REVEALING THE TRUTH
(REWRITTEN)

"Stow the captain's gear." Phil ordered two low ranking agents as the three of them walked down the Quinjet's ramp and onto the Helicarrier's deck.

Christina let out a breath, running a hand through her hair. That flight seemed as though it were going to last forever. She had been the first to exit the Quinjet, breathing in the fresh air with relief. It was like she hadn't gotten a lungful amount of oxygen in weeks, but Steve smiled fondly at her reaction. The bright sun caused Christina to squint her eyes slightly and shield them with her hand as she allowed her retinas to adjust to the drastic change in scenery. Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow: a lethal red-headed agent. She walked up to them and gave Christina a faint nod, telling her that her cover was safe.

"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers and Christina Sitma," Phil introduced them to the redhead.

"Ma'am," Steve acknowledged her with a nod as he offered her his hand to shake.

"Hi." Natasha said briskly, dropping his hand after a solid handshake and turned to Phil. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace."

Phil turned to the couple, "See you there." He said and walked toward the Helicarrier's bridge.

Christina had taken that time to survey her surroundings – it had been awhile since she had last actually been a real mission and she suddenly realized that she missed the blood pumping adrenaline that settled within her when she entered any sort of action. But with everyone running around, grounding planes and many of those people in uniforms reminded Christina of her days in the force.

This situation with the Tesseract was bad, and Christina could tell just by looking at Coulson. She'd never seen him so abrupt or urgent before, and it was a bad sign. Without a doubt, SHIELD needed to get the Tesseract back, or something terrible was going to happen. Christina could feel Natasha's eyes on her, but she didn't make eye contact with the agent.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," Natasha said smoothly to Captain Rogers as she began to walk away. Steve and Christina quickly followed her. "I thought Coulson was going to swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"
"Trading cards?"

"Their vintage. He's very proud."

Steve looked around, aimlessly trying to take everything in. The three of them spotted Dr. Banner walking in circles and trying to avoid being trampled by busy crew workers. Steve sped up slightly. Christina and Natasha remained at the same speed, and Christina placed a firm hand on Natasha's forearm.
"Make sure he doesn't say anything." Christina commanded, subconsciously pulling rank, knowing that whatever she told Natasha to do – she had to do it.

"Your wish is my command, Lieutenant Sitma," Natasha grimly responded as she tried to get used to the fact that Christina was now back in the line of active duty of being an Agent of SHIELD.

"Doctor Banner." Steve called.

"Oh, yeah, hi," Banner said, sounding almost grateful to see something that wasn't swarming past him as he walked over to shake Steve's extended hand. "They told me you'd be coming." He turned slightly to look at Christina. "Ah, Lieut – ow!" Banner was cut off by Natasha slamming the heel of her boot into Banner's right foot. His face contorted with slight pain as he shifted his weight to his left foot. Natasha brought a hand to her mouth in fake shock.

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I must've lost my balance and tripped," Natasha narrowed her eyes slightly at Banner, telling him that he had forgotten that he was only to acknowledge Christina as "Ms. Sitma" and not as "Lieutenant".

Banner coward back slightly from Natasha's gaze, before he looked back over at Christina. "Christina Sitma, I presume?"

"Yes, Bruce Banner, I presume." Christina smiled weakly as she extended her slender hand towards him and he hesitantly accepted, and she gave him a rather firm handshake – firmer than necessary just to ensure that he understood the terms and conditions of the situation.

"Word is; you can find the Cube." Steve said.

"Is that, uh, the only word on me?" Banner wryly grinned and looked up nervously, as if he were a dog that was going to be whipped. Christina watched him carefully, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The guy was paranoid of anything setting him off, though, Christina couldn't blame him.

"The only word I care about," Steve replied, sincerely. Banner nodded, assessing the young man in front of him. It was clear to Christina that Banner wasn't entirely sure of what to make of Steve, but he certainly appreciated what he had said.

"It must be strange for you, all of this," Banner said as he gestured to their surroundings.

Steve's eyes caught a number of agents doing physical training, running by and he grinned.
"Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

It definitely is, Christina thought.

"Gentlemen and lady, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe." Natasha said, and Christina caught her gesture; Natasha got the clearance on the Helicarrier's takeoff.

The sounds of the turbines revving up was loud and mechanical. The ground beneath them shook violently, causing Christina to grasp onto Steve's shoulder for balance. Steve watched in awe while also contorting his face into a frown. "Is this a submarine?" Steve asked in awe.

​"Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?" Banner asked with a tone of amusement creeping into his voice. At least he makes jokes about himself, Christina thought.

Steve stared down at Christina in confusion. Christina shrugged her shoulders as they peered over the side as the large engines ignite and the turbines begin to spin, lifting the craft out of the water and into the air.

Bruce chuckled. "Oh, no. This is much worse." He said as he rubbed his temples.

Natasha, Steve, Christina, and Banner all walked into the main heart of the Helicarrier: the control center. The control center was teeming with agents who were trained to sit at computers and made sure everything was progressing smoothly.

​"We're at level, sir," Agent Maria Hill said.

​"Good," Fury replied. "Let's vanish." Fury instructed. Christina knew that the reflective panels were being activated, so that the Helicarrier couldn't be spotted from the ground.

​"Gentlemen," Fury greeted as he turned around and faced them. Christina caught Steve handing Fury a ten dollar-bill, and she instantly wondered what kind of bet he'd just lost. "Doctor, thank you for coming," Fury said, shaking Banner's hand.

​"Thanks for asking nicely," Bruce replied, glancing around the place. "So, uh, how long am I staying?"

​"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." Fury assured.

​"Where are you with that?" Banner put his hands in his pockets and casually wanderer off, though he was still in earshot. He looked around the inside of the Helicarrier, his mind racing a thousand miles a minute.

​"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops – if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us," Coulson said. Natasha had knelt by an agent who was studying Clint's profile. Christina knew Natasha very well, and she could see how worried the redheaded agent was about her partner.

​"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha said, crouching down next to the computer and stared at the picture of her partner – her best friend.

​"You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asked as he removed his jacket and began to roll the sleeves of his purple suit shirt.

​"How many are there?" Fury asked.

​"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Banner asked. Damn, Christina thought.
​
Fury eyes lingered on Christina, but the way she was permanently attached to Steve's side, he knew that she hadn't told him yet. "Agent Romanoff, could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?"
​
Natasha nodded. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys," she deadpanned as she led the way.

The look on Fury's face told Christina that he was beyond furious with her. Christina sighed in defeat and told Steve that she was going to go find the restroom. But instead, she waltzed right into the file room and expertly stole her file from the cabinet. If I can't tell, Steve, then I'll just show him, Christina thought.
​
When she returned, she found Steve sitting at the large glass table that was place at the opening of the hull. Christina knew that if she didn't tell him now, then he'll end up finding out from someone else and that would hurt him more.

​"Steve," Christina called out, and he turned to face her with a smile on his face. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"
​
Steve nodded as clasped his large hand around the small one she had extended to him. They both walked in silence as they neared Steve's room that he would be staying in. Christina entered first, with Steve right behind her.
​Steve instantly knew that something was troubling her. The way she gripped the manila file harsher than necessary, and how she had subconsciously began to pace – which she only did when she was troubled.

​"Steve," Christina exhaled quietly.

​"Yeah?"

​"You need to look at this," Christina said as she held out the file. Steve nodded and took the file from her and opened it.
​
Steve's eyes widened as he read over information in the file. He read about all of her missions, her perfect kill-streak, her strengths and weaknesses. Undercover missions – including the one with Tony Stark aka Iron Man. His chest burned as he put the pieces together.

​"Were you assigned to watch over me?" Steve asked, curious.

​"Yes," Christina replied softly. Then took in a deep breath and continued: "But I was relieved of that assignment three months after you awoke. Fury told me that I was not longer allowed to see you because my assignment was compromised."
​
Steve's interest was piqued. "How was it compromised?"

​"Fury saw how close we were becoming, and he knew that it would only hurt you in the end. I went behind Fury's back to continue seeing you." Christina replied, her insides were tightening, spinning, and expanding all at the same time. "I never planned to fall in love with you over the past two years, but I did. And I can understand if you want to break up with me, but I just wanted you to know that my feelings are one-hundred percent genuine."
​
Steve took in a deep breath. "I don't know if I can handle this. I mean, how could you keep this from me? We've been together for almost a year, hell, we even live together. Why didn't you tell me? I would've accepted it even more so if I would've known that you were a military officer."

​"My past is dark, Steve. And I wasn't an officer for the U.S. military." Christina answered loudly, almost shouting, as desperation set in. "I was afraid of how you would look at me, knowing that I am a spy and assassin who wields a snake-venom laced katana. I was afraid, okay?"

​"One time you said that relationships without trust and honesty aren't relationships at all." Steve spat, referring to the time before Steve revealed his entire past to Christina.
​
Christina remained silent, no able to form coherent words on her tongue.​A tear streamed down Christina cheek and a sobbed built up in her throat as Steve shook his head and walked out. Christina may be a cold and professional assassin, but that didn't mean she didn't feel her heart being pulled in two ways when Steve walked through that door.

❖  ❖  ❖

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble." Coulson said.

​"No, no, it's fine." Steve said, flatly. He folded his arms over his chest and looked out over the rest of the agents, too, wondering what on Earth they were all doing. But his mind kept going back to Christina, he couldn't believe that she had been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent the entire time. But he couldn't stop himself from thinking back to the night before; how easily she accepted the fact that they needed to go to SHIELD or how the look of nostalgia came across her face when she watched the agents run in an orderly fashion around Helicarrier.

​"It's a vintage set," Coulson said as he glanced at Steve and saw how his jaw was clenching and unclenching. "It took me a couple years to collect them all. Near mint – slight foxing around the edges, but–"

​"We got a hit!" Agent Jasper Sitwell called out. Christina looked over toward the agent and tried to get a better look at the screen, while at the same time, avoid Steve. "A sixty-seven percent match. Wait. Cross match, seventy-nine percent."
​
Christina watched as Coulson left Steve's side to walk toward Sitwell and look over his shoulder to examine the readings. "Location?"

​"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding," Agent Sitwell said.

​"Captain and Lieutenant Sitma," Fury's voice caught both Steve and Christina's attention. They both turned to look over their shoulders to find the director standing behind them. "You two are up."