Agent Romanoff (Fan Fiction)

Decidedly Lost

Author: Tricia Pattinson

Chapter Two

Part 2

The adobe brick house was rectangular with two large
windows on each side of a beautifully crafted executive
door. Bryce held the brownish gold stained door open for
Natasha to enter first and quickly followed her in, leaving
the door open behind them.

“The interior decorator is to be commended,” she said over
her shoulder to Bryce. “This is exquisite. When can I move
in,” Natasha joked.

“Anytime you wish Natasha. If you do, you’ll be my guinea
pig you know,” he jokingly replied.

They walked together in silence as close friends are
comfortable in doing. There were two bedroom suites on
the left side of the house. On the right was a comfortably
appointed living room. In the rear right half of the house
was a smallish dining area with a galley kitchen behind it.
At the very back of the kitchen was a rear door and next to
that a large closet size pantry, opposite a stainless steel
refrigerator. A cream ceramic sink matched the cream of
the ceramic floors. Natasha rather liked the unusual
combination of cream, turquoise and a rich brown gold
colors. The brown-gold matching the entrance was also the
same color in the carpet. The stove opposite the sink was
stainless steel. The splash back of both the sink and stove
were images from Van Gough’s works. “The Iris,” was inlaid
behind the sink and the, “The Café,” behind the stove. Both
back splashes were constructed with glistening glazed
ceramics. All of the cabinetry matched the pantry’s cocoa
hues.

“Ok Bryce, that’s it. You’re coming to New York to decorate
my apartment,” she said seriously.

Bryce laughed, “May I leave you some surprises when I’m
finished with it,” he said with humor.

“Absolutely,” she replied. “I always love an unexpected
surprise, especially at home,” she said congenially.

“Here’s one of my surprises dear Natasha. Come take a
look,” he said and took her elbow to guide her into the
kitchen. “I guess I got a little carried away with this
feature; but what do you expect from a former spy, now
farmer-rancher-business owner,” he asked as he opened the
large pantry door.

Natasha watched as the cans, boxes and even the shelves
morphed before her eyes into a ladder. “How did you do
that,” she asked him, having seen both his hands and only
one opened the door.

“How,” he repeated in a whisper. “These are wireless nanos
and they are attuned to my brain’s frequency only. I sent a
mental image that I wanted a ladder to the roof,” he
explained as he stepped onto the ladder and began to climb.
“Come on up Natasha. They won’t morph back until I send
the image,” he said from atop the ladder and then
disappeared onto the roof.

Natasha watched with amazement as the ceiling opened to
the outside. Natasha noticed the blue of the shimmering
dome with glowing red speckles, giving her more of a strong
sensation it was alive. Natasha not wanting to harm her
shoulder climbed favoring instead her right side. When she
reached the top Bryce’s hand was extended to help her
further.

“I’m sorry for the climb,” he told her.

Natasha stepped onto the roof and said, “This is no ordinary
rooftop.” In the rear left quadrant of the roof was a hot tub
and on one side of the rim were fluffy cream towels. On the
other side of the hot tub were several guns and knives.
“What’s the threat,” she asked with a tone of irony. “I am
surprised Bryce,” she said. Turning in a circle of 360
degrees Natasha looked out upon the compound. “This is
truly lovely Bryce. Now tell me how have you come by this
nano technology and how does it work,” she asked him with
a calm voice though exciting ideas for its use were once
again raising her hopes.

Bryce did not hesitate further to explain it to her. “Natasha,
one of the reasons I left SHIELD was I wanted to contribute
in a non-aggressive manner. It was a strange set of
circumstances that presented the opportunity to achieve
that dream of mine.” Bryce paused before taking and
releasing a deep breath before continuing. “I was asked by
Director Fury to investigate rumors of a Dr. Sinclair, who
was working out of Stanford University’s department of
chemistry. Director Fury said, “Get a copy of his notes and a
sample for our analysis. Find out what I could
anonymously,” he began his explanation. Looking at
Natasha’s expression he knew she was listening and
analyzing intently. Moving to stand next to her, he looked
out on the compound for a moment and turned to stand, as
she, looking across the roof. “I followed Dr. Sinclair for a
week, learning his schedule and hangouts, who is students
were and weren’t,” he paused before continuing his
explanation. “I discovered I wasn’t the only SHIELD
operative watching him. I began to watch them both
Natasha. When I asked Fury about the other SHIELD
operative, by the name of Agent Brodd, Director Fury
became concerned as well, explaining to me he had not
ordered Agent Brodd to follow Sinclair. He told me to stay
on mission and he would get to the bottom of Agent Brodd’s
presence.”

“Fury suspected even then that SHIELD had been preached.
I wonder if he suspected Hydra as far back as five years
ago,” she asked Bryce.

“Fury never mentioned Hydra to me. He and I both knew
there was something seriously wrong and that Dr Sinclair’s
work was extremely valuable,” he explained. “I did as
directed by Fury. I made copies of Dr. Sinclair’s notes,
itemized all of his lab equipment, copied all of his hard
drives. All of them, including any backups I could find. I
was able to spy on his experiments with a spy cam placed in
his office, laboratory and home. I saw the chemistry
involved and observed him use sound and light to program
the chemical compounds to change form. He was very
careful to protect these nanos from negative thoughts. I
read that in his notes. Just before he was killed by Agent
Brodd, he had placed dirt in with the nanos; with the
instruction he sent mentally to turn the dirt in into a ball of
dirt. I knew why after the fact, when reading his notes,”
Bryce said as he looked overhead at the dome.

“You saw Agent Brodd kill Dr. Sinclair,” Natasha asked
thoughtfully.

“Yes,” he answered emphatically. “I guess Fury didn’t take
care of the matter but I’m sure he thought he had.”

“Brodd tortured Dr. Sinclair to discover the secrets of the
experiment. I arrived too late to stop Brodd from killing Dr.
Sinclair,” Bryce said with a heavy sigh and rubbing his eyes
as if to block the image of the slain man.

“Did you share the discovery with Fury,” Natasha asked her
friend.

“No, I did not. It was obvious to me that something was
wrong with SHIELD. I told Fury that Brodd had killed Dr.
Sinclair and destroyed all of his work before I killed him in
self defense. Of course I had packed everything up and
stored it off campus; then made it appear as if there were
unstable chemicals resulting in an explosion. Dr. Sinclair
would not be the first chemist to die of an experimental
mishap. Agent Brodd’s body was left at another location for
SHIELD cleanup,” he paused after explaining.

Natasha understood now why her friend had resigned and
fell off SHIELD’S radar. She alone knew where he was
though the whys were never clear until now. “You left
SHIELD to continue Dr. Sinclair’s work out of Fury’s sight.
And any other party aware of Dr. Sinclair’s work. Hell Bryce,
you didn’t even tell me what was going on,” she said with a
look of understanding.

“This technology could move mountains, clean the air of the
carbon dioxide that’s slowly killing the planet,” he said
softly as if wanting her alone to hear him.

“Or, it could result in a dead planet,” Natasha whispered
back.

“I know and that is why I’ve kept it isolated to my brain
frequency solely,” he said with such a determined edge to
his voice that Natasha took notice.