Like No Other

Is it wrong to love you?

......

Take a breath. Calm down. In and out.

One, one thousand

Do not panic. Do not over-analyze. Do not get caught.

Two, one thousand

Think about your next move. Think about the goal. Think about the end result.

Three, one thousand

You have the USB stick with the intel; you have your gun. Now you just had to get back to the rendezvous point and get the hell out of here.

But there was a problem.

The light from the alarm illuminating the room in red and the ear-piercing sound ringing out is definitely not part of the plan. The smoking hole in the monitor of the computer you were just working on and the unconscious guard on the ground didn't help either. "What the hell?" You mutter to yourself as you pocket the USB stick. "You didn't have to shoot the computer." You tell the guard as you take his gun, put the safety on, and toss the weapon across the room. You shake your head because, of course, something like this would happen; the universe couldn't spare a moment and give you a break? No, of course not.

You counted seven when you entered the building with a stolen keycard, seven armed guards who were more preoccupied with their own thing than they would care to admit. Two who look barely over eighteen chatting softly. One snoozing against the wall and the others playing poker on the concrete floor. None paying attention to their surroundings, too busy in their own little worlds to notice you slipping past without a sound.

Now they were down one and with fingers on the trigger. You make one wrong move, turn down the wrong hallway, run into the wrong person, and they won't think twice before shooting.

Six guards, 2 minutes and counting to get out of here, clearly not enough time to sneak out the way you came before reinforcements show up. You did not want to be surrounded when you were so close to ending this operation. Get out and make one phone call, that's all you had to do and then you would be homebound.

"Stop!" You don't stop. Not even when the sound of bullets leaving a gun barrel seems to echo off the walls. You chance a glance behind you as you round another corner, it was one of the two rookie guards, just great. You were not in the mood to deal with this.

......

You shift your balance from left to right impatiently as the ringing continues, it's after the 5th ring and you're just about to hang up and try again when the person answers. "Do you know what time it is?" The voice on the other end sounds slightly irritated but not a trace of drowsiness. "No idea." You grin when you hear a sigh through the phone and you just know she's shaking her head at you. "What do you need agent?"

Business tone, as usual.

"Well," You absentmindedly lean against the phone booth while you think. "I would really like a hot shower and a bottle of vodka." She ignores your comment because she's professional like that. "Do you have the flash drive?" You take said flash drive out of your pocket and fiddle with it for a moment. "I'm looking at it." You examine the shiny silver very important USB stick. "Good, keep it safe and secure. It's too important to get into the wrong hands again." You nod a little at her words before speaking. "Yes, I know."

You tap the USB against your chin as you wait to see if she's going to continue. "I have a bottle of vodka with your name on it when you get back." You smile at that because she knows you so well. "As long as you keep Tony away from it. You know him and alcohol." You joke and you hear her snicker at your comment. "Tony knows not to go anywhere near my stash." Her voice is very serious and you smile. "You don't even let Fury near it." You add because it's true, no one goes near Maria's alcohol. A moment of silence goes by and you've realized how much you've missed talking to her.