Under Fury's orders, Y/N was in charge of showing Steve how to live in this new age. It was a good distraction from her previous mission. Except the fact that Stark Industries was building a large, energy efficient tower in the middle of New York. Of course, the apartment Fury had for the twins was too far away from the up and coming building. So it was never too far from Y/N's sight. Steve noticed that Y/N acted weird when it came to, in his opinion, the new ugly building. But he didn't question it. He knew her enough that she would open up to him in time.
The two spent a lot of time exercising. Whether it was in a gym sparring with each other or going at a punching bag, or a morning run around the city, they were always together. Just like old times. Steve was surprised with how well Y/N could hold her own. Fury stopped by frequently to see if Steve was ready to get involved with SHIELD yet and if Y/N was ready to start up other missions. Steve always said that he needed more time and Y/N always said that she needed to be with Steve. It was January 2012, when their answers changed. Fury came by with a new assignment for Y/N.
"I can't accept it, Director," Y/N insisted with her hands firmly on her hips. "I need to stay here."
"No you don't," Steve said. Y/N spun around to look at him, confused. "I know you're worried about me. But I've gotten a hang of all this new stuff." He walked over and set his hands on her arms. "I can do this. Plus, you've been really antsy lately. I can tell you want to get out and do more. Now's your chance."
Y/N shook her head. "I don't know, Steve-"
"I will be fine. And so will you. You can't stop living your life just because I came back from the dead."
"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you unless you're absolutely sure you can do this on your own."
"I'm sure." Steve pulled her into a hug. "We can do this... This isn't like when I left for war. We can call each other every day, text each other even more then that." He pressed a loving kiss to her hair. "I love you."
"I love you too." She pulled away from him. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine. I promise. Now, go. The world needs you." Steve turned her around. "Now go." He gave her a push in Fury's direction. "And call me when you get to wherever you're going."
Y/N followed Fury out of the building and into a quinjet. While in flight, Fury explained that they were heading to a SHIELD facility located in the Mojave Desert and her assignment there. She would be assigned to watch the scientists working on a power source. Agent Coulson and Agent Barton would also be there as well. Y/N inquired as to what the power source was, but Fury refused to say anything about it until they reached the facility. Both Coulson and Barton were there to greet them when they arrived.
"Have you told Agent Rogers what the power source is, sir?" Coulson asked, leading the way into the facility.
"No he has not," Y/N immediately replied, sending unkind look Fury's way.
"She needs to see it," Fury simply said, clasping his hands behind his back as he kept walking.
Y/N stayed silent, biting her lips annoyingly, as she followed the men further into the building. When they reached a large, underground room, Y/N froze at the sight before her. There, in the center of the room, surrounded by something, was the cube that changed her life.
"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "What are you doing?"
"We're studying it," Fury responded. "Seeing what it's capable of."
"Why?" Y/N got louder. "You should be destroying it! It's- It's- Ahh!" Y/N screamed in pain as a high pitch noise sounded in her head. She put her hands over her ears and fell to her knees.
"Rogers!" A multitude of voices called out in concern. But it was falling on deaf ears.
Y/N rocked herself as she held her head and screamed. Her eyes were clenched shut, but some how she was seeing strands of blue in her vision.
"What's happening to her?" Barton yelled over her screams.
"It must have something to do with how she survived her fall," a man named Dr. Selvig suggested, carefully walking up to the scene. "She fell with the cube in her hand, correct?"
"Yes," Fury responded.
"It must have made a connection with her somehow during the fall. The cube is how she survived."
"Move her to another room," Fury ordered.
Barton and Coulson carefully moved a screaming Y/N to another room, with a bed in it. They laid her on the bed and watched her until she eventually passed out.
"What was that?" Barton asked, not taking his eyes off of his friend lying on the bed.
"I have no idea," Coulson shook his head. "We tried to run tests on her when she first was found, but Fury never wanted her around the Tesseract until now."
While they were chatting, weird images flashed through Y/N's mind. Images of six different colored stones, each holding a different power. There was the Space Stone (also known as the Tesseract/the one Y/N was most familiar with), the Mind Stone, the Reality Stone, the Power Stone, the Time Stone, and the Soul Stone. She was shown each individual stone and what they were capable of. They were capable of doing so much good and so much destruction at the same time.
Y/N sat up in a fright when she was suddenly pushed from the state she had fallen into. She panted as she looked around the room, which she was now alone in. She ran her hand through her hair in distress. What ever Fury was doing with the stone needed to stop. Y/N rushed out of the room and back to the large room that was holding the stone. The men she had previously been with were all standing around talking, probably about her.
"Whatever you're doing with the stone needs to spot now!" Y/N demanded as she ran up to the men. They all turned to look at her.
"You should probably be resting, Agent Rogers," Fury suggested.
"And you should have that thing destroyed! It's dangerous! I know now it's even more dangerous than I even imagined. It needs to be destroyed."
Fury stepped up, eyeing Y/N curiously. "What do you mean that you know now it's even more dangerous?"
Y/N quickly made the decision to tell Fury only about the stone that they were dealing with. She knew the man well enough to know that he would go after the other stones if he knew about them.
"I don't know how it happened," Y/N shook her head. "But somehow, the stone and I are connected. It showed me what it's capable of. You've got to listen to me, Director. That thing has to go."
"Not until SHIELD and NASA are done testing it," Fury said. "Until then, that's why you were brought in, to watch it. Make sure no one gets it. I knew that you would believe it was too dangerous, and that makes you one of the most qualified people to make sure no one gets there hands on it or uses it inappropriately."
"And what exactly do both SHIELD and NASA want done with the Tesseract?"
"We've heard it can create portals, you've even seen it for yourself. We want to see if we can get it to create a portal, multiple portals hopefully, and find a way to recreate it."
"And what do you want with the Tesseract, Director?" Y/N stepped closer to Fury, challenging him.
"For you to guard it." Fury replied. He was clearly hiding something and Y/N knew that the only way she could figure it out was by staying.
"I'll guard it. But if this goes too far, or gets too dangerous, then the project gets scrapped. Understood?"
"Last time I checked, I was the Director, Agent Rogers."
"I'm not budging, sir. Either take what I'm offering or I'm walking."