Chapter Twenty-nine: Revelations

It was Natasha who picked her up after was called back to SHIELD. She was clearly upset about Fury but refused to talk about it. Fury meant a lot to both of them but it was Fury who gave her purpose after Clint Barton pulled her out of the fire, Emma knew that much.

She was glad that Steve still trusted Natasha with Emma's life, Emma did too, and she was really glad that Natasha was here for her.

Natasha had brought her back to the hospital where Fury died, waiting for someone to come back. The Black Widow was currently buying a ton of gum while Emma sat in a chair nearby. It was strange what Natasha was doing but maybe she needed the gum to cope.

Emma tried not to think about what just happened but I was odd. Why did the man with the metal arm call her by her mother's name? Did he know her mother? Was her mother still alive? Too many questions that she couldn't answer.

"Are you alright, Krolik?" Natasha asked as she sat down next to her.

"I'll be fine, eventually. The man. . . He called me by my mother's name," Emma said. "Why?"

"I don't know. I am just grateful that he didn't hurt you," Natasha said, putting her arm around her.

She nodded off onto Natasha's shoulder and when she awoke Natasha was gone. Wondering if she went to the bathroom, headed in that direction only to find Steve had Natasha pushed up against a wall. Emma wondered if she was interrupting something but Steve looked angry.

"Fury gave it to you, why?" Natasha asked.

"What's on it?" Steve asked.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Stop lying," Steve said, furiously, squeezing her arm.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers," Natasha replied and Steve looked over his shoulder.

Emma felt like she got caught watching her parents argue.

"Anyone want to catch me up?" she asked.

Apparently SHIELD was compromised, a blow to her stomach. Her grandmother helped build SHIELD, it was her legacy. To know that it was compromised was a terrible feeling. Fury had to hire pirates to find out what was going on inside his own agency. Natasha revealed who killed Fury, not his real name but what they call him: the Winter Soldier. Steve called him a ghost story but Natasha had her own run in with him. He had shot her, leaving behind a scar. A shiver went through her. He had been in her apartment.

The three of them went to the mall where they blended into the crowd and went to the computer store to find out what was in that drive that Fury gave Steve. Turns out the place they needed to go was in New Jersey in Wheaton. That was when the STRIKE team showed up. Steve and Natasha had to act like a couple which Emma had found amusing until they started kissing. Emma was both happy and grossed out. They both didn't want it to end.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Natasha asked from her seat in the truck they stole.

"That bad, huh?" He asked.

"I didn't say that," she replied.

"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying," he said.

"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had," she said.

"You don't need practice," Steve said.

"Everyone needs practice," Natasha said.

"It was not my first kiss since 1945," Steve said. "I'm 95. Not dead."

Emma raised an eyebrow at him. That was the first time that she was hearing about this. Knowing her grandfather though he wouldn't go into details about his love life with his granddaughter.

"Nobody special, though?" she asked and Steve chuckled while Emma narrowed her eyes at the redhead.

Emma was currently in the back seat forced to endure the obvious sexual tension between them.

"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience," Steve said.

"Well, that's alright. You just make something up," Natasha told him.

"What? Like you?" He asked.

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstance. It's not all things to all people, all the time. Neither am I," she said.

"That's a tough way to live," he said.

"It's a good way not to die, though," she replied.

"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who that someone really is," Steve said.

"Yeah," Natasha said. "Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?" he asked, gulping nervously.

"What about something more?" Natasha asked.

"Do you want something more?" He asked.

Natasha replied by taking his free hand and interlacing their fingers together. Emma grinned and popped her head in between the seats.

"You have no idea how happy this makes me," Emma said. "Seriously."