[oom] the rest of you, the best of you, honey, belongs to me

[from_the_outside]

It's been a little over a month since Bucky brought her to that training space and told her he was making good on his promise; a little longer since she's met Ayo for an hour a day to spar and train and meditate and learn. In that time, Shuri's updated her suit and Bucky's prototype arm, and Nakia's successfully launched the first of her outreach centers in the place where a young N'Jadaka had once had his whole world shattered.

Ayo prefers to train with her either early in the morning or late in the cool of the evening. Today was the latter, and steam is lifting off Sharon's shoulders as she walks back from the Citadel, her hair a sweat-damp mess in a ponytail, her muscles aching pleasantly. 

She's back on top. Between Bucky and Ayo, she's faster now than she ever has been; more adaptive, more thoughtful about her approach. She still can't beat Bucky one on one, but Ayo had tested her against Aneka, another Dora, recently, and she'd more than held her own. She's flexible and strong and her cardio hasn't been this good in years.

More than that, she's happy, the way Bucky wanted her to be. She has some direction, and that's all she really needed. What she'll do with it is the next step, but she's not quite there yet. For now, she strolls down the path toward the hut by the lake where she's been more or less living with him, the sunset light just now dying from the sky. She's so lost in her thoughts it takes her a second even to realize that there's a buzzing coming from the pocket of her tote bag.

And it's not like she was expecting a call, anyway. Who would it even be from?

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"Probably," she says, drily. "I've got Bucky on the line with me here, Nick. We went through the intel from Polygyros last night and didn't find anything else on Green."

[marvel_npc]

He keeps his sigh internal. Too much to hope that she'd not have involved him. It's probably also too much to hope that he could get Barnes as an agent as well; he's not sure anyone but Rogers himself could manage that, since the king of Wakanda decided to take an interest. He'll just have to see how things play out.

"Sergeant," he says aloud, pleasantly. "It's been a while."

"Director," Barnes returns, neutral. Good enough.

Politeness dealt with, he returns his attention to Carter. "Thanks for checking, Thirteen. I'm not going to say I'm not disappointed, but we play the hand we're dealt."

[from_the_outside]

"I also checked with Nakia," she continues. "The War Dogs haven't heard anything about any 'Green,' either. Just how old is this intel, Nick? Did something other than the Polygyros data pop up recently?"

[marvel_npc]

"It's old," he agrees. "But the message that came in for the ex-Mister Kwan on the channels we've been monitoring is new."

[from_the_outside]

"There was a message for Kwan?"

Sharon's coffee halts a few inches from her lips, and she turns a startled glance on Bucky. "What message?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky listens intently as Fury tells them, "Looking to make a purchase. Said 'Green's my verification.'"

He frowns at that and shakes his head the slightest bit. "Could be anything," he mouths.

[from_the_outside]

She nods at him. "That's not much to go on, Nick," she says. "So what are you planning to have Giulietta do? Make contact with this buyer?"

[marvel_npc]

"Potential buyer," Fury reminds her. "We don't know anything about them yet. That's why I was hoping you'd have some additional information on Green."

He leans back in his chair, eyeing his phone, trying to calculate the angles. Carter's more of a known factor than Barnes, who strikes him as the suspicious kind.

"Giulietta'll just have to try to sell the deal with what she's got."

[from_the_outside]

"Nick – "

He can't actually mean to send Giulietta, can he? "You can't send her, she'll get eaten alive. She's never been UC before."

Sharon frowns at Bucky and sets her coffee down, shaking her head. "It's just a meet, this mission?"

[marvel_npc]

"She was talking about trying to manage it as a strictly remote contact." He lets the doubt he feels show in his voice at that. "I have to try something, Thirteen. Otherwise I'll lose the connection."

[from_the_outside]

She gives the phone a skeptical look. "I've never known you to be a man with only one plan, Nick."

[marvel_npc]

"That's true," he agrees. "I guess you know me pretty well, don't you."

Sounds like she's beginning to put the pieces together.

[from_the_outside]

"Uh-huh."

Funnily enough, she can't even be annoyed about it. What's that old tale, about the scorpion and the frog?

Giulietta. She should have known the second Nick suggested her. "Well enough to know you know me well enough to know I'd be curious. So, tell me, Nick, is it really intel you're looking for, from me?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky gives the phone a flat stare as Fury replies, "That depends. Is intel all you're willing to offer?"

He has to admit the other man's clever as hell. He doesn't like it, but he can't deny it.

[from_the_outside]

That's Nick Fury, for you. The man acts like giving a straight answer would send him into anaphylactic shock. "Well, why don't we talk about that?"

She sips at her coffee, focused on the phone but comfortably aware of Bucky's support right next to her. "Tell me something. Was Irma Kruhl totally burned after the auction?"

[marvel_npc]

"Funny thing, that." He keeps any sign of satisfaction out of his voice. This isn't finished yet. "You'd think some people would have been suspicious of a raid like that right after a new player entered the game. Except that it turns out one of the disappointed parties, one Robert Laurent, was a dual agent with INTERPOL, and called them in when he didn't get the winning bid."

Laurent's cover may have blown to hell and back again as a result, but that's not Fury's problem. Besides, they'd given him enough of a warning that he was able to get out before he got burned.

[from_the_outside]

"Really. INTERPOL?"

She casts a dubious glance at Bucky. If Irma's still viable, that would be pretty handy. If not, she has a few other covers she could bring out. "Well, Irma's already known as a player, even if she's a new one. It wouldn't be so far-fetched for her to be involved."

[marvel_npc]

"They owed me one."

He leaves it at that and turns his attention to her observation. "No, it wouldn't, would it? And since Kwan's removal left an opening, it wouldn't be a surprise for someone as enterprising as Kruhl to be moving in on a market that's up for grabs."

[from_the_outside]

She frowns at the phone, but it's not outside the realm of possibility for INTERPOL to owe Nick Fury a favor.

"No, it wouldn't be." Sharon looks over at Bucky. "Say Irma was available to make this meet. Exactly what kind of backup and resources would you be able to offer?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He's frowning as well. That sounds like a large favor to burn to preserve Irma Kruhl, which means Fury thinks there's more to gain than that cost.

"Depends on what you needed. Last time you brought your own date to the party," Fury points out, reasonably. "Intel, certainly; other resources once you identify them. I'm not going to tell you how to run your op."

A beat of silence hangs in the air before he continues, "That is, if it is your op."

[from_the_outside]

"Well, there's a lot to consider," she points out. "First of all, I'm here in Wakanda by King T'Challa's pleasure. If he doesn't want to risk me being out in the wider world, even for a short mission, then all I can do for you is consult."

[marvel_npc]

He doesn't point out that T'Challa had been perfectly willing to risk exactly that for the auction. Vibranium's not directly involved here, probably, and that makes a difference.

Beside, his role is in this little play isn't to be the antagonist. Not overtly, anyway.

"I'm not interested in endangering your position, Thirteen." He considers for a split second, then tosses it out there. "Or Sergeant Barnes, for that matter."

[from_the_outside]

"Well, that's good to know."

She glances over at Bucky. "I think you better tell us everything you know about this potential buyer and the meet. You said Giulietta was close? Will it be in Italy?"

[marvel_npc]

"Monte Carlo. Unless we shift it," Fury tells her.

He waits to see what conclusions she draws from the location, but has every expectation she'll put the pieces together as quickly as he had.

[from_the_outside]

Monte Carlo. It's almost tailor-made for Irma. She presses her lips together and considers her phone. "When did you want to move on this op?"