Captain's Hart and Soul

Chapter 15 Lagos

April 17, 2016

Lagos, Nigeria

Steve stood in the small motel room across from the suspected target, dressed in his full Captain America uniform, except for the helmet which was on the bed beside him. His shield was held by the magnets sewn onto the back of his uniform as he peeked carefully through a gap in the dappled curtains.

"Alright, what do you see?" Steve asked into his comms, and Wanda answered from her spot at a café near the police station: "Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means-" Steve added, and Wanda finished: "Cameras."

"Both cross streets in one way?" Steve prompted, and Wanda answered shortly: "So compromised escape routes."

Steve glanced at the Nigerian newspapers on the motel bed, which read: 'Police Stations Robbed' and 'Weapons sold to terrorists'. The first paper showed a picture of a masked man under the headlines, the man standing tall as he pointed two pistols out towards the public. The other had Brock Rumlow's old SHIELD photo, showing the man as Steve had known him in STRIKE, before he'd become 'Crossbones'.

Steve muttered as he turned back to look out the window: "Means our guy doesn't care about being seen; he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out."

He noted something else down the street, and he said to Wanda softly: "You see that ranger over half way up the block?"

"You mean the red one?" Wanda asked as she glanced over furtively. "It's cute."

"It's also bullet proof," Nat commented dryly as she suddenly chimed in on the comms, "which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody, probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda pointed out.

Steve almost rolled his eyes as Nat chided Wanda from where she'd secretly taken up position behind the new Avenger: "Looking over your shoulder needs to become a second nature."

"Anybody ever tell you, you're a little paranoid?" Sam asked with a hint of amusement as he also joined in on the comms, presumably after he'd taken up his position on the roof of the tallest apartment building a few blocks away from their target.

"Not to my face." Nat shot back. "Why, did you hear something?"

"Eyes on target, folks." Steve said firmly, bringing his team back to focus on the situation. "This is the best lead we have on Rumlow in 6 months, I don't want to lose him."

"You mean since his reappearance cut your honeymoon short?" Nat teased.

"Nat." Steve warned, while Sam snorted, before pointing out: "Besides Steve, if he sees us coming, there won't be a problem of losing him. He kind of hates us."

Steve almost sighed, but his attention was caught as he turned to look out another window, where he could just make out people shouting angrily. He peered down, his eyes instantly zooming in on a truck that was barreling down the street and forcing people and cars to move out of its way.

"Sam," Steve called urgently, "see that garbage truck?"

He didn't have to elaborate as the truck hit a parked car, completely ignoring the chaos it was causing as it continued down the street.

"Take it." Steve ordered.

There was about a ten second pause as Sam deployed his small falcon-shaped device, courtesy of Tony and Arianna. Sam ordered, letting his voice carry over all the comms so that the team could hear: "Give me X-ray."