CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
GHOST STORY

NOT ONLY HAD OLIVIA ALMOST been killed, but Nicky Fury was killed. When they heard the news, Natasha and Olivia were quick to speed to the hospital, running inside and stopping, staring through the observation window as they did surgery on their boss. Steve was standing there, the man having been in Steve's apartment when the attack happened.

     "Is he gonna make it?" Natasha whispered, trying her best not to show how much this was hurting her.

     "I don't know." Steve answered honestly.

     "Tell me about the shooter." Natasha demanded, curious if the same person that killed Fury had tried to kill Olivia.

     "He's fast." Steve stated. "Strong. Had a metal arm."

     That's when Maria took a stand beside of Olivia, Natasha being the one to ask, "Ballistics?"

     "Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable."

     "Soviet-made." Natasha finished. Maria nodded and Olivia found herself reaching for Natasha's hand. Natasha was quick to grab Olivia's, interlacing their fingers and squeezing her hand. All she could think was that that could be Olivia on that table, right beside of Nick. Had Natasha not come when she did, Olivia would probably be dead. They watched as Fury started going into V-tech, Natasha whispering and begging for the man not to leave her, not to do this to her. And then, the man was dead.

Everyone else had left, going to go see Nick's body before they took it away but Olivia continued to stand there, staring at the now empty room. All she could think about was the person that went after her, and how everything Steve had described about Nick's shooter was the same as hers except for two things. Olivia's shooter didn't have a metal arm, and Olivia's shooter wasn't a he. Olivia blinked when she felt a hand on top of hers. She looked in the reflection of the window and saw Natasha standing there.

     "Steve's lying about why Fury was in his apartment." Natasha informed. She looked at Olivia who didn't respond. She frowned slightly before reaching over and pushing a strand of hair behind Olivia's ear. "Olivia?"

     "That could've been me." Olivia whispered, her voice hoarse from the silent tears that had run down her cheeks. "Nat, if you hadn't come over, I would be dead."

     "Let's not think about that." Natasha tried. Olivia clenched her jaw and shook her head, closing her eyes tightly before sobs started to rack her body as she broke down. Nick Fury was dead, and she was probably next. Natasha immediately pulled the woman in for a hug and Olivia held onto her tightly, her face buried in her neck as Natasha ran a hand through Olivia's hair, a tear of her own slipping from her eye.

Natasha was determined that Steve was hiding something from them, and her suspicions were confirmed when she bought the flash drive he had hidden in the vending machine. Olivia and Natasha both chewed on their gum, patiently waiting for Steve to show up. When he did, Natasha and Olivia appeared behind of him with Natasha blowing a bubble and popping it, grabbing his attention.

Steve clenched his jaw before grabbing onto Natasha and pushing her into an empty room with Olivia following closely behind, looking back and forth down the hospital hallways before closing the door. She watched as Steve shoved Natasha against the wall before taking off his hood that he'd been wearing to keep himself hidden after everything that had went down at S.H.I.E.L.D.

     "Where is it?" Steve snapped.

     "Safe." Natasha replied, glancing at Olivia and watching as the girl sat down, watching the interaction with raised eyebrows.

     "Do better."

     "Where did you get it?"

      "Why would I tell you?"

     Natasha narrowed  her eyes at the man, quickly reading his face before answering her own question. "Fury gave it to you. Why?"

     "What's on it?" Steve shot back.

     "I don't know."

     Steve clenched his jaw, shoving her against the wall. "Stop lying."

     "I only act like I know everything Rogers."

     Steve was upset, that was clear. And Olivia could see the clear mistrust in his eyes as he looked at Natasha. "I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

     Natasha hesitated before swallowing thickly. "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you."

     "I'm not gonna ask you again."

     Natasha searched the man's eyes for a moment. "I know who killed Fury." This immediately caught Steve off guard, waiting for her to continue. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. And his rumored partner is the one who I think tried to kill Olivia." This immediately caused Steve to look at Olivia, opening his mouth almost to ask why she hadn't told him.

     "Steve, I'm fine. I healed. Part wolf remember." Olivia calmly told him before nodding back towards Natasha. "I trust her, so just listens to what she has to say. She saved my life, she knows what she's talking about." Olivia's eyes met Natasha's, and Olivia gave her a small smile before watching as Steve looked back at Natasha, wanting more information.

     "He's credited with over two dozen assassinations within the past fifty years."

     "So he's a ghost story." Steve scoffed, nodding his head.

     "Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." She pulled up her shirt, showing the nasty scar that laid on her side. "Soviet slug. No rifling. Bye bye, bikinis."

     "Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now." Steve joked, though the tone of his voice never changed.

     "Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried." She held up the drive. "Like you said, he's a ghost story."

     "And what about this rumored partner that shot Olivia?" Steve asked.

     "Another ghost story. I've only heard rumor's of her. There isn't much on her, and I've never met her personally."

     "So they're both a ghost story." Olivia sighed and Natasha gave a sad nod of the head.

     Steve looked between the two females before taking the drive from Natasha's hand. "Well, let's find out what these ghosts want."