[AU] protector and patron

[from_the_outside]

I'm going to protect you, no matter what.

That's what she'd said to Bucky just before they left Virginia for the Avengers compound, forced into compliance by Tony Stark. She can still see his wry smile, can hear the way he'd called her his guardian angel.

Well, she'd meant it. She'd meant every damn word, including the ones she'd spat at Tony in the form of qualifications. If I think for even a second that you mean to harm him, we leave, she'd said. And there's absolutely no question in her mind that Tony does intend harm.

Maybe not the physical kind. But if he's been edging his way into the room's security, up to and including searching it, then that is pretty fucking harmful and she's got a signed contract, negotiated between the Avengers and their representatives and the United Nations Joint Terrorism Task Force, that says she can make good on the verbal agreement they'd made what already feels like a lifetime ago.

God, she hopes he argues. She would love to have the chance to throw the Task Force lawyers in his face.

It's actually a closer to eight hours after Nat's call that the Quinjet settles on a landing pad outside, but Sharon is no less furious about the whole situation for having another hundred and twenty minutes or so to stew over it. 

"Morning," she says to a gaping Happy Hogan as she breezes through the entranceway. "Please tell your boss I'd like to see him at his earliest convenience. I'll be in the apartment, dismantling the incursions he's been making into my security system. Sound good? Great."

She doesn't break stride for even a second.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

“But it won’t… never mind,” he decides. “Okay.”

He leans back against her, a little.

[from_the_outside]

"Won't what?"

It's gentle, though. If he doesn't want to answer, he doesn't have to. She just lets him lean back into her, her arms wrapped around his waist.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Observers,” he says, after a moment or two. “Scientists. Agents.”

[from_the_outside]

"There will probably have to be some observers," she admits. "But they don't have to be in the same room, and I can make sure I'm there, if that'll help."

Her arms tighten around him. "No scientists, though. I'm not going to let anyone treat you like a lab rat again, and neither will Steve."

[nerves_of_ice]

A subtle tension threads through him, but he doesn’t say anything.

[from_the_outside]

"Baby."

Her voice is soft in the quiet kitchen. "What are you worried about? Maybe I can help."

[nerves_of_ice]

He looks over his shoulder at her. “Have you seen him interview someone before? Someone like me?”

[from_the_outside]

"I don't know that there's anyone quite like you," she says, "but I've seen him work before, yes."

And she'd re-familiarized herself with some old evaluations of his while back in the offices.

[nerves_of_ice]

“What is it like?”

[from_the_outside]

She hums, soft and thoughtful, considering.

"Not like an interrogation," she tells him. "It really is evaluation. He asks a lot of questions. But it's not like an actual therapy session, either, because the goal's not to help fix something, just to see where the person's at, emotionally and mentally speaking."

Sharon lifts her head to put her chin on his shoulder. "If it'll help, I can ask him to give me one, and you could see for yourself. I'm overdue anyway."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head to that, just once, quickly.

“Thank you. But no.”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon makes a soft sound of acknowledgment and nods, but still asks,

"Any particular reason why not?"

There are plenty, probably. But whatever he says might give her better insight into what he's thinking.

[nerves_of_ice]

“They’ll wonder why you asked. Why you’re letting me see. It’s a vulnerability. A risk.”

[from_the_outside]

She wants to tell him to let her worry about all that, but she thinks of the way he'd said I won't risk you and swallows it.

"I can make some arguments for it, if it would help. But if you think it'll do more harm than good, let's forget about it. Find something else to help instead."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head again and flattens both hands against the countertop. After a moment, he starts to turn around, slowly enough to let her adapt.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon relaxes her hold on him and steps back enough to let him turn around in the loose circle of her arms, but doesn't let go, not unless it seems like he wants to break free.

"Okay," she murmurs, then tips her face up to him, eyes soft and heavy-lidded, hands warm on his back as she lifts up to kiss him gently. "Come here, sweetheart."

[nerves_of_ice]

He lets himself be drawn, pulling her a little closer as he kisses her back, slow and lingering over the feel of her mouth, the sweetness of her.

[from_the_outside]

When this kiss breaks, she kisses him again, relaxes against him, warm and inviting.

It hasn't been that long, but it's felt like a million years. And they don't have long, so she's going to savor every sweet second they manage to steal.

[nerves_of_ice]

He turns his face into her hair and holds her close. An occasional shiver runs through him, but he doesn’t otherwise move.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon sets her head against his shoulder and holds on, focusing on his slow, steady breath.

"How about a hike?" she asks. "Or we could go down to the river for a swim. There's plenty of time left in the day. We don't have to be cooped up in here."

[nerves_of_ice]

“I need to hide the program manual first,” he tells her. “I don’t know what else Tony would have been looking for, and I don’t trust him not to show up.”

[from_the_outside]

"Okay."

She pulls away, slipping her thumbs into her back pockets, and looks around. "Inside or outside?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Somewhere naturally resistant to scanning technology, but protected from the elements.”

He shrugs. “I hid it inside a hearthstone there but did a rush job pulling it out. If he figures it out, I can’t use that trick again.”

[from_the_outside]

"Well, there are plenty of natural rock formations around here," she tells him. "We can wrap it up in plastic and hide it there, or maybe in the basement."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Basement for now,” he suggests, and walks out into the hall to pull it from his pack.