"So here's the plan," Hannah said. She was sitting across from Steve. On his right was Panther, and on his left was the SHIELD agent Hannah had asked to join them for the mission.

"We'll fly into the embassy, we should get there around 14:00 their time. From there we will catch a ride with one of the troops to the military base, arriving at 15:15. We'll make any preparations we need to then. At 15:45 we'll take a Hum V to the edge of US occupied land, and we will disembark quietly. The vehicle will continue to the trenches to deliver supplies to troops stationed there. The point where we exit the vehicle is a 10 minute run from the compound we need to infiltrate. It will take us closer to 25 minutes because we need to remain unseen. We'll stay together until we get to a small bank of sand- there is one that overlooks the compound. From there, we will split into an attack team and recon. Agent May and I will force our way inside, Panther and Steve will wait at the bank until I give the signal. May, we're in charge of getting all the files onto a flashdrive- if anyone sees us-"
"We accidentally drop the flashdrive and pretend that we lost the information. Stark's tech will transmit it directly to the Pentagon, but they don't need to know that," May interjected, looking bored. Steve could tell that she was anxious to get going.

"Right," Hannah continued. "If I give the signal, Steve and Pan will come break us out. Hopefully we won't need this but backup plans never hurt. Any questions?"

Panther raised his hand. "I assume since you called me Pan I'm not supposed to do this quietly?"

"Yeah, a little noise would be nice. I'm going to pretend I did that on purpose now."

"So, what exactly is the signal?" Steve asked.

"I don't know. You'll figure it out."

"Ready?" May asked. The four were crouched behind the sand bank: everything had gone smoothly so far, except for the Hum V drive. It had been very, very bumpy.

Hannah nodded in reply to the agent's question.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come along?" Steve asked. "We might be useful."

"You might also be noisy," Hannah replied as May glared at them out of the corner of her eye.

With a nod from Hannah, the two began running towards the compound, shifting in and out of the shadows. Anyone who wasn't expecting to see them there wouldn't.

"Now we wait," Panther said.

"Shit. Time to move," Panther said.

"We're supposed to wait for the signal."

"She already gave it."

"I didn't see anything obvious. She said it would be obvious."

"It was. Still is. Smoke isn't supposed to come out of that "chimney." The only thing that leads to is the old labs- they've been abandoned since they don't vent well enough."

"I don't see how that's 'obvious'," Steve insisted.

"It is to me."
"Why?"

"Just is. You coming?"
"Not until you give me a better reason to."

Panther sighed. "Fine. I grew up here. My parents were the main chemical engineers. I helped out around here too, until a couple of years ago. I guess you could say I was a sheltered child; I had no idea what was going on in the real world," Panther said bitterly. "Hannah was the only reason I learned- then, later, she was the only reason I left."

"So you're telling me that, because you used to be a TERRORIST, you expect me to follow you in there!? I bet that's why Hannah got caught in the first place. I bet you TURNED HER IN!" Steve whisper-shouted. As much as he wanted to scream his mind, he also didn't want to die.

"That's true, to a certain extent," Panther admitted. "But I didn't do it willingly. I can explain it later. Right now, Hannah and May are in there somewhere and they need our help to get out."

"Go. Go to whatever little trap you've set up. I'm going to wait for the SIGNAL!"

"Fine. You do that." Panther, seeing that he wasn't going to change the soldier's mind, took off, streaking through the shadows. Steve watched him disappear through the gate, still fuming, then settled back in to watch for a signal- and find a way to explain what had happened to Hannah and May.

"Dammit Rogers!" shouted a man.

Steve knew that something was wrong as soon as he heard the voice. This was supposed to be a silent operation- and no one on the other "side" would be mad at him.

But he didn't realize just how wrong things were until he pinpointed the voice.

Panther was running towards the sand bank where Steve was hiding, and May was running behind him, shooting anyone who came near enough to be a threat. They had came out a different door than they went in- and, with a sinking heart, Steve realized why. Hannah was thrown over Panther's shoulder, and there was blood running down her side. He couldn't tell where the wound was from, but he was pretty sure it was serious since she wasn't complaining, or even moving.

"Are you going to come with us? Because I can't carry you too, Rogers," Panther snapped, emphasizing his name. Steve had to admit, as much as he didn't want to, that it stung. Until now they had been on friendly terms- Now Panther of all people was mad.

"Like you have any right to be mad," Steve snapped back. "You're the one who tried to kill your girlfriend."

For your information, she isn't my girlfriend, and I never tried to kill her. Maybe if you had come she wouldn't be in this position!"

"Maybe if I could've trusted you I would have!"

"And what the hell was I supposed to do about that?" Panther asked, his voice low and dangerous. They had stopped in the middle of a large, flat expanse of desert. Panther gently laid Hannah on the ground, where May leaned over her.

"I don't know, being civilized would have been a good start."

"Do you have any idea what it took for me to leave this place? You've seen my house. When I ran, I had nothing. Literally just the clothes on my back. Trust me, if I was even remotely allied to these... these monsters then I wouldn't have left! And even if I did I would have come back! here, I had food. In America, I don't even have that."

Steve was opening his mouth to reply when May's voice cut through the tension.

"QUIET!"

Both men looked at her in surprise.

"Would you both shut up for a minute! No one is entirely to blame, and I don't think that Hannah would like it if you spent the last few minutes of her life screaming about it!"

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Panther asked quietly.

"The bullet grazed her heart. Her pulse has been fading while you were arguing. It's almost gone now."

Panther knelt beside her.

"Hannah... Hannah please..." Steve watched as tears began rolling down the colonel's cheeks.

"There's nothing you can do?"

May shook her head sadly.