2014-02-20 - Cutscene: The Death of a Dream - On Watch

All was quiet on the command deck of the Helicarrier. Oh, the usual ambient noise from the various consoles and battle-stations hummed in the air, but there was very little of the normal quiet din of conversation that usually accompanied it. In fact, the deck was only at half-manning.

Oh, there were plenty of people on standby in case of emergency, but most personnel were excused to at least watch the funeral if not attend directly. Most...but not all.

Deck Officer was a duty that Grant Ward had never performed before, though like just about any SHIELD agent of a given clearance level he'd at least had training for it. He'd volunteered to stay on watch during the funeral. He hadn't been close with Captain Rogers...only worked with him once. Not that the man wasn't a tremendous inspiration to all of them, but Ward figured the best way he could honor him was...by doing his job.

So Agent Ward scanned the information coming in on the tablet he was holding, nodding as all systems came up "green" and no alerts coming in over the communications feed that warranted anything beyond a routine response. He handed the tablet over to Maria Hill, who sat in the "Captain's Chair" for this shift.

"All quiet so far." Ward commented as Hill studied the tablet.

"So far." Maria affirmed, not looking up from the tablet, "Never stays that way."

"No. But that's why we're here." Ward replied, accepting the tablet when Agent Hill returned it to him. "Anyone tries anything, we're ready." Ward glanced towards the main viewport, commenting quietly, "We owe him that much."

"A lot more than that." Hill added, her expression as somber as it ever got.

Ward glanced to Maria, silent a few moments before simply nodding, falling silent once more.