I crossed my arms, and waited for the man to explain himself.

"Name's Jackson Davies. I live in the neighborhood," he said. I frowned. I don't think I ever saw him around...

Seeing the doubt on my face, he said, "I'm at the other end of the street and I don't go out that often, so you probably don't see me much."

I squinted suspiciously but then shrugged and went back to my drink. Who cares if he knows Steve anyways? That's Steve's business.

"You alright there? You're drinking a lot." Jackson leaned over with a frown. I took another swig of my drink then put it down with a loud slam.

"Just drinking my sorrows out," I replied, giving a heavy sigh. My hand was still clenched around the glass.

"May I ask what happened?" I gave Jackson a wary look as he asked his question.

"It's Steve. He's always talking about that stupid Natasha Romanoff. If he loves her so much, why not go marry her? Why marry me? Every time he talks about her, I swear I want to throw something at his head. And he's not letting Sarah train to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I wanted her to train so she could be able to defend herself, but thick-headed Steve Rogers won't see through that. I get why some people hate marriages now." I looked up at the man after I finished. "Why do you even care?"

Jackson took a deep breath, as if there was something weighing him down. It seemed like he was debating on telling me something.

"Steve Rogers, he... I'm not sure if he's the noble man that people say he is. A few years ago, during the battle of New York - you remember that, don't you? - my family and I were in our car, driving on the street when the Chitauri came and attacked. Your husband was nearby, swinging his patriotic shield around. He turned to our car, shield in hand, and struck the Chitauri. My wife was trying to calm my panicking daughter in the back seat, while I was sitting alone in the front. Well, it turns out that the Chitauri was standing on the back of the car. I tried to get Steve's attention as he raised his shield to kill the Chitauri but he ignored me and swung anyways. The shield killed the Chitauri but it also went through my car. My wife and daughter didn't make it. And you know what Steve did afterwards? He went over to my window, and said, 'Be careful.' Be careful, my ass! Is that how you acted, Steve? Were you careful? Is that why my family died?" Jackson ran a hand through his hair. He was getting pretty riled up.

"Anyways, after that incident, I didn't trust him. He does some saving, but too many people die at his hands. He's not as good as the people think," Jackson continued. "Do you know what I'm saying?"

I processed the information. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it before. Steve...

Slowly, I nodded, making eye contact with Jackson.

"I'd simply tell you to watch out, but I'm getting more worried after hearing what you said. I fear for your daughter, Sharon." He took my free hand. "Keep pushing. She needs to be able to defend herself. You can't let Steve prevent her from learning to fight."

I let his words sink in. 'Keep pushing her.' I stood up abruptly. I needed to go home. Sarah was in trouble.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the world spun around me, gripping the nearest thing to steady myself. Soft... flannel... skin... I opened my eyes.

It was blurry.

"I told you you shouldn't have drank that much."

"I-"

Next thing I knew, the world grew dark and I was in somebody's arms.

———

The next morning I woke up in my bed. I put a hand to my head as I felt a hard pounding. Ugh. Hangovers. How was I in my bed...

"Sharon." There was a knock on the door. Steve.

"Come in."

He sat down next to me and sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I gave him a puzzled face.

"Do you want to talk about how you drank excessively last night? Do you want to talk about that man who drove you home?" Steve questioned me. My blood ran cold. Last night. The bar. Jackson. When I didn't respond, Steve continued.

"Did you sleep with him?"

I immediately pushed myself off the bed. "What are you talking about? I would never! Do you know how devoted I am to this family?"

Steve stayed quiet.

"I can't believe you. Leave. Leave right now," I said, pointing towards the door. Steve gave a frustrated huff and left. I shook my head in disbelief.

I sat back down on the bed to get some more rest when I felt something in my back pocket. It was a piece of paper, folded into fours. There was writing on it, with unfamiliar handwriting.

A number.

A message:
If you have any more trouble with Steve, you can call me.
- JD

Of course.

———

Three days later, Steve and I finally decided on a divorce. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Look, we both want the same things for our family. We want us to be safe and happy. But we want them in such different ways that I don't think it's going to work out, Sharon. I don't think we can keep each other safe and make each other happy."

I called Jackson right after getting kicked out of the house. He told me to meet him at the same bar.

———

"See, Steve Rogers is bad news," Jackson said, sitting beside me.

I hesitated before nodding. He sensed that hesitation and grabbed my hand.

"Hey," he said, and I pulled away. "It's okay. I know he hurt you, but if you want him back, I think we can do that."

"What do you mean?"

"You said he was always talking about Natasha Romanoff, right? I found this thing... there are a lot of otherworldly creatures these days and a lot of weird stuff going on... there's a man named Steven Strange, and he's something of a wizard. He has this thing, kind of like a love potion, that I think we can use. I would go to get it myself, but it's far and I don't have the money or the skill set to go there and retrieve it..." he said. I could see he was going somewhere with this.

"Where is it?" I asked.

Jackson paused for a moment. "London."

———

"And that's how I found myself here," Sharon said.

"That douchebag. I'm so sorry, Sharon, I had no idea..." Sharon waved off my comment with a weak smile.

"You don't need to be. I let myself be manipulated into doing such... such crimes. I believed his lie about the love potion and brought him back this poison! I'm supposed to be better than this. I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for God's sakes." She sighed. "I just... I wanted to make up for everything. That's why I went back for him and I tried to kill him. I shot him. I thought he was dead but heading back home, I got suspicious. What if it was all a stunt? So I told Steve first and he didn't want you knowing. I guess he didn't want to worry you too much. So I brought him to Jackson's house, but as soon as we arrived, Jackson was there as if he was waiting the whole time. Apparently he had a bullet proof vest on and had pretended to be dead. He pinned me down and threw a rock at Steve's head. We couldn't have been more unprepared." Sharon shook her head. I grimaced as I tried to imagine the scenario.

"He got you guys that easily?"

"I can't believe it either, but yes," Sharon replied with a sigh.

I thought for a moment. What would I need to catch this guy? Yes, I got it. I grabbed my keys, a handgun, and some handcuffs hidden in the cabinets.

"So he was the one who poisoned James, right? You were just his minion, getting the poison for him," I asked, just to clear things up.

"Yes." I looked into Sharon's eyes as she responded. She made clear eye contact. No, she wasn't lying.

"Okay, then. Let's go." I opened the front door and turned around to gesture towards Sharon.

"Go where?"

"To catch Jackson Davies."

So what do you guys think of Jackson? I was trying to think of who could be the villain, but none of the Marvel ones really fit for what I wanted to do for this fic. Which is why I decided to create a new villain. He's delusional, but I think he works for the story. Also I'm sorry that there was not much Romanogers in this chapter... but I promise there will be in the upcoming ones. Thank you guys always for the support!