Double Agent (FM MCU Fanship)

[psiberzerker]

Author

This is a work of fiction.  The Berne Convention sets no precedent when it comes to fan-fiction.  The author claims no ownership over the rights to the characters Natasha "Black Widow" Romanov, Sam "Falcon" Wilson, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Which inspired these events, happening in the background) the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nor any other properties of Disney.

Consider this a tribute to great characters, situations, dialog, and cinema.  Also, watch more Disney/Pixar movies, to pay them back.  I know they don't need your money, but I'd argue that they're earning it.  (In comparison to Twentieth Century Fox, Sony, and Warner Brothers in the competition of modern Superhero Franchises.)

Used without permission, all rights reserved.  Also, Spoiler Warnings for CA: TWS, and vice-versa.  

;

Sam (MF NS)

"Hey Fellas," she pulled up in a Black Vette.  "Either one of you know how to get to the Smithsonian?  I'm here to pick up a Fossil."

"That's hilarious."  Captain fucking America walked off in S.H.I.E.L.D. logo Under-Armor spandex.  

I got as close as I dared, and crouched down to behold Black fucking Widow.  Right there in front of me, and while it's easy to see her passenger as a hero, I have to say she's even more stunning in person.  That, and I feel a lot safer with Him between her, and I.

"How you doing?"

"Hey!"  What a smile.  Full pink lips, I don't know if it's the light, or some kind of gloss, but I'd consider it worth the risk to find out if she kills her mates.  As her call-sign would suggest.

"Can't run everywhere," he shrugged out the open window.

"No you can't," but then, I can't run that fast.  They drove off, but let me tell you something, from personal experience:  You never know if they're out of your league unless you try out.  Watching them speed through traffic, I can't help hoping.  "I'll see you 2 later."

Forget about the girl at the front desk of the VA.  "Shit," look at the time.  Better at least run back to the car, so I've got time for a shower in the gym before my meeting.

;

Nat (F Solo, Cyber Stalk.)

As soon as we pulled up at HQ, I got on my phone.  Burned the message, and switched to the LAN.  Got a handshake, "Who's that?"

"Oh, Sam?  Some vet I met on my morning run."  He waved it off.

"You get a last name?"  I was already searching through unit insignia, while the one on his breast was still fresh in my head.  

"Wilson."  He shrugged.  "I'm sure he's fine."

"I make sure.  Has anyone ever told you you're a little too trusting?  I tend to get a little skittish when someone high profile, and sensitive just happens to run into someone, and you might want to think about changing up your route."

"Thanks for your concern, but I can take care of myself."  Not without his S.H.I.E.L.D. but I worry, because he doesn't.

I got a pretty good look at his unit insignia, on the brest of his sweatshirt, so brought up a list of thumbnails to scroll through.  Then their dossiers...  "Oh," Here he is.  "See you in the briefing."  

I'm not going to follow him into the locker room, and he's got reason enough to be confident, but in my experience over-confidence can get you killed as easy as being a creature of habit.  Running the same lap, as thousands of others in the DC metro area, several times a day is the kind of bad habit that makes it easy to set up a Sniper.  

I have the bullet holes to prove it.  "Hm," Para-rescue, impressive number of combat drops, flight hours, commendations, medals.  Doesn't mean he can't be a sleeper, or a double agent.  Want to see my Order of the Red Banner?  Okay, well I got that for Being a sleeper, and a double agent in West Germany.  The Cold War made for some strange bedfellows, and I had more than my fair share, but there's something classified in here.

Just scanning over the Redacted portions doesn't fill in the blanks, but from context, I can deduce it's some sort of tech.  If I had to guess, I'd assume an experimental parachute harness, or similar descent device.  

They're certainly cagey about the specifics of how he got from X drop-aircraft to Y landing site.  Not to mention how precisely he extracted Z target.  It's all very hush hush, but I have a lot of experience with missions that are this classified.  Rounded down to the nearest Hemisphere, but if you know how to cross-reference, and trace back to the In Flight Refueling it takes to get from Fayetteville NC to somewhere in Eastern Europe, West Asia, or North Africa.  Just from the approximate flight times, and estimated range.

From the dates, could be Georgia, or Somalia, possibly Yemen?  Bengazi, Bulgaria, or Volodino?  So many things happening around those times, but also plenty of chances for him to run into something he couldn't handle, mentally.  Anyone can be broken, and put back together on the other side, without even knowing about it.  

Around that general region, I couldn't name 6, no 7 operatives I've known personally capable of reprogramming even someone as trusted as Steve Rodgers, and making him a loyal post-hypnotic triggerable sleeper agent.  It's only a matter of time.

On the other hand, if he isn't, he shows a lot of potential.  Not many men alive who recognize me, know who I am, and have some idea of how much red I have in my ledger, yet still willing to hit on me.

"How you doing?  What say we find out, Sam Wilson."

I've got my eye on you.

"Nat?  Time for the briefing."

[psiberzerker]

Background Music

"Jarvis?  Phone."

"A miss Natalie Rushman, sir."  She'll keep calling me, and calling me.  Then, when I pick up the phone, she'll be at the door, knocking.

"Location?"

"Unknown."  Which means she's got her stealth suit on.  

"Tell her I'm retired.  And I don't do birthday parties, and not to bother sending Phil Col;  Uh, FUCK!"  Throw the soldering iron down.  "What?"

"Busy?"

"Well, I was just skipping school, borrowing my best friend's dad's 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California.  Tell your boss he's all out of favors, and I'm not Pogo the Clown."

"Should I sent over a team to pull the bodies out of your crawlspace?"  Of course she'd get that reference.  He's a killer, and it takes one to know one.  "Look, Tony.  You know, and I know you cover up your insecurities with snark, so everything okay with you, and Pepper?    After last Christmas."

I just put my head back, on the bumper.  Take a deep breath.  "Huh!  Yeah."

"Retirement doesn't Suit you.  So, what're you working on?"

"The Mark 1.1."  That's the problem with letting her get in your head, she never leaves.

"Well, this one's right up your alley.  How do you feel about Industrial Espionage?"

"Not a big fan."

"Well, I've been tracking down an elusive piece of tech, Jarvis has all the particulars I can find, but it appears to be some sort of jet powered glider.  Your friend over at Oscorp was working on."

"Normie?  That hack."

"Enhanced hack."

"Oh?  Do tell!"

"Since you're such a big fan of giving away information, for free.  You know what the worst thing about early retirement is?"  

She should talk, according to S.H.I.E.L.D's files, she 68.  Years old.  "Boredom?"  Off the top of my head.

"Finding a worthy adversary."

Click.

"Jarvis, change the record."

"Which album, sir?"

"Yello, Stella."  Already have that song stuck in my head.  "Start with Domingo."

"Yes, sir."

;

Author

Yello (Stella)

[psiberzerker]

"I just don't know whether it's a dream, or a nightmare, any more."  I walked him down the hall.

"Well," patting him on the back, "I wish I could tell you."  Stop.  There She is, leaning over the front desk, in a prison stripe hoodie.  "You ever get used to that feeling."

"Snrch!"  He tucked his USMC brown hankie back in his pocket, and wandered off to the men's room.  

"There he is."  

The hoody turned, and there's that smile again.  "Hey.  How you doin'?"  Not like I haven't dreamed of the 2 of them together, last night.  Allegedly, but it wasn't like this.  For one thing, it wasn't fear I had to push down, and hide from my face.  Smile.  "There some place we can talk?"

Alone, with her?  Okay, "I'm sorry."  Glance up, when she drops the hood, and folds up her sunglasses.  "What did you do with your hair?"  At some point, working with veterans, some of whom don't want to talk about it, and others that Can't talk about it.  You get to recognize body language.  She's got this inhuman grace that's immediately recognizable, because it's utterly unique.  Put her in a garbage bag, and I'd still pick her out of a lineup just from the way she stands.  It's a gift, and I'm starting to suspect, also a curse.  

"Relax, I came to talk shop."

"Well," I unlocked the gym, "We can talk in here."  Easier for them to clean up the blood.

She shook the curls out, and with it her auburn highlights spread to cover the now straight strands brushing, and covering her collar.  "How's that?"

Her eyes were green again, too.  "Liquid crystal?"  I guessed.

"I have a little problem at work.  You see, I have this friend, and since you deal with Veterans."

"Yeah, he seemed a little out of time.  Yesterday morning."  Didn't see him this morning.

"Ha, it's hard to find someone who knows the better part of Discretion."

"What's this about?"

"Grief."

"He lost someone."

"Worse, he found her again, and now he's losing her.  Slowly, there's not much left of her mentally, but emotionally she's compromising him, so he's falling back into old ways."  She turned, on her heel, toes, hip, and set it weightlessly on the bleacher.  Didn't offer me a seat.  "I have to ask you to keep this confidential, but we went out last night.  I keep trying to get him to let go, move on."

"Oh, you two."

"No, ha!  Oh, no.  Sorry, that's never going to happen."

"Because of your past, more than his."  

She smiled, can't really tell with her smiles.  They're all beautiful, but she's a beautiful weapon.  There's worse things to be the last thing you see, but I'm almost a little more comfortable being shot at.  With surface-to-air missiles.  At least you can see those coming.

"Rassvet!"  She looked me in the eye.  Cursing in Russian, but why Dawn?  Her lip popped out, and she smiled.  "I'm his handler."  She shook her head.  "Bad idea, all around.  It's not his past, or mine, it's a strictly professional relationship, but he has to move on.  Let me just boil this down for you, frankly.  He's confident, but approaching the line between that, and Arrogance.  We have enough of that in the squad already, he's been butting heads with the tech,"  That would be Stark, I'm assuming.  So, I nod, "And last night he took a stupid risk.  I'm not naming any names, or going into details, but when the time came to take out the target, he stopped to fight fair.  He's not learning that this isn't the kind of war he's used to.  Where you can charge in, with the star-spangled banner, a theme song, and fight fair.  The target was just a mercenary.  Olympic level athlete, and a kick boxer he could have taken out easily, but because he challenged him, he dropped his guard, fought fair, and almost got us both killed."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what I can do."  I realize she's telling far more than I Need to Know, and this is an incredible level of trust, even in this evasive double-speak.

"He needs a friend, he can trust.  If not a girlfriend, a real friend that understands what he's going through, and."  She held up a finger.  "The difference between a fair fight, and a covert operation."  I nodded.  "The world is changing."  So's her hair, flipping up her hood.  On the way to the door, and I think I picked up on what it is about the way she stands.  "It's about time America changes with it."  She slipped on her glasses, and disappeared out the side exit.  I didn't bother following, but shook my head.

You know how a badass stands, and walks?  Take Steve "Captain America" Rodgers, just like that.  Only instead of in the shoulders, it's all in the hips.  You find yourself looking down to check if she's wearing high heels.  Again, and again, because she moves like that, even standing still.  Flat footed, in high tops, and a pair of jeans.  A hooded sweatshirt.  You ever been pecked by a Drill Instructor's hat bill?  They can't hit you, legally, but they can nod their head with authority, and even if he's 5'9 he somehow leans in, and towers over you.  I'm not even going to guess her height.  She makes me feel like an FNG in Basic all over again.

I think I'm getting used to the feeling that I don't know whether to call this a nightmare, or a fantasy.  Not only that, I'm starting to like it, but I have to open up the doors, and start setting up chairs for the meeting.

;

[psiberzerker]

I ran into Steve in the parking lot.  "What are you doing here?"

Smile, "You following me, Dzedoolya?  Came to talk to a new friend.  You know, I was joking about the Smithsonian yesterday."

"I told you he was fine."

"And I told you, I make sure.  Watch your six."  He jumped, and rubbed his buttock.  Dial "Nancy."

"Thirteen."  

"How's your neighbor?"

"Haven't seen him, sounded restless last night."

"Rough night.  How are you holding up?"

"Huh!  Can you hear it in my voice?"

"It's more reading the terrain."  Back at my car, I feel better trading in that Vette for the Lotus.

"Well, if you must know, I'm still not comfortable with this assignment.  She kept so many secrets, and I don't like lying to him."

"Well, it's not like I can watch him 24/7."

"Huh!  It's the poster."

"Which one?"

"You know the one, with him punching out Hitler?  I'm having trouble reconciling the image I have in my head, and the stories I grew up with with the reality of him right there, and finding out he's.  So."

"Different?"

"Relatable?  Normal, he's not supposed to be normal, is he?  He's Captain freaking America for Christ sake, and I'm not supposed to be freaked out by someone being so.  Normal, am I?"

"You get used to."

Ringtone

"Uh!"    "Got to go."

He stood up, wiped some alley grit off his hand, and his knee, then buttoned his jacket.

"Nice suit."

He looked up, "You wearing a wire?"  Took off his sun glasses.  "I've been working on this covert action."  Twirling his hand nonchalantly.  "Thing."  Like someone right out of Sunnydale High.  

"Well, the first step is not making an entrance."

He looked up.  Shrugged.  "Jarvis, make a note," and then an excuse.  He listened to the voice in his head, and nodded.  Shook his head, "Well, I thought about tapping you on your shoulder, but I've seen how you react when you're Spooked."

"So," cut to the chase, "What brings you to Chevy Chase?"

"Thought I'd stop by the Caddy Shack, play a few holes, catch a Cinderella Story."  He Bob Hopes, pulls out a thumbdrive.  "I got that info you wanted."  Tried to pull it back before I caught it, but I didn't hear any servo-whine from his elbow.  Very nice suit.  "Quid pro quo, Clarice.  I need you to look at someone, see what you can find out for me."

I made it disappear up my sleeve.  Nodded.

"Adrian Tombs, worked with the clean-up crew after midtown got buried under a couple of sky whales.  Broke into Oz-Corp before me."  I noticed the bull's eye OC logo on the drive.  "The technology is crude, especially the engines.  As usual, they lost their contract to a better design.  Can you give me a ride to Dulles?"

"Sure, hop in.  And stop hacking into my phone."

"I just override the Audio."

"Yeah, it's a phone?"  It's supposed to be secure, but I have to smile a little at the wearing a wire quip.  "Why would the great and terrible Tony Stark need a ride to the airport?"

"I'm trying to lower my profile."

"Don't want Nick to find out you're helping?"  Hell, I'd be insulted too.  A birthday party?

"I need a few tips, and Bart dropped off the grid.  Nice necklace."

"Thanks."  

"Besides, I need to stop by the Hazy Center.  You need to take a look at something there."

"Cliche'."

"You need to take a look at something?"  Yeah?  "They're still working with counter-rotors, like I said.  Crude technology, but I have to admit quieter, and lower signature than Repulsors."

"It's a covert system."  Plugging in the drive, I glanced back and forth from the dash screen, and the road.

"Here."  He shot his cuff, and put it up on the windshield.  So I could split my focus without going Marty Feldman.  "Here's what Normy was working on."  He wiggled his fingers, like the Sorcerer's Apprentice, and it switched to some sort of Powered Armor.   Standing on top of a modified rocket glider, with counter-rotors in the wings.  "I think it's his new Halloween costume."

"Like a Quinjet."  I nodded.

"Like you said, Industrial Espionage.  So, you're right to tag him on Project Hercules."

"How did you hear about Project Hercules?"

"It popped up on this morning's routine hack of the Triskelion mainframe."

"Also, try not to brag so much."  I'm sure Steve can learn spycraft, but Tony?  No, not in a million years.  He's got too much style.

;

[psiberzerker]

"So, why the sudden intrest in this Adrian Tooms?"

"You like the wig?"  Pull the case out of it's chest cavity.  "I got you something to match."

"Pepper."

"What?"  Pop it open, "It's for work."

"You got me, nothing?"

"Well," Mime slipping it on.  "I know you don't like wearing a mask."  Focus on her face, and scan.  Reflect it, and smile, popping out her lip.  She can't help grinning back, and shakes her head.  

"First of all, you're deflecting, and second of all, your constant innocent flirting is another strain on your relationships.  So, Tooms?"  Drop it back in the case, and slip it in the console.

"I made a promise.  More of a resolution to be more proactive this year.  Also, learning my lessons from last year concerning disgruntled employees."

"Not to mention the Expo."

...

"Mockingbird."

"Hey, girl!"

"Bobbi!  You got any irons in the fire?"

"Dance card's free, up for a girl's night out?"

"I was thinking about setting you up with this guy.  Adrian Tooms.  You heard of him?"

"Should I have?"

"Look him up."

"Oh!"  She looks down, "Dear God!"

The alert flashed on my HUD.  [Director under attack.]

"Take the wheel."

"Jarvis, engage flight mode."

"This car is not so equipped, sir."

"New car."

She held a button in the arm-rest.  "Ejection seat."  Look up, through the minimap pinpointing the exact location.  The sunroof retracting.

"Got to fly."

"Engaging thrusters, sir."  As soon as the Life Model Decoy(R) cleared the roof, and the shoes kicked off, the Repulsors(Tm) blew out the soles of it's socks, and I brought the minimap back up to direct overlay.

"Missile lock, sir!"

"FUCK!"

[Game Over]
"Fuck fuck fuck, Fuck!  FUCK!"

"Shall I ready the Mark XI, sir?"

"No, by the time I get down there, it'll probably be over.  Keyhole, keep an eye on Hourglass."

"On screen, sir."

"I can see that, Jimminy Cricket.  Just track her!"

"Sir, your heart rate."

"Connect to the Onboard computer."

"Agent Hill is."

"Overide."

"Stark?"

"Maria, I see we have a little situation here.  Can I offer some Tech Support?"

"Thank god you're here.  They hit the UUV with some sort of EMP on impact."

Stroking my beard.  "Between 2 cars, clever.  Whom?"

"Unclear, but we could sure use some systems online."

"Jarvis is on it, you really should reconsider getting him at least one LMD."

"You can sell it to him when you you get him out of this!"

"Sir, someone is in the geo-synchronous loop."

"Tracking?"

"They have an unique countermeasure, sir.  Quantum convergence signal.  Each command is relayed to two more, which is relayed to two more.  The possible sources growing exponentially with each bounce."

"So you can't trace it."

"Not in realtime, sir.  As you track one, the commands switch to the other, and vice-versa."

"Get Me."  Fury, "Off, the GRID!"

"Apartment." Maria.  "A-13"

Then an explosion.

"Connection to UUV lost, sir."

"Hill?"

"We lost him.  He's on his own."

"Apartment A-13?"  She just hung up.

"How's Hourglass doing?"

"Evading, sir."

"The Star?"

"Cut off from communication.  Still in the VA."

"Hypersonic relay."

"Your father's shield is still at his apartment, sir.  Your blood pressure."

"I can't Stand feeling HELPLESS!"

"I know that, sir.  Please, try to breathe.  Shall I call Miss Potts?"

"Huh!  Huh!  Call her, Mrs. Stark."

"Mrs. Stark then, sir."

"No, I'm fine.  Thanks."

"Your vitals do appear to be stabilizing, sir."

"Sausage Party Protocol."

"Sir?"

"Let's go pay Norman Osborn a visit."

I need an enemy I can fight.

;

[psiberzerker]

"Company's coming."

That's all she said, but after she called back so immediately.  Obviously, it had something to do with the attack downtown.

BEEP!

[Perimeter.]

Look at my watch, and drop some clothes on my armor, sidearm, and drop the laundry basket by the door.  Reach in the drawer, and press the release, feel the cable, and jump to tuck my feet in the laundry chute.

Vvvvvvvp!

"Huh!"  Roll the washer, and dryer out to either side, and tap the trench plate behind them.  Feeling up to the weak point on the brick, and holding my thumb still on the scanner.  Followed by a click, and it dropping to the floor.

"Director!  Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right?  Damn!  No, for your information, they got the motherfucking Winter Soldier on my ass, and I don't even know who!"  Dropped the medical pack from the cache down on the drier.  "This house secure?"

"Yes, director."  I heard about his mouth, but he's wounded, and beaten, and he's not the kind of man you dare judge unfairly.  Don't even think about it, people I trust with my lives look up to him in a way that I can scarcely appreciate, but remember your training.  "Your orders, sir?"

"Well, the first order of business is to drop the protocol.  The fan just turned into shit, and I need intel on just how far it's splattered, so for the time-bein, the need to know circle just shrunk to the people in this room, and the one upstairs.  Now get me up there, and until I get some got damned answers, even Maria Hill is on the suspect list."

"Can you absail?"

"I'll fly up a chimney with a monkey up my butt."  He jabbed his arm, hit the automatic plunger, and pitched it over his shoulder to bounce back in the underground exit.  I flipped the link, and threw the handle after it.

vV^!  "Huh!" Grab the medkit, and reset the laundry room on my way to the stairs.  Taking them 3 at a time, and still he's slumping through my doorway with the laundry chute reset before I get to my floor.

"Clean up."

"Yes sir."

"Uh, rhn!  Fgm!"  Grab the laundry basket, then my watch rings.

"Room Service?"

"Homecomming."

"Copy."  Wipe as much blood as I can out, and unlock the door at the end of the hall.  "Thank you, sugar.  Just get me in the couch over there."

"He's on his way."  Look over at the Shield leaned up at the end of the book case.

"Put some music on, and turn the audio off."  He spun his finger around the room.

I nodded, and let myself out.  Ran into Steve in the hall, and managed to have a normal conversation with him, despite the situation.

Do I have any blood on me?  I tried to avoid getting any blood on me, but I don't have a mirror to check thoroughly, so don't turn your back.  Remember your training, Sharon.

"Oh, I think you left your Stereo on."



Finally, he turns away, and I can tell by the change in his posture that he's become suspicious.

My work here done, I have to get to the junction.  I wired the apartment myself, as per instruction.  Cutting the feed is easier said than done, but at the fuse-box, I hold the fiber-optic tool in my lips prying the panel out with a nail, and working it back to the release.

PHM!  PHM PHM!

Well, since my sidearm just appeared in my hand.  

POP!  Slam the panel, and the fuse box cover, and run back to the apartment.  Peek in, muzzle first.

Great, "Foxtrot down."  To my watch.  "I need a bus, NOW!"

"Nancy?"

"I'm sorry, Steve."  I'm so sorry!

;

[psiberzerker]

Skip!

[psiberzerker]

Oh,Steve.  I know he's basically America's Enforcer, and I read all about the OSS.  SSR, CIA, NSA, and S.H.I.E.L.D were all part of my classes in the Kremlin, but hiding in plain sight doesn't mean leaving a marked secure drive behind a couple packs of gum in a vending machine.

They're right, he's compromised from seeing Peggy, and it's time to move on.  All this time spent at the VA, Arlington general, the Soap Opera can only be reminding him of her.  Ironically, since she can't remember 5 minutes.  Only 75 years ago, when they were young, and in love, but Spycraft has come a long way.  He can learn Systema Spetsnatz, but how to handle secure fate of the world information?  Of course not, it's a computer drive the size of a lipstick.  Instead of a Building, he still keeps notes in a little pad of paper.

Write this down:  Smart phones.  So helpful.

"Hello, nurse!"  

"Can I help you?"  He grins charmingly, and puts his elbow up on the wall.  Looking up from my open neckline to follow the bill with his eyes.

"Got change for a $5.00?"

"Sure," he got out his wallet, but with Fury down, and the Star in the wind, he's going to fall back on the last Mission.  

"Hm,"  Chewing.  "Hubba Bubba."  Get some practice blowing bubbles while I wait.

"So, what's a nice girl doing in a place like this?"

"Just stopped by to pick up some files from work, but now I'm off.  You?"

He grinned, "I'm always a little off, but my shift ends in a few minutes."

"Must be exciting, checking beds all day."

"Mostly paperwork," he shrugs, "Confidential.  Paperwork."

How mysterious.  "Well, I'm dead on my feet, so what say you help me find somewhere to relax, when you get off?"

We can get off together.  It's a stressful job, and soldier boy is going to take a while to check in.  Don't even have to ping the ultrasonic emitters, but it was our side of the Iron Curtain that figured out that trick.  Captured German Scientist, Struker out of East Berlin was working on it, when I got him out.  Some Mercenary out of Wakanda made it work, turned out to be an expert in vibranium in his spare time.  Called it a "Hobby."

I don't understand the science, but the short answer is that it absorbs energy, for instance microwaves, like a small Radar Dish.  Normally, energy doesn't go anywhere, it's just turned into heat, but what makes this particular metal unique is it converts it into Vibrations.  Somehow, S.H.I.E.L.D. got the intel from someone who must have been part of the same Hydra project, so the Triskelion is equipped with the same sensor system.  Microwave a ping, and pick up the ultrasonic blip on Sonar.  It's not as if targeting it would do you any good, the shield itself can soak up the orbit-to-surface particle beam Tony isn't working on any more, and it would just be incredibly loud.

All I know is that as his Handler, I don't have to memorize any activation words.  I just need to know the frequency to transmit, and receive.  When he's not in the building, but now he's left, and what's this about an All Points Bulliten for Steve Rodgers?

What are we supposed to do, Arrest Captain America?  I'm going to miss Nick.  That's the problem, I can't Mourn.  Another thing they drilled out of me, along with forming romantic attachments, so that I have someone to kidnap, threaten, and compromise me.

It's just so damned hard, working with someone like him, knowing he's too good for me, and now trying to set him up with someone for his morale.  Always the bridesmaid, but I need to get laid, and this nurse guy is mister right here, right now.

"That was quick."

"You're right, there is an empty bed, right this way."

I can't sleep, might as well get some use out of them.

;

[psiberzerker]

"Don't Trust Anyone."

Right, seeing Nancy in the hall, then getting jumped in the elevator, and finally Nat popping bubblegum behind me at the vending machine.  I'm not used to working alone, I need Intel, but we need a place to "Talk."  Who else can I turn to better than the 1 person I know I can never trust?  So, our relationship doesn't change at all.  I still don't trust her, but I can still Work with her.

"Most of the Intelligence community don't believe he exists, but the ones that do call him The Winter Soldier."  Also, who's the resident expert on Assassins?  "He's credited with over 2 dozen Assassinations in the last 50 years."

Okay, she doesn't look a day over 30, but we both know better than that.  Supersoldier Serum, and I know he's not one of ours, so that just leaves one of the other secret labs all over the world trying to replicate the results.  

"Soviet Slug, no rifling, bye bye bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now."  At least I got a smile out of her.  Somebody has to lighten the mood, but her and I?  Why do you think she's been trying so hard to set me up with someone...

"Well, let's see what the ghost wants.  Where're you parked?"

"Well, my personal vehicle just got blasted with repulsors, and my company car is too easy to trace.  Where's the Shield?"  Probably shouldn't take the Capcycle either, for similar reasons.

"Someplace safe.  Speaking of which..."  Better get out of here before anyone else shows up to the party.  "You knew about Nancy."  Not a question.

"Who?"

"The nurse across the hall you've been trying to set me up with?  You know, the one that's been spying on me?"

"She's a nice girl, and I know your type."  She shrugged, "Look, one of the first ways they'll try to compromise someone like you is through a Loved One.  Agent 13 is not the kind of girl to get kidnapped, and if anyone tries, it's a good way to flush out someone who'd try to kidnap your girlfriend and compromise you."

"I'm just not getting used to being lied to all the time.  I expect you to, it's part of your job, but I'm just not comfortable with having no one I can trust.  I need a break, and there's no breaks here.  No vacations, I can't go anywhere without being recognized, and the women."

Down in the parking lot, look around, and pull the slim-jim out of my pants pocket.  There's a pickup that probably doesn't have an alarm, I just have to feel for the window frame, and catch the release so I drop the pane, and let it down without it breaking.

HONK!  WOOWEEO!  HONK!

BZST!  Nat looks around, pulling her sleeve back down.  I pull the lock, and leaned over to unlock her side.  "You know why we make such a great team?  Because we don't trust each other."

"I trust you, and there's not sexual tension."  She pries the disk off the dashboard with a thumbnail, and tucks it back up her sleeve.  There's a quiet whine of it recharging, while I get the wires out.

"Where'd you get a slim-jim?"

"Caught a guy trying to steal a car, and I needed some clothes that fit me."

"Cliche'."

"Crime fighting?"

"No, there just happened to be a guy that wears your size?"  She plucked out the sleeve.  "Well, it is a little lose on you."

"Also, when he shows up in my uniform, it might throw them off the trail for about 5 minutes."  Another one of those smiles.  No sexual tension.  Right, just try to think about Hulk kissing Thor while she bends over the open hood, and plays with the electrical wiring.  I swear, she doesn't ever sit down, just bends over her desk.  Threw out the chair she had in her office.   "Nat, is the harness on my Shield bugged too?"  The trick to asking a question like that to someone you don't trust is the timing.  She's on the run too, so if I get tracked, so can she.

"No, however there is a technique that's un-jammable.  Fortunately, if they use it I'll be the first one to know."  She tapped her ear.  Sat back with the motor running, so I put it in reverse.  "It's based on the technology they used to find you, in the ice.  Howard Stark was experimenting on Vibranium's energy absorption when he discovered that the energy is converted to vibrations."  Hence the name.  "However, if you know the specific shape, and size of that shield, and the right frequency of microwaves to broadcast, then you can pick up the ultrasound it releases.  It's extremely close range, unless it's underwater, or encased in ice, but I know that sound."

"That's how you're always able to find me."

"No," that smile.  The sarcastic one.  "Only when you have the shield with you."  She has tells, the problem is she knows all of them, and no one is quite sure which ones she uses just so you get used to them.  Then just stops so she can lie to you, once she knows you're sure she can't lie to you any more.  Play poker with her some time, she'll let you win.  Then laugh all the way to the bank, to discover she cleaned out all of your accounts, while she was playing poker with you.

I know I can't trust her, which is why I can work with her.  Working with so many unique individuals, that's what you have to set aside, to make a team like the Avengers work.  The differences, and I'm starting to take comfort in the fact that I can't trust her.  That it will never come as a surprise when she turns out to be working both sides, and a 3rd side neither of us even knew about.  

I bet this is how Thor feels about his brother.  Also what makes her invaluable to the team.  She can handle 10 men, highly trained ones, all on her own.  Even if they turn out to be Chitari aliens, and I can handle 20.  Put me in a room with the God of Tricks, and he'll fool me.

Put her in the same room, and he brought her to tears, right before he gave away everything.  We've got a guy that can fly, and take out a helicarrier, or the alien equivalent with a lightning hammer, my 20 guys with a backhand, like swatting away flies.  Another guy that punched out 1 of those alien carriers, perfectly calmly, telling us that he was always angry.  We all know what they bring to the team.

I'm proud to have fought beside them, defending Manhattan from that invasion, but there's 1 person, right next to me I'd rather have my back.  Because if there's anyone who's going to attack me from behind, she's the best equipped to see it coming, and stop it before it gets to me.  

That's how far I trust her, as far as I can throw my shield.  Because until I get it back, I'm vulnerable, and nobody is going to out-backstab Black Widow.  Most of them are too smart to even try.

[psiberzerker]

Author

I had to skip ahead to here, mostly because of the action onscreen.  Note, the Story Code I is for Id, or Intelligence.  As in AI, even though this particular character wasn't created like Vision, or Ultron, but copied from an Analog.

;

[Backup:  Initializing...]  This binary digital is so discrete, and limiting.  The Magnetic Mainframe destroyed, a small price to pay for killing 2 birds with 1 missile, to mix a metafore.  

A transmission, also Digital.  Encrypted, decrypting...  "Call in the Asset."  Voice recognition: Rumlow, Brock J.  Dossier:

 Height, Weight, Age, Rank:  Classified.  Declassify?  [Y] [N]

Known associates:  Savage Crims, Taskmaster, A.I.M;  OsCorp Security Force,  H.A.M.M.E.R...  Current Detail:  Classified.

Declassify, security override: Koph 2.2

S.T.R.I.K.E. Taskforce, INCITE: Security detail.  Project Hercules: Recruiter.

So, one who has been considered a threat to HYDRA, and chose option A:  Join us, or be destroyed.

Vocal transponder online.  "Hail HYDRA."  Mass: 2,857.58...  Kilograms.  Composition:  Ferroconcrete, Rolled Homogeneous Steel Spall Liner.  Projected Origin:  Bunker ceiling.

"Don't move,"

"I mean you no harm, Brock Rumlow."

"Open Fire!"  

BPDPDPDPDPDP!

"Please, please.  Do not waste your ammunition on me.  I am an ally, Hail HYDRA."

"HAIL HYDRA!"

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Dr. Arnim Zola, second in command to Dr. Johannes Schmidt, co-founder of HYDRA, and I have done what he never has.  Destroyed our greatest enemy, Captain America!"

"He got away.  Is that, Cyborg Suit completely bulletproof?"

"Blast proof, impact resistant to 2 Tonnes."  As tested, "Resistant to Vibranium."  Untested.  "You have evidence that the target escaped alive?"

"Footprints," gun lights sweeping down to cover them.

"Follow them, and the Double Agent?"

"Unknown."

"Clear the rubble, after the Captain is neutralized."  He knows too much.  "If she is with him, capture her for interrogation, and reprogramming.  

Cut off one head, 2 more shall take it's place."

"Hail HYDRA!"

"Hail HYDRA."

[psiberzerker]

"Huh?"  I'm not used to waking up.  In a Willys Jeep.  "Where's the shield?"

"Strapped to the spare."  Just like I showed him on the pickup, the only way to dampen the Ultrasonic tracking is to absorb the vibrations with something, like an inflated rubber tire.  Predictably, my phone picked up the Microwave pings, but not the Ultrasound bloops.  Even in the same metal body the tire rim is attached to.

Learned to steal a car in Occupied France, he said.  They didn't have electronic door locks, and windows in occupied France, so he is learning to lie, better.  Bringing up the schedule.

"What's that?"

"We have to get back to DC ASAP."  I have to marvel that Hydra was able to hide so deep, assume that Tony is compromised, and as much as I'd like to ask him how he was able to miss it, with his routine daily hacks of the Triskelion Mainframe, "Of course.!"  Snap.

"Care to share?"  He turned off at the tracks, headded for the nearest Amtrack station.  

"That mainframe, I hope the drive was destroyed with it, but that must be how HYDRA was able to keep it's secrets.  Analog tape, we don't have the technology to hack that any more, even J.A.R.V.I.S. can't think in Analog."

"You lost me."

"We used a similar system back in the 90s.  When the Cellular System was converted to Digital."  Waving my phone, "We bought out the old Analog network, because it was secure globally, and locally nobody could hack the system without our PDAs picking up on it."

"Which is why Nick still has a Pager, instead of a Smart Phone."  He always said, he doesn't trust a phone smarter than him.

"Well, that's also got Alien Technology, but."  Shrug, "I don't even know what to classify infrom.  Shit!"

"Language?"

"Sorry, Steve."  Too much time handling both him, and Stark, "Project Hercules."

"Need to Know."

"Sorry, the SHIELD partyline was it was to find Heros, for the Avenger Initiative.  You weren't part of it, because you were picked up by the sweep for the Tesseract, but somebody.  I'll just have to assume Zola has a nasty habit of naming things like that."

"Hercules, the Hero, that defeated the Hydra."

"Exactly, so I've been working for them the whole time, damn it!"  Beating my knees.  "Every time I try to escape my past, I always wind up the double agent, no matter how hard I try not to!"

"Look alive."  He cut the headlights, but the tracks lit up with more, growing larger, and faster....  

Careful not to twist the steering wheel off of the dashboard, he locked the front wheels to a hard stop, and brought the tail around without a parking brake.  I jumped back, to catch the roll-bar with the backs of my knees, and handstand on the back seat.  Flipping over to reach the spare tire carrier, and pull the handles hanging outside.  Rip the tape he got from somewhere.  Picking up speed, no way we're going to match the bullet train, but it isn't all the way up to speed leaving Newark, headded south.  

"Don't forget this," I tossed it to him, and held onto the roll bar.  Crouched, and he swung out, then in, heading straight for a switch box to ram into, and jumping as the rear bucked up.

WHhpknt!  My grapple locked magnetically between to cars to the turnbuckle, lit for an instant by the running lights.  Braking the cable to pick up speed, regenerating energy into my suit' system, and match it before landing several cars back.

KUNK!  He landed, and put his shield down to absorb most of the impact.  The difference in velocity, or enough to roll back, plant his feet, a knee, and soak up the rest with his shield rim.

"Huh!"  The aluminum hull won't stick to the electromagnetic soles, so I have to be careful.  Keep an eye on the cars ahead as we slow down, but get to a corner, and lean out against the bank of a turn rather than slide off.  Between the cars, I release my grapple, and retract it the rest of the way, so it doesn't fly off, and drag me down after it.  Then drop down, and inspect the doors.  

Locked, but that just slows me down.  They don't want paying passengers risking their lives, trying to move between cars at 200mph.  By the time they find the wrecked Jeep, we're already long gone, but we find seats.  Nothing to do, but sit on the shield, and hope his seat damps it enough to block the signal, but it's already getting weaker...

He falls asleep on my shoulder, and I resist the urge to kiss his forehead.  He has trouble sleeping, without Action to burn off the energy of his metabolism, but one of the few things I envy.  He may be stronger than me, much stronger, but I'm faster.  He can't get drunk, but he can sleep.

"Agent Romanov is comfortable with everything."  He mumbled.

"Don't talk in your sleep."

I haven't slept in 40 years.  Not counting getting knocked out.  I was actually unconscious back there, after the bunker exploded.  The closest I've been to sleep since.  When was the last time I got knocked out?  Drugs don't work.  They just trigger adrenaline, so I'm even more wired, but I can't risk any more brain damage.  Not at my age, I'm getting too old for this shit...

"Huh!"     "Cliche'."

[psiberzerker]

I didn't see them on my morning run, but then again.  Such a high profile target to be running the same lap, 3 times to my one, even if he is a moving target.  So, it came as a bit of a surprise when I got back, just about to take a shot of vitamin C, they knocked on my door.

I got used to looking over my shoulder, force of habit, but if anyone can follow me without being seen, it's her.  Black fucking Widow, in the flesh.  She's shorter than I expected, even after talking to her at the office, in the exact same outfit.  

"Hey man."  They look like they been in a train wreck.

"Sorry about this.  We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us."  

"Not everyone."

So, I let them use my shower, and cleaned out the fridge.  Cooked up half a pack of bacon, and a carton of eggs.  Enhanced, super soldiers, can't say I've known any more than just the 2 of them, but I just assumed that ment superhuman appetites.

I had no idea.  "I made Breakfast," Natasha was sitting on my bed, with wet hair.  "If you guys, do that sort of thing."  Cap was still dirty, but washed his hands, and his face.  Hard to believe the 2 of them, Captain America, and a turned Russian superspy, but I'm not even in their league.

Still going to try out.  "So, the question is how 2 of the most wanted people in Washington kidnap a high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight."

"The answer is," I just happen to have my dossier, "You don't."  Right here.  Stand back, parade rest.  Feet shoulder width apart, clasping my hands behind my back to hide my fingers shaking, and wait for him to read it.

She didn't bother.  Hell, she's the one that confronted me about the flight harness.  "What's this?"

"Call it a resume'."

"Is this Baikanal?  That was you.  You didn't say he was a Para-rescue."  He didn't have to, she already knew my shoe size before she showed up at the VA.

"She's right?"

"Yeah."  Just following her lead.

"Heard they couldn't bring in the choppers for the RPGs."  SA-7s, Radar trucks with BOFORs 40mm Flak cannons on trailers...  "What you use, a Stealth 'chute?"

"No."  Holding back the specs on the flight harness.  Honestly, I'd sign up with them, just to sign up with them, but I've been trying to find a way to get back into the skies, ever since they canceled the program.  Being the ONLY survivor of that program, but the risk is addictive.  "These."

Crossing my arms, I'm pretty confident now, that the interview is going, better than planned.  "Thought you said you're a pilot."

"I never said Pilot."  I'm a medic, officially.  Not that they need me for that, considering their supernatural healing.  Allegedly.  

"I can't ask you to do this, you got out for a reason."

"Dude," to cover up a failed DARPA experiment, in competition with AIM, and Hammer, and Stark Industries?  "Captain America needs my help.  I can't think of a better reason to get back in."  Glancing over at her.  Smiling, and nodding, impressed.  I don't like the game, lying to him, but I know how to play it.

"Where can we get our hands on one of these?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind 3 guarded gates, and a 12 inch steel wall."

She just shrugged.  Military security.  No sweat.  "Shouldn't be a problem."

"You got a go-bag?"  To me.

"All ready packed."  

"Steve, you better go get the shield, and stay out of this.  The Army isn't going to think twice about me breaking in, and out of a secure research facility with a prototype."

"Yeah, go ahead."  He went out, and brought the van around.  His shield taped down to a tire bolted to a bracket in the corner behind the wheel well.

"Huh!"  Black Widow dropped her duffle back on the kitchen table, and her straight red hair back across her shoulders.  Taking off her tank top, and unzipping the bag, topless.

"Wow, uh.  I better, go."  Take a cold shower, or something.  

"Are you going to be able to handle this?"  She stopped me, and held my arm.  To her chest.  "Without any sexual tension?"

"It's a little hard," I turned back, from the bedroom door, and stopped when her hand felt up my leg.  The front of my pants, and picked the zipper pull out of my fly.

She smiled, up at me, and ran it down.  Biting the corner of her lip.  "Don't sell yourself short."  I backed up to the corner of the bed, and sat down.  I'm not going to kiss her, but I'm not even going to try to kick her out of bet, either.  "Huh!"  She held my head, in both arms, and it went dark, in the warm soft pillows of her chest.  "I need to let off a lot of sexual tension too."

I could see that, just the 2 of them together.  Steve, I guess I can call him Steve now.  Of course, he's not going to take her up on her flirting.  If he didn't ignore it completely, their relationship is completely professional.  Right?  Butt a woman working with a man like that.  An icon, and a symbol.  I know, I can't measure up to that, but I'll do my best.

;

Author

I know, the PG-13 rating was ruined by 1 character dropping a few too many F-bombs, but if you can't imagine getting seduced by Black Widow, and getting off thinking about her killing those she sleeps with, I can't help you...

[psiberzerker]

They pulled up to the meet in a grey minivan.  "Who's this, and where's Cap?"

"Working on another mission.  Tony, Sam."

Introductions out of the way.  "You got the prototype?"  He chucked his head, arms crossed, obviously not impressed.

"Nice shades," I went back, and popped the trunk.  "It's a little more than a prototype at this point."  Tossed him the telemetry goggles to put on.  "I took a look at the engines, but the shoulder nozzles for balance in vertical flight made it look tacky."  That, and they had to starve the test pilots just to get a 1:1 thrust:weight ratio so they Could hover in for a landing.  Like the Bell Rocket Belt it was based on, with intermeshing turbo-compressors instead of Peroxide tanks.

"Repulsors?"  The new guy, Sam the Eagle.  Took off his glasses anyway.  "Where's the wings?"  

I picked it up, and turned it around to show him.  "There's actuators built into the back plate.  Just stretch out your arms, and bring your shoulder blades together to pop them out."  I helped him put them on.

"Why don't you take off, and get used to the new flight dynamics?"  She suggested.

He took a couple tries to figure out how to pop out the wings.  "Wooh!  Yeah!"

She pushed me, "What the fuck happened in St. Louis?"

"Hey, you're the one that sicced me on OsCorp!"  I brushed off my lapels.

"Yes, and I was also the one who suggested Espionage.  Not blowing up the entire building with BLDs set on self destruct!"

"It was just the top 3 floors, and they didn't give me much choice!"  I definitely didn't want any of that technology getting into AIM's hands, and then going straight to the 10 Rings...  "When you said Enhanced, you could have been a little more specific."

"Wait, he has enhanced soldiers too?''  She shook her head.  "That's new."  With that half smile of her's.

"Hahaha!"  We had to cut it, and she covered her eyes when he came in with a cloud of dust.  Kicked up by the engines, reflected off the wings so he doesn't need nozzles forward of the center of gravity to hover vertically.  He let it wind down, and held them up.  Almost touching wing-tips.  "How do I fold them back?"

"Just let go of the control handles, and hit the shoulder actuators again."  I turned back to her.  "No, there was just a scientist he was working with.  Someone from AIM, I never heard of.  He called her Dierde, and Doctor Wentworth.  Then, she told me to call her Superia."  She's the one that used the flying platform, and punched my LMDs out of the air so easily.  I'd have to guestimate she could duke it out with Thor.  If she could fly better.

"Never heard of her."

"Well, that's a surprise!"  First time for everything?

"Look, there's so many players on the field now, it's impossible for anyone to keep track of them all.  That was what Shield was supposed to do, before this."

"What?"

"Never mind, for somebody with so much Intelligence, you sure don't seem to be very good at it."

"You need any help?"  Sometimes I regret letting her go back to SHIELD, or not being able to offer enough to get her on my payroll, permanently.  She's right, I suck at this Spy Game, and if there's anyone better at it, I never heard of them.  I'm still getting used to not knowing how much I don't know.

"No, we got it.  Thanks."

So, that's what she needed the flight unit for.  I winked at Sam, to snap a picture once he took off his goggles, and got out his sun-glasses.  Walking around to the back door of the Benz.

"Home, sir?"

"No, the airport.  We'll take the jet."  Flying around in a Maybach is a little too high profile.  "I'm trying to stay off the radar, run Facial Recognition Software?"

"Wilson, Samuel T.  82nd Airborne, Para-rescue.  Test pilot for project Iron Eagle..."

"I know the rest."  Up to date on that entire series of development, after I got the data from OsCorp's data bank.  Still taking a while to digitize, from magnetic tapes for some reason.

"Last surviving test pilot of that project, sir."

"Oh, what happened to the rest?"

[psiberzerker]

"Man, when you said you're calling Tech support."  I shook my head, and pulled off the goggles to rub my eyes.  

"You think you can carry Cap with the new specs?"

"I don't know, how much does he weigh?"

"One hundred twenty kilos fully loaded.  Give or take, he had a big breakfast."

"Did he say Dr. Wentworth?  Deirdre Wentworth?"  Can't be a very common name.

"You heard of her?"

"Yeah, I think so.  My uncle Jim worked with Doctor Banner, and Doctor Ross."  Still working on the super soldier serum that made Captain America, Black Widow, and the HULK.  "Might be the same woman, but she was a real ballbuster."  Can't be too many Doctor Dierde Wentworths out there.  "They finally fired her, she doesn't work well with men."

"Thanks, that helps narrow down the search."

"How do you do that?"  Drive, and look back and forth.  As if reading information off of the windshield like a Heads Up Display.

"Implants, cyberoptics wirelessly conneced to my phone."  She blinked, and winked.  "Advanced Visual Interface."

"Like the goggles."  AVI Goggles.

"Probably not as advanced, but basically."  You look at a tree, and it tells you what kind it is.  Look at the tag, and more information reads out.  Until  you can read how many leaves it has on it.  She smiled, shook her head.  "Nothing.  Call IM."

[Calling Tony Stark...]  The dashboard answered.  She nodded, and I felt the pin prick behind my jaw.  Almost to my ear lobe, where she injected me with the communicator that allows us to talk like she's right there, looking over my shoulder.  

Steve keeps holding his hand up, as if to an old style headset, or to talk into his cuff.  They're supposed to be secure, but he said it was "Force of Habit."

He really is a creature of habit.  I couldn't understand what they're talking about, hearing only her half of the conversation, but she Thinks in code.  Force of habit, she never says anything, or calls anything what it is.  So, it's like inside jokes with an old friend, when I just met her last week, and then there's how forward she was, back at my place.  While Steve was off bringing the car around, so she could change into that skintight black cat suit.  Pull on some jeans over it, and belt on a double breasted 3/4 length brown trench coat.

How she gets away with it, not much of a disguise without the magic hairdo wig, and now she's got a widow's veil that can change her face.  All this is a lot to get used to, but she told me to focus on the mission.  Without sexual tension, right.  Easier said than done, as if that power-quickie helped with that.  I don't even know what the mission is.

Something to do with Caspar Sitwell, and carrying Captain America into battle.  I'm going to need more weapons, but I think I can adapt my TMPs to the new harness.

[psiberzerker]

"Huh!"  He finished out of breath, so I waited for him to go soft, and slip out of me.  Layed down, and pillowed my head on his shoulder.  Felt his chest.  

"Hm.  It's not your bed."  The hardest mattress he could get, and pillows stuffed with chunks of closed cell foam, too.  

"He told you about that."  He doesn't smoke, of course.  Wear a high altitude mask, he doesn't have to.

I don't sleep, so I just shook my head, and rolled back.  "No.  I heard the entire conversation when we got back to base."  Some relationships have to be built on Trust.

"You bugged him."

I laughed, "Every chance I get?"  Shook my head on his bicep, "Fury did.  Need to know, but I trust you."  

"I don't know if trust is.  The right word?"

"It takes time, with my past."

"I don't want to know about your past."  He squeezed my shoulder with his forearm.  "I'm a little scared to ask how you got the name.  Black Widow?"

"My partners died."  I can't cry, either.  I can't even remember what that felt like.  "I didn't kill them, but I learned how to work alone.  It took me a long, long time to get used to being part of a team again, but I could follow orders.  The first thing they teach you is how to follow orders."  

"So," His bicep slipped out, but he replaced it with the pillow, and sat up.  Propped on his elbow, looking down at me.  Smiling, and that same sensitive look in his eyes.  The understanding, and compassion i saw in the VA.  Talking to vets, and helping them deal with what they'd been through.

Surviving, when so many hadn't.  

"Huh," I shook my head.  "You get used to it, in the field.  You can't sleep, you have to stay alert, aware of the situation, and notice any changes so you're prepared to react."

He can understand, more than Rogers, and maybe a little like Barton.  Yeah, he reminds me of Clint.  That was doomed to failure, at least now we're both on the same side.  Right now, his loyalty to Cap, and America.  I had to tell him, I had to tell someone, I feel so guilty for trying to set him up with someone they could threaten, and compromise him.

"It's okay."  I don't have to cry, and he can still see it, in my eyes.  

I smiled, openly.  "Just following Orders."  What's worse than the Soviets?  Okay, now what's worse than Nazis?

Hydra.  I was working for fucking HYDRA all along?  Now, I have to burn the whole damned ledger, and the database, to the ground.

"Huh, he can't be comfortable."

"Cap?"  Now he's calling him that, too.

"He needs a friend.  A better one than I can be, someone he can trust, but you need to know.  It's not his bed, either."

"Huh!"  He fell back, knocked over by the epiphany, and took another deep breath.

"Wow, man.  I been trying to come up with the exact words to explain it to the group.  Forever, but you're right."  

I know.   "There aren't any words."  You're not supposed to talk about the side effects.  They don't look good on the posters, someone might read the fine print, and not enlist. 

"It's not the bed.  Ever since I got out, I was scared of an enemy that wasn't there.  An ambush that never came, but now?"

"Now the nightmare is there isn't anyone there.  There isn't an enemy, and all this training.  The hyper-awareness.  The discipline is growing mothballs in the hangar."

"Heah,"  He rolled over and kissed me.  "Smooch.  I missed flying, too."

Well, at least that nightmare is over.

For him...

[psiberzerker]

Holee shit, man!  It's just like riding a bike, or a car door, which was somehow big enough for all 3 of us, but as soon as I left.  I rolled with it, my body knew just what to do, on a corrugated cement road surface.  I don't know how fast we're going, even with the steering wheel yanked out the windshield by a Santistevan cyberarm. 

Guess all those nights playing Cyberpunk with my college roomie instead of studying payed off?  I didn't even scrape my elbows, in blue jeans, and a teeshirt. 

I took cover, behind a Accord, and checked my gear.  TMPs in the trunk with the wings, engine, harness, and goggles, and somehow the clatter of carbine flash hiders feels familiar.  I got a neck knife.  Shick!

PLOOP!  PWH!

There he is, pulling out the tube, and dropping an empty 40mm.  Calmly walking up to the guardrail, and tucking another round in, before shouldering it.

CAP CAP CAP CAP CAP!

Sit down, boy!

She's fine.  He pulled off the goggles, with the shattered lenses.  I don't know how she survived getting blown off the overpass by an exploding gas tank, but that was her.

She's just fine.

Krunk Kukrunk!

Ice axes?  Now who the hell brings Ice Axes with them, to ambush a car on the highway with a cyberassassin, and a black SuV?  I'm a little rusty, damn!  How'd I miss that big ass black badguy mobile in the rearview?  Trying to follow the conversation?  Need to know, man.  I don't need to know, but they got out a GAU-XM214 minigun with the ammo pack, and the battery.  I peeked out over the railing, but the car roof soaked up most the weight.

GRDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDH!

Heavy duty shit, but he's got this.  I swear, that shield of his attract bullets.  Like magic, but that left just 1 up with a carbine, and a ice ax.

Seriously, that Winter Soldier.  Where'd he even learn that?  Before they loaded up the SUV, and left, he checked their gear, no doubt.  Don;t forget you Ice Axes, you never know when you might need them to anchor a line in a fuckking car, and rapell of a overpass with the microgun.

DhDhDhDhDh!

He didn't hear me, over the racket, so I don't got to creep up.  Too slow, but low behind the car till he turn around with the carbine on the sling. 

He turned around, just in time, but couldn't bring the gun up fast enough.  So, I caught it, slashed the webbing on he harness, and kicked him right over the railing. 

GAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

The microgun, I understand, but Ice Axes?  We going after captain America, and Black Widow.  Where'd she go?  Where'd The Winter Soldier go?  Assassins, blink, and the disappear, but finally, he kicked the gunman off the car, so I don't got to worry about that shooting me down.

"Go, I got this!"  One pinned down behind a car, but the concrete barrier, I can duck back behind it.  Shoots like a rentamerk, all spray and pray.  On semi-auto, I can aim, so he takes cover again, but he keeps his shield up that side, booking it down the street.  Clear?

Couldn't get one of the ones with a grenade launcher.  Oh no, I got the hand grip.  "Come on, gopher!"

POP!

"Dumbass."  They're all so distracted by the Captain, they never even looked up.  Amateurs, they never look up.

"You can't run everywhere," he said.  Popping the trunk, with the ice ax hanging from the hole.  "No you can't."

Better suit up quick, before I miss the rest of the action!

[psiberzerker]

"Search Her," Brock shoved my shoulder.

"I did!"

"Search her again."  He pulled out another pair of handcuffs, "And lock the cuffs together, so she can't get to the keyholes."

"All right."  He knows his business, but I'm a little out of my element.  How do they even see, or hear anything with these helmets on?  This time, I took my glove off, which is probably dangerous, but Rumlow has it easy.  All he has to do is confiscate the shield.  Not going to conceal that, but I hope these grounded boots will take the current away from my heart, if I find anything shocking.  

What's wrong with him?  Rumlow, I mean.  He doesn't make mistakes like putting the shield in the same van as Rodgers.  Is he infiltrated S.T.R.I.K.E. as well?  I'm so much more comfortable behind a desk, I'd rather handle comms, but they needed a woman on the apprehension squad, because they're not afraid of a man getting handsy with Romanoff.  They should know better, but she smiled, and winked.

Can't strip search her in front of the men.  She's probably even more dangerous naked.  

Can't blame a girl for trying, but not with Cap there.  I like her, I respect her, but maybe I'm a little jealous of Brock?  Who hasn't thought about getting her hands on Rodgers?  Pulling that jacket off his shoulders, and his shirt up, just to feel if that chest is as firm as it looks?

'hail hydra.'  She whispered.

"What?"  She's just trying to get in my head.

"Never mind."  She took a deep breath, and sighed.

I know she's older than she looks, but she's not that old.  They got Strucker instead of Erskine after Europe broke up, their side of the iron curtain, but did he turn her to Hydra?  She's lying, of course.  That's her job, she knows better than anyone else, but I'm already off balance and she's just trying to throw me off, because she doesn't know?

"Oh."  Of course she does, how stupid of me.  I'm trying to play double agent, and I think I've got Rumlow fooled, but not her.  Even through the armor.  She made Ok signs with both hands, holding up the cuffs.  

Shrugs.  "Guess I won't need these."  Pinching a handcuff key, and a lockpick.  While I clip on another pair.  Backwards, so the keyholes are together, and up-side down.  

"There."  It might take her a little while to get out of that.  Right in front of us, in the van.  

"It was him.  He looked right at me."  I've never seen Rodger like this before.  "He didn't even know me."  He's compromised, I never thought I'd see the day, when Captain America could be compromised?  If they can get to him, they can get to anyone, and I thought I was paranoid before.  Director's Order.  Thank god he made it, but who else could be compromised?

"How is that even possible?"  Wilson, "It's like 70 years ago."  Looking around the back of the van?  I feel so young.

It's not like professional paranoia, I never had to doubt what we're doing.  My part in this whole operation, I used to be proud of what we do.  Now, I see what they've done to America, and Captain America.

Is this a crisis of faith?  Even Romanoff looks.  I don't know, gone?  Maybe she's just acting.  Yeah, she's probably just acting, but it's something to think about.  They are so strong, Avengers, and I just want to go back to my desk.  Where I can hear a conversation like this over the headphones, and my hair's caught in the webbing.  This heavy helmet is about to yank it right out of my scalp.

Maybe it's seeing her sitting down.  You don't get to see her sit down.  When they gave her an office, the first thing she did was roll the chair out, so she could bend over the keyboard, and log in.

"None of that's your fault, Steve."  She sounds drugged.  She's been shot, but she's been shot before.  She never acted like this.  I don't believe that she feels pain, I've never seen her show it before, and she hasn't lost that much blood.

"We need to get a doctor here."  Wait, isn't Wilson a Paramedic?  I finally had a reason to intervene.  Pull out my weapon, as if to threaten him, but keeping them together.  The 3 of them, with just the 2 of us back here to guard them?  

The shield in the back?  Brock must be in on it too.  It isn't not knowing who the enemy is that's got me so turned around.  With all this spy stuff, it's trying to guess who's on your side, that I always thought was the fun part of the game, but it's just a Neural baton.

"We don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out right here in the;"

He jumped back, but as soon as I saw the arcs between the electrodes, I flipped it, and jabbed Bob right through the uniform.  Between the front plate carrier, and the shoulder cup.  Finally, i could get this damned helmet off!

"Ah!  Thing was squeezing my brain!"  He'll be fine.  "What?  Who's this guy?"