Art of War

II

Flying over the Indian Ocean, the three were with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, led by Brock Rumlow. Michaela had strapped herself in so she hopefully would be as safe as she could while gripping her the straps of her buckle so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star," Rumlow informed. "They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."

"Any demands?" Steve and Michaela asked.

"A billion and a half."

"Why so steep?" Steve wondered.

"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s."

Michaela frowned. "So it's not off-course, it's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Natasha reasoned.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor," Steve said. "And Mick doesn't look pleased either."

"Relax, it's not that complicated."

"How many pirates?" Steve and Michaela questioned.

"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy," Rumlow told them. "Georges Batroc." He showed them a photo of Bartoc on the monitor. "Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?"

"Uh... mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell." He pulled up Sitwell's photo on the monitor. "They're in the galley."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve wondered. "All right, Mick and I are gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you'll kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get 'em out. Let's move."

"STRIKE, you heard the Cap. Gear up."

As they were getting ready to dive off the jet, Steve said into his radio, "Secure channel seven."

"Seven secure," Natasha stated. "Did either of you do anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so... No, not really."

"The only guy I'd like to grab a drink with is..." Michaela stopped herself. "So, no." She unbuckled herself and tentatively made her way closer to Steve.

"Coming up by the drop zone, Cap," the pilot said over the radio.

Natasha looked at Steve. "You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes."

"That's why I don't ask," Steve shot back.

"Too shy or too scared?"

"Too busy!"

Michaela noticed what Steve was about to do and jumped on his back.

"You're crazy," Steve said as the two jumped out of the jet.

"Yes I am," the blonde replied.

"Were they wearing a parachute?" the STRIKE Agent asked.

Rumlow smiled. "No. No they weren't."

---

After jumping after the jet, Steve and Michaela dove into the water, climbed onto the ship, he pulled her up, then he beat everyone on the deck swiftly before anyone could raise the alarm when he was interrupted by one of the pirates pointing his gun at Michaela.

The first French pirate said, "Bouge pas! Bouge pas."

(Don't move! Don't move.)

He was shot dead by Rumlow as he parachuted down onto the deck behind Steve and Michaela.

"Thanks," Steve and Michaela said.

"Yeah," Rumlow replied. "You two seemed pretty helpless without me. Couldn't let your girl get hurt."

"She's not my girl," Steve told him.

Natasha and another agent parachuted down onto the deck.

Natasha turned to Steve. "What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice."

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date," Steve instructed. "Don't bother trying to find Mick one. Been trying for awhile. But she insistent on clinging to a lost love."

"I'm multitasking. That's fair." She jumped to the lower deck.

Michaela hit Steve's arm. "Don't talk about it like that."

"Like what?" Steve asked. "You know I'm right."

"Maybe you are and maybe you aren't. What you can do is shut up and focus on our mission at hand."

"Yes, ma'am."

Steve and Michaela moved quickly to find the hostages in the control room.

Michaela glanced at Steve. "What's she up to?"

"No idea," Steve replied.

"Try to get in touch with her."

"Status, Natasha?" Steve asked.

"Hang on!" Natasha cried as the pirate attacked her and she quickly knocked him out before saying into her radio, "Engine room secure."

"On my mark. Three. Two. One."

The STRIKE team started shooting at the pirates and Rumlow quickly killed the head pirate.

"I told you, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't negotiate," Sitwell said.

Steve, shielding Michaela's body, smashed through a window using his shield, but Batroc managed to escape.

Rumlow said to Steve and Michaela, "Hostages en route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap, Angel. Hostiles are still in play."

"Natasha, Batroc's on the move," Steve informed. "Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages."

There was no reply from Natasha.

"Natasha!" Steve and Michaela called.

Batroc attacked Steve and Michaela. They fought on the deck of the ship, with Batroc quickly getting back on his feet.

"Je croyais que tu étais plus qu'un bouclier," Batroc said.

(I thought you were more than just a shield.)

Steve put the shield on his back and took off his mask.

"On va voir," Steve replied.

(Let's see.)

Steve glanced to his friend. "Stay back."

The men started fighting again. Steve managed to knock Batroc down by smashing through into one of the rooms where Natasha was downloading something from the computer. Michaela ran in after and frowned.

"Well, this is awkward," Natasha said.

"What are you doing?" Steve and Michaela asked.

"Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into."

"Rumlow needed your help," Steve told her. "What the hell are you doing here?" He and Michaela went over to Natasha and looked at what she was backing up.

"You're saving S.H.I.E.L.D. intel," Michaela spat.

"Whatever I can get my hands on."

"Our mission is to rescue the hostages," Steve told her.

"No. That's your mission. Something Mick assisted with." She finished backing up and pulled the drive out. "And you've both done it beautifully."

As Natasha went to leave, Steve grabbed her arm and said, "You just jeopardized this whole operation."

"I think that's overstating things."

Batroc rose and threw a grenade at the three as he ran off. Steve deflected the grenade with his shield, grabbed Natasha and Michaela and jumped through a window before it exploded.

"Okay. That one's on me," Natasha admitted.

"You're damn right," Steve and Michaela retorted.