[oom] the world a cage

[from_the_outside]

This was a bad idea.

She knows it as soon as she steps outside into the cool Brooklyn evening and Bucky locks the door behind them. Her pulse kicks up in her chest the second the lock clicks and she'd give almost anything to tell him she's changed her mind, that she's not going. To slip back inside the apartment and find a safe corner to breathe until this tight spiraling anxiety in her chest loosens.

Instead, she tugs her hood up over her hair and down over her eyes, hating how familiar it is. The hood. The dark clothes. The way every part of her goes on high alert. She hasn't been outside for a full minute and she's already exhausted.

It only gets worse as they go further from the apartment. Brooklyn isn't Madripoor, there are no shadows here where she can hide, no getaway routes she knows like the back of her hand. It's only having Bucky next to her that keeps her from fading back into the darkness and making a run for it, and by the time they get to the meeting spot – a bench along the river in Brooklyn Bridge Park – every nerve is stretched to its limit.

Next time, she's telling Fury just to meet them on a rooftop somewhere.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

He’d thought about waiting at a distance for Fury to approach, but Sharon’s tension - near fear, he thinks - causes him to scrap that plan. If Fury bails, he’ll just have to track him down.

“You’re doing great, baby,” he murmurs, soft enough that no one else can hear him.

[from_the_outside]

She gives him a small, tight smile. Great is debatable, but at least she hasn't tossed a smoke bomb and run off into the night yet.

(Yet.)

Before she can think of something to say that isn't an obvious lie, she hears boots pacing towards them, and when she looks, a familiar figure in a long black coat strolls out of the evening gloom.

"Agent 13," says Nick Fury, before his one-eyed glance sharpens and turns on Bucky. "And Sergeant Barnes. I wasn't expecting you."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Surprise.” His tone is perfectly flat, as is the stare he turns on Fury.

“Been a while.”

[from_the_outside]

"It certainly has been," Fury agrees, and looks back at Sharon. "Now I see why you wanted to meet in Brooklyn."

For her part, Sharon says nothing, only watches him with the wary rage of a trapped animal. Her chest and shoulders rise and fall a little faster; it's the only outward sign of anything she might be feeling.

Everything she's trying to keep from feeling. "It was convenient," she says, finally. "For us."

[nerves_of_ice]

“It was. But I’m curious,” he says. “Would you have met her in Madripoor instead?”

[from_the_outside]

"That wouldn't have been a very good idea," Fury tells Bucky.

"I'm not a very popular fellow out there."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Guess that’s not a surprise, all things considered,” he observes. “No point in taking unnecessary risks, right?”

[marvel_npc]

Fury cocks his head, refusing to rise to the bait. Next to Barnes, Carter is keeping her opinion to herself – never a good sign, when it comes to her.

He turns his attention fully on Barnes. "You have something you want to say to me, Sergeant?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“I’d rather listen first,” Bucky tells him, each word cool and level.

“How’ve things been going for you, Fury? Pretty busy since the Blip?”

[marvel_npc]

"As a matter of fact, yes," he says.

Hill is somewhere on the pier; he hopes that wherever she is, she's close enough to help out if Barnes decides to go back on his promise.

Or gets creative. "You've been pretty busy yourself, it seems. How did you like New Orleans, Sergeant? The food down there's some of the best around."

[nerves_of_ice]

“It’s a nice town. Good people.”

Bucky glances at Sharon, who’s been suspiciously silent, and back at Fury, then waits.

[marvel_npc]

"I like the jazz, myself," Fury tells him, then follows his glance to Carter. "So?" he says, not unkindly.

"Report."

[from_the_outside]

She's breathing hard and her hand keeps clenching, but when Fury addresses her, she flicks a dark, unreadable glance at him.

"Mission success," she says. "I've infiltrated the top levels of power in Madripoor."

Nothing about Fury is soft, but there's something like understanding in his one-eyed glare. "And you've done a hell of a job, from what I hear," he tells her.

[nerves_of_ice]

It takes almost everything he has to stay still and silent, but he manages it, even as his gaze narrows.

[from_the_outside]

"There wasn't much else for me to do, was there?"

She bites out each bitter word, even as she keeps her tone level. "Seeing as how you left me there with no way out."

[nerves_of_ice]

“I dissolved into dust, Thirteen. A lot of people did.”

Bucky moves to the side, keeping his eyes on their faces.

[from_the_outside]

"You're looking pretty spry now."

But he's right. And she knows it. It's why she's told Bucky this whole time if you're going to be angry at anyone, be angry at me.

She knew what she was getting into. She knew there was a possibility things could go badly wrong. Her jaw works, then sets. "I established a cover persona there as the Power Broker," she tells him, opting to just sidestep the blame entirely and focus on what she's actually here for: to debrief and get the hell away.

"I scrapped the Irma persona to get out of Madripoor. I've been running things from here since."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Well, well.” Fury gives her an appraising look. “You always were one of the best.”

Bucky can feel his jaw tighten, but he holds his silence, watching Fury closely as he continues.

“What’s your intent?”

[from_the_outside]

"I still am. In fact, I might be even better, now."

Bucky's disapproval is glacial, but she tries to ignore it, at least for the moment. "My intent?"

Her mouth is a thin line. "I want to burn that whole damn place down to the ground."

[nerves_of_ice]

Fury watches her carefully, aware of Barnes watching him in turn.

“The Power Broker’s got their fingers in a lot of global pies. You looking to upend them all?”

[from_the_outside]

"As many as I can."

She can feel it, the persona, the Power Broker. It's bleeding back into her, in the way she's standing, the way her chin tips and her gaze turns flat and assessing. "You in?"

There's a dark flash of something in her eyes; she slams down on it, ruthless. "Or too busy?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Uh-huh.” Fury turns to look at Barnes. “What’s your part in all this, Sergeant?”

“That remains to be seen,” Bucky tells him. “But Sharon knows I’ve got her back.”

[from_the_outside]

"You owe me, Nick."

She slides her hands into her pockets to keep from balling them into fists. "Take some time. Think about it. But I'm going to take out the main players whether you decide to help or not."

[marvel_npc]

“The ones down here, you mean,” Fury tells her, unruffled - outwardly, anyway. “It’s a big universe out there, Thirteen, with a lot of problems. Have to say, it’ll be nice to have someone else keeping an eye on the locals.”

[from_the_outside]

"I'm not doing any of it for you," she says, coldly.

"Keep your eye on the skies if that's what you want. Leave me here to deal with it myself. It's what you're best at."

She turns towards the river, furious and not sure where to direct it – at him, or at herself. The confusion only makes her angrier, and she turns on him again. "The only good thing that came out of this is that now I know I don't need you, Nick. I'll do it on my own if I have to."

It's all she says before she has to move, stalks to a spot about twenty yards away, unable to speak to him or so much as look at him anymore.