Somewhere over the Atlantic
Spring 2015
Both Rogers and Barton eyed Nadine warily as she lowered the guns, not that she could blame them. But they didn't react further, save to look to Natasha's lead on how to handle this newest development. Nadine was nearly tempted to laugh. It was incredibly clear on Barton's face that he didn't trust her in the slightest despite his odd bit of insight to her situation, and Rogers was barely able to withhold his own caution any better.
Visibly gritting her teeth, Natasha levered herself up from where she'd landed against the bulkhead to make her way back to the central portion of the aircraft, Barton shifting to place himself between her and Nadine, a steadying hand rising to brace against the redhead's back. With a short head tilt and a calculating look, Rogers gestured for Nadine to follow the two spies.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., think you can lend us a hand?" As Nadine stepped past Rogers, projections and consoles were beginning to light up the interior of the aircraft even as a disembodied voice answered Natasha.
"Of course, Ms. Romanoff. What is it you require?" Natasha glanced to Nadine.
"We're looking to track down whoever is blackmailing Ms.—" it was Rogers who spoke, turning questioningly to Nadine as he did. She hesitated before steeling her nerve and replying.
"Rykova. Nadya Rykova," she offered, "though I go by Nadine, these days." Rogers nodded in absent acknowledgement, if not thanks.
"—Ms. Rykova, alias 'The Ghost'. Whoever is doing so is the one who put out a hit on Romanoff."
"Certainly, Captain Rogers. I will be pleased to provide any assistance." Immediately information began flashing through the cabin as the highly-advanced program began pulling everything he could find on Nadya Rykova and The Ghost. It was incredible what he was finding and how quickly he was finding it, accessing databases and information the average person would need days, even weeks to dig through or even access. And he was doing so in seconds; her birth records, information on her parents—both of which were supposed to be long erased—even top secret records and stats from her time as a KGB recruit in the Red Room, likely leaked with the HYDRA/S.H.I.E.L.D. file dump nearly a year before; plus information on The Ghost—confirmed kills, success rates, known clients, communications, online discussions concerning, the works. It was with no small bit of satisfaction that Nadine saw no evidence of her life as Nadine Ryker coming up in conjunction with her birth name, or either of her names with that of The Ghost; further confirmation that she had done a good job hiding herself away.
But it also baffled her. If a system as sophisticated and proficient as this one seemed to be couldn't make the link, how on earth had someone else?
Then J.A.R.V.I.S. began organizing and mapping out her professional life, listing her past confirmed targets and even a few unofficial ones before systematically tracing and linking them to clients, establishing chronologies and discerning patterns. It was astonishing. Nadine was one of the best in her field and working up something like this would have taken her weeks, if not months or even years of dedicated work and intensive research.
And truthfully it had. She had done all this already, trying to figure out something, some link, some trace that would lead her to her blackmailer.
"I have pulled everything I could find on Nadya Ivanovna Rykova and The Ghost. Thus far, I have isolated four targets in the last eight years that appear to have been contracted by the same unidentified party. Between the security measures enacted by both Ms. Rykova and the unidentified client to hide their respective identities and financial records, there is unfortunately not enough for me to go on without obtaining more data or avenues by which to establish a trace.
"Without additional information and more refined search parameters, there is little more I can accomplish." The disembodied voice finished, sounding almost apologetic. Nadine scanned what he'd managed to come up with for her blackmailer; it was no farther than she'd gotten herself. In fact, she had gotten farther...not that that was saying much. Nadine sighed, shooting Natasha a disheartened glance. For a moment, she'd hoped...
"And if you had full access to the financial records of one of the involved parties?" Nadine's gaze snapped to Rogers with alarm. Surely he wasn't suggesting—
They did realize the only reason she had survived for as long as she had was because of how secret she kept her life, right? And now they wanted her to dump everything about her professional life into the open for this strange program to dissect and project for all to see?
"It's possible, Captain Rogers. The additional data provided by transaction records, even limited as that data might be as a result of different international laws and banking practices, should provide the necessary links to initiate a trace back to the original accounts and potentially on to whomever is behind the blackmailing."
"And what about private correspondence? IMs? Emails? She had to communicate with whoever this is. Could there be a way though those?" As her gaze jumped from Rogers, Nadine's features couldn't seem to decide whether to glare angrily at Barton for his input or look at him with wide-eyed astonishment that bordered on panic.
"Perhaps," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, "If used in conjunction with financial records, including data retrieved from Ms. Rykova's methods and avenues of communication with the unknown client, their addition should greatly improve the likelihood that I will be able to successfully triangulate whomever is behind it." The three Avengers looked to Nadine. She could only clench her jaw, willing herself not to instinctively take a step back under their combined scrutiny. Slowly she shook her head. Natasha seemed to understand exactly what was going through Nadine's head, why she was so dead set against offering up what they all so blithely seemed to expect her to share.
"We need those records, Nadya," she said softly, her green eyes sympathetic even as they were insistent, "I know it's not an easy thing to agree to, but it's our only chance to find this guy."
"Not easy?" Nadine countered with bitter skepticism, "you're asking me to give you everything I have, all The Ghost's secrets." A frustrated glimmer appeared in Natasha's eyes, but just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
"Not all of them. Not your personal ones. Not even all of the Ghost's secrets. Just transaction histories and communications with whoever put you up to a hit on me. That's all we need for J.A.R.V.I.S. to triangulate this guy's location." Nadine's jaw clenched again. She supposed it was possible to isolate such things. So much of her professional life as it existed digitally was already heavily partitioned...it was one of her many security measures. Besides, there was nothing of her secret life, no connections whatsoever, on or even accessible through her Ghost accounts. Nothing about Nadine Ryker. Nothing about Nina. Just The Ghost's life. But there was a lot there too...trails back to her Workshop, her safe places, her contacts, her suppliers. After a long moment, a faint groan escaped Nadine as she realized she had already come to a decision.
"Fine." Reluctantly pulling out her Work phone from its place on her utility belt, Nadine held it out before her. Satisfaction surfacing on Rogers and Barton's face and relief on Natasha's, the redhead held out her hand for the device. But at the last moment, Nadine snatched it back just out of her reach. Natasha shot Nadine a disgruntled look, but the blonde assassin ignored it.
"Just what pertains to finding this guy," she amended, "no poking around in anything else; correspondence and financials as they pertain to those four hits. That's all I'm going to allow access to. No digging around in anything else, not even trying, or I won't allow access to a thing." The female Avenger turned to the Captain, a silent exchange passing between them before Rogers gave a minute nod.
"Agreed," Natasha said as she turned back to Nadine, "you got that, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"Understood, Ms. Romanoff." With an impatient gesture, Nat waved Nadine forward to a set of consoles built against the bulkhead with an actual physical interface, nodding in silent encouragement for Nadine to do her thing.
"You can plug in over here and from there give him access," she prompted, "all you'll have to do is disable any security measures and he'll do the rest." Still reluctant despite admitting to herself that it was their best chance given how much more sophisticated J.A.R.V.I.S. was compared to her means of attempting to trace her blackmailer, Nadine sat herself down in front of the consoles. Forcing in a deep breath to bolster her resolve she leaned forward, absently wondering just how intuitive and interactive the system was.
Dismissing the thought, she settled on simply using the physical interface, and, once she'd linked her phone to the network with the hardline, she was quickly pulling up her own network before entering her passcodes and bypassing her security measures to the areas she'd agreed to share, allowing J.A.R.V.I.S. access as she'd agreed, pulling up both her Ghost financials and the messages she'd received over the course of the exchange with her mystery puppeteer...save the first one in its entirety; except for the target docket which she had saved elsewhere, it was long gone, Nadine unable to stomach keeping it. It was too inflammatory, both in the inherent risk from the attachment's very existence and the reaction it always sparked in her.
No sooner had she done so, then he was taking the lead, sifting through and analysing the data as Nadine looked on, keeping her astonishment carefully hidden from showing on her face as the U.I. dove into her financials and communications. But it wasn't long before her focus sharpened wholly on the task at hand, her thoughts on J.A.R.V.I.S.'s abilities fading to a mere afterthought as she watched the program work, periodically inputting her own contributions and supplying her own search parameters, algorithms and observations from her previous work on tracking her blackmailer.
After a few minutes of working with the U.I., Nadine straightened from the console and let J.A.R.V.I.S. continue on with his in-depth analysis, Barton whistled low. As Nadine turned, she realized he was looking over her most recent transaction history, namely the final payout from her last contract and the deposit against her taking the hit on Natasha; it had been deposited before she'd even agreed to take on the contract. They hadn't even allowed her the illusion of deciding anymore.
"Lucrative enterprise you've got there," he muttered under his breath, "I think I'm in the wrong line of work." Rogers, meanwhile, raised a questioning eyebrow at her. Nadine nearly chuckled. Even Natasha looked faintly stunned as she took in the numbers J.A.R.V.I.S. was displaying as he combed through her device for digital trace evidence.
"Hunting other assassins is not easy work, and neither is it in any way without a great deal of risk. More than that, it goes a long way to helping stay hidden from the world. And you haven't seen some of my overhead costs." Those, like the accounts that she used for looking after her Workshop, J.A.R.V.I.S. thankfully did not have access to; they were safely compartmentalized elsewhere, protected by another firewall and set of encryptions. She was not interested in revealing even the slightest clues about her safe places, especially given how far this J.A.R.V.I.S. seemed to be able to run with any such clues.
But before anyone could comment further, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s actions became far more purposeful rather than the nearly chaotic-looking search of a moment before. All four of them, Avengers and Nadine alike, watched the primary section of the projections as J.A.R.V.I.S. mapped out every move he made through proxy servers, firewalls, false leads and reroutes to edge closer and closer to their target.
"Had I not been permitted access nor been allowed some of Ms. Rykova's insights, I doubt I would have been able to analyze and triangulate Ms. Rykova's activities as The Ghost. Thankfully, it would seem the measures her blackmailer took to hide his identity and activities are not quite at the same level of sophistication as Ms. Rykova's."
"I should hope not," Nadine grumbled impulsively to herself, earning an almost amused glance from Rogers, "Not with the work I put into them or what I shelled out for what I couldn't do."
"Additionally, there was just enough geographical and user information hidden within the metadata of some of the contract dockets that, when combined with the location tracing algorithms and backtracking programs developed by Mr. Stark and myself at my disposal, I was able to trace their activities back to one Sergey Andreevich Azarov." As the U.I. spoke, the data he'd been able to collect on the man was projected in dizzying profusion; financial records, personal background, education, medical records, online activities, photos, everything.
"Azarov..." Nadine all but choked out the name, her eyes narrowed with irate astonishment. Natasha frowned, glancing to Nadine.
"That name certainly rings some bells," she muttered, earning a confused glance from her teammates.
"You know this guy," Rogers asked. Natasha turned to him, an expression on her face that said 'not really, but sort of,' even as she made a half-hearted gesture of confirmation. But J.A.R.V.I.S. was already continuing before she managed to actually say anything.
"His older brother, Mikhail Azarov, was a rather successful agent of the KGB, one who, during the intelligence release during the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D., was revealed to have had ties to HYDRA. It was well known throughout the intelligence community that he was one of the KGB's mid-tier assassins until he himself was killed. It is generally believed, though not conclusively, that he might very well have been one of The Ghost's first assassinations." J.A.R.V.I.S. highlighted Mikhail on the timeline he had worked up elsewhere in the projections as he said as much. "Indications suggest that Sergey Azarov took his brother's death quite poorly." Natasha, glanced over to Nadine again, her eyes wide and questioning. By that point, Nadine had her arms crossed over her chest, her hand raised to pinch the bridge of her nose. But she saw the glance out of the corner of her eye and, surmising what it was asking, simply nodded grimly.
"It would appear Sergey Azarov makes his living brokering illicit business arrangements, acting as a middleman for black market deals among a variety of other illegal activities up to and including low- to mid-level assassinations," J.A.R.V.I.S. filled in further. "It is highly unlikely that he is the brains behind the Ghost's hits, merely the facilitator, though it is probable that he is the one behind the actual tracking and contact of Ms. Rykova, given that his talents and background seem centered around computer sciences and such similar services, all of which he provides as part of his work as an intermediary. Who, precisely, he is working for is less than certain, though it appears to be different from his usual arrangements, as his fees are significantly lower when they correspond with the contracts sent to Ms. Rykova than other instances even though logic dictates they should be higher given Ms. Rykova's reputation and status within the Intelligence and black market For-Hire Communities." Rogers sighed before turning to Nadine.
"So you pissed this guy off and now he's got it out for you." Nadine shrugged in response to the Captain's assertion.
"It was business; I was hired to go after Mikhail Azarov, so I did. I'll admit I had no qualms over it because of the kind of man he was, but I didn't go after him on a whim."
"He was a real piece of work," Natasha interjected dryly, "he was brought in by the KGB when I was in training as a—well, let's just call him a guest instructor." Nadine nearly rolled her eyes; that was certainly putting it mildly.
"Someone wanted him dead," she continued when Natasha finished, "so they paid me to do it. It's the kind of thing Sergey Azarov will be very familiar with since it looks like finding people to do all sorts of dirty work for other people who are willing to pay for it is what he does."
"Sounds like a rather unpleasant family," Barton said conversationally, looking like he was fighting back a look of revulsion as he flipped through some of the files J.A.R.V.I.S. had pulled up on Mikhail. Nearly in unison, Nadine and Natasha made matching sounds of agreement.
"From what I could tell, though, they weren't exactly close. Ultimately, though, Sergey did end up being the link I needed to track down Mikhail; I had him under surveillance on the long shot that Mikhail would contact him. Eventually he did, and I was able to track him back to his hide-away in Moldova, not far from the Ukrainian border."
"So how did Sergey find you?" Natasha looked over to Nadine, who was peering up at the information on Sergey Azarov with keen, thoughtful eyes "It's not like you were easy to track: even J.A.R.V.I.S. was having trouble until you started helping him out." After a moment, Nadine met her old friend's calculating gaze before stepping forward to the projection and, following Barton's example, highlighted and enlarged a portion of J.A.R.V.I.S.'s research with a pointed gesture.
"No idea," she said mildly before her voice grew hard as the last known address of Sergey Azarov was featured and translated to a point on a map, a ruthless, cunning grin emerging on her face, "but I intend to find out."
As the two female assassins caught each other's eye, Natasha's grin swiftly grew to match Nadine's.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
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