shield | b. barnes

"So are we going after them or what?"

[Corinna]

"Thank you!" I chirp as I swipe my card in the machine to pay for my fare.

I slide out of the cab and step away from the vehicle as I take in my surroundings. The streets are deserted, which I'm not surprised about, and there are multiple abandoned buildings lining the street. I turn around and scan the brick building in front of me for anything that'll tell me where exactly I am in the Queens Industrial Park. 

At the top corner of the building bore the letters 510. I take my phone out of my pocket and check the red dot on my map and see that I'm practically on top of it. Fixing the strap of my duffel bag, I head down the street hoping that it'll lead me to Jay.

Just as I'm about to reach the end of the sidewalk, I see something move from the corner of my eye. Quickly taking cover behind the nearest building, I lean over and see a group of suited men unloading something from a truck, while three burly men watch them. I squint my eyes as I try to get a closer look of the men, but the streets are lacking in the lighting department.

As I continue to observe them, I can't get rid of the gnawing feeling that these men are HYDRA. Leaning back against the building, I look up at the sky with a frown as I try to formulate a plan. I can't just go on a wild assumption - I need to be sure that they're HYDRA. And if they are, I need to figure out how to find Jay and Rumlow. 

Trying to fight my way through all these people is too time consuming and stupid - and I don't have the time to be stupid. I need to make sure that whatever I do next will bring me closer to finding Jay.

Biting my lip, I look around the street. My eyes fall on the building across from me. It has a fire escape, which means I can access the roof and get an aerial view. I lean over again and see that the suited men have disappeared, leaving the three watchmen outside with the truck. I turn back to the building across from me and make my decision. Standing around here isn't going to do me any good so I quietly make my way across the street. I pull my hood over my head and adjust the duffle so that the strap runs diagonally down my chest.

I begin climbing the fire escape, freezing as it makes an unpleasant screech. I look up to see if anyone has noticed me, but to my delight, the watchmen all have their backs to me. I continue to climb the fire escape, freezing every time I stepped on an obnoxiously loud step before continuing. 

"Sometimes I wish I were Natasha, she would've climbed this damn thing in under 3o seconds without making a sound," I grumble to myself.

As I reach the last set of steps, I notice that it leads right to the rooftop that's behind a huge water tank. I walk towards the side of the roof that faces the building the men are in. Taking off my duffel bag, I place it on the ground, unzipping it to pull out my sniper. I adjust the bipod before placing it on the ledge of the roof. With one hand holding the bipod, the other is wrapped around the trigger as I look through the scope of the rifle.

I slowly move the gun as I try to find the watchmen before shifting the gun back to the building. I start at the bottom floor, squinting my eyes so that I can get a better look inside. The first few windows appear to lead to empty rooms, but I spot some movement in the last one. Adjusting my scope, I zoom in until the moving blobs turn into actual, recognizable people. The first person I see is someone I don't recognize. He's wearing a suit and seemed short. Moving my gun to the next person, I notice that he's wearing the same outfit the watchmen are wearing. I frown as I watch the two men talk about something - the one in the suit looking angry over something, while the watchman stands there with a scowl.

"Well that can't be good," I mutter as I shift my gun past the two angry men to get a look at the others in the room. I spot a flash of dirty blonde hair and stop moving my gun to get a better look at the Blondie.