Dancing with Embers - Book Two (Winter Soldier)

5. For Safety's Sake

Chapter five:

*From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
a light from the shadows shall spring;
renewed shall be the blade that was broken, the crown-less again shall be king.*

~~~~~~

Steve and I rode at breakneck speed on the motorcycle, speeding away from the crashed Quinjet and the Triskelion. I had no idea where we were going or even where it would be safe for us, but Steve seemed to have a plan in mind which put my nerves slightly more at ease.

"Go to the hospital." He said in my ear over the sound of the wind whipping past us. I nodded and pulled off the road we were currently on, turning the motorcycle in the direction of the hospital.
I wondered what was at the hospital that Steve was after but I figured it had to be important otherwise we wouldn't be wasting precious time.

We pulled up to the hospital a few minutes later and quickly dismounted our ride. As we walked inside Steve filled me in on what I was still confused about.

"Why was SHIELD after you, what did you do?"
"Pierce thought I was lying when I told him Fury hadn't told me anything important. He also didn't believe that I didn't know why Fury was in my apartment in the first place."
"Was that the truth?"
Steve turned to me and sighed, giving me a look that said 'really, you're asking me that?'
"What? I never pinned you as a liar."
Steve sighed and opened another door, walking past me into the hallway. The hallway was familiar, it was the same one I had stood in when I watched Fury die. I frowned.
Why were we here?

"No, it wasn't the truth." Steve said, snapping my attention back to him.
"In my apartment Fury warned me that there were ears everywhere, meaning the apartment was bugged. He talked out loud to me but also typed on his phone, letting me read things he didn't want to say out loud."
"Was Pierce the one that bugged your apartment?"
"I don't know, Pierce said Fury did."
"Well I wouldn't put it past either of them. Now can you please tell me why we are here so I can help you move this thing along so I can go back and kill Pierce?"
"No, we need him alive. At least for a while longer." Steve told me as he walked down the hallway towards a vending machine.
"Excuse me? Pierce works for HYDRA, not SHIELD, he's a double agent, isn't that obvious to you?"
"It is now. But we still need him alive."

I cut my argument off in frustration, knowing that we wouldn't get anywhere with pointless bickering. Steve stopped in front of the vending machine and looked into it. I came to stand next to him and looked in as well, still not knowing what the Captain was looking for, especially in a hospital vending machine.
I heard soft footsteps behind me and before I could quickly turn around, I saw a familiar reflection in the glass.

It was Natasha, wearing civilian clothing and chewing bubble gum. She smirked at me and walked up next to Steve. She popped a loud bubble by his ear which made him turn around. He took her in for a second, then grabbed her arm and dragged her into a nearby room. I was slightly shocked at Steve's actions to say the least, I couldn't imagine what he wanted with Natasha. I followed the two of them a few seconds after and found Steve angrily demanding information from Natasha, who was backed up against the wall looking slightly surprised with her eyes wide and mouth parted.

"Where is it?"
"Safe."
"Do better!"
"Where did you get it?"
"Why would I tell you?"
"Fury gave it to you. Why?"
"What's on it?"
"I don't know."
"Stop lying!"

"Alright, alright, girls." I interrupted the two's pointless argument. They both turned to me and Nat smirked when she saw me again, almost as if she hadn't noticed me follow them.
"Does she know?" She turned back to Steve. The Captain shook his head.
"Know what?" I asked. Before she answered me, Natasha waited for Steve's confirming nod telling her that she could spill.
"Before Fury died he gave Steve a flash drive. What's on it, I don't know, and neither does Steve."
"But it's important."
"Yes, I'm assuming." Nat shrugged a single shoulder. "But the one thing I do know is who killed Fury."