The Zone (Avengersx Male!OC)

"I need you to kiss m--" (The Winter Soldier 2014)

After a somewhat long drive towards the Brooklyn hospital, John discreetly pulls into the parking lot of the building, quickly locating Natasha and Steve whom were currently near their vehicles. 

He carefully gets out of his van, holding his arm as he does so, Steve and Natasha both look towards him.

 "John!" Natasha is the first to approach him as she quickly embraces his frame. 

The former assassin winces and Natasha pulls back to see his minor bruises, "Sorry, I didn't--" 

"It's alright...you should see the other guys," John tries to ease Natasha's worries with a light hearted joke. 

Natasha just shakes her head with a smile, "I'm just glad you're okay." 

John exchanges a nod with her before looking towards Steve now, "You get here okay, Cap?" 

"Yeah," Steve releases a breath as he and John both exchange a small hug as well, "But, none of this makes sense...Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. think that we would even fathom betraying them?" 

Natasha's voice captures the men's attention, "It's because of this." 

Steve and John look towards the drive now.

"The drive," Steve says under his breath. 

The Last Godfather nods as well, "Yeah...Whatever it is that Nicholas entrusted to you, he wanted to make sure that it didn't end up in the wrong hands..." 

"You got any theories on whose hands Fury wanted it out of?" Steve asks the duo and John discreetly shakes his head to Natasha, whom instantly catches on. 

"Um, Not yet, no," Natasha just shrugs off, trusting that John had a valid reason for keeping theory a secret from Steve. 

Steve sighs and closes in eyes in exhaustion, thinking that they've now hit a wall, "And the shooter?" 

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists," Natasha begins, "...The ones who do...call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

"So he's a ghost story," Steve says absentmindedly before turning towards John whom was currently sending him a 'really?' look, "...Sorry." 

John just sighs and shakes his head before continuing, "Going after him is a dead end. He shouldn't be our number one priority right now. Our first order of business should be finding out exactly what's on that," he gestures towards the flash drive in Natasha's hand, "Besides, if it turns out that he's actually after this flash drive too, then that means that we'll eventually run into him again anyway." 

"That sounds reasonable, but how exactly are we going to do this? The minute we decide to hack into the drive S.H.I.E.L.D. will be onto us in no time," Natasha adds in. 

John nods, "I've thought about this beforehand," he checks his wrist watch before nodding, "Usually I'd just call in a favor, but this time around, we're gonna need a crowded area to disappear into afterward."

Steve and Natasha both nod in agreement with John, Steve then adds for dramatic effect, "Well then, let's find out what the ghost wants." 

A beat passes...

"...Dang it, I did it again, didn't I?" 

...

As Steve, Natasha and John all arrive at a local mall in John's black custom 2012 Chevy Silverado, he parks the vehicle in the parking lot, before turning towards Natasha and Steve, "Alright, here's the plan. Natasha will go in first, Steve you can go in after her, I'll be following right behind you. Be sure to keep your head low, there's a camera at the entrance of the mall, and a few throughout the building. Don't worry though, once we blend into the crowd, everything should be easy from there."