Steve and Shannon were watching the doctors in the surgery room operate on Fury in the hospital.
"Were you close with Fury?"
"Close? I respected him, I wouldn't classify our relationship as close."
Maria Hill then arrived, "What happened?"
"He was assassinated right in front of us." Said Shannon.
"Who was Assassin?"
"There was two of them. They were fast. Strong and both of them had metal arms."
"Steve saved me before they used his shield to chop me in in half."
"Are you all right?"
"For now I'm fine."
"Captain?" Said Rumlow as he entered the room, "Mr. Pierce wants to see you."
"Give me a minute, please." He said as he then hugged Shannon as she felt something slip into her back pocket, "Everything will be alright," He says in her ear, "Hold onto that until I get back. Don't trust anyone."
"Since when does Captain America flirts in public?" said Natasha looking at you.
She took Natasha into an adjacent room, "Natasha what the hell girl?"
"Is Steve's still a little miffed about the mission we were on the other night?"
"I need details woman." She says as she told she told Shannon word for word what had happened leaving nothing out. "The mission was to save hostages on the Lemurian Star, I had orders to recover data from the ship..."
"And Steve wasn't aware of it?"
"...Yes he wasn't aware, until he saved my ass."
"There's always that extra side mission?" Shannon replies, "And every time it happened it's always turns out to be you getting first dibs on it."
"Seriously Shannon?"
"I'm not wrong am I?"
She sighed, "Yes. Am I getting predictable?"
"No but I saw the side mission popping up part. You and I aren't going to discuss anything related to now and the mission until Steve returns Okay?"
"Fair enough, so what do we do until then?"
"Maybe a trip to see some sick kids would do the trick?"
"That would work."
Two hours later
After seeing a few kids Shannon saw Steve had returned in different clothes. He took her into a room where Natasha waited for them two.
"Eh did I ruin something?" She teased, "So where did you get it?"
"Why would I tell you? Said Steve to her, as you decided to let him do all the talking for the time being.
"Fury gave it to you. Why?"
"What's on it?"
"I don't know."
"Stop lying!"
"I only act like I know everything, Rogers."
"What do you know that you hadn't told us yet?" Shannon asked.
"I know who killed Fury. Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years."
"So he's a ghost story."
"Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot at my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there and he wasn't alone. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight 'through' me."
We watched Natasha lift up her shirt to show us proving the scar, " A Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis."
"That never stopped me." Shannon scoffed.
"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now. Shannon I never seen you in a bikini I don't think."
"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said, he's a ghost story."
"And the Woman who was with him?" Shannon asked.
"All I saw was a woman with long brown hair, matching arm with a black star lined in red, and she had a horse mask on." said Natasha, "I believed she was the one who shot the tires, letting the Winter Soldier take it from there. As to who she is... all I know is that she's new..."
Shannon's face turns white... as she remembers the mask the assassin woman wore was also a symbol... The Black Mares... 'No it can't be... They had a purple star outlined in black on a silver saddle on a black horse in their coat of arms,' she thought.
"Shannon? Are you okay?" Natasha asks.
"Just a bad feeling..." She admitted as Shannon recalled remember Melly's arm wasn't in the coffin, and a few rumours her old friends had been hearing telling you what if...
"Do you think you could find out what's going on in Shield?" Asked Steve to Natasha.
"If it helps us find out who's actually responsible for Fury's death gladly. But how should we contact you?"
"Maria Hill is Loyal to Fury through and though she's probably our best bet, Steve." Shannon suggested. Steve let her Natasha go.
"Don't trust her at first until otherwise, okay?"
"Don't worry I how figure out people's loyalty." said Natasha, "I know through experience..."
"Natasha is there something wrong?"
"No I just never seen you two work together like this. I got to admit you two look adorable."
"Ah thanks." Steve says trying not to look embarrassed as you blushed up a bit.
"Have fun Mr and Mrs America." she teases as she let you two alone in the room.
"Great and I was under the impression that the nickname for us died 6 months ago." Shannon muttered sarcastically.
"I hope you have a plan Shannon."
"First you need a more convincing disguise." Shannon said as he nods in agreement, Shannon found Steve some clothes thanks to a few connections in the hospital and a promise to visit back.
"I hope you don't mind but I hid my shield in your Jeep." Steve said as she had her back to him as he changed his clothes.
Shannon chuckled, "You do realise the spare tire is where I put it."
"Yeah I noticed the cover has magnets in it so I slipped yours inside the cover."
"Right last movie night I had a flat and you held the car because the jack broke. Steve you learn pretty fast for your age."
"Did you stop yourself from making a old man joke?"
"That's Tony's job not mine remember?"
Steve snickered, as he saw her take off Melly's ring off her right hand back onto the ring finger on her left hand, "Might as well use the idea of us being a couple while we're at it."
Steve looks at her hand as she feels his pulse beat go from normal to a little faster, "Are you sure you want to help me out with this?"
"Look we started this together we'd might as well finished what we started. The world we know is dying. With Fury's death being the start of it. You and I both know something is brewing up, and it's big. We have to fight back to find the truth to why Fury was killed, and expose the rat bastards."
"Wow thanks for the moral boost."
"I learned from the best, Captain." Shannon says as you look down the hallways in the hospital, "Okay it's clear."