[oom] a shadow in pursuit

[nerves_of_ice]

It's been well over a month since the auction, a couple of weeks since the procedure, and Bucky thinks they're all beginning to settle into what he thinks of as 'after.'

Sharon's at the lab with Shuri this morning. He's supposed to swing by there later or tomorrow, depending on how far she's gotten with the latest prototype - he'll wait to hear. In the meantime, he's concentrating on chopping up the latest fallen tree.

It's good work. Clean work, in more ways than one.

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[marvel_npc]

It's been over a month, and he still doesn't have any more information on the mysterious winner of the weapons auction. Nor has he been able to find any scrap of intelligence linking his former right-hand agent to the event. Everett Ross can't decide if he should draw a sliver of hope from that, that maybe she's not involved at the highest of levels, or be frustrated at the possibility that she's just that good - especially since he knows that's far from unlikely.

Either way, he'd decided that he owed T'Challa the courtesy of an explanation in person. He doesn't often take advantage of the standing invitation that he's been granted, especially as he knows how much of a generous offer it is, but for something like this? It's the right thing to do. Ross finishes talking with the guard who leaves to notify T'Challa of his arrival, assuring him there's no rush at all, and ducks back out the door to retrieve his case from the jet -- only to freeze in his tracks as he spots the blonde walking across the grass.

No. It can't be. How the-- what the hell is she doing here?

Ross abandons any thought of his case, checks to make sure he has his weapon, and follows her as silently and stealthily as he can.

[from_the_outside]

Today, again, she'd looked at the napkin with the smiley face that's tucked into her sock drawer and thought about slipping it into her pocket to see if she could open a door of her own.

Like every other day so far, she'd decided against it in the end, though she can feel that her curiosity is beginning to overcome her natural sense of caution. Bucky hasn't brought it up without her asking about it first, and she's starting to think she'll have to go on her own to feel less like it's his space that she's intruding on and more like it's any other bar they could decide to visit.

Not today, though. She turns her face up to the clear Wakandan sky and takes a deep breath of the grass-scented air and thinks: maybe tomorrow.

[marvel_npc]

It's too open here. Far too open, when it comes to trailing someone like Carter. He waits until they're out of sight of the Citadel, until there's nothing around but grass and trees and the faint gleam of the distant lake, before drawing his weapon.

In deference to the past, he keeps it pointed at the ground between them, knowing that she'll know he can have it aimed in a fraction of a second.

"Carter."

[from_the_outside]

... Damn.

She's gotten too relaxed here, too at home. She's been too certain that she's safe here. She should never have gotten so complacent.

Sharon stops. She lifts her hands before turning very slowly in place, her brain whirring – how far is she from the lake and the hut? – even as her expression settles, calm and neutral.

"Sir," she says, tone mild. "You're a long way from home."

[marvel_npc]

“Look who’s talking,” he snaps. At least it doesn’t look like she’s going to do anything stupid, although he’s no fool - he keeps watching her like a hawk.

“What the hell, Carter?”

[from_the_outside]

He's not pointing the gun at her, at least, which is nice. She keeps her hands relaxed at shoulder height, open palms facing him in the universal signal for not armed; don't shoot.

"You're going to have to be a little more specific," she tells him, listening hard for any sign that Bucky might decide to make his way towards the Citadel instead of waiting for her by the lake.

That could go badly.

[marvel_npc]

“I’ve got a lot of specific questions, which you know damn well, because you’re not an idiot.” Ross glares at her in frustration.

“I’ll start with two: why the hell did you throw your career away, and what the hell were you doing in Prague?”

[from_the_outside]

Well, crap. He must have caught just enough of a glimpse of her as she ran through the door. "I can't tell you about Prague," she says.

"And I didn't throw my career away. I chose to do the right thing."

[marvel_npc]

“The right thing?” He sounds strangled. “You stole government property! You aided and abetted criminals!”

[from_the_outside]

"The Sokovia Accords are bullshit and you know it," she retorts.

"And we let ourselves get used by a psychopath who wanted to take out the Avengers. That's on us: on you and me. We did it all wrong. Cap was never the enemy. Hell, even Tony Stark's stopped helping Secretary Ross look for him, right?"

[marvel_npc]

“And you threw away your chance to help make it right,” he snaps back. “Enemy of the state. Jesus, Carter!”

He can feel his teeth grind together. “Answer me this. Why are you here?”

[from_the_outside]

Even though her hands are still in the air tension is beginning to thread through her shoulders. Her thoughts race; she's got to get him out of here before he sees Bucky.

She shakes her head at him, stubborn. "What are you going to do with that information if I tell you?"

[marvel_npc]

Ross's eyes narrow sharply.

"That's not how this works, Carter, or have you forgotten? You tell me, and then I decide. If I'm in a good mood, it could even be we decide. You want me to be in a good mood, Carter."

She's tensing up. This could all go bad very fast, and he doesn't want that. Hell, he'd trusted her!

[from_the_outside]

There's no chance he'll do anything but try to take her in, but what choice does she have? He got the drop on her.

"I came to ask for asylum," she tells him. "No extradition. It was here or Madripoor and you know how I feel about Madripoor."

[marvel_npc]

"Madripoor. Jesus." Ross looks as disgusted by that as he sounds.

"Asylum, huh? Did you get it? You're wandering around without an escort, I see. What the hell are you doing out here, anyway?"

[nerves_of_ice]

The last branch parts from the tree with a satisfying crack. Bucky flips the hand axe around with a deft toss to check the blade and see if it needs sharpening before he moves on to the trunk.

As he does, a flash of light from the direction of the Citadel catches his eye - and his attention. It had looked like the kind of flash you see from a weapon, one that hasn't been prepped for stealth work.

He glimpses another flash as he looks that way, this one of sunlight on blonde hair as Sharon raises her hands. One look at the man standing past her with a gun in his hands, and Bucky feels the entire world narrow to a single point.

Axe in hand, he drops back behind the hut and begins to circle them, using the edge of the forest and the grassy ridges to best advantage.

[from_the_outside]

"Yes," she says, simply. "I got it.

"And I was going to have some lunch." Which is true, even if she's omitting some key details. "But I'd be happy to take you back to the Citadel so you can talk it over with King T'Challa."

[marvel_npc]

He can feel the headache forming as a spike of pain right behind his eyes. The diplomatic nightmare's going to be brutal.

"He's in a meeting," Ross informs her. "But you better believe I'll be talking with him about this. As for--"

That's as far as he gets before a second shock of pain strikes, this one in his hand, as something metal and heavy slams into his wrist and sends the gun flying.

[nerves_of_ice]

He'd weighed the axe carefully in his hand before throwing it from cover, making sure that the butt and not the blade smashed into Ross's wrist. It's easier to come back from a broken wrist than a severed one. He should know.

The instant the gun goes flying Bucky's on the move, crossing the grass at top speed and coming up behind Ross with not-quite-lethal intent.

[from_the_outside]

The gun arcs across the grass towards her and she moves towards it as Ross does, training kicking in and driving her by instinct until a blur behind Ross resolves itself into Bucky and she throws up a hand again. "No."

All this happens in a fraction of a second, and she still might be too slow. "Don't hurt him."

[nerves_of_ice]

He hears Sharon's call but doesn't stop. Instead, he lands on Ross with enough force to bring him flat to the ground and pins him there with a knee planted in his back and his hand pressed hard at the back of his neck, keeping him from turning his head to look behind him.

"Don't move." It's low and filled with warning, even as he looks up at Sharon. "Are you all right?"

[from_the_outside]

She takes a few quick steps to pick up the fallen gun and tucks it into the back of her waistband. "I'm fine," she tells him. "He only asked me some questions."

He didn't have a chance to do anything else, but that seems like it wouldn't be a very helpful observation tight now. "Ross," she says, addressing him loud and clear. "I have your weapon. Do us all a favor and don't fight back. You've already upset him enough."

[marvel_npc]

"What the hell?" Ross plants both hands flat on the ground on each side of his head, then has to keep from whiting out as his right wrist shrieks in agony. He tries to turn his head to look up at Sharon and whoever's holding him and quickly discovers that's a non-starter.

"Upset-- what the -- okay, okay, I'm not resisting, now let me the hell up," he snarls.

[from_the_outside]

"Close your eyes," Sharon instructs him, and looks back at Bucky, worried.

"You should get out of here," she tells him, quietly. If Ross sees him, if he learns –

She can't let him be caught, too. "I can take him to T'Challa."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Call Nakia," he suggests, without releasing Ross. "Let T'Challa make the decision."