Yikes, another long gap between updates. Getting good at that, aren't I? Sorry, I've had another project in mind. A serious attempt at an original work of fiction. So, I have no idea when the next update will come. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Ten:

Playing the Hydra Card

Marissa walked down the hallway, past the maintenance room. She heard voices as she past.

"Cyanide poisoning is the best way to go. It only takes a little, and those who can actually smell it won't suspect poison," a definite masculine voice commented. "They'll think almonds first."

Marissa paused and made herself invisible to her surroundings. That was true, she admitted. She thought back for a moment. Cyanide was one of the chemicals that went missing from the shipment to Fort Polk. Were they going to use it here to hurt innocent children?

"And the prank is ingenious, Beau," another voice, female, answered. "Who would suspect adults in a classic high school prank?"

"Exactly," Beau answered. "It's perfect."

Marissa snorted. Except the walls in this school are extremely thin, she thought with a shake of her head.

"Is everything ready to go, Constance?"

"No one uses the non latex gloves except me. No one will find the cyanide. We can do it whenever we want."

"Soon, my friend. Soon."

Marissa backed away from the door and stalked off, making herself visible once again. She made her way back to her classroom, where Steve was waiting for her.

"Ready to go, Sweetheart?" Steve asked.

"Oh yeah. I found something that you'll really love," Marissa said, giving him a coy smile. She ran her hand down his arm just for good measure.

"Let's go then," he replied, swallowing just a little. Marissa grinned at his expense. He really was uncomfortable with all of the public displays of affection.

They walked out arm in arm to their car. As soon as they were safe in the Impala, Steve let out a huge sigh of relief.

"So, what did you find out?" Steve asked a moment later, as they drove out of the parking lot.

"Two names to check out and a chemical. The walls in that school are rather thin. I heard two people talking about cyanide poisoning and a classic high school prank. I have no idea what kind of pranks high school students pull in America, but they can conceal cyanide poisoning with the prank. The two people discussing this was a woman called 'Constance' and a man who seemed to be the one in charge. He was called 'Beau."

"So, how do we play this?"

"I think that I can play the Hydra card. Pretend that I still work for them."

"Risky. What about me?"

"My poor American soldier of a husband has no idea that he married a foreign operative. It was a perfect way for me to get into the States. At the right time, you can conveniently find out about my disloyalty. Hopefully, I can get in close enough to find out their plans before D-Day."

"Okay. Just do me a favor? Be careful."

"It's what I do, Steve. This is what I was trained to do. I'll wear a communications unit so that you can hear everything. That way you can bail me out if things go south."

Steve just nodded as he pulled the car into the parking lot of their apartment complex.

Marissa had the faculty and staff page pulled up on her laptop before Steve could put coffee on the table. "Okay, there is a Constance Miller listed under maintenance personnel. And as for our 'Beau'…Okay, I have a Buford Beauregard. He is the registered nurse. He would certainly know the effects of cyanide poisoning. Let's see what I can dig up on them."

Steve watched in fascination as she pulled up the SHIELD network and typed in some kind of keywords. He remembered when computers took up whole rooms. Now they could fit in the palm of your hand. There were all kinds of computers in everything. Even the cars they drove ran on computers. It sent Steve's head in a spin.

"Yeah, everything's connected to some kind of network nowadays," Marissa muttered.

Steve spat his coffee out. Marissa stared at him in confusion.

"What? It's true!"

"How did you know I was thinking that?"

"Thinking that? I thought you said it. I heard you clear as a bell."

"I didn't say anything." Are you going crazy?

"I'm not crazy!" Marissa exclaimed. Then, she paused, looking hard at him. "No way. Your lips didn't move, but I heard that thought. What the hell is going on?"

Okay, calm down and think for a moment. What can I say to make her feel better?

Marissa stared at him again. "Okay, it's not really thoughts. It's more like emotions and feelings that I can sense. You're just as confused about this as I am."

"True. I've never encountered anything like this before. Have you?"

"Somewhat. I already knew that I was a mutant. I guess I'm developing more powers?"

"Possible."

"I mean when SHIELD did all of their tests on me when I joined, they found a weird microorganism in my bloodstream. I wonder if that is what makes me a mutant? I need to talk to Professor Xavier when this mission is over. See what he can make of all of this."

Marissa took a sip of her coffee. "Back to the task at hand. Constance Miller, forty-three, native of Louisiana. Sealed juvie record for burglary and vandalism. Some dubious connections in federal prison via family."

"If juvenile records are sealed, how did you get access to them?"

"SHIELD has access to everything," Marissa said with a grin. "They have eyes everywhere. Now, on to Buford Beauregard. Here is our connection to the military. Former medic in the army. Did two tours in Afghanistan. Oh, wow. He was discharged dishonorably two years ago for negligence. Apparently a patient died under his watch when he neglected to check on him after six hours!"

"Was there an investigation?"

"Yes. Beauregard reported that the patient, Corporal Lance Poirot, was asleep when he last checked on him. He had no idea that Poirot would overdose on hydromorphone four hours later. He had just assumed that the doctors had given him medication to make him sleep. When he coded, they found the excess morphine in his system."

"Poirot died on his watch. The damage was done. He was discharged," Steve nodded. "He feels that it wasn't his fault, so he wants to take his revenge out on them by making their children suffer."

Marissa nodded. "He did his basic training in Fort Polk."

"Now we have our who, why, and how. Now we need our when and what," Steve replied sipping at his own coffee.

Marissa shook her head. "What kind of high school prank would conceal cyanide?"

"I don't know."

Over the next two days, Marissa made it overtly obvious that she was watching Constance Miller and Buford Beauregard. She wanted to make them nervous and confront her. During the joint physical education class, Marissa overheard a few students talking while they exercised.

"Man, remember when that group of seniors released those stink bombs during break. The smell stayed in the hallways for the rest of the day!"

"I thought Ms Ferguson was going to hurl!"

"Ew, that was so disgusting!"

"Stinkbombs, huh?" Marissa interrupted them. "Not planning a prank are you?"

"No, Frau Rogers. Wouldn't dare on your watch."

"Sehr gut," Marissa replied and moved on.

Stink bombs! She was certain that those would conceal the smell of cyanide. She mentioned it to Steve after the students left for the day.

"That seems to be a classic high school prank. I've heard other students talking about them."

"I think today they will get jittery and confront me. I can sense Miller's paranoia. It's building to a head. Beauregard is suspicious of me, but not as paranoid. Put your comm. in your ear. I'm walking off towards the teacher's lounge. Distress word is wienerschnitzel."

She stopped in the History hall. "Okay. Comm check. Do you read me, Cap?"

"Loud and clear. Made it to the lounge yet?"

"Hold your horses, Steve. I'm getting there."

Marissa heard the voices immediately as she walked into the empty lounge.

"Did you get the cyanide inside the stink bombs yet?" That was Constance, she recognized.

"All but six so far. I stopped last night after my old lady got home. She is a very nosy woman. Always barging in my study without knocking. I really hate the woman sometimes."

"You'll finish today then?"

"Of course. My wife won't return until at least ten after her quilting club meeting."

"Good. Now where is the best spot to release them?"

Marissa took a calming breath and strode right in. "You know a school is not the best place to discuss your plans. Anybody could just walk right in and turn them upside down."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mrs. Rogers, is it not?" Beau asked.

Marissa turned to him with a calm look. "Indeed, I am she. And don't play the fool. You two know exactly what I am talking about." She poured herself a cup of coffee and plopped down in the chair across from Constance, a point where she could see both of them clearly.

"Surely you must be mistaken, ma'am," Constance quickly defended, paranoia deep in her mind. Marissa could almost feel it. "We have no plans whatsoever."

"Of course not," Marissa said sweetly, sipping on her coffee.

She could see in Constance's eyes that she thought she had won, but Beau was still eyeing her suspiciously. He moved closer to her.

"Maybe we do," he hissed quietly. "What's it to you?"

"Oh it's none of my business, of course. Hydra already knows everything about your plans. That's why they sent me."

"Hydra?"

"Yes, Constance Miller. Hydra. Baron Zemo, Red Skull, that business in the Forties with Captain America, any of that ring a bell? Hydra knows your plans and your background."

"Absolutely not! My juvie records are sealed!"

"Not to me, my dear little vandal. How did you get inside a locked church anyway without help? And why graffiti the cross? Oh, and you did steal a car when you were twelve."

"And my discharge from the Army? You know about that, too?" Beauregard asked.

"That nasty business with a Corporal Poirot? Yes of course Buford Beauregard. Of course you would want to exact your revenge. My question to you is why the brats here? The army base itself is a better target."

"Because we'd never make it inside."

"I am Hydra my dear. I can get inside with the click of a mouse. How do you think I found you so easily? That cyanide you filched, it wasn't heading for a chemical storehouse in Baton Rouge. That was a cover for a Hydra research lab here in the States. It was really headed for a ship off shore that would take it further North. Hydra originally sent me here to eliminate the threat and recover the stolen chemicals. Now that I know about these little plans of yours, I have been ordered to help you."

"Help us?" Constance asked.

"How?" Beau queried.

"Imagine the unlimited resources that Hydra has. We have a vast storage of chemicals that you could do all sorts of damage with. Ricin, nerve gases, poisons that you could barely dream of. And the super soldier serum that made a kid from Brooklyn into a hero, we have been working on that, too. And our intelligence resources are on par with the CIA and SHIELD. Trust me, it's a dream come true."

"Does your husband know that you are a foreign operative?" Constance asked.

"That Captain America wannabe?" Marissa scoffed even though she was flinching internally. "That poor sap was a sucker. He desperately wanted attention from a woman. I was ordered to get to the States by any means necessary. Soldier Boy was a means to an end. It was even better that he was related to the real Captain America. Surely you've noticed the resemblance?"

Beau took in the information silently, but Constance pressed her for more. "How long have you been married to him?"

"Six months. I even went through University to obtain a teaching degree to sell my cover. Then of course I stumbled upon you two when you stole that batch of chemicals. I talked him into moving down here so that I could follow my orders and investigate the theft further. So no, my husband has no idea he's married to a foreign operative."

Always be specific when you lie, Marissa thought. The mantra had been ingrained into her head since she was very young, still training to be the best little Hydra soldier. It still served her well as a SHIELD agent.

"We shall have to continue our conversation elsewhere. You are correct that this is no place to discuss our plans. There is a bar about five miles from here called the Soggy Bottom Gator Bar. You know the place?"

"Nein, but I can find it."

"I'll meet you there at eight o'clock Saturday night. We can talk more freely then."

"I look forward to it, Beau. Constance. Now I'd better get back before my husband starts to worry. Poor fool that he is."

Marissa put on a smile for good measure as she stalked out of the room much as she walked into it. She got two hallways down before she broke comm. silence.

"Did you get all of that, Cap?"

"Every single word of it. You were brilliant. You had me going for a while. I forgot it was an act for a moment."

Marissa grinned. "You do know that I didn't mean all of those insults that I shot off about you."

"Of course."

"Well, most of them," she couldn't resist jabbing back.

His stunned silence on the other end made her smile even wider.

Steve watched his partner as she perused the shelves for a movie to watch. Steve was helpless when it came to movies. He had never heard of most of them. Television had still been in its infancy when he went under. Now television was as common as radios were in his day.

"I'm guessing you don't want to see any movies about World War Two. Do you like John Wayne movies?"

"You know about John Wayne?"

"He made movies well into the seventies. He made a lot of good movies. My father let me watch one once. It was one about baby elephants."

"I watched Stagecoach when it came out in the theaters. It was great. What other movies did he make?"

"About a hundred or so more. I'll find a few for you."

She found The Quiet Man, Rio Bravo, and much to Steve's delight Stagecoach. She also selected a few films that she liked.

"The X-Files?" Steve questioned.

"It's a movie about a pair of FBI agents who search for the truth about the existence of extraterrestrials on Earth. There are also nine seasons of it on television and several books. I've read a few."

"Sounds interesting."

"It is."

Marissa and Steve paid for their movies and returned to their apartment. "So, what are we going to do about the meet?"

"I'm going of course. You'll be there to back me up. We'll have to disguise you though. Constance and Beau both know what you look like."

"All right. What did you have in mind?"

Marissa grinned. There was a strange glint in her eyes that Steve wasn't sure he liked at all. "I looked up the Soggy Bottom Gator Bar. It's a dive much like I expected. That's how we are going to dress. Casual but cautious. Hidden weapons. How would you like to wear a wig and some facial hair?"

Steve thought about it for a moment. "I've never wore my hair long. It wasn't the fashion in the Forties. Of course the military hated it altogether."

"I think we should disguise your face, too. How about a scar?"

"Okay."

"That part's settled then. Now, I want to watch one of these movies we bought. You want to make the popcorn and I'll get a movie started?"

Steve nodded and grabbed the popcorn box. Surely it was an easy task, right?

Steve had absolutely no idea how to work the microwave once he opened the box and noticed that the popcorn was microwaveable. He placed the bag in the microwave and pressed a button. And then another button.

"Marissa?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't get the microwave thingy to work."

Steve felt more than heard Marissa approach from behind him. "You need to hit the cook button then press three for three minutes. Then hit start."

Steve did as she instructed. "Thank you for teaching me."

"No problem."

Marissa was very close to him, close enough he could smell her shampoo on her hair. She smelled like strawberries. He liked it very much. He turned to face her. "I mean it. Thank you for being so patient with me, for helping me adapt to the Twenty-first Century."

He caught the surprise in her emerald eyes as she digested what he had said. "You're welcome, Steve. It's what's friends do."

"You consider me a friend now?"

"I do." She stepped away from him slightly. "Let's watch that movie now."

"Okay," Steve said, trying not to let his disappointment show that he could no longer smell her. "Which one did you pick?"

"I'm not telling, my dear husband." She took his hand and led him to the living room.

"We forgot the popcorn," he said when they entered the living room.

"Be right back. Don't go anywhere."

Steve nodded, watching her hips sway as she walked back to the kitchen. His hand still tingled from her touch.

And she smelled so good! Why hadn't he noticed before?

Steve shook his head and waited for his beautiful partner to return.

Author's Note:

I don't know who I feel sorrier for: Steve or Marissa. Next chapter sees Marissa reacts to the situation. How do you think she feels? Until next time!