Ghostwalker ▷ b. barnes [2]

xvi. hail hydra

SHIELD'S NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS wasn't a terribly far trip from Stark Tower. 

The four of them were stopped at the entrance, but with a flash of Natasha's and Clint's badges, and a look at her and Steve, nobody else moved to intercept them.

Clint trudged along, still looking half-asleep.

Sam tried to drink everything in— from the agents in suits to the towering ceilings to the memorials on the walls. They earned stare after stare walking along. She tried not to shift uncomfortably, but would do anything for the cover of a hood or baseball cap.

Fury's office was on the very top floor.

Climbing each set of stairs, Sam could have killed him.

The one-eyed man waited for them behind a large desk. He barely glanced up as they entered, only waving away an agent at his side. The man quickly moved around them, inclining his head and hurrying out.

Sam glanced around the room. The entire thing was empty and bland, lacking... well, everything, really. The only object that he seemed to have and that caught her eye was a framed picture of a cat on his desk.

Fury set it face down when he caught her staring.

She hadn't pegged him for a cat lady.

"Fury," Steve crossed his arms. "You wanted to talk?"

The man pressed his lips together. "Correction. I wanna talk a hell of a lot less than the World Security Council does. But they pushed for it, so I figured I should brief you all first."

Sam raised a brow. "So they're really all old farts, then?"

Fury's gaze snapped to her. She couldn't tell if the flicker of surprise and amusement that flashed through his eye was real or not. She'd never seen that emotion on him before.

"They're... not to be trifled with. This is exactly why I called this briefing. You go in there calling them farts and that's a one way trip to the Fridge."

"Wait, the what?"

"SHIELD business. Not of importance."

Sam narrowed her eyes. But he didn't offer anything more.

"Do they know the Tesseract and scepter are missing?" Natasha asked. Looking toward her, he nodded.

"And they're not happy about it. Especially since no one seems to know where two powerful objects went."

The four of them exchanged a look. Fury's eye narrowed.

"Do you all know something?"

"Nothing," Steve said. The director's frown deeped.

"You better not be keeping something from me, Rogers."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir."

Fury scoffed, fixing his dark gaze on Sam. When she didn't move, he glared at Clint. "Barton?"