America was different than what she read about as she landed near thirty six hours and two flights later. Her whole life the country had been painted as a terrible place. The people had too much freedom. Too much free will. It was a place where people went to suffer. They needed guidance. Someone to correct them. That had been Hydra's goal. Although it was her first visit, she couldn't see anything that Hydra was talking about. Everyone seemed peaceful and happy. She was sure there were some bad apples, but it didn't seem too bad.
No one paid her any attention as she walked through the crowded airport. She clutched her fake American passport in hand. It was funny how a small booklet was the very thing keeping her from potentially getting caught and thrown into prison. She had been through customs before in other countries. It seemed to be the same in America. The only difference was the long ass line she had to stand in.
"Passport please." The woman at the customs counter requested.
Catherine placed it on the counter and slid it over to her. She watched as she opened it and then adverted her eyes to the computer. She flipped through the pages of it. With every second that passed, the more nervous she became. It was taking way longer than usual.
"Interesting travel records. Most girls your age are at college. Not traveling to...Russia." The woman told her.
"I was um, studying...climate change." She attempted to lie. She wasn't exactly sure what climate change was. She had just read about it once.
"I had no idea that was an issue in Russia." She said as she handed her her passport back. "But Welcome Home."
"It's very interesting. You should look it up and thank you." Catherine told her before heading to the baggage claim to grab her bag.
She had memorized the appearance of the suitcase a thousands times. Dark blue suitcase with a sticker from Russia on it. Passcode: 2965. She stood in the back of the crowd and kept a careful eye on the conveyer belt. Finally, she spotted it. She walked through the crowd and wrapped her hand around the handle. Inside of it would be more passports/IDs, cash, binoculars, several guns, a map that had her location drawn out, clothing and a key to a car.
She had no idea how Hydra managed to smuggle a bag like the one she had into the country undetected, but she had also learned not to question some things they did. She knew the car would be parked in the parking garage. She didn't kneel down and unzip the bag until she was out of plain sight. The last thing she wanted was someone to see the contents of her bag. She pulled a single key out that had the make and model of a car she needed. A single cab truck with four wheel drive.
That was never good. They rarely used trucks. They usually only used trucks if they were going to be on some rough terrain. When she found the truck she placed the small suitcase in the passenger seat and pulled out the map. Tony Stark's house had been circled in bright red. She would have to drive to Malibu until she found a small pull off on the side of the mountain. From there she would have to hike to get to her vantage point. She didn't particularly mind hiking. It was just the fact that she would be hiking at night and she wouldn't be able to see animals that inhabited the mountain.
After she completed her mission she would have to hike to the other side of the mountain where a different car awaited her. However, the first thing she needed to do was change. There were far too many cameras inside the airport. If she was wanted anywhere there was a good chance her picture was already plastered over every news source and police station. She drove for an hour before she came to a gas station with a bathroom on the outside.
She quickly pulled out a pair of black pants, hiking boots and a long sleeve black shirt and walked into the bathroom. After she changed, she discarded her clothing inside the trash can as well as her passport and ID. When she walked outside she looked around to make sure no one had seen her and that she wasn't being followed before getting back inside the truck. The sun had begun to set and she couldn't help, but glance occasionally at the sunset.
She had never seen one before. The sky was streaked with pink, orange and yellow. She shook her head. She couldn't be focused on pretty things. She needed to focus on her mission. The road started to become bumpy the further down the road she went. She was almost sure people weren't suppose to be down there, but it didn't matter. At least she had a lesser chance of being caught. Once she reached her destination, she stopped the truck and began to gather her things.
She stuffed the unassembled gun into the backpack, but tucked the handgun into the waistband of her pants. She threw her ID, passport and other car key inside the bag as well before getting out of the car. It was entirely dark with the exception of the moon and stars. She couldn't use a flashlight. It would only draw attention. She would have to rely solely on the night vision binoculars she had.
"This isn't creepy at all." She said to herself.
She could barely see anything. She could finally see the mansion on the cliff overlooking the ocean. It took her a while to find the perfect spot.
Catherine sat on the ground and pulled all the pieces of her gun out and began to assemble it. Once assembled she laid on her stomach and looked through the scope. She searched the house with her scope for Stark.
"Come on. Where are you?" She whispered.
She finally saw his head appear in what she assumed was his living room. He was sipping on some sort of drink, the arc reactor glowing.
"Gotcha."
Her finger slipped onto the trigger and then he looked into the scope. It was like he knew she was there. There was no way he could see her though. Unless one of his high tech, security measures detected her. She needed to act fast though.
"Gotcha." She heard a male voice say and then felt something, she assumed a gun pressed against her head. "Take your hand off the weapon. Don't even think about fighting. We've got you surrounded. We have people in the air with 10 guns pointed at you."
Her blood ran cold. What the hell was this? Did HYDRA set her up? There was no way. She knew too much information. She contemplated fighting her way out of the situation but decided against it. She moved her hand off the trigger and felt someone grab her arm and pin it behind her. They pulled her up roughly and she finally got a look at the man who had a gun to her head.
He was a middle aged man, maybe in his mid to late 30s. He had short brown hair, kind eyes and wore a suit.
"Search her. I'm sure she has more weapons on her." He told another man.
"There's a gun in the waistband of my pants." She admitted.
Maybe if she was cooperative, her jail sentence would be shorter. She felt the cold metal of handcuffs around her wrists.
"There's someone expecting me at the bottom of a hill. He'll know something is wrong if I don't show up." Catherine added.
"We know. He's one of us. That gun is fake." The man told her.
How had she not caught on. She felt like an idiot.
"We have a weapons department that is very good at their job." He continued. "We need to get going."
She felt the person behind her shove her forward.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked.
"SHIELD in New York." He answered.