Rewritten 2018

Make You Feel My Love ~Book II~

Disclaimer: I do not own The Winter Soldier movie! All rights go to Marvel. All I own is my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 6~
The Plan

The taxi stopped outside of a five-star hotel situated in the center of Hell's Kitchen. Quickly, Miller payed the driver before stepping out of the cab, holding the door open for Maria and Clint to exit as well. In Clint's hands, two suitcases filled with clothes and gear rested and Miller quickly took one of them from him, offering some help.

The three of them were dressed in civilian clothes, though no clothes that they would normally choose to wear themselves. Instead, they had all gotten new identities which they were now using. Clint and Miller were to be brothers while Maria was Clint's fiancé of two years. They were all on a trip through New York together - according to the papers - and had chosen this hotel to stay at for a few nights before moving on to Harlem. It all sounded very civilian and innocent, though there was more to their characters. They were all owners of a criminal company that sold drugs and weapons. It was a story which they went with in case they would have to pretend to be criminals in front of some of Artur's thugs.

Because they were the owners of a company that was supposed to run quite smoothly, giving them a lot of money, Maria had to wear a grey jumpsuit with black high heels underneath to at least look a little richer than she was. On the bridge of her nose, a pair of sunglasses were resting, shielding her eyes from both the sun and those who knew who she actually was. Clint closed the car door behind her and the cab sped off again, blending in with the rest of the cars on the busy street.

"We have about two hours until sunset," said Clint quietly as he leaned in towards her ear, pretending like he was saying something sweet to her, faking a smile which Maria did as well, giggling as she said:

"I know."

"Come on," said Miller, leading the two inside.

Maria grabbed a hold of Clint's arm, linking hers with his as Miller walked towards the receptionist; a tall, blonde woman with a warm smile. Clint placed the bag on the ground, carefully as his bow and arrows were packed in there, before he placed his hand on top of Maria's, smiling over at her as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. Although it was all an act, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with all of this. Each time she looked over at her dear friend Clint, holding her arm like a true gentleman and smiling a loving, though still fake, smile at her, she couldn't help but wish it was Steve holding her arm, smiling at her like that. That it was Steve who had given her the silver ring with the huge diamond she wore around her ring finger and that none of it was fake. Therefore, she couldn't help but sigh slightly as Miller turned towards the two of them, showing them two pairs of cardkeys with a huge grin.

The moment the door closed behind them, all three agents dropped the act and started to unpack their gear. While Charles and Clint unpacked the things that SHIELD had brought with them in the bags, Maria walked over to the huge plant in front of the window.

When you enter the hotel room, look for something that looks out of place. That's where you'll find a little gift I made for you all.

Martin's voice echoed in her mind as she searched the room. It had a lounge which was beautifully decorated; two bedrooms with one queen sized bed and one single; two en-suite bathrooms; and a balcony. Everything was beautiful and truly up to expectations for a five-star hotel. The little chocolates on the pillows had Maria taken for herself when she looked through the different rooms.

The only thing that was out of place in the spotless and beautiful room, was a dead plant in the lounge area. Some of the leaves had fallen down on the floor next to it. For a five-star hotel, that was indeed out of place.

She inspected it, wondering how Martin had managed to hide it in there… in fact, she also wondered how he had gotten into the room in the first place since she was sure that he was back in Washington and not in Hell's Kitchen. The thought hurt her head as the travel to Hell's Kitchen had been long and tiring, so she simply let it go, telling herself she had to ask Martin that someday.

Quickly, she lifted the large, and surprisingly heavy, plant from the floor. Though she found nothing underneath of it. With a sigh, she was about to place the plant back on the floor when her eyes caught something in the reflection of the mirror. On the other side of the pot the plant was placed in, a little note existed. She grabbed it before setting the plant down.

Knock three times.

Maria rolled her eyes. What was that supposed to mean?, she thought. Couldn't he just have said where it was?

"What are you doing to that plant?" asked Charles as he entered the room she was currently in.

"Martin said he had something for us but… he hid it too well," sighed Maria, standing up and showing him the piece of paper.

"Knock three times… Odd," mused Miller before handing her the earpiece for the mission. It was see through and tiny. Quickly she pressed it into her ear. "Ask him."

Maria took the note from Charles' hands again before adjusting the earpiece slightly and pressing her finger against the device, watching Charles walk back into the bedroom where the single bed was placed as she did.

"Martin?" asked Maria.

"Ah! Good, you're all online. I have no visual though. What's taking so long?"

"Visual? What?" asked Maria.

"Did you find my gift?"

"What, the dead plant?" asked Maria sarcastically before crouching down in front of it again. "I don't get it."

"I hoped you'd've seen some spy movies…"

"Huh?"

"You know. Secret doors underneath the floor."

Maria shifted the plant a few centimeters to the left, staring down at the floor which was made out of very shiny wood panels. Although, at closer inspection, she saw a small square where the plant had been standing that was not as shiny as the rest of the floor. With hesitant movements, she knocked three times on the wood that wasn't as shiny, jumping slightly as the square opened up like a small hatch, revealing a small box that looked like it contained jewelry.

"Oh, you shouldn't have," said Maria jokingly.

"It's lenses. You know, for your eyes."

"I can see without glasses, Martin," said Maria before she opened the box, revealing three pairs of contact lenses. "And so can Barton and Miller. Especially Barton."

"They're not for that purpose."

Quickly, she moved to the mirror that was placed next to the door, swiftly placing the lenses into her eyes although it felt odd and it was hard to get the first one in.

"I've put them on now," said Maria, blinking a couple of times.

"Yes, I've got visual. Let's see… Oh, nice clothes."

Maria rolled her eyes, giving Martin an amused look through the mirror, understanding that he could see her reflection in the mirror. She gestured towards the box with the other lenses; "I'll give these to the others."

"Usually, this was where he had a couple of men standing; his dealers. They were handpicked by Artur though usually they were the newbies," informed Maria as the three agents turned into the alley that she spoke about. "I don't know if he's changed alley or not-"

"Most likely he has," said Miller, the darkness of the alley shielding his eyes from her as he walked too far away from her, though she couldn't help but feel like his tone felt accusing. Whether it was towards her or Artur she was unsure of. "After all, you got away with all this intel. If he was smart, he'd change his M.O."

Maria nodded slightly, looking away from Miller who sped up slightly to walk in front of her and Clint.

Suddenly, Charles stopped, raising his hand in a gesture for them to stop as well. There, further down the alley with their backs towards them, three men stood. Two of them were standing with their backs towards the agents while the third man stood with his face towards them, though he was looking at the other men. He seemed to be rather panicked as he talked quickly, continuously showing the other two men his wallet and continuously brushing his hand through his hair.

"We need a plan," whispered Charles, turning to the other two.

"We walk up and tell them about us and that we want to make a deal with the man himself," said Clint simply.

"To earn more money and maybe start something together," added Maria.

Charles nodded, gesturing to Clint and Maria to walk firstly. Grabbing her arm, Clint linked their arms with each other.

"Look pretty and innocent," whispered Clint to her.

"I always look pretty and innocent," whispered Maria back as the third man briskly walked past them, sweat dripped down his forehead and his eyes darted from the roof to the floor.

Maria couldn't help but wonder what this man had done. Had he forgotten to pay Artur or did he not have enough money to pay him at all? Either way, he was a dead man walking if he didn't get the money soon. Especially if he had no debt though needed more drugs for his addiction. The drug was special and it didn't just let go of one after you'd stopped taking it. It never leaves your system which was the way Artur got his money. There was no way to stop taking the drugs and if one waited long enough with the next shot, you died.

"What do we have here?" asked one of the men, a smug look on his face as he inspected Maria from top to toe.

"We're not interested in your drugs," said Clint immediately, causing both men to glare at him.

"Then what do you want?" asked the first man again, his hand slowly moving up to his belt, most likely to be prepared to shoot them with the gun he had hidden away there.

"We want to talk to whoever is your boss," said Clint. "We want to become… partners."

"These jewelry don't pay for themselves," said Maria, raising an eyebrow as she fiddled with the diamond necklace she wore around her neck, showing off her ring at the same time.

The two men shared a look. "Our boss is a very… busy man."

"I'm sure he has time for us," said Maria with a sharp tone to her voice before either Clint or Charles could talk again.

Although the deal had been that she wouldn't get too involved in this, she couldn't help but feel the emotions and the experience from her previous life take over. She glared at the two men, seeing how their eyes flickered down to the floor, a sign that these two men indeed were newbies.

"If he doesn't want to talk to us, I'm sure we can take our money and company to someone else more interested, right darling?" said Maria, looking up at Clint who nodded his head, mirroring the strong and determined look on her face.

"Our boss has a little… get-together tomorrow with his current business partners," said the second man, earning a look from the other one. "If you come, I'm sure that we can arrange a meeting with him."

"Him? No name?" asked Charles, crossing his arms over his chest. "We don't like to do business with a man with no name."

Again, the two men looked at each other before nodding their heads; "Artur. Artur Kuznetsov."

"The two men are called Robert and Tim Hopkins. Brothers who recently lost their parents in a car crash; two months ago actually. After that, the two brothers kind off disappeared. They both quit their jobs and sold their homes though there's no record of any of them buying a new home anywhere… Two weeks ago, they were both a part of a robbery in the south of Hell's Kitchen… turns out they threatened to kill the owner of a jewelry shop before grabbing some pretty valuable diamonds. Luckily, the owner had managed to press the silent alarm but the police arrived too late. Their faces were all over the news thanks to the security cameras which they obviously hadn't thought about."

"Why a jewelry store?" asked Clint, looking at Maria as he asked this.

In all three agents' hands, a cold beer was resting. They were sitting in the lounge of their hotel room again, both men having taken off their suits and put on their pajamas already while Maria had simply opened up a few buttons of her one-piece suit and removed the jewelry she had worn. The high heels had been thrown off of her feet the moment she entered the hotel room. Now, she was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, facing Clint and Charles.

"Probably to train them," said Maria. "You have to prove to Artur that you indeed can do some criminal things before he actually trusts you with a job in his company."

"You did it as well?" asked Charles, taking a sip from his beer.

"Yeah," replied Maria, looking down at the floor. "I did some breaking and entering in the beginning. Never really threatened anyone until Artur gave me a job…"

"This ball-thing that he has tomorrow," started Clint. "What's that all about?"

"He's just keeping up appearances," shrugged Maria, taking a sip from her beer. "I reckon that the people he has invited are people that are important for his company to keep on working. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if he even invited some of the police department of Hell's Kitchen, just to at least have some cops on his side. In case someone gets arrested, it's good to have someone on the inside of the police department as well."

"Great," said Clint. "Can't believe how corrupt this city is to actually have even the police on a criminal's side."

Maria immediately thought back to Matt. He used to say things like such as well. Remembering him made her think about the various criminals that the two of them had taken down in Hell's Kitchen throughout the years without ever being seen or ever leaving proof of the fact that it was actually them. It made her smile softly, reminding her that she had to call Matt after her mission. Her smile faded as she started to panic slightly over the fact that she hadn't talked to him since the Battle of New York where Matt had called her in the middle of the battle, sounding scared and worried about her. He most likely thought that she was dead.

Actually, maybe a visit was what he needed. She'd have to take some time before leaving Hell's Kitchen again to do so.