Frostbite: Blood in the Winter// Third Book of The Frost Bite Series.

STRIKE Mission

Director Nick Fury had assigned Steve, Natasha and I a mission with the STRIKE Team to recapture a ship owned by SHIELD, the Lemurian Star. STRIKE was formed to handle smaller emergencies, and this was one of them. I had been on a few STRIKE missions in the past, and now that Steve was here it seemed like I was going on more and more. Natasha told me that it was because I had made my way up in SHIELD ranks, but I think it was because they liked to have Steve on the team and we were a package deal. 

The three of us and STRIKE were on a Quinjet headed for the Indian Ocean. Brock Rumlow, the leader of STRIKE, stood in front of a screen that showed a diagram of the Lemurian Star.

"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were sending up the last payload when pirates took them 93 minutes ago." Rumlow explained. 

"Any demands?" Steve asked. 

"Billion-and-a-half." Rumlow replied. 

"Jeez." I mumbled. 

"Why so steep?" Steve asked. 

"Because it's SHIELD's." I answered. 

"So it's not off-course, it's trespassing." Steve said, looking at Natasha and I. 

"Correct." I nodded. 

Despite his late join, Steve was catching on quickly to these fast-paced missions. He fit in well with the group. 

"I'm sure they have a good reason." Natasha said. 

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor." Steve looked back at the screen. 

"It's called being an agent, you'll get used to it." I said. "How many pirates?" 

"Twenty five." Rumlow answered, clicking on the screen to reveal head shots of the pirates. "Top mercs led by this guy. Georges Batroc ex-DGSE Action Division. He's at the top of Interpool's 'red notice'. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties." 

The picture showed a middle aged man, he looked stoic, which probably explained his reputation.

"Are there hostages?" I asked. 

"Mostly techs." Rumlow clicked the screen again to show different head shots, then clicked on the face of a SHIELD officer that I recognized. "One officer, Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."

I snorted. It was becoming a running gag for Sitwell to end up in some sort of trouble. Clint, Natasha and I always made fun of him for his patsy-ploy but it was starting to become him.  

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve asked as he adjusted the straps on his leather gloves. "Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Ellie you stay with me. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep the aft, find the hostages, get them to life pods, get them out. Let's go." 

"STRIKE, you heard the Cap, suit up!" Rumlow shouted.

"Secure channel 7." Steve said into the microphone on his wrist that connected to our ear pieces. 

"Secure." I said into my earpiece. 

"7 secure." Nat said. "You do anything fun Saturday night?" 

"Well, all the guys from my Barbershop Quartet are dead, Ellie is asleep by 8 pm so... No, not really." Steve put in his earpiece. 

"Hey, don't call me out like that," I said. "And stop trying to find Steve a date, work relationships are rare and don't usually turn out well."