𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 - 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹

Still Ugly On The Inside

AEI: every time i write a new chapter i become hyper-aware of two things:

1. i literally dont even read fanfiction. well, i read violently inappropriate tumblr drabbles, but other than that, i hate reading fanfics. SO WHY DO I WRITE THEM??

2. i write like i have the worst daddy issues alive. this is especially wild to me bc out of the entire world, the person i have the LEAST issues with is my dad. love you dad; ur very cool 💕

p.s.: that last bit was not an excuse to trauma dump!! it makes me feel REALLY, REALLY AWKWARD!!

still love you all, tho :) 

pls proceed

Latvia is not where Isabell wants to be. Latvia with Zemo is even worse.

However, Latvia with Zemo, a grumpy-seeming James and John Walker makes Hell seem like a summer holiday.

She ducks quickly behind James, fisting a hand in the back of Sam's coat to keep herself from tripping, and glares out through the gap between their shoulders.

John Walker is angry.

She hopes he explodes.

When she was younger, she liked to try and wish things, wish them so hard that she was convinced that someone had to make them come true. But, as the years went by and Isabell started to wish for more and more, she discovered that perhaps, she was just too fucked up to be saved by a genie.

She narrows her eyes into slits and resists the urge to cling to James like a little kid.

In front of her, Zemo is doing his best to smooth out the situation. "I know where Karli is."

Motherfucker. Stop giving away information like it's candy on Halloween.

"Well, where?" Walker snaps. There's a vein popping in his forehead, and Isabell has an intense urge to reach out and stick a needle in it. You know, just to see what would happen.

"All we know is, it's a memorial," Sam says, before she can act on her impulse. "So, we're gonna intercept her there."

"That means civilians. High risk of casualties." The man beside Walker says. When he catches Isabell staring at him, he raises an eyebrow that reminds her all too much of the kids who made fun of her in the school yard.

She edges ever closer to Sam.

"All right, good, we'll move in fast." Walker is already thinking of strategies, chasing Zemo up the street. The rest of them follow. "Take Karli by surprise."

Sam shakes his head. "No, I wanna talk to her alone. Look, the person closest to her died, she's vulnerable. Now is the best time to reason with her."

"What?" Walker looks like he can't believe that there are people out there with different ideas. Isabell isn't sure who put him under this delusion. He is so stupid that right now, she would take an idea from Tony Stark.

And he is dead.

"No. Wait, no! No! Stop." Walker runs ahead to try and catch Zemo. "Hold on. Stop, OK? I think we're way past reasoning with her, unless you forgot that she blew up a building with people still in it. Sam, you walk in there cold, she could kill you."

"If I go in hot and the op goes wrong, more people will die," Sam argues. Walker scoffs at him, looking almost frantically at James.

"You'll let him do this? Are you gonna let your partner walk into a room with a Super Soldier alone?"

"He's his own person," Isabell says, even if no one was talking to her. Her voice is small, raspy from disuse. "Why should James make his decisions?"

"Forgive me, Miss Hansen, but I didn't ask for your input." Walker sneers.