Reality in Motion

narrow it down

TW: SLIGHT MENTIONS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING - Just wanted people to be aware of this before reading.

"And that makes three." he sighed, leaning back in his computer chair. Eyes shifting away from the screens he was in front of, he looked over to where Q was standing by with her arms crossed over her chest, "Our boy Bucky is officially killing known Hydra associates." he reached for his energy drink with his better hand even though the cast had finally come off a few days prior. Or rather, he ripped it off with a knife a few days prior, claiming enough time had passed and the bones were healed – even though he still refused to use it since it still pained him.

"And we're sure it's him?" she asked, motioning with her hand. Dawson nodded, leaning forward in his chair so he could roll it forward toward his screens.

"The old guy at the wedding, the old lady in the office building and now this old dude in some random parking lot." he pulled up their faces on the screen, all of them having the same red DECEASED bar flashing under their profile pictures, "All three of them pinged on the black box." he showed her the screen to the right where the victims names were highlighted on a news alert and then also on whatever file they were mentioned in in the black box, "All three of them killed in the same way. No sign of struggle, found alone...trust me, it's him." she took in a breath, letting her hands drop from where they were crossed over her chest to settle at her hips, "You always say it takes three to define a pattern." he reminded her, sensing her uncertainty.

"No, yeah, I know. I know." she waved her hand a bit at him before pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, "Okay, move over," she hip bumped his chair over so he slid a bit and ignored his appalled and offended expression.

"Hey, woah, you're gonna fuck up my settings." he protested, already moving his hand over to intercept her keystrokes. She batted his hand away; she may not be good with super advanced technology or coding or anything like Dawson did, but she knew what needed to be done next much better than he did.

Quickly shifting into her SHIELD mode, she went about what she would usually do whenever tracking down a mark or a threat. Analyze the profiles to find more information that could be useful. The same thing she did when they were trying to find Sitwell all those months ago. Her mind briefly flashed back to that moment in the car with Sam, following with a quick wonder of where he was and how he was doing before refocusing on the task at hand.

Cross-referencing his victims, she tried to find anything else the three had in common besides being killed by Bucky and being on the black box. Anything that they could use to predict who could be next. If there was a small enough group, then maybe they'd have a chance at intercepting him. And finally, Q could maybe feel like the entire decision to go find Bucky and all the consequences that came after it was worth it. That she didn't blow up her life for nothing.

"They were all on the same project." she muttered out, finding the connection, "Working as associates for other parts of the Soldier Project." she continued to read as Dawson asked questions,

"But didn't that project start in like World War two?" he asked, confused by the timeline, "These people were like late seventies, mid-eighties, not a hundred." he gestured to the main screen with all their faces.

"That's why I said other parts." she repeated herself with a slight look in his direction. He rolled his eyes, pitching forward in his chair to get closer to the screen, "Apparently there were different phases. Yeah Bucky was like the main test subject, but the project continued to grow as whatever they did with Bucky became successful. They got more information, more technology, moved to Siberia, got more volunteers –"