Lagos
I sipped my coffee and eyed the situation around us. Lagos was calm as Wanda and I drank from our cups.
"All right, what do you see?" Steve's voice asked us through our earpieces.
"Standard beat cops," Wanda replied quietly. "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."
"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?"
"Cameras." I said, taking another sip and pretending to enjoy the view of the city.
"Both cross streets are one-way."
"So, compromised escape routes." Wanda said.
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen," I added, flicking my eyes to Wanda.
"And he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out," Steve added. "You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?"
Wanda and I let our gaze travel over to it casually. "Yeah, the red one?" she asked. "It's cute."
"It's also bulletproof which means private security," Natasha's voice came from the radio though she was sat at another table nearby. "which means more guns which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."
Wanda lifted her cup. "You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"
I gave her an amused smile. "Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature," I told her. "You need to keep an eye out for all possible threats in all possible directions."
"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam questioned me through my ears.
"Anybody ever tell you you're an ass, Birdie?" I replied, raising my eyebrows though I knew he was on a rooftop somewhere, unable to see me.
Sam's laugh huffed back. "Eyes on target, folks," Steve reminded us. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him."
"If he sees us coming, that wont be a problem, he kind of hates us." Sam replied.
"The feeling is mutual..." I muttered and wrinkled my nose.
"Sam...you see that garbage truck?" Steve's voice grew more concerned. "Tag it."
I heard the sound of Sam's machine whirring and then, "Give me X-ray." He was silent for a moment. "That truck's loaded for max weight. And the driver's armed."
"It's a battering ram," Natasha said, stating what we were all thinking.
"Go now." Steve ordered.
I downed my coffee and made to move as Wanda frowned. "Why?"
"He's not hitting the police."
I nodded at Wanda and the two of us set off into a run. Through my earpiece, I heard Steve launch into action, then his voice, "Body amour, AR-15s," he said, "I make seven hostiles."
Wanda used her powers and flew off as we heard gunshots. "I make five." Sam said.
"Sam." Wanda's voice came and then
"Four."
"Save some for the rest of us will you..." I muttered as I entered the facility, joining the rest of the team on the ground.
"Rumlow's on the third floor," Sam told us.
Steve nodded and pointed a finger at Wanda. "Wanda, just like we practised."
"What about the gas?" she questioned.
I shrugged, pulling up the neck of my jumper so it covered my mouth. "Get it out." She nodded as I joined Steve.
The two of us climbed onto a car and without missing a beat, Wanda used her powers to get us up to the third floor, Steve going first and using his shield to smash the window. I ducked to avoid any shattered glass.
Steve rolled and smacked into one of the hostiles, his mask falling and him choking.
I quickly got up off the floor. "You okay?" Steve asked me.
"All good," I nodded and then ducked behind a pillar as gunfire rang out.
I pulled out my baton - a thing, black new addition to my suit - and danced through pillars until I could turn and knock out one of the shooters. Steve threw his shield and, almost like a boomerang, it bounced between the rest of the shooters, knocking them out too, until it returned to him.
"Show off," I sang and he grinned at me.
Another hostile came and Steve threw his shield up on instinct, so I ran at him and jumped on his back, putting my baton around his neck and pulling hard until he passed out.
Downstairs somewhere, I heard the sound of more glass shattering and prayed it was Wanda removing the gas. It was getting slightly hard to breathe.
Steve looked at the bodies on the floor and then to me. "We need to find Rumlow."
We moved on through the rooms until we found an abandoned looking fridge. My heart sank. "Rumlow has a biological weapon." I told the team, placing my baton back in its place.
"I'm on it." Nat replied.
Steve and I made a move but I couldn't lose the jittery feeling as I heard Rumlow through Nat's radio and then an explosion.
Then I heard her coughing and breathed in relief.
Steve burst through the doors. "ROSE!" He yelled and pulled me into him, raising his shield as something hit it, exploding into fire and sending us flying into the building behind us, smashing the windows in the process.
"Ow," I groaned, struggling to get up until Steve pulled me, scrambling for his shield.
"Run," he told me urgently and I nodded, brushing off the pain from the blast and running alongside Steve. More explosions went off behind us, Rumlow shooting along the side of the building.
Until he caught us at the end of the corridor and sent us hurtling out of the building. The two of us crashed into a wall, then several other buildings as we went, the pain overwhelming until we slammed onto a roof.
Steve was fine, mostly, thanks to his serum, but I could barely move, my head dizzy and blurry, the world and sound distorted.
"Sam," Steve groaned, his voice sounding distant. "HE's in an AFV heading north."
He crawled over to me and I felt his hands on either side of my head. "Rose? Come on, look at me, Rose."
I blinked hard and tried to focus on his face, those bright eyes and concerned expression beneath his mask. I coughed and it felt like my lungs were ready to burst into flames. Eventually, the ringing stopped and his face came fully into focus. I could've sworn there was a tear in his eyes.
He broke into a relieved smile. "Oh, thank God."
I managed a weak smile and reached up to pat his face. "Slacking on the job are we? Come on, there's a city to save..."
He laughed breathily and moved back, helping to pull me to my feet. There was pain in my ribs and shoulders, but by far the worst was the agony in my thigh. I hissed and winced as I tried to walk on it. Then grew very quickly pissed at Rumlow for throwing me out of the damn building.
Because now I had to limp-run.
"Come on," I shook off the thought of pain and set off into a run towards the city centre.
"I've got four, they're splitting up." Sam told us as we neared the market.
"I've got the two on the left." Nat said, her voice hard.
Steve and I made our way quickly through the crowd and found an abandoned vest. I got down and quickly inspected it. "They ditched their gear," I warned them. "They're blending in."
Steve huffed as I rose. "It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload."
Something landed on Steve's shield. We looked at it with wide eyes and then he hurriedly launched it into the sky as another explosion went off and civilians around us screamed.
And then, while we were distracted, Rumlow, wearing a metal suit, punched into Steve's back and sent him flying. I turned and he swung at me, so I ducked but caught the end of his blow and I was flung to the ground.
"There you are, you son of a bitch," he seethed, abandoning me and stalking over to Steve. "I've been waiting for this!"
He threw another hit and Steve went back again.
I rose from the ground and pulled out my gun, firing at any weak spots in Rumlow's suit but the nature of the material had the shell bouncing off, so I abanoned it for the sake of hitting the crowd.
Sam's voice came through the radio. "He doesn't have it. I'm empty."
That's when I saw Nat out of the corner of my eye, in a stand-off with two of Rumlow's men, guns raised.
I left Steve with Rumlow and launched into a run, ignoring the screaming pain in my body that seemed to just be a regular occurence, and reached them in seconds.
Nat was pointing at a man with a bottle of yellow and red liquid in his hand, another man aiming at Nat.
I saw one of Sam's bird's drop down silently. As it shot a dart into the man's neck, he lost his grip on the bottle. I nodded at Nat and as she went for the bottle, I ran to the man with the gun and kicked it from his hand, using his shock to my advantage. He spun and threw a punch but I ducked and hit his gut, spinning into a low crouch as I pulled out my baton. He charged at me, and I rose quickly and spun gracefully again, slamming my baton into his head until he hit the ground, unconcious.
Straightening up, I shared a satisfied smirk with Nat.
"Payload secure. Thanks Sam," she said, looking into his bird.
"Don't thank me!" he tauned back.
Nat pulled a face. "I'm not thanking that thing."
"His name is Redwing!" Sam added.
I laughed as Nat said, "I'm still not thanking it."
"He's cute. Go ahead, pet him."
"And now we know why you're single," I joked, snorting at Sam swore back at me.
"Watch it, Little Stark," Sam warned me but I could hear the laugh in his voice.
"Or what, Shit Eagle?" I smirked at Redwing as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and tied it.
It was hot, and I was sweaty.
The smile on mine and Nat's face dropped as we heard Steve talking to Rumlow. "Who's your buyer?"
I heard him taunt Steve about Bucky, saying that he remembered him. I looked at Nat, my face dropping into an expression of worry. I chewed on my lip. Using Bucky against Steve during a fight was clever and cruel.
"Go." She said to me.
I didn't reply, just turned on my heel and sped off back to where Steve was, using the gathered crowd as a guide. I pushed through the throng of people, earning myself dirty glares that I ignored.
"When you gotta go, you gotta go..." Rumlow was telling Steve as I pushed into the ring around the pair. "And you're coming with me."
I saw the detonator. "STEVE!" I yelled as he pressed it.
A bomb went off, but not far. Steve and I snapped our heads to Wanda as she used her powers to contain the blast to just Rumlow, raising him up into the air and sending him flying into a building.
We all watched in awe as the building exploded. The crowd screamed and dispersed as flames and smoke began to rise from the ruined building.
"Oh, my..." Steve breathed. "Sam...we need Fire and Rescue on the south side of the building. We gotta get up there."
I let Steve run off.
My gaze fell to Wanda, who had covered her mouth with her hand in shock. As she sank to the ground I jogged over and scrambled to the ground, putting my arms around her as she broke. Her breathing was heavy and I knew she was crying, but her eyes were transfixed on the destoryed building.
"Rose..." her voice shook and I brought her in closer.
"It'll be okay..." I told her soothingly. "It's gonna be fine."
But I didn't know if it would.
And that made me a liar.