In New Mexico, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s few remaining relatively intact bases, Schiller held a folder of documents and said to Natasha, "You should already be very familiar with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reimbursement principles, right?"
Natasha was flipping through a report of her own. She said, "Don't worry. It's just that this is Barton's first time doing this kind of work, so the figures he wrote are still a little too conservative. I'll revise them for him later, then you can see if there are any problems..."
"This Hydra raid on S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouses across the United States caused us tremendous losses. In order to fight Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. has truly paid far too much. Although we are willing to continue making selfless contributions, for the sake of sustainable development, we must also fight Congress for the rights we deserve..."
Natasha nodded, but then her phone rang. She answered it and said, "What did you say? The Captain applied for base access authorization?... What is he coming here for? It's not like he can help with inventorying the lost supplies..."
"Agent Carter, you need to understand that S.H.I.E.L.D. does not allow office romances. Even if you admire Captain America, you cannot privately apply for base access authorization for him. That is against the rules. If the Director finds out, he'll scold you again..."
"Forget it. For Peggy Carter's sake, just this once... All right, I've granted him transfer access. What does he want?"
Natasha hung up and asked Schiller somewhat doubtfully, "Steve suddenly applied for access to this base. It seems like he's here to find someone. Do you know what's going on, Doctor?"
Schiller froze for a moment, then said, "Oh, that matter. Have you forgotten?"
Natasha also froze for a moment, then put on an expression of sudden realization.
A while later, Captain