[Leipzig AU] a means to a necessary end

[nerves_of_ice]

It's a long flight from Berlin to Novosibirsk and the secret location far beyond it, even in a Quinjet. They spend the time planning and coordinating. Bucky describes the structure and security of the facility itself as best he remembers. Tony calls up plans and blueprints from god knows where and throws them into the middle of the plane for all to see. They're not the same as what Bucky remembers, they figure out fairly quickly, but they're better than nothing.

Tony also takes over the back of the plane and snaps at anyone who comes close, doing something that involves shifting screens and models of buildings and wave patterns and a human skull, and the eventually the low humming grind of a machine. Soon after, he stalks back up to the front of the plane and shoves a set of custom-fabricated earplugs at Bucky, who stares at them and then at Tony.

"Noise-cancelling all the way to total sound blackout. Tap the end of the earpiece to deafen yourself," Tony informs him. "Last thing we need's for you to be his puppet." Bucky starts to stammer a thanks, but Tony growls something under his breath and stalks back to the back of the plane again to work on something else. Steve catches Bucky's eye and shakes his head, and Bucky decides to leave well enough alone.

Sam advises everyone to rest in shifts; Bucky knows he's not wrong, but neither he nor Steve can do it, and after a while Sam stops trying to convince them. Natasha sits with him for a while, her eyes dark with concern. They don't say much, but there's no need to.

A Snowcat is parked outside the door of the facility when they land. Bucky's jaw sets in hard lines at the sight of it, and he trades a look with Steve.

They're already here.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve takes a breath to begin, but stops when Bucky's quiet "Steve," drops into the middle of the room. His best friend trades a look with him, searching his face, then nods for him to go ahead.

Mission report, Bucky thinks, and keeps his expression carefully neutral as he looks at Ross. "The team arrived at the facility site in Siberia as planned," he begins, and walks them through it. He keeps the telling succinct, but clear, leaving nothing out, and knows as he does so that it's evident how often he's done this before.

He doesn't try to defend himself in any way when relating the events of December 16, 1991, who the targets were, and why they were targeted. He describes Project Rebirth in the same impassive tone as everything else, but slows when he reaches what had happened on that lonely road.

"The mission was to sanction and extract, leaving no witnesses," he says, quietly. "I carried out my mission. Howard and Maria Stark didn't die in an accident. Zemo had a recording from the scene. He played it for Tony Stark to see, hoping to use it to turn Tony and Steve against each other and to destroy the Avengers entirely."

[from_the_outside]

She watches as Ross's jaw gets tighter and tighter the longer Bucky speaks, though all he does is scratch a few notes and listen tersely.

When silence falls again, he looks from Steve to Tony and back again. "And?" he prompts. "It doesn't look like that Hail Mary worked from where I'm sitting, but if there are going to be problems, let's have them out now."

[nerves_of_ice]

Tony's mouth twists. "Please," he snaps. "You think we were - I was - gonna let that smug bastard get what he wanted all along? I'm happy to disappoint him."

Bucky stays still as the other man's sharp, intent gaze flicks toward him, then Steve, then back to Ross. "I'm not saying Barnes and I are going to be cozy or anything like that, but I'll tell you what I told him - I'm not going to blame the trigger HYDRA pulled."

[from_the_outside]

"Good," Ross says, gruff, and glances towards Sharon. She meets his gaze briefly and knows he's got to be thinking about culpability and brainwashing and what happens when the second affects the first. "Then let's continue."

He looks around the table. "Since you didn't turn on each other, what happened next?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky picks up the thread of the narrative where he'd left off. "When his primary plan failed, Zemo shifted to what we assume was his backup, and attempted to activate the Winter Soldier," he reports. Whatever he feels about it is carefully smashed flat inside him; he lets nothing show but a cool, neutral demeanor as he reports.

"Fortunately, Tony had provided me with custom crafted earplugs. I was able to switch them on in time and prevent the control words from taking effect. I feigned otherwise so that Zemo would believe he'd been successful, but gave Steve a hand signal we'd used before during the war to let him know the truth of the situation. Zemo bought it. He ordered me to kill them."

He doesn't even blink in the retelling. "Tony went after him while Steve and I put on a show fight. Zemo took a side route out of the control room and returned to the main chamber, where he aimed his weapon - his gun," he clarifies, "- at Agent Carter and tried to force Steve into a choice by sending the Winter Soldier after Tony Stark at the same time he threatened her life. Steve threw himself between Zemo and Agent Carter. Tony dropped out of the air to apprehend Zemo."

[from_the_outside]

For a second, Sharon thinks he going to snap his pen with how tightly he's holding it, but after a moment Ross gets himself under control.

"Thank you for protecting my agent, Captain," he says to Steve, and looks at Tony. "Same to you, Mr. Stark. I assume that was the end of the fight?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve just nods to Ross as Tony quits fiddling with his phone and looks up. "Oh yeah, he was toast," Tony informs him, as Bucky leans back just a little in his chair, silently ceding the floor. "Not literally, I didn't set him on fire or anything, but he was done. Secured him, dragged him back up to the Quinjet and put him under guard just to be extra safe, got Carter out, and we all headed back here."

[from_the_outside]

"And the bodies of the remaining Soldiers?" Ross prompts.

"Any data from the facility? We'll have to mount another expedition up there to deal with all that. I'll have to meet with the Russian rep to the UN Security Council just to try and get access, and that'll be enough of a headache on its own."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yeah, about that," Tony returns, almost blithely. Bucky finds it's a small struggle to keep a straight face, but he manages it as the other man continues,

"Turns out it was geologically unstable. The entire thing collapsed as the Quinjet took off. It's just a giant mass of rubble now, with the Soldiers buried deep under it. Sorry."

He doesn't sound sorry in the slightest, and Bucky sees Sam and Natasha trade a resigned look.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon can almost hear Ross's teeth grinding.

"It 'collapsed,'" he repeats, utterly unconvinced. "All on its own, huh?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"The damndest thing," Tony says, with an unconcerned shrug.

"Does that matter?" Steve puts in. He gives Ross a steady look. "Because if you have any questions about the place, I'm sure we can answer them."

'We' might be a stretch, but not much of one, considering how much he himself knows. Bucky watches Ross carefully for his reaction.

[from_the_outside]

Ross gives them all an exasperated look.

"You'd better hope the Secretary of State is more gullible than I am," he warns. "As it is, you can be damn sure we're going to be doing some follow-up."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Ross's used to it - other Ross, I mean, and hey, doesn't that get complicated for you?" Tony asks, distracted. "How do you know who's talking about who, or do you just go by your titles all the time? That's got to get annoying. Do you have a nickname you could use, or--"

"Tony," Steve murmurs, keeping his gaze on Ross. "What kind of follow-up?"

[from_the_outside]

"We'll get there," Ross says, gruffly, and pauses for long enough that Sharon, unconsciously, braces.

"And at what point did you ascertain Agent Carter was no longer under the influence of the formula to which Zemo subjected her, and not a threat?"

[nerves_of_ice]

At least two possible implications of Ross's question slam into him with blunt force, leaving him momentarily breathless.

"After I released her from cryo," he says, forcing himself to keep his tone level, to keep everything steady. "Very nearly the first thing she said when she returned to full consciousness was to warn us about Zemo."

[from_the_outside]

"Hm," Ross says, and turns to her. "Carter."

She straightens. "Yes, sir."

His eyes are sharp, but not unkind. "We've investigated your apartment, but I'd like to hear what happened from the horse's mouth. Start from the beginning."

Sharon nods, a little tightly. "Yes, sir," she says, and begins.

[nerves_of_ice]

He knows most if not all of this from what Sharon had told him the night before, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear. Bucky forces himself to sit perfectly still, listening, and watches the reactions of those around him.

Steve's blaming himself, he can tell, since Sharon was targeted as a way to get to him. He promises himself to talk with him later. Natasha's attention is very sharply focused.

Sam's jaw works as he listens; Tony's level of jittery energy and restlessness keeps increasing, to the point where he gets up and starts pacing back and forth at the end of the room. Still, everyone manages to hold their silence until she's finished.

[from_the_outside]

She keeps her report concise and professional as she relays everything that happened after Zemo broke into her apartment. She can see Ross's nostrils go white with fury, but he doesn't interrupt except to ask a clarifying question now and then.

"You told me that you disclosed sensitive intelligence to Zemo outside the parameters of this mission," he says, when she finishes. "Do you remember everything you told him?"

"Yes," she says, keeping her expression calm and her eyes steady and level. "I remember all of it. It was a long flight to Siberia. He had a lot of questions."

[nerves_of_ice]

There's a quiet hum and a low metallic whine as his left hand clenches into a tight fist under the table. Steve glances at him in swift concern. Bucky shakes his head at him, and otherwise doesn't move.

[marvel_npc]

Ross shoots a sharp glance down the table at the sound before looking back at Carter. She's holding herself carefully straight and there's a little more color in her cheeks than there had been the day before, but he doesn't like the shadow in her eyes.

He clears his throat and taps his pen on the table. "For obvious reasons," he says, "we won't go into that now. But I'll want a full report from you, Carter. You and I will meet after this to discuss what was disclosed and what security measures will need to be taken."

She nods. "I understand, sir."

[nerves_of_ice]

"It wasn't her fault." It's low and tightly controlled, as Bucky looks Ross directly in the eye. Natasha stirs slightly, but doesn't speak or move to stop him.

"The drug Agent Carter was injected with-- Zemo had a great deal of information about the Winter Soldier program. Some years ago, a similar drug was tested on me. It wasn't Agent Carter's fault."

[marvel_npc]

"Thank you, Sergeant Barnes," Ross says, tightly.

Inside, he's fuming. God knows what kind of trouble the man's caused for Carter and her career. There's only so much Ross himself can do to mitigate it if someone decides to make an example out of her.

Hasn't Barnes done enough? The last thing Ross needs is for him to argue over this. "If I thought Agent Carter had made the conscious choice to betray the Task Force and her government, I'd have locked her up, too," he adds, snappishly. "No matter how long we've worked together. But intent or not, there was a security breach, and it's my responsibility to stop it back up again. Ideally, with Agent Carter's cooperation. Whatever recourse might or might not be called for after that is another matter."

He slants a look at her. "Carter?"

"Yes, sir," she says. "Of course I'll assist however I can."

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve touches his arm, and Bucky takes it as the concern it is - but also as a warning.

He lapses into a seething silence, determined not to say anything else, determined not to risk making things worse.

[marvel_npc]

When no challenge comes, Ross looks around the table.

"Anything else?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Excellent question." It's Tony, who's turned away from examining the structure of the wall. "I'd say that depends on what you're thinking should happen next."

Bucky chances a quick look at Steve, and finds his best friend watching Tony with interest.