𝒑𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒕 || s. rogers & b. barnes

16||; 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒄

⤷ april 3, 2014
━━━━━━━━━━━

It's mostly smooth sailing in the days following the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a majority of HYDRA for them. Despite Steve's discomfort, Barnes was to be kept under until they were in a stable enough environment that could shut him in before civilians might get hurt. Which meant until they got to the newly-built Avengers Tower, he was sleeping soundly.

Steve kept by his bedside when he could, recounting stories of their youth to the unconscious killer, hoping he might hear him so that when he woke up, he'd recognize Steve, and he'd feel safe.

Irina strongly doubted that was how Barnes' awakening was going to happen, but she knew Steve needed the hope, so she kept quiet.

Fury, who after getting into contact with Irina whilst Steve and Barnes were being transported to the hospital was properly decked onto the cement the moment he came face-to-face with her (Natasha only nudged her shoulder, giving a brief look of satisfaction as Fury groaned and squirmed on the ground, stating how he sort of deserved it) reached out to Steve and Sam while she, Natasha and Tony handled backlash from the government.

"Why haven't we yet heard from Captain Rogers?" A committee member demands.

Natasha and Irina share a brief look of exasperation, before the redhead looks back at the older men across from them. "I don't know what there is left for him to say. I think the wreck in the middle of the Potomac made his point fairly eloquent."

"Well, he could explain how this country is expected to maintain its national security now that he and you two have laid waste to our intelligence apparatus," the man says.

Irina grimaces. "HYDRA was selling you all lies, not intelligence," she points out.

"Much of which they seem to be lacking in," Tony mutters to her. Irina bites back a smile.

"Many of which you and Agent Romanoff seemed to have had a personal hand in telling."

"Agent, Ms. Stark, you should know," another older man leans forward in his seat, "that there are some on this committee who feel, given your service records, both for this country and against it, that you both belong in a penitentiary. Not mouthing off on Capitol Hill."

"Excuse you?" blurts Tony, immediately sitting up from where he'd been slouching back in his seat. "I'm sorry, I must be having ear problems in my semi-old age — did you seriously just say with me in the room that you want my little sister in jail?"

"Tony," Irina mutters, stiff in the shoulders. Natasha glances at her, briefly grimacing in apology, to which she just shakes her head softly.

In the aftermath of the collapse, Irina found that another part of the plan was to destroy not just HYDRA, but S.H.I.E.L.D., too. Steve believed even the slightest fraction of the latter left over let loose a chance for the same thing to happen again in another seventy years, so Natasha had dumped all available files, S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, onto the internet for all to see.

That also included Irina's files.

Every. Last. One.

It doesn't go to say she wasn't not upset when the news reached her, that the whole world now knew just who she was, and what she'd done. Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez knew, Henry knew, Danny knew...the Parkers knew, too. They all wouldn't be able to see Emma Roberts or just Irina as she had been, but Irina Stark, a former stealth killer with over fifty kills in the last twenty years, collateral notwithstanding.

They would know Metatron.

The press was giving her a hard time, attacking her left and right, saying a killer being an Avenger was outrageous to the families of her victims...and she agreed. Tony was trying his best with his PR and Legal team to keep her image good, and keep her out of jail, but both were hard things, especially when she was sound of mind, unlike Barnes, who had undergone deep, extensive torture to mould his brain into that of a perfect weapon's.