Jo dropped her breakfast on the counter and rushed upstairs, yanking down a small backpack and stuffing a set of clothes in it. She hesitated a moment, but grabbed her spare deodorant and stuffed that inside as well, followed by an extra toothbrush and toothpaste. Then she was out the door, down the driveway, and stepping onto her neighbor's porch. For a moment she considered not barging in, but Jo never really was one for thinking things out when she was hurried.

She opened the door and made her way to the voices, anger slowly filling her. Then she stopped in the kitchen, all eyes on her. "I swear to God, Steve, if you ever make me worry like that again, I'll kill you!" Jo growled.

The reaction time for her neighbor was actually impressive. One moment he was staring at her in shock, the next he had a gun trained on her.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"I'm Jo, I live next door, and I'm a friend of the Captain and Natasha here. Also, your front door's still open," Jo said, not taking her eyes off the only people she knew.

Steve and Natasha were watching them closely. Steve hadn't expected Jo to barge in and begin yelling at him. He'd almost grabbed a knife from the holder on Sam's counter when the familiar female voice made him pause. Her yelling just made him want to hide in sheer panic. Natasha, on the other hand, had a gun in her hand the moment the door opened. In fact, she still did. There was no telling who was on their side at the moment, though she doubted a SHIELD escapee would turn them in.

"And you're not one of the people who have been trying to kill him?"

"No."

The man glanced at Steve who nodded, before lowering his gun. Jo gave a sigh and unshouldered the backpack and handing it to Natasha.

"Two things," she said. "One, don't climb over fences, it's just asking for trouble. Two, Natasha these are for you. You look terrible so there's a spare change of clothes, toothbrush, and toothpaste."

"There's a bathroom down the hall," Jo's neighbor said, directing both Steve and Natasha that way.

They thanked him and left Jo and her neighbor in the kitchen. "So..." Jo said, rocking back and forth on her heels after her neighbor had come back from shutting the front door, "What's your name?"

"Sam Wilson," he replied curtly. "You said you were my neighbor, you end up with the house old man Lee used to live in?"

"Yeah he's nice, I like him. He left me Lily, his cat. My name's Joanna Merlyn by the way."

"How'd you meet Steve?"

"Well you're straight to the point, aren't you," Jo snarked. "I met him and Natasha just before the Battle of New York two years ago. They were some of the first people who had been nice to me." Jo didn't go into detail about her past; there would be no need, so it didn't matter. "And you? Where'd you meet Steve?"

"On a jog in the early morning, he did thirteen miles in thirty minutes. I about died trying to keep up, never could."

Jo snorted in amusement. Not even she would be able to do that, in an hour, sure, why not? Thirty minutes was a stretch even for her. Jo watched as Sam began to make breakfast, suddenly remembering her own sitting on the counter. Oh well, she'd be fine for a while. If anything Lily would jump on the counter and steal it. Sam finished up and made his way to the back room.

"I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing," he said.

Sam came back followed by Steve and Natasha, who looked a lot better in the new clothes. They were a tiny bit big, as Jo was two inches taller, but they fit almost perfectly. Natasha took up residence by the counter and Jo, while Steve sat at the table and Sam buttered a piece of toast.

"So," Natasha began, "the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"

Ah, so it had been them at the bunker and not just a coincidence. Nice to know that someone in a top-secret agency was targeting an assassin and a national hero. Jo wondered how that came around.

"Pierce," said Steve, as if coming to a realization.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."

"But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

The name Zola sounded familiar, and Jo thought back. Ah yes, he turned traitor to Hydra when he had been caught by the Captain in 1944, the same day Bucky had fallen from the train. Or so the history textbooks she'd read said. Judging by how the two were talking, Jo could guess Hydra hadn't been defeated, and Zola was the reason. So he hadn't been a traitor, just a mole.

Jo's thoughts turned as she began piecing together what she assumed had happened. Zola had been a mole for Hydra which hadn't actually been destroyed when Cap took care of the Red Skull. With Zola in SHIELD and Hydra still alive then he could've fed information and eventually turned people to his cause or recruited those who were already one of them. If anyone were to find out then they would've been taken care of. Accidents did tend to happen after all.

Sam dropped a file in front of Steve and Natasha, gaining Jo's attention. A picture of two men sat on top, one being Sam and another she couldn't identify.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"Call it a resume."

Natasha reached over and picked up a photo of Sam and the other man. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you." Natasha turned to Steve, "You didn't say he was a para-rescue."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asked, looking the photo over.

"Yeah."

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use, a stealth chute?"

"No. These."

Sam handed Steve the file, and Steve opened it, glancing at the contents before looking back at Sam.

"I thought you said you were a pilot?" Steve asked.

"I never said pilot."

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall."

Steve looked at Natasha who shrugged her shoulders. "Shouldn't be a problem," Steve nodded.

"Well if he's in I'm in too," Jo said. Before Steve could object she held up a hand. "I haven't exactly been sitting on my ass these past two years. I've trained with the X-Men, I learned to be a better shot with a gun thanks to them, and I'm in control of everything."

Steve glanced at Natasha once again before smiling. "I guess you're in."

Fort Meade was a bit of a hassle for Jo to help break in. Well, it would have been much harder without Captain America and Black Widow on point. Jo's and Sam's position was distraction. They were to create a scene while the other two snuck away in the chaos.

The tour guide got them to the third floor when Jo collapsed on the floor, a puddle of water seeming to leak from her when she twisted her body a certain way and broke the very fragile bag covered by a large round object attached to her. Oh yeah. They'd gone the fake pregnancy route.

"Shit!" Jo cursed, slipping into Sam's arms who stood behind her.

Her exclamation drew attention as needed and several guards rushed forward when Steve called them over while the tourists gathered around.

"Okay honey, breath," Sam said, holding her hand. "We need to get you to the hospital."

"You think?" she all but yelled, wincing in fake pain. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Steve and Natasha slip away. "Alright, let's go before we get a live birthing in this place."

That was her signal. Sam scooped her up in his arms and turned to the nearest guard. "Stairs?"

"This way," he said.

They were led from the building and Sam helped her into the car before driving to the meetup point. They were two minutes into the drive when Jo began snickering. "This was probably the stupidest infiltration plan ever."

He cracked a grin. "Wasn't it your plan?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd go along with it." Her snickers turned into full-blown laughter when his grin morphed into surprise. When the noise died down she pointed at a store. "Pull over real quick, I gotta change. Wet pants are disgusting."

"That's not going to look suspicious?"

Jo shot him a quizzical look. "Have you never been around a pregnant woman before? Some babies are assholes and spend their time kicking or sitting on bladders so it's not surprising when a heavily pregnant woman comes in with an emergency pee stop."

Jo stepped from the vehicle and was gone only five minutes before she returned in a new pair of pants and two granola bars.

They'd only had to wait half an hour for Natasha and Steve to show up with the suit in tow. Jo whistled in appreciation at the high tech flight suit. It took a bit of looking but with Jo's computer and Natasha's hacking skills, they were able to pinpoint Sitwell's location. He was a lunch with a friend, guards surrounding them in places.

Jo was stationed on a roof across from where Jasper Sitwell had exited a building. She was armed with her regular pistol, only this time it had a pin-point laser attached to it. At Steve's okay she would turn it on and aim at Sitwell. Currently, she was listening in on the conversation Sam was having with Sitwell.

"And why would I do that?" Sitwell asked. 

At Sam's subtle shrug, Jo switched on the laser and aimed down the barrel at the man. "Because that tie looks really expensive. And I'd hate to mess it up," Sam answered.

She watched in amusement as Sitwell glanced around, trying to find the source. It was too bad for him, considering she was hiding in a shadow. Panic seeped into his face and he hastily agreed. While Sam and Sitwell headed off to meet Natasha and Steve, Jo waited on the rooftop for them. She counted the bullets she had, twelve, before putting it away. The elevator was taking too long in her opinion so she pulled out her knife and began to play with it.

Suddenly the door to the roof burst open and Pierce was shoved into the open. He tumbled across the roof, followed by Steve and Natasha. Jo sat up straighter and watched them quickly approach the edge of the roof where she sat.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve commanded, not pausing in his pursuit.

"Never heard of it," Sitwell denied, still walking backwards.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up, I get seasick." By then Steve had forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop, but Sitwell just smiled, "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers."

Steve smiled and smoothed out Sitwell's jacket. "You're right, it's not. It's hers."

Steve stepped aside and Jo watched in amazement as Natasha kicked Sitwell off the roof. Jo felt a chill run up her spine in response to their actions; she thought they'd been joking when they said they would throw Sitwell from the rooftop. She was wrong. It was rather disturbing how calm the two were, but then again, Sitwell wasn't going to die. Provided Sam didn't fail in catching the man.

"Oh, wait," Natasha said as if remembering something. "What about that girl from accounting, Laura...?"

"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, she's cute."

"Yeah... I'm not ready for that."

"Are you two really talking about Steve's dating life?" Jo asked bewildered.

"Or lack thereof," Natasha corrected.

"Point," Jo nodded.

Suddenly Sam, in his Falcon flight suit, flew up with Sitwell in his arms and threw him onto the roof. Steve and Natasha advanced on Sitwell, Jo right behind them, and Sitwell held a hand up in fear.

"Zola's algorithm is a program! For choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell spoke quickly.

Jo stepped forward, knife still in hand. "What targets? Who? Where?"

"Any of you!" Sitwell gasped. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."

"The Future?" Steve said. "How could it know?"

Sitwell laughed incredulously, "How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught Hydra how to read it." All other occupants of the roof gave Sitwell a look of confusion. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Hydra can read the future? Sitwell saw this and clarified himself, now standing and staring at Steve. "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores. Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"And what then?" Steve demanded.

Sitwell paused and looked away, his face paling as a particular thought struck him. "Oh my God. Pierce is gonna kill me."

"What then!"

The Hydra agent looked up. "Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time."

"We need to get out of here," Jo announced. She slipped the knife away and holstered her gun. "We need to stop this."

Sitwell's gaze snapped to hers.  "I know you," he said. "You're that mutant we've been chasing all these years!"

"So I am," Jo said mildly, glancing away from him and to the other three. "We need to figure out what to do from here... and we can't exactly just attack the Triskelion!"

Natasha looked around. "We need to go," she urged.

They led Sitwell to the cars and were on the road within minutes. Sam, Steve, Natasha, and Sitwell in one car, while Jo followed them at a distance by herself. There were no happenings and were doing considerably well until a car screeched them both and a man with long brown hair, black clothes, and a mask, jumped onto Sam's car. Jo screamed in alarm as the man pulled Sitwell out through the window and threw him into oncoming traffic. She watched helplessly as he then started shooting at the occupants of the car when Sam suddenly braked, halting in traffic. 

The man dropped down onto the street and just as Jo went to slam on her own brakes, another car smashed into Sam's and pushed them along the street. The man jumped back onto their car as it came at him, smashed through the windshield and pulled out the steering wheel.

"Shit!" Jo cried.

She raced behind them, doing her best to catch up. Bullets began to flow up from the car, presumably from Natasha, but the man jumped from their car onto the one pushing them. Jo watched in horror as the car was smashed into again, and the car went sideways.

Luck seemed to be on their side when Jo witnessed Steve holding on to Natasha and Sam, sliding on a car door through the streets. Sam was thrown and rolled a few feet before he stopped. Jo slammed on her brakes before she could hit Steve and Natasha.

"Who the hell is that?" Jo screamed as she jumped from her car.

"The Winter Soldier!" Natasha called back, moments before she was shoved aside by Steve, who was knocked off the bridge by an explosion and thrown into a bus.

The Winter Soldier is joined by Hydra agents and they started to shoot at them, the trio taking cover behind various cars. Jo pulled out her only gun and handed it to Natasha who immediately began shooting back at them.

Another grenade was shot from the launcher and Natasha jumped into the lane of oncoming traffic, Jo opted for jumping across the lanes she was already near to Sam. All gunfire was concentrated on Natasha; Jo and Sam being forgotten about for the time being. Once more a shot rang out and an explosion signaled the detonation of another grenade and suddenly Natasha wasn't on the bridge either. Shots rang out from the road beneath them relieved Jo from thinking about the fate of a friend.

There was silence and Jo peeked over the car in time to see the Winter Soldier stand up without his shades and rapidly fire down on where she assumed Natasha had been.

Jo turned to Sam, "Well we're useless. How many movies tell people to not bring a knife to a gunfight? Guess what I did."

"If it makes you feel any better, so did I. What happened to your gun?"

"I gave it to Natasha." Gunshots continued to sound as more Hydra agents shot at Natasha. Jo stood again and watched as the Winter Soldier jumped onto the lower road, followed by all but two of his men. She liked these odds much better. "Hey, Sam?"

"What?"

"Want to see a game of two against one where the one wins?"

"What's the supposed to mean?"

When Sam didn't get an answer, he turned his gaze from the street where Steve and Natasha were to where Jo had once stood. She wasn't there. Horror dawned on him and he jumped up to face where the Winter Soldier had been. In his place stood only two men.

Sam watched in morbid fascination as a wolf lunged at a man's neck, biting and tearing before he could get a scream out. The next man had noticed the movement and went to aim his gun, but he too had his throat torn out. Sam carefully approached the bodies, eyes the wolf who simply rolled her amber eyes. Seconds later the familiar face of Jo stood in the wolf's place.

"I see what Sitwell meant when he said mutant," was all Sam could say.

Jo ignored him and grabbed two guns off the dead bodies and tossed one to Sam. She leaned over the edge and saw Steve hiding behind his shield at the assault he was under. Jo took aim and shot one of the men, Sam getting the other. They both took cover behind the ledge before doing it again, only this time they did have retaliation.

"Go! We've got this!" Sam called to Steve.

Jo quickly leaned over the railing and shot the at a man and he was down. She breathed a small sigh of relief, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Jo rushed to her car and pulled out Sam's Falcon suit. She tossed it to him and yelled, "Put it on!"

Then she was over the barrier herself and on the road below. Jo gave a groan of pain as she landed wrong. She spotted Natasha behind a car, holding a hand to her left shoulder, Steve wasn't too far away fighting the Soldier. Over the scent of gunpowder she noticed the tangy scent of blood. Considering the events surrounding her, it wasn't surprising, but the fact that it was coming from Natasha's direction threw her off. She'd been shot?

"Natasha!" Jo yelled.

Jo quickly ran over to her friend, a small limp in her step from her bridge jumping. Natasha looked at Jo then stared at the grenade launcher only meters away. Jo watched in amazement as Natasha picked up the launcher and aimed it at the Soldier, whose mask had fallen off, and had his own gun trained on Steve.

The Soldier glanced up from Steve, to Jo, then to Natasha. His eyes widened upon seeing the launcher and ducked behind a car just as Natasha pulled the trigger. The Soldier's own bullet ricocheted off a stray piece of metal. The moment had passed and Natasha leaned heavily on the car next to her, Jo rushing forward and trying to check the wound. Sirens accompanied the vehicles that surged around the four. Then, they were all surrounded, handcuffed and stuffed into a van with two soldiers.

********** 

Edited 11/18/19