D.C - A few hours after S.H.I.E.L.D fell

"So, you've experienced this sort of thing before." Nick Fury slowly approached his gravestone. Steve and Sam turned to him.

"You get used to it." Steve said, offering him a small grin.

"We've been data mining HYDRA's files, looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship." Fury smirked. "I'm headed to Europe tonight. I wanted to ask if you'd come."

Steve sighed and looked to the ground. "There's something I gotta do first."

"How bout you Wilson? We could use a man with your ability."

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy." He said dismissively.

"Alright then." Fury said, before shaking both of their hands. "If anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me right here." He motioned his head towards the grave.

Steve dug his hands in his pockets as he watched him leave.

"You should be honored, that's about as close as he gets to saying thank you." Natasha spoke behind them.

"Not going with him?" Steve questioned.

"No." She said firmly.

"Not staying here?"

She rolled her eyes and let out a laugh. "I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one."

"Might take a while." He advised.

"I'm counting on it."

They were left in a brief silence before Natasha spoke again. "That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." She handed him two files, each with a Russian title stamped on the cover.

"Will you do me a favor?"

He met her eyes.

"Call that nurse."

"She's not a nurse." Steve chuckled lightly.

"And you're not a SHIELD agent." She grinned.

He thought back to what she said. "What was her name again?"

"Sharon. She's nice." Natasha smiled warmly.

Before she turned to leave, he grabbed her hand. "What about her. You both knew each other."

She stopped abruptly and turned on her heel to face him. "It doesn't matter. She didn't know me, and I guess I don't know her."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Oh and Steve, be careful. You might not want to pull on that thread."

Once she had left, he set the files down on a bench and hesitantly opened them.  Two photos of Bucky and Y/n each showed them frozen in some sort of capsule. It was a sight that tore him apart. Attached to each of the photos was another, of the two of them before HYDRA. Both of them wore bright smiles that could light up any room, but that was then. The image of their now darkened, numbed expressions clouded his mind.

Sam peered over his shoulder. "You're going after them."

"You don't have to come." Steve said, not bothering to face him.

"I know. When do we start?"

Author's Note

I don't normally publish short chapters like this so I'm sorry if this was too short. The point was to show how Steve and Natasha reacted to the previous events. Also I want to add that we reached 4K reads!!! Thank you all so much❤️