The whole building gave Steve a queasy feeling of dread, he had gone into this mission knowing it was going to be unpleasant and he was going to leave a little heart sore. He had expected his distaste for crule people to grow, but now that he was standing here in the lavish mansion of Anson Sullivan with his digital mask, fake fingerprints and an I.D. reading Jason Haldon, he was almost sick. He'd seen human trafficking in action plenty of times before, but he'd never seen just how much those who ran the operations benefitted. 

"Did you have anything in particular in mind?" Mr. Sullivan asked.

Steve's earpiece came to life. "Tell him your looking for an array of talents." Natasha should have been the one to be standing in Steve's place, this was after all, her expertise. But as life would have it Sullivan didn't do business with women, so she had to run the show through Steve. He didn't mind though, it was nice having a familiar voice in his ear, while in uncharted territory. 

Steve took a glass of champagne from Sullivan. "I would like to see all of the available options and then make my decision." 

The man flashed Steve a brilliant smile. "You're in luck, we just got a new shipment of half trained ones  in."

To Steve's credit he didn't punch the man right then and there. Just nodded and swirled the Chrystal glass.

Sullivan had a whole new complex of buildings three miles behind his estate. He took Steve to a room lined with waiting victims. Three quarters were female, ages twelve to no older than twenty five. The other quarter were male of similar ages, though some were older. The girls were in lacy underwear and the boys in shorts. They had their hands tucked behind their backs and none dared make eye contact with either him or Sullivan. 

"As you can see they're all in good condition. Feel free to inspect them." Sullivan chuckled. "They've learned not to bite." 

Steve didn't make a move, for fear of betraying himself. Just a little longer, I'll get you out of here. He promised them silently.

"Not to your taste?" Sullivan asked, seeing as Steve hadn't moved.

"Oh." Steve cleared his throat. "No no, they're perfect. I trust your quality. How many do you have?"

"Right now I have forty available, but I'll have more ready soon." He picked up the chin of a nearby girl, tilting her head to admire her neck. "You know if traditional women aren't your thing, I might have something to pique your interests." 

Steve raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

Five minutes later Steve was standing watching a cage through a one-way mirror.  It was about six foot tall and just barely larger than a bathroom. Sitting cross legged it the middle was a girl, no likely still in her teens. Her shorts and tee-shirt were ripped as if they had been sliced by kitchen knives and she looked liked she was in the middle of meditating on furious thoughts. Around her neck, blinking regularly was a metal shock collar. But what was most concerning to Steve was the five guards surrounding the cage all armed and focused on her. 

Sullivan leaned against the glass. "She isn't trained yet. But just watch."

Three guards began to unlock the cage door, quietly the girl stood, slightly crouched. Before the first guard even made it all the way into the cage she had sprung. She ducked under his electric baton and hit him in the chest. The power of the blow threw the guard into an adjacent wall. Now the other two guards were in, moving quickly to taze the girl. She dodged most of the attacks, and Steve got a glimpse of her eyes as she went on the attack, black like ravens feathers and the skin around them cracked with black fissures. Trails of wispy black vapor seemed to float from these hairline cuts. She turned to one guard and without touching him, he fell to his knees screaming, hands over his ears. She threw her hand out towards another guard and a cloud of living shadows enveloped his chest. He collapsed immediately. 

"Beautiful, isn't she." Sullivan pushed a button on a remote. 

The girl fell to the floor convulsing and screaming, tearing at the collar around her throat. Steve's heart sank further than he thought it could. Natasha better have gathered enough information by now, because this mission wasn't going to wait. 

Authors notes

What do you guys think?