Frost

Chapter 61

Ghost Story

"I hate this place," Ivy muttered as she walked with Steve to the elevator. She always looked forward to getting out of here. If she had it her way, she would have moved back to Brooklyn or to London. She also would have loved to travel the world, like she and Bucky had planned. When this was all over, she would also finally get a dog and name him Buddy, just like Bucky had wanted to.

"Was the SSR quarters any better?" asked Steve, looking down at her. "It was like home to me," said Ivy, thinking back to the good old days. It hadn't been luxurious and she hadn't always had privacy, but she had lived there with the people who were like family to her. She missed those days and she hadn't thought she could miss that chaos.

"It was my home" she corrected herself and the two stepped inside the elevator. "I miss it too" Steve said quietly, knowing that the SSR quarters, was the first home Ivy and Bucky had shared. The only one. Ivy smiled sadly at him before looking out the window.

"Operations control," Steve ordered the computer in the elevator. "Confirmed," the computer's electronic voice replied. The elevator doors began to close, but before they closed all the way, Rumlow held the door open and stepped into the elevator with two members of the STRIKE team. Ivy's body immediately tensed up and she became much more aware of the metal of the knife she had secured under her T-shirt. She rarely went anywhere without her knife. She had a thing called trust issue.

"Keep all STRIKE personnel on site," Rumlow ordered the two men. "Understood," the first man replied, while the second man said, "Yes, sir." Ivy inconspicuously scanned the three men, noting that all three were armed. "Forensics," Rumlow ordered the elevator, and it responded, as it had with Steve, "Confirmed."

"Cap. Ivy" Rumlow greeted them both and Ivy nodded to him, not in the mood to use her voice. "Rumlow," Steve greeted back politely. He was the polite friend of the two, while Ivy had the character of a Stark and had memorized Jack's vocabulary. Not a good combination.

The elevator began to descend. Ivy kept her eyes on the three men as it did so, paying attention to every little detail. "Evidence Response found some fibres on the roof they want us to see. You want me to get the tac-team ready?" Rumlow asked  Steve, glancing over at him briefly. "No, lets wait and see what it is first" Steve replied firmly. "Right," Rumlow replied.

Ivy, meanwhile, noticed how the two agents had their hands on their weapons and seemed tense or rather nervous. "Can we get waffles on the way back? I'm starving!" Ivy said with a smile that Steve knew all too well. It was a forced smile that didn't reach all the way to her eyes. Ivy was using it a little too often lately. He understood her hidden warning and nodded, noticing the men's grip around their weapons as well.

The elevator stopped and more members of the STRIKE team got on. Ivy sighed inwardly, wanting to crack her knuckles. This thing was not going to end up pretty.

"What's the status so far?" one of the men asked. "Administrations level" the other replied and the elevator replied again with " Confirmed."

"Excuse me" one of the men apologized as he sidled past Ivy and Steve to stand behind them. Steve and Ivy moved closer together unobtrusively and Ivy had a hard time keeping her eyes from turning silver. If she did, the majority of men in these elevators would have a problem.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Fury. Messed up, what happened to him" Rumlow said to the two. "Thank you," Steve replied, while Ivy remained silent. She watched the agents in the elevator meanwhile. One of them was sweating, although it wasn't even that warm in the elevator. The elevator stopped again and only more men entered the already crowded elevator. In another situation, it would have made it slightly awkward that she was the only woman in this elevator and the men were standing way too close to her. But since she knew she was about to have a fight for her life, the factor didn't bother her.