Passage of Winter

The setup

When Bucky walked into the crowded bistro, Steve was already seated and had wine waiting. Bucky flashed a smile at the hostess that had her discreetly fanning her face after he turned toward the table. An order of mussels--moules marinieres--was deposited right after he pulled his chair in. A delighted smile crossed his face; one thing the war had given him was an appreciation of French food. When they were able to forage or get food that wasn't military rations, Jacques Dernier had cooked for them. He'd said that he wasn't very good, but all the commandos lived for those meals in the field. Mussels could be frequently be found when they were by the coast, if they could spare a man to look for them. And his network of resistance always shared what they could with them, so a splash of wine was often possible. Steve was also a huge fan, which is why they ate at this restaurant so often. The waiter returned with a glass of Bucky's favorite wine and a basket of gougeres without being asked.

"How was your trip?" Steve asked as they dug into the mussels, mopping up the wine sauce with the cheese puffs.

"The seats are too small, but it was a short flight," Bucky said. "Brought you a few things from home. So what's up?"

"I don't know if I'm stupid or whether it's hush-hush, but SHIELD is controlled by forces other than the US government." Bucky frowned, but they kept their behavior and tones generally loose and relaxed. Just in case they were being observed.

"I thought it was under Congressional oversight," he said. "I thought it was an official institution."

"It's overseen by a group called the World Security Council," Steve said softly, drawing the basket a little closer to himself. Bucky huffed and grabbed two of the cheese puffs. "Politicians from around the world keeping an eye on SHIELD. Actual oversight, not just on SHIELD but also the Avengers."

"Then we've got a problem," Bucky said as he polished off his last mussel. Steve nodded.

"There's an immediate situation," Steve said, leaning back and smiling as the waiter approached to take their order. Feeling like they needed fortification,  Steve chose a double serving of bouillabaisse, while Bucky went with a lentil salad and coq au vin. Plus "the usual" for dessert. "They have three new helicarriers. They've got Stark's power technology for suborbital flight, they won't have to come down once they're up, and they've got long-range precision guns that can eliminate a thousand threats a minute. Linked by those satellites from the ship. Eliminating hostiles before they act. According to Fury."

"Does this security council determine who the threats are?"

"Unknown. I don't know whose hand is on the trigger."

"If we seem to be stepping out of line, we'll be on that list. And you don't send a weapon like that to pick off a target at a time." Steve nodded. "What are we going to do?"

"We need more intel," Steve said, and it was Bucky's turn to nod. Then smiled at the waiter, returning with their food. Normally neither one of them liked to trade on their status as Avengers, but... food was food, they'd been chronically undernourished during the war, and that had been only a couple of years ago for them. They were very food-focused. Tony once joked that he could probably get Steve to perform tricks like a Golden Retriever for tasty snacks. Neither Steve nor Bucky had laughed.

"Who do we trust?" Bucky said as he took a bite of his salad.

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Do the rest of the team know? Would they consider it a problem? The US doesn't have pure motives, but at least we know its agenda." They abandoned the topic for the moment, talking instead about Bucky's sister, Brooklyn, their happier memories, until they'd eaten their chocolate souffles with vanilla pouring custard and a nice brandy.