( captain america: the winter soldier )
★
NATASHA'S TRACKER LED Chloe to a quaint, little house in DC. She'd been observing the neighborhood for about thirty minutes, scoping out the area until it fitted her standards. It was what she thought, a perfect neighborhood for an ex-Pararescue. At least, that's what Sam Wilson's resume called him.
She landed in front of the door, her hood raised over her head. Chloe knocked and waited, fully aware Natasha and Steve would be suspicious of everything. However, knocking on a door filled with two ex-soldiers, while two happen to be a super-soldier, and a spy, while all are on edge?
Probably not her smartest move.
Especially when she came face-to-face with a gun as the door opened. She raised her hands, smirking as she did so. "If it helps, I come in peace."
Natasha sighed, lowering the gun and gesturing for the teenager to enter. She nodded in greeting and followed the older woman into the house's kitchen. Chloe then repeated her previous gesture to Steve, who smiled slightly in return. "Gave us quite the scare, kid."
Chloe scoffed, her smirk still evident under the hood. "Kept you on your toes, didn't it?"
Natasha passed the Frye and sat on the counter. She gestured for Chloe to take off the hood, seeing as everyone in the room was trustworthy. The Assassin nodded her head in Sam's direction, asking the silent question. Was he trustworthy?
Natasha nodded, and, as Chloe lowered her hood, spoke again. "So, the question is, who at SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"
Steve spoke from his spot at the kitchen table. "Pierce."
"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world," Natasha added.
"But he's not working alone." Steve included. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. If they were talking about who she was thinking about, then shouldn't this Zola be dead? She spoke her thoughts. "I thought Arnim Zola was dead."
Natasha waved a dismissing hand. "So was Jasper Sitwell."
"So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?" Steve asked. Sam, who left in the middle of the conversation, came back with a file in hand.
"The answer is, you don't," Sam stated, setting the file on the table.
"What's this?" Steve questioned, opening the manila folder.
"Call it a resume."
Natasha walked over to the pair and picked up a picture. "Is this Bakhamla? The Khalid Khandi mission, that was you? You didn't say he was a Pararescue."
Steve glanced at Sam. "Is this Riley?"
"Yeah."
"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs," Nat spoke. "What'd you use, a stealth schute?"
"No, these," Sam answered, picking up the folder. He handed it to Steve, sending a glance at Chloe.
She raised her eyebrows, picking up on his uneasiness. Blinking, her blue sight clouded her vision as all three figures in front of her holding a steady blue. She nodded to herself, as to reassure her mind she wasn't in any danger.
Steve looked at the folder in his hands, confusement lacing his voice. "I thought you said you were a pilot."
Sam spoke with a smile. "I never said, pilot."
"I can't ask you to do this, Sam," Rogers spoke. "You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help," Sam spoke, his arms crossing his chest. "There's no better reason to get back in."
Steve smiled. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"
Chloe walked up to the adults as Sam spoke. "The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."
The teenager snatched the file out of Steve's hands, glancing over the information. She looked up at the group, snapping the folder shut. "Shouldn't be a problem."
★
Chloe stood back, letting the two Avengers handle the HYDRA agent Jasper Sitwell. She raised an eyebrow at the bald man. To her, he didn't look that intimidating. She could easily take him out with a quick blow to the head.
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve demanded, knocking the man backward.
"Never heard of it," Jasper replied, getting back on his feet and fixing his glasses.
Steve questioned the man again. "What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"
Chloe still stood back as they questioned the man further, pushing him back towards the edge of the roof. She eyed the man, twisting a throwing knife in her hand.
"I was throwing up. I get seasick." The man almost stumbled off the roof if not for Steve.
Sitwell was held up by the collar of his shirt, dangling over the edge. "Is this little display meant to institute that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because that's really not your style, Rogers."
"You're right, it's not," Steve replied, letting him drop back onto the roof. "It's theirs."
A knife struck Jasper's shoulder as Natasha kicked him off the roof. Chloe heard his screams of fear, most likely pain, too, as she scanned the area. The Frye never trusted open areas, especially when her only cover was inside. Chloe watched as Sam flew up above them, Jasper in his hands.
The Falcon threw the HYDRA agent onto the roof, Jasper clutching his shoulder and getting up on his knees. Chloe, with her hood raised, approached the man. She held her outstretched blade to his throat, her voice menacing. "Start talking."
The threat did the trick, as Sitwell spoke in a terrified voice. "Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing insight targets."
"What targets?" Steve demanded.
"You!" Jasper choked out, a trail of blood sinking down his neck. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now, or in the future."
"In the future?" Steve asked. "How could it know?"
Jasper started to chuckle before Chloe applied pressure to his throat, making him stop. "How could it not? The twenty-first century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."
"And what then?"
"Oh my God, Pierce is gonna kill me-"
"What then?" Chloe growled out, grabbing the knife still embedded in his shoulder.
Jasper winced. "Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list, a few million at a time."
The HYDRA agent screamed when the Assassin ripped the knife out of his shoulder.
★
SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN
ARE YOU READY? IDK IF I'M READY
Will Chloe reveal to the Squad™ what she knew about Bucky? How will Steve react?
Ooo, sHIT IS GONNA GO DOWN.
Other than that, look. Double update.
edited 2/24/18
eh, this one wasn't as cringey.
peace,
aidan.