Flicker ✦ STEVE ROGERS¹ [✓]

23 | WINTER'S RETURN

HOURS LATER, THEY WERE BACK IN WASHINGTON, D.C.. Thanks to Sam, they had managed to capture Jasper Sitwell, and now Steve was dragging him up a flight of stairs, ignoring the man's terrified protests.

Finally, they reached the roof. Steve pushed open the door, then threw Sitwell across the rooftop, with Kato and Natasha following behind him.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve demanded.

"Never heard of it," Sitwell stammered as he backed away from him.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve went on.

Sitwell fell back, still scrambling to get away. "I was throwing up, I get seasick."

Steve forced Sitwell to the edge of the rooftop, grabbing him by the lapels and holding him in place. However, Sitwell just smiled nervously at him.

"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof?" Sitwell asked. "Because it's really not your style, Rogers."

Steve smiled, releasing Sitwell before patting his shoulders. "You're right. It's not." He then gave him a sly smirk. "It's hers."

Steve stepped aside, and Natasha slammed her feet into Sitwell's chest, kicking him off the roof. As he plummeted down with a scream of terror, Natasha turned to Steve.

"Oh, wait," she said. "What about that girl from accounting, Laura...?"

Kato rolled her eyes. Now really wasn't the best time to be trying to find Steve a girlfriend.

But Steve went along with it, nodding as he corrected, "Lillian. Lip piercing, right?"

Natasha smiled. "Yeah, she's cute."

Steve shook his head. "Yeah, I'm not ready for that."

Suddenly Sam, wearing his Falcon jetpack suit with wings, flew up from below, holding Sitwell in his hand. Sam threw the man down on the roof, then landed behind him before his wings folded and compacted into the jetpack.

As Kato, Steve, Sam, and Natasha walked towards Sitwell, he held his hand up in fear to stop them, breathing heavily as if he had just had a panic attack. Considering he'd almost just died, he probably did.

"Zola's algorithm is a program... for choosing Insight's targets!" Sitwell told them breathlessly.

"What targets?" Steve asked.

"You!" Sitwell gestured to Kato. "Her!" He leaned down, trying to catch his breath. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Undersecretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa city. Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA! Now, or in the future."

"The future?" Steve repeated. "How could it know?"

Sitwell laughed dryly. "How could it not?" He got to his feet as Kato's hands balled into fists. "The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it." When the four of them looked at him in confusion, he explained, "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, e-mails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores!"

Kato glared at him. "Get to the point, asshole," she snapped, jabbing her finger at Sitwell's chest.

Sitwell finally seemed to catch his breath, meeting Kato's eyes. "Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past... to predict their future."

Kato's heart sank. That did not sound good. That did not sound good at all.

"And what then?" Steve asked.

It was then that Sitwell seemed to realize he shouldn't have opened his mouth. So he didn't answer Steve's question; instead he looked away, his voice full of panic and fear. "Oh, my God," Sitwell mumbled. "Pierce is gonna kill me."