Black Mage

Chapter 11

⍟ⴵ

After their meeting was over Sitwell walked out of the building with Senator Stern.
He got a call from Pierce and turned to his men, "I need a minute. Bring the car around."
They left as he picked up the phone, "Yes, sir."
"Agent Sitwell, how was lunch? I hear the crab cakes here are delicious." Sam said.
"Who is this?"
"The good-looking guy in the sunglasses, your ten o'clock."
Sitwell looked around but didn't see him.
"Your other ten o'clock."
Sitwell turned the other way and saw Sam sitting a few feet away from him.
"There you go."
"What do you want?"
"You're gonna go around the corner, to your right. There's a grey car, two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because that tie looks really expensive, and I'd hate to mess it up."
Sitwell looked down at his tie and saw a small red light from the gun being pointed at him.

Steve threw Sitwell across a rooftop, Natasha and Nova Sadie followed behind him.
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm." Steve said.
"Never heard of it." Sitwell replied.
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"
"I was throwing up, I get seasick."
"You know I can get inside your head and find out everything... only, it's very painful, so if you don't want to suffer, you better cooperate." Nova said as her eyes changed colour.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Steve forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop, Sitwell just smiled.
"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."
"You're right. It's not. It's hers."
Steve stepped aside and Natasha kicked Sitwell off the roof. He plummeted down, screaming.
"Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura...?" Natasha said.
"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?" Steve replied.
"Yeah, she's cute."
"Yeah, I'm not ready for that."

But then, Sam, in his Falcon jet-pack suit with wings, flew up holding Sitwell and threw him down on the roof.
Steve, Nova Sadie and Natasha walked towards Sitwell, he held his hand up in fear.
"Zola's algorithm is a program... for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell said.
"What targets?" Steve asked.
"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."
"The Future? How could it know?"
"How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."
"And what then?" Nova asked.
"Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me."
"What then?!" Steve repeated.
"Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

⍟ⴵ

The five were in Sam's car and were driving to Triskelion.
"HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell said.
"So why don't you try sticking a cork in it." Sam added.
"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here."  Natasha said.
"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly." Steve said.
"What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea-"

Suddenly the Winter Soldier landed on the car roof, pulled Sitwell out through the window and threw him into the oncoming traffic, killing him. Natasha and Nova watched in shock as they heard footsteps on the roof.
The Winter Soldier then started shooting at them, Natasha jumped on Steve in the front seats while Nova pressed herself against the door.
Steve pulled the break handle making the Winter Soldier fly onto the street. He slowed down and stopped, thanks to his metal arm.
The four stared with open mouths as he got up slowly looking at the four in the car.