Washington DC, 0645 hours
Miri hung up the phone with a twitch in her left eye and a headache pounding around the inside of her skull. Her conversation with Bernerd went about as well as expected, but at least now she had her jet. Turning to the mountain of papers on her desk, she picked up the Lemurian Star file and began sifting through the contents. Inside were blueprints, electrical plans, and write-ups of previous missions, along with detailed reports of the ship's security system. Unfortunately for Miri and her headache, the hijackers had somehow managed to successfully skirt every security measure. On the bright side, this meant that Miri could follow their trail through the code and find her own way inside. Her eyes scanned the plans. That's one less things for me to figure out. If I can figure out how they took out the antenna then at the very least we'll have working comms.
Six hours later and Miri was starting to hear laughter as groups of her colleagues left for lunch. At this point she'd planned basic team assignments, and Beardsley had come back with her bagel and the recon report, giving her what she needed to get a complete picture. According to the intel, all SHIELD members had been packed onto the second level of the ship, guarded by seven to ten men. There were more guards posted on the upper and lower levels, but they were spread out, which Miri knew would make them easier targets for STRIKE. And the team had found the head honcho; a large French man name by the name of- Miri picked up the intel report- Georges Batroc. He had been seen pacing around the command center, waiting for a response to his ransom demand. Miri smirked at the thought of the French pirate, who in her opinion had made a grave mistake, with nothing to do but wear tracks into the floor while he waited for SHIELD's response.
In total, there were an estimated 25 pirates on the ship. With such a small force guarding their objective, Miri couldn't help but to feel optimistic. He doesn't know what he's in for, she snorted. You'd think these guys would have learned by now not to pick a fight with SHIELD.
Based on her last talk with Beardsley weather conditions were projected to be optimal, with low clouds they could easily hover above and drop through. A key part of her plan was dependent on the element of surprise, which included a drop point low enough that the team's drop time could be quick and precise. The less time her people spent hurtling through the air with nothing but a quinjet in the clouds to cover them, the better. The low clouds provided optimal conditions for a quick and safe jump, and besides that, Miri knew the low elevation of the jet and the small DZ would appeal to Rogers. It was common knowledge that their resident super-soldier was a bit of a drama queen. Miri wouldn't be surprised if he decided to pull a stunt like drop without a parachute, and she'd be willing to bet good money that if the STRIKE team had the same abilities at the Captain, they'd do the same thing. She'd worked with Rumlow before, and like Rogers, he had a tendency to deviate from the plan, leaving handlers scrambling with no information to cover his ass.
All the same, Miri could critique them on their methods but she knew that Cap, the Black Widow and STRIKE combined were a deadly force that she was happy to use.
Her musings on the team's theatrics were interrupted by a jarring ring from the phone to her right. Miri rubbed her eyes, and immediately recognized the extension as that of Sophie Verre, her section chief.
"You've reached Merdan," she intoned holding the phone to her ear with one shoulder and gathering her blueprints with her free arm.
"Agent," came the brief reply, "I've got Captain America in my office waiting for his briefing."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way. Tell him to hold his horses, I'll be up in a few." Miri hung up, scrambling to press print and collect her papers, cursing under her breath. Rogers didn't appreciate being kept waiting- he was dramatic and impatient, and often he didn't appreciate having a handler in the first place.
As the elevator door closed, Miri leaned again the glass, blinking into the bright sunlight and yawning. The last time she'd seen the outside world it had been three in the morning, and Miri had been speeding through the darkened streets of DC with Verre yelling in her ear about the mission. Now she brought her hand to her mouth and breathed, before smelling her palm. It was gross, but effective, and now Miri knew for sure that she did have morning breath. She could also see her reflection in the glass, superimposed over the Potomac, and it was not a flattering picture. I look like I just got off the worlds worst rollercoaster. Jeez, somebody get me a brush. She slipped her hair out of its tie and attempted to brush her fingers through it, but only succeeded in finding a large rat's nest on the back of her head. She sighed, giving up and tying her hair in a low bun. Maybe Sophie'll have a brush, she mused. Then I won't have to spend 10 hours on a quinjet looking like a dandelion puff. At this invigorating thought she turned and waited a moment before power walking out as soon as the doors opened. As she approached the open door of Sophie's office, she could see an extremely broad figure, his imposing red white and blue Dorito shoulders hunched by his crossed arms. She could hear murmurs as they talked, but the most Miri heard before she paused at the threshold was something about Fury.
Not wanting to eavesdrop, Miri rounded the corner and announced herself.
"Afternoon, Captain Rogers."
He acquiesced, nodding his head and replying "Afternoon Agent" -rather brusquely in Miri's opinion- but she couldn't blame him. It was going to be a long day.
"I've got the briefs. Agent Verre." She acknowledged her friend, who waved from behind the desk, pre-occupied and flipping through the file Miri had handed her. Miri got comfortable, leaning against the desk and glancing between the two blondes while she waited for Verre to signal. It's like being in a room with two statues. Between the two of them I don't know who looks more like the Captain America.
"Okay Merdan, let's hear it," Her friend nodded, jarring Miri into action. She straightened up and began speaking.
"Alright. Departure time is 1600 hours, so I'll just jump right in. The Lemurian Star is a SHIELD tech launching vessel parked off the coast of Italy. Technically she's not even supposed to be there, but that the Science Division's business." At this, she saw Steve frown. Sophie must have seen it too, because she interjected.
"Problem, Mr Rogers?"
"Not ma'am, not yet."
"Alright then. Let's keep going. Miri?"
"Alright, well no matter where she is, it's our job to get her back. She's been hijacked by a French pirate, one of their most wanted, actually- his name's Batroc-" at this Miri gestured to his photo, which was a blurry headshot of Batroc, pulled from a surveillance cam. "- and this guy's more than your average merc. According to our intelligence, he's been involved in numerous KFR's, assassinations- you name it, and he's probably been involved in at least one. This guy's highly skilled in hand to hand, and Cap-" here Miri paused and slightly turned towards Steve, who was staring straight at her. Miri blinked for a second, surprised by the direct eye contact. "Captain, he'll be yours. Batroc gives the orders and his neutralization will be a crucial part of safely rescuing the SHIELD personnel on board." Miri held the Steve's gaze until he nodded in approval, at which point she turned back to her brief and continued.
"He has a team of men working with him, spread out through the different levels of the ship. Seven to ten on the second deck guarding prisoners," at this point Miri unrolled the blueprint of the ship onto Verre's desk and began pointing, "and ten patrolling the top. Recon estimates there's another three men stationed in the lowest levels. Agent Romanoff's more effective in close quarters, so I've put her down there." Miri tapped the paper and paused slightly, looking around. Verre was staring intently at the blueprints was taking notes, but once again there were a pair of too-blue eyes staring Miri down. Do I have coffee on my face or something? Be more weird, really, I don't mind.
She squinted at him and cleared her throat before turning back to her presentation. "You'll be making the jump from a relatively low elevation and landing on the Lemurian Star. As a team, you'll neutralize first level targets, then split for your individual assignments. Now ideally, STRIKE will coordinate their second level entry with your attack on Batroc, Captain." Miri kept her eyes on the paper, not wanting to get another weird stare from the super-solder to her right. His presence was imposing as it was, never mind the fact that Miri was almost positive she could feel where his stare was burning a hole in the back of her head. "We've located him on the upper level decks with a couple of bodyguards, but if I'm right they should be low level threats. Our biggest challenge will be that all of these attacks will have to be perfectly timed, otherwise one level will alert the others and this whole thing will turn into a boat-wide firefight. If that happens, priority is getting the crew out of harms way. I'll be in the air tracking heat signatures and feeding you relevant information, but for the most part you'll be on your own. If you need evac for the crew, let me know and I'll give the order. Ideally, with a low altitude entry from the quinjet onto the deck, you'll be able to make it through mostly undetected, so we're going for zero casualties on our sides, and complete hostage extraction. And finally, use of deadly force is permitted, but at your own discretion. Ideally, we'd be able to hand Batroc over to the French, but if that can't happen, it's understood why." Miri finished. "Any questions?"
There was a moment of pause, and then Steve spoke.
"She'll be in the air?" Steve straightened up, looking to Verre. "I don't mean to be rude, ma'am, but my team is experienced enough to be without a handler, and I'd rather have this operation be bare-boned. To minimize casualties." It was a weak excuse, and everyone knew it. He wanted to be in charge.
Thank god for Sophie. She stared at him, her matched height allowing her an advantage Miri could only dream of.
"Handlers are an essential part of any operation. It's protocol for Agent Merdan to be watching over y'all, to minimize casualties."
"In theory though, and correct me if I'm wrong, Agent Merdan could operate from the Triskelion and she'd be just as effective." Steve's head swiveled between Verre and Miri, waiting for one of them to give him what he wanted.
I wonder if he know's he's not actually a Captain…. Miri's eye twitched again, and she could feel her headache resurfacing. Anger clawed up her throat but she swallowed it down, instead performing the most intense internal eye roll she could muster. In the corner of her eye she could see Verre slightly shake her head, but Miri couldn't help herself. She turned to Steve and apparently not even 90 year old super soldiers were immune to the effects of Miri's death glare, because he blinked as she crossed her arms and straightened her back in an attempt to find a way to match his annoyingly built stance.
"I'm sure you don't mean to be rude, Captain. And in theory I could stay behind and sit and wait for you to do the dirty work, but I've found thats it's better for all parties if I'm there. Our data shows that handler involvement minimizes casualties, and the last thing I want is to lose an agent. So if it helps you, don't think of me as your babysitter, or your handler. I mean, technically I am, but that's besides the point." Take that you pompous prick. "I'm here to do the things that would make your job harder, and they happen to be things that I do very well. So unless you disagree with something other than my fundamental existence, I'd appreciate it if you would let me do my job so that you can do yours."
Steve narrowed his eyes at her outburst and Miri could see his jaw twitch. She mirrored his gaze. There was as much of a chance of hell freezing over as there was of Miri tapping out and handing over the reigns to her operation, and she made sure that was exactly the message he was getting. His narrowed eyes transformed into a look that Miri couldn't quite read, but she was pretty sure it said "Oh, so this is how's its gonna be."
Yeah, that's how it's fucking gonna be if you try and kick me off my op again. I'll mouth off until your red white and blue ass heads back into the 20th century where it belongs. And Sophie'll back me up until the cow's come home, so go try this shit with another pair of agents.
"I've think I've got everything I need. Agent, I'll see you at 1600 hours." He nodded tersely at Verre before turning on his heel and marching out.
As soon as he was gone, Miri's eyes widened and she let out a breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding.
"Je-sus. That was like pulling teeth?" She dropped into the chair across the desk from Verre, who was smiling in thinly veiled amusement.
"You do know he'd probably the least irritating field agent we have, right? He and Romanoff- they keep to themselves." Verre's eyes twinkled as she directed this comment at Miri, who scoffed and pointed at her friend.
"I'm going to ignore that you just said that, because you know it's not true. They fucking destroyed New York two summers ago; I'm not sure that qualifies as- Miri air quoted- "keeping to yourself."
At this, Verre cackled, "I can't argue with that. And yeah, I do."
"Hey Soph?"
"Yes?"
"Don't laugh. I'm tired." Miri rubbed her face and smiled, knowing her outburst was partly the product of sleep deprivation and to much coffee. "And it's your fault." She laughed and glared at the woman sitting across from her. "Nobody should have to get up this early."
"That's the job," Sophie smiled, half-smiling. "You knew what you were signing up for- don't shoot the messenger."
"You sound like my mom." Miri said, rocking her chair back. "And just for that, I'm going to stay here and annoy you for as long as I can…also, do you have a hairbrush?"
"No you're not, and no, I don't." Sophie stretched and got up from desk.
"Rats. And why is that?" Miri automatically responded, first to the latter and then to the former.
"Because I wouldn't be surprised if Rogers tried to leave without you. Now I'm going to go get a cup of coffee, and you're going to go get on that quinjet."
"Jeez, you're right. I've gotta go, it won't take him long to brief everybody. He might even do it on the plane," Miri scrambled out of her chair "Can I leave my papers here? I'll get them sent to me." Without waiting for a response Miri bounded past Sophie, who was already halfway out the door. She jogged backwards for a moment, shouting "I'll see you for debrief!" and waving goodbye at her friend before turning around making a full speed beeline for the elevator.
A/N: review pls...also i wrote this on my dying computer that has almost no wifi so i'm lowkey glad i got it written at all...