12801/Overseas Complications

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Overseas Complications
Date of Scene: 06 March 2021
Location: Cesky Krumlov, Czechloslovokia
Synopsis: First assignments never go smoothly. Alexander learns this first hand.
Cast of Characters: Phobos, Black Widow (Romanoff)




Phobos has posed:
    It was meant to be a milk run.
    A cross section data retrieval from a series of dead drops across the picturesque city of Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Not a hot bed of activity beyond the city's occasional tech crime or copyright malfeasance in producing knock off designer handbag forgeries. Yet Czechoslovakia was the main road through which much intel travels from the old Soviet Republic and into the more main stream areas of Central Europe.
    All told it was to be but a two-day deployment. Hit the high points, make several contacts with support staff on site, evac with the intel. Easy peasy.
    Which is why it was the first out of the country operation for one of the newer SHIELD agents on the roster. One Alexander Aaron who for some reason has been put on a fast track for deployment in several recent operations. This one, however, stood out. Primarily because of the deployment conditions, but also because of the choice in his partner.
    Whom he walked beside in the seemingly idyllic city, with its quaint red roofs, the white buildings, almost like a town out of a fairy tale storybook. Even the stones in the street seemed to complete the picture, and made just the right sounds as they walked along.
    "I've only been here once before." He admits as he walks, voice quiet and at ease. She likely knows that, however, considering how familiar she must be with his file.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
They looked like any other pair on the streets. They could be locals or tourists. Nothing about them stood out in their casual attire as they walked down the street. Which was the point. Looking like spies made someone /look like spies/. It seemed to be something the movies had problems figuring out. There was an art to being completely visible yet unseen by those around. Certainly they were attractive so they might get a glance from a passer-by but that was it.

"I've been here a few times." Through the decades. "What did you think of it? Was it a place you wanted to come back to?"

Phobos has posed:
    The young Olympian's garb was far from interesting. A black baseball hat, sunglasses, a white t-shirt with a designer label on the breast pocket, and the ubiquitous pair of blue jeans and grey sneakers. Perfect for the weather of the day, for the time of year, and at a glance he was one of a dozen people dressed similarly as they walked down the street, through the beautiful square and past no small number of street merchants all trying to ply the city's tourists with their wares.
    "I liked it," He answers her, and with those glasses and the way he holds his head it seems as if he's talking just to her, but she can tell he's scanning the crowd at times. Usually behind one of his smiles.
    "Reminded me of Belgium, that city with all the canals?" He perhaps probably knows it, but conversation is always nice to keep going to present that illusion.
    Then he lifts a hand and smiles as he motions towards the tall church on the corner of the street, the mark for their first drop. "Isn't that lovely?" He says, which is the code they use for advancing the plan to the next phase.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"It's gorgeous. Can we get a selfie?" She asks with a lovely smile as she moves that direction. Translation: Let's get this and get moving. Natasha is dressed similarly. Red hair pulled back in a high-and-tight ponytail. Sunglasses. A blue t-shirt, jeans. Sneakers. She has a simple brown purse with a long strap, which she wears crossed over her body like the tourbooks recommend so it doesn't get snatched! She reaches into that purse to pull out a cellphone.

She is keeping a close eye around them as they work their way toward the drop point. So far so good. No glint from any rooftops or windows. No one seeming to pay any attention to them.

Phobos has posed:
    It's as they work their way in that direction, taking their time, presenting the perfect image of a traveling duo on their way to see the sights. Against the greater tableau of the city they blend in well so long as they stay in the more commercially viable parts of the district. And as they've worked throughout the early part of the morning, things have gone like clockwork. He stuck to the mission details, didn't stray at all from the parameters of the mission, and performed admirably.
    That is until they were crossing the street, and it was then in that transition from one point to the other that she'll hear him say as he turns his head just so, resting a hand on her shoulder as if to stop her from rushing out into traffic. "Do you remember your first assignment?"
    Just out of nowhere this is asked, and then he is walking across the street, gesturing for her to follow him. Yet when he looks back, meets her eyes, there is curiousity in those pale eyes behind the shades.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Yes."

A single word to answer such a question. Which isn't exactly forthcoming. She follows him across the street, a little jog-step to get across since he has longer legs. Not that there is a threat of traffic running her over but it is a thing people do thus, she does it. Still nothing to draw attention at all anywhere.

Once she is next to him again, they move toward the church and she gives a half shrug. "Depends which one you mean. With our tour group, or the one I worked for in the beginning." Carefully phrased but follows his question without bluntly using the words that indicate more detail.

She glances up at him.

Phobos has posed:
    She can see him taking that, filing it away for later, not bothering to press any further in that moment. Instead he takes point as he's done for most of the morning, simply because of his height and bearing it is easier for him to get through a crowd, to navigate past the other tourists who are /actually/ trying to catch sight of the views and vistas that surround them in the beautiful township.
    It's there now in the square with the old church that they make it through the crowd, funneled down a side street to get to the far side of that church's plot of land. They take the walk along the street, the wrought-iron fence of the old church blocking them in on one side, the crowd on the other. Yet it's not much farther until they get to that dead drop.
    Although when he turns back to her to give a nod in that instant, it clears up the sight lines just enough for her to look past him into that steady ebb and flow of the crowd. And as ever her luck is with her, for just as he's turning behind him the figures of people in that crowd part, revealing a familiar silhouette and grim features as a man in a red Nike jumpsuit is walking toward them, accompanied by two other men who walk in lock step with the severe traveler.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
The words that run through her head are impolite. Several curse words are included. All are in Russian though she decides to add a few English ones for good measure. It never shows on her face as she takes another picture with her phone of the lovely church with it's wrought-iron fencing.

Visually she smiles and gives a little laugh. She moves closer to him even as she flicks a gaze to that approaching figure. She can't let him see her. If he does, everything is over on this assignment and they will be lucky to get out of this alive. Her mind rushes through the location, the situation. Only one thing to do.

She moves in front of Alexander, back toward the approaching figure. She slides her arms up his chest to his shoulders and stands on tiptoe. "Kiss me."

Phobos has posed:
    Most any other agent there would be a moment of hesitation. Just an instant for when the words register, the impact of them, then when their minds reassert. And in the tall blond Olympian before her, she can see that same dance, waltzed abruptly across those handsome features.
    It's seen in the way his eyes focus on hers, then something behind them breaks in a single instant, giving a glimpse behind that icy gaze as something burns, before he accepts the statement and the order to action.
    To a casual observer there is no hesitation. It's one moment she looks up at him, whispers something to him. And in the next his hand's lifted to her. Gentle fingers cup along the curve of her jaw, his thumb brushes across her cheek. Only a single instant of them looking into each other's eyes.
    And then his own close, his head turning to the side. Those glasses rising up as he draws close, nose brushing hers, their lips coming together. An exhaled breath shared, then drawn and catching.
    And he just melts into that kiss, creating that perfect image as the men walk so close, stepping quickly, moving through that crowd. A glance to the side toward them and it seems as if they were nothing more than just another love struck couple.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Most green agents on their first assignment would not all hesitate, they would also waste valuable moments asking questions. Instead of just following orders. To his credit, he does as he's told. Yet, she saw that momentary flash in his eyes and that was something that would be a discussion for another day.

They look the role. Two lovely people, her still with a camera in her hand despite that hand being curled up around his neck. Their bodies pressed close as their lips are joined. It is an active kiss, not just people with their faces pressed close. It had to be sold and he was doing a great job.

Her own sunglasses are still in place but her eyes are closed. If they looked over and caught her eyes were open in a kiss, it would be unusual. Thus she has to rely on her senses, listening to their footsteps. They never slow. No hesitation. If they do look at the pair, they likely look away just as quickly.

Once they are past, she draws away slowly but remains close as people might after that moment. "I think we're clear." Which perhaps tells him there was a reason behind this other than smooching. "That was a close one." She looked into his blue eyes. "You good?"

Phobos has posed:
    It was like a switch was flipped as he drew back, hand upon her shoulder, those pale eyes tinged with the hint of green focused past her. To an errant glance he's looking at his paramour, rapt in love, but what they're both likely doing is looking beyond each other to whomever... whatever might be around them.
    Without breaking the smile he tells her, "Clear?" Though there is a hint of flush to his skin, it only serves to sell it all the more. Yet he turns his head to the side slightly and frowns, just an instant.
    "Something is up at the drop." How he knows this he doesn't elaborate. Instead he begins to move with her, leading her by one hand as if they were just rushing off into the storybook streets to enjoy the rest of the day together.
    But then once they're around the corner, lines of sight broken, he pulls back behind the wall and then says quickly. "If we're going to get the data we should be quick."
    It might be a good thing to have an Olympian on the team. With those abilities, the control, the senses. Even as they're moving down the alleyway. But one thing that likely hasn't been considered with the idea of a Greek God in SHIELD, is that the Fates are often not kind.
    A side door opens instantly, and through it comes a pair of men, the door opening with a /whump/ as it hits the wall. Tall silhouettes, figures, SMGs on straps bobbing off of their shoulders as they hustle, one's voice saying sharply in Bohemian. << It was her, I recognize her anywhere, I tell you! >>
    << You are foolish, Havel. You call another false alarm and they will shoot you. >>
    Yet Havel seems adamant, << I tell you it was her on the feed. >>

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
They needed to get this done and get out of there. No more playing games. They still needed to play their roles because if they suddenly switched to unusual behavior, that could call even more attention to them.

When they were out of sight, she wasn't running or rushing. They just seemed to be on their way to their next destination.

Then the door opened, the words floating out as they moved to go back the direction the SHIELD agents had just come from. Which meant directly at Natasha and Alexander.

From bad to worse. From the words, hopefully they had not already called that alarm. They were trying to verify before doing so. That was the good news. "Take them." Simple. Direct. No hesitation.

Even as she gave the order, she was closing those few feet, leaping in to the air and going for a two-footed /slam/ into Havel's chest. It was meant to take him down to the ground and in doing so, hopefully keep him from getting his hand on that gun and trigger. She would land atop him, helping to keep that air out of his lungs. A blade was in her hand but it was used to cut the strap on the weapon in a single swipe, pushing the gun out of range with her other foot. Then the blade was gone. Too messy, would leave blood in the alleyway.

A quick shift, rolling forward, legs coming up to catch the man around the neck, hooking in under and arm on one side to keep that out of play. Then tightening, trying to get that right angle. This kept him from crying out as well. He flailed a bit, scrabbled against the ground, tried to reach her with his free arm and yank her away. Then she looked him directly in his face and shifted her hips. A loud crack was heard then he stopped moving.

She looked to see how Alex was doing with his opponent.

Phobos has posed:
    It likely made one of the old crones with their skein of fate cackle when poor Havel was confronted face to face with the Black Widow that had hounded his career for decades, left him stigmatized amongst his peers as the one who had seen the famed Black Widow and who never let them forget about it. Only for him to step out that alleyway, face to face with her.
    That might explain why he was slightly slower to go for his gun that he should have been, suddenly beset by the Avenger, and then suddenly bereft of life. His crumpled form made a single sound then expired as his breath left him.
    Which when she turned she saw her partner had slammed the other against the wall, stunning him and taking him in control. A quick twist and a slip to the side brought his arm up and around the neck of the other Slav. The SMG was taken from his shoulder and abruptly he held the guard. It was that instant he looked over and met her gaze, a single instant of silence shared...
    Then silence was broken by the sound of booted feet. A quick glance there, then back to her, and suddenly being out of sight seems more important than anything else. He drops to the side and pulls the guard with him under the old rusted frame of a cold war era truck, using it as a hiding place for now...
    Even as he still holds the straining and writhing guard in his grip.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha is already moving again, after assessing Agent Aaron's position. It was not what she was expecting. But there was no time. Not with the sound of boots coming their way.

She already was standing, reaching down to lift the lifeless body up over her shoulder and moving to the truck. She was strong for her size, but it was still a person far heavier than her and it was--no pun intended--dead weight. She flipped the tarp out of the way, dropping the body in there amidst all the power tools and equipment. Then the tarp was pulled back over to hide the guard.

She started to drop then noticed that gun she had kicked away still visible. A quick dart, grab, spin, and she was rolling under the truck with Alexander and his hostage.

One who was wanting to get away and might give away their cover any moment.

Phobos has posed:
    The rush of boots was only moments after Natasha's steps brought her under cover and into the dirt and grime next to the young Olympian. Close enough to hear each other's breaths, close enough to feel the slight strain and crunch of the hostage's leather jacket. And then close enough to see the boots as a group of seven men all rushed into place then paused there near the half-open door.

    << This way? No this way. >>

    << This is nonsense. >>

    << Are you willing to take that risk with the Instructor, Vaclav? >>

    The patrol had paused, their heavy boots only feet away and as the hostage saw them, even as Alexander held him, the man tried to shift, to scream even as his breath was being cut off.
    For a moment the youth with those haunting eyes looked to Natasha. Though he needed no urging from her, needed no admonishment to know what had to be done. His arms tightened as the attempts at screams became frantic yet silent. And then a slow crackling crunch was very softly heard as vertebra gave way. It was slow, and painful, but necessary.
    And then the boots hurried off.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
As the patrol moved onward, Natasha waited a few seconds to be sure no one else arrived. Then she rolled out from under the truck, dusting off her clothes as best she could and heading for that half open door. "Get rid of that one. May be room in the truck."

Then she was gone into the room. There was the computer system she needed access too. A small drive pulled out of her pocket. She quickly plugged it in then pulled on a pair of gloves. Quick taps of her fingers on the keys, accessing and downloading. As it was copying to the drive, she glanced at the camera feed which was how Havel had spotted them. It kept an eye on the square. It also recorded. That had her frowning. She could erase it but data could be recovered and she didn't have time for something more thorough. A quick moment of fingers flying across keys. The info was stored on this computer. Nothing had been sent out anywhere else yet.

A moment later she came out with a hard drive she had taken out of the computer. "Here." He got to hide it somewhere on his person. She had put her gloves and thumb drive back into her pockets. "Slow and easy on the way back."

She turned back the way they had come, opposite the direction the patrol had taken. It would be easy enough to go back across the square then to their hotel room. Once there, a quick call for pickup and they would head for the rendezvous point.

Phobos has posed:
    When she had returned back to the alleyway it seemed at ease, as if nothing had happened, though the tarp on the track was settled and seemed at ease in the back of the truck. He was there and met her gaze, gave a single nod in agreement. In silence they walked from the scene of the crime, leaving what mayhem was wrought behind them.
    It wasn't until they were back on a public street, back with a crowd moving around them that the smile returned though for someone such as her, she could see the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Not exactly remorse, perhaps. But realization.
    Once they were far enough away he did ask, "So who did you see?" His head turned to the side to meet her gaze, another superficial smile was given as he rested a hand on her shoulder and gestured in a direction, giving some reference for his words in case they were being monitored from afar.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Did you notice the man with the two guards walking our direction by the church?" She waits a moment for acknowledgement before she answered. "He goes by the name Tony Masters. But he is better known in SHIELD by his codename: Taskmaster. One of the most formidable fighters on the planet. He can learn a move just by seeing it. He usually works as a mercenary though he often spends his time as a trainer for hire for other mercenaries."

Just a little further. Hopefully all the complications are over with. "I've fought him a few times and he would know my face. I had to be certain he wouldn't be looking at me. Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable. They generally look away or do their best to not look too closely. Thus, the kiss."

Phobos has posed:
    "Understandable." Is all he says at first, walking along the street with that half-smile on his features, head tilting away as he moves and hen smooths his cap with a brush of two fingers. Then he turns back, "M'sure a hearty handshake or a friendly hug wouldn't have quite cut it." She's known him long enough to just /feel/ that edge to his humor even as he walks, no other hint of humor there easily discerned.
    But as they move he murmurs, "It was a good kiss." No humor there, and perhaps to try and cut off any further comment on the matter he gestures with one hand.
    "Come on, we can fall into that tour group, change our pursuit profile." Which is a viable tactic, and hopefully it'll circuitously get them back to the hotel.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Was it?" There was that undercurrent of humor in her tone at his assessment on the kiss. "Thanks for your evaluation of my technique. Just don't put it in a report or anything. Fury doesn't need to know how well I kiss."

At his suggestion, she nods and she catches his hand, tugging him along toward the tour group as though she was forcing him to do so. Just the oh-so-happy-couple.

It works. The tour group allows them to disappear as they continue on their way. When the tour gets close enough, they are able to break off and two streets over is their hotel. Wandering in, elevator to their floor then into their room. A quick sweep to be sure it was undisturbed, no listening devices or the like installed in their absence. All is well.

Once there, she goes about putting the drive and other items into their luggage, in the shielded hidden compartments that will show up on any sort of scans as nothing more than toiletries within those areas. Which means toiletries must being that precise spot atop the compartment in case there is a physical search of the interior.

She expects him to have called for their pickup but as they both work on preparing for departure, she asks the question. It doesn't need explanation or anything. He'll know what she means.

"Why did you hesitate?"

Phobos has posed:
    There's a flash of a smile, a twist of ire, and then quietly he says as they move toward the tour group. "I wasn't meaning your technique, more mine." But as he says it, only then in that instant does his smile reach those pale ghostly eyes. And whatever reprisal she might have had in store may have to wait for they're surrounded by other Americans, smiling, laughing, and looking pointedly at the architecture of the Middle Ages there present in that Eastern European township.
    Yet then it is on their way to the hotel, they get back inside and the veneer of ease slips away from him, becoming more intent and his steps are purposeful. A few movements towards the beds, the phones, making that quick cursory check, though the place had already been swept before their return.
    Yet when she stops him as he's moving about she asks her question. It draws him up short and his brow knits as he looks down, to the side slightly. Then he looks back at her and says, "I thought I could control the situation. I... made a mistake."
    Another pause, then he tells her point blank. "I don't like killing, even though I've done it before. And I'll do it again. It's just..." His jaw tenses, then he looks back at her, "It reminds me I'm not who I pretend to be." That laughing youth so many see him as.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"It's not a matter of like. It is other things. Sometimes a mission needs to be completely secret of it is a waste of time. Like the information we have been gathering. If they knew they had been compromised, before we get that information to SHIELD, they might change their bases. As it is, this will have to speed up or movements against those other targets and we may lose some of them just because we did have to take out the two guards and the hard drive missing from that computer."

Natasha considers a moment. "Alexander, none of us are who we pretend to be. No one really is even in the most normal of circumstances. Ours? It's not even a possibility."

Phobos has posed:
    The God of Fear stands there opposite her, in some ways seeming so normal it might be disarming to most. But she has seen those small tell-tale differences. The faint glow in his eyes, the way he moves when he needs to, the otherworldliness in manner, and that subtle distance that seems to be there in the strangest moments. He is something other, and yet he is still the familiar.
    A nod is given back to her and he says, "I know." And as if that was all that was needed, the conversation would end. For he turns and steps away, then says over his shoulder. "I'm going to change, if we have time take a shower."
    His footsteps carry him to that wooden door, he pauses and tilts his head to the side, seeming about to say something. But then he doesn't. A moment later he passes inside.