Begin Again | Sam Wilson

Chapter Eleven

"I hope you two enjoyed a week off." General Richardson said as Brianna and Sam were ushered into a small conference room.

"It was much needed." Sam said.

"Agent Barton, I heard you took one in the vest." He said.

Brianna's side was still aching, but she was finally able to move without wanting to cry. The bruise was starting to fade into a soft yellow. "I did, but I'm feeling better."

Inside the conference room sat a guy who was probably younger than Brianna. He had dark hair and wore an Air Force uniform. He had his feet kicked up on the table as if he were lounging at the beach, but quickly removed them and stood at attention when he saw the three of them enter the room.

"At ease." General Richardson told him. "This is First Lieutenant Joaquín Torres. He will be assigned to your team that I'm creating. Torres, this is Sam Wilson and Agent Brianna Barton."

Torres smiled excitedly at the both of them. "It's an honor to meet you both."

He reminded her of a much younger Scott. They both seemed to have the constant golden retriever personality. They all took a seat around the conference table and the lights dimmed. A screen came down from ceiling and both Sam and Brianna shared an unsure look. Neither of them knew what the General had in store for them. An image of what looked like a glowing handprint on the side of a building appeared.

"For the past month, these symbols have been appearing all over the globe. We think they have ties to the LAF. It's an organization wanting the world to go back to how it was after the Blip, but before everyone came back. As I'm sure you know, Agent Barton, the world was left in utter chaos for five years." General Richardson explained.

Yes. She remembered perfectly. Governments failed. Poverty grew. More and more fights broke out. At the same time, there was also a small sense of unity. A world without borders. She knew exactly what this group wanted.

"Are they terrorists?" Sam asked curiously.

"We aren't going to classify them as that yet. It's getting close to terrorism. Right now it's mostly chatter across the internet." Torres said. "I've been infiltrating their chat rooms."

Brianna leaned forward in her seat. "And what exactly do you want us to do?"

"For now, gather as much intel as possible. Track their movements. See if we can find out their end goal. Money. Power. Control. There's something they specifically want and we need to figure that out. The leaders of the United Nations wants this under control before it gets out of control." He answered.

She wasn't sure how much she liked his answer. They essentially wanted Sam and her to spy on an unknown group of people who may turn violent at some point.

"You would operate pretty freely. You would have a whole team as well as limitless technology accessible for you to use. I know it's not Stark technology, but it could be beneficial." General Richardson spoke further.

"We don't need fancy technology. Just a laptop and ourselves." Brianna said with a knowing smile. Sam almost laughed at her trying to make light of the conversation, but refrained from doing so.

"We've, uh, acquired a few possible locations that this group as set up bases in." Torres spoke up as he pulled a map out. "Parts of Europe, the Middle East and then the US, of course."

"So, the parts that were impacted the most during the Blip?" Sam asked.

"Looks that way." Torres answered.

"Um," Brianna began. "Could Sam and I have a word? Alone."

Sam looked at her perplexed, but didn't question her further. He could see the tension in her shoulders and knew she wasn't 100% into what was being told to them.