Trust Me (Steve Rogers Fanfiction)

Chapter 35

AMERICA'S POV

"It should be right there," Steve says, pointing to a vending machine. There were probably better hiding spots to choose, but I don't question him. Now isn't the time. I mean, it worked, right?But when we look in to retrieve it, the slot is empty. A weight settles in my stomach. We were too late. The smacking of gum fills my ears, and I quickly turn only to come face-to-face with Natasha, who pops a bright pink bubble with satisfaction. Steve waits for a nurse to pass, then pushes Natasha into another room, jaw tight and anger in his eyes.

"Steve!" I whisper, but he doesn't pay me any attention.

"Where is it?" He hisses, inches from her face.

"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!"

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers," she snaps. This shuts him up for a minute, thank God. I haven't seen him that angry in a long time. Then he starts it up all over again.

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

"I'm not going to ask you again," Steve snarls.

"I know who killed Fury." I step forward when she says this, interested and desperate for information of any kind. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years."

The Winter Soldier.

The Winter Soldier.

I know that name.

"So he's a ghost story." The two of them continue back and forth as I quietly back up, suddenly out of breath. I know that name. Who is he?

Natasha speaks quickly, and quietly. "Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier and some other Hydra agent were there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me." She pulls up the corner of her shirt, revealing a nasty bullet scar. "Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis." She smirks a bit, but I don't find anything funny about the situation when I remember something else.

I was the one who shot her.

"Yeah, I bet you look horrible in them now," Steve comments sarcastically.

The memory comes back now. I can feel the frigid bite of snow against my skin as I summersaulted over the cliff and aimed my gun. He pulled me back over when I almost missed the landing. I think I'm going to be sick.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried," she warns, holding up the flash drive. "Like you said, he's a ghost story."

Steve takes the drive from her careful fingers. "Well, let's see what the ghost wants."

I can't take it anymore. Desperate for fresh air, I run out into the hallway and push my way through the first exit I find, which turns out to be the parking lot. I breathe in as much fresh air as I can. The inside smells like sterilization and chemicals, which only reminds me of Fury's death.

I haven't had to face my past for months now. It was the first forgetting I was okay. And because I know the we'll be hunting the Winter Soldier, it's not about to go away.

"America!" Steve and Natasha rush out behind me. "What's wrong?"

I sigh. "We're hunting the Winter Soldier, right? It's just another mission, except we're all fugitives now, right? And we think if we corner him, we suddenly think it's all going to be okay and everything will go back to normal. Right?"

"Mer, where's all this coming from?" Steve asks, concerned.

"This isn't like the other missions, Steve. He isn't going to surrender and beg for Captain America's forgiveness. We're not dealing with an average fighter."

"We're not average fighters, either."

Natasha's brown eyes widen. "You were the one who shot me." She's too smart and observant to hide anything from, so I nod. "Don't look ashamed: do I look mad? You have information."

I nod. "Yeah, I do. He and I were... we were partners. We fought together. We trained together. I worked with him for years." I turn to Steve. "And that's why I'm saying we have to be careful. This is Hydra we're dealing with. They don't give a damn about who gets in their way, and he was the best of all of us. He taught me. Steve, he was the one who brought me in the first time. The one who took me from my family. I still get nightmares about it. Back when I was fifteen. And he's ruthless."

His gaze is hard. "Then we'll kill him, just like he killed Fury."

"I don't think it's that simple," I say. My cheek aches from the gash and my brain from newfound information. All I want to do is return to the peace I had somehow gathered these last few months. But we can't go back.

"Listen, America, we have the upper hand. We're hunting him. We're a rogue team of two super soldiers and the world's best spy. He's outnumbered and out gunned."

"It can be done," Natasha adds. "But we aren't going to accomplish much of anything arguing in a hospital parking lot."

"We need a plan. A good one, not jumping out of buildings on a last-minute escape motorcycle." I give Steve a look, and he chuckles.

"All right. We need disguises and a safe place to check out this drive." Steve scratches the back of his head. "Let's get moving."

New chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it!