Sharon Carter is a super spy (exshieldagent) wrote in momadness_log, @ 2021-10-13 18:06:00 |
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Entry tags: | dc: zari tarazi, marvel: sharon carter |
Who: Sharon and Zari
What: Hospital bed cuddles
When: Sunday, 10/10
Where: Medical
Warning: Low, brief mentions of Sharon’s injury, spoilers for FaWS s1
Status: Completed via Gdoc
Come hell or high water, Zari was going to see her friend that morning. She'd set an alarm and everything. It was a testament to her unwavering affection that she hadn't even done her morning face routine, just finger combed her hair, did the bare minimum in the joint bathroom to not offend anyone's senses before tossing on a tank top and a pair of shorts.
It might as well have been a cutthroat power suit for the way she stomped into Medical, fully anticipating having to force her way in. Thankfully, she was just waved in. Okay, maybe it had something to do with the donuts she'd stolen from the kitchen, too, because she was also prepared to sweet talk her way in. Eat your heart out, James Bond.
Although she was feeling very proud of her own abilities in that moment, the feeling was utterly eclipsed by concern to see her best friend in a hospital bed, hooked up to tubes and wires and looking pale and worn. "Oh, babe."
Sharon was actually sleeping when Zari came in. She’d been struggling a little off and on, snoozing until the pain would wake her up, getting another dose of whatever pain medicine Martha would think was necessary. Both nights had been worse than the days; Sharon found that the pain was worse, the loneliness worse, the confusion over her memories was definitely worse at night as opposed to the day.
Sleeping in hospitals, sleeping in Medical, it was practically impossible. Sharon knew she could handle just a couple of days, and then she’d get to sleep in her own bed. The bed she’d known five years ago. At the sound of her friend’s voice, Sharon’s eyes opened. She looked up and over, and broke into a smile at the sight of Zari.
“Hey.” It came out sleepy. Sharon lifted one arm over her head for a gentle stretch. “What time is it?”
Guilt over waking Sharon up warred with the profound relief of getting to see her gorgeous eyes again. Zari busied herself with putting the last of the pilfered donuts on the rolling table next to her friend's bed for later, anything not to be flooded by the heavy realization that in a very real way she had come so very very close to losing her favorite person from this world. It had plagued her the night before and robbed her of a number of hours of sleep.
Finally, she made herself turn back to the bed and reached down to brush a lock of hair from her cheek and tucked it back behind her ear. Zari felt her lips tremble, but she forced them into a soft smile. "Time for you to get that hug I promised you. Consider it to be an advance on the one I'm going give you when you're outta here and all healed up again. It's early though. Do you want me to come back? Give you some more beauty sleep time?"
It was early morning, and Sharon could tell that Zari was simply thrown together. And yet, Sharon couldn't imagine a more beautiful woman on the face of the planet.
"Mmm... Zari hugs." Sharon broke into a very warm smile, eyelids drooping a little with sleep and medication as she looked up at her friend. She shook her head gently, and lifted the arm that wasn't attached to the IV drip. "It's not too early. C'mere. Just... stay off this hip," she motioned toward where the bullet wound was. Then she lifted her arm again and made waving motions, as if she could waft her friend into her arms.
Well, how on this or any earth was Zari supposed to resist when her friend looked all sleepy and adorable like that, mystery wound or no? Rather than go in for a traditional hug, she went all in and got herself situated in the narrow space between Sharon's uninjured side and the edge of the bed. It meant having to slip her arm under her best friend's neck while the other went carefully across her upper stomach, hand following the natural curve of her ribs. For a few seconds, Zari had to tuck her face against Sharon's shoulder just so she could will herself not to cry. It didn't really work; they rolled down her cheeks anyway. "I hate being retroactively scared. It's so stupid. But, Shar, you're not allowed to do that again, okay? No more portal trips for you. You're cut off."
Sharon hadn’t really been expecting Zari to crawl into the bed with her, but when the other woman was squished between her side and the railing on the hospital bed, it was perhaps the most comfortable thing Sharon had ever experienced. She took a deep breath and released it in a long, slow, happy sigh. Had she and Zari been this close five years ago? Sharon vividly remembered feelings... but she’d never acted on them. Had she? Sharon would have remembered that.
With a slight wince, Sharon turned her body just a little to curl her free arm around her friend. “Noted. No more portals. Scout’s honor.”
The whole bed thing had been wildly impulsive, but Zari couldn't bring herself to regret it. She didn't want to move her arms at all, so she just wiped her cheek the best she could against her own shoulder and the edge of the hospital pillow and then just watched her best friend for several moments.
This was probably the longest time in the history of their admittedly brief friendship that she'd been as quiet as she was now. It afforded her the opportunity to really look into Sharon's eyes and see the weight of five years of memories that hadn't been there before. Her fingers set up a small, unconsciously smoothing rhythm against Shar's side. "What happened, babe?"
Sharon’s eyes lazily opened and closed. She was still sleepy, hazy on the pain medication, but that didn’t mean the intensity of Zari’s gaze didn’t affect her. She found it was as if her friend could see straight into her soul: could read all the secrets she kept so carefully guarded and hidden.
But that was silly. Zari couldn’t read her mind. Sharon swallowed, then gave her head a very gentle shake. “Five years is a very long time, Zar. There was the Snap--when Thanos snapped his fingers, and half of the living creatures in the universe dissolved into ash. We had to figure out how to survive when half the people we knew were gone. Just… gone. Poof.” She shook her head again. “I was in Madripoor, already struggling. It was… not easy. Eventually, everyone came back. The Avengers fought Thanos--again--and brought back those who had been blipped out of existence for five years. But the world had moved on, and the displaced people who came back didn’t have a place to go… so governments stepped in to try and figure out how to fix things. Did they kick out those who weren’t blipped so that the blipped had a place to be? Did they give up on the blipped refugees? It was a mess. A fucking mess.”
It sounded like the same stuff Steve had talked about in his net post, and the bits and pieces she'd been able to glean from the others from the time period after. A frown tugged at Zari's lips even while she pulled herself closer, like if she could wrap her friend up tight enough it could help with the physical and emotional damage. "Goddamn Madripoor," she grumbled uncharacteristically. "Why does it all keep going back to that place? Is that when you left? When things were getting bad all over again? What was your life like? Were you happy at all? Safe?"
“That’s the world I left behind,” Sharon answered. “I’d spent the better part of six years in Madripoor, rebuilding my life.” Through the Snap, the Blip, whatever. After she realized that she couldn’t return to the States. “I started an art gallery. I dealt in art, worldwide. Based in Hightown.” She ran her hand up and down Zari’s arm, hoping to comfort her friend. “It wasn’t that bad. Actually, it was starting to look up. And then Bucky and Sam showed up with Zemo… that’s really when things took a turn.” There was obviously a lot to the story she was leaving out, but the way she explained felt like she wasn’t hiding anything. Simply curating the explanation to the most important parts.
Zari could have started crying all over again for those years both real and not. It sounded lonely and unhappy, and now her best friend was lying in a hospital room with nothing to show for it but pain. "I know Sam and Bucky, obviously, but who is Zemo, and why were they there? For your art? They don't seem like they'd be collectors, but I guess things can change in five years." Her gaze dropped to Sharon's side and then came back up again. "Is that what happened to you? An art sale gone wrong?"
"Zemo is... is a long story," Sharon sighed, settling back against the pillow, using her friend for comfort. She closed her eyes and nestled her head in against Zari. "He's a baron. From.. Sokovia. And he's... well, let's just say he likes the Avengers only slightly less than I do." That was something she didn't really want to admit. But the drugs and the exhaustion and the pain and everything.
"They were hunting down Wilfred Nagel, who was trying to recreate the Supersoldier serum. Nagel worked for the Powerbroker. Things exploded. It was bad."
Zari couldn't have hid her surprise even if she wanted to, which she didn't. Even without all the context clues, she knew enough to be both startled and a little alarmed. "Okay, so Sam and Bucky and this baron guy wind up in Madripoor chasing down some guy who could make more Steves for someone called the 'Powerbroker'. Now, who is that? Is it someone from here that hasn't come up yet? Another name for the someone in the Hoan family?"
In an instant, she regretted her string of questions. They probably sounded like she was trying to interrogate her best friend, when all she really wanted was to understand. She stroked her hand lightly down Sharon's side and bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I know this is a lot. I shouldn't be asking you fifty million things."
“It’s okay,” Sharon insisted. She felt tired and groggy, and instead of answering fifty million questions, she wished she could be sleeping. Still, it’d been years since she’d seen her best friend, and she wanted to try and put Zari’s mind at ease. As much as Sharon wasn’t the woman who had become friends with Zari anymore, she still wanted that friendship. Desperately. Zari, even after so many years, meant more to her than anyone she’d met in Madripoor. More than anyone she’d spent any time with in years.
“No one knows who the Powerbroker is. Just that he owns Madripoor. ...and probably a lot more than Madripoor.” She sighed and settled in closer, turning to rest her face against Zari. Wherever it would reach. Sharon’s eyes closed. “The Hoan family is still active. Tyger Tiger is very much part of the Madripoor scene.”
With Sharon's head now against her shoulder, Zari didn't hesitate to reach up and start combing her fingers through her friend's hair. It wasn't in the best state, but that's what happened when someone was in medical for more than a few hours. Zari didn't care. What was important was Sharon was there. The news of some shadowy figure that even Sharon didn't know the identity of pulling the strings in a place like Madripoor made her shiver just a little. Still, she couldn't help but smirk too. "Of course she is. I hope you were able to steer clear."
Zari leaned in and kissed her forehead. It lingered as she shut her eyes. This. Just this. All she was getting was this, and it was more than enough. Sharon had disappeared, but she'd also come back. That's what mattered. There were still more questions, but they could wait for another day. "You can go back to sleep if you want, babe. I'm sure you're exhausted from whatever happened to you. I'll still be here."
Sharon took a deep breath, cuddled in close against her friend. She released it low and slow, with tension leaving her as the air was slowly expelled. "She belongs to the Powerbroker," Sharon replied. And that was very true. Most of the Hoan family were under the Powerbroker's thumb by the time Sharon left Madripoor through that portal.
The lips against Sharon's forehead made her heart pound in her throat. She swallowed. "All right." She needed a lot of sleep. Martha had to do surgery more than just pulling the bullet out. She had to fix things in there. Hence the pain meds, the bedrest, all of it. And Sharon was going to be on house arrest when she ended up back in New Asgard.
"Promise you'll stay?" Sharon asked in a small, child-like voice.
She belongs to the Powerbroker—such a small statement, yet it filled Zari's stomach with ice water. She suppressed the urge to shiver again, not with Sharon so close and tucked up against her. It felt right in a way she knew she had to ignore for the sake of her own heart and sanity. Even so, she didn't hesitate to smile gently and say, "I cleared my whole day just for this."