This chapter and the next will follow Natasha and Steve into mostly solo, but pivotal chapters, where we will find out exactly what Natasha was doing with Fury.

Special Thanks to our loyal fans and all our new ones -Whales


Natasha knew she was doing the right thing, even if Fury disagreed with her. The tracker beeped in her ear as she crept towards the homing signal. Dressed in all black from head to toe, Natasha used the darkness for cover while weaving around and between the rows upon rows of parked cars in the auto terminal. The smell of oil and brine lay heavily around the Port of Baltimore, but there was neither the tell-tale sound of seagulls, nor the sound crashing of waves. It was unusually quiet, almost muted, and she was painfully aware of each pebble that crunched beneath her boots.

Something scuffed off to her left and Natasha immediately dropped into a crouch with her back to an SUV. Slowly, she put a hand on the pistol inside her jacket and waited. The sound didn't repeat. Natasha dared a glance back at the guard shack where she'd passed the night watchman, Gary. Gary was still there. She could see his boots propped up on his desk while he shifted around with the phone still pressed against his ear. He'd been reading a bedtime story over the phone to his daughter when she'd slipped past him earlier.

Natasha waited an extra minute before continuing her meandering walk through the parked cars. She tapped the thin metal band on her wrist and a small holo-map stretched out horizontally against the back of her hand. The blinking red dot was still there, less than 50 yards away from her, but that didn't make Natasha breathe any easier. There was an itch between her shoulder blades, a tingle down her spine—something was off tonight.

Briefly, she considered aborting the mission and waiting it out for a few more days. Except, what was locked under that car was probably the most dangerous thing that she'd ever handled, and letting it end up in the wrong hands was something she couldn't gamble. Natasha could hear the steady beep-beep of the homing signal speeding up and decided that she was too close to turn back.

The holo-map disappeared with another tap, only 50 yards separated her Natasha from the vehicle. She could see the target SUV now, metallic black and iridescent beneath dim shafts of lamp light. Glancing about with caution, she began to trot towards it. After a quick inspection, Natasha decided that the vehicle was exactly as she'd left it in Hamburg. A stale donut sitting in the drink console with a bite mark pointing towards two o'clock, two strips of black putty placed in the crease where the trunk lid met the rooftop, and the decoy vial obviously disguised as a tire bolt. Everything had been left unmolested.

Natasha knelt and quickly unscrewed the decoy vial and slipped it inside of her jacket pocket. She pulled out a small UV flashlight, settled it firmly between her teeth, and then rolled underneath the SUV. If the mark that she'd left in Hamburg still held, then she was in the clear. She pressed her tongue against the back of the flashlight to turn it on and aimed it above her.

There, on the top right strut mount, was a small metal capsule welded to the upper control arm. It blended perfectly with the rest of the undercarriage and the invisible seal was in exactly the same position. Still not daring to relax, she took a small T-handle wrench in a firm grip and began unscrewing the capsule cover. The vial itself rested inside of a protective travel case, which she carefully extracted and then slipped inside a hidden compartment in her belt.

Something scuffed near the rear of the SUV, and she froze.