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Nadia wandered carefully through the museum, knowing exactly where to find her target. She tracked him through the exhibits, her tender footsteps not even making a sound above the noise of the narrator over the PA. She made her way into a small theater, glancing over the crowd to see if she could spot him. Even under his baseball cap, the blonde hair at the nape of his neck was unmistakable. She treaded quietly down the stairs and into his row.
"Long time no see, Cap," Nadia sighed, plopping down into the seat next to him.
"I thought I told Nat I didn't want to talk to anyone from work on my off day," Steve groaned.
"I've been gone for weeks and you don't want to see me," Nadia teased, pouting her lips like a child.
"I didn't say that—" Steve stopped her, putting his hand up to quiet her.
"How did your mission go?" Steve asked, pushing up the brim of his baseball cap so he could look at her better.
"Still personal and still unfinished," Nadia deflected. She didn't feel the need to talk about the missions she conducts in private.
"Come on, Stevie. Let's go get drunk and talk about how life is cruel and unfair. It'll be fun," Nadia continued teasing. She playfully punched his arm and he grabbed her hand gently to stop her.
"I can't tonight, Ace. I've got a date," Steve explained. Nadia raised an apprehensive eyebrow.
"There's no way," she scoffed.
"I gotta go. My girl's waiting on me," Steve sighed, pushing himself out of his chair. Nadia grabbed his arm, stopping him for a moment.
"Steve, you're making this harder on yourself," Nadia warned. He nodded silently, pulling his arm from her clutches.
"Fine, I'll go drink alone then," she sighed, walking out of the theater.
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Nadia sat alone at a local hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, margarita in hand. There was nothing in life a little bit—or a lot—of tequila couldn't fix. Made her forget the bad memories sometimes. She motioned to the bartender that she was ready for another round and pushed her empty glass away from her. The serum in her veins made it nearly impossible to get a buzz, but somehow she always managed to find a way.
"Agent Stone," a low voice called out behind her. She whipped her head around to come eye to eye with Brock Rumlowe.
"The Director is dead," he said quietly. Nadia shook her head in confusion.
"Dead? No—he can't be," she denied. Rumlowe nodded silently and motioned for her to come with him. She fumbled with her purse and threw a large crumpled wad of cash onto the bar top.
"I'll see you the same time tomorrow, Bunny," Nadia called back to the bartender as she followed Rumlowe out of the bar. They hopped into his car, speeding towards the hospital.
"Enjoy your night on the town?" Rumlowe asked teasingly. Nadia bit her lip to hold back a small, completely inappropriate laugh.
"You know I always do," Nadia sighed.
"We need to get to the hospital and retrieve Captain Rogers. He needs to come in for questioning," Rumlowe explained.
"Why Steve?" Nadia questioned, furrowing her brows as she looked over at him.
"It was only him and Fury in the room," Rumlowe said shortly. Nadia leaned back in her seat, banging her head against the headrest gently.
"If he doesn't come in easy, you gonna be with me on this?" Rumlowe asked.
"If you want me to manhandle Captain America, I'm perfectly willing to do so. I mean, geez, have you seen his ass?" Nadia giggled to herself, a small hiccup escaping her throat.
"Hey now. Don't be saying that to me," Rumlowe teased.
"Jealous, Brock?" Nadia joked. He reached across the center console to rest a hand on her thigh.
"We know who you go home to at the end of the night. I'm not worried," he said firmly, breaking his stare from the road to glance at her quickly. She smiled sweetly over at him.
"Come on, we have a job to do," he commanded, climbing out of the car and strapping his weapons into his holster.
"You really you think you need all that for Steve?" Nadia asked.
"Can never be too careful," Rumlowe shrugged, slamming the car door closed. Nadia pulled herself out of the car, securing her gun in the glove box. She didn't need any weapons to go into the hospital to talk to Steve Rogers.
The pair found the Captain leaning against a vending machine and talking to Natasha Romanoff. The women exchanged a quick greeting and then Natasha darted off to go find Maria Hill.
"Cap, they want you back at SHIELD—" Rumlowe started.
"Yeah, give me a second," Steve scoffed, clearly not interested in dealing with being questioned by SHIELD and much more concerned with finding who killed Nick Fury.
"They want you now," Rumlowe barked at him. Nadia took a step in front of him, takings gentler approach to Steve.
"Steve, I know it's been a long night, but they just want to ask you a few questions about what happened. That's all," Nadia reassured him. He nodded shortly, pushing past her and Rumlowe back out into the parking lot towards his motorcycle.
"Take the car home. I'll meet you there later tonight," Rumlowe promised, tossing Nadia his car keys. She watched as Steve sped off towards SHIELD Headquarters, Rumlowe and the rest of the STRIKE team driving close behind. Out from behind the shadow of the cars emerged the sleek shine of red hair.
"Get in the car. We need to talk," Natasha ordered.
