Ghost

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Three

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    Nats POV

       I'm abruptly woken up by a ringing.

It's my damn phone.

One of these days I'm going to ditch it in the ocean.

I open my eyes so I can put an end to the incessant ringing before it wakes Spencer.

With blurry eyes I grab my phone and turn down the volume. But once I do, I'm able to make out that it isn't an alarm but I'm actually getting a call.

I blink a few times to clear my vision and see that Tony is calling me.

Should probably answer this.

"Hello?" I whisper, still trying to let Spencer sleep. Because somehow that did not wake her up.

"Nat? Why are you whispering?"

"Sorry, Spencer is asleep. I don't want to wake her." Still whispering.

"Ah, okay. I'll proceed with caution then," he also starts whispering. "We made it back from their little hide out," he sounds hesitant. Why?

       "And?" I urge him.

       He lets out a long breath. "They're more put together than we thought they would be, Nat. The set up they had.. they must have more. We burnt their place to the ground and everything left in it after we grabbed anything we thought might be helpful. But most must have ditched the building before we even got there. It was like a ghost town there. We caught the few that still lingered and are hoping we can get some information out of them tomorrow."

       None of this is news I wanted to hear.

       I wanted him to tell me they didn't see it coming. That it was some ramshackle building and the assholes were all caught. I wanted this to be over.

       It was the only lead we had and they got away.. and that means the worse possible scenario could happen; they could be coming after Spencer.

        As if he read my mind, "Hey, Nat. They don't know anything about Spencer, okay. They aren't going after her. They ran like dogs after a steak. They're going to lay low and hope we forget about them. But we won't, we'll stop them, Nat." A noble attempt to comfort me.

       "Yeah," I breath out. I run my hand through my hair. The irritation with the situation is evident, I'm sure.

       "I am really sorry I don't have better news for you," he's talking soft. I know he really does mean it.

       "I know. Me too," I really, really am.

       "I'll call you once we interrogate these guys, give you whatever we get, okay?"

       "Yeah, alright," it's all I've got.

       Before I hang up though.

       "Um.. how is she? I know she can be very convincing when she wants to be. So.. is she actually okay?"

       I look down at the amazing woman that's asleep on me. Her soft breaths an indicator she is still sleeping as her hair is somehow covering her face. I gently push it aside so I can see her.

       I can't help but smile. Even in her sleep, she gets me to smile.

       Right, Tony.

       "Uh, she's alright. Last night was.. difficult for her. The idea of being someone else's puppet got to her. Brought up some horrific experiences with hydra. But she didn't hold it all in. We talked about it a little bit. I think she'll be okay. We just really need to catch these jackasses. All of them," I reveal only a little bit, knowing it isn't my place to share.