4:30pm, Sunday, March 9, 2014
Natasha leans back into her chair, finishing up her peanut butter sandwich. They had to have their energy to go after SHIELD. "So, the question is, who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"
"Pierce. I guess that he was trying to tell me anything about him still being alive. Also sending the entire of Washington after us doesn't help his case for not looking suspicious" Steve pauses for a minute, "do you think the council's working with him?
Her mouth opens, brushing some hair off her face, "No, the council wouldn't cover him. I've saved a few of their lives, but we can't be sure. Besides Pierce is sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."
"Zola's algorithm had to be on the Lemurian Star, you see anything strange there"
Natasha wonders a minute, it clicks, "Jasper Sitwell. He was there, I thought it was a little weird since he's level seven." And they only know that much because after Ronnie helped them find out about Coulson, they became eligible to become level eights instead of six. Fury was pretty pissed but it's not like he can ever keep secrets from his grandkids. They might be better than Natasha at getting info out of people. "He might have information about this."
"So, the real question is how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight? It's not like we can walk out there if he's meeting with someone"
As Steve asks this, Sam comes out of his bedroom with a file. He drops it on the table.
"The answer is, you don't."
"What's this?" Steve asks, picking up the file.
"Call it a resume." Natasha takes the file from Steve. She knows what it is since she's basically a walking SHIELD database. Sam never mentioned it, she couldn't blame him about that though.
"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission. I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?" She asks him. She recognizes the picture of Riley from Sam's stories. It's unfortunate what happened out there but at least they were able to get the hostages. SHIELD had tried to get more info from the Air Force but they were pretty quiet about the whole thing. SHIELD was only able to find out that it was a project that got terminated after two tours. A lot of the soldiers were dealing with PTSD and it was becoming hard to take care of them in caves.
"No" He hands her another file with 'Exo-7 Falcon' written on the front, right next to 'confidential'. "These"
Steve looks over his wife's shoulder. A design of a jetpack with wings on it. "I thought you were a pilot."
"I never said pilot" Sam smiles, "so can I help?
"You got out for a good reason"
Sam gapes at him. "Dude, Captain Fricken America and the Black Widow need my help. There's no better reason to get back in. Plus, I'm also one of the few people who've been through the type of training for advanced combat. Also, nobody else knows how to use them."
"He's got you there babe." Natasha nudges Steve in the shoulder and smiles at Sam. "Where can we find one?"
"Last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."
Steve looks to Natasha, she shakes her head like breaking into a high security fort isn't a big deal. "Shouldn't be a problem. As for you getting Sitwell, it looks like I have to go call in a favor. You know what she's going to bargain with, yes or no?"
Natasha glares at her husband. "She's gonna dye her hair anyway. Just tell her that it's an international emergency." Sam laughs, going to get his jacket from his room.
"She might dye her hair because it's a national emergency"
"That's a nice pin" Senator Stern moves in so he can whisper in Sitwell's ear. "Hail HYDRA" He starts walking down the stairs with his security. His leg gets a sharp split going through it. "Should I get that checked out?"
"Yeah I think you should." Sitwell smiles as Senator Stern leaves. HYDRA loves him for getting another senator into the group. His phone buzzes, the id says 'Alexander Pierce' "I need a minute" he tells the other agents, "bring the car around." He answers his phone, "yes, sir?"
"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch?" Sam's voice rings through the phone "I hear the crab cakes here are delicious"
"Who is this?" Sitwell looks around. Nope, Cap and Widow aren't here.
"The good looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o'clock." Sitwell looks around to two o'clock. "Your other ten o'clock. There you go." Sam raises his glass to Sitwell.
"What do you want?"
"You're gonna go around the corner, to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. We're gonna take a ride."
Sitwell scoffs, "and why would I do that?"
"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up."
Sitwell looks down, a red laser dot is right above his heart. He looks around, making sure the agents didn't hear. He goes around the corner only to have a bag thrown over his head.
It's all dark until the bag is ripped off. He's staring at Steve. "Hey Cap. What's up?" Steve kicks the door open and pushes Sitwell through it, making him tumble onto the rooftop. Steve and Natasha walk side by side, closer to the ledge as Sitwell walks backwards.
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm" Steve demands.
Sitwell fixes his glasses as he looks behind him. "Never heard of it"
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?
"I was throwing up, I get seasick" the back of his knee hits the ledge of the rooftop. Steve grabs the agent by his shirt and lifts him up "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers." He says smugly, thinking that might save him.
"You're right." He puts Sitwell down "it's not" he brushes off Sitwell's shoulder pads "it's hers"
Steve steps back, liking the terrified look on Sitwell's face. Natasha kicks Sitwell in the stomach, making him fall off the roof.
"I forgot to ask before you left, how's Pepper doing?" Natasha asks casually, as though they just didn't kick a man off of a building.
"Good, she's keeping Tony in check. She and Jane are like best friends right now."
"Didn't Jane and Thor break up?"
Steve shrugs, "their relationship is more complicated then Tony and Pepper's, so I don't know"
They hear screaming come from overhead as Sam drops Sitwell onto the roof. Sam lands on the roof in the most badass way, his wings going back into the pack.
Steve and Natasha approach Sitwell and Sam makes sure he can't move backward "Zola's algorithm is a program...for choosing Insight's targets!"
Steve stops walking for a minute, hopefully Sitwell is very loose-lipped after being thrown off of a building. "What targets?"
"You!" He gestures as Steve and Natasha, "a TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city, a bunch of middle school kids in Midtown. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, Veronica Petrovich, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."
Steve, Natasha, and Sam look to the man. 'A bunch of middle school kids in Midtown' Steve sees the unknown glint in Natasha's eyes, a tell-tale sign that she's about to rip someone's head off. "The future? How could it know? What do kids have to do with this" Steve steps closer to him.
Sitwell laughs like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future. And those kids, they're some of the smartest children in the world. If we can't get them to join us, they're a threat."
"And what then?" Natasha asks and raises her eyes. Nobody hurts her kids. "What happens to them then?!"
"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me." Sitwell tries walking backward, but bumps into Sam.
"Not if I don't get to it first. What happens then?!" Natasha presses her hands around his neck, choking him just enough to allow him to talk. Steve doesn't even try to hold her back. It might not just be the triplets, but Ned, Peter, and MJ as well. They all have their names on the science awards. But what threat could they be now?
Sitwell tries swallowing a few times, trying to form a sentence while coughing. "Insight Helicarriers...off the list...few million at a time."
Natasha lets go of his neck. "Who the hell is Petrovich? I killed him years ago."
"It wasn't my place to ask." Sitwell grins. "Nice ring." he comments. He stares at Natasha's left hand that has the rings on it, showing. She slaps the side of his face, glaring at him. Steve grabs her hand and leads her down the stairs before she can attack him again. Natasha sits down on the steps.
"What if he's alive Steve? What if they've been back this whole time and I haven't caught him?"
Steve puts his arm around her shoulder. "Nat, it's the same last name, they may not even be related. And if they are, it could be his wife or daughter. We'll deal with that later though. The Red Room ruined your life once, I won't let it ruin anyone's, especially yours. But right now we need to deal with Insight." He gives her a kiss on the cheek. She goes out to help Sam get Sitwell into the car, and maybe punch him. Steve takes out his phone, scrolling through contacts until he finds the groupchat.
History 101
Stephanie America: Hi, one more thing, we need a timeline for Insight please. Please tell me that nobody has died yet.
Alexandra Einstein: Hey, we're all doing fine here. Insight is set to launch in sixteen hours, but there are manual controls in the control room in the Triskelion.
Ronald Tesla: Usually we could call in Coulson or May but they're dealing with someone called the Clairvoyant right now. We know that you and Mom are going to try to do something now, but right now you should get all the security you can cleared from Sitwell.
Henrietta Salk: Security at Meade wasn't great but it did have biometrics. Most of these new buildings do. Worst case scenario, Ronnie hacks into her own firewalls and program.
Ronald Tesla: Is it weird that that seems fun.
A bunch of forms of text that agree.
Stephanie America: I love you guys, keep safe.
Henrietta Salk: We will
Steve closes his phone again. There's so much relief whenever the triplets text him back. Now he has to go deal with HYDRA.
So when Pierce is talking to Bucky in the movie, he says that Nat and Steve are level sixes. In the elevator scene it says level eight. If Nat and Steve were level six, it would mean that they have lower access than Ward so I fixed it, they're level eights.