𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒~ 𝐵.𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑠

T W E N T Y T W O

Steve and I are watching the operate on Nick when Natasha joins us, "Is he gonna make it?" She asks desperation clear in her voice, I send her a sympathetic smile. "I don't know."

"Tell me about the shooter." She demands, "He's fast and strong. Had a metal arm." Steve says as then Agent Hill also joins us. "Ballistics?" Natasha asks, "Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." Hill informs us, "Soviet-made." Natasha adds making Hill look over to her shocked at how she knew that. "Yeah."

My eyes widen as he begins to flatline, I lean forwards and press my palm on the glass as I watch intently, "come on Nick." I murmur under my breath, "Don't do this to me, Nick. Don't do this to me." The four of us watch the doctors as they continue to revive Fury but Fury is still showing as flatlining, Steve turns away as they finally call his time of death. A tear spills over my eyes as the announce his death, he couldn't be dead.

Natasha, Steve and I are stood in the room where Fury's dead body has been laid out, Natasha is looking at Fury's body whilst Steve and I stand slightly behind, when I first met Nick it was in 1995 he had tracked me down, something he was very proud of since he was the first person actually able to find me in a long long time.

"I need to take him" Hill tells us entering the room. "Natasha." She doesn't respond, instead she tenderly touches Fury's head then turns and walks out, Steve follows after her. "Goodbye Nick." I whisper before I leave the room myself.

"Where's Steve?" I ask Natasha not seeing him anywhere. "Had to go back to HQ." She says making me nod, "why was Fury at Rogers apartment?" She asks making me shrug, "I don't know." She gives me a look telling me she didn't believe me. I trusted Nat but Fury said not to trust anyone apparently so I had to be a bit more careful.

Remembering that shield was compromised I made my way to my apartment and packed all my stuff back up before depositing it in a storage locker which held all the other things I couldn't part with yet couldn't take with me. I'd find a place after this mess was sorted out.

"Hospital." Is the only thing Steve says over the phone, before hanging up immediately. Don't tell me that this idiot left the flash drive in the hospital. When I get there he's walking towards the entrance with Nat, "come on." He tells me hurriedly making my brows furrow. "We're on the run from shield." He says making me nod I had already expected that.

"Where are we going?" I ask trying to keep up with their fast pace. "To find the winter soldier." I shake my head almost stopping in my place, "the winter soldier is a myth." Both Steve and Nat shake their head at me as they pull me along. "He's the man who went after Fury." 

"And we're going to find him how?" I question, "with this." Steve says holding up the flash drive.

• • •

Steve and Nat go to the mall to get answers whilst I wait around nearby, if the three of us went together it'd look more suspicious and since they knew how close Steve and I were they'd assume that I'd stay by his side. 

• • •

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asks after we escaped from the strike team, "Nazi Germany." He reply's making her hum,
"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash." He says making her do what she's told. "Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?" She says making him look over at her with a sigh, "What?"

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" My eyes widen and I lean forward in my seat, "you guys kissed?" I ask looking between them, "only so we could get away." Steve scoffs pushing my head back.

"That bad, huh?" He asks turning to Nat who looks like she's trying to hide a smile, "I didn't say that." She answers, "Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying." I look between them with a small smile on face, "No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had." She shrugs, "You don't need practice." He replies, "Everybody needs practice."

"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead." I scoff, who the hell had he been kissing? He was so lying, and dang ninety five? Since I never physically aged I forgot how old I actually was, but I sure did look good for a ninety five year old.

"Nobody special, though?" She asks making him Steve chuckle, "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." He tells her making her glance back at me, "Well there's Rosalie." Steve and I exchange a glance before shaking our heads. "No." We say in unison, I didn't even realise that my fingers had found their way to the ring around my neck until I noticed Steve smiling at me softly.

"Well, that's alright, you just make something up." Natasha says pulling me out of my daze, "What, like you?" Steve asks, "I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I." I stop listening to the conversation my mind still going back to the man that gave me this ring. I fidget with it as I think of him, what would Bucky even be like if he was still with me?

• • •

We walk around the base trying to pinpoint where the signal came from, "This camp is where I was trained." Steve says, I remembered all the time I spent here as I looked around, "Changed much?" She asks, "A little." I smile softly as I remember Howard and I sneaking around trying to catch a glimpse of the recruits only for him to get us caught straight away. Or when Dean first brought me here, and all the time we spent together.

"This is SHIELD." Natasha notices as we make our way into the building, "Maybe where it started." Steve says as I drop my hand from my neck, "it is." I say speaking for the first time since we had arrived, they both look over to me maybe even forgetting that I was with them. We they enter a room where they find old framed portraits of Howard, Peggy, me and Colonel Phillips, "There's Stark's father." Nat recognises pointing to the picture, "Howard." A small smile makes its way to my face as I step forward and straighten the frame

"And that's..." her words trail as she looks to me and then back to the picture, "me." I answer staring at the picture before taking it down and turning it to face the wall. "Who's the girl?" She asks referencing for Peggy. Steve doesn't reply and turns away to walk further down the room and stops by a massive book shelf, "If you're already working in a secret office..." he pushes the bookshelf and slides open to reveal an elevator behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?" He asks I honestly didn't even remember why that was there, I mean sure I helped found shield and I worked here for a bit but I was never really as involved as the others and I let it go pretty quickly I don't think I even deserved to be names a founder of shield.

They go down the elevator but I stay upstairs, as the lookout I guess, I'm not really sure but I just felt kind of out of it.