Once Steve and Natasha were inside, Sam checked the area outside with caution. Seeing no one else, he closed the glass door and pulled the curtain shut.
Inside, Steve and Natasha borrowed Sam's bathroom to clean up.
After freshening up, Steve looked at Natasha and asked, "You okay?"
Natasha, towel in hand as she dried her hair, didn't respond immediately.
Steve walked over and asked again, "What's wrong?"
Natasha explained, "When I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought it was so upright and noble."
"But in the end, it was just moving from the KGB to Hydra."
"I thought I knew who I was lying for, but…"
"Now, I'm not so sure anymore."
Steve tried to comfort her, "Everyone makes wrong turns in life."
Natasha gave a small smile and said, "You saved me. I owe you one."
Steve shook his head, "It's nothing."
Natasha looked at Steve intently and said seriously, "If it were me, and your life was in my hands…"
"Honestly, would you trust me with it?"
Steve met her gaze and replied earnestly, "Now I would."
Noticing Natasha's surprised expression, Steve added, "I never lie."
Natasha replied, "Realizing you sacrificed yourself for nothing, and you're still so optimistic."
Leaning back in his chair, Steve chuckled, "I'm just glad I know who the enemy is now. I destroyed Hydra once, and I'll do it again."
At that moment, Sam appeared at the door and said, "Hey, breakfast is ready."
"Time to enjoy the simpler things in life."
The two stepped out of the room and joined Sam at the table. After finishing breakfast, they began analyzing the events of the previous night.
Natasha asked, "The question is, who in S.H.I.E.L.D. has the authority to launch missiles within our borders?"
After a moment of thought, Steve answered, "Pierce."
Natasha added, "He happens to be at the top floor of the safest building in the world. Well, maybe not the safest, but we can't afford to hire ninjas."
Steve continued, "He's not acting alone. Zola's algorithm is on the Lemurian Star. Someone either retrieved it or delivered it there."
Natasha quickly connected the dots, "Jasper Sitwell is on board."
Steve asked, "The problem is, how do two of Washington's most wanted criminals kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. official in broad daylight?"
At that moment, Sam approached with a file in hand, placing it on the table.
"You don't need to kidnap him," Sam said.
Steve looked at the file and asked, "What's this?"
Sam replied, "Think of it as a résumé."
Natasha picked up the file and flipped through it.
"Is this from Paramaribo?" she asked.
"You participated in the Khalid Kandil mission," Natasha remarked.
She turned to Steve, saying, "You didn't mention he was an aerial rescue specialist."
Steve looked at the photo of a group and asked, "Is this Riley?"
Sam nodded, "That's right."
Natasha noted, "I heard helicopters couldn't get in because of RPGs."
"What did you use? Stealth parachutes?"
Sam replied, "No, we used this."
He flipped the file to the next page.
Steve stared at the content and then looked at Sam, "You said you were a pilot."
Sam chuckled. "I never said that."
Looking at the document, Steve shook his head, "I can't ask you to help, Sam."
"You retired for a reason."
Sam countered, "Come on, man, Captain America is asking me for help. Isn't that reason enough?"
Steve smiled faintly before asking, "Where can we get this equipment?"
Sam answered, "The last set is in Fort Meade, behind three security doors and a twelve-inch steel wall."
Steve thought for a moment, "That shouldn't be too much of a problem."
Natasha interjected, addressing Steve, "You go help Sam retrieve the Falcon gear. I'll secure some backup for our mission."
"You wouldn't want us to face S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enhanced squad on our own, would you?"
She continued, "You've probably heard: Konoha, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure are all selling physical enhancement serums. Meanwhile, Otogakure has developed the Curse Mark of Fire—similar to the late Chen Haoran, the Flaming Hero who controlled fire."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has acquired a batch of these Curse Marks, and they even started a special course at the Academy, hiring Kirigakure ninja as instructors."
The thought of facing an army of enhanced agents made Steve uneasy. Even for him, going up against a large number of superpowered individuals could easily result in disaster.
"Who are you planning to ask for help?" Steve inquired.
Natasha pulled out a Continental Hotel coin engraved with the Konoha ninja emblem. She flicked it into the air and caught it.
"Sometimes, this thing is worth more than most people realize."
Steve glanced at her and said, "Be careful. Once you're done, meet us back here at Sam's place."
Natasha nodded. The three of them split up, heading in different directions.
Steve and Sam went to Fort Meade to retrieve the Falcon equipment, while Natasha disguised herself and headed to the Continental Hotel.
Truthfully, she would have preferred to visit the Charles Agency directly. However, she knew that every ninja village's outpost was under remote surveillance by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at this time.
Showing up there would certainly lead to her being apprehended.