outstandingbalance | Drift Fleet IC Contact

ETA

I'll come meet you.

[ he doesn't even seem to trust his own ship these days. ]

20 minutes. I'll confirm when I dock.

20 minutes.

I'll be there.

[Natasha doesn't respond to that, not until, true to her word, she's making her connection with Starstruck. Then he gets a quick text that she's coming in.

The ship handles the process itself just fine, and she's quick to clime out, looking for him as she comes on board.]

[ he worries about nat. much like him, her frustrations are a quiet, inward thing. he knows the burden of those all too well. he waits for her, leaned against the wall of the cargo bay and once her boots touch ground, he hands her a file. ]

everything I remember from the information we gathered. I'm sure I'm missing things.

[ and she was at his side the whole time. no one to fill the blanks like her. ]

Hard copy. Risky, but a good move.

[Especially considering what happened. It's suddenly even harder to know what Atroma knows or has access too, but at least this can't be encrypted or deleted.

She takes it but doesn't open it.]

I'll see what I can add.

[Then, glancing past him:]

Coffee?

It's not even because of Atroma. I feel like I've learned my lessons after what happened with Ultron.

[ coffee. he nods. ]

your crew got any smaller?

Yeah. Two left just recently.

[Her lips twitch slightly, not really hiding her disappointment. she'd liked Al. and she's not full of confidence that anyone goes home after this, not now of all times.]

It is what it is.

There's a game plan but the hell if I see it.

[ crews are reduced, agents are killed, information is sealed away. ]

At least now we know that information was important enough for them to go into battle mode and we're still here.

[ it's both a relief and a worry. ]

We don't know that. Not really. [They'd taken it away, but how Natasha saw it, there was no way to avoid the very real possibility they'd been allowed to see it at least for a while because there was nothing there really dangerous.]

For all we know this whole thing was a set up to get us to steal something for them.

[Thank you for your contribution. The words that flashed on the screen when they tried to access the AI stayed with her.]

Or give them the people they've killed on a platter.

[ and that's a far too grim thought, that they've orchestrated something like this. he makes two cups, strong, no sugar and hands her one. ]

As long as we've got the augments, they're one step ahead, I'm getting really tired of it.

[She's thought of that too. No way of knowing for a fact that was what happened. No way of ruling it out either.

And this could still all be a stunt for ratings, if they believed the line that this was for entertainment.]

I know. [She takes the cup from him, letting it warm her hands.] I know you are.

[She almost asks if he's okay, but she knows he's not.]

Not much we can do for that now, though.

We're still here.

[ and that has to be a good thing. there are people they can help and they're here to help them. there's a selfish side of him that's also glad to still have this dangerous world if it means bucky is safer and peggy is within reach. ]

we'll find out what we can do. it'll come.

Well, that's more optimistic than I expected to hear out of you.

[A slight smile, then she sips her coffee.]

Feels more productive than punching things.

[ and he's done that, too. hours of pent-up anger and energy taken out but with no catharsis at the end. ]

Can't afford to lose hope now. Whatever game they're playing, it'll work well for them. I'm not doing them any more favors.

We could have sparred instead, if you wanted.

[She's not really longing for that kind of fight, though. This is probably better, at least for her.]

How's Peggy taking this?

We could still spar.

[ and he wouldn't mind it, not one bit. it'll be more effective than the punching bag. he could use some hand-to-hand training. ]

She throws herself into work, same as we all do.

[ they're all made of the same material. the kind that takes responsibility for things like these and becomes frantic about setting them right. ]

I wouldn't mind it, if you're in the mood. Been a while.

[He'd been small, then there was the heist to plan... They'd been distracted.]

I'll have to talk to her too.

Been a while.

[ he agrees, echoes her words as a way of agreement. ]

She might listen to you. I'm not very good at following my own advice, you usually are a bit better at that.

[ aka he hasn't been resting at all, either. ]

I could give it a try. [Natasha smiles, self-deprecating.] I don't know that I'm actually better at it than you are, but I'm a better liar at least.

[ he touches a hand to her shoulder for a fleeting moment, warm and present. ]

Dunno. I kinda like that you dropped the habit.

[ there are no longer lies between them. natasha has secrets, steve respects those. but lies, he likes to think they're past that. ]

[Natasha's eyes come up at his touch, meeting his. The reminder is appreciated.]

Maybe lying is the wrong word. [It doesn't feel wrong. They walked into the theft eyes open, Natasha had even argued in favor of it. And she doesn't think it was wrong, but it doesn't feel good either. Not entirely honest.] But you're not the only one who can't always follow their own advise.

It feels as if no matter what we do, they'll always be one step ahead.

[ his finger traces the rim of his cup as he hums, pensive. ]

Still. This sort of power causes arrogance and that can cause mistakes. We just gotta find those.

If it feels that way, it's probably because they're setting us on this path. They don't have to anticipate what we're going to do if we're the ones doing all the reacting.

[Was that meant to be comforting. Natasha, that isn't how you do comforting.]

Still, we have a little more information than we had before. And like you said... people make mistakes.

Are we sure they're people?

[ he leans back against the counter, looks at the ceiling. ]

It all feels like we're back at that bunker with Armin Zola inside a computer.

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