Stark's Daughter

A Common Enemy

Sage was staring at the coffee machine, once again wrecked by Clint's stupid feathers. Why he had to bring in that roost of pigeons, she had no clue, because they had pooped on everything. Natasha finally chased them all away by blasting some squeaking noise. That'd been a horrible four hours. Needless to say, they'd need to buy, yet again, another coffee machine. Great.

"Did Clint break another coffee machine?" Bucky was out, talking with Sage. They'd come to a truce, after they both realized their passion for ruining the Avengers suits. (Well, except Natasha's. Hers was untouchable.)

"Yeah, one of his pigeons destroyed the thing. That's the third this month," Sage moaned, knowing well that she couldn't survive the day without coffee. Sage had been on a creation bend, going a full 15 hours running on nothing but the occasional sip of water and a slice of pizza that grew freezing as she blasted music and made a new hovercraft for one of Bruce's plants, one that needed constant sunshine. The hovercraft was programmed to go to any place in Stark Tower that had the most sunlight, and if there was none, a nice little light for the small plant. Bruce had named the plant Evie. He was very proud.

"Well, I need coffee," Bucky grumbled, stretching as he pulled back his long hair into a bun. "We can call a truce and you can come with me for a cup of coffee."

"Sweet. Can we not go to Starbucks? I kinda got banned from there...." Sage's voice trailed off as Bucky gave her a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly what did you do?"

"Um....well....."

"Ms. Stark airdropped pictures of Thor in a dress and started a mutiny at three known locations," Jarvis answered automatically, as Sage scowled at the ceiling.

"Nice going, Jarv," she muttered.

"Known locations?" Bucky asked, looking at her incredulously, wondering how even Jarvis, the AI who knew everything, didn't really know how many locations there were. There were only three that he knew of.

"People are stupid, their coffee wasn't really tasting like coffee. Who can blame me?" Sage asked with a shrug as Pepper called out.

"SAGE WHY IS THE MALL CALLING ME WITH SUSPICIONS OF YOU STARTING A ROLLER SKATING COMPETITION?!"

"Go!" Sage hissed, pushing Bucky out into the garage. "She's gone mad with anger, we need coffee!" Sage raced past the doors, grabbing a set of keys. "Let's go, you're in back, grab a helmet!" Confused as to why he'd need a helmet, Bucky just grabbed one and jammed it on, then almost jerked four feet back when Sage grabbed his arm.

"Why exactly do we need helmets?" Bucky asked, strapping it shut.

"For this baby," Sage cooed, gesturing to a motorcycle. "I would take my old pickup, but dad is fixing it and restoring it somewhere that's not here. I restored and finished this motorcycle about a month back. She was in bad shape too. Her name is 'Betty.'" Bucky shrugged. He'd seen weirder from Sage, and this didn't change the fact.

"SAGE ROSALIE STARK GET YOUR HEAD RIGHT IN MY OFFICE. NOW!"

"Move!" Bucky hissed, using his left arm to scoot back Sage. "You've stalled our trip, and now Ms. Potts is less than fifteen seconds away!"

"Jarvis, override protocol Oreo Spice!" Sage yelled, as the garage opened and Bucky zoomed through. And, just after Sage and Bucky had ridden out of the Tower, the doors snapped shut.

"What in the Sam Hill was 'Oreo Spice'?" Bucky demanded, feeling a little weirded out as Sage wrapped her arms around his midsection.

"You're buff," she mumbled, leaning against him before answering. "I wanted a sweet getaway, hence the Oreo, and Pepper is one spicy chick. So, 'Oreo Spice' was the natural name of choice," Sage explained proudly, snuggling into Bucky's leather jacket. "What cologne do you have and where can I buy it?" Oh gosh, James Buchanan Barnes smelled heavenly.

"Uh, I get mine from a store in Belgium. The only store that still sells the original one I used to wear when I was in the 1940s," Bucky said awkwardly, wondering how she wanted to know that. "Look, we need coffee, let's get it. Stop focusing in my cologne."

The duo came to a local coffee shop that Bucky knew about, mainly because it was the only one he actually liked. There were mismatched chairs and sofas, original paintings, and a touch of home, fresh flowers brightening the shop up.

"I remember this place," Sage mumbled, looking around, I just hope it isn't her shift."

Before Bucky could question that thought, he saw a familiar face. One that wasn't too welcome to him.

"Agent Sitwell." Surprisingly, he turned to Sage, who had uttered the same name. "You hate him too?"

"Yeah, he's a sourpuss. Always like 'you can't be there, that's Level 8 restricted. I am Agent, you are child, of course I am a much better candidate.' As if I wasn't a Level 8 by the time I was twelve, and he was still a Level 3. What's your reason for hating him, soldier?"

"He used to work for Hydra. Some complicated things went down. I don't trust him." They were silent again, ducking past Sitwell's intense, blank stares. It was of no surprise to Sage that he had once worked for the bad guys; his face was too impassively blank, and Sitwell was too careful in his actions.

Sage kept her hair over her face, figure hunched as she moved her shoe to the beat of some indie rock song that she no doubt would never know the name of.

"What are you getting? I'll buy. Sitwell will recognize you," Bucky said, pushing her gently towards the directions of a table.

"Black coffee. No cream, no sugar. I don't play dress-up with my coffee." Sage walked to the middle section of tables. It would've been too obvious to take a seat in the back, as was previously shown in every spy movie or scene where people needed to go incognito.

She waited a while, keeping her face blank and hidden, looking at her jeans and tracing patterns that would be forgotten in a few minutes.

"Coffee," Bucky said, taking a seat. "Do you wanna know what Sitwell is doing here?"

"Has Steve recited the Declaration of Independence in his sleep before?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Let's blow this popsicle stand." The duo sipped on their coffees, talking amicably, albeit awkwardly. It's hard to find common ground when there's the daughter of a billionaire and an ex-assassin, and they're terrible at socializing, both of them.

But, Sitwell was meeting someone.

It was a girlfriend, apparently, but that didn't seem like Sitwell. Then again, Clint had a family, so it wasn't the weirdest thing that had ever been done.

"This is weird," Sage whispered, taking another sip of her coffee. "Sitwell does not do this, be sentimental. He doesn't share any part of his person, anything."

"Many choose not to, in this business," Bucky answered simply, draining his coffee. "You want me to take your cup away for you?" It was more of a restrained politeness than friendliness, but Sage accepted it, shrugging on a jacket.

Bucky, ultimately, wasn't surprised when he recognized the woman with Agent Sitwell. A member of Hydra, one he'd briefly seen in his files.

"The Soldier is recovering well," Sitwell said as Bucky involuntarily froze. Why as he talking about the Winter Soldier?

"That's unfortunate," sighed the woman, who's name was unknown to Bucky. "We'll need to get him soon. Before he catches on. He lives at the Avengers Tower, does he not?"

"Affirmative." Bucky turned back, mouth turned down into an intense scowl, jade eyes turned into a fiery, hateful green.

"Sage, get to the car, lay low. I have some to attend to." Sage nodded, giving a small nod to Sitwell's direction as she got up. Poor Sitwell; he'd been too careless about where he met.

The next few minutes were excruciating, but Bucky got the duo to the car at knife point.

"Try to escape and I kill you."

Sage was already cheerfully listening to some radio station, humming along as she turned to the pair, looking angry and astounded that they had gotten cut off from their plans.

"You guys really suck at whispering."