A red, red rose

Chapter 12

Charlie and Steve had been debriefed by Natasha about the basics of the mission before they even got on the jet. Rumlow and his STRIKE team had also been assigned to the mission, which Charlie wasn't happy about. Charlie hated Rumlow, with a passion. Everyone was crowded around a monitor as he spoke more about the mission at hand. 

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

"Any demands?" Cap asked.

"Billion and a half." Rumlow answered.

"Why so steep?" Charlie joined the conversation.

"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D's." Rumlow smiled at the woman with a menacing smile, which Charlie grimaced at.

Steve ignoring the two of them spoke, "So it's not off-course. It's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a good reason." Natasha defended.

"You know, I'm a getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor." Steve stared at the two women with an annoyed look on his face. 

"Relax it's not that complicated." Natasha tried to calm him down. 

"Hey guys, it's my first mission ever and I don't want oldie pants over here making it miserable. So Steve, calm down and listen to Natasha, it's gonna be fine." Charlie spoke.

Steve gave an angry look at the brunette and then turned back to Rumlow. "How many pirates?"

"25. Top mercs, led by this guy." Rumlow pulled up a picture of the man. "George Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilised him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"So don't get on the wrong side of him," Charlie looked at the man on the screen.

Everybody ignored the woman, although the side of Natasha's mouth did twitch. "How many hostages?" Steve asked.

"Oh, mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley." Rumlow pulled up another picture, but this time it was of Sitwell. 

Charlie had seen the man before around the S.H.I.E.L.D base. "What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Charlie voiced her thoughts. 

"Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you and Charlie kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages. Get them to the life-pods, get them out. Let's move." Steve ordered everyone.

"STRIKE you heard the Cap, gear up." Rumlow told the team and then headed towards the back of the ship to get ready.

Charlie pulled Natasha to the side, "Is it just me or does all this smell fishy?" Charlie whispered to the redhead. "And it's not just because we're on a boat."

Natasha smiled at Charlie's joke, "It's fine, just follow my lead." The back of the jet started to open and Natasha winked at the women before turning around and heading to the now open door. 

"Master spy, my ass." Charlie mumbled under her breath before heading to the door as well. 

"Secure channel seven." Steve spoke.

"Seven secure." Natasha spoke back. "So, did you do anything fun Saturday night?" 

Charlie smiled at the redheads attempt to learn about the super soldier. "Well, all of the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so no, not really." Steve smiled at Natasha.

A man spoke over the intercom on the jet telling cap that they were nearing the drop zone. "You know, if you ask Kristen out from Statistics, she'd probably say yes." Natasha spoke to the man.