"Sounds like they were admirable people. Trying to follow what they believed in." He's right. She might relate fairly closely to his parents, honestly. After all, why else did she join SHIELD if not to find some way to make up for the things she'd done, the system she'd supported? And what about after the fall of SHIELD, what had she done then? There wasn't anything else to be done, in her eyes.

"It's not always easy, to follow what you believe in, in the middle of a war. Especially when you're trained to be a soldier, and to follow a cause without question." Which begs the question-- "Is that why you're still doing this? To help people?"