More agents in well-dressed attire flock in by the second, yet as low, puzzled murmurs are passed between one another, I meander stoically around the room and survey the crowds with an eye so sharp a hawk would be envious. The other agents give me a wide berth, and why wouldn't they? I'm still the new, strange, crazy, super-powered friend of the now wanted Captain America. The only friends I've made in this place are Lewis and, in the eyes of everyone else – including the people themselves – Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers. I'm still an enigma to the rest of the agency.
One woman seems to actually have some steel in her and comes to stand in waiting next to me, appearing as concerned about this as everyone else, perhaps even more so. Eyeing her purely due to boredom as I wait for Sitwell to make his grand announcement, I ask Blondie "Did you know him?"
She blinks owlishly at me, put off by my sudden attention on her and question. "I'm sorry?"
"Captain Rogers," I answer, opting to use his title formally to avoid being improper for someone of my status. I wouldn't care about formality usually, as you would all well know, but whilst I'm still in the SHIELD facility, it would be best to remain inconspicuous. "World's First Superhero; the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. Did you know him?"
"A bit, not much," Blondie replies, her tone, crossed arms and pace of blinking indicating she's trying to come off as friendly yet not too forth-coming. Predictable for a SHIELD agent. "You're... You're her, aren't you?"
Queue my confusion. "Eh?"
My expression must be amusing, judging by the soft chuckle that leaves a crack in her tough woman veneer. "You've only been here a few days over a month, but are already a closer friend with Captain Rogers than most of the agency. Even heard he specifically chose you to accompany him and Agent Romanoff on several of their missions."
I attempt to shrug off her curious scrutiny and interest, playing it off with humour like I always do. "With someone as broody and scary as Romanoff, he needs a woman with a charming personality and winning smile to balance out the camaraderie during fights."
Blondie lightly smiles, but mainly out of politeness. "Heard you also get on Rumlow's nerves, though not as much as your younger sister."
"Everyone gets on Rumlow's nerves, my sister and I just happen to do so the most creatively, and enjoy ourselves in the mean time," I proudly respond, earning a proper laugh from her this time.
For a few friendly moments, we smile in a companionable silence at one another, until Blondie sticks her hand out amicably. "Agent Sharon Carter, nice to meet you at last."
I accept the extended hand without a pause, Sharon already growing on me. "Special Agent Lillian Nightshade, glad to be of service."
"Eyes here!"
Sitwell's hounding, grating voice somehow manages to carry over the distressed mumbles and conversations jumping around the room, everyone falling silent from it in 0.5 seconds. Sharon and I both square Sitwell off warily, the blonde evidently not trusting the weasel anymore than I do.
"Whatever your op is, bury it," he demands, face as grave and serious as the dead. "This is Level One. Contact DOT. All traffic lights in the district go red. Shut all runways at BWI, IAD and Reagan. All security cameras in the city go through this monitor right here." He juts his thumb to the large screen behind him, barely tearing his gaze away from us for but a moment. "Scan all open sources; phones, computers, PDAs, whatever. If someone tweets about this guy, I want to know about it."
Surely these people aren't buying this bull?
My own scepticism is apparent in the way I quietly snort at Sitwell's cute speech, only Sharon catching onto it due to her close proximity to me, and apparently, Sharon has had quite enough of Sitwell's blathering as well. Tensely, she grows impatient in her silence and removes her hands from her waist, blurting out "With all due respect, if SHIELD is conducting a manhunt for Captain America we deserve to know why."
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Played by the Enemy || Captain America || Book 2
Fanfiction"My hands are stained with dirt. And they always will be." ~ Lillian Nightshade; assassin, Captain America's girlfriend, and number one magnet for bullsh*t and bad luck. For her entire life, she's been told what to, who to kill, who she is, and what...
