Here's to being human and taking it for granted

With Virginia's current attention span for her desk work, or lack there of, she'd been working on something else on the side. During the moments she couldn't focus on the work she should be doing for her business, she started focusing on something else, keeping her mind busy. Lately, it had been tracking something down. Not the fun sort of things, like new art pieces for her condo or potential new members for her team. Now, this was tracking down a group. She'd been hearing the rumors around the city lately. It was small talk, stuff only really heard in the heroing realm. And that was probably for the better. She knew pretty damn well if it started becoming public news that people were starting to go missing then there would be a lot of uproar, considering the ages of most of them. The targets all seemed to have one thing in common, they were living off the streets. Most were young, under the age of eighteen. A smaller percent was between twenty and thirty. Any older than that didn't seem to be appearing as missing. Occasionally, there was a poster, people noticing, but nothing really talked about. People going missing like this was never a good sign, though. And she knew that.

It'd taken quite a bit of digging a few nights of patrolling to catch sight of what was really happening. Sure enough, someone was taking the people off the streets. Luring them away to incapacitate them before taking them away in the back of a car. Every fiber in her body had wanted her to go after them right then and there but she knew that she had to plan. She had to follow first, find out what was going on, then act. And that was exactly what she'd done. She hated the fact that taking so long was endangering other lives, but she knew that this had to be taken care of in a careful way. And she also knew that she couldn't do it all by herself. Her nightly patrols and investigations gave her everything she needed to know and from their she started to plan. She had considered contacting Aileen or T'Shan to help her with this, knowing they'd both be excellent in assisting, but they were both still trying to pull themselves together from the dopplegangers. Rupert was away on another mission and she didn't want to bother any of the reserves. So that left James. She wasn't going to lie, most of that was probably an excuse to contact James first about the mission. She'd deny that fact vehemently, however.

For the moment, she just had to wait. She had given him the small details: who, what, where, and when. The basics. She could go into more depth if she needed to when he got there. But for now, it was time to wait. She was doing her best to stay hidden on the rooftop opposite the warehouse. "Always a warehouse," she muttered. So cliche. Staying sat in her armor was a bit uncomfortable, but at least it could do it. She didn't need to be seen too soon, after all. Imagine how many red flags that could set off for the people down below, doing heaven knows what manner of experiments on the kids inside the building. The last thing she needed was them to terminate their guinea pigs and get out before she got her chance. So she waited, the face plate of the armor up so she could feel the cool night air just slightly. "Hurry up, Jimmy."

xxx	James Barnes Jr
hope this is an okay start. sorry if it's a bit short. and if you have a better title for the thread, let me know, because i'm not really sure about the one i picked xD

The highs and lows of living, to getting second chances

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The modified '66 Impala streaked through the sky as Cap brought it towards the rendezvous with Ginnie. James hadn't had much information from her, only that she needed his help with an operation. He knew better than to question her. He wasn't sure if it was an official Avengers operation or just a team up between the two of them. His radio blared "Jumping Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones as he flew.

He wasn't entirely sure what was going on between the two of them, but he wasn't knocking the idea of spending some more time with Ginnie. Even if it was in an official capacity. He flipped an autopilot switch on for a few moments, while he readied himself. He checked the .45 to make sure it was loaded and working, before slipping it back into the holster, then he pulled his mask up and readied himself for battle.

James switched the radio off and then flipped a few switches, switching the hover-car's EM shielding on. This would prevent whatever he was going into from detecting errant signals from the car's extra systems. The car came to the warehouse that Ginnie wanted him to meet her at. Normally, he would have jumped out and used the shield to soak up some of the impact, but he felt like stealth was the name of the game here. He flipped a few more switches.

The Impala banked around the building and came near the side that Ginnie was on. The door opened and James came running out, the car never stopping as it spun around in a 180 on the hover pads and took off in the opposite direction as quickly as it arrived. It was a flashy entrance, true, but it would be the fastest way to get the car out of there. It was hard to hide a flying car visually. Not to mention, he just wanted to impress Ginnie a little.

He came to rest next to Iron Maiden. "What is it with bad guys and warehouses? Do you think there's a real estate broker that leases these out to these guys?" He smiled at her. "What's the situation, Maiden?"

Here's to being human and taking it for granted

The words 'stood up' came to mind for half a second as impatience started to creep into the woman's mind. She already felt as though she'd been putting off this job for far too long. The number of homeless in New York was already astonishing, the number that were noticeably missing versus the number of actually missing could be so different, people wouldn't normally notice it, not necessarily. That's what made these sort of events all the more terrifying, if she were going to be completely honest. And yet, she also knew that all those thoughts, all those little ideas running through her head, going hundreds of miles a second, were useless. Because no matter how much time she might think was going by, the seconds ticking away as though they were moments, weren't as long as they actually were. They were just manifestations of her own doubt, her own worries dragging her down, making time seem almost as though it were taking forever to go past. Purely psychologically. But it hardly mattered.

The second a car pulled up beside the roof (something she almost wished she could truly question but knew that she couldn't), a smirk wanted to play across her lips. "You're late," she she said, trying to keep her tone neutral, though that didn't stop the expression on her face from making what should have been a reprimand sound more like teasing. She would have much rather he went a bit stealthier, though she knew that he wouldn't do anything that would put a wrench in a mission, no matter how little information he had going into it. At least she was good at keeping herself from chuckling at the show. His little comment should have made her do such, but instead she rolled her eyes. "If they did, I'm surprised they aren't richer than me yet." Although it was almost amusing, their thoughts had certainly lined up in regards to these people's real estate.

Part of her wished she had gotten around to updating the suit already. She needed to hologram emitter put into to make for simpler plan detailing in moments like this. She'd have to tell JARVIS to update her 'to-do' list once they started moving. Bringing her face plate down, she shifted to look at him properly, still trying to keep out of sight. "Homeless have been taken off the streets for weeks. Farthest known I know is about a month ago when reports starting. Knowing the population of New York, it was likely only noticed when it was children that started to vanish. Bodies have shown up a few times in the bay, but media has been spinning it as gang violence, senseless murders, you know New Yorkers," she started. This was going to be longer than she thought. "I'm been tracking down reports for a couple of weeks, finally caught them picking someone up a few days ago, tracked it down here. Human experimentation. Chance of survival at less han fifty percent from what I could find so far. I don't know what they're doing this for, but my guess is trying to find the ones that can survive the experimentation, use them to build some army. I would suspect HYDRA, but that might just be the American in me really hoping to kick some Nazi ass." She smirked under the plate. Wouldn't that be the dream. She could just imagine telling her father that story. "Warehouse is rather secure. Detection is on the upper floor, security is tight on the lower level, so we need to get in quietly and take the upper hand. Sometimes, it makes me wish I thought of having a stealth suit," she laughed. "Questions? Comments? Concerns? Or are you ready to figure out how to get in and make sure that no more people have to die just for someone else's selfish war attempts?"

enough	James Barnes Jr
i hope this post is alright >///< sorry if it's sucky. as always, let me know if you want me to change anything.

The highs and lows of living, to getting second chances

✿

"Late? You never gave me a time. You told me to show up here when I could." He gave her a lopsided smile. "Besides, if I got here before you, then you would have missed the entrance. I spent a week tuning up the stealth suite on the car too. It would have been a waste."

As Ginnie pointed out that the person would be almost as rich as she was if not richer, James smiled. "Maybe I'll go into the business. Then we'll know where every villain is in the city beforehand. It will make our lives easier." He looked around at the skyline and then back at Ginnie. "So, was there a purpose to this visit or did you just want to see me again? Because, all you had to do was ask. Not that I don't mind admiring the armor, of course."

He listened as she laid out the situation and the scenario. It made James angry inside. He didn't like the thought of anyone being experimented on against their wills. He'd broken up a lot of operations like that as the Winter Soldier and it made something in his blood boil. He inhaled and exhaled once. His face was tight for a moment. She wanted to go the stealth route. That meant not crashing through the skylight with his shield. He had to think it through.

"Well, usually, Nazis are more of a 3rd date kind of thing, but we'll let it slide this time." He gave her a quick smile. Then he looked at her suit. "That's not exactly the stealthiest way to get into the building. I've got a few tools that could do the trick. Do you have any suggestions before my imagination runs wild?" He gave another smile. "This is your operation, Iron Maiden. I'll follow your lead and contribute where I can."