Nick Fury was alive and well despite what the news said. Maybe not exactly well, but he was very alive much to everyones surprise. 

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver and one hell of a headache." Nick Fury listed off his list of injuries as he laid in a hospital bed. The place however did nothing to match the bed. It looked like a mixture between a safehouse and an abandoned dam.

The walls were grey and cement with water tricking down them at certain parts. The air was moist and smelled like rust. There was a curtain that separated the man on the bed from the outside of the place. Surgical lights were suspended from the ceiling, shining directly onto Nick Fury like some sort of uncomfortable spotlight. There was an IV tube that linked right to his arm.

The doctor that was tending to Natasha's wound spoke up. "Don't forget your collapsed lung," he corrected.

"Let's not forget that," Nick Fury agreed. Elizabeth was sure if he could, the man would've moved his head and rolled his eyes at the doctor. "Otherwise, I'm good."

From her seat beside the doctor, Natasha spoke up. "They cut you open," she began with a look toward her mentor. "Your heart stopped." Her brown leather jacket had been discarded to the ground as the doctor stitched her up.

"Tetrodotoxin B," the man in the bed answered.

Elizabeth's head perked up at the familiar name of the neurotoxin. "It slows the pulse down to one beat per minute." She started as all heads turned to her, "Dr. Banner developed it for stress." Steve tilted his head at her, silently asking how she knew that, "I majored in chemistry at college."

Raising his hand to her slowly, Nick Fury narrowed his eyes at her, "We'll get to who the hell you are later." Turning toward the rest of the room he said, "Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy?" Steve asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Why not just tell us?"

"Any attempt on the directors life had to look successful," Agent Hill said.

Sam nodded in agreement from beside her. "Can't kill you if you're already dead."

Nick Fury pointed a finger at him, "Bingo. Besides I wasn't sure who to trust."

Elizabeth noticed the hurt expression that crossed Natasha's face at her mentors words. She could tell that she was hit with the realisation that he still didn't know if he could trust her. For some reason, even that made Elizabeth a little sad.

Fury and Agent Hill had explained to the four of them their whole little 'Killer Helicarriers' dilemma. Essentially, everything that Jasper Sitwell told them was true. Fury has moved from the bed and sat at the head of a long metal table. Agent Hill on his side and Natasha opposite the two.

"We have to stop the launch," Natasha spoke up as the doctor finished tending to her wounds. 

Nick Fury, who had recently moved from his bed to a chair, answered Natasha. "Well, I don't think the council is accepting my calls anymore." He opened a briefcase on the table and shoved it over to Maria Hill lightly.

Taking note of what looked like three server blades. "What's that?" Sam voiced out from beside her the question that they all had.

"Once the helicarriers reach three thousand feet," Agent Hill began as she turned around one of the computers and showed them its illuminated screen. "They'll triangulate with Insights satellites and become fully weaponised.

"We'll need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own," continued Fury as the screen on the computer moved according to his words.

Elizabeth fumbled with the ends of her dark jacket before speaking, "I'm guessing one or two won't cut it?"

Maria Hill nodded her head, "We need to link all three helicarriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remain operational a whole lotta people are gonna die."

"We'll just have to assume everyone aboard those carriers are HYDRA," Fury added. "We'll have to get past them and insert these server blades. Then maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left of SHIELD-"

He was abruptly cut off by Steve who spoke up for the first time since they entered this place. "We're not salvaging anything." He exclaimed quickly with a stern look. "We're not just taking down the carriers Nick, we're taking down SHIELD."

The director shook his head, very clearly disagreeing with the blond. "SHIELD had nothing to do with this," he protested.

"You gave me this mission," Steve said determinedly. "This is how it ends. SHIELD has 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? Cause I like the smell of wet moss?" Fury retorted sarcastically. "It's cause I noticed."

"Oh yeah?" Steve grimaced as Elizabeth watched their back and forth argument. "And how many paid the price before you did," he remarked, clearly thinking about his childhood friend.

Nick Fury hung his head, eyes looking down at the table. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

Steve shook his head, not entirely believing the man. "If you had, would you have even told me?" He began bitterly, quickly getting angry. "Or would you have compartmentalized that too?" Elizabeth quickly tried to calm him down, not wanting things to escalate more than they already have.

"SHIELD, HYDRYA," Steve began before taking a quick pause, as if for dramatic effect. "It all goes."

Maria Hill nodded in agreement, much to Fury's surprise. Slowly, he looked at Natasha. All she did was lean back further in her chair, showing no emotion in her face whatsoever, indicating that she had no opinion on the matter.

Finally, he looked toward Elizabeth and Sam who stood right next to each other as the usually would. "Don't look at us," she quickly told the man with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, we just do what they do but slower." He jutted his chin in the direction of Natasha and Steve.

Noticing that everyone had made their minds, the director sighed before giving in. He lifted his head up to look at Steve. "Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

Steve nodded, obviously proud that he had managed to get everyone on his side. But then again his sadness and anticipation creeped back in as his gaze lowered to the floor. He stalked out of the room without another word. Sam, worried for his friend, followed suit.

***

"Now, let's start with the basics." Fury began as Elizabeth took a seat opposite him. The doctor that once tended to Natasha began his work at resetting her wrist. Which according to him was not at the angle it was supposed to be. "Who are you?"

"How come you didn't ask Sam that question?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. She looked to her left and saw the doctor tending to her wrist. Raising it carefully, he examined it by poking and prodding at certain parts.

Letting out a light chuckle, Nick Fury turned to Natasha who sat at the other end of the room. "She reminds me of you," he told the redhead who smiled lightly at the mans words. Turning back to Elizabeth, he answered her question. "It's because we already know almost everything we need to know about Mr. Wilson."

"Everything important, at least." He continued as he leaned forward in his seat. "Since he was in the Air Force we got enough information to know he wasn't a threat."

"The only thing we knew about you on the other hand was your name." Natasha added from her seat as Elizabeth turned to her. "And according to Fury that wasn't even from the system." Elizabeth quickly realised this was an interrogation of sorts, but a lot more laid back one since they both knew that she was on their side.

Nodding his head along with her words, Nick Fury shrugged his shoulders -which must've caused a lot of pain. "She's right. The only way we even knew you existed was because of your brothers."

There it was again, those goddamn idiots. No matter how hard she tried they managed to pop up again. Like some sick joke the universe was playing on her. On one hand she was glad to hear that they were alive and well. But on the other, she hated herself for caring.

Natasha watched as Elizabeth's face turned cold and stoic, as if she was trying to cover something up. "What happened between you three?" She asked, quickly deciphering her look.

"Let's just say all families have their problems," Elizabeth gave a vague answer. She turned back to the man across from her just as the doctor injected something into her arm. She winced slightly, not expecting it.

"This'll make you heal faster," the doctor muttered to her as he began to wrap something around her wrist, setting her bones. "You should be good in a couple of hours," he continued before packing up his stuff and leaving the three alone. Elizabeth mumbled a quick thank you as he left.

Turning her attention back to Fury, she asked him a question. "What did they say about me?"

"Nothing except your name," the man answered as Elizabeth's eyes dropped to the floor. "Met them in Prague on a mission gone south, they helped us out for a bit. Obviously didn't stay to chat. But hell, the way they spoke about you made me think you were dead."

Letting out a long sigh, Elizabeth slumped down in her seat, using her good hand to rest her chin on. "Wow," she dragged out sarcastically. "Some brothers, huh." That was her cue to explain everything she could do to the two.

***

Leaving Natasha and Nick Fury alone for a minute, she made her way out of the place to find Sam and Steve. The place was like a maze, a very cold and dark maze.

The moment Elizabeth found the door leading to the outer bridge, she felt that she had never been happier to see the sunlight. She opened the door and saw both Sam and Steve stood next to each other, facing the blue skied horizon.

Sam said something to Steve before patting him on the back. He made his way over to Elizabeth as she held the door open for him. "How's your wrist?" He asked once her got within talking distance.

"It's fine," she told him with a smile. "Better patchwork than you could ever do."

"Wow," Sam drawled out with a playful smile. "That was uncalled for." They both laughed lightly as Sam made a move to the door. "I'll see you inside?" He asked as she nodded her head.

The door closed behind him as Elizabeth made her way toward Steve. "How're you feeling?" she aske even though there really was no need.

Steve turned to look at her with a friendly smile. "Well, I don't think I need to tell you for you to know."

Elizabeth stood next to him as she stared ahead of her, "Fair enough." She thought for a moment, wallowing in Steve's emotions as she thought what would make him feel better. "Tell me about him."

Glancing at her, Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?" he asked only making her repeat her question. Steve took a long inhale, not knowing where to begin.

"Bucky was," Steve began as he fumbled for the right words to describe the person who meant most to him. "He was everything I wished I could be," he finally found his voice as he stared softly ahead.

"He was kind, loyal and always looked out for me. No matter how many times I told him not to." Steve continued as Elizabeth took note of how he spoke of his friend in past tense, clearly unsure if the person he was talking about was still there.

"Which made him stubborn and overbearing at times," the man beside her shook his head as he was lost in thought. "He was a huge nerd."

He laughed lightly the smile never leaving his face. "Bucky managed to get a copy of The Hobbit all the way from the UK. It wasn't out in the States yet and he just couldn't wait." Elizabeth found herself smiling too, Steve's happiness was radiating off him. "So he saved up all his money just to get it."

As if noticing his own change in mood, his happiness, he turned to face Elizabeth. "Did you do something?"

Shaking her head, Elizabeth smiled softly as she looked up at the man. "No," she told him, "That was all you."

"Oh," He said in surprise as he turned his gaze back to the blue sky.

"He sounds like a great guy," Elizabeth said quietly as Steve nodded his head in agreement.

"You know," he began with a nostalgic look on his face. "You remind me of him a bit. If he were still him." His mood quickly changes as sadness clouded his blue eyes. The wind picked up, messing up both of their hair.

She put a comforting hand on his arm getting his attention, "He's still there, I felt it. Maybe not completely but a part of him is."

The mans eyes raised to meet hers, full of hope. "Really?" He asked hopefully. Her heart clenched, silently regretting telling him incase she was wrong. She nodded her head in confirmation to his question. "It's funny cause Sam told me the exact opposite."

Elizabeth waved a hand, telling him to ignore what Sam said. "Let's just say Sam isn't exactly the best judge of character." She looked up at the older man with a ghost of a smile on her face, not wanting him to worry.

"He would've liked you," Steve told her confidently as he thought about it.

"Well I'm sure I would've liked him too."