[ WWII AU ] a ghost story

[from_the_outside]

It's been almost two years since she's been home, and little by little, the grief has gotten easier to live with.

It hasn't gone away. But she's able to focus on her job, watch movies, chat with friends, sleep most nights. She still dreams about him, but the dreams are tinged with wistful longing and only sometimes does she wake up with tears on her cheeks. She can't have his picture out in this apartment, Kate's apartment, but it's safe in the mountain house, along with his last letter to her, and she has a scan on her phone to look at when the long day is over and she's in bed, the stars from the lamp he'd given her filling her dark room.

Steve has helped, more than she could ever explain, and she hopes she's helped him in return. Aside from a few deeply classified missions here and there, they haven't worked together all that much, but she still sees him almost every day. In the halls, she's undercover as his mild-mannered neighbor, Kate, but in her secure apartment they can talk over anything, everything.

And it works. Every day is a little easier. They lean on each other when they need to, and they spend hours remembering and reminiscing about Bucky, talking shop, chatting about how Steve's fitting into the future. It's nice. She still misses Bucky, an ache that never really goes away, but they can both breathe through it, work through it, live through it.

She's on her way up from the basement laundry machines when she hears a familiar step in the hall, and has to smile to herself – first her own, then Kate's sweeter, more open one. "Hey, neighbor."

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"What's it matter?" Sitwell bluffs at him, attempting to be tough. "He'll come for you anyway."

"But we could go to him, first," Sharon murmurs, glancing over at Steve.

[marvel_npc]

“Are you insane?” Sitwell stares at Sharon, open-mouthed. “Do you want to die? You—-urk”

He chokes a little, scrabbling to push himself away as Steve strides across the floor and twists his hands into his shirt, lifting him into the air so he can glare at him eye to eye. “Where is he??”

[from_the_outside]

"The bank!" Sitwell gurgles, his bluster deserting him. "Under the, the Ideal Federal Savings Bank! That's where they're keeping him!"

[marvel_npc]

“Keeping him?”

He doesn’t wait for Sitwell to answer. Steve drops him to the floor in a heap, already turning toward the exit, mind racing.

“Captain Rogers.” Fury’s voice is sharp. “Let’s not go off half cocked here.”

[from_the_outside]

She can feel the tension thrumming off him without even touching him. "If we're going to get him, take down Pierce, and stop the helicarriers, we need a plan," she says, quiet.

"And we need you, Steve. I know – I know. You know I do. But we have to be smart about this."

[marvel_npc]

He lets out a shaking breath, and nods to Sharon. She’s right, he knows it, and Bucky would be the first to agree.

“Then let’s make one,” he says, as Hill comes back into the room carrying a black case. Fury beckons to her and waits for her to set it down on the table beside him before he snaps it open and raises the lid to reveal three computer chips of some kind.

“If we can get these into the helicarrier command systems, we can take over control.”

[from_the_outside]

"I might be able to sneak in," Sharon offers. "Undercover, as a HYDRA operative."

Saying it again leaves a bad taste in her mouth, but if they can do this quietly, they'll have a better chance of success. "But if those helicarriers launch, Steve and Sam are probably our best options for accessing them."

[marvel_npc]

"If those helicarriers launch, we have until they reach an altitude of three thousand feet," Hill informs them. "At that point they'll synchronize with the targeting satellites. If we haven't stopped them by then..." She doesn't finish. There's no need.

Fury eyes Sharon. "We have to assume every single person on those boats is HYDRA," he points out. "You sure you can pass inspection, Thirteen?"

[from_the_outside]

She gives him a level look. "Are you questioning my ability to go undercover, Nick?"

[marvel_npc]

He holds her gaze. "I'm not questioning your skill, agent, I'm questioning the likelihood that your colleagues will buy it based on what they know of you."

He doesn't mention her aunt. He's well aware that she keeps her connection to Peggy Carter quiet, and why, but the point stands.

[from_the_outside]

She exhales, explosive, and crosses her arms.

He has a point, and she knows it, but she doesn't have to like it. "I don't know."

[marvel_npc]

"Setting that part aside for the moment," Fury says. "Work the problem. What would you propose to do if you got in?"

[from_the_outside]

"Find some way to get everyone else access that doesn't involve explosions and gunfire," she says, frustrated.

"I'm making this up as I go, Nick. But it seems to me it's be useful to have someone on the inside."

[marvel_npc]

"Can't argue that. The more the merrier, in fact." Fury glances around at them all, then lets his eye rest on Nat. "The Council members are coming in for the launch. If we get you a veil, think you could mimic Hawley well enough to pass?"

Nat's smile is bright. "Easily."

Fury nods. "That'd give us Thirteen in the bay, Romanoff with the council, and both Rogers and Wilson standing by for the swap and as air support. If we handle it right, we can take them down quietly and then maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left."

Steve stares at him in disbelief. "Salvage? We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down Insight, Nick. We're taking down SHIELD."

[from_the_outside]

Everyone turns to look at him. A faint ringing noise begins in Sharon's ears. She stares at him, disbelieving. "Everything?"

True, SHIELD has been compromised. They need to burn HYDRA out at the root, but... "Steve – "

But she doesn't know what else to say. What is there? The very idea is impossible. Even thinking about it is like running face first into a brick wall.

[marvel_npc]

"Everything. It all has to go." His heart aches, knowing how much SHIELD means to her; knowing what it means to her to be following in her aunt's footsteps, how she's dedicated her life to what SHIELD means.

What it was supposed to mean, anyway. What it apparently hasn't meant for longer than any of them had ever guessed.

"We know the rot goes all the way to the top, and we don't know how far it's spread, but it's a lot. How many people are working in those helicarrier bays? How many HYDRA agents are scattered across the world, trying to destroy it with SHIELD's protection and support?" He swings to pin Fury with a sharp look. "How long has this been going on under your nose without you noticing?"

Fury glares at him. "Why the hell do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."

Steve shakes his head. "And how many paid the price before you did? No. It ends now. SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."

But even as he says it, he turns back to Sharon. "I'm sorry. But you know it's the right thing to do."

[from_the_outside]

He holds her gaze, and because it's Steve, she doesn't have to try to explain. He knows. SHIELD has been her whole life, her career and her purpose. What she'll do when it's gone, she has no idea.

But he's right. She can't hide from that truth, no matter how much she wants to.

Sharon takes a deep, shaky breath, and nods. "I know."

Her voice is quiet, but determined. "I'm with you, Steve. No matter... no matter what."

[marvel_npc]

"Thank you." Steve holds her gaze a moment longer, sympathy in his own, then turns back to Fury, who's staring at them both with a hint of dismay.

Steve waits while Fury glances at Nat, who shrugs, to Hill, who does the same and murmurs "He's right." Sam shakes his head before he can even ask. "Don't look at me, man. I do what he does, only slower."

Fury blows out a breath and meets Steve's eyes. "Look. I didn't know about Barnes."

He'd like to believe that's true. It better be true, because if it isn't, he doesn't know how he'd ever trust the man again, even a little bit. Steve shakes his head. "It doesn't matter if you did or not," he says, and wills himself to believe it. "This can't continue. Bucky'd be the first to agree."

If he could.

[from_the_outside]

This will kill Aunt Peggy. She has to, she has to call Anna, make sure she keeps Aunt Peggy away from the news for a while. She should get Aunt Peggy out of DC. She –

A slight jostle at her elbow snaps her out of the spiral, and she looks up to see Nat watching her, sympathetic. Sharon nods back, tight, and looks back at Steve and Nick. "It sounds like we have a plan."

[marvel_npc]

Fury looks back and forth between them before letting out a long breath. "Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

Steve nods to him and turns to Nat. "Can you use Sitwell's access to give Sharon the authorization she needs without giving him the chance to send up any alarms?"

"No problem," she assures him, while Sitwell makes a choked noise. "You're all insane. It'll never work."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon closes her eyes and tries to count to ten.

One. Two. Thr –

Fuck it. "If someone doesn't shut him up, I'm going to break his jaw."

[marvel_npc]

"If you do that he'll have a harder time sharing anything useful," Nat advises, lightly. "But I suppose as long as you don't break his fingers too he can write or type."

She smiles at Sitwell. "I wouldn't piss anyone off any more if I were you. If she doesn't, I will."

[from_the_outside]

Sitwell scowls at her. "I'm not going to help you," he blusters. "The helicarriers will launch and Insight will succeed."

Sharon gives him a long, level look. "It won't," she says, flat. "Whether you help us or not. Your only choice is whether we leave you to HYDRA's tender mercies, or try to protect you."

[marvel_npc]

"Either way he's done. We're not going to have another Zola."

It burns through him like acid. If they'd dealt differently with Zola in 1945, rather than recruiting him, would HYDRA have ever gotten a foothold inside SHIELD? Would Bucky have been rescued decades ago?

Which reminds him. He turns a sharp look on Sitwell. "What did you mean, 'keeping' him? The Winter Soldier."

[from_the_outside]

"What, you think they let that maniac run around free?" Sitwell sneers. "They let him out for missions. That's all I know."