Lost in Time

twenty-one

"I'll keep it in mind."

Natasha pulls up to the curb and rolls down her window to address the two men. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

Steve climbs into the passenger seat. "That's hilarious."

"How you doing?" Sam asks Natasha, who just smiles.

"Hey."

"Can't run everywhere," Steve tells him.

"No, you can't." Sam agrees as Natasha pulls away from the curb and joins the DC traffic, headed for the Triskelion.

~***~

THE LEMURIAN STAR - INDIAN OCEAN

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star." Brock Rumlow informs the Shield agents who have volunteered to join Nat and Steve for the extraction mission. "They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."

"Any demands?" Steve asks.

"Billion and a half," Rumlow replies.

"Why so steep?"

"Because it's Shield's."

Steve sighs. "So it's not off-course. It's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Nat assures him.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor."

"Relax. It's not that complicated."

Steve looks back at Rumlow. "How many pirates?"

"Twenty-five." Rumlow brings up a couple of files on the screen. "Top mercs led by this guy, Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Steve asks next.

"Oh, mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve questions, but carries on with giving his orders. "All right, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you 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."

"Strike, you heard the Cap. Gear up."

The agents disperse, gearing up as instructed. Steve lifts his wrist, speaking into the comm piece attached to it. "Secure channel seven."

"Seven secure," Nat responds. "Did you do anything fun Saturday night?

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really," Steve says with a smirk.

"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap." the pilot informs over the PA system.

"You know," Nat starts again. "If you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes."

"That's why I don't ask," Steve says. "Do you do this to Clara?"

"When I get bored." Nat shrugs. "Too shy, or too scared?"

"Too busy!"

Nat rolls her eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you and Clara were related cause she gives me and Apollo the same excuse."

Steve laughs before he jumps off the jet, headed down the Lemurian Star. Nat follows after him, and the other agents eventually follow too. The ship deck is quiet as Steve begins to stealthily sneak around, making his way toward the main desk. As he comes across pirates, he's quick to take them out by swinging his shield to knock them off their feet. One guard Steve comes across he simply pushes over the side of the desk, continuing his pace.