A/N: Back again, this time with some actual action! Next chapter will have a full fledged action sequence, and things will start picking up a bit from here. I just still have to get some interactions out of the way.
Hope y'all enjoy!
REVIEWS:
aromatictruth: I am SO sorry the reveal of what's behind the door is so boring! I just like leaving little cliff hangers when I can, even if occasionally they're ultimately nothing more than a really nice and well stocked hotel room.
suteko1: Thanks so much! ❤︎
Chapter 4: First Outings
Man, Sandy is really enjoying this.
First, the weather in Copacabana is absolutely perfect. It definitely beats any of the summer days she spent in California in her youth. She can clearly see why the Magnate chose a tropical destination. That, and with the amount of tourists and constant influx of ships, it's a really good spot to hide in plain sight. Smart.
Second, the safehouse they've been set up with is, without a doubt, the nicest place she's stayed since she left S.H.I.E.L.D. Light walls, beach-themed upscale furniture, a large kitchen, and three bedrooms. The two bathrooms are very nice as well. Sandy can't remember the last time she took a bath in a soaker tub, but, luckily, both bathrooms have one. There'll be no fighting over the tubs, thankfully. Sam's contact had really delivered, and not just on the niceness of the place. He left them plenty of weapons and some food to last them a couple of days (if they didn't feel like going out to eat, that was). Not that Sandy and Frank hadn't packed a good amount of gear and plan to steal some from each of the warehouses Sam marked on their map. Still, it's great that the guy is looking out for them.
Third, and this is the most important part, she really enjoys the view she's getting.
The first location they're scouting is disguised as an ice cream shop at the front. But it's not nearly as popular as half the places they'd seen on the way. That's partially due to the block it sits on. Mostly offices, some of them travel agencies, some private offices rented out by individuals. A bit farther from the beachfront. Not much foot traffic. A sufficient disguise, Sandy has to admit. However, a well-trained eye can easily tell it's a front for something.
The building itself isn't in awful condition, nor is it a benchmark for great architecture. It's average at best.
No, the view Sandy is most interested in is lounging in the seat across the table from her. And it's a fuckin' nice one, for sure.
She has sunglasses on, so it's not like Bucky would be able to tell she's staring. The contact left them with two outfits each, and he had fantastic fashion sense. The men each got long sleeved, brightly colored button down shirts, a pair of knee-length board shorts, a shorter pair of more colorful shorts, and white boat shoes that go with either outfit. Sandy got a long sleeve, bare shoulder summer dress and a loose-fitting burgundy tank top with light blue and white striped shorts.
It's extremely common for locals and tourists alike to wear the button down shirts completely unbuttoned and without an undershirt. Therefore, it was mostly easy for Sandy to make a great case that when they go out, it'll be best to just expose their bare chest. The enemy has no idea they're here, anyway. And this is just scouting, after all.
Sam and Frank had been vehement about not doing that, but Bucky's too naive to trust her, honestly. This is all entirely for her benefit. She'll convince the other two eventually, but she's not complaining in the meantime.
Sandy convinced Bucky to slap some bandaging over the part of his shoulder where metal and flesh meet and keep his glove-covered left hand in his pocket as much as possible. They won't be moving around too much, and when walking, she'll keep herself attached to his left side so the shirt won't fly open. Bucky had agreed, though he still seems a little shy about the whole thing. It's pretty adorable. And, to make matters even better, he is much more jacked than she'd originally thought. She's going to make sure he doesn't wear loose clothes again this entire trip.
She'd maybe thought about this too much on the flight over. Who can blame her, though? Frank occasionally walks around in a little bit too tight tank top. There's also the rare moments she gets to stitch his wounds up, though usually she's too busy with keeping him alive to ogle. Other than that, the only men she's had contact with, she ends up killing. And she barely knows any women nowadays; they tended not to stick themselves into the gross criminal underground she and Frank plow through nearly as much as the men did. Willingly, at least. Plus, that was New York. This is Rio! She's going to indulge herself as much as she can on this trip.
Sandy feels she deserves a little eye candy every now and then.
"There's a guard change happening," Bucky informs, pulling Sandy from her thoughts.
She turns her head ever so slightly, still sipping from her delicious suco de cajú as to remain inconspicuous. Reluctantly, she tears her eyes away from Bucky's very chiseled chest to watch the ice cream shop across the street. She frowns slightly when she sees nothing at first.
"How can you tell?"
His mouth tugs up at the corners slightly. "The guy wiping off the sign is talking into his earpiece. A bit too loud, really."
She's unable to hear him that far away despite how loud Bucky seems to think he is, but, then again, she doesn't have a super soldier serum coursing through her veins. A shame, really. Imagine how much more of a badass I'd be, she thinks while jutting out her lower lip slightly. A short moment later, the aforementioned sign cleaner goes back inside, only to be replaced with another man. The new guard, a bald slightly tanned man shoveling what looks like vanilla chocolate swirl ice cream into his mouth, sits down at one of the two small tables and pretends to play around on his phone.
"Good ear, handsome." Sandy sees that same barely-there blush wash across his cheeks like last time, and she smiles. She's definitely keeping that pet name. "Marking the time," she mutters, tapping the side of her sunglasses. A timestamp flashes across her lenses, followed by a checkmark.
Bucky's head inclines towards her. "I've been meaning to ask. How'd you get ahold of all that tech you brought?"
Sandy perks up. "Made it myself."
Bucky's eyebrows peek out above his sunglasses."Oh?" There's a pause before he answers, and Sandy wonders if he's as distracted as she is. She'd gone with the tank top and shorts outfit, and she knows exactly how good she looks.
She's careful to keep her voice low to avoid any potential prying ears nearby. "Dunno what Sam told you about me, but before I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I double majored in Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford. So I'm pretty smart."
"Makes sense."
"Don't toot your own horn too much." Sam attempts to be serious.
"But Sammy, it's true," Sandy argues. He and Frank are too far away to see the smug look on her face, but she's pretty sure they know it's there.
"Guard change happening here, too," Frank adds. "They're saying something, but I don't speak Portuguese."
"Maybe one of us should have been there instead of here." Bucky frowns thoughtfully. The only reason they'd been paired together was so that they could easily and quietly navigate and observe up close without a language barrier. Sandy doesn't know as many languages as Bucky, but she knows her fair share; Portuguese included, though it's a little rusty.
"Oh, they're fine. As long as you don't think they've spotted you?" The two of them are at higher vantage points, scoping out the back and sides of the building. They're good at what they do; Sandy isn't too worried. So when they both respond that they're still good, she turns her attention back to Bucky. "What's wrong, tough guy? Am I boring you?"
Bucky laughs and shakes his head. "No, no. I think I'd prefer you over Sam's company, anyway. He'd just sit here and insult me the whole time."
"Yeah, and I'd have every reason to," Sam interjects a little too quickly. "You look like a douchebag in that outfit. Thank you for that, Sandy."
"He's still doing it and he's not even here." Bucky tries to sound exasperated. It mostly works.
"You started this, Barnes," Frank warns, though Sandy clearly hears how funny he thinks this is.
"Bucky, don't listen to them. They have no sense of fashion. You're the only one who listened to me, therefore you're the best looking man in this entire city." Sandy winks at him and is delighted to receive a timid grin and another slight blush in reply.
"Don't let her lie to you, Barnes," Sam advises.
"I'm tempted to mute the two of you."
"Frank, you took the words right out of my mouth," Sandy chuckles. She nods subtly at the ice cream shop. "Time to check on the inside?"
Bucky nods too, but Frank's voice cuts in. "Do not flirt with anyone in there. Be inconspicuous, Sandy."
"Oh, boo. We're just gonna kill all the idiots in there eventually anyway." Sandy notices Bucky struggling not to smile. Which makes her smile grow, too.
"That's still enough time for one of them to get talking, then go look at the surveillance video and clock you. You're not completely anonymous."
"Ugh, fine. I'll go in, get some ice cream, come back out. Be inconspicuous," she mocks Frank. Bucky fails in his attempt to not smile. "What flavor, handsome?"
"Chocolate, thanks," Bucky clears his throat.
Sandy quirks an eyebrow and clamps her mouth shut before she makes a comment about Sam. That will start something and she'll end up blowing her cover.
She keeps her word and doesn't make a scene. The three guards take notice of her, but treat her as nothing more than another customer. Her sunglasses scan and record everything so she can go over it later in detail with her team. The three security cameras inside and two outside on opposite buildings won't be an issue. Her EMP machine will take them out easily. She assumes they'll lower security when this district effectively shuts down for the night, but she doesn't want to be unprepared.
"One guard outside, three inside. Three security cameras inside too. Nothing unusual, really. Employees Only door definitely leads to their stash, because of course it does," she reports once she's walked back to Bucky. She slides his bowl across the table and bites into hers (which is surprisingly good) before she continues, "I think only one of us needs to go in through that way."
"All right. Two more hours, then we'll head back. Recon a bit more tonight after we've had some rest. Let's plan on hitting it tomorrow night." Sam puts on his best Leader voice, and Sandy catches herself smiling proudly, not missing the same expression on Bucky's face.
"You're good at this, too, Sam. Maybe you should think about joining me and Frank instead of the Avengers."
"We can talk about that later. But for the record, I do not think I can handle more than a few weeks of you."
"Sam, you can handle me anytime."
Bucky nearly chokes on his ice cream. Sandy can't help but giggle, despite how her ear is actually ringing because Sam and Frank are both yelling at her at the same time. God, she's really enjoying this whole thing more than she should.
Instead of all four of them going out again, Sam had opted to leave Redwing and another surveillance drone on vantage rooftops for constant monitoring. Humans can only stay awake for so long watching the same thing, and Frank insisted that everyone get a decent amount of sleep in a tone that made nobody want to argue with him. Not that anyone was going to, though.
Bucky took first watch. He's used to stake outs, though they're usually much more uncomfortable than lounging on a plush loveseat watching a computer screen. On the way back, Sandy had voiced her theory about less guards at night, and she'd been right. They may not get lucky on any of the other warehouses, but at least this one is turning out to be rather straightforward.
For now, anyway.
The occasional drunk yell or laugh outside are Bucky's only distractions. That, and Frank grunting in his sleep on the other couch. He's not having bad dreams as far as Bucky can tell from his expression. He's just a noisy sleeper. A stark contrast from when he's awake. That doesn't really help Bucky in his assessment, though. Castle has a troubled past, he knows that much from what he's read. And he is awfully serious, like, all the time. But he does seem to know how to best wrangle Sandy in. They act more like he had with his own siblings a whole lifetime ago, but he can't be sure he isn't missing something. They are such an odd pair, and both of them are, at times, utterly unreadable, despite very different backgrounds. And Bucky thinks he's pretty good at reading people, so it's mildly frustrating.
Bucky frowns at the screen when he notices a guard change. So far, they only seem to be changing every 4 hours during the day. He makes a mental note of the time: 2 AM. It's been six hours since their last shift change. The tactical side of Bucky's mind screams that they're being lazy. The other side of it rejoices in how dumb they apparently are, at how they make his team's job easier.
His attention turns back to Castle when he makes another odd noise. After a few seconds, though Castle's eyes open and meet Bucky's. They simply and casually watch each other for a few seconds before Frank yawns and stretches.
"Liking what you see, Barnes?"
Bucky's rather startled by Frank's mischievous tone. It's completely out of the blue. He opens his mouth to protest, but can't immediately think of anything to say. So, he turns back to the computer and wallows in his apparent lack of social skills.
Castle laughs and sits up. "Relax, kid. Sandy's bad habits rub off on me more than I'd like to admit."
Bucky scrunches his face. "I'm pretty sure I'm older than you." At least some of his snark is returning.
"You're probably right." There's a pause as Frank switches on the coffee machine. "Age is just a number. Isn't that what you old timers say to make yourself feel better?"
Bucky really isn't sure what to make of this sudden attitude he's getting. He's noticed Frank eyeing him cautiously every second he gets. Maybe he's decided Bucky isn't a threat? Best to just play along with it. Maybe Castle's getting at something else entirely.
"Yeah, but in my case, it's true. I'm a newer immortal, as the kids say." More specifically, what Peter's called him on a few occasions. That seems to confuse Frank. Having to explain your joke always means that it's fundamentally failed. Man, this is so much easier with Sam. "Certain people never seem to age, and there's really old paintings of people who look like these current celebrities or whatever, so the internet's started calling them immortals."
Frank nods. Bucky doesn't want to continue being so awkward, so he changes the subject. "They just had a shift change. Their first one since you all went to sleep."
"Good."
Bucky raises his eyebrows. Frank sounds like he wants to say something else. "You got a plan?"
"Yeah. This ain't my first rodeo."
Bucky smirks. "Not ours, either."
Frank's plan, it turns out, is to hit just before the second shift change of the night, at 2 AM. Sam would have liked to maybe have one more night of surveillance, but he instinctively knows it'd be futile. These men obviously have a set schedule, so there isn't much more they can learn from just watching them. So, they'd all agreed on a plan of action.
Sam switches his goggles to infrared and watches carefully while Bucky, Frank, and Sandy get in position. Once he hears the whispered confirmations, he gives the go ahead. Going in one at a time is just going to get them in trouble, so they all move at once. Sandy goes in through the ice cream parlor entrance, Castle through the right alleyway, Bucky through the back, and Sam through the roof entrance.
There's no sentry on the roof, and Sam silently thanks their carelessness. He'll take easy wherever he can get it. Even if there had been someone, they likely wouldn't have seen or heard Sam coming until it was too late. Shuri herself had designed his new set out of vibranium wings and made them almost completely silent in the air, even when using thrusters. It does make noise, however, if he needs a big boost of power to, say, lift Bucky's abnormally heavy ass off the ground. Either way, he owes Shuri big time. Maybe he'll ask Bucky for gift ideas.
There was enough commotion already going on inside the facility that nobody seems to notice when Sam slams his shield on the roof door's lock and floats down the stairwell. It's a few moments before he encounters his first guard. A quick shield strike to the face takes him down easily. Sam moves swiftly towards the weapons cache. He can see through his goggles that Frank and Bucky will join him soon enough. Sandy's already set off her EMP (programmed to not affect any of their own gear), so there's no raising an alarm between the guards themselves or the outside world. They're literally and figuratively in the dark. It makes picking off the guards as easy as Sam could ask for.
He chooses not to use his guns, taking out the small number of men that stand in his way with a few clean strokes of his knife and some more heavy shield bashes (god, he loves how useful this thing is). Nobody even sees him until it's already too late as he moves like a shadow in the dark. Unlike Castle and Barnes, the noisy bastards. This was supposed to be more of a stealthy mission, guys. In and out quickly.
Although, despite being a little less clandestine than he wants, they work very efficiently together. He guesses it's because they all have at least some familiarity with each other, in one way or another. And they all have experience with this kind of thing. It's going much easier than Sam honestly thought it would, despite the fact they don't totally follow his orders to a T. Maybe this won't be so hard after all.
Sam reaches the weapons shipment first. It's not a very large warehouse, which is why he chose this one first. They can stock up on additional weapons so that they won't be lacking much later on. Not that Andre hadn't been generous. It pays to be prepared, though.
The merchandise is all standard in the criminal world. No serial numbers. Untraceable bullets. High count magazines. Sam rolls his eyes. These guys are all the same. He picks out a few that he can modify easily enough to work with his suit while he waits for the other two. It's not long before they appear next to him.
"Thought we said quietly?" Sam accuses with a raised brow.
"Sorry. Got carried away," Frank apologizes, though he doesn't sound sorry at all. He also looks scary as hell, Sam decides, taking in the way the shadows hide large portions of his face while the large skull spray painted on his armour seems to almost glow in the low light. He's also already covered in some blood that very obviously isn't his own.
And another way they haven't listened. That skull is a very obvious brand. If they were hitting some random bad guy's stash, it wouldn't matter. But this guy knows who they are and wants them dead. They need to be careful. Hell, even Barnes is covering up his metal arm. And Sam knows how physically irritating that can be for him.
Sam let it go immediately when he realizes he has the Captain America shield with him and takes the backpack Bucky offers him. He shoves his collection in there, then passes it along to Castle. The former Marine begins pulling out a few for himself and Sandy, who left him in charge of picking out what she likes while she messes with the internal system towards the front of the facility.
"For you." Sam tosses a small gun that caught his eye at Bucky, who catches it and promptly shoots him a glare. "Really, man? You know I hate this model."
"I do know." Sam grins smugly.
Bucky rolls his eyes and tosses it into the pile they're going to destroy before making his picks (a few sniper and long range rifles, as usual). Sam resists the urge to scoff playfully at him.
"Little Nerd, how's it going up there?" Sam asks instead.
"Going fine, Big Bird. I just finished." She huffs a laugh at her own wording. To Sam's surprise, she doesn't actually say anything as a follow up. He hears a few clicks over the other end followed by a door opening. "And you?"
"Done, too," Bucky announces, throwing the backpack over his shoulders. "Just gotta destroy the rest."
Frank sets the timed explosive in the middle of the boxes they've set up. "Bomb's set, so I guess we better head out now." It won't blow up the whole building, as much as Sam would have enjoyed that. Just maybe singe the walls and get rid of the guns.
Sam nods and ushers them out. They all go back the way they came in, deciding to split up before converging back at the safehouse. Best that any other security cameras in the district that haven't been knocked out don't catch them all together.
"Power should be restored at the facility in about 15 minutes," Sandy informs. "Don't want that delicious ice cream to melt."
"What about alarms?" Bucky asks.
"Yeah, some will go off. We'll be long gone by then. Plus, I need it to send a message after we've already gotten back to the hotel."
Sam almost stops in his tracks. "A message?" He is not happy about this, to put it lightly.
"Yeah!" Sandy replies gleefully. "Wanna know what I said?"
"Sandy, they're not supposed to know it was us!" He's trying to keep his voice from showing that he's starting to panic just a little.
"And they won't, Sammy. All I said was this: I feel like your code name shouldn't be Magnate, but rather Micropenis. Assuming you're a guy. Signed, The Most Beautiful Woman in the World."
Well shit. Maybe this isn't going to be as easy as he thought.
"They'll definitely know that was you!" Frank accuses angrily. Good, at least Sam isn't the only one pissed about this.
"Sandy, that's really risky." Bucky sounds more disappointed than anything.
"Again, you guys are no fun. Nobody puts baby on a kill list... and expects to live long afterwards. I'm just giving him a little warning."
Is she trying to quote Dirty Dancing, or is Sam's frustration making him hear things? She's definitely going to give him more headaches than he feels he ever deserves. He doesn't need another Peter Parker or Scott Lang around.
God help me, I'm going to die in this place.