Since her journey to Asgard, Elise Carter had become a very different person. No more hours were spent locked in her room, no more days on end. Instead she was smiling, and open. Steve suddenly found himself falling even more in love with her than he already was. He had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D, helping with missions, while Elise threw herself into wedding planning. It was going to be a small ceremony, with a very small guest list, but she needed it to still be perfect. With everything that had happened, this needed to be something that no one, or thing, was going to ruin. And whenever she got sick of planning a wedding, she dropped in on Steve's missions and gave a helping hand.
She needed a break.
"Hey Steve," she said, holding her phone up to her ear, while balancing a stack of papers in the other hand. "How was the run?" she added, and Steve laughed on the other end.
"Would have been more fun with you," he teased back, and she laughed as well.
"It would hardly look good for your fiancée to overtake you in a running contest," she wittily replied.
"Natasha just called with a mission," said Steve, knowing that her calling during his run would probably be to see if she could tag along on whatever was happening.
"I'll meet you both at the Triskelion," she said and Steve smiled. You would think having the girl you loved come on a mission would make it harder to complete but in reality if she came on the mission it would be done in half the time. Those who thought Steve was a good soldier, thought she was a god. And in a way she was. Elise quickly packed her gear and changed into her suit. They would probably beat her to the Triskelion so she would need to ready to go.
A single flash of her ID got her through security with a personal escort to take her to the quinjet where Steve was. Elsie enjoyed the feeling of power she had around here, but she knew it was also one of fear. There were very few people who within S.H.I.E.L.D. knew her true identity, and her true lineage. She intended to keep it that way, but false rumours of magic and powers still spread. If it kept her feared than she was okay with it.
"Hey Nat," she said, waving to Natasha. They had become quite close in the past couple of months. It was nice to have a friend around, who could also conveniently spy on your fiancée and make sure he did not kill himself on the job.
"How are you?" Natasha asked, walking across to her. "Dealing with your powers okay?" she asked in a low whisper, making sure no one was close enough to hear.
"I'm just taking it day by day," she whispered back. "Where is Steve?" asked Elise glancing around. Suddenly a pair of arms picked her up. "Well I've got my answer," she muttered.
"Nice to see you too," he replied, releasing her from his bear hug.
"What is the mission?" asked Elise, wanting to get straight down to business. That was the woman she had to be at S.H. .D, the leader, the boss, focused and slightly intimidating. It was so different to the woman at home. But Steve liked it that way, she had finally learnt how to separate her different mindsets. Plus, she was scary even to him on the job occasionally.
"You will be briefed on the quinjet," said a grudd voice and she turned around. There stood the Agent Brock Rumlow, who Elise could not help but have a slight distrust of. He was intimidating to most other agents, and he held himself with a certain level of confidence that crossed into cockiness. He reminded her a bit of Loki, and that was not a good thing. "We need to get up in the air," he added, rushing them along.
"Rumlow," acknowledged Elise. They had a mutual agreement. She acknowledged him, and he gave her the respect someone of her standing deserved.
"Ma'am," he quickly replied and it made her smile on the inside. If there was one thing Rumlow hated, it was calling her Ma'am. They quickly loaded onto the quintet. They passed out of the doors and soared into the air, heading straight across the ocean. By the time they reached the Indian Ocean, darkness had fallen.
"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform," said Rumlow, loading up schematics on the screen.
"The Lemurian Star right?" asked Elise, and Rumlow frowned slightly, his thunder being stolen, before nodding.
"It was sending up their last payload when pirates took them, ninety three minutes ago," continued Rumlow, pulling up a live feed of the ship.
"Any demands?" asked Steve, zooming in on the ship.
"A billion and a half," replied Rumlow.
"Why so steep?" Steve asked. And Elise laughed slightly.
"Because its S.H.I.E.L.D.'s," she replied, and Rumlow once more looked like the punchline had been stolen from him. It made her happy.
"So it's not off course, it's trespassing," accused Steve, and Elise nodded. They were good at that.
"I'm sure they have a good reason," added Natasha. Elise laughed once more, something that sounded like 'yeah right' being muttered under her breath.
"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor," muttered Steve.
"Trust me," whispered Elise back. "Being his bank isn't much more fun," she finished, and Steve supressed a chuckle.
"Relax," said Natasha. "It's not that complicated."
"How many pirates?" asked Steve, eager to plan out the mission and figure out what he would need to do to save those lives.
"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy," said Rumlow, loading a new picture up onto the monitor. "Georges Batroc. Ex-TGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's "red notice". Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties," added Rumlow, loading up a couple of his previous missions.
"I've heard of him," said Elise, flicking to the picture of him once more. "Nasty guy, a reputation for being good in areas one should not be skilled in," she muttered,
"Hostages?" Steve asked. He always liked to get as much information as he could. Plan the mission and try to account for all the variables he could. That was why so few Howling Commandos had died under his command, because he was smart enough to plan missions well, with backups for most eventualities.
"Mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell," replied Rumlow, loading up a picture of him. Sitwell was one of those agents you knew, one who you would recognise round the office but wouldn't go out of your way to talk to. "They're in the galley," he pulled the schematics of the ship up again, zooming in on the area with the most heat signatures.
"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" muttered Elise, and Steve nodded in agreement. He shouldn't have been out here, and definitely not on this ship. It was a complete abnormality for him.
"Alright," said Steve, having formulated her plan. "I'm going to sweep the deck, and find Batroc. Nat, you'll kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep after, find the hostages, get them to life pods, get them out. Let's go," said Steve.
"What about me?" asked Elise, and Steve smiled.
"I know better than to give you orders," he replied cheekily. "And besides, I think you know that I could do with some help clearing the deck," he whispered, and she punched him lightly in the stomach.
"STRIKE, you heard the captain. Gear up!"
As with every mission Steve went on, it was a success. No matter what anyone thought of Elise, or what they thought of them as a couple, no one could deny they worked rather well as a team. However Steve was done with Fury concealing intentions from him. He quickly filled in Elise on the flash drive.
"Just be careful when confronting Fury," whispered Elise. When in S.H.I.E.L.D. you kept your voice down, and even that wasn't enough sometimes. Especially if talking about something you didn't want anyone to hear.
"I will. Meet me in the lobby afterwards?" he asked, and she nodded. "Are you going to be okay?" he add and Elise smiled back, kissing him on the cheek.
"I'm sure I can find something to entertain myself with," she replied, a cheeky grin on her face, as she wandered away from Steve.
"Don't go too far!" he yelled back. She raised her hand in the air in acknowledgement. Their relationship was weird, but it was perfect for them. Elise walked through the lobby of the Triskelion, and you could tell from the way people looked at her that they were scared. "Excuse me," she said, walking over to the reception desk. The lady started trembling.
"How may I help you ma'am?" she quickly asked, stumbling and fumbling over each word.
"I want to be taken to Project Insight," Elise said, flashing her badge. She had heard all about the ships, though the detail had been kept purposefully away from her. And that annoyed her to no end.
"Of course," the receptionist replied, picking up the phone. No doubt a call would be going through to Fury. Or Alexander Pierce. She doubted the Council though. A man claw in black and walked across to her.
"Ma'am, you do not have clearance to view the project yet," the agent replied, and Elise started at him. He was shaking, must have drawn the short sword out of those who had to come talk to her.
"Tell Fury, hell skip him. Tell Pierce that unless he wants the bank account to run dry, someone had better turn up within the next five minutes to take me to see Project Insight," she threatened, as the receptionist picked up the phone once more. After a brief minute, another man in a suit approached her.
"This way ma'am," he said, motioning for her to walk behind him.
"Thank you," she sarcastically replied, following behind. They went down in the lift, and she turned to see three large helicarriers being built. "Damn Fury, what are you doing?" she whispered, stepping out of the lift and into the chaos that was around her. How could he think that this was a good idea? "What are they meant to do?" she asked the suited agent beside her. He stayed tight lipped. "I want a full report with every single detail of this project within fourth eight hours. If I don't get it, I can promise consequences," she threatened, heading back into the elevator. "Lobby," she yelled and left the suited man standing there, trying to process what had just happened. Fury had pissed her off. And Steve would probably have to feel the negative effects of this. Elise should probably have apologised in advance.
Hey! So I've got the plot planned for this movie as well as most of the new avengers movie. Thanks for reading!