The Price of Freedom

02

Flying over the Indian Ocean, the two 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?"

"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."

"Relax, it's not that complicated."

"How many pirates?" Steve questioned.

"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy," Rumlow told them. "Georges Batroc." He showed them a photo of Bartoc 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? All right, I'm 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 do anything fun Saturday night?"

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

"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."

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

"Too shy or too scared?"

"Too busy!"

The truth was, he hadn't gotten over Chava, and he knew he would never forget her or be able to move on from her.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" the STRIKE Agent asked.

Rumlow smiled. "No. No he wasn't."

---

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

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

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

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

"Thanks," Steve said.

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

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 moved quickly to find the hostages in the control room.

"Status, Natasha?" Steve asked.

"Hang on!" Natasha cried as the pirate attacked her and 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, "Hostages en route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. 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 called.

Batroc attacked Steve. 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.)

The men resumed fighting. 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 asked.

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

"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" He 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."

"No. That's your mission." She finished backing up and pulled the drive out. "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 two as he ran off. Steve deflected the grenade with his shield, grabbed Natasha and jumped through a window before it exploded.

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

"You're damn right," Steve shot back, getting up to leave.

Natasha made a face, angry with herself that she'd caused Steve to distrust her.