Monster of a Ghost | Avenger's OC|

Proper Explanations

Hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of cement and steel rubble had crashed down on top of the trio. Fire and rubble were all that was left of the bunker.

For the most part everything was silent besides the sound of the fire cracking. That was until a loud groan came and a particularly large pillar of cement was shifted to the side revealing the three avengers all covered in dirt and soot.

Steve and Kelsey were the two still standing with Natasha unable to stand on her own feet.

"You got Nat?" Kelsey asked rubbing her wrists painfully as she picked up Steve's shield for him.

"Yea." Steve said lowly bending over and scooping Natasha into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. As the pair started to move out from underneath all the rubble, Kelsey held her hand out quickly to stop Steve from moving for a moment.

Standing absolutely still, the pair remained quiet only to hear the loud drone of huge engines heading directly towards them.

"We gotta move." Kelsey said quickly before clearing a bit of a path for the group.

~~~

How they got all the way back to DC without being spotted was nothing short of a miracle. Kelsey trusted Steve and allowed him to lead them into a residential neighborhood and up to a small house. Steve's fist quickly knocked against the glass door that was covered by shades.

It took a moment before they were quickly pulled up to reveal Sam, the same man Steve had introduced Kelsey to only three or four days earlier.

"Hey man..." Steve said his voice low. "I'm sorry about this, we need a place to lay low for a bit."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha spoke up too.

"Not everyone. Come in." Sam said after a few seconds of silence, before moving to the side to let the three into his house before closing and locking the door behind them.

"Thanks Sam." Kelsey smiled gently patting the ex-soldier's shoulder quickly.

"Of course." He said giving her a quick smile back. Sam led the three into his spare bedroom before leaving them alone for a few minutes. After washing away the dirt and soot, Kelsey pulled her hair back into a ponytail reentering the bedroom.

Steve gave Kelsey a quick look and it said it all. With a nod, Kelsey left the room without a word standing just outside of the room but out of sight in order to listen into the conversation.

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought it was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."

"I owe you." Nat said gently.

"It's okay."

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, now, you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?" Natasha asked so low that Kelsey had to lean in to hear.

"I would now. I'm always honest." Steve said the smile obvious in his voice.

"Well you seem pretty chipper for a guy who just found out he died for nothing." Natasha quipped back seconds later.

"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting..." Steve said before leaning back in his chair. Taking this as her cue, Kelsey reappeared in the doorway.

"So did you guys kiss and make up?" She said with a gentle smile folding her arms over her chest, Steve and Nat smiled in return looking up at the younger woman as Sam came into view.

"I made breakfast. I don't know if you people do that or not." Sam said cheekily standing beside Kelsey.

"I'm in, should probably take my meds too." Kelsey says to no one in particular as she ducked past Sam heading for the kitchen.

While Kelsey sat at the counter stuffing her face with the breakfast Sam had prepared, the other three spoke among themselves trying to figure out who had targeted them.

Quickly they realized it was Pierce and Sitwell. Next they needed to get answers.

"So the issue is, how the hell are the three most wanted people in Washington DC going to kidnap a high ranking SHIELD Officer?" Kelsey spoke up after shoveling down the last bits of food she'd had on her plate.

"Consider this my application." Sam spoke up dropping a file onto the table in front of Steve and Natasha. Kelsey stood up and made her way over to the table to get a proper look at the file.

"I can't ask you to do this, you got out for a good reason."

"Dude Captain America needs my help, there's no better reason to get back in."

~~~

Floating in the air, Kelsey kept her arms crossed patiently waiting for the others to appear while also keeping watch. The door of the skyscraper suddenly burst open with Jasper Sitwell flying through it and Steve following seconds after.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve demanded roughly.

"Never heard of it." Jasper stuttered through his teeth.

"You really suck at lying you know that?" Kelsey said dropping down to where Steve was.

"What were you doing on the Lumerian Star?" Steve questioned again as Sitwell continued backing up being caught just before he fell off the edge of the roof.

"Throwing up, I get sea sick." Sitwell answered cheekily. "Is this little display meant to say you're going to throw me off the roof? Cuz it's really not your style Rogers."

"You're right, it's not." Steve said letting go of Sitwell's blazer and patting him gently.

"It's hers." With that Steve took a step to the side and Natasha delivered a swift kick hitting Sitwell right in the chest sending him flying off the edge of the roof screaming.

"Oh wait what about that girl from accounting Laura, Lis-." She starts with Steve nonchalantly.

"Lillian." Kelsey chirps from behind the two.

"Lip piercing right?" Steve questions getting a nod from Nat.

"Yeah, she's cute."

"Got a nice ass." Kelsey chimes in.

"Yeah... I'm not ready for that."

With that Sam came into view wearing the mechanical wings and carrying Sitwell with one arm. Flying over the trio he dropped Jasper back onto the roof before landing a few feet behind him.

"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets." Jasper panted holding his hand up in a cheap attempt to keep Steve away from him.

"What targets?"

"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now, or in the future." Sitwell blurted out.

"The future? How could it know?" Kelsey demanded.

"How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola told HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future." Jasper said laughing as he stood up.

"What then?" asked Steve.

"Oh, my god. Pierce is going to kill me."

"What then?" Steve urged on taking a step forward sending Jasper backwards into Sam.

"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

"Shit." Kelsey hissed.