Not An Avenger

The Price For Peace

I was still in shock at Tony's reaction to my call. Why had he done that? It was true we hadn't talked in a while, but he never used to reject my calls.

I was looking blankly at the television screen, even though the news had changed, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Steve looking at me with a worried face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." I told him. He wasn't convinced but dropped it.

"It's almost lunch time. Do you have any plans?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Would you…. I mean would you like to…" seeing him struggling to do something as simple as asking me out for lunch, made me smile.

"Yeah, sure." I interrupted him. "I've a couple of patients though."

"I'll wait." He said, walking towards the patient waiting area.

Five minutes and one patient later, I realized what had happened. Did he just ask me out on a date? Or was it just a friendly invitation? Damn, why didn't I let him finish?

…

We were sitting at a café near the Smithsonian having small talk. I was trying to speculate if it was a date or not when he said, "I wanted to talk to you about something." He looked serious.

"Yes?" I asked, swallowing a big bite of cheeseburger I had in my mouth.

"I…. I'm not sure how to ask you." He hesitated. "What do you think about SHIELD?"

I wasn't expecting this question. "I don't know what you mean."

"Do you ever feel that it is not what it claims to be?" Uh oh!

"What happened?" I asked him. I knew SHIELD was not necessarily the white knight of America. It had got some red in its ledger. But it was necessary for the maintain stability and balance in the world. I did not expect Steve to understand that easily.

"A lot of small things. The lies, the 'compartmentalization' as Fury calls it. But mostly what concerns me is Project Insight. You've heard about it?"

"No." I told him, truthfully. "What is it? No, wait. Don't tell me. I don't think I'm supposed to know." I stopped him before he could answer me. "Listen, I know SHIELD is not a perfect organization, but it's a necessary one. There are many things you don't even know about SHIELD, which I'm sure you wouldn't like, but their final result is maintaining stability in the world. There is a price to be paid for peace."

"That's funny. Nick Fury said the exact same line to me yesterday." He did not look amused.

I sighed. If it was a date it was ruined.

….

I lied down in bed that night, flipping through SHIELD's emergency channels in the transcom, thinking about lunch. We didn't talk much about his concerns about SHIELD. In fact, we didn't talk much about anything after that. He was obviously not satisfied with my explanation. I wondered if he would quit.

Then I heard a familiar name on the transcom, "Fury has been shot, I repeat, The Director is shot. Attacker unconfirmed. Captain Rogers in pursuit."

I quickly got up and rushed to the hospital. The informant, whom I recognized to be Agent 13, sounded frantic. This was clearly serious. As soon as I reached the hospital, Maria Hill cornered me. She was Fury's second in command.

"I know you'd be worried right now, but I need you to keep your head. You're the only doctor here that Director Fury trusts completely. I want you to go inside the operation theatre and inject him with this." She said handing me phial. "It's Tetradoxlin B. Do it only when he is stable."

"But why?" I began to ask.

"There is no time for questions." She said and walked away, acting like just had a sad conversation, consoling each other.

I knew what Tetradoxlin B did. I slowed down the heart to 5 beats per minute, making the person look dead to unaware people. But why would they want Nick Fury to appear dead?

I entered the operation theatre. They were performing an open heart surgery on him. He looked in a pretty bad shape. But the damage was repairable. He had got extremely lucky. I couldn't help but wonder if it was luck or careful planning.

Five hours later, he looked almost stable. This was my window. I knew I had to do it during the surgery. I took a deep breath and very carefully, with extreme levels of stealth, managed to inject the drug. As expected, his ECG began to flatten and the heart rate reduced. The surgeons started the resuscitatory measures. I knew it would have no effect.

I was about to scrub out, when I randomly looked up to the gallery. Steve was standing there, looking at me with narrowed eyes. He gestured me to meet him outside.

I swallowed hard. I was 86.3% sure he had seen me. I racked up my brain for an excuse, but found nothing.

I was already in the corridor and saw him walking towards me. Thankfully, Agent 13 called him at that moment, "Captain they need you at the HQ."

"Just a moment." He said, grabbing my hand, pulling me into a corner. Wow. That was bold for him, even in this situation.

"Please tell me I didn't just see what I just saw."

"You didn't." I assured him. I couldn't offer him any more of an explanation.

Agent 13 called out again, "Captain, they need you, now."

"Coming." He answered. "We have to talk." He told me before walking away.

I looked at my hand after he left. It was red, of course. His hold was strong. But, on it was lying a SHIELD high security flash drive.