It didn't come to a surprise to Spencer when Steve and her arrived at the hospital and found the USB gone from inside the vending machine; it also didn't come to a surprise to her that Nat found out what was going on and was now popping gum behind Steve and Spencer. Steve gave Spencer a flat look because he knew that Spencer had been partially right about Nat. Spencer gave him a smirk before Steve gestured to the room across from them.

"Got anymore gum left?" Spencer asked her former mentor.

Nat pulled a whole stick of gum and tossed it at her; Spencer decided to pop a few strips into her mouth since she hadn't had the chance to brush her teeth this morning. "Where is it?" Steve asked with some slight frustration.

"Safer than it was inside that vending machine." Nat smartly responded making Steve stiffen with annoyance—Nat and Steve weren't the best of friends considering that Nat was a spy and Steve was a real honest and blunt man.

"Where did you two get it?" Nat asked with a icier tone.

"Why does it matter?" Steve was still wary of her but Spencer trusted Nat and even though Nat was spy for SHIELD, Spencer didn't think that Nat would even think about working for HYDRA…not after what they did to her.

"Fury gave it to you, why?" Nat asked not being bothered by Steve's lack of trust in her.

"What's on it?" Steve countered back.

"I don't know." Nat frowned looking perplexed.

"Stop lying." Steve hissed; Steve really hated liars.

"She isn't lying," Spencer lazily spoke up, "Nat might be a spy that acts like she knows all the secrets in the world but she's probably as clueless as we are. Steve." Steve pressed his lips in a displeasing firm line. Nat gave Steve a slight smirk.

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" Steve asked trying to catch her in a lie.

Spencer casted Steve a displeased look but Nat looked genuinely surprised to hear this but she quickly figured out why Nick hired those pirates, "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, and so do you." Nat pointed out.

"I'm not going to ask you again." Steve growled losing his patience.

"Steve, that's enough." Spencer frowned stepping in between the Spy and Captain America. "What's up your ass, dude?" Spencer pinned him with a deadly stare because she didn't like the way he was so boldly accusing Nat especially since Spencer trusted Nat well enough to know that she wasn't their enemy.

"I know who killed Nick." Nat spoke up quietly but her voice was full of firm conviction.

It silenced Steve and Spencer and both looked at Nat with surprise. "You know who killed him?" Spencer asked her—her voice growing quiet and dangerous. The need to avenge her Godfather was strong and her demons demanded blood for his death.

It didn't go unnoticed by Steve and Nat.

Nat nodded slowly, "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists," She spoke looking around to make sure no one was listening or no one was around, "The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier."

"What a whack name." Spencer snorted losing some of her deadliness.

Nat rolled her eyes but continued on, "He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years." Spencer wasn't that impressed by his credited kills or his lame nickname, but she'd be glad to have his body gushing blood as she puts an end to this assassin.

"So he's a ghost story." Steve deadpans not impressed or believing.

Nat knew Steve would doubt her so, she said, "Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran; somebody shot out my tires near Odessa, we lost control, and went over a cliff. I pulled us out but the Winter Soldier was there and I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." Nat lifted her shirt to reveal a pink scar on her right lower stomach.

"So, that's why you were distant when you came back." Spencer mumbled understanding why her mentor ignored her so months after the mission.

Nat nodded towards Spencer but turned to Steve, "Soviet slug, no rifling, and bye-bye bikinis." Nat gave a slight smirk.

Spencer snorted, "Nice one."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now." Steve retorted not looking amused by her joke.

"I kinda laughed, but on the inside." Spencer said with a shrug.

"Going after him is a dead end, I know because I've tried." Nat looked at both Steve and Spencer, "Like you said he's a ghost story." She held out the USB drive from her pocket and Spencer muttered something under her breath.

"Safer then vending machine?"

Nat smirked at her, "No one's going to try to get into my pants anytime soon."

Steve looked disgusted but Spencer snorted with amusement, "That is true."

Steve plucked the USB drive with a slight grimace but said in his deep voice, "Let's find out what the ghost wants." It was a signal from Steve that he didn't see Nat as the enemy anymore but that didn't mean that Steve liked Nat. It was enough for Spencer because they needed to get along in these dire times.

They left the hospital knowing it wouldn't take SHIELD too long to locate them. Nat instructed the group to go to the mall to see what was on the USB drive. Spencer had a lot on her mind on the drive to the mall; she was jumpy and though her body was exhausted, she wanted nothing to do with sleeping in the near future. Sleeping meant nightmares and it was the last thing she needed right now.

"You look like you need a vacation." Nat smirked through the rear view mirror.

"You're fucking funny," Spencer muttered with disdain, "My last vacation ended up with me almost being blown to pieces."

"That was months ago, you need another vacation." Nat spoke teasingly.

Spence rolled her eyes at her former mentor, "I think I'll pass, I have bigger things to worry about."

The car-ride was short and it didn't take them long to ditch their car (that Nat stole, by the way.) and go inside the crowded and lively mall. The young adult in Spencer awed at the flashy store-fronts and made her want to go inside for a much needed shopping spree. "Absolutely not." Nat and Steve deadpanned already seeing the look on Spencer's face.

Spencer faltered and muttered, "You guys are shitty parents."

Nat rolled her eyes and started to talk, "First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk." Steve was glancing around them while Spencer and Nat remained cool and collected—this wasn't their first rodeo.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve spoke grumpily.

It didn't take them long to get to a computer tech store and latch onto a laptop. "The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are." Nat warned as she clicked away on the computer. Spencer was eying some of the fancier laptops while Steve was watching their backs.

"How much time will we have?" Steve asked.

"About nine minutes from now." She stated as she plugged in the USB drive into the port of the laptop. "Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something." Nat muttered as Spencer leaned against the counter not really interested and Steve was peering at the computer screen.

"This drive is protected by some sort of AI." Nat stated dryly, "It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve asked confused.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me," Nat said and added, "Believe it or not." Steve just gave her a bemused look and Spencer snorted in amusement, "But I did say slightly." Nat smirked.

"I'm going to try running a tracer," Nat informed Steve, "This was a program developed by SHIELD to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

Spencer spotted a young blonde man heading towards them with the intentions of asking if they needed help; Spencer slyly moved in front of Nat, so the man wouldn't see anything that would jeopardize his life. "Can I help you guys with anything?" The man smiled in a friendly manner.

"Nah, we're cool," Spencer smoothly stated with a light grin, "We're just trying to get some information off your computer."

The employee Aaron nodded, "Yeah, that's cool, that's why we're here," He chuckled awkwardly and said, "I like your shirt, by the way," He gestured to her shirt which was tie dyed and had an alien on the front, "You into conspiracy theories?" He asked her.

Nat snickered from behind her and Spencer had to reframe from punching Nat, "Yeah, totally, have you seen Shane Dawson's videos on them?" Spencer made small talk hoping to buy them some time.

"Oh, who hasn't?" Aaron giggled excitedly, "Which are your favorite?"

"You said nine minutes." Spencer heard Steve hiss at Nat.

"Relax." Nat breezily said not looking too bothered.

"Oh, I love his celebrity ones—you know the illuminati?" Spencer responded with a charming grin.

"Oh my god, same!"

"Got it." Nat muttered, "You know it?"

Spencer turned her head slightly as Steve peered at the computer screen, "I used to," He said gravely, "Let's go." Steve looked at Spencer and draped his arm over her shoulder, "Sorry to interrupt but we gotta go, right, babe?" Steve smiled down at her.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot we had lunch with your parents later," Spencer nodded with a pout and turned to Aaron, "Gotta blast, Aaron, but it was nice meeting you." Aaron gave an awkward smile as the trio left the tech store.

"You crushed his dreams." Nat playfully snickered.

"He needs to dream a little lower," Steve muttered, "Spencer would swallow him whole."

"I thought he was cute but he needed a haircut." Spencer pouted softly.

"Standard tac team," Steve suddenly said lowly, "Two behind, two across, and two coming straight at us." Steve informs as Spencer longingly looks inside of a edgy store, "If they make us, I'll engage and both of you hit the south escalator to the metro."

But Nat had other ideas, "Shut up and put your around me, Spencer stay behind us and look awkward," Nat glanced at Steve, "And laugh at something I said." She instructed much to Steve's displeasure.

"What?"

"Do it."

Steve put his arm around her, lowered their heads close, and laughed. Spencer acted awkward and looked away hiding her face from the tac team members. The trio got onto the elevator but Spencer and Nat were quick to notice Rumlow. Spencer ducked down to tie her shoe while Nat told Steve to kiss her.

"What?" Steve didn't look too keen on this.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." Nat hissed at him.

"Yes, they do." Steve agreed.

Spencer rolled their eyes as Nat began to kiss Steve.

Once it was safe, the duo broke apart, "Still uncomfortable?" Nat teased as they hurried down the stairs.

"It's not exactly the word I would use." Steve grumbled.

Spencer laughed, "This is so fun."

Steve didn't think it was smart to use the car that Nat stole to travel to New Jersey. It had been less than an hour since it was stolen; it was probably under police radar by now. To Nat and Spencer's surprise, Steve stole a nice looking truck instead. The trip to New Jersey would take some time—about three hours depending on how traffic is.

It took a lot of convincing but Nat and Spencer managed to convince Steve to pull over at a gas station that was out of state to grab some much needed snacks and food. Spencer was starving and it was apparent by the mass of junk food she bought. Nat didn't eat as much and Steve was too focused on their mission to eat.

Spencer shoved some Doritos into this mouth despite his protests that he wasn't hungry but Spencer knew Steve loved Doritos. "It is incredible how much you eat." Steve mutters to Spencer who is in the backseat. Spencer has her feet up on the backseat and was leaning against the car door enjoying some downtime for the moment.

She was still worried about her friends; Tony, Bruce, Clint, Maria, and her father. She hadn't heard a single word from him but than again, Spencer didn't have her phone or even a burner phone to communicate with her father. She just hoped that he was okay and somewhere safe.

"So, you gonna talk to me about your nightmares?" Nat suddenly asked.

Steve threw Nat a surprised look.

Nat smirked at Steve, "Do you seriously believe that I wouldn't notice? I did train her for quite some time and babysat." Nat told him with a proud look.

Spencer heaved a heavy sigh, "Is that noticeable?"

"The bag under your eyes or the fact that you haven't taken a nap? You love naps." Nat pointed out casually.

"I don't understand why they're back." Spencer relented knowing it wasn't smart to hide such an important thing from Nat—Nat was an older sister to Spence. "But they're worse then before; so vivid and…life-like." Spencer shuddered at the array of nightmares that flashed through her mind.

"How long ago did the start?" Nat asked.

"They started the day Tony got his house blown up by the Mandarin." Spencer answered back quietly.

"Not recently?" Nat mumbled, "Strange…do you want to explain them to me?" Nat asked.

Spencer shook her head, "No, it's too much for me to talk about."

No one really knew exactly what they did to Spencer; the young assassin hardly ever spoke about her time in captivity. The two things Nat did know were that Spencer wasn't the only one who was experimented on and that Hydra had been the one to imprison and torture her. Nat never pushed for answers and no one else did either.

Conversation turned lighter since Spencer was day-dreaming about happier times. So much has happened in the last few years, it was a wonder when things would go back to normal. She briefly worried over Cooper and wished her furry friend was her in her arms…she wouldn't mind his slobbery kisses right now.

They finally made it to their destination; a gated camp. It looked abandoned but there was distant look on Steve's face that made Spencer wonder if this was the camp where Steve had trained at and met Peggy. "This is it," Nat muttered putting her phone away, "The file came from these coordinates."

Steve was holding on this shield as he looked at the warning sign. This was Camp Lehigh. "So did I." Steve said quietly—memories probably flashing before his very eyes. Spencer grasped his hand gently and gave a squeeze.

The trio hopped the fence and Nat was trying to pinpoint where the file had come from; but the whole place was totally empty and there didn't seem to be any electricity within the area. "This camp is where I was trained." Steve fondly said.

"Change much?" Nat asked.

"A little." Steve stated as he stopped in front of flag pole and was staring at it.

Spencer remained quiet and let Steve re-live his memories in peace. "This is a dead end," Nat said with a sigh, "Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio," Nat put her phone away and continued, "Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." Nat determined.

Steve looked past Nat with this weird look on his face, "What is it?" Spencer asked her best friend.

Steve began walking forward towards a closed bunker, "Army regulations forbid storing munitions within five hundred yards of the barracks," Steve told them, "This building is in the wrong place." Steve said gesturing to the building they were walking up to. Steve used his shield to break the lock and the trio moved inside.

It was getting dark and the only real source of light was coming from the moon. Nat moved around looking for a source of light and found the light switch. Spencer let her eyesight readjust to the sudden brightness and saw the shield symbol plastered onto a wall. The room was littered with desks and such—an office for shield but why here?

"This is shield." Nat mused.

"Maybe where it started." Steve murmured since everything looked relatively untouched and old. They walked around until they walked from the main area through an office with old pictures of Stark's father, Peggy, and some other guys on the walls.

"His dad was handsome." Spencer mused though Stark didn't look exactly like his father.

"Who's the girl?" Nat asked curiously.

Spencer moved her gaze to the portrait of Peggy and awed at her beauty—no wonder why Steve had fallen in love with this strong, lovely woman; but Steve didn't answer. Nat took note and looked at Spencer.

Spencer shook her head and Nat let it go for the moment.

Steve moved down the office and saw that one of the built ins was sticking out from the wall ever so slightly. "If you're already working in a secret office, why do you have to hide the elevator?" Steve asked as he pulled the built ins back with his mighty strength.

The trio worked their way to the elevator; Nat using her high-tech phone to get the code to get the elevators working. Spencer thought it would be a good time to munch on some sunflower seeds, "Really Spence?" Steve gave her a flat look.

Spencer shrugged and offered some to her friends, "Want some?"

Nat smirked and Steve shook his head. The elevator dings and opens and Spencer is slightly unsure about this idea, "What if it gets stuck? You know I hate the idea of dying inside one of these things." Spencer scowled.

"Stop being a baby." Nat told her as Nat got into the elevator with Steve.

"Would you rather stay out here on your own?" Steve asked.

Spencer scowled at Steve and stepped inside the elevator, "You guys are such assholes."

"Nah, we just know you all too well." Nat chuckled lightly.

The elevator made it to the bottom floor—a darkened room filled with old technology. As the trio made their way towards the back of the room, the lights slowly turned on. Spencer gazed around not liking the strange feeling in her stomach. This room was ancient and looked untouched—how could the data point be here?

"This can't be the data point—this technology is ancient." Nat muttered confused.

Spencer glanced around saw a modern looking USB port modem, "Nat." Her former mentor looked at her than the modern piece of technology. Nat took out the USB drive and plugged it into the port drive. There was a soft beep and the technology in the entire room came to life. Spencer sucked the air through her teeth with dislike—something felt wrong here.

Her senses were on full-alert in an abandoned building. It didn't feel right…

The mainframe computer spoke and Nat was quick to work in it. Spencer was looking around—sending out a soft, electric force field around the entire room; searching for any forms of life inside. Spencer found that no one was in here and that made her feel even more uneasy.

A new voice filtered into the room, "Rogers, Steven born 1918."

It was a nasally voice that set Spencer on edge as she moved towards her friends—the camera perched on the mainframe computer turned to Nat. A green face appearing on this screen continued to speak, "Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna born 1984."

The camera turned to Spencer, "Coulson, Spencer Rose born 1990."

"This can't be a recoding." Spencer muttered feeling creeped out.

"I am not a recording, Fraulein," The nasally voice spoke and continued to speak and as this computer continued to talk…Steve began to realize who this voice belonged to. Spencer tried to listen but she felt too uneasy to actually focus. Something was really wrong. Steve began to walk around the mainframe computer as if looking for something before coming back to where he was before.

It was then that it was revealed that Hydra had been inside of Shield for decades. Spencer's blood ran cold as she heard this. Zola cackled mocking Steve into smashing the mainframe computer but Zola just popped up at a smaller screen. When asked about insight was needed for Project Insight…Zola told them they would be too dead to hear it.

The elevator doors closed and Steve had attempted to keep them open by throwing his shield in-between the doors but he was a second too late. Nat's phone started beeping and Nat took her phone out of her back pocket, "Guys, we got a bogey, short-range ballistics, thirty seconds tops."

"Who fired it?" Steve demanded.

"Shield." Nat muttered.

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it is better this way." Nat took the USB drive out from the port as Steve and Spencer looked around for cover. Steve rushed forward pulling the metal covering that was on the ground off to reveal a small enough space for them to take cover in. "Spencer, Nat!" Steve shouted as the trio threw themselves into the hole and Spencer threw out a force field of energy to shield them from the blast.

Spencer struggled to keep her shield up due to the tons of debris pounding down on them—Spencer felt the vibrations shaking her entire body. She was strong but not enough to withstand tons of stone and debris being thrown on her. At one point, the tons of debris weakened her shield and Steve threw up his shield above their heads.

And then, for a moment, it felt like everything went dark and quiet.

This chapter is kinda meh but I had to get it out of the way. I feel like WS was kinda slow and boring up until the end. I was inspired to type again because I had watched Thor: Ragnarok. I have a very interesting story-line for Spencer, guys, and it's been set even before I started typing this story. We're about halfway done with WS and then we move onto AOU! PIETRO, BABY, HERE WE COME! After nearly two years, lmao, but anyway I already explained this on my SAO ff but for those who don't read that fanfic.

I haven't been updating as much as I should because since I lost my job in the beginning for the year, I've been mildly depressed but it feels as though it is getting worse. It's just hard for me to get the energy to set up my laptop, sit down, and play the movie so I can write down the dialogue and stuff, ya know? I'm not as motivated to type and I feel so guilty about it.

I'm trying my very best to update more. I hope you all can understand because it's been so long since I started the story and we're not even to AOU yet, lol. I know ya'll want Pietro to come into the story already and so do I so, I'm trying my best to get the ball rolling.

Thank you all for your patience and I might update again tomorrow!

Sorry for any errors and see you next time!