FROST (Natasha Romanoff x female reader)

Chapter 20: Searching for Mara

Natasha did not see Mara once she had disappeared into the alley. She trusted her enough to know she would be fine. 

She took the hours before the others showed up to look through all relevant Hydra files in the back of the van. She could still see the front of the building, just not the alley.

Time passed quickly and the only thing Natasha noticed was a car that drove by. It wasn't unusual to see cars driving later in the evening, so Natasha thought nothing of it.

Suddenly she heard a knock on the back door of the van. She grabbed her gun before opening it, only to reveal Steve, Wanda and Sam standing there.

"Hey guys" she greeted them as they all greeted back. "I'll go let Mara know you're all here." She said before getting out and walking towards the alley.

As she looked through the alley, she didn't see Mara. Nerves rushed through her body as she looked in every possible corner for the brunette she had grown so fond of. 

After coming up empty, she quickly ran back to the van. "I can't find her" she blurted out, causing the others to raise their eyebrows.

They all quickly joined her towards the alley and started looking around. "Guys, look at this" Wanda said, pointing at scuff marks on the street. 

"Shit. They took her. Those markings are probably made by her prosthetic leg." Natasha said worriedly.

"Let's go back to the van and discuss a plan of action." Steve said. The four made they way into the back of the van and started discussing what could have happened.

Natasha explained everything they had worked on and how they followed Whitehall to the apartment building. "She decided to check the back entrance and I stayed here watching the front in case he'd leave." She told the others.

Steve nodded. "So we are certain that Whitehall was the one who took her. Did you notice anything odd while you were here alone?"

"I only saw a car drive past, nothing else." She replied in a defeated tone. She was disappointed at herself for allowing this to happen and for not being on high alert.

"Can you describe the car? It's worth looking into. We can also see what apartment Whitehall was in and investigate there."

"It was a black Chevrolet Suburban I think. The license plate starts with 2PL, but that's all I got." Natasha told him.

"It's enough to work with. The car is also definitely big enough to kidnap someone in, so we'll check it out." He said in an attempt to comfort her.

"Sam, can you do a scan of the building to see which apartments are empty right now?" he asked the Falcon, who nodded and sent out Redwing.

Natasha decided to look up the car on her laptop whilst Wanda and Steve were getting ready to enter the building. "There are two apartments empty right now, apartments 3A and 6C." Sam says, giving Steve and Wanda a clear location of the apartments within the building as well, so they could move quicker.

"Alright Sam, you stay here with Natasha to look for the car. Me and Wanda will look in the apartments." Steve said as him and Wanda walked towards the building.

Wanda used her telekinesis to open the main door and the two walked in with no problem. They started with the apartment on the third floor. Wanda once again opening the door and Steve went in first.

"I can already tell this one is not where Whitehall was staying. Look at the family photos." Wanda explained. Steve nodded, but still did a quick scan to be sure it wasn't a cover-up. 

Coming up empty, they carefully left the apartment, Wanda making sure the door was locked again as they made their way up to the sixth floor.

Wanda once again opened the door and Steve went in first. This apartment was a lot more empty and basic. There were no family pictures and it almost seemed as if nobody actually lived there.

The two made their way through the apartment, carefully checking each room. Steve entered the master bedroom and went to check the closet. 

He felt around and suddenly stumbled upon a seemingly hidden drawer. He opened it and spotted a file. He quickly grabbed it and walked over to Wanda.

"I found this file, but came up empty aside from this." He said. "I didn't find anything, so let's go to Sam and Nat." Wanda spoke.

The two came back to the van and were rushed inside by Sam and Natasha. "What's going on? Did you find something?" Steve asked.

"We found a location for the car. It's registered to an address that turned out to be this warehouse." Sam explained whilst pointing at a Google Streetview image.

"Then let's go." Steve said and they drove off.