Time Unchanging

Chapter 57

Steve saw the look in Fury's eye. There was more and Steve had the sinking feeling that he wasn't going to like it.

Nick laced his fingers together as he said, "She will be transported to a top-secret location."

Steve growled, "You should be sending her to the Raft."

"Again, this was out of our hands."

"What moron thinks they know a more secure location?" Bucky had to hold Steve back, his voice starting to carry outside the meeting room.

Nick stood up, his hands on the table. "And you think you know better than SHIELD's brightest minds?"

"Maybe I do!"

"And where would you put a trained assassin who can escape from anywhere?"

Steve couldn't say anything. So, he didn't know any place more secure than the Raft? When he looked around, no one else could look at him. None of them could think of any better solution either. Nick decided then and there that they all had enough clearance to hear about the "secure location" he was talking about.

"The best we can do is Project Outer Zone, a prison in orbit," the one-eyed man replied. "Only three other inmates."

Hank looked shocked as he replied, "Project OZ was scrapped after Red Skull died. It was deemed no longer necessary."

Hill said, "It was brought back in the eighties."

She gave a quick glance towards Bucky. The one-armed super soldier knew then that, if he hadn't been pardoned, if he had been caught at any point before Steve found him and saved him, he would have been another inmate on OZ. Every government would have given large sums of money to house the Winter Soldier there. He spared a look at Loki, who was looking at a suddenly interesting swirl on the table. Yeah, the dark-haired god would have been on OZ as well.

Fury interrupted these thoughts by saying, "Can't get any more secure than outer space."

What the group didn't know was that Nat had already been taken from their custody. Tony would have happily flown his former colleague to OZ himself, but the option was being taken from them.

Once out of sight of any cameras, one of the guards began to attack the others in the car. The cars ahead and behind had their tires blown out so that Nat and her unknown ally could make their getaway. At one point, he removed his helmet and unlocked Nat's restraints.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

The man, John Walker according to his dog tags, said, "Because we have a common enemy."

They shared a look. Steve Rogers.