Scarlett Johansson | One-Shots (1)

NR - Target Acquired Pt. 3

Unknown:
"She doesn't look so good," Agent 22 mentions as we look in on Agent Atwood in her cell.

Agent Atwood is sitting up against the wall in her black straitjacket. Her eyes have growing dark bags under them and her head leans weakly back on the wall.

"What? Want to set her free? Send her home?" I joke, turning my attention away from the prisoner.

Just then, Boss comes up to us, flanked on all sides except for the front by guards and my fellow agents. Next to him walks one man, a short, gruff man in a casual suit. He talks with my boss until they reach me.

"Agent 7," Boss greets me. "This is General Vasya Smirnov with the Russian Armed Forces. General, this is my top agent, Agent 7."

"Ma'am." General Smirnov politely nods at me. "Is there something else I can call you other than a number?" he asks me with his thick Russian accent.

"No. Thank you, but Agent 7 is just fine."

General Smirnov nods again then turns to my boss. "You did not call me here for introduction."

"No, sir. I called you here because we have what you asked for," Boss responds, a little pride and joy in his voice.

I have been racking my brain since this man appeared in my view, trying to figure him out. Finally, it comes to me. This man must be who hired us. I stand a little straighter at the realization.

"Right in here." Boss gestures to Agent Atwood's cell door.

General Smirnov smiles respectfully and enters the cell.

Callie:
I weakly lift my head to the sound of my cell door opening. It's a man I've never seen before. I have no idea who he is. He seems to know me though.

He drags over a chair from the corner of the room. "May I sit?" He has one of the thickest Russian accents I've heard in a long time. When I don't answer, he sits anyway, politely crossing his legs. I just stare at him until he starts talking again. I can tell English isn't his best language. He speaks slowly and carefully, as though he's thinking through each word before he says it.

"My name is Vasya Smirnov. I am general for Russian Armed Forces. It caused quite a stir to find out Avengers took you back from Hydra and even more so when we learned about your integration back into their system."

I can feel my eyes flash once from blue back to brown. General Smirnov smiles. It's unsettling how warm his smile is.

"I am aware of your abilities. There is no need to try, they do not work here." He pauses to take a breath. "You may be wondering why you are here. I apologize for trouble. I wanted to speak with you myself. I wanted to see you with my own eyes. I am not Hydra. But I did my research. You have caused a lot of pain and suffering."

"I don't do that anymore," I croak.

"No, but past stays with you. You can not run from past."

"But I can learn from it."

General Smirnov smiles. "Yes, you can." He drops his smile and uncrosses his legs. "But you can not learn if you do not have control."

I now know what exactly he's talking about. My head's been foggy but it's clear now. "I'm not like that anymore. I have control."

"How many times are you going to lie to yourself?"

"I'm not lying."

"I wish I could believe that. But... that is not why I am here. I am not here to argue about past. I am here because two years ago, I lost my daughter, Katya. She was wonderful young lady. Smart, beautiful. Katya was murdered in her home. Me being general in military, her home had 'top-notch' security. But person who took her life...? They had 'top-notch' skills. So I was told."

General Smirnov stands from the chair now. "I have been hunting my daughter's killer since I found body same day. I was not allowed to be part of investigation because she was my daughter. Katya's murderer got away."

I can't be sure but I almost think I see a tear fighting to escape this man's eye. But I'm soon proven wrong. "As father, I did not give up. I studied crime scene day and night. Nothing popped out to me until I read coroner's report. According to report, her brain simply... died. Of course, that did not make sense. So, long story short, I was able to find out how this happened to my Katya. And to say I was furious... an understatement."

General Smirnov now crouches in front of me. I can do nothing but stare straight into his eyes and stay silent. "There is only one person in world capable of being that discrete and, dare I say, neat. Do you know who that is?" I stay quiet. So he continues. "You," he growls in my face.

Goosebumps rise on my skin, even under the straitjacket I'm in. Then he leans away from my face and stands. "I wish you dead. But that would be too easy. It would put you out of the misery I want you in."

Finally, General Smirnov turns to leave my cell. Before he opens the door, he looks over his shoulder and says, "When I am done with you, you will wish I killed you," and leaves me alone.

Natasha:
I've been in meetings nonstop. We brought in the very best SHIELD agents in on this, the best minds are on the search for Callie. We have undercover SHIELD agents all over the state to scope out the area and report on anything suspicious. If she's here, we'll find her. We're bound to find her sooner or later.

"Callie wasn't just doing missions in the US," Bruce adds to the long conversation.

"Right," Tony agrees. "She was based all over the world. If she was taken back to Germany, we'd know Hydra most likely got their hands on her. Even if she wasn't taken by Hydra, they'd get her if she was brought to Germany."

"So, she isn't in Germany," Steve thinks out loud. "Nat, did she ever tell you about her missions? Was there possibly one mission that, maybe, kept coming up or something like that?"

I take a moment to consider this. Then I sigh and say, "No. She barely talked about it. The most I got from her was when she'd tell me about her nightmares. But, even then, it wasn't much to go off of and she didn't tell me that much."

Tony opens his mouth to say something but suddenly, a SHIELD agent comes bursting into the conference room. "Mr. Stark, we found this on the side of the street against the Hudson River."

The item in the agent's hand makes my heart skip a beat. It's Callie's camera contact lens case. It's extremely small and black so it's miracle they found it.

"Are her contacts in that?" Tony asks the agent.

"No, it's just the case."

"Then she was wearing them when she was taken," Tony says matter of factly.

"Can you get the footage?" I ask.

"Yeah but it'll take some time since I doubt she's still wearing them."

"Well, get to work."