said. "Well, it looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain." Fury said.