[WS!AU] the century weapon

[from_the_outside]

As promised, she updates Bucky throughout the evening, letting him know that no one's come for her... yet. Several hours after they left, she hears Steve return. She doesn't try to contact him; it would be strange for Kate to do so. Instead, she texts Bucky that he's back and that everything is quiet, then goes to bed and sleeps the sleep of an agent who has just spent the last week trying to put down a rising cartel.

Fury's not expecting her until mid-morning. She texts Bucky when she leaves for work, and is relieved to get a response. Seems Steve's contact is trustworthy after all.

She also sends a text to Nat, telling her she's cashing in on that offer of drinks, then dresses in a crisp blue button-down and neat pencil skirt and heads to the Triskelion to face her fate.

Comments

[marvel_npc]

It's been a frustrating morning.

Really, everything had started going wrong the night before when the asset didn't show up to his expected check-in. Pierce remains annoyed at the inefficiency of the technical staff who dithered about notifying him until several hours past the missed window. They'd lost opportunity with the lost time.

The destruction of their former allies in Colombia means that he doesn't have anyone really qualified on the ground there at present to investigate. Tracking the asset's contact device hasn't worked, not that he'd expect it to, not if the man's truly on the run. If that's the case, they have bigger problems, but if they act quickly enough they should be able to recover him. The nature of the programming's such that he should be confused and aimless without a target. Probably. Unless he's been overcome or defeated, and wouldn't that be an interesting, if problematic, can of worms?

Agent 13 had sent a message that she had been in pursuit but hadn't been successful. She'd been a thorn in the side of the Colombian operation, but Pierce can't deny that she'd performed to an exceptionally high standard. Her report makes her the last known contact of the Winter Soldier, so there's a possibility she has information. Information that he needs. He considers his angle of approach, then sends a note to Nick to let him know that he'd like to personally congratulate the agent who'd been so successful in Colombia.

It'll be interesting to see what she has to say.

[from_the_outside]

The message comes in shortly after she arrives at her office: Pierce would like to see her. She wonders if he’ll bother with any subtlety at all, then slips on her suit jacket and makes her way to the elevator. She leaves the burner behind, stashed away safely. Just in case.

She spends the elevator ride going over her story, then walks briskly down the hall to his office and knocks before folding her hands in front of herself to wait.

[marvel_npc]

He's in the middle of reviewing a finance report on the Insight spend when the knock interrupts him. Pierce closes the folder and leaves it on the desk in front of him as he calls out, "Come in."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon opens the door and does so, smiling slightly, the way she always has in her interactions with him.

It helps to imagine all the things she'll do to him down the line. Her smile turns a little warmer. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

[marvel_npc]

"Agent Thirteen." Pierce gets up from his desk and comes around to meet her, hand outstretched. "I understand congratulations are in order."

[from_the_outside]

"Thank you, sir." She takes his hand and shakes it, her grip firm. "I'm only sorry I couldn't extract all our allies. The situation down there was much more volatile than our reports suggested."

[marvel_npc]

"So I gather." He gestures to invite her to choose a seat and goes back to his desk. Instead of sitting behind it in the position of power, he makes the deliberate choice to perch on the desk, one foot braced flat against the floor, in a calculatedly casual pose.

"I'd be interested in hearing more about that. Do you think it's representative of a bigger problem with the cartels?"

[from_the_outside]

"To be honest, sir, I hope it's only a problem with the cartels."

She takes a seat in front of the desk, noting with internal amusement how his pose forces her to look up at him. "I did enough background on Felipe to know he shouldn't have been a problem. It was whoever he hired that was the issue."

[marvel_npc]

Pierce raises his eyebrows. "How so?"

He doesn't need to hide his interest, but he's careful to keep it contained in both tone and manner.

[from_the_outside]

"Whoever it was was good enough to go head to head with me," she tells him. "SHIELD-level strategy. And I've never seen a more accurate sniper. Honestly, sir, I think it may have been a whole team... but I can't explain how Felipe could afford them."

[marvel_npc]

"That's disconcerting." Pierce drums his fingers against his leg, considering. "If Felipe's able to command those kinds of resources, things could get very messy. Or, well. Would have been," he acknowledges, with a nod to her. "We've got you to thank for that."

[from_the_outside]

"Sometimes it's easiest to just cut the head off the snake," she says.

Whatever HYDRA might say, she'll burn out any two more that try to grow. "But the situation is too volatile down there, sir. Who are we sending in to replace Juan Carlo?"

[marvel_npc]

"Assuming Felipe's the actual head," he cautions her, careful not to react to her choice of metaphor. "And not getting those resources from somewhere else. If we're lucky, he'll have gone into personal debt to cover the cost of a team. If not..."

He gets to his feet and crosses to look out the window over the Potomac. Insight's right below the water, just out of sight, and he can see the city beyond and imagine what's to come.

"I've never been one to count overmuch on luck. It doesn't end well."

[from_the_outside]

He hasn't answered her question. He likes to talk, Bucky had said. A true believer. That's all becoming uncomfortably clear to her. "My team is working on an analysis of Felipe's finances," she tells him.

"If he managed to scrounge up the cash to hire professionals, we'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I'm happy to brief whoever we might send back down there to keep an eye on the situation."

[marvel_npc]

"I'm glad to hear it," Pierce tells her, turning away from the window and back to her. "I'd also appreciate your opinion. Who do you think we should send? What kind of skills will they need to be successful there under the current conditions?"

[from_the_outside]

"If Felipe's team is still active, I'd recommend sending our best," she says, without batting an eyelash.

"The situation may have deteriorated enough to assign it to Rogers and STRIKE."

[marvel_npc]

"Really?" Surprise colors his voice. He crosses back over to the desk and resumes his seat, searching her face.

"The sniper's that good? Or the team?"

[from_the_outside]

"Better than anyone else I've come up against," she says, honestly. "But my concern is this transition period. STRIKE would be able to tackle the aggressors while establishing a solid base for a SHIELD ally to take over. Right now, there's a power vacuum and our position there is vulnerable."

[marvel_npc]

Of course, it hadn't been a team, and there are no aggressors left from the current set, as the asset had eliminated them all, but there's no way for her to know that. He's more interested in the proposition itself, and the strategic thinking that it highlights.

"An interesting idea," he compliments her. "Although I've been given the impression Captain Rogers works better with a clear target. Now, from what I understand from your report, you were in pursuit of one of the snipers right before you returned? Is that the target you're thinking of?"

[from_the_outside]

"Yes," she tells him. "I believe that is the same individual I engaged with on arrival. In my report to Director Fury, I told him I believed him to be an enhanced human, in which case Captain Rogers may well be our only option for reprisal."

[marvel_npc]

"You're certainly right about that, if that's the case," he agrees. "But you lost sight of him, didn't you? Do you have a location that we could send Captain Rogers to?"

[from_the_outside]

If she sends Pierce on a wild-goose chase, he'll figure out sooner than she wants that she's not telling him the whole truth. "No, sir," she admits, with the reluctance of a professional unused to not having an answer.

"I'm afraid the team would need more intelligence going in, although I can provide an analysis of locations and resistance for them."

[marvel_npc]

"Good. We'll need that no matter what." He gives her an appraising look. "You know, Agent Thirteen, it's due to your hard work that the situation in Colombia didn't turn into a complete failure."

No matter how frustrating it had been at the time.

"As good as our agents are, there aren't many who'd be able to pull that off. Exceptional work, really." He meets her gaze with a frank and open one of his own. "Would you be interested in seeing it through?"

[from_the_outside]

"Very much, sir."

Which is true, as it happens. "I'm not the sort of person who likes to leave a project half-finished. But I'm currently already on assignment. Director Fury only pulled me away because we expected this to come to a quick resolution."

[marvel_npc]

"Of course." He chuckles. "Far be it from me to interfere with Nick's assignments. Still, maybe there's a way for you to stay involved, if you want."