CARTAGENA COLOMBIA, ROGERS VILLA, APRIL 4, 2011, 2:30 PM EST

Things were at a bit of a standoff. Valentina stood watching James as he was bombarded by a bunch of questions from a girl no older than 10 years old. She clung to James like he was her lifeline and eventually he simply picked her up taking her to the couch she had originally sprung up from, sitting down with her and explaining things over there.

He began to rattle some things off to her, quietly enough that Valentina couldn't make out most of it, but Carmen certainly could, and clearly didn't like what she was hearing. "(No, you can't!")"

Her friend from America seemed slightly frustrated as he said more things, and this time he was a little louder, loud enough that she could pick up a few things. "(I promise…just a little while…time…parents…too late.)"

It was clearly the wrong thing to say as the girl nearly burst into tears, even if the point had been made, and James knew that too. "(I'm sorry Carmen, I am, but I can't take you with me. But I promise I won't leave until I absolutely have to, okay? It will all be worth it in the end.)"

The comments didn't truly help Carmen. She knew, despite her young age, that he was right. But she still didn't feel comfortable with anyone else. But if she wanted to see her parents again then she couldn't keep crying for James…She needed to try and be a big girl. "(Okay…Sorry.)"

"(No.)" James said a little firmly but still wrapped her in a hug which the child returned. "(Don't apologize, I understand.)"

Valentina only watched on, brain struggling to comprehend the situation in front of her. Back at the coffee shop she thought she was finally getting closer to understanding the enigma that was James Rogers, but after today, surely, there was simply so much she didn't know about.

The moment the blonde haired boy had walked into the shop a couple of months ago she knew there was a mystery to unfold behind his ocean blue eyes. But what? It felt like she'd never know. After their last talk yesterday, it felt like they were closer than ever, and getting a call to show up to his house had made her think they were taking a step forward in the little game they had going on right now.

Like he had finally trusted her with more and it had gotten her excited, so excited she was almost a little embarrassed thinking about it. However now it seemed he did trust her with things, but whatever this secret was she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Eventually after some more shedded tears and comforting words, James sent Carmen to a room where she was going to hopefully get some rest. As she left the door was shut leaving him alone with Valentina.

At the sight of the confused, beautiful latina, James let out a sigh and took a seat on the couch. He had a small grin on his face, one that Valentina didn't understand. "(I bet you are really confused right now.)"
Valentina took this as her queue and headed to the couch and took a tentative seat beside James. She took in his appearance, he was dressed in a pair of black joggers, and a long sleeved white sweatshirt. Outwardly he looked fairly normal, but looking a little more she saw some things she didn't like.

Nics, and cuts in his skin that looked like they were fading, but this was stuff she hadn't seen yesterday and they had been pretty close. And other than his left arm movements being a little tight, she thought everything was pretty normal, but she couldn't tell if she was overreacting or not, but she planned on finding out.

"(What. Happened?)" She tried to question him in a strict tone. She sat up right next to him, hand resting on his knee and stared directly into his eyes. After a moment of staring back, James began to look away but Val, quickly and softly redirected his face back to hers.

Her brown eyes staring into his blue ones. "(Please love, tell me what's going on.)"

"(It's a bit of a long story.)" James eventually spoke, his grin falling off his face, revealing a serious expression underneath.

"(That's okay, that's why you called isn't it?)" Valentina quickly decided, not

"(Yeah? it's gonna be hard to believe.)" James said once more, warning her of the story that was going to come from his lips.

"(The truth is almost never easy to hear James. I'm ready.)" Valentina insisted. A moment of time passed between them, her hand still cupping his cheek. Eventually he held that hand and looked at her, serious as ever.

"(Valentina you can't tell anyone about this. Not even Old Man Morillo.)" James told her, his eyes attempting to convey the seriousness of the situation. "(Promise me that, please.)"

"(I promise you baby.)" Valentina assured him. And James suddenly relaxed, "(Right, okay then.)"

He took a deep breath, and then spoke in English to her for the first time that day. "I'm Captain America."

Her first instinct was to deny him, of course, it had to be a joke. Captain America had red hair, James' hair was simply too blonde to be Captain America. But the way he stared at her made her feel like she had to check again.

It didn't take too long for her to realize that she had seen his blue eyes before, way before on television when the face of Captain America had been broadcasted across the entire world when he announced to the world that Ultron was no more.

And if she ignored his hair and looked at his eyebrows down. The face was certainly close to the Captain's. And of course, his name was James. It wasn't too hard to imagine him with red hair either. There was also the way he was built. She had always assumed he simply liked to work out, but some part of her had always known he looked a little too good, even if he did just work out.

Of course there were the injuries he had accumulated, scratches and cuts all over his skin, that most likely couldn't be gotten any normal way. Then there were the reports of shots fired in Cartagena and just this morning an entire diner was destroyed.

"Valentina?" James called her, he looked a little wary and she realized that she had been staring for a while.

"(You really are him….)" She spoke eventually, "(I never thought that you could be…this. Was this-)"

"(Real?) James finished off the question in her head, she nodded slowly, and James did the only thing that came to his mind in this situation, lifting her chin and placing a soft kiss on her lips which she easily returned.

When they broke apart he wasted no time in reassuring her. "(I promise you Valentina, everything about our situation was and is real. I never came here to be Captain America, I came here to find myself. To find things aside from fighting and while I'm still not sure I figured everything out, I did find you. And this could never be a mistake.)"

A genuine smile appeared on her face and she embraced James once more enjoying the moment. A small frown appeared on her face though, as she remembered the little girl in the other room, and that she still didn't understand much of the situation.

"(So the child…)"

"(She's not mine if your wondering.)" James spoke quickly, a small blush on his face, it caused Valentina to giggle.

"(No silly, even with all the questions, your age was never in question, despite what you've been through, you still look as young as you say you are.)"

"(Well then Carmen is currently in my care. Last night I found myself taking down a drug ring that ended up being bigger than I expected. There was a hostage situation, I managed to save the hostages but Carmen was a curious case. She was harmed more so than the others, and wasn't related to any of the hostages at the scene. She needed immediate care and so I took her to the hospital. She might not have made it without the blood transfusion I had done with her.)" James began to explain the crazy events of the last 30 hours.

"(You two were compatible?)"

"(Yeah we were lady luck definitely helped us out. She made a quick recovery after that and is now in my care. Today we went out to get some food to eat and were spotted, I'm sure you saw that diner on the news.)"

"(Wow, well it's no wonder she's so attached to you.)" Valentina pondered this new information. Situations like this were truly beyond her. But it also felt good knowing James trusted her enough to tell her this in the first place.

"(Exactly, the problem is that I can't work with her in the vicinity. I need to go find her parents, I've been finding some good leads but I can't focus when she's by my side every moment. That's why I called you.)"

"(To watch her while you're out.)" Valentina figured with a small nod, "(Okay I will do it.)"

"(Thank you Val, this means a lot to me.)" James held her tighter, "(But I must admit Carmen is…not an easy girl to work with. At least for the others who have tried. It's not bad for me, but she hasn't taken too well to others.)"

"(I'm sure I'll manage.)" Valentina said after some thought, she was a traumatized little girl, she would probably be weirded out if the girl wasn't a little hard to work with. "(But now I wanna hear more about you.)"

It had been a long day and truthfully he wouldn't have much time to spend with Valentina before it was back to work, but he found he couldn't imagine denying her smile. "(Alright then babe, ask away.)"

CARTAGENA COLOMBIA, ROGERS VILLA, APRIL 4, 2011, 6:30 PM EST

"(The moment you told me, I never doubted you were telling the truth, but it's different actually seeing you like this.)"

At the moment James had just come out of his room decked out in what she could only assume was some form of tactical gear. She had thought he was going to come out with his shield and his costume, but she vaguely remembered that he was only here in the first place because he had given up his famous shield and costume.

"(Yeah…this is me.)" James spoke softly as he walked up to Valentina and brought her into his embrace once more "(I can't thank you enough for doing this on such short notice Val. I'll make it up to you.)" The former Captain promised.

"(Don't worry about it, you just do what you have to." Valentina enjoyed the embrace before looking up to James with a knowing smirk "(I'm sure I can find a way for you to make it up to me later.)"

She let out a small giggle and kissed James on the cheek when she saw his blush "(Go on Captain, I'll deal with things here.)"

James smiled and began to head out "(Tell Carmen I'll be back as soon as possible.)" and with that the Super-Soldier left towards the garage and what she could only assume was some sort of back entrance.

Seeing James leave like that, knowing that he had left the house with the intention of fighting some sort of big criminal organization and solving the mysteries of her country made her really think. It was all so absurd wasn't it?

If she had not known James, she might not ever realize any of this stuff was going on. And yet it seemed half of South America was in the crossfire. A new drug on the streets? One that could kill after extended use. It was horrible.

And the fact that a little girl was also connected to it all? It was truly tragic. She could only hope that with everything going on that he at least found out the truth. And that the truth was easy enough to stomach in this situation.

"Oi, I barely know everything and I'm stressed." She murmured to herself, she couldn't imagine having to deal with this her entire life.

It was a harrowing thought one that she didn't want to dwell on so she began to focus on the task at hand. Taking care of Carmen. "I'll just make sure she's still asleep." Valentina thought as she turned around.

She had to refrain from jumping when she saw the girl in question staring at her from the living room couch, as if she had been there the entire time, from the moment James had gotten up to leave.

Still Valentina would not be deterred by the sudden change in plans. She was ready to help the girl in any way she could, and despite the claims of her being difficult, she was ready to help out James and also prove that the young girl just needed to know she could trust them.

So despite the honest jumpscare, she put on a smile, though she had a questioning look on her face, and asked her a question "(Shouldn't you be resting right now?)"

Hearing Valentina, Carmen tilted her head towards the side but still didn't say anything, eventually turning towards the couch and ignoring Valentina altogether. A slight attitude Valentina noted, though it would be hard to tell if she was like this because of the situation she found herself in, or if she was naturally a bit sassy.

She found herself walking up to the couch and taking a seat by Carmen. The girl slightly tensed up at the intrusion of space, but didn't move, rather she simply looked towards Val apprehensively, seemingly ready to bolt at any moment.

"(You know…James wouldn't want you to be awake right now. He told me you need your rest.)" Valentina eventually spoke.

At this the girl at least immediately seemed a little bashful, knowing that it was the truth and she was disobeying the one person left she could seemingly trust.

Still it wasn't all her fault, and she looked down with a sad face as she explained her predicament "(I…I can't sleep. I-I remember.)" Carmen trailed off with a whimper. I remember too well. Is what she wanted to say but couldn't particularly voice at that moment.

The fact was things were bad when she had originally been taken a week or so ago, Her and her parents had been taken straight from their homes and thrown in a truck. She couldn't understand much at the time but it was clear the ones who took her needed her parents to get something done.

But at the time things were hard to remember. Even when she was hit, or yelled at, she felt as if she could do a good job of forgetting these things ever happened. But ever since she had been taken to the hospital things changed.

It was as if…as if she could remember everything. Everything that had ever happened to her, especially in the past few months, her understanding of the situation seemingly grew overnight, and these things scared her. She could no longer avoid thinking of the situation when awake, and she couldn't avoid dreaming about the nights spent within the confines of the Cartel, or the night in which she nearly lost her life the first time.

These were things no seven year old should have to experience, let alone remember so vividly, but that was what she was dealing with. An unfortunate side-effect of her body accepting James' blood and another sign of her growing cognitive abilities.

Valentina wished she could tell the little girl she understood but the truth was, that she had never been in a situation like this. Not even when Ultron was ruling over the world. Things were bad, but she had never been targeted personally. Aside from the normal loss of freedom she was nearly a normal citizen. She didn't have a full grasp on how bad things had gotten…but she did know how good things could get.

"(You know James is a good man, right?)" Valentina started softly with a smile. And at this question Carmen nodded fiercely. "(I do.)"

"(Right, James is a good man…One of the best in the world. If he said he's going to protect you. If he promises to keep you safe then he will. If he told you he would figure this all out. Then he will. I understand you're scared, but James is the best in the world, you know he's saved the world once right?)"

At this Carmen gave a hesitant nod, because really she had only recently begun to put two and two together and realize that James might be one of those famous superheroes her parents were always talking about.

"(Yeah,)" Valentina gave her a true smile "(He's Captain America.)" This statement caused her to widen her eyes in amazement and blurt out. "(Really?)"

"(Yes darling, really. He's a hero and you know, heroes don't lose. James will be fine. But you know what will make him disappointed? If he comes back and you're not doing better.)"

At this Carmen seemed slightly ashamed, but truly it wasn't her fault if Valentina could simply see what she could then-

"(But I understand sleep is the last thing on your mind, So how about you help me cook some nice dinner for us and for when James gets back and then we will do some school work, okay?)" Valentina said with a bright smile.

"(School?)" Carmen seemed extremely confused at the notion before realizing, yes, it had been sometime since she had shown up at school.

"(Well yes, when James saves the day your life will hopefully go back to normal and we wouldn't want you to fall behind right?)"

Carmen gave another small nod, making Valentina believe her job was done, standing up she grabbed Carmen with ease and held her at her side, "(Now come on, I'll need your help in the kitchen.)"

It was abrupt, but Carmen didn't feel the urge to squirm out of her grasp and so she allowed it to happen, along with a small smile on her face. She did feel better after her talk with Valentina…However.

These days it seemed as if her mind was working faster than ever. And so despite everything Valentina said, the smile was wiped off of Carmen's face as her mind forced her to ask one question.

But what if she's wrong?

ATLÁNTICO COLOMBIA, SANTA LUCÍA, APRIL 4, 2011, 6:00 PM EST

This felt big. With every move James had made since leaving his house, it felt as if the implication behind every step he made was huge. Like he truly was that much closer to unraveling the latest development in this case.

It was completely insane. He had dealt with a lot in his short life, just a couple of months ago they had been dealing with Annihilus and in the matter of a week he had to deal with planning to stop an invasion from another Universe.

Despite that, how fast the last 48 hours had been was a shock to the system, even for someone as experienced as him. Every hour something new was happening that he seemingly couldn't miss. It was what led him out of Cartagena and into the small town of Santa Lucia now.

The first tip he had received had put him near a warehouse filled with thugs from the Cartel. It had taken him time to defeat them as he knew La Bandera had an operation going on at the same time. He needed to take them all out without letting any of them alert their boss, which would certainly make the situation too hot for La Bandera.

And so after just 12 minutes he managed to take out the entire gang, leaving just two members of the group conscious. Those two were clearly higher level thugs than the rest and so found themselves being interrogated by Captain America.

And with a little truth serum that Pym, Azari, Riri, and Amadeus had spent formulating over the past year he had learned of a man who went by the moniker: Informant. He was supposedly a free agent and didn't actually work for anyone but himself.

That instantly made him dangerous, it also made him a target. He wasn't dumb if they were willing to tell him about the Informant then they must have had trouble taking him out on their own. Regardless this would be a perfect opportunity to take him and the Informant out at the same time if they really knew where the Informant would be staying.

Maybe they had already killed the Informant and were simply going to set up. Send him to a building set to explode, or a building with 100 men all with weaponry ready to take him out. Whatever it was James could admit he wasn't truly focused on it.

As he found himself getting closer to the Santa Lucia base he found himself thinking about Valentina and Carmen, and more specifically their safety. With he and La Bandera on their respective missions he couldn't personally watch over their safety.

They had found him and Carmen at a random diner, his house might not have been the furthest possibility. He could only take some solace in knowing there was S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents hidden at the house.

However even if they were, he didn't want Carmen to have to go through another experience like the ones she had found herself in the past couple of days. And Valentina definitely didn't need to experience any of that either.

"Come on." James murmured to himself, it had taken a while but he could finally see the warehouse in which this so called Informant was going to be at. He parked his motorcycle a couple of buildings away and began his trek towards the answers of the missing Jimenez family.

The Villamos Cartel wasn't going to make it easy though. From the moment he hopped onto the rooftop where he stashed his vehicle, he felt something, he could do nothing but activate his shield as he was sent flying off the rooftop when a rocket smashed against his shield.

James found himself turning in mid-air as he got closer and closer to hitting the ground, his shield had taken the brunt of the damage but it had knocked him off-course he tried slamming the shield into the side of the building hoping he could hang onto the side of the building, but the electric masterpiece shorted out and he plummeted to the ground and smashed into a empty metal dumpster.

Things were hazy after that. His mind was swimming, and he struggled to sit up in the trash until he heard voices getting closer.

"(He's dead right! No normal man could survive such a hit!)"

"(I don't know. Bruno told me he thinks he's a mutant and supposedly the Boss agrees. Just check for the body. And let's bring him back if he's not in pieces…"

"(Right…I thought I saw a flash of something before I hit him anyway.)"

The two men got closer to his location, and despite his throbbing wrist, and the blood he could feel dripping from the back of his head, James simply grit his teeth and prepared for them to get close, not truly mad at anyone but himself. To be caught so off guard, to not be able to dodge, He should be better.

"(Well tell the others to get the car-)" The first man was interrupted as James popped up from the dumpster and slammed the man's head against the brick wall.

"(NO WAY!)" It was the only thing the second man was able to say before a foot was planted in his ribs and an elbow jammed into his temple.

James found himself throwing the man in the dumpster as he got out. "This is starting to piss me off." the men couldn't respond, but from the way he hit them, he hoped they understood.

"Let's try this again."

This time James climbed up the building and scouted out nearly a dozen men, less than what he was expecting for someone so important, it seemed the Cartel either didn't take him serious enough, or had more in store.

As he managed to get his shield fixed he took off across the rooftops ready to fight anyone in his way. Leaping from one building to the next he found four men on top of the building. Two with common pistols, and another two with Assault Rifles. The first man never stood a chance as his energy shield slammed into his face the moment he landed on the building. He threw the shield at the next man with an AR, and found himself ducking underneath a few bullets before pushing his forearm into the man's stomach, lifting him up and throwing him to the ground. He evaded a string of bullets once more before sending a flying knee into the last man's face.

The next group of men were six in total. It didn't go any better for this group despite their efforts. Two quickly met the brunt force of his shield, and vibranium or not the energy shield backed a big punch. The third found himself tripped as James showed off his athleticism going to ground and taking his feet out from under him before using one punch to get him unconscious.

The fourth and fifth men thought they had James dead to rights, but when his shield expanded protecting his entire body, their bullets ricocheted, one missing everyone completely but the other hit the sixth man, striking him in the shoulder. James used the confusion to jump up and grabbed the two men, smashing their heads together knocking them both out cold. The next building was a bit of a jump, but James didn't care.

Leaping from this building to the next smashing through the window and into the building the Informant was supposed to be staying in.

As he shrugged the glass off his body ignoring the one or two cuts he picked up he looked around, and spotted a tall man with long black hair. He didn't necessarily look like he was of South American descent, James would have to guess European if he had to choose.

The man looked calm as he looked up from the book he was reading James spotted glasses that made the man seem a little more…conniving if he had to choose a word. Regardless, the man showed no fear.

And that could mean many things in his line of work.

James found himself advancing on the man slowly, he wasn't too focused on protecting himself, outwardly he was calm, shield at his side, but he was ready to uncoil at any moment.

As he got closer to the man who was seated in the middle of the empty warehouse, he smiled at James and began to speak. "Captain America, it's a pleasure to meet you. If I didn't know you were coming I might have been a little worried."

At the casual discussion of his true identity James should have paused, but he had considered the fact that a man who went by the name of "The Informant'' might be good enough to actually know his identity. If anything, the most surprising thing was his use of english.

Honestly the fact that he was good enough to know his identity made him hope that the man did know the truth about Carmen and her parents. "You know my identity. Would it be a stretch to believe you know why I'm here?"

"The Jimenez girl I assume, If not her you need information on the Cartel and their boss." The Informant guessed.

"Correct." James spoke, and the Informant continued to smile "So…What's the play here? What's in it for you?"

At this the man's face straightened, a small frown on his face, "Does there have to be something else? I admit in most cases a client of mine seeking information would need to pay me some money, but depending on the situation I'm more than willing to give information for free."

"And why would that be?" James questioned, attempting to get a feel for the man's true intentions. He so far seemed like a decent man, but men like this usually needed a silver tongue to get them out of situations like these anyway.

"I'm a 35 year old man. I haven't lived that long, and yet I do think I've seen it all. I may be a man, with a job that many would frown upon, But I'm not a true problem, plus it's not like I refuse to sell information to authorities, they simply must reach my price. However after that metallic monstrosity took over the world, I don't take much for granted. There will always be a line that shouldn't be crossed." The man spoke harshly.

"And you feel as if the line has been crossed in this situation?" James asked, he found himself respecting the reasoning the man came up with. It wasn't perfect but it was certainly respectable.

"Mr. Rogers the coordination in which these Cartels across South America have is alarming. How fast they are moving should be scary for anyone. And if it isn't dealt with fast then I fear many more lives will be lost to this…Banshee."

"And so you got me here…so you could tell me what I need to know to fix this."

"You or S.H.I.E.L.D., whatever it takes to fix all of this. It doesn't matter to me. Truthfully I feel bad for that little girl…what her parents have gotten her into, is far from fair. But yes I leaked my location knowing that when you went searching for the Cartel they would lead you to me. A dangerous move for myself, If you hadn't shown up they would have forced information out of me and then probably killed me." He finished nonchalantly. If nothing else the man certainly had guts.

"Right." James agreed, he finally relaxed his body, though his mind was still high on alert and took a deep breath. This was it hopefully, everything he would need to know. "Alright then Mr. Informant…Tell me what I need to know."

And with that the so-called Informant began to speak.

CARTAGENA COLOMBIA, VILLAMOS ESTATE, APRIL 4, 2011, 7:25 PM EST

There was still a little bit of surprise honestly. La Bandera was having a hard time believing what the last 48 hours of her life had started to look like. Just a couple of months ago she was relaxing in Cuba, her popularity had grown substantially, especially after Ultron disappeared. She had basically become the country's protector and it was a role she had taken on with joy.

She had always hoped she could join a group like the Avengers, with heroes from Cuba or the other neighbouring countries, but at that moment in time it truly felt like she was the only person in all of South America with powers.

And then suddenly she was fighting off a gang of super powered criminals after finding a new drug being sold around Cuba giving people weird powers, and potent overdoses. Suddenly she was kidnapped and forced to work with the Cartel or die, as they wanted more naturally powered people in their ranks anyway.

She worked for the group for two whole months before taking a shot at freedom when she had recognized the form of Captain America, the world's greatest hero attempting to knock down the same group which had forced her to be put to work.

It was awesome to see a true hero like that at work, and it gave her something to aspire towards, but more than that it made her happy knowing that the Avengers hadn't just forgotten about the rest of the world after Ultron had left. For the past couple of years they had truly been the world's peacekeeping force, and she wasn't sure they understood just how much people relied on them and how much weight the name carried, especially in her parts of the world.

It was nice to be working with the Captain, if not a bit daunting. There were times where she was sure he was just a normal teenager like her. Like when he tried to hide his blush after catching a little too much of her legs, thinking she was blissfully unaware that he certainly found her nice to look at.

Of course those moments felt rare in the past 48 hours, more often than not he was working, that powerful voice they would always hear on TV was just as effective in person, that was something La Bandera had quickly come to realize. And she was honestly more shocked that many of their enemies hadn't realized who they were fighting yet.

Standing up for her opinion was hard, especially since she didn't know the Captain that well, and he was just trying to keep her safe. He didn't fully know her capabilities so she didn't blame him. But it was nice to know that when push came to shove Captain America was lenient.

And now they could go their separate ways for the moment and figure out a way to defeat the Cartel. For her country, for the kids like Carmen who were getting pushed into this mess, and the less fortunate people getting sold the lie of superpowers, just to die from this drug later on.

It was for this reason La Bandera went to work to stop this madness, and it was this reason that she had found herself at the esteemed Villamos Estate undertaking a stealth mission of the highest order. If she was caught here, surely she would not make it out alive. The place was swarming with guards, a good portion of them on high alert.

But today her job wasn't to destroy their base of operations, rather it was to gain more information about the shipments, and the Cartel's future activities. That way they could shut them down before they tried to move in the future.

She found herself working with one of S.H.I.E.L.D 's finest deciding to take James' advice and ask for some help on this one. It was funny because despite not knowing James long, she was sure this was something he himself would not do.

Agent Isabella Jackson was on comms for the mission and had great eyes on the place, this would easily help her evade the more dangerous sections of the estate and find a way to get in and out without many problems.

"As we expected the entire place is crawling with members of the Cartel. At the end of the day information is the most important thing at the moment. Are you still confident in your abilities to identify the higher-ups of the Cartel?"

"I'm sure. I spent two months with them. I know who they answer to aside from just Ernesto or Carmelita." La Bandera insisted confidently. "The one we are looking for goes by the name of Bruno."

"Bruno…He isn't one of the men with powers is he?" Agent Jackson questioned, making sure La Bandera had things sorted.

"No he's not. While the one with powers are the true firepower of the Cartel, they were not the ones who got to decide what we would do. El Dragon is the exception because he was raised by the Cartel. but he's not the smartest, even he would admit he's not here for his mind but his muscle. Bruno is actually fairly skilled at what he does and that is to arrange when and where the Cartel will be selling and at times picking materials up." La Bandera explained.

"Right. A man like that surely has his own quarters in a place like this. Give me a moment to try and use our little buddy to find him or his room, then you can start moving." Isabella commanded, taking control over the small S.H.I.E.L.D. issued drone to find Bruno.

"Right." La Bandera spoke, and the line went dead allowing her to let out a little sigh. She would be lying if she said she wasn't just a little nervous. It was impossible to ignore the fact that these were the people who kidnapped her the first time.

And it did cross her mind that if she was caught this time, they more than likely would attempt to cut their losses, those in the Cartel loved their pride and respect, and if you hurt that in some sort of way they would surely try and end your life the moment they could.

"It doesn't matter. This isn't for yourself at the end of the day. Do this for your people. For Cuba. and Carmen. And for everyone else who has been affected by this mess." La Bandera told herself, slightly calming her emotions down. But she would never be fully calm when doing things like this.

Despite how long she had been doing this she found her palms would still get sweaty and she would feel her heart trying to hammer straight through her chest, when it came time to act. but that was just another aspect of the job. At least for her.

"Alright. La Bandera you ready?" Agent Jackson's voice came on after another minute. "Ready." La Bandera answered back firmly. "You've got something?"

"Yeah I do. This is a big estate and unfortunately Bruno seems to be near the back of it. I believe I can get you to a window that will lead to a laundry room. From there you'll need to get to Bruno's men. Of course until the restricted section there will be a lot of enemies. However when you do get to the restricted section there will be less of them to worry about…Of course that's because those that are there are more than likely the best of the best." Isabella explained to the young hero.

La Bandera found herself nodding along though Agent Jackson couldn't see her, as she deciphered how exactly this situation was going to play out.

"That's fine. I can manage this. After everything I know how I can make this work, my power will be good for this. Lead the way."

Teresa followed Agent Jackson's directions towards the window. The window was high up but with a bit of a climb she got to the ledge peaking just slightly as she made sure the coast was clear. Her eyes ensured that was the case but she soon turned to her mind just to be sure.

Teresa was an empath who could turn those empathetic energies into blasts of energy that could rip through stone with ease depending on how strong the emotions she felt were at that particular moment. But they also allowed her to do other things like understand just how many people were around based on who she could feel.

3 people right outside of that room. The moment I get inside I'll have to deal with them. Seems like there might be two more a little further down.

With that information secured La Bandera began to make her move, slipping through the window and immediately hiding behind a pillar in the room.

She waited for a moment with bated breath for one man to pass by, he was calm, dressed from head to toe in military gear and a 1911 at his hip. They were at their home base and of course they had the advantage in numbers, but they were not on guard.

Clearly they believed that they were safe and that even if they weren't anyone, one who thought they could walk into their home base alive was an idiot.

The moment he walked past the pillar Teresa was moving, her staff was brought up and pulled over his head pressed on his neck tightly, and before he could yell the empath was put to work. You feel at peace my friend.

Her empathic suggestion rang out in the man's mind and in an instant he stopped struggling against Teresa until he was knocked out. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Teresa moved forward this time planning on using a more direct assault.

She was halfway through a flip in the air when the two other henchmen noticed her, but it was too late grabbing their heads and smashing them against one another; they were knocked out instantly. Within that one touch she was able to influence them to also be at peace, this would help ensure they didn't wake up anytime soon.

Dragging them into the room that she had come out of she contacted Agent Jackson "I've taken out the first three. There's just the two at the far end and then I'll reach the room with Bruno, I'll leave my earpiece on so I can try and relay information to you."

"Alright, good luck La Bandera."

The young empath only let out a small hmph, and headed to the lion's den. Despite having room to breathe now she still snuck through the large corridor. Walking down the large hallway carefully, hiding herself behind pillars or ducking behind the decorations around the room whenever the situation called for it.

Eventually she was near enough to the two at the front of the door. They also did not have their guns in hand at the moment, but they were facing forward, and if Teresa revealed herself from her spot there was no doubt they would see her.

However she wasn't as close to the two this time, meaning she wouldn't be able to use her empathetic touch. She'd need to use a different technique to keep them quiet. Conjuring up feelings of desire, she projected them onto the men, the arduous feeling consuming their bodies, both men seemed distinctly happy and uncomfortable at the same time.

And when she appeared they didn't think twice. "(How are we doing there boys?)" They salivated like ravenous animals at the sight of a fresh meal waiting to be devoured. They didn't think twice when she pulled her staff out and smacked them in the face one after the other, knocking them out instantly.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she stood in front of the restricted section's large doors. Behind the door would be the Cartel's best. That would include El Dragon and Machete both of them had scores to settle with her, and she wasn't so arrogant to believe she could easily get by both of them. And that didn't include the other men who would be in the room.

However she refused to hesitate thinking about what may happen to her; it wasn't going to help her get into that room. So after one deep breath she pushed open the double doors, and slipped through the crack hoping not to make any noise.

Her eyes darted around the large room, and she quickly spotted 5 guards. 3 people she didn't know by name, only that their admittance into the room meant they were highly skilled, and then there was Machete and El Dragon.

Far down the room was Bruno, who was pointing at some map. That was all Teresa got before she was forced to hide, as they froze as the door shut rather loudly. She dived into an open trash bin and hid in there, not making one peep even as another garbage bag was placed on her.

"(It's probably just that idiot Ricky, Bruno.)" Marco aka El Dragon told the wary leader. "(We've been at this all day, hurry it up…I'm still not sure why I'm here, this doesn't involve me.)"

"(Tch, the boy's right. This isn't my problem.)" Mariano spoke simply, it was clear from his tone and the frown on his face he was annoyed. "(You see that blonde man then tell me and I'll be there in a heartbeat…Otherwise I don't want to hear about it.)"

"(Yeah, what he said.)" El Dragon said childishly, however the grin on his face made him look feral. At their antics Bruno only sighed.

"(I already told you, if things have gone right today then we will never hear from that Blonde again.)" Bruno calmly told the two, however it only made them more annoyed.

"(I doubt it would be that easy.)" El Dragon scoffed. "(You underestimate him.)" Machete sneered, they knew full well what Bruno's plans had been, but they refused to believe it was possible that the blonde man was dead.

Their pride refused to let that be the case, to be beaten so thoroughly by the man and then for him to lose, die without giving them a second chance at tearing him apart? It couldn't be.

Teresa listening to this simply hoped that James pulled through but was fairly certain El Dragon and Machete were right, he couldn't have been dead, especially since all the heavy hitters were right in front of her.

"(Regardless, that isn't what we need to be thinking about right now. Our next batch of shipments across Colombia are starting tonight. And in the next week we will be moving out across South America once more. We can't afford to mess up much more. In the coming month we are taking a leap into becoming international. But if we fail…)"

"(It's bad for business. We know.)" El Dragon spoke annoyedly, and then in a lesser tone he murmured "(Don't know why the-

"(Marco.)" Bruno spoke harshly for the first time, shushing the other man knowing that he was the only other person who knew anything about details the Villamos Cartel needed to keep quiet.

Teresa cursed Bruno's timing as she knew Marco was only going to give up information on the true enemy behind the Cartel. Anything would have been helpful.

"(Tonight.)" Bruno spoke again into the quiet room "(Tonight we'll be sending a shipment down to Medellin. Some of the boys are already working on packing the truck. We need to keep things focused. Marco by tomorrow you need to be in Bogota, and Machete we need you in Bucaramanga. This won't work without you boys either.)"

It was a request as much as it was an order. These two knew there was a heavy chance they wouldn't cross paths with the Blonde man again. And for someone like Machete who was a killer at heart it annoyed him. But he had a feeling they would cross paths again. No matter what.

"(Whatever)" Machete spoke up, and as he did he began to exit the room. "(Just don't bother me for the rest of the night.)"

Bruno nodded happily with a grin and looked to El Dragon for his response. The young mutant could only rub the back of his head in embarrassment however as he was still kicking himself for nearly spilling out some of their biggest secrets. Eventually he managed to respond. "(Of course I'll be there as soon as I can.)"

"(Great. Machete's got the right idea. I've got nothing else to say, so let's meet back here tomorrow morning, by then we'll know how everything went with the shipment and the blonde man.)"

The five men left the room one after another and Teresa let out a sigh of relief and waited 30 seconds before getting out and rushing across the room to get a picture of their future shipments list, and anything else that might be relevant, but other than that list there wasn't anything of use in the room.

But still…This was big. They could predict where the Cartel was planning to move, and she could do that starting tonight. She knew if James was around he'd probably want her to stop while she was ahead but she felt good about this.

"Agent Jackson, I've uploaded the appropriate information, I'm going to head for Medellin and stop their shipment."

"And how do you expect to manage that? You should leave and let us help extract you."

Eyes on the garbage bin, Teresa couldn't help but smile, "Don't worry I think I've got this." With that she muted the friendly S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and headed back into the garbage bin. Tossing the garbage over herself.

She could only smile knowing that when she appeared in Medellin the Villamos Cartel would have never seen her coming.