It was troubling exactly how easy it seemed for Hydra to avoid the Avengers and what was left of SHIELD. While a few cells here and there were found and raided, they were collectively worth near nothing. The information they contained, nearly all destroyed, the people they provided â useless. Romanoffâs patience was still there, it wasnât as if she was stomping around the halls of the Avengers Facility, sulking and throwing a tantrum, but it wasnât as if she was taking this lightly.Â
There had to be a leak, otherwise there was no way to explain Hydraâs continuous advantage. She hadnât actually left her dorm in hours, instead she sat in a chair, scanning her laptopâs display. She hadnât uttered a word of what she suspected, it wasnât in her nature to be so open about it.Â
Maybe before she wouldnât had suspected anything, but since the fall of the Triskelion and the revelation at just how insidious Hydra could be, her trust in people was shot. In a select few it was strengthened, Fury, Hill, and Rogers for example â but others, ordinary people, she didnât know what to think of them anymore.
Her search had thus far turned up little, a few oddities sheâs investigate. A defeated sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back in the chair, frowning at her computer. She wasnât quite sure what she had been expecting, it wasnât as if Hydra was going to make it easy, especially if there was some sort of mole.
Not giving up entirely, Natasha did opt to take a break. Shutting the laptop and making her way to the kitchen instead. Food might help, not that she ate much but a snack would tide her over. As she came around the corner though, she faltered only for a second to see Steve there.Â
She smiled faintly, eyes narrowing in the slightest at his presence, a joking tone in her voice as she spoke.
âI thought you had a mission,â she began, approaching the coffee maker as she could smell the freshly brewed pot. âWhen youâd get back?â
Steve had been brooding over his assignment since he'd returned, hovering against the counter as he considered just what he was having to do. It had been an unexpected assignment when it had come, but no surprise to him in the end. They were going to question his loyalty eventually, and what better way to do it than this?
He only hoped this would be the extent of it. Steve had hurt enough people already doing what had to be done, and he knew there could be another way here. He prayed there could be another way here, because it could be the best for all of them. He just hoped his superiors could get their heads out of their asses about undoing him long enough to see it as clearly as he could.
In the meantime, his assignment was clear. And moving around, if he was hearing correctly. Steve looked up as Natasha made her way into the kitchen and found himself scowling lightly. He would never have been ready for this moment, but now that it was upon him he really wasn't ready for it.
Steve hummed dismissively over her question and gave a small wave with the fingers wrapped around the cup of coffee he'd prepared for himself. "I did have a mission," he confirmed. "Went in for the assignment and found out it had been changed. Haven't been back for very long." He took his time looking her over then, knowing this was the last time this would feel like this. Or look like this, even if it already felt wrong.
"Hey, Nat? We're friends, right? I mean... We trust each other. Through thick and thin. Right?"