Daughter of the Shield

Chapter 6

Jo sat on the bed in bedroom Sam had given them to clean up in waiting for her turn in the shower. Once they had managed to escape undetected, Steve had brought them to Sam Wilson's house. Jo hadn't even known Steve had made a friend, he had rolled his eyes at her for that comment.

"You okay?" Steve asked entering the room, Jo nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot"

"When Arnim was talking, and he brought up Howard Stark, you called him Uncle Howard. Did you know him well?"

"I did. My mother worked for Shield back when it first started," Jo had to tread carefully on this topic if she wanted to keep her identity a secret. "She worked closely with Howard. He was more like a funny uncle than a father figure, but he was still family."

"What happened to your father?"

"He died fighting in the war, that's how he and my mother met actually, in the war. They were married at a base; a war buddy of my father was somehow certified to marry people" Jo chuckled. It was a story she had come up with in her head, a happier life that her parents had deserved.

"Is your mother still alive?" Steve asked. Jo was honestly surprised he hadn't asked these questions sooner. None the less, she still had answers prepared for them.

"Yes, but when I had escaped Hydra she had left Shield, remarried, and already had children with her new husband.  I didn't want to bring back her past when she had worked so hard to bury it"

"So, it's, just been you?"

"Just been me" Jo whispered. Of course, she still had Phil but it wasn't the same now that he was with his team.  Hell, she didn't even know if he was still alive, or maybe he was Hydra.  Nat stepped out of the bathroom and Jo stood up and headed towards the shower.

Jo used her towel to wipe the fog of the mirror.  Even after a shower she looked like hell.  She stood there in her bra and jeans, looking at all the scars she'd earned over the years. The ones of her time at Hydra, from missions, from getting herself into trouble. Those didn't mean anything to her. The ones she cared about were the ones like the one on here knee, when her mother had taught her how to ride a motorcycle. Or the one on her elbow from the lab explosion that happened with Uncle Howard. She missed them more than Jo cared to admit. How could she ever face Peggy now? She could never tell her about Hydra, it would kill Peggy to know this all happened right under her nose. Jo threw on a t-shirt and headed out of the bathroom.

"The question is, who at Shield could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked as Jo entered the room.

"Alexander Pierce" Jo stated sitting beside Steve, she grabbed a piece of toast from his plate.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world"

"But he's not working alone. Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star" Steve put in.

"So was Jasper Sitwell"

"So, the real question is how did the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a Shield agent in broad daylight?" Jo asked.

"The answer is, you don't" Sam walked over and place a file on the table.

"What's this?"

"Call it a resume" Sam answered. He leaned back against the kitchen counter. Steve and Jo stood up and stood around Nat who was holding a photograph.

"Is this Bakhmala?"

"The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" Jo asked surprised. "You didn't say he was a pararescue" Jo commented as Nat handed Steve the photograph.