I was still regretting our little visit to Amsterdam a week later. While none of us had been arrested, it had been a wild few days. I don't think I'd ever drunk so much in my life and I was really glad the latest round of medicals and random drug testing were done a few weeks ago. Jared had insisted I had to have hash brownies since we were in Amsterdam. At the time we'd been day drinking so it hadn't taken much encouragement for me to do it. We overindulged in everything for a few days. When Coulson caught wind of what we were doing, Jared promptly went and got him and Audrey, giving them a few days of fun as well. We all needed the downtime it seemed. The luxurious holiday made it very hard to get motivated to go back to work though.
I'd spent more time lying on beside the mats of the gym than doing anything else this morning. Jared and Natasha were sparring with batons this morning. Our little trip to Amsterdam had put them back on normal terms. We all stayed in separate hotel rooms but I'm sure one of wasn't being used very much. Even Clint had hooked up with some girl we'd found in a bar out drinking one night. I was the only one not getting laid during our mini trip. Clint had been ecstatic that I brought his old house. When we came home and he found the Camaro in dark purple that he had always wanted, he hugged me so hard I got a bruised rib from it. Laura had cried happy tears when I told her I was buying their house so they didn't have to worry about it any more. Life was looking back on track again. Clint, Natasha, Jared and Coulson were heading to spend the weekend with Laura while Gareth and I had our last dirty weekend away together.
"Ouch." Clint grimaced next to me. I looked over to see Jared hunched over looking very winded.
"You're both welcome to come and be her dummy if you'd like," Jared's voice came out as a wheeze. "Dad promised to make those fuckers into extended Widow bites."
Natasha was twirling the batons in his hands, looking exceptionally pleased with herself. I'm pretty sure the batons were a result of a drunk or stoned conversation we had at one point. The entire trip was pretty fuzzy on details for me. It may have come from a phone call from Dad telling me my sniper rifle was ready for field testing and Natasha protesting about Dad never making anything for her.
I also think we had been extremely stoned for that conversation. I had a vague memory of Dad laughing hysterically during the phone call.
"Kari."
Rumlow's voice made all of us look up. Coulson was trailing a few steps behind him.
"I need your help with something." Rumlow held up a file. "Please."
At least the please wasn't added as an afterthought. Coulson was with him too so Rumlow wasn't doing something that was going to piss people off. I reluctantly got up off the floor and took the file from Rumlow. Without looking at the file, I gave Coulson my most pained expression.
"I'm meant to be leaving to Gareth's tonight," I said, hoping to wiggle out of this.
"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think you could get it done in time," Coulson said soothingly.
I knew there was no point in arguing about this. Coulson had his ways but I had a feeling this was going to be a very boring mission. I flipped open the file and started to read. It was a mission in Mozambique. I wrinkled my nose at thinking about how hot it would be there at this time of year. When I got to the part of what I'd be doing, both of my eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was a kill mission, the target was the man who'd been supplying the weapons to Aldon. SHIELD had received a tip from an outside source and finally tracked him down. According to the source, he was going to be in a very specific location very soon. One that would give me a clear shot at him.
My lips curled up into a smile, despite the bad timing of all of this. Coulson sure knew how to make my day. Now I knew why this wasn't being given to Clint or anyone else. Clint had been reading it over my shoulder and he looked just as smug about it as I was feeling.
"Jared can take you, he's done some work in that area before," Coulson said once I glanced up from my reading. "You can be in and out within an hour."
"Where are we going?" Jared asked, straightening up with a pained wince.
I handed him the file and Jared quickly skimmed through it with Natasha glancing over the top of it as well. Their reactions weren't much different to mine and Clint's. There was some very smug satisfactory amongst us all.
"I'll go get dressed." I pushed myself up off the floor, wincing at my joints popped. "Thanks for this."
The last part was aimed at Rumlow. If he was given the job, he could have easily given it to Tex and I'd be none the wiser about it. But he made the effort to come and give it to me instead. It went a long way to mending the strained relationship we'd had over the last few months.
"I figured you needed an excuse to field test your new toy," Rumlow said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Come and see me when you're done."
Those words were music to my ears. I'd been wondering when I'd be allowed to take my new sniper rifle out for a test. It gave a bounce in my steps as I walked out of the gym.
It didn't take me long at all to get dressed and check my new sniper rifle out of the armoury. Jared, Clint and Natasha had tagged along with me. Clint was doing his usual packing extra ammo onto me, while Natasha made me run through the schematics in my head. I'd be positioned on a building only 500 yards away. Whoever the source was, would bring the arms dealer into the room with a clear shot for me. All I had to do was take the shot and get out of there. I had an hour to get there and into position.
Once I was armed and ready, I took Jared's offered hand and the world dropped out for underneath us. A blast of hot air greeted us the next second and I opened my eyes.
"Do you want me to stick around?" Jared asked as I hiked up my sniper rifle on my shoulder.
"Nah, I'm good." I really was. This was such a simple mission, there was no need for Jared to stick around. "I'll text you when I'm done."
Jared gave me a nod and before I could blink, he was gone again. I flexed my neck from side to side, feeling the muscles relax. I let my invisibility slide over me and took off at a brisk jog. Sweat was dripping down my face within seconds, but I didn't mind. It was a bit of a strange feeling, being on a mission all by myself. After all this time, I was without adult supervision. It was a really odd feeling.
It didn't take me long to reach my perch. Whoever the contact was had picked everything out perfectly for me. I'd have to send him something nice for taking my sight lines into consideration. Once I was on the roof of the building, I had a perfect shot for miles in every direction.
I wiped my face as I let go of my invisibility. The small town was quiet in the afternoon sun. The house I'd been put on was deserted. I could have easily avoided people even without my invisibility. I set up my new sniper rifle, humming a nonsense tune under my breath as I went. Once I was set up, there was nothing to do but wait.
Peering through the scope, I found the room I'd be taking my shot to. The window was only covered by some flyscreen. It was such an easy shot I'm sure I could have even managed it with a bow. I chuckled to myself as that thought hit me. This time last year, there was no way in hell I'd even think about being confident to take this shot with a bow and arrow. Then again, this time last year I'd shot at an alien robot and been babysitting Tony Stark. I'd given up thinking whether my life could get any stranger than it already was. No doubt something weirder than before would come along eventually. I really hoped aliens wouldn't become a normal occurrence though. I don't think I could quite deal with that. Then again, if they were all as good looking as Thor, that might not be an entirely bad thing either.
My thoughts bounced around as I sat peering through the scope. For once, this wasn't the most boring thing ever. Time didn't drag by like it normally would. It only felt like minutes before the target came into the room, trailed along with a beautiful dark skinned woman. I couldn't read lips but their body language spoke this was all business. She came to stand to the side of the target, well out of the way. He shifted his body to obviously try and look intimidating. As he did, he lined himself up in my crosshairs. I didn't have to move or do anything.
I squeezed the trigger.
I was barely 300 yards away from the building. The shot travelled there within a second and the next, the target was on the ground. The dark skinned woman with him hadn't flinched when he dropped. She turned to my direction and gave me a thumbs up.
There was no wiping the grin off my face. Although it was no challenge to take that shot, I'd never felt so satisfied. It felt like a huge weight was off my shoulders. This was the last of the mess with Aldon to be cleaned up. It was all finally over. None of his connections were alive any longer. He would fade from everyone's memory and be forgotten. Like he deserved.
I reached into my pocket and sent Jared a smiley face. He was at my side before I could put the phone back in my pocket.
"That was quick," Jared said, giving me a nudge. "I want to see who the contact is."
I let Jared peer through the scope. It was adjusted for me so it took him some squinting to get some focus. He knew better than to fiddle with it for his own benefit. Once he did, Jared's handsome face split into a wide grin.
"Oh, you'll love this."
There was no chance for me to reply. Jared was gone. I shifted back to my scope, just in time to see the dark skinned woman smacking Jared on the arm. Jared looked like he was laughing hysterically, no doubt having scared her. But they knew each other well judging by the smiles on both their faces. Jared took her hand and the next moment they were both beside me on the rooftop.
"Kari, this is Nakia. Nakia, my sister Kari," Jared quickly introduced us. "Nakia is a Wakandan War Dog."
My greeting stuck in my throat as I stared in awe at the woman in front of me. To the outside world, Wakanda was a third world country. There was nothing third world about Wakanda. They had some of the most advanced technology in the world. Not to mention, the War Dogs were some of the best spies in the world. Jared and I had met the Prince, T'Challa, back when we were in school. He was older than us but equally as fascinated with us then we were with him.
"It's a pleasure," Nakia said warmly, extending her hand. "I have heard so much about you."
"The pleasure is all mine." I quickly broke from my stupor and shook her hand. "It's an honour really. You guys are like ghost stories."
I felt like an idiot as soon as the words left my mouth. Thankfully, Nakia laughed and shook my hand just as firmly as my own grip.
"You should hear the stories the Russians float about you," Nakia said with a wide smile. "A Black Widow and a Pale Spider. The nickname does not suit you despite your teammate."
"Yeah, I need something a lot more flattering than that." I couldn't help but laugh. I really hated that nickname I'd picked up from Yelena. "Preferably something that isn't an animal or an insect."
I instantly liked Nakia. She seemed like the type of person who would be similar to Natasha. Fiercely loyal and a lot of fun but nothing would help you if you got on her bad side. Our meeting was going to be too short and sweet for anything beyond our brief conversation. There was a commotion starting in the building where I'd shot the target. We were going to have to get out of here in a hurry.
"Ladies?" Jared held out both his hands. "I believe we had to make a quick exit. Should I drop you at the border, Nakia?"
I took the hint and quickly grabbed my sniper rifle. I loved that it was so light. I could snatch it up with one hand with ease.
"Please." Nakia took Jared's hand. "It's Shuri's birthday tomorrow so this will be a nice surprise for her."
I gave Jared a surprised look as I took his other hand. I barely knew where Wakanda was. It would be an interesting story to find out how Jared knew where to drop Nakia.
The world dropped out from underneath us and the next second we were standing at the edge of a lush forest. Nakia swayed on her feet for a moment before steadying herself. She shook her head briskly.
"No matter how convenient you are, I will never get used to that," Nakia said. If it was anyone else I would have expected her to look a little green from it. "Thank you for the lift and it was a pleasure meeting you Kari."
"Give the little Princess our birthday wishes," Jared spoke up before I could. He turned to the tree line and stuck his middle finger up, raising his voice. "Hi, W'Kabi. I know you miss me."
Jared quickly grabbed my hand and we teleported away before I could say anything else. I shook my head rapidly to clear the brief dizziness that came from the sudden teleport. We were back in the STRIKE locker room. It was empty which was usual for it being afternoon. Most of the guys would have been home now.
"What was that about?" I asked Jared as I put the sniper rifle down on the closest bench. There were days where I left like I knew nothing about Jared's life. "How do you know Nakia?"
"W'Kabi is head of the border tribe," Jared explained, grinning in delight. "The first time I dropped Nakia off there, he tried to arrest me for trespassing. It was only that I had Nakia that saved my ass. It's become a habit to try and piss him off then disappear. I've known Nakia for years. We crossed paths on a mission ages ago and occasionally run into each other. She's awesome. You two would get on way too well."
I grinned back at Jared for that comment. It was nice that he thought of me so highly that I'd get along with the people he knew. After all, being friends with Clint and Natasha had changed my life entirely. Jared had said on my first day of working with SHIELD that he thought me and Natasha would get along well. Despite the recent bumps in our friendship, he had been right there.
"You have the weirdest stories." Despite my grin, I shook my head at my twin. "I'm always surprised no one has shot you yet."
"Yeah, yeah whatever," Jared said, playfully rolling his eyes at me. "Do you want me to drop you at Gareth's?"
I glanced at the clock on the wall. I still had enough time to drive down there and not be too late. Then again, arriving early would be a nice surprise for Gareth. I doubted my debrief with Rumlow would take long. He would be just as keen for an early finish like everyone else on a Friday.
"Give me five to have a shower and debrief with Rumlow?" I asked. I had already packed for the weekend away so it wouldn't take me long. I had a decent change of clothes in my locker too. It would save me a lot of time instead of going back to my apartment.
"Sure, I'll take his back to the armoury." Jared grabbed my sniper rifle and before I could respond he was gone again.
He was being exceptionally helpful at the moment. Ever since the whole situation with Natasha had come to light, Jared was really going out of his way to not be a pain in the ass. I didn't let myself dwell on it. I had a quick shower and went straight up to Rumlow's office. The door was ajar so lightly rapped on it before pushing it open.
"Back already?" Rumlow looked surprised as I walked in.
"I am very efficient," I said smartly, shooting him a grin. "Do you want your debrief now?"
"Obviously. Make it quick. I have plans tonight."
I ran through my ridiculously short mission in less than two minutes at Rumlow's request. It was so straightforward that I probably could have typed out the mission report in the same amount of time. When I finished, I dropped my cocky exterior.
"Thank you for giving this to me," I added, giving Rumlow a genuine smile. "It means a lot."
"I know." To my surprise, Rumlow didn't brush me off. He gave me a tired smile back. "I was told by higher up to pass it to Copeland or Swanson, but I figured you deserved it more than anyone else."
"Why not Tex?" I asked curiously. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen the Alpha marksman around much these last few weeks. Not since I had field tested my new sniper rifle.
"Tex has failed two of his last psych sessions," Rumlow said with a heavy sigh. He suddenly looked even more tired than before. "He's off field duty until he can pull his shit together."
"Is he okay?" I was trying not to be nosy. But my curiosity wouldn't be satisfied until I knew.
"He's got some personal shit going on," Rumlow said with a shrug. "If you want to drop in and give him a smack around to sort him out, feel free."
"He might like that." I went for being a smartass instead of giving a proper answer. Poor Tex. He was having a rough year. Aldon's men had tortured him for fun on that horrible mission. He seemed to have bounced back from it, as far as I could see.
"He probably would," Rumlow laughed. It took away some of the stress lines creasing his face.
I hadn't noticed how tired and stressed Rumlow really looked. Now I was up close, something was obviously bothering him. Our friendship had been strained since the whole incident with Pierce trying to order me onto Alpha team I'd barely noticed him the last few months.
"I'm at my fuck buddy's place for the weekend, but we should do wings and beer at JoJo's when I get back." I missed my strange little friendship with Rumlow. This felt like a peace offering and I was more than happy to take it. Rumlow had been one of the first people to talk to me when I joined SHIELD.
"Still the Air Force guy?" Rumlow asked, his face brightening at the mention of beer and wings. "You're on. I'll even shout you a beer. Only one though."
"How generous of you." The sarcasm was heavy in my tone. I pulled a face at Rumlow for his overwhelming generosity. "Yeah, still the Air Force guy. He got posted to Hawaii though, so it's our last weekend together."
"That sucks." Rumlow gave me a sympathetic smile.
"It is what it is," I said simply. Even though I tried to be nonchalant, I felt a little tug in my chest. "I better get moving. I'll have the written report done for you by next week."
"Have fun on the weekend," Rumlow's tone was more his usual joking self now. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Wow, you've just left me with a whole new level of possibilities I can get into trouble for," I said cheekily. "I'm going."
Rumlow moved to swat me but missed by a mile. I left his office with the sound of him laughing. It might not fix the weirdness between us completely but it would go a long way to making things normal again. As I walked out, I sent Jared a text to let him know I was ready to go. He was by my side before I got to the elevator.
"Gareth's apartment or elsewhere?" Jared asked. He already had my bag I'd packed for the weekend away.
"Apartment."
Jared handed me the bag and without any teasing or a word of complaint, took my hand. The next thing I knew we were in Gareth's apartment. With a cheeky smile, Jared was gone. He was so handy when he wasn't being a pain in the ass.
"Gareth?" I called out around the seemingly empty apartment as I dropped my bag on the floor.
I was sad to see his little apartment mostly packed into boxes now. This apartment had some happy memories attached to it.
"In the bedroom," Gareth's voice carried through the walls. "You're early."
I followed his voice down the short hallway and found the bedroom door open. Gareth was standing at the bed folding clothes. There was already a few suitcases lined up against the wall. He was well and truly packed and ready to leave. Another pang of sadness hit me seeing the suitcases. As much as I was trying to avoid any feelings about this, it was now very real. I was going to miss him and whatever we were. Still, I put a smile on my face. Gareth looked happy to see me.
"Hey," I said, crossing the room. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss.
Gareth relaxed against me, kissing me back. He rested his forehead against mine, leaning against my touch.
"I'm glad you're here, I was about to go crazy if I had to keep packing," Gareth said with a quiet chuckle. "Why are you so early?"
"I had a mission," I explained. "A very quick one but Jared offered to drop me off so I wasn't too late for your farewell party."
"Hang on, let me check you for damage," Gareth teased me, pulling back and ran his hands over my body. "Wow, you're in one piece. If the guys weren't coming over for pre-drinks, I'd pull your clothes off for a thorough inspection."
"You could make it super quick." I grinned, pulling Gareth in for another kiss.
Just as I made the suggestion, the front door banged open and Gareth's name was called out. Gareth sighed in aggravation against my lips.
"You can make it up to me later." I gave Gareth a quick kiss. "Let's get these drinks started."
Just as we left the bedroom, another person came in and before long, Gareth's apartment was crowded with people over for pre-drinks. There were a few surprised looks thrown my way by those who didn't know me. By the time we were all ready to go out for dinner and more drinks, Gareth was looking a little worse for wear. I'd been nursing my drinks carefully. My poor body still hadn't quite forgiven me for the amount I'd drunk in Amsterdam.
We were halfway through dinner, Gareth and the guys from work were getting progressively drunker as the meal went on. I don't think I'd ever seen Gareth drink so much before. It was hilarious watching him. My phone vibrated with a call in my pocket and I was tempted to ignore it. It was only when I glanced at the screen and saw it was Grams that I excused myself.
The call had rung out by the time I managed to get outside, so I called her back instantly. It was really weird for Grams to call me. She'd mostly send texts or emails. My stomach knotted uncomfortably as the phone started to ring. What the hell happened for Grams to be ringing me? It picked up halfway through the first ring much to my relief.
"Hey, Grams," I said breathlessly. "Is everything all right?"
"Kari." Grams sounded suspiciously tearful. "I couldn't get a hold of Jared. Are you with him?"
"No, he's got spotty reception." The question did nothing to unwind the knot of nerves in my stomach. "What's wrong?"
"Dugan just passed away."
The words hit me like a kick in the stomach. Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan. The last of the Howling Commandos. Jared's childhood hero and a person who I knew he saw often. A lot more often than I went to visit Peggy. Right after Riley's death, I remember Peggy saying Dugan's cancer was back and he only had six months to live. He had far surpassed that, even though his cancer never went into remission.
This was going to hit Jared hard. I knew they spent at least one day a month sharing a bourbon together.
"I'll call him. I know where he's staying for the weekend." My voice came out a lot more choked up that I thought it would be. "Do you want me to send him there to get you so you can be with Peggy?"
Peggy was going to need a lot of support right now. I remembered when Jim Morita passed away a few years ago while I was still in the Air Force. It was a huge state funeral for a distinguished war hero. Dugan was one of the more popular Howling Commandos. His funeral was going to be a circus.
"Please." Grams sounded like she was barely holding back her tears. "Thank you."
Grams hung up and I found myself frozen in the spot looking at my phone in disbelief. I didn't know Dugan that well. But the stories of the Howling Commandos were such a huge part of my childhood. Now a piece of that was gone.
A few tears slid down my cheek as my fingers shook. I flicked through the phone until I found the number for the house line for Laura's place. This was really going to suck. Today had certainly been the highest of highs and right now it was looking to be sinking into a low mood.
Authors Note
Hello my lovely readers! Yes I am still alive. Surgery went well but my recovery didn't have me bouncing back quite as well as I wanted. But on the bright side, the surgeon found what was bothering me for all this time and now it's all gone! I just need to give myself time to heal and let myself recover. I had stage three endometriosis. it's a condition where the lining of your uterus grows on the outside of the uterus and on the internal organs. After years of dealing with excruciating pain and constant problems, someone finally listened to me. Ladies, don't ever let anyone tell you that any of your female problems are in your head and brush you off. The first surgeon told me that I had nothing wrong with me and I needed to see a psychologist for my anxiety which was the cause of my pain (and bleeding for six weeks at a time, still trying to work that one out). My second surgeon said all the first one had to do was move some ligaments and not even a blind man could have missed the amount I had growing in there.
This chapter is a bit on the short side. I had a few things I wanted to squeeze in there so I hope everyone enjoyed the little cameo as well. They are a lot of fun to make. There's a few more to come as well.
Again, I can't promise updates on a schedule. But I can make it through the day now without needing a nap so I'm hoping that will help with my writing.
Until next time.
