Chapter 3
Harry was currently driving to the Triskelion after his return from a long and fruitful vacation.
After his PE, Agent Hill granted him a three-month paid leave, claiming that he never had one. Of course, he protested against it, but all his arguments went unheard. Fortunately, he was able to argue it down to two months.
It is not that he didn't like the idea of going to a beach at the other end of the world and have fun. He did. It sounded like a heavenly thing to do, but it wasn't something he wanted to do at the time.
Of course, he only agreed because he found out the location of an infinity stone and wanted to pay it a visit. He wasn't able to find out which stone though because it was hidden inside some powerful wards.
He wouldn't have been able to find it under normal circumstances because of the wards surrounding it, but during a mission to Kathmandu, he apparently got close enough to sense its presence.
He has been able to sense magical and psionic energies since he was a kid. At first, he was confused and afraid, but with time, he learnt to ignore those tingling sensations. He had to. There was no room to show weakness to his tormentors.
…But he was getting ahead of himself.
In theory, only those in tune with magic can sense it. There is no shortcut for it. This ability is so rare that only two to three wizards have been able to sense magic over the last century.
He wasn't able to check on the stone, because the mission took precedence. And he was almost certain that he was being watched by the enemy.
He was sent to take down a rogue US military officer, who was going to sell sensitive inside information of several US military bases scattered across the world to Al-Qaeda.
HUMINT suggested that the deal was going to take place in the capital of Nepal.
At first, his mission was simple. Kill the rogue officer and take the briefcase containing the documents. But after several days of surveilling the officer, he got new orders which was to kill the Al-Qaeda member, his target was going to meet, as well.
That complicated things, he'd have to wait for his target to meet the Al-Qaeda member and eliminate both of them. And at the same time, ensure that the documents do not change hands.
In the end, everything worked out. The documents were in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D with two less idiots in the world.
He was brought out of his musings when he arrived at the HQ.
After parking the car, he went to the elevator to go to his SO's office.
As the elevator's door was about to close, he heard a shout.
"Hold the door, please!"
He saw a blond man walking fast towards him to reach the elevator.
He was already running late, and Agent Hill didn't appreciate tardiness. But if he didn't hold the door, the stranger might call out on him. That was not a very good way to stick to the shadows. So reluctantly, he held the door open for him to enter.
As the blonde entered the elevator, he immediately recognized the man. It was hard not to.
It was Captain America.
The super-soldier was in his late twenties, with a lean and powerful body. He was wearing his Captain America uniform, but it was a little different than the one he wore during the Battle of New York.
The Kevlar-based suit was navy blue with a silver star on the middle of the chest. There was a small magnetic alloy attached to its back to place the shield. All in all, it looked a lot more functional than the old-fashioned costume he wore during the Battle of New York.
"Thanks," he mumbled reflexively.
He was lost in thought. Probably had an argument with Tony Stark again. Their shouting matches were stuff of legend in S.H.I.E.L.D. Many agents had placed bets on who was the loudest. Last he checked, the Captain was winning.
After a moment, the super-soldier returned from his musings and immediately noticed that he wasn't alone.
Harry resisted the urge to sneer. He didn't know how he survived in a war without constantly practicing situational awareness.
"…Your enemy will try to have every advantage he can get over you. You can be attacked anywhere and anytime…"
"…Remember, there is no place for honor in a fight. In the end, the only thing that matters is the last man standing…"
"…There are no good or bad people, only unfortunates who get in your way…"
The young agent shook his head to clear his thoughts. He didn't want to dwell on his past. He was not that man anymore.
"I haven't seen you before. Which department do you work in?" the super soldier was looking at him curiously.
Harry had read files of the Avengers. He wasn't allowed to, given his low security clearance, but it turned out S.H.I.E.L.D's supposedly impenetrable servers were not that impossible to hack. In hindsight, he must admit that the data banks were well protected, and it was one of the most complicated exploit he had ever performed. When it came to hacking S.H.I.E.L.D, there were only about just a handful of people in the world who could do that. Fortunately, he was one of those handful people.
Unfortunately, their files didn't specify their personalities. It seemed like the agency was more interested in their skills and powers than their characters. Even Hawkeye and Black widow's files were more focused on their skills.
Coming back to the present, he didn't need to read anything to get a read on Steve Rogers. The guy was an open book.
He was looking at Harry in open curiosity and feeling a bit guilty that he hadn't noticed the brown-haired agent before, implicated by the furrow on his brows.
Harry pretended to not have recognize him. He just shrugged and went back to looking outside through the glass elevator.
But the frequent glances did not stop. It was making him restless, but he didn't give any outward reaction. It seemed like he underestimated Steve Roger's curious nature.
He really wanted to get out of here.
So, when the elevator stopped, he was the first one to leave.
While leaving, he took a discrete glance at the super-soldier. He was still looking at him like a puzzle to solve.
Not a good start of the day, but it seemed like his day was just getting started.
Harry arrived at his SO's office barely on time. He didn't bother to knock, knowing she was waiting for him.
Agent Hill was, as usual, sitting at her desk, scribbling something on her stark pad. But she wasn't alone.
Agent Coulson was sitting on the sofa, along with Agent Barton and Romanoff.
Agent Barton was a handsome man, often described as one of the best agents the agency had. He had a charming attitude and was known to be the world's best marksman and a master assassin. He was currently dressed in his tactical S.H.I.E.L.D uniform but without a bow hanging off his shoulder. Instead, there was a glock-20 resting in his thigh holster.
To his right was Agent Romanoff, who was drop dead gorgeous. She was a red-headed woman in her late twenties dressed in a bluish-black tactical catsuit with a S.H.I.E.L.D logo on her right shoulder. She was known to be the world's deadliest assassin and her spying skills made her an asset to the agency. Her expertise laid in hand to hand combat and her marksmanship.
To Agent Barton's left was Agent Coulson. He was a man in his early forties with frown lines on his face. He, usually, had a pleasant demeanor with everyone and stayed calm in every situation. He was the SO of Agent Romanoff and Barton and was the liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D and Avengers appointed by Director Fury himself.
Currently, Agent Barton was whispering animatedly with Agent Romanoff who was nodding in the right places. Their SO was talking with Agent Hill, whom he was surprised to see, looking quite at ease with a smile on her lips. He had never seen this side of her.
When he entered all activity ceased. The two master assassins and the senior agents stopped talking and looked at him. Their emotional masks back in place.
At first, he thought something was wrong because he'd never seen the other three agents in his SO's office and was getting ready for a fight if they try to do anything. But then he noticed that there was no tactical or strategic planning involved. All of them were sitting quite closely which would make them to be taken out easily and there was no cover in their immediate vicinity, in case of gunfire. Their weight was entirely supported by chairs and sofas but not their feet which would've made it easier to move in case of an attack.
So, he forced his nerves to calm down and said hesitantly:
"Uh…. I'll wait outside."
"No, come in." Agent Hill said from behind the desk.
He stepped inside, expecting the others to leave but no one made a move. So, he went to sit at the farthest chair from the sofa, which happened to be in front of his SO.
He sat with an almost silent sigh on the comfortable chair and looked at his SO for an explanation, while the others were observing him.
"Now that we're all here, Let's get started. Yesterday, at 2300 hours, we received Intel that a terrorist group known as, The Liberation, has acquired a dangerous weapon….."
Barton interrupted her:
"What type of weapon?"
Agent Hill continued as if she wasn't interrupted.
"Unknown. But it is rumored to be powerful….."
This time, it wasn't Barton who interrupted her.
"Are we going to conduct operations on rumors, now?" Agent Romanoff said with sarcasm.
Hill gave Agent Romanoff a stern look and to everyone else, including Agent Coulson, who was sitting quietly and listening to her, daring them to interrupt her again
"At this point, it doesn't matter if the rumors are true or not. Because even if half the rumors are true, half of Asia will be blown off the map if we do not act."
That silenced all of them.
"Until yesterday, the threat level the Liberation posed was medium but after the vague intel we received, we reevaluated the threat assessment to critical."
"Who's the source?" questioned Hawkeye with a frown.
"That is classified." It looked like even she did not who know the source was, judging by the frown on her face. Most people would have missed it but she was sitting amongst World Class spies.
So, whoever the source was, it was top-secret if even Hill didn't know it.
"Our analysts did some digging. They found large amount of funds being transferred from a politician affiliated with the terrorist organization. The money was run through eighteen fictitious accounts. The last one going to an off-shore tech company, The Blastac Inc. in England."
"The politician who transferred the money was seen with a woman, we thought to be dead." She was looking at Harry pointedly. The others had forgotten about his presence and were startled to notice him.
Harry was frowning. He hadn't ever been in contact with the terrorist organization, not directly.
She handed the stark pad to him.
The picture was of a man, in his late fifties, shaking hands with a woman in her early thirties. There wasn't anything unusual about it. It seemed like two politicians had a very productive meeting and were getting ready to leave. Unless you looked at the woman's face.
It was Anna Sauer. The same woman he had killed two months ago. He was shocked to see her.
"The photograph was taken 9 days ago and we double checked everything." Hill said to erase any doubt.
Barton had had enough of the mystery surrounding the woman, "I'm sorry, are we missing something?"
"Two months ago, we sent Agent Potter to assassinate Anna Sauer, CEO of SAUER industries. She had been selling weapons, mostly WMDs, to The Liberation." Hill told all of them when it became clear he wouldn't talk. She handed them Sauer's file.
Meanwhile, Harry was trying to figure how was the CEO still alive.
"I gave her twice the amount of RC-18 required to OD an average person. That much RC-18 running in her veins, would've put an elephant dpwn. When I left, her lips were already turning blue."
"So, you weren't there to witness her death?" This was the first time someone other than his SO talked to him directly. It was Agent Romanoff.
"Her bodyguards usually arrived at that time to check on her. So I left the hotel before I could be seen." Harry answered her question, still lost in thought.
"I'm sorry, but what the fuck is an RC-18?" Barton asked frustrated.
This time it was Hill who answered. "RC-18 is a drug like opioid, but more potent. It was first synthesized by a Russian Biochemist, Abramov Preobrazhensky, in 2004. It is not widely known because of it's rarity."
Agent Romanoff was listening carefully, as well. It seemed that she was as clueless as her partner.
"They must've taken her to a hospital…." Romanoff said getting back on track.
"Even if they did, she would have died way before reaching a hospital."
"Unless she was an enhanced." This was the first time Agent Coulson joined the conversation.
There was a tense silence after that. Everyone trying to come to an explanation.
After a moment, Romanoff said, looking at him suspiciously," Or maybe lover boy over here got emotionally compromised while he was trying to seduce her and forgot to drug her."
"Well, technically, she was the one seducing him." Barton added humorously.
He didn't deign to defend himself because whatever he said, no one will believe him anyways. So he was quite surprised when his handler defended him:
"Agent Potter has gone through various tests to prove his loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D and has my complete trust." She said sternly, daring anyone to contradict her.
Something must have changed between them after his PE, because it was the first time she had defended him. He would've preferred her not to, but a part of him, a part he thought to have long buried, appreciated the gesture. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy.
He wasn't the only one to be surprised, though.
The other agents were quite surprised as well that she trusted him, especially Agent Coulson, who knew her better than anyone else except Fury perhaps.
"Please, tell me at least she was good in bed?" Barton tried to defuse the tension in the room by a little humor.
It worked, somewhat.
Romanoff was still eyeing him suspiciously but didn't dare say anything else, especially not in front of both of the senior agents whom she respected.
"We still don't know how she survived, so for now she is possibly an enhanced." His handler jotted down something in her stark pad after he passed it to her.
"An analyst went through her history and found various fake IDs she had used. Interestingly enough, he found one of the IDs used last week to travel to London, where the money was deposited."
"Now, unfortunately, we don't have a strong relationship with MI-6 at the moment, so you won't be able to use a quinjet. You will be travelling commercially without weapons, the three of you."
As expected, her last phrase provoked protests from the two master assassins.
Agent Coulson watched his two protégés with amusement trying to get them to calm down, which they did after a couple seconds.
Finally, Agent Hill looked at him realizing he hadn't put in his two cents.
The rest of the office's occupants looked at him as well.
Honestly, he didn't want to go to a mission with the two Avengers. It would be highly preferred if he went alone, but beggars can't be choosers. One question was still bugging him. So he voiced his thoughts.
"They could go alone or anyone else could go with them, why me?"
"Because you were the one surveilling Sauer. You know about her more than any of us do."
"I would be a dead weight to them." He said matter-of-factly.
"Maybe. But your expertise of the terrain, as you are from England, and your connaissance of Anna Sauer would prove to be an asset for the mission."
"Hmmm…." He knew he could not do anything for her to back down.
"You're all leaving ASAP. You do not know what to expect, so be prepared for everything. Be careful and look out for each other." She finished and dismissed them.
All four of them headed to the elevator.
"Good Luck. I hope the three of you play nice. I won't be there to keep you in place." Agent Coulson said looking at the three of them intensely to get the message across. He gave them one last glance and walked away.
"Well, isn't he peachy this early in the morning." Barton said sarcastically.
Romanoff ignored him with a practiced ease and turned to me.
"Go to your house and pack lightly. We'll rendezvous at the airport in an hour and you better be there." she said with an expression that screamed annoyance.
Harry didn't respond to her and went to his house for his duffle bag and meet them at the airport.