[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]

"Well, I'm sure old enough," he points out, dryly. "Has to be good for something, right?"

Bucky takes in the way Steve's holding himself and decides to leave it there for now. Mostly.

"I just hope this isn't a wild-goose chase," he says, quietly. "I know it could be - that she could be -- but there's a chance. So yeah, first things first."

[marvel_npc]

"Hey."

He uncrosses his arms to put a warm, heavy hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Whatever happens," he promises, quietly, his eyes steady on his best friend's face, "whatever we find, we'll face it together."

Maybe it isn't smart to latch so completely onto this hope. If it turns out Fury was right all along... he doesn't know what a second, even more crushing disappointment, after all this build up and strain, might do to Bucky. These last few weeks wouldn't even compare.

But he can promise to be there. Whatever happens. To the end of the line. "There's a chance. And if there's anyone I know who can take even the slimmest chance and make it the only possible outcome, it's Sharon Carter."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You're right about that," he says, leaning into Steve's touch just a little. "She's like you, that way."

"The other one said that she - when it happened to her - that she ended up as a mercenary for a while. And did her best to look out for the good guys. Like a guardian angel." The corner of his mouth twitches upward in a rueful hint of a smile. "I can see it. Can't you?"

[marvel_npc]

"Sure," Steve says, easily.

("They're gonna come looking for you."
"I know.")

"She's looked out plenty for us, after all."

[nerves_of_ice]

"She has. And--"

"Do I have to separate the two of you so that you'll stop talking and get some sleep?" Natasha is standing there with her arms crossed and one foot tapping, looking back and forth between them.

[marvel_npc]

Steve has the grace to look a little abashed.

"We're getting there," he says, and lifts his hand from Bucky's shoulder after meeting his best friend's glance with his own slightly guilty one. "But you're right. We need to sleep."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Лисичка," he murmurs, a little fond, a lot wry. "So quick-tempered." He holds up both hands before she can snap at him and adds, "But like Steve said, you're right. Both about this and before - about Yelena."

Natasha shakes her head at him. "You idiot man. Of course I am." She smiles, a little, the hidden worry in her glance easing slightly. "Go to sleep. I promise I'll wake you both if anything happens. Nakia and I are trading watches to keep the pilots company."

[marvel_npc]

"Good," Steve says, and gives her a stern look. "Get some rest yourself, Nat. We're all going to need to be at our best for this op."

She gives him a slightly mocking salute. "Whatever you say, Cap," she tells him, then gives them both a slight, crooked smile and continues moving to the front of the plane to join Okoye, speaking in low voices.

Steve shakes his head and starts for the rear of the cabin. "Come on. Better grab a bunk before she comes back."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You're not wrong," he agrees, and follows Steve to the back of the flyer. Bucky takes the bunk one over from his and slides into it with ease, then sets himself to trying to sleep.

[marvel_npc]

* * *

They set down in a field well outside the city limits, not quite close enough to scent the salt air when the hatch opens and they come down the ramp to blink in the sun and sweat in the humid air.

They're first to the rendezvous and use that time to polish their plan. Sam and Nakia dress in new, garish clothing and have intense, quiet conversations with Natasha and Bucky; Steve and T'Challa and Okoye set up their communications hub with help from Shuri, who remotes in and sets up all the necessary connections.

It's several hours after they've landed when the sound of engines comes roaring from above and another jet sets down.

"Ah," says T'Challa. "The cavalry. White Wolf, perhaps it would be best for me to ease Agent Ross into seeing you."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Probably a good idea," Bucky agrees, and returns to the flyer, where he takes up a position near enough to the ramp to observe what's going on outside without being seen.

Hopefully this'll work. It'll be easier to see if Ross's going to be reasonable about things by having him be faced with the rogue Avengers rather than with one of the world's most wanted terrorists.

[marvel_npc]

It's been a long flight. Where did T'Challa find this girl? Ross had spent most of the trip trying to coax that out of her, but she'd alternated between sniping at him and stubbornly remaining silent.

He safes the controls - just in case - and gives himself a second to dry-swallow an aspirin for the pounding headache while she makes her way out of the jet first.

[marvel_npc]

"Hang back a moment, Captain," T'Challa advises, then strolls to the lowering ramp of the jet, hands clasped behind his back, and nods to the descending figure. She seems hardly more than a girl, he notes; but he has known too many fearsome Dora Milajie to be fooled by her round cheeks and innocent face.

"Yelena Belova," he greets her. "You are most welcome. Thank you for joining us."

She gives him a sharp, assessing look, then purses her lips and blows out a breath. "Fine," she says, shortly. "But next time maybe you can ride with him." She jerks a thumb back at the interior of the plane and rolls her eyes in a way that makes T'Challa think abruptly of Shuri. "Talk, talk, talk. So many questions. 'Who are you?' 'Why did they ask for you?' 'Will you stop pressing buttons before we crash and die?'"

She blows a raspberry and flips a hand. "Tedious. Oh, there is my sister – Natasha!" she yells, waving an arm above her head and jogging past T'Challa, who watches her with bemusement until he hears – "Natasha?"

Everett Ross clambers down to the ground, looking drained and confused. T'Challa steps forward, smoothly. "Welcome, Agent Ross," he says, as calmly as if he were receiving his friend at the Citadel.

"Thank you for coming."

[marvel_npc]

Ross scrubs his hands over his face, then looks up at T'Challa. "No problem. Worth it to put one in Fury's eye for screwing with my agent and my work. Even with the very interesting new team member who just ran off that way."

He grimaces. "I'm guessing she's worked with your War Dogs before, or something? Please tell me she's got useful intel because if you had me pick her up just to drive me crazy, well, it's working."

[marvel_npc]

"I've never met her before in my life," T'Challa admits. "I brought her in on the strength of recommendation from one of my team members alone."

He's positioned himself so that it would be difficult for Ross to see past him, but the man reached his position for a reason, and T'Challa has no desire to lie to him. "Speaking of which, I think it is time I introduced you to the mission team." He gestures for Ross to follow him, then turns to where Steve Rogers is still standing, Natasha and Wilson nearby.

"I think you know Captain Rogers?"

[marvel_npc]

Ross's mouth hangs open for a moment before he manages to get himself the hell together. "We've met," he snaps, tersely. "Your highness, with all due respect, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

[marvel_npc]

"Deputy Commander Ross," Steve says, stepping forward before T'Challa can answer. "I know I'm not your favorite person. I know under any other circumstances it would be your duty to arrest me and my team, and I want you to know, I respect your dedication to your duty."

"Careful, Steve," Sam mutters, but Natasha silences him with a glance as Yelena Belova looks on, curious.

Steve ignores them all for the moment, keeping his earnest gaze on Ross. "But we're here for the same reason as you, today. Because somebody we all care about might be in a whole heap of trouble, and it might take every one of us to get her back out of it again. However you might feel about me, I'm willing to bet you can set it aside if it means getting Sharon out, safe and sound. Am I wrong?"

[marvel_npc]

"She said she was in touch with you," he mutters. "It figures. SHIELD's legacy is never not going to be a pain in my ass, is it? Not to mention--"

Ross blows out a long breath and glares at Steve. "Listen, Captain. I don't have anything against you personally, by which I mean as a person, okay? But you and the rest of the Avengers - including goddamn Tony Stark, by the way - have made my life hell for literal years now. That's what I don't like. I don't like having to deploy my people to deal with increased threat levels among those left in the wreckage after one of your battles, while the Avengers soar off to the next mission instead of working with me. But I'm not stupid enough to pretend that you haven't made the world safer in a lot of ways, either. So if we can work together for once to get my agent out of trouble in fucking Madripoor, then maybe we'll have something to talk about after. Got it?"

He gives T'Challa a half-furious, half-exasperated look. "You set me up for this, didn't you?"

[marvel_npc]

"Got it," Steve says, as T'Challa turns a mild face to Ross's outburst, but before he can answer, an amused voice does so for him.

"Yes, he did," Nakia says, strolling past T'Challa to offer her hand to Ross, her smile pleased and warm and bright. "Hello, Ross. Please forgive us; we were not sure you would join otherwise."

"I can take responsibility for my own actions, Nakia," T'Challa tells her, and she winks at Ross before stepping back, lifting her hands in a gesture that says very well; it's your funeral.

"I am sorry not to have been forthcoming," T'Challa tells the other man. "But as Nakia said, I was not sure you would come. And there is still one more for you to meet, but before I introduce you, I ask you to remember the good work we have done together and to trust that my judgment in this matter is sound... and final. This is not a matter for the Joint Terrorism Task Force. I come to you today as a friend asking for help, only."

[marvel_npc]

"Good to see you, Nakia," he says, and looks past her to where Okoye stands, silent and watchful. "You too, General."

As T'Challa apologizes, he shakes his head and starts to reassure him -- only to feel the bottom drop out of his stomach as he continues.

Oh, Christ. No, he pleads with an uncaring universe. It doesn't take a genius to put the pieces together, not when Steve Rogers is standing right there, not when Wilson and Romanoff helped them escape, not to mention Sharon throwing her entire career out the fucking window for them. Why me?

"Goddammit," he curses, exasperated beyond belief. "Might as well get it over with. Where is he?"

[marvel_npc]

T'Challa nods, and looks to the flyer.

"White Wolf," he calls, politely. "Kindly come out and join us."

[nerves_of_ice]

He'd listened to the whole thing, especially Ross's speech, with what would be cautious amusement under any other circumstances. Looks like T'Challa's judgement of the man's pretty accurate - so far, anyway. Even when it's obvious that Ross has figured it out, he holds his position until called.

Bucky ducks through the entrance and comes down the flyer's ramp at a steady, deliberate pace. Wilson's the most obviously tense of them all, his glance flicking back and forth among the others. T'Challa's holding himself with the lazy relaxation of someone who's ready to move, while Steve's standing almost at attention, watching closely. Natasha's expression is neutral, the pure, half-amused look that he knows all too well is a mask to hide her true feelings. Beside her, Yelena glances at her sister and assumes a cool mask of her own.

He walks forward and stops about ten feet away from Ross, picking a spot between T'Challa and Steve without being too close to either, meets Ross's eyes, and waits.

[marvel_npc]

"You're the White Wolf?" It's more than a little strangled. Ross scrubs his hand over his mouth, staring at Barnes. "Goddamn it. No wonder--"

He cuts himself off there and gives Barnes a sharp stare before directing a long, level look at T'Challa, who's clearly trying to drive him insane. "You sure don't make it easy, your highness."

Ross turns back to the man in front of him and sighs. "Okay, first things first. On behalf of the Joint Terrorism Task Force--"

T'Challa stirs, and Rogers comes to attention, and Ross spares a second to hope he'll get it all out before everything goes to hell in a handbasket. "-- I apologize, Sergeant Barnes, for the misidentification that led to you being charged with the crimes later attributed to Helmut Zemo. Those charges have since been dropped."

Barnes blinks in visible surprise, and Ross congratulates himself on keeping a straight face. He lets it hang there in the air between them all before he adds, "Also, thanks for not doing worse than breaking my wrist when you flattened me in the field that day. Everything else that has to do with the Winter Soldier is still a giant fucking mess that we'll have to deal with once Carter's recovered."

[marvel_npc]

"I may be able to help clean up some of that mess," T'Challa tells him, pleased and not trying very hard not to show it.

Everett Ross is a good man. He will listen to reason. T'Challa turns, inviting, and gestures for Ross to join him. "Please, Deputy Commander, walk with me and I will explain our plan... and the White Wolf's presence."

[miss_american_pie]

Yelena watches with interest beneath a haughty expression, betraying her thoughts only once – Ross says Carter and she slides a glance to Natasha, who nods minutely.

So that is the mission. She keeps her eyes on Ross as her thoughts spin. Dead is dead... except for Yasha. For Antonia Dreykov. And now, perhaps, except for Sharon Carter, too.

Ross gives them all a disbelieving look and shakes his head as he goes off to join King T'Challa, and once they've moved to a reasonable distance, Yelena meets Natasha's glance once again before moving to plant herself before Yasha, taking in his long hair, the day's worth of stubble on his jaw, the new body armor, the gleaming arm. She sniffs, affecting a blasé expression.

"I like the new arm," she pronounces, then jerks her head over her shoulder at Captain America, who has the faintly stunned look of someone who expected to be in the middle of a fight right now but isn't. "So that's him?"

She turns to the Captain and purses her lips as she rakes a glance over him. "Alexei says 'hi,'" she tells him. "Even though I told him you were a different Captain America. He thinks he fought you in the eighties."