"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha smirked at Steve as they drove to New Jersey. Steve was driving, with Natasha sprawled in the passenger seat. Maggie was in the back, sipping on a can of Redbull she'd found in the minifridge in the back of the car.
"Nazi Germany," Steve said.
"Hm," Natasha hummed.
"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash," Steve said. Natasha smirked but took them down.
"Now you sound like Nat," Maggie said. Both adults rolled their eyes.
"Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?" Natasha said.
"Oh, this will be good," Maggie said.
"What?" Steve sighed.
"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Natasha asked. Maggie laughed loudly in the back, making Steve blush slightly.
"That bad, huh?" Steve said.
"I didn't say that. Magdalena, stop laughing," Natasha scolded. Maggie rolled her eyes but shut up.
"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying," Steve said.
"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had," Natasha said.
"You don't need practice," Steve said.
"Everybody needs practice," Maggie said. She'd never even had her first kiss. Being a child assassin didn't really do much for her dating life.
"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead," Steve scoffed.
"Nobody special, though?" Natasha said. Steve chuckled.
"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience," Steve said.
"Well, that's alright. You just make something up," Natasha said.
"What, like you?" Steve said.
"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances. It's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I," Natasha said.
"That's a tough way to live," Steve said.
"Yeah," Maggie mumbled.
"It's a good way not to die, though," Natasha said quietly.
"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is," Steve said.
"Yeah, who do you want me to be?" Natasha looked at Steve.
"How about a friend?" Steve said.
"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers," Natasha chuckled lightly.
"Are we gonna ignore the fact that Nat just got friendzoned?" Maggie said.
"What?" Steve said.
"Slang," Natasha said quickly.
"You're ruining my Avenger mom and dad couple," Maggie fake scowled, making them both laugh.
Steve pulled the car to a stop outside of an abandoned military base where the signal had led them to.
"This is it," Steve said. The three of them piled out of the car.
"The file came from these coordinates," Natasha eyed the coordinates on the metal gates.
"So did I," Steve said quietly.
"Let's get looking," Maggie sighed, leading them into the gates.
"This camp is where I was trained," Steve spoke up an hour later.
"Changed much?" Natasha asked.
"A little," Steve said.
Natasha sighed.
"This is a dead end. Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off," she said. Steve perked up and Maggie frowned.
"What is it?" she said. He picked up his pace down the steps and towards a building. The girls followed him quickly.
"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place," Steve said.
He hit the lock on the building with his shield. They walked inside and Maggie flicked on the lights.
"This is SHIELD," Natasha looked around the office space with a frown.
"Maybe where it started," Steve said.
Maggie wandered into a room, seeing old framed portraits of Howard Stark, Peggy Carter and Colonel Chester Phillips.
"There's Tony's father," Maggie pointed at Howard.
"Howard," Steve nodded.
"Who's the girl?" Natasha eyed Peggy's portrait.
"Peggy Carter," Maggie answered.
Steve stormed off down the room quickly. Maggie frowned, she and Natasha jogging after him.
"If you're already working in a secret office..." Steve pushed a bookshelf aside to reveal an elevator, "Why do you need to hide the elevator?" he said.
"I don't like this," Maggie winced, the three of them getting on the elevator anyway.
They headed down into a room with old computers. Natasha frowned.
"This can't be the data-point, this technology is ancient," Natasha said.
"What's that?" Maggie pointed at a flash drive port on the desk. Natasha quickly put the drive in, activating the ancient computer.
"Initiate system?" the computer said.
"Y-E-S spells yes," Natasha smirked as she typed on the computer. "Shall we play a game?" she joked. She looked back at Steve and Maggie. "It's from a movie that-" she started.
"Yeah, we saw it together last week," Steve and Maggie nodded.
"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984. Sokolov, Magdalena Stefania. Born, 1998," the computer said, a photograph of a face flickering on and off the screen. They looked up sharply.
An old camera was analysing them.
"It's some kind of a recording," Natasha frowned.
"I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am," the computer said. It showed an old photograph of Dr. Arnim Zola in his prime.
"Do you know this thing?" Natasha said.
"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years," Steve said. Maggie's stomach plummeted.
"First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain," the computer said.
"How did you get here?" Steve asked.
"Invited," Zola said.
"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value," Steve explained quickly.
"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own," Zola said.
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull," Steve said. Maggie and Natasha stiffened. They both knew it wasn't, but Fury had requested they just tell the others that only the Red Room was after them.
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place," Zola said.
"Prove it," Steve said.
"Accessing archive," Zola said. The screen started showing old footage of Red Skull back in the HYDRA days. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed," Zola said.
Maggie felt her stomach sink even more. It was like she was being dunked with ice cold water. She knew HYDRA exist, but within SHIELD? Had Nick Fury known her father, the one who had screwed her up?
"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you," Natasha said. Maggie stepped back from the computer slowly.
"Accidents will happen," Zola said. The screen changed to show files.
The death of Howard and Maria Stark had been orchestrated by HYDRA to look like a car accident. Fury had been killed by Hydra. A photograph of Maggie flashed across the screen. It was a missing person's report for when she was four years old. Her mother had issued this one. Her father had never issued one, knew his work would be revealed if he did.
Natasha and Steve looked slowly at Maggie. Her face was pale, eyes wide as she stared at the report in horror.
"Kid?" Steve said. "What's going on?" he said.
Maggie didn't answer.
"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life; a zero sum," Zola said.
Steve punched the computer screen, smashing it completely.
"As I was saying," another computer lit up quickly with Zola's voice.
"What's on this drive?" Steve asked.
"Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm," Zola said.
"What kind of algorithm? What does it do?" Natasha asked.
"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it," Zola said.
The elevator doors started to close. Steve launched his shield at it but it was too late. They were trapped.
"Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops," Natasha said quickly.
"Who fired it?" Maggie asked.
"SHIELD," Natasha looked at Maggie with dread.
"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us...out of time," Zola said.
Steve looked around quickly, noticing a grate on the floor. He ripped it up and grabbed Maggie, throwing her down first. She landed on the floor, Natasha landing on top of her a second later.
"Ow!" Maggie hissed. Steve dropped down, covering them with his shield as the building exploded above them.
Maggie buried her face in Natasha's neck while the rubble fell down on them. Another piece fell and the shield collapsed against Steve's chest. A piece of rubble hit Maggie and Natasha on the heads, knocking them out.
"Okay, c'mon," Natasha eased Maggie to her feet as they got out of the car to go to Sam's house.
Natasha wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her up the steps. The door opened and Sam blinked at them a few times.
"Hey, man," Sam said.
"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low," Steve said.
"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha said quietly. Sam took a minute to look them up and down, taking in their bruises and how dirty they were.
"Not everyone," Sam said.
He stepped aside and let them into the house.
"Okay, all clean?" Natasha said, handing the hairbrush to Maggie as she stood in the bathroom.
"All clean," Maggie said quietly. She started brushing through her tatty wet hair with a frown.
"I'll do it," Natasha said. Maggie handed the brush over.
Natasha brushed her hair and then split it into two, starting to braid it for Maggie.
"You gonna tell me what Zola was talking about today?" Natasha said.
"I lied to you," Maggie said bluntly.
"About what?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Everything, really. Well, not everything. Just, uh, most things?" Maggie trailed off.
"Explain," Natasha said.
"My mom and dad got divorced when I was three. He had custody every other weekend. It was my weekend to go and he never took me home. He experimented on me and then I got abducted by the Red Room. They sold me back when I was ten to HYDRA. Guess who their top scientist was? My dad," Maggie said sarcastically.
Natasha turned Maggie around to look at her.
"Your dad did this to you?" she said.
"He did so much more than this to me," Maggie muttered. She looked down at her converse, staring at a few of the blood spots on them.
"Do you know the Winter Soldier?" Natasha said.
Maggie pulled up her shirt, revealing the healing bullet scar.
"That's new," Natasha frowned.
"It was old. I was eleven. Soviet slug, no rifling," Maggie said. Natasha's face dropped as she realised what had happened, and why it was new again.
"You lied about your dreams. You said you didn't know what had happened, it was a one time thing. It happened again, didn't it?" Natasha said.
Maggie yanked her shirt back down and opened the bathroom door to leave.
"Maggie, stop!" Natasha grabbed her hand quickly.
"Get off me!" Maggie yelled, pulling her hand free. She was on edge with everything happening and, as comforting as she found Natasha, she didn't want to be touched.
"Maggie, stop," Natasha said again, but held her hands up. "I just wanna help, but I can't do that unless you tell me what's going on," she said.
"I don't want to tell you what's going on. You'll look at me like I'm a freak when you find out and I can't deal with that. Not from you and not right now," Maggie said.
Natasha studied Maggie before making a calculated decision.
She stepped forward and wrapped Maggie tightly in her arms, pulling her down onto her lap as she sat them on the bathroom floor.
"Get off me!" Maggie cried again, trying to wriggle free, but Natasha held on tighter.
"No. You're gonna calm down, you're gonna let me hold you and we're gonna sort this shit out. Stop fighting me," Natasha said.
"Get off!" Maggie scratched at Natasha's arms but she still didn't let go.
She held on until Maggie broke down in sobs, burying her face into Natasha's neck so she wouldn't see her break down. Natasha cooed and stroked Maggie's hair until her sobs had subsided enough for Maggie to be able to comprehend whatever Natasha wanted to tell her.
"Mags," Natasha said quietly. Maggie sniffed in reply. "These dreams, do you have them often?" she said.
"I never stopped having them," Maggie whispered.
"When did you start having them?" Natasha said.
"When he started experimenting on me the first time," Maggie said.
"And you didn't tell me," Natasha said. "Why?" she said.
"I didn't want you to look at me weird or like I'm some broken mess," Maggie muttered.
"I have never looked at you like that. I believe you about everything, Maggie, and I don't think you're a broken mess. I just think you've had a shitty life so far and you don't believe that anybody can look past that because you can't look past it," Natasha said.
"What?" Maggie frowned.
"People do bad things in order to survive. You did bad things to survive. I did, too. And you feel like, if you tell people about your past, then they can hurt you. I used to think that, too. Sometimes, I still do. But it doesn't make you weak or stupid to tell people. It makes you brave and strong and I love that you're brave and strong enough to tell me," Natasha said.
Maggie didn't answer and Natasha sighed, kissing her forehead softly.
"I love you, Magdalena," Natasha whispered.
"Why?" Maggie whispered back, confusion evident in her voice.
"Because I do. That's what happens when you meet people who you call family. That's what happens when you meet kickass kids like you," Natasha chuckled, wiping the tears from Maggie's face.
She leaned forward and kissed her forehead again, lingering a moment to press another kiss to the scar around her hairline. More tears streamed down Maggie's face and she turned, starting to sob into Natasha's chest again.
"What's wrong?" Natasha whispered, smoothing her wet hair down.
"You love me," Maggie sobbed.
"I know. Am I not supposed to?" Natasha frowned slightly.
"No, 'cause I'm a monster. I killed people," Maggie cried.
"So did I," Natasha said. "You don't think I'm a monster, do you?" she said.
"No," Maggie sniffed.
"Exactly. You're making amends, Mags. You're changing for the better. Everything is gonna be okay, I promise you," she said.
"You can't promise that," Maggie looked up at Natasha for the first time.
"You trust me?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Maggie said, without hesitation.
"Then I promise that I'm gonna do everything to make it okay," Natasha smiled. She smoothed her thumbs across Maggie's cheeks to wipe her tears. "I do love you, though. A lot," Natasha said.
Maggie sniffed and slotted her face back into Natasha's neck. Nobody had told her they loved her since she was four years old and had been saying goodbye to her mother. Nobody had hugged her like this or talked to her like this for as long as she could remember.
It was like Natasha was filling in all the holes of Maggie's broken heart, not just with tape and glue, but with love and structure and stability. Maggie's chest heaved with another sob.
Natasha was her family.
"I killed him," Maggie whispered. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Who?" she said.
"My dad. To escape, I killed him. He sent me on a mission and I tried to desert. He came to get me and I killed him and escaped. I killed him," Maggie whispered.
Natasha just pressed another kiss to her forehead.
"It's okay. I don't blame you," Natasha whispered.
They sat on the bathroom floor for ten minutes, Maggie curled up on Natasha's lap as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Natasha rubbed her back rhythmically, eyes closed herself as she listened to Maggie's breathing.
"Hey," Steve knocked on the bathroom door quietly. "She okay?" he said.
"No, but she will be," Natasha said. "The nightmare she had?" she said.
"Yeah," Steve said.
"They've been happening since she was four. She was shot by the Winter Soldier when she was younger and she had the nightmare a while back. The wound is fresh. When she gets hurt in her dreams, she's hurt in real life," Natasha said.
"Is she in pain?" Steve knelt beside them to look at Maggie. He couldn't see much of her face because of how tightly she was clinging to Natasha, but he could see that she looked completely relaxed in Natasha's arms.
"I don't know. What's up, anyway?" she said.
"Breakfast is ready," Steve said.
Natasha nodded and started moving to get to her feet.
"You want me to take her?" Steve said.
"No. I'm okay," Natasha said. She stood up and carried Maggie out of the bathroom after Steve.
"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha said as the three adults ate breakfast. Maggie was now half awake on Natasha's lap still, but hadn't touched her plate yet in fear that she'd vomit from how uneasy she still felt.
"Pierce," Steve said.
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," Natasha said sarcastically.
"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star," Steve said.
"So was Jasper Sitwell," Natasha said.
"So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve said.
"The answer is: you don't," Sam dropped a file in front of Steve.
"What's this?" Steve asked.
"Call it a resume," Sam said. Natasha showed Maggie a photo of Sam with his para-rescue team.
"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you," Natasha said. She turned to Steve. "You didn't say he was a para-rescue," Natasha said.
"Is this Riley?" Steve said.
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" Natasha said.
"No, these," Sam said. He handed Steve a file. Steve opened it and Maggie peered over curiously.
She looked up at Sam with a smirk. So, Sam was a bird/man Avenger thing. Cool.
"I thought you said you were a pilot," Steve said.
"I never said pilot," Sam snorted.
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason," Steve said.
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in," Sam said.
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Steve nodded at the mechanical backpack flying suit thing.
"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall," Sam said. Steve looked at Natasha and Maggie, who shrugged.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Steve said confidently.