[Leipzig AU] to do something good

[from_the_outside]

"I know what you're doing, you know," Sharon says, as she and Nat stroll over a bridge, making their way toward the Landungsbrücken. Evening is settling, cool and blue, over Hamburg, and they'd spent the day shopping and gossiping, then decided on a walk by the piers before finding a spot for dinner.

It's a blatant attempt by Nat to cheer her up, and it had worked a treat. She'd needed to get out of her apartment, out of the Center, out of Berlin for a little while; to stop stewing over being barred from Wakanda and trying to manage Ross's annoyance with Steve and Stark. 

She feels better than she has since before they first got the news about Lagos, and, judging by Nat's smiles and the mischievous sparkle in her eyes, she thinks her friend is feeling the same way. Which is why Sharon nudges her leg with a shopping bag and grins. "And I love you for it. This was a great idea."

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[marvel_npc]

Nat beams at her. "It was, wasn't it?" Sharon had needed this. They'd both needed this. She'd felt a little bad about leaving Sam behind, but he'd laughed when she'd tried to apologize to him and told her not to worry about it, that he'd get back with her later and they'd do something else while waiting for Steve to show back up and face the music.

(She'd also felt a little bad about arranging to meet Mason in Hamburg, but not much. Sharon's a spy, too; she'd understand. Nat may have signed the Accords, but she doesn't trust them, especially now. It's always a good idea to have a few options.

He'd handed off the goods in a shopping bag while Sharon was in one of the dressing rooms. She'd expected the passports and other ID documents, but not the pile of envelopes and a brown-paper parcel or two. "What's this?"

Mason had shrugged. "Mail and personals from the Budapest safe house. I knew you weren't going back there, so I've got someone else in the flat now." She hadn't had time to grill him about it, but she'll go through them later and follow up if she needs to.)

But not tonight. Tonight, it's a beautiful evening by the water with a dear friend.

"You know they say seafood's always best in a port town."

[from_the_outside]

"There's a lobster soup here you wouldn't believe," Sharon tells her, glancing at the evening sky and mentally calculating how long it will be until Bucky's usual video call. He'd probably love to see Nat, too, and maybe he'd appreciate getting a glimpse of the city they're in.

"Dill and whipped cream and yum. So good."

[marvel_npc]

"Sold," Nat teases, linking her arm with Sharon's as they walk. "What's a day like this for if not to indulge?"

[from_the_outside]

"Exactly," Sharon agrees, grinning.

"So indulge me. What guy's on your string these days? I know there's got to be at least one."

[marvel_npc]

She laughs. "Nothing serious at the moment. But it's fun to flirt."

Slowly but steadily, they wend their way down toward the waterfront, toward the large arched-metal pedestrian bridge that branches over the river.

[from_the_outside]

"That's for sure," Sharon says, amused.

They're far from the only ones here, as the purple evening sinks down around them. It seems like the whole city is out and about, tourists milling around and snapping photos, which reminds her to ask Bucky if he's taken any good ones in Wakanda. Maybe he could upload a few and send them to her, since it's always too dark for her to see outside when he calls.

They pause on the bridge to look out over the water, the soothing sound of lapping waves washing over them. Sharon takes a deep breath of the clean, fresh air, feeling like her shoulders and back are beginning to relax for the first time in weeks.

[marvel_npc]

"It's so peaceful here," Nat murmurs, watching the water. "We should do things like this more often, don't you think?"

She watches the ebb and flow of the crowd almost absently, keeping track of anything unusual.

[from_the_outside]

"Definitely."

She leans on the railing, secure in the knowledge that Nat will catch anything suspicious long before it could get to them, which means she can just gaze out over the water. She glances over her shoulder at her friend.

"Do you think you'll all be heading back Stateside soon? Or can you stay a while longer?"

[marvel_npc]

"We probably should get back soon," Nat tells her, "But Steve took the Quinjet. So it depends a little on when he comes back."

She sounds very, very dry about this, for very good reason, she thinks. "But Sam and I have been checking in daily now with Vision and Wanda, and they say things are quiet right now."

[from_the_outside]

Sam isn't exactly happy about staying behind, but he recognizes that arguing with the three of them is a losing proposition.

That means it's only Sharon, Yelena, and Nat who walk together out of the woods and into the clearing, where –

"That doesn't look like a jet to me," Sharon murmurs, and Yelena makes an unimpressed face.

[marvel_npc]

"That's what I told him," Nat informs them, then raises her voice so Mason can hear her as he steps out of the helicopter.

The very, very rickety-looking helicopter that Natasha's frankly dubious about, which adds a bit of a disbelieving edge to her words.

"I said we needed a jet."

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah, you know what you didn't give me? Time," Mason grouses, stepping down onto the damp grass. "Or money. I'm not made of jets."

"Nice to see you again, too, Mason," Sharon says, her mouth twitching as she walks towards him, as he swivels to watch her with a cautious eye.

"Agent Thirteen," he says, wary.

Yelena casts an unimpressed glance over the helicopter and snorts. "I thought you were suppose to the best," she complains. "Like a real pro."

[marvel_npc]

"Oh, I beg your pardon, tsarina," Mason snarks. Natasha strives to keep a straight face. "Was the free flat and lifetime supply of kissel not to your liking?"

"Don't let her wind you up," Natasha says dismissively, as she walks over to the helicopter to look it over.

"No, I take exception to my professionalism!" he argues.

"Mm," she says, and glances at Sharon. "What do you think, Agent Thirteen?"

[from_the_outside]

"I think I remember you being better, Mason," Sharon says, idly, as she comes close enough to gaze up at the rotors.

"Be honest. Does this thing even fly?"

[marvel_npc]

"Oh, you two, huh? Tag team," he complains. "You always were thick as thieves, the both of you."

Hearing how that sounds, and seeing the sharp look Natasha shoots at him, he adds, "Not that you're actual thieves, that is. Either of you."

[from_the_outside]

"Thin ice, Mason," Sharon tells him, and he looks sourly exasperated.

"Aww," Yelena says, as she wanders up toward the cockpit and breathes a mist onto the cool glass. "He's sensitive. I can see why you keep him around."

[marvel_npc]

She can almost hear Sam's reaction from here, never mind that they'd left him back at the hotel to await word. It would have been far preferable to have a jet, but they'll just have to make do. Natasha's already focusing on the next thing.

"Where's the rest?"

Mason drags a bag out of the belly of the helicopter and dumps it unceremoniously to the ground in front of them.

[from_the_outside]

Somehow, even with all their planning, even with the Task Force mobilizing, she'd half-believed it wasn't really real.

But it gets real enough when Melina hits the panic button, when half an hour later as the power goes out and floodlights sweep over the little house. They'd staged it well: Yelena, Alexei, and "Natasha" are lying sprawled and sedated, and Sharon waits with "Melina" in the hall, listening to heavy booted footsteps.

She exchanges a last glance with her friend behind the mask, then lets her own expression slip into something cool and blank as a figure moves toward them along the hall: Taskmaster.

[marvel_npc]

It's harder to look at her than it was before, knowing who's hidden behind the armor. Dreykov's daughter, Antonia.

He did this to you, Natasha tells her, in the silence of her mind. I did this to you. I'm sorry. You'll be free soon.

Aloud, in Melina's cool tones, she says, "Let's not keep him waiting."

[from_the_outside]

It takes multiple men to move Alexei, to deposit him in a seat on the plane. Sharon follows behind the armored men carrying Yelena and 'Natasha,' then buckles herself in as 'Melina' goes to the plane's controls.

In a hidden pocket of her suit, her phone is leading Ross to them. And in the earbud tucked into her ear, she hears Sam's soft confirmation.

There aren't enough earbuds for all of them; Melina had managed to connect the two she had with two Nat pulled from the stash from Mason. The four connect Melina, Yelena, Sam, and Sharon. They just have to hope it will be enough.

[marvel_npc]

If Antonia has any opinion on matters, she keeps it to herself and takes up a guard spot. Natasha ignores her as Melina would, slides into the pilot's seat and follows the hidden beacons in, flanked in flight by the other two aircraft.

"Request clearance for landing," she calls, and is granted clearance for Bay 5. The aerial station is well hidden among the clouds, undetectable from the ground below or the sky above. She pilots them in and sets down, then watches as the guards disembark with Yelena, 'Natasha,' and Alexei.

She and Sharon make their way along the corridor toward the central shaft and the elevator there. As they walk, the sound of marching feet comes from a side room, one with a window.

[from_the_outside]

The lingering glance she takes through the window chills her to the bone.

Widows. Maybe twenty of them, moving in perfect time with each other. It's like watching twenty Natashas going through their forms; each step is perfectly precise, each woman moving with economy and deliberation.

These Widows won't be trained by the Winter Soldier, but that makes them no less dangerous. We'll get you out, Sharon promises them, silently. All of you. We'll get you out.

[marvel_npc]

She leads the way past the viciously familiar scene in the training room to the elevator and waits in silence for it to arrive. The guard watches her and Sharon from behind their helmet, and says nothing.

Once they arrive at the height, it opens straight into an antechamber, but it's not until they hear a buzzer that the inner door opens into the luxurious, grand room where Dreykov himself reigns.

"My god," he murmurs, as they walk in, watching them from his comfortable seat on the long sofa. "Look at you. Both of you." He gets to his feet and comes to inspect Sharon.

[from_the_outside]

"General."

How many times have she and Nat gone undercover, found themselves in a moment like this, where even one wrong move would mean the difference between life and death?

Sharon looks impassively back at the man before her and keeps her voice calm. "Baron Zemo sends his regards."

[marvel_npc]

"Ha!" Dreykov exults. "And here I had thought he was too impetuous after all, given that he failed. But not completely, it seems."

He scrutinizes her as one might a piece of brood stock. "We may have to put you through training, to bring you up to skill with the rest of my Widows. I will consider."

Dreykov looks at Melina. "Your formula works well, even when you do not administer it."