Chapter Text
You lean back in your chair, staring at the old notebook sitting on the table in front of you. Memories in a familiar handwriting fill all but the last three pages. There are dozens more, but each of those pages are filled to the end. This one is the most important to you, however. It details everything of your life, written as an explanation before your disappearance from 1945. You sigh, leaning your head back against the wall and slowly closing your eyes.
You wait in an interrogation room, slowly pacing the room. You knew what they were up against, what was at stake. You knew that neither you nor Steve would be returning to this time again. You had to make sure that these three knew what would be left to them; you had to make sure that they understood why the two of you were about to disappear.
Peggy is the first to arrive, followed closely by Colonel Phillips and Howard. You sit the three down and take out your journal. Peggy knows the importance of the journals you’ve kept, but you explain that this one has much more meaning to them than it does to you. You explain that you’re not from this time, patiently answering their questions with nothing more than vague answers. When it’s clear that you won’t elaborate, you tell them that the disappearances are for the good of the future, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the current time. You direct your next statements to the colonel, encouraging him to expand the SSR in the hopes that the foundation would be laid for S.H.I.E.L.D. You implore Howard to continue his research and inventions, that his expertise would be needed one day. When you turn to Peggy, all you can do is ask for forgiveness. At the end of the day, she’ll be the one most affected by their decisions, and there was no way that you could stop the loss she would feel. What you hadn’t expected was for her to pull you into a hug, promising that she understood the risk.
You open your eyes, looking up at the ceiling. To think that forty-five years had passed since that day still blows your mind. With only enough juice for a small jump, there was no way for you to determine when and where you would land. You remember landing on your back, a dozen voices screaming around you. When your eyes focus on the environment around you, it’s only a moment of blue skies before several pistols fill your vision as they are aimed at you. Now here you were, sitting in a modern-day interrogation room with four guards posted outside your door. There were only three people you asked to speak with, and from the sounds of commotion outside the room, they had just arrived.
When two of the three enter the room, your heart seems to rise and sink at the same time. Time hasn’t been nice to Howard, and Peggy still fills the room with her confidence. When recognition fills their eyes, they freeze. A ghost from their past now sits in front of them as if time never moved for them, and you want nothing more than to stand and hug your friends. The handcuffs around your wrists are the only things stopping you, and you have a hunch that if you break them, there would be a lot more questions to be asked.
“Howard, Peggy,” you say with a smile. “Long time no see.”
Peggy looks to Howard before turning back to you. “Is this…is this some type of joke, or are you the real thing?”
Your smile falters at the question, but you knew that there was a chance their younger selves wouldn’t be convinced that your story was true. “It’s me, Peggy. No tricks. No foul play. I’m the one and the same.”
“You were on the plane with Steve,” Howard states, his eyes still staring into yours. “If you’re here, then shouldn’t he be here as well?”
Your smile folds into a frown, and you look at your hands. “Still on the plane. I couldn’t stop what needed to be done, so that’s why I’m here and not with him.”
“Is he…did he…” The quiver in Peggy’s voice is heartbreaking.
You look up to her. “He’s alive, but I don’t know where at, Peggy. I wish I had more answers for you, but I don’t. I’m sorry.”
Peggy stares at you for a moment longer, her resolve breaking in her eyes. “No. You and I both know that he would’ve wanted all of our focus into protecting the people, and that's what we’re going to continue to do.” She slides into the chair across from you. “THe question now becomes what we do with you. You say that you’re Sergeant Carol Danvers, but how do we know that to be true?”
“If you want the short answer, I can show you, but I prefer giving you the long answer instead.”
“That’s a lot coming from you after your sudden reappearance,” Howard adds.
You look at him before returning your gaze to Peggy’s. “My name isn’t Carol Danvers. My name is Y/N Jones, but very few people know me under that name. Most of my colleagues know me as Break.”
Howard crosses his arms. “Why tell us your true identity now and not before your disappearance?”
“It was safer, and I detailed my reasoning inside the book that I left behind for the three of you.”
Peggy leans back in her chair. “I remember reading the journal and the confusion that followed. It took a lot, but we were able to convince Colonel Phillips to follow your instructions, and the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division was formed.”
You nod. “S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m very familiar with the acronym.”
“Then why return to this point of time? Why not return to the time you came from?”
You sigh. “I didn’t have enough power to return. There’s very little you can control running on fumes.” You raise your head back to look at Peggy. “Is Hank still with the division?”
Howard sighs. “No. He left last year and has been off radar since.”
You frown. “Shame. He would’ve been the only one who could have helped me return to my time, but I guess it doesn’t really matter at this point. I’m stuck here with you.”
Peggy looks at her hands for a moment before turning to Howard. “Are you still wanting to create that new team?”
Howard frowns at her question. “Peggy, we don’t even know if it’s really her. Are you certain you want to take her word?”
She looks back to you, her eyes hardened. “No, but this is the best way we can find out if what she’s told us is true. There’s a lot we still don’t know about; the war showed us that much. You remember the damage that she caused during our campaign in the name of freedom. If we let her roam without supervision, there’s no telling what she could actually do. If anything, this’ll give us a leg up on the Russians, and we could use her military expertise in covert operations.”
“If we’re being honest here, I could have taken advantage of my super-soldier abilities and broken these handcuffs off a long time ago,” you add with a shake of your wrists.
Howard huffs before turning back to Peggy. “Are you sure about this?”
“I am.”
From that day forward, you lead the Black Operations Division known as DAGGER. You oversaw the agents selected for the division and are kept in check by Howard’s and Peggy’s supervision. It’s not the most interesting line of work, but the politics that seem to grow in any type of division such as S.H.I.E.L.D. is something you’d rather see less of. So when Howard brings you a specific file six months later, your brow raises at the selectee: Nick Fury. Under the direction of the CIA, Fury has twice the amount of espionage missions than any other candidate you’d researched. Having reached the rank of colonel during his time in the United States Army, he checks off everything on your list. You smile as he approaches headquarters for his final interview, your mind going back to the last time you spoke with the Nicky Fury of your time.
“You have to start from the beginning. It’s the only way.”