𝙍𝙀𝙈𝙀𝘿𝙔- [MAJOR EDITING]

THIRTY TWO

PIVOT
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"What were you even doing down there?" Tony asked her, keeping his voice low.

"Checking on him," Sadie said, but she knew she sounded weak, no conviction at all.

"Checking on a mass murderer?" he pressed, and Sadie could see the exasperation in his face.

Sadie couldn't blame him, she was exasperated at herself, and the fact that everything she'd made her mind up on seemed to be shifting. Between not being able to help patients in Vienna, and her conversation with Barnes, she was beginning to wonder if maybe Steve was right about everything all along.

She couldn't get the images out of her head ever since the explosion- the unconscious bodies in the building she was forced to leave behind, the people on stretchers crying in pain...

Never once, had Sadie ever walked by a patient in need without helping them. Never once in her entire career. Before she was a doctor, she was a first aider and she never let a person go without even a band-aid.

Except earlier, in Vienna, when she broke that value. Because it wasn't Accords sanctioned. It was becoming harder and harder to convince herself that everything would be okay. That the Sokovia Accords were what they needed.

The office was crowded, yet quiet, everybody listening to Barnes' evaluation on the surveillance. Sadie strained to hear over the quiet murmurings of opinion in the room. Unnecessary commentary on every word.

"You know," she said to Tony, trying to steer the topic away from her confrontation with Barnes. "I got a funny vibe from that Broussard earlier."

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James," Broussard's voice was slow and patronising over the microphones. Sadie would never talk to a patient as if they were so dim.

"Cap asked you to go down there, didn't he?" Tony sighed, ignoring her, and glancing back at the glass office where Steve stood. He was only metres away from them. Sadie made it a point not to look. "What games are you two playing? I thought we were on the same page with all of this, Sadie."

"We are... mostly on the same page, Tony. Now shush," she said, under her breath. "I'm trying to listen."

"Tell me, Bucky," Broussard continued. "You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Barnes responded, and Sadie could only think that the man wasn't doing himself many favours.

"You fear that... if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop," Broussard said, and Sadie frowned.

"What sort of doctor is this guy?" she mumbled. Something about his evaluation didn't sit too well with her- particularly when it was as leading as this was.

"Shush, I'm trying to listen," Tony said, proudly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry," Broussard said. "We only have to talk about one."

Just then, the light shut off and the screens dimmed, red emergency lights flashing in the room. Immediately, Sadie was on full alert, and let her hands glow.

"Great," the voice was Everrett Ross, although Sadie could hardly see him as her eyes adjusted. "Come on, guys. Get me eyes on Barnes!"

"Sadie, can I get some of that light over here?" Natasha said, bending over a computer and Sadie complied, rushing over, making her power glow brighter.

"I don't trust Broussard down there unsupervised," Sadie said, as Natasha typed, rebooting the screen in front of her.

"Broussard is the one you don't trust?" Natasha questioned, and before Sadie could reply, Tony was at their side again.