Level 9, Greater Iron Hall of Pennsylvania, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Nicholas stood at his locker, staring at his black suit of armour inside. The woman’s words and stare had stuck with him all day, lingering in his mind. He’d been a soldier for five years and this was the first time he felt...dirty...wrong...EVIL! He caught his reflection in his shiny armour and slammed his locker shut, then proceeded to punch the door in a fit of disgust and anger
‘Settle down Nick” said Jackson who tried to restrain his friend
Nicholas turned and popped Jackson right on the chin sending him to the floor “Why?” he roared
“Why what?” yelled Jackson wiping blood from his mouth
“TEN-HUT!”
Jackson scrambled to his feet and into attention, Nicholas bolted straight up. Sergeant Ermey marched down the locker room to them
“What is Stark’s name is going on in here you maggots?” he barked
“Nothing sir” they both said in unison
“From what I saw it looked like a junior officer attacked a senior officer, wouldn’t you agree Private 1 st Class Barnes?”
“Sir yes sir”
“Then for your insubordination drop and give me seventy you pathetic sack of mutant puke!”
Jackson hit the floor and began doing push ups
“I can’t hear you maggot!” scowled Ermey
“One...two...three...”
“And what is your problem Corporal?” The Sergeant leant in and eyeballed Nicholas, causing him to lean back
“No problem sir!”
“Then why is your locker dented like it went five rounds with Iron Claw?!?”
“I hit it sir”
“Do you think lockers grow on trees?”
“Sir no sir!”
“Do you think you own that locker?”
“Sir no sir!”
If the Supreme Commander walked in here to inspect the Iron Pigs...”
“Hoo-Rah!”
“Do you think he’d be happy that YOU, Corporal Rogers, have dented HIS locker?”
“Sir no sir!”
“I can’t here you Corporal”
“SIR NO SIR!”
“Tomorrow, you are on block patrol”
Nicholas rolled his eyes; block patrol was basically traffic duty
“Do you have a problem with your assignment?” The Sergeant leant in causing Rogers to bend at odd angle whilst trying to remain at attention
“Sir no sir!”
‘You keep this up and I’ll have you on sewer duty for a month! Do you get me?”
“Sir yes sir!”
“I can’t hear you Barnes. Start again”
“One...two...three...”
***
Carol Danvers picked up one of the rescued boxes from the Trikelion and moved it from one side of the room to the other. Somewhere amongst this junk was what she was looking for. They’d left Colorado in a complete hurry; Carol by the skin of her teeth. She grabbed another box and forgetting her slightly augmented strength from the MGH tore the side off it, spilling the contents onto the floor
“Oh you bastard!” she swore as manila folders full of paper spread across the floor and a coffee mug smashed. Carol looked at the smashed cup and it brought a tear to her eye, it was Fury’s. It had the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on it and the phrase “I will shoot you!” written on the other side. As she gathered the remains Carol spotted an old mini-disc amongst the ruins of the cup, hidden in the base
She tore through the other boxes looking for a player, making more mess before finding a device able to play the archaic medium. Slowly the recording crackled to life
“I have no idea why she came to me”
Carol smiled at the voice she hadn’t heard over a century and wiped the tears from her eyes
“My first instinct was shoot her; she’s a super villain for god’s sake! But I didn’t. She stood there with this kid in her arms, eighteen months old. I was waiting for a trap but there was only one hell of a shock”
The sound of liquid pouring and exhalation of smoke
“It’s Steve’s she says! In her arms is the son of Captain America, Steve Rogers! She’d fallen off the grid after she parted ways with the Serpent Society, mainly because she was dating Captain America and it seems a little more than his Boy Scout charm rubbed off. I told her to tell him but she was as tough her codename and said no, he’d want to be old fashioned and marry her and this was the best way. And she brought him to me because the only person she trusted was a guy she’d met once who was in charge of the American spy network”
More liquid
“I placed the kid, Eric Steven Leighton, with her cousin who was also a S.H.I.E.L.D agent who I retired when this came about. One due to the kid and two her cousin was Diamondback who worked for the Serpent Society! When I find the idiot who failed background check one-oh-one I’m gonna pitch them off the heli-carrier”
Another exhalation
“I kept the kid under monitoring but some weird stuff’s going down. So I broke my own rules; I got drunk and recorded this! Steve, if you’re listening to this, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But we had bigger things to worry about than...I’m sorry. There’s no excuse. I hope you get to meet him. I’m sorry”
More liquid, another exhalation
“I’m sorry I kept your son a secret and never told you, but it was for the best. He’s looked after, he’s loved and he’s safe. Far from the costumed stupidity...I’m sorry Steve. Eric if you’re listening to this, your dad was one of the finest men I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, fighting alongside, commanding and drinking with. Your father was Captain America, a hero to our country and to the world”
Muffled sounds, breaking glass
“If you’re not Steve or Eric then go to hell!”
Carol was shocked. Cap had a kid! Steve Rogers had a son with Diamondback? Carol grabbed her comms and yelled into them
“Nixon! I need you to hack the Ferrum data base”
(I created Nicolas Rogers & other elements but they're based on Marvel characters so this is a disclaimer which says what's Marvel's is Marvel's and I'm just playing in their sandpit. And that's a pic of R Lee Ermy who my Srgt Ermey is based on, its merely a visual ref)
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