His teeth glimmer into another grin, a proud one. Yes, there was always someone better. The fact that she was fully aware of that fact changed the game, somewhat. She wasn't just somebody to be protected, now. She was somebody that could be... on close to equal footing. That was exceedingly rare.

But the enjoyment faded away at the mere thought of Zola.

"The man who invented the algorithm... was in fact, working to aim for the ones who would do such incredibly stupid things. They learned when Captain America brought them down, after all, and he's... exactly that kind of stupid." A faint glimmer of warmth shaded his voice, when he talked about Rogers, but only a very distant, one. "What he was targeting primarily were the people who would do that no matter what. Then the people who'd react to it. Take out the kindling, and no matter how many sparks you might have missed... there won't be a fire. And they can take out the sparks at their leisure."

He wanted to give her a better idea about the twisted genius that Arnim Zola had been. But, try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to compliment the Swiss.

As to her final declaration, he nodded. It was the best option. "That's a better way to do it. I won't make a mistake, but I've been telling you the stakes so that you don't have to rely on me alone. If you don't know what you're fighting against, it's so much easier to fall into a trap." He canted his head.

"How good of a scramble are you talking about?"