[Quiet in the Chaos]

~53~

                                        ~53~

WHEN DANIELLE DOES FIND SAM, IT'S NOT WHAT SHE EXPECTS.

"Fight back! Fight back!"

The red head - Karli - roars into Sam's face as she tries desperately to fight him around the shield, emotion clearly evident in her voice. Dani falters a little, only now realising how young she is.

A young girl, caught up in the workings of the world, wronged by so many societies and men with agendas. She's trying to fix it. Trying to make everything right. Trying to give people a better life. Except she's in too deep.

She can't see the chaos she's causing.

That she's hurting people.

She reminds her of someone. A girl she knew. A girl she loved. A girl who she had been responsible for killing.

Dani's heart drops with realisation as she lunges forward, tackling the girl away from Sam. They stumble away from each other and she straightens, shaking her head. "Don't do this, Karli," she says, her tone a turmoil of conflicted emotion. "There's a better way to do this."

The red head's brows flicker together, her breathing still heavy as her lips part. "I've tried every other way - this is the only way," she pants, her determined eyes flickering between her and Sam.

"There is, I promise you," Dani breathes. "You do this and your life - it's over. All of your friends, theirs too. Don't let this be how people remember you, do this right. Then you can help people. This isn't right."

The smaller girl lunges again, the brunette managing to block her first three punches until she swings a foot into her legs, knocking her to the floor. Dani glimpses two of Karli's men sprint towards Sam.

She swings her head out of the way of her fist, catching her wrist. The flustered girl whips a knife from her belt and she grabs that wrist in her other hand. Her arms scream at her.

"Think this through, Karli."

"I have!"

"You haven't," she presses, her voice strained. "You want to do something right - but you're doing it wrong."

"Shut up," she screams, her eyes wide and defensive.

"You know I'm right. Stop this now and we can help you. I promise."

"Your promises mean nothing to me."

"What about the people you love who have died for this? What about the innocent people that will lose their lives? You can save people - you can change their lives. Let us help you."

Something flickers in the girl's facade. A crack in the determined demeanour. A little bit of realisation of what she has created. What her cause has evolved to be. And for a moment, Dani thinks she's got her.

Then a gunshot sounds.

And Karli's  body slumps onto her

Her lifeless body.

A warm liquid pouring onto her chest.

"No, no, no," she murmurs, carefully flipping the small figure onto her back. Dani's blood runs cold, her breathing faltering as her eyes land on the hole seeping blood on the side of the young girl's head, her eyes blank and frozen open.

She staggers to her feet, her eyes still trained on the bullet hole. She had her. She was giving up. She didn't need to die, she was only a kid.

Suddenly she whirls, anger overpowering her grief. "Who gave you the right to do that?" she hisses, Sharon's tall figure standing to face her.

Sharon purses her lips, her eyes briefly flickering to the body. "She had a knife to your throat, Danielle," she points out carefully.

"She wasn't going to kill me!" she snaps hysterically, stalking towards her.

"Right, that's why you were holding her hands and knife away from your throat..."

Dani can't contain herself anymore, launching herself at the blonde, pulling back an elbow to deliver a punch right on her-

She grunts, cascading into Sam's broad figure instead. She struggles against his grip. "She was a kid, Sharon! She didn't need to die!"

"She didn't need to die? That's rich coming from you, an assassin," she snipes, never breaking her intense stare.

She loses her fight at those words, pushing herself out of Sam's grip. Her jaw clenches, her brows pulling together. She's right. She's killed innocents.

Who is she to talk?

"I'd get out of here before someone kills you, Sharon." Bucky steps in behind her, his eyes low and hard.

"I don't need you to fight my battles," Dani says quietly, surprising herself as the sentence falls from her mouth, her words are fuelled by anger for the woman in front of her.

Strangely, the super soldier, doesn't feel insulted by her comment, although a little shocked. He watches her carefully, pride filling him as she walks to stand before Sharon, not crumbling and allowing the words that he knows have affected her eat her up.

"You're right. I've killed innocent people," she nods calmly. "And every day I regret doing that. Every day of my life is spent regretting that. But at least I don't try to make an excuse - talk my way out of what was just a cold blooded murder. At least I was trying to give that kid a chance, a chance to realise her choice was wrong. Not shoot her in the head."

The blonde's gaze hardens, annoyance more than anything clouding her features. Sam presses his lips together, "She would have killed you, Dan."

"She wouldn't," she repeats, though her voice has lost conviction. Her eyes travel back to the girl's body and she steps over, crouching beside her. Gingerly, she raises an open palm, closing her eyes slowly.

When she stands up, she finds both Sharon and Sam are gone.

Bucky steps towards her and shakes his head. "I was pretty proud of your little speech there, very sexy."

Her mouth tugs upwards weakly despite herself and she runs a hand through her hair. Her fiancé edged towards her, his flesh hand running up her arm soothingly. "What's wrong, honey?"

Dani's throat bobs but she shakes her head, "We should go after Sam."

"I'm more concerned about you," he continues, his brows pulling together.

"I'm fine, James. You don't need to keep asking me," she replies, more edge in her voice than she wanted. Ordinarily, she would have apologised. She would have turned to him and made sure he understood that she was sorry.

But she doesn't.

She can't bring her eyes to meet his, instead brushing past her fiancé who stands frozen in place unsure of how to respond, and says coldly, "We should go and find Sam."

Bucky remains in his spot for a moment, a muscle twitching in his jaw, before he follows her wordlessly. His forehead creases only slightly, watching her carefully from a step behind. He isn't used to her being cold with him.

Did I do something wrong?