LIGHTNING STORM |b. barnes| [2]

CHAPTER 15

"BRING THE GIRL BACK ALIVE."

The sun was up by the time the trio made it to Steve's friends house. Natasha woke up soon after the explosion and Ana kept her arm around her friend, keeping her steady.

She had been on the run before, but not from SHIELD. Ana knew it was going to be hard to find a place to lay low. SHIELD had their eyes and ears everywhere. Even places that none of them knew about. Not even Fury.

They knocked on the door and it opened seconds later, 

"Hey, man." The dark skinned man greeted, looking at the dirt and ash that covered their face,

Ana wondered how pathetic and defeated they looked right now, knocking on a stranger's door and asking for shelter.

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

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha stated and the man paused, 

"Not everyone." He let them enter and let the trio use his shower.

Ana was the last one to shower, being okay with the cold water as long as she got clean, and met the others in the dining room where they were eating breakfast. She sat down with them and dug in. "So, the question is, who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asked when they finished,

"Pierce." Ana and Steve answered at the same time,

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

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

"So was Jasper Sitwell." Natasha replied,

"So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked,

"They have eyes and ears everywhere." Ana sighed, "Who knows how many Hydra agents there are out there."

"The answer is, you don't." Sam replied, dropping a file in front of the three with a photo on top and Steve grabbed it, 

"What's this?" Steve questioned as Nat grabbed the photo,

"Call it a resume." He smirked

"Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." Natasha looked over at Steve, "You didn't say he was a para-rescue."

Ana smirked at the photo, "And you kept this guy in the background this whole time? Steve, we could've used this a long time ago."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked when he saw a photo of Sam with his pararescue team,

"Yeah."

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

"No. These." Sam opened the file and handed it to Steve,

"I thought you said you're a pilot." Steve stated,

Sam smirked, "I never said a pilot."

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason." Steve said,

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in." Sam responded,

Ana stood and crossed her arms, "Once you're involved, there's no getting out." She stated, "Even if you try to leave, you'll get dragged back in at some point."

Sam nodded, "I'm ready."

"Okay." She smiled, "Now that that's settled, where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Ana asked, looking down at the contraption in the file,

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall." Sam answered and Steve looked over at the girls, 

"Shouldn't be a problem."