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CHAPTER TEN

This Wasn't Supposed To Happen

- - - - -

ROME, ITALY
FEBRUARY, 2010


"Alright Michaels, this is all you."

"Going radio silent, in three, two, one."

Ana delicately lifted her hand to push back a lock of her hair behind her ear, quickly shutting off her earpiece. After passing security, the brunette agent walked up the marble stairs, her silver heels clicking. She wore a red dress, with many small weapons underneath it of course. She was attending the annual Red and Black Party, under her alias as Amelia Mason.

She was on the hunt for a man who went by one name, Lark. He was an American assassin, his employer still unknown to SHIELD. Lark was meant to meet up with the leader of an arms dealing gang, named Dennis Kellard, a British criminal, and buy weapons to export back to America.

Ana was sent to make sure that doesn't happen.

She smiled politely at the couples walking past her, down the staircase. She suspected they wanted to leave early to, you know what, because of the man's eager hands on his woman. Or his woman just for tonight. Once she joined the party, a waiter passed her and offered her a glass of red champagne. Ana raised an eyebrow and took one, "Grazie." She said in Italian.

The waiter gave her a nod before leaving to attend to other guests. Ana took a small sniff of the drink before taking a small sip, cradling the glass in her hands and readjusting her black purse over her shoulder.

Many of the woman at the party wore everything but red, give or take a few. Ana observed all the men, trying to find Lark. He had bleached blonde hair so it wouldn't be too hard to find. She spotted him, talking to a few of his men in the corner of the hall.

She knew what to do, stay close and use her enhanced hearing to find out when the exports will take place. She had Lark, now she had to have eyes on Kellard.

When she went to walk forward, a body crashed into her side, causing her drink to dump on her dress. She stumbled on her feet and felt a gloved hand grab her waist, pulling her up and keeping her still. Ana flushed red in embarrassment and looked up into the man's blue eyes.

"Mi dispiace tanto, signore." (I'm so sorry, sir.) She apologised, her heart fluttering when he gave her a warm smile, removing his hold on her. He placed a gloved hand to his chest and bowed slightly, "No, è colpa mia. Avrei dovuto guardato dove stavo andando." (No, it's my fault. I should've watched where I was going.) He replied.

The man let his eyes roam over her face, a familiar feeling in his mind at her face. He then shook his head as she looked at her dress, frowning at the mess. "Oh merda." She mumbled.

"Mi scuso, mi permetta di fare fino a voi." (I apologise, let me make it up to you.) He said.

Ana waved her hand, letting out a small laugh, "Va bene. Stavo lasciando comunque." (It's fine. I was leaving anyway.) She dismissed. She gave him a smile, "Divertiti." (Have a good time.) She said, her eyes flickering to his gloved hand before walking off.

The man looked after her, eyes shining with recognition. He heard his superior talk into his earpiece before walking the opposite way, clenching his metal fist.

Ana looked to the corner, her stomach dropped when she found Kellard, walking over to Lark and whispering something to him before they both went to the hallway and into an elevator. Lark's men stayed behind, guarding the elevator.

A light bulb went off and she grinned, picking up her dress and frantically running to the elevator. Lark's men looked at her, "Ascensore è fuori uso." (Elevator is out of order.) One of them said gruffly, lifting his hand to wave his fingers in a go away motion.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I only speak English." She laughed, fanning herself with her hand. She gestured to her dress and pulled her best puppy dog eyes, "Can you point me to the lady's bathroom? I'll be quick." She said.

One of them smirked at her, looking her up and down. He gave a nod to the one next to him. He opened his arm for her to take, "Let me show you." He said in an Italian accent.

Ana grinned at him, internally gagging. "Thank you handsome." She giggled, taking his arm.

They walked further down the hall where no one was around. He smirked at her and opened the door with his free arm, "Here you go, beautiful. Do you need help with cleaning up?" He asked.

"Actually, yes." Ana smirked at him, dragging him inside and locking the door behind them. She lifted her dress with her back to him, hearing him chuckle in delight. She grabbed her dagger and enclosed them in her hand. As she turned to face him, she placed her hands behind her back, giving him a seductive smile.

"You going to help me take it off or what?" She questioned.

The man practically sped to her. She glowered at him and instantly pushed him up against the wall, pointing her dagger at his throat. She saw him groan and felt him for any weapons. When she found a pistol, she removed it from his back holster and aimed it at him, stepping back.

"Tell me where Lark and Kellard are, or I'll leave a very chunky piece of art on these walls." She threatened. She wouldn't actually kill him, just to scare him into talking. Killing isn't something she does.

The man raised his hands up in surrender and gulped, staring at the barrel of the gun aimed at his head. "Geez lady, okay. They're on the top floor, second room to the right. But there's men on the entire floor, you'll never get past them." He rushed out.

Ana wondered where his confident and disgusting behaviour went. She grinned at him and lowered her gun, making him sigh out. "Thank you."

She then shot forward and punched his head into the wall, knocking him out. He fell to the floor and she grabbed one of his legs and dragged him to any empty stall. She checked in the last stall, seeing there was a window above and stepped on the toilet seat, opening the window.

She clicked her earpiece, "This is Agent Michaels, I'm in the east wing of the second floor. Need my suit. I'm closing in on Lark. Over."

She waited for a few seconds before she looked down and saw a person dressed like an old man pushing a small basket in front of him. He opened his basket and she heard the faint click of a button before the package was airborne, floating up to her. She snatched the pack as the man continued walking.

"Thanks, Rivers."

"Good luck, Michaels. Over and out."

- - -

Ana jumped onto the rooftop of the building, feeling the breeze blow her hair. It was really dark out and all she had to do was find out where Lark and Kellard were and just listen in on the time of export. She used her enhanced hearing to pinpoint Kellard's British accent, scrunching her nose up in disgust when she heard some disturbing sounds.

She perked up, finally hearing Kellard. She ran over to the other side of the building and slipped onto the outer perches, gripping onto the column when her feet slipped for a second. Her heart pounded in her chest as she shuffled to the side, the voices getting clearer and louder. She stopped in her tracks, listening closely.

"You have a very impressive collection. A collection that caught the eye of my employer." Lark said.

"Let's cut to the chase, American. You give me five million up front, I deliver your weapons." Kellard replied. Ana edged a little closer and peeked through the window. She could see the men drinking, sitting down on expensive sofas.

"When will they hit American soil? My employer likes things to be on time, he doesn't like to wait. He has a temper." Lark said, putting down his glass and intertwining his hands on his lap.

"Tonight eleven o'clock, at the Port of Civitavecchia. They will be shipped, in your country in about two days. So, where's the cash?" Kellard asked bluntly.

That was all Ana needed to hear. She went to climb down when she heard a gun being loaded. It didn't come from the room and she looked at the building in front of her, seeing a man with a sniper rifle aimed at her, or rather the window.

She saw a glint from the man's arm, and quickly pulled out her pistol that had a silencer. She aimed it at him and they both pulled the trigger. The glass next to Ana shattered and she heard a yell, before another bullet was fired, ending the sound. She glanced in the room and saw the men were both dead, a bullet hole on the side of their heads.

Ana jumped forward, about ten metres to the next building. She latched onto the fire escape and climbed up, going after the shooter. She heard the sounds of his footsteps get quieter as she jumped onto the rooftop. She looked down and saw the two bullet shells, also a spatter of blood.

She hurt him. She ran after him, thinking he was going to ruin the export plans. She had to get there first. Ana jumped onto the next building, squinting her eyes when she saw the metal again. She was getting closer.

She could smell the sea and knew she was at the Port of Civitavecchia. Ana skidded to a stop, hearing the yells of men and shots being fired. She suddenly felt sick, this wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a simple mission, in and out, that's all. Now this man with a metal arm had ruined everything. Fury was going to be pissed.

She saw a boat house, the sounds coming from inside. She jumped down and dashed inside, readying her daggers. But when she got inside, it was quiet.

Bodies, around ten, were all on the floor with blood staining the ground. She looked to the side, her eyes catching a man dragging himself across the floor. She approached him, clutching her daggers tight.

"Please, please, please, don't kill me. I have a family. A wife, two boys." He mumbled, and Ana widened her eyes, seeing he had no hands and was using his elbows to move.

She stepped on a bullet casing, making it screech against the floor and the handless man snapped his head to her, widening his eyes in fear, "No! Please!" He yelled.

Ana held her hands up, "I'm not going to kill you. I just want to know who did this." She said gently, walking closer.

He looked up at her, shaking and sweating profoundly. He opened his mouth about to answer, when his eyes glanced behind her, seeing the man.

Ana turned around instantly and threw her dagger, hitting him in the shoulder. The man recoiled with a groan, but pulled out his gun and shot in her direction. She froze, her muscles stiffening. It was when she realised he had shot the man behind her she ran at him.

He dropped his gun and when she hit his body, he wrapped his arms around her back and pushed her up against the wall harshly. Ana groaned when she felt the wooden planks dig into her back. He smirked at her underneath his mask as she looked down at him, recognising his eyes.

"You."

"Me."

- - -

An hour later, Ana was strapped down onto a chair with chains. She could get out of her restraints easily, but he didn't know that. She watched him walk around the place, opening each crate and speaking into his earpiece in Russian. She looked at his metal arm, wondering what accident forced him to get one.

Ana wanted to know who he worked for, but it was difficult when the person on the other side of his ear comm didn't respond. Maybe it was another gang, stealing the weapons for themselves, but she didn't think the Russian, metal arm wearing man with pretty blue eyes would work for such a group.

"Kak dolgo ya dolzhen smotret, kak ty otkrytiya korobki?" (How long do I have to watch you opening boxes?) She asked, tilting her head to the side to show her boredom.

The man looked at her, eyebrows raised. He then chuckled and closed the crate he was looking into, walking towards her. "Vy govoryat na russkom tozhe. Chto yeshche?" (You speak Russian too. What else?) He asked, bending down to look at her.

Ana played along, her hands that were tied behind her back reaching for her emergency alert signal. "Kazhdyy yazyk, izvestnyy cheloveku. I Bog." (Every language known to man. And God.) She said, giving him a smile.

He nodded at her, before leaning forward, his face millimetres apart form hers and reached behind her back, taking her hand in his metal one. She bit her lip, looking at the ceiling when he removed her hold on her device, "Oops." She mumbled.

"Oops." He repeated before crushing her hand, breaking the bones. She lurched forward at the pain and cried out.

The man stepped back and crossed his arms in front of his chest. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, "You're going to regret that, asshole." She said. She broke her cuffs and tackled him.

His back hit the floor with a thud as she fisted his collar and lifted his head to head butt him. She couldn't use her broken hand to beat him up but her other one worked perfectly fine. She removed her hold in his clothes and punched him across the face.

"Enough, Ana!"

Ana stopped and got of him only to lift him back up, she glared at him. She also heard his American accent. "How do you know my name? Have you been tailing me? Who the hell do you work for?!" She shouted.

The Winter Soldier sighed and wiped away the blood from his cheek. "They said you'd do that." He murmured, looking at the blood on his hands.

She went to hit him again but he pushed away from her and aimed his gun at her, "Now, I can't kill you but I can hurt you." He warned and she lowered her breathing before giving him a growl, waiting impatiently for her answers.

"I won't tell you anything," He gestured to the ear piece giving her a pointed look, before lowering the gun and pointing to himself. Ana just furrowed her eyebrows when he motioned for her to hit him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked, groaning when her hand started to heal itself, the bones realigning very slowly and painfully.

He rolled his eyes and pulled out his ear piece before crushing it with his boot. Ana stepped back when he walked to her, "We don't have much time, Ana, they will be here in minutes." He rushed out.

"What are you talking about? Who are 'they'?" She asked, her anger replaced with confusion.

He grabbed her elbows and looked her in the eye, "You go back to SHIELD, you say the gang was shot down by the Winter Soldier, and that he didn't say a word to you. Understand?" He questioned.

Ana just looked into his blue eyes, "But how do you know me?" She asked.

"I can't remember."

- - - - -

Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait I was busy with school. I hope you enjoyed, another filler chapter will be posted soon and please comment!

Q- I am no longer functioning normally after Civil War, are you?

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