Unexpected

Mission Plans

I didn't really get much of a say in whether I was a part of this mission task force or not. The mission would be centered in Russia and the only available agents fluent, or at least conversational, in Russian were Romanoff and me. Anyways, I was trained for the field and I had proven myself more than capable of going undercover if necessary. As soon as Rumlow, who was the leader of this mission, had agreed with Natasha that I was a 'perfect fit' whatever that meant, my clearance was given back to me and I was told to grab what I would need for the plane ride to St. Petersburg and to meet them at the quinjets within the hour.

I'd run back to my office to grab my bag with my cellphone in it and I grabbed my Catalyst suit. I didn't know what kind of mission this would be, but if I was being called into the field, then I figured that meant that they would want the Catalyst and my abilities.

The task force was composed of seven agents including Rumlow, Romanoff, Rogers, and myself. We piled into the quinjet which was piloted by one of the agents. The rest of us were in the back, being debriefed for the mission, though it seemed to me that Natasha was already in on it.

"Our target is Derek Anton." Rumlow pointed to the large hologram screen floating in between the agents. As he pointed, a picture of a middle aged man in an expensive-looking suit popped onto the screen. His pale brown hair was slicked back making it look kind of greasy, his eyes squinted, his face tinted red from drink, and a rather large tumbler of what I presumed to be some sort of alcohol was clutched in his hand as his arm was slung over a blonde in a shimmery, low-cut dress. "Age 35. He's an American businessman working in Russia for SinoCorp, a large mechanical research company based in St. Petersburg, Russia. Our Intel indicates that SinoCorp has somehow come into contact with the weapons dealers we've been tracking in pursuit of recollecting all the Chitauri weapons from the Battle of New York. While we are unsure if SinoCorp, as a company, is in league with the dealers, it has been affirmed that they have placed an order for several units that we believe to be alien. Anton is the frontman of this operation."

Frontman? I turned to look confusedly over at Natasha who was sitting beside me. As soon as her eyes swooped over to me I silently mouthed, "What?"

Leaning in to me she whispered, "He's the one that has made actual contact with the dealers. He's a stand-in or a proxy of sorts."

"We don't know if Anton is knowingly working as the middleman in this situation or if he's being used. From what we can gather, he's a grade-A dirtbag. He's well-paid, but pretty much an idiot, spending more time in clubs with drunk girls and escorts on his arms than anything else." Rumlow continued as several more pictures of Derek Anton flashed over the screen, each showing the man in question in questionable situations, always with a drink or some skimpily-dressed woman in it.

I glared up at the pictures. More weapons dealers then? I remembered the last time I'd been called onto a mission... the one to France that had ended in disaster. Clearing my throat I asked, "Does he have anything to do with Broussard or Blanc?"

"Not directly, though we think the end buyer is the same. From what we've gathered SinoCorp means to use the weapons in their technology, but this technology is supposed to be sold off to another buyer who we believe is the same buyer from the restaurant mission. We couldn't get anything out of Blanc before he went and hung himself."

The world around me went silent expect for those last few words. "What was that?"

"Huh?" Rumlow turned his attention back to me again.

"Blanc... the one from France... he killed himself?"

"Didn't you know?" Rumlow shrugged, "Bastard that he was. He acted all tough, claimed that his buyer would rescue him, that he was too important to them for them to let us keep him. He wouldn't tell us anything, then a few nights into his confinement he was found hanging from the bars of his cell."