The lights of the room were too bright. That was the only thing that Lottie could register the second her brown eyes popped open.
She stared up at the ceiling in confusion, tilting her head slightly as she squinted her eyes at the light. This was wrong, something wasn't right. The last time she was awake she-
You're my best friends, never forget that.
Charlotte Watson shot up in the bed, tugging at the wires that were connected to her arms. This was wrong, she should be in the water with the plane. She went down with the HYDRA plane in 1945, she shouldn't be in this hospital. She shouldn't be alive.
"You know, if you'd stop tugging at the wires for a second I might be able to explain,"
Lottie turned her head calmly to the corner of the room where two chairs sat. Stood in that corner, leaning against the wall was an older man. His gaze was piercing, one of his eyes covered by a black eyepatch as a nasty scar ran underneath of it. She trailed her eyes down the rest of his clothing, all black.
"What year is this?" Fury cocked his head at Charlotte's question, taking a step toward her. "I know how people dress in 1945, and you don't exactly fit in."
"2011, and my name is Director Fury,"
Lottie felt her head stop for a second at the man's comment. She knew it wasn't 1945, everything about the man and the room around her proved that, but 2011?
"What happened?"
"You took that HYDRA plane down in 1945, shortly after the Captain did," Lottie's felt a sting in her chest at the simple mention of Steve. "Your friend, Howard Stark, looked for the two of you for years. We found you in the ice two days ago. You've been asleep for seventy years, Miss Watson."
Lottie swallowed the lump in her throat, looking over to Director Fury.
"And Steve?"
"We've yet to find the whereabouts of the Captain," Lottie only nodded her head, looking down at her lamp as tears clouded her eyes. "You alright?"
"It's a lot all at once," Lottie admitted with a shrug. "Waking up seventy years later, your entire life gone and everyone you love dead, that's a lot to process. Why not ease me into it, make me think it was still 1945?"
"For that exact reason right there," Director Fury told her, standing at the end of her hospital bed now. "Your brain, it moves too quickly. Making you think it was 1945 would've been a waste of time, your brain realized something wasn't right the second you opened your eyes."
Lottie nodded along, looking back down at her lap once again as she thought over his words.
"What are you the Director of?"
"SHIELD, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Lottie cocked an eyebrow at this.
"And why should I trust you, Director Fury?"
"Because, your old pals Margaret Carter and Howard Stark founded SHIELD," Lottie's eyes widened as she looked up to Director Fury. He let a small smirk cross his lips as he moved toward the door. "There's some clothes on that table over there. Get dressed, I've got some people you should meet."