Way We Go Down ｡ Natasha Romanoff

27 - ANOTHER WINTER SOLDIER

With a little help from Falcon, a golden boy and a spy stood on a rooftop with a geeky IT man hanging over the edge, not quite begging for his life just yet. The trio had found Jasper Sitwell, the man that had been on the Lemurian Star a few nights ago, who had deeper connections with HYDRA than anybody had expected. Right now, they were demanding answers about Zola's algorithm but Jasper was not spilling his guts lightly. 

"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers." Jasper snickered, not even remotely worried the Captain would throw him over the edge today.

With his comment, Steve Rogers was nodding along in agreement. "You're right, it's not." With a little smile, he stepped back and allowed Natasha to inch forward, something new twinkling in her eyes. "It's hers." Without question, she was kicking the cocky man over the edge, his scream growing distant in her ears. 

A bright idea sparked in Natasha's head while they waited, wind wiping against their faces. "Oh, wait. What about that girl from accounting, Laura..?" They were back to suggesting girls Steve could ask out on a date, a little joke between them. 

"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?"

Natasha smiled. "Yeah, she's cute."

Steve frowned, "Yeah, I'm not ready for that."

While Sam Wilson zoomed towards the sky from down below with Jasper dangling from his arms, they both exchanged a long glance as they moved away from the edge. "Okay, what about Elliott? She's...a handful but she's not shy. I'm sure she'd love your bashfulness." 

The three gathered around Jasper again, who was holding up his hands in fear. The colour had drained from his face from his fall over the edge. Sam's wings were folding away and he shared a brief grin, quite proud of himself. He really did love being back in the sky. "Hmm, Elliott would definitely eat me alive." Natasha hummed in agreement with Steve before turning her attention back to the cowering man before them. 

"Okay, okay, Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets!" Jasper shouted. 

Steve cocked his head sideways. "What targets?"

"You!" The tech cried out, words now just falling from his lips in fear these people really would throw him over the edge of the rooftop and not catch him this time. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defence, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."

With the new information, the trio were quiet for a second. "The future? How could it know?"

Jasper started laughing, "How could it not? The twenty-first century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it." Natasha was already glancing towards her partner in crime, who was simply stuck in a cloud of confusion still, not very used to technology of this day and age. "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? What happens when this algorithm locates all the future threats? What is HYRDA planning on doing with it?" Steve demanded, already having a sneaking suspicion what followed when Alexander Pierce had everything he wanted. 

A heartbeat passed, Jasper Sitwell hesitant but finally, he buckled knowing Natasha Romanoff knew at least ten ways to kill him right now without having to leave this very rooftop and despite everything, he didn't want to die today. "Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

Steve sucked in a breath, his gaze heavy. "Right. Let's go."

Sam Wilson watched him, "Where are we going? What happens next?"