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Steve pulled the truck up next to a house Nadia didn't recognize. She looked at Natasha to see if there was any recognition on her face—there wasn't.
"Steve, whose house is this?" Nadia asked carefully.
"A friend's," he answered shortly. He led the two women up to the door. He knocked quickly, praying silently that his contact was home. Nadia kept one hand behind her back, her fingers tracing over the gun in the back of her pants. She knew Natasha was doing the same. They were trained to trust no one and that lesson never changes no matter whose side they were on.
The door opened to reveal a man she had never seen before. He was built—she figured he must be military. He stood like a military man. Her eyes went straight for his, they were kind. They were "look at girls in bars and make them melt and go home to their mothers and tell them they're getting married" eyes. Trustworthy enough. She scanned the area behind him to see if he was alone. She couldn't hear anyone else in the house.
"Hey, man," the man in the doorframe said, confused.
"I'm sorry to do this to you, Sam," Steve apologized.
"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha cut in.
"Not everyone," Sam said, quickly ushering them into his home. Their bodies reeked of sweat and ash. Dirt and soot caked their skin.
"You guys can clean up in my room," Sam said, motioning towards a door down the hall.
"Anyone need any medical attention?" Sam added, scanning their bodies for injuries.
"We made it out okay," Steve sighed, nodding in thanks to Sam.
"I was just in the middle of making some breakfast—" Sam started.
"Just let me clean up real quick and I'll come out and help you," Nadia smiled politely, making her way to the back bedroom to shower. The second she was behind the closed door she collapsed to the ground in an calamity of sobs. She covered her mouth as to not make a sound. Her body shook horrifically as she let out inhuman cries. She gave up everything when she defected to SHIELD. She gave up everything to get away from Hydra. It was all for nothing. People died for nothing. She wasn't free. She was granted the perception of freedom.
She head Steve's and Natasha's voices getting closer to the bedroom door so she scooped her body off the floor and scurried into the shower. The water turned to mud at her feet as the dirt and debris slid off her skin. She made a mental note that there was shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in Sam's shower. Brock was more of a 3-in-1 kind of guy, despite her objections.
"Shower's all yours," Nadia said quickly to Natasha as she stepped out of the bathroom. Natasha was sitting on the bed, staring at the ground blankly.
"What did Zola mean back there? About you giving him something greater than your legacy?" Natasha asked suddenly. She lifted her gaze to meet Nadia's.
"Like you don't know already," Nadia scoffed.
"Not for sure. There's no record of you or anything else regarding your work after 2006," Natasha continued.
"There's nothing of note to keep a record of," Nadia spat quickly.
"I don't buy that. You think I didn't look into you when I brought you in kicking and screaming?" Natasha argued.
"I did some undercover work for Hydra starting in 2006 that they didn't want a record of and I defected in 2009 after you brought me in. That's all there is to the story," Nadia whispered defensively. She didn't want Steve to hear them arguing.
"All this time and you still don't trust me," Natasha scoffed, shaking her head.
"I mean you did work on a team that stole an ass load of personal information about me and my work. Makes a girl feel on edge," Nadia shrugged.
"We both just found out we traded working for bad guys for working for bad guys pretending to be good guys. I think we can table this for now," Nadia decided quickly. Natasha nodded carefully.
"Remember what Steve said about shared life experience? We've got that. You want to put the past behind us and call a truce to this unspoken thing we have going on. Because I don't hate you. I think you've had it tougher than a lot of people and you turned it around as much as you could," Natasha said gently, watching as Nadia moved towards the bedroom door. Her hand grazed carefully over the doorknob, stopping before she turned it to leave.
"For what it's worth, you were always my favorite sparring partner," Nadia sighed, pushing open the bedroom door. It was the only apology she knew how to give. Forgiveness wasn't a strong suit of hers. She stepped into the kitchen, her towel wrapped around her body like a dress. Her long, dark hair clung to her wet skin. Sam and Steve were chatting quietly in the kitchen. She presumed that Steve was bringing Sam up to speed on the situation they had dragged him into.
"Sorry to interrupt, boys, but I did promise I'd help with breakfast," Nadia called out as she walked over to them.
"Thank you, again, Sam for helping us," Steve thanked him, placing a grateful hand on his shoulder. Sam nodded as Steve walked into the bedroom to clean up.
"So, what's on the menu," Nadia beamed, tightening the towel around her as she went behind the counter where Sam was cooking.
"That depends. What do superheroes eat for breakfast?" Sam teased, a smile flashing across his face.
"Oh, you know, the basic stuff. The souls of our enemies, government secrets, alien blood. Just the typical stuff," Nadia joked.
"Eggs work too," Nadia added, hitting Sam's arm teasingly.
"If you guys want, my sister has some clothes here for when she and my nephews stay in DC with me. I can go grab you and Natasha something to wear," Sam offered sweetly, placing a carton of eggs on the counter.
"That would be great, thank you. I can start the eggs," Nadia smiled. He patted her hand gently and started up the stairs towards his guest room.
"Hey, Sam! Make it sexy! We don't fight bad guys unless we look our best," Nadia teased as his figure disappeared into the bedroom upstairs. She could hear his laughter from the kitchen as she cracked eggs into the pan.
