Something itches in the back of Steve's mind every time he sees the agent who practically lured him onto this ship. Every time she speaks, she becomes more of an enigma, more of a shadow in an organization that already works in the dark.
He does not like it.
As Steve walks through the halls, he thinks back to the file he had read on her. M Laska. Polish. Born a few years after he was, yet she doesn't look a day over twenty-five. Other than that, the rest of the information was redacted.
She seems to avoid him, tense her muscles when he nears, her eyes always watching him. He is not stupid enough to mistake the agent for someone who is curious. Something deeper lies in her dark eyes as if waiting to pounce at the right moment.
His thoughts dissipate when he glances into Banner's lab to see Tony Stark shock him. "Hey!" He shouts, stomping into the lab. "Are you nuts?"
"Jury's out," Tony replies before turning to Banner. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asks, narrowing his eyes. He could tolerate Howard much more than this man.
"Funny things are."
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc."
"No, it's alright," Banner waves a hand. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."
Tony shakes his head. "You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut."
Steve fights to urge to scream. "And you need to focus on the problem, Mister Stark."
"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in when he already has Laska who could probably figure this out in a day? Why now, why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asks.
"You don't?"
Steve straightens his back and glances behind him as Agent Laska steps up beside him with her arms crossed and her face shining with a thin layer of sweat. She stares at him with her lips almost curled back into a sneer. "You'd be stupid to think the director of a shadow organization in the government isn't hiding something."
"Correct, Malka." Tony grins.
The woman blinks.
"Oh, right, I unredacted your file."
If looks could kill, Tony Stark would be gone. She stares at him as if willing flames to appear on his head. "Good for you. Good thing the real one can't be hacked."
Tony rolls his eyes. "I will figure you out eventually, Mal."
"Don't call me that."
"Oh, now I totally will."
She sighs, pursing her lips. "If I could kill you in your sleep, I would."
Tony smiles with a laugh. "But you can't, so you shan't. Anyways, Captain, Fury's a spy. He's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too, isn't it?"
Banner's eyes widen as everyone turns to him. "Uh, I just wanna finish my work here and—"
Steve arches a brow. "Doctor?"
He slowly removes his glasses. "A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."
"I heard it."
"Well, I think that was meant for you." He motions to Tony who offers a blueberry. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."
"The Stark Tower?" Steve frowns. "That big, ugly—" Tony sends him a look. "—building in New York?"
"It is sort of ugly, Stark," Malka says, her expression void of emotion. "The real beauty is the energy. You've powered it with an arc reactor, self-sustaining. It'll run on its own for at least a year."
"It's only the prototype," Tony says. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now, that's what they're getting at."
"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Banner asks.
"Because he's Tony Stark," Malka scoffs. "SHIELD is a shadow organization, why would we bring in the world's greatest loudmouth? I am Iron Man, just learn to be quiet once in a while."
As Tony gasps in offense, Banner shakes his head. "What are they even doing in the energy business in the first place?"
She just smiles, baring her teeth as if she were preparing to eat them whole.
"I should probably look into that," Tony says, "as soon as my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."
Steve starts towards him. "I'm sorry, did you say—"
"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. Little Mal saw it." When Steve glances back at her, she simply shrugs. "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"
"Yet you're offended I call you a loudmouth," Malka says, leaning against the workbench.
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."
Steve shakes his head. "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."
He hears Malka scoff behind him as Tony shrugs, saying, "Following's not really my style."
"And you're all about style, aren't you?"
"Out of the people in this room, which one is A) wearing a spangly outfit, and B) not of use?"
"With your track record, Cap, it surprises me you want to follow orders," Malka says. "Plus, you know, it even smells for me, and I used to dig through ashes every day." The harsh lines around her eyes soften as her gaze drifts out the window. Even Stark seems to go still for a moment next to Steve. "Our priority is to find the Tesseract and end Loki's reign of terror. Until then, follow whatever orders you want. Just be ready to save people." Her eyes narrow as she glances at Steve. "Maybe you Americans actually will this time."
Uncrossing her arms, she walks out of the room, her shoulders forced back as she slips out of sight.
"You know," Tony says, obnoxiously eating a blueberry. "Maybe you should read the file."
"Just find the Cube."
When he stalks out of the room, he chooses a different path. Of course, everything Fury has done has bothered him. Of course, nothing seems right. So, why has he played the perfect follower when he never has before?
Steve makes his way through the helicarrier to a remote corner with a storage room. Pushing the door open, he looks around at the file cabinets and the large crates, scanning the room for any cameras or hidden shadows. When he finds none, he leaps up to the top floor and begins his search.
He opens box after box after box before he finds something that makes his heart stop.
"Good for you, soldier."
He spins around with his hands up to see Malka standing across the walkway, her arms clasped behind her back. Hesitantly, he lets his hands drop to his sides as he eyes her warily. "What are you doing here?"
"I was told to keep an eye on you. I've got history with soldiers. I know how to handle them when they misbehave. Or in your case, behave a little too well."
With a frown, he takes a step forward. "You pushed me here."
She nods.
"Why?"
"Because SHIELD is wrong." She turns her head to look out over the boxes, her expression scrunched up. "Phase 2 should not exist, and I'm not the one who can fight back effectively. I'll try, and I'll get squashed. Fury would call me a hypocrite. So, I needed you."
"You're using me."
"Pushing you in the right direction. You know, the file Stark saw is right here." She pulls a manilla folder from behind her back and dangles it from her fingers. "You want it?" She tosses it to his feet. "Enjoy. It's all true, but it's only a sliver of what truly happened to me."
Anger burns in her eyes, her hand clenched at her sides as she stares him down. He meets her gaze head-on, even as he wants to cower. "You don't like me much, do you?"
"No, I don't."
"Why?"
"Because for a super soldier, you never seem to be able to save the people who actually need saving," she snaps. "For a man who's supposed to have a heart of gold, did you ever even think about the suffering of the people instead of your crusade against Schmidt?"
Pain stabs his heart. "Of course, I cared. I was fighting against the bullies—"
"They weren't bullies, they were murderers." Silence fills the gap between them as Malka slowly takes a deep breath, the hard lines on her face fading. "You know, back then, I saw the propaganda. They used to toy with us, make us think someone was coming. That you and your—what were they called—Howling Commandos would save us. I used to dream of your stupid face every night, and then I'd wake up, and the nightmare would start again.
"Loki kept talking about real power, but you know what that really is? It's when you can walk away. It's when you fight back against something you know is wrong. Tell me, Rogers, did you join your war effort because you thought it was right? Or because your country brainwashed you the same way mine did? America made your soldiers out to be heroes, but they didn't save people until the end. We waited for years, and no one came. Not you, and certainly not the Allies. So, why don't you try to be better for once?"
Steve's mind goes blank.
Malka glares at him before shaking her head and relaxing her posture. With a small frown, she glances away with her hand on her ear. "Copy that. Loki's making a play. Let's go."
✗ ✗ ✗
I warned you there are some dark themes, especially concerning WWII atrocities. Gonna get some of that next chapter too.
Hope you enjoyed!
-L