Pierce held another virtual meeting with the World Security Council.
"Nick Fury was murdered in cold blood. To any reasonable person, that would make him a martyr, not a traitor," Pierce said.
"You know what makes him a traitor? Hiring a mercenary to hijack his own ship," Councilman Rockwell said.
"Nick Fury used your friendship to coerce this council into delaying Project Insight. A project he knew would expose his own illegal operations. At best, he lied to you. At worst..." Councilman Singh said.
"Are you calling for my resignation? I've got a pen and paper right here," Pierce said.
"That discussion can be tabled for a later time," Councilman Hawthorne said.
"But you do want to have a discussion," Pierce said.
"We've already had it, Mr. Secretary. This council moves to immediately reactivate Project Insight. If you want to say something snappy, now would be a good time," Councilman Rockwell said.
OOOO
That night, Winter stayed by her side, trying to swallow the reality he had been given.
He had died by her hand, and the resurrected. He hadn't felt anything. No pain, no fear. He just felt empty.
A scream brought his attention back. The liquid had a grip on a soldier. The soldier looked as though he was being pushed through a shredder. The asset turned his head away, glancing at the wall Helena had replaced.
The asset had a feeling that Command had created something beyond control. He couldn't help but worry that she would want to leave him behind once she figured out how strong she was.
Despite the strength of her abilities, he could see that the use of the power weakened her. Her limbs shook as she continued with her training. Her eyes grew weary and she winced with each exertion.
She looked like she had as Helena. As though she was dying.
OOOO
Steve and Natasha walked into the mall disguised as a civilian couple.
"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk." Natasha said.
"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off."
The two enter a Mac store to use one of their computers.
"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are."
"How much time do we have?" Steve asked.
"Uh...about nine minutes from..." Natasha said.
She popped the flash drive into a MacBook Pro.
"Now," she said. "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."
"Can you override it?" Steve asked.
"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly," Natasha said. "I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."
"Can I help you guys with anything?" An employee asked.
"Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations," Natasha said.
"Right! We're getting married," Steve said
"Congratulations. Where do you guys thinking about going?" The employee asked.
Steve looked at the monitor and saw the signal traced to somewhere in New Jersey.
"New Jersey," Steve said.
"Oh," the employee said.
The employee looked at Steve for a moment.
"I have the exact same glasses," he said.
"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha said.
"Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron," the man said.
"Thank you."
"You said nine minutes, come on." Steve said.
"Shh, relax. Got it," Natasha said.
Steve leaned into the computer.
"You know it?" She asked.
"I used to. Let's go," Steve said.
Steve pulled the flash drive from the computer and the two walked out of the store.
"Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro," Steve said.
As two agents headed straight towards them, Natasha tilted her head towards Steve.
"Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said," Natasha said.
"What?" Steve asked.
"Do it!" Natasha said.
Steve quickly puts his arm around Natasha and laughed. Inside the Mac store one of the agents looked around.
"Negative at the source."
"Give me a floor rundown."
"Negative on three."
"Negative on two."
"Snake the upper levels, work down to me."
As they went down the escalator, Natasha spotted Rumlow on the escalator next to them going upwards. Natasha turned to Steve.
"Kiss me." Natasha said.
"What?" Steve asked.
"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."
"Yes, they do."
She quickly pulled down Steve's head and kissed him making Rumlow look away as he passed them on the escalator.
"You still uncomfortable?" Natasha asked.
"It's not exactly the word I would use."
OOOO
"You cannot hesitate to attack," he said. "You hesitate, we die."
Nobody nodded.
"If she is able to alter the physical form and destroy inanimate objects, she could create them as well," Strucker said. "Nobody, focus on the soldiers. They mean to harm you and your protector. Create something to bind them to the ground."
She wanted to stop. She was exhausted from the days work, but when she looked over at her protector, she remembered the risk facing him. They had shot him in the leg already because she had been unwilling.
Nobody inhaled, turning back to the power inside. The liquid slithered out of the bottom of her feet, enveloping the soldiers in cement blocks. The formation moved slow, inching up their legs. They screamed out in fear. She might not be able to bring them back from this.
Yet she had no intention of stopping. Strucker began yelling at her as the concrete reached the bottom of their chests. A sharp sting to the back of her head caused the concrete to halt, but not fade.
Nobody grasped the tender spot, pulling her hand back to find blood on her fingers. Strucker had taken a gun to her head.
"You do not kill your own!" Strucker said. "You must learn this! Place her in the hole. She needs to learn obedience."
Nobody looked to her protector, seeing his eyes overwhelmed with panic. She had spent time in the hole before. The experience left her the shaking mess she had been returned to Winter as. Men grabbed her biceps, placing the collar around her neck again. She hissed at the cool touch draining her of the strength that kept her mobile.
They tugged her out of the training room towards the elevator. She watched the numbers go down until they opened to reveal a single room with a grate in the center.
Her chest tightened. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She didn't want to go back. She hadn't meant to disobey.
The men had to drag her to the center of the room. Her feet would not comply. They pulled the grate away to reveal the small dirt hole deep enough for a large man to stand and wide enough for one to sit.
They didn't hesitate to shove her down into the pit. Her small stature allowed her more room, letting her land with a thud on her side.
She watched them shut the grate with grins.
"See you in a few days."
OOOO
"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asked.
"Nazi Germany."
"Mm."
"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."/
Natasha smirks to herself as she took her feet off the dash.
"Alright, I have a question for you, of, 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 asked.
"What?"
"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"
"That bad, huh?"
"I didn't say that."
"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying.
"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had," she said. "I would have thought, you know…Helena?"
Steve tensed, his hand tightening on the wheel.
"You don't need practice."
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Everybody needs practice."
"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead."
"So…Helena?"
Steve grimaced.
"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience.
"Sure she isn't 95, but this life isn't new for her."
"I don't want to talk about her."
"You know, she likes you."
Steve paused. He glanced over at Natasha for a moment.
"She tell you that?"
"Didn't have to," she said. "I've known her for years. I know what she looks like when she has the hots for someone."
"Yeah, well, might be a little late for that…"
"She's fine," she said.
"How would you know?" he said. "They didn't exactly go easy on Fury."
"Helena is valuable."
"Yes, but Fury is dead now," Steve said. "They were using her to control him. That didn't work so she's got to be dead by now."
"I doubt that," she said. "Something tells me there's more to this whole thing."
Steve fell silent. He didn't like thinking of Helena in such a position. She wasn't strong enough to handle whatever they were dishing out.
OOOO
Sharon grabbed her phone as soon as she left her car. She dialed one of Natasha's phones that was meant for emergencies.
As soon as the phone picked up, Sharon began to speak.
"It's Sharon," she said. "They have Helena. She's alive. They've done something, I don't know what, but she isn't the same. They have her under heavy guard. A man with a metal arm stays with her at all times."
Sharon hung up the call. Concerned that her life may be ended because of that message. She chucked the device at a nearby wall and walked back to her place.
Anything to help Helena.
OOOO
Natasha hung up the phone, tossing it out the car window.
"I'm going to tell you something but you need to remain calm," she said.
Steve glanced over at her before turning his eyes back to the road.
"Helena is still alive," she said. "But, my contact said they did something to her, some kind of experiment. She's being guarded, the winter soldier stays with her."
"What would they do to her?" Steve asked.
Natasha shrugged.
"They could do anything," She said.
"Whoever they are, they have a lot at their disposal, and now that they're tied up with SHIELD…"
"I get the picture," Steve said.
"You asked."
"I just…She's not strong enough," Steve said.
Natasha looked over at the soldier, bewildered. Her jaw clenched at the statement. Helena was the strongest person she knew.
"Don't talk about her like that," Natasha said. "Not in my presence."
Steve flinched at the fury in her tone.
"Helena is amazing and strong beyond belief," she said. "You know nothing."
"I'm sorry," he said. "You're right. I can't imagine the things she deals with."
The car fell silent.