The Pink Ghost

Fifty-Five

It's been four months since they disappeared and they haven't had one hit. Not one. It's as if they vanished off the face of the earth.

Tony and Steve had a huge blow out and stopped talking, Steve and Sam left to look for Gwen and Bucky. Natasha and Bruce set off in their own search for them while Wanda, Vision, and Peter stayed behind with Tony, searching from the compound. Whenever a possible hit would pop up, Tony would fly out in the suit to see if it was anything useful. It never was.

Nat and Steve stayed in contact. Sam tried talking Steve into calling Tony just to touch base. Sam called Tony on his own, he just wanted the two to talk again. The entire team disbursed, going separate ways and he was worried they'd never be whole again.

Even Loki and Thor stopped coming around as much due to the hostility. The two searched for Gwen and Bucky on their own, but they had matters to also tend to in Asgard.

What none of them knew was, Gwen was no longer Gwen. Gwen as they knew her was dead. And Bucky? Well, he hadn't been seen since Zemo wiped him again.

---

A few days went by, Rose completed her assignments from Grant, cleaned the house, and downloaded a few books on her phone. She was learning how to use it more and more each day. Today she was meeting Julie for coffee at the café. She was excited to meet up with her, she doesn't get to talk to anyone outside of Grant, his security, and the barista at the café.

When she walked into the café, her order was already waiting on the pick-up tray. She handed the girl some money and walked back to her booth. Sliding in, she pulled her phone out and began reading until Julie slid into the booth across from her.

"Hey there." She smiled.

Rose looked up with a smile. She slid her phone to the side and greeted Julie.

"So, how have things been going? You falling back into routine easy enough?"

Rose began telling Julie about Grant sending her on 'jobs' since she wasn't supposed to tell anyone what she was really doing. She explained that it was the same thing over and over and it bored her.

"I just don't know how I did this before the accident. Was I happy, Julie?"

Julie watched as Rose spoke. She studied her, listened to everything she was saying so she could report back to Hydra.

"Well, it's hard to explain. Yes. You were happy, in a way. What you and Grant have, Rose, is different. It's nothing you'll ever find again and that's what made you happy."

"Right." She fiddled with the lid on her cup. "Julie, why doesn't Grant love me anymore?"

"What?"

"I've tried. I've tried being affectionate, I've tried showing him that I want to work things out."

Julie looked at her in shock, "You have?"

Nodding, Rose continued, "I sort of even made a move a while ago. I kissed him when we were in bed. It was the first time we were really intimate, other than him giving quick hugs and kissing me on my head."

"You kissed him?"

Rose couldn't understand why Julie was so shocked. Wouldn't she want her friend to work things out with her husband?

"Yes, Julie. I kissed my husband. Why is that so shocking?"

She ignored her question and asked one of her own, "What did he do?"

"He kissed me back. It seemed like he wanted more, but he pulled away and it hasn't happened again."

Julie's eyes were wide with shock. She wasn't sure she believed what she was hearing. Grant Ward kissed his soldier. Was he falling for her?