The Winter Soldier
I have been working on assignments for SHIELD. I have been on my solo missions for a while before Fury places me with Clint and Natasha, as they are some of the best agents. I am working with a new team, STRIKE, containing Cap, Nat, and some dickhead named Rumlow. I am currently walking out of my house and to my motorcycle when I get a message telling me I have a mission.
'Report to SHIELD. Team: STRIKE'
I see the message is from Fury, letting out a deep sigh in response and placing my helmet on. I grab my phone and check the time; Steve will still be running at the Constitutional Gardens; with the destination in mind, I roar my motorcycle to life and speed down the driveway and onto the road.
I glide through traffic, weaving in and out of all the lanes, the wind whipping my hair behind me and adrenaline running hot through my veins. I start driving around the National Mall and make my way towards the Gardens, making my bike jump the curb onto the sidewalk when I look toward the two men standing next to a tree. I prop my bike on the kickstand and swing my leg over my bike.
"Hello, boys. I am looking for a ninety-something-year-old grandpa. You see one?" I tease Steve with a smirk when I finally saunter my way up to Steve and some guy I don't know.
Steve looks at me with a smirk, "You are so funny. You should go into comedy."
I lightly chuckle while prodding him with my elbow, "Now, who's the funny one." I turn my body toward the unknown man and nod, "Who are you?"
"Sam Wilson." I nod my head and open my mouth, "I'm-"
"You don't have to tell me how you are. Everyone knows how you are, Nikolina Volkova." I raise an eyebrow at him, and a small smile graces my face.
"I'm flattered," I say dryly; my attention is soon drawn to Steve again.
"Nikki, what are you doing here?" I hear his phone ding signaling a message.
I point my finger directly at it, "Mission." I blandly vocalize while grabbing the key to my bike and walking back to the glorious motorcycle.
My heels click hard against the cement as we all begin making our way to the curb; a black Corvette drives up to the curb and unrolls the window. "You didn't want to park like a normal person, Nikki?"
I bend at the waist lightly and peer through the window, "Now, where is the fun in that, Nat."
Straddling the bike, the familiar low rumble of the engine idling between my legs as I wait for Steve and Nat to finish their conversation; getting impatient, I lean against the top curve of the bike while revving the engine. Steve takes the cue and hops into the Corvette; he says something to Sam before the engine roars. They pull away from the curb and speed off, giving Sam a two-finger salute as I race past him. I come up behind the Corvette and swerve to the right side. Steve shakes his head at me while laughing, and I give them the middle finger before weaving my way through the traffic to the SHIELD building.
I pull into the parking garage and put my bike in my designated parking area next to Nat's and Steve's. As I put the kickstand on the ground, an engine roars, filling the parking garage; Natasha pulls up right next to me. I grab the bag from the bike's back and search the contents to find my badge. I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk to the door that leads into SHIELD.
Steve and Natasha walk on either of my sides as we make our way to the badge scanner; we huddle into the elevator and command it to take us to the mission-ready floor. We enter our changing rooms, and Natasha and I go to our cubbies for our uniforms.
"What are you thinking about, Nik?" Nat asks me as I pull my tank top over my head, the cold air causing goosebumps to appear.
"What do you mean? I'm not thinking about anything?" Hearing a scuff behind me, I turn my head to look over at the redhead.
"Oh, come on," Nat turns around and grabs the under armor, throwing a set at me, "I know you; there isn't a moment when you don't have a plan, suspicion, or racing thoughts."
I am sliding the top layer of the uniform, a leather-kevlar material, over my legs, coming to rest at the curve of my hips. "True. I do have a shit ton of thoughts running through my mind, but I still need to figure them out."
Tucking the shirt into the suit, Nat helps with getting the tight material up the length of my arms before turning around, silently asking me to help her as well. Once both of us are fully clothed, the sound of zippers traveling upward is the only sound in the room.
"Can you at least tell me one of them?" Nat hands over a set of thigh holsters and a couple of extra ammunition clips of my guns.
Turning around, I hold out some throwing knives for her to take while placing my own sets all over the uniform; the sheathes for my swords are put on my back, and a clip for a hatchet is on the left hip. Nat pulls on each strap, ensuring they are secure, and tightens when necessary. While she fastens her thigh holsters, I grab one of her wrists and make the bracelets light up with electricity.
"Fine." She hits the button on the door framing, causing it to slide open, and we head out to a Quinjet where the rest of the teams are loading, waiting for us. "Do you know that Natasha backward is 'Ah Satan?'"
Nat stops and slowly turns her head to me, her eyebrows pulling together and her lips slightly pursed. She holds eye contact for a moment before continuing walking, "you're an idiot."
"You asked my thoughts; I never said they were intelligent." With that, I see Steve walk out of the building and head towards us, his eyes flickering back and forth, confused, probably because of my smug look and Nat's slightly murderous one.
"I don't want to know." He chimes us before climbing onto the jet with us, following him and greeting our team.
"New outfit?" I inquire at Steve, seeing that his uniform is darker and less noticeable, better suited for SHIELD missions. He looks down at the attire adorning his body, the shield attached to his back.
He nods his head up and down, "Yeah. It seems better to have darker colors for the missions." I nod in understanding while silently agreeing with him.
"Well, it looks good on you." My compliment makes Steve's cheeks burn a bright red; his chin falls to his chest in embarrassment, causing a slight flutter in my chest and a chuckle to come from me. The jet takes off, and soon we are zooming through the air; I sit in one of the seats, and Steve plops beside me. I pull my sword off my back and begin sharpening the blade, the sound breaking the silence surrounding us.
"Where did you get the swords?" Steve curiously asks me while I look over the blade.
I look down at them and smile before holding the hilt out to him, "Thor gave them to me when I went to Asgard with him." Steve's hand grasps the blade handle and holds it in his hand.
"It has a good weight to it." I nod before reaching for it again; his hand gingerly hands me the weapon, ensuring I have a good before fully letting go.
About ten minutes from our destination, Brock Rumlow begins to debrief us, "The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. They were sending their last payload when pirates took them ninety-three minutes ago." Steve, Nat, and I were all staring at the screen showing us the ship's outlay.
"Any demands?" Steve asks Rumlow.
"Yeah. A billion and a half."
I watch confusion run across Steve's face, "Why so steep?"
Rumlow answers Steve a little reluctantly, "It's SHIELD's."
Steve's face falls into a sour expression before he continues speaking his opinion, "So it's not off course. It's trespassing." I peek through my hair to watch him before Natasha defends SHIELD, "I'm sure they
have a good reason."
Steve pivots his head towards Natasha, eyes narrowing while glowering at her. He turns to me while I stare at the screen, "You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor."
I sigh before looking deep into his crystal blue eyes, "Steve, this is what we are here to do. We have done this a thousand times." His jaw muscle tightly clenches before he twists towards the redhead.
"Yeah, listen to Nikki. Relax. It's not that complicated." She mutters to the super-soldier. He turns his attention to Rumlow, "How many pirates?"
He turns his attention to me, and I realize he wants me to answer him. "Twenty-five top mercenaries led by this man," I pause and step forward before and drag my finger across the screen, and a picture pops up, "Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. He holds a rep for maximum casualties."
He nods his head in understanding, "Hostages?" A picture of Jasper Sitwell pops up on the screen, "Mostly tech, but there is one officer." I point to the image and announce, "Jasper Sitwell."
"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve mutters into my ear, and I look him in the eyes before whispering back, "That is what I want to know. Something's not right here." He confirms my suspicions by discreetly nodding at me before turning back to the whole team.
"Nik, you and I will clear the deck. I'll find Batroc. Nat, kill the engines and wait for instruction. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to life pods, get them out. Let's move."
We all nod in understanding and move towards the back of the ship before Rumlow announces for the team to gear up. Nat and I are standing next to each other when Steve walks up to my left side.
"Secure channel seven." I secure the channel and announce, "Seven secure."
"So, you do anything fun Saturday night?" Nat asks while Steve and I put in our earpieces. "Well, seeing that the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so no, not really." He jokes back to Nat with a slight smile; we girls share a smirk before I head over to Steve.
"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap." I hear the pilots echo over the communication line, Steve punches the latch button, and the gate drops open.
"You know, if you asked Kristen from Statistics out, she'd probably say yes." I hear Nat tell Steve while I double-check my weapons, ensuring they are secured to my body appropriately. The ship's lights start flashing red as the gate drops down; we walk onto the platform.
He nods and tells me to wait for him to join me, "That's why I don't ask."
He fastens his helmet under his chin, "Too shy or too scared?" Nat yells over the wind; Steve grabs my waist and hoists me on his back.
"Too busy." He yells back before jumping off the platform, I feel the wind whipping my hair every which way, and soon we land in the water. My hair forms a halo around us as we wait for a moment.
Steve faces me and motions to the ship's anchor; nodding in understanding, he takes the lead, swimming over to it with me closely behind him. He grabs the heavy chain and begins to climb up; I follow him, my hands slipping slightly between the chain links, but I maintain the death grip. We make it to the top of the chain, and Steve leaps over the railing and motions to me to wait. I see him choke a guy into unconsciousness. He heads back to me, grabs my waist, and lifts me over the railing. He motions to a part of the boat and starts running to the other side.
Following his non-verbal orders, I slide between two crates, and Steve's shield hits the armed men, making them disoriented; as they stumble to the ground, I kick my legs up and make contact with the back of their heads. I fling myself into the air and chase after Steve, I see him fighting three guys, and he motions to me with his head to move on.
I run past them, meeting four massive burly men, peeking through my hair to scan over them before dropping to my knee and swinging my leg out, causing the closest guy to land hard on his back. I spin myself around before jumping into another man's arms; the weight of throwing him off, we fall to the ground, and my arms clench tightly around his neck. A loud snap signaling that his neck is broken and now dead. Suddenly, I am ripped off of the dead body by one guard and thrown through the air; at the last second, I tuck in my arms and roll across the deck, the contact-making me grunt, but I ignore the pain as I continue sliding against the floor before I push my arms out and flip into the air.
Landing lightly on my feet while reaching behind to grab a sword, I hold it in my left hand, and then a furry of movements overtakes me. One guy charges at me, and I swing my sword from above, tilting it down, and the blade makes contact with the flesh on his neck, and he drops to the ground in a bloody heap.
The other guy pulls out a gun and points it directly at my face, I loudly sigh before judging the distance between us and deciding to throw my sword, flying fast and deadly, and it impales him. The blade enters his chest, and the force behind the throw makes him fly backward and hit the wall pinning him there. Ripping the sword from his sternum, he drops to the ground, leaving a large smear of blood on the wall and a puddle beginning to form. I place my sword back into its holder and catch my breath before surveying the damage I caused.
Suddenly, an arm wraps around my waist, swinging me around to sit on Steve's back as he begins his journey through the corridor. He pushes one guy over the railing, and I snort lightly and duck my head into his neck; I feel him momentarily pause before he grabs my right arm and right leg and swings me through the air.
My left leg kicks a guy to the ground while Cap back kicks another. I hear a knife flip out, and our intention turns to the man; Cap throws me at him, and I kick him in the stomach before wrapping my right leg around his arm and applying pressure, thus breaking it. I hand Cap the knife, and he spins and throws it into the other man's hand, who was reaching for the alarm, pinning him to the wall.
Cap and I run by the dude, kicking him in the head, causing him to fall unconscious; we make our way to the central part of the deck before we part ways. I go off the side and see eight men standing around with guns straps to them, I hear the sounds of fighting happening right around the corner, and I jump into action. My vision sharpens, and I let out a quiet growl before charging. I make my way to the nearest guy, flip him into the ground, pull out a dagger, and stab him in the stomach; in one fluid motion, I spin around and chuck the knife into another man's throat. I grab one of the hatches and swing it into the third closest man before I feel arms close around my neck; I kick my feet out, hitting another man while pushing myself and my captor backward.
We fall in a heap, I swing my leg and catch the guy's neck, causing him to become limp and his arms to loosen. I roll over my shoulder, and four men surround me; I pull out my swords, slide them under one of the men's armor, and rip them out before swinging my other arm and stabbing him in the chest. I spin with blood coating me before rotating both swords simultaneously in an X motion down the back of one man. The other two charge simultaneously, and I flop onto my knees and cut their legs before reaching behind and stabbing them in the stomach.
"Nikki?" I hear a harsh whisper, and I pick up the discarded hatchet, dagger, and twin swords and place them back in their proper place. I walk around the corner and see the rest of the team making their way onto the deck; I sashay my way over to Steve and see Nat float down next to us; we begin walking toward our stations.
"What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice. Or what about Nikki; I know you like her." I look over at them and see a faint blush on Steve's cheeks and a smirk on Natasha's face.
Steve refuses to make eye contact with me, "Secure the engine room, then find me a date."
Nat swings her legs across the railing, "I'm multitasking." She disappears from my line of sight and to her position.
Steve turns his back to me and motions for me to climb on; I bend my knees and hop up onto his back, my arms around his broad chest, and clench my legs together around his waist. We begin flying through the air as he hops from one item to another to get into a proper position to shoot the radio signal so we can listen in.
He stealthily climbs over a railing and hides us behind a white wall; I disengage my limbs and slowly detract myself from his body. His hands clamp around my legs to ensure I don't fall off; I shiver when I feel the heat radiating off them. I crouch to the ground and peek around his body to see the tower.
"Natasha, what's your status?" Steve whispers into the mic, we don't hear anything for another moment, and I motion for him to repeat it, "Status, Natasha."
A moment of silence before she voice yells into the unit, "Hang on!" I hear the sound of grunting, and following are gunshots, my body tenses as I wait for Nat to respond, "Engine room secure." Calm as a
cucumber, she replies to Steve and me.
"On my mark, three, two, one," Steve whispers in the communication link.
We begin climbing up to the tower where Batroc and his second command are waiting; I can tell they know something isn't right. I see him turn around right as Steve throws his shield; Batroc ducks just in time, but the second in command is hit and falls to the ground. We hop into the tower, and I receive a kick to the chest, and Batroc runs out of the control room, Steve grabs his shield, which is sticking in the wall, and we run out after the pirate.
"Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play." Rumlow's voice chimes in our earpieces.
"Natasha, Batroc's on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages. Natasha." Nat doesn't respond to any of us as we search for the pirate.
We make our way down, and I hop off the side of the stairs and head towards the other way when I hear a loud grunt. I whirl around on my heel and see Batroc and Steve beginning to fight; I start to run to
make my way over to them when Steve gives me the hold position; I sigh in resignation before making my way over to a crate. I hoist myself up and watch as the fight progresses; my legs swing back and forth like a child; I pull out a knife and begin playing with it out of boredom.
"I thought you were more than just a shield," Batroc says to Steve in French; in retaliation, Steve places his shield on his back, unclasps his helmet, and drops it to the side.
"Let's find out." I raise my eyebrows in surprise when Steve speaks French. I frown, am impressed, and nod up and down. The fight commences. I watch as Steve rushes the guy and runs him through a door, I jump off my crate in shock when they disappear entirely from my vision.
I make my way over and see Batroc lying on the ground unconscious; I kick him in the leg and watch as it moves from side to side. I walk around him and head over to the two arguing people.
"You're saving SHIELD intel." Steve accuses Natasha while looking at the screen.
"Whatever she can get her hands on," I chime in while watching the files flash across the screen, "by the looks of it. Nat, why?" She points to me as I confirm my theory.
A hard look sets on Steve's face, "Our mission was to rescue hostages."
"No, that was your mission, and you have done it beautifully." She goes to walk around both Steve and me when Steve's hand shoots out and grabs her arm harshly.
"You've just jeopardized this whole operation. Nikki, did you have anything to do with this? Did you know about this?" He turns his head towards me when asking the last part. I look deep into his eyes and shake my head no. Relief flashes through his eyes before his attention is drawn back to Natasha.
"I think you're overstating things. And Nikki didn't know about any of this." I hear the sound of metal clanking, and all of us turn and see Batroc leap up and run out the door. He throws a bomb at Steve, and he uses his shield to knock it away from us, Steve grabs Natasha and me, and we jump through a window.
I can feel the heat of the explosion flash across my body as glass enters my hands. I shift my body to lean against the wall beside Steve. I grunt in pain as I hit my shoulder wrong and place too much pressure on my cut-up hands.
"All right, that one's on me." I hear Nat pant out. Steve grunts, "You're damn right it is. Come on, Nikki." He pushes his body up, grabs my waist one more time, and helps me out of the room. I groan as I see the bone misplaced in my shoulder; I lean my head heavily against Steve and let him drag me back to the ship.
"Nikki." I look into his blue eyes and see regret manifest in them, "I need to pop it back in before it makes it worse." I sigh heavily before nodding; he lays me on the floor and bends beside me.
"Will you distract me?" I whisper ever so gently to him; he nods and says, "Why don't you use your power on missions?"
I roll my eyes to the night sky above me, "I don't use them because I don't want to rely on them. When I was with HYDRA, they taught me how to fight first before I could ever use my powers. I guess it is just kind of second nature, but I use my healing powers whenever things happen. The downside is, I need someone to set me straight before I can properly heal right."
I feel my arm being yanked harshly, and a sickening pop rings loudly in the air, "Ah!" I bite my lip in pain as the bone moves back into place. I pant through my nose while trying to catch my breath.
"Come on. I got you." Steve helps me to my feet and steadies me when I stumble. When I say one last thing, we make our way to the ship where everyone else is.
"I didn't know you spoke French." Steve chuckles, shaking his head, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."
I turn my head and stare deeply into his eyes, "I would like to find out if you will let me."
He gives me a blinding smile before nodding. Giddiness builds up in my chest as I give him a smirk.
We make our way to SHIELD and begin unloading everything; I make my way off the ship and walk toward Fury's office with Steve. I enter my thumbprint and place my eye on the scanner, the door slides open, and we strive toward Fury.
"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve demands while not breaking his path to Fury's desk. However, I stop next to the door and wait as the conversation ensues.
Fury doesn't even flinch as he gets interrogated, staring out the window, "I didn't lie. Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours."
"Which you didn't feel obliged to share." Steve comes to a halt, staring intensely at the bald man.
Without missing a beat, "I'm not obliged to do anything." I suck in a deep breath while keeping silent, waiting to see how this all turns out.
"Those hostages could have died, Nick."
"I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen." Finally, spinning in his chair to face said soldier.
"Soldiers trust each other. That is what makes it an army. Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns." I can feel the anger radiating off of Steve from where I stand.
Nick has finally had enough, pushing off his desk into a standing position, "Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye."
There is a tense moment as both men stare each other down, "Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with; Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything. I could have told Agent Volkova to do the mission independently; it would have been that much simpler. But I didn't; I told her to follow the orders you gave her without fault."
"I can't lead a mission when the people I am leading have a mission of their own." Steve spits through his teeth while the muscle in his jaw ticks. "And as for Nikolina, she seems to be the only one I can trust around here."
I roll my eyes to the ceiling and start counting down from 3 in Russian to ease my boredom, "It is called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."
And one, right on cue, "Except you." A bemused look is on Steve's face as Fury finally relents, "You're wrong about me. I do share. I'm nice like that." Fury points to the door, "Agent Volkova, you are dismissed. Head home."
I see a look in his eye that something isn't right; I nod my head understandingly before glancing at Steve. He gives me the tiniest nod; I twirl on my foot and walk out the door.
I change clothes before grabbing the helmet in my locker and heading to the parking garage, where my baby is waiting for me. I throw my legs over the seat and feel the bike rumble to life underneath me; the tires squeal as I make my way out of the garage and onto the bridge. I drive back to my house and go to my bedroom.
I walk up to the bed and push one of the headboard cushions. I hear a hum before the whole bed moves away from the wall, and a set of stairs leads down to a giant metal door. After entering the stairwell, the bed moves back into position, enveloping me in darkness; a thumb scanner is the only light I can see. I place my thumb on the green light, and two more security measures appear at the door. I put my eye on a scanner, and I hear a confirmation sound, a keypad lights up, and I press in all the correct digits. Finally, a doorknob shoots out of the door, and I turn it to the right and then to the left.
A dark tunnel greets me; I sigh thoroughly and begin the trek down; I can hear it echo all around with each step I take. At the end of the tunnel, I turn left and open another door and see computers set up in the middle of the room, along with the right side of the wall, where a surveillance system is set up, and on the left, I see the holographic workspace.
I flop into the chair, my hands hover over the keyboard, and it all comes to life after a couple of keystrokes. The control boards appear under my fingers while reports pop up all around me and all the templates I created. I place my phone on a specific spot, and it syncs to the computers, pulling up and going through all of my phone's previous locations. I make sure to have my phone on me when I go on missions; it almost immediately runs a decryption process and downloads any files it can access. I have been down here for hours, hearing a loud beep from my phone, and I peer over.
I immediately fly out of my chair and sprint up the stairs. My heels slam heavily against the floor beneath me; I run over to my motorcycle and kick it into action before I am fully sitting on it. A trail of smoke appears behind my tires due to how fast I push the bike. I arrive at the same time as Natasha; we make eye contact before rushing through the hospital's front doors. I slam open the door to the observation room, and I see Maria and Steve staring straight ahead; Natasha pushes forward and places herself in front of the glass while I take slow, tentative steps to the space between her and Steve.
My eyes are taking in the man I see as a father figure, lying unconscious on a table while people work around him, trying to save his life. "Is he gonna make it?" My voice barely registers as my eyes are glued to Fury's still form.
"We don't know." I keep my face blank, but I feel my heart wrench when I hear that.
Shakily, "tell me about the shooter." Natasha orders, her hand inching down to mine and crushing it with her death grip.
“He's fast and robust. He had a metal arm." I am immediately ambushed by my thoughts from my time in the KGB and my training in the Red Room.
"Ballistics?" I swallow slowly as my eyes stay trained on the surgery before me. "Three slugs. No rifling and completely untraceable," Maria answers me softly.
My face hardens all the way, "Soviet-made." My voice is void of emotion as I run through all my encounters. "Yes," Maria confirms my thoughts while looking at me in shock.
My eyes shoot over to the monitor as the numbers drop significantly; everyone in that room jumps into action. They pull out a defibrillator, place it on his chest, and shock him three times.
"Don't do this to us, Nick." Natasha whimpers lightly. After the three shocks, I could see the doctors give up. "Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to us." Natasha pleads through the glass.
I feel numb; my surroundings are slowly being tuned out. The only thing that registers to me is, "Time of death, 1:03 A.M."
The pressure on my hand disappears altogether, and I am vaguely aware of Natasha fleeing the room. I swallow thickly and stare at the motionless body of Fury, I feel a secure arm wrap around my shoulders, and the other lightly grabs my right arm. I am pulled into a warm, hard body, and I gaze up to see Steve looking at me with concern lining his crystal blue eyes; I look back at Fury's body one more time before shoving off Steve and following Natasha. Steve's hand slowly trails down my arm and to my fingertips; as I walk away, electric shocks jolt throughout my body, but I ignore them.
I make my way down a hall and to the room where I saw them roll Fury's body into; I stride in and see Natasha looming over his corpse. My feet shuffle across the hospital floor to Natasha's left side, and my hands are clasped so tightly that I almost lose all the feeling. Every memory I have ever had with this man is flashing through my brain, him offering me a job, my first mission, assigning the teams, Clint and Natasha, all of it. I am so caught up in this man's thoughts that I don't notice Steve approaching us.
"They need to take him." His voice is gravely quiet; my hands shakily move toward the corpse and rest gently on his arm.
I spin around on my heel without looking back, "Nikki! Natasha. Wait!" I hear Steve call after us; I stop mid-step but don't turn around; however, my fellow Russian does.
"Why was Fury in your apartment?" My voice, a hush while keeping my eyes on the door, sadness evident in my posture as much as I let it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Steve gazing hard at me before shrugging, "I don't know." He has a helpless look, pleading with me to believe him. I move to open my mouth, but Rumlow interrupts me before I even have the chance.
"Cap, they want you SHIELD." Rumlow's eyes make contact with mine, and I can see something sinister hidden deep within them.
"All right, give us a second." Steve dismisses the leader of the STRIKE team leader before turning back to Tasha, my eyes never straying from the Strike leader in front of me.
"They want you now." Rumlow insists with an insulting tone; I quirk my eyebrow in response, daring him to say anything more. He clears his throat quickly before ducking his head and turning away. Natasha smirks at him before taking off towards the door.
I speak darkly, "You are being summonsed, Captain."
I walk around the corner and watch as Steve places something in the vending machine. I shake my head in disbelief at his actions before turning and acting like I didn't see anything. Steve walks out of the hospital with the STRIKE team tailing him; once the hallway is empty, I make my way over to the vending machine and purchase all the gum and the flash drive.
I place a single stick of gum on the windowsill, pointing a certain way before popping a piece into my mouth; I stroll past the door and brush Natasha as I blow a bubble. I make my way to my bike waiting for me; I push the speed limit to the max as I weave in and out of traffic, making my way to SHIELD headquarters. I ride my bike into the parking garage and leave it quietly running while I place an earwig in and ensure it is set in tightly with no chance of moving. I maneuver my torso to reach into my bag, my hand flops open the top of my sack, and my fingers curl around a cold metal tube.
I slowly retract my hand and unwind from my position, "All right. Let's get to business."
I sigh heavily as I pull on the bottom of a minuscule tab and pull it towards my abdomen. My finger presses the side of the screen, and it lights up brightly; a keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen. The tips of my fingers are barely making contact for more than a second as they continue to work.
"Ah, ha!" I cheer to myself as the computer switches into a live video feed, my earwigs link up to my computer, and the audio begins ringing loud and clear. My eyes stay on the screen as I watch Steve passes by Sharon Carter without even sparing her a glance.
"That's interesting," I mutter; my finger swipes across the screen, changing the field view into Alexander Pierce's office. I intently listen while keeping my gaze on the door when I see two agents meandering around.
"Shit. It's a setup." I curse to myself before turning back to the video feed that has been tracking Steve's movements. The second my eyes reconnect to the screen, and my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline in utter surprise, I see Steve fighting at least ten men. Rumlow being one of them, I never liked him; Steve ends up knocking Rumlow out and landing in a heap along with the other unconscious bodies.
My lip juts out in surprise, and I slowly nod as I am deeply impressed by Steve's skill level.
"Well, all right, then." I watch as my friend tries to find a way out of his predicament.
"Holy shit!" I whisper-yell to myself as Steve jumps out of the glass elevator and flies down all the way to make a large indent in the concrete; the glass comes raining down on top of the soldier, and he groans in pain before stumbling to his feet and running towards the parking garage. I kick my bike to life and slide the helmet over my head while sticking to the shadows of the garage; Steve flies past me on his motorcycle without even seeing me. I place everything back in my bag and begin to count...
One... Steve makes it to the bridge.
Two... Security measures are beginning to activate.
Three... A Quinjet flies down and orders him to stand down.
Four... I rev the engine and watch the scene play out in front of me.
Five...SHIELD begins to fire at Steve. I slide my visor over my eyes and lean forward.
Six... Steve throws his shield at the jet and brings his bike to a screeching halt.
Seven... the turbine begins to fail.
Eight... Steve's bike is destroyed, and the jet launches into the air.
Nine... The jet crashes to the ground, and Steve lands on the cement.
Ten... I take off on my bike.
"Nikki!" Steve bellows at me, my right arm jerks out, and he grasps my hand tightly and swings his body weight to land behind on the bike.
I push my bike to go faster, "How did you get over the barrier, Nikki?" Steve wraps his arms tightly around my waist as I weave through traffic, trying to get us to a safe place. "Oh, that was easy. I just jumped it." I tell him while pulling into a random ass parking lot.
"Okay, hold on. One, how did you jump that? And two, what are we doing here? SHIELD is probably tracking us." Steve rushes at me as we both hop off my bike.
I take the bag off my shoulder, "Yeah, I know. Here," I pull out two sets of clothes from the duffle, "These should be in your size. Go change." I motion to a dark spot for him to change, "What about you, Nikki?" I roll my eyes and hold up my clothes for him to see.
"I'm changing too. Relax." I take off my clothes, not caring that Steve is five feet away from me. Once I change my clothes and throw them in a nearby trash can, I finally look at Steve and see his cheeks with a bright red tint.
I chuckle at him lightly, "Come on. I'll get us a car." Steve follows me without question; I find a car and pick the lock. I peek over my shoulder to see Steve standing guard while also checking on me now and then.
The door opens with no alarm, and I unlock it, "There. Get in." I slide into the driver's seat and begin hot wiring the car while playing it off as I look for something. The engine kicks in, and everything lights up inside, "Ta-da!" I sing to Steve with a teasing smile as the car pulls away from the curb.
"Do I even want to know when you learned how to hotwire a car?" Skepticism is ringing loud and clear in his voice. I snort before my lips move to respond, "Cap, I learned how to hotwire a car when I was five."
Steve's eyes widen in shock at my admission. I keep my eyes on the road and keep it all as inconspicuous as possible, I pull into the hospital parking lot, and Steve and I jump out of the car. I wipe it down quickly, removing all traces of evidence. Steve heads in while I make sure no one has followed us.
I walk towards the doors that open; once I get close enough, I see Steve roughly grab Nat and shove her into an empty room. "Where is it?" I hear Steve growl at the redhead Russian, "safe." She says monotonously.
"Do better!" I walk into the room and shut the door behind me.
I raise an eyebrow at the peculiar sight before me, "You two good?" I ask, seeing that Steve trapped Nat against the wall. "Where did you get it?" She inquires Steve while watching his reactions, "Why would I tell you?" I roll my eyes at their little quarrel and keep my eyes on the door, ensuring no one enters the room.
She realizes something, "Fury gave it to you; why?" The look on Steve's face confirms her suspicions, "What's on it?" he turns his attention to me as I stay in my position.
"We don't know," I mutter; he sighs loudly before grabbing my waist and slamming me against the wall next to Natasha.
"Stop lying!" He growls at me; I push his body back a couple of steps while Natasha retaliates, "I only act like I know everything, Rogers. Why aren't you questions, Nikki? She has higher clearance than both you and me."
I glare at Nat while moving my jaw from side to side, "I bet you knew Fury hired those pirates, didn't you?"
I shrug before nodding in affirmation. "It makes sense, the ship was dirty, and Fury needed a way in, and so did you." Nat points at me while I make the point to the Captain.
Steve grabs my shoulders and pushes them against the wall; I grunt lowly as they make contact, "I am not going to ask you again." His lips are barely moving as he grits his teeth at me.
My throat constricts as I murmur, "We know who kills Fury."
"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists; the ones who do, call him The Winter Soldier. He is credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."
Steve pushes himself away from the redhead, "So he's a ghost story." He concludes and backs himself a decent amount away from her.
I begin gnawing on my lip; my thoughts are trailing to all the times I had to go head-to-head with the soldier. All training sessions with him were brutal, always turning to bloodshed. The most prominent memory I am twelve years old, and staring directly into the eyes of the Winter Soldier, a Russian command rings through the air, and the Soldier jumps into action, which is all I can remember.
"Nikki!" I snap out of the memory and look directly into sapphire eyes. "Are you okay?" Steve's eyebrows furrow in concern as he looks over my figure.
"Anyway, Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye, bye, bikinis." Nat pulls up the end of her shirt and reveals a scar on her lower left abdomen.
I raise my eyebrow while Steve says, "Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now." The joking in his voice causes me to look at him in shock.
"Steve! Did you seriously make a joke?! Steve Roger. Captain America!" Amazement and teasing ring loudly in my voice. A joking expression covers my face, along with a smile.
Steve drops his head, chuckling at me before peeking, "Shut up." He says in a light tone before placing his hand on my back and guiding me out the door.
We all hop in the car, Steve in the driver's seat, me in the passenger seat, and Nat in the backseat. I lean my head against the headrest and watch cars pass. My thoughts keep trailing back to all my fights with the Winter Soldier, I look down at my arms, and I can still see the scars caused by his various weapons. I am very immersed in my thoughts of HYDRA; I don't even realize that the car has stopped moving and Nat has left the vehicle.
I snap out of my thought when a gentle hand grabs my shoulder, "Hey. Are you okay?" I look intently at Steve's face before nodding. Before he can even open his mouth, I spin to the door and hop out of the car.
We all make our way into the mall, dressed in new disguises. "The first rule of going on the run is to walk; don't run." I chime from Steve's side as he continuously looks around anxiously.
"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve pipes to me quietly; I snicker at his admission. We strive towards the computer store in the mall; we make our way in and hover over a small computer.
"This drive has a level six homing program, so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are," Nat warns Steve, and he silently hands her the thumb drive quietly after I slip it into his pocket.
"How much time do we have?" Steve inquires as we watch Natasha begins to plug in the drive.
"About nine minutes from," she places the drive into the computer, "now." I watch as Nat tries to open the files on the USB, but she cannot gain access.
"Fury was right about the ship; somebody's trying to hide something. Some sort of AI protects this drive; it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands." Nat informs us while Steve looms over her shoulder.
"Can you override it?" Steve hurriedly asks Nat and me as we stare at the computer screen.
"The person who develops this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly." Nat informs us, and I snort as she tries to defend her IQ, "I'm going to try and run a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD develops to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, then maybe we can try and see where it is coming from."
An Apple employee walks up to us and asks, "Can I help you guys with anything?"
"Oh no, my sister is helping my fiancé and me find honeymoon destinations." I excitedly inform the worker as I wrap my arms around Steve's waist and cuddle with him.
Steve wraps his arm around my shoulder and gently squeezes, "Right, we're getting married."
"Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking of going?" The employee asks us as we effectively block the computer screen.
Steve quickly glances over my shoulder and glimpses at the screen, "New Jersey."
"Oh." The employee stares at Steve for a moment; his eyes never glance away from the super soldier's face. I can feel the nervousness radiate over his body; my hands slowly tighten around his waist, trying to
assure him that I have it covered.
"I have the same pair of glasses." Finally, the man says, bringing ease to both of us.
I hear Nat's sarcastic reply, "Wow, you guys are practically twins." I snicker lightly and turn my face into Steve's chest to try and hide my amusement.
The employee snickers, "Yeah, I wish... specimen." He waves his hands in the air that surrounds the front of Steve. "Uhh, if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." He raises his ID badge to show us his name before awkwardly stepping away.
I keep my face firmly in Steve's chest as my shoulders shake from laughter. "Stop it." Steve's breath brushes my ear, and chills run up and down my spine.
"You said nine minutes; come on," Steve says while glancing around anxiously; I pull myself away from his chest and watch the door.
"Stop worrying, okay? I got it," Natasha says, and Steve and I lean over her shoulders to stare at the small screen.
"You know it?" I question Steve when I notice the look on Steve's face.
"I used to. Let's go." We quickly pull the thumb drive out of the computer before exiting the store.
As we leave the store, I see multiple SHIELD agents walking around the mall, "Standard tac team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they see us, I'll engage; you two head to the south escalator to the metro." Steve explains to us, Nat and I share a look before continuing walking.
"Shut up, put your arm around Nikki and laugh at something she said," Nat commands in a hushed tone.
"What?"
"Just do it," I whisper harshly at him.
Steve takes his arm and wraps it around my shoulder, I lean into his heat, and Nat and I begin laughing at each other while leaning into a small half-circle. Steve's chuckle is more forced and nervous as he places his face into the side of my neck, my hair covering half of his face. The agent passes us without a second glance, and we continue walking.
We head toward the escalator, Nat in the front, me in the middle, and Steve close behind me. Nat notices Rumlow coming towards us on the escalator. She pulls her hood up and looks out into the mall.
"Kiss him," Nat whispers as I finally notice the STRIKE member heading towards us.
"What?" Steve asks me while his chest presses against my back.
"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable," I inform Steve while understanding Natasha's point.
"Yes, they do." Steve agrees with the redhead. I sigh before reaching my right hand up and grasping the back of his neck. My lips come in contact with Steve's, the feeling of his lips encasing mine is enough to bring a shiver down my spine. His hands wrap around my hips and pull me closer to his body, my neck tilting back to gain better access to his lips.
"All right, you two." I am brought out of my stupor at the sound of her voice.
"Still uncomfortable?" Natasha teases us as we make our way down the elevator.
Steve sighs before guiding me down the machine, "That is not exactly the word I would use." I smile slightly to myself as I try and contain my emotions.