Chapter 30

Berlin, Germany

Spring 2016

It was not immediately apparent where Sharon was leading her as they slipped deeper into the building, but the further into the JCTC they went, the stronger Nadine's suspicion became.

Much to their benefit, the power outage combined with Barnes' escape had effectively cleared the building so they could move unhindered, unchallenged and, most importantly, unnoticed. The building felt effectively deserted, the radio on Sharon's hip chattering softly with the urgency that followed clearing the building in the aftermath of a high-adrenaline attack instead of in panic over missing prisoners.

And Nadine was more than okay with that.

She was especially okay when, after some quick work on her part knocking out the pair of agents left to secure their destination and a rather skillful bit of advanced lock-picking on her unexpected companion's part, they ducked into the room Sharon had been leading them to.

The JCTC's primary lock-up.

"Okay," Sharon said, her voice low as she snatched up the sign-in log, glancing at it for a moment before handing it to Nadine, "the techs are saying surveillance won't be back up for another twenty minutes or so, but that's just an estimate—it's already back up on the other side of the building, so we don't have a lot of time. We're looking for collections 'Cap Costume', 'Grey Gear', 'Winter Gear' and 'Bird Costume'." Nadine nearly choked, looking to Sharon with a carefully neutral expression marred only by the wicked glint in her eye.

"Bird costume? I bet Sam was pleased about that," she said wryly. Sharon grinned back, her own eyes nearly twinkling with her amusement right before she ducked down the nearest row.

"Loved it," she confirmed. Nadine just smiled, setting down the clipboard to begin searching for the shelves and their contents that the clipboard had indicated.

At first their search passed in silence, but it wasn't long before the inevitable questions came.

"So you and Natasha are sisters," Sharon's curious voice piped up from the next row over. Nadine fought against the urge to grit her teeth. Though expected, she wasn't entirely keen on small talk. She wanted to get in, get out and rendezvous with Steve, Sam and—hopefully—Barnes. So she was very interested in wrapping up here and dropping off the radar as quickly as possible.

She had unfinished business to see to, and she had no intention of getting caught again.

She let out an assenting sound, but instead of waiting to see where Sharon hoped to take the conversation, she countered with a question of her own.

"She's the one who put you up to helping me, isn't she?" She was nearly tempted to smile when Sharon let out her own assenting hum, clearly seeing through what Nadine had been attempting to do. She was no slouch, Agent Carter.

"Not exactly. Though, she did ask where to find you. Before Barnes got loose, all I could give her was a hard no. But once he was? I figured there was nothing left to lose. Knowing what Natasha's capable of and knowing you two have the same training ? I figured having two of her, so to speak, could only help." Funny, it wasn't far off Natasha's thinking when they'd met up in the hall outside Nadine's cell. A small huff of a laugh caught in Nadine's throat.

"In theory, you weren't wrong," Nadine responded dryly. "We'd gone up against him together once before, back when Nat and I were still in training. The pair of us even managed to take him down." Nadine nearly scowled then, still irritated with herself that they hadn't been able to manage as much this time.

That she'd allowed herself to get so dangerously distracted. She was better than that! They should've been able to take him down. Easily. They both had nearly two decades of additional experience apiece as compared to that day…

And yet, actually going up against him again? It had been as though she was back in the Red Room, making stupid, amateur mistakes that would've gotten her killed in those days. That easily could've gotten her killed today. Foolish, emotion-driven mistakes that her training had prepared her to avoid.

God, that dead look in his eyes as they'd fought, though…as though no time had passed…and contrasting as sharply as a knife blade to how alive and aware he'd looked even pinned to the pavement in Bucharest…

How could she have been so irresponsible…so stupid…she should have been able to completely shut down her emotions. And because she hadn't? Even couldn't?

She had risked everything all because she had allowed herself to lose focus.

"Bit of a fluke, apparently," she added bitterly. Sharon didn't seem moved. Not the way Nadine was.

"Well, successful or not, you two going up against him was pretty impressive. I have to say, there were a couple moments there when I thought you two might have had him." Nadine exhaled slowly, biting back a retort that 'almost' didn't count for much. She was saved from the impulse when she spied one of the shelves she was looking for, lifting off the carton neatly labelled 'Winter Gear'.

Retreating back to the set of tables near the door, she deposited the relatively light box, not bothering to check inside. As she turned, intending to resume the search for the other three, Sharon emerged from the row she'd been down with another similarly small carton. Nadine suspected immediately it was her gear; Sam and Steve's gear each undoubtedly required storage in containers a little larger than the one Sharon currently held.

Sure enough, the instant she spotted that Nadine wasn't down one of the aisles, Sharon briefly lifted the container as she said, "found yours," before nodding back the way she'd come. "And I found Steve and Wilson's. They're in secure lock-up." Nadine couldn't help the indignant huff that escaped her at that.

"What, I'm not threatening enough for my gear to warrant secure lock-up?" Sharon actually laughed at the comment, and Nadine couldn't help but grin.

"I don't think my coworkers have quite realized that you're actually in the same league as any one of the Avengers, not just hanging out with a couple of them," Sharon said with obvious amusement, a veritable eyeroll implied in her tone. Though her pride did feel a little stung at the idea of being so easily dismissed, Nadine couldn't say she really minded overall. Being underestimated was almost always an advantage and not one she had ever passed up lightly. "Your guns, though, those are in secure. That's going to be a little harder to get into."

"Not a problem," Nadine dismissed as Sharon set the carton on the table next to the one holding Barnes' things. Putting her guns and Steve and Sam's gear in the secure lock-up was probably one of the few smart things the JCTTF folks had done today. Especially considering she had just the thing to get them into the secure lock-up tucked away on her uniform's belt. Grinning to herself at how foolish it had been of the JCTTF agents to put off properly cataloguing her effects in the excitement of Barnes' capture, she pulled the box toward her—

Only to huff out a laugh that had Sharon frowning in confusion.

Well, that explained it, actually…

"What," Sharon asked warily. Nadine, a sly smile still on her lips, gestured to the neat, familiar writing on the front of the container designating the contents 'Grey Gear.'

"I don't think it's quite so much luck or ineptitude as design that my gear isn't in lock-up," Nadine replied dryly as she traced a finger over handwriting that looked far too much like her own to be coincidence. Oh, her sister was a clever little fox… Sharon's frown deepened as she glanced to the label even as comprehension began to light in her eyes.

"Natasha was involved in intake," the younger agent confirmed sounding vaguely annoyed that she hadn't put that together herself. Nadine nodded. "To make sure Avenger Gear was properly handled, as she told my boss."

"Well, I certainly wasn't and she's the only one I know of who can duplicate my handwriting this well," Nadine said before shooting the younger woman a wry grin, "it also explains 'Bird Costume,' come to think of it…" Sharon snickered at the observation.

"I was wondering about that," Sharon mused mostly to herself as Nadine retrieved her lock kit. Nadine only barely restrained a snicker of her own. That was for sure. Natasha's ire could certainly be sharp when she was upset with the people she cared about. Probably also explained why Steve's stuff got 'costume' instead of 'gear' too.

A few moments and a satisfying demonstration of her skill later, Nadine let the two of them into the secure lock-up.

"She really was anticipating that you'd get yourself out, wasn't she," Sharon quipped as she watched Nadine work. As the door popped open with a faint rattle, Nadine shot her a challenging glance.

"Naturally. Now, 'Cap' and 'Bird' costumes, right? Something tells me they shouldn't be hard to find," she added dryly. Sure enough, Steve and Sam's gear both were all but front and centre, and her own weapons tucked off not far away, efficiently tagged and stowed in the easily bypassed—for her—locked gun cabinet.

"No phones," Nadine murmured partially to herself as she took stock of the containers' contents as Sharon wheeled over a third, empty container into the secure lock-up as Nadine pulled them down. She spared a glance at Sharon, noting the flicker of resignation on the younger woman's face.

"Collected when you were arrested," Sharon said, looking distinctly less-than-pleased, "They're with our techs, now. Wasn't much I could do about that." Nadine hummed, not entirely surprised even if her annoyance with herself at getting caught flared once more. She eyed the younger woman curiously as Sharon began loading Steve's gear into the empty container; it wasn't a bad idea. Leaving the containers apparently untouched to a cursory check would provide some effective misdirection, after all.

"You know, I certainly didn't expect you to get involved quite to this extent," she said quietly, measuring her words carefully as she surreptitiously studied the younger woman even as she quickly set to work on Sam's container, going along with Sharon's unspoken idea. "It's a big risk," she continued as Sharon closed up and replaced Steve's container on the proper shelf. "You will probably get caught and charged for this." Almost certainly, really. "At the very least, your career is likely over." Sharon raised a brow at Nadine as she replaced Sam's carton while Nadine efficiently packed away her rifle and added it to the container. Her gear and Barnes things would just barely fit, if Nadine was any judge.

"Not if they're looking at you for this," Sharon dismissed with a shrewd look and the shadow of a devious grin. Nadine blinked. Oh, that was a good… "You certainly have a bleak outlook on things," Sharon added lightly, wheeling the mostly full container back out of the secure lock-up. As soon as Nadine had followed her out, Sharon closed the access with a sharp slam, the lock clicking shut as though nothing was amiss.

Nadine spared her a dubious look. "I'm realistic."

"And a bit of a downer," Sharon quipped back with a grin as she wheeled the container up to the main table. One Nadine couldn't quite help but return even as she shrugged in response.

"I am what my circumstances demanded I be, what they made me. I'm not about to make excuses," she dismissed, pulling the container closest to her closer still and beginning to transfer Barnes' things to the new container. And it was true. Sure, she wasn't quite so fatalistically pragmatic as she had once been, but she was still cynical and realistic almost to a fault at times. She knew how the world worked. Her time with the Avengers had changed her a bit, allowing her to lighten up more than she'd ever permitted herself to in the past, but she hadn't changed that much, either.

Sharon made a dismissive sound, making short work of Nadine's carton; all her gear was neatly packed away in her travel duffel, after all. "Not asking you to," she said. "Just curious, really." Nadine glanced up to her again as she closed up the container full of gear and turned back to the empty bin that had held Barnes' things. Picking it up, she paused before turning to the row where it had been stored.

"So why are you really helping me?" she asked as she returned the container to its shelf, the scrape of it sliding back into place seeming particularly loud. There was more to the younger woman's motivation than just using Nadine as a decoy. Sharon shrugged as she paused at the end of Nadine's aisle, the movement hindered by the empty crate she carried.

"Because, unlike my boss, I can see that you, Steve and Wilson and even Barnes are our best chance at stopping whatever is really going on here," she said over her shoulder as she returned the empty crate bearing the label for Nadine's gear back to its place. "Unlike my boss, I can see that there's something else going on, a bigger picture, that none of us saw coming, that my superiors have no interest in seeing." And then the younger woman turned to Nadine, her brown eyes intent and earnest.

"And because it's the right thing to do," she finished with finality, as though it was the simplest answer in the world. And suddenly Nadine was struck with a sense of longing she'd never quite experienced before. She wondered what it felt like to feel such a choice was that simple. Her choices never felt simple, even when she was limited to a single choice.

"I've never been able to afford decisions based solely on 'right' or 'wrong,'" she said softly, tone careful and impassive. Sharon raised a skeptical brow as she held the door open for Nadine to wheel the container-laden dolly past the unconscious agents meant to be guarding the room and out into the hall, the faint curve of her lip making her appear almost amused.

"Like the decision to go along to help Barnes even knowing there was a good chance you'd get caught? That kind of decision?" Nadine didn't quite have a response to that. The corner of her lip quirked of its own accord. Yeah, that kind of decision…when put that way…perhaps she had made just such a choice. She easily could've stayed behind, after all, but it hadn't felt…right.

Not like choosing to go along to Bucharest.

That had been a surprisingly easy decision for all the conflict she'd felt over it at the time.

She followed Sharon in silence, the two of them barely exchanging more than two words as they bent to their purpose of getting out of the JCTC, gear in tow. The only sound that followed them was the odd stressed voices checking in through Sharon's radio as the JCTC slowly recovered after the day's excitement; any minute, now, someone would realize she, Steve and Sam were missing and the alarm would sound.

Did Steve feel this way all the time? So…conflicted over whether the right choice was actually…right? He always seemed so confident in his convictions.

But then her thoughts were drawn back to what she'd seen in him since news of the Accords broke. The brief, quickly hidden moments of conflict. He wasn't always quite so certain as he appeared. Not about the Accords, at least. In the sanctuary back in London she knew he'd been wavering. He'd admitted as much. He'd begun to wonder if refusing was really the right thing to do.

Of course Steve and his convictions weren't wholly immune to doubt and uncertainty, Nadine admonished silently…what a foolish thought to think they were. She knew him better than that. No one was that certain about their own actions on something so important. Not Stark or Natasha or Rhodes. Not even Steve.

Well, except when it came to Barnes. Where his oldest friend was concerned, Steve never hesitated. Not even when Barnes was trapped within his…his programming…

Nadine's breath hitched as a thought struck her, her steps faltering even as they approached the car Sharon had pulled the container up behind.

And as Sharon paused as she reached for the trunk latch, finally looking up to notice Nadine's hesitation, Nadine's mind was already kicking into gear.

"Ryker?" Nadine very nearly missed Sharon's concerned call, turning to look back the way they'd come, her thoughts whirling and circling back to one troubling realization. How had she missed it?! At once she was silently berating herself yet again. She was seriously losing her touch…

"Someone activated his programming…" Nadine murmured thoughtfully. Sharon frowned. Nadine looked up to the younger agent where she stood next to the black sedan, the trunk already popped and the container open, ready to be emptied. "Barnes' programming," she explained distractedly, "it wasn't active when we were all arrested. Someone had to activate it…" she could feel herself going cold even as understanding became to surface on Sharon's features. "Someone has to have activated it here…and what would've given them access and opportunity…" Sharon's features had grown sharp.

"The power outage," she said softly, anger threading her voice, "he was alone with the psychiatrist…and the doctor was still unaccounted for last I heard." But Nadine barely heard the response. Her thoughts were already zeroed in on what needed to be done next. She glanced to Sharon.

"I need to get down to where Barnes was being held. I need to see if there was anything left behind." She was not asking. But Sharon moved into her path, standing firm at Nadine's affronted expression.

"No, you're going to get out of here. This whole plan falls apart if you're not the one to drive this car out of here. I'll go down." Nadine's eyes narrowed, but the younger agent didn't flinch. She merely raised a brow. Nerves of steel, this one. "Or would you like to get caught again?" Nadine was severely tempted to scowl, instead raising a challenging brow of her own.

"I won't get caught," she assured the younger woman coolly. Sharon nodded, but still refused to budge.

"Maybe. But you definitely won't be if I'm the one to go. Especially not now that they know you're missing too." Nadine's jaw clenched irritably as Sharon tugged the radio from her belt, holding it up between them. Sure enough, the quiet chatter of checks and confirmations as teams worked to secure the building had given way to alarm and the odd mention of her name, Steve's and Sam's.

So they had finally realized that The three of them had all slipped away in the chaos, had they? Nadine's eyes narrowed, only barely restraining the urge to scowl yet again. Satisfied her point had been made, Sharon replaced the radio on her hip and tossed Barnes' pack into the trunk.

"Now, are you going to let me go?" Sharon prompted, "or are we going to continue debating this and risking being caught as they lock down the building?" Nadine was nothing if not pragmatic, and though she admittedly didn't like it—something might be missed if she wasn't the one to go—she was forced to admit Sharon Carter had a point. It wasn't the worst idea, ever. The younger woman had proven she was a skilled agent, after all.

And Steve trusted her. A trust Sharon Carter had so far risen to.

Nadine jerked out a small, assenting nod. To her credit, Sharon didn't smirk or outwardly betray any satisfaction that Nadine had backed down. She just grabbed Steve's bundled uniform and tossed it into the trunk too.

A few moments later and they parted ways, Sharon slipping back into the building with the empty container, heading for lock-up once more to do her best to run some interference and buy Nadine some time before slipping down to where Barnes had been held.

Nadine, on the other hand, the burner Sharon had pressed into her hand safely tucked into her jacket pocket, would take the car and meet Sharon in a couple hours at a business complex a few blocks away.

A potentially complicated and certainly risky plan, but it was nothing Nadine couldn't handle. Sure enough, she was pulling up to the parking garage's exit when two armed agents stopped her.

Not once did she break her cool.

No sooner was she stepping out of the car at the first agent's request than her elbow was slamming up into his jaw as she spun, catching the second with a precisely thrown mini-taser disc she'd appropriated from her sister's arsenal; they really were handy little things… One final, hard shove into the wall later and both agents were unconscious, neither one of them having had even the opportunity to go for their comms.

A few zipties and a little bit of work saw the two of them secured in the backseat and Nadine was off. She just needed to find a nice, relatively secluded alley—somewhere they wouldn't be discovered right away—to leave her unwilling passengers.

And then it was just a matter disappearing until it was time to rendezvous with Sharon.

Allowing herself a small, pleased grin, Nadine pulled the car out onto the street, merging seamlessly into the bustling traffic of the city.

Almost too easy, really.

Which meant all that was left to do now was wait.

A/N: And this is why we like Sharon, lovelies. ;)

I am so excited to hear all your reviews! Especially since *drumroll* we might very well hit another milestone this week! It's all up to you, my lovelies!

So get those reviews in!

See you all next time!

Guest Reviews:

Jag: It was, wasn't it….lol! I've been dying to share that one since Nadine first made her appearance in Iris' story. And I'm always excited to share! Especially when I hear you and your fellows are just as excited for more. :D Thanks for reviewing!

Guest: I am just thrilled to hear it. It was a blast writing them working together again, that's for sure. I am so glad you loved it! And I'm looking forward to that too! More that I can adequately say. ;) Thanks for reviewing!

Jo: Oh man, that's tough. My condolences and love to you and your family, lovely. That's never easy, that's for sure. And I'm glad to have helped even a little. And I am just so glad you loved the chapter. It was definitely a long awaited and exciting one. :) Thanks for reviewing!