Whilst flying over the Indian Ocean, the three were with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, led by Brock Rumlow.

"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star," Rumlow informed. "They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."

"Any demands?" Steve asked.

"A billion and a half."

"Why so steep?" Liesl questioned.

"Because it's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s."

"So it's not off-course, it's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Natasha reasoned.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor," Steve admitted. "Liesl doesn't look pleased about it either."

"Relax, it's not that complicated."

"How many pirates?"

"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy," Rumlow told them. "Georges Batroc." He showed them a photo of Batroc on the monitor. "Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?"

"Uh... mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell." He pulled up Sitwell's photo on the monitor. "They're in the galley."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve wondered. "All right, Liesl and I are gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you'll kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get 'em out. Let's move."

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

As they were getting ready to dive off the jet, Steve said into his radio, "Secure channel seven."

"Seven secure," Natasha stated. "Did you two do anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so... No, not really."

"I watched a collection of old movies; if you consider that fun," Liesl replied.

"Coming up by the drop zone, Cap," the pilot said over the radio.

Natasha looked at Steve. "You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes. I could probably find someone for you, Liesl."

Liesl scoffed. "No thanks."

"That's why I don't ask," Steve shot back.

"Too shy or too scared?" Natasha asked.

"Too busy!"

Steve and Liesl jumped out of the plane.

"Were they wearing a parachute?" the STRIKE Agent asked.

Rumlow smiled. "No. No they weren't."

---

After jumping after the jet, Steve and Liesl dove into the water, climbed onto the ship, then beat everyone on the deck swiftly before anyone could raise the alarm when they were interrupted by one of the pirates pointing his gun at them.

The first French pirate said, "Bouge pas! Bouge pas."

(Don't move! Don't move.)

Liesl's hands began glowing purple as she forced the man back.

He was shot dead by Rumlow as he parachuted down onto the deck behind Steve and Liesl.

"Thanks," Steve said.

"Yeah," Rumlow replied. "You seemed pretty helpless without me."

"Nah, Liesl could've handled it."

Natasha and another agent parachuted down onto the deck.

Natasha turned to Steve. "What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice."

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date," Steve instructed.

"I'm multitasking. That's fair." She jumped to the lower deck.

Steve and Liesl moved quickly to find the hostages in the control room.

"Status, Natasha?" Steve asked.

"Hang on!" Natasha cried as the pirate attacked her.

She quickly knocked him out before saying into her radio, "Engine room secure."

"On my mark. Three. Two. One."

The STRIKE team started shooting at the pirates and Rumlow quickly killed the head pirate.

"I told you, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't negotiate," Sitwell said.

Steve smashed through a window using his shield, but Batroc managed to escape.

Rumlow said to Steve and Liesl, "Hostages en route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap, Ebony. Hostiles are still in play."

"Natasha, Batroc's on the move," Steve informed. "Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages."

There was no reply from Natasha.

"Natasha!" Steve and Liesl called.

Batroc attacked Steve and Liesl. They fought on the deck of the ship, with Batroc quickly getting back on his feet.

"Je croyais que tu étais plus qu'un bouclier," Batroc said.

(I thought you were more than just a shield.)

Steve put the shield on his back and took off his mask.

"On va voir," Steve replied.

(Let's see.)

Liesl smirked as her hands once again glowed purple.

The three started fighting again. Steve managed to knock Batroc down by smashing through into one of the rooms where Natasha was downloading something from the computer.

"Well, this is awkward," Natasha said.

"What are you doing?" Steve and Liesl asked.

"Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into. "

"Rumlow needed your help," Steve told her. "What the hell are you doing here?" He and Liesl went over to Natasha and looked at what she was backing up. "You're saving S.H.I.E.L.D. intel."

"Whatever I can get my hands on."

"Our mission is to rescue the hostages," Liesl reminded her.

Natasha glanced at her. "No. That's your mission." She finished backing up and pulled the drive out before saying, "And you've done it beautifully."

As Natasha went to leave, Steve grabbed her arm and said, "You just jeopardized this whole operation."

"I think that's overstating things."

Batroc rose and threw a grenade at the three as he ran off. Steve deflected the grenade with his shield, grabbed Natasha and Liesl, and jumped through a window before it exploded.

"Okay. That one's on me," Natasha admitted.

"You're damn right," Steve retorted.

"Quite right," Liesl stated in an annoyed tone.

Natasha made a face at herself, disappointed that she'd caused Steve and Liesl to lose trust in her.

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