Unexpected Romance

Valerie's Mission

Tony wakes me up way too early in the morning telling me to get suited up immediately. I carefully get out of bed so as to not wake up Nat. I wanted everything in me to say goodbye but she still doesn't know about the mission and it needs to be kept that way, for her own good. I get into my suit, making sure not to forget anything, especially the contacts Tony gave me. When I'm all dressed, I head for the bedroom door but when I go to grab the doorknob, I stop, looking back at Nat who's still fast asleep on my bed. I walk over to her and lightly kiss her head.

"Goodbye my beautiful girl," I whisper as I stand up, softly enough so she doesn't hear.

I meet Tony in the parking lot of the compound.

"Hey, kid. You ready?" He asks, smiling at me.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay, good. You know the plan. In and out, okay? Only fight when necessary and remember your training. We'll be watching the whole time. As soon as you're out of this car, you're on your own. The red button on your waist calls for an evacuation. Hit it when you're ready and we'll get you," Tony explains in the car on the way to the drop-off location.

"Can I ask a favor?"

"Anything," Tony responds.

"Promise me if I don't make it out of here... you won't let Natasha isolate herself. She'll need someone. Get her to combat train or even just get her out of her room. Don't let her hurt."

"Valerie..." Tony starts.

"Promise me," I interrupt.

"Okay. I promise."

We pull up to the drop-off location, I have less than 30 seconds to get out of the car before we're detected. I hesitate before getting out of the car.

"20 seconds. You gotta go."

"I know."

I take a deep breath and get out of the car.

"See you in a few," Tony says as I close the door.

The building I need to get the tech from seems relatively normal. Obviously, the reason these people were able to run this operation for so long without being questioned. I climb up the ladder on the side of the building to get to the roof. I review the blueprint of the building in my mind, recalling every little detail that is deemed important. On the roof, there are many vent tunnels and two doorways. The doorway furthest from me is the one I need to go through, it leads straight to where I need to go. I run to it and open the doors, thinking to myself "This is it", then walking in.

When I'm inside, I look down to see how far the stairs go. Fuck I think to myself, knowing I have to make my way halfway down all of these without being detected. I stop hesitating and as quickly and quietly as I can, make my way to the right floor. When Tony, Bruce, and I were going over the layout of the floor that the tech is on, we made sure to make a note that this floor is the most packed, soldiers everywhere in random positions so there was really no telling or predicting when I'll come across someone.

I peek through the little square window and into the huge warehouse-looking room on the other side. Right off the bat, I see probably 10 guys in suits and ties standing around, not even doing anything. I need to create some sort of distraction to get myself in there. I think for a moment what a good distraction could be. Then I remember all the things Tony added to this suit, one of them being some device that can hack pretty much anything. I pull it off of my belt and use it to set off an alarm on the opposite side of the huge room, sending Hydra soldiers and men in suits and ties running over to it. Only two soldiers are left near me. I take my opportunity to get inside the room.