Is This Love?

Chapter 20 - You should be dead...

Steve's POV

I sprinted behind Nat, confused as she ran up the stairs to Fury's office. What on earth is going on? I woke up to her screams and when I went and woke her up, she jumped out of bed and ran to Fury's office.

We got up to the correct floor and ran down the hallways until she found Fury's office. Nat pounded on the door and even when it was answered she didn't stop, almost whacking Fury in the face. He luckily dodged out of the way just in time and Nat marched in and sat down as Fury closed the door behind us. I swear, this man never sleeps.

"So are you going to tell me what is going on, or did you just come to my office at 3 in the morning to beat me up?" He asked, striding over to take a seat on the other side of the desk, crossing his arms in front of him.

"The symbol on the top of the vials, I know where it is from" Nat announced. Fury raised an eyebrow and spoke up.

"I know." was all he said. What went on in his mind I will never know. Anyway, he continued.

"I know because I just received the data from the analysis of the minerals. These minerals as you know were not how we expected to find them. In fact, the vials contained a serum, which upon further inspection turns out to be the same serum that Natasha has in her body. One that is not unlike yours Steve." He said whilst using his tablet to bring up some of the data.

"The thing is Natasha, the serum should have killed you. The fact that it didn't is an absolute miracle in itself and I have a team investigating that matter further. However, there are more important things that need to be discussed. For starters, because the serum was designed for bodily enhancement and is identical to Natasha's, it means there is someone out there that is either in charge of a fully operational Red Room facility or has some connections to one to source the serum formulas." This caused Natasha to tense up. I rested a comforting hand on her thigh as Fury continued.

"According to my sources, the leader of Raydh was only a pawn in a bigger game. I do not believe that he knew what the minerals were for and was purely doing transporting duties for a large sum of money. I also do not believe that the Red Room is the only one involved in the matter. The Red Room started to collapse after Natasha left as more people found out about it and countries became more aware of the power behind it. This forced the Red Room to work in secret and I don't think that it's strong enough on its own to have a use for more than one thousand bottles of serum."

"So you mean to tell us that there has been another organization backing the Red Room?" I interrupted, needing answers.

"That is correct Rogers, there is some other organization that is backing the Red Room. Most likely giving it resources and financial support." Raydh's file caught my eye as it was sitting on Fury's desk, facing towards Fury. When written backward Raydh looked a lot like Hydra. Too much like Hydra.

I grabbed the file quickly and pulled it towards me for further inspection. Fury raised an eyebrow at my sudden action. I grabbed the pen that was sitting next to it and wrote on the top of the file to demonstrate my point.

"If you re-arrange the letters in Raydh... It spells HYDRA!" I realized.

"Well, shit." Fury cursed loudly, looking at the file closely. Had it have been any other circumstance I would have scolded him for it, but right now it seemed fitting. I was definitely right.

"Does this mean that Hydra and the Red Room are working together?" Nat asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"I believe it does. How on Earth didn't someone pick up on that before now?! Look you two, I need to get this down to the research team and investigate this further. I will let you know when I have more details." He barked before getting up, grabbing the file, and rushing out of the room.

We both sat there in shock for a minute. If what Fury was saying is true and Hydra and Red Room are working together, then this is about to get so much messier than it originally was. Hydra and the Red Room were supposed to be dead. How have they managed to potentially come back? None of this makes sense.

I glanced worriedly at Natasha who was staring blankly at the wall ahead of her.

"You ok Nat?" I asked snapping her out of her staring contest with the wall. She looked over to me, her eyes filled with emotion.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? It's not like I just found out that the organization that turned me into a killing machine is not only still around but has ordered a thousand bottles of serum to turn a thousand more innocent girls into killing machines too." She said sarcastically, getting out of the chair.

I caught her by the arm and turned her around to face me. She didn't struggle this time, instead just deciding to glare at me. I wrapped her into a hug and she relaxed under me.

"If it makes you feel any better, you aren't alone in what you are feeling. I also just found out that the organization that turned my best friend into a killing machine is also back to torment others." I said quietly as I rested my chin on top of her head.

She nuzzled into my chest further and held onto me as if I was the only thing that was keeping her upright. I lifted my head and tried to move away a little but she clung harder to my shirt.

"If that's how it's going to be then I guess you give me no other choice," I said cheekily as I picked her up bridal style and carried her out of Fury's office, and closed the door behind us. I thought saw something out of the corner of my eye but when I looked down the hallway there was definitely nothing there. I must be so tired, I've started seeing things.

We walked back to the elevator and got in.

"Put me down, Rogers." She reasoned trying her best to suppress a giggle.

"Nope," I answered smiling down at her cheekily. She could have gotten out of my grasp if she really wanted to but she clearly didn't or couldn't be bothered to try as she stayed still as the elevator opened on our floor.

I carried her all the way back to her room and used her thumbprint to open her door. I didn't put her down until I had placed her gently onto her king bed. I reached over her to turn off the lamp. Just as I was about to straighten up and walk out of the room, Nat grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me down onto her.

I put out my arms on either side of her to support my weight as to not squish her as I fell, my face mere inches from hers.

"Can you stay with me?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at me innocently and smirking.

"You could have just asked," I said as I gave her a quick kiss on the lips before rolling off her onto the other side of the bed and tucking myself in. She moved over and snuggled into my chest. The last thing I remember that night was kissing her on the crown of her head before I fell into a deep sleep. Our little early morning adventure had definitely tired me out.

I just hoped that I was wrong about Raydh being connected to Hydra because I really just wanted everything to be over. However, after the events of tonight, it looks like this mission is far from over.