so bad guys can't see me bleed

•tape three•

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them 93 minutes ago."

"Any demands?" Cap asks.

"Billion and a half."

"Why not hold people for ransom?" I ask. "I mean, money is money."

"It's illegal."

"Yeah, and?"

Cap shakes his head and sighs. "Why so steep?"

"It's S.H.E.I.L.D's," the guy replies.

"So it's not off course. It's trespassing," Cap says, nodding his head.

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Nat says, putting her fingers in front of her mouth.

"Yeah, that or they're just doing it for funnzies," I say.

"Do you always have to have an input?" Cap asks me. I nod. "Whatever. I'm tired of being Fury's janitor."

"Relax, it's not that complicated," Nat says.

"How many pirates?" Cap asks, turning back the gut.

"25," he replies. "Top mercs led by this guy." He taps the screen and someone's face appears, along with some of his information. "George Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Cap asks.

"Oh, mostly techs," the guy says. "One officer. Jasper Sitwell." He taps the screen again and another person comes up. "They're in the galley."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Cap asks. "All right, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumblow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. Wilson, follow behind either of us, and don't stab us in the back. Let's move."

—

After Cap jumps out of the plane and toward the ship below us, Nat nudges me.

One guy asks, "Was he wearing a parachute?"

Another guy says, "No. No, he wasn't."

Nat nudges me again. "You go with him. Get a parachute and follow his lead. You'll get the hang of this."

"I don't need a parachute," I say, going to jump after Cap. "My body can withstand almost anything."

"Almost?" Nat asks loudly as I jump from the plane.

I grab onto a large chain before I hit the water, and I see Cap climbing up the chain in front of me. I follow after him, and we both quietly jump over the ledge and land on the ship.

Cap jumps forward and wraps his arm around a man's neck, quietly choking him until he passes out, which is when Cap lays him down and starts running in my direction. He nods to me, signaling for me to follow him.

"I could I have shot him," I whisper.

"Too loud," he replies quietly. "And we don't do that kind of thing if we don't have to."

"Sure," I whisper. "Also, what the hell do you think a silencer is there for? To make the gun louder?"

"Quiet."

We keep running until we get to a few other guards. Cap throws his shield at one of them, and it bounces of another guy before coming back to him.

One man runs for us, but I grab out one of my swords before slicing his calves. He falls backwards, and I get up, stepping on his face as I start running and put my swords away.