Chapter 20- The Elevator Fight and a "Ghost"
Yelizaveta and Steve were lost in their thoughts as they made their way down the hallway or, at least, Yelizaveta was. "So, what do you think, Liz?" Steve asked as they made their way to the elevator.
"I don't know, Steve. Something feels wrong here. Remember what Fury said about S.H.I.E.L.D. being compromised. It's not what it was when your girlfriend and Howard Stark founded it. What if I exchanged HYDRA, the KGB, and the Red Room for HYDRA sleeper cells? If I did that, then what did everyone on your team fight for during the second World War?" Yelizaveta asked.
"Good question. Hold the elevator. Operations control," Steve said as they went to the window overlooking the city.
"Confirmed," a computerized voice said.
"Keep all S.T.R.I.K.E, personnel on site," Yelizaveta heard Rumlow say as the doors opened behind her and Rumlow and his team entered the elevator.
"Understood," one soldier said.
"Yes Sir," another said as Rumlow looked at Yelizaveta and Steve briefly.
"Forensics," Rumlow said to the computer.
"Confirmed," the computer said.
"Cap, Winter Soldier," Rumlow said by way of greeting. Steve and Yelizaveta turned to face him.
"Rumlow," Steve said in a low voice as the doors slid shut and they started to go down.
"Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see. You and the Winter Soldier want me to get the tac team ready?" Rumlow asked.
"No. Let's wait and see what it is first," Steve said.
"Right," Rumlow said. Yelizaveta's eyes then went to Rumlow's hand, which was resting on his gun. She furrowed her eyebrows. Why would Rumlow be touching his gun like that. There were no threats in the elevator. The elevator stopped and some men in suits came in.
"What's the status so far?" One asked conversationally as they came in and the elevator moved.
"Administrations level," one man said.
"Confirmed," the computer said.
"Excuse me," the man who gave the floor said to Steve and Yelizaveta and both of them moved to give the suits room and the elevator started up again.
"Sorry about what happened with Fury. It's messed up what happened to him," Rumlow said. Something in his demeanor didn't sound as if he was really sorry about Fury. Living in spy school had taught Yelizaveta how to catch someone who was insincere and this was one of those times.
"Thank you," Steve said, his voice indicating that he knew Rumlow was giving them a line.
Yelizaveta then looked over at a man in a suit who was clearly sweating. It wasn't that warm in the elevator and judging from how he was sweating he must have been about to do something terrible as sweating was an indicator of that and Yelizaveta had read reports from the Stasi in East Germany and that was how they had caught some culprits through sweat samples. The doors opened and three burly men came into the elevator.
"Records," one of them said.
"Confirmed" the computer said.
Yelizaveta looked ahead at the man in front of her. "Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" Steve asked. The man in front of Yelizaveta pulled out a stunstick and lunged right for her. Yelizaveta ducked to the side and she and Steve lurched back into the men. One of them hit the emergency stop and tried to snap restraints on Steve and Yelizaveta. Yelizaveta wrenched her arm down and hit and kicked along with Steve. One of the restraints shackled Yelizaveta to the elevator and Rumlow moved the stunstick to hit her. Yelizaveta pulled her sword out of her sheath with her free hand as Rumlow applied the stick to her back. Yelizaveta screamed in pain. Steve pulled Rumlow away from her and she kicked Rumlow and another man with her legs as she tried to get her imprisoned hand free. She jumped up and jerked it free, jumping to the floor next to Steve, her sword in her hand. After knocking out the last man, they turned to see Rumlow, holding the stick.
"Whoa, big guy, Winter Soldier. "I just want you to knw, Cap, Winter Soldier, this isn't personal!" Rumlow yelled as he lunged forward with the stick. Steve blocked and tossed Rumlow up into the ceiling. Steve breathed hard and looked at Yelizaveta before looking at the unconscious men.
"It kind of feels personal. Right, Liz?" Steve asked.
"Right. Let's see if we can get out of here," Yelizaveta said as Steve raised his shield and hit the cuff away from her wrist and she hit the emergency stop. The doors opened to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents pointing guns at them.
Drop the shield and the sword and put your hands in the air!" One of them ordered. Yelizaveta tightened her grip on the sword and aimed it at the cables, making the elevator fall rapidly. Steve stopped the elevator and opened the doors to reveal more agents coming down the hallway. He shut the doors again. Yelizaveta and Steve went to the window. "Liz, we're gonna have to jump," Steve said.
"Okay," Yelizaveta said, sheathing her sword and wrapping her arms around Steve's neck.
"Give it up, Rogers, Markova! Get that door open! You have nowhere to go!" The heard an agent say.
"Hang on," Steve said as he picked her up and backed up before jumping through the glass and through the roof to the floor of the Triskelion. Steve stood and, gripping Yelizaveta by the arm, helped her up amidst people exclaiming in surprise. Yelizaveta looked at them.
"Are you ok?" Yelizaveta asked as she heard Steve groan.
"I'm fine. Come on," Steve said as he ran to the garage, Yelizaveta behind him as they ran to his motorcycle. They both got on and peeled off.
"Steve!" Yelizaveta screamed as the doors to the garage slowly slid closed.
"We'll make it," Steve said, gunning the engine and they went to the doors and barely managed to make it through. The doors closed behind them and Yelizaveta felt her breath catch as spikes raised out of the ground.
"Steve!" Yelizaveta screamed again.
"I see them. Hang on, Liz," Steve said as a chopper got in their path.
"Stand down Captain Rogers, Agent Markova. Stand down," a man's voice ordered and guns popped out of the chopper's underbelly. "Repeat. Stand down," the voice bit off sharply as Steve accelerated the motorcycle. Yelizaveta gripped huge handfuls of Steve's uniform, digging her fingernails into his shoulders and licked her lips as the chopper opened fire. Steve juked and jinked around the bullets and Yelizaveta tossed her sword at the pilot's cockpit. Steve grabbed her wrist, causing the bike to crash as they jumped onto the chopper as it went down. Yelizaveta grabbed her sword as she and Steve ran the length of the chopper. Steve and Yelizaveta dug the sword and his shield into the metal plating and hung on. Steve tossed his shield at the engines as the got to the top of the canopy. The chopper went down and the two of them hit the street.
"Eyes here," Sitwell said. "Whatever your op is, bury it. This is Level One. Contact DOT. All traffic lights in the district go red. Shut all runways at BWI, IAD, and Reagan. All security cameras in the city go through this monitor right here," Sitwell said, indicating the monitor with Rogers and Markova's pictures on it. "Scan all open sources, phones, computers, PDAs. Whatever. If somebody tweets about this guy and the girl, I want to know about it," Sitwell said.
"With all due respect, if S.H.I.E.L.D. is conducting a manhunt for Captain America and the Winter Soldier we deserve to know why," Agent 13 said.
"Because they lied to us. Captain Rogers and Agent Markova has information regarding the death of Director Fury. They refused to share it. As difficult as it is to accept, Captain America and the Winter Soldier are fugitives from S.H.I.E.L.D.," Pierce said as he walked into the room and looked at the pictures of Rogers and Markova.
Yelizaveta and Steve had managed to change their clothes and make their way back to the hospital where Yelizaveta had placed the hard drive in the vending machine. "Oh, no," Yelizaveta said, seeing the empty spot beside the doublemint and Eclipse gum.
"Great. How do we find out what was on that drive?" Steve asked, looking as dismayed as Yelizaveta felt.
At that moment they heard the crack of gum. in the glass, Yelizaveta looked into the eyes of Natasha. Steve reached out and dragged Natasha into the empty room across the hall, Yelizaveta following.
"Where is it?" Steve asked, shoving her into the wall behind her.
"Safe," Natasha said cryptically.
"Do better," Steve said, removing the hood on his hoodie.
"Where did you get it?" Natasha asked, looking between Steve and Yelizaveta.
"Why would we tell you?" Yelizaveta asked.
"Fury gave it to you. Why?" Natasha asked.
"What's on it?" Steve asked.
"I don't know," Natasha said.
"Stop lying," Steve said, gripping Nat by her shoulders.
"I only act like I know everything, Rogers," Natasha said. A noise in the hallway caused them to look.
"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" Yelizaveta asked. Natasha opened her mouth and hesitated briefly before answering.
"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you," Natasha said.
Steve gripped Natasha by her arms again. "I'm not going to ask you again," Steve said.
"I know who killed Fury," Natasha said.
"You do?" Yelizaveta asked, raising a dark eyebrow.
"Yes. Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier," Natasha said.
"Wait a minute. I thought I was the only Winter Soldier?" Yelizaveta asked.
"No. The Red Room had two kinds of soldiers. You were either a Black Widow or you were a Winter Soldier. He was the first. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years," Natasha said.
"So he's a ghost story," Steve said.
"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me," Natasha said, raising her shirt to reveal a puckered wound on her side.
"Soviet slug?" Yelizaveta asked.
Yes. No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis," Natasha said in a flirtatious tone to Steve.
"Yeah. I bet you look terrible in them now," Steve said in a snarky voice.
"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said, he's a ghost story," Natasha said, raising the hard drive.
Yelizaveta took it out of her hand and looked at Steve. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants," Yelizaveta said and the three of them left the hospital.