A/N. Update number five! Hooray! I noticed that a lot of my chapters are pretty short. Would you guys prefer more chapters that are short or fewer chapters that are long?

I hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer - I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Chapter Five

"J.A.R.V.I.S." Tania barked, swerving in-between traffic. "Call Natasha."

"Calling now," the A.I. responded. He connected Tania's phone to the car via Bluetooth and dialed Natasha's number.

It rang once. "Romanoff."

"Natasha, something's happened."

"What is it?" Nat was all business.

"Fury showed up at our apartment and told us that…" Natasha was part of S.H.I.E.L.D… but she was also an Avenger. Tania mentally chastised herself for ever doubting. But Fury had specifically asked them not to trust anyone. If he wanted Natasha to know, she would know already. Unless he'd planned on telling her afterward and couldn't because… because… "Fury's dying," Tania croaked, sniffling. "There was a sniper, an assassin, outside our window and he shot Fury through the wall. He's on the way to the hospital."

There was a pause during which Tania ran a red light. "Which one?"

"I'm turning onto your street now. Are you home?"

"I'll meet you outside."

Tania stopped just in front of Natasha and Clint's suburban house just as the Black Widow herself came barreling down the porch steps wearing what looked like the first thing she could get her hands on. She rolled across the hood of the car and yanked the passenger door open, slamming it behind her as she got in. "Drive."

Shoving her foot on the gas pedal, Tania launched the two of them back into nightlife traffic. "They're taking him to Simbley Memorial. Steve went after the shooter, but he got away. He's gonna meet us there."

"Did Sharon at least get a good shot at him?"

"Who?"

"Your neighbour. The nurse."

Tania gaped at her. "You knew?"

Natasha glanced at her before returning her eyes to the road, her head in one hand. "I was the one who recommended her for the job."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't take well to the idea. You can protect yourself and all that. But Fury and I agreed that it was a good idea to have some back-up in case that didn't work out."

"So you decided to keep it a secret?"

"No fuss, no muss."

"Natasha," Tania said seriously. "Secrets don't make friends."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I already have them."

"Secrets don't keep them, either." Not that Nat had a lot of experience with friendship. Tania couldn't really blame her, but secrets were just a really touchy subject at the moment.

"Why was Fury in your apartment?"

"He wanted to tell us something. He broke into the apartment and was waiting for us when we got there. He was all banged up, like he'd joined the fight club or something. His collarbone was broken and he was bleeding all over the furniture. He told us that there were ears everywhere."

"What else?"

"He said that…" Don't… trust… anyone… "He said that he didn't have anywhere else to crash. Said he had a wife." Maybe if Natasha understood the reference, it could prove how trustworthy she was.

She didn't look away from the window.

"He didn't get to say anything more before the shooter got to him. Two to the chest from the back – through the wall. Kate radioed someone and they sent EMTs straight away."

"Kate?"
"Agent 13 or whatever her name was."

"She was there, you know. When Loki came back."

"What?"

"When Hammer released all those robots, she was one of the agents dispatched to deal with them. She saved a lot of civilians that day."

"Hm."

"She's really good friends with Stevenson."

"What about you?"

"We get along. Sharon's a good person."

"How can you tell?"

Her lips twitched. "I just can."

They pulled up to the hospital and suddenly the calm conversation gave way to panicked running throughout a building to find Fury. They finally found him and threw the door open, bursting into the waiting room.

Steve was there, staring through the window at Fury on the operating table. Several doctors swarmed him, moving in a rush and calling things out to each other. The lights were so bright that Tania almost had to squint to see what was going on. Also in the waiting room was Agent Maria Hill.

Natasha ran straight for the window and stared unblinkingly at her boss. Tania walked slowly between her and Steve, watching with a heavy heart. No one reacted to their entrance.

"Is he gonna make it?" Natasha whispered to the window.

"I don't know," Steve replied softly.

There was a pause. The silence was stifling and Tania felt like she might crumble beneath its weight. Fury might not make it. He might die. Of all the people Tania could never believe would die, Fury was near the top of that list. Please don't leave us. The world needs men like you. He wanted to protect the people. At the heart of it all, that was what Fury was always trying to do, even if sometimes it didn't seem like it.

They stood there for hours, waiting.

"Tell me about the shooter," Natasha ordered quietly.

"He's fast," Steve answered obediently, his tone somber. "Strong." He hesitated. "He had a metal arm."

Another pause. She mumbled her next words. Tania didn't catch them.

Hill did. "Three slugs, no rifle, and completely untraceable."

"Soviet made," Natasha whispered. It wasn't a question.

Hill and Tania both turned to look at her. "Yeah," Hill breathed in surprise.

"How did-?" Tania started to say.

A quiet, rapid beeping penetrated the silence and everyone turned to watch. Fury's heart monitor was going crazy. Doctors were moving twice as fast as before. Someone brought in a defibrillator.

"Oh my God," Tania muttered, instinctively grabbing Steve's arm. She couldn't tear her eyes away. Everything faded until it was just Fury, lying on that table, heart no longer beating.

They shocked him. She watched as his chest jerked and then fell, lifeless.

They waited.

Nothing.

Tears sprang to her eyes. Come on, Fury. Please. She didn't want anyone to die, let alone be murdered.

They shocked him again.

They waited.

Nothing.

The doctor with the glasses felt Fury's neck for a pulse, desperate to believe that the monitor, with all of its straight lines, was wrong. Tania's own heart was racing. Please be wrong. Please be wrong. Please be wrong.

They waited.

All of the movement in the operating room stopped. The doctors weren't flurrying about. No one was yelling anything. The monitor wasn't beeping.

Everything was still.

The doctor with the glasses shook his head.

Nothing.

Tania sobbed and buried her face into Steve's arm. He turned and enveloped her in a tight hug, burying his own face in her hair so that neither of them had to see. She sniffled into his jacket and squeezed him, needing to know that there were still people here. That he, Steve, was still here.

Nicholas J. Fury was dead. She'd watched him get shot. She'd watched him die. He would no longer make them angry or send them on missions or piss Tony off or get pissed at Tony. He would no longer tolerate eye patch jokes or command that the Avengers get their shit together.

He was gone.

Tania's experience with death was … limited, perhaps; no matter how severely that limited amount had affected her. Aunt Gemma had passed away while she and Graham had been at college and they'd returned for a closed casket funeral.

During the invasion, there had been death all around her. Aliens attacking, destroying, slaughtering. It had been easier to focus on just staying alive and keeping others safe.

The villain Neil had died trying to escape the Avengers' wrath by ejecting himself from an Iron Man suit while flying. She had never seen him do it and could easily pretend that he'd just disappeared. He'd been easily forgotten.

Peggy's death had hit her and Steve pretty hard. Her funeral had given them closure, though. They'd been able to move on.

Schmidt… was a whole other story that she didn't want to think about right now. It was a death that she was still coming to terms with because she was the one that caused it.

But this was different. This was watching someone she knew be murdered before her very eyes and being powerless to stop his life from draining away. How could it be that humans had immeasurable power to kill each other, but only limited power to saving each other. Everyone knew how to kill, but only a few knew how to save.

This world was twisted and grey and unfair. How could it kill Nick Fury, the man who just wanted to protect people from what they didn't know how to fight? How could it give them hope that he could live only to squash their hearts by letting him die?

Director Nick Fury was never coming back. The world would spin on and the people would move forward. Death had stopped him, but it hadn't stopped them.

Good-bye, Nick.

The doctors finished with their business and eventually moved the body to another room to allow them to say good-bye. Hill went in first, asking for privacy as she did so. While they waited, Tania, Steve, and Natasha drew comfort from each other by standing within close proximity.

Nick Fury had been their boss. He'd been the one to bring the original Avengers together. He'd been the one to look after them when they'd been searching for Tania and Steve. He'd been the one who'd let Natasha in to S.H.I.E.L.D. and allowed Clint to train her and be her partner. He had had an influence on all of their lives. They didn't know where they'd be today without him.

Hill came out, wiping her face. Tania had never seen her so… not put together. "You guys can go in."

The three of them, on an unspoken agreement, entered the room. Fury's corpse lay on a cot of some sort, beneath a white blanket. All of his injuries were still clearly visible. Someone had done this to him.

That someone was going to pay.

Steve just shook his head and stayed back. Tania stayed with him, resting her head on his shoulder, both of her arms wrapped around one of his. Fury wasn't on this Earth anymore. That body was just the shell he'd left behind.

Natasha looked at them and nodded. She walked forward so that her back was to them and stood in front of Fury's corpse. She stared at it for Tania didn't know how long. Steve and Tania waited politely by the door. She was still sniffing and trying not to get snot all over Steve's shirt.

Natasha continued to stand there like a statue, dealing with her grief in her own way. Tania wished she knew how to help her, but she didn't. Maybe being alone was what Natasha needed right now.

Sometime later, Hill entered the room again, her eyes dry, but red. "They need to take him," she whispered to her and Steve.

Tania looked up at her fiancé, who nodded at her. She slid out of reach and walked forward to talk to Natasha. She rested a hand on the agent's shoulder. "Nat," she whispered, "time to go."

For several more seconds, Natasha didn't move. Then she placed a hand on Fury's forehead for a moment, turned, and stalked away. Tania and Steve made eye contact and followed after her, leaving Hill behind.

Tania called her name and Natasha whirled around, suddenly angry. "Why was Fury really in your apartment?" She demanded.

Tania glanced at Steve, who glanced back. Should we tell?

Fury's last words…

I know…

Before either of them could say anything, someone called out, "Cap!" The three of them turned. An agent Tania didn't recognize stood there in full gear. Had he come to mourn Fury too? "They want you and Banks back at S.H.I.E.L.D."

Another shared look. "Give us a second," Steve said and turned back to face an emotional Natasha.

"They want you now," said the agent firmly. Oh. So he and the other agents down the hall weren't here to mourn Fury. They were here to escort them to the Triskelion. A whole strike team just to bring them to HQ. Who the hell at S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted them right this very second?

"Okay," Steve acquiesced. Finally, the agent turned and walked away. "We don't know," he told Natasha.

She scoffed in a way that was almost a laugh. "You're a terrible liar." She turned and continued stalking away. Tania wanted to go after her, but she was needed at HQ. The one that was apparently compromised.

"Wait!" She yelled after Natasha. Nat turned and Tania tossed her the car keys. "Take it back to your place. I'll come pick it up later."

Natasha's face was blank as she nodded stonily and left.

Tania looked at Steve. He was staring at the vending machine like he just had an epiphany. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the USB. Fury had died to give them that. They couldn't look at it now!

"Cover me," he whispered and approached the handyman currently loading the machine. Tania was hesitant, but she stood between him and the agents down the hall and started a conversation with a passing nurse, providing what she hoped was enough cover.

Steve was right. If S.H.I.E.L.D. really was compromised, bringing the USB directly to its base would be a bad idea. They could come back for it later.

When Steve stood, she said good-bye to the nice nurse and followed him down the hall. Whatever problems the two of them were having, they could wait. "Let's go," she told the agent who'd called them.

"Strike team," yelled the man to the other agents, "move out."