shield | b. barnes

"I need you to help me do something illegal."

"Oh look, another dead body."

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[Corinna]

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." I grumble as I climb back into my apartment. I close the window shut and make it a point to lock it before walking into my bedroom. The ringing gets louder and I know that it's Jonathan's phone.

I kneel down and gingerly take the phone out of Jonathan's pant pocket before quickly scooting away from his lifeless body. I look around my room until my eyes zero in on my laptop that's sitting on my nightstand and I quickly hop over Jonathan's body and take my laptop. Opening the lid, I quickly type in my password and glance at the phone screen to see that the caller ID is unknown. Against my better judgment, I answer the call and remain quiet, waiting for the person on the other side to say something first.

"Is it done?" A deep, gravelly voice asks.

I remain quiet for a couple of seconds as I open up my location tracking software. As I wait for it to open up, I debate on whether or not I should reply and decide that I should. I clear my throat and try my hardest to mimic Jonathon's deep voice.

"Yes," I reply, cringing at how silly I sound.

"Good. Meet me at the rendezvous point. The others are in a...situation and the Boss wants us back at HQ."

Before I can say anything, the line ends and I look at my laptop in dismay. The call barely lasted 10 seconds so I didn't even get the vicinity of where the call was coming from. With a sigh, I exit out of the software before shutting my laptop and throwing it to the side. Still perched on the side of my bed, I frown at Jonathan's phone as I replay the phone call.

The caller's voice sounds familiar, but I can't for the life of me remember whose voice it reminds me of. Shaking my head, I get off my bed as I frown at Jonathan's body.

It's clear that his mission was to kill me. The question is, who wanted me dead in HYDRA? I don't recall making any personal enemies within the twisted organization, but then again, bringing in one of the intelligence community's greatest rumors can definitely make you some enemies. Especially if that so called rumor belonged to HYDRA.

Exiting my bedroom, I take my phone out of my back pocket to check the time and see that it's been more than 20 minutes since I called Trisha.

"Where the hell is Trisha, she should've been here by now." I grumble to myself as I stuff my phone back into my pocket and make my way to the window in my living room.

Just as I am about to open the window, I hear a faint knock on my door. I run over to the door and open it to reveal a concerned looking Trisha.

"Okay, what's going on? Are you having another existential crisis?" Trisha asks as she pushes past me to enter my apartment. I roll my eyes at her words and close the door before turning around to reply.

"No," I reply with a scoff as I walk past Trisha, "I uh ... need you to help me do something illegal."

"Illegal? Can you elabor- wait. Is that blood on your shirt?" Trisha asks as she enters the dimly lit living room. She grabs me by shoulders as she examines my shirt with wide eyes.

"It's not mine." I say quietly. Trisha gives me a pointed look before stepping away from me.

"What did you do?" Trisha asks with a sigh as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"There might be a dead body in my bedroom." I answer sheepishly before turning around to walk to my room.

"What?!" Trisha shrieks.