Bound By Purpose

1948: Gold Star Family

For all the men who never came home, and for their gold star families who still mourn them.

----------

I open my eyes slowly to the doors still closed on me. It feels as if i'm waking up from a short nap. My eyes dart around, the same glass that I fell asleep to still encases me. Suddenly people are in front of me, and I'm falling forward. The glass opens and I fall forward to the floor. Hands are on me immediately, lifting me up. I try to speak. I must not have made it but a few hours or maybe a day or two. I realize that I can't move any muscles at the moment. I try to speak but those are weak as well. "It'll pass." A nurse speaks from my side. They aide me to the room where I was prepped before, it looks different from what I remember. Quite different actually. They help ease me into a chair. 

Howard materializes from the doorway. I feel my muscles start to finally relax, and my voice comes back as he approaches me. Much like this room he is familiar yet has difference about him. "Hey." He says kneeling in front of me. 

I smile. "Hi." I feel quite alive at the moment and happier than I remember being however the emotions are all a little foggy. 

"How are you feeling?" Stark asks.

I'm kind of confused, I can't quite remember exactly how this all happened. "I feel a little foggy, but honestly Howard you couldn't expect much of a change in such a short time." His eyes open wide and he sits back in his chair. "Howard..." I ask suddenly concerned. "How long was I under?" He stares at me as if he's contemplating his answer. "Tell me."

"Two years. 730 days on the hour." This surprises me, I don't know why but it does. 

I shake my head. "I couldn't have been under more than a week." I shake my head trying to retrieve any memory of being under. "It feels like it was yesterday." Howard is smiling now.

"It worked." He stands up abruptly and grabs my shoulders. "It worked Eve. It worked." He looks back at me again. "And you feel fine?"

Suddenly I feel very excited something finally went right. "Yeah. I feel a little confused but other than that I feel very excited." He turns away from me.

"SHIELD is gonna have a field day with this." Shield?

"Who?" He turns around again.

"Oh yeah." He sits across from me again. He takes my hands and smiles at me. "SHIELD. It's what the SSR is calling itself now. The times have started to change Evelyn. Our enemies are no longer alien enhanced Nazi's, we have Communists and all that they are capable of..."

I knew the Russians would be a problem the moment we didn't help them fight their front of the war. "SHIELD stands for what exactly?" 

"Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division." He says, he must've practiced the saying before because it rolls nicely off his tongue. "It's a mouthful I know, but Peggy liked the idea of us being a shield to all the humans of the world." He fumbles in his back pocket and pulls out a wallet. His name is etched in the leather and as he lets it fall open I see the silver badge. An eagle spreads its wing and stands behind a shield.

"You started a new branch of the government in two years?" I'm not sure why I'm surprised.

"Well technically we started it before we put you under, and we aren't technically a licensed branch of government intelligence, but President Truman does know about us if that makes us legit." Right it's the first year into the next presidency.

"Truman won the election again?"

He's surprised but then he remembers where I've been. "Oh yeah, it was this whole thing, but he's definitely back in the White House." I nod confused. This will be an interesting drawback to being put under often for long periods of time. "Are you hungry?" He asks out of nowhere. "It's been two years."