[center][img]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj306/Carnage27/Nomad%20Shield_zpsp73e1jnp.png[/img][/center]

[b]New York City
March 20th, 2005
19:23[/b]

Steph crouched in an alley across the street from her mother’s home in New York. The elder Carter had moved here after her retirement from the field three years prior. She knew Steph had been in good hands, and wanted some place where she could rest. Her daughter couldn’t blame her. Sharon Carter had been a legendary agent of SHIELD, and raising a super soldier daughter wasn’t a walk in the park either. She had earned her rest. Steph’s actions would probably disappoint her slightly, but Steph also knew her mother supported her in everything she did. Sharon would understand her actions.

She had hoped to get here before SHIELD did, but that was a fool’s hope. Before she even got to her mother’s block she found the area crawling with agents. She had easily evaded them, but there was no way she’d be able to talk to her mother face to face. Instead, she bought a burner phone. During her escape from SHIELD, she emptied her bank account, realizing Fury would freeze it immediately once he came to. It wasn’t a lot, but she could survive on it for a while.

Dialing her mother’s number, she waited as the phone rang. Steph could see the agents in her mother’s home begin a flurry of movement. They’d try to track her, of course. She began walking away from the house. After five rings, the voice of Sharon Carter answered on the other end, “Hello?”

“Hey mom,” Steph responded nonchalantly. The anger, fear, and sadness that had gripped her last night were now gone. Carter had a clarity about her she had not had for years. She was free to fight her war as she saw fit, no longer shackled by the chain of command. She was comfortable in her new life, even if it meant being constantly on the run. “How’s it going?”

“It’d be going a lot better if these agents weren’t in my damn house,” her mother said, more to the agents than to her. “How are you?”

“Oh you know, decided to become a vigilante, on the run from the world’s most powerful intelligence agency,” she joked. “Nothing much to talk about.”

“You should go back, Stephanie,” her mother warned half-heartedly.

“It doesn’t sound like you believe that,” Steph called her out. “Listen, I just wanted to say sorry. I know this will put some complications into your life. But I’m not going to sit by on the sidelines anymore.”

“I understand. I love you. Be careful.”

“Love you too, mom,” she finished and tossed the burner phone to the ground.
That’s when she noticed a flurry of movement out of the corner of her eye. She made a break for it, finding her covered bike at the other end of the long alley. She slid towards it, snatching her shield from underneath the old sheet she had used to cover the bike. She spun, throwing off her leather jacket, revealing the battlesuit underneath. Nomad, as she was taking to call herself, stood ready as Bucky Barnes stepped into the dim light in front of her.

She had to chuckle, “So Fury sent you, huh? Well, he’s at least serious about this then. Good. Once I send his lapdog back to him, maybe he’ll realize I was right. Because you are not taking this shield from me.”