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Chapter 12
"You okay, Carter?" Natasha asked, moving closer to her and offering a hand. Sharon took it half-dazed, but as she put weight on the foot Gilbert had stepped on – the bastard now unconscious – her leg gave out due to stress on the muscle and the effects of the bullet. She stumbled and leaned on the computer desk she'd been working from before the attack.
"Shit," she murmured. "Give me a few minutes. What are you doing here? And how'd you get in?"
Nat picked up where Sharon'd left off, breaking through the first level of encryption and accessing the first files. Her red hair gleamed from the screen lights. "Same thing you're doing. Getting the files about the dead guys in St Petersburg."
"Why?" Sharon didn't believe for a second Nat was interested in Bratva business, and she hadn't made an appearance when those same guys were planting a bomb in the middle of the city. It made no sense for her to be here, of all places.
Nat half-smiled for a second but didn't answer. A beep finally announced she'd managed to copy all the files from the computer, and she took Sharon's pendrive and put it in her pocket. Before Sharon could ask it back, however, they were both surprised by the explosion that shook the hallway next to the room, and the lights turning back on.
They took their guns out at the sound of bullets but only watched as Steve, Sam and Wanda retreated from the agents attacking them, Wanda pushing them back as Sam supported her with one arm. Sharon could see she'd taken a shallow shot to the shoulder, and as only using one hand to manipulate her power. Steve turned around as soon as he entered the room and did a double-check when he saw Natasha. "Where the hell were you?" he panted, placing the shield back on his back and advancing on her.
"Working," she called back, walking over the other side of the room and moving a file storage closet that was hiding a door. "You idiots ruined my plan, and if we stick around much longer we won't see what's on those files."
Even though Nat looked a bit pissed, Steve wasn't intimidated. "There was no way for us to know you were working on this. You never called, after all."
"Sorry for breaking your heart, Rogers," she murmured, "but we need to move. Backup's on its way. I have a safe house a few miles from here."
They didn't really need to be told twice. Wanda made sure the closet was safely back in place, and Nat led them through a tunnel that went downwards for more than ten minutes. Despite being in complete darkness, the team moved as one, with Nat up front being followed by Sam, Wanda and Sharon, and Steve bringing up the rear and making sure they weren't chased. They came up close to a government compound a few miles from Piccadilly Circus, and kept close to the shadows as Nat found her way through a series of intersections and alleys.
Sharon's foot was barely holding her up once they exited the tunnel, and she was panting by the time they arrived at a small house between two building complexes. It looked like it was smashed from the outside, but there was no sign whatsoever of it being shady, if the white mailbox reading "Mrs. Rabbit" was any indication.
As they climbed the porch steps, though, Sharon stumbled on the second one and it was only Steve's hold on her arm that kept her upright. "I'm okay," she said, looking back at him and trying to break his hold on her arm.
He narrowed his eyes and said nothing, simply putting his other arm around her waist to support her up. "You should've said you were hurt," he stated.
Sharon shook her head. "I'm really fine. An idiot got lucky and stepped on my foot, that's all."
"It could've compromised our escape route. Next time, make sure to tell us," he continued. Sharon knew his concern went deeper than he was letting on – it wasn't just leader's worry like he was implying – but she only nodded as Natasha unlocked the front door and motioned them inside. It was a pretty, organized house. There was a small metal dining table at the centre of the living room, and a black couch took up much of the space next to it. Sharon could see a minimalistic kitchen across a counter, and a corridor leading up to two rooms and a bathroom.
"I try to make my safe houses as comfortable as possible," Natasha explained when Sam looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She motioned to Sharon and walked over to one of the cabinets. "Sit down, Wanda, and let me take a look at that shoulder."
Despite her wound not having bled for a few minutes, she sat down on the couch – Sharon next to her when Steve walked them both over – and started to remove her suit. Steve leaned on the dining table and nodded to Sharon. "And you let me take a look at that foot."
Sharon was a grown-up woman with plenty of confidence but even her wasn't about to let Steve examine her swelling and, probably, sweaty foot. There were boundaries you just had to maintain. "I just need ice," she said, taking her shoe off and rotating her ankle.
He ignored her protests, kneeled in front of her and grabbed her foot delicately. Sharon grimaced as he rotated it slowly, pausing a few times to feel the joints with his fingers. She was surprised at how versatile his hands were – she'd seen him punch his way through a small army of robots without tearing his knuckles up, but still held her foot as if it were a glass sculpture. His examination took only a few minutes, but his touch left her skin on fire wherever it touched – not because of the wound, but because it was him.
"It's not a contusion," he concluded. "maybe a few days without too much action, but ice and pain pills should do the trick."
"Told you," Sharon murmured, putting her socks back on. Nat was now cleaning the wound on Wanda's shoulder – it had indeed been a shallow hit, thank goodness – and the Scarlet Witch winced as she cleaned it with alcohol.
Sam had his arms crossed and sat on one of the table chairs. "So, I guess now you could tell us what you were doing there," he started.
Natasha took her time aligning the needle with the thread, and only after the first few stitches did she answer Sam. "I was following the same intel as you guys. Nine bodies found on St Petersburg, after they were stopped by Captain Rogers and his allies. It was a big fuss inside Bratva when they were found."
Steve stood from where he was kneeling. "Why now? You didn't do anything to disarm the bomb on the station, and now you care about Bratva business?"
Nat stopped her stitching and looked at Steve. "I know who did it," she murmured quietly
Wanda opened her eyes despite the stinging and focused on her, as did everyone. Nat seemed oblivious to the bomb she'd figuratively dropped in the middle of her living room, and continued to patch up Wanda's shoulder, her tight eyes the only indication she took whatever she'd say next seriously.
"He goes by the name Serpent these days," she started. "I have no idea of his real identity, but he's the one behind the attempt at the train station. He had connections to Bratva, which is why he could hire nine guys behind their backs to watch the bomb overnight and make a trap for whatever Avenger assigned to disarm it."
"He wanted to make a trap with only nine hostiles? That seems stupid even for me," Sam said, scoffing.
Nat acquiesced. "I'm only assuming that was his goal. Since the only thing I knew came from people he executed, I figured those files could get me a head start, maybe a common connection that led them to him. Those men weren't even from the same state. I'd been planning on infiltrating the facility for weeks now, but you guys just ruined the whole thing."
Steve narrowed his eyes and thought for a second. "Except no Avengers were designated to disarm the bomb. Tony didn't even get the request in. Did he just make a lucky guess or did he know we were the ones coming in?"
There seemed to be a whole lot about Serpent than either of them knew, and Sharon was unable to put together an explanation that made sense. From the dead mobsters, to his real intention behind the bomb, to the involvement of the CIA – it all looked like a massive web of trouble. "We need to see what's on those files," Sharon stated. "They can give us a clear picture of who those men were."
"Have you got a computer on? I can send them to Shuri, ask her to analyse the men's profile, documents, history, location, anything they have on them."
Nat took the pen drive out and threw it to Sam, nodding to the laptop stashed away on the kitchen counter. Sam started typing and, as Natasha wrapped the bandages she'd used to fix Wanda in a piece of toilet paper, Steve stopped her with a hand on her arm. "What's your interest in this? We've been tracking possible disasters and that's how we knew of the bomb, but how did you get involved?"
"I knew one of them," Nat said in a low voice. "Actually, I knew his wife. She'd worked closely with me at the KGB. When he disappeared, Masha called me and asked to investigate. I don't pretend to be above Bratva business, but she was a good friend a long time ago. Figured I could investigate, and… well, here we are."
Steve nodded, and sighed. "It's gonna take a while for Shuri to do all that investigation. I take it we're welcome to stay here in the mean time?"
Natasha turned around, a fake expression of surprise on her face. "Do I look like a bed-and-breakfast manager, Rogers?"
"Need I remind you it was my bed-and-breakfast you used in Washington when both of you were on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D?" Sam looked up from the computer, an amused smile on his face. "Feel free to turn these losers away, but I'm crashing here, Nat."
She chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "Best you get some rest then. We're not doing anything today, anyway."
Since the mood had drastically improved since their getaway, Sharon felt comfortable enough to ask for a shower, and took some time under the hot water to think about what had happened. She'd been in a sort of haze since the mission at the CIA and knew it would only be a matter of time before having to deal with, well, the trauma she had there.
It was her first time alone, and Sharon felt as if there was something building up inside her chest the longer she wasn't around the rest of the team. It probably had to do with the fact the last time she was alone, she'd been attacked by the guy who'd tortured her. She knew nothing could happen under the shower, but that also had been her line of thought the whole mission, hadn't it?
Despite her muscles screaming in protest, she left the shower to grab something to eat, and was surprised to find Steve in the adjacent room, sitting on the bed doing nothing. Probably waiting for her. "Hey," she murmured, drying her wet hair with a towel.
He smiled softly. "We're taking this room. Sam's having the couch, and Wanda's gonna crash with Nat."
"We have a whole suite for ourselves, huh?" she joked, running her fingers through his hair. There was some dirt in it, and she smiled at the sight of it. He sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders, and closed his eyes.
"That's one way to see it. How's your foot?" He motioned her to sit down on the bed and examined it again. Apparently, he couldn't spend more than a few minutes without thinking of the next mission or the team's welfare.
"Exactly like it was ten minutes ago."
As he looked at her, Sharon felt an uncontrollable need to tell him everything that'd happened in that room, from the taunts to the pain, from the agony she felt upon seeing Gilbert to her throat closing at the thought of being tortured again. Here was someone she knew she could trust and would listen to her with an open heart – but as her boyfriend, if she could call him that, and not as a leader. As her leader, he'd question whether she was mentally fit to go on missions with them, and Sharon wasn't about to be put aside because of it.
"Are you all right? I feel like something happened when you were alone that you haven't told me," he said softly.
Damn his serum-enhanced senses.
"I don't want to talk about it," she answered. Not telling Steve the complete truth didn't mean she didn't want to be as honest as possible. If anything, she owed him that. "Can we just… let it go?"
He was silent for a second and then took her hand in his. "Of course."
Steve's sympathetic eyes were a bit too much to handle, so she leaned forward and kissed him softly, if only to close her eyes and not look at them. He moved closer and put her against him, holding the back of her head softly with one hand and hers with the other. Sharon relaxed against him, sighing loudly. This is probably the best hug in the world, she thought. There was no place she felt safer than with Steve's arms around her.
After their moment, they returned to the living room and found some scrambled eggs waiting for them, courtesy of Sam. Starved, the whole team dug in, and it wasn't even five minutes before the whole tray was empty. Sharon watched as they ate, and she felt incredibly lucky to have them as teammates and family. Even if they did devour everything so fast she wasn't able to get a second helping.