2014
Steve and Nats Pov
Steve stood by the glass window looking inside to see one of his friends. Rage and anger filled him, he wanted revenge. But he couldn't shake the thought of the little girl by the man with the mask, what is a little girl doing with a murderer?.
Suddenly the doors flew open and Natasha walked in "Is he gonna make it? '' She swallowed thickly while the surgeon was operating on him, the tube that helped him breath made Natasha speechless. He was the man that gave her a second chance when Clint took her in, if he doesn't make it what's she's supposed to do?
"I don't know" Steve sounded deffeded. The man with the mask was too strong to be a normal human being and he had seen some weird stuff since coming out of the ice but a metal arm might just top it.
"Tell me about the shooter"
"He is fast, strong, has a metal arm and a child following him. A little girl" Steve whispered the last part, he couldn't believe it. He felt the need to save her, the blue doey eyes begging him to release her from the prison. He didn't fail to notice that the hair was almost white, she had probably been kept out of sunlight for a very long time.
Natasha froze when she heard about the shooter, she knew who it was and they were never going to find them. She tried all those years ago, and she faintly remembers her teenage years, a girl, the dancing and combat training.
"Ballistics" Natasha wanted to throw up the flashbacks of him shooting her and the little girl saving her life. "No slugs, no rifling, completely untraceable" Maria started looking at her dear friend.
"Soviet-made '' Natasha whispered it was just like the last time and her time in the red room, did they have a connection. Did the red room control The Winter Soldier? They couldn't be she stopped the red room, but what if she didn't?
"Yeah" Maria turned her head to look at Natasha. The sound of a long beep echoed through the surgical room, he flatlined. He died, Nick Fury died of a murderer they would never find.
"Don't do this to me Nick, don't do this' ' Natasha whispered, watching the doctors trying to save him.
Steve turned around to leave when the doctors called it, Natasha held back her tears and Maria was watching in disbelief.
Natasha stood in front of Nick, they had cleaned him up from the blood and had a white sheet covering him so you could just see his upper chest and face. Her arms were crossed, she knew she had to find them. Save the girl and kill the murderer who shoot her friend.
"I need to take him" Maria came up to Steve. Steve stood behind Natasha up against the wall watching his dead friend from afar. He knew the flash drive that was in his hand had something to do with death. He couldn't trust anyone, that's what he told him before he died.
Steve walked up to Natasha and she knew it was time to say goodbye. She placed her hand on his head, wishing him the best in the afterlife. She turend around and stormed out of the room, the guilt and sadness turned into rage. "Natasha!" Steve called after her.
"Why was Fury in your apartment?" Natasha snapped "I don't know" Stve looked away and signed before looking at Natasha again "Cap they want you back at Shield" Rumlow said "Yeah give me a second" "They want you now" Rumlow insisted "Okay"
"You are a terrible liar" Natasha smirked, she looked right through him. He knew something and she is going to find out what it was.
Steve looked around and he knew he had to hide the drive, he couldn't take it back to shield. The vending machine was right beside him, he slipped it in behind the gum when the man that refiled it turned away.
Steve returned to the SHIELD headquarters. Steve took the elevator up in his suit "Captain Rogers" Sharon looked at him "Neighbor" Steve didn't even glance at her before entering Pierce's office. "Oh Captain, I'm Alexander Pierce" He introduced himself shaking hands "Sir it's and honor"
"The honor is mine. My father served in 101st, come in"
"The photo was taken 5 years after me and Nick met," Peirce explained as Steve looked at an old photo as Peirce explained the story behind it.
"Why was Nick in your apartment last night?" Peirce asked looking directly into his eyes "I don't know" It sounded rehurst he had practiced his answer a million times in the elevator. "Did you know it was bugged"
"Yes he told me"
"Did you know it was him that bugged it?" Steve looked at Peirce; he knew it was something he would do. Peirce smirked a little looking at his stunned face.
Pierce showed a video of the criminal from his earlier mission. Fury had apparently hired him to be on that ship. Steve knew the ship was dirty but he didn't know that it was Fury who hired him.
"Captain, you were the last one to see him alive. I don't think that was an accident. And I don't think you do either. So I'm going to ask again, why was he there?"
"He told me not to trust anyone"
"I wonder if that included him"
"I'm sorry. Those were his last words. Excuse me" Steve started to walk towards the door.
"Captain, somebody murdered my friend and I'm gonna find out why. Anyone gets in my way, they are gonna regret it. Anyone." Steve nodded once "Understood" And he walked out of his new office.
Steve walks into the elevator "Operation control" he looked out the glass window "Confirmed" the AI spoke and closed the doors. As the doors were about to close Rumlow stepped in with a few from his STRIKE team.
"Cap"
"Rumlow"
"Evidence respondes found some fibers on the roof they wanted us to see. You want me to get the tag team ready?" Rumlow asked, "No, let's wait to see what it is first" Steve responded. The tension was thick between them "Right"
The elevator stopped a few floors down and more men came in, they had suitcases in their hands. Steve could see the guards from the STRIKE team became more and more nervous to be in the elevator.
"I'm sorry about what happened to Fury '' Rumlow spoke to Steve. Steve stood in the middle of all the men having a clear view of them all. "It's messed up what happened to him" Rumlow spoke with empathy.
"Thank you"
Steve saw one of the men sweating beside him, the elevator wasn't hot. Something wasn't right, he could feel it in his gut.
The elevator stopped again a few floors down and three huge guards came in pressing Steve further into the elevator.
"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" Steve asked, looking around. The man in front of him took out an electric whip and tried to stab Steve. Steve doughed it but was grabbed from behind. Men held his arms and someone choked him from behind.
The suitcases the men held fell apart so only the handle was inplace, they held the handle up to his wrists and Steve could feel it pulling him towards the metal of the elevator. But he kicked the men in front of him and managed to pull his wrist away from the metal.
He kicked and punched the men coming towards him while a man behind him tried to choke him out. Rumlow hit him with the electrical whip "Whoa, big guy. I just want you to know cap, it's nothing personal" Rumlow lashed out trying to hit Steve but Steve knocked Rumlow out with one punch.
"It kinda feels personal"
Steve punched the button on the elevator to see men running in tactical gear screaming at him to stand down. Steve slaced the wires that held up the elevator and it fell down until the emergency brakes kicked in. Steve opened the door to find more men coming running, he closed the doors and looked around to find a way to escape.
Steve backed away from the window as the agents outside of the door told him to open the door. He ran for the window and held his shield up smashing the window, he used his shield to shield him from the roof below him. He landed on his shield with a groan.
He quickly got up and ran for the garage where his bike was parked. He jumped on, the garage started to close but he managed to jump out at the last second. As he stirred the bike across the bridge, spikes came up preventing him from going further. A S.H.I.E.L.D jet came and told him to stand down before starting to fire at him. He threw his shield hitting one of the motors and jumped on the jet to retreat his shield.
He ran for the hospital but before he got there he managed to find some clothes. When he got there he went for the venting maschine only to find the drive wasn't there. Natasha came up behind him chewing the bubble gum. Steve turned around and grabbed her arm pushing her into the room behind them.
"Where is it?" Steve questioned pushing her up against the wall.
"Safe" Natasha replied.
"You better"
"Where did you get it?"
"Why would I tell you?" Steve had a tight grip on her arms.
"Fury gave it to you, why?" Natasha looked into his eyes making sure he wasn't lying to her.
"What's on it?"
"I don't know"
"Stop lying" Steve pushed her further up against the wall.
"I only act like I know everything Rogers" They both knew the ship was dirty, and Natasha knew way before Steve did.
"I'm not going to ask you again" Steve was starting to get mad at her lies and Natasha could see it.
"I know who killed Fury," She confessed.
Steve's grip on her loosens ''Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe they exist. The ones who do call them The Winter Soldier and the Winter's Child. The soldier is created with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years and the girl is believed to be the most powerful being on this planet"
"So they are a ghost story?"
"5 years ago I was escording a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control over the car and went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier and the girl were there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me. Soviet slug, no rifling. But the girl safed me" Natasha explained, lifted up her shirt to show no scar
"She can heal any wound or injury to the point of no scarring, she can feel things, hear things. Steve she is the most powerful human being on this planet to this date. She can take down empires from the inside just by looking at the right person. She is the dangerous one"
"Why did she save you?" Steve could feel the chill running down his spine. He had met people with powers before but nothing to this extent.
Natasha shuggeld "She said she knew me, but I don't know her." She swallowed thickly; she had been looking into them over the years and looking back at her own reports from the red room and seeing that they had been there to teach the girls and herself. But she can't remember them.
"Going after them is a dead end. I know I have tired" She held up the drive "Like you said they are a ghost story" Steve grabbed the drive "Well let's find out that the ghosts wants"
Steve and Natashs entered the mall in D.C finding an apple store to find out what's on the drive. "First rule on going on the run is don't run, walk" They were both in their disguise Steve were wearing a cap and glasses with normal clothes and Natasha had a hood on.
"If I run in these shoes they are gonna fall off"
When they entered the store Natasha plugged the drive in and started to hack into it. It was proven to be rather hard, whatever was on it had to be something important.
"How much time do we have?" Steve questioned "About nine minutes" Natashe responded. Steve was looking frantic around trying to see if something was off and they needed to run.
"This drive is protected by some kind of AI" Natasha tabbed on the computer frantically trying to get in.
"I'm gonna try to run a tracer. If we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from"
"Can I help you guys with anything?" A guy with long blond hair came up to them and they both snapped their heads towards him. "Oh no. My fiance was just trying to help me with some honeymoon destinations" Natasha quickly snapped into the obvious undercover story clearly used to being undercover.
"Right, we are getting married," Steve said awkwardly.
"Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?" The man smiled brightly at them
"New Jersey," Steve exclaimed. The man stared at him intently and Steve started to get nervous thinking they got busted. " I have the exact same glasses" Steve nodded, flooded with relief.
"Wow you are practically twins" Natasha sounded not interested in what the man had to say and kept focusing on the computer in front of her.
"Yeah I wish" The man held up his arms in front of Steve's body guestering to his body.
"You said nine minutes come on" Steve cheeked his watch for the 20th time they had been in the store "Relax. Got it" Natasha looked at Steve "You know it" Steve moved closer to the screen "I used to. Let's go"
Steve took the drive and they walked out of the store "Standard tac team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us " Steve whispered. "If they make us I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro" Steve explained his plan. "Shut up and put your arm around me. Laughing at something I said" Natashs quickly shut his plan down.
"What?"
"Do it"
Steve put his arm around her, turning his head towards her and they laughed until they got by them. When they got to the escalator they noticed Rumlow was on the opposite side.
"Kiss me" Natasha turned around to Steve
"What?"
"Public displays of affection makes people very uncomfortable"
"Yes they do"
Natasha pulled Steve down for a kiss, it didn't escalate, they didn't move. Natahs pulled away when they were at the bottom of the stairs, "You still unformattable?" She smirked, turned around and "Not exactly the word I would use" Steve responded walking after her.
"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" They sat in the car driving towards the location.
"Natz Germany" Steve adjusted in his seat. "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash" Natasha smirked and took her feet off.
"I have a question for you, but you don't have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you kinda answer-''''What?" Steve interrupted. "Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Natasha couldn't help herself but smirk when he started to blush.
"That bad huh?"
"I didn't say that"
"I was just wondering how much practice you have had," Natasha pressed on.
"I don't need practice"
"Everyone needs practice" She wanted to laugh at how red his cheeks got "You're not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95 not dead"
The car got quiet with the small talk in between until they arrived at the location. The location was abandoned, and they looked around until it got dark "This camp is where I got trained" Steve looked around, nothing had changed then again everything had changed.
The buildings had rusted and the windows were smashed. Nothing was inside the buildings, it was all emphy. Steve could still see his small sick self taking the flag and getting a ride with Peggy.
"This is a dead end. There are zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio." Natasha placed her devices into her pocket. "What is it?" Natasha asked when she sat Steve looking at a building.
"Army relocation forbid storing munitions, within 500 yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place" Steve used his shield to destroy the lock. They walked down the stairs and turned on the lights. It looked like an old office with the SHIELD logo at the end.
"This is SHIELD"
"Maybe were it started"
They walked around, everything was covered in dust on the table office chairs. There were cobwebs in the ceiling. Steve opened a door into a room where it looked to be held storage with pictures of the cofounders of SHIELD.
"If you already work in a secret office. Why do you need to hide the elevator?" Steve pushed the wall to the side to reveal an old elevator.
They took the elevator down. It was dark when they entered, the door of the elevator closed behind them leaving them in the dark. The light turned on revealing a massive computer from the 80's. The only thing new was the device to place the flash drive in.
Natasha placed the drive into the device and everything turned on. You could hear the computer starting to warm up slowly before turning on. Natasha spelled 'yes' onto the computer "Shall we play a game" Natasha joked lowering her voice.
"From a movie-"
"I know, I saw it"
A face lid up on the screen "Rogers, Steven born 1918" The camera moved over to Natasha "Romanoff, Natalia Alianova, born 1984" The voice had an accent. Steve felt like he recognized the voice from somewhere then it started speaking.
"It's some kind of recording" Natasha frowned in confusion "I am not a recording frauline. I may not be the man I was, when the Captain took my prisoner in 1945. But I am" A picture popped up of the man, with very little hair on his head with glasses. He was wearing a lab coat.
"You know this thing?" Natasha questioned.
"Armin Zola, was a German scientist who worked for Red Skull. He's been dead for years" Steve circled the computer.
"First correction, I'm swiss. Second look around, I have never been more alive. In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind however was worth saving, on 200 feet databanks. You are standing in my brain" Zola spoke.
"How did you get here?" Steve questioned
"Invited" Zola responded
" It was an operation paperclip after world war two" Natasha explained a little about what it was.
"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped on my own."
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull" Steve interfered.
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."
"Prove it"
"Accessing archive" Pictures and reports started to pop on the screen for them to see "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 their freedom willingly. After the war SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew, a beautiful parasite inside SHIELD.For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate, history was changed" Images of the soldier and the child were shown of their missions rewriting history.
"That's not possible SHIELD would have stopped you" Natasha took a step forward looking at the screen of the little girl and the soldier.
"Accidents will happen" An image of the news report of the death of Howard Stark popped up. "HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally to surrender its freedom to gain security. Once the purification is complete. HYDRAs new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life a zero sum" Zola explained HYDRAs final plan to take over the world.
Steve saw red and destroyed the screen only for Zola to show himself on another screen. "What's on this drive" Steve demanded "Project insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm"
"What kind of algorithm?" Natasha asked.
"The answer to your question is fascinating, Unfortunately you will be too dead to hear it." The elevator behind them started to get blocked and Steve threw his shield but was too slow.
"Steve we got a bogey" Natasha looked at her device to see it moving closer and closer towards them. "Who fired it"
"SHIELD"
"I am afraid I have been stalling Captain. Admit it. It's better this way. We are both out of time" Steve looked around and pulled the metal up from the ground and grabbed Natasha and pulled her inside before the explosion went off.
A/N: I cut some of the monolog short because we all know what's going happening