Chapter 7

Steve Rogers sat in his office, scrolling through the I-Pad in front of him, a cup of coffee left forgotten on the side of his desk.

It had been a long day for the director of Shield. From signing permission slips for raids and monitoring operations on Hydra bases, to tracking global level threats like Dr. Banner, he had to keep up with it all. One would think he'd get some rest after dealing with all that crap, but nope.

No rest for the wicked.

The I-Pad in his hand contained, without a doubt, the most stressful piece of data he'd recieved in a long long time.

It's contents were declared restricted to anyone below Lvl 6 clearance. Not due to any particular risky information, but to safeguard the subject of its content: Harry Dursley, aka Agent Dursley, aka Mystique Soldier.

The last one had simply been a legend to them until recently, a mere uncertain whisper that that had spread through Shield like wildfire. The legends of a mysterious assassin who struck like a mystical wraith to kill powerful people painted the picture of someone on par with the Black Widow herself. But only the higher-ups were aware of how true these rumours actually were.

And yet, even they hadn't been completely sure. Atleast, not until one of their newer recruits gave an eye-witness report of a recent incident. But a more damning proof was recieved when they stormed through a Hydra base and recovered a file filled with info on project 'Mystique Soldier'.

Instead of someone fearsome and dreadful, the information that they got painted a gruesome picture of cruelty and abuse.

The boy, Harry Dursley, had been systematically abused and tortured for the past 5 years under the care of Hydra.

Some of the details in the file made Steve curl up his toes in rage.

He, who had lived through the 2nd world war and seen much of the unthinkable horrors that plagued this world...

He, who was known as the God of War Ares for the devastation he'd left in his wake when he conquered Hydra's German base...

Even he had to control himself when he read through the file.

'Harry Dursley came into Hydra's clutches when he was just 4, already having experienced malnutrition, and showing clear signs of abuse. Even then, the boy had a will of fire, being able to resist Hydra's personality training for 3 full months before he fell apart finally.

After that, he went under numerous amounts of experimentation, some of which left him weak and crippled. But one unique thing his handlers noticed was his absurd regenerative abilities, as he always recovered from anything under 8 hours. Which made him a perfect lab rat.

At the age of 6, the boy was broken enough that he lost all sense of self and only referred to himself as 'This one' to indicate that he was simply a tool of Hydra, nothing more.

Next year, he killed for the first time, and then was regularly given missions to assassinate numerous political targets that Hydra wished to replace.

But even after all this, what really made him invaluable to Hydra came a year later when the boy survived his transformation into Super soldier...'

Steve sighed as he closed the report, not bothering to reread the rest.

After going through all that, it was no wonder the boy was so closed off and paranoid. The people he'd assigned to keep an eye on him described him as someone expecting to fight for his life every second.

Steve sighed again. Harry reminded him of his failure every time he was mentioned.

61 years ago, Steve had sworn to absolutely eradicate every trace of Hydra. To never let another soul suffer from thar evil organization. To not let Peggy's sacrifice go in vain...

And yet, cases like Harry continue to erupt all around the globe. Children getting kidnapped from their homes with the sole purpose of being tortured and used in a lab...

But even amongst all of this, Harry's case was particularly extreme.

Which was why, even knowing that the boy was a massive risk to the society, Steve just couldn't find it in his heart to punish him for whatever atrocities he'd committed under Hydra.

No, he actually quite admired the boy. To be able to keep his mind sane after going through all that...it takes a will that most people nowadays lacked. Even more impressive was the fact that he achieved his freedom all by himself. The patience and planning needed to pull off something like that must be incredible.

This was exactly why he had something better planned for the boy. Harry would never agree to be a Shield agent, but what if Steve gave him something he desperately seeks? Freedom...and safety.

The world council would no doubt make a big deal out of it, but Steve just couldn't give a flying fuck. They will keep their mouths shut if they knew what was good for them.

He'd just finished wrapping up everything on his desk when the door to his office suddenly slammed open, and in came his second-in-command.

Dressed in a long black coat and an eye-patch, the scarred man looked like the toughest, meanest, son of a bitch around. There was no doubt in Steve's mind that he was one as well. He walked forth with squared shoulders, a single eye set in a scowl that would make any other agent scramble out of the way.

The man didn't say anything as he came to a stand in front of Steve. His lone eye simply glared at him, demanding answers.

"Agent Fury." Steve greeted amiably, even knowing what was to come. "I'm guessing you're here for the boy?"

The man didn't say anything, his scowl simply deepening even more.

Silence spread through the room as the two highest ranking Shield members stared at each other, one with apparent anger, another with a calm smile.

"Drop the act, Nick. I'm not in the mood for your games." Steve commanded, letting just the slightly bit of authority twinge in his tone.

Nick fury might look fearsome and frightening to most of the Shield, but Ares had dealt with way too much to be affected by something so inane.

"Yeah well, I'm not one that likes wasting time. But someone just had to butt in and cut my orders dead." Fury finally spoke, his voice bursting with irritation. "You don't wanna arrest the boy? Fine. You don't wanna interrogate him? Got it. But why for the love of motherfucking god don't you wanna recruit him in? He's literally made for it, trained for it, grown for it. We will never get a chance like this ever again!"

This time Steve was the one to maintain the silence, a single raised eyebrow forcing Fury to calm down and take deep breaths. "Sorry for that, sir. I've had a tough week."

"Understandable." Steve nodded. "Now as for the boy, I would ask you to stopping speaking of him like some goods you wish to purchase. For all his faults, he is still a child.

The man stared at him uncomprehending, before his brows pinched up in another scowl. "With all due respect sir, I think you're out of your goddamn mind. That boy is no child."

For the first time, Steve felt the beginnings of irritation. "Mind you words, Agent Fury."

"Now hold on for a goddamn second." Fury dragged back a chair and plopped his butt down. "You do realise that boy would gladly slit both of our throats in a jiffy if he thought he could get away with it? You want that boy to just...stay without any supervision, let him roam free like he's a motherfu–"

"Enough." Ares ordered, and Fury finally shut up.

The man still looked rearing to go, but he knew an order when he heard one.

Steve leaned back, fishing a lighter from his front pocket, and took this chance to observe the man. Fury usually wasn't this worked up, and neither was he ever this... impertinent.

Something must've truly rattled his 2nd in command, but that doesn't mean he could walk in here and demand things.

"That boy," Steve started, absently lightning a cigar. "Has never experienced childhood. Never."

He took a drag of smoke, relaxing in his seat. "Do you realise how quickly he could become unstable if he continues like this? No, that simply isn't the way to go. He must experience childhood. He deserves it. And I have the power to give it to him, so I will."

The one-eyed man looked down at his lap for a few long minutes before finally facing up. "Begging your pardon sir, but his childhood was over the moment Hydra got to him."

Steve suppressed the budding guilt, pushing it down. Even knowing it wasn't his fault, every time Hydra's evils were reminded, it made him feel personally attacked.

"Whatever mockery of 'Childhood' you force on him now will only make him irritated at you." Fury continued strongly. "The Mystique Soldier is not a child sir, and you better get it through your goddamned head. He is a magical version of Romanoff, that could whoop most of our agent's asses black and blue. We better hope that he doesn't have some stupid plan at world domination cause he's angsty about Hydra, or else we'll be in some real deep shitstorm."

Steve stared at the man for a few seconds, unresponding.

He knew, objectively speaking, what the Agent said was atleast partially true.

The thing is, Harry wasn't Romanoff.

He was still a child, almost 10 if the file's information was to be believed, and children healed from emotional scars the fastest.

With some care and encouragement, Steve had no doubt that the boy could grow up to be an outstanding human. Something Fury didn't seem to believe.

Plus, the boy wasn't here to join Shield. He was here because he had nowhere else to go. Pushing him now will only turn him away, which was exactly the thing Steve feared the most.

Someone like Harry needed proper guidance and advice, to guide him away from the dark path that he was currently walking. For all Fury's brilliance at handling Shield's affairs, he simply didn't understand emotional things like this.

Steve sighed, disappointed in his second-in-command. Times like these made him worried for the future of this organisation.

Nick wasn't ready to be the director. No matter how much experience the man gained, he simply couldn't drop his incredibly vertical thinking. He was too cynical and pragmatic to lead an organisation as vast as Shield.

Sure, the world has become a dark place, and ruthlessness was sometimes needed to deal with lost causes. But if even the protectors of earth lost their humanity, would they truly be heroes anymore?

"Agent Fury," Steve began, his voice strong and unyielding. "You are dismissed for the rest of the week. Take this time to reflect upon your actions, on how close you were to legitimise child soldiers. Once you see the errors in your argument, we will talk again. Till then, I will personally handle this case. Dismissed."

The man stared at him incredulously for a few seconds, before his brows scrunched up in his iconic scowl.

"Sir." He saluted, and then walked for the door.

"Remember this, Nick." The man stopped but did not turn. "We are not Hydra. We must be better."

A last nod and the man was off, shutting the door behind him and once again plunging the room in silence.

His eyes rested on the picture of his first and only love. 61 years in has been, and not a day passed when he didn't mourn her death.

"I wish you were here." He sighed. "Everything would be so easy then."

A decade from now, he would reflect upon this moment and curse his younger self for uttering such foolish words.

Really, he had only said them in passing, why must the future be so cruel?