Camp Lehigh, New Jersey
Seconds after a SHIELD missile hit it
Steve Rogers crouched over Natasha as the blast rolled over them. The force hit the shield like a hammer blow; driving him down into the concrete of the cable duct they were sheltering it.
The shock wave felt like it'd burst his head then the fireball following turned the air into an inferno. He blacked out for a moment, but snapped back as tonnes of reinforced concrete slammed down onto him as the ceiling collapsed.
For what seems like the thousandth time he thanked the Vibranium for saving his ass. When he first got online he'd looked up the silvery super-element but Wikipedia had nothing, neither did Tony's super high tech Stark Industries database.
The Periodic table had grown while he was in the ice but only with strangely named elements that decay after a fraction of a second, confirming Howards idea that the stuff was extra-terrestrial. Howard had traded a sample and the secrets of working it for a significant fortune and a pledge of secrecy but he'd never got it to work with his repulsor technology flying cars. Apparently the atomic number sat somewhere over 120 in an island of stability that humanity never reached and a significant part of its mass extended sideways into a different dimension. Certainly once forged and polarised any force acting into the plane of the shield just vanished, while striking with its edge allowed almost perfect rebounds and still did a lot of damage.
The air was hot and choking with dust and he was pinned under the rubble, crushed between the ceiling rubble and the floor. Hopefully he'd shielded Nat from the worst. She was still under him, he could feel her body but she wasn't moving. He blindly fumbled for her pulse, finding it he breathed out a sigh of relief and almost choked on the dust again. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve he covered his mouth and coughed. As he blinked he could see a glimmer of light from under Nats body. Her phone. He pulled it out from under her, using the screen light to check her over quickly, no obvious bleeding or broken bones. Her eyes were closed but when he pulled back the lid her pupils didn't respond to the phone light. Trickles of blood from her nose and ears. The overpressure of the blast must have hit her hard.
He struggled, lifting the slab enough to free his leg. They were buried eight storeys down under layer upon layer of reinforced concrete, whatever hit them must have been some shaped charge bunker buster to crack the base like this. The bomb crater itself would be too unstable, the only way out is the lift shaft. It was the opposite side of the room to the blast but Zola had closed a blast door over it to trap them.
Gritting his teeth he started to clear a tunnel large enough to crawl down.
Inch by inch, shield in one hand, dragging Nat's unconscious body with the other he struggled to worm his way through the rubble. Finally he pushed a metal plate and it feel away into a void beyond – the lift shaft.
Keep on going. Keep on.
The lift had dropped, smashed by metal girders falled from above. the cables lay coiled and broken in the wreckage. But the phone light showed a service ladder. Lifting the still unconscious Natasha into a fireman hold over his shoulder he started up the ladder.
Halfway up he felt Natasha shift, coughing and groan.
He paused in his climb "Hold still."
She mumbles "Can't see. Dark? Head ringing. May be concussed. Won't be able to climb."
"It's Ok, I'll carry you. Save your strength" he says, carrying on upward
"Going to have to pass out for a bit more now"
"No, stay with me! I'm going to need you conscious soon"
She just groans
"Nat!" he puts a commanding tone on his voice "Come on Romanov!"
She coughs again and groans "yes sir. With you"
At the top of the shaft he finds it blocked with more rubble. He parks Nat on a ledge and hands her the phone. She thumbs on the flash light and they search for a way out.
Steve watches her, concerned. She can hardly hold her head up. He tried to keep her talking.
"What did they hit us with?"
"From the flight path it was an Army surface to surface missile, probably from a HIMARS truck. Battlefield artillery, all they had in range. Either HE or Thermobaric, lot of blast. We're lucky it wasn't a thousand pound bunker buster."
"I get the feeling Zola wasn't expecting us. Pity all that intel was destroyed."
"He was just memories in a computer, Steve. They could have another copy, probably on more up to date hardware"
"That explains why he'd be so suicidal"
She shakes her head, trying to clear it.
"I'm in pretty bad shape. Nothing broken but all kinds of battered by the blast." She runs her fingers through her hair "glad I used that Fire proof hair mousse"
Steve looks at her incredulously "are you joking?"
She laughs softly to herself "Looks are a weapon Steve, I have to keep them in good condition"
He pulls at a girder and a shower of rubble falls down the lift shaft
"I can see a way out!"
"That's good news, as I've some bad news. Three Quin Jets, running STRIKE team codes are about a minute out"
"Then we need to get moving fast!" He puts his back to the slab and heaves, shifting a huge chunk of masonry and clearing a path to the surface.
"I'm in no shape to fight. Not sure I can even walk"
"Don't worry. I got you."
"I'm going to have to ditch this phone. They could be tracking it."
She taps at the screen which flashes red and then goes black as the phone wipes itself and self-destructs. She tosses it down the lift shaft. She lies back against a slab as Steve clears the last block out of the way.
He takes her in his arms and carries her out of the rubble
Behind him he can hear the approaching aircraft
"Hold on to your lunch, this is a bit undignified" he says as he puts her across his shoulders in a firemans carry and sprints for the tree line. Indignantly upended she grabs his belt and holds on for dear life.
He doesn't slow as they hit the tree line, in fact he hardly breaks stride for ten minutes. Then he slows, lowering her to the ground and leaning her against a tree.
She looks up at him and marvels, he's not even out of breath.
He crouches down and speaks in a low voice "So, what should we do now?"
"We need to put distance between us and the base, as they'll be searching for us. We can't go on by foot, we need transport"
He nods and points ahead. She can see lights through the trees "The town is still there, place called Wheaton. It's bigger than I remember from basic training. "
"looks like you're stealing us a car again"
"Any preferences?"
"Just something average. It's after midnight so go for a house with the lights off, take off the park brake and push it onto the road before you start it. Should be at least 5 hours before they notice it's gone."
He nods and slips off onto the shadows
She just lies back, looking up at the night sky. Things are just getting more and more crazy. The idea that there is a HYDRA cell inside SHEILD turns her stomach. Tearing that out is the long term goal, revenge for Fury. Short term is mobility, then weapons, then recover and regroup.
A few minutes later there's the rumble of an engine as a car pulls up close. The headlights flick on and Steve gets out "Nat?" He calls. She gets shakily to her feet, leaning on the tree for support. Stupid concussion, its cramping her style.
With an effort of will she puts on a little swagger as she walks over to the car, a boxy looking old station wagon. "You couldn't find anything sportier?"
"Figured this would blend in better than your stingray"
She gets in the passenger side "you'd better drive. We need to head into Philly, pick up a few things"
"No problem, I know Interstate 70 is still there. It's about 25 miles to the city. Where abouts?"
"I've a cache in a storage unit we can access 24/7, I just hope it's not been compromised."
"You think SHIELD was that badly infiltrated?"
"Can't afford to risk it"
After half an hour driving they're driving slowly through an industrial area on the outskirts of the city.
"Pull over there, by that fence" She says, pointing at a spike topped steel fence around a lot full of locked garage style units.
"Can you get in ok?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine"
She slips out of the car and suddenly sprints up the hood, onto the roof and leaps the fence.
Only a few minutes later a pair of large black carryall bags sail over the fence and land beside the car, followed by a grinning Natasha. "All clean and clear" She slings the bags into the back seat and jumps in.
"So, what have you got in there?"
"The usual bits and pieces. A Widow suit, money, ID documents, disposable phones, a few weapons."
"What sort of weapons?"
"pairs of Glocks, 17, 19 and 26 all in 9mm. an MP5K, an AR-15 with a scope and laser sight, a flare gun and a few grenades. If we're making a habit of going on the run together I can start adding a 1911 to my caches if you want?"
"I'm touched, but I hope it won't be a regular thing."
She laughs and he smiles
"So, where can we go now?"
"SHIELD has a safe house in the suburbs but I doubt it can be trusted. I've a few other things but won't risk it. I say we head west, lay low, try and reconnect with someone we know is on our side."
"I've an idea, I think I know someone who can help us. You still have phone books and things, right? Look up that guy I was talking to when you picked me up by the Memorial. His name was Sam Wilson, he's a veteran working at the VA. He seemed a good sort and there's no way anyone would connect us with him."
"Good call." She starts up a phone and checked online "No joy. Perhaps he's renting?"
"Could be, but I know where he'll be first thing in the morning"
"running laps of the Lincoln Memorial?"
"Running laps. So we just have to head back to DC"
"Ok, we have about 120 miles and a couple of hours to do it, so we need breakfast. Here's a spy tip for you when you need to eat but have to stay away from places with cameras, avoid restaurants, fast food joints and drive through windows, any place with a register usually has a camera. Head over to the meat packing district, the wholesale markets start before dawn and they're usually full of people working up a real appetite so there are food carts."
"Good tip. It's been a while since we've eaten"
Parked at the end of the street, Steve watched as Nat sauntered up to the small crowd around the food cart, making small talk with burly guys a head taller than her, chatting to the guy as he made her sandwich after sandwich. She came back with a smile, two large coffees and a bag of food, the cheap plastic bulging with things wrapped in greasy paper. The Smell was wonderful.
"I told him it was a breakfast order for an office that was pulling an all-nighter, so we have three Philly cheese steak rolls, two double cheese burgers, two bacon egg and cheese rolls and a couple of soft pretzels."
"That all?"
"hey, I had a bunker dropped on me, that gives you an appetite"
"Ok, let's eat as we go, we can swap before Baltimore as you know the DC roads better than me"
In Washington DC Nat kept the car moving, driving carefully under the speed limit as she circled the National mall.
Steve kept a look out, watching the early morning crowds "It seems crazy that we're back this close to the Triskelion"
"The two most wanted people in America? In one of the most watched and guarded cities in the world? Where else would they never look for us?"
"There he is!" Steve points to a figure finishing his run. They watch as Sam walks to his car, towels his head off and drinks from a sports bottle. They loop round and start to tail him as he heads out into the suburbs.
"We're in luck, he's heading home rather than straight to the VA, he doesn't have a morning session"
When Sam pulls in they drive past. Natasha is busy on her phone "Next right. Then the third house on the left. Use the lock pick to open the garage door and park in there"
"This a safe house?"
"No, it's just empty and up for rental, should keep the car out of sight for a day or two, street parking round here is resident permit only"
"Clever" he pulls up on the driveway and gets out, casually opening the garage. The secret of hiding is to not look like you're sneaking, act like you're meant to be there. He parks the truck in the garage and starts gathering their stuff.
Natasha opens her door and struggles to get out, unsteady on her feet.
"Dammit. I'm going to need a little help here." She clings to the door. Steve rushes to her side, wrapping an arm round her. "Thanks. Think I'm still a bit beat up, adrenalines worn off and I'm running on empty"
"OK, let's get over to Sam"
"Wait a moment" Rummaging in her bag she pulls out an aerosol of air freshener. She sprays it into the car and quickly closes the door. The inside rapidly fills with a strange silvery grey smoke that clears in seconds.
"DNA shredder, stops them getting our ID, no fingerprints or hairs."
Steve shakes his head in amazement "How are you prepared for this?"
"Paranoia, you have to be prepared for everything"
Taking all three bags in his left hand he slings them over his shoulder and keeps his right arm round her.
"Ok, lean on me and take it easy, it's not far"
It's only two streets over but he almost has to carry Natasha several times.
She grits her teeth and soldiers on, hating to show weakness. She checks her pocket, she has a SHIELD Icer pocket pistol ready, if this friend of Steve's isn't up to helping them she'll have to dose him and they can borrow his place for a few hours then move on.
At Sam's apartment they stumble round into his back yard and knock on the glass door into his kitchen.
Inside they can see Sam put down a bottle of orange juice and head over. When he lifts the shade his face is the picture of astonishment.
Sam opens the door, looking them over with a medics trained eye. They're both bruised, battered and covered in dirt and ash. Anything that can knock Captain America around is serious business. He recognises the woman leaning on him from the sports car; she doesn't seem military but could well be a SHIELD agent.
This morning just got very strange. Cautiously he says "Hey Man"
Steve apologises straight away "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low."
Natasha wearily adds "Everyone we know is trying to kill us."
Sam stops, the adrenaline push of pure panic gripping his chest. If he gets into this if could drag him back in to the war or something worse. He takes a breath, fighting it down. They need his help.
"Not everyone." Sam answers, ushering them inside. He glances round to see if they're being watched then closes the door, locks it and lowers the blind. Natasha takes her hand off the pistol in her pocket.
Steve shakes his hand "Thanks, Sam. I'm glad I can count on you. Now, I know you two met but as you haven't been officially introduced, Sam Wilson I'd like you to meet Natasha Romanov. Natasha, this is Sam, the slow one on the morning runs."
She sits down heavily at the kitchen table but manages a smile "Nice to meet you Sam. Any chance of some coffee?"
"Sure, Sure" he shakes off the daze and gets busy making coffee. Holy Shit she was the classified top secret spy one of the Avengers. He had two Avengers in his kitchen. "So what happened to you guys?"
Steve answers "We got blown up. Quite a big explosion and.. well.. then the building fell on us"
Sam stops, looking them over again
Natasha answers him before he can ask "Don't worry, neither of use suffered much rupturing or lung damage in the blast, Rogers there seems to ignore barotrauma and I was hiding under him. I've got what feels like a concussion but nothing I can't deal with"
He hands her a cup of coffee and asks "You've been blown up before?"
She nods "yes, several times. It's not a pleasant experience" She produces a compact medical kit from the bag and sorts herself a few plain white pills which she swallows with the coffee.
"I'll bet. So, what's the plan?" he hands Steve a cup.
Steve looks down at himself and over at Natasha, drinking her coffee. They're both still battered and covered in ash and dust.
"First I think we need to get cleaned up"
"No problem. I've a spare bedroom here you can drop your stuff, bathroom with shower is right next to it."
"Thanks Sam." Steve gathers up the bags which rattle with the characteristic heavy sound of military hardware
Natasha finishes her coffee and stands, stretching slowly "Dibs I'm first for the shower" she says, already peeling off her hooded top and shaking out her hair. Both men stop and watch her go.
Sam mutters "Wow" then turns to Steve "So she's the Black Widow?"
Steve grins "That's kind of classified. But yes, she is"
In the bathroom Natasha leans on the sink, breathing raggedly as the pain in her chest makes the room spin. Stupid to get caught like that, she'd have died if it hadn't been for Steve. The pain had been getting worse for hours, she was worried she had a tear in her lung from the overpressure of the blast. If that ruptured she'd get a collapsed lung, internal bleeding, she'd need hospitalisation and that'd get them all killed. She steadied herself. If that happened Steve would get her to a hospital and probably get them both captured and killed just to save her life. She couldn't let that happen. But she could taste blood and that was a bad sign.
She turned the shower on full to hide the noise.
Opening the medical kit she'd carried in concealed in her hooded top, she positioned one of the imagers on the sink, pointing at her, the other pointing at the mirror. As she peeled off her top she felt the painkillers she'd taken start to work, wrapping the sharp pains with a warm fuzz. Her side was a mass of scrapes and fresh bruises, her probing fingers telling her at least she'd not cracked a rib this time.
The Imager scanned her torso and projected a medical overlay onto the mirror.
"zhizn' ebet meya!" she swears softly, looking at the red glowing area on her lung. Life is fucking me.
She quickly grabs an auto-injector and snaps a suture cartridge into it. Holding it over the glow she thumbs the control, feeling the skin go cold as the device anaesthetised her and inserted a probe needle, the medical program guiding it through her ribs to the tear on her lung. It injected an anti-coagulant to dissolve the blood clot holding it closed and then stapled it shut with adhesive micro sutures as it pulled back. When the probe was fully retracted she let it fall into the sink, heaving and coughing up blood clots and of lung mucus.
Once she stopped shaking she kicked off her sneakers and skinny jeans and stumbled into the shower. She turned it all the way up until the steam filled the room. She'd earned it.
Under the scalding water she scrubbed herself clean, going slow and letting the drugs do their work.
A few minutes later she turns off the water and steps out of the shower, skin scrubbed pink and glowing. The bruises are already a rainbow of colours from purples to yellows but don't hurt as much. Got to love SHEILD issue high strength field painkillers.
But then as clear as day she remembers the Red Room, her trainers telling her "Moy malenkiy Natasha, never let them see you bleed". Side effects may include mood swings and flashbacks to childhood trauma. With a shiver she wraps the biggest towel round her and slinks out of the bathroom to find some clean clothes from her bags.
Steve took off what was left of his shirt, torn from the rubble and matted with dust, dirt and sweat. In his white vest he washed his face off and brushed back his hair, wondering if he had time for a shower. Then he glanced up and saw Natasha's reflection in the mirror. She'd put on new shiny black leggings and a black vest top. How many changes of clothes did she have in those bags? Though it made sense from her, her appearance is as much of a weapon as the glocks she carries.
She was sitting on the bed, towelling her hair dry but staring off into space, looking thoughtful and strangely sad. He guesses Fury's death and the revelation that HYDRA survived has really got to her.
For a moment she just seems kind of lost and he worries for her.
He sits opposite her and leans close, brow rumpled in concern.
"You OK?"
She says "Yeah" but it sounds unsure. He's not used to her like this, without her usual swagger and confidence. Like she'd being eaten alive by her own thoughts
"What's going on?"
She looks him in the eye, being open and honest for once. "When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight." She sighs, looking away and feeling ashamed
"But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA."
She's not usually this open and talkative but she can't help it, there's something about him that makes her want to open up, to tell him what's' wrong so he can make it right. Maybe it's the concussion or the drugs making her weak. Or the sight of his impressively muscular arms.
Either way.. "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but...I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."
Steve nods in understanding, then with mock seriousness replies
"you know, There's a chance you might be in the wrong business."
That brings a flicker of a smile to her face. Oh, you dare use my own sarcasm against me?
In total seriousness, she says "I owe you".
She wants to tell him just what she'd done for him but the words don't come out. If he'd just catch on.
instead he smiles a little self-depreciating smile and says "It's okay."
She doesn't press the point. "If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"
"I would." He pauses then adds "now". He pauses "And I'm always honest."
Of course, he's always honest. "Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."
Steve shrugs "Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."
She nods in agreement. That they see eye to eye on. In fact, looking deep into his eyes she can almost feel his determination and his concern for her.
Then Sam sticks his head round the corner and says "hey, I made breakfast. If you guys eat that sort of thing."
It kind of ruins the moment, but the smell of bacon and fried bread makes up for it
"I've made French toast and Canadian bacon. Wasn't expecting breakfast guests"
Sat around Sams kitchen table after breakfast they start to go over what has happened and what to do next.
Steve leans against the wall as he explains "So, we follow the signal to an old Army base in Jersey and found evidence that there is a cell of HYDRA agents operating in SHIELD."
Natasha adds "Then SHIELD dropped a thermobaric bomb on us and collapsed the bunker on our heads"
"So with SHIELD compromised we needed some place off the radar to hide out and I thought of you"
Sam looks bemused and says "Thanks, I think"
Natasha ponders "So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" She looks at Steve, both thinking about how much clearance you'd need to run a priority signal to a SHIELD base to arm and fire a missile in the USA. They come to the same conclusion but Steve has to say in
"Pierce."
Not what they want to think, but only someone on the Security Council could have authorised things that fast.
Natasha grumbles "Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." It's never easy, is it?
"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star." Which means it was being clandestinely loaded onto the satellites the Star was launching for Project Insight. So someone on board was deeply involved.
Natasha gives a predatory smile "So was Jasper Sitwell." Sitwell was a much easier target; he was very active around DC
Steve knew that look, seems a simple snatch operation was needed. Tricky with all the agents and cameras watching. "So, the real question is: how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a senior SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"
Sam interjects "The answer is easy. You don't do it alone."
He drops a file on the table in front of Steve.
Steve almost winces, he's seen so many of these files recently; military service records for all the friends he'd left behind when he went into the ice. Most are stamped Classified and Deceased, at least this was an Honourable discharge. He opens it, finding it thick with Sam's personal records and mission reports.
"What's this?" He looks up at Sam who shrugs and says "Call it a resume."
Leafing thought he picks up details, names and places. Air force, Special operations, Para Rescue. Two tours.
Natasha picks up a photo of Sam and several others in uniform
She looks intently, picking out unit markings, thinking back to missions in what looks like Afghanistan.
"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission; that was you?"
Sam smiles so she takes that as a yes. So he's trained to at least Special forces level, Steve has a good eye for finding random strangers to help him.
She turns to Steve "You didn't say he was a para-rescue." But Steve is looking at a picture of Sam and another man in matching uniform.
"Is this Riley?" Steve asks Sam. The cheerful grin vanishes as he replies "Yeah."
Natasha knows the sound of a dead man's name well enough. Well, that explains why he's flying a desk, she'd heard the Khandil mission was a success but there were casualties.
She needs to see if his head is still in the game
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?"
Talk tech, see if he'll open up. She hit a nerve as the smile is back. He produces a second file and says "No. We used these."
Steve looks astonished "I thought you said you were a pilot!?."
Sam is grinning now "Airman. I never said pilot."
Natasha peers over. The file is a DARPA prototype layout, one of the manned flight pack programs. Makes sense, the Americans had loved the idea of a jet pack since the Bell rocket pack in the sixties and it was ideal for Special forces work.
She notices Steve seems to have reservations. Makes sense, the guy is offering to go back into the world that traumatised him and killed his friend.
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."
Steve accepts that with a nod of his head. He looks at the file labelled EXO 07 FALCON.
"so, Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"
"Ah, there's the problem. The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."
He says it like it's an insurmountable obstacle but Steve just looks at Natasha and she casually shrugs no problem.
Steve nods "Shouldn't be a problem."
Sam looks astonished "You're serious?"
Natasha nods then yawns "yes, I'll get it tonight"
"We could do with getting some rest"
Sam gathers up the files "What do you need me to do?"
Steve glances at Natasha questioningly, this is her area of expertise.
She ponders then says "First, don't change your routine too much. They have surveillance algorithms watching everything, they may spot you. Check your car over and fill it up with gas, we'll need to be mobile once we have the EXO. Maybe pick up a shirt in Steve's size unless you've something that'll fit him? Don't go grocery shopping, they may notice that. You got enough in the house for us to eat tonight?
Sam nods "Then I best head to the VA, I'll be back this evening around 7. Make yourself at home, just don't look at my Browser History!"
Steve watches him go, then turns to Natasha "What does that mean? What about his history?"
Natasha is busy positioning a small device on a shelf, checking by eye that its pointed square at the back door.
"oh, it's a guy joke" She positions a second pointing to the front door
"you know when you look things up on the Internet? The program you use is called a Browser. Most browsers keep a list of the things you've looked up, that's your Browser History."
"So he's saying don't look at what he's been searching for?"
"The implication is that he's been looking at rather titillating adult entertainment"
Steve finally gets it. "Ah right. Yeah, there is a lot of that on the Internet. I have to turn all the safe search filters on when researching things"
"Very wise. Now, I've got a motion detector covering each entrance. These are Remote detonation Flash bang smoke bombs." She positions a canister on the kitchen table. "I've put one in each room, in case STRIKE find us and try storming the house"
She heads to the bedroom. Steve looks at the compact bomb then follows.
"that should cover our escape nicely, I was thinking we'd go out that window, onto the fence and the low roof next door, should get us past any assault teams" He points out of the window at the house next door.
"Good idea. Lets hope we don't have to. I've set an alarm that monitors strike team frequencies, if they get near here we'll know"
Steve smiles as he closes the curtains. "Think you can relax a little now?"
She mock frowns at him "Hardly"
He sits on the bed and starts to take off his boots as she rummages in the bags and produces a pistol. Checking it's loaded she puts the safety on and slips it under the pillow. She loads and checks two more pistols and puts them on the night stand. "There, that's more like it"
Steve shakes his head in amusement. "That would all seem paranoid if I didn't know what we're up against" He yawns and stretches. "You have the bed I'll take the chair."
"Really?" She unzips her boots "Come on, i don't bite."
"It just doesn't seem…"
She reaches up under her vest top to unhook her bra, sliding her arm though the strap on one side then the other then pulling it out from under.
"We're both professionals, we need the rest and physical contact is good for you. When you're fighting you get tunnel vision to keep going but when you pause to rest stuff catches up with you, you need to decompress safely"
"I don't know…"
"I promise I'll be good. I just kind of need the reassurance at the moment, the adrenal comedown is killing me"
"Well, Ok." He stretches out on the bed.
"I'll set the alarm for 6 so we're ready when Sam's due back" She sets her phone next to the Glocks on the nightstand then stands and peels off her leggings, bending with deliberate slowness as she steps out of them.
Steve doesn't know where to look. Her ass is a toned and rounded vision of loveliness and the taunt black fabric of her thong leaves very little to the imagination.
She gives him a knowing little grin and lies on the bed. As she snuggles back up against him she says "I think it's too flat. Having to work out all the time makes it go all square."
He wraps an arm around her waist as she rests her head on his bicep. "In my professional opinion it looks fine."
He pauses, thinking and breathing slowly, enjoying the sensation of a warm friendly body in his arms. There's a tension in her still, he realises. "you're doing it deliberately, trying to make me nervous because you're nervous. But you asked for this, so why the tease?"
She swallows nervously. "Honestly? I'm a mess and need to rest but I'm too wired to relax when I'm on guard. I need to let my guard down but I don't like being so vulnerable"
"You need to relax and let go. You trust me?"
"You know I do"
"Then don't worry. I've got you" and he wraps his arms tighter around her.
She lets out a ragged breath and he feels her slowly relax, leaning back into him. Within a few seconds her eyelids relaxed and her breathing became slower.
Steve watched her for a while, the occasional twitch of muscle in her arms and legs then he leaned back and fell asleep himself.
Her phone beeped softly once and her arm shot out, silencing the alarm before her brain was fully awake. She gripped a gun and looked round. The clock read Six PM, all the alarms showed green. They're still safe. She let go of the pistol and leaned back against the solid wall of muscle that was Steve's chest.
She felt better, rested and healing but more to the point strangely peaceful. Damn, if he could bottle this Steve would be rich. Looking up she saw Steve's eyes open, waking and taking everything in with a smooth ease. She smiles as he strokes a strand of hair from her face, she likes him when he's not had time to overthink or be self-conscious about things.
"Hey" He says softly "Sleep well?"
"Like a rock."
"Me too" He pulls her closer "I think I like this modern approach to combat stress"
Then his eyes narrow as her breath catches. He rolls her onto her back and starts to lift her vest top.
She's startled at how sudden and direct he's become, She pushes his hand down and protests "Hey!"
He grips her wrist in his other hand and pulls it away, pinning it down. She feels a flush of heat in her face, this is everything she wanted and yet something doesn't feel right.
He lifts her top until the sweet curve of her breasts are just visible but he's more intent on the dime sized bruise on her chest just below one, a deep purple black circle with a silvery scab in the centre radiating strangely symmetrical angry red lines.
His voice is calm and cold but clearly he's angry "You were hurt but hiding it, I could feel it as you moved. What was this? Emergency surgery? How badly are you hurt?"
She wants to sink into the bed "It's ok, it's Ok. I got hurt in the blast but I've treated it, I'm fine."
He presses her down and repeats the question sternly "How badly are you hurt?"
"It was just a minor tear to the lung from the over pressure but it's sorted now. I may not be as tough as you but I heal just as fast"
He looks relieved but still angry "You get hurt again, you tell me, understand? I don't care if you hate showing weakness or being vulnerable or always pretending to know everything, If you're on my team you tell me when you're hurt. Understood?"
She shivers, hating herself for loving the feeling of him over her "Yes, Sir!" she looks him in the eye and swears "I promise, Steve".
Visibly calming, he nods.
Determined to regain the upper hand she wiggles her hips and grins up at him "So, are we going to have some fun or are we going to get up and fight HYDRA?"
Steve does a double take. He's got a near naked Natasha pinned to the bed, her hands held roughly over her head and he's pushed her top up until it was almost off. He lets go of her hands and she pouts playfully.
"Aw, we had plenty of time." She rolls out of bed and starts getting dressed.
From her seemingly endless bag of supplies she produces a spray can in pink and gold
"here you go, Fire proof hair mousse. Told you it was real"
Getting Sam's falcon wing suit
Sam spread a map out over the kitchen table
"so, Fort Meade is locked down tight as part of the Washington defence network. Cars and personnel are checked and double checked at every gate. There is Air defence radar and there is always an active two jet combat air patrol so flying in isn't an option."
Natasha adds "Concealed cameras monitor all the roads, The NSA are running Ground level radar to cover the dead spots like the woods to the North. There are geophones to detect unauthorised vehicle movement all along here. Poles at every intersection and gate mount Night vision and thermal cameras, plus an acoustic net to pinpoint gunshots. It's surrounded by multiple fences, all covered in sensors.
She shrugs. "Easy enough. no guns, no metal, no noise. We park up in the KFC parking lot here, Steve and I cut along this trail through the woods and I'll go over the fence here, into the Experimental Weapons store here and find the suit, I'll be out before you boys finish a bargain bucket."
Sam shakes his head "You'd get spotted as soon as you get to the wire"
She glances at Steve. "It's Ok. I'll go over it. Find the suit and drive it out."
He asks "Allays oop over the fence?" She nods, so he adds "Don't get caught, these are normal army just doing their job so keep it non-lethal only."
"Trust me."
He pauses, then nods "I do"
She pulls a matt black pistol from one of her weapons bags "This is a Shield ICER, an all polymer body with low velocity toxin loads. A normal human hit with one of these goes into neural shock, they're instantly paralysed then rag doll and are unconscious for hours. They just wake up with a headache and no memory of what happened. It won't set off any weapon sensors and is quiet enough to avoid the acoustics."
Sam drops them by the side of the road outside Fort Meade, then turns into the KFC car park.
They both take off fast, running hard along the path through the woods. When the fence is in sight she slips out of her trench coat and casts it aside as Steve turns, linking his fingers together to make a step as she runs towards him. She steps into his cupped hands and he lifts, using his arms and back to throw her high and far, clear over the fences and into the parkway beyond.
She flips in mid-air and lands on her feet, hardly breaking her stride as she sprints for the cover of the nearest building, She landing was soundless, without a jolt. Her boots have vibranium plates in the sole, so they absorb sound and impact. Very few in SHIELD knew they had access to any more Vibranium, Fury kept it to level Ten as part of a confidential treaty he'd negotiated with the King of Wakanda.
Steve watches her sprint into the shadows, lithe and graceful in her skin tight spy suit. She'd assured him that it'd mask her from all the sensors with its advanced SHEILD tech but he was sure he'd hear the alarm bells ringing any second. But she vanishes into the night and no alerts are sounded, so he gathers up her coat and jogs back to the parked car where Sam was waiting. If anything went wrong he was going to have to go through the entire military base to get Natasha out and crazy as it sounded he was OK with that.
Gaining speed she hit the wall of the barracks block and ran up the smooth concrete far enough to grab the window ledge on the second floor. Rapidly traversing sideways hand over hand she found the third window and popped it open with a tool from her bracer.
Inside the room was fairly spartan, two beds, two desks, two lockers. Both beds had a sleeping form in them. Drawing a pneumatic injector she crept close to one sleeping form, pressed the nozzle to the sleepers exposed arm. The SHIELD icer neurotoxin hit instantly, causing a momentary twitch, tensing then then relaxation as she lapses into unconsciousness. Natasha put two fingers to the woman's neck, checking her pulse and breathing were ok. She'd be out cold for at least an hour then sleep normally until the morning.
Reloading the injector she turned to the other bed. Ruth Weirbowski, 29, a COMINTEL officer and one of the people SHIELD had tagged in the US Military database as being a close physical match for the Black Widow.
As Natasha pressed the injector to the woman's neck she looked her over. Still a good match, just hair a slightly darker brown. Natasha made sure the drug had taken effect then turned on a desk light. Taking a comb from her belt she quickly dialled its controls to match the woman's darker hair colour then started brushing it through her own hair. The smart dye already on her hair woke up, shifting to the sampled colour. Rummaging the woman's locker, Natasha pulled on her uniform and checked herself out in the mirror on the back of the door. A passable copy.
Taking the woman's ID Cards, wallet, phone and key ring she slipped out of the room. Heading out of the Barracks she plugged a shield chip into the phones USB port, unlocking it and through it accessing the base WiFi. Secure, of course. Heading over to the Storage bunkers for experimental weapons she showed the guards her ID and entered the Quartermasters offices. This late at night it was fairly quiet, so she quickly found an empty office. The door lock and alarms were quickly disabled and she logged into the equipment control system with the NSA's own backdoor key codes.
With free run of the inventory system she created a rush order to put together a delivery to a DARPA unit in Delaware, cases of ammunition, weapons and classified items from the stores. To keep the element of surprise she didn't want anyone to know the Falcon unit was taken, so she switched the storage codes for the tanks of fuel and the FALCON EXO 07 unit with an experimental micro minefield deploying device in a case about the same size. She added the "mine layer" to the order and tasked Weirbowski to organise it. Then she printed the order in triplicate, emailed it to the stores officers and motor pool and put on her best "just woke up and grumpy" face.
Heading across the camp she kept her body language bored and business like. Thinking career soldier, Tone down the sexy. Act professional. She dials her suits breast support up to sports bra to make her chest smaller, firms the slinky hip sway she normally puts into her walk up into a more masculine march . No flirting. Minimal make up.
Walking into the storage bunker security office while reading the printouts, she scratched her head as she greeted the soldiers on duty "Hey guys, just got a rush order. Need to pull these units from storage?" and handed them the paperwork.
Twenty minutes later she was being driven off the base in a truck with an army driver and an armed guard, both trying to program the satnav for the urgent delivery. For some reason the GPS was directing them to get a ferry to Finland?
She sighs. "All I need, they must have the code wrong. Pull over up ahead and I'll call it in, get the address confirmed" She reaches into her pocket where her phone sits next to the Icer.
Steve and Sam are waiting next to Sam's car on a side road when a military two and a half ton truck rumbles into view. Both have guns ready but held down by their sides, but then the lights flash twice, the pre-arranged signal.
It slows to a stop and Natasha jumps down, still wearing her military uniform. She takes off her cap and shakes her hair loose.
Steve asks her "Everything go ok?", still concerned.
"It all went fine. No casualties, they won't know something is wrong until these two wake up"
She gestures to the two soldiers asleep in the passenger seats.
Sam is looking in the back of the truck and grins gleefully. "You did it!"
Natasha pretends to be offended "Of course!" she points at the stacked olive green military cases in the back of the truck. "The EXO 07 pack, two tanks of fuel, tools and spare parts. Plus two Steyr TMP machine pistols with a thousand rounds of 9mm."
Steve opens the trunk of Sam's car then easily picks up a case from the Truck "Then let's get loaded up and go catch ourselves a HYDRA AGENT!"
Captain Americas running route
. /
The Missile that hit Camp LeHigh was probably a MGM-168 ATACMS – Block IVA launched from a HIMARS truck based at a SHIELD facility defending Philadelphia wiki/M142_HIMARS Loading a 500kg HE Warhead upgraded for the U.S. Army's Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) requirement
Sam Wilson was a Para-Rescue in the 58th Rescue Squadron, attached to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) operations in Afghanistan and was chosen to trial the prototype EXO 7 flight pack
wiki/58th_Rescue_Squadron
DARPA, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency had developed the EXO-07 'Falcon' winged jetpack as part of a series of projects for increasing mobility of soldiers, especially high value assets like special forces
wiki/DARPA
wiki/EXO-7_Falcon
History of Jet Packs and flight packs
Since the 1961 Bell Jet pack rocket belt which had only 21 seconds of flight time
wiki/Bell_Rocket_Belt
the modern Daedalus Flight pack allows 10 minutes of fully powered flight
wiki/Daedalus_Flight_Pack