Tony, Bruce, and Rose had been left in the lab to track the Tesseract, although the three were not all needed. It was clear Rose was meant more to babysit if anything else, seeing as Tony had been trying all day to get a rise out of Bruce and set him off. She quickly looked up and created a gust of wind to stop Tony from poking Bruce with a pen. While Bruce's face was filled with gratitude for her actions, Tony was upset.
"You know, you've been no fun since you've moved in with Capsicle," Tony laughs. Rose just shakes her head, as the man in question bursts into the room.
"Are you crazy?" Steve yells, "I saw what you tried to do!"
"Jury's still out on that one Cap," jokes Tony, returning to his work.
"Is everything a joke to you?" continues Steve, clearly agitated at Tony's lack of respect for boundaries.
"It's only a joke when it's funny with him Stevie," starts Rose, "the issue is he thinks everything is funny."
Her response earns her a smile and point from Tony, which leaves her laughing and rolling her eyes at the manchild once more. Rose pats Steve's shoulder in sympathy. This wasn't how he operated during the war, and disrespect never sat well with him.
"I appreciate the concern, Captain, but I wouldn't be here if I couldn't handle potential pointy objects jabbing into me," says Bruce, trying to calm Steve down with Rose. Bruce had never been a big fan of conflict, especially regarding his condition.
"Just stay focused on the problem, Stark," musters Steve, trying to maintain control of his emotions and clearly failing.
"You think I'm not?" asks Tony, "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What is he not telling us? Anything to say, Agent Carter?"
"I wouldn't know, I'm on the same level as you all," Rose responds, but her facial expression gives her away to Steve.
"You think Fury is hiding something?" questions Steve, based on Rose's movements. She had always been a terrible liar.
"Well he won't be for long," answers Tony, "Jarvis will be through the SHIELD firewalls in about an hour, and all of Fury's dirty laundry will be out in the open."
At that, Rose shoots up and quickly leaves the room. The men all look at each other before Steve runs out after her. He noticed that Rose had stopped down the corridor for him, waiting for him to catch up. When Steve caught up, he was expecting answers but got more walking. Eventually, he caught on and began to follow Rose's movements, the worry clearly etched on her face. They twist through the hallways, ending up in some sublevel. Rose quickly pulls her ID card to scan them in, stopping Steve until the security in the room passes. When she looks up, Steve jumps to the lofted area of the room to see a number of boxes marked "Phase Two". Rose caught up and removed the lid to show what lay within.
Inside were dozens of prototype weapons, a new-age sort of thing. Except for Steve and Rose, it was all too familiar.
"How, how did they come up with this?" asked Steve, shocked and pissed at what he saw in front of him. He worked relentlessly for years with his team to get rid of Hydra and its weapons. Yet they seemed to follow him into the new century.
"Me," starts Rose, sighing, "That machine I was in when we got back, it helps me with my memories. But there is one in HQ that can record my memories. I guess Fury recorded a few from our fights and was able to render plans for the weapons and armor that Hydra used."
Steve wanted to be mad at Rose, but the upset look on her face left him feeling sad as well. He hadn't known the extent of her memory problems, but the violation of Fury to ransack her brain for technology was cruel. All Steve could do was pull the distraught girl into his arms. Before their discussion can continue, Natasha alerts over the comms that Loki is trying to make a play for Bruce, and that everyone needed to return to the lab. Steve snaps out of his sorrow, pulls one of the guns, and grabs Rose's hand to lead her back. He was going to put an end to this.
The blondes enter the lab to see Fury and Tony discussing Phase Two themselves, seeing as the system alerted of Tony's virus.
"Phase two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons," Steve states, dropping the device on the table, "and it looks like the weapons I fought against, that Rose just mentioned, were pulled from her brain for you, Fury. Care to explain?"
Fury looks to Rose, who just hides behind Steve. This was on the do-not tell list, but the secrets were slipping out one by one.
"We were gathering everything related to the tesseract," states Fury calmly, "Rose's memories inclu-"
"Cut the shit Fury, that's low even for you," argues Tony. He had fought so hard to help Rose in his lab, but he couldn't. He had tried to avoid the broken look he was getting from her, having sworn he would never see it again.
"You did what?" asked Bruce, resentment beginning to show in his voice. He had been called in to help this girl, and his work was, once again, being used against him.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor?" asks Natasha calmly, trying to diffuse the situation so the green guy didn't come out and Rose didn't have to go under again.
"I was in Calcutta, I was removed," laughs Bruce at the spy's request.
"Bruce, Loki's trying to manipulate you," warns Rose, reminding everyone of the bigger issue.
"Like your friend hasn't?" questioned Bruce, trying his best not to direct his anger at the younger girl. She was the only one who treated him like he was still a normal person, he didn't want that to change.
"You didn't come here because I had to bat my eyelashes," responds Natasha, putting herself in between Rose and the rest of the room. Steve had simply been observing the whole situation, as Rose had tucked into his side when the comments had become about her. He appreciated Natasha's defensiveness for Rose, it reminded him of Peggy at Camp Lehigh when he had first been recruited.
"And I'm not leaving when you get all twitchy," responds Bruce, pulling Steve from his thoughts, "especially when Fury threatens all the work we have done. I'd like to know why he decided a deep dive into Rose's memories for weaponry was necessary."
"Because of him," the group turns to look at the person at the end of Fury's finger. Thor.
"Me?" Thor questions, confusion evident.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet with a grudge match that leveled a small city," states Fury, "we learned we are not alone, and we are hilariously outmatched."
"So you risked Rose's entire mental state because of a guy with a hammer?" yells Tony. That caught everyone's attention, "Oh yeah, selecting certain memories from Rose's brain could actually fry her neurons. But Fury doesn't care as long as he's not his next nuclear deterrent!"
The in-fighting continued from there. Every member of the room had something to say about one another. No one noticed Bruce pick up Loki's scepter, which caused Rose to knock it from his hand. Before anyone could react, an explosion came through, tearing the lab apart.
Rose and been blown back with Steve and Tony. Everyone checked in that they were all good, except for Bruce. Natasha was trying to calm him down, but the frustration and anger took hold, and our green friend came to the party. Rose and the boys were sent to deal with the downed engine, in hopes to keep the helicarrier in the air. Tony runs for his suit, while Steve and Rose get to the engine room.
"Do you want to talk about all that?" asks Steve as they wait for Tony to catch up.
"Honestly, not right now," responds Rose. The last thing she needed was to get overrun with emotions when her head was already fuzzy from the explosion, "let's get this done and go from there ok?"
With that, Rose went to keep watch, seeing as she just needed to let out some aggression.
"I need one of you to check the control panel and tell me what's overloaded," says Tony through comms as he blows out debris from the turbine.
"Well I can tell you it runs on electricity," mutters Steve, feeling less than helpful.
"You're not wrong, Cap," chuckles Tony, "Hey, princess, think you can help me out?"
"Negative, I found my distraction," answers Rose as three turned agents turn the corner, "Aw, did I miss the invite boys?"
With that, the three men rush at Rose, but she takes them with ease. She sidesteps the first, letting his momentum carry him into a wall. The second lands a punch to her stomach, causing Rose to double over. She takes her movement up, using her skull to bash into his, knocking him unconscious when he hits the floor. The third was trickier, but Rose was able to throw her momentum into the wall, running up it, and catching the man's head before throwing herself to the ground and knocking him out as well. She heads for the door only to get thrown back by the ship falling, another engine had gone down. Bracing herself, Rose pushes herself through the opening, to see Steve holding on to the ship by a broken wire, his body in the air. That's all it took for Rose to break, falling to the floor in a fit of panic.
"I need someone to get to Engine three," orders Steve over comms as he pulls himself back to solid ground, "Rose is freaking out... Does anyone copy?"
"I copy," whispers Natasha, the shakiness in her voice was clear. First, she just had to get past Clint. Using his bow against him, the former Russian spy was able to bring the man to his knees, before twisting to get his release on the bow to slip. Clint recovered and pushed Natasha back, causing her to falter in step, which he used to put her in a chokehold. She wanted to give in, but she had to save her friends. So Natasha played dirty and bit Clint, yelling in pain he stumbled back, which Natasha used to slam his head against the handrail, putting him out cold.
"Someone needs to pick up Barton from the landing," Natasha says over comms, "Rogers I'm coming to you."
Before long, engine three is up and running thanks to Tony and Steve, allowing Steve to check on Rose. He pulls her into his chest, not knowing how to help the shaking girl in his arms. When Steve looks up, he sees Natasha standing over him. From the look in her eyes, he can tell this is the worst Rose has ever been.
"Can you carry her? I don't think it's safe to bring her back to us near all this," mentions Nat, looking at the blown hole of an engine room. She knew exactly what memory Rose had been sucked into, and seeing this would just send her back into it.
Rose had just entered the train with Bucky and Steve, and the three were silently making their way through the train cars, heading for the front. The doors suddenly locked, with Steve on one side of the door, and the couple on the other. For each, a Hydra agent armed in a suit with beams of blue spraying at them. Bucky forced Rose behind him as he began to shoot at the armored man, but the bullets bounced off the armor.
"His neck!" yelled Rose, "it's the only weak point in the armor!"
Sure enough, the man's neck had been left unguarded by the armor, but the guns were out of bullets. Bucky sank to the ground, Rose beside him, and pulled her into him, protecting her from the inevitable. But they turned when the door opened, Steve tossing a gun to Bucky before shoving a wooden case at the Hydra agent. The man ducked to his right, out of the way, giving Bucky an open shot to bring him down. But the momentary victory was short-lived as the agent Steve had fought came into the car. The boys push Rose behind them once again, much to her annoyance. She scoffed at them but used the time to reload. Only to feel arms wrap around her mouth, muffling her screams.
Bucky and Steve, their eyes wide in horror as Rose was being held back by a third-suited agent. The first used the moment to fire at Steve, but he deflected the blow at the side of the train, his shield falling off as he was pushed backward by the force. Bucky grabbed the shield and began to return fire at the man, but one more blast sent Bucky out the opening, holding onto a handrail. Steve immediately threw his shield at the Hydra agent, taking him down, before running to grab for Bucky. Rose broke free from the one holding her to rush and help. She had a grip on Steve's right hand, while Steve reached for Bucky, only the handrail snapped, sending Bucky towards the mountains below.
"James!" yelled Rose, her shattering heart heard in her scream. She had let go of Steve, who pulled himself back in, trying to grab onto her. But the Hydra agent had taken her, and pulled her out of the opening with him, a parachute deploying once they cleared the train tracks.
"No, Rose!" yelled Steve, his yells were silenced by the train clearing a corner.
Rose didn't struggle, she had to stay calm until they reached the ground. So she stayed put, watching the peaks of the mountain grow smaller and smaller. She had to bring Bucky home, however, she could. Unfortunately, a team of Hydra agents was at the bottom of the Alps, waiting to secure her. Rose turned to see a trail of blood, dragging behind a lifeless body. Before her vision went dark.
She woke up a few hours later in a viewing room, chained to a chair. After looking for an escape and finding none, Rose looked through the window, to see surgeons placing a metal arm onto a man, who was half coherent and yelling in pain.
"Where is she?" yelled the man, "What did you do to her?"
She recognized that voice, but how? How did he survive the fall? She thought her mind was playing tricks on her until she saw those eyes.
When Natasha was able to pull her friend from the memory, the relief was short-lived as Rose attached her hand to Natasha's neck, squeezing. Everyone rushed to help, but Natasha waved them off. Pulling Rose from a memory, especially a painful one, without the machinery would lead to this at times. All she could do was wait it out, and hope Rose found her way out.
"I'll kill you!" Rose yelled in German, "I'll kill you for what you did to him!"
Steve ignored Natasha's requests, and placed his hand on Rose's shoulder, causing her eyes to snap to his. He saw the brown flash through the bright blue, and then finally settle back to normal. Rose turned and gasped at the situation she was in, quickly releasing her hold on Natasha's neck.
"What happened?" questioned Rose, looking between the people around her, "What, God I'm so sorry Nat, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I promise," responds Natasha, pulling Rose into a hug, "You just had a memory flash, and it didn't want to let go. It's okay, it wasn't you."
Everyone just stared at the girls in shock. One, because they had never seen Natasha lose to someone in combat, regardless of mental state. But two, because of Rose's actions.
"What did I miss?" asked Rose, shyly as she sat at the table. That seemed to be all they needed to snap back into work mode.