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CHAPTER TWO
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SHE HAD NEVER thought that a first impression could go so poorly. Things started out fine with Steve Rogers, and he seemed decent enough... but then why did he have to turn so serious?
She thought of this while gearing up and yanked her gun out from its case a little too hard. There was a loud snap and it clattered to the floor. She felt everyone's eyes turn toward her, and now her cheeks flushed red not from embarrassment, but from frustration. It was one of those days where suddenly every little thing starts to annoy you, and it started with none other than Steve Rogers.
Emersyn was with the S.T.R.I.K.E team for the mission and had the boring job of knocking out a few people and shooting some guns. She attached her parachute to herself and waited, staring with bored eyes at the floor. The day had barely begun and yet she was already moody.
Nat and the Captain were talking before they had to drop. The hanger door opened and the sound of rushing wind flooded in. It was difficult to hear over the roar, so Rogers yelled before he left, "you really think I'd go for that?"
He glanced at Emersyn briefly before turning and lunging into the open air. What was that about..? She thought.
"Did he have a parachute?" One of the men asked.
"Of course, he didn't." Emersyn said aloud before muttering to herself, "showoff."
The wind tossed her hair into her face and caught the eye of Rumlow. He came over to her with his commanding walk and said, "get a ponytail."
Emersyn looked up, smiling with no genuine friendliness. "I'm fine, thank you."
"You won't be when you get shot in the head 'cause you couldn't see," Rumlow replied sharply.
Emersyn dropped her smile immediately. "How long have you worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, Rumlow?"
He smirked proudly, "6 years."
She laughed with every inch of her voice laced with sarcasm. "I've worked 11, and have never failed a mission because of my hair. Oh, but you wouldn't understand that because you hardly have any."
Fritz tried to stifle a laugh but was immediately stopped by Rumlow's furious glare. His face was boiling red and his lips were curled into a mean snarl. Emersyn was holding every inch of her face back to stop from laughing, but she ended up just looking constipated. Her weird face only made Rumlow even more upset.
"I'm speaking to Director Fury about this," Rumlow said, obviously trying to sound bold.
Emersyn smirked. "You do that, sweetheart."
Rumlow froze in his tracks, clenching his fist. He then thought better of it and walked away with a high head. Emersyn finally let herself laugh; Fritz was staring at her, gaping. She turned to him, grinning cheekily. "You probably won't see me again after this."
He was wide-eyed and shook his head, smiling in awe. "Oh, no, I want you to stay."
"You should talk to Rumlow about that," Emersyn replied, still smiling to herself.
A familiar clack of boots came towards her and turning toward the sound, Emersyn found Natasha's amused and disappointed face. She shook her head and said in a parenting voice, "this is why you can never stick with a team."
"It's not my fault all the leaders are annoying." Emersyn defended herself.
"More like you are the one who's annoying them." Natasha smiled.
Emersyn rolled her eyes. "You know if Fury wanted me to stay with a team, he should just appoint me as leader."
"If you were leader, there would be no team," Natasha chuckled.
"Why?" Emersyn gasped. "I'm likable!"
"For the first mission- then I'm pretty sure you'd kick everyone out." Nat teased.
Emersyn couldn't help but agree. "I guess nobody can handle me."
Natasha raised her brows. "Really? What am I, a ghost?"
She laughed and shook her head, "I'm sorry Nat, but do you really handle me? I feel like it's more tolerating.."
Natasha punched her lightly. "I tolerate you, Emersyn." She said before walking to the drop platform.
"Tolerate you too, Natasha!" Emersyn yelled after her. The team was prepared to parachute down and was lining up before the ramp. Fritz was assigned to partner with Emersyn instead of Rumlow because their leader had just made a "sudden change".
They all knew why.
Cool air blew around them, tickling Emersyn's skin and raising her excitement. The feel of the wind against her face made her awake and energized; skydiving was one of her most favorite things. The feeling of freedom as she fell was wonderful, and the air was refreshing. She felt like she was able to do anything with all the adrenaline and awakened senses. It felt more like flying than falling and the excitement that flooded her mind had never made her happier.
As the S.T.R.I.K.E team landed on the dock, Emersyn eyed Rogers standing frozen with a gun to his head; evidently, a French henchman had caught him by surprise. Emersyn casually cocked her gun and shot the man; her feet touched the ground a moment later. Rogers turned around at the shot and found her standing behind him. His anticipation faded at the sight of her, and she couldn't help but notice his disappointment.
"Oh, it's only you," Rogers said dully.
"Only?" Emersyn repeated as she shot him an offended glare. "Only me? Well, I see how low your expectations are."
He shook his head in protest. "That's not what I-"
"Hmm?" Emersyn prompted him at the sudden pause.
"Thank you," he finished.
"Hmph." Emersyn mumbled, "you're welcome."
She turned away and met with Fritz to go to their position. He greeted her briefly with a nod and attached his rope to the deck railing. Their task was to propel down the side of the ship and shoot the French targets who were holding the hostages. Emersyn clicked her lock into place around her waist so she was sturdy and slowly climbed down the starboard side. It was quiet, with only the sound of crashing waves to break the silence. They waited with cocked guns for their signal from Rogers. Fritz was next to her, peering inside the window at some stationed men.
"You're breaking the window right?" He asked in a whisper.
"No..?" Emersyn whispered back.
"I thought that was your job." Fritz hissed.
She did not dare to let her eye leave her target, so she used her one free hand to search her belt. They typically used a metal device to smash windows, but it was not there. She sighed and whispered back, "I don't have one, do you?"
Fritz did the same and searched himself. "No..."
Emersyn groaned and replied, "fine I'll take care of it, but you really gotta work on your mission prep, Fritz."
"It's my first year here!" He defended himself.
Emersyn was surprised. "Really? Huh, you're better than I thought."
"Thanks."
She did not need to look at him to know he was smiling. Rumlow's voice came over their comms. "S.T.R.I.K.E in position."
"On my mark." Rogers replied. "Three, two,"
"Buckle up, Fritz," Emersyn whispered before she pushed off from the side.
"One."
Emersyn flew into the air, propelled by her rope, and crashed through the window with her feet. She dropped to the ground behind a counter in a sniper's position and fired at the French men. Fritz fired several shots from outside and just like that, the henchmen all fell to the ground. Emersyn dusted herself off and released the rope from her waist. She then sprinted forward, past the hostages, and through a corridor. Her eyes darted around quickly, trying to navigate the dull, identical halls. She looked down at her watch and saw Natasha's signal in a room nearby. Before they dropped, the two had synced their watches to show each other's location. Besides just being a S.T.R.I.K.E agent, Emersyn had other missions. She ran as quietly as she could with light feet and opened a door to find Natasha.
The room was large and open with rows of computers, and Natasha was hunched over one typing quickly.
"Nat," Emersyn panted. "I need to access-"
The sound came before the impact. A huge crash erupted right behind her, followed by a toppling door and two heavy bodies. Emersyn was crushed beneath a large weight and groaned as she face-planted into concrete.
She struggled to lift her head up, and when she did, a loud smack sent it falling straight back down. "What the hell?" Emersyn spat.
She rolled out from under the door and looked up to see Steve Rogers inches away from her face. "Oh."
"Well, this is awkward." Natasha broke the silence.
"What are you doing here?" Steve demanded.
Emersyn backed up and massaged her throbbing head. "I'm sorry, you just slammed a French man and a door in my face, give me a second."
Steve replied by angrily grabbing her collar and dragging her to her feet. She stumbled and fell against a table, surprised by his sudden force. "We don't have a second. What are you two doing?"
Natasha looked over, smirking. "Easy, big guy. I'm backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into."
Steve let go of Emersyn with a shove and walked up to Natasha. "Rumlow needed your help, what the hell are you doing here?"
Annoyed, Emersyn straightened out her jacket collar and got back up to face them. "You could have been a bit nicer about it," she said to Steve's back.
He didn't turn to face her. "And you could answer my questions."
When there was no reply, he looked down at the computer and back up at the projected screen on the wall with intent eyes. "You're saving S.H.I.E.L.D Intel."
"Whatever I can get my hands on," Nat agreed.
Emersyn peeked over her shoulder and said quietly, "I have a second hard drive. We need access to file 5H4RP. It's an 0-8-4."
Nat looked at her quizzically but nodded in understanding. Steve was staring at them furiously and said, "our mission was to rescue hostages."
Natasha was finishing her download as she corrected, "no, that's your mission." She removed the USB and looked up, smiling. "And you've done it beautifully."
Emersyn moved in to take Nat's place and inserted her USB. She quickly pulled up the information Nat had already found on the file and began downloading its contents. Brief images and summaries popped up in new tabs as the information was transferred.
Steve grabbed Natasha's arm and held her back. "You two just jeopardized this whole operation."
Their words faded away as pictures flashed before Emersyn; her attention suddenly changed from the voices and now focused on the computer screen. There were newspaper clippings of a destroyed house, photos of two dead people, a man and a woman with a bloody bullet hole in both their heads, a photo of... Emersyn; her young, teenage face, then it was replaced with her S.H.I.E.L.D file, and then an article headline wrote: SHARP - the martyrs of HYDRA. Next to it was a stamped logo of an octopus and skull. The images flashed more and more rapidly, giving her only seconds to see before it was replaced with more headlines, and writing, and photos- and...
"EMERSYN!"
She looked up with a start and saw a bomb flying toward her. It was knocked away by someone with a loud clang, and two blurry figures ran past her. Breath caught in her throat, and Emersyn jerked to unplug the USB. She jumped onto a desk to leap away but was not fast enough. Darkness engulfed her vision before she could make it. A booming explosion ripped through her ears, and she was flown into the ground with a wave of heat. Emersyn was not awake to feel the pain of her head crashing into the wall.
Steve and Natasha rolled to the ground, surrounded by shattered glass. They pressed themselves against the wall, groaning and blinking dust from their eyes. Steve quickly looked over his shoulder through the broken window they crashed through and jumped to his feet. "Sharp!" He yelled as he cleared a path through debris and smoke. Natasha followed behind him, squinting to see through the dark air.
Steve tripped on something at his feet and stumbled; he peered down to make out a black crumpled form on the floor. Immediately he bent down and felt the leather of Emersyn's suit. Worry hastened him to push her body over so her face was not smashed into the ground. He froze briefly at the sight of her, and it was not just the thick air that made his voice croak, "oh God... Nat- Natasha... we need... we need a medic."
A large, bleeding gash covered half of her head where she had hit the wall, and it left its mark on the concrete beneath her. Blood trickled down her jaw and onto Steve's hands that held her face. It was blackened with soot and ash, and her parched lips were slightly open. Steve pressed shaking hands to her neck in desperate search for a pulse. Natasha was at his side, waiting with wide eyes for an answer.
Steve met her gaze with relief. "She's okay." A heartbeat had never been more welcome.
"That one's on me," Natasha said in a hushed tone.
"Damn right," Steve replied sharply. He carefully lifted Emersyn into his arms, making sure to support her limp head. Worry made them walk quickly through the halls to rendezvous with the team, and Steve's impatience was growing with every minute. He had snapped at Natasha to wrap Emersyn's head with a cloth and refused to communicate anything to the team. His only focus was to get to safety.
Natasha eyed him curiously, trying to read his expression. Steve jerked his head to look at her and muttered a quick, "what?"
"You seem rather worried, Steve," Natasha said cooly.
"Of course I'm worried," he snapped. "She hit her head." He carried Emersyn bridal style and could not seem to keep his eye off her.
"She's a fighter, she'll be alright," Natasha replied with a comforting smile.
Steve replied bitterly, "yeah, well I like to make sure all members of my team make it home, but evidentially you don't share the same opinions."
Natasha's voice was laced with faint amusement. "You're protective of people, I know, but I care for Emersyn as much as you do."
"Then you shouldn't have been there. You put lives at risk." He replied stiffly.
"She made that choice too." Nat said quietly.
"Baltroc should have never been in that room in the first place," Steve said with a twinge of guilt.
"It's everyone's fault. There. It's settled." Natasha finished.
They fell back to silence, so Nat walked ahead and prepped the quinjet for takeoff. The team met up with them on the deck with the quinjet hovering nearby. Rumlow looked down at Emersyn's wrapped head and asked with no emotion at all, "what happened to her?"
"Grenade," Steve replied stiffly. Then, addressing the team, he yelled, "move out of the way, we need a medic!"
The team stepped aside and let him board the quinjet first. There were only basic medical supplies on board, but that would have to do. There would be no assurance for Emersyn until they made it home, which fueled Steve's impatience to get there as soon as possible.
Once loaded on the quinjet, Fritz hesitantly came up to Steve. Emersyn was laid across several seats with Steve's jacket as a pillow for her head. He sat next to her with jittery eyes that flashed around nervously.
"Uh, Captain Rogers, sir?" Fritz asked as he approached.
"Yes?" He answered quickly.
"I trained in the medical field before becoming an agent," Fritz continued. "I can be of use... if you approve of that, sir."
Steve's eyes lit up and he immediately stood up. "Yes, please do whatever you can."
Fritz nodded and kneeled beside Emersyn and unwrapped her cloth bandage. The wound had stopped bleeding but was thick and plastered to her head. He used a cotton pad to gently wash away the access blood and re-wrapped it with a medical bandage. It covered half of her head and left Emersyn looking like a mummy. The cut was not deep, but just long and some skin burned away by the flames. Her breathing was still shaky from the smoke, but her heart was pounding strongly. Fritz was unable to do more without the correct supplies, but finished up and left her to the care of Steve.
"That's all I can do, for now, sir," Fritz stood up and told Steve, who had been watching him the entire time. "Take her to medical as soon as we arrive back."
"I will," Steve replied, "thank you."
He sat back down next to Emersyn and stared in silence, lost deep in his thoughts. Natasha watched from the back of the ship with keen eyes, a smirk tugging on her lips. Although Steve might not be ready to forgive her for her meddling with the mission, she was glad she meddled anyway.
The flight home was long and quiet; the team was not quite sure whether that was a victory or not based on the still, sad mood that clung to the air. Steve Rogers did not move from his seat until the quinjet landed at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters.
A/N
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