XI - We Can't Stay Here
There were flames everywhere as they all stepped out of the bunker, walking by bodies and bullets, looking around at the SHIELD vehicle that was turned upside down as it continued to burn. Hayley clung to the two boxes of files in her arms, worried she would trip over the fiery debris as she walked through the chaos.
"How the hell did they find us?" Flynn asked, looking around wide-eyed.
"They were tracking you," Hill informed, leading the way out of the wreckage.
"They couldn't have," Charlie argued. "I had a whole lockdown in there,"
"Clearly not," she returned. "They locked onto something and they've been watching you all,"
"How do know that?" Flynn asked.
"I've been watching them. SHIELD badges and uniforms don't mean anything to me right now, I need to keep my eye on everyone,"
"Then why are you trusting us?" Hayley asked.
Hill unlocked the small SUV that was parked outside the gates of the abandoned lot and signalled for them to pile inside with the boxes. She looked toward Hayley for a moment before glancing around at all of them, knowing that same question was on their minds.
"I'm not," she explained. "But if Hydra sees you as a threat, you could be useful."
"What, as bait?" Hayley countered.
"We're pretty happy to work on our own here Hill," Flynn added.
"Work? What work have you been doing exactly? Apart from hacking through all the security systems to find classified information," she argued, looking directly over to Charlie.
"More work than you've been doing it seems," Charlie snapped back. "Where have you been hiding out, huh? Burying yourself away and ignoring the shit-storm SHIELD created?"
"This isn't SHIELD," she assured.
"SHIELD, Hydra, what's the difference Hill?" Hayley asked. "No one in that organisation is who they said they were. As far as I can see, everyone at SHIELD is corrupt one way or another,"
Hill looked back at her and then between the other two. She was outnumbered in the argument, but she didn't care what any of them thought. She came here to get them out of that bunker, out of the hideout Hydra knew of and back to somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would find them, where they could actually make themselves useful to the fight against Hydra.
"If you'd rather stay here, go ahead," Hill offered. "If you want to do something about this, get in."
As Hill climbed into the SUV and started the engine, the three outside looked around at one another. Flynn didn't know what to think, and it was clear the Charlie just didn't trust Hill or SHIELD at all at this point. Hayley couldn't blame him either, she was just as wary.
"We said we wanted to do something," Flynn shrugged. "We can't stay here,"
"I don't trust her or any of them," Charlie argued. "Where the hell is she going to take us?"
"It'll be better than here or stranded out on the street with all of this," he explained. "Look, we've got no better options. We've got no other options, actually."
Then, both Flynn and Charlie looked to Hayley for the final decision.
"We don't have a choice, do we?" she shrugged. "At least with Hill, Hydra won't track us,"
Charlie shook his head and looked away from both of them, back at the bunker that was now covered in smoke and dust. He thought they had been safe, he thought he had hidden every piece of tech from being tracked by the organisation and he was wrong. Hydra was a step ahead of him, and as much as it annoyed him, he needed to admit that he wasn't capable of protecting them on their own.
"Do you trust her?" Flynn asked, arms folded as Hill started up the engine on the car.
"I don't trust anyone right now," Hayley frowned. "But you said it yourself. We can't stay here,"
Without another word, the three of then turned toward the SUV and climbed inside, still carrying a box each of all the information Flynn and Charlie had gathered. Information that could not be in anyone else's possession right now.
Hill silently pulled a baseball cap over her head and slid on a pair of sunglasses, beginning to drive them out of the lot. Heading into the streets of the city, they all looked out at people beginning their days. Restaurants setting up their tables, stores opening their doors and families walking their children to school. Everything seemed so normal, no one out there had any idea about Hydra or the danger they were in.
Hill turned corner after corner and manoeuvred through traffic, but the morning commute was proving to be a roadblock in their journey.
"I hope we're not on a schedule," Flynn sighed, folding his arms as they sat at a standstill. "Don't suppose you'll reveal where we're going,"
"Somewhere safe," she assured. "If we can get there,"
Charlie slumped down further in the seat, pulling the hood of his jacket over his head to shield out the morning sun beaming down on them. He didn't care if he missed seeing the route they took to wherever they were going, he just wanted to be there already. It had been a long time since he had been out in the real world, away from his darkened rooms of hacking and surveillance. His mind was running wild thinking of how Hydra had tracked them down, he just wanted a break from it all.
Hayley moved to lean up against the door, her arm up to keep the burning sun from her eyes. She couldn't help watch Hill with paranoia, wondering where they were going and why she wasn't telling them anything. But there was no trust among anyone right now.
"Have you had any contact with Steve?" Hayley asked, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.
Hill returned Hayley's gaze through the rear-view mirror.
"No," she answered softly. "Last I saw of him he was crashing through a roof in the Triskellion,"
Hayley figured as much. Steve wouldn't contact anyone at SHIELD, not now. There was no one he could trust, and Hayley had never felt that more strongly.
They had been on the road for almost an hour when Hill began watching one of the rear mirrors closely, her glancing eyes obviously to both Flynn and Hayley who had been watching her cautiously for the entire drive.
"What?" Flynn asked.
"We've got a follower," Hill announced quietly. "Five blocks now,"
"It's morning commute," Flynn suggested. "Are you sure they're following us?"
"Two men," Hill explained. "They keep checking the backstreets. They're locked on us,"
"You said we couldn't be tracked," Charlie flung forward, poking his head in between Flynn and Hill.
"Tell me none of you have a cell-phone," she shook her head.
"No, everything we had is left back there," Flynn answered. "There's nothing on us that can be tracked-"
"I've been moving for days and I haven't been found until..."
Hayley's mind trailed off from the argument in the front seat, piecing together something that had been on her mind since the moment she had her paranoia about Hydra. They were watching her all the time, they knew where she was, they always had their eye on her.
Flynn and Charlie had spent a week in that bunker without Hydra knowing they were there will all the classified information needed to take them down, and they were found the moment Hayley entered the situation. Hill had been out and about, driving around the city without Hydra picking up on the fact a high ranking SHIELD agent was monitoring their moves. But once Hayley came along, they found them within an hour.
"Take the next left," Hayley instructed, unclipping her seatbelt.
"What's the next left?" Flynn asked.
"I can get out by the time they catch up," she explained, readying herself. "They're tracking me,"
Hill watched her closely in the rear-view mirror.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"I'm sure," Hayley nodded, reaching over to take the baseball cap from Hill's head. "If I stay with you guys, you'll never make it out of the city,"
"Where are you going to go?" Charlie asked. "Do you even have an idea of what you're doing right now!"
"No I don't, alright! All I know is you guys have one window to get out of here and I have to get out for you to do that!" she yelled.
"Alright," Hill agreed. "Do not let them get close to you. Lose them, take them down, whatever it takes. One hour and I'll be back for you,"
"In one hour they could still be tracking me," Hayley shook her head.
Hill turned in her seat to look at the woman.
"You need to make sure they're not,"
"I made breakfast. If you guys...eat that sort of thing,"
Steve chuckled lightly at Sam poking his head into the room and then ducking back out to the kitchen. He had never been so appreciative of someone he barely knew. Sam Wilson was a soldier as well, a good soldier, someone that Steve instantly trusted and had a respect for the moment they met. But that didn't mean Sam had to say yes to having two wanted SHIELD operatives in his house.
And yet he did. Covered in dust and blood, Natasha and Steve had been welcomed into Sam's home to gather their thoughts beneath Hydra's radar.
"You should eat something," Steve suggested, standing up to head out.
"I will," Natasha nodded. "I'll be out soon, I'll finish up here,"
Steve nodded, closing the door behind him to leave Natasha on her own for a while. He knew the spy was a very secretive person, and in the last 24 hours she had been more vulnerable than he had ever seen. The organisation they both worked for was crumbling, but to Natasha, she had once again been on the side of the bad guys.
Sam had food prepared on the table, pouring himself and Steve a glass of juice. There were a million questions going around his mind that he wanted to ask Steve, but over the last thirty minutes they had been there, Sam had gathered enough to know that this was big.
"You didn't have to do this," Steve told him with an appreciative smile.
"I would have been making it for myself anyway," Sam shrugged. "You're looking better,"
"I feel better," Steve nodded, sitting down at the table. "For the most part,"
"Not too bad after taking a hit from a missile," Sam added. "What are you gonna do now?"
"That's the question," Steve sighed. "Plans are a little hard to arrange when you're wanted,"
"Never thought I'd see Captain America as a wanted man," Sam shook his head. "I can't imagine what you're thinking right now,"
"I don't know what I'm thinking," Steve rubbed his eyes, taking a sip of juice. "Hydra...I never thought I'd deal with them again,"
They silently filled their plates with the breakfast Sam prepared, beginning to dig in. Steve didn't realise how hungry he was until he took his first bite, unable to stop himself from piling more onto his plate. Natasha had emerged from the bathroom, clean and ready for the rest of their day. Her body ached from the concrete that had fallen on top of her during the blast, but that was never going to hold her back.
She gulped down a glass of juice before taking a seat at the table with Sam and Steve, picking away at a piece of toast as she sat with her thoughts. Her mind was wired to think like a spy - and right now she was trying to figure out where to start with all of this. The biggest question now was finding out their biggest target.
"So, the question is who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha posed.
Sam leaned back in his chair and looked between Steve and Natasha, wondering what they were thinking. He knew about SHIELD and how it operated, but he definitely didn't know enough about the organisation to offer any advice about personnel. But the more they spoke, the more a particular idea made it's way into Sam's mind.
There was a specific skill Sam had to offer, and although this wasn't necessarily his fight, the soldier in him wouldn't let the opportunity to help pass by. Especially since right now it seemed like Natasha and Steve were on their own in this.
Sam left the room for one moment as the two spoke between themselves, and returned with a file that he put down in front of them both, folding his arms as they both looked down in confusion.
"What's this?" Steve asked.
"Call it a resume."
Hey guys! I just want to say thank you for continuing to read and follow this story along, I'm hoping to really progress in the next few chapters. Although this is the Winter Soldier plot line, this story is going to continue past this plot. There will be a few more chapters on the movie-plot line before we get back to Steve and Hayley's storyline which will include the fallout of Winter Soldier plot. I hope you guys are looking forward to it!
As always, I love hearing from you guys. If you have anything you'd like to add, suggestions or just any thoughts - please leave a review! xxx