Frostbite: Blood in the Winter// Third Book of The Frost Bite Series.

The Aftermath

I sat in a hospital room on a chair next to Steve, who lay in the hospital bed, unconscious. The scratches on my face had been cleaned up, as well as the cut on my stomach. The fight with Bucky did indeed open the stitches, but I didn't blame him. The cold temperature in my hands had returned, a glass of water sat next to me on a metal table.

My arms were crossed over my chest as I gazed at Steve. His face was covered in bruises, he had a black eye and his lip was cut. The monitors showed his steady heartbeat, and the quietness of the room made me drowsy.

The door opened and I glanced up, Sam had walked in and he waved at me. In his hand, he held an iPod and a small speaker.

"Thought I might play some music," he said as he set the iPod up on the table.

I nodded with a light smile, too tired to say anything. Sam unlocked the device and clicked on the music app, selected a song and connected it to the speaker. I looked at the screen to see the album cover for Marvin Gaye's 'Trouble Man' Soundtrack. I smiled softly and leaned back into my seat as the music began to play

My eyes slowly fluttered closed and after a few minutes, they opened to see Steve awake and looking around the room. His gaze caught me and he smiled before looking over at Sam, who had also fallen asleep, and rested his head back on his pillow. 

"On your left," Steve muttered.

Sam looked at him and smiled with a light nod. I got up and left the room, standing in front of the door and looking around at the different guards surrounding the hallway. Natasha turned the corner and approached me, smiling slightly.

"How is he doing?" She asked, looking at the door.

"He's good, Sam's in the room playing Trouble Man," I replied.

"They arrested Senator Stern," Nat announced.

"Good." I nodded.

There was shouting from nurses and doctors down the hallway and we looked to watch them roll in someone on a bed. The victim was covered from head to toe with third-degree burns, their skin red and in some places charred. I looked at their face and I could barely recognize that it was Brock Rumlow.

"Son of a bitch, they really saved him?" Natasha muttered as the doctors and nurses passed us. I grimaced at the state of his body. "They want us at a committee hearing for questioning." Natasha turned to me.

"What, to testify for crimes that happened so many years ago?" I asked.

"I released all of SHIELD and HYDRA secrets, they're pretty mad about that," Nat explained.

I nodded. "I'm just not ready to confess to crimes that I didn't even know I did until a few days ago."

~~~

Natasha and I were sworn in and we sat at a round table in front of Committee members. Press surrounded us with tape recorders and cameras.

"Agent Romanoff, you released every file under SHIELD intelligence to the internet, do you deny this?" The Committee General said to Natasha.

"No, I do not," Natasha replied.

"You knew full well that your past would be revealed, as well as Eleanor Flint's?"

"Yes, I did." Nat nodded.

"It seems that you have already testified for your crimes and these said crimes have been set aside by SHIELD." The General explained. "Except for you, Miss Flint."

I breathed in, preparing myself for the boatload.

"In 1962, you were responsible for the assassination of a Senator and his wife. In 1963, you and another assassin shot and killed President John F. Kennedy." Cameras flashed as he said this. "These are only two assassinations of many until 1989. Do you plead guilty?"