A/N: Sorry this update took me like a month+, I've just been so focused on getting Hidden in Plain Sight done as well as school and such that I've been a little distracted from this story. But don't worry, Ida and Steve's story isn't over, we're just getting to the good part! Once again, this story isn't a priority when compared to Hidden in Plain Sight, but considering that is so close to being done (after over a hundred chapters) I don't think we'll have to worry about that much longer. A-Levels are also kicking my ass, but I really need to stop making excuses. In short, don't expect regular updates on this, but also don't give up hope!

In other news, I've spent a while editing together a trailer for Hidden in Plain Sight. It's a little bit shit and I'm not sure if I'll upload it (it'll probably get taken down for copyright) but if anyone is interested I totally will. And I might even make one for this story? But don't hold me to that haha.

Chapter Twelve: Trustworthy

April 1st, 2014

12:30pm

It was a windy afternoon in Washington, observed Ida from inside the cafe she was sitting in, a small espresso sittin on the table in front of her which she drank small sips from. While it was certainly hardly pleasant weather, the day was still bright enough so she didn't turn too many heads with the pair of sunglasses she had propped on her head. Originally, they were going to be some kind of disguise, but Ida didn't really like disguises. She liked looking good. Despite not getting any sleep, her face was done up with makeup, her eyelashes thick, her hair in neat waves and a pair of pearl earrings dangling from her ears. Even her clothes, which were casual for her, were hardly something to blend in with. She wore a fitted, white, designer dress shirt and high-waisted black trousers. Her usual, stone coat was hung back around the chair she sat on, as she rested her head on her chin and watched the world outside.

Her eyes were not on the traffic going past, and the busy life of the city itself, but the bank across the road. The Ideal Federal Savings Bank. It was nothing special on the surface, Washington was the capital city afterall, it was covered in banks and other important, recognisable locations. However, Ida was aware that this bank was often used to house Hydra soldiers. Not a big deal, this was old news.

The only reason she had any curiosity about it was because an insider had let it slip that they were housing an asset there. Ida could put some good money (and she had a lot of money) on exactly who that asset was.

She took a sip of her coffee and contemplated her next move. It wasn't quite strong enough, she would make herself a martini when she got home in a few hours.

Last night, she had told Pierce what he had wanted to know about Fury. Last night, Ida had got paid. Last night, Ida feared she may have signed the death warrant of Nicholas J. Fury.

But why bring in the Winter Soldier? It seemed like an overreaction on Hydra's behalf. Fury was one man. He was tough, but bringing one of the notable assassins of the century in seemed like an overreaction. Unless there was something else, something Ida was overlooking, or at least remained fuzzy on. It would make sense on why they were bringing in extra Hydra muscle over to DC.

Project Insight was moving forward.

Another sip of coffee. Ida pondered what little she knew of the matter, it was something Hydra was completely determined to leave her, and many others, in the dark on. Even Fury knew nothing, he had tried to learn something but how would that end for him? She thought about the Winter Soldier and she felt grim. Not well was the answer to that question.

But Fury wasn't stupid or defenseless. Ida had a feeling he already knew there was something wrong within Hydra, or at least knew someone was onto him. The man had faced worse threats than Hydra. But worse threats than the Winter Soldier? That was debatable.

Sighing, Ida picked up her phone.

After three rings, they picked up.

"Agent McKenna?" She said.

"Yes?" Came the agent's voice.

"I need you to track Fury," she said, "just for the day. If anything happens, let me know."

McKenna snorted, "the Director will know if—"

"He won't know today," said Ida, "I'm sure his mind is on other things. If he leaves the SHIELD building, just let me know. I want to stay updated, call me curious."

McKenna cared little for reasons, which was why Ida liked him so much (and why he got paid the big bucks for being a rat within Hydra and SHIELD). He simply gave her an affirmative "sure" and hung up, leaving Ida alone with her thoughts once again.

She finished up her coffee, left a tip on the table and left. Putting her coat on her as she left, she almost didn't see the man until she had pretty much walked into him. She managed to stop herself and glanced at him.

"Rumlow," she said, feigning surprise, "whatever are you doing here?"

Agent Rumlow was just about the same height as her, he was lucky he hadn't caught her in her heeled boots. He didn't look surprised to see her, though he did look like he had been about to cross the road to enter the bank.

"Delgrave," he greeted, eying her up, "are you spying on us?"

"I just heard some interesting news," there was no use in hiding the fact that she had been watching the bank. Rumlow was quite thick, but he wasn't completely stupid. "It looks like we're in for an exciting few days."

"Indeed," he agreed. "Where were you off to in such a hurry?"

"Oh, you know," she glanced at her watch. "A few meetings here and there. The usual routine. I assume you're clocking in."

"You could call it that. We have a busy afternoon," he paused, "though I am free this evening."

Ida's lips quirked up in a bemused smirk as she looked at him. The man was hardly subtle. She had never had a relationship with Rumlow, she did have some standards when it came to men and he was far too much of a fanatic for her. Granted, she had slept with him once and he was okay, she had had better that was for sure. But the man was also rather conceited, and had likely convinced himself that he had the biggest dick around. Ida was completely certain that while yes he was a big dick, he didn't have one.

However, she didn't underestimate how useful he was to her and gave him a slight pat on the shoulder, purposely letting her hand linger longer than necessary.

"Perhaps another night," she said, "my calendar's a little stacked."

He didn't seemed offended, if anything he seemed to like the implication that she may be free in the future. Truth be told though, Ida hadn't done as much sleeping around as she had done in the past. She knew why that was, and it would feel… Wrong if she slept with someone else.

"I'll see you around, Rumlow," she said.

"Until next time, Miss Delgrave."

They went their separate ways and Ida checked her watch again. She hadn't been lying, she did have a meeting to get to, granted she felt too tense to focus on anything.

The wind whipped her hair in front of her face, and she brushed it behind her ears, glancing up to the sky, which was growing cloudier and grey. With a sigh, she realised with a heavy heart that a storm was brewing. And part of it was her fault.

A few hours later

17:00pm

Dusk had begun, the sky was bloody red and Ida had taken a few meetings with a couple contacts and a couple customers and was now using the evening to take a walk around the city. She checked her phone, but there were no texts from Agent McKenna. She checked her other phone (which she had just in case) no texts there either.

However, she did have a voicemail from a certain someone.

"Hey, Ida," said Steve, he sounded rather tired and annoyed, granted she didn't think it was directed at her. For once. "I was just wondering when you're next free for a coffee or something. I don't know about you but I could really do with a break and Romanoff keeps bugging me about getting a social life or something. Anyway, I figure you're in a meeting selling off the secrets of the state or something so just call me back when you can. Okay, which button is it to end the call again? Is it— no that's volume. Oh, it's this one—"

Ida smiled at the sound of his voice and put her phone back in her pocket, deciding to reply when she heard back from McKenna.

Whatever happened next would alter her and the Captain's relationship almost permanently. While she had grown to enjoy this on-off thing the two of them had developed, she knew it couldn't last. Project Insight, whatever it was, would change everything. It would reveal… Certain things. Steve already didn't like what she did, but he seemed to like her enough to look past it. But, of course, he didn't know everything.

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. Her situation was so complicated and Steve was so…

She was leading him on. Not in the same way she would with other men, tricking them in thinking she was interested in order to get information. No, she was interested in Steve and she didn't want information from him. And, while she wasn't lying to him, she wasn't telling an important truth.

"Since when did my job get so complicated," she muttered to herself.

But her job had always been complicated. Morally, it was always grey. A very dark shade of grey. But it was only now that she began to know what it felt like.

"I was just wondering when you're next free for a coffee," was his simple request in a gentle tone.

"I don't think you'll see me out, not for a million dollars, not for ten million," had been the other thing he had said.

And she would never sell him out. Not directly. But, couldn't it be argued that her secrets were the equivalent of selling him out? Or worse?

Fuck you, Steve Rogers, she thought to herself, for making everything so complicated.

Her phone suddenly buzzed and she didn't even need to see the contact name to know who was calling and she picked up before it could even finish its first ring.

"What's happened?" She asked.

Five minutes later, she found herself on one of the main streets in the centre of the street. Neither of the cops on watch batted an eye as she shoved her way through the crowd and ducked through the police tape, one of them even gave her a sharp nod in greeting which she returned with a brief nod of her own.

Her boots clicked against the tarmac as she approached the area where the police chief was, a man who knew her well. Of course, everyone in a high enough postion knew the Woman of Whispers. The police chief was a man she had sold information to before, as well as gotten key information off of.

He greeted her, which she returned and stood beside him.

"So?" She glanced at the overturned, black SUV. "What's the details?"

The police chief didn't quite know as much as her, but he also knew things she didn't.

"Some kind of car chase," he explained, "reckless drivers, nothing knew. A couple of my boys were apparently going after the driver, for speeding and holding a weapon."

Ida nodded, those officers had been Hydra plants, of course.

"Crashed a couple cars," the chief went on, "a lot of shooting apparently, citizens caught in the crossfire but thankfully none were too badly injured. We seemed to lose the driver until well…" He gestured to the overturned car.

Ida swallowed, "how did that happen?"

"Witnesses report a man was standing in the middle of the road, holding some kind of grenade launcher which he shot at the car."

Ida swallowed, "how did witnesses describe the man."

"Long hair and a prosthetic. Well—" the chief looked at her, "the exact words they used was a 'metal arm.'"

It was true then, Ida realised. The Winter Soldier had been sent to take out Fury, the deadliest assassin on Earth was in the city.

"And the driver?"

"Gone," said the chief, "not body was found, despite the man reportedly having horrible injuries. What was found was a hole in the ground."

After closely inspecting the scene for herself, Ida couldn't help but feel a little amused. Hydra had done almost everything to kill Fury, they had even caused a big scene over it. The Winter Soldier, their deadliest assassin, their ghost story, had been strolling down the road with all of his weapons in prime position to finish the man off. Yet Fury had managed to get away. Ida wasn't even impressed by the man's talent at this point, simply amused by it all.

Her phone rang again and she picked it up.

"I'm at the scene," she told McKenna. "Any idea on Fury's location."

"Well," McKenna sighed, "I have eyes on him."

"You do?" She blinked surprised.

The man was likely injured. While he could hide from everyone else, hiding from a trained, high-level spy like Agent McKenna would be difficult. However, if McKenna had eyes on Fury, that meant the Winter Soldier was likely two steps ahead of him and was only a few minutes away from finishing his target off.

It was getting dark now and Ida was already walking away from the car crash.

"Where is he then?" She asked.

"It's a little strange," said McKenna, "at first I wasn't sure but then a bike pulled up. I think he's in Captain Roger's apartment."

Ida dropped the call and ran.

Steve made his way up the stairs to his apartment, smiling as he passed his neighbour, Kate, on the way up the stairs.

She was talking to someone down the phone, a family member by the sound of it, and hoisting up a laundry basket under her arm. "I gotta go though," she said as she closed her apartment door, hanging up the phone and giving Steve a look. "My aunt," she explained, "she's kind of an insomniac."

Steve maintained his polite smile and glanced at her heavy basket, "hey, if you want, you're welcome to use my machine. It might be cheaper than the one in the basement."

She raised her eyebrows, "oh yeah? What's it cost?"

He laughed and shook his head. For a brief time, he had flirted with Kate, only because she had flirted first, granted. But, lately, he hadn't really found himself to reciprocate, despite the fact that Natasha kept suggesting it with a smirk.

"Nothing," he said, "if it's easier then you're welcome too."

She gave him a grateful nod, "while I better not today. I've already got a load down stairs and you don't want my scrubs in your machine. I've just finished a rotation in the infectious disease ward so…"

"Wow, I'll keep my distance."

She laughed and then paused when she saw him taking out his keys. "By the way, I think you left your music on."

He nodded gratefully to her and she walked down the stairs. When she was gone, he turned to the door and paused, listening. Sure enough, he could hear some kind of slow jazz coming from his apartment. Immediately, he became suspicious. This wasn't the kind of music he would listen to (truthfully he was experimenting with the music he had missed out on) and, even if it was, he would definitely have turned it off before he had left for work.

He entered through the window, sliding it open as quietly as he could and slipping in. His shield rested against one of the shelves, and he swooped it up and crept through the apartment, keeping his footsteps light and approaching where the sound of the music was coming from. He kept his back pressed up against the wall and glanced around, only to see a familiar figure slumped on his armchair.

Confused, he glanced at his vinyl player, to Fury who had a knowing expression on his face.

"I don't remember giving you a key," said Steve, disgruntled as he straightened up and looked at the director.

He winced in pain as he sat upright, "do you really think I'd need one?" There was a pause, Steve spotted something in his hand, a device. "My wife," explained Fury, "she kicked me out."

"Didn't know you were married," Steve remarked.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"I know, Nick," Steve went to turn on the light, "that's the problem."

When the lamp shone onto Fury's face, Steve had a glimpse at how injured the man was.

He was bleeding from a cut on his cheek, and he looked battered and bruised. Shocked, Steve went to say something but Fury simply raised his hand and turned off the light, turning the device's screen to him.

Ears everywhere, it read.

Steve got the full idea of what was really going on, and glanced around.

"I'm sorry to have to do this," said Fury. "But I had no place else to crash."

He showed the device again.

Shield compromised.

Steve glanced at it and then at Fury. For some reason, his thoughts flickered back to Ida but he refocused his mind on the situation at hand. For now, he needed to play Fury's game.

"Who else knows about your wife?" He asked.

"Just my friends," said Fury, standing up.

You and me, read the device.

"Is that what we are?" Asked Steve doubtful.

"That's up to you."

Before he could reply, there was an explosion of dust as the ringing sounds of bullets firing went straight through the wall and into Fury. The man cried in pain and fell, but not before he was struck another few times. As the apartment grew cloudy from the dust, Steve managed to grab the man and pull him out of the line of fire, glancing at the window which he had left open when he had snuck in.

The sniper must've fired through there. A damn good shot.

He pulled Fury behind a shelf, and the man grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

Steve glanced at him as he coughed, and then looked at his palm. It was some kind of USB stick with the SHIELD logo imprinted on it.

"Don't… Trust… Anyone," the man managed to choke out before he fell unconscious.

Then, the sound of the door being kicked down and Kate's voice echoing through the dark apartment.

"Captain Rogers?"

She was holding a gun. Why did Kate have a gun?

"Captain," she said, "I'm Agent Thirteen of SHIELD's special service."

"Kate?"

"I was assigned to protect you."

"On whose orders?"

Kate— Agent Thirteen— froze when she saw the body of Fury.

"His."

Steve watched as Kate got out a radio, kneeling down beside Fury as his eyes flickered from her, to Fury and then to the window. Where was the sniper? It was hard to make out in the darkness…

"Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive," she reported over the radio, "I need EMTs."

"Do we have a twenty on the shooter?"

Steve saw a flash of shiny, silver metal through the blinds as the sniper turned away.

"Tell them I'm in pursuit."

Ida, who had heard the shots, appeared outside of Steve's apartment building just in time to see him come crashing out the window of his place and straight into the building opposite, glass flying everywhere.

"Steve!" She yelled before swearing in Russian.

Without waiting around for McKenna or anyone else, she legged it as fast as she could, coat whipping around behind. She broke the lock to the office building with a powerful kick and ran for the stairs, sprinting around in circles. From the upper floors, she could hear shooting which she guessed came from Steve. Was he fighting? Or just in pursuit of the Winter Soldier? The thought of him coming to face with that monster was terrifying, and Ida picked up the pace.

She stumbled out on the top floor, seeing smashed glass and dented walls big enough from where his shield must've crashed into. She sprinted in the direction of the destruction, stumbling to a halt just behind a smashed window pane to see a strange sight.

The Winter Soldier, perhaps the closest anyone had ever come to him despite the fact that he was still quite a distance away, stood at the edge of the roof, Steve's shield in his metal hand. Steve was frozen, eyes locked onto the assassin.

And then the Winter Soldier threw it back at him, and it hit Steve in the stomach.

Ida looked at him. Steve looked at the shield. When they both looked back up, the Winter Soldier was gone.

Ida clambered through the broken window as Steve looked off the edge of the building, but the assassin was gone.

"Steve," she said.

He turned around, only just seeing her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "Ida? What are you doing here?"

"I've been tracking Fury since…" She didn't want to say this afternoon, "after the car crash. Where's Fury?"

Steve looked at Ida. And Ida knew the look in his eye and felt her heart sink. He didn't trust her, something had happened or something had been said and he was uncertain over whether he could trust her or not. He stepped off the roof's ledge and walked over to her. He had quite a bit of height over her still.

"Hurt," said Steve, "dead. I… I don't know. Who was that?"

"An assassin."

"Who, Ida?"

"The Winter Soldier," she said calmly. "No one knows who he really is. He's a ghost story."

"Was he hired?"

"I—I don't know."

He looked at her, she held his eye contact. Those perfect baby blues scanned the murky, dark depths of her brown eyes. After a few moments, he sighed, relaxing. She hesitantly placed a hand on his arm and, when he didn't shake it off, she got a little closer to him.

"Come on," she said softly, "we need to get Fury to the hospital."

This is your fault, this is your fault, the voice in her head taunted and it was true.

George Washington University Hospital

3am

"Why was Fury at Steve's apartment?" Ida asked.

McKenna shrugged, "I'm pretty sure only Captain Rogers can answer that."

An hour ago, after a long, extensive surgery, Fury had been declared dead. Ida had left, recognising where she wasn't welcome and exchanging a few words with Steve before glancing over at the devastated Natasha, who didn't speak a word. She made no promises to either of them, she couldn't be trusted to uphold them.

Now, she was outside the hospital, about to go home but not before catching up with Agent McKenna. The two of them sat on a bench in the shadow of the emergency care building, the night dark and heavy hiding them from any of the other SHIELD agents that were milling around. McKenna was her best insider, she couldn't afford to let him be compromised. And she doubted that he would want to get caught either, she paid him a lot, more than his rather poor salary at SHIELD got him.

"Things are still unfolding," she sighed. "This doesn't end here, Fury's death is only the beginning." She glanced up at McKenna, "keep tabs on things for me, I'm going to take a step back."

He nodded, "that's probably the right decision. I need to head back to the Triskelion, they're calling everyone in. If something happens, I'll contact you."

He stood up and so did she, clasping his hand in a firm handshake and thanking him. She watched him go, mouth pressed into a frown, before glancing back at the hospital building. Was Steve in there? What did he make of all this? Did it even matter? Checking her watch, she came to the conclusion that the best way to cope with this was to drink.

Before she could leave though, she heard soft footsteps behind her, quiet enough that she was sure they could only belong to one person.

"Romanoff."

The redhead was standing in the white light emitting from the front doors of the hospital, arms folded over her chest and her body unnaturally stiff. While she was not visibly upset, Ida could see that her normally steely gaze was weaker. Natasha was upset, unsurprisingly. Fury had been a key part of wiping the red from her ledger, from turning her from a KGB agent to a SHIELD agent. Again, Ida felt a stab of guilt but she didn't let it show on her face.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'll live," was Romanoff's glum response. "What is Project Insight?"

Of course, why would anyone want to talk to Ida if it wasn't for information?

"I know about as much as you."

"I'm not an idiot, Delgrave," her tone was dry. "I know Fury hired Batroc and the pirates, he sent me to extract the data from the Lemurian Star. Both he and I knew something was up, that's why he called Hill over. But I still don't understand what Project Insight is, I don't think he did either."

Ida looked at her, she was a good few inches taller than Natasha, and shook her head.

"I don't know," she said, "I'm not lying, Romanoff, but I don't know what Project Insight is, not really. It's being kept under wraps, I'm as in the dark as you."

"You're the Woman of Whispers, no one leaves you in the dark."

"You think I'm not trying to find out?" Ida sighed and then looked at her, gaze solemn. "I don't have the answers, Romanoff, not yet. I reckon the truth may have died along with Fury. Unless…" She glanced up at the hospital building and then back at the redhead. "Fury wasn't alone when he died."

Romanoff frowned, "Rogers is a bad liar."

"Someone has to tell the truth around here," Ida said glumly. "I'm going to take a step back, Romanoff. I'll watch this unfold from the shadows."

Romanoff eyed her, "If we need your help, can we rely on you?"

"No," Ida said honestly.

"You say you don't know what Project Insight is, and I believe you. But there's something you're not telling me, Delgrave."

Ida looked at her wryly, "everything's got a price."

"Is now the time to be thinking about profit?"

"I'm not talking about profit."

Natasha stayed silent at that, obviously not quite understanding Ida's words. Truthfully, Ida didn't understand either but she was already at risk, they all were. Especially now the Winter Soldier had been brought into the mix. Natasha had confronted him before, she knew better than anyone how deadly he could be.

Ida nodded, "Agent Romanoff."

Natasha looked ready to ask more questions, "Miss Delgrave."

With a brief, final glance over her shoulder, Ida made her way home in the dead of night.

A/N: And thus, we truly begin the Winter Soldier story line. This will actually be pretty brief as Ida won't play a massive role in the second act of the story because she doesn't need to. I didn't really want this story to become like my others where I insert her into every scene from the movie I can (granted I did do that a little bit), Ida's her own woman and she's got her own shit to deal with, and we'll see what that entails in the next chapter.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it's a little short, I'll try and make the next one longer and I'm really looking forward to writing a certain scene in that one, so keep on the lookout. I'll try and update asap, but Hidden in Plain Sight still takes precedence over this story for now. Anyway, please leave a review and let me know what you think, your support means a lot!