ALTERNATIVES [Marvel Cinematic Universe]

05. Backtrack

Alina had tried calling Steve at least five times. She was sent to voicemail every time.

"Ugh." She didn't even try to stop herself from rolling her eyes. There couldn't have been a worse time for him to leave her hanging. When she hadn't found her third attacker anywhere near the alley, Alina headed back to the car.

It was missing.

"My lucky day." She glanced down at the phone in her hand. 7:13. Her best bet would be to head back to the hospital. Thank god there was the metro. Alina spared a few glances around her before finally heading for a station.

--

Steve's head was buzzing. The high-pitched ring had been in his ears from almost the minute the missile had hit Lehigh. He dried his face before walking out of the bathroom.

Sam's had been the first place he could think of.

Natasha was sitting on the bed, her hair clenched between the towel in her hands. Her gaze was somewhere else, he thought. Somewhere not here. He didn't blame her.

"You okay?" His brow furrows as he notices that she looks sad.

"Yeah." Steve isn't convinced. She looks almost as lost as he feels.

"What's going on?" He takes a seat on the bed beside her. There's a small silence before Natasha answers.

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for H.Y.D.R.A." I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but...I guess I can't tell the difference anymore.

"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business." A tiny smile paints itself onto Natasha's face. It's the smallest, but Steve's chest lightens when he sees it.

They really were lost together, then.

--

Leaning against one of the rails, Alina watched the concrete tunnel fly by through the windows of the metro. The wall blurred into a seamless hunk of grey before her, and she felt her head throb looking at it.

Fury was dead. She was still trying to wrap her mind around it. And while she had a good guess as to who it might have been, she didn't dare assume anything. Not now. And especially not when she had just been attacked in an alley by who the hell knew.

Her stop came sooner than she expected, but it wasn't until she had taken a decent look around the station that Alina completely stepped out of the car and made her way up the steps. The hospital wasn't too far, only a couple of blocks, and she wasted no time in getting there.

Alina felt a chill creep up her back when she entered the double doors at the entrance; she hadn't remembered it being this cold when she left. She shoved her hands into her pockets and drew her jacket tighter around herself, and scanned the entrance floor for anyone familiar.

It seemed everyone had already left, which Alina didn't find too surprising. It had been several hours since they had all been here. She turned around to leave the building, when she caught a flash of something in the corner of her eye. A light. No, more like a bright haze. A blur? She glanced back at the doors one last time before heading in the direction she had seen it.

Bumping into a people in the hall, Alina mumbled more than a few apologies as she walked on. Nothing looked out of place here. She stopped moving ahead, and decided to dismiss the flash of light as nothing more than coincidence. Only she had been so sure...

Alina shook her head, her eyes widening slightly before she blinked them a few times as if trying to rid the idea from her mind. She should go. There was no one here, and she didn't think she'd find answers either.

Her eyes squinted on reflex when she exited the hospital, making her regret losing her sunglasses in the alley earlier. The sun shone even more brightly overhead, and Alina felt the heat creep through her jacket making her uncomfortably warm. She shrugged it off, but not before checking the pockets for anything that might fall out. She didn't need the whole of New York catching her with an arsenal. Slipping her phone from the back pocket of her jeans, she looked for what felt like the hundredth time today at the lock screen.

Alina had to admit, she was starting to worry about Steve and Natasha. She hadn't tried calling Steve again since before she got onto the metro and she had a feeling that wherever he was, Natasha would be as well. She didn't want to go back to headquarters, not now, but Alina had a feeling she wouldn't be able to get out of it. She unlocked her phone before opening up her contacts list. Her finger hovered over Steve's icon before deciding against it and scrolling further down. She chewed on the inside of her cheek looking at the name, before clicking it and pressing on the number. It rang a few times, before she heard a gruff voice, sounding somewhat surprised, on the other end.

"Benek? What's going on? You—"

"Brock. I need a favor."

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Hello Readers! First off, I want to apologize for leaving this update so far off. I know I promised to get new chapters out every week. Lately, what with the pandemic, my going back to work recently and a few other personal matters I've been slow on writing in general. I'm playing catch up between this and my composition portfolio that I've been neglecting on (she's a musician, too, heh). What with writing, this chapter moved away from the original screenplay more. I've been working on trying to delve deeper into Alina's story (slowly but surely) in a way that both connects her with the other characters but also allows her some space to show herself away from them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, don't forget to vote, comment and share! I'll see you all next update. :) ~xiomara