Toxic | Steve Rogers

Chapter Thirty-Four: Person of Interest

Adora's POV
"Welcome to Lake Placid, New York" I told Steve with a flourish. Steve rolled his eyes at my silliness, his eyes inspecting the sign.

"What's N.Rushman?" he asked, his eyes looking at me intently, as if he was waiting for me to lie.

"It stands for Nancy Rushman. It's one of Natasha's old alias. She was in New York when she used it" I said carefully. Steve nodded. Taking my hand, he started to pull me forward, and walked down the path. I swung my hand in his, and he shook his head, a small smile on his lips.

"There'll be a cabin further down the path. It's a safe house Natasha and I made a while back" I tell him, turning to face him. He's staring ahead, his brows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" I ask, concern edging my voice. He shakes his head. "Nancy Rushman. It sounds familiar" he said tonelessly. I purse my lips, unsure of what to say.

We walk in silence for another few minutes, until a wooden cabin comes into view. I grin. "There it is, Captain" I point to the structure in front of me. There's smoke coming from the chimney, and my smile falters. My eye turn to Steve, wondering if he noticed. If he did, he didn't show it.

The red and orange leaves crunched underneath Steve's boots, as we walked towards the door of the small cabin. I drag my boots up the steps, my eyes glancing at Steve from in my peripheral vision.

Pausing, I rub my hands together, taking a deep breath. I whistle, and I hear a flurry of sounds from inside. Steve immediately stiffens, and prepares himself in a stance. I fight back a smile. He had no idea.

The door swings open, to reveal Natasha standing with a smirk, to greet us.

"Took you long enough" she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Steve's lips part in shock.

"Natasha?" he says bewilderedly, relaxing his shoulders. She lets out a low chuckle.

"Who does it look like?" I smile at her sarcasm. Our eyes meet for a second, and she looks away. Her eyes said something her face didn't.

I tilt my head, smirking. "You gonna let us in, or are we gonna stand outside here all day?" I question, and Natasha rolls her eyes, stepping away from the door so we could get inside.

My nose took in the comforting smell of old wood, and I could feel the heat of the fire on my skin. It looked the same as it always had. I feel myself smiling as memories washed over me with each turn, smell, and sight.

"How long you been here, Nat?" I call out, as she follows me into the kitchen. The kitchen has a marble island in the middle, and stone backwash, with oak wood cabinets. The floor was made of wood as well, but a lighter shade than the cabinets.

"Only a couple of weeks since I left" she replied from across the room. I raise an eyebrow but don't say anything. My sister had more to hide than I did. I walk past the kitchen, where an open glass wall was presenting the beautiful view of the forest.

A table was in front of it, and a hallway leading towards the bedrooms. I ran my fingers over the wood of the walls, it's roughness feeling soft under my calloused skin. I closed my eyes, my mind distancing itself from my surroundings.

I could hear childish laughter, and soft footsteps from around the corner, as two small girls ran after each other. Their black and red hair bounced in the air, and their faces were bright with happiness. The red hair one ran into the kitchen, hiding from the other girl.

"I'm going to find you!" the girl called, grinning widely. The red haired child smiled, holding back a giggle.

"Adora?" Natasha's voice interrupted me, and I opened my eyes, to find her standing she had been all those years ago.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes searching mine. I force a smile to my lips. "Just tired" I respond, knowing she would see through my lie. She nodded, her green eyes watching me.

I wander back to where Steve is sitting next to the fire, staring into the distance. I know he has questions, and wants answers.

"It's time, Nat" I call, and she appears next to me as I sit down next to Steve. He looks up at my voice, and I give him a smile. He doesn't smile back, only returning his eyes to the fire.

Natasha clears her throat, and both me and Steve give her our attention.

"When Bruce left, Fury gave me a mission. Not to find him like I told you, but to track down a person of interest. That person has managed to steal the Tesseract from Asgard, and bring it to HYDRA" Natasha said calmly, her eyes trained on Steve. She wasn't looking at me, because she was say things I already knew. What I didn't know, was who this person was.

Steve nodded for her to go on. "And while the reason why Adora is here remains the same, her purpose is not. I told Fury to send you guys on a mission, because I wanted to get Adora in the field. I became a spy inside of HYDRA by the name of Nancy Rushman. I wanted you guys to retrieve the Tesseract, so that would pull out the persons who stole the Tesseract."

"What I didn't know, was that we already had a spy on our side. When I gave Adora the message, I was trying to keep you safe. We are the only ones in the know that there is a traitor, and I wanted to keep it that way. It could be anyone, and we wouldn't know, based on the likes of our person of interest"

Steve held out his hand for her to stop. His forehead was creased in confusion. "Who's this person of interest you keep talking about, and why haven't we known about him?" he asked, looking at Natasha accusingly. Natasha pursed her lips.

"It's more of a her. She's from Asgard. And she's Loki's sister" My eyebrows raised, and Natasha shoots me a look.

I knew to say nothing, because I knew exactly who she was talking about. In fact, I had met this woman.

And her name was Tiana, creator of the Tesseract.