[616] ground zero for trouble

[daughterofliberty]

"Remember, Nick," she calls, buckling the utility belt of her suit. "I've got years of vacation time saved up. You owe me. After this, I'm taking five whole days in Virginia with Steve, and no one is going to bother us. Right?"

Fury scoffs, and she turns a gimlet eye on him. "Right?"

"Right," he says, holding up his hands in surrender. "Hell, Carter, it's not like the rest of the Avengers and SHIELD aren't around to pick up the slack. Go! You crazy kids have fun. Send a postcard. Let your hair down a little. You've been tense as a wire ever since – "

"I wonder why," she snaps, and he shakes his head. 

"Just saying," he says, as Tony Stark sniggers behind him. Sharon waves them both off, an unruly smile tugging at her mouth.

"I'll check in once I've made contact," she says. "Steve should be waiting for me at the rendezvous."

"Good luck, Agent Carter," Tony says, and she tosses him a crisp half-salute, then heads through the hatch towards the hangar that holds her vehicle: not the Quinjet, not for a mission this small, but the cherry-red convertible that hovers as she enters and taps out the activation code. "Come on, baby," she tells it. "Let's go for a ride."

But when she reaches the rendezvous at Avengers Tower and strides through the door, Steve's nowhere to be seen. 

And, honestly? Neither is the Avengers Tower.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

It's been weeks, now. Weeks, since T'Challa had been waiting for him by the lake with the news. Weeks since it'd been confirmed; since he'd given up all hope.

Steve's had to leave for now, although he'll be back as soon as he can, Bucky knows. He's not sure how much of a difference it'll make. He spends his days taking care of the goats and doing the chores and refusing to think, as much as he can. When he can't stand it any longer in the empty silence of the hut by the lake, he goes to the bar; when he can't stand the company of people he goes back.

He can't refuse Shuri anything when she asks, and so today he's wearing her latest prototype arm, although the only test he's run is to use it to lift his coffee cup. He's pretty certain it's an attempt to re-interest him in the world more than anything else, but it doesn't matter. Not much does.

Not until he glances absently at the door when it opens - situational awareness is a hard habit to break, even when one's not all that sure about survival any more - and bolts to his feet as though he's seen a ghost, coffee mug crashing to the floor as he moves.

Then again, that's exactly what he's seeing, isn't it?

[daughterofliberty]

The sudden movement and crash of splintering crockery has her hand dipping to her sidearm and her back to the wall in less time than it takes to blink –

Only for her to relax once she sees who it is. "Buck," she says, holstering the gun and walking towards him with a pleased smile. "Hey. Have you seen Steve? I was supposed to rendezvous with him, but – "

She gestures around herself at the place that is obviously, demonstrably not Avengers Tower, then casts a crooked grin at him. "I shouldn't have taken that left turn at Albuquerque."

The grin vanishes as her gaze tracks downwards, though, and she frowns at the shattered coffee mug on the floor. "A little tense, aren't you?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"He left this morning," he manages, through lips that feel numb. Her words ricochet through his skull, causing a high-pitched ringing in his ears from shock.

Rendezvous with Steve. With Steve. But -- Steve wouldn't keep this from him, not something like this, he wouldn't, not even if Fury--

Her question hits like a hammer, and a rough, cracked breath of laughter escapes him. "Yeah, you could say that."

He can't stop looking at her as though she'll vanish any second, even as a part of him starts cataloguing a number of tiny details that just don't add up.

[daughterofliberty]

"Hey."

Her frown is deepening now, the longer she looks at him. She takes in his too-long hair, the drawn lines of his face, the arm that's – what is that? It's not the muted silver she's used to seeing. And that look? This one he's giving her? It's not one he's ever directed at her before.

They're not especially close, her and Bucky – so sue her, she's just never really gotten over the part where he kidnapped her just to get Steve's attention – but he means the world to Steve and a hell of a lot more than that to Natasha and it's not like they aren't friendly.

She steps forward, one hand held out like she's trying to soothe a scared wild animal. "Are you okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

The fabric of the suit isn't Wakandan, he notices, and there's something in the angle of her cheekbones that's just a little off. He still can't stop himself from meeting her outstretched hand with his own.

She's not a ghost. She's just ... different.

"As much as I'm gonna be," he says. "Considering that on the other side of that door, you're--"

His throat locks. He can't say it.

[daughterofliberty]

"Oh, no," she says, falling back on an awkward joke as his fingers close around hers. "Don't say it. Brunette?"

This is... weird. Beyond weird. Wrong? Unsettling? His eyes haven't left her face and it's making her a little uncomfortable. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to call Natasha?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"She'd be surprised as hell to hear from you. And glad, too."

He gives himself a second. Just one, then he squeezes her hand gently and makes himself let go.

"Dead," he tells her. Try as he might, he can't stop the twist in his gut, the one that's echoed in the flicker of raw agony in his eyes.

[daughterofliberty]

"...Oh, shit, really?"

She swings around to look at the door. It seems innocuous enough, nothing sinister. Certainly there's nothing about it or what happened when she came through that might lead to the abject misery in his face. "Damn. And I was just about to go on vacation."

But she can't stay flippant when she looks back at him, sees the raw pain in his eyes, in the way he clenches his jaw. "I was fine when I came through here," she tells him, gently. "I don't know if I've stumbled into my future or past or what, but... you know, I've died before. It didn't stick."

The smile she gives him is wry but kind. "Maybe it won't this time, either."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You haven't, actually," he informs her. Deep, deep suspicion's beginning to rattle through his bones; he's been coming to this place too long for it to be any other way.

"Trust me, I'd know."

[daughterofliberty]

"Really?" she says, unimpressed. "It's not like you know me that well, Bucky. Definitely not better than I know me. And yeah: I did. Except I didn't. It was all another one of Fury's little ruses that got way the hell out of hand – Steve never told you?"

That was well before Bucky had come back on the scene, before Steve had ever even imagined his old pal had survived the blast and the fall and been turned into a Soviet super-assassin, but Bucky's been back for ages now. There's been plenty of time to catch him all up on everything that happened before. "It's a good story, except for the parts where my life sucked for multiple years because everyone thought I was dead."

[nerves_of_ice]

He gives her a level look. "Don't I?"

But not only does her reaction cement his suspicion, it's what she says next that grabs his attention.

"I'd like to hear that story. And I think I should buy you a drink. Maybe more than one."

[daughterofliberty]

"Why would you?" she asks, more than a little frustrated. "It's not like we've spent a ton of quality one-on-one time together."

But his second statement has her shaking her head, relenting. "That's the most sensible thing you've said yet. Drinks, and I'll tell you all about how Sharon Carter died and came back to life."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky shakes his head right back at her, then lays his vibranium hand on the bartop. "Whatever she wants, on my tab," he tells Bar, then looks at Sharon.

"It's the back to life part I'm especially interested in," he informs her, flatly. "Because on my side of the door, in what I'm pretty damn sure at this point is a parallel universe, my Sharon Carter - the Sharon who's been pretty much living with me for over a year now, the Sharon who loves me and who I love back? Supposedly that Sharon's dead."

[daughterofliberty]

"You – "

(the Sharon who loves me and who I love back my Sharon Carter for over a year now)

"Lager," she says, weakly, as she sits. "No – vodka soda."

Her mission on the other side of the door is just going to have to wait: it's not every day she gets hit with a bombshell like this. "You?" she says, finally, looking at Bucky. "And me?"

Her mind is racing, screaming but what about Steve?, wondering where the hell Natasha fits into it all, but it tracks, doesn't it? With the way he looked at her. Reached for her. The agony in his eyes. The way her words hit him like bullets. "Parallel universe," she muses, shaking her head again.

"That must be it."

[nerves_of_ice]

The glass materializes in front of her as Bucky nods. "Scotch for me, please. Thanks."

The burn of it helps, even if his metabolism'll power through it like it's water.

"Must be," he agrees. "And yes, you and me. Although I tried to convince you Steve was the better man."

[daughterofliberty]

He is.

She doesn't say it; it would be unkind as well as insulting to this other Sharon, who is probably just as viciously loyal to this Bucky – Bucky Barnes! the multiverse is a weird-ass place – as she is to Steve.

But man, the magically appearing drink is so far from the weirdest thing happening right now that it's practically normal; she picks it up and takes a long swallow. "No wonder you looked like you saw a ghost when I came in," she murmurs, half to herself, and shakes her head.

"Sorry, Buck. That must have been a nasty shock."

[nerves_of_ice]

“You’re right about that,” he says, and tosses back the entire drink before requesting a refill.

It feels strange to hear her call him ‘Buck’, but it’s no weirder than the rest of this.

“So. Not dead?”

[daughterofliberty]

"Right," she says, blinking herself out of the mental spiral she's in.

"This was years ago, before you showed back up again. I'd been working with SHIELD and liaising with the Avengers for – I don't know. A long time. And Steve and I, we'd been together all that time."

She gives him a level look. "I'm not saying that to hurt you, Bucky. It's important for what happened next. Because when Nick Fury wants to send you on a dangerous, long-term undercover assignment, those are the kinds of missions that tend to get blown sky-high when your lover is Captain America."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head at her. “No, I can see it. I just told you he’s the better man, didn’t I?”

Especially without him there to get in the way, it sounds like. Guilt wrenches at him. If he hadn’t - would Sharon, the Sharon he knows, and Steve…?

They could have been happy. He’d seen it, Sam had seen it. And maybe if they had—

He forces himself to concentrate on the here and now.

“Fury, huh?” A scowl creases his brow. “And a long term undercover assignment. Now that’s sounding a little too damn familiar. Okay, go on.”

[daughterofliberty]

Her smile crooks, dimpling one cheek. "Sounds like the me you know disagrees."

Natasha is going to have a field day with this when she hears. If she hears. Maybe this particular parallel universe will just stay Sharon's little secret.

She takes another sip of her drink, that smile fading again. "I didn't get all the details until later, but here's the gist of it: Fury wanted to keep Steve from coming to find me, so he planted a bomb where I was supposed to be and showed Steve a recording of me walking towards it and it exploding."

The chill in her voice could freeze a tropical island. "It was a good video. Steve believed it. And with an explosion like that, Fury told him, there wasn't enough left to identify. That was that: bye bye Sharon Carter, no more Agent 13. Nothing left but a fond memory."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Well, she’s pretty stubborn.” He suspects this Sharon might be as well. She reminds him of what it was like talking with the Sharon he knows in Franche-Comte.

But as he listens to what she’s telling him, everything else fades.

A bomb, T’Challa had told him. He can hear each word falling on the air, gentle but clear, while water lapped at the shore and birds sang. A car exploded. There was a security camera that caught everything. I am sorry, White Wolf.

“I’m going to kill him,” he grits out, between clenched teeth.

[daughterofliberty]

Her lips thin as she presses them together. "Sounds like some things don't change no matter what universe you're in," she says, desert-dry, and leans forward to pull his attention away from his thoughts.

"Bucky, listen to me. If Nick Fury sent me – your Sharon – on some assignment and now claims she's dead and gone in an explosion, don't believe him."

Each word is sharp enough to carve solid rock. "Because he told the world I died and I didn't. I got lost behind enemy lines for years. Years. Alone and cut off from everything and everyone. Even Fury left me there. And when I finally – I'd changed. I was – "

("Remember Sharon Carter? Secret agent? Love of your life? That little fluffbrain worshipped you. Depended on you.")

" – Not the same," she concludes, tamping down the rush of old pain that threatens to well up again.

"If you think there's even a chance that might be happening again, don't let it."

[nerves_of_ice]

Even Fury left me there. The image of Sharon alone, unsupported, trying to survive in a world that thinks her dead sears itself into his mind, and the only thing that keeps him from bolting back through the door is the knowledge that time isn't moving on the other side and the need to gather the intel that might help save her.

If there's a chance, any chance, no matter how slim -- the rest of the world can go to hell. He's going to Madripoor.

"I won't," he swears. "I won't. I'll get the answers. If she's alive, if there's any chance she's alive, I'll find her. I'll get her out." He manages a flicker of a smile. "Steve'll help. And he's not the only one."

[daughterofliberty]

"Good."

She sits back and crosses one leg over the other. "If I'm right and Fury's just being a bastard again, it'll save you some fights down the line, probably. When I finally saw Steve again – that's a story – I was convinced he'd known all along I was alive and left me out in the cold anyway. Took us a while to get over that."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Steve wouldn't do that." Instant and certain, all the way down to the depths of his bones. He can't imagine a universe, any universe, in which Steve Rogers would be capable of such a thing.

"And it wouldn't matter if she hated me, if she didn't remember me, whatever, as long as she's alive and well and happy."