Recoil | Bucky Barnes | Marvel Cinematic Universe

Chapter 53

Carefully, she dismounted from the bike, angling herself so that she could see as much of the road as possible whilst still being concealed by one of the pillars, as she sent Sam a quick message to inform him that the roads were clear. She didn't have to wait long, though, as over the sound of the engine of her bike clunking as it cooled, she heard the purr of a newer engine approaching. Biting the inside of her cheek anxiously, she shoved her hands into her pockets, trying to appear as collected as possible as she watched the glossy black Audi speed up the lane, before it pulled up in front of where she leaned against her bike with a barely audible hiss of brakes.

Were the situation different, Kat would have been half-tempted to ask the blonde woman climbing out of the driver's seat if she'd let her take the car for a spin. Of course, she wasn't the same petrol-head kid she had been over two decades ago, and there were more pressing matters at hand. The most prominent being the fact that Steve had informed her that this woman worked for the Counter Terrorism Task Force, and that was enough to make her more than a little nervous as she considered her own status as a fugitive.

Still, it had been such a long time since she had driven a car.

"Sharon Carter?" She called softly, smothering her grimace as the name echoed off the concrete pillars and bounced back to her as the woman braced one hand on the roof of the car. A pair of intelligent, dark eyes latched onto hers for a moment, before scanning her up and down. Intelligent certainly felt like the right word to describe the young agent. Composed was another that sprung to mind, one which made Kat feel positively bedraggled in comparison to the woman whose smooth blonde waves so elegantly framed her face, her fitted black jacket cinching her waist whereas Kat found herself self-consciously brushing road dust from the sleeve of her motorcycle leathers as they took their measure of one another.

What mattered though, were those eyes, assessing her stance, her posture, the likelihood of concealed weapons. Kat knew that look, and had worn it herself often enough, but she was surprised to see it soften into one of near-curiosity as Sharon seemed to deem her an unlikely threat.

"You must be Kat."

A small smile curved her lips as she pushed herself off the bike, slipping one hand from her pocket as she moved to offer it in greeting in response to the cool, American-accented statement; "Steve told you I was coming?"

"No." A tight smile and a cautious shake of her hand caused Kat's brow to furrow in confusion as she looked at the woman.

"I didn't realise my reputation preceded me."

"Not yet." Sharon assured her as she released her hand, "But I had a little inside information."

Kat's frown deepened as she watched Sharon reach across the passenger seat, pulling out a familiar, battered black rucksack. Involuntarily, her stomach tightened as she realised that the last time she had seen that bag, it had been sitting beside her own, by the doorway of her apartment in Amsterdam. It belonged to Bucky.

"His book?" She guessed softly, knowing that he would have been carrying his whole life in that bag. If it had been taken off him when he was arrested, then whoever examined it would have seen his little black notebook. She didn't doubt that her name and address were still scrawled on one of the pages, meaning her cover was likely to be well and truly blown.

"I only read a little." Sharon nodded as she handed her the bag, "But you feature heavily. It wasn't difficult to guess that you might have found him – and the bike gave you away."

"Wow, heavily?" She let out a small, nervous laugh as she took it, weighing the rucksack in her hand before setting it at her feet, for a moment lingering on the temptation to investigate what Sharon had alluded to – what had he written about her? It was a thought that would have to wait, as another, more pressing worry crept to the forefront of her mind. "I guess that means I'll have the CTTF on my tail soon enough, huh?"