Task Force Command and Control, Vienna, Austria
Sharon ran the numbers in her head as she walked away from the café. It was half an hour to the airport in traffic and fifty-minute flight from the Vienna to Bucharest, if the pilot was willing to redline it. She'd paid him a lot to be willing to redline it. Even if the boys suited up in the plane, they needed to get from Henri Coandă International to the Ferentari ghetto, say another half an hour. That meant she needed to manufacture at least a two-hour delay.
"Sharon Carter here to see Deputy Ross," she presented her credentials to the UN Peacekeeper. He waved her in with only a cursory glance. She ground her teeth and weighed the desire to ream him out with the desire to keep eyes off of her until Steve was out of town.
Romanov was in with Ross and Sharon hoped she covered up the slight hitch in her step when she noticed.
"Sorry to interrupt. We've got a lead," she held out the folder.
Ross took the folder without a word, but Romanov asked, "Where?" She still had soot on her cheek and stains on her somber purple suit.
"The Ferentari in Bucharest," Sharon was careful not to meet Romanov's eyes too directly. Too much eye contact was a dead giveaway.
"That's gonna be a fun extraction," the redhead craned her neck to look over Ross's shoulder. Sharon was always surprised at how short she was. You'd think a legend would be taller.
"I've never been to Romania," Sharon admitted. "Have you worked with the Romanian Intelligence before?"
"Not from this side," the Black Widow smiled her famous smile.
Ross frowned up from the file folder, sharing his annoyance equally between the two women. Sharon realized that the blustery demeanor was his "cop face", the way that cool detachment was Romanov's.
She had to tread carefully.
"Romanov, why don't you head to Romania, check out-," Ross started.
"Sir," Sharon raised her finger. "Agent Romanov has signed the Accords. We'll need U.N. approval before we send her anywhere."
Romanov darted a glance at Sharon before she nodded in agreement. "I'm grounded for this."
"Carter, you are the subject matter expert-" Ross started again but Romanov interrupted this time.
"She's Peggy's niece and was involved in that whole nightmare back in D.C. He'll spot her coming a mile away."
Sharon put on a chagrined face and shrugged agreement.
Ross frowned, his hobbit-like brow furrowing as he worked through the implications of their situation. Sharon waited, patiently. It was all obvious to her and, she glanced over, to Romanov. But Ross needed a few minutes to catch up. Since she needed a two-hour delay, she was happy to let him take his time.
"We can't send Iron Man or War Machine, they both signed to Accords and it will take a few hours to get everyone to approve," Ross started and Sharon managed not to roll her eyes. Oh God, he was the kind of boss who thought out loud to his subordinates. She carefully didn't look at Romanov because she wasn't sure she'd manage to hide her disdain if she caught Romanov's smirk. "We could send a single scout to break into the flat and confirm that he's living there. But if Barnes catches the scout, it will be a PR nightmare."
"And the agent would probably be killed," Sharon said, raising her eyebrows in disapproval.
"I'm sure that's what Deputy Ross meant to say," drawled the Black Widow.
Ross didn't even have the grace to look embarrassed. He waved the women's objections away.
"The Bucharest police don't have any force that can handle someone like Barnes," he continued, plodding his way through the obvious. "The SRI should have a Special Forces team that can handle him though."
Finally! Sharon let the exasperated thought play over her face because Romanov was almost certainly watching her. There was a second-too-long pause in conversation while Ross looked at them, as if he expected them to burst into applause for his astounding feat of mental agility.
Both at the same time, Sharon and Natasha spoke over one another, "The SRI—" "Sir, I don't—"
Sharon gestured for Romanov to speak. Romanov smiled thanks.
Ross made an impatient noise.
"The Romanian Intelligence means well," Romanov continued. "But the SRI is underfunded, understaffed, and underprepared. Barnes would tear through them like wet tissue paper. Even their most elite team couldn't handle Barnes on their best day and their most elite team is probably not in Bucharest."
"Where would they be, then?" Ross snapped.
"On the border with Ukraine, sir," Sharon stepped in. "There have been some … situations there."
Ross, again, didn't bother to be ashamed. He just chewed on the information and made his way, slowly, to the next station on the logic train.
"The best-trained team is headquartered in Berlin," he said, finally.
"Yes, sir," Sharon said, putting exaggerated patience into her voice. "They are specifically attached to this task force, in fact. And standing by."
From the corner where Romanov had retreated, Sharon heard a barely audible snicker.
"We need to send our team to Bucharest. Confront Barnes in force with civilian military."
"Civilian military, sir?"
"Non-enhanced," Ross snapped. "Not the Avengers. You know. Human."
There was a long long pause as Sharon carefully didn't look over at Romanov and Romanov loudly didn't say anything.
After a moment, Ross flushed.
"You know what I mean," he blustered. "Carter, get the team moving on this location in Bucharest."
"Yes, sir," said Sharon, without moving to leave.
"Ross, let us back you up," Romanov stepped out of her corner, her voice softly urgent. "Rhodey and I have both signed the Accords. While the team gets from Berlin to Bucharest, get our involvement authorized. There are enough members of the U.N. still on the scene, it shouldn't take long. We know Barnes. We can help."
"Absolutely not! I won't have those damned inhumans on the ground again."
"Sir!" Sharon gasped in shocked disapproval, not all of it playacted.
"I understand your… hesitation," Romanov managed to be soothing and wry at the same time. "But I assure you, Colonel Rhodes and I are both perfectly human."
Ross fumed and glared and turned red but did not answer. The tension in the room grew unpleasant and thick.
"Sir?" Sharon finally stepped in. She had to back Romanov's play, even if she didn't want to. Anything else would look suspicious. "Think of the press if it goes badly."
She managed to put enough disgust in her voice to communicate just what she thought of that, to Romanov and even to Ross.
"Yes, fine, whatever. Carter! Go! I apparently have to round up members of the U.N. to authorize Black Widow and War Machine to back up us mere humans."
Sharon nodded, face sour, before she turned and left. Romanov followed on her heels.
They women walked through the disaster scene without speaking for several seconds before Romanov spoke.
"How's Steve holding up?"
The personal question made Sharon blink and pause as she tried to switch gears, mentally. When she didn't answer right away, Romanov continued, "I saw him right after the funeral. He looked … not great."
"He's not great," Sharon agreed. "He walked me back to my hotel after the reception. We didn't have a lot of time to talk before we got the news about Vienna, but he's was already rocky before we heard about Bucky."
"I'm sorry about your loss, too," Romanov put her hand on Sharon's wrist. "Peggy was an exceptional woman."
The sympathy from such an unexpected quarter triggered a flood of grief and Sharon found herself blinking away tears suddenly.
"Thank you, Agent Romanov."
"Please, call me Natasha," the red head smiled gently. "Any friend of Peggy's is a friend of mine."
"Thank you, Natasha," Sharon managed, her voice strained with tears.
Romanov smiled and casually looked away, pretending to study some random object in order to give Sharon time to pull herself together. More than most, Romanov would understand that Sharon couldn't cry in public, not if she wanted to retain her credibility.
Peggy would have understood, too, Sharon thought, dashing away a few tears.
"Okay, I need to get the Berlin team started," Sharon said after a moment.
"Good luck," Romanov smiled. "I suspect we're all going to need it over the next couple of days."
Some of us more than others, Sharon thought. Be safe, Steve.
