4th of July, 2011.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
New York, NY.

NY, OPERATION REAWAKENING: Agent V. Carter is to be assigned as the agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. that will look after Steven "Steve" Rogers once he is brought to New York Headquarters from the wreckage of the Valkyrie at the Arctic.

  • Valkyrie Operation Status: SUCCESSFUL. Agent 14 and Agent Coulson successfully located the HYDRA Aircraft and recovered Steven "Steve" Rogers (aka. Captain America) from the ice as well as the vibranium shield.

  • Reawakening Operation Status: WAITING FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Victoria

I woke up before we landed and directed myself to the back of the room, where the Captain laid unconscious. Phil was already there, watching his childhood hero laying before him. The ice was all gone and Steve seemed to have gotten back colour into his face, now, he was just asleep.

"How did he do it?" I asked again.

"Good morning to you, too." I smiled.

"Sorry. Good morning, Philip Coulson, the love of my life. Would you like some coffee and doughnuts, darling?" He rolled his eyes and laughed at my mockery and the sudden British accent that slipped through my words.

"When we land, Carter." I chuckled. "And, to answer your question, they don't really know." My eyes snapped to his side profile. "Doctor said that it was suspended animation, but smart's money is on Erskine's formula." I looked at Phil, folding my arms over my chest. "The Super Soldier serum enhanced him physically and cellularly, his metabolism and immune system. He survived all those years due to the cold and his own cells."

"It's impressive. Almost impossible." He nodded.

"Indeed." I sighed. "Here's the file the Doctor made." He handed over the folder and I took it. When I opened it, it revealed pictures of Rogers frozen and after he had defrosted, and important notes about his condition.

"Are we landing in Washington?"

"New York." I nodded and headed to the changing rooms to get off the tactical suit and replace it for the pantsuit I was wearing yesterday that I had kept in my bag.

  After we had arrived at the US, the Quinjet that took us to Headquarters in no time, Rogers was attached to a stretcher so that he was secured and didn't risk falling or getting injured. We arrived at H.Q. in about thirty minutes, Fury and Hill were there to receive us.

"Oh, you're shitting me." Said Hill as we got off the Quinjet with members of our team pushing down Steven's stretcher carefully while I held the shield.

"My thoughts exactly as we found him." Said Coulson. "I almost shat my pants, actually."

"True. You should've seen his face." I commented.

"Like a kid in a candy shop." Fury teased.

"Precisely." Coulson shook his head. "Here's his medical file." I handed it over to Maria.

"Updated after seventy years." She said as her eyes scanned the notes.

"Sixty eight, actually." Said Phil.

"Right, sorry. What's his condition?"

"He's stable, his vital signs are impecable, as well as his brain activity." I answered. "He went into hibernation and, due to his enhanced immune system and cells, he managed to stay alive."

"When will he wake up?" Asked Fury.

"They don't know, but they do expect him to wake up since he's not in a coma or vegetative state, he's just deep in his sleep." Coulson assured as we arrived at an empty hangar-looking room where the Captain's stretcher was set, all of us taking by the door as if he could hear us.

"And what do we do until then?" I asked, my eyes pinned on the Super Solider.

"We take care of him." Said Fury. "I submitted the Operation to the Council before your arrival, they approved it half an hour ago."

"Clearly. The question is how? When he wakes up, all of this will come as a shock. This man fell asleep in one world and will wake up in a totally different version of it."

"She's right." Hill backed me up. "If he wakes up he'll just run away or enter a shock state. Even if he was one of America's greatest soldiers and defenders, he won't know if we're the enemy. We don't know how he'll react. We need to break it down to him slowly." I nodded. Fury sighed as he thought.

"We could arrange this room. Create an ambience set in his decade, when he wakes up we could take our time at explaining everything to him and slowly introduce him to the world." Nick suggested and everyone nodded in agreement. "Alright, Carter, Rogers is now your mission."

"Wait, what?" Nick nodded. "What do you mean he's my mission?" Everyone remained quiet for a minute and it clicked din my head. "You're chaining me to the desk again."

Fury looked around the room. "As far as I'm concerned, there is no desk in this room, is there, agent?" I sighed when he lifted his eyebrows expecting me to actually answer what I thought was a rhetorical question, and using the bossy tone of voice he only uses to scold us.

"No, sir."

"Exactly. I told you, you're still grounded." I looked away and clenched my jaw, annoyed, as I took a deep breath before looking back at the Director. "You don't want to be answering phone calls or spying as it s your job? Fine, in that case, you'll make sure the Super Soldier doesn't die in his sleep and look after him. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." He nodded.

"Good. Here's the documents you need to fill in, the Operation is called Reawakening and you're head of it. Now that that's settled, the next issue is the room. We'll have it arranged, you'll supervise that, Coulson." Phil nodded.

"I'll l have it done by nighttime." Phil patted my shoulder and walked away.

"Hill, search in archive for agent Carter's soldier uniform." I frowned.

"I don't have a-"
"I know that. But you're not the Carter I'm talking about." I nodded.

"Oh, you mean the agent Carter." He nodded.

"Are you sure it's in archive, sir?" Fury shrugged at Hill's question. "I believe it's at her home."

"Then let me retrieve it." I said. "I could ask her about Rogers. She knew him best, right?" Fury sighed. "Please, sir. I owe her a visit, I'll learn about the guy that will be my mission for God knows how long, and I can retrieve some stuff I'll need." Fury looked at Hill, she shrugged as she revised the data pad she had in hand, then shook her head.

"Agent Carter's suits are not in archive, she must still have them." Fury sighed and nodded.

"Go. Now. And get back here as fast as you can." I nodded.

"Yes, sir." My working phone beeped.

"That was me," said Maria when I reached into my pocket. "I just sent you Margaret Carter's address."

"Thank you. Could I take the file? Might help her remember something." Fury gave me Rogers' file while I gave him the shield and nodded at him, thanking him silently as I walked out of the room, sending a final look towards Rogers. "I'm taking a Quinjet."

"Just don't crash it." I scoffed at Fury's words.

"Don't worry, I won't be piloting."

I got into the floor's lift as I called for an urgent Quinjet, the pilot asked me to meet him at the roof, so I clicked the button that would take me to the heliport of the building and at my arrival, the jet was already waiting for me.
I boarded it and asked the pilot to take me to Washington H.Q as I sat as co-pilot studying the file I had in hand and wondering where could Rogers file be in the archives. I contacted Sharon and informed her I'd get to Washington in an hour and she said she'd receive me in H.Q.

The whole time I thought about how I hadn't visited Peggy. Ever. I wondered if she'd know of my existence, if she'd remember the family tree and how I got here. I also hoped Sharon had talked to her about me. When we arrived, the pilot landed the jet at one of the Helicarrier's ports, Sharon was there to receive me like she had promised.

"Hey." She said.

"Hi." I replied as I walked off the Quinjet.

"How'd it go at the North Pole? Did you find Santa Claus? Maybe brought a penguin with you?" I scoffed at her sarcasm as we started to walk into the building.

"Uh, no." I scratched my eyebrow with the folder I had in hand. "But I did find Captain America. And I brought his shield." Sharon stopped and looked at me, I offered the file and she opened it, her eyes widening as she looked at the pictures and the information she was reading. "He was frozen inside of the Valkyrie and he's in New York's H.Q. alive and sleeping as we speak."

"Oh, my God." I nodded.

"I need to go to Peggy's house right now. Fury sent me to retrieve some suits and I'll ask her to tell me what she knows about Captain Rogers because I've been assigned to babysit him." I paused.

"Okay."

"Could you pick me up when I shoot you a text?" She nodded.

"I'll drive you there."

"Thank you." She handed the file back to me, pulled out her radio and communicated with one of the agents that she's in charge of, asking them to cover for her until she got back. Then, we got to the parking lot and got into her car. Sharon drove all the way to Columbia Hills and parked in front of a small but beautiful home, a white house with blue shutters. "I'll be right back." I said as I opened the car door.

"Vic," I hummed in response and turned around. "it's good you're visiting her. She'll be glad to see you. To meet you." I smiled.

"Thanks, Shaz." She nodded and I stepped out of the car, crossed the street and stepped on the house's porch but stopped before I knocked. I took a deep breath and exhaled before my knuckles met the wood four times. I waited patiently, until the door was opened by a woman in her late 30's. "Good afternoon." I greeted.

"Hi, how can I help you?" She asked. I pulled out my S.H.I.E.L.D. ID and showed it to her.

"I'm Victoria Carter, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Carter?" I kept the ID in my pocket again.

"Yes, I'm here because I need to talk to Margaret Carter, Agency business."

"Today may not be the best day, agent." I sighed.

"I understand, but it's really important. Please." She was still skeptical. "I'm also Peggy's great-granddaughter." The woman opened the door a little bit more as she shook her head.

"Her granddaughter is blonde and a bit taller."

"Yes, that's Sharon, my cousin. She's Amanda's daughter, I'm...Valerie's daughter."

"Oh." I nodded. 

"It is really important that I speak to her. I believe it could even cheer her up a bit." I offered a smile. The woman nodded and stepped aside after a hot minute, inviting me inside. "Thank you."

"Of course." I followed her into the house.

"What's your name?" We started walking upstairs.

"Lucy."

"Nice to meet you." She smiled back at me. "How is she doing today? You mentioned is hasn't been a good day." Lucy nodded.

"She's not very lucid, today she was sad since she woke up."

"Why?" We reached a door that had been left ajar.

"She has a box of pictures she goes through every morning, something she decided to do as she began to have memory issues and has been constant about. Today they woke nostalgia in her, tuned her sad." I nodded. "She might confuse you with your mother, try to correct her, but if he calls you Valerie twice-"

"I'll play along." Lucy's hand found the handle as she nodded. She turned around and knocked on the door.

"Peggy?"

"Yes?" Said a tender elderly voice with a thick English accent.

"Someone's here to see you."

"Oh, alright." Lucy nodded at me and I walked in. Peggy Carter was sitting on her bed with a book in hand, glasses over the bridge of her nose. Her hair was white as snow and she had a smile on her face.

"Hi, Peggy." I said as I moved closer to the chair that's on one side of the bed. Lucy stayed near us, just in case, looking after Peggy.

"Valerie." Peggy said to me with a sweet smile, a smile that I returned.

"I'm Victoria, Peggy. Valerie's daughter." She frowned, then nodded as she smiled tenderly at me.

"Right, right. Hello, darling." I smiled back at her. "Sit down, sit down." I sat down on the chair and scooted it closer to the bed when she offered her hands at me. "Got back from work?"

"Sort of, yes."

"How did it go in Russia?" I gulped as I remembered the red 'INACTIVE' stamp over my mother's file. Novosibirsk was her last assignment. I sighed.

"It...went well, thanks. Landed a few hours ago." Peggy giggled as she smiled.

"Good. How's the Agency holding up without me?" I scoffed.

"By a thread." She laughed and I joined that laugh. "They deployed me to another mission, the second I landed, can you believe that?"

"Goodness gracious. I must speak to whoever is in charge now, they need to let you breathe." I chuckled. If only she knew I've been let to breathe for far too long.

"Yes, I'll give you my boss' contact so you yell at him. It would be nice to see his face." She chuckled softly. "Well, Peggy-"
"Oh, quit calling me that, Val. It's much nicer to hear 'Granny' since you don't come at all often." I gulped and giggled.

"Alright, Granny." She nodded her head. "The mission I was assigned to is very important and I need your help." Peggy nodded as her face went serious, the agent poker face I had seen only in pictures falling over her features.

"I'll tell you what I remember." I smiled at her.

"Thank you." I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Back in 1943, you were the last person to make contact with Steven Rogers when he sank a HYDRA ship headed for New York that was sent to blow up the city." She blinked as tears formed in her eyes.

"That's right, Steve handled that." She said lowly and I nodded.

"Right, Steve. Well, as you know, Steve went MIA after the Valkyrie incident." She nodded her head.

"Howard Stark, a dear friend of mine, looked for him for a very long time, but he couldn't find anything. Neither did S.H.I.E.L.D. so they stopped the search after two years or so." I heard a low gasp behind me, it was Lucy, amazed at the fact Peggy was not lucid but remembering stuff that happened sixty eight years ago.

"Well, I'm glad to inform you that S.H.I.E.L.D. found the Valkyrie in the Arctic and Steve was inside." She covered her mouth. "I have pictures of our findings, but they're not very pretty." I added pointing at the file on my lap.

"I survived the Great War, that means Hitler and HYDRA. I've definitely seen worse, darling." She extended her hand, asking for the file. I chuckled and handed it over, Peggy took a deep breath before opening it. She gasped at the sight of a frozen Steve Rogers.

"I know that's not easy to see, but it's not all bad. He's alive, Granny. Steve's body preserved itself in the ice, the cold caused him to hibernate and the enhancement of the serum kept him alive all these years."

"He looks so young."

"He remained 25. Today's his birthday, so he turned 26. Physically speaking, because he'd actually be-"
"93." I nodded and smiled at her. Peggy took one of the pictures that had been taken of Steve once he had defrosted. "He's ridiculously handsome, isn't he?" I chuckled.

"Can't say he isn't."

"That's just a tiny part of why I fell in love with him." My smile remained. "I moved on because I couldn't hold on to the idea of him being alive, and it brought me happiness. However, even if I married Daniel, your Grandad, and I loved him very much I can tell you that he wasn't Steve. He had a big heart, old Daniel." She smiled. "But it wasn't Steve's heart. And Dan didn't have Steve's looks." I chuckled while she cracked a smile.

"What can you tell me about him? About Steve." She sighed, her eyes reflecting the longing memories she held of Rogers.

"Oh, that he had the biggest heart in the world. Steve always stood up for what was right, no matter what. He loved his friends dearly and went 'till the end of the line for them, and he was stubborn. Didn't like to be told what not to do at all." I chuckled. "When he disobeyed, he had good reasons to. He was always so charming, so smart and witty. Oh, he also had a passion for drawing."

"Drawing?"

"Yes, he was very good at it." She started looking around. "Uh, Lucy, could you open the dresser's left bottom drawer, please? There must be a brown folder and a leathered journal." Lucy did as she was asked an passed those items to Peggy. "Thank you." Lucy nodded and moved to the back of the room. "Look. This is his file, it has the original documents from back in the day, before and after the SSS."

"Super Soldier serum?"

"Indeed, smart girl." I chuckled and smiled as she cupped my cheek, tenderly. Suddenly feeling overwhelmed by that single action so full of love.

"Do you mind if I take it to study it? It could help him remember what happened once he wakes up." She meditated and nodded.

"As long as you bring it back."

"Of course, Peg." She chuckled.

"Alright. There are a few notes I added myself." I nodded and placed the file she was handing over on my lap. "This is his sketch book." She gave me the journal. I opened it carefully and went through the drawings, they were so meticulously and carefully done. Beautifully made. "He wasn't like all the other boys in the army, he was a man that was always reading a book by some corner or drawing at camps, even during his recruitment tours." I smiled at the sketches. As someone who draws and doodles on paper whenever I can, I appreciated Steven's drawings deeply. I stopped at a drawing of a dancing monkey wearing his suit. "He drew that one the day he told me how much he disliked being the poster boy when he had signed up to be a soldier."

"Interesting." Peggy nodded with a smile.

"Everything he couldn't say, he drew." I nodded.

"I know a thing or two about that." Peggy tilted her head with a smile. "So, essentially Steve always looked out for everyone."

"He did. He always did what was best for the common good, even if that meant sacrificing himself. He ran towards a grenade to hold the explosion with his body when all of us were around, I tried to get to the grenade first, but he was faster." She laughed. "He went alone into HYDRA facilities to free almost four hundred men, including his best friend...Bucky Barnes." I nodded. "He sank that ship in the ocean for New York not to blow up." Silence.
"He was always so selfless and morally driven. I remember he said to Doctor Abraham Erskine he wanted to enlist not to kill the enemy, but to stop the bullies because he couldn't stand them." We laughed together. "The only flaw he had was his impulsiveness and unpunctuality."

"I get the impulsiveness, I guess he jumped before he thought." Peggy nodded as she laughed. "But unpunctuality? Really?"

"Always made me angry when he was late." She checked the watch and the calendar. "Last time he was late to a date we had."

"How late?"

"Almost seventy years late." We laughed together again. Silence fell upon us as the laughter died down. "So... do you think he'll wake up?"

"Doctors feel very confident about it." She smiled. "We want him to feel as if time hadn't passed for him to process the time bomb more calmly."

"Very considerate of you." I smiled.

"That leads me to another favour I must ask of you."

"What is it?"

"Could I borrow one of your army suits? It's just to play the part."

"Yes, of course. Lucy, have a few of my suits ready for Val, please."

"Of course, Peggy." Said Lucy.

"Thank you." Lucy nodded and walked out of the room to look for the suits. Peg looked at me, then at a box on the bedside table. "You should take these." She said, handing over the nightstand box.

"Oh, no. That would be too much. The file, the journal and the suits are more than enough."

"No, I insist. There are a few pictures I have where Steve was with me or with our team, they could help him with his memory as much as they help me." I smiled at this lady's consideration. "Take those, leave the rest." I nodded and opened the box, looking at the different pictures.

  I took a picture of Peggy with the battalion, one where she was standing beside Captain America and James Barnes, and one where she was with Rogers and Howard Stark, and one of the three pictures she had of Steve. I also texted Sharon and she said she was on her way.

  As I went through a path of her memory through pictures, I came across pictures of Peggy with my grandmother, her daughter Elizabeth; then pictures of Elizabeth with two girls and one boy, Uncle Edmund, Aunt Amanda, and... "Mom." I whispered as I looked at the picture. "This one's beautiful." I showed it to Peggy and she smiled.

"Oh, that was when you turned three." I smiled. "You were obsessed with fairies because you loved Peter Pan so much and wanted to throw a fairy party in the garden. Edmund refused to dress up as a fairy, so he disguised himself as Peter Pan while you and Amanda were Tinker Bell." I smiled and moved the picture spotting another picture of my mother. She was wearing a black suit, her hair shorter than mine, her face and eyes resembling my own, and she was getting ready for the day, my grandmother behind her in the mirror snapping the picture. I showed it to Peggy as I blinked tears away. "Your first day at the Agency. You look just like the picture, even after all these years." I chuckled.

"Thank you." She chuckled, too. That's when another picture caught my eye. It was my mom with a six year old Vic, taken by my father. "That's Victoria." Peggy nodded.

"You sent those from England. It was before you had to move around because of your husband's job." I nodded remembering the house Peggy lived in before the War happened, how lovely it was to live in the English Countryside. After those six years, the memories of my childhood are a blurry film reel that starts to clear up around the age of ten. "How is she, by the way?" I sighed.

"She's alright, I guess." Peggy frowned. "She ended up getting into the Agency too, and she got wounded in action half a month ago." Peggy's hand found the spot in her chest where her heart is and she gasped, concerned.

"Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's healed and getting stronger." Peggy nodded, the worry washing off her face. "The current Director chained her to desk operations but she wants to go into the field again."

"She should listen to...who's the Director?"

"Nick Fury."

"Oh, well, Victoria should listen to him."

"Oh?" Peggy chuckled and nodded.

"I didn't like being told what to do, either, you know? Being told to sit and wait, and working with the SSR meant exactly that, specially as a woman. I had to sit and wait in an office instead of being in the field and I hated it. One day, back in 1947 or '48, I got injured. I fell from a structure and landed on a pile of concrete with the iron bars sticking out and got impaled."

"Damn, Granny." I told her and she laughed.

"Yes. That causes as much damage as a bullet does. I got stitched up at a friend's house, and then I had to sit still until I healed. Theoretically speaking, because I got back to work very fast and the stitches broke like four times." We exchange a chuckle. "What I'm trying to say is that, if they assigned her to rest and be inactive for a while it's probably for the better. She could take that time to heal in more than one way, we know how stressful this job is. Victoria is young, Vienna will wait for her."

"Are you quoting Billy Joel's 'Vienna' right now?" Peggy laughed.

"I am. She should listen to it." I nodded. "You should introduce her to Steve." I laughed. "What? They're the same age. Sort of. If I didn't get to marry him, she could."

"Alright, alright. We're getting ahead of ourselves, Gran." Peggy chuckled as I looked back at the pictures. "Do you mind if I keep these two? Throughout all those move-outs I lost many pictures of her and I as kids."

"Oh, it's alright, darling."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I have more pictures kept in another box, I'll ask Amanda or Lucy to give them to me tomorrow." I nodded.

"Alright, thank you." I heard the door bell and voices downstairs, then footsteps on the staircase and a knock on the door. Sharon arrived and decided to say hi to Peggy before she took me back to Headquarters.

"Amanda, darling." Sharon looked at me and I nodded, she understood she had to pretend to be her mom for a moment.

"Hey, Grans. How are you?" She kissed Peggy's cheek tenderly.

"I'm alright, having a nice chat with your sister."

"So I can see." Said Sharon. "About time, right?" Peggy and I chuckled.

"Why don't you stay? I'll ask Lucy to make some tea."

"We can't stay, Granny." I said to Peggy noticing Sharon looked at me from the corner of my eye. "I have to go back to New York, check on Cap." Peggy smiled and nodded as I stood up.

"Give him a kiss on the cheek for me when he wakes up, would you?" I laughed, same as the other two Carters that were in the room.

"I'll try to. And, if you're okay with it, as well as the Agency, I can try to get him to come by and pay you a visit. That way he can give you a kiss on your cheek." Peggy chuckled and blushed. "And you'll get to kiss his cheek as well, how does that sound?"

"Delightful." We laughed again.

"I'll be in the car." Said Sharon and I nodded. "I'll come by tomorrow, alright, Granny?" Peggy nodded as Sharon kissed her cheek goodbye, gaining a kiss back.

"Alright. Oh, bring those biscuits Sharon brought last time, and tell her I say hello." Shaz laughed.

"I will." I approached Peggy's bed and smiled at her as I kept the pictures in the inner pocket of my blazer, took the files and the leathered journal.

"Thank you. You've been very helpful, Peggy." She smiled and her hand found my shoulder. I bent down slightly and she kissed my cheek sweetly.

"Come by more often, alright?" I kissed her cheek.

"Alright." I pulled away. "I'll see you soon, okay?" She nodded. "I'll ask Sharon what biscuits did she get you and bring them, too." Peggy chuckled.

"I'll be expecting you. And Victoria." I gulped and nodded before I walked out of the room soon after I had dedicated her a final wave of a hand. When I got downstairs, Lucy was holding olive green suits, two were pantsuits and the other two were skirts, all of them worn by Peggy in the Army.

"Thank you so much, Lucy." I told her as I took the suits from her hand.

"Of course." She guided us to the door and saw us out.

"We'll see you soon." Sharon told her and Lucy closed the door of the house. We crossed the street and Sharon opened the backseat door for me and I placed the suits inside, making sure they didn't get a single wrinkle and I closed the door as the blonde woman got in the driver seat. I made my way around the car and got inside. I clipped the seatbelt and looked at the road ahead as Sharon put the keys in but didn't turn them. "You okay?" I had a lump in my throat, I tried to clear it, but I couldn't. Suddenly, I felt the urge to cry and broke down in the car. Sharon comforted me, we just stayed there until I got tired of crying and we sat in silence after.

"I didn't expect this to overwhelm me so much." She nodded. "I mean, she thought I was my mom, that Valerie was alive and I couldn't tell her that it wasn't me. And then she asked to see the both of us and...well, that's impossible." I breathed in and out. "I don't know why I'm crying so much."

"It's okay, she's an extension of your family that you've just met. Therefore, all the feelings that were under the rug came out." I nodded as I wiped the tears off my face with the back of my hand. "And she'll be glad to see you again, even if she confuses you with Valerie from time to time. She loves you, and she loved Aunt Val very much." I nodded.

"Thank you." She nodded back as my work phone beeped. "It's Fury. The room has been arranged and they're expecting me."

"It's a good thing I got your Quinjet ready and waiting." I chuckled as she smiled at me and she started the car. Sharon drove back to Triskelion, parked the car and we got out. I took out of the backseat the suits and we made our way to the Helicarrier where the Quinjet would take off. I boarded and left the suits on one seat.

"Thank you." She nodded with a smile.

"How long will you be looking after the Captain?" I sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. He's been asleep for sixty eight years, I don't expect him to wake up any sooner." I said as my hands found my hips. "I think I'll spend a long time in New York." Sharon nodded. "I'll try to make periodic visits to Peggy, but I don't know if I'll be able to."

"You'll probably end up moving to New York for a year or so."

"I really hope is less than that because I love my apartment too much." She chuckled.

"I'll live in your apartment every two weeks to clean it up and finish your food." I laughed.

"I don't expect any less, agent." She smiled and hugged me. I hugged her back in an instant.

"I'll see you soon." I nodded and stepped aside, still holding Sharon's hand.

"Sure." She squeezed my hand twice and we let go of each other as I boarded the jet. I shoot a text to Fury saying that I'd arrive in an hour and decided to study Rogers' file, as well as the notes Peggy added to the papers. I smiled to myself when I read Captain America had gone to art school back in the day. However, my smile faded when I learned he was a boy that often got sick, he faked his enlistment thrice and got accepted into the Super Soldier program one try after. I read all of the enhancements the serum brought to him and how the deceases disappeared, he can't get sick anymore.

  When we landed, the pilot got out and I changed out of my suit and into one of Peggy's. I slipped in the skirt and zipped it up, surprising myself when it fit so well. I tied the black tie around my neck and then threw on the blazer, clipping it around my waist. The pins of the SSR's logo on each side of the blazer's neckline. I tied my hair up in a bun, retouched my lipstick, hung my suit in the free clothing hook, grabbed the rest of the suits, the files and the journal, and walked out. I got to the sixth floor and, when I walked in, everyone looked at me.

"My, my." Said Phil. "You're almost identical to the OG agent Carter." He added as someone took the suits to the upstairs floor, where the offices were. The hangar room had a single square built up in the middle, two screens on the right side and on the back that had pictures of 1940's New York during daytime. Before us, a door guarded by two agents wearing all black tactic suits.

"Thank you." I said to him. "This is Steven Rogers' original file." I handed it over to Fury, alongside the medical file I had taken to Washington, as he opened it and read it. "According to our archive, the file got lost when the SSR departed London at the end of World War II, but really Peggy Carter kept it. I guess it was due to heavy sentimentalism." I said to them. "You can make a copy of the file, but I'm taking the original back to her when I have the time to do so."

"Alright, who'll be your replacement when your lookout shift is over?" Asked Fury.

"Coulson." Phil nodded. "But if you start fangirling about him 24/7, I'll kick you out of my operation." Phil chuckled.

"Don't worry, I won't do it. At least I'll try not to do it 24/7." I chuckled.

"Carter, you've got a new address." I nodded. "Hill will send it to you later, a small apartment in Midtown Manhattan. You will be stationed here in New York until further notice, if you have a cat, inform someone in D.C to look after it."

"It's a fish, actually, named after you, sir." He scoffed. "How long are the shifts?"

"Twelve hours." I nodded. "You've got unlimited coffee."

"As long as it's not as disgusting as it is in Washington."

"We'll try our best, agent. Any other demands?" I shrugged.

"I want the day shift, Director." Fury rolled his eye and nodded.

"Then get to work." He handed over a new file. "That's your speech in case he wakes up, you have to say those exact words to him." I nodded. "Keep this pen close, one click of it and the agents by the door will walk in. Inside is a desk, in the left drawer are a radio for you to communicate with us without leaving the room and a journal in which you'll write down a log of everything that happens during your shift. He coughed? Log it. He breathed in five seconds? Log it. A drop of sweat fell from his forehead? Log it."

"Got it." He nodded.

"Your twelve hours start now."

"Yes, sir." I saluted him and everyone walked out while I made my way towards the square room. I greeted the agents before opening the door and stepping inside and being welcomed by a room with white and sage green tapestry.

  Right in front of the door was a window in the background where the artificial New York view came in. Beside the window, a chair facing the bed; next to that bed a nightstand with a lamp, a newspaper and a glass and a water jug. To my left by the door rests a drawer with a mirror, a bouquet of white roses in a vase and a radio on top. On one side of it, a coat rack, on the opposite side, another chair beside a heater. In the ceiling rested a fan, as well as another fan on the wall that's on my left side, the bed's right side.

  I sighed and opened the drawer taking out of it the radio and the journal, as well as a traditional pen. I pulled out the items, turned on the radio and sat down on the chair next to the drawer unit.

"This is Carter doing sound check. One, two, three. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Carter." Hill answered.

"Alright, I'll keep you posted." I left my radio on the floor next to my chair and turned on the radio that's on the drawer cabinet. Jazz songs from the 40's started playing. The Nearness of You echoed through the speaker and I breathed in and out as I watched Steve Rogers peacefully sleeping. He had fresh clothes on, khaki cargo pants, brown combat boots and a white t-shirt with the SSR logo on the chest.

  Those twelve hours went ridiculously slow. I logged that he breathed in and out too slow just to log something and not upset Fury in case he checked the log and found it empty, I re-read his file, the notes written by Peggy in which she kept her own log on Rogers before and after the serum, I looked at his sketches. Truly, they were beautiful. Not only was there a dancing monkey and sketches of how he envisioned his missions and the pathway they should take, but sketches of flowers, buildings, plants, even portraits of different people at the camps: James Barnes, Peggy, the Colonel Phillips, etc.

  Eventually, I did some sketches myself in my own log. Of the room, the flowers, the fake buildings, Rogers' relaxed face, anything I could see, I sketched. That was until the shift was over. I headed out and Phil came in to relieve me for his shift. I headed out, grabbed the suits from upstairs office and made my way out of the building. I took a cab and asked the driver to take me to 312 West, 43rd Street. In a moment I found myself in the building and in front of the door of my apartment. I found the key that was underneath the 'welcome home' mat and opened the door.

  It was a small apartment, pretty similar to the place I own back in D.C, it had all the necessary furniture, even a TV, and smelled like lavender. I kicked off my heels and left them by the door, I placed the suits in the closet, realising half of my clothes and pantsuits were already there with a note written by Sharon that read 'you're welcome'. I scoffed and closed the closet to make my way towards the kitchen, I stopped when I saw a small fishbowl resting on the coffee table in between the couch and the TV screen. I approached the little red Betta fish and picked up the jar of food that's next to the bowl.

"Take care of Fury." I read the Director's handwriting and laughed to myself. "Asshole." I fed the fish before I prepared myself a proper cup of night coffee and got ready for bed. I took off my clothes and slipped into my pyjamas, removed my makeup, brushed my hair, made myself some dinner and finished my coffee before brushing my teeth and went to bed.

  And that was how my days and nights went over for the following five months. Wake up, shower, get ready, have breakfast, get coffee for everyone, get to H.Q, watch over Steve, log nothing actually important because nothing fucking changed, get done with the shift, go home, feed the fish, get unready, have dinner, rinse, repeat. It was boring.

  Sometimes I ended up having thirty six hour shifts because Coulson had to attend more important matters and I was there, falling asleep on a dresser as I heard old War news or baseball games over the radio.

  The log stopped being serious after three months, Coulson and I used it for our amusement. We'd play tic tac toe and whoever lost had to buy coffee for the following shift, we'd make random drawings that had to be completed by the other one but we could only make one move or add something to that drawing once per shift. We had to find ways to keep ourselves entertained as nothing was happening at all.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

December 15th, 2011.
NY H.Q: Op. REAWAKENING.
LOG No: 164.

Steven Rogers has presented unexpected sweating even if the temperature has maintained steady (20°C). No signs of awakening yet.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

  I kept the log in the drawer and moved towards the small sink that's in one corner of the room, took the gnat filled with cold water and damped one of the towels. I left the jar on the nightstand and sat on the bed beside Steve to clean the sweat off his face. That's when I could look at his features closely, the boy does have a pretty face.

  I smiled and chuckled to myself as I remembered Peggy's joke about having my mom introduce us now that the Cap and I are almost the same age. I breathed in and bent down to leave the kiss Peggy had asked me to give him on his cheek, accidentally close to the corner of his lips. I heard him taking a deep breath next to my ear before I pulled away.

  I stood up and walked away to leave the towel by the sink before I took a sip of my coffee, that I had left on the dresser and was actually much better than the one they have in Washington. The sound of a deep breath and a cough behind me took me by surprise and I spilled coffee on the olive blazer as the distant

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" I muttered under my breath because the last thing I wanted was to ruin one of Peggy's suits. I looked behind me as I took off the blazer and saw Rogers was still asleep. I left the cup on the dresser and walked out. "Hey, could one of you take this upstairs and ask agent Hill if she can get someone to clean the blazer? Please." I asked one of the agents.

"Yes, agent."

"Thank you." He grabbed it and walked upstairs while I opened the door and walked back into the room. I washed my hands and dried them.

"Curve ball, high and outside for ball one. So the Dodgers are tied, 4-4. And the crowd well knows that with one swing of his bat, this fellow's capable of making it a brand-new game again. Just an absolutely gorgeous day here at Ebbets Field. The Phillies have managed to tie it up at 4-4. But the Dodgers have three men on." Said the interlocutor of the game through the radio speakers.

"Peggy?" I heard behind me a low and raspy voice. I froze and stopped drying my hands as I heard movement, I turned around to find Steve Rogers sitting on the bed. "Oh."

"I'm Agent 14, Captain Rogers."

"Pearson beaned Reiser in Philadelphia last month. Wouldn't the youngster like a hit here to return the favour? Pete leans in. Here's the pitch. Swung on. A line to the right. And it gets past Rizzo." People cheered on the radio.

"Good morning." I said with a smile as he looked at the radio with a frown on his face. I pulled out of the dresser the log and wrote down that he had woken up at, I checked my watch, 2:13 p.m. "Or should I say good afternoon?" I looked at him, he was still confused.

"Three runs will score. Reiser heads to third. Durocher's going to wave him in. Here comes the relay, but they won't get him."

"Who are you?"

"Agent Vanessa Clark, from the SSR." He looked around.

"Where am I?"

"You're in a recovery room in New York City." His attention snapped back to the radio.

"The Dodgers take the lead, 8-4. Oh, Dodgers! Everyone is on their feet. What a game we have here today, folks. What a game, indeed." He shot his eyes like bullets back at me, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"Where am I really?" I remained calm and smiled at him even if his already deep voice got deeper in a threatening way.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"The game." He said harshly. "It's from May 1941. I know, 'cause I was there." I gulped as he stood up and walked up to me with somber and threatening eyes. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again." I walked back until my back collided with the wall. "Where am I?"

"Captain Rogers, please calm-" His hand found my neck quickly and he squeezed, cutting off the circulation of air, making me gasp for it. I pulled from under my sleeve the special pen and clicked the button.

"Where am I?!" In a second, the two agents that were outside walked in, surprising Rogers. I hit his arm with my elbow, breaking his grip on me. When I fell, he pushed the two agents through the wall, breaking it and got out.

"Captain Rogers, wait!" I coughed as I reached for the radio and Steve ran out of the room. "Steve!" He turned around to face me but resumed his run in seconds. "Code thirteen!" I called through the radio as I kept on coughing, stood from the ground and kicked off my heels to run after Rogers. "I repeat, all agents, code thirteen!"

  I ran out of the building, spotting a blonde man running down the road, trying not to be ran over by a car in the process.

"He's heading towards Times Square, all units, head to Times Square." I ran behind him, regretting that choice immediately because I was barefoot. I reached Steve by the time the black vans with armoured windows arrived at the scene.

"At ease, soldier!" Fury called Steven as he climbed down his van and walked up to Steve. I panted as the Director walked past me. "There's a pair of boots in the car."

"Thanks." I placed the boots on without tying the shoelaces before approaching an old lady. "S.H.I.E.L.D. business, ma'am. Please, stay back." I added as I approached the line of agents wearing black suits, securing a perimeter, looking over my shoulder at the two men talking.

"Who are you?" Asked Steve.

"Colonel Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You would've known us as the Strategic Scientific Reserve."

"Where am I?"

"46 and Broadway." They remained silent as Steve looked around. "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but...we didn't know what your mental state might be, so thought it best to break it to you slowly." Nick told Rogers.

"Break what?" Steve asked.

"You've been asleep, Cap. For almost seventy years." I watched Steve's breath increase as he looked around and how his shoulders fell with defeat. I felt bad for him, even if he choked me a hot minute ago. The man with blonde hair and blue eyes shook his head, confused.

"How am I alive?"

"Well, to be honest with you, we don't really know. My Doc said it was suspended animation. Could be Doctor Erskine's formula, the cold, I don't know."

"What about the war? Did we win?"

"Hell yes, unconditional surrender in 1945."

"'45?"

"Two years after your incident. And taking down HYDRA was a big part of that. But the world hasn't changed that much. There's still a lot of work to be done. A soldier's work." Steve and Nick just stared at each other for a moment. "The world still needs a man like you, Cap." Fury offered a hand for Steve to shake and, after a while, he took his hand and shook it. "There's still a place for you here." I turned around and Steve's eyes landed on me, he tilted his head and looked around again. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I just...I had a date." I looked at my feet knowing how his date feels about him being late for it. I looked up to find Fury looking over his shoulder at me.

"Agent, I'll take it from here. Go home and wait for instructions." I nodded and got in the car. I drove all the way back to my home, I parked the car on the opposite side of the street and walked to my place. My feet ached insanely, I don't doubt they're bloody.

  I fed the fish and prepared myself a bath. When I had relaxed enough to feel tired, I got out of the bath, put on my pyjamas and ate the Chinese food leftovers from last night's dinner. When I walked out of the kitchen to get to the living room, I heard the wooden floor crackling by the door. I left the box on the kitchen bar and took the gun I keep underneath said marble island and made my way to the living room.

"Jesus fucking Christ." I said as I aimed at Fury, who was just standing there in the dark. "How the hell did you get in here?" I put the gun down when he showed me another set of keys. "Where'd you get that?"

"The pot right next to the door." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and I was an idiot for not knowing it. I sighed, left the gun on the coffee table by the fish and made my way back to the kitchen.

"You could've knocked, you know?"

"And where's the fun in that?" I scoffed as I heard his footsteps following behind me.

"I could've shot you."

"Ha!" I shook my head with a smile as we both know he would've shot me first.

"Anyways, to what do I owe the pleasure, Director?"

"Your next mission."

"Can I offer you anything?"

"Whiskey. Neat." I nodded and pulled out of the cupboard a pair of  glasses and the bottle of whiskey. I poured two cups and placed one in front of him and mine to my right. "Thank you." I nodded as he set a folder on the marble and I looked at it. I opened it and saw the file I already know by heart in front of me, my eyes immediately looking back at Nick.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're not giving me another mission. This is still Rogers."

"Yes, but you're not babysitting him anymore. You're going to follow him and report back weekly with what he does, his adjustment to the world." I sighed. "We've stationed him in the building across the street, his apartment's opposite from yours."

"So I just spy and report?" He nodded.

"It's until I get the approval for the Initiative."

"The Initiative?" He nodded. "You're pushing through with that, Sir? Still?"

"We need them." I frowned. "Including you."

"Me?" He nodded. "I think it's clear I'm not a team person. I hate working with a team."

"Even Delta?" I sighed. "Ah, things change there, right?"

"I like working with them, and they're my closest friends, but we do hate each other from time to time. Like right now." He chuckled as he took a mouthful of whiskey. "The thing is I'm not someone I see little girls looking up to and call her their hero." He sighed. "Not after what I've done." I took a sip of my whiskey. "I'm an assassin, a spy, Nick. I don't run around playing superheroes, putting on super-suits. I'm an agent, nothing else. I don't even have superpowers." I said as I shrugged and drank up from my beverage.

"And that's precisely why I need you there. I need you to learn to work in a team because you're one of my best agents. You're clever, intelligent, you're good at what you do. To me, you are a hero and I do see little girls calling you their hero." He sighed and I gulped before sighing as well. "The only one that has superpowers is Thor, and that's stretching it."

"Stretching it? The guy can command lightning. He's a god, quite literally."

"Only because of that hammer."

"And the fact that he's an alien from some place called Asgard." He rolled his eye and both of us drank from our liquor. "What about Rogers? The guy has super-strength."

"But he's still human. Same as Stark, Banner, Romanoff, Barton and yourself. Every single one of you can bleed. And you all have the same red, sticky blood. What makes you all stand out is who you are, your abilities and your intellect. I am faithful that it could work, Victoria. Plenty of us are." I tilted my head knowing it was just him, Maria and Phil the ones that are so faithful in this and it's mostly because of Fury. "Your name is part of the seven names in the Initiative's list, one of the three agents I signed up for it, because I think you are the heroes this world solely needs." I scratched my eyebrow. "And I'm not asking." I nodded.

"I can tell."

"The world should have protected you and it failed to do so. But I'm asking you to protect it." I sighed.

"What an honour." I said, trying to hide the irony in my voice, because it really felt like an injustice. Fury ignored it and nodded.

"You're onto this espionage mission for two months tops, then you can go back to D.C." He said after a short pause, changing the subject.

"Alright."

"I want you to inform directly to me what he's up to."

"Will do, sir." He chugged down his whiskey and stood up. "Where is he right now?"

"Goodnight, Carter." Nick said as he walked away and pointed at the window, I nodded.

"Likewise, sir."

"Mhm."

"Please leave the keys on the table." I asked when he was by the living room, I heard the keychain falling on the wooden furniture  "Thank you."

"Mhm." Fury left the apartment and I grabbed my food from the counter, as well as the glass and made my way towards the window. I looked at the opposite apartment and saw Steve Rogers on the other side of the street through the windows, he was waring a brown leathered jacket, carrying a gym bag that he let fall the second he had closed the door and the lights were on.

  I knew he wouldn't sleep, he had just woken up. I brewed myself some coffee and poured it into the mug, alongside the whiskey, and finished my food before I pulled out my bag a camera and my own journal, getting ready for the new mission.