The Valentin Series, Book 2: Angel of Vengeance ( Winter Soldier Fanfiction)

Chapter 15: One Less Life

Angel walked arm in arm with a teenage girl down the streetlamp lit crowded streets of the city of Cairo. They were both in niqabs, the girl in dark brown, Angel in gray. The teenager was Angel's target. She was kidnapped by mercenaries to use for ransom. Her father was a sheikh in the Middle East, and she was his eldest daughter. Angel did not understand the customs of the Muslims, and she wasn't really inclined to find out. She usually just did as she was asked and collected the money after.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked her in a heavily-accented whisper.

"Your father's men and your older brother are waiting at the docks," Angel whispered and tightened her hold on the girl as they made their way through a dark side street.

"What is your name, lady?" the girl asked, her voice quivering as Angel guided them closer and closer to the port.

"I have no name, child," Angel smiled at her from under her niqab, this girl reminded her of Andy. The kidnappers were holding her in their basement; she was tied to a chair and, Angel learned, was harassed into spilling her father's plans for his illegal businesses. The girl told them nothing, apparently.

"But I do have a question," Angel continued, pulling her down an archway, "Why are you so important? Why not one of your brothers?"

She felt the girl giggle, "My father has plans for those boys, they front the legal businesses," she answered, "But the eldest daughters of all his wives, we have bigger responsibilities."

"Pretty good cover," Angel agreed, "No wonder this is a high-stakes assignment, I can only imagine how many people would like to get their hands on you."

"Very good cover," the girl agreed, "I've been learning the trade since I was four, I know everything about it, which is why they took me."

"Well," Angel sighed as the port came into view, "it sounds like an interesting story, princess, but it will have to wait. Your brother is in that barge, the blue one. Can you tell?"

"Yes," came the answer, "It's the sigil of my mother's family, I know which it is."

"Good," Angel nodded as she scanned the area, "odds are, because we went uncontested through the city, the other people looking for you are here somewhere."

Angel looked for the cargo entrance, and pulled the girl along when she found it. "Follow me," Angel whispered and they found an empty space between two steel freight boxes. "Stay alert," Angel commanded as she took off her niqab to reveal her usual black gear underneath, along with her sling bag.

"You're very beautiful for someone who does other people's dirty work," the girl whispered in awe.

"Thanks, princess," Angel smiled, and took out a Desert Eagle from her bag. She willed her wings out of her back, "Let's fly," she grinned.

Angel picked up the girl and thanked the heavens that she was a lot lighter than was expected, but being a captive for a full month and moving around the Middle East and into Africa must have taken its toll. The Assassin-slash-Tracker-slash-Spy jumped into the air with the girl in her arms and quickly gained altitude. There were a few gasps of surprise, but if Angel had learned anything in all of her years with her wings, it's that people see what they want to see. The darkness of the night would mask them enough, but the people who would notice would all just chalk it up to being an extraordinarily big vulture or eagle.

"Hold on," she told the girl as they ascended high enough to be mistaken for a bird, and then Angel made her way over the gates and to the barge. "We're going to go down now, ok?" she scanned the rooftops and the tops of the cargo bay's freight boxes for signs of other agents or mercenaries. They neared the barge and Angel began their descent.