Don't be a silent reader x enjoy

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐌𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬

New York City, United States of America

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"What is your mission?" Klaus asks irritatedly as Allie adjusts the foreign American clothes on her lithe figure.

"To question high ranking individuals at the Army head office and get them to talk by any means necessary as long as my identity remains a secret. Then I am to follow Howard Stark as he leaves his meeting with General Eisenhower at 1230 hours. Remain hidden and do not make my presence known as I follow him back to Stark Industries. Run surveillance on him until he leaves to return home at 1900 hours." Allie responds curtly as she pulls at the belt on her spotted blue and black dress. The dress was made from a soft cotton fabric that was knee length but clung to her feminine curves. The blue made her light brown eye's shine and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she looked like a woman. She looked normal.

"Good. Don't get caught and don't disappoint. Hail HYDRA." Klaus lectures with a salute that Allie mimics and responds to with the same words that feel like venom in her mouth. She then turns around and goes to her room in the luxurious hotel that Dieter had got for the group. She had never stayed in a place that was as nice as this. In the past week, she has gone from sleeping on a rock hard mattress in a room that is the size of a janitor's closet to sleeping on what feels like clouds and a room that is as big as the training rooms at HYDRA.

She wobbles on her feet as she walks towards her bedroom as a result of the ridiculously high heels that she has been made to wear. She has never even worn a pair of heels before so trying to walk down the street will prove to be more challenging than completing her actual mission itself.

She stumbles into the room and heads towards her small backpack that holds all of her weapons needed for this mission. She pulls out her small throwing knife and straps it to the inside of her thigh and does the same for her other hand knife. But before she leaves the room, she turns around and looks at herself in the mirror again. It's almost impossible for her to recall her life before HYDRA. It has been all she has ever known but looking in the mirror she sees what her life could have been like. She could have had a family, a husband, some friends. She could have lived a normal life. And in these clothes, she looks like she could fit into the life that she has dreamed about. But beneath the surface, she is still a merciless soldier. She is still a killer. No matter what clothes she wears or what life she chooses to live, her past will always be the same.

As if the sight has become too much to bear, she turns away and heads out of her room. She tries to walk steadily in her chosen footwear and almost makes it out of the apartment uninterrupted when a hand grabs at her arm. Swiftly, she elbows the person in the gut and then whirls around and holds her other arm over their neck, severing their air supply. Her eyes widen when she sees that under her choke hold is Stefan who is grimacing at her whilst he clutches at her arm. She releases him and takes a step back, allowing him to regain his composure.

"Ahem," she coughs awkwardly, "I'm sorry about that Stefan! Are you alright?" She continues nervously, flattening out the non-existent creases in her dress. She could easily be reprimanded for this and if it had been Klaus or Dieter she would be in lots of trouble.

"I would quite like if you refrained from attacking me again, thank you." He mutters as he composes himself, eyeing her suspiciously. Allie nods quickly and mumbles another 'sorry' as she straightens out the front of her dress. "I was sent to inform you that I am to be accompanying you to the Army Head Office." Stefan continues curtly.

Allie rolls her eyes in frustration and quickly turns around, heading towards the exit of the room. She pushes the door open and walks down the hallways and into the elevator. "Alexandra! Wait!" Stefan shouts, running to catch up with her. He squeezes himself into the elevator just as the doors begin to close.

"Well, shouldn't I be the one who is irritated, considering you were the one attacked me?" Stefan says with a smirk as he leans back against the mirrored wall of the lift.

"I think it would be best if you shut up and let me do my mission. I don't need a babysitter to make sure that I do everything right. I have been training for this ever since I can remember and I know the consequences of failing." Allie snarls as she turns around to Stefan who holds an emotionless face. She does understand that he has his own mission to accomplish but she can't do what she needs to do if she has eyes watching her every move. She can't get the help that Bucky needs if she gets caught fraternizing with the 'enemy'. So she is going to do whatever she can to get some time alone with Howard Stark, the man who is a known associate of Bucky's friend, Captain America. Even if it's only for 30 seconds.

"Need I remind you that it is not my choice to 'babysit' you. I also have better things to do then waste my time on someone who is clearly capable of doing a mission all by herself. However, HYDRA doubts your loyalty, not your capabilities which is why I must assist you regardless if you want me here or not." Stefan responds evenly as he stares ahead of him, avoiding eye contact with Allie.

"Well then, since you clearly don't want to be here too, let's just steer clear of each other. You do whatever you want to do and you can watch me as long as you don't interfere with my mission. Watch from afar and we will be fine." She replies back just as the doors open. She saunters out of the elevator and down the hallway of the hotel.

She quickly reaches the bustling streets of Lower Manhatten and she jumps into the black car that is parked outside of the hotel. "Where to ma'am?" The driver questions.

"The Army Head Office."

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Stefan turned out to be a good boy and he listened to Allie's advice. He remained out of earshot for the entire 48 hours that she had been watching Howard for and he stayed as far out of the mission as he could. But unfortunately, the mission so far has been a bust.

Allie waited and talked to as many highly regarded soldiers inside of the head office as she could but they all gave her nothing. Even when she pretended to be an official translator from France they just started flirting with her instead of taking her seriously. She tried asking some women what they knew but women are kept out of the loop with all things regarding war and instead, the information is entrusted with men who are too busy hitting on women to do their jobs. Well actually, they are doing their jobs by keeping it a secret but it is still making Allie's job much more difficult to complete.

Once Howard had finished his meeting with Mr. Eisenhower, he walked out of the building and got into a waiting car. Allie was quickly out of the building as well and followed him from a distance to Stark Industries where he got out, said hello to three people and then went up to his office. So Allie waited and waited for hours for him to return to his home in Midtown Manhatten but he ended up staying the night instead. So with a majority of Stark Industries being gone, Allie snuck her way inside past the locked doors and continued on with her mission. She checked that nobody besides Mr. Stark was in the building and then she short-circuited the main surveillance system so that she could creep around undetected. With all of that out of the way, she was finally able to collect the intel that she was sent here for but, there was none for her to get. The only explanation for the lack of intel is that Mr. Stark has a really efficient way of keeping employee's documents secured or he keeps them out of the loop completely. From all the snooping she has done on the companies files, she would have to guess that it is the latter option.

Whilst going through the Head of Warfare's office, he got a phone call. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the distinct ringtone interrupt the thick silence. She contemplated whether it would be HYDRA asking about her whereabouts or if it was someone calling for whoever this office belonged to but she decided to let it keep ringing. Once it had finished ringing she let out a short breath and then continued on with her snooping. But then it rang again. She sighed as she walked up to the phone and held her hand out to pick it up. If she had left it someone could have heard the ringing but answering the phone also meant that she could have potentially got caught. So she picked up the smooth black phone and held it up to her ear, not uttering a sound.

"Alexandra! I was expecting you home hours ago!" She hears Klaus speak, rolling her eyes she sits down into the office chair and rests her head on her hand. "Sorry father, but Howard had some things to do so we have both decided to stay back at his work until he has finished." She replies back, going along with the narrative that Klaus is speaking. The United States is known for tapping phone calls and this mission is too important to be compromised.

"Well darling, you better be home before two o'clock or else you will be in trouble! Make sure that you see Stefan when you are done and come home together. See you soon." Klaus responds before she is greeted with the sound of the call ending. Allie huffed and continued on with her investigation.

She searched and searched until the hand on the clock struck 1:30. Then just like she was told, she made her back to the hotel with Stefan who had been waiting patiently outside in the back of the car. Silently they made their way back to the hotel, debriefed their day with Klaus and went to sleep.

The next day was much like the first. She had found nothing.

Allie had woken up, debriefed with Klaus, snuck into Howard's home, stalked him at work, asked his employees questions and yet she had found absolutely nothing. All of them had collected next to no information about the Super Soldier Serum and now, all of them are relying on her to get information today from Howard directly.

In no way is she nervous because no information means that HYDRA is at a huge disadvantage. But if she does get the serum, she can save Bucky and lots of other men from experiencing any more pain. So she is in two completely different mindsets about the mission. And she is not sure which path to follow.

Stefan had successfully snuck in and drugged Mr. Stark's current personal assistant and as predicted, she called in sick 15 minutes ago. Now, Allie straightens out the front of her ivy green dress as she stands outside of the Stark building. She takes a deep breath before she heads inside, her heels clicking as the may contact with the marble floor.

She walks up to the front receptionist who guides her up to the top floor, where Howard's office is located. The second she is out of the elevator, she sees a familiar head pop out of the corner.

"Ah Miss Anthony! I have been expecting you." Howard Stark says as he walks up to her and takes her own delicate hand into his. His dark chestnut eyes are captivatingly beautiful, framed by his thick brown eyebrows. His lips are turned up into a smirk as he eyes Allie up and down and puts his arm around her waist. His mustache was somewhat thin and neatly trimmed, almost like it had been stenciled in. "If you don't already know, I'm Howard Stark. You will be filling in for my assistant today." He says with a smile as he escorts her down the hallway.

"Well, time for the grand tour I think." He continues as he guides her into his huge office. When they enter, he lets go of her waist and gestures to the room. "This is my office. Basically, you will be in here to be a welcomed distraction from my work and enjoying the presence of my company." He smirks as he sits on the edge of his mahogany desk.

Allie looks around the room and admires how open and friendly it looks compared to what she has seen at HYDRA. The floor is a lovely grey carpet and in the corner, a small black couch sits alongside the floor to ceiling window. She takes a step forward and looks out the window and watches the buzz of New York City. The city is filled to the brim with giant buildings and ubiquitous skyscrapers that are so tall, you can't see the top of them through the smog-filled sky. Cars race around the streets and people move as a crowd. From up here, they almost look like a swarm of ants.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Howard speaks as he stands next to Allie again. The street below features upmarket stores with fancy names in fancier lettering with overly expensive clothes. The kind of places where well-groomed staff exchange ridiculous amounts of money with the upper class whilst only a few hundred meters down, people can't even buy a loaf of bread.

"It's absolutely breathtaking." She murmurs and then turns to face Howard with a smile. "On with the tour I suppose?" She enquires with a raised eyebrow. Howard smiles back at her and they proceed out of his office and down to her own desk.

"So Miss Anthony, where are you from?" Howard asks as they get to her desk. "Mr. Stark, please call me Sandra. And to answer your question, I hail from a small town in outer London. What about you sir?" She answers politely as she takes a seat at her small desk. On her desk is a sleek black telephone and a stack of papers that seemingly need to be filed. Right in front of her is her very own floor to ceiling window that showcases the true glory of New York City.

"Well, in that case, Sandra, please call me Howard. I originally come from the Lower East side of New York." He responds as he leans against the door frame of the room.

"Well then Howard, is there anything that you need or anything that has to be done? I'm not getting paid to sit down and look pretty all day." Allie replies with a grin as she crosses one leg over another.

"You're not but I don't think you could stop looking pretty if you tried," Howard flirts, "But in all seriousness, I do need those documents to be filed and if you could bring in my 9:30 meeting but delay my 11 o'clock one please." He smiles, showing his pearly white teeth.

"Absolutely. Go make some more cars fly Howard." She teases with a chuckle. Howard grins back at her and throws his hands up in mock anger. "I don't see you revolutionizing technology as we know it darling!" He groans and sashays out of the room.

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Throughout the day, Allie actually grew to like Howard. She had finished all of the filings and re-arranged his meetings, so just like Howard had said, she was now distracting him in his office, and also getting some answers too. She only had an hour at the most to gather some last pieces of evidence before she would be sent back to Austria.

"So, I heard that you may or may not have had something to do with the creation of Captain America?" She asks curiously as she sits on the couch in his office overlooking New York.

"Now Sandra, that's classified information! However, yes I did play a hand in the creation of the Star Spangled man but I did not create the serum that gave him such a power." Howard says as he signs off on some documents on his desk.

"Really! I thought you were a genius?" She teases as she looks over to him with a grin.

"Jeez, woman! You really have a thing with knocking people's ego down a peg or two!" Howard retorts as he meets Allies gaze. "I created the contraption that allowed the serum to take effect. A friend of mine made the serum." He continues with a sad smile which causes her to frown.

"What's with that face?" She enquires. "Well, he was killed shortly after he created good ol'Cap unfortunately." Howard continues. Allie feels all the color drain from her face and her throat seizes up.

"He's dead?" She splutters which causes Howard to look at her in skepticism. "He most certainly is, God rest his soul. Did you know him?" He questions.

She did know him, which is the problem. Very well. But she shakes her head, "No I didn't, but that is a right shame." She responds.

"Well actually, you don't happen to know a bit of chemistry, do you?" He asks, thankfully changing the topic.

"I do." She responds with a smile. "Ok good! This may be hard to answer though, what do you think the serum targeted in the human body?" Howard asks which confuses Allie. If he was with Erskine, he would understand what the function of the chemicals were but perhaps, Erskine was the only one who had access to the notes of the serum. That would mean that Howard is trying to recreate the serum from scratch.

"Well, from what I have heard it is an enhancer right?" She says to which Howard nods. "Then, it would be targeting two key areas. The brain and the muscles. To cause further muscle growth you would need to counteract the genes that inhibit muscle growth. The receptors for this gene are found in the brain which is the tricky part. You would need to find a chemical that blocks the receptor but doesn't cause any damage to personality or any other parts of the brain. But if consumed in large doses, the serum could cause the muscles themselves to deteriorate or even the brain to fail completely." She answers which causes Howard to look at her with a shocked face.

"So you aren't just a pretty face are you?" Howard stammers as he frantically writes what she had said down on a piece of paper. A smile overtakes Allie's face and her cheeks turn the slightest bit rosy at the compliment. "No, I most certainly am not."

"Well, I have just got to run down and talk to a friend but I shouldn't be very long. Stay here, I want to pick a little bit more at your brain when I come back." He announces as he pushes himself up from his seat and out of his office, flashing her his trademark smile.

"You're not going to find anything interesting!" She taunts to which he lets out a bellowing laugh. "I assure you, I will!" He says right as he turns around the corner and disappears from her eyesight.

The second that she sees that he is gone, she pushes herself up from the couch and runs over to his desk. All day she had been going through his files and found absolutely nothing. After talking with Howard she knows that he doesn't have the serum or Erskine's notes but she still needs to find out if he is any closer to creating his own version. She flicks through the documents on his desk and skims her eyes over the words but finds nothing of interest. She pulls open the first draw and sitting right on top, is the page where he wrote what her thoughts were on the serum. She scans the page and sighs as she only finds ideas that are certain dead ends. She quickly goes through the rest of the draw but finds nothing. She goes to pull the next draw open but finds that it's locked.

She smiles as she pulls a bobby pin from her hair and inserts it into the lock. She expertly jiggles it around until she hears the familiar 'click' and then she pulls the draw out. Inside she finds a simple revolver and a sample of blood. She carefully slips the beaker from its casing and holds it out in front of her. In small writing across the bottom of the sample, it reads 'Project Rebirth, sample 7'.

"Well hello, Steve." She mutters as she wipes her fingerprints from the glass and carefully places it back into the casing. She quickly grabs a piece of blank paper off of his desk and a pen and then scribbles across the paper haphazardly.

Dear Howard,

‎46°22′56.6″N 9°54′29.2″E

This is what Steve Rogers seeks. The United States Army will thank you for this information.

- A.W.S. Anthony

She places the note on top of the sample and just as she closes the draw, she hears footsteps echo down the hall. She curses under her breath and she silently runs back to the couch. She turns her gaze down onto the street and waits for Howard to enter his office again.

"Sorry about that Sandra, but I have lost track of the time! It seems that your experience here has come to an unfortunate end," Howard says with a sad smile as he comes up and shakes Allie's hand.

"Well, time does fly when you are having fun." She responds and returns his grin. "Thank you for today Howard."

"I should be the one thanking you! I am quite tempted to fire my assistant and replace her with you, but unfortunately, you can't just fire someone because they are boring." He laughs and holds his office door open for her. Allie lets out a small chuckle and turns to face him for the last time.

"And unfortunately, I don't work for glorified teenagers who can't even get their cars to fly at their very own presentation." She teases with a laugh.

"Now that one hurt!" Howard calls out as she turns away from him and heads down towards the elevator.

"Goodbye, Howard!" She responds as she enters the gold embellished lift.

"Goodbye, Sandra!" He shouts just as the doors close, signaling the end of her mission. Now, for the long flight home.

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Hey guys, thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Who's excited for Christmas!!!! I am! And it's only days away too! The trailer for Avengers End Game KILLED ME!!!!

I only have a few questions for this chapter so don't forget to comment! Please answer question 2 as I really want to see if it is something that you guys would want! I have a few really good ideas rn but I don't know when I would be able to get them up.

And once again, I would like to thank each and every one of you who has got this story to 300 reads! That is honestly 300 more that was I was expecting! So in honor of that, everyone who leaves a comment below will be in the running to get a chapter of 'Tricks' dedicated to themselves. SO LEAVE COMMENTS GUYS!!!!!!!

1. What did you think of this chapter?

2. Would you like me to write an Avengers imagines book? (I'm contemplating the idea)

3. What are you more excited for; Captain Marvel, A4 or Spiderman FFH?

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

- Grace xx