The Unknown Enemy ∘ Marvel [3]

Chapter 23: Set In Motion

"You two wouldn't have anything to do with the half dozen emergency vehicles passing by, would you?"

Natasha had already changed into another outfit, her posture more leisure and lanky than her usual confident stance to be less conspicuous in a crowd. She leaned up against the back side of an older bookstore, one that most likely sold thrifted, thread barren novels more than a decade old. Not much income, no budget for security. No cameras disclosed the location we met in.

I hesitated before answering her rhetorical question, offering a slight shrug, "There was a crash."

"Not Renée?" Nat's head cocked to the side, lips turning down, "Poor girl. Had a good life."

Then run over. If the compromised side of SHIELD hadn't pissed me off enough, they'd sealed the deal with destroying my bike.

Romanoff's pity was soon replaced with a noticeable look towards her watch, "Still almost three minutes late. Despite your tragedy, I'm disappointed, but you've earned some extra points for escaping an intelligence organization after being hospitalized for over a month. Got the drive?"

My hand slipped into the front pocket of my jeans, handing her the silver device that had caused so much trouble. She surveyed it quickly, making sure there was no damage inflicted on it from the chase. I folded my arms across my chest once she glanced back up to me, my eyes bouncing between her and Steve, "So what's our next move?"

Rogers cleared his throat, keeping quiet since we'd met up behind the building. This immediately peeked up my interest, only to be diverted by Natasha, "We're still waiting on Layla."

Now I arched an eyebrow, knowing I wasn't being told something. Why bring Layla into this? To my knowledge, she wasn't involved in any of this, and there was no reason to endanger her, "Why'd you bring in a science and communications agent? Layla doesn't do espionage-"

"And she's a terrible liar. That's why when she said she wasn't a double agent, I knew she was trustworthy." Nat explained, but still didn't give a clear answer to my question, "And right now we need someone who isn't playing both sides."

I shook my head, more confusion adding to an already bewildering day, "It's good to know not everyone wants to turn us in, but why would we bring her with us? She's a genius, but she can barely handle a gun."

"That's why she's not coming with us." Steve spoke from behind me, making me turn to face him. It was almost too easy to spot the unspoken motive that both of my partners had dodged, but the man was practically an open book. His indicative sigh made me clench my teeth, realizing why they had brought my anxious blonde friend in on the rouge mission. This wasn't about Layla being a science officer, this was about finding someone who I personally could rely on.

I pressed my lips together as I glanced from Rogers to Nat, my expectant tone lowering, "Neither am I, right? You're going to sideline me while SHIELD gets taken over."

"We're not sidelining you." Steve spoke directly after my accusation, "Look at it this way; you just got out of the hospital after something magically healed you for a bit. People aren't just after you to lock you up for treason. Someone took you and it looks like they want you back. Running around D.C. trying to discover whatever's on that drive and why Fury died is lining you right up to be exactly where you were five months ago."

That was a nice try at attempting to rationalize their choice, but it practically spelled out my point, "So you're sending me away so I won't burden you while you go figure out why Nick's dead and my organization's corrupt? If you think you guys get to have all the fun-"