I don't own anything except any original/own characters and any original plot.

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Chapter 6- Project Insight

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"Get in loser we're going shopping," Nat pulled up to the coffee shop I was currently enjoying breakfast at.

I rolled my eyes at the reference- one that I actually understood- and tipped the waitress that had saved me. I had paid up front so there was no issue with that.
After I got in the car Nat turned to me.

"We got a mission."

"That's what I figured since you came all the way to DC," I chuckled.

"We need Steve too. Call your boyfriend, will you?"

I ignored what she called Steve, pulling out my phone and texting him a warning about the mission and that we were coming to pick him up.

"He's probably by the Washington Monument," I told Nat, "He goes for morning runs there."

Nat began to drive there per my direction. We arrived a few short minutes later. There, Steve was talking to a man, seeming quite happy while doing so.

"Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil," Nat rolled down her window, calling outside.

"That hilarious," Steve said sarcastically, getting in behind me, "Can't run everywhere."

"No, you can't," the man replied.

We took off into traffic. I turned back to Steve with a grin.

"Did you make a friend?"

Steve nodded silently in response, a small smile on his face.

~*~

I stood in between Steve and Nat on the quinjet, watching intently as we were given the plans for our mission.

"The 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 explained.

"Any demands?"

"A billion and a half."

"Why so much?" I asked.

"Because it's SHIELD's."

"So it's not off-course, it's trespassing,"
Steve sighed in frustration, I'm getting tired of Fury's janitor."

"Janitor?" I looked at Steve in confusion.
He gave me a face that old me he would explain what that was later.

"There are twenty-five top mercs, led by this guy. George Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties. Mostly techs as hostages and one officer, Jasper Sitwell."

Steve gave out the orders and all of us began to gear up for the jump and landing. I was standing off to the side, going over the extra things I had stored in my suit when I overheard Nat and Steve talking.

"Doing anything fun this Saturday night?"

"Well all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no."

"If you ask (Y/n) out she'd probably say yes," Nat sang. I snorted, quite unladylike. He had already 'asked me out' however. Nat, the highly trained assassin, couldn't seem to figure out that Steve and I were already dating when we weren't actively trying to hide it.

"Already did!" Steve announced before jumping out of the quinjet.

Nat turned to me, wide eyed and grinning, "He asked you out?"

"He asked me out nearly a year ago. How have you not put that together?" I laughed, walking to the edge of the platform so I could jump off as well.

"I'm sorry, but this is the first time I've seen you in five months, and all the other times before that were reactions too," Nat defended herself, "What's it like?"

"We're on a mission, let's focus on that," I prompted. I jumped from the edge of the platform, with no parachute. Steve and I tended to agree on less conventional methods during missions.

I could see Steve in the air just ahead of me. Bracing myself for the impact on the water, I closed my eyes tightly. Breaking the surface felt like getting hit with thousands of ice cold needles. After gaining a sense of direction I rapidly swam upwards.

Taking in a large breath of air when I breached the surface, I boosted myself up onto the ship, landing silently on the deck.

It was easy to see Steve fighting against the above-deck guards. I snuck over and struck one in the throat, kicking the back of his knee and striking his head so he would fall unconscious. I knocked my fists together, summoning the twin discs I so often used. Running towards a pair of guards, I struck at them mercilessly until they were on the edge. Then, I kicked them in the chest, turning away as they fell off of the boat.

There came a point when five men were surrounding us. I jumped on one, flipping him over my shoulder. Steve knocked out two more. The last two came up behind us, guns raised. I noticed the rest of the team dropping down with parachutes, they quickly fired and killed the two against us.

"Thanks," Steve thanked, panting.

"Yeah. You seemed pretty helpless without us," Rumlow said sarcastically.

As Steve and I continued our walk, Nat jogged to catch up with us.

"Seriously, how is this relationship going?" She questioned, her interrogator tone on.

"Secure the engine room, then ask about our relationship," Steve ordered.

"I'm multitasking," Nat smirked innocently before jumping down onto the next deck.

"She's not going to leave us alone now," I sighed, shifting into one of the pirates we had taken out.

"I'm surprised she hasn't found out already," Steve chuckled in response.

We ran and jumped up top. Steve threw a small droid at the hull. We rolled and ducked behind a wall, listening to the conversation taking place inside.

"Nat, status," I whispered into the com.

"Hang on," There were a few obvious hits and definite knock outs before Nat came back on the line, "Engine room secure."

"On my mark. Three, two, one."

Steve ran around the wall and past the room leading to the hull. He aimed and threw his shield through the window. The shrill sound of shattering glass was sure to alert anyone who didn't already know what was going on.

I waved my hand upwards, giving Steve the boost he needed to go up a level. Once he was secure, I followed after him.

"Go assist Nat, I'll find Batroc," I said upon noticing the unconscious guard with no Batroc.

Steve ran the opposite direction I was going. I walked cautiously across the deck, trying not to draw suspicion to myself as I was in my guard form.

"You, come with me," Batroc ordered me in French.

I nodded, following after him. After walking a small ways I ran towards him, jumping onto his back and flipping him over. Batroc recovered quickly, standing back up and running for me. He was a trained mercenary alright. I blocked a few punches and kicks, moving my hands apart from each other, making a sort of whip. I sent it towards Batroc, hitting him twice in the shoulder.

"I thought you were more than an alien with magic."

I dropped my hands, the whip disappearing. Due to my split concentration, my guard form had fallen as well.

"We'll have to find out. Won't we?"

Batroc ran towards me. I jumped up, kicking him in the stomach. He hunched over slightly, giving me the leverage I needed to jump and wrap my legs around his neck. He ran backwards until he hit a door. I shifted my weight, sending him into the door and unconscious.

I looked through the open door. Nat and Steve just so happened to be arguing in the room. I stepped over Batroc's unconscious body inside. The two turned to look at me, both flustered. It seemed as though they were tempted to bring me into their argument.

"Well this is awkward," I mumbled.

A small thunk sounded through the room. A small tap on my feet told me all I needed to know about what the object was. I swiftly kicked it away from me, running towards Steve and Nat. Steve wrapped his arms around the both of us, jumping through an office window into a small room.

I groaned on impact, sitting up and leaning against the wall. Broken glass was scattered around us, small fires dominating the room outside.

"That one's on me," Nat sighed.

"You're damn right," Steve replied shortly.

He helped me up and grabbed my hand, pulling me out with him. He didn't say another word to Nat.

~*~

"The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye. Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything," Fury claimed as I entered his office silently.

"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own."

"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets when nobody knows all of them."

"Except you," Steve snapped.

"You're wrong about me. I do share. Agent Altovar, come with us."

Steve turned to me, his brows furrowed in both frustration and confusion. I smiled reassuringly as Fury led us to the nearest elevator.

Steve took my hand automatically. He knew of my hesitance in elevators, due to my insistence to walk up the stairs after every date.

"Project Insight," Fury ordered.

"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight."

"Director override, Fury, Nicholas J."

The elevator shook gently, and began to descend. The silence was thick and heavy. Everyone was feeling something different.

"You know, they used to play music," Steve commented, most likely trying to break said silence.

"My grandpa used to work one for forty years," Fury stated, "Got good tips. Went home everyday with a roll of ones in his lunch bag. He passed by people. He'd say 'Hi' people would say hi back. Time went on, neighborhood got rougher. He'd say 'Hi', they'd say, 'Keep on steppin'. Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Did he ever get mugged?"

"Every week some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?' He'd show them. Bunch of crumpled ones, and a loaded 22 Magnum. Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much."

The elevator jolted to a stop. The doors dinged and opened up. I looked at the weapons and technology in front of us boredly. I had been there to help design them. Other planets had more advanced technology, and I helped Earth catch up a little more.

"Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a 22," Fury shrugged. He showed Steve around pointing out different areas of interest, "This is Project Insight. Three next generation Helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites. Alien tech is inside each and every one of them. Agent Altovar helped us out with that. No one is going to be hacking it but her, Thor, and myself. The only few that know how to work the stuff. Once they go into the air they never need to come down. Thanks to our new repulsor engines."

"Stark?"

"He had a few suggestions once he got an up close look at our old turbines. These new long range precision guns can eliminate a thousand hostiles a minute. The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole. We gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime."

"We can't afford to wait that long."

"Who's 'we'?" Steve crossed his arms.

"The same people that want to send me off to some experimentation sight," I crossed my arms as well, modelling Steve, "Over all my time of going against my planets customs, I've learned you have to work with what you have."

Steve's eyes darkened, his jaw clenching. The idea of me having to work with the very people I was afraid of obviously infuriated him.

"After New York, I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis," Fury began to explain, "For once we're way ahead of the curve."

"By holding a gun at everyone on Earth and calling it protection," Steve frowned.

"You know, I read those SSR files. Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff."

"Yeah, we compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so the people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear."

"SHIELD takes the world, the universe, as it is, not as we'd like to to be. It's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

Steve gripped my hand tightly, pulling both of us towards the elevator.

"Don't hold your breath."