Falling in the Black

The next morning Raylee groaned as she opened her eyes and saw both Steve and Natasha still sitting there. Natasha smiled softly at Raylee as she stood up and went to get the doctor. Steve leaned forward and squeezed Raylee’s hand. Raylee didn’t bother trying to talk she knew exactly what was wrong and trying would only cause more unwanted pain. The doctor came in moments later and checked all her vitals then explain that in a few days once all the swelling went down she would be able to talk just a very little if necessary.

Natasha thanked the doctor for all his help then her and Steve got Raylee up and they were on the move again. This time Steve was just helping get Raylee to the next safe house then he was returning back to DC. They didn’t want anyone knowing she was alive just yet, Fury wanted Raylee to recover before anyone knew. He wanted the whole story of what happened to her before anyone else at SHIELD had time to question her.

Within a few days rumors began to spread through SHIELD that Raylee had gone rogue. The bodies of the other two agents and the scientist were recovered and because she wasn’t there the rumors began. Fury knew he had to clear her name so he went straight to Alexander Pierce in hopes he would help and understand.

“What can I do for you Nick?” Pierce asked looking up from his paper work.

“It’s about Raylee.” Fury said coming to a stop in front of the desk.

“Nick I know you find it hard to believe that your niece would go rogue on SHIELD but what are we to think.”

“Pierce we both know Raylee would never go rogue and turn on the only family she knows.” Fury said shaking his head as he tried to control his anger. “I know for a fact she didn’t go rogue.”

“How is that?”

“Because Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff recovered her from Germany and she has been with Agent Romanoff this whole time.” Fury said leaning forward on the desk. “She was in bad shape and needed medical attention.”

“Why didn’t they notify anyone here?” Pierce asked as he sat back in his chair. “How did she get medical attention and we not know?”

“I kept my niece off the grid because I didn’t know who killed the others and I didn’t know if whoever it was would come back to finish her off.”

“Nick, I know how hard this is for you.” Pierce said in a calm voice. “I was there when you promised Sandra you would keep Raylee safe but she is a level six agent and danger comes with the job.”

“I know very well how dangerous this job is and so does Raylee. I would protect all of my agents the same way.” Fury said standing straight again as he felt insulted by Pierce sinuating that he was giving Raylee special treatment. “She sustained a broken jaw and concussion in the attack, Agent Matthews had surgery to repair her jaw and is recovering.”

“I will send the STRIKE team to Germany to escort both agents safely back to the states.” Pierce said as Fury nodded at him and walked away.

Pierce sat there breathing deeply to calm his nerves, he was damn happy to hear Raylee wasn’t gone. When he got the mission report from the Asset he was pleased to hear she wasn’t dead. Even though the asset was a good soldier he was still a loose cannon and could have easily killed her if he wanted or felt like she was a threat to him. His need for Raylee was far from over and losing his only hold over Fury would have been bad. Now he needed to know what she saw and thought about the attack. No one needed to have knowledge of the Asset and if she knew he needed to clean this up.

Once Fury was gone Rumlow walked into the office. “Agent Matthews is alive and in Germany.” Pierce said looking over at him.

“The Asset has been prepped and done already, I don’t think we could reverse it so soon.” Rumlow said as he glanced around making sure they were alone.

“I don’t want her dead.” Pierce said shaking his head. “I need her alive until she is no longer of any use to us.”

“What did you need me to do?”

“Take the STRIKE team and bring her safely back, we need to see what kind of information she knows.”

“If she knows?” Rumlow asked raising his eyebrow.

“Make her think it was all in her head.” Pierce said sternly and Rumlow nodded then walked away.

Fury contacted Natasha the minute he was able to get a secure line to her. He didn’t want the safe house burned so he wanted her and Raylee to leave it before the STRIKE team departed DC. Once Natasha hung up with Fury she looked over at Raylee who had been sleeping. Healing was coming along but it wasn’t quick enough to get her to talk before having to leave. She had been hoping to have at least a week until they had to leave, shaking her head she walked over and tapped Raylee’s shoulder.

“Ray, we have to go.” Natasha said as Raylee opened her eyes and looked up at her. “Fury called, SHIELD knows you’re alive and they are sending the STRIKE team to get us.” Raylee nodded as she sat up to get ready.

The two of them were out of the safe house and on their way to the SHIELD base within the matter of minutes. Raylee hated the fact that moving her jaw still hurt and she was like a mute. Communicating her needs with just anyone would have been hell but with Natasha it was easy because they knew each other well. When they reached the base completely undetected the guards standing there were a bit wary of Raylee because of the rumors. Natasha had informed her about the rumors and Raylee shook her head, she felt like if anyone should be nervous it should have been her. After all it was one of their improperly equipped vehicles that she was traveling in when her team was attacked and killed.

When the STRIKE team arrived they came into the compound where Natasha and Raylee were waiting on them. “Agent Romanoff.” Rumlow said nodding his head at her as he walked to stand in front Raylee. “Agent Matthews, how are you doing?”

Raylee shrugged her shoulders at him and Natasha decided to be verbal for her. “She can’t talk yet, the swelling has to go completely down first, it may be a few more days.” She said as she stood up and Raylee had done the same. “Agent Matthews had a metal plate inserted to fuse the bones together again.”

“Wow… that must have been some hit you took.” Rollins said shaking his head at her and Raylee just shrugged her shoulders. “Definitely STRIKE material if it were my choice.”

“Other than the jaw is her physical condition still where it should be?” Rumlow asked glancing at Natasha then back a Raylee.

“Of course.” Natasha said as she began walking towards the exit. “Gentlemen we should get out of here now.” Rumlow nodded as he gestured for Raylee to walk ahead of him, she nodded and walked away.

On the way back to DC Natasha and Raylee both stood quiet while watching as the guys had quiet conversations among themselves. Raylee watched everyone around her with calculated eyes, after the attack she was wary of everyone around her. That attack felt like it had been setup because who would have known the roads they were taking if they were all unmarked. Someone inside of SHIELD had given their location and she wanted to know who tried to have her killed and why.

Natasha hated that she didn’t get enough time with Raylee to find out what happened and how did the SUV get damaged so easily. Steve told her that as he picked Raylee up he glanced around the surroundings to survey the damage. He noticed the two dead agents inside the vehicle and the scientist that was dead outside the vehicle. There was one slug to the head of the scientist and one slug put in both of the other agents. The passenger would have died from his injuries but whoever attacked them made sure he was dead. It made no sense to her why everyone had been shot dead but Raylee was left breathing.

When they finally arrived back at headquarters Raylee was quickly taken away to see a doctor and Fury followed her. He kept a straight face not showing his concern but inside he was beyond relieved to see his niece alive. Fury and Natasha stood off to the side of them and watched the doctor examine her. Other than the fact that she still couldn’t talk her health was completely fine, once Rumlow was updated he went to let Pierce know.

When the doctor walked out Fury walked over to Raylee. “Do you know who attacked you?” he asked and she shook her head no as she glanced over at Natasha. Fury glanced back Natasha himself when he noticed her eyes had left his. “Do you know?” he asked her.

“No.” Natasha said sounding confused. “Ray… what’s going on?” she asked as Fury turned back.

Raylee shook her head feeling frustrated that she couldn’t talk and tell them that she thinks the ghost… the Winter Soldier was the one that attacked her. She tried to mumble the words but it came out sounding like gibberish and they both looked at her confused. Closing her eyes for a moment to get her bearings back together she took two deep breaths knowing she was about to cause herself some pain.

“Winter Soldier.” She said quickly and grimaced in pain as they both looked at her with wide eyes.

Natasha was stunned quiet and Fury was shaking his head. “That’s impossible.” Fury said shaking his head as he glanced at Natasha then back at Raylee. “That concussion must have been worse than we thought.” Fury said walking away, he didn’t and couldn’t believe that his niece would survive an attack by a ghost no one has ever seen other than her own partner.

Natasha on the other hand believed Raylee the minute those two words came out her mouth. She watched Fury leave the room then looked back at Raylee. “Why did he leave you alive?” she asked and Raylee shrugged her shoulders. “What did he look like?” Raylee shook her head and pointed at her eyes. “You only saw his eyes?” she asked and Raylee nodded. “I have to go back to Germany and see if I can find him, you keep your eyes open and stay safe.” Natasha said and Raylee nodded.

When the doctor released Raylee she was escorted back to the apartment they had set up for the scientist but this time around she was the assignment. Raylee was under twenty four hour watch and Rollins and Rumlow were her new roommates until told otherwise. She hated that she was assigned to them but with Natasha going to Germany and Steve still running leads on O’Dell she wasn’t given any other choice.

As the days went by Raylee was slowly beginning to be able to communicate. The guys had seemed happy she was getting better and once the doctor said she was just about healed they took her back to their area in the Triskelion. Raylee wasn’t exactly sure why she was told to follow them but she did so she could find out what they wanted. Rumlow sat a desk and she sat across from him as he questioned her on the attack. He seemed intrigued by the great memory she had of the whole thing and didn’t say anything until she described the lone attacker.

“Agent Matthews you want me to believe that you were attacked by the Winter Soldier?” he asked shaking his head at her and Rollins laughed.

“You want us to believe that one man… a ghost crashed the vehicle, took out two agents and the man you were protecting but left you alive?” Rollins asked and she glared at him.

“I know what I saw.” Raylee snapped at him. “He had a metal arm and deflected my close range shot on him.”

“I suggest you keep that to yourself.” Rumlow said shaking his head and Raylee looked back at him.
“Rumors will spread around here saying you’re out of your mind.”

“Like you two are thinking right now?” Raylee asked and Rollins chuckled while Rumlow glared at him. “I know how most of the intelligence community doesn’t believe this man exist but he does.”

“Raylee, I want you on my team.” Rumlow said leaning forward on the desk. “But if you keep talking about this Pierce and Director Fury is going to think you are unstable and it won’t happen.”

“I understand.” Raylee said nodding her head.

“Do you think you are ready for some tactical field work?” he asked sitting back again and she nodded. “Good be back her in three hours, we have a mission and want to see your field work.”

“Yes sir.” Raylee said getting up and left the room.

Rumlow watched as she left and waited until he knew she was far enough not to be able to hear him before turning towards Rollins. “Make sure you keep her thinking she is crazy for thinking the asset attacked her.” He said sternly. “I don’t want anyone even trying to believe that girl’s story.”

“Why are we bringing her on STRIKE if we aren’t going to trust her?”

“I want her to trust us… there is something Pierce knows about her and if he has use for her then we should use this to our advantage.” Rumlow said with a smirk. “We make SHIELD agents think she’s crazy then turn her against them. With that we could have our own asset within the Avengers. I don’t want anyone other than us two to know about my agenda.”

“Do you think we can pull this off without Captain Rogers and the Black Widow interfering?” Rollins asked as he sat in the chair she vacated.

“Yeah, one partner already lost her trust and it will be a matter of time before we get the other to do the same.”

“And Cap?”

“I’ll get him to get her to trust us before I turn her against him also.”

Raylee walked out the building but didn’t leave the area, she walked over to the side of the building and just leaned back. Her thoughts were all over the place and she couldn’t think straight. Raylee knew what she saw and they made her second guess her own sanity. When she closed her eyes the first thing she saw was those cold, lifeless blue eyes staring back at her. Feeling a chill run through her body Raylee shivered but she was scared more when a hand came down on her shoulder. She quickly pulled her gun and aimed it as her eyes opened. She felt even worse when she saw Steve back away and pulled his shield to cover his body.

“Ray?” he said in a questioning voice.

“I’m so sorry.” Raylee said letting her hand drop to her side.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he placed his shield back away, Raylee just shrugged her shoulders and looked confused. “I’m going to go change, meet me by my motorcycle.”

Steve didn’t give her a chance to respond or refuse he just walked away from her. Raylee sucked in a few deep breaths to slow her heartrate back down, she knew those blue eyes were going to haunt her for the rest of her life. Raylee walked to the garage and waited next to Steve’s motorcycle like he told her to do. When he came walking up to her Steve had a small smile on his face as he placed the shield on the front of the motorcycle.

“Let’s take a ride.” He said getting on and patted the seat behind him.

Raylee nodded as she climbed on and wrapped her arms around him. Steve started the motorcycle and seconds later they were riding away. The rumble of the motorcycle and wind whipping through her hair felt surprisingly relaxing. Raylee laid her head down on his back and closed her eyes, her nerves were relaxing and her heartrate was back to a normal beat. After what felt like an hour of just riding Steve pulled over and parked. Raylee lifted her head as he glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled.

“Better?” he asked and she nodded at him as she slid off and he did the same. “It always helps clear the head.”

“Thank you.” Raylee said softly as she glanced around the park he stopped at. “I’m sorry about what happened back there.”

“No need to apologize.” Steve said shaking his head. “You got a lot on your mind and I should have said something before touching you.”

“Can I ask you something?” she asked and he nodded as he led her over to a bench. “Have you ever felt like you were alone?”

Steve sat there a moment thinking about what she asked and the only memory he had of feeling that way ended with his best friend telling him he wasn’t. Steve looked up at Raylee as he placed his hand on hers. “Yeah but I had a friend let me know I wasn’t.” he said with a small smile.

“I know I could get by on my own…” she began to say.

Steve felt like he was experiencing an out of body moment, he had said those same words to Bucky. Feeling the need to complete the experience he stopped her before she could continue. “The thing is… you don’t have to.” Steve said softly as she looked over at him. “I’m with you to the end of the line.”

“You seem to always know what to say.” Raylee said with a smile.

“Actually I borrowed that one from my friend.” Steve said smiling at her. “When I buried my mother I felt like I had no one and my friend Bucky said those exact words to me. He meant it when he said it to me and I meant it when I said it to you.”

“Sounds like a good friend.” Raylee said with a smile.

“He was, are you ready to go back?”

“Can I ask you one more thing?” she asked and he nodded again. “The STRIKE team… can I trust them?”

“From what I have seen, yes.” Steve said nodding at her. “Rumlow told me about the offer he gave you. Is this what you want?”

“I wasn’t sure.” Raylee said shrugging her shoulders. “But I think I should give it a shot.”

“Just remember what I said about staying true to yourself.” Steve said smiling at her.

Raylee nodded her head and sucked in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. “I’m ready to go back now.” She said standing up and he did the same.

“You ever need to clear your head call me and we’ll take another ride.”

“Sounds good.” Raylee said smiling at him as they walked back to the motorcycle. “I would love to hear some more stories about Bucky.”

“On our next lunch I’ll tell you everything I know about James Buchannan Barnes.” He said climbing on the motorcycle.

Raylee stopped for a moment in surprise when he said Bucky’s name to her. It was like fate stepped in, his best friend’s surname was the same one she had used a few times. Steve looked over at her and raised his eyebrow but she just shook her head and climbed on behind him. She didn’t want to explain things to him and preferred keeping that little bit of information to herself for the time being.