hope y'all are good! as always, enjoy :)

TWENTY TWO

Fury turned his head to look at a photo of Alexander Pierce.
"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize," he began to say. "He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
"We have to stop the launch," Natasha said, deciding to ignore Fury.
"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." He opened a case, revealing three chips.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"Once the Helicarriers reach three-thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized," Maria explained.
"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own," Fury elaborated.
"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work because even if one of those ships remains operational a whole lot of people are gonna die."
"We have to assume everyone abroad those carriers is HYDRA. We need to get past them, insert the server blades, and maybe, just maybe we can salvage what's left."
"We're not salvaging anything," Steve said. He was smouldering. Gemma found it attractive. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down SHIELD."
"SHIELD had nothing to do with it," Fury told him. Steve huffed.
"You gave me this mission," Steve reminded him, "this is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."
"And how many paid the price before you did?" Steve asked bitterly. Gemma swore she saw Fury roll his eyes.
"Look, I didn't know about Barnes."
"Even if you did, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."
"He's right," Maria agreed. Fury looked at Gemma, then Natasha, then Sam.
"Don't look at me," Sam said. "I do what he does, just slower."
"Well," Fury said slowly. "Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

Gemma had no idea where Maria had procured the suit from, but Gemma loved it. The sleeves were quarter length, allowing space for the whips. It was very comfortable, too, like a second skin.
"Hey," Natasha called, causing Gemma to turn around. "Are you sure you want to do this?" The redhead was in the doorway, a frown etched on her face.
"Natasha, I am okay," Gemma reassured. "Look, do you know what rule number one is?" Natasha shook her head. "Never screw over your partner. Rule fifteen? Always work as a team. You getting shot was not playing to our strengths."
"I'm sorry I freaked." Natasha scrunched her nose, feeling uncomfortable. "It's just that last time you got shot, Steve freaked out. Big time. It was weird for me."
"That turns me on a little bit, I'm not gonna lie," Gemma said earnestly. Natasha laughed. "But, I'm not the one that leapt onto the killer assassin."
"Okay, fair point."
"Oh, have you two kissed and made up?" Maria interrupted, peeking her head into the room. "Let's go."

"I'm so excited. Is that weird?" Gemma asked Maria. They were headed into SHIELD.
"You must be so fun drunk," Maria responded.
"Not when you're the only one sober," Steve said.
"Oh, come on. You love drunk Gemma," Gemma said teasingly. "Which one's your favourite?"
"Nine drink," Steve answered, without missing a beat. "And also one drink."
"I feel like I'm missing out on an inside joke," Sam muttered.
"Natasha will be more than happy to explain," Gemma told him, grinning. Maria shushed them.
"Guns up," she whispered. As the doors opened, Steve blocked the door, Gemma, Sam and Maria stood around him.
"Excuse us," Steve said. The tech who'd opened the door held his hands up, allowing them entry. Maria took over one of the computers, handing over a microphone to Steve.
"Attention, all SHIELD agents," he started. "This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days…" As he spoke, Gemma leaned over to whisper to Sam.
"It's kinda sexy when he does this."
"Where does he come up with this?" he asked. Gemma shrugged in response
"I think it's a given." They waited until Steve stood up again.
"Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?" Sam asked him. Steve smiled.
"They're initiating launch," Maria told Steve, observing something on the monitor.
"Let's go," Sam said. Maria turned to Gemma.
"Whilst we have time, you and Captain?" Maria raised her eyebrows.
"That is not the focus here," Gemma told her. "But I will say Natasha is a scheming son of a bitch."
"Oh, the bet? Yeah, that makes sense."
"Did everyone know about this bet but us? What were the odds on this bet?" Maria smiled, turning back to the monitor.
"Falcon, status?" she asked. Gemma guessed Steve had already put the first one in.
"Engaging," he responded. "Alright, Cap, I'm in."
"Eight minutes, Cap," Maria added.
"Working on it!"
"Is it weird I feel I should be out there?" Gemma asked. "I feel a bit useless."
"Yeah, that's because Nat asked me to keep you with me," Maria admitted, turning her head to look at Gemma.
"Are you gonna keep me here?" Maria smiled.
"Alpha locked!" Steve said through comms.
"Falcon, where are you now?" Maria asked, observing the monitors again.
"I had to take a detour!" It was a little bit of time before Sam spoke again. "I'm in. Bravo locked."
"Two down, one to go. So, where the hell did Cap find Sam anyway?"
"Running. I guess that's how Steve made friends in Washington."
"That makes them both sound lonely." Gemma smiled as Maria found something on the monitors. "Charlie Carrier's forty-five degrees off the port bow. Six minutes," she added, both her and Gemma noticing HYDRA agents heading towards the two girls. They shot at one each.
"This is fun. Girl talk," Maria joked. "We're bonding." Something else on the monitor caught Maria's attention. "Hey. Rumlow's headed for the council. I'll send Sam too."
"I'm on it."

It was easy enough for Gemma to get to where Rumlow was headed; most of the HYDRA agents were elsewhere, allowing Gemma a pretty fight-free journey. Gun up, she pushed through the double doors, only revealing Sam.
"Hey, man," she greeted, moving to the other side of the doors.
"We'll try the element of surprise." It wasn't long before Rumlow did come through the doors. Gemma attempted to shoot at him, but he grabbed her arm, knocking it out of her hand, then flipping her down. Sam went at him, but not before also being knocked down.
"This is gonna hurt," Rumlow started to say, taking off his vest. "There are no prisoners with HYDRA, just order. And order only comes through pain. You two ready for yours?" Sam and Gemma shared a look.
"Man, shut the hell up," Sam said, taking the first swing. Rumlow blocked it but aimed at Sam. As they went at it, Gemma loosened one whip, cracking it to grab Rumlow's attention. She moved it at him, successful getting at his face, but then he grabbed the end of it, pulling it so that Gemma was suddenly in his grip. She stepped down hard on his foot, but Rumlow held her to him, one arm around her throat pressing her against him.
"On second thought, maybe I'll take you as a spoil of war," he said. The way he whispered into Gemma's ear unlocked an instinct in her she'd forgotten about. She went limp, harmful memories racing through her mind. She sensed Sam move at Rumlow, and it was a moment later before he got her attention again.
"Gemma!" Sam yelled. Just as fast as she went, Gemma went back to life, swinging and then pushing hard into Rumlow's stomach, forcing him to let her go. Sam took another swing, successful before Rumlow threw him across some computers. Gemma grabbed her discarded whip, sharing a look with Sam.
"You're both out of your depth," Rumlow said, but both Gemma and Sam were distracted by a Helicarrier smashing into the building. With another shared look, they turned and started running. Sam yelled into his comms.
"Please, tell me you got that chopper in the air!"
"Sam, where are you?" Gemma heard Natasha's voice.
"We're on the 41st floor, north-west corner!"
"We're on it. Stay where you are."
"Not an option!" Gemma shouted. With one final look to each other, they burst through the window, miraculously landing in the helicopter. Natasha grabbed both of them, Sam almost falling through the other end. The pair stayed on the floor of the helicopter, breathless. Gemma rested her head against Natasha's leg.
"41st floor!" Sam exclaimed. "41st!"
"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury responded.
"Hill, where's Steve?" Gemma asked, tapping into the comms. "You got a location on Cap?" After a moment, they got a response.
"Yes," she said, rattling off a destination to Fury. Gemma didn't hear it, she was just relieved Steve was okay.