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"Captain Kiss Ass"

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The Triskelion S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters

I sigh as I walk into work the next day. My shoulders are sore, I have a headache, and I'm about to get a lecture from my dad, who I have the lovely honor of working with.

Sawyer Fox. Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s engineering department. He's worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. his entire life, that's even how he met my mom, and he wanted nothing more than to make sure I didn't follow in their footsteps....

"Juniper Margaret Fox!" His voice booms the minute I exit the elevator.

I roll my eyes. "Really? My full name? Need I remind you I'm 29 years old?"

He does not look amused. "We agreed upon no more missions, Juniper." He crosses his arms. No, I believe you and Brock agreed upon that and I just sat there.

"I wasn't there to fight, I was there as an engineer," I say firmly, crossing my arms right back at him.

"And why were you there as an engineer? Why wasn't I sent?" My dad fires back with. I knew he was going to ask that.

"Maybe because I'm a better engineer than you?" I smirk.

He tries his hardest not to crack a smile before pulling me in for a hug. "You know I just worry about you, Juniper. It is my job after all."

I hide my grimace of pain as I hug him back. "I know dad. I just wish you, and Brock, trusted me more."

"I have no doubt in your abilities, sweetheart. I just- I can't lose you too," His voice strains.

I sigh. "I know." He kisses the top of my head before walking me through today's agenda.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve angrily marches into Fury's office.

"I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours," Fury simply tells him.

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share," Steve fires back.

"I'm not obliged to do anything."

"Those hostages could have died, Nick," Steve stands his ground.

Fury springs from his relaxed position and swivels his chair around to Steve. "I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen."

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

Fury rises, leaning over his desk.  "Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." He pauses. "Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything."

"And Agent Fox? I'm supposed to believe she was just some damsel in distress?" Steve points out. Nick blinks at him. Didn't take him long. "I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading and saving have missions of their own," He stresses.

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

Steve grins, "Except you."

Fury straightens. "You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that." He pushes a button on his desk. "Mr. Fox, be ready for a visit," He informs Sawyer, then leads Steve over to the elevator.

"Insight bay," Fury directs as his face pops up on the screen with Level 12.

"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight," The elevator voice warns, Steve's face flashes on the screen next with "Access Denied" in red across his forehead.

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J," He orders.

"Confirmed," The computer clears, allowing the door to close.

There's a moment of awkward silence before Steve pipes up. "You know they used to play music."

Fury chuckles. "My grandfather operated one of these things for 40 years," He motions his head around the elevator, "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," He dives into the story. "Time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say, "Hi." They'd say, "Keep on steppin." Granddad got to grippin that lunch bag a little tighter," Fury nods.

"Did he ever get mugged?" Steve asks.

Fury laughs once again. "Every week some punk would say, "What's in the bag?""

"What would he do?"

Fury snaps his head to Steve, "He'd show 'em.  Bunch a crumpled ones, and a loaded .22 Magnum." Steve nods. Nick smiles, chuckling softly as he moves to the front of the elevator. "Yeah, Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much," His tone drops.

Steve does a double take as machinery comes into view.

"Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22," Fury jokes as they look at three ginormous aircrafts and hundreds of smaller planes, along with a few ship-tanks. "This is Project Insight. Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites." They exit the elevator and make their way through all the busy workers.

"Launched from the Lumurian Star," Steve gathers.

"Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down," Nick continues. "Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines."

"Stark?" Steve guesses right away.

"He had a few suggestions once he got an up-close look at our old turbines," Nick replies as June approaches.

"All overly egotistical and terrible," June smirks. "But of course he stepped into my domain when I wasn't here."

"Agent Fox," Steve nods.

"Captain Kiss Ass," June smiles wickedly. Fury chuckles. "Hello Uncle Nick."

"Uncle?" Steve turns to Nick very confused.

"She's my Goddaughter," He explains shortly.

"Ah," Steve nods, about a hundred more questions popping into his head.

June leads them up onto one of the platforms as Fury gets back to the helicarriers. "These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute. 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," Steve inputs. June finds herself agreeing with him, the last part of Fury's spill hadn't been made clear to her.

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

"My father never mentioned that," June pipes up.

"Who's we?" Steve questions.

"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," Fury informs. June frowns, New York being yet another mission she was sidelined from. "Isn't that right Mr. Fox?" Nick looks up to Sawyer as he joins them.

"Yes sir," Sawyer agrees, having walked the Council through said plans.

"By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection," Steve dismisses. June, once again, found herself agreeing with him. What was the point of people like him or her or Natasha if you can just blow up the entire world all at once? These helicarriers were supposed to be a precaution, or for a mission like New York, not to jump ahead of one. Or hell make one themselves.

Sawyer turns to Steve with a displeased look. "This is your big hero you had in your back pocket, Fury?"

"Steve Rogers, sir," Steve holds out his hand. Juniper notes that he used his actual name to introduce himself rather than Captain America, earning an admiration of her respect.

"Sawyer Fox," Sawyer meets the firm handshake.

"Sawyer is head of our engineering department. Overseeing all of this," Nick informs Steve before stepping in front of him, "You know I read those SSR files. "Greatest Generation?" You guys did some nasty stuff."

"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," He points to the helicarriers. "This is fear." June stops herself from nodding at his well put words.

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

"Don't hold your breath," Steve says, turning to leave.

"Fear keeps our children safe, son," Sawyer speaks up. June scoffs quietly, following in Steve's footsteps. "I'm taking lunch," She mutters to her father.

"Why don't I show you the way out, Captain," She speaks louder. Steve pauses in surprise, turning to see her coming his way with an irritated look on her face.

"Thank you?" He put it as more of a question than a statement, confused by her sudden burst of kindness.

"Don't mention it," Her tone is sharp as her heels click towards elevator. "Agent 14. Fox, Juniper M." She snaps. "You coming?" She looks over to Steve who seems to be frozen in place.

"Uh, yeah," He jogs over. After a moment of silence he breaks the awkwardness. "So, that's your dad, huh?"

She exhales, shifting feet as she glances out. "Yep."

"Must be nice working with him," Steve tries to make light conversation.

"It's a blast," She rolls her eyes, hating the small talk. "So you sleep in that thing or something?" She turns to look at him for the first time since he entered, eyeing him up and down.

Steve chuckles, "You don't like me very much, do you?"

She lets out a chuckle. "You just... always seem to catch me at a bad time," She sighs, turning to look out at the clear blue sky. Steve clears his throat as they ride the rest of the way up in silence.

He releases a breath a few moments later as the door opens, nodding to June as he goes to exit.

"I don't dislike you." She speaks up. He pauses. "And for the record, I didn't know that's what the helicarriers were going to be used for." He smiles to himself and steps out. For the first time since he came out of the ice he felt... okay. And not alone.

⍟ ⍟ ⍟

Author's Note: ahhh, Steve & June's
interaction <<<333

June's bluntness never fails to make me laugh.

Also, can we talk about June agreeing with Steve? We're getting to see her beliefssss, even if she doesn't voice them.. yet.

Feel free to comment your thoughts & reactions!! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter