mucked | ( IC INBOX )

Don't think I don't know what he's capable of, [ he fires back. Of course he knows. Else he'd just take on the threat himself and spare anyone else the trouble. ] we should know more before we act decisively.

...Should we?

[ tentative. not because she doubted the sanity in the suggestion -- to be honest, it sounds far more sensible than her own brash instincts. but her hesitation is found in how suddenly he sounds like someone else. someone with a different head on his shoulders.

peggy pushes thoughts of steve out of her head before she (ultimately) submits: ] Containment and reconnaissance are well and good, but I can still help. Anything you need -- [ and this takes dignity to say, but, ] -- no matter how mundane.

[ He's always had a patient, cautious head. It's only been brought to the forefront now that he's the one leading missions. ]

Read the files, and tell me what you think.

Who else are you talking with on this matter?

[ that is, who else can she approach knowing full well they're involved? ]

The other Barnes has been warned, nothing else.

[ He's taken this leaf from Fury's book. The fewer people know the secrets, the fewer can tell it. ]

[ mind like a rocket, she doesn't even hesitate on the edge of propriety when she asks: ] You're worried he might find himself especially vulnerable to someone you so illustratively named a lie-smith, aren't you?

[ she knows that's the first thing she'd be worried about, were she wearing jim's boots. ]

[ There's a pause — because of course she's hit her mark — then, ]

Don't you think he's suffered enough?

Absolutely. Too much, really. But --

[ she wets her lips. now she sits back and lets decorum prance briefly about her thoughts. the winter soldier is him, all the same -- perhaps even the him that's nearer what she's known from her own home and time. it isn't apparent on the surface, but should she just scratch a little deeper... ]

How did he take to your warning? [ she wonders if he obeys 'himself'. ]

[ A derisive snort. ]

He'll do anything I ask.

[ He doesn't justify: it was the only way. It's an unpleasant thing, and he regrets its necessity. But he'd do it again to help the man. ]

Hmm. Exerting one manner of influence in order to circumvent another.

[ she pinpoints the paradox precisely -- but not so viciously as to imply hypocrisy. in the end, she understands the weight behind that decision. she can hear it in his voice. ]

Ah, well. You know the saying: the lesser of two what-have-yous and all that.

[ she won't say evils. none of what she's seen of either barnes is evil, though her words betray a lurking worry in the depth of her mind. like she's spotted a darkness she can't yet qualify. ]

[ Evils; and a necessary one. It seems Jim's not done having to justify the course of action to himself. But Natasha said no, and that left only him to make the tough call. He'd do it again, and again until there was a better solution. ]

The point is we won't have to worry about him, at least for a while.

[ with a silent pang, she wonders whether she sounds like this when she's pushing people away -- when she does as jarvis bids her not do, and tries to take the world's weight alone. vulnerable or not, she has to ask herself whether the winter soldier might appreciate the opportunity to prove himself outside of jim's orders.

she wonders what he feels like -- being relegated to the sidelines. it's a heady sort of similarity she never expected to feel with james barnes of all men. ]

Full disclosure: I'll want to have a conversation with this Loki chap. [ read: i'll see for myself what he's like, and my warning now is a courtesy. don't think that i can be so easily stood down.

[ Like he was ever able to stop her or Steve even when he wanted desperately to. But there's no exasperated sigh, no annoyed exclamation along the lines of what the hell she thinks she's doing. Just a quiet, even, ]

At your discretion, Agent Carter.

[ a beat, and he drops perhaps an inch of the formality. ]

Be careful.

Always.

[ -- it isn't precisely a lie. she is, after all, first and foremost an agent. not a soldier, and perhaps not even a hero in the strictest of definitions. she spies, she tradecrafts, and she follows her heart. her heart is full on screaming for her to make more of this situation than traditional caution would allow.

but she can (at least) appreciate jim's concern. she doesn't resent him his feelings; like as not, she'd feel them too. ]

I'll be in touch.

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