Marvel Avengers Fan Fiction ❯ Talia's story ❯ 5: Spectre ( Chapter 5 )

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-One year later-

-D.C.-

 

“Oh and I think you left your stereo on.” Steve Roger’s neighbour, Kate, tells him as she leaves. “Oh, right. Thank you.” Steve smiles at her. “Yeah.” Kate winks at him and goes down the stairs. 

 

Steve looks at his apartment door where a faint sound of music can be heard. “Didn’t leave it on.” He whispers to himself. 

 

Steve decides to enter his apartment by the window, grabbing his shield for protection. He cautiously walks to the source of the music. But he stops Fury instead. Steve relaxes as he says, “I don’t remember giving you a key.” 

 

“You really think I’d need one? My wife kicked me out.” Fury tells him.

 

“Didn’t know you were married.”

 

“A lot of things you don’t know about me.”

 

“I know, Nick, that’s the problem.” Steve sighs and turns on the lamp, only to see Fury all bloodied up. Fury puts a finger on his lips and turns off the lamp. He types something into his phone, which he shows Steve. 

 

“EARS EVERYWHERE.” It stated. 

 

“I’m sorry to have to do this, but I had no place else to crash.” Fury says to Steve. Fury writes another text which says, “SHIELD COMPROMISED.” Steve sighs, looks away before turning back to Fury, “Who else knows about your wife?” 

 

“Just..” The text Fury shows him says, “YOU AND ME.” “My friends.” Fury finishes what he was saying. “Is that what we are?” Steve asks him. 

 

“That’s up to you.” 

 

Suddenly, Fury is shot three times through the wall from behind. Steve looks out the window while pulling Fury to a safer spot. Fury opens his hand to reveal the thumb drive that Natasha had taken from the previous mission. 

 

“Don’t. Trust. Anyone.” Fury passes out after that. 

 

Steve hears someone breaking in and backs against the wall. “Captain Rogers?” Steve sees his neighbour walk in with her gun up. “Captain,” She spots him, “I’m Agent 13 of SHIELD Special Services.” 

 

“Kate?” Steve questions, confused.

 

“I’m assigned here to protect you.” She tells him. “On whose orders?” Steve demands.

 

“His.” Sharon spots Fury lying on the floor. 

 

“Foxtrot is down, he’s unresponsive. I need EMTs.” She speaks through her radio. 

 

“Do you have a twenty on the shooter?” An Agent’s voice asks. “Tell him I’m in pursuit.” Steve says as he notices a metal gleam of the shooter through the window. 

 

Steve smashes through doors and thin walls as he chases after the shooter, sprinting with his shield attached to his arm. He sees the shooter jump onto the building in front of him. 

 

He jumps through the window and rolls to lose the momentum, before continuing to sprint. Throwing his shield at the shooter, the shooter turns back and catches the shield. 

 

Steve looks in shock as he notices the shooter is a teenage girl. Her face is covered by a black mask and some black paint surrounding her eyes. Her dark hair was tied up in a neat bun, her stance wide. She had caught the shield with one hand. 

 

The shooter threw the shield back to Steve with such force that Steve caught it with both hands, sliding back from the force. When he looked up, the girl was gone. He sprinted to the edge of the building, where she must have disappeared from. 

 

But there was no sign of her. Traffic below carried on as usual. 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

 

She watched as the man with the shield gave up looking for her and returned to his apartment. She didn’t jump off the building to escape, like the man had thought. 

 

She changed directions and ran to the side of the building, waiting at the balcony, watching his every move with discretion. 

 

She jumped from balcony to balcony, finally reaching the ground, where a black van was parked. She walked towards it and it opened as she approached. With a swift jump, she entered the van and it closed behind her, driving off into the night.

-Many many hours later- 

Steve had a hoodie on as he walked through the corridors of the hospital. He arrived at the vending machine, but the thumb drive that he placed behind the bubblegum was missing. 

 

Shit. 

 

The reflection in the glass of the vending machine showed Natasha Romanoff standing behind him, blowing a bubble using bubble-gum. Steve turned around to face her, and swiftly pushed her into a vacant room, slamming her against the wall, his voice in a deadly whisper, “Where is it?” 

 

“Safe.” Was her short answer.

 

He pushed her again, “Do better.”

 

Natasha tilted her head, “Where did you get it?” Steve put on a poker face, “Why would I tell you?” Natasha pieced the facts together and she said, “Fury gave it to you, why?”

 

“What’s on it?” Steve ignored her question and asked his own instead. 

 

“I don’t know.” Steve fisted her jacket and gave her a harsh whisper, “Stop lying!” 

 

Natasha blurted out, “I only act like I know everything, Rogers.” 

 

“I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn’t you?”

 

Natasha paused. “Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty. Fury needed a way out. So do you.”

 

Steve gritted his teeth, “I’m not gonna ask you again.”

 

“I know who killed Fury.” Steve stared at Natasha, letting her elaborate. “Most of the intelligence community doesn’t believe they exist, but the ones who do call them the Winter Soldier and Spectre.”

 

Steve frowned, “I only saw one. A girl.” 

 

“That’ll be Spectre. She has completed hundreds of assassinations in the last twenty years. The Winter Soldier is her accomplice for some missions. ‘Suppose it’s because she’s better than him.” Natasha told him. 

 

Steve looked away in thought, “twenty years? But she looks barely 18…” 

 

“What about the Winter Soldier?” Steve asked, turning back to Natasha, curious about the man. 

 

“He’s the one with a metal arm, credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years.” Natasha recited.

 

Steve sighed, “So they’re both a ghost story…”

 

“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.” Natasha explained. 

 

“I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me.” Natasha pulled up her shirt to show the scar on the side of her stomach. “Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis.” 

 

“Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now.” Natasha held a hint of a smile on her face.

 

“Going after them is a dead end. I know. I’ve tried.” Natasha held up the flash drive. “Like you said, they’re a ghost story.” Steve takes the drive from her, “Let’s find out what the ghost wants.” 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Отчет о миссии.” (Russian: Mission report.)

 

“Обычная стрельба и бегство, я вовремя скрылся.” (Normal shoot and run, I got away in time.)

 

“Хорошо. Вернуться назад.” (Good. Go back.)

 

“Да, сэр.” (Yes sir.)

 

Spectre was escorted by guards to her cell, where a man sat, waiting for her. “Как все прошло?” (How did it go?) He asked her in a gruff voice. She held a small smile on her face, “Очень хорошо.” (Very well.)

 

“Xорошо.” (Good.)

 

Spectre leaned her head on his shoulder, snuggling into him for warmth that the cell did not provide. It was nighttime. Since Spectre had already eaten what food was given to her, she decided to turn in for the night. 

 

“Спокойной ночи, Зима.” (Good night, Winter.)

“Спокойной ночи, куколка.” (Good night, doll.)