You're My Mission

“It’s really not negotiable,” Steve sighed at Natasha. For once I agreed with her; the two of us dressing up and walking through Hydra’s front door for job interviews wasn’t going to work.

“I’m pretty sure this is all for Tony’s viewing pleasure,” I remarked while lifting the tight skirt from the table to prove my point. It was far too figure-hugging and short to fight in, and I really didn’t want to wear it.

“And mine,” Bucky added. I shot him a glare, not wanting to worsen the situation between us and Natasha.

“I thought you two were spies. Don’t you go undercover all the time?” Sam asked and Natasha shrugged.

“These clothes are sexier than the stuff I usually get to wear, but they’re not practical. I can’t defend myself in those shoes,” she argued as she picked up the tall heels. “I’d love to see you boys kick ass in these.”

“Agreed,” I grinned.

“Stark assured me that the material is all flexible and he’s provided tough vests for you to wear underneath your shirts, allowing for a degree of protection against knives and bullets,” Steve explained, trying to win us over. “We have to keep on changing our methods otherwise they’ll adapt and easily stop us. Besides, we’re in the middle of the city, we have to do this quieter.”

“Quieter? You three might be coming in with guns blazing anyway!” I countered. “Besides, I thought I was the adviser. Why didn’t you or Tony ask me about this plan?”

“Because Tony guessed that you would disagree,” Steve answered and I bit my lip.

“I’ll do it if I get to see you two put on the Captain America uniform,” Natasha proposed with a gesture to Bucky and Sam. “Let’s see how you like tight-fitting clothes.”

“I’m flattered you think it would be tight on me,” Sam replied with a wink. “It’ll look ridiculous, I’m smaller than Steve.”

“Is it a deal or not?” Steve interrupted and Sam laughed.

“Sure,” he agreed. All eyes fell on Bucky who was unblinking as he considered the proposal.

“Fine,” he sighed. Natasha swept her items of clothing off the table and laced the heels on a finger.

“All right, let’s do this,” she said to me. I followed suit and we headed to our bedrooms to change, the men all providing encouraging words and whistles when we reemerged. Not keen on going undercover in Hydra again, even if it was only for such a short time, I plucked the briefcase from the table and followed Natasha outside. She drove us to the building, Hydra’s base disguised by the pretence of rental office space, and the men tailed us in a separate vehicle. The ride couldn’t have been more awkward. Not only was the car filled with the tension between us, but there was also a great deal of stress from the need to make the mission a success, and together that created the worst kind of silence for a long drive.

“Let’s just get this over with,” I said when Natasha flicked off the engine. She didn’t reply, just lifted her large handbag and slammed the door shut behind her. I stepped out of the car and hurried to Natasha’s side, entering the building and immediately being met by security guards and metal detectors.

“We’re here for interviews,” Natasha announced as she passed her handbag to the closest guard, her confidence not wavering for a second. She leaned in to him and whispered something, which I assumed was ‘hail Hydra’, and the guard nodded to the others. While he sifted through her handbag for suspicious items, Natasha stepped through the metal detector and was soon cleared by the security. I passed the man my briefcase and watched him out of the corner of my eye as I stepped through the metal detector, fists unwillingly clenching from anxiety. The man skimmed over the detonator disguised as a pen and when he clicked the briefcase shut, I exhaled to calm myself.

“Third floor. Don’t miss your stop,” the guard instructed while he handed me back my briefcase. I gave a large grin, trying to keep up my flirtatious persona, and then followed Natasha to the elevator.

“That was unnatural,” she remarked once the doors clicked closed. I glanced at the buttons and noticed that the number ten was highlighted instead of three.

“I was afraid I was going to be recognised,” I murmured. Though my blonde hair had been whipped up into a fancy do, it wasn’t as though I had undergone plastic surgery. My face was still in Hydra’s files, and no doubt plenty of them knew I was a traitor by now.

“Well, get some more confidence so we can get the hell out of here in one piece,” Natasha ordered bitterly, the elevator doors opening and providing us with a cue to stop our jabbering. We took a sharp left and headed for the women’s bathroom at the end of the corridor. A man whistled at us through his open office door, and another noticeably looked us up and down as he exited the men’s room, and I then realised that the point of my disguise was so no one would look at my face. I was in the process of mentally thanking Steve and Tony when Natasha pressed me into a bathroom stall with her.

She kicked the toilet seat down and stepped up on it, balancing and tearing open the air ventilation duct. I pulled the pen detonator from my briefcase and Natasha stabbed it through the lid of her water bottle which contained the incredibly potent sleeping gas, a safer way to deal with Hydra in such a populated area and then let the authorities take them in. She placed the contraption in the vent and replaced the grate, both of us relaxing a little now that we had completed the most important part of our assignment. We rushed out of the bathroom and almost crashed into the chests of a pair of Hydra guards.

“You really thought we wouldn’t notice? How many years did you spend working for Hydra, Jennifer?” the one of the left asked me as I withdrew, sliding my foot back into a fighting stance. “Want to fess up and save yourself a great deal of punishment? What the hell were you doing in there?”

“You know what, I have this great file on the almighty Captain America. Just let me show you the first page and you’ll be taking me straight to your boss for a big pay day,” I said to coax the men into not attacking us.

“Slowly,” the second guard ordered while I reached for my briefcase, clicking it open and sensing Natasha stiffening by my side. I slowly took a hold of one of the pens, then suddenly lashed out and stabbed it in the man’s neck. His partner leapt into action but it was too late, and I snapped his neck before silently finishing off his partner with the pen.

“Time to leave,” I remarked while stepping over the bodies and wiping my bloodied hands on my skirt. We slipped into the elevator apparently unnoticed, but guessed that there would be an ensemble awaiting us in the lobby. Natasha pulled out her disposable cell phone and dialled the only number programmed into it.

“Boys, we’ll need you to clear out the ground floor. You have ten seconds to make an appearance,” she instructed before hanging up. After watching the decreasing electronic numbers above the elevator doors, I stole a glance at Natasha to try to see how she had reacted to my actions. She briefly met my gaze. “This changes nothing.” The doors slid open and she strode across the foyer to where Bucky and Sam were firing at the Hydra soldiers, leaving me bewildered about what on earth I could do to gain Natasha’s respect.