The Blood Phoenix 6: A Captain America: The Winter Soldier Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Project INSIGHT

The Triskelion. The new home of SHIELD. Ever since New York, things were more freer. More safer. Truth be told, I still didn't want to admit my feelings for Steve. And another truth... I had told Natasha a lot more about my past than I had Steve. I felt safe around him,... I just didn't want to tell him how I felt. About him. About living together in the same apartment. I liked the convenience of living with him; I just couldn't put two and two together upon my feelings.

Steve and I walked into Director Fury's office.

'You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?' Steve snapped.

'Steve. Cool it.' I touched his hand lightly and the touch seemed to reassure him a little. But Fury was already on the defensive.

'I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours.'

'Which you didn't feel obliged to share.'

'Steve!' I snapped again. He looked at me, but Fury was again on the defence.

'I'm not obliged to do anything.'

'Those hostages could have died, Nick.'

'I sent the greatest soldier in history and the world's most powerful mutant to make sure that didn't happen.'

'Soldiers trust each other. That's what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns.'

'Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye,' Nick spoke, standing to his feet and staring at the two of us dead in the eye. 'Look, I didn't want you or Lehnsherr doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything.'

'I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own.'

'It's called compartmentalisation. Nobody spills the secrets, because nobody knows them all.'

'Except you,' Steve snapped again. I glared at him. He was really overstepping his bounds.

'You wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that.' Director Fury then stepped out from behind his desk and led us to the elevator. When we stepped inside, Fury spoke. 'Insight bay.'

'Captain Rogers and Agent Lehnsherr do not have clearance for Project INSIGHT,' an American female A.I. voice replied.

'Director override. Fury, Nicholas J.'

'Confirmed.' There was silence as the elevator rolled down. Then, Steve spoke.

'You know, they used to play music.'

'Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for 40 years. 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.' They'd say, 'Hi' back. Time went on; the neighbourhood got rougher. He'd say, 'Hi,' they'd say, 'Keep on steppin'. Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter.'

'Did he ever get mugged?' Steve asked.

'Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag'?'

'What would he do?'

'He'd show 'em. Bunch of crumpled ones... and a loaded .22 Magnum.' I raised my eyebrows.

'Seems like a cold world, Fury,' I interjected. He looked over at me, but said nothing. Going over to the window, he spoke again.

'Yeah... Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them every much.' Steve and I both turned as we came down into the INSIGHT bay. 'Yeah... they're a little bigger than a .22.'

'This is Project INSIGHT. Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites. Launched from the Lemurian Star. Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down. Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines.' The three of us were walking in the helicarrier bay, watching quinjets being loaded onto the helicarriers. They were truly impressive machines.

'Stark?' I asked.

'He had a few suggestions once he got a up-close look at one of our old turbines. These long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside of his spider hole. We're gonna neutralise a lot of threats before they ever happen.'

'Thought the punishment usually came after the crime.'

'We can't afford to wait that long.'

'Who's 'we'?' I asked, curiously.

'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 holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection.'

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

'Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so that people could be free. This isn't freedom; this is fear.'

'SHIELD takes the world as it is, not as we like it to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you and Lehnsherr to get with that program, Cap.'

'Don't hold your breath,' I snapped, then went away with Steve.

I sipped my coffee, looking at Steve. I could see he was mad. Putting my cup down, I moved my hand over to his and taking it, I squeezed it lightly.

'I'm sorry, Steve. I know this is a lot.'

'But why?' he asked, glancing at me.

'Steve. Look at me.' He looked at me fully.

'What?'

'I know it's a lot,' I repeated. 'I know. It was a lot for me waking up in a cold world too. You'll get used to it.' He smiled at me.

'You have feelings for me, don't you?'

'Yes. But I don't ever admit them, Steve. And I'm sorry if I've been overstepping my bounds.'

'No. Back there, that was me. That was my problem. Not yours.'

'Let's go to the museum. I like the Smithsonian. Come on. Looking at your exhibit should make everything feel better. Come on, Steve.' Taking my hand, I placed a few dollar bills down on the table and pulled Steve to his motorcycle.