Remnants of Time

Chapter 6

Steve found the hospital. It had taken him ten minutes to get there; he'd walked fast, with a determined strut that reminded him of Peggy. It gave the impression that he wouldn't be hurt by his circumstances, and Steve decided that he needed that, right now, to show off a little confidence he didn't really have. Is that what Natasha always does?
He had to hide three times on his way, three times a police car drove past him and didn't notice the man leaning down to tie his shoes or the man hiding behind a guy in an inflatable Hulk costume. A look at a pharmacy's clock told him it was past midnight already. When he finally looked at the hospital's doors, it dawned on him that he would need a different way in. There was no way he could sneak past the front desk unnoticed and even if he did, the main hallway was long and full of people. Just as he decided to turn around and scout out the building for the ER section, a hand grabbed his arm. They found me, his shocked brain screamed. The hand dragged him behind a couple of bushes lining up between them and the parking lots.

Steve grabbed the hand that held him and pulled the person to him, risking his life. If they had a shooter positioned - it was Nat. She looked at him, the early dawn giving her straight red hair a warm glow.
"What are you-"
"Come on. I have Sam in the car. We need to leave. You look terrible, too."
Steve followed her, but couldn't grasp the concept of Sam, poisoned Sam in the car and not under medical observation, where he definitely should've been.
"Why do you - Nat, stop. Sam is supposed to be in there and you - you just brought him here. What were you thinking? It's not safe for him."
She frowned. Clearly, she'd hoped to get more support from the soldier.
"He's better. Get in."
"You can't just-"
"Hey brother", Sam grinned, stretched out on the back row, smiling with his eyes half closed. He gave a lazy wave to Steve, who wasn't done with his scolding-speech.
"Hey, Sam. Nat, that's just irresponsible. Give me a good reason why you got him out. Did someone recognize you?" The car moved and she got them away from the parking lots. At this point, he could just hope Sam had a decent amount of medication inside him.
"No."
"Did you see the Remnant?"
"No, I..."
"Were you in danger? How did you carry him to the car? No offense, but he's not a lightweight. And the car? Where did you get it?"
"There was a guy next room who helped. The car? Some guy died this morning, I got his personal stuff, car keys and voilà - a car for your majesty."
"Just like that?"
"Steve." Nat sounded firm, she sent Steve a look that could've scared him off, maybe 70 years ago. Women - the only thing to scare Steve back then and now, he noticed with a hint of nostalgia.
"What did you do for it? Don't look like that. It can't have been nothing."
"It was an emergency situation. I did what I had to."
Steve wasn't convinced, but he didn't like not knowing what happened. His eyebrow was raised and Nat frowned at him. She steered the car through the few streets that were still passable in this celebrating city.
"So, what we know about Sam is that he wasn't poisoned, not really. The doctors couldn't detect a foreign substance in his body, there were no traces of anything suspicious. When they said that, I knew immediately what it was. A short term neurotoxin that usually doesn't kill. It just gives your body the impression that there is no oxygen and incapacitates the victim."
"So, he was choking, but in reality, he wasn't."
"Yes. Ten years ago, Hydra developed the formula for the toxin. It appeared on the black market but vanished after two months. The Remnant is one of the few who still use it." Nat's eyes flitted over Steve's body quickly and she raised an eyebrow.
"Where's the gun I gave you?"
"She took it."
"You shot him though, right?"
"No, Nat. She's still alive."
Steve couldn't see if the spy actually paled a little, next to him, in the low light of the night, but the uncomfortable silence he found himself in said enough.
Despite the bad news, it didn't slip past Steve's tired, but still attentive eyes how often the spy checked the rearview mirror.
"Someone is following us. I can feel it", Nat whispered while hitting the gas pedal a little harder.
Sam raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, you mentioned that twice now."
She sent him a half-serious glare, but made her way around a black jeep, driving way too slow for her liking. She sighed dramatically, earning a grin from both Steve and Sam.
"What! Driving isn't just fun and games."
She sent more than just one look into the mirrors and looked dissatisfied.
"I swear, someone is after us."
Steve shrugged.
"Let's disappear. You can do that, right?"
Natasha gave him a thumbs up and took a few turns that would shake any pursuer.