𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 - 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹

Motion Sickness

AEI: there's literally supposed to be sambucky in this story and i'm THREE EPISODES IN and have so far (vaguely) hinted to it once. THEY'LL SHOW UP I'M JUST SLOW AS FUCK WITH IT! suggest scenarios tho my writer's block is kicking my ass 😒

Isabell is fragile; hollow-boned and light-footed, drifting down the street like paper blowing in the wind. To James, it seems like Sam's arm is the only thing holding her down.

He pretends not to wish that that was still his job.

Instead, he watches her dirty boots scuff against the ground as they walk, trying his hardest to focus on Sam's voice.

"So what are you thinking?" Sam is breaking a cereal bar into little pieces, handing them to Isabell and watching to make sure she chews and swallows. James looks away.

"Well, I know what we have to do. When Isaiah said 'my people'..." His voice fades out. Sam gives a careless sort of shrug.

"Oh, don't take that to heart. That's not what he meant."

"No, but he meant HYDRA," James says, his tone hardening. "HYDRA used to be my people."

There's a very deliberate silence as the meaning behind his words sinks in. Isabell stiffens, eyes blackening, and Sam's head whips around incredulously. He scoffs at James.

"Not a chance."

"Walker doesn't have any leads." James protests.

"I know where you're going with this," Sam shakes his head. "No."

"He knows all of HYDRA's secrets. Don't you remember Siberia?"

"So you're just gonna go sit in a room with this guy?" Sam raises his eyebrows as James fumbles for a non-ridiculous sounding answer. There really aren't many options, so he just mumbles,

"Yes."

Sam is silent for a moment. He glances at Isabell, who has been taking advantage of the lack of attention and is feeding her cereal bar to the pigeons. The shadows under her eyes seem to take up her entire face, and when she glares at James, she looks like she's being swallowed whole.

She says nothing.

Sam swallows.

"Okay, then." He squeezes her shoulder. "We're gonna go see Zemo."

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

Isabell, by some miracle, sleeps on the journey to Germany. She curls up in the corner, hugging her backpack like a stuffed animal, and buries her face in the top of it so that nobody can see her clearly.

James sits beside her. When her nightmares make her shiver, he rubs her back, but after a while, Sam makes him stop.

"She won't want to wake up like that. Just let her sleep."

James swallows. He moves a strand of hair away from her face and sits back.

They say nothing more.

Isabell is quiet when she wakes again, chewing on her nails and the straw of a juice carton. She hates Zemo, hates him enough to kill him, but she wants to come along anyway and the only way Sam will allow that is if she doesn't look like she's about to pass out.

He passes her squares of chocolate as they check into the prison, and she swallows them slowly as they head down the hall.

Once they reach Zemo's corridor, James stops. He glances at Sam.