A/N: Agh, been so busy with work I haven't had time! Also I started *another* WIP so there's that. But here's chapter 7! I can now confidently say the story is getting somewhere.
The Captain visibly relaxes, his shoulder sagging in relief, almost as though he was worried that Tony would turn him away.
"Okay then," he says, "Let's get started."
If Nukoni thought she was feeling nervous before, then it was nothing compared to what she's feeling now. Her heart beats rhythmically in her chest, blood pumping through her body so fast that her hands begin to tingle and her feet feel like lead. The familiar sensation of queasiness pools in her belly as her mouth prepares to regurgitate the tea she had from lunch.
Luckily, the conference room they had been herded into is extremely large, allowing her to create distance between herself and the others. Careful not to seem suspiciously hurried, Nukoni crosses the threshold of the room, keeping her footsteps light and casual.
A large window with a beautiful view of the city lines the opposite side of the conference room, distracting her momentarily from her internal panic. Slowing to a stop, Nukoni places her hands on the window, peering as far down as possible at the twinkling buildings stacked next to each other as little toy-sized cars zoom in between them. It's breathtaking in a strange way. Something seemingly so mundane for others is fascinating to her, having been sheltered from this kind of normalcy and routine that everyone else is accustomed to.
There's so much about this world I don't even know.
She's brought out of her musing at the sound of the conference doors closing, turning around to see everyone else has taken a seat, except for Steve and Tony. None of them have noticed her standing on the far side of the table which relieves her greatly. She's hoping that means no one had noticed her internal meltdown either, though, after that conversation with Natasha, she wouldn't be surprised if the other woman had noticed.
Apparently, Widow has taken it upon herself to keep a close eye on her. It's not a problem though, she can handle it.
Maybe.
At the risk of causing a scene, Nukoni doesn't waste more time and moves quickly to rejoin the group. Taking a seat next to Sam, she feels a set of eyes boring into the side of her face and turns to see Natasha staring intensely at her, but she doesn't react, unwilling to be rattled so easily. Fortunately, further awkwardness is spared when Steve calls for everyone's attention.
Steve stands authoritatively at the front of the room, looking every bit of the leader he's supposed to be. Meanwhile, Tony has taken to leaning casually over one of the chairs, fingers laced atop the backrest and eyes wide in curiosity.
The nervousness from earlier returns when she absorbs the gravity of what is happening. Nukoni wonders what his reaction will be and hopes to anyone listening out there that he's ignorant of her true identity. She would hate for the chance at freedom to slip out of her grasp just because someone recognized her, which would be tragically ironic since no one's supposed to.
When everyone is settled in their seats, Tony lets himself take a good look at the group. On one side, he's got Natasha sitting with her arms crossed and looking rather watchful, more specifically of the new girl. He thinks nothing of it because she is a spy after all, it's second nature for her to be suspicious of people but he does think it's strange she's not even trying to hide it.
Moving on to the other side of the table, there's the new guy, Sam Wilson. Tony genuinely doesn't have any impressions of him because he there's not much to know, but he trusts in Steve's judgment and if he deems him safe enough to bring to the Tower, then his personal background checks can wait.
Really, the only person Tony is interested in doing a background check on is the mystery girl, Nukoni. He can't shake the feeling that he knows her, but he also can't put his finger on from where. There's a familiarity to her, not just in the sense that she has a recognizable face but that they've been acquainted before.
But Tony really, really, hopes it's not a 'we-went-on-one-date-and-I-never-called-back' type of situation.
Stowing away the thought for later, Tony leans lightly over one of the conference chairs and turns to Steve.
"So, you said something about trouble?"
Steve, never one to waste time, starts telling the story from right at the beginning, when he fought off the STRIKE team in the elevator. It quickly becomes obvious to Tony that he isn't going to like what he's going to hear, that Steve is about to throw something really big at his feet, and he's proven right when the story shifts to how Nukoni and Steve met and ends with "shield is defective and we're in danger". He also recalls something about a falcon suit for Sam but Tony doesn't get a chance to ask about it before the captain had already moved on.
When Steve is finished talking, Tony takes a moment to process the crap load of conspiratorial boulders that had been dropped on his head. Head hanging low, he runs a frazzled hand through already mussed hair and idly scratches the back of his neck as he thinks of what to say.
The others regard him in curiosity as they eagerly wait for his opinion. The theatrical side of him is basking in the suspense he's creating but also figures that Steve won't appreciate that kind of prank at this moment.
When he's finally ready to talk, Tony sighs loudly and straightens his posture.
"I feel like this is an elaborate prank and if it turns out to be anything like what Natalia did to me, then I'm forever moving to the woods where no one will find me for the next thousand years."
"You won't live to a thousand, Tony, and no one will miss you for at most 2 of those."
The smirk on Natasha's face is entirely too comfortable, which is the only reason he even knows she's joking. She can be extremely convincing of anything and it's always a challenge to know when she's being playful.
Putting a hand on his heart in mock outrage, Tony turns to Steve.
"You need to put her in her place."
Steve doesn't join in on the humour and keeps his expression neutral. Tony recognizes this to be his way of keeping things on track, it's never been Cap's style to entertain banter though Tony suspects he enjoys it.
Nobody can be that boring. Right?
"It's not a prank, Tony. This is real and frankly, dangerous. Aside from Nukoni's intel, I don't know how big of a threat HYDRA actually is, but I assume it's not small given their takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Turning to look at Nukoni, Steve seems to pass the conversation over to her and Tony can't help but notice the hesitance with which she speaks.
"Uh, if you're asking whether you should be worried, then yes. I suppose now's a good time as any to tell you that HYDRA's not as big as S.H.I.E.l.D., it's bigger." She straightens a little in her seat and folds her arms on the table. "Not necessarily in man power but…they draw a lot of their strengths through other means."
Sam is the one to speak up this time.
"That's awfully vague. What other means do they have?"
"For starters, they've got this huge elaborate plan to wipe out the earth and replace it with clones."
A long silence ensues as the rest of the occupants stare at her with varying degrees of confusion.
"Please tell me you're being sarcastic," says Tony.
"Oh I wish. It sounds simplistic and, dare I say, a little dumb, but it's a lot more than that. The only thing stopping them from succeeding is, drumroll please, me."
Tony stares long and hard at the Nukoni, unsure as to what he should make of this new information. Things were already confusing as they were and now the he has to worry about bad sci-fi movie plots come to life?
Deciding to take a seat in the chair he was previously leaning on, Tony sighs deeply and leans forward towards Nukoni. His eyes never leave hers and she doesn't back down from it either, the apparent nervousness from earlier gone.
"So what you're telling me is that, HYDRA, a terrorist organization that perished long ago, has secretly been been alive all this time and operating within S.H.I.E.L.D. undetected for several years, and that you," he pauses, "are a secret HYDRA project that is somehow the key for their master plan to take over the world?"
The other woman doesn't say anything for a long minute and when she speaks, she only offers one word:
"Yes."
"Oh come on," Tony exclaims, and rises from his seat to pace the floor. When he turns to address her again, his voice no longer carries any of the light-hearted banter or curiosity from earlier, instead laced with heavy suspicion. "I gave you a chance to tell me the truth because Steve here thinks you're worth trusting, but might I point out we only have your word to go on. Give me one good reason as to why we should help you."
At some point during his rant, Tony had moved close to Nukoni and is standing next to her chair opposite to Sam, leaning aggressively over her shoulder. To her credit, Nukoni doesn't react with any hostility of her own, but she's leans away slightly, ready to bolt if need arises.
Frantically thinking of a response, she's cut off by Natasha on the other side of the table, now also leaning forward ominously with her arms folded.
"I'm only going to say this once but thank you, Tony, for being the voice of reason. What kind of hypnotic, brainwashing influence did you use to convince Captain America that you're telling the truth? Because you haven't convinced me and as Tony so helpfully pointed out, we only have your word to go on."
Nukoni sees Steve shift awkwardly in her periphery, likely thinking about the same thing as she is: the Focus.
With not many options open to her, she raises a slow and deliberate hand to her ear, pausing to the assure the other she's not reaching for a weapon. When Natasha doesn't react threateningly, her hand disappears behind of strand of black hair to slowly reveal the Focus. Everyone's eyes are quick to zero in on the small device, except for Steve who has a careful hand in pocket.
She was so busy paying attention to the others and is completely unprepared for the hand that reaches for the Focus. Her hand jerks away quickly and Tony steps back as if burned. The look on his face is slightly apologetic though he offers nothing of the sort. Instead, he raises a brow questioningly, minutely inching the hand that was reaching for the device forward again. Nukoni looks between him and the device for a moment, debating whether she should hand it over.
Eventually, she hands it over to Tony's outstretched hand, placing it gently in the centre of his palm. Thankfully, he grabs it with care and holds it lightly between his thumb and forefinger.
"What is it?" he asks softly.
Ignoring the look Steve is throwing her way, she grabs Tony's hand and directs the Focus towards his ear, placing it right above it on his temple.
"It's called a Focus, a small but powerful device. Reads all kinds of data around you and translates it into something you can use. Especially useful in battle."
It's clear to her that Tony is only half listening because his eyes are roaming the room erratically, likely trying take in every line and piece of data she knows the Focus is showing him. His eyes are wide in awe, immersed in the world being shown to him.
The others are watching the genius keenly, curious to know what's happening. When Nukoni looks around at the others, she sees Natasha staring at her again but this time, she looks more suspicious than before, if it was even possible.
Sighing internally, Nukoni feels tired of this feud already. It hasn't been long since they met and Natasha had made her feelings pretty clear to her since the beginning (even before their conversation in the bathroom). Part of her wants to put it all behind them, ready to move forward as a cohesive team.
When this whole thing first started, Nukoni wasn't interested in trust and friendships, it's not what she was after, and while it's still largely unimportant, the need to belong to a group is getting stronger. Something about having allies is comforting, even if it is slow to manifest.
Meetings Natasha's gaze, she offers the other woman a tentative smile.
"I know what you're thinking. For all our differences, I'm not stupid enough to believe you to be so naive," Nukoni says, "I withheld the Focus from you earlier because…well, we didn't get off to a very good start."
"That's putting it lightly. You almost slit my throat."
"Right." She shrugs uncomfortably at the memory while simultaneously cringing at her judgement. "But I'm not taking full blame for that, you also sneaked in through a window, what did you want me to do? Hug you?"
"While you were busy breaking and entering, I was being helpful." Natasha's voice takes on a hard edge as she stares down the woman opposite to her. "And you kept the Focus a secret from us this whole time! It's not exactly good reason to trust you!"
"Actually, I knew about it." Steve steps forward and pulls out an identical device from his pocket and holds it up for Natasha and Sam to see. Expressions of hurt and shock flash over both of their faces but Natasha's is more hurt than shocked.
"You never mentioned that to me."
"Because I asked him not to," Nukoni cuts in. Natasha ignores her though she hears her loud and clear.
"So first you take her word over, well, nothing, and now you're keeping secrets from your allies over her say-so?!"
Steve walks forward quickly and sits down in the chair next to Natasha.
"It's not like that, Nat. When Nukoni first approached me and handed me this device, I didn't know what to make of it. I was skeptical at first, but then she showed what it can do and well, it's just something you have to see for yourself."
Pushing the Focus in her direction, Natasha reluctantly grabs it from him and turns to Nukoni. She points to her temple, gesturing on where to place the small device. Once it's planted above her ear, Natasha's suddenly on high alert, frantically looking around in alarm in much the same way Tony did.
When she turns back to Steve, he's looking at her with a knowing smile.
"I had to ask myself, why would she give me her most valuable tool if not to give me a reason to believe her?" he says.
The two of them continue to stare at each other as Natasha mulls over his words. Her sights shift towards Nukoni who's passing over the Focus from Tony over to Sam. She watches Sam as he puts it on, experiencing the same wonders how she and Tony did.
"Fine. I believe you," she says, turning to face the captain once more. "But no more secrets, okay? We're on the same side."
"Right, no more secrets."
The conversation shifts towards Tony who's pulling out a device of his own. When he notices everyone else's attention on him, the genius grabs his small handheld device and with a flick of his wrist, projects a holographic image of the Focus to hover above the table.
A closer look at the projection reveals an anatomical breakdown of the device, with many areas of the image covered in blocks of red.
Nukoni stares at the man in shock, impressed at the efficiency while simultaneously nervous about how he managed to do this. She doesn't say anything, choosing to focus (hah) on the projection of the Focus, internally grateful that even Tony Stark's technology wasn't able to dissect it accurately. The last thing she needs are duplicates of this device being poorly manufactured. She's got enough problems as it is without having to add copyright infringement to the list.
They all gather around the table as Tony thoughtfully analyzes the diagram.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., run a complete scan and tell me what we're missing."
The only ones to jump at the sound of the A.I.s voice are Sam and Nukoni, not having heard it before, unlike Natasha and Steve. Tony loves it when people hear J.A.R.V.I.S. for the first time and seeing the look of confusion on their faces. His A.I. is his proudest creation to date and will never get tired of seeing people in awe of it.
"Of course, sir. It's much more efficient to ask me than the woman next to you," he responds.
Tony playfully rolls his eyes and looks at Nukoni in amusement as she stares at the ceiling.
"He's a complex A.I., first of it's kind capable of sass," he explains, "there's no one like him on the market. Until now, that is."
"Excuse me?"
"This device, the Focus, it's scarily sophisticated and it shouldn't be if it comes from HYDRA. S.H.I.E.L.D. might be able to pull off something as complicated and multidimensional as this, but they're a long way away from getting there." Tony stares at the image of the Focus with genuine interest, watching the status bar as J.A.R.V.I.S. completes the scan. "But HYDRA? No way, and I'm curious to know where they got their hands on a device as brilliant as the Focus because it sure as hell wasn't their own genius."
The others look pensive at this, carefully considering his theory. Sam removes the device from his ear and twirls it in his fingers thoughtfully.
"I don't know a lot about S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA, but this does seem kind of alien," offers Sam.
Everyone looks at Nukoni, waiting on her to give some kind of explanation but she remains silent. Not making eye contact with anyone, she grabs the device from Sam and places it back above her ear, continuing to look directly at the image of her Focus as J.A.R.V.I.S. comes up empty with his scan.
"I am unable to fill in the missing data, sir. There are currently no other existing referential data drives to draw from, and much of the device potentially originates from materials not available on Earth."
"What are you saying, J.?"
"That Mr. Wilson may be correct in assuming the device's origins are, in fact, alien."
Everyone's gaze intensifies when they hear this, continuing to regard Nukoni with more suspicion than before. She nervously looks up and locks eyes with Steve, the least suspicious looking person in the room, though that might be because he's just not able to look more suspicious. Chancing a glance at the others, Nukoni turns to Tony who actually seems more amused than suspicious.
"Okay, so hear me out," she finally says. "Consider for a moment that you both are right, that this is too sophisticated to be HYDRA's creation and that there are some other forces involved. I would love to spill the beans, but the truth is, I don't exactly know how the Focus was created though I might have a slight theoretical understanding." Pausing to gauge their reactions, Nukoni continues when no one speaks, "All I can confirm is that you're both right, so congrats," she lamely finishes.
"That's not helpful in the slightest," adds Sam.
"I agree," Tony says as he dismisses the projection from the air. "I thought we said no more secrets?"
"That's a lot to ask of someone who was literally a secret weapon for a defective, terrorist organization. My secrets have secrets and you're not getting all of them today."
"Of course we're not," Natasha mutters.
"Besides," Nukoni continues, "We've got a bigger problem."
Steve's eyes widen when he remembers that they're still fugitives.
"Right, we're being followed and we need to hurry," he adds.
"No. That's not it. Well, not all of it, we're missing one more thing," Nukoni reaches over Sam and grabs the folder from his satchel hanging by the chair. She hears him protest lightly but stops when he sees what she's after. Pulling the manila folder out from the bag, she tosses it to Tony across the table.
"We need to get our hands on the Falcon suit."