[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]

"I know you do," she promises. "And I'd worry just as much about you."

She curls her fingers securely around his, holding on. "But at least this time I'd be going in with my eyes open and as on top of my game as I've ever been. And that's because of you, baby. You've spent so much time helping me get back to feeling like myself again."

[nerves_of_ice]

He runs his thumb lightly back and forth over her fingers. "This is part of who you are," he murmurs. "It always has been. I w-- I want you to have that part of yourself back. All the way back."

[from_the_outside]

"We'll see," she says. "One step at a time."

One mission with Fury wouldn't make her a field agent again, wouldn't clear her name or give her a job and purpose, but it would be something. And he knows as well as she does that she's been climbing the walls here, looking for something to do.

Sharon takes a long breath to steady herself, then studies him. "So maybe we should talk pros and cons tonight."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Looks like." He squeezes her hand again. "Eat something, okay? And then we'll figure it out. All of it."

[from_the_outside]

She smiles at him and lifts her hand away. "You, too," she says, looking pointedly at his plate.

Her appetite is almost non-existent, but if it'll help him, she'll eat as much as she can stomach.

[nerves_of_ice]

He's not hungry, not anymore, but it'll worry her if he doesn't have something. Bucky nods and picks his fork back up.

"So how do you want to run the op?"

[from_the_outside]

"I don't know enough yet to even start making a guess," she points out. "But it's possible Irma hasn't been burned yet. And if it's still a viable cover, I might be able to use it to get some intel on Green."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Whatever it or they are." Probably they, at this point. Or a combination.

[from_the_outside]

"Right."

She toys a second with her food before remembering that she needs to actually eat it, so he won't worry. "I'll ask Nakia about it, too. Maybe the War Dogs have heard something."

[nerves_of_ice]

The meal is too good for him to be treating it like mere fuel, he knows, but it doesn't matter. It tastes like ash to him right now anyway.

"They might have. I'd expect they've been monitoring closely after that auction, so if there's any connection..." He trails off there and shrugs.

[from_the_outside]

"Couldn't hurt to check."

Part of her wishes Fury hadn't called her at all, but the larger, louder part of her is busy considering what she might need and what plans she should make. How can she get out of Wakanda, how long would she be gone?

[nerves_of_ice]

"Never hurts to check."

On the table where she'd left it, the computer chirps, pinging up a search result. Bucky's glance flicks to it and back to her, and after a second he smiles.

"Okay, baby." Soft, but certain, and he buries any reluctance deep under an avalanche of determination to support her. "Just tell me what you need."

[from_the_outside]

She blinks and focuses back on him, then smiles. "Right now, all I need is another cup of coffee and your help going through these results," she tells him. "How about I set the laptop up to project and we see what we can see?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I can do that." He clears both their plates, half-finished, and puts them covered in the fridge for later, just in case, then pours more coffee for them both before returning to where she's gotten the computer set up and projecting.

It doesn't look like there's much useful in the search results, which means they'll have to double-check to be sure. It's going to be a long night.

[from_the_outside]

It's been hours. Her back and neck are aching, and so are her eyes and head, but even their second, more careful look through the data didn't find anything more than what Fury had told her.

Green is mentioned in a few places, but nowhere does it clarify whether the reference is to a person, place, or code. Sharon grinds the heel of her hand into her eyes and reaches for her coffee, only to find the cup is empty.

Maybe that's for the best. It's late, she should probably switch to water anyway.

[nerves_of_ice]

He's studying a corner of the display, his gaze gone absent as he tries to wrangle more information from the depths of his still-treacherous memory, only to zero in on her when she moves.

"Do you want me to make another pot?"

[from_the_outside]

"No." She reaches up to rub at her forehead, which starts aching sharply as soon as she moves her head. Sharon glances at the clock and grimaces.

"I think I'll switch to water and aspirin. I don't think there's anything useful in here, anyway."

[nerves_of_ice]

"It doesn't look like it," he agrees. "Not that we haven't already found."

Bucky gets up, claims her empty mug and his own, and goes to retrieve water and the aspirin she's requested instead. He brings both back over to her.

"You should sleep."

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah."

But she stares at the data, willing it to give something up to her. "I guess nobody's paying me to burn the midnight oil anymore, huh?"

[nerves_of_ice]

There's no answer he can think of to give that wouldn't hurt. He brushes his right hand over her hair, then lets it rest on her shoulder.

"Are you worried how he'll react if you don't find something?" he asks, after a moment.

[from_the_outside]

She shakes her head, letting her own hand come up to her shoulder to catch his fingers. "If I could find something useful, something actionable, that would be enough to help, right?"

Sharon glances up at him. "I'd feel better about him sending Giulietta, because it would be safer. But he called me for help and I haven't been able to give any."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I know," he murmurs. He wouldn't put it past Fury to have expected that she'd throw herself into the search like this, either. After all, she'd worked for him for a long time.

"Let me ask this: is there anything else useful to be done tonight?"

[from_the_outside]

"No," she admits. "Probably not."

The only other things she can think of that aren't offering to go herself begin and end with asking Nakia if the War Dogs have heard anything.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Then let's get some rest. Pick it back up again in the morning." It's a little stronger than a suggestion, and not really a question.

[from_the_outside]

She leans her cheek against the hand he has on her shoulder, then nods and lets go so she can shut her laptop and stand up. "Sorry for keeping you up, baby," she says, rueful. "At this rate, you'll barely get any sleep before you have to get up again."