Rhiley's glare could have melted steel as Howard Stark's projected image flickered to life on the far side of the circular table. She slid into the seat between Steve and Dr. Banner, her leg bouncing restlessly under the table, her finger tapping out an anxious rhythm against the polished surface. When Steve casually handed Fury a ten-dollar bill, she shot him a sharp look.
"Seriously?" she muttered under her breath.
"Lost a bet," Steve said quietly, not quite meeting her eyes.
"Doctor," Fury said, shifting the energy in the room, "thank you for coming."
"Thanks for asking nicely," Banner replied, voice dry, hands clasped in front of him. "So, uh... how long am I staying?"
"I second that question." Rhiley leaned forward, eyes locked on Fury.
Fury's tone didn't shift. "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract," he said, glancing at Rhiley, "you're both in the clear."
Banner caught the look that passed between them. He recognized it—the silent contract between two people who didn't want to be there. Didn't ask to be. Didn't trust anyone else to get it done.
"Where are you with that?" he asked.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," Coulson explained, standing just behind Fury's shoulder. "Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."
"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha added, arms crossed, already two steps ahead.
"You've got to narrow the field," Bruce nodded, thinking aloud. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"
Fury didn't blink. "How many are there?"
"Call every lab you know. Get the spectrometers on rooftops, calibrated to gamma radiation. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At the very least, we'll eliminate a few places."
Banner rose to his feet. "Do you have somewhere I can work?"
Rhiley leaned back in her seat, letting her shoulder press lightly into Steve's. "Did you understand any of that?"
Steve smiled faintly. "Nope."
Fury turned to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, show Dr. Banner to his lab."
"You're gonna love it, Doc," Natasha said with a smirk. "We've got all the toys."
As they left, Steve turned toward Rhiley, studying her profile. "You don't want to be here."
She stared straight ahead, jaw tight. "Last time I worked in a group setting, it didn't end well," she murmured. "You know that."
Silence
"I just want to get this over with. Save the world, then disappear."
"Will you?" he asked gently.
Her eyes drifted to the empty chair across from her. To Steve, it was just an empty seat. But to Rhiley, it wasn't empty at all. It was where Howard had sat. Where ghosts lived.
Steve followed her gaze, brow furrowing. She was somewhere else now. Somewhere he couldn't reach.
"Are you going to be okay working with—" he began.
"Yes." Her answer was immediate. Too immediate.
"It'll be a nasty reunion, though," she added, softer this time.
"Have you thought about telling—"
"No." She didn't let him finish. "Who would that benefit?"
Steve's voice dropped. "You. Maybe him. His dad—"
YOU ARE READING
Radioactive | Bucky Barnes
Fanfiction"I want to go back to the time you first told me your name." Rhiley, the twin sister of Howard Stark, finds herself wrapped up with the one and only James Barnes. The next time she sees him is on her new assignment with the 107th Infantry Regiment...
