A/N. Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. I haven't been feeling too well and the lack of reviews kind of brought me down, but I'm not going to let that stop me :) To make up for the lack of updates, here is a nice, long chapter and another one may follow sometime tonight. Not sure yet. Stay tuned and enjoy! :D
CHAPTER XV
Steve sighed as he hung up the phone. He ran a hand over his face in exasperation. Tania had almost died – again. And he was hundreds of miles away across the ocean. Someone had tried to kill her. He hadn't noticed how tightly he had been holding the phone until he looked down at his hand and saw the cracked remains of glass that used to be his screen.
"Easy there, Cap," Tony consoled while lugging his suitcase onto the hidden jet. "Piggy Bank is fine. Austerlitz is our guy. We'll catch him."
Steve pocketed his phone and grabbed his duffel bag from the forest floor, where they'd hidden their transportation. He hefted it onto his shoulder before boarding the jet behind the billionaire. "Oh we'll catch him. I'm going to make sure of that."
Natasha eyed him warily from the cockpit. Despite having JARVIS drive them, she liked being able to see all the controls should anything happen. As she sat there and listened, she found that she didn't like Steve's tone very much. It was full of hatred and scorn for this Austerlitz guy. That was not the Captain America way. She would have invited him into the cockpit for a chat but she knew that Steve stayed as far away from the pilot's seat as possible. It gave him horrible flashbacks.
Deciding not to keep her headset on so she could better monitor her leader with her ears, she turned to the window in front of her.
In the back, oblivious to the assassin's observation, Tony and Steve sat on seats opposite each other as the hatch door closed itself. Steve's bag lay on a shelf above his head while Tony's luggage was stuffed under his bench along with Natasha's.
"Is everyone ready?" JARVIS asked, as was protocol and precaution before every flight.
"Ready as can be, Jarvis. Take us up."
"Yes, Sir."
The loud thrumming noise began to crescendo as the jet vibrated. Tony opened his mouth to say something kinky before closing it. Steve wouldn't get the joke and Natasha would probably kill him. Around them, the cloaked jet created a swirling vortex of wind as the engines fired up. It hovered above ground, blowing the grass and trees roughly away from the vehicle. It rose until it was well above the treetops and into the clouds before zooming forward loudly.
Once in the air, the thrumming died down to a small hum and the passengers were free to walk around the cabin. Unable to sit down and keep still, Steve stood up and leaned his forearm against the wall, bracing his head against it and stuffing his other hand in his jeans pocket.
Even though Tony hadn't been on the quinjet with Steve and Coulson when the Captain had done that very move, the genius figured out rather quickly that he had something troubling him. Since Natasha was up front and unable to see Steve's "oh woe is me" pose, it was left up to him to fix the first Avenger.
Oh goody for him. "Hey Spangles," he called to grab the man's attention. Steve hummed in response, obviously still lost in his thoughts. Tony rolled his eyes. "Listen, Tania is protected by a master assassin, a raging Hulk, a demi-god, a friggin' scary CEO, a brilliant scientist, and an overprotective brother."
"I as well have been taking extra care to look after Miss Banks," JARVIS put in.
"See!" Tony gestured to the ceiling. "Even Jarvis is protecting your other half. She's fine. Take your own advice and move on."
"How would you react?" Steve turned around and leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms.
The question caught him off guard and Tony simply leaned forward, elbows placed on his knees. "Huh?"
"How would you react, if it were Pepper in her place?" He reiterated.
Tony blew a raspberry and scratched his goatee thoughtfully. "Do you want the honest truth or something that will make you feel better?"
The sarcastic and challenging look in the Captain's eyes said it all: honesty. The philanthropist sighed. "Fine then. I probably would have gone on some sort of rampage, not eaten or drank for says, let go of myself looking for, and probably would have gone bat shit crazy."
Natasha snickered.
"I heard that!"
"I know."
"Anyway, so yeah. You're handling this a lot better than I would, but still. You're brooding and sulking is seriously bringing me down."
"And what do you suggest I do to alleviate that?"
"Hey Red, crank up the tunes!"
"Let me guess. ACDC?"
"Of course!"
She rolled her eyes. "Jarvis? Would you please?"
"Of course, Agent Romanoff."
ACDC began blasting through the surround sound speakers Tony had installed and poles rose from the floor. He grinned. "Come on Spidey, come on out here and give us a dance!" He whistled.
She turned around and stood up, making her way over to them. Tony's grin melted off his face when he saw that she really was going for the poles. What would Pepper say if she found out about this? He only flirted with the spy because he knew she would never oblige – it was harmless.
He gulped as Natasha lightly grabbed the pole and sent him a sultry look. Steve was watching with wide eyes, unable to comprehend the Natasha he knew actually listening to Stark and… pole dancing for him.
The red head gripped the pole and jumped spinning around effortlessly in a horizontal line before twisting and sending her foot directly into Tony's jaw, snapping his head to the side.
"Natasha!" Steve chastised as she landed gracefully to her feet, shoes clicking the metal floor one at a time. She removed her hand from the golden pole.
"Be careful what you wish for Stark," she warned before strolling back to the cockpit, hips swinging as she did so.
Tony rubbed his cheek and stared after her. "Well Damn."
Steve blinked.
"Did I lose a tooth? I feel like a lost a tooth. Can you peek in my mouth and check? I think I taste blood."
Tony opened his mouth wide and Steve just had to laugh.
They arrived in Germany and landed in one of the only SHIELD run airports in the world. After unloading their things and allowing the other agents to take in Stark's jet, the trio rented another car before heading to another SHIELD safe house for the night.
Being in Germany didn't bring back as many memories as Steve thought it would. It was probably because he didn't see much of anything in the dark, seeing as it was nine o'clock at night in January and when he did catch glimpses of something, it would never be anything he recognized.
The only thing that made him reel back was the German language. The agents stationed in Berlin all spoke it fluently and Steve was painfully reminded of Dr. Erskine, Schmidt, and Zola. He winced unnoticeably before plowing on, blocking the language from his ears.
The constant changing of time zones and erratic schedules had completely messed up with his sleeping patterns. His pocket watch that doubled as a compass still had the time zone Tania was in. He took it just to look sometimes and think about her. It helped, knowing that hers was always somewhere on her person.
So when they eventually arrived at the house, he realized it was only a little past three o'clock in the afternoon where his girlfriend was. That would explain why he wasn't the least bit tired. But he knew he'd have to get up at six a.m. German time if he wanted to catch Austerlitz at an appropriate time.
So he took his time having dinner with the others (homemade food Clint had cooked and then frozen for them to put in the microwave) before changing, brushing his teeth, and going to bed. He lay there for hours, unable to fall asleep. He assumed the others were in a similar position in their rooms with a lack of drowsiness.
Eventually, he fell asleep at around midnight. At precisely six a.m. the next morning, his alarm went off. He groaned and blinked awake. He sat up, pushing the light covers off of his body before swinging his legs over the edge to the cold, wood floor. He fiddled with his phone, unable to make the buzzing stop with all the cracks in it messing it up. He settled for hitting it against the nightstand. It worked.
He sighed in relief, testing to make sure it still worked. It did – miraculously. The benefits of Stark technology: durability was a must.
He quickly dressed in a T-shirt and shorts and wrapped his hands. He was going to the gym. He still felt the frustrations and worry from yesterday and he needed to hit something, to let it all out with blow after blow.
After a little bit of wandering, he finally found a small room with matts for floors and one punching bag in the middle of the room, dangling from a rusty chain. It would have to do.
He walked up to it and began punching, practicing all his different hits and imagining that he was beating up this Austerlitz guy. Not fifteen minutes later did his phone ring.
He caught the bad mid swing, barely out of breath yet. He walked over to his cracked cell phone and picked it up. A picture of Tania's smiling face was distorted on the screen. He immediately tried to pick up. It took several tries and a few mumbled curses before he got it to answer.
"Tania?"
No answer. Had he hung up on her accidentally? He looked down at the screen. Oh. A text. Right. He squinted to read the small writing.
Good morning Dear.
He furrowed his eyebrows and checked his pocket watch. He started texting back as fast as he could (which wasn't very fast considering the state of his phone).
What are you doing up? I thought it was six hours behind where you are?
There was a small pause before she texted back.
Nightmare.
He furrowed his eyebrows in worry.
Would you like to talk about it?
… Maybe.
Tell me.
And she did.
It was pouring rain and Tania was drenched, standing in the middle of an abandoned street with a gun in her hands. She was dressed in her usual work suit and it clung to her body uncomfortably. She was shaking, but whether it was from cold or from fear she had yet to decipher.
"Tania!" she whipped around towards the voice. At the other end of the street was Clint. He was being held captive by a man in a black ski mask dressed all in black.
"Clint! NO!" She ran toward him but she was never getting any closer or farther away. He stayed the same distance away. The raindrops meshed with her tears of fear.
"Tania! Shoot him!"
"Wha-? I-I can't! I'll miss! I'll hurt you!"
Even at such a great distance, she could hear his voice clearly. "You have to do it! It's the only way!"
"I can't!"
"TANIA!"
She watched in horror as the man shot in the back of the head, point blank. She screamed as blood spurted onto the man's black clothes and Clint fell forward, smashing onto the cold, wet, cement. She couldn't see the corpse very well, it was more just a silhouette in the distance through the rain but she knew he was dead. And it was her fault. "CLINT!"
The man that had shot him pulled back his mask and grinned evilly at her. It was "Hal" from the hotel lobby in Philadelphia. "You're next."
Well… that was certainly a nightmare. Steve knew what he had to do. He quickly typed in another text.
Call me.
He picked up on the first ring.
"Tania," he said in greeting, "It wasn't real."
"I know."
"If it were real, Clint would have gotten himself out of that mess easily," he said, trying to make light of the situation. It worked somewhat.
She chuckled. "I suppose you're right. I just… it scared me, Steve. A lot."
"I know the feeling."
A silence followed in which neither of them really knew what to say. Steve's body was begging for sleep and his brain was praying to get rid of this exhaustion but he wanted to hold onto her voice a little longer. Just to soothe her nerves as well as his own.
"What are you doing right now?" She asked, breaking the pause.
"I'm at the gym of one of the SHIELD houses in Berlin."
"So I didn't wake you?"
"Not at all. Jet lag tends to mess with a person's head. I'm usually awake around this time with a few exceptions. Well, this time your time."
She laughed quietly, vibrating the phone next to his ear and he smiled. "Okay, good. If you'd have said yes I probably would have hung up on you."
He chuckled. "The others should be up soon. We're headed over to Austerlitz at seven thirty."
"Good luck."
"Thank you. Hey, is the Tower still on Lock Down?" He wanted to make sure that she was still safe, still taking every precaution, and still well-protected.
"Yes. All the doors have been barred and locked unless any of the Avengers and those trusted enough have the DNA codes to get in or out. All the windows have been reinforced with extra-bullet proof glass and Jarvis is on high alert for strangers anywhere near the Tower as well as strange behaviour. Even the workers have been banned from the Tower."
"Good. I mean, not good for them, but, uh…" he began to blush at his fumbling words.
"Haha, I know what you mean. But as for the 'good for me' thing, I'm not so sure I agree. I mean, isn't this a little much?"
"That kind of thing is exactly what makes the Tower one of the safest places in the world."
"Okay…"
The soft padding of footsteps in the hallway alerted Steve to another presence. He picked himself up off the floor and pressed the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he started unwrapping his hands.
"I'll call you later, okay? I think I heard Natasha wake up."
"Okay, Dear. Good-ni- er, Good-bye."
He smiled. "Goodnight. Love you Darling."
"I love you too."
He hung up the phone before pocketing it and the wrap before making his way to his room. He passed by Natasha and nodded at her. "Good morning."
"Morning." She nodded back. A few steps after having passed each other, the soldier heard his name being called. He turned around to face her. She was already dressed in her disguise for the day: cropped, black wig with green eyes and a dark complexion with what looked like one of Pepper's business suits. "How are you?"
He was confused not so much by her question, but her delayed reaction to asking it after they'd started going their separate ways. "I'm holding up. You?" It was only polite to ask.
"Worried."
"About Tania?"
"Yes, but mostly I'm worried about you."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Me?"
"You're constantly distracted with thoughts of her. You need to keep focused if we're going to bring this guy to justice."
"I'll be focused, trust me."
Those last words brought her up short and she inhaled a sharp intake of breath. "What I'm worried about is that this guy doesn't want Tania. They'll want one of us. Most likely you. Which means this could all be a trap."
"Natasha, all that matters to me is Tania's safety."
"Which is the exact kind of attitude that is going to get you killed. You need to come home, if not for your sake then for hers. For ours," she said, referring to their team and family.
"Nat," he called, using her nickname for the first time. He saw her features soften a little. "I'm not suicidal. I want to come home. I'm determined to."
She saw how careful he was with his words. He hadn't explicitly stated that he would come home. He'd just stated that he would try his hardest. With her line of work, Natasha knew that anything could happen and some promises just couldn't be kept or were too risky to put out there. She nodded. His determination and focus were all she wanted.
"That's all I ask." With that, she turned and walked down the hallway to the wooden staircase that led to the kitchen.
Steve stared after her for a few seconds more before walking over to his room. He changed into his disguise (brown wavy hair, a beard, and more modern clothes) and quickly made his way downstairs for breakfast.
Tony was already there, wearing a bald cap (he was not too happy about that…) and another cover for his beard. Natasha was working on his makeup while he squirmed (again) and two empty bowls with spoons sat on the table with leftover cereal flakes stuck to the sides.
"Ow! Watch it, Widow. You almost poked my eye out!"
"Whoops." She didn't sound at all sorry.
Steve shook his head and chuckled at them as he sat down at the table. He poured himself a bowl of cereal as well and filled it to the brim, knowing he'd have seconds afterward. He scooped a large spoonful into his mouth.
A little while later, they were off. It took only ten minutes to drive the sleek black rental car to the moderately average house. Like the first two times, Steve and Tony would be the ones backing up Natasha who was more experienced with this kinds of things.
Just as she rang the doorbell, she turned to look at them over her hastily thrown on tortoiseshell glasses. "Just so you two know, German is one of the only languages I don't speak."
Steve and Tony gaped at her just before the door opened and they quickly rearranged their faces to look blank. A blond haired blue eyed woman who appeared to be in her late forties answered the door. Before she could get a word in, Natasha spoke up in a flawless French accent.
"Good morning. My name is Charlotte LeBlanc, of Interpol." She flashed her badge, as did Steve and Tony. "My companions are Simon Égard," Tony, "and Arthur Deschambault," Steve. "Is Mr. Austerlitz here?"
The woman was visibly shaking. Natasha seemed to have that effect on people. "N-no. He is at a five day meeting at the hotel downtown. I have not seen him since Thursday. He said he would be back sometime tomorrow." She spoke with a heavy German accent but her English was almost perfect. "W-why would you need to see him? Surely he has done no wrong?"
Steve and Tony glanced at each other anxiously. Should they tell this oblivious woman what her husband was suspect of? Natasha had her own ideas as she replied back easily. "Not that we know of, but we have reason to believe he may have been a part of something that may have done wrong. I am afraid I can give you no more information until the guilty party is caught, but thank you for your time."
"Um… you are very welcome." The nameless woman closed the door while the three Avengers backed off the porch steps towards the car.
"Tony, get Jarvis to give us the location of the hotel Austerlitz was last seen at," the red head ordered as she got into the driver's seat.
"Shotgun!" The genius called out before hopping into the passenger seat.
Steve huffed but got into the back without complaint. "Who's to say this guy is at the hotel? He might still be in America for all we know."
"I got the address," Tony interrupted.
"Good. Take us there." Natasha started the ignition and pulled off the curb, looking both ways to make sure she didn't hit anything,
"Jarvis, GPS-mode."
"Yes, Sir."
Tony folded back the monitor on his laptop and a three dimensional holographic projection of a map of Germany popped up. He pinched his fingers before spreading them apart, zooming in on the blinking red dot that was leading them in the right direction. He flung his arm forward, sending the projection onto the entirety of the car's front window. It was transparent enough that Natasha could still see the road and look at the map at the same time.
"It's the only lead we've got Cap," Natasha said in answer to Steve question. "Maybe he snuck back in. Maybe he's got a friend running things off scene. The possibilities are endless. We've got to scope it out."
He nodded. "How long?"
"Forty minutes," JARVIS answered.
He sighed. "I suppose we should keep the disguises on?"
"Well, if I know anything about hotels, then the people at the front desk won't let us in to see his room. We're going to have to sneak in. I'd keep parts of it on, just in case, but we can dress in our own clothes."
Steve nodded and removed his wig, running his fingers through his hair. Natasha threw her glasses into the glove compartment along with her contacts and Tony removed his bald cap, peeling it from his scalp rather disgustingly.
"So," he started, "what are we going to do for the next forty minutes?" When he received no answer, he continued on to break the silence.
"Can we at least listen to the radio? I have no idea what kind of music people play in Germany but it's gotta be better than this stupid silence." He cranked up the volume of a random station all the way to hotel, much to Steve and Natasha's chagrin.
Twenty-five minutes later (Natasha was speeding just to get that ANNOYING NOISE TONY CALLED MUSIC out of her head faster), the three of them parked the car around the block from the hotel. Steve and Tony stood guard outside while Natasha changed into more flexible clothes in the back of the car.
When she was ready, the three of them walked down the street with Tony pretending to be a busy business man talking on his phone and Steve and Natasha pretending to be a couple on a stroll. They made their way around the back of their designated building and hid in the bushes behind the parking lot.
Natasha held a pair of binoculars to her eyes and scoped out the place. "Two security cameras," she stated. "Think you can get Jarvis to scramble them?"
"I don't think, I know. Jarvis?" Tony spoke to the comm in his ear.
"Of course, Sir."
Natasha never took her eyes away from the cameras attached to the walls. They stopped moving. "Good. Which room is it?"
"The fifth room to the right on the seventh level," the AI answered her from her own comm.
She nodded and removed the binoculars from her face. "Okay, so here's the plan. We use the balconies of each suite as a makeshift ladder. Since Steve and I are the more agile ones, Tony will stay behind with the binoculars and keep watch for anyone opening their curtains or the doors to their balconies. I'll pick the lock on Austerlitz' door and we'll bust in with these guns," she took two out of her backpack and handed the bag to Tony. "If he runs, we shoot. We'll keep in contact through comms. Any questions?"
Tony raised his hand. "Why are you two automatically the agile ones? Just because I was wearing a suit, doesn't mean I wasn't moving just as much as you were."
"The suit was restricting. No complaints. Steve? We good?"
"Good to go." He removed the safety from his gun and clicked it.
She nodded at him. "And don't talk until we're absolutely sure we're alone and no one can hear us."
"Got it."
"Move out."
She and Steve hid their guns somewhere on their person before making a run for the parking lot. In their ears, they heard Tony's voice tell them that they were all clear. There were a few cars parked here and there but they were all vacant of people and any civilians weren't within view of the Avengers.
Natasha ran at the wall and jumped, using the bricks as leverage to push herself higher as she used her foot to step on it like a step ladder. She stretched midair and grabbed the metallic bar of the first balcony and quickly swung her feet in front her, making sure her torso never hit the railing. Her knees bent and absorbed her landing while doubling as a spring. Her body coiled and she let go of the bar as she back flipped upwards and spinning halfway through to grab the other bar to the balcony diagonally across from the one she had started from, landing in the same position. She continued with this until she reached the seventh floor.
Steve's approach was less graceful – he ran and jumped, grabbing a hold of the railing before pulling himself up. He swung his legs over onto the inside of the balcony before hopping onto the bar with both feet and leaping for the next one. He was about to jump for the fourth when Tony's voice in his ear startled him.
"Wait Cap stop!" he flailed and fell forward, flipping until he grabbed the cement that acted as the balcony floor of the one he had just fallen from. He was about to curse the roughness against his fingers when he heard a glass door slid open from above. It wasn't his balcony thank goodness but it came from the one he had been about to jump to. He adjusted his grip on the balcony uncomfortably, hanging there until further notice.
"She doesn't see you," Tony informed him. "She has a book. I think she's going to- yeah. She's sitting there and reading. She's not leaving any time soon."
"We need a distraction," Natasha whispered from her position on the last balcony.
"What am I supposed to do?" The billionaire asked.
"You're supposed to be the genius. Think of something!"
"Fine."
He rubbed his goatee in thought. "Hmm… oh, I got it!" He grabbed a rock from the ground, frowning at the dirt he got in his fingernails, before tossing it in the direction of the girl's left. It smacked the wall and she looked there for a few seconds before shrugging and returning to her book. He threw another one (which was very hard to do while lying in the bushes) and she looked again, but didn't move.
Steve shifted anxiously from his perch on the third balcony. He couldn't dangle there forever. Tony threw one last rock and finally, the girl closed her book and walked over to the other side of her balcony and leaned over it to get a closer look – the opposite way of Steve.
"Go Cap, go!"
Steve hefted himself up and over the railing before running and jumping onto the bar in order to launch himself onto the next balcony up, further away from the girl. He pulled himself onto it just as she returned to her book and patio chair.
Both men sighed in relief. It took Steve a little longer to reach Natasha, seeing as he had gone a little farther left than was necessary, but he did it. They both pressed their backs against the wall on either side of the screened door with their guns against their chests.
Steve nodded at her and she nodded back. She removed several bobby pins from under her wig and began to fold and bend them into a warped shape of black, twisted metal. She stuck it in the lock and turned, breaking it open easily.
Steve used his fingers to count down from three and she followed along. Three… two… one. She threw open the door and rolled inside, stopping in a kneel with her gun up as the Captain burst in after her, also holding his gun up.
"Freeze!" she called out. No answer. It was completely silent. Warily, Natasha pushed herself to her feet and looked around, waving her gun wherever she did. Steve did the same. A moment later, she reached into her utility belt and took out what appeared to be a large pill. She used her thumb to flip open the top and then tossed it onto the ground. There was a faint buzzing sound before the device began smoking.
She sighed and squished it under her boot before picking up the remains. She walked out onto the balcony and let it blow into the wind.
"What was that?" Steve asked when she got back inside and shut the door behind her.
"A bug scrambler. It messes with any and all listening devices within a good distance."
"Ah." After a thorough search of the suite for any living being, he shouted, "All clear on this end!"
"All clear here too." They both lowered their fire arms but didn't put them away.
Steve whipped the curtains to the back door closed after saluting the bushes he knew Tony were hiding in. "Alright. Should we investigate?"
"Yes. Here." She tossed him a pair of black gloves and he caught them easily with his enhanced reflexes.
"Thanks."
Natasha started in the bedroom while Steve went straight for the bathroom. They left no stone unturned as they rummaged through all of his belongings and replaced everything back the way it was – no one would ever know they had been there. Steve felt inside toothpaste bottles and opened all drawers and in the tank of the toilet. Nothing.
When he returned to the living room, he jumped and held up his gun.
"Woah! Hey! Put that down! It's just me!"
Steve lowered his firearm. "Geez, Tony. A little warning would have been nice. I almost shot you."
"But you didn't because you would never shoot me."
"How did you even get in here?"
"Well it turns out Natashalie was wrong. The Front Desk let me right in when I said I wanted to visit a friend on the seventh floor."
"Stark," the woman greeted as she walked in from the bedroom, a scowl on her face. "You should have stayed outside. We need a lookout."
He waved her away nonchalantly. "Nah, we'll be fine."
"Stark…" she growled.
"It's too late now," Steve spoke up before this could get ugly. "Just keep searching."
So after giving Tony an extra pair of gloves, the three of them went through everything they could as fast as possible. Tony had gone through the bed (and under it) and under the carpet and now he was searching through the dresser drawers. They were all empty. He slammed the last one closed in frustration.
"Ugh! This is pointless! What were we even hoping to find? Fingerprints?"
"Just keep looking, Stark," Natasha ordered without even looking at him as she inspected the couch.
"For what?"
"Anything that could tell us anything about whether or not he's guilty," Steve answered from inside the closet he was searching through.
Tony sighed. "This is hopeless!" He opened the drawer and slammed it closed again, just for the satisfaction of making a loud noise and using force to do it. "Wait," he opened the drawer again. Something blue had caught his eye but now he didn't see it. Confused, he yanked the entire drawer out of the dresser and, sure enough, spotted a pamphlet. "Well, well, well, what have we here?"
He picked it up and replaced the drawer before sitting on the bed. It was a pamphlet for the tourist attractions in Philadelphia. He frowned and opened it. He flipped the pages until he came across a list of hotels where one was circled in red pen: the same hotel Tania and Pepper had been staying in.
"Guys, I found something."
Almost immediately, both companions were looking over both of his shoulders at what he held in his hands. "Son of a gun," Steve breathed.
"This is definitely our guy," Tony stated angrily. He used his thumb to flip over the rest of the pages before he reached the end and looked at the back. A phone number was written in black sharpie. "Bingo." He passed the pamphlet to Natasha. "Would you like to do the honours?"
"My pleasure." She took the papers and walked over to the phone in the corner of the room by the flat screen TV. She dialed the number while Steve paced and Tony made himself comfortable on the bed, lying down with his hands behind his head and his feet crossed at the ankles.
The person picked up on the third ring. "Was möchten Sie tun?"
Her eyes widened. "He speaks German," she mouthed to the others.
Steve hurriedly grabbed the phone from her and held it to his ear. "Hallo?"
"Hat keine Fortschritte gemacht worden?"
"Ähm, das ... Ziel war nicht ... uh, getötet.," he spoke in broken up German. Tony and Natasha were gaping at him but he turned his back to them so that he wouldn't be distracted or embarrassed.
"Ich weiß das! Jetzt beweg deinen Arsch zum Assistenten morgen oder ich werde Sie und Ihre Familie für Ihre Inkompetenz zu töten!" The seemingly very angry man hung up the phone. Steve placed it back on its hook looking slightly dazed.
"Wow! Where did you-?" Tony started but was interrupted by Steve.
"You pick up a few things when stationed in Europe during the Second World War"
"Impressive. Even I don't speak German," Natasha complimented.
"Yes, well," he rubbed the back of his neck as a blush started creeping up his cheeks, "I don't speak much but I understand maybe seventy percent of what's being said?"
"Your pronunciation is almost perfect."
"Thanks. I just… I just imitated Dr. Abraham Erskine from… back in the forties."
"Ah…" Tony and Natasha chorused.
"So what did he say?" The assassin asked.
"He asked if any progress has been made. I told him that the target was still alive. He said that he knew that and then… well, he started speaking really fast and the only real word I caught was wizard."
"Wizard?" Tony repeated. "Are you sure you didn't mix something up?"
He nodded. "I'm positive. He said wizard somewhere in there. Sorry, my German is a little rusty."
"No, no. That's great!" Natasha stated, grabbing the pamphlet and shoving it in her pocket. "We've got more intel but I don't think it's safe to call that number anymore. Especially since none of us speak German. I'll ask Clint when we get back if he knows the language. I think he does."
"Good," Steve acknowledged.
An awkward silence followed which Tony just had to break.
"Now what?"