Letting Go | Bucky Barnes

39 | Tuesday, July 13th

"For those of you who haven't met, everyone, this is Special Councilwoman Hawley. She worked with us when we took down Hydra the first time, and has agreed to take on her role once again to see them finished," Fury explains, gesturing to the screens.

"Afternoon everyone," she nods, her image centered above Williams, Kobayashi, and Ojeda.

"It's good to see you again Hawley," Steve says. "I hope you've been well."

"Yes, retirement was a nice break, but I think I'm more of a field-body than a home-body. Hopefully we can end this business with Hydra for good."

"You and me both," he mumbles, sitting back in his chair.

"We'll begin with some of the information we've been able to decrypt from the Hydra files," Fury says as he brings up snap shots of a dozen people, all with notes beneath their faces to explain their roles.

He starts his spiel, going into detail of each individual, and I realize S.H.I.E.L.D. must have gotten a hold of the finance records because each one has been found to have something to do with transferring or funneling money to Hydra. And most are connected to McCloy. Fury swipes through screens, showing report after report of falsified documents from the World Bank and their affiliates, and despite trying to pay attention, my thoughts keep wandering away.

I hate finances.

I've always thought they was boring... My dad always tried to show me how 'fun' it was, but lord, nothing can make it interesting.

I'm pulled from my thoughts when Bucky squeezes my thigh and sends me playful glare from the corner of his eye. I reach out mentally, flicking his chest lightly and watching as he tries to keep the smile off his face.

"There are still unknown players, however we believe a little more digging into the WBG will reveal them. We're also trying to find any Hydra sympathizers who may have donated or funneled money to them but that were independent. We're hoping that once we get to interrogating those who dealt with the finances, we'll be able to weasel out any other player," he explains. "Next update; we were able to locate the tablet that the Seventeen-Hundreds were using, and it will be brought to the Compound this evening. We're hoping some of the information is reliable, or at least, can help us connect more gaps."

"Lucky it wasn't destroyed," I mutter.

It avoided the rebar, and I didn't?

"I've read the reports, but am I correct in that the Seventeen-Hundreds have not had any follow up interrogations?" Hawley asks.

"No, they have not," Fury answers. "They have been working with us, so while they haven't had official interviews, they have been answering any questions we ask and helping with understanding new information as it comes in."

"What about Wade? Have you been able to interrogate him yet?"

"No. Wade has been... unresponsive to attempts because of his distress, and when he's sedated, anything he says isn't coherent, let alone legally credible."

"Ms. Maximoff hasn't been able to help?"

My eyes drift to the empty chair at the table. Turns out, I was right to be worried about her...

"Ms. Maximoff has exhausted herself with the interrogations, she needs a few days rest before she can get back to helping."

That's a bit of an understatement.

She's been sleeping since yesterday evening—nothing to be worried about according to the med team that checked on her a few hours ago, but much needed.