It's been a couple of days since Nat brought those files and I still haven't brought myself to read them. Every time I sat down to read them I ended up throwing my guts up. Nat had been staying with me these past few days and even Steve had come round after his runs to see how I was holding up. I've dreamt of finding out what happened to my Dad since he was murdered and now I had the chance too I was hesitating and I hated myself for it.

"You OK?" Nat asked as I came out of my little zone, we were on our way to pick up Steve by orders of Fury "You seem a little out of it" she confirmed as I nodded

"Yeah. Just think I need to hit something... get some anger out" I chuckled as we continued driving "I'll text Steve now" I quickly pulled out my phone and sent him a text, letting him know that we were close by and before I knew it we'd pulled up by the curb. Steve was talking to a man, a very sweaty man.

"Hey fellas" Nat said as I put the window down "Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is?" she said as I got out of the car

"We're here to pick up a fossil" I chuckled as I pulled the seat forward

"That's hilarious" Steve muttered as he walked towards me and stopped, almost waiting for me to get in the back "Are you serious?" he asked as I nodded

"Deadly" I smirked as he turned back round to his friend

"How you doing?" the man asked me as I smiled

"Hey" Steve chuckled before telling the man that he couldn't run everywhere and getting in the car. I pushed the seat back and sat down in the front seat. As I closed the door the man stood up

"No you can't" Nat revved the engine and we set off towards the Triskelion.

"What about him hmm?" Nat asked as I shook my head

"What about him?" Steve questioned as I rolled my eyes

"She keeps trying to set me up with everyone" I informed Steve as Nat laughed

"Yeah, she's doing that to me too. I think she's recommended 3 agents I go on a date with" Steve laughed as we continued driving. Silence fell among us until Nat piped up again

"What about Jordan?" she asked

"Her neighbour? I don't think he's her type"

"I think she needs to come out of her comfort zone a little bit" Nat replied

"Guys... I'm sitting right here" I laughed "How would you know my type anyway?" I asked Steve as I looked back at him

"I don't he just... Seemed a bit keen, you strike me as a girl who wants someone who will challenge her" I hummed in agreeance "I do hope you find someone soon though"

"Well I'l let you both know when I do. I promise, you guys will be the first to know" I chuckled as Nat turned into the Triskelion. The three of us made small talk as we entered the building and made our way up to Fury's office

"Ahhh, my three favourite musketeers" he joked as we walked in and sat down. Usually I'd have hit him with some snide remark but the three of us had all become quite close and we were damn good on missions together "How're you all? Settling in well I hope" he added

"Yeah, I mean. You could've saved a lot of money and just made Nat live with me, she's been over 24/7" I chuckled

"Yeah but what if you bring a man home one night? I don't want to hear you bang" she joked

"You've found a guy?" Nick asked as I shook my head "Eleanor! Have you turned away every man that has approached you?" Before I could even respond Nat did

"She has! I've tried to set her up with numerous people! She's turned down her saucy neighbour! I offered Simon from accounts, Paul from- Well actually given Paul is her Dad's name I understand turning him down, but she keeps saying she isn't interested!" she exclaimed

"Eleanor, you promised you wouldn't shut yourself off!" Fury inputted

"What is this? S.H.I.E.L.D or a dating app?" I laughed "And why are you so interested in my dating life?" I questioned

"Your Uncle Phil and I were close! You promised you would be open to new things!" Fury sat down across from me as I rolled my eyes

"Tell you what. You guys stay out of trying to set me up with people and when a guy randomly comes up and asks me on a date I'll say yes. How's that sound?" everyone was silent "Fabulous, now did you call all three of us here to discuss my love life or is there a reason for the meeting?" I sassed as Fury chuckled

"The S.T.R.I.K.E team will meet you on the quinjet and brief you. Too much time is wasted if we discuss it here. Captain, Rice you guys head there now. I need to have a quick chat with Agent Romanoff" he said as Steve and I stood up and left the room

"Well Captain, you best get suited up. I'll meet you on the quinjet. Remember your record is 4 minutes, 42 seconds... Get running... now" I said as I started my stopwatch and Steve ran off to get suited up. I continued walking towards the launchpad where the quinjet was. Steve and I had started timing how long it takes him to suit up and meet me at the quinjet. It's just a bit of fun but keeps us entertained. Rules are he has to have suited up and both feet me inside the quinjet for me to stop the stopwatch. Last time he beat his time by one minute so I don't have much hope now. As I approached the quinjet I mentally sighed, Rumlow was there, great. I'd not seen him since Steve had told him he was taking me on a date and I'm praying he doesn't ask me out on a date. I'll pray with you. At least we can agree on that Mum.

"El. How're you today?" he asked as I boarded the quinjet

"I'm good thanks Rumlow. How're you?" I made light small talk with him and thankfully he never brought the whole dating thing up. As I looked out I saw Steve sprinting towards the quinjet, I quickly checked my stopwatch. 4 minutes and 30 seconds "COME ON STEVE YOU'VE NEARLY BEAT IT AGAIN" I shouted as he pushed harder. I kept my finger on the stop button as Steve came hurdling into the quinjet and I pressed stop "4 MINUTES AND 37 SECONDS WE HAVE A NEW RECORD!" I screamed as I raised my arms in victory, Steve picked me up and spun me round "We did it! Well, you did it!" I exclaimed as he put me down and Rumlow chuckled

"You two a thing now?" he asked as our heads shot towards him, neither of us went to say anything until Nat entered the quinjet

"OK pussies. Let's go" she demanded

***

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star" Rumlow informed us as we all stood around the screen "They were sending up their last payload when the pirates took them 93 minutes ago..."

"Any demands from them?" I asked

"Billion and a half" he confirmed as he looked from the screen to me

"Why so steep?" Steve questioned as a pause fell between all of us

"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D's" Rumlow confirmed, wait- wouldn't that mean

"So it's not off-course. It's trespassing" Steve confirmed as he looked between myself and Nat

"I'm sure they have a good reason" Nat muttered

"I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor" I said as Steve nodded at me

"Relax guys, it's not that complicated" Nat responded, why was she being weird? What did her and Fury discuss? I'd definitely have to ask her about it later because she was never this vague.

"How many pirates?" I asked as Rumlow turned back to the screen

"25. Top mercs led by this guy" he announced as he pulled up a photo of a man "George Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guys got a rep for maximum casualties" Rumlow continued. Steve questioned about hostages as I looked at the screen, staring intently at Batrocs face. Main guy. 25 others. Get them all. Save innocent people. Sorted. Boom. I just wrapped this whole thing up in 5 seconds. Like a burrito.

"Alright, Rice and I will sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to life-pods, get them out" Steve ordered as he looked at me "We good to go down together?" he asked as I nodded. Steve and I were quite the double team when it came to getting places. Between my powers and his strength we could get almost anywhere. "Lets move" he said

"S.T.R.I.K.E, you heard the Cap. Gear up" Rumlow added as Steve and I made our way to the ramp of the quinjet

"Secure channel 7" Steve said into the intercom

"Seven secured" Nat and I said in unison, "Did you do anything fun Saturday night?" Nat asked Steve as he began to prepare himself

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really" he joked as I chuckled, the pilot confirmed we were approaching the drop zone and I pressed the ramp button to lower it down

"You know if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics. She'd probably say yes" Nat smiled

"That's why I don't ask. You interested in my love life now you can't interfere with Ellies?"

"Wait, you guys aren't dating" Rumlow asked, shit

"Too shy or too scared?" Nat questioned, I could see Rumlow go to open his mouth and Steve grabbed me and pulled me back

"Too busy" he said before pulling me off the jet with him. Captain America, you are my hero. I know I promised to say yes to the next date but I refuse to let that date be with Rumlow. No way. As Steve and I fell through the sky I found my way onto his back, allowing the wind to slowly guide us towards the ship "You ready?" he asked as he looked back at me, I nodded and quickly raised my arms. The wind began to fight against the gravity pulling us down and our momentum slowed down. Enough for us to gently land on the chain of the anchor that had been dropped into the ocean. "You take the left, I'll take the right?" he confirmed as I nodded and began climbing up the chain "You know, I see why Rumlow wants to ask you out now. not a bad view from down here" he chuckled referring to my behind

"I will not hesitate to kick you off this ship Rogers" I chuckled as I reached the top of the chain and jumped over the side, grabbing and choking a pirate

"Keep flaunting your butt in my face and it may have to be me that asks you on that date" he joked as I rolled my eyes

"Anyone but Rumlow. Be safe out there Cap" I warned as he nodded and took off running. round and down the right of the ship. I began sprinting down the left side, taking out pirates either with combat or simply pushing them over the edge, perks of being on a ship I guess. I was trying to avoid using my powers to work on my hand to hand combat. I still used the air to pull the guns out of their hands, but that was only to level the playing field. There were only and handful of pirates on my side, each of them on their own and very VERY close to the edge of the ship so all I had to do was push them off. Bit boring but OK, soon enough I came to the middle of the ship where I saw Steve fighting around five guys on an upper level. I quickly blew myself up there and punched one in the face, knocking him out. Two of the other four who were fighting Steve stopped and turned to me. I quickly flung myself at one and kicked him in the stomach and he fell to the floor, the other came at me with a fist flying and I ducked to avoid it before pushing him back. I quickly round house kicked the guy on the floor, again knocking him out when I saw the last guy Steve was fighting pointing a gun at him. The guy behind me grabbed ahold of me, before I could elbow him in he ribs his body let go of me and he went limp, at the same time so did the guy pointing the gun at Steve. He turned around and smiled at me when Rumlow landed on the floor along with Nat

"Thanks" Cap and I said to Rumlow as he chuckled

"Yeah. You guys seemed pretty helpless without me" he laughed as he unhooked his parachute "Maybe one day you can help me land like that" Rumlow winked at me

"Can't take my partner away from me" Steve said, I need to remember to thank Steve for that save with Rumlow

"What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you" Nat opened her big mouth, why in front of Rumlow Nat? she sent smirk my way "She seems kinda nice"

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date" Steve answered back

"I'm multi-tasking" Nat responded as she jumped over the railing towards the engine room. Steve and I ran up the length of the boat over to the cockpit. Steve held his shield up and I ran at him, jumping on his shield and he sent me soaring to the top of the deck before quickly following me. I shot a listening device on the window of the cockpit and I could hear Batrocs voice in my ear,

"I want this ship ready to move when the ransom comes" he said in french, another voice then told someone to stat the engines and my mind went straight to Nat

"Come on" Steve ushered as we got into position opposite the cockpit, waiting for the rest of the team before we barged in

"Radio silence from S.H.I.E.L.D Batroc..." Frenchie said in the cockpit, I looked at Steve who nodded to me as I ran forward towards the door of the cockpit. As I arrived there unseen S.T.R.I.K.E confirmed the targets were acquired and I moved to the window for Steve to enter that way and I'd be ready by the door incase either Batroc or Frenchie decided to make a break for it

"Natasha, what's your status?" Steve asked through the intercom. SILENCE. "Status Natasha..."

"HANG ON!" she shouted, there was a brief moment where I panicked, thinking the worse and that someone had hurt her before the redhead added on "Engine room secure"

"On my mark..." Steve said as I looked at him down the ship "Three... Two... One..." I could hear Batroc and Frenchie attempting to communicate through the door, probably to the poor sods S.T.R.I.K.E had just taken out. Steve began running towards the cockpit and threw his shield into the window before jumping in. I heard a scuffle and the door was flung open and Batroc ran out. I quickly went to stop him but he saw me out the corner of his eye and dodged it before kicking me in the gut and sending me backwards. He ran off and soon Steve came out of the room "Ellie, are you OK?" he asked as he helped me up to my feet.

"Yeah... The woman who controls the wind is winded" I chuckled as he looked around for Batroc "He went that way. Go get him Cap" I muttered as he ran off whilst I caught my breath

"Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play" Rumlow told us through the intercom

"Natasha, Batroc's on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages..." there was silence through the intercom "Natasha" I then heard a quick grunt through the intercom, Steve. I took a deep breathe before jogging to where Steve had chased Batroc and stopped when I saw them standing and facing each other

"I thought you were more than just a shield" Batroc said in his french accent as Steve placed his shield on his back and removed his mask.

"Let's see" Steve replied, wait he knew french? I quickly blew myself up to the upper deck above them both so neither saw me and watched as they fought. Only thing I was missing was popcorn at this moment. I could see Steve quite easily had this but I couldn't let him have the last move, as Batroc stumbled up a quickly jumped down on him, elbowing him in the face and I came down "Nice of you to join" Steve chuckled. I walked over and picked his mask up

"Mask-ulinity contest?" I punned, wow I am funny before Steve laughed and ran at Batroc who had again got up. This man had some fight in him! They went diving through a door and I quickly ran after them

"What are you doing?" I looked over and saw Nat over a computer, what was she doing?

"Backing up the hard drive, it's a good habit to get into" she teased as I stepped over Bartoc, stay down mate.

"Rumlow needed your help" Steve warned as we both approached Nat and watched what she was doing "What the hell are you doing here?" he questioned

"You're saving S.H.I.E.L.D intel" I confirmed as I looked at the screens

"Whatever I can get my hands on" Nat confirmed as she finished up the download

"Our mission is to rescue hostages, Nat" I spat, I can't believe she'd do this!

"No, that's your mission" she smiled as she pulled out the drive she'd saved everything on "And you guys have done it beautifully" she added as she smirked at Cap and I.

"You just jeopardized this whole operation" Steve grabbed her arm as she went to walk away

"I think that's overstating things" she chuckled as I heard commotion behind me. In a split second I saw Batroc get up and throw a grenade at us which Steve hit away with his shield. Before I even had time to react I was pulled away by Steve and through a window Nat shot through, the explosion rang in my ears and I opened my eyes to see Steves body over mine, shielding me from the explosion. Steve sat up and I went to join suit as I winced and grabbed my leg which had been scolded by the explosion

"Shit- Ellie are you OK, can you walk?" he asked as he helped me up. I put an arm around him for suppor and watched Nat look up at us

"OK, that ones on me" she panted as Steve began to lead me out of the room

"You're damn right" he spat as he scooped my legs up and carried me out of the room

"Steve I can walk" I said as he shook his head

"Not fast enough to get away" he muttered "If she didn't do this then your leg would be fine Ellie" he explained as I nodded at him

"But Steve, if Fury didn't give her a different mission or at least let us know about it then it'd be fine too. We can't blame her" I told him as he nodded

"You're right, I'm just not happy that you're hurt El" he said as I pulled a face at him "What?"

"It just hurts... A lot" I hissed as he carried me to the quinjet which had now landed

"Captain America, Eleamentor" a bald headed man greeted us, he was the guy who helped us locate Loki back in New York. He knew Uncle Phil "What happened?" he asked, looking at my leg

"Nothing a good cold compress won't fix" I chuckled as Steve placed me on a bench in the quinjet before grabbing the first aid kit. He went to lift my pant leg up and I grabbed his hand before he could do so

"Let me help you Ellie" he said, nothing but kindness in his eyes. I wasn't used to someone else treating my injuries. Usually if I was hurt back when I was on my own I'd be stitching myself up in some motel room. I let go of his arm and he looked at my leg "Yeah... We're going to have to amputate it" he joked, even in such serious moments he still managed to make me laugh "We may have to do the other one too, just in case" I rolled my eyes at him as he looked at me "This is going to sting a little" he said as he placed a disinfectant pad to my leg. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from making a noise.

"Oh my God, what happened Eleanor?" I heard Rumlow enter the quinjet

"I'm fine. Just... Give me some air" I hissed as he nodded, thankfully the man knew when to back down when I was pissed. I gripped the bench in my hands until my knuckles turned white

"Doesn't look to be any glass in there which is a good sign. Just a case of cleaning it up and keeping it on rest" he confirmed as he continued to clean the burn. Nat came onto the quinjet with her head hung low and went to sit by Rumlow, way out of Steve and my way. "Right. Let's get it sorted now. I'm going to cool it down with a bit of water" he confirmed as he grabbed a water bottle from the cabinet "Don't think anyone will miss this" he chuckled as he poured the water over my burn. I hissed and winced at the pain, still biting my lip to stop myself making too much noise. It was then I realised the metallic taste in my mouth, I'd bitten down so hard I'd began to draw blood. Steve wrapped my leg in some bandages from the first aid kit so nothing else could touch it and sat next to me "You're bleeding" he said as he swiped his thumb across my lip, I looked into his eyes and saw nothing but worry. The piercing blue lit up under the lights of the quinjet and in that moment it felt like it was just Steve and I there. I quickly pulled myself out of my trance and smiled at him

"Be honest Doc, will it scar?" I joked as he sat next to me on the bench and pulled me into him

"I have no idea, we'll get an actual Doctor to treat it as soon as we get back" he said as he played with my hair. Before I knew it, I was falling asleep on Captain America.