Art of War

VIII

Returning home from his morning run, Sam heard a knock at his door. He opened the door to see Steve, Michaela and Natasha.

"Hey, man. Hey, Mick," Sam greeted.

"I'm sorry about this," Steve apologized. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha and Michaela said.

Sam paused a moment before replying, "Not everyone."

Sam looked around, making sure they hadn't been followed, and let them enter.

LATER

As Steve, Michaela and Natasha were cleaning up, Steve and Michaela noticed Natasha looking sad and thoughtful.

"You okay?" Steve and Michaela asked.

"Yeah," Natasha replied.

"What's going on?"

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business," Steve said.

Natasha smiled faintly. "I owe you."

"It's okay."

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your lives, and you be honest with me, would you two trust me to do it?"

"I would now. And I'm always honest."

Michaela nodded. "As would I."

"Well, you two seem pretty chipper for two someones who just found out they died for nothing," Natasha commented.

"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting," Steve replied. "That's something Mick and I share in common."

Sam popped his head in and said to Steve, Michaela and Natasha, "I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing."

LATER

They sat in Sam's kitchen and Natasha said, "So, the question is: who in S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?"

"Pierce," Steve and Michaela replied.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."

"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star," Steve said.

"So was Jasper Sitwell."

"So, the real question is: how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer in broad daylight?"

"The answer is: you don't," Sam told them as he dropped a file in between Steve and Michaela.

"What's this?" Steve and Michaela asked.

"Call it a resumé."

Natasha picked up a photo of Sam with his para-rescue team and said, "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." She turned to Steve and Michaela. "You two didn't say he was a para-rescue." She looked at the photo of Sam with his colleague.

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Natasha stated. "What did you use, a stealth chute?"

"No. These." He handed Steve the file. Steve opened it and read it.

"I thought you said you were a pilot," Michaela remembered.