[oom] secrets will out

[nerves_of_ice]

Clearing underbrush by hand is messy work, but he's gotten the last of it knocked out for the season and can't help but take a little pride in that. Bucky considers sluicing off the grime in the shower and decides on a different, faster option.

He wanders back into the hut a little while later and slings a towel around his neck to stop his hair from dripping. He has to move Sharon's tote bag from the top of the clothes chest where she sometimes leaves it while she's sparring with Ayo, and sets it aside on the floor while he digs out a fresh set of clothes.

Somewhere deep inside the bag, her phone rings. He makes a mental note to tell her she's missed a call, and takes his wet clothes outside to hang them out to dry. When he comes back, the phone's ringing again.

And again, a third time, then a fourth, while he frowns at the bag and argues with himself. He doesn't want to invade her privacy, but something's clearly up.

On the fifth set of rings, Bucky digs out her phone and looks at it. He frowns sharply on seeing the contact, and answers the call without speaking.

Comments

[marvel_npc]

Finally. "Thirteen."

He lets a little of the edge into his voice, but not too much. Not enough to push her away. "Decided to stop giving me the cold shoulder?"

[nerves_of_ice]

Ice forms in the pit of his stomach and settles there. Cold shoulder? What the hell?

"Wrong guess." He keeps it neutral and even. "You can leave a message if you want."

[marvel_npc]

"Barnes."

Interesting. She hasn't exactly been forthcoming about her why she's refusing work from him, but he'd bet good odds at least some of it has to do with the erstwhile Winter Soldier. "I have a job for her. Another one. Have her call me back, will you?"

He pauses, then, keeping his tone casual: "Any idea why she's been blowing me off lately? Thought we'd come to an agreement, before. After Monte Carlo."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure. I'll let her know."

He knows Fury more from the mission brief and intelligence file than from working with him directly like Sharon, like Natasha, but that casual note to the man's voice rings clear as a bell all the same. He makes his own voice dry. "Depends. You do something to piss her off?"

[marvel_npc]

"Sometimes it's hard to tell. Then again, sometimes the message is loud and clear."

With Thirteen? It's usually the latter. "Far as I can tell, we were both getting what we wanted. Whatever changed, it wasn't on my end."

[nerves_of_ice]

He stares into space in the vague direction of the wall as if he could look through it and see Fury on the other side if he just tried hard enough. "She's been helping you out from here, hasn't she?"

He says it like it's certain, even though he's anything but.

[marvel_npc]

"Sure. I just thought she wanted to get back into the field."

He keeps his tone light. "Could be I was mistaken. Anyway, have her call me. Could use her expertise on this one."

[nerves_of_ice]

He ignores the twist in his gut and does his level best to match Fury's tone. "I'll pass it along. Anything else?"

[marvel_npc]

Should be enough, he thinks. "That's it."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay. I'll let her know," he repeats.

[marvel_npc]

"Sergeant," he says, by way of farewell, and hangs up the call, then sets the phone down on his desk and considers it, a finger at his chin.

Interesting.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky waits without moving until he's certain the call's disconnected. With deliberate care, he sets the phone down in the middle of the little table where it'll be immediately visible, and moves away from it.

He wants to run; wants to break something, wants to scream. None of those will do any good. Instead, calling on reserves of hard-won self control, Bucky sits on the ground at the back of the hut, beside the bed, and settles himself to try to meditate.

He needs to think back over every conversation he's had with Sharon about anything related to this in the last few weeks, starting with the day she got back. He needs to be absolutely sure of every single detail.

[from_the_outside]

Sparring with Ayo isn't getting easier, exactly, but she's definitely getting better. Her conditioning is up, her reflexes are faster, and she'd managed to get in a few solid hits of her own, this time around. Thanks to Ayo, thanks to Bucky, she's almost back at the top of her game.

She's been enjoying, too, practicing archery. Almost every day, she's found time to take the light hunting bow she'd found and practice in Bucky's makeshift gym, Elrond's quiet, steady words in her ears. She's improving at that, too, though more slowly.

So she's pleased as she comes back to the hut by the lake, her hair tied up in a ponytail, already thinking about a swim and a shower as she opens the door. "Bucky? I'm back."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hi." He stays where he is, eyes closed and breathing deep. "Did you have a good session?"

[from_the_outside]

"– Oh, sorry, baby. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Bucky meditating isn't unusual, exactly, but she's a little surprised to see him doing it in here. He's concentrating hard, it looks like; he doesn't even open his eyes to look at her. "I did, yeah. I'll go clean up while you're busy, okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"You're not interrupting," he murmurs. She can't be, not when he's been waiting for her. "Go on. I'll see you when you're back."

[from_the_outside]

"If you say so." She comes to grab a towel and some clean clothes, then bends down to press a kiss to the top of his head. "Good luck with whatever you're trying to tease out."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Thanks." He holds himself still, and keeps his eyes closed. He's pretty sure that his expression will give things away if he looks up at her, and this conversation's likely to be uncomfortable enough without her having to have it while sweaty and exhausted.

"See you in a little bit."

[from_the_outside]

"See you," she echoes, amused, and heads for the door, then around the hut to the shower. It's not exactly as luxurious as the bath up in her rooms in the Citadel, but it does the job. The water's hot and clean and she can wash her hair out, lather up her skin, which is all she's really looking for.

When she comes back inside, she puts her dirty clothes in the bag of laundry for later, her hair hanging damn over her shoulders. "Any luck?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"You could call it that." He opens his eyes, trying to keep any hint of what he's thinking or feeling from showing in them. "Want some coffee?"

[from_the_outside]

"I'm good." She comes to sit on the edge of the bed, looking down at him with a small frown.

"Is everything okay?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He doesn't answer that directly, but nods to the table where her phone still lies waiting. "I didn't set out to go through your stuff or anything, but it wouldn't stop ringing, so I figured I better check it out."

[from_the_outside]

She follows his glance to the table, then looks back at him. "That's okay. I don't care if you answer my phone."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay." He makes himself stay where he is, and does his best to keep his body relaxed. "It was Fury. He has a job for you. Another one."

[from_the_outside]

"He does, huh?"

She can't blame him for trying. It's not as though she'd been resistant to working with him before. "Did he say what it was?"