I stood in the corner of the room being used to interrogate our unknown assassin. My own posture mirrored Rumlow, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. We both looked casual enough that you could easily mistake this as a friendly chat. I was dying to know who this woman actually was. There'd been no time for any of us to get changed. We got out of the hotel and to a SHIELD safe house as soon as she was cuffed. The ride over here had been a blur. The woman across from us had said nothing. The only sound she'd made was when Rumlow yanked the knife out of her thigh. Even then it was little more than a grunt.

She had the type of face who could blend into a crowd easily. She wasn't stunning not was she ugly. She simply had a face who'd you'd forget the second you walked away. There was nothing to make her stand out. For most women, they would find that a curse. But for the assassin, it would have made her line of work very easy.

Rumlow strode forward as soon as she was finished being chained to the table. It looked like overkill with the amount of cuffs she had on. Both her legs were cuffed separately to a chair leg. Her hands were cuffed together with a chain from the table leading up to both cuffs. However, if she was Red Room like I suspected, it was probably enough cuffs to keep her contained. For the moment anyway. The man she had a date with was being questioned by a few of Rumlow's other guys.

"That was a ballsy move back there," Rumlow started as he lent on the table across from her. "Take out a member of the World Security Council in a public place. I respect anyone who has the courage to do something like that."

Not even a twitch for the compliment. Her blue eyes locked onto the wall past Rumlow's shoulder and didn't waver. I'm not sure she blinked the entire time Rumlow was speaking to her.

"I'm sure your English is perfectly acceptable," I switched to Russian to see if I could get a reaction out of her. Nothing. Not even a bored sigh. "Fine. Smile for the camera then."

I raised Rumlow's phone and snapped a photo of her face. There was no point running this woman through facial recognition. It would take too long and Rumlow doubted we'd get anywhere with it. However, if I was right about her, Natasha might know who she was. I sent the photo to Natasha and called her as soon as it was sent. She answered within 3 rings.

"This better be fucking good Rumlow." Natasha sounded like I'd woken her up.

"Yeah, it is because it's me," I said and kept going before she could say anything else. "I sent you a photo. Do you recognize her?"

There was a long pause and a rustle on the other end of the phone. As I waited, I watched Rumlow through the window. He was still talking to the assassin who hadn't moved from her previous position.

"That's Tatiana Sokolov." The frown was clear in Natasha's voice. "She was 2 years younger than me. How did you catch her?"

"She moved like you." I looked back at Tatiana sitting across from Rumlow. "When I pretended to bump into her she side stepped around me and caught my glass like it was nothing. She glared at me expecting me to apologize then went for her gun when she realized I wasn't who I seemed."

"You are my clone, my work here is done." Natasha sounded so smug. The move had been one she had told me about when you have a suspect in the room. Anyone with decent training would have the reflexes to catch the glass. If it wasn't the suspected person, then all you had to do was act drunk and apologetic for spilling your drink on them. Her tone turned serious again in the next breath. "Has she talked?"

"No." I shook my head, even though Natasha couldn't see it. "I was hoping you could help with that."

What was going to come next probably wasn't going to be pleasant. I still wanted to scrub myself with bleach every time I remembered my introduction to interrogation with Dante.

"She hated me," Natasha said. I could imagine her scrunching up her nose right now. I hated digging up these memories of her training. "She was one of Yelena's little pets."

That sent a cold shiver down my spine. Yelena hadn't been seen or heard from since Pripyat. There was a part of my mind that knew she wouldn't hesitate to send in someone to try and fuck with us again.

"This isn't Yelena though." Natasha stopped the train of thought from running away from me. "It's not her style and if she doing it to bait us, she'd do it herself. The bitch has too much of an ego to send in anyone else."

I chewed my lip was listening to Natasha, trying to think of how to ask what I needed. The thought of using someone's deepest fear against them to break them was making my skin crawl. I felt nauseous at the thought of it. I used my free hand to rub my arm to ward off the goosebumps on my skin. It had nothing to do with being cold either.

"I know what your question is going to be." Natasha's next words were firm. "You use what I'm about to tell you and don't hesitate. This woman will kill you if she senses a moment of weakness. I know you don't like it but I'll take you our for margaritas and nachos again when you get home to unwind."

Fuck, the last time we had margaritas and nachos I'd been hungover for 2 days. Though I'd been able to lie on the couch and Stark's workshop and wish to die. Natasha had to fly to New York the next day and had fobbed her hangover off as minor food poisoning.

"No tequila this time. " I shuddered at the memory. That had been the worst hangover of my life.

"No tequila," Natasha promised. "All right, are you ready for this?"

Not really.

"I am."

5 minutes later I was striding back into the interrogation room.

"Tatiana Sokolov," I said as soon as I was in the door. I handed Rumlow's phone back to him as I perched on the edge of the table. "Not your favourite name, I know. You always preferred something plainer, like Tanya."

"How clever of you." The sarcasm came through loud and clear as Tatiana shifted her bored gaze to me. "Did that traitorous bitch Natalia tell you that?"

Natasha was wrong when she said Tatiana hated her. The way she said Natasha's name sounded like it was pure poison. After being ignored by Tatiana it was creepy having her full attention on me now. Her eyes ran over my face and body as if she was analyzing me. It was like the cold stare of Yelena from all those months ago. I had to suppress my shudder as I felt like I was being laid bare open to her.

"Of course she did." I pushed her penetrating stare from my mind. I couldn't be thinking of Yelena or comparing the two right now. "She did train me after all. How do you think I caught you so easily?"

Tatiana's gaze shifted to pure hate. If looks could kill, I would be dead on the spot.

"Then you know no matter what you do, you'll never get you want from me," Tatiana said, venom dripping from her voice. "You may as well put a bullet in me right now."

Natasha had warned me of this. Despite Tatiana's blank emotion, I knew it was a lie. Tatiana had a few weakness to exploit. She'd very much want to keep living based on the stories I heard. The woman in front of me was a fighter.

"Where's the fun in that?" I said with an icy smile. I creeped myself out with that smile. "Besides, you well know there are worse things than death."

The change in Tatiana was instant. Gone was the hateful expression and a flicker of fear crossed her face. It disappeared as quickly as it came on and with a sniff of indignation, she went back to no expression at all.

"Last chance," Rumlow spoke up for the first time since I went back into the room.

Tatiana rolled her eyes but said nothing. It was boring and predictable of us. Though there wasn't really anything else I could say. We all knew she'd never give up the name of whoever put the contract out. Not without a great deal of persuasion. Luckily for me, Natasha had given me two very valuable pieces of information. Otherwise, we'd be here for weeks again. The downside to those two pieces of information, both of them made my skin crawl on what I had to do.

"Fine." I stood up again at her silence. "We'll be back in a minute."

It felt odd that Rumlow was taking my lead on this. He silently followed me out of the room.

"What do you need?" Rumlow asked as soon as the door clicked shut.

"A bathtub, as big as we can find." I reached up to rub my bare arms. "There are only two things that woman is scared of."

Rumlow raised his eyebrows looking at me expectingly. I knew this had to be done but it was making me feel so dirty for using someone's worst fears against them. The shitty thing was, only I could be the one leading this. The champagne and canapés from earlier were sitting in my stomach uncomfortably. I wish my earlier bravado was back with me. Things would be easier if I could simply trust myself to do a good job. If this had been a sniper shot, I would have found it so much better. Interrogation and torture just felt wrong.

"One is other women holding power over her." Admitting that made me have to swallow back bile hastily.

The story behind it, though brief in detail was a horrifying one. Some of the older girls in the Red Room liked to make the younger ones their personal slaves in return for small privileges. When Tatiana had been younger she'd refused the advances of one of the older girls. The older girl had pushed Tatiana into a frozen pond in retaliation. She'd nearly drowned but one of the instructors saved her at the last second. It had been so cold the pond has frozen over again within minutes of Tatiana struggling in it. The instructor had left it until the last second to get her out and Tatiana had nearly died from the resulting pneumonia that followed. After that, she'd become one of Yelena's pets simply for protection. While she hated it, Tatiana wasn't dumb. She knew her chances of survival depended on it.

"And the other is she's terrified of frozen bodies of water, specifically one she's trapped under." I finished. "Which is why I need a big bathtub. Don't fill it up yet though."

"I'll go organize it." Rumlow was all business, he gave my shoulder a firm squeeze. "Do what you have to do."

This was a big thing Rumlow was trusting me with. I really appreciated his silent support for letting me get on and do what was needed to do. He didn't argue with me or point out I was completely under qualified to do this. He was taking everything in his stride with a nod and getting what I needed.

I walked back into the room and steeled myself for what I was about to do. I couldn't let her see a glimpse of weakness about this. I had to be cold as ice and later I could scrub myself in bleach and drown out the unpleasant memories this was going to bring up with a good scotch.

"So it's just you and me," I announced as I walked over to the table. "Let's get comfortable and have a little chat."

Tatiana rolled her eyes at me and shifted her gaze to the ceiling. She heaved out a bored sigh.

"Yeah, I know, blah, blah blah." I circled the chair so I was standing behind her. "Nothing is going to scare you or make you talk. Believe me, I've heard it all before."

I placed my hand on her bare upper arms, slowly rubbing them up and down her skin. Tatiana instantly stiffened under my touch. I made sure to stay away enough so she couldn't headbutt me.

"You know," I continued when I didn't get a response, not that I was expecting one. "That leg wound looks nasty, I should take a closer look at it."

Without waiting for the nonverbal response I knew I'd be getting, I bent down and grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked it up. Like anyone in her profession, she was well muscled and had shapely legs. I made sure I lingered my hands on her skin like I'd done with her arms. It made me extremely uncomfortable as I did it. By the way, she was straining to get away as far away from my touch I didn't doubt she was as uncomfortable as I was feeling.

"That looks nasty," I cooed in a voice which creeped me out. I sounded far too much like Yelena the way I said it. "Does it hurt?"

"Why?" Tatiana's voice came out strained. "Do you want to kiss it better?"

I glanced up at her face. The only sign she was uncomfortable was her squirming in the seat and a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead.

"No, there's better places I can kiss." I let the innuendo hang heavily in my tone. "I'm sure you know that only another woman can please another woman. Don't you think?"

There was no reply from her. I stood up again, leaving her thigh exposed right up to the line of her panties.

"You know, I could make things much more comfortable for you," I said, circling back to behind her. I kept my hand on her at all times, caressing her skin. "We both know this will end in a prison cell for you. There's no question about that. But I can call in some favors and give you whatever you need."

I hated the words coming from my mouth. I was sure I'd need to bleach my hands along with my brain after all this was through. Every inch of her bare skin was covered in goosebumps. I'd bet good money on it not from her being excited or cold either. Maybe I would need that tequila to go with the margaritas and nachos.

Tatiana snorted at my offer. Her eyes fixed firmly on the wall in front of her. My part here was up. I only had to do enough to make her uncomfortable and the next part should tip her over the edge.

"Shame." I leant forward and used my most seductive tone in her ear. "Unlike all the other idiots in the world, I see a gorgeous woman in front of me."

"I see how you got ahead in your job now." Tatiana jerked away from me as far as she could. "I bet you and Natalia make a pretty couple. These buffoons would love seeing you two together. The Black Widow and her pretty Pale Spider. Yelena told me all about you."

Pale Spider, that was a new one. It seemed fitting considering who I trained with.

"I bet she did." I pushed a smirk on my face, though Tatiana couldn't see me. "Did Yelena like the bullet I put into her shoulder?"

"You should have put it in the bitch's head." Tatiana's blunt words made me raise an eyebrow in surprise. Natasha had said they were at least allies. "The psycho cunt gives the rest of us a bad name."

This was a distraction ploy. I could see it a mile away. Part of me wanted to let my curiosity get the better of me and find out what she knew about Yelena. But I knew I couldn't tread down that path, no matter how tempting it may be.

"I will next time." I pressed a brief kiss on the back of Tatiana's next. At the contact of my lips, her entire body shot forward as far as her restraints would let her. "I'll be back."

She stayed in the same rigid position as I left the room. It wasn't until I was well and truly clear and watching her through the one-way window did she breathe. I couldn't hear the long shuddering breath, but it was hard to miss. She looked close to hyperventilating for a few moments until she got herself under control. Despite what she had done, I knew her fear all too well. It was one of the last things I remembered as one of the idiots who drugged me in the Air Force grabbed me. The fear that cut so deep you could feel it in your bones. It was paralyzing and there was nothing you could do to override your basic human instinct.

"I'm guessing she didn't talk?" Rumlow's voice made me jump.

I'd been so preoccupied with Tatiana and my own memories I hadn't heard him coming.

"No." My eyes stayed on the woman in the room. She was under control again and staring ahead at the blank wall. Besides the sweat that had gathered on her forehead, she looked the picture of control.

"You all right?" Rumlow asked as he came to stand beside me.

"Not really." I gave him a wavering smile and a small shake of my head. "I don't understand why I can't fill her up with truth serum. It would be easier."

"Because truth serum gives people heart attacks when they're under stress." Rumlow gave me a strange look. "We don't use it anymore. Where did you get that idea from?"

Just you fucking wait until I get home Barton and Romanoff. Neither of them told me that when they stuck me with truth serum early in my training. No wonder Coulson was pissed when he found out about it.

"Later." I shook my head, pushing the memory away. That felt like a lifetime ago. "Let's get this over and done with."

"You've got the lead. I'll follow. She's all yours."

Rumlow's determined tone gave me the second wind I needed to do this. All Rumlow had to do was nod at one of his guys waiting in the corridor and the group of armed to the teeth STRIKE members went into the room. No one was gentle with Tatiana as she got yanked to her feet. The woman was steady on her feet, despite the deep stab wound. It must have been hurting because by the time we were in the next room, she was sweating heavily and the blood was freely flowing from the wound.

The men roughly shoved her into position, having her standing at the bottom of the bathtub. It was only a standard one. She was going to have to be folded up to fit in it properly. At least she wasn't my height, that could make things very uncomfortable for her.

"Last chance Tatiana," I said, standing in the doorway. "Who hired you?"

Nothing. Part of me envied her ability to appear completely calm on the surface.

"No?" I asked, watching her for any sign she was going to waver. Her training shone through as I stared at her expressionless face. "All right then. Throw her in."

This time Tatiana did struggle. She fought against the strong men holding her back. The 6 of them quickly turned into 8, including Rumlow as she fought like a caged animal. One of them got a bloody nose for his work but they managed to get her into the tub. Her limbs were yanked around in uncomfortable angles to make her fit so her head was going to be under the water level when the tub as full. It was only when a large brick was placed on her chest did she stop struggling. The look of pure hatred was clear on her face as I walked around to the tap.

"There's a little something about me that I don't tend to show off much." I kept my tone casual as I lent down and turned the cold tap on. The water pipes groaned for a second before the icy water came spilling out. I kept it on deliberately slow to draw this out. "If you've talked to Yelena since I last saw her, I'm sure you know."

Nothing again. Just a venomous look as Tatiana stared at me.

"I have this little ability." I turned the palm of my hand upwards. "Some call it a gift. SHIELD like to call us Enhanced. The real of the world uses the term mutant."

Tatiana's eyes shifted to my palm as I let the moisture in the air gather around it. A moment later, the ice started to form a perfect ball.

"It's handier than you think." I casually dropped the ball of ice into the already cold water. "Do you know that I can freeze over a person's body in about 3 seconds? It's surprisingly easy to do since the human body has so much moisture to use."

That was a lie. I'd kill the two guys back at my Squadron by freezing them over. Clint had theorized that I could actually use the body's natural moisture sources against them and kill someone very effectively without having to coat someone's body in inches of ice.

"So." I bent down and trailed my fingers through the water. Tatiana's eyes followed me the entire time. It was easy to make little bits of ice trail through the water with my fingertips. "While I hear freezing to death is a rather peaceful way to go. I imagine drowning under a sheet of ice isn't quite so pleasant."

That got her attention. We all had our fears and Natasha had been right about Tatiana's. Her face went pale under her now smudged makeup. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as she stared at me. Gone was the hateful look. It was only for a few moments but her face became someone who wasn't a trained killer. It was someone who was a fighter and had realized that their worst nightmare was about to become reality again. She looked very young and vulnerable as our eyes locked.

"A name. That's all I want." I tried again hoping a little fear might make her talk.

Tatiana started to shiver. I could see her lips turning blue already as I kept trailing lines of ice through the water. Despite her shivering, the sweat was running down her face. Her lips remained sealed as the water slowly got higher in the tub.

"Whether I talk or not isn't going to make a difference," Tatiana said through her chattering teeth. "A name isn't going to change what will happen."

I glanced over to Rumlow to see if he knew what the hell that meant. He raised an eyebrow in return and shook his head ever so slightly.

"It'll mean you won't freeze to death in a bathtub," I said bluntly, turning back to her. "The name shouldn't mean anything to you any longer. If you give us the name the rest of your life is going to go a hell of a lot smoother. If not, enjoy your last few minutes on this Earth."

Tatiana's stare didn't waver from me. The only sound in the room was the water splashing into the bathtub. The seconds ticked by as the tub slowly filled up. As the water started to crawl up Tatiana's neck, I broke the silence.

"If you change your mind, tap the ice 5 times."

I turned the water on harder and stood up. I stood over Tatiana and simply watched as the water rose up. Tatiana tipped her chin back as the water reached her face. Her breathing was getting heavier with every second going by. She sucked in one huge lungful of air as her mouth got covered. Her nose was the last thing to go under a few seconds later.

As soon as her face was covered, I turned the tap off. I bent down and put my hand an inch above the water. I took my own deep breath as I let my power gather on my fingertips. It was hard to get the ice to hover just above the water. It took a lot of concentration to not let my power take over and freeze the whole body of water. The ice settled above Tatiana with no room to let her have a pocket of air.

I could hear her already struggling under the sheet of ice. There were dull thumps against the side of the bath echoed in the quiet room.

"How long are you going to leave her under there?" Rumlow asked. I glanced over at him standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed and looking completely at ease.

"Until she taps." I stared at her blurry figure moving under the inches of ice. From what Natasha told me, Tatiana would crack. If not, I'd just sentenced someone to death and become the executioner.

"And what if she doesn't?"

I had no answer to that. I had to believe I'd done the right thing here. Rumlow wasn't stopping anything so at least I knew he had some confidence in what I was doing.

The seconds dragged by and I couldn't take my eyes off what I'd done in front of me. Natasha had once told me the Red Room was all about pushing limits. One of those things was they were very hard on the girls holding their breath for a long as humanly possible. It made them less likely to panic when being waterboarded. It's why I knew I could leave Tatiana as long as possible under there.

The struggles in the tub grew quieter. I held my breath as everything in the room went silent a few moments later. The silence was near deafening as I stared at the figure under the sheet of ice. It was hard to see, but I'm sure she'd finally stopped moving.

"Fuck." I took a step forward as I inwardly cursed my own cockiness. I'd just killed a very valuable suspect. I was going to be in so much trouble. A noise from the tub stopped me mid stride.

It was faint, but there it was. 5 taps on the ice in rapid succession. There was no mistaking it. In my second of hesitation, the 5 quick taps came again, louder this time. I crossed the distance to the tub and put my hand on the ice. I pushed my power into, taking care not to freeze anything else in the tub. A second later, it shattered underneath my hand. Rumlow was at the head of the tub in an instant and yanking Tatiana above the water line.

She came up gasping and coughing. Her lips were blue and I don't think I'd ever seen someone so pale before.

"Aldon Machar," Tatiana said through her chattering teeth. She stopped to cough a few more times.

I took pity on her and pushed her forward a little so she could clear her chest better. Underneath my hand, I could feel her struggling to get her breath back. Her heart was pounding so fast, I could see the pulse point in her neck jumping out with every rapid beat. Even though she wasn't showing it, she was terrified. Her eyes were closed and there was a look of utter defeat on her face. It made me wonder if this is what Clint saw all these years ago when he had Natasha at the end of an arrow. A scared and lonely person who didn't want the life they were thrust into. But they really didn't want to die either. There was still a person under all those years of training and conditioning.

"Where is he?" Rumlow asked. I looked over at Rumlow to see him frowning. The name was vaguely familiar to me. I'm sure it was the War Lord Bravo team had been trying to track down.

"Last I heard the border of Syria and Iraq." Tatiana was being very cooperative. She bent forward and had a few more deep hacking coughs. "Get me out of this tub and I'll tell you everything I know."

"One wrong move and you go straight back in there." Rumlow warned. The hardness in his voice wasn't giving any doubts that it would happen too.

Tatiana nodded her consent. Her body didn't cooperate when Rumlow pulled her out of the tub. Her limbs looked half frozen still as she tried to get her footing. Rumlow was at least kind enough to let her get her footing and bearings before pushing her down into the chair in the room. Tatiana didn't make a move as Rumlow re-cuffed her to the chair. She sat there, shivering violently. I could hear her teeth still chattering from across the room. Her wet dress clung to her body, no doubt adding to her discomfort. I went to the door and stuck my head out the door. Gibson was standing guard.

"Can we get a blanket?" I asked him in a low voice. "We don't need her catching pneumonia."

Laura would smack me for that comment. I could almost hear her lecturing me now about being cold had nothing to do with getting sick. Gibson didn't argue though, he nodded and went off to find the item. It only took a minute for him to come back with a thick quilt and a survival blanket as well.

"Thanks." I took the offered items and went back inside. Tatiana was coughing again, deep, wet hacking coughs. It sounded awful. I draped the survival blanket around her first, then the quilt. I expected a snarky comment but she said nothing. I did see her clutch at the blankets as much as her hands would allow her.

"Aldon Machar," Tatiana said with a sniff as soon as I stepped back from her. "He's not what he seems. How do you think he's able to move so quickly and unseen?"

I glanced at Rumlow, coming up blank with the answer. The guy was reported to have a 200 strong mercenary army with him. No one had any idea how he was able to move so quickly and quietly. The only way he could possibly do it is if he had some kind of power.

"He's Enhanced?" I asked, my stomach twisted uncomfortably at that thought. Men like Aldon were bad enough without any type of abilities. He slaughtered anyone who stood in his way. So far SHIELD had nothing on his motives, it seemed like he simply enjoyed causing chaos.

"He can manipulate people's into doing what he wants." Tatiana's gaze shifted to me. "He has to touch someone to make it happen. But he made it quite clear during our meeting what would happen to me if I didn't take his contract or if I failed."

Tatiana was choosing the lesser of two evils. Whatever it was that Aldon threatened her with must have been good to rattle her. No wonder she had talked, even if it had taken some hard persuasion to make her do so.

"And what was that?" Rumlow didn't look convinced.

I didn't blame him. Someone like Tatiana could be feeding us a lot of lies and we wouldn't know the difference.

"He told one of his soldiers to pull the pin on a grenade and put it in his mouth." Tatiana shuddered visibly, this time not from the cold. "The man did so without hesitation. I made sure I kept my distance after that."

Even Rumlow flinched at the brutal image. My stomach churned uncomfortably yet again. After this was finished, I'm sure I was going to puke.

"What does Aldon want?" Rumlow asked, crossing his arms again. "And how do we know this isn't a trap? Or you're speaking bullshit to save your own ass."

"Go and see for yourself," Tatiana said stiffly before rattling off a set of coordinates. "He's so convinced he is untouchable, he's not hiding his presence. He wants what all people crave. Power, wealth and a kingdom to call his own. He'll burn the world down if he has to."

Typical. I had to resist rolling my eyes. Why is it that the bad guys were all usually power tripping nut jobs? This one was worse because he could force people to do what he wanted.

Rumlow looked at Tatiana for a long moment before turning on his heel and leaving the room. Tatiana's attention turned back to me. She looked bored with everything going on here.

"You gave in quicker than I thought you would," I said to her. I was torn between being impressed at how stoic she was and downright suspicious of all of this.

"You hit harder and quicker than I thought you would," Tatiana said, coughing harshly again. "You certainly don't play with your food."

Her dry quip made the corners my lips tug up a little. She looked terrible. I thought she might have got some color back in her by now. Her lips were still blue and she looked like she was still catching her breath.

"If there's one thing I've learned with you ladies from the Red Room, is that I can't blink and to hit first and think later." I wasn't lying with that statement. Yelena's taunt of pulling the trigger first would never leave me. I still heard that in my nightmares sometimes.

Tatiana snorted but said nothing else. The only sound in the room was her raspy breathing and the hacking cough that racked her body every few seconds.

It was awkward standing there watching her cough. There was no real need for me to stay in the room but I had nowhere else to be. The only thing I wanted to do now is to find out if what she was saying was true. My feet were starting to ache from standing in my heels for so long. Someone had thankfully kept the heat on in the room so I wasn't freezing in my skimpy dress. It felt like hours dragged by until Rumlow poked his head back into the room. He motioned for me to come out.

"Don't miss me too much," I said sarcastically before I turned to walk out of the room. Our of the corner of my eye, I saw Tatiana roll her eyes at my comment. I managed to hide my smile at her attitude. It was exactly the same thing I'd do if I was in her situation. If life had been different, she may have had the same chance Natasha had. I couldn't see that happening. Not with the connections she had affiliation with.

"It checks out," Rumlow said as soon as I was out of the door. He handed me a printed photo that looked like it had been taken from a drone. "She wasn't lying."

"So what now?" I studied the photo. It was of a tiny town that backed onto a mountain range. Tatiana hadn't been wrong in saying he wasn't hiding. The crates of weapons out in the open along with several anti-aircraft guns strategically positioned around the tiny town.

"Now we go home and work out how to bring this son of a bitch down." Rumlow held his hand out for the photo. He jerked his head towards the closed door. "The SHIELD base here will take her and escort her to the Fridge after they get a full confession from her. We'll go back to Malick's and wait for the Quinjet. Ready?"

"Let's go." It was going to be a very long night. Now I had stopped, the tiredness was starting to creep in. It'd been a very, very long day.

"You don't want to say goodbye to your new friend?" Rumlow said in a teasing tone as we walked away.

"No, I'm good." I scrunched my nose up. "That's another thing to add to my nightmares. I don't think I'll be forgetting her face anytime soon."

"It's when you forgot the faces it becomes more of a problem." Rumlow gave me a sympathetic look. "That's when you know its time to leave the job."

"So you've never forgotten a face of someone you've interrogated?" That was deep coming from Rumlow. It made me look at him in a new light. I thought he was a tough bastard who never let anything get to him. He certainly never showed it.

"Never."

Rumlow's simple word instantly made me feel better. I knew sleep would be horrible tonight but it was comforting to know I wasn't alone in this.

"You did good today, Kari," Rumlow continued, smiling at me. "Very good. I better tell Coulson to be careful because I might start taking you permanently."

"Very funny." I rolled my eyes. As usual, Rumlow changed the subject as soon as stuff got too heavy. "Besides, Evans asked first. You're definitely the last choice possible. Actually, I think I'd rather be a Specialist than join your team."

"Ouch," Rumlow said with a chuckle. He clutched at his heart dramatically. "You wound me deeply."

I knew this was partly to put me in a good mood after getting my hands dirty in there. Rumlow was the master of keeping the mood light and joking after something serious. I'd seen that well enough in Egypt. It was a welcome change from the serious tone of the evening though. We joked with each other until we were in the cars and speeding back to Malick's estate. A few of Rumlow's guys were staying back as extra guards for Tatiana and would head to the Fridge with her. 4 others would stay with Malick and accompany him back to DC. The rest of us would head back in a Quinjet. The way things sounded, I doubted I was going to get any sleep for the next few weeks. Having the name and location of Aldon was going to send SHIELD into a frenzy.

It was a fight to keep my eyes open as the car's traveled through Paris. All the adrenaline from tonight was wearing off very quickly. My feet ached and I could feel blisters forming on my heels. I'd happily chew off my own arm for some food and a change of clothes. It was a little after 0200 when we finally got back to Malick's estate. I only had time to get changed before the unmistakable sound of a Quinjet filled the air. I hastily grabbed my bags and despite my rush to get there, I was the last one on.

"All right people, listen up," Rumlow called out as I was stowing my gear. "Once we get back to DC, everyone is on call 24/7. Do not be more than an hour away from the Triskelion. We've got intel that we need to act on very soon. Understood?"

The various acknowledgments echoed around the back of the Quinjet. I'd finished stowing my gear and I tiredly made my way up to the pilot. As exhausted as I was feeling, I wasn't about to let him fly just yet. I'd wait until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer before I relinquished the controls. To my surprise, it was Wagner, one of the pilots who I'd been with during my punishment for the locker room incident. The only decent pilot of all of them.

"Ma'am." Wagner instantly got up from the controls and shifted to the co-pilot seat. "She's all yours. Let me know if you need me to take over if you want a bit of shut-eye."

I really had to work on my fear of flying. I wasn't going to be any good if I had to take Ambien every time I wasn't flying. I was tired enough that it was easy to make the next decision. Wagner was a good pilot. He was about the only one I fly with that didn't make me nervous.

"Please." I motioned to the pilot seat. "She's all yours. I think I need a nap right now."

I may as well sleep as much as I could. The next few weeks were going to get crazy busy.

Authors Note.

And we're off on another adventure! Lots of stuff to happen soon which I'm excited about. I'm on a bit of a roll with updates this week, so I hope everyone enjoys this one, as well as the new chapter for Shatter Me.

Thank you to all of my reviewers and followers, you guys are amazing. It makes my day seeing reviews pop up in my inbox. I go back to University soon, so I'm taking advantage of the quieter days for the moment and getting in as much writing as possible.

Until next time!