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Chapter 11

Sharon leaned her head from side to side and sighed as her neck cracked in all the right places. Exhausted didn't even begin to cover what she was feeling after the mission in Amsterdam. She'd flown over to the Netherlands with Wanda to protect a Nigerian diplomat from a terrorist attack, but things had gotten a big out of hand and they ended up chased by the very group responsible for it. Somehow, they'd been alerted their attempt would be jeopardized, and set up a response team that almost managed to surround them completely. Had it not been for Shuri's help, they'd be screwed.

Wanda had played a huge role in their getaway as well, having managed to explode two vehicles at the same time with the sheer force of her power, which caused the cars chasing theirs to crash. Granted, it hadn't been that dangerous – Shuri had alerted them of suspicious movements with plenty of time to prepare – but it'd put things in perspective for Sharon. Their job was dangerous at best and stupidly risky at worst. Steve thought the same too, if the tight hug he'd given Sharon when they landed in Wakanda was any indication.

For the last few weeks, they'd be flying around the globe – usually to Europe or Asia – attempting to fix every bit of damage the Avengers weren't able to. So far, they'd successfully prevented disasters, crises and attacks in the Netherlands, France, Russia, Romenia, and South Korea. The amount of activity analysed by Shuri's algorithm was crazy, but it didn't fail once, and it was incredibly fast in both analysing suspicious transactions and files from intelligence agencies and informing Tony. So far, they hadn't been betrayed by him, and Tony had followed the anonymous suggestions once he started seeing someone would be acting. Sharon was positive he was at least suspicious of Steve's involvement – he would have to be dumb not to – but there'd been no attempt of contact.

Sharon waited for a few more minutes under the shower before getting ready for report. As per Steve's instructions, they were supposed to check in as soon as they landed back from the mission and report back to the whole team, so everyone was informed. It wasn't common for him to wait for the quinjet along with the personnel responsible for maintenance. It just showed Sharon how worried he'd been about the two of them. So, despite having seen Steve just a couple of minutes ago, she still needed to head over to the meeting room and inform Shuri and Sam.

She'd just entered the room with Wanda – who was looking positively gloomy and ready to hit the bed – when she noticed both T'Challa and Okoye along with the team. That also wasn't common. "What's up," she murmured, nodding at them.

"Good, you're here." Steve was typing something in the screen closest to him and didn't turn around. "We're doing the report later. Something's happened while you were gone."

"What?" Wanda took a chair and sat down, frowning. Sharon crossed her eyes as well and focused on the smart table in front of her. There was a news footage playing in Russian, and despite not understanding much – her Russian wasn't as good as Nat's, obviously – she thought she heard the word "vengeance" and "blood".

"Russian police has found a mass grave close to a train station in Moscow. Nine bodies, no tags, no ID, and no signs of struggle," Steve rolled the video back to a shot of the grave and the covered bodies being carried away. "This was just aired on TV."

"Great entertainment for dinner time," Sam noted. "Any idea who they are?"

Shuri was angrily typing at the screen. "If they're airing this right now, it means they already know who these people are. Russian media is never allowed to show something without answers."

"Thank God for Putin," Sharon joked. "Any way you can get that info?"

"I'm… trying," Shuri said. "Brother, will you stop hovering, please? It's making me nervous."

T'Challa raised his hands in apology as Okoye struggled to hold back her laughter. They were the king and head scientist of Wakanda, but it was still amusing how they behaved as regular siblings.

Shuri typed one last letter and sat back in her chair. "I have the IDs coming up in a second. Not that they'll do a world of good, but…"

Sharon stopped listening to Shuri as the pictures came up on the smart table. She noticed Sam uncrossing his arms and moving closer, Wanda doing the same. She knew they were all having the same realization she was. She recognized their eyes, smirks, and even noses. She'd fought two of them and seen Steve dispatch four more at the train station.

"Damn it," Sam murmured quietly and T'Challa held a hand to silence Shuri as he noticed everyone was staring at the screen with a strange look on their faces.

"What is it?" he asked.

"They were at the train station in St Peterburg, protecting the bomb" Steve clarified, raising his eyes. "We overpowered them."

"Why would Bratva kill these guys?" Sam asked.

"It isn't Bratva's style. They failed but… killing them would send a message that they have no respect for its own members, and it could create internal conflict. This wasn't them."

Sharon knew Steve had a better understanding of organizations such as Bratva and Hydra as the rest of them, but she again wished Nat were here. She'd have a great insight, for sure.

"Who was it, then?" Sharon asked what everyone was thinking.

Shuri typed angrily for a few seconds and raised her hands in frustration. "I can't get in. This encryption is ridiculous. The file isn't even connected to the central system, it's restricted to a facility."

"Are you sure, sister?"

"Yes, brother. If you want the file, you'll have to hack the facility in person."

"And where is that?"

The room was in complete silence as Shuri came up with the information for the next mission. But when she gave the address, Sharon was positive she was wrong. "That's a former CIA facility in London, not Russia. I've been there before."

"You're sure?" Steve asked. She nodded.

"That's where most of the collaborative missions were filed and analysed by the IT team from overseas. We used to work pretty closely with them at S.H.I.E.L.D"

Sam frowned. "That makes no sense."

"That's the address I've tracked. I can run it a few more times, but I don't think the result will be different."

"Do it, if you don't mind, Shuri," Steve said. "There might be a chance CIA is helping the investigation, even if there's no apparent connection. It wouldn't be the first time."

"And if she's right, are we breaking into the CIA for a file on dead Russian mobsters?" Wanda asked ironically.

"Something isn't right," Steve looked deep in thought. "First there's a team we don't know about in the subway station, then they appear dead, and now CIA is mixed up in it…" Steve trailed off, but that was enough to leave everyone worried. People usually didn't ignore his sixth sense, and it was indeed a weird turn of events.

Sharon was worried about something else, though. "If this file came from that facility, then it's running off the books. It was shut down two years ago and relocated."

"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Sam asked, looking around the room.

"You think this is Hydra?" Sharon didn't want to believe the possibility yet another agency she'd been working at was Hydra.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm sick of Hydra being everywhere like a damn virus."

Steve shook his head at Sam. "We don't know this is Hydra. Let's not jump to conclusions before we even know if the address is correct."

"It's correct," Shuri called out with excellent timing. Okoye had been silent the whole time but raised an eyebrow as if saying I don't even know why you doubted her.

"Then we'll make the arrangements as you get ready," T'Challa said and motioned for Okoye to follow. "I'll be gone in a couple of hours, so if you need me in any way, you won't reach me. There's a dispute between tribes I need to settle."

"Thank you," Steve said as they shook hands. Sharon noted with relief that Steve's relationship with T'Challa had moved beyond hesitant respect and turned into a real friendship. They most likely realized their goal was the same – saving the world and keeping innocent people safe. T'Challa had come a long way from the airport fight in Germany.

The team would only leave a couple of hours later, so they could land in London at night, but the king had barely left the room before he began discussing their strategy. As it was an extremely delicate mission, both in terms of conflict and chances of getting discovered - or tracked – there was a whole other side to this assignment than the one in St. Petersburg or Amsterdam. They had to infiltrate a CIA facility just minutes away from Piccadilly Circus and leave London undetected. It wouldn't just require a high-tech invisible quinjet, but also an amazing strategist.

Good thing they had Steve with them. As he launched into an explanation of how the landing in London should go – there'd be no walking around street markets this time – Sharon managed to come up with a blueprint of the original CIA facility. They'd move together from an empty football field where the jet would be landed, and then split ways. Sam would go along with Wanda to overpower the personnel at the security room through a side door. The second half of the plan was easier: once they took control of the operating room, Steve and Sharon would go in and find their way through the facility to where the files were stored – according to the blueprint, that'd be two levels underground. Sharon had to go in, since she knew how to hack computers with both hands tied behind her back, but she suspected Steve requested to accompany her as to not leave her out of his sight.

It was sweet, if not a bit insulting.

As they geared up and checked their comms, Sharon put her feminist side aside for a second and appreciated his concern. She was glad to be with someone who worried about her mental health as well as physical, and always seemed willing to put her before himself. Especially in this mission. She ignored her shaking hands and forced herself to focus on strapping the safety belt on.

Nothing's happening to you there, Carter. Sharon murmured to herself during the whole flight. It's just another mission. Stop freaking out.

Even though she'd barely slept before and after Amsterdam, she couldn't rest for more than 15 minutes. Looking at Wanda snoring beside her, Sharon sighed enviously and closed her eyes again. She'd noticed Sam and Steve speaking in low voices as to no disturb her, and it felt nice to be at peace and try to control her anxiety for a couple of hours.

They landed in London at ten - all afraid the football field wouldn't be empty, or someone would notice four people in black walking out of thin air – and it wasn't long before they parted ways before a run-down building four blocks from Piccadilly Circus. It was the beginning of an industrial neighbourhood, and so the streets were mostly empty, save for a few tourists every now and then. They'd chosen silent bullets for this mission, and just hoped the agents inside did the same.

Wanda and Sam took a right before arriving at the building, and Steve hugged Sharon close to make it look like they were a couple as they drew nearer. "Entering the facility," Sam whispered, and Sharon heard the noise of a lock silently breaking. Even though they were together, both Sharon and Steve were tense, his arm around her like a band of steel.

Just a few more seconds of nothing… and then they heard an exclamation being suddenly cut off, followed by sounds of struggle. "We're in," Sam panted. Sharon released her breath. "It was easier than expected, actually. Bastards had no idea we were coming."

"Good," Steve murmured close to Sharon's ear, and she got goosebumps at the closeness. "We're going in."

They walker around the block and got in through the same door Sam and Wanda had used, the lock now broken and five agents unconscious on the ground. Sharon could see no insignia or uniform to mark them as CIA, and her stomach dropped at the implication Hydra could be behind this.

"You got eyes on the rest of the building?" Steve asked, checking all the cameras.

"All the corridors and rooms down to the third floor, plus the attic," Sam answered efficiently. "Sixteen agents in total, counting the ones at the desk. I turned off the security alarms so you gotta be quiet and dispatch them quickly."

"Got it," Steve nodded, and turned to Sharon. There was a glint to his eye he only got when about to go in action.

"Let's go," she took out two guns – one that shot electric darts made for immobilization, and a lethal one – and followed Steve out through the door that led to the main hallway.

As they cleared each corridor of agents, it became clear that Steve didn't actually need her in the fight, she was more of a backup. He dispatched the hostiles before she could even get a shot off, and it was only twice she jumped into action to have his back or stop someone from alerting the others. In all fairness, he was the best fighter she'd ever seen, and it showed.

As three agents turned around and saw them at the same time, Steve threw his shield violently at the first one. It bounced and hit the second one before he could get his gun out – only to fly straight back to Steve's hands as he ran towards the last hostile and pushed him against the wall with the back of the shield. He hit his head hard and fell, unconscious just like the others.

They ran the stairs to the second sublevel, but to Sharon's surprise, there were five more agents making rounds. According to their math, there should be only two more. Steve was just as confused as she was but didn't hesitate for a second. He threw Sharon behind him and advanced, kicking a burly man who ran towards him in the gut and making him fly back against two agents. Sharon shot at one of the remaining men while he took care of trio and dodged a punch from the other, retreating two steps and aiming a sidekick to the guy's head. He blocked it effortlessly and smiled, but couldn't do much against the shield that hit him in the back two seconds later.

"I had him," Sharon exclaimed, looking over at Steve.

Steve made a face. "He attacked my girl."

She rolled her eyes and fought a smile. She was thinking of a comeback that was up to his when the alarm went off, the noise a shrieking disturbance to the quiet of the building. "Sam, what the hell?" Steve shouted.

"It's not us," Wanda shouted from the other side.

The ground shook slightly, and then contingency doors started to come down at the end of the hallway they where in. Sharon was sure that the room they were looking for was just around that corner. "Come on, Steve!" she shouted, and ran head on towards the doors. Steve caught up to her in the blink of an eye, and together they made it to the doors just in time to throw themselves under it.

Just as Sharon slid to the other side, however, she heard shouting and the sound of bullets ricocheting off Steve's shield. She turned around still on the floor but couldn't see anything else as the doors shut. "Steve!" she screamed, pounding on them, her heart beating off her chest. He'd had to stop to shield them from the bullets and hadn't been able to go through.

Unbearable silence, and then Steve's voice. "Sharon, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"I'll get the others and try to bring down this door. You retrieve the files in the meantime. If alarms went off, there's a good chance backup's on the way."

She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Got it."

"Sharon?" His voice called out as soon as she turned away. "Be careful."

"I will."

Sharon stepped away from the door and rolled her shoulders, focusing on the darkness ahead. Whoever activated the alarms also turned off all the lighting in this area of the building, so not only did she have to enter a room with no idea of what was there, but she also had to do it in the dark.

She slowly approached a corner, and in the space of a breath moved to the opposite wall, standing still and checking for movement before getting to the file room. Inside, she could smell old books and ink, and guessed most of these files had to be done by hand, if they smelled like that. It was yet another question to be answered about this facility.

There were several computers lined up on desks, and the blinking red lights told Sharon they were in power-save mode. That was good – it'd take less time to retrieve the files. She looked around the room but saw nothing out of the ordinary. It looked like a regular CIA office, with files stacked up on either side and whiteboards on the wall to analyse their missions.

She headed to computer closest to her and blindly looked for the keyboard, turning it back on and working on hacking the database. She was only managing to break through the first standard level of security when sixth sense told her she wasn't alone. She had her gun out in a millisecond, but before she could turn around, she heard a shot.

Instead of pain, though, Sharon felt as if a thousand volts of electricity were coursing through her body. She fell against the desk, her gun now forgotten on the floor, and sought hold at anything that could help her. Her hands scraped against the office chair to her right, but it rolled away as she took support in it, and she hit the ground with a grunt.

The pain was unbearable – it was like her very blood was on fire – and it was almost impossible to focus on anything else. She vaguely noticed those were the same type of bullets she herself had packed in one of her weapons. Once hit, it would send continuous bolts of electricity strong enough to incapacitate movement.

As Sharon rolled away from the assailant and blindly looked for her gun, she heard a laugh. "Weak," the voice said. "I can't believe you're the reason for all the trouble I'm in."

She froze, her body now incapable of moving for reasons other than the electricity. Sharon knew that voice – it had chased her nightmares every night since she escaped to Wakanda, demanding answers as her fingers were pinned with needles and water invaded her throat to the point of suffocation.

"Gilbert?" she half-groaned the question. It was impossible. How the hell was he here?

"Ever since that idiot ruined my interrogation, I was reallocated to desk work," he stalked over to where she was, now holding her middle and trying to take the bullet out. Gilbert kicked her stomach violently, and she groaned in pain. "But I made sure to go somewhere relevant."

Sharon was ashamed to notice she was trying to crawl away from him. But panic had taken its hold – this was exactly the sort of thing that happened in her nightmares and made her wake up screaming or about to. And he was here, in the dark, terrorizing her again. Nobody would be able to help her – not with the contingency doors in place. She couldn't think. All her training went out the window as soon as Gilbert appeared, and her body was now locked in flee mode.

She could already imagine how it'd feel when he started waterboarding her again – the cold water drowning her as questions were screamed to be answered. Her throat started to close at the very thought, and she struggled to breathe even as the bullet finally ran out of electricity.

"Pathetic," he murmured. Gilbert stepped on her foot and pressed down, the bone about to break. Sharon whimpered in pain and was about to try and kick him off when the pression disappeared.

She heard a blow followed by his body hitting the ground next to her. She looked back to the darkness and thought she could see a lithe frame against the blinking computer lights. "What a dick," the voice said.

For the second time in this mission, she was taken aback. "Nat?" she whispered.