[oom] when you're weary, feeling small

[from_the_outside]

The problem with getting a full night's sleep at Milliways is that the night is still only just tilting toward dawn when she goes out the door and back to her room in the Citadel. Sharon showers and changes, her head full of everything the place had packed into her night, which feels more dreamlike now than the dream she'd woken from afterwards.

It's not, though. And that's a problem she's going to have to face head on.

The stars are just beginning to wink out as she makes her way back down to the hut by the lake. She takes a moment to make sure the goats are still sleeping and comfortable, then goes to the spot at the side of the hut where they so often sit and watch the sunrise, drawing her knees up and looping her arms loosely around them.

She's pretty sure Bucky will be up and out soon. No need to wake him up beforehand.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

He winces at that. “Fair, I guess. Wonder what she’d think of me now.”

[from_the_outside]

"She'd love you," Sharon says, loyally. "Of course."

[nerves_of_ice]

He makes a noncommittal sound low in his chest.

“She was a really great person. I’m glad you got to see her again.”

[from_the_outside]

"Me too. I finally got to tell her everything."

She squints, trying to remember. "She said to try and get in touch with Banner if I can, about Thunderbolt Ross and the, you know, whole 'enemy of the state' thing."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Good idea. I don't know all the details, but however that mess between them went down, Banner's out of it clean. Or so people seem to think."

He frowns a little, considering. "Think your Ross would know what was up? Since Banner's in the wind, still?"

[from_the_outside]

Sharon looks thoughtful.

"I don't think he was involved at all, but as Deputy Commander of the JTTF he'd have access to that information."

Dry: "Whether he'd share it with me is another question entirely... but I think he's sincere in wanting to help clear my name."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Can't hurt to ask. Peggy had to have a reason for suggesting it."

He looks down at her. "You might talk to Natasha, too. She was close to Banner for a while."

[from_the_outside]

"She never was a fan of old Thunderbolt," Sharon murmurs. "All right. Good idea. I'll check with Nat."

Everything seems much simpler and more clear when they're sitting together like this, with the soft sounds of the lake and the woods around them and no chance of interruption. "By the way," she says, "I talked to some other people there, too. And I told Sunshine about Berlin – not everything. But my role in it. So she and Zinda both know, now."

[nerves_of_ice]

It must have gone okay, he knows. She's not tense when talking about it, and she hadn't mentioned it as one of the things she was upset about earlier. It says a lot, that she did - he knows that too.

"I'm glad," he tells her. "Sunny's good people."

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah," Sharon agrees, with the certainty that comes from a lifetime of profiling people and seeking out the safe ones. "She is."

She'd given the opportunity for the other woman to do as Zinda had and villainize or scold her, but instead she'd only met understanding and kindness and warmth.

It was nice.

[nerves_of_ice]

He runs his fingers through her hair, spreading it out over her shoulder. "You know," he starts, slowly, keeping an eye on how she reacts, "if you want, we could go back there tonight, together. I hear the bar puts on a party for Halloween. It could be fun."

Fun, and another way of showing that he's happy for her to be with him, in his life, and together at the end of the universe, too.

[from_the_outside]

She knows what he's doing and loves him a little more for it, for showing her there's nothing to the things she knows aren't true despite her feelings opting not to listen to logic.

"A party, huh?" she muses, and smiles at him. "That sounds great."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Then we'll go." He's not a particular fan of parties, at least not any more, but it should be okay. It's worth it, to see her smile.

[from_the_outside]

"Okay."

She reaches up to run her fingers through his hair. "You're doing good, by the way," she tells him. "We're both still figuring this all out."

It's not like either of them has a ton of experience to fall back on. And even if they did, their situation is so strange and unique she's not sure it would help. "Thank you for listening to me."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Any time," he murmurs. "We'll find our balance."

[from_the_outside]

"I know we will."

Between the two of them, she's pretty damn sure there's not a thing they can't do.