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CHAPTER ONE
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RAYS OF LIGHT gradually peeked through window blinds, shining down into a simple room beneath it. Slowly, a young woman opened her eyes and blinked to adjust to the morning's sunshine. A sigh pushed past her lips and she sat up slowly. "Good morning, world." She said cheerily, even though no one else was there.
It was a small room, but its size did not prevent the woman from filling it will colorful, unique, and exotic posters of a variety of designs. Movie and book advertisements were plastered on the walls along with old photos, tinted with age.
The woman's bare legs swung over the side of her bed, with the carpet only just tickling her toes. Springing up with unusual energy, the woman rose to her feet and checked her phone. A new notification was at the top of the screen:
MISSION 2/14/2014
EXTRACTION TEAM
ROMANOFF LEAD. ON BASE @7:00
"Romanoff leading?" she grinned at the thought. "This'll be fun."
She selected her clothes for the mission and walked out of the room with blaring headphones. The time was 6:30, leaving her barely 5 minutes to get ready. She never had early missions and had been accustomed to leisurely preparing for the day, so a protein bar was the quickest breakfast she could prepare before running out the door and yelling to rock music.
After a short drive to her headquarters, the woman met up with her S.T.R.I.K.E leader, Brock Rumlow. He was waiting for her at the door and did not hesitate to tell her off.
"You're late." He said dully.
She increased her pace once he joined her. "No," she said casually. "It's 6:58, not 7:00."
"The whole team's waiting," Rumlow growled.
"Well, they should have scheduled the mission for 6:58, then." She smiled.
"Keep that attitude at home, Sharp. Right now we're business." He said as he grabbed her arm and led her around a corner.
The woman yanked her wrist out of his grasp. "I know how to get to the hanger, you know."
Rumlow shot her a surprised look. "Really? I thought with all your babble, you'd miss it."
She rolled her eyes. "I love how useful your sarcasm is."
"It's more useful than you." He replied dryly.
The woman stopped walking and gaped. "Wh-, okay, now that was too far."
Rumlow turned around and flashed her an annoyed stare. "You know how you can be useful? Getting on the quinjet so we can leave. Come on." He continued his pace, leaving the woman to follow behind grumbling.
Once the pair arrived at the ramp of the quinjet, they found the whole S.T.R.I.K.E team, along with Natasha Romanoff and another man whose back was turned.
Natasha smiled in greeting to the woman and said, "you're almost late."
"Almost." The woman pointed out, smiling. "What's the latest?" she asked.
"Indian Ocean," Natasha answered. "You better buckle up."
The woman nodded and stepped past the crowd of her teammates to the front of the ship. A tall figure stood with his back to her.
"Who's this guy?" She asked Natasha.
The man turned around, revealing a large, heavily built frame, blonde hair, striking eyes, and.. a shield.
The woman felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips as she recognized him. "Captain Rogers." She said, surprised. "How nice of you to join us."
The Captain dipped his head. "And I am joining..?"
"Emersyn Sharp." The woman answered, smiling. "pleasure to meet you."
Her smile was contagious and immediately transferred to Rogers' face. "The pleasure's all mine."
She thought she saw him stare as she turned away, but there was no mistaking the suggestive smirk on Natasha's face. Emersyn brushed past her and whispered, "stop it."
Nat chuckled and went to speak with Rogers.
Emersyn hadn't dated at all in her life unless she counted her one middle school relationship that lasted four days, and Natasha could not sit by and watch her be single. She always said, "you're too pretty to not have guys chasing you around." Natasha had been trying to get Emersyn to hook up with some of the S.H.I.E.L.D guys, but every time she refused.
Excited tingling sensations crawled up her spine as she sat down and felt her cheeks flush red. Emersyn couldn't believe she was on a mission with Captain America; she had wanted to meet him ever since Fury announced he joined S.H.I.E.L.D.
To pass time, Emersyn was fidgeting in one of the plane's seats trying to make herself comfortable for the long journey. Her eyes traveled around the room as the quinjet took to the skies. The S.T.R.I.K.E team was chatting amongst themselves, and Nat and Steve kept glancing over at her.
Emersyn couldn't help but smile to herself and let her mind wander freely. There was about a 90-minute wait until they arrived, so it would be a perfect opportunity to catch up with Natasha while they waited. Maybe she could even get to know the Captain. While debating over whether or not she should make a move and invite Rogers to chat, she was surprised to see the man himself walking over to her.
He seemed hesitant and by the way, he was walking, scared, although his stone-faced expression tried to hide it. Their eyes met, hers expectant and his nervous. Rogers paused and tilted his head as if he were asking permission.
In response, Emersyn smiled warmly and gestures to a seat next to her. "Hello, again."
"Hi." He breathed as he sat down. "Ms. Sharp, right?"
"Yes, but Emersyn is fine." She replied.
Steve flashed her a quick smile. "Okay."
"And, uh...Captain..." Emersyn paused, "am I ordered to call you that?"
Rogers shrugged, "No, I don't think so... well, I don't know, but..er.. not on my orders."
Emersyn raised her brows happily. "Well, Steve, I guess we're on a first-name basis already. Look at that."
He chuckled briefly before studying his shoes beneath him. There was an awkward silence as they both waited for each other to speak.
"Are you on-?"
"What are-"
"Oh." They both said.
Emersyn shook her head and laughed. "Sorry, you go first."
"No," Steve insisted. "You go, I interrupted."
"No, no, no," Emersyn protested, still laughing. "I want to hear your bit first."
"For God's sake, I'll speak if you two can't stop being polite." Natasha butted in.
Emersyn rolled her eyes. "At least he's a gentleman."
Steve smiled briefly, still looking down from embarrassment. "Are you on the S.T.R.I.K.E team?" he asked.
"Unfortunately," Emersyn said honestly. At Steve's questioning glance she explained, "it's Rumlow's team. He's a nightmare."
Steve laughed, now staring at her as she spoke. He looked a lot more comfortable now that she lightened the mood. "I've worked with him before and haven't seen you around. You just join?" He asked.
"Oh, I've been assigned a lot of different places. Most teams complained to Fury that I was "unprofessional." Emersyn admitted. "I mostly stick around with Romanoff."
"You seem professional enough," Steve said.
Emersyn raised her brows. "It's our first mission, mate. First mission."
"Wait until she's your partner every day." Natasha joked and walked away to let them continue their conversation in private.
Emersyn called after her. "You know you still like me!" She turned back to Steve and explained, "Nat and I go way back. Fury has assigned us together for years, but we haven't caught up in a while."
"Oh." Steve nodded. "You been in S.H.I.E.L.D a while?"
"11 years." Emersyn replied, and at Steve's surprised expression she added, "it's my life. Joined up as a teenager, Fury got me out of a hard spot. Since then my family is the agents around me."
"That's tough joining up that young." Steve said sincerely. "you enjoy it though?"
"I'm helping others." She smiled and looked over at Natasha standing farther from them. "And I've got good people by my side."
Steve nodded in understanding and slowly got up from his seat. "It was nice to meet you, Emersyn."
She smiled and watched him go, thinking that that was a decent conversation and he doesn't seem all that bad. The ship flew steadily as it traveled over the seas; chatter filled the room and Emersyn was the only one sitting alone.
Waiting was her one weakness. She couldn't bear to sit in silence and simply be. It was a terrible habit, she knew it, but couldn't seem to be rid of it.
Dying to do something, she got up to put on her gear. She took off her leather jacket revealing a simple white tank top underneath and grabbed her signature black vest. Two handguns were placed on her thighs and a dagger was in her belt.
One of her teammates joined beside her and selected his gear as well. "It's our first mission with the Cap."
Emersyn glanced over at him while counting her ammo. "You know that's really not a good conversation starter, Fritz."
The man's face immediately turned to one of worry. "What, why?"
"Don't look so upset." She chuckled. "If you're trying to get with a girl, don't start by talking about another guy."
Fritz now blinked at her, bewildered. "No- I.. what? I-I'm not trying to.. get.. with you."
Emersyn rolled her eyes and peeked past his shoulder. "You really think I didn't see Romanoff push you over here..?" As a response, Nat gave her a wink.
She laughed as Fritz's cheeks flushed red and his mouth gaped open. Emersyn tossed him his forgotten gun cartridge and tapped his shoulder. "Gear up, Fritz."
Her flowing hair danced behind her as she walked away and left her dumbfounded teammate to stare awkwardly.
Natasha immediately came over to Emersyn and asked. "Another reject?"
"He was pathetic." She hissed under her breath. "But it was funny."
Natasha acted disappointed. "He was kinda cute."
Emersyn raised a questioning brow and double-checked to make sure she heard right.
Natasha smirked at her reaction and looked back at Fritz, then back at Emersyn. "I can see it."
"Oh, please!" Emersyn laughed and gently knocked Nat's shoulder. "The only thing I'll ever kiss is my coffee mug."
"What if his name is Starbucks?" Natasha asked.
"Then, you, my friend, will have found me the perfect husband." Emersyn giggled.
Their conversation was interrupted by Brock Rumlow's loud voice calling the team.
"Let's get down to business." Natasha pivoted to walk to the front of the jet.
Emersyn followed her lead and quietly whispered, "to defeat... the Huns..."
Nat threw an eye roll over her shoulder and pulled her arm forward. The whole team had gathered around a computer screen with Rumlow in the center.
He gestured to the screen's image of a ship and said, "the target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."
"Seems simple enough," Emersyn muttered to herself.
Steve Rogers seemed to think otherwise as he spoke up with a troubled expression. "Any demands?"
"A billion and a half," Rumlow replied.
"Why so steep?" Rogers asked.
"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s," Rumlow answered.
"So it's not off course, it's trespassing," Steve concluded, and looked at Natasha questioningly.
"I'm sure they had a good reason," she said quietly.
"You know, I'm getting tired of being Fury's janitor," Steve muttered.
"I've been the janitor for years, Rogers, and once you realize every mission really isn't as serious as you make it seem, it becomes quite fun," Emersyn spoke up.
He turned to her with eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Do you take me as grim?"
A smirk grew on her lips and she replied, "From what I've read, you are just a bit boring, Rogers."
Natasha raised a brow and tried desperately to hide the smile on her face. Steve stared blankly in shock and confusion, and Emersyn could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to process what happened.
She gave one last smile before turning back to Rumlow. "How many pirates?"
Even their team leader had a surprised expression on his face. "25. Top mercs led by this guy." He tapped the screen to show a file on a very stone-faced and glaring man.
"Georges Baltroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division." Rumlow read from the file.
"He looks cheery," Natasha said sarcastically.
Emersyn chuckled and pointed, "hey look, Rogers, it's you."
She could see that the moment her words were uttered, Nat died inside. Her eyes were in an infinite 'eye roll' and seemed they would even go back into her head. Steve's reaction was worse.
His head slowly turned to her with an unamused stare and said, "I'm starting to know what you meant by, 'unprofessional'."
Emersyn's face fell and she couldn't seem to hold his gaze. Her sheepish eyes tried to focus on anything other than Steve, but why was it suddenly so hard?
Obviously embarrassed, Emersyn directed her gaze up to Rumlow and said loudly, "Georges Baltroc. You were saying?"
Rumlow's cold glare drilled through her before it unblinkingly turned back to the screen. "He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."
"Hostages?" Steve asked, his voice cool and collected.
Emersyn couldn't manage to even glance at him anymore. She didn't want to. She knew what would be waiting: a satisfied smirk playing on his lips and a proud glint in his dark blue eyes that were much too gorgeous to belong to such a stuck-up man with a stone-chiseled face. (She was very easily annoyed.)
While lost in thought of dislike of her new teammate, Emersyn was deaf to the conversation at hand, until she heard a familiar name.
"Sitwell?" She blurted, just then looking up.
All eyes turned to her in questioning.
"Yes..." Steve said slowly. "He's one of the hostages. Do you not listen, either?" His voice was laced with annoyance.
Emersyn snapped her head around to face him with an open mouth. She bit back a sharp reply and closed her jaw, fuming. She was only joking, and he had to turn it into a serious teaching matter. Insufferable.
Thinking of a better option than punching her team leader in the face, Emersyn managed to force a smile and blink innocently at him. "Oh, no, Captain, I can hear you fine. It's just... I have concern for Sitwell." At everyone's confused faces, she continued, "he and I go way back."
Steve raised a brow and shot her a dismissive look before turning away. Natasha coughed to hide her laughter, to which Emersyn gave her a sharp kick in the shin.
"Not- like.. we liked each other.." Emersyn tried to explain. "Well... he liked me- I didn't return it.. but he never got over it- but we're friends. Co-workers." She cringed at her own words and immediately wished she never had spoken. "Ijustdontwanthimtodie." The words came out in a jumble of letters.
"Let's focus on the mission." Steve said with his 'serious' voice back on. "No more interruptions."
Emersyn rolled her eyes and let her growing contempt for Rogers fester inside her. He must love to hear himself talk...
"I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Baltroc," Steve stated. "Nat, you kill the engine and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. And Agent Sharp..."
She jerked to attention at her name and was met with Steve's disapproving gaze. "Try to stay focused."
Romanoff looked between the two, smirking, and then let her eyes down as soon as Emersyn saw her. To add to her annoyance, (as if Steve's existence wasn't enough already), Emersyn knew that Nat was shipping them, and that made everything a hundred times worse.
A/N: why is the first chapter so hard :( enjoy it nevertheless!