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CHAPTER ONE
THE FIRST AVENGER

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      Consistency is key.

      And the good thing about staring at Captain America, waiting for a sign of life, was the consistency.

      If there was one thing Katherine Baker had never had in her life, it was consistency. From the moment her family had been murdered in Stockholm, her life had been a whirlwind of movement, never standing still or remaining stagnant. She had gone from the little girl cowering in the corner of her home to accepting Nick Fury's proposal to train her and mold her into a S.H.I.E.L.D.  agent. Her body had suffered cuts, bruises, and the occasional broken bone, but her body had never suffered the dull nature of a consistent routine. Never once had she felt as if she was stuck in a rut. By the time she had turned twenty-seven, not one day of her life as Silhouette had ever been the same as the day before. 

      Her therapist had told her that maybe that was the problem. Kids, her therapist had said in a scolding tone much like Katherine imagined her late mother would use, thrive on consistency. It helps develop their emotional regulation and social emotional skills.

      Maybe in the end, it was that lack of consistency that caused her little attack a month prior to the very moment she existed in now. That moment, when she didn't know where Silhouette ended and Katherine Baker began. Only, in that second, when she was sinking arrow after arrow into Hydra soldiers that were already dead, there was no trace left of Katherine Baker within her. The thought scared her more than she wanted to admit. 

      Categorize events in life into two columns. Things that can be prevented or changed and things that could not be prevented or changed. That's the homework her therapist had given her. Her family's death? She couldn't change it. And she sure as hell couldn't have prevented it, because if she'd known how to, she would have fought like hell to do so. How she reacted to the news that she was being indefinitely taken out of the field? She could control that.

      Well, maybe. Fury was still pissed that she'd screamed at him in front of his other agents.

      Steve Rogers's finger twitched. Katherine's eyes honed in on the movement.

      When they had fished him out of the ocean a month ago, the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. base had been abuzz with some kind of electricity that only Steve Rogers seemed to provide. This was a war hero, the only person Doctor Abraham Erskine's serum had worked on, and the man who had singlehandedly saved the fate of the Earth when he crashed the Valkyrie into the Atlantic Ocean. Katherine had grown up hearing stories about the legendary Captain America and his Howling Commandos. If things had been different, she would have been as excited as her fellow agents. Alas, the news of Captain Rogers...defrosting was delivered when things were worse than bad and Natasha Romanoff had calmly helped Silhouette wash the endless amount of blood off her hands until the drain of the sink turned pink. In the end, it hadn't mattered whether or not Katherine was excited about the Captain's arrival. Because Fury had put her in charge of the sleeping soldier, like a prison ward. Or what she assumed Rogers would find even worse, a babysitter.

      There was absolutely nothing to do in Steve Rogers's room. Katherine had already been lulled to sleep by the boring crossword puzzles Clint Barton playfully dropped off when he found out she was in charge of watching someone doze. She hadn't been able to enjoy a book since what Romanoff dubbed "The Incident" because the anxious feeling always covered Katherine like a straight jacket until her heart was racing and her eyes blurred the words on the page. She had never been a good artist, so even doodling absentmindedly was out of the question. With the limited options, all that was really left for Katherine to do was watch the soldier to make sure he didn't start choking in his sleep or something equally life-threatening. That, and make small tallies in the notebook she always kept nearby when he made a movement. She reached for the notebook and uncapped the pen she kept inside, making a small tally mark next to the others. In the timespan of a month, Steve Rogers had only moved six times.

      "You look like hell," a voice commented from the doorway. Katherine didn't jump, well past the point of being scared when an unfamiliar voice entered the room. She did, however, reach for her side for a gun that wasn't there and then let out a huff of annoyance when she realized she was in a heavily protected S.H.I.E.L.D. base and had nothing to be afraid of. The agent standing at the door had her arms crossed as she rested against the threshold, hair pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail, which made it so Katherine could see the worry in her eyes clearly. "When's the last time you ate?"

      Katherine couldn't answer her. Mostly because she didn't think her answer of I had a saltine cracker two hours ago would suffice for the agent standing at the door. "I have to watch him," she said as an explanation, jamming her thumb in Captain Rogers's direction. 

     "Yeah, well I need to watch you." Sophia Benjamin moved silently, as most of the agents here did, making her way to where Katherine was sitting. The chairs in the Captain's room weren't uncomfortable, per say, but they definitely weren't made for sitting for extended periods of time. Sophia placed her hand on Katherine's shoulder, a tether to the world outside.

      Sophia was the only one in their section of the base that didn't give a shit about dressing in the stupid nineteen-forties clothes everyone in that area did. Katherine personally hadn't agreed with the decor in the Captain's room, insisting that when he woke up, he wouldn't be happy about the deception. No one had listened. Katherine was the only one who wore her normal work clothes, which today consisted of black slacks and a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She was glad to see Sophia hadn't agreed to the stupid costumes either, though she looked much more relaxed in denim jeans and a leather jacket. Though, given the worry on her face, Sophia didn't look too relaxed. "Go get something to eat, Katie. The Captain isn't going to fall apart without you here."

      Katherine didn't bother replying. Sure, Captain Rogers wouldn't fall apart. But Katherine hadn't really been out of his room for long periods of time since Fury had assigned her to watch over him. Given that his room had an adjacent bathroom, Katherine took most of her showers in there. Usually one of the other nurses brought her food. She had a suitcase of clothes sitting underneath the bathroom counter. There wasn't any real reason for her to leave the room. And if she were being completely honest with herself, Captain Rogers may not have fallen apart, but she might have. She hadn't adjusted since "The Incident," and she was terrified of what lay beyond the walls of the drab beige room she'd self-exiled to for the past month. 

      She heard Sophia sigh. "C'mon, Katie. Let's go get some coffee at the canteen. We'll have one of the nurses watch him. Ten minutes at the most." Sophia was known throughout S.H.I.E.L.D. as an excellent negotiator, which made sense as Katherine's body turned towards Sophia in utter acceptance of her request. "They've got that coconut creamer you like. We'll walk there and back, if you want." 

      Katherine could read between the lines. Sophia was really trying to ask, "what are you so afraid of?"

      Silhouette, Katherine thought. But she was Silhouette, wasn't she? How did she put into words that she was afraid of herself?

      This, however, was Sophia. The same Sophia whose family had taken Katherine under their wing when she had returned from Stockholm and Nick Fury didn't know where to put her. The same Sophia that had claimed she'd always be there for Katherine, no matter what. And so, because this was Sophia asking, she found herself agreeing.

      "Okay," Katherine said softly. She untangled her arms from around her legs and stood, her bones popping in protest. Her eyes lingered on Captain Rogers as she ran her fingers over her slacks, straightening any creases that had formed from her stiff position on the chair. "Lead the way," Katherine sighed out, her voice small in the room. She hated hearing herself speak. Her voice, once so strong and confident was nothing more than a whisper these days. Sophia didn't say anything, though. Sophia never did. Sophia was all facial expressions, and it was always conveying how she was feeling or what she was thinking. It was both a strength and a weakness. Katherine rubbed her arms awkwardly when she stepped out of the beige room, immediately catching the eye of two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed outside the Captain's room. 

      "Agent Baker," one of them said in surprise. Katherine recognized her. Her name was Sadie, and if Katherine remembered correctly, she was freshly engaged to another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who worked in operations. "You're leaving?" Sadie asked in surprise. Katherine tried not to notice the idiotic 1940's getup Sadie was currently sporting, her pretty brown curls pristine and her lips painted the same color as blood. Sadie then seemed to sense her words could be construed as an insulting comment and her eyes widened in surprise. "Sorry Agent Baker, that's not what I—"

      "I know what you meant," Katherine interrupted. "I'm going to get some food with Agent Benjamin. Mind keeping an eye on him for me? I should be back within ten minutes."

      Sadie smiled and nodded. "Of course, Agent Baker. Agent Kline and I will stand out here and make sure nothing happens." Katherine wanted to turn back immediately, suddenly afraid that something would happen to Captain Rogers in the ten minutes it would take her to get food. Sophia seemed to sense her discomfort and put her hand on Katherine's arm. While the grip was loose at that particular moment, Katherine knew it would lock in a vice if Katherine tried to retreat back to Steve Rogers's room. "I'm sure everything will be fine, Agent Baker. What could go wrong in ten minutes?"

      My entire family was killed in five, Katherine found herself thinking. "Just talk through the comm system if anything goes wrong."

      "Yes ma'am," Sadie said, nodding her head. Agent Klein, who had been silent through the entire conversation, looked straight ahead as if he were a soldier when Katherine's eyes turned on him. Sophia snorted quietly before her grip on Katherine's arm was suddenly pulling, moving Katherine's body with a surprising amount of strength. 

      "See you rookies later," Sophia called cheerily as she moved Katherine along the hallway. If Katherine had cared enough, she would have ripped her arm out of Sophia's grip and demanded that she could very well walk herself to the canteen, but she was still in a small daze from actually leaving the walls of the beige room. They passed by the sepia-colored landscape of New York positioned strategically right outside the window of Steve Rogers's room and into the empty space they were keeping him confined in. Sophia hit the latch on the door and pushed it open, thrusting Katherine out into a world she hadn't seen in a month. A world she hadn't wanted to see.

      Sophia led the way to the canteen, passing by agents that stared at Katherine as if she were an exhibit in a museum. She grimaced under their stares. The Old Katherine would have walked out of that room confidently, ignoring her fellow agents and strutting down the hallway as if it were a runway and she was a supermodel. That was a Katherine possessed by Silhouette, however, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be Silhouette anymore. Not after she'd come to, staring at ten bodies with arrows sticking out of nearly every inch of skin she could see. They hadn't even had the chance to put that stupid little pill in their mouths and end their own lives. They were dead before they could say "Hail Hydra."

      The canteen was full of agents, scattered around in their own little groups. She saw Maria Hill, sitting with Phil Coulson and conversing about some upcoming assignment they had. She saw another agent sitting and reading something out of a manila folder while she sipped out of a silver thermos. Prior knowledge of the agent had Katherine knowing she was drinking her coffee straight black, the same way Sophia did. Katherine had tried for years to be the tough agent that took her coffee black, but she could never stomach the taste of it. She always ended up pouring more sugar than necessary and dumping the coconut creamer inside. Sophia continued to drag her to the coffee station, where there were about eight coffee machines lined up against the wall. A pretty blonde woman was standing there, filling up her to-go cup. She regarded Katherine in the same way Sadie had, her face looking completely shocked. Unlike Sadie, this girl recovered her facial expression before Katherine could mention it. 

      "Agent Baker," she said in surprise, pulling her coffee cup away from the machine and slapping a lid on the top. "I'm surprised to see you out here. How are you?"

      Katherine would have been patronized by the question if she hadn't known the woman was nothing but genuine. But she still moved uncomfortably away from her, ignoring her in favor of grabbing a cup from the stack next to the machine. Sophia had no problem answering. "She's fine, Sharon. Enjoying watching your aunt's old beau. Quite the Sleeping Beauty he is."

      Sharon, long since accustomed to Sophia's blunt words and tone, simply let out a small laugh. "Can't imagine watching someone sleep is all that interesting. Aunt Peggy would have just slapped him awake." Someone must have said something into her comm device, for her head turned to the side as if to turn towards the voice, and her hand reached up to press against the black plastic in her ear. "Sorry ladies, I've got to run. Hope watching Cap becomes more interesting," Sharon said in Katherine's general direction before she was gone. 

      "Do you think Sharon would be incredibly freaked out if I asked for some of her aunt's memorabilia?" Sophia asked conversationally. "Now there's a woman I would have loved to work with. You know, my great grandpa went through the Super Soldier program with Rogers, and he loves telling the story about how Peggy Carter punched the shit out of a soldier on their first day of training." Sophia snorted and capped her own coffee, watching as Katherine went through the ministrations of preparing her own cup of coffee. Neither mentioned the way her fingers seemed to shake when she took the cup into her hand and brought it to her mouth to take a drink. "I would have paid to be there."

      "She was field agent," Katherine replied quietly, shrugging her shoulders. "It was kind of in her job description." But even Katherine couldn't help but agree that she'd have loved to see the legendary Peggy Carter in action. Better yet, to have seen Captain America in action. "Hey Sophia?"

      "Hm?" Sophia hummed in response, already starting the trek back in the direction they had come from. Katherine was happy Sophia was going to keep her promise of only ten minutes. Katherine followed behind her happily, already seeking the solitude of the room Steve Rogers was being kept in.

      "Thanks," Katherine answered.

      It was then that Sophia gave Katherine a quick but meaningful smile, the kind of smile that gave Katherine a glimpse beyond the sarcastic wit and the hard exterior every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent possessed. "Sure thing, Katie. Now, we'd better get back. Sleeping Beauty needs his true love's kiss to awaken from his slumber," she said jokingly.

      "Please. If I kissed him, he'd wake up to the dragon, not a princess."

      Sophia stopped walking to look at her harshly. "No one here blames you for Austria." Except Katherine. Katherine blamed herself. No, that was a lie. She blamed Silhouette. But they had been one in the same lately, and it was the same sting. Sophia opened her mouth to say something else, probably seeing the doubt in Katherine's eyes, but before she could, they heard the crackle of the projection comm overhead, bursting to life as someone screamed into it. "All agents, code thirteen! I repeat, all agents, code thirteen!"

      Sophia and Katherine barely had time to look at each other for half a second before they were both taking off down the long hallway, rushing towards the room where Captain Rogers was being held. Katherine's heart dropped into her throat when she pushed the door to his facility open and saw the whole in the facade they had put up to isolate him. Sadie was standing there with tears in her eyes and Agent Klein was on the ground. When Katherine walked over to investigate him, he was unconscious. "Shit!" Katherine suddenly swore, running her fingers through her hair. Fury was going to kill her. She should have never left the freaking room. "Shit," she said again, in a low voice.

      "We went to go get coffee, what the hell happened in the ten minutes it took for us to go get coffee?" Sophia demanded of Sadie, her voice a low growl of annoyance. Sadie was shaking. This was the first assignment Fury had put her on, Katherine remembered. She was probably freaking out, thinking she was going to lose her job. 

      "The...the base...baseball game gave it...gave it away. He was at that...that game," Sadie stuttered out, her voice low and panicky. 

      "Damn it, Sadie, we told you to comm us if anything happened!" Sophia snapped.

      "I...I'm sorry."

      "Sophia," Katherine said quietly, shaking her head. "Forget it. It's fine. I've just... I've got to go find Fury. Hopefully nothing bad has happened." Katherine didn't even stick around to see Sophia nod her head in agreement. She was off, taking off down the hallway like someone had stuck rockets in her shoes. She followed the trail of agents that seemed to be fighting their way outside, into the heart of Times Square. Several agents started to move towards her, to hold her back, but realizing who it was, they let her move forward without any further interruptions. It was widely known throughout the base that Katherine Baker was in charge of Captain Rogers. Or better yet, that Katherine Baker was, under no circumstances, allowed to go out into the field just yet, not until she was better. She had no idea when that would be, but all she knew was that she had to get better. 

      When she cut through the small circle of agents, she saw him. He was taking in the views of this New York, the New York plagued with Broadway musical signs and McDonalds' golden arches, with about a thousand people on that strip of street alone. He was surveying the cars, the bright neon lights, the girl with the pink mohawk walking by, and comparing it to the New York he knew from the 1940's. And then Katherine saw his face. There was a kind of sadness there she'd never be able to categorize. This wasn't just the sadness of a soldier. This was the sadness of a good man, who had lost everything he'd ever known and had to wear the burden of sacrificing himself to save the world. But it was also the sadness of a boy, a boy who had to grow up too fast, looking at a city that was supposed to be his home, and not being able to recognize a damn thing. 

      Katherine had once been that sad. In that moment, she felt as close to Captain Rogers as she could have ever felt.

      "Agent Baker," Fury suddenly said, his voice cutting through the emotion and reminding Katherine that she was to be the stoic agent, the stone-faced woman with a resolve of ice. She turned towards Fury, noticing that the Captain's eyes locked on her when she stepped forward. "Mind telling me why you weren't there to ease Cap into things, when that is what I explicitly told you to do?"

      "I..." Katherine was at a loss for words. Fury wouldn't care if she hadn't left the room since he'd put her there. And he was right. She should have never stepped out of that room for a coffee that she was pretty sure she had dropped on her way outside, considering it was suddenly no longer in her hands. "I was down at the canteen. I wasn't alerted that he had woken up."

      Fury hummed in acknowledgement before he gestured his head towards the building. "What about we take this conversation inside, Captain Rogers? You too, Agent Baker." Katherine nodded her head immediately. The three didn't speak as they filed back into the building, but Katherine's eyes were trained on Steve Rogers. Lying down on that cot hadn't done his height justice. Katherine was an average height, about five-foot-six, but she had to crane her neck upwards to see his face. He easily cleared six foot, and she was certain there was even more inches passed that mark. The serum that had seeped into his muscles made them at least four times bigger than her own, even though she was adamant about going to the gym. Well, she had been until Austria. Now she just sat in the Captain's room and watched him sleep. 

      Katherine watched one of the agents open the door for Fury and she stood aside, waiting for both her boss and the walking American hero to walk through the door before she did. However, she saw him falter in his footsteps before he eventually stopped walking altogether, staring at her with uncertainty in his eyes. "Captain Rogers?" she said, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion.

      If the situation weren't so strange, she might have found the slight flush of pink on his cheeks endearing. "I was, um, waiting for you to go in. Ladies first and all that."

      Katherine sent him a small nod and stepped through the door. He shrugged the gesture off, flinging his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants like he didn't know what to do with them. The pair stepped into Fury's office, the door closing with a soft click behind them. She knew this routine. She'd stay off to the side, quiet, and only answer if Fury asked her a question. Meek wasn't usually her style, but Katherine owed Fury everything. For bringing her to S.H.I.E.L.D. when her family died, for bringing her back from the brink in Austria, for keeping an eye on her over the years. That meant she owed him respect. And if respect meant staying quiet and out of the center of missions, she would do it. Even if her tongue had indents on it from biting down.

      "Captain Rogers," Fury started, sitting in his seat and gesturing to the seat across from him. Katherine saw Captain Rogers glance back in her direction, as if asking if she wanted to sit. He only took the seat when she shook her head. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

      "Did we win the war?" he asked.

      Fury nodded. "In September of 1945. The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, also known as S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded shortly afterwards. That's where you are now, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Headquarters."

      "Who founded S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Captain Rogers asked warily, like he wasn't sure whether to trust Fury's words or not. 

      "A collection of different people. The big brains behind the division included three people, mostly. Howard Stark, Colonel Chester Phillips... and Agent Margaret Carter." The name Margaret was weird to hear, but the use of her full name didn't stop Captain Rogers from recognizing it.

      "Peggy," Captain Rogers breathed out, leaning back against his seat as if the names Fury had spoken had completely taken the fight out of his body. "Is she... are they... did any of them make it to 2012?"

      Fury reached down into his desk and produced a file, slapping it down on his desk. "Howard Stark and his wife Maria died in December of 1991. Cause of death was a car accident. Their son Anthony Stark, or Tony as most call him, is big into engineering like his father was. Colonel Chester Phillips died in 1961, peacefully in his sleep. Agent Carter... she's still alive." Katherine saw the moment Steve locked onto those words, leaning up in his seat like Fury had just dangled the most precious gemstone in front of his eyes. "She's in a retirement home in Washington D.C. A few years ago she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease." Katherine's eyes trained on the Captain as he seemed to melt into the uncomfortable chair. She didn't exactly agree with telling the Captain all of this information at that present moment in time, but she didn't dare question Fury's decision. "I know this is a lot to take in, Captain Rogers. That's why I assigned Agent Baker to your case."

      "Assigned? What case?" he asked. Fury glanced at Katherine and gestured to the seat next to Captain Rogers. Katherine felt her feet moving of their own accord and lowered herself into the chair. 

      "Agent Baker monitored you to make sure nothing weird happened, bar waking up seventy years in the future. Despite the events of today," Fury shot a pointed look her way, "I trust Agent Baker completely. She'll be in charge of getting you acquainted with the year 2012. Any questions you have, you can ask her." Fury closed the file containing people from Captain Rogers's past and folded his hands together. "And you two will spend six months together in a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house located in Wilmington, Delaware until we can procure a permanent residence here for you at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters."

      This was news to Katherine. And while Captain Rogers looked less than enthused by the idea, he at least managed to keep his mouth shut. Katherine, on the other hand, felt a slight twinge of annoyance burst through her usually calm demeanor. "That wasn't included in our briefing," Katherine said, voice tight.

      "With all due respect, Agent Baker, you are no longer a field agent. Which means you'd be sitting around here doing nothing. I have personally selected you to accompany Captain Rogers to Wilmington, and if that's a problem for you, we can discuss that at a later date. Perhaps you'd like to get back on the field?" Fury raised a brow, daring her to call his bluff. Only, Katherine knew he wasn't bluffing. The second she refused this assignment, Fury would send her back out on the field. Shame washed through Katherine as she realized she'd rather be locked up with Captain Rogers for five years than ever step foot back on the field. Fury must have seen the regretful acceptance in her eyes, for he nodded. "That's what I thought. You'll leave at precisely nine o'clock A.M. tomorrow morning. You'll have until then to collect whatever belongings you want." This statement was directed towards Katherine, as the Captain had no real possessions. "Agent Baker, show Captain Rogers to his temporary room. Captain Rogers," the Captain looked at Fury, who was holding out the file. "This belongs to you. Feel free to peruse it as you wish."

      The Captain nodded, taking the file from Fury and stood. Katherine silently stood from her own seat and walked towards the door, sending Captain Rogers a small smile when he hurried to hold the door open for her. Once she had completely walked through the threshold, he exited Fury's office. 

      Both were silent on the first half of the walk to his room. Katherine respected his need for silence. She wasn't sure how she'd be able to speak if she had woken up in the next century. She observed him from the corner of her eyes, watching him take in the new technology of the world. Someone walked by with a cell phone in their hands and he gave it a quizzical look before continuing on their walk to his quarters. 

      It wasn't until they got in the elevator that he spoke. "I'm sorry," he said quietly as Katherine pushed a button for the fifth floor, where Captain Rogers shared a floor with absolutely no one. It was their isolation room, usually meant for any criminals they kept, but also one of the most private rooms S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters possessed. No one would bother the Captain in this room. 

      "Sorry? What for?" she asked, stepping out of the elevator when the doors opened. He caught up with her easily, and she saw he had to physically walk slower so he didn't pass her by. 

      "You got stuck with me. I know you don't want to spend six months in a safe house with me." His tone suggested that he wasn't entirely happy about the ordeal either. 

      She shrugged, the corner of her upper lip tilting up in a small smirk. "It isn't your fault. It was just a surprise." They approached his room and Katherine slid a room key card out of her jacket. With precision and haste, she slid it through the pad next to the door and watched as the door clicked open. "This is your room until tomorrow morning. All amenities are included," Katherine gestured to the suite. "You've got a television, mini bar, kitchenette, and the WiFi key is..." she trailed off and looked back at the Captain, finding a look of pure confusion on his face. "Right. Forgot, sorry. You don't exactly know what WiFi is."

      "I do know what the bathroom is, so I'm going to go use that. Make yourself comfortable, er..." He reached up and guiltily scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know your name. Just Agent Baker."

      "Katherine," she supplied. "Bathroom's through that door, to the right. I can't technically stay in here with you, we wanted you to have your privacy, so I'm going to go. If you need anything, just press this button and speak into this intercom." She pressed the button on the intercom next to the front door. "I'll hear it in my room, and I'll come back up here. You gonna be okay for now?"

      "I think so," he said, sounding unsure.

      Katherine's lips quirked up a little at his hesitance. "You'll be fine, Captain Rogers. I know it's a lot to take in, but I'm confident you'll make it through." She moved to open the door. "Remember, just press and hold." She demonstrated the intercom once more before she gave him a small nod. "If I don't see you before then, I'll see you at nine tomorrow morning."

      "Thanks."

      The hallway was a nice reprieve from the stuffiness of the suite Captain Rogers was staying in. Though it was by no means a small room, she felt the walls closing in on her. She appreciated the air in the hallway outside. Gently, she reached up to the microphone on the lapel of her jacket and pressed down on the tiny button. "Comming Agent Benjamin, it's Agent Baker."

      Sophia's voice cut through her earpiece almost immediately. "Agent Benjamin," she said as way of greeting. "Everything okay?"

      "Are you available to meet me on the seventh floor?" Katherine asked after pressing the button on the microphone once more. She felt her feet moving towards the elevator but didn't truly process the movement. 

      "Rodger that. Or should I say Captain Rogers that."

      "Don't be cute."

      "Impossible. Be there in two."

      The elevator doors opened and Katherine stepped inside the elevator. She quickly pressed the seventh floor button and watched the doors close in front of her face. When she was met with her reflection, she stared at herself in the slightly distorted metal. Austria had changed a lot of things about Katherine mentally, but she'd never really considered the physical change her last field assignment had bestowed upon her. She was thinner in the hips, but not in the way she'd always wanted to be. It looked like her shirt was two sizes too big, and there was a lack of muscle in her waist that was a surprise, since she'd always managed to stay in shape. Then there was the ever-present bags underneath her eyes, a culmination of never sleeping enough and nightmares haunting her even when she managed to get some shut eye. Katherine stared at her reflection up until the doors opened once more, and she found herself relieved that she no longer had to look at herself in the doors. 

      Sophia showed up quicker than Katherine expected. "What's up?" she asked conversationally. "Do I need to kick Cap's ass?"

      "No," Katherine sighed out, pulling her own room key out of her jacket pocket, keying in and watching the door to her quarters open. Sophia didn't need inviting in, considering she spent a lot of her time in Katherine's room, and made herself comfortable on Katherine's couch. "I need help packing."

      "Packing? Where the hell are you going?"

      "Wilmington, Delaware." At Sophia's confused glance, Katherine elaborated. "Fury decided that I would be going to Wilmington for six months to live with Captain Rogers in a safe house there. And then proceeded to tell me when I looked shocked that because I wasn't a field agent, he could technically order me to do this."

      "What the hell?" Sophia mumbled under her breath, looking scandalized. "What the hell am I supposed to do without you here? Talk to Sadie?" Katherine shrugged, reaching up in her closet and grabbing a suitcase, throwing it back down onto her bed with a little too much force. 

      "I tried to argue, but he's right. I'm not a field agent anymore. Do me a favor and look up the average temperatures in Wilmington from now until May?" Sophia immediately pulled her phone out of her back pocket and typed something into the screen.

      "Forties now through February, fifties in March, sixties in April, seventies in May. I'd say pack for a different range of weather. Definitely some heavy coats, but some thin blazers too. Oh, I could lend you a leather jacket!" 

      "I don't do leather jackets. They're unprofessional."

      "I know. Why do you think I wear them? A big fuck off to the system."

      "Fuck off to the system that pays you?" Katherine raised an eyebrow.

      "Precisely. Pack at least two nice dresses, as well. In case Cap happens to want to go out to a fancy dinner. I assume Fury's loaded him up with every piece of clothing known to man, so he'll definitely be prepared." Katherine would have argued had she not been stressed about the late notice of this little trip. She knew she and Captain Rogers wouldn't have the chance to leave the safe house to go to a fancy restaurant, so a nice dress wasn't necessary. Not wanting to deal with Sophia, however, she threw in a pretty navy silk dress that fell to her shins. "Heels too," Sophia decided. Katherine rolled her eyes, but threw simple black pumps in her suitcase. After the dress and heels went the jackets for the winter months, and some blazers for the spring. "God your wardrobe is depressing. Do you own any color, at all?"

      "I'm going to be stuck with a man who has been frozen for seventy years," Katherine deadpanned, "and I doubt he'll care if I'm wearing black or red."

      "Logically I know you're right, but seeing all this black and khaki colored fabric is giving me a headache. Stop buying neutrals." 

      Katherine raised a brow at Sophia's dark brown leather jacket, denim jeans, and black combat boots. "Are you serious?"

      In retaliation, Sophia opened up her jacket wider to reveal a maroon shirt. "I've got some color. Plus, I've got that red leather jacket hiding somewhere in my closet."

      "Stop discussing my wardrobe and call out some toiletry essentials," Katherine requested, walking to her bathroom with a smaller bag in hand. From there, she listened as Sophia called out the basics. Deodorant, toothbrush, tampons, hairbrush. Katherine didn't even process the things she was putting in her bag, methodically going through the motions of simply making sure she had everything. "I think I'm done."

      "Sexy lingerie?" Sophia asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

      "Stop hanging out with Romanoff. She's rubbing off on you," Katherine said with a distasteful scrunch of her nose. "That does remind me, though," she muttered to herself, grabbing some underwear and bras from one of her drawers. "Would have been awkward to go without those."

      Sophia stood from the couch she was sitting one and sifted through Katherine's bag. "Really? No black lace anything? I'm disappointed." Sophia moved out of the way of Katherine's half-hearted slap and laughed. "Alright, I think you're good to go. Any idea whether or not contact with other agents is out of the question for the next six months?"

      "No clue. I'll try and text," she offered simply, giving Sophia a small smile. Sophia was the closest thing to family that she had in this place. When she had been brought in at ten years old, she remembered meeting Sophia's father and wishing with all her might that her father could be there too. Katherine still to this day didn't know what made little nine-year-old Sophia Benjamin walk up to her and ask if she wanted a piece of bubblegum, but she was thankful for it. S.H.I.E.L.D. could have been a lonely place, but Sophia helped dull the solitary aura of the headquarters. 

      "You better," Sophia mentioned.

      Katherine opened her mouth to say something, anything, but suddenly there was a distinct buzzing noise in her earpiece. "Um... Agent Baker? I'm pressing and holding, like you said. I accidentally turned the television on in the room and I don't know how to turn it off. If you could come help that would... um... be great." 

      "Gotta go?" Sophia guessed by the way Katherine's head cocked in the direction Captain Rogers's voice was coming from. Katherine simply nodded. "Well then, have a good trip. Use protection." This time, she didn't avoid Katherine's slap, and she laughed when Katherine's skin made contact with her. "I meant jacket-wise. It's gonna be in the forties. Get your mind out of the gutter," she teased. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"

      "Yeah, see you soon." Katherine waited until Sophia left, then took her suitcase off her bed and put in next to her door. Then, she was off, walking back to the elevator and pressing the button to the Captain's floor. She quietly knocked on his door when she got to his room, watching as he opened up the door, revealing his expression to her.

      His eyes were rimmed in red, like he'd spent the last hour crying. Her heart immediately went out to him. Waking up in a new century with no one familiar except an elderly woman with Alzheimer's couldn't have been easy. Especially for Captain America, the world's first true superhero. He was tensed, like he was waiting for her to notice the unshed tears in his eyes, but she simply sent him a small smile and stepped aside his body, shoulder lightly brushing his chest as she moved into the room. He was quiet as she walked over to the television and held up a remote to him.

      "This is a remote control. You can pause, play, forward, and rewind whatever you're watching on the TV with it. You can also turn it off with the remote, so you don't have to get up and do it manually. See this button here?" Katherine held it out to him and he nodded, eyes drinking in the power button she pointed to. Without warning, she pressed down and he jumped a little when the room was suddenly enveloped in silence. "Pretty easy. I could teach you the other functions, if you want. I could put a movie on to help clear your head."

      "No thanks," he said softly, shaking his head. "I wouldn't know any of the movies, anyway. I think I'm just gonna head to sleep." He laughed a little, but the shake of it made her believe it wasn't because he found anything funny. "You must think I'm pretty stupid, huh? Not even knowing how to turn a television off."

      No, she wanted to tell him. I think that this is an unfair situation to the both of us and if I could find a way out of it, I could.

      "I think you should give yourself some grace," she said instead.

      His smile was minuscule, but it was there. And for a moment, neither one of them was Captain America or Silhouette. In that moment, it was only Steve Rogers, Katherine Baker, and six months of recovery ahead of them.

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