Dacia sighed once again; she wondered if they should begin looking at other factors for possible hideouts of Designation: Black Widow. She couldn't be sure whether or not the woman would pick a country that didn't currently hold an extradition treaty with America, or would she try to include whether or not said countries had an extradition treaty with Germany? It wasn't immediately clear whether or not America would be actively looking for the woman because she couldn't be sure if the woman had pissed off America too much for them to care about the current whereabouts of the woman.
Dacia had been genuinely confused when she had heard that Romanova had told the US Congress that they couldn't possibly arrest her because she was too valuable to them to be free. That had been a bit of an elementary decision for her to make, Dacia hadn't been able to work out whether or not the woman was that naïve. At the time, Dacia had simply chosen to keep the proceedings in mind; she didn't feel as if they warranted her full attention, simply because she was sure that she could protect both herself and Jane if it came to it. When she had heard of Romanova's comments, she wondered if it was possible for the woman to be stuffed full of over-confidence on her own merits to begin to believe that no harm could befall her?
It was worth considering whether or not the woman had become too accustomed to living in the lap of luxury, thanks to her association with Stark. Goodness knows that the woman had never had to answer for the consequences of her actions, it was likely that she didn't think trivial matters such as consequences mattered to her. She had for too long been able to enter into countries and be gone before she ever had to face a single member of law enforcement. It was possible that the woman had begun to think that silly things such as law and legally binding treaties were beneath her.
Dacia felt as if she could easily muster up some sympathy for the woman; she knew from personal experience that it was difficult to move past childhood trauma, some of the scars that she still bore would take years for her to overcome. That she still wasn't sure if she would ever be able to move past them. One thing that Dacia frequently found herself grateful for was that she had friends now who she could count upon to tie her back to reality. She wondered if Romanova had a support network like the one that she enjoyed, something told her that the woman had worn so many different masks over her lifetime, that no one truly knew who she was. She wondered if Romanova knew who she was, something told her that she didn't know.
It was a sad state of affairs that when she considered that for now, it was more important that they should remain focused on what they were supposed to be doing. Shaking her head once again when she tried to focus back on what she was looking for, any clue that she could use to pin down the woman she was chasing. Hearing her blood begin to sing in her ears, as the thrill of a good hunt begins to overtake her. Closing her eyes once again, as she wondered what she should begin to address first, taking in a deep lungful of oxygen, before opening her eyes again and beginning to speak.
"So, listen, guys, I was wondering if the woman would continue to use countries which don't currently hold an extradition treaty with the United States? Or would she choose to avoid countries which hold an extradition treaty with Germany? It stands to reason that the woman would decide that the US was of a lesser threat to her, after all, it was in Germany that she broke the law. I don't think that I have ever come across anything that whispers at difficult thinking." Dacia sighed.
"For now, we have to consider that the woman has enemies everywhere and every single place. There would not be any place that doesn't want a pound of flesh, no doubt aided by the massive info dump that she unleashed. Once she cut strings with Dr Stark, she had to have known that she would no longer be able to rely on the goodwill of SI being able to protect her. Once she had turned herself away from that sense of security, it would have become difficult for her to rely on the things that she once would have counted upon to have her back." Jyn reminded the other two.
"See, I thought of that, but it strikes me as slightly suspect that the woman would have had pissed away all of her previous networks. Anyone that she could have counted on to give her safe harbour if she got into trouble. Anyone that she could have relied upon to give her information and tips. She more than likely would have pissed away their support; she might have gotten enough of them killed. Wouldn't even matter if they were affiliated with a recognised Intelligence agency, anyone who was on the radar of SHIELD, their name would have been leaked." Cassian warned thinking aloud.
Cassian finished his speech and stared into space as he wondered what had happened to make it the woman think that there was no possible way that she would ever have been put into yet more harm. He wondered if it had struck Romanova yet that she was in this situation purely because of her hubris and ego, he wondered if the woman realised yet how rich it had been of her to blame Dr Stark of the very thing that she was guilty of. It was curious, but he didn't imagine that the former Avengers were particularly willing to see beyond the end of their nose, not if they could blame all the ills of the world on Stark.
Allowing herself some time to try and shake some of the doubts that plagued her mind, Dacia decided to speak to her friends, hoping that they at least would be able to point her in the right direction. She knew that she would have to make some headway on this issue before too long, more things were riding on this than Dacia suggested.
"Okay, so try and clear this up for me, are we sure that the woman wouldn't have tried to find her way back into America. In her mind, from there she at least knows some more of the rules, it's possible that she might have a reason to run back there." Dacia cautioned.
"See, I thought that too, but America has a warrant out for her arrest, and at the very least they'll want to save face. You know make the Germans and their international partners look like at the very least they are taken this topic seriously. It doesn't look as if the general public in America takes the whole thing seriously. So, what political opportunities would they have to gain if they actively hounded the woman and the rest of them? I don't think that it is an election year in the States, so they might not have to immediately face the consequences of not wanting to take an even bigger role in actively hounding the woman. Did Secretary Ross, Thaddeus I mean, pull any more strings." Cassian supplied.
"I have been thinking about that, and so far it doesn't seem as if Secretary Ross is interested in making any bigger waves than he has too, he still looks as if he is more interested in ensuring that the previous Secretary Elizabeth McCord keeps quiet. He is looking to chase his tail and not get any more egg on his face, not while it looks as if he could be gearing up to face a semi-public war of words against the woman. While Ross would be more comfortable with the Armed Services, he doesn't seem the type to be more comfortable with diplomacy. For now, he would find himself having to learn a new skill – the skill of diplomacy and fighting issues with his words rather than a gun." Jyn told them with a small frown on her face.
"That is a difficult skill to learn, not impossible but difficult. But back to the matter at hand, we need to make sure that we can find this woman. Is it possible that she would go looking for refuge in some country in South America?" Cassian nodded his head acquiescing to Jyn's words.
"I have been looking into that, for now though; it's more important that we should find the woman. It would track with her history; we know that she doesn't seem to choose any completely new alias. From Natalia Romanova to Natasha Romanoff, to Natalie Rushman, she always chooses the same two initials. Is it possible that we are chasing our tails here on this whole matter?" Dacia checked.
"It would align with some of the histories we know of the Red Room, that they tend to look to history for something, anything to guide them. We know that some of the Nazis who survived the Second World War managed to escape punishment by using what was known as the Ratlines that ran through Spain. These so-called Ratlines funnelled Nazis towards havens in Latin America, including; Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Bolivia, as well as Switzerland. Other destination included places like Australia, Canada and the Middle East. While the first went to Spain, the second went to Rome to Genoa and then on. Would it even be possible that she could be using one of those ratlines to get herself away from danger?" Jyn told the other two, frowning as she scanned through the information in front of her.
"Her arrogance wouldn't allow that. For one thing, she would be assured that only she could protect herself, she wouldn't want to allow anyone else a chance. At the very least, it would be slightly more difficult to escape from Europe when it was working in conjunction with one another. She would regard the action of saving her skin as being more important, as being more important than being doubly important. She would be working on her own; she wouldn't trust anyone else enough to rely upon them." Cassian warned the other two, not wanting them to get excited over as far as he could see it – nothing.
"I hear what you are saying, I do, but we need to keep an eye out for the woman. While all of this talk is interesting, it's not immediately pertinent to what we are working on. Oh hang on, I'm getting something through on the woman from the kind folks over at MI6." Dacia whirled around when her computer beeped.
Tapping through a few of the buttons on the computer in front of her, wanting to make sure that she had all of the facts that she needed before speaking. Her eyebrows raised further up her face as she scanned the information further, she couldn't believe what she was reading.
"It looks as if all that talking that we have just done has been negated by some of the things that I have just seen. It seems as if the woman has ignored some of her better demons and has decided to seek shelter in the Republic of Ireland. Understand though that this isn't for definite, at the moment we cannot take this as a fact, for the moment it is a suspicion. But to get to my point, it's a suspicion that they were able to uncover when one of their agents were in Ireland. The email isn't clear on what grounds the agents were in the country, but I honestly wouldn't expect them to be completely open and upfront about their reasons for war." Dacia made sure to inform the people that she was travelling with.
"Okay, but that doesn't make any sense, why would the woman choose to seek shelter in the Republic of Ireland, wouldn't they hold extradition treaties with Germany?" Cassian exclaimed confused with the potential actions of the woman.
"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, but for now we just have to make sure that we can hunt down the woman." Jyn sighed, sinking back into a seat behind her, carefully running a hand through her hair in agitation.
"We can't concern ourselves with that, not while we still have to keep an eye on actually finding the woman. For now, though, we to keep working all the angles, have we got any further intel on where she might be found?" Cassian reminded the two.
"Yeah, the whispers that they were able to give us don't give us a precise location, which I honestly wouldn't expect them to have. One thing that they were able to tell us was that some of our thinking might have been true. Namely that she would try to find somewhere she could enjoy the ability to escape the country as needed, somewhere without a prevalence of surveillance, she wouldn't want to run the risk of being found through her hubris. I can have a look at finding out whether or not the woman might be located." Dacia told them.
Frowning to herself as she tapped some of the computer keys in front of her, Dacia brought up figures, looking for any potential place for a hide. Chewing on her bottom lip while she tried to quietly scan through more things than she had ever had reason to before. Making a conscious decision, Dacia took the quick decision to look into some of the local histories; she didn't want ever to lose sight of what she was doing. Utilising some of the hard-fought lessons that she had learned through her training and early upbringing at the Jedi Temple, Yoda had always told her how important it was that she should keep an eye on the local history of the islands and planets that she landed on. Even if it was simply to make sure that she understood the local customs and didn't get herself into further difficulties. It was more important that she flew under the radar wherever possible than to make a big noise and show.
"Yeah, do that, for now, we need to understand what exactly is happening. Should we do some more skulking around on the ground, at the very least we might be able to find something or anything that might point us towards the woman that we seek." Cassian told the woman, thinking through all that they would need to do.
"For now, though, we need to find the bitch, and we can't waste too much time going on a wild goose chase, chasing after shadows and ghosts." Jyn sighed, wanting the other two to know exactly what they were potentially facing.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly sharpened as both Cassian and Jyn cocked their heads to the sides, as they considered some of the information that Dacia had told them. Frowning as he looked at the maps in front of him, he couldn't understand what exactly was going through the woman's head. He wasn't sure how he could explain the woman would decide to go against what he imagined would be a bit of guaranteed safety and security.
Looking through the maps he had pulled up, Cassian tried to work out what were the most likely spots for the woman. He tried to work out if it was more likely that the woman would factor into her decision-making process that there was an airport or something similar near to her in a break glass in case of emergency type situation. Swallowing as he tried to think through some of the most apparent problems, he frowned thinking and crossing out some of the places that he thought Romanova would not go near. He wondered if it was a small piece of arrogance mixed with paranoia that forced the woman to choose locations, he felt like had to confess that he did not completely understand some of the woman's reasoning. The only thing that e felt he could be reasonably certain of was that the woman had some amount of reasoning and her brand of logic guiding her every move. Cassian felt that he could comfortably rule out the woman making important decisions by simply throwing a knife or dart at a large world map.
Given what he knew about this Universe and what he could deduce about the habits of the inhabitants of this portion of the Universe, was that he couldn't simply discount the reliance on random. He had never been so confused to meet people that effectively allowed the drop of a hat to determine important decisions that he honestly felt deserved more attention.
"Okay, so I've been able to work around some of the things that the woman might use to factor in her living space. She would want to avoid prevalence of CCTV, right? She wouldn't want to get picked up simply because she had made a simple mistake and not inspected all of the angles before she made a move. She would want to be near a major airport, or at least one that she could blend in, where no one would look twice at her. Unfortunately, this criteria would cross out regional and smaller airports, so more likely Dublin than Belfast. She would be able to rely on a greater amount of international flights; no one would look twice at her if they didn't recognise her, because it is a capital city. If she felt that she couldn't run the risk of an airport, security factors and such, she would be close to the Dublin Port, where she could hop on a boat to either the UK or mainland Europe." Cassian started, frowning at the screen.
"That still doesn't factor in whether or not she would want to avoid any cameras that might spot her. She would also want to be able to blend in and not have anyone notice her. Is there any way that she could live far enough from central Dublin, while still being close enough to keep her ears to the metaphorical ground? I feel like that would be more important to her." Jyn theorised, telling the two what she thought, without feeling like she had to add anything particularly astounding to the conversation.
"We can work around that, certainly until we can find if the woman is there. Jyn do you have any contacts in Ireland who might be able to tell us where the woman went. On the ground information, no matter how much I might hate that phrase is too important for us to wave away simply. Especially if we are only waving it away because we feel like we know best, I don't want this to become side-tracked by our egos; we don't need that distraction right now." Dacia cautioned.
"I'll see if I can reach out to anyone, there might be someone that we can lean on." Jyn nodded thoughtfully before bending over her computer and tapping with increased frenzy.
Cassian looked over at a quiet Dacia and frowned when he realised that the woman had been very quick to go back onto the computer, perhaps feeling the need to obtain some answers. He glanced back at the large map on the wall behind him, and frowned to himself, feeling as if his brain had become so frazzled with thoughts that he could not be sure what he was thinking of anymore.
He had learned long ago that he shouldn't put anything past the inhabitants of this Universe, simply because they preferred to play things according to a set of rules that he had little hope in understanding. There were other things for him to become more worried about, so he hadn't found the time to give the strange habits much thought. To Cassian, he found that as long as he could be assured of the safety of his friends, then everything else could be dealt with at a later time.
"Do, I don't think I need to point out why we want this woman found, certainly before she has the opportunity to cause more panic yet." Cassian told the woman, feeling panicked as if he could now recognise that they had to get through this problem.
Even if they were not constrained by the law and societal niceties (no matter how odd he found them), they still had to play by the arbitrary rules that someone else had set up.
"Very well, I have been struggling to find anyone that works in the Irish Intelligence services, though I was able to find references to a department called the Directorate of Military Intelligence, so far I can't find anyone who I can talk to. For the moment all we can hope is that we should stumble across something that might help us." Jyn sighed, looking up briefly from her computer.
Jyn was still tapping at the keys to the computer in front her, attempting to scan through some of the things that were popping up in front of her quickly. Jyn knew that right now, time was of the essence, it wouldn't do for her to become side-tracked, she felt like she needed to find this information as fast as possible before something else happened to force them to take action. Jyn didn't particularly want them to be forced to take action before they had considered all of the options laid out in front of them.
"We might be able to find something useful, even if it isn't immediately apparent that it could help us. What I'm trying to say, if you haven't already guessed, is that we can't leave any stone unturned." Dacia encouraged the other two with a small smile.
Cassian and Jyn nodded once, sure that they couldn't mess up their instructions. Jyn wondered if this was simply Dacia attempting to raise the spirits of them, it had been a long time in coming for the three. Jyn tried to feebly resist the urge to stamp her foot up as her impatience grew. Shaking her head again, Jyn tried not to roll her eyes, as she looked back down at the computer in front of her and continued to try and find any clues about where she should go next.
"In the meantime, I think that it is time for us to maybe land in Ireland, we can begin to get the lay of the land, while Jyn works her magic." Dacia smiled enigmatically, nodding over at Cassian.
Cassian looked at the woman, before nodding once and swiftly leaving the room behind, it was time for them to begin plotting a different course. Cassian tried not to skip through the corridors, for the first time since they had taken custody of the Avengers that languished in the cells onboard the spaceship. Now that they finally had a reason to do what needed to be done, things started to look up for him.
WHOOSH
Whistling a jaunty tune to himself as he slid into his pilot's seat, Cassian took care to enter into the coordinates of Ireland; he glanced out the large window to the front of his seat. He vaguely remembered hearing of an outlaw, who went by the name of Solo, who travelled in the company of a large Wookiee, Cassian would frequently find himself wondering how much he would like to a constant companion. Not that Cassian didn't feel relieved that he travelled with friends, but he would sometimes like to have someone that didn't constantly make him want to pull out his hair.
Having inputted the correct co-ordinates while he was still grumbling to himself, Cassian watched through the large window in front of him when a large emerald green stretch of land appeared. Taking a second to hurriedly flick some of the switches and press some of the buttons in front of him, he wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be accidentally picked up by any overzealous sky-searchers. Cassian also didn't want to run the risk of being picked up by any form of authority with the necessary firepower to shoot them down. The only reason they had been able to avoid the problem before was that they were not in any location long enough to run the risk of being picked up. Cassian felt as if their being here in this place called Ireland, meant that things were beginning to look up for them. This could be them about to find Romanova and complete their job, something which he wished they had potentially been able to do a long time ago.
Standing back from the dials in front of him, Cassian stood up and made his way through the spaceship to reach the room where he had left his friends. He was wondering what way his next few words would begin to look like. Shaking his head out, as he tried to clear the thoughts, he near-silently made his way through the corridors. At least now it looked as if something was about to happen.
WHOOSH
"Okay, we have landed, do we have any plans on where we can go from here? Is there any plan of attack here?" Cassian asked wanting to know what the next few actions were going to look like.
"For now, it looks like we are going to have to go down there and simply ask enough questions, maybe if we ask the right people, then we might find some answers. For now, though, we need to be sure though that while we are doing that, we don't end up on somebody's radar, someone who we will want to avoid. Remember that we don't want to be forced to answer questions before we are ready for them before we have worked out what we want to say to anything that might trip us up. In the meantime, though Jyn keeps working on what you are doing while we go and try and get a lay of the land." Dacia directed, looking more than a little frazzled.
Cassian nodded over at the woman, before sparing a glance over at Jyn and seeming to come to some random conclusion, he looked like he was coming to a great idea before following the woman out. Hurrying to catch up with Dacia, Cassian found himself wondering exactly what the woman had in mind. He would always wonder what exactly went through the woman's head; sometimes he honestly thought that he couldn't understand the woman that he travelled with.
Noticing to himself that it looked as if Dacia was making her way into the large revolving closet, Dacia would probably want to be looking more like she fit in. Trying to hide a small frown, Cassian was aware of just how uncomfortable the clothes in there could feel. Give him his leather and cotton clothes from time spying and trying to work out what was happening within the Empire and he could be happy. You could keep your jeans and stuff for all he cared!
Dacia heard the man's footsteps behind her slow down; she smirked knowing that the did not particularly enjoy this part of his work. She was sure that she could make it seem better for the man, but she got a perverse sense of satisfaction and joy when she could torture someone. She knew enough that by this stage, she should be glad that neither Yoda nor Mace were around, she was willing to bet that if they knew what the woman was thinking, they would have words. Dacia felt like sometimes it was a pointless waste of time to constantly talk about your feelings. Sure, sometimes it could be beneficial, but there were a time and place for everything.
Whistling under her breath, Dacia ducked into the closet and rifled through a few of the heaps of clothes. She made a mental note to go in someday and try and sort out the mess, to find any form of outfits that might make it looks as if they were right where they were supposed to be. Bending over, she tugged out a pair of jeans, and lifted some tee-shirts towards them, preparing to perform the sniff check on the clothes. Lifting the clothes up to her nose, she delicately sniffed before nodding to herself in satisfaction. Ducking behind a screen, Dacia hurriedly changed clothes, before leaving the room behind her, with Cassian's clothes draped over one of her arms. Tossing the clothes at him, Dacia leaned against the wall in the corridor, while she waited for the man to be ready to make his way out.
Smiling at the man, when he came out of the room, Dacia guided the way from the spaceship, not that the man hadn't simply followed the same route before. Tapping the bit of wall immediately beside the doors leading out of the spaceship, and quietly nodded at one another before they left the room behind them.
WHOOSH
Looking around her as she exited the spaceship, Dacia checked whereabouts they could go. Slowing in place, Dacia reached up to her face to adjust the glasses she wore, looking around her and trying to work out where exactly she should head to next. When Cassian caught up with the woman, he glanced at what she held in her hands before looking over at what the woman held in her hands, nodding once to himself, sure that now he knew where they were next bound for.
"So, I suggest we wander around here. I'm not even going to lie and say I was trying to get an even larger amount of work done. I needed to clear my mind and stretch my legs." Dacia whispered guiltily.
"No problem, I'm pretty sure that even Jyn would have known that we did not intend to ask any difficult questions. Right now, we can only poke around and hope that we are able to find something, anything. We need to be able to work out the lay of the land for now, rather than actually find the woman. It's probably more likely that we should accidently stumble across the woman.
WHOOSH
Steve was slumped over in his cell, wondering what time it was. He had gotten himself into this mess, and now he would only have his regrets to keep him company. Looking over at the cells of his friends, he wondered how long it would take for them to realise that they couldn't trust him any longer. Thinking glumly to himself, he wondered when it had all changed for him when everything had simply gone tits up for him. Why had he thought that it would be a great idea for him to tie his star to Stark? Maybe if he hadn't chosen to do that, then this whole mess could have been avoided.
Steve felt as if they had become soft, unwilling to make the hard choices when they still lived with Stark; it had seemed like at times it was purely up to him to make the difficult decisions. He should have tried harder, at an earlier point to try and separate them from the man's invasive cult of personality. He should have listened to Wanda when she told him that the guy could not be trusted. It would have no doubt saved him a lot of time (and injuries) if he had simply pulled the ripcord and walked away from Stark at an earlier point.
Stark hadn't provided them with any assistance during the Fall of SHIELD, why should he, Steve trust the guy when he had already proved that he couldn't be trusted. Steve ignored the voice in the back of his head which he hadn't reached out to Stark at that point. He had always found easy to ignore the voice in the back of his head that told him he had been in the wrong, anything that did not immediately line up with his priorities, he could swiftly ignore.
Some of the things that he would confess to wondering about was whether or not Wanda had gotten into his head. There were some times when he wondered whether or not some of the thoughts in his head were on his own. He was starting to realise that some of the thoughts he had entertained, weren't his own. Certainly, he hadn't had some of those thoughts in a while, could he really on those thoughts being entirely his own? He wondered what it told him when he didn't feel something in the back of his head whispering to him not to trust Stark. He no longer had a voice telling him to kill the man for his actions. ULTRON should never have happened; Stark should have trusted him enough to tell him what he was experimenting with.
Again Steve was able to tell himself that he would not have likely understood what the man was talking about, even if he had chosen to speak about some of what he was working with. If Steve wasn't able to hold onto his rage towards the man? How else was he supposed to work through some of what he was feeling? There were some things that he needed to work through before he even confronted some of his actions against Stark. He felt like he needed to understand what had pushed to demonise Stark to the extent that he had before he could sort through some of the mess that this whole mess had started.