----- January 9th, 2014 - Triskelion, Washington D.C -----

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" 

Steve had barged into Fury's office. Fury was sitting in his chair, looking out the window.

"I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours," Fury admits, without turning.

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

Fury responds bluntly, "I'm not obliged to do anything."

Steve is now standing in front of a desk. Fury still facing the other way.

"Those hostages could have died, Nick." 

"I sent one of the greatest soldiers in history to make sure that didn't happen," Fury tells him, quickly turning to face him.

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

"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye," Fury mentions for nearly the fortieth time, he takes a stand before continuing, "Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with.. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything."

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

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

A sarcastic smirk forms on Steve's face, "...Except you."

"..You're wrong about me. I do share.. I'm nice like that."

Fury starts walking away. Steve follows behind him. They make their way to an elevator and hop on.

"Insight bay," Fury says.

An AI from the elevator can be heard replying, "Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight."

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J." 

"Confirmed."

The elevator begins it's descent. Fury leans against a rail on the back wall, as Steve leans on the right. It's very quiet.

Steve breaks the silence, "You know, they used to play music."

"Yeah..," Fury lets out a chuckle, "My grandfather operated one of these things for 40 years. Granddad worked in a nice building. Got good tips. He'd walk home every night, a roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say, 'Hi.' People would say, 'Hi' back. Time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say, 'Hi.' They'd say, 'Keep on steppin.' Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Did he ever get mugged?," Steve asks, genuinely curious.

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

"What would he do?"

"He'd show them. Bunch of crumpled ones, and a loaded .22 Magnum," Fury tells him, "Yeah, Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."

Fury turns behind him as the Insight Bay can be seen through the glass, "Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22. This is Project Insight. Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites. Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down. Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines."

The Helicarriers were massive. A bunch of people were running around the place working on them. Turret-like guns were placed along the underside of each one of them.

Steve turns and stares at them in semi-disbelief, "Stark?"

They exit the elevator and make their way towards one of the Helicarrier. They walk under one of the engines.

"He had a few suggestions once he got an up-close look at our old turbines," They make their way past a few of the guns mounted, "These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute." 

They stopped on a catwalk overlooking the front of a Helicarrier as Fury continued, "The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We're gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

"Thought the punishment usually came after the crime." 

"We can't afford to wait that long," Fury tells him.

"Who's 'we'?"

".. After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once, we're way ahead of the curve."

Steve argues back, "By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection." 

"You know, I read those SSR files. 'Greatest Generation'? You guys did some nasty stuff," Fury tries to flip.

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

"S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap." 

"...Don't hold your breath," Steve tells him before walking away.

__________

----- January 9th, 2014 - Washington D.C -----

"Welcome to the Smithsonian. Visitor information booths are available on the second level." 

Steve walks past a few dilapidated planes and jets. He makes his way through the building, towards a very specific exhibit.

There's a doorway with the words 'Welcome Back, Cap and Lieutenant.' on a wall to the left. 

On the left side of the doorway itself, is a basic mural of Steve with his Shield and the Star on his chest the only defining characteristics. On the right, Its Y/N with the 'S' on his chest standing out.

Written on each side respectively were:

'Captain America: The Living Legend - Symbol of Courage'

'Superman: The Second Advent - Symbol of Hope'

Steve walks through the doorway to see a more detailed mural on a wall of him and Y/N in front of the American Flag.

"Symbols to the nation. Heroes to the world. The story of Captain America and Superman is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice. Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers and Superman, name scrubbed from archives, were chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform them into the world's first Super-Soldiers."

He walks foward and stops at a group of kids who were in front of two changing pictures of him and Y/N. The pictures kept switching between Pre-Serum and Post-Serum. 

One older boy was carrying his brother so he was at Pre-Serum Y/N's height. His sister held her hand from his head then to Y/N's as if pretending he was tall enough. The boy was wearing a buff padded Superman costume.

Over at a picture of Steve, two little girls were trying to measure their heights. Steve looks next to them to see a boy staring at him in awe. He was wearing a shirt with his shield on it.

Steve smiles then puts his finger to his lips, signaling the kid not to say anything. He walks off as the kid nods.

"In this rare footage, everyone's favorite war heroes, Captain America and Superman--"

Steve glanced at an screen playing black and white old footage of him and Y/N. 

He continued on his way.

"Battle tested, Captain America, Superman, and their Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission: taking down HYDRA, the Nazi rogue science division."

He stops at a wall with a colored picture of all the Boys from the war. Him, Y/N, Bucky, Dum Dum Dugan, Jim, Falsworth, Gabe, and Dernier.

The Howling Commandos.

Just below the picture were mannequins for each member. They all had what each Commando wore during the war.

But Y/N's suit was clearly a replica, though Steve was probably the only one who noticed. The original was wrecked in that fight with Tombstone. Steve kinda wonders what Y/N did with it.

Steve looks to his right to see an exhibit that deserved to be there.

'Bucky Barned: 1917 - 1944'

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. When the two met Superman a mere few weeks before enlistment, the duo quickly became a trio. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."

Steve looks down at a screen in front of the exhibit. It showed footage centered on the three of them while looking over a map on the back of a truck. Then switched to a shot of them in front of the camera, laughing and goofing off.

He walks away and enters a room with a projector. He takes a seat as it begins to play.

A woman was speaking, and below her was a title card of information about her:

'Agent Peggy Carter, SSR - New York, 1953'

Peggy simultaneously looked older but also the same age as back in the 40s.

"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve-- Captain Rogers and the Lieutenant, they fought their way through a HYDRA blockade that had pinned our allies down for months. They saved over 1,000 men. Including the man who would... Who would become my husband, as it turned out.... Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life."

Steve looks down at the compass that survived the crash and the ice. Inside the picture of Peggy still remained.

__________

"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy."

Steve was sitting in a room next to a bed, staring at a couple pictures. They were of Peggy and her children.

In the bed next to him was a much older Peggy. 

She smiles as she looks over at the pictures with him then back to him, "I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours... What is it?" 

"..For as long as I can remember, I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore.. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders.. Serve... It's just not the same.." 

She let's out a laugh, "You're always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather mucked it up. The only good I've done is wipe Y/N from the records. Imagine what the world would think if they found out he was a child."

"You've done more than that. Knowing that you helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. is half the reason I stay. And I'm sure the world can handle the truth about Y/N. He's more than just a kid," Steve says as he takes her hand.

"I wasn't worried about what would happen to the world.. I was worried what would happen with Y/N. What if they thought less of him because of it. Could he really handle if the world, the people he fought for, sacrificed his life and childhood for, turned against him?"

Steve glances downward, "..I don't know.. He's been different since the ice. Even more drastically since New York."

"Hey, everything's alright now. The world has changed, and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes the best that we can do is to start over," she starts coughing heavily. 

Her eyes close and she looks away as Steve stands and grabs a glass of water. He sits back down as she looks back over to him.

Her eyes had widened.

"Steve...," she says softly.

"Yeah?," he asks, confused.

"Y-You're alive.. Y-You came-You came back."

She had forgotten..

Steve forces himself to smile and not cry, "Yeah, Peggy." 

But Peggy was already shedding tears, "It's been so long.. So long." 

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl.... Not when she owes me a dance." 

__________

----- January 9th, 2014 - Triskelion, Washington D.C -----

"Secure office."

 The windows of Fury's office tint a dark black as the doors lock. Fury pulls out a USB from his pocket. It has a SHIELD logo on the front.

He plugs it into a port on his desk and says, "Open Lemurian Star's satellite launch file."

"Access denied," says the AI.

"..Run decryption," Fury tells it as he walks around the desk toward the screen.

"Decryption failed." 

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J." 

"Override denied. All files sealed." 

"....On whose authority?," Fury demands.

"Fury, Nicholas J." 

__________

"If Nick Fury thinks he can get his costumed thugs and S.T.R.I.K.E. commandos to mop up his mess, he's sadly mistaken. This failure is unacceptable."

"Considering this attack took place one mile from my country's sovereign waters, it's a bit more than that. I move for immediate hearing."

"We don't need hearings, we need action. It's this Council's duty to oversee S.H.I.E.L.D."

"A breach like this raises serious questions."

"Like how the hell did a French pirate manage to hijack a covert S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel in broad daylight?" 

Alexander Pierce stands in front of three SHIELD Councilman, in what seems to be a Holo-meet. Alexander paces the room in front of them.

"For the record, Councilman, he's Algerian," Pierce says sarcastically, "I can draw a map if it'd help."

"I appreciate your wit, Secretary Pierce. But this Council takes things like international piracy fairly seriously." 

And Pierce bluntly tells them, "Really? I don't. I don't care about one boat, I care about the fleet. If this Council is going to fall to rancor every time someone pushes us on the playing field, maybe we need someone to oversee us." 

"Mr. Secretary, nobody is suggesting-," the councilman stops as he sees a woman come up and whisper something to Pierce.

"..Excuse me," Pierce tells them.

"More trouble, Mr. Secretary?," The Councilman asks as he walks away. 

Pierce doesn't look back as he leaves, "Depends on your definition." 

The holographic screens descend into the floor, as Pierce enters the next room. Fury was looking at it through the glass. He was waiting for Pierce.

"I work 40 floors away and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?," Alexander Jokes. 

"Eh, A nuclear war would do it, too," They shake hands, "You busy in there?" 

"Nothing some earmarks can't fix." 

Fury looks around the room, "I'm uh here to ask a favor. I want you to call for a vote. Project Insight has to be delayed." 

"Nick, that's not a favor, that's a sub-committee hearing." 

"A long one. It could be nothing. It probably is nothing," he admits, "I just need time to make sure it's nothing." 

"But if it's something?," inquires Pierce.

"....Then we'll both be damn glad those helicarriers aren't in the air."

They stare at each other for a moment before Pierce gives in, "Fine.. But you got to get Superman or Iron Man to stop by my niece's birthday party. She'd prefer Superman but Stark is a close second for her." 

"Thank you, sir." 

They shake on it as Pierce adds on, "And not just a flyby. They've gotta mingle."

__________

----- January 9th, 2014 - Washington D.C -----

"The thing is, I think it's getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week. He thought I was drunk.."

Steve walked into a Veteran Support group meeting. Sam Wilson was at the front, as a lady spoke from the small crowd of people in folding chairs. 

"I swerved to miss a plastic bag... I thought it was an IED.."

Steve leaned against a pillar to the left. He listened in respectfully.

In the back, there was someone leaning against the wall wearing sunglasses.

It was Y/N.

He was playing with the ring around his finger as he looked over to Steve. Steve didn't notice him.

Sam spoke after the lady finished, "Some stuff you leave there.. Other stuff you bring back... It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase, or in a little man-purse? ..It's up to you." 

Y/N didn't bother to go over to him. And Steve still didn't notice Y/N as the meeting continued to it's end.

When the meeting was over, people were leaving through a hall.

"I'll see you next week," the lady from earlier said to Sam.

"Definitely," They shook hands before she walked away.

 Sam turned and made his way to a table with a few pamphlets as he noticed Steve heading his way. Sam smiles as he starts organizing them. Steve leans against the wall just next to him.

"Look who it is, the running man," Sam jokes, referencing their last meet.

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense." 

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret," Sam glances back at the Veterans as they leave.

Steve decides to ask, "You lose someone?"

Sam nods, "My wingman, Riley.. Flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn't done 1,000 times before. Until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky... Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch." 

"I'm sorry.." 

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?" 

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" 

Sam looks around the room cartoonishly, "The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah. You thinking about getting out?" 

"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did." 

"Ultimate fighting?," They hear someone say to their right.

They look over to see Y/N, with the lenses on his sunglasses turned transparent. So now they look more like normal glasses. You could see his eyes.

Still bloodshot though slightly less.

Steve looks at him shocked but happy to see him.

"And where have you been?," Steve asks before continuing, "You disappear for about a year then show up in England for a day before disappearing again."

Y/N smirks and tells him, like a child trying to lie to his father, "Everything's fine. I just had.. Family matters to take care of."

And that first sentence was a lie.

"What're you doing here? You following me now?"

He lies again, "..Yes. That's why I'm here. Cuz you're here."

This was a Support Group for Veterans with PTSD. Back in 2012, he'd shown up a few times. But after last year, he's showed up more. Y/N definitely wasn't following Steve.

Y/N changes his focus to Sam and holds out a hand, "Y/N L/N. Though you know me better as Superman."

"Sam Wilson," he greets as they shake.

Y/N looks up toward the ceiling, then off straight ahead as he announces, "Sorry to cut this short, but I need to go."

"Already? This is the first time we've seen each other in years," Steve says.

Y/N smirks as his glasses tint black, "I'm sure we'll see each other sooner than you think."

____________________