Daybreak | Steve Rogers

Chapter Nineteen: A New Friend

It turned out that Steve had brought us to Sam Wilson's house, his friend from that day in DC. He was kind and understanding, willing to risk his own safety to keep us safe.

I sighed heavily and took a long sip from my mug of coffee, trying to avoid Steve's gaze. "So, the question is," I sighed, "Who at SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?"

"Pierce" Steve huffed.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world" Nat added.

The man shook his head, staring out of the window in thought, "But he's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star"

My eyes widened and I sat up straight, "So was Jasper Sitwell"

Steve and I made eye contact and he nodded slowly, "So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a SHIELD officer in broad daylight?"

Wilson left the room, returning with a file. "The answer is, you don't" he replied simply, setting the file down in front of us.

"What's this?"

"Call it a resume"

Nat frowned as she picked it up, flicking through the pages until she paused at a familiar one, "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you? You didn't say he was a Pararescue"

I leaned over to get a better look at it, "I heard they couldn't get in the choppers because of the RPGs. What did you use? A stealth chute?"

"No. These" he handed Steve a smaller file.

"I thought you said you were a pilot"

"I never said 'pilot'" 

Steve sighed and shook his head after a moment's thought, "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason"

Wilson scoffed, "Dude, Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in"

"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall"

I shrugged, "Shouldn't be a problem"

——————

The man yelped as he was shoved to the ground, his jacket being ruffled by the cold wind. Nat and I followed behind Steve, glancing around at the buildings below us. "Tell me about Zola's algorithm" the blond demanded.

Sitwell glanced around anxiously, readjusting his glasses as he stumbled towards the edge of the roof. "Never heard of it" he stammered.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up. I get seasick" he reached the small ledge, desperately flapping his arms as he tried not to overbalance. Steve grabbed the man's jacket and lifted him up so they could talk face-to-face. Sitwell chuckled nervously, "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's really not your style, Rogers"

Steve nodded and set him down on the ground, "You're right, it's not. It's hers"

We both stepped aside, watching as Nat kicked him off of the ledge. She paused and turned to face Steve, "Oh, wait. What about that girl from Accounting, Laura..."

"Lillian. Lip piercing, right?"

I smirked and crossed my arms, "Yeah, she's cute. Isn't she?"

He shrugged as he turned to smile at me, "Yeah. I'm not ready for that"

Nat's eyes widened as she glanced between us. Before she got the chance to say anything, Wilson rose up into the sky, dragging Sitwell along with him. Attached to his back were two large, metal wings, which folded up against his back once he landed. Sitwell was lying on the ground, panting as he tried to recover from the fall. He held up a hand as we approached him, "Zola's algorithm is a program... for choosing Insight's targets"

"What targets?" Steve snapped.

"You. A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defence, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now, or in the future"

I scoffed incredulously, "In the future? How the hell could it know?"

The man chuckled darkly and I noticed Steve move a little so that he was stood in front of me. "How could it not?" Sitwell sneered, "The twenty-first century is a digital book, Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future"

"Yeah, I guess it's totally unnatural for people to change over time," I huffed, "And what then? What do they do?"

His eyes filled with horror, "Oh my God, Pierce is gonna kill me"

"What then?" I shouted, causing him to jump slightly.

"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time"

——————

We managed to get him into a car without being seen, still making sure to watch him carefully. "HYDRA doesn't like leaks" Sitwell murmured worriedly as we drove along the highway.

Wilson huffed, "Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it?"

I sighed, glancing anxiously at my phone. "We can't even warn anyone about this" I groaned.

Nat frowned, "Who could you warn?"

"I don't know. There are a couple of kids in the science division who are probably gonna be targeted. I'd call them if I could, but they went dark several months back"

"I'm sure they'll be okay. But look, Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here" Nat said, leaning forwards from the middle seat to remind them.

Steve nodded quietly, "I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly"

"What?" Sitwell gasped, "Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea-"

There was a thud as something landed on the roof, causing us all to jump. The window suddenly smashed and someone grabbed Sitwell, dragging him out of the car and throwing him in front of a lorry.

I narrowly missed a bullet shot through the roof, crawling into the front of the car. Steve pulled me closer to him, trying to create more space for Nat to join us. Wilson slammed on the brakes and the car stopped abruptly, throwing off whoever had been on the roof.

The figure landed on the road, their metal hand raking against the asphalt as they ground to a halt. They stood up, shoulder-length hair being blown by the wind to reveal a black mask, which covered most of their face.

We all stared at the figure in fear, waiting for them to make their move.