❛ I'll bet Steve's shield ❜

It was late into the night and the Avengers were just now cleaning up their dishes from the late dinner they had munched on as a group. Immediately after the consumption of a Sokovian soup that Wanda had generously prepared, Andy slumped into a bar stool and started going down her list of names in her journal to see what the maximum number of suspects she would need to register into her algorithm. She was feeling quite frustrated, but the home-cooked meal definitely made her whole day, and she sat next to Ned Leeds arguing passionately with Peter Parker about which Star Wars movie, which was the most eventful thing about her day. According to Ned, Andy wasn't allowed to express her opinion because she hadn't watched every film in the saga, and she didn't particularly want to.

As she was scribbling down notes in the margin of her journal, Sam Wilson entered the kitchen to look yet again for anything that would remotely contain sugar. "Damn, Steve and his passion for eating healthy," he muttered under his breath while reaching for the top cabinet to search for something that could satisfy his cravings. "I hid some Poptarts in the bread drawer," Andy said with an emotionless tone to her voice. Sam whipped around to see the girl completely focused on the task at hand and he shrugged, pulling open the door. 

"I don't see em'," he told her, a huff leaving this breath. They're in individual sandwich bags inside the gluten-free bread bag. They're behind the loaf so you'll need to take the bread out," she replied. Sam retreated back inside the drawer and let out a small chirp of happiness when he succeeded in finding the sugar-filled pastry. "Nice hiding place, small-fry. Not even Cap found it," he chuckled, stuffing the bread back inside and nibbling on the treat.

Andy shrugged and flipped a page in her journal, scanning her eyes over the text. "Not even Steve knows all my secrets."

Sam mumbled an 'amen' before plopping into a stool next to Andy and observing what she was working on. "Homework?"

"Classified," she sighed, finally looking up. "This is supposed to help me find out who Thunderbird is, which will tell me who my target at school is. But none of it is coming together because my algorithm isn't working, yet."

Sam pursed his lips and took the book from her hands, beginning to read all the remarks she wrote down next to the female names. "You mean equation," he smirked, flipping another page. Andy rolled her eyes and watched Nat enter the room from the staircase. "I meant algorithm."

Sam tossed a playful glance at her before opening his mouth to question some of her notes, "Has enough energy to be suspect, not tall enough, too involved in her own idiocy, fear of lightning, could be suspect due to reaction time. Okay, so this is your reasons for why or why not," he summarized, mesmerized by the work a fourteen-year-old was capable of. Andy nodded and looked over at Natasha who had snapped a piece of Poptart off of Sam's when he wasn't looking and was now munching on it. "What are you measuring your calculations on?" Sam wondered, sliding the book back to the adolescent.

"That depends and varies based on the people I meet. I would say there is about fifteen hundred kids or so in here, and I crossed off at least seven-hundred and fifty because of their gender. So I started basing my decisions on who 'is' or 'isn't a suspect' according to intelligence, appearance, and common sense. Thunderbird is skilled, about five-seven, has a clear association with lightning, and has enough energy to attend school, plan appearances, and commit crimes."

Sam stared at the girl for a second, letting all that she had told him sink into his brain. After a moment of silence, he let out a low laugh and shook his head in admiration for her talent. "Damn, you would have been some real help some years back in D.C.," he laughed. "Hell, we could have used you in anything. No wonder Steve never shuts up about you. It's like him talking about a sister he never had."

Andy looked down at the counter, not knowing what to say to her friend. Her eyes met Natasha's after a second and she could see Nat grinning from ear to ear as if she was waiting for someone else to appreciate her girl, Melisande. "If we're done trying to find Thunderbird, I believe I asked you to look into another mission," Nat spoke up.

The attention of the brunette was in full motion once more and she pulled her laptop from her backpack by her feet and quickly starting typing on it. Natasha had asked the girl two days prior to find another deal that they could potentially stop, or even hinder. And Andy had exceeded Nat's expectations, or she would once she informed her of the find.

"I hacked into several networks before I found radio between two guys. And whatever they were saying related to the deal I interfered with weeks ago. I found out that two dealers are taking the subway tomorrow at six-ten to Saratoga Springs, where three other guys are interested in buying."

"Will they have the weapons on them?" Sam inquired, huddling around Nat and Andy as they looked at the statistics on one of Andy's many spreadsheets. The brunette shook her head and pointed to a column that was organized by dates and locations, "It looks like they're going over the sale tomorrow. The weapons themselves are going to be shipped to this location in three weeks," she reported, tracing her finger along the screen. "That's the only sale I have tracked so far."

"It's your call what we do Andy. Who's going with you?" Nat wondered. Andy pursed her lips and took a deep breath before closing her laptop slowly, "Wanda isn't nearly mission ready, you know, with her first fight being two months ago. And Steve and Vision aren't exactly low-key, obviously. Also, I think a group of four is really pushing it, besides, I haven't exactly seen Rhodes in hand to hand, and I'm not comfortable not knowing my team's skills. So you two and I will go undercover on the subway. And we'll engage if we see a weapon or anything unexpected happens," she planned out, looking at Sam and Nat who had moved to the opposite side of the counter.

"So, say casual clothes, a hat, and sunglasses? That should conceal our identities," Nat jumped in. The two Nat was speaking to nodded and briefly went over further details and information needed for the one mission. It had been a long while since Andy worked with anyone else directly in the field, but she had learned her skills from Nat and didn't see any harm in seeing what Sam had to offer to the table. Her only concern was that something would go wrong, and civilians would get hurt in the process. Not to mention she had to call in sick to work tomorrow afternoon because she wouldn't have time to both kick ass and serve sandwiches.

•••

Decked out in a black ball cap and dark sunglasses, Andy sat in a casual blue jacket on a bench in the subway that was closer to the front of the cart. The one car had maybe a dozen and a half people and wasn't particularly full as rush hour traffic had died down an hour prior. The girl had her right hand lifted to her ear with the phone tangled in her fingers and she was talking to Natasha. The red-haired assassin was dressed like a businesswoman returning from a late meeting in a black skirt and blouse, and her phone was also to her ear, though like Andy, she had a bluetooth in to communicate with her teammates. Sam, on the other hand, was wearing a leather jacket and ball cap, like the other two, and was talking plainly on the bluetooth system. The three were spread across the car, all sitting in various sections around different people. But the two dealers stood out from the rest as they were dressed plainly in black with cheap glasses covering their eyes.

"You guys see em', too, right?" Sam wondered, glancing over his should at Andy who was seated in the front of the car opposed to the back. "On my five and eleven? Not hard to miss," Andy retorted, a light scoff leaving her lips. "Keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary, we just want to follow them and stop the exchange," Natasha informed the two, stopping their judgment calls of the men.

"I thought the plan was to engage before they get off?" Andy wondered, knowing that was the plan because she herself made it. She knew taking more people on this mission would enable them to doubt her skills and change the plan, and it annoyed her to an extent because if Steve wanted the Avengers to be involved from the start, he wouldn't have asked Andy for help. "Plans change, we have to roll with the punches," Nat replied, looking over her shoulder to glance at the teenager.

"Not mine," Andy growled through clenched teeth. "You can't go changing my plans, not when I had this under control. We'll roll with the punches so long as nothing goes unexpected and we don't need to engage. We'll make the call when the time is right."

Andy could practically see Nat rolling her eyes but before the red-head could respond, Sam let out a whistle, "Is this going to start a cat-fight, because I don't think Steve would be too thrilled to hear we failed a mission because of an argument over leadership."

"It's not an argument," Andy snapped. "Besides, Steve isn't here, and he isn't making the calls over me, not anymore. I've been on my own for a while and stopping because I'm now a--" she stopped, trying to find a word that wouldn't reveal too much to the people around her. So before she could say 'undercover agent,' she rushed out the words 'foster child' and called it a sentence.

"Now, let's finish this so I can get to bed before three. I have a project to work on tomorrow."

Sam scoffed and muttered something about not missing high school while Andy kept a lookout for anything abnormal in the car. Natasha and Andy were the two that were trained spies so they were better at keeping their eye out and on all the people, but Sam was the trained intelligence after military training and experience, so his skills came in handy with finding out exactly what was going on.

But it was safe to say that no one was able to expect what was going to happen. Andy sat up straighter when she saw the man decked in black stand to his feet, and Natasha let out the words: "Up and at em'," as a warning signal to Sam. The Falcon turned in his seat and watched Andy who was now standing and holding onto a metal pole with her eyes fixed on the two dealers. The question running through all their minds was 'what's going on?' The three Avengers combined were not ready for a fight at this second. Natasha planned to engage after they got off the subway and to their destination, but Andy planned to let the thugs buying the guns go free in the city and stop only the dealers. Her plan was more simple and risk-reducing, but Nat was insistent on the plan going her way. Neither girl expected their plans to merge.

"What can you see, Piracy?" Sam asked, knowing that Andy had the best sight on the two. Her eyes followed the men as they joined together and began walking to her end of the car, and she pressed herself against the pole and behind a civilian to let them pass. She needed to blend in, and at that moment, that's what she was doing. "I think we may have to go somewhere," she whispered into her comms., seeing as the men were now standing in front of a group of people sitting on the bench. "We were so focused on our dealers," Nat began, "We didn't even consider that the buyers would be aboard, too."

"Does this mean they have the weapons with them?" Sam inquired, concern flooding his voice. "No, there's no place for them to stash em'. This is just the commencement of their sale," Andy replied, keeping her voice hushed so the older woman in front of her wouldn't hear. "Andy, we can't see what's going on over there, this is on you now," Nat instructed her.

In any other situation, Andy might have been nervous that all the pressure was on her. But this wasn't a normal situation and Andy was trained for this kind of thing, and other things among that. Besides, to Andy, school was more stressful. She discovered that she hated school more than she hated teenagers, and that was huge because she despised teenagers more then she despised people telling her what to do. 

Ignoring the slightest feeling of fear, Andy looked over at the group of now five people just as the subway rolled to a stop. Thankfully, everyone got off aside from the three Avengers and five suspects, so in case of anything, no one would get hurt. Even better, no one got on the subway because the stop was for a rich area of town and people were trying to get home to their families, not away from them. 

"Okay, one of the three guys sitting just pulled out an envelope. I'll bet Steve's shield that it' money," Andy told the other two over their systems. "I hope you realize, us being the only other people in this car makes us look suspicious, especially since we're talking to each other," Sam said.

Nat sighed, "Yeah, we're going to have to engage, our cover is about to be blown."

Andy smirked and cracked her finger and tilted her neck to the side to stretch, "Fine with me. I've been wanting to punch someone's face in since Steve showed up at my doorstep."

"Well, here's your chance. We'll follow after you," Nat suggested, gesturing for the girl to stand. Andy shrugged and wandered over to where the group of five was talking. She tapped on one man's shoulder and smiled innocently as he turned around. "Hi, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you knew how much longer till we get to Saratoga Springs. I wouldn't normally ask, but you know, some weapons dealers are heading over there and I'm in the mood to show them the inside of a prison cell," she said, a small smile on her lips.

The men exchanged looks and soon everyone was on their feet. But not fast enough because as soon as what looked like the leader turned around, Andy drove her fist into his nose. That was the moment where everything started going downhill - for the other people. It was five to three and Andy was the one Avenger given two opponents. Because according to the logic of a trained assassin and retired pararescueman, give the teenage girl with the ability to hack things the job of taking on two grown men in hand to hand combat.

But Andy was actually faring well as she had already knocked one of the men out cold and was now fighting a single opponent. On the other side of the car, Natasha was partnered with Sam and they were taking on the three men and weren't failing, nor were they succeeding. It seemed as if the one dealer and two buyers they were fighting had experience in this kind of thing, and this wasn't a run-of-the-mill street fight. This was three Avengers standing their ground against five criminals.

As Andy ducked under an incoming fist, her opponent pulled a pistol from his bag and pointed it at the girl. She froze, not daring to move even an inch in fear that the man would fire the weapon and she would be dead. She had been in situations like this before and wasn't scared for her life, but for others. If she died, this mission would be over and people would walk the streets with military-grade technology, and there would be no stopping it. 

"I've heard about you," the man growled, his finger nearing the trigger. "You stopped a big sale several weeks back," he continued. "You're called Piracy. A rogue Avenger, huh?" he grinned, bringing his other hand up to the gun and keeping a tight grip as he got ready to shoot. He called her a rogue Avenger, meaning that he and everyone in his business knew there was an Avenger after them, but they thought she had gone rogue and abandoned her former team. That was exactly what she needed them to think, Steve made it abundantly clear that no one could know the Avengers were in on this until the final fight. 

Andy couldn't die now, she refused to. So at the moment before she anticipated the man to fire the weapon, she leaped forward and tackled him to the ground, the ringing of the gunshot filling the train. 

Natasha and Sam looked backward, hoping it didn't injure their teammate, but what they saw was Andy standing firm with the gun in her hands now aimed at the man who was shaking in fear on the ground. "I hope you enjoy your jail cell," she growled, shoving the gun off to the side and yanking the criminal up, then shoving him against the nearest wall and knocking him unconscious.

Nat and Sam walked away from their group of men that were crumpled on the ground and approached Andy. The car they were gathered in had now rolled to a stop and Andy knew the police were on their way so they didn't have much time to escape.

"Andy, we have to go," Nat told her, a hand wrapped around Andy's wrist and tugging. Andy looked back at her and then glanced at the envelope full of money. "No, there's no proof they were dealing," Andy told her. "Go get the envelope, but put on these," she demanded, tossing a pair of gloves - that she pulled from her pocket - to Sam who rushed away to collect the envelope. 

Meanwhile, Andy grabbed a handkerchief from Nat and wiped down the gun before placing it in one of the dealer's hands. She didn't want her fingertips on anything. Not that it would've mattered as Andy wasn't even real and neither were her fingertips, but she wanted to make sure that this man was going to prison for a long while.

"Done, now we have got to get out of here," Sam urged the women, pointing to the emergency exit that led to the track. Andy nodded and jogged to the door Sam was holding open and jumped out, Natasha following and Sam last. Together, they escaped to inside the subway tracks and let the police enter behind them, looking over the five bodies collapsed on the train floor. 

The mission was a success, no matter how wrong the plan went.

•••

This was not how Andy planned to spend any day of her Thanksgiving Break. She planned to work for Delmar, chat with Pappy, and try to find out more about her parents. She didn't plan to fight five criminals on a moving subway car and try to find out who they were the night after, and this was just the first day of her break.

She already planned to have a nice meal with Pappy the day before Thanksgiving, however, and that would be spent at her apartment that she needed to clean. And the Avengers had told Andy they were also cooking a Thanksgiving meal and for once they were going to act like they all loved each other. Even Tony Stark was coming, but Andy didn't see a plus side to that. 

But in order to survive Thanksgiving, she first needed to survive the given task of discovering the identities of the dealers. And so far she was at a roadblock. 

Entering the kitchen where Andy was angrily typing away on her laptop was Sam. He grabbed a water bottle and plopped into the stool beside Andy, then looking over her shoulder to see what she had accomplished in the two hours he had been napping. "Nothing," she grumbled, "I have found nothing."

Sam chuckled and pointed to something on the computer, "I see, but that looks like a fragment of something," he told her, his eyes looking at the two names of the men they have been fighting. "Yeah, but when you look them up or search in any database, they don't exist. Just like the last operation I went on, the guys didn't exist."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "So, you're telling me that every person involved in this operation has a scratched identity?"

Andy shrugged and closed her computer, "That's what it looks like. So my only hope now is to find Thunderbird."