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[ They say these things come in threes, but two disappearances is already more than enough for Steve. He'd noticed Peggy's departure from Wonderland prior to this, but he has to admit he's surprised that Sharon would be asking. She'd insisted that their shared last name had been nothing more than a coincidence and Steve had dropped the subject after that...

But now she's specifically asking after her. Maybe they'd gotten close during their shared time here, but even so it's suspicious. ]

As far as I can tell, she's gone too.

Were you friends?

[ At least text means that he can keep anything he's feeling under lock and key. All he has to do is stick to the hard truths, without letting anything deeper than that enter into his typed words. ]

[ Sharon had known when she'd been training to be a SHIELD agent that she would have to lie to people she liked, even people she loved. The lies to random people would be no problem, probably, as long as she could keep them straight, they told her, but the lies told to people she cared about would be worse. Lies to people she held in some degree of estimation weren't much better, it turned out.

She knows he's fishing, and she can't blame him. She'd told him that she'd only known Peggy from SHIELD and the files on Steve's background, had tried to make a fresh start. Multiple times now, in fact. She'd wanted to be judged on her own merits, partly, get him to trust her for her, and what a bang-up job she'd been doing on that front.

And then she'd found out Peggy was there and had wanted to tell Peggy first, and now Peggy was gone.

Sharon's going to be spending more time in the gym after this. Her and a punching bag sharing some alone time. ]

Not that I could tell. We just met.

[ She could leave it at that, she knows. Maybe say her concern is based on the camaraderie of a last name. But Tony already knows, and it's only a matter of time before Steve finds out, and-

And she might screw everything up again now, but she certainly will if she doesn't tell him now. ]

I told her that she was my great-aunt. Things were awkward. A lot for her to take in. We didn't talk again and now she's gone.

[ Maybe Sharon should just put a punching bag in her room. ]

I'm sorry. I didn't want you to judge me based on her. And then I found out she was here and wanted to tell her first.

Edited 2016-01-12 15:25 (UTC)

[ If they'd only just met, it really doesn't explain why Sharon sent a text out to the entire mansion asking about Peggy. Steve's prepared to be frustrated with that response and yet unable to push the issue further, but then another text comes in.

The announcement doesn't have the impact that it should -- once again, because they're communicating by text message. Steve reads the words over and over again, as if the fourth or fifth or tenth time will somehow help it make more sense.

Sharon is Peggy's great-niece. All that time, all those encounters in the hallway of his apartment building, and that's who he'd been talking to.

Steve isn't actually mad, though. Sharon's explanation -- that she'd wanted to be judged on her own merit -- is an understandable one. She'd probably grown up hearing about him from Peggy herself, maybe even realized what could have been between them, and Steve has to admit that it would have colored his opinion of Sharon had he known from the start.

There's so much to process here. The fact that Sharon had been here with a version of Peggy Carter in her prime and yet had been forced to keep that to herself. That she'd eventually told her, but there hadn't been time to sort it out before Wonderland sent Peggy away.

It takes Steve a while to respond, but eventually he sends a text back. ] Huh. I'm surprised I never ran into you in the hospital back in DC. [ It's a test of sorts, yet also sincere. Surely Sharon had gone to visit her great-aunt, assuming they had been on good terms. ]

[ She stares at her comm, dumbfounded. That confession, what it might mean to him, how it might change things from here on out, and that's what he chooses to follow up with? He'd even typed out "Huh" for God's sake.

What the hell did typing out "Huh" mean?

She stares at the text a while longer and tries not to be offended at the thought she hadn't visited Peggy. Who, exactly, did he think had helped find a facility within visiting distance of DC?

Huh? ]

Natasha and Fury helped. Let me know when you were out of town. Other than that, you mostly kept to a regular schedule, so it was easier to avoid you then.

[ Nyeh, nyeh, Steve. She had visited Aunt Peggy. Ugh.

No. This attitude isn't helping. Calm down, Sharon. You're just upset you maybe-sort-of-lied again and it's finally catching up to you. ]

Had to hide in a broom closet once at work, though. That was fun.

[ And he can just... enjoy that humiliating mental image. ]

[ It really hadn't been meant as an accusation that she didn't visit Peggy, but rather a way to determine what Sharon's relationship with her had been like. He probably could have assumed from the fact that she'd joined SHIELD that it was fairly good, but family could be tricky. ]

Wait. Natasha knew?

Nevermind. Of course she knew.

[ It's not like he can be that upset at someone who isn't here, anyway.

The mental image is amusing, although it also makes a point of just what kind of effort she'd put into keeping that secret. ]

But wow. I never thought I'd get to meet a relative of hers. I bet you have a lot of stories about her life. I mean, if you're comfortable sharing them.

[ Now isn't really the time, but... someday. ]

For someone who doesn't know everything, she knows a lot, yeah.

[ Try meeting Natasha for the first time as a normal SHIELD agent without a crisis at hand, Steve. Natasha is the sort of woman who has keys to your apartment before you know you have a door, or makes contact by borrowing your favorite shirt and leaving a note with a smiley face on it in its place. All while you sleep obliviously four feet away. ]

Seriously? [ But of course he had thought that. Peggy's husband had died, and none of her children lived near DC anymore. They had rarely visited Peggy, but Sharon had been closer to her aunt than they had been, and Peggy could go for days without remembering who Sharon was. After a while, her children had just... stopped going. For a woman who had done so much for so many, Peggy's later years had been rather sad, really. So many of her friends and family had passed - and some of the deaths of her family members make more sense in the wake of the Hydra reveal - but so much had fallen to loyal friends that Peggy couldn't even remember.

Maybe it's best to avoid some of that right now. She can always tell him more about Peggy's life when she comes up with some happier stuff. Sharon knows a couple stories she isn't supposed to. ]

You're not going to be weird about this, are you? So help me God, Steve, if you're always like, "TELL ME ABOUT YOUR AUNT, LITTLE CARTER NIECE" in the halls and stuff, I'm going to punch you so hard in the face you'll think you're back in the 40s.

[ A second passes, then another. ]

That's how people your age talk, right?

[ Another couple seconds, and then a thought occurs to her. ]

She taught me how to punch people and took me out for ice cream after detention after I beat up a boy in my class. Gave me pointers on how not to get caught next time. I always knew she knew I'd done something after that when she took me out for ice cream.

[ Given that Steve's had Natasha show up at his window (despite the fact that he doesn't live on the first floor) and had her text him about whatever he's doing even though he'd thought he was alone, he does have some idea.

Being friends with a spy like her, you start to get used to it.

As for Peggy's family, Steve had figured it wasn't his place to track them down. Sure, he and Peggy had been close before he'd gone into the ice, and there are essays about how their situation had been some sort of tragic love story -- but why would her children care about that? If any of her relatives had actually wanted to speak to him, they would have sought him out.

As it turns out, one of them did. ]

I promise I won't go overboard. It's just that I missed out so much, and by the time that I found my way back to her, she wasn't able to tell me as much as she probably wanted to. [ Not in any kind of mental state for that, Peggy would start a story, then lose hold of it halfway through. ]

Sounds like the best great-aunt anyone could ask for. [ Is his crush showing? It's absolutely showing. ] I'm guessing she's why you joined SHIELD, too.

[ Sharon smiles at her phone, rather sadly. The woman that Steve knew isn't the woman Sharon knew and vice versa. Sharon had only known Peggy in the last couple decades, when Peggy didn't go on so many missions and soon had to stop carrying Sharon because of the strain on her back. Steve had known the legend herself, Sharon had come along in time to get to know the woman behind the legend and then watch the woman fade.

From what she's been told, Peggy is still alive back home. Sharon will end up back home one day, probably, and go to visit her as if Wonderland had never happened. So why does it feel like she's lost her aunt? ]

She was. Probably the best, period. And yeah, she told me stories about going on missions as a kid. She's why I ran around fighting Hydra as a kid instead of just Nazis. All of the Commandos' grandkids used to pretend to fight Hydra.

[ And now most of them were gone, because why would Hydra allow them to live? Sharon had attended so many goddamn funerals in her lifetime. People older than herself, people younger. None of the children she'd played with had wanted to be accountants when they grew up, and too many had been sent on missions the government could only send back a letter of condolence. Sharon had thought at the time that it was because they'd been sent on dangerous ops. Things went wrong. There was always a risk of things going wrong, and they'd known that.

None of them had known Hydra was back, though. Or if they had, they'd died before they could pass the word along.

And every funeral, every memorial, every hand that Sharon had held, had only served to reinforce the notion that she was right to sign up for SHIELD, that she was right to work to make the world safer. She would run the risk so others didn't have to. So people wouldn't have to attend so many funerals one day.

And SHIELD had been the perfect way to do that. Or so she'd thought.

Maybe Peggy could have said something to help her feel better about that. Maybe. She'll never know now. ]

But yeah, she's why I joined SHIELD. Better than the FBI and CIA combined, right?

[ She stares at her comm and then types one more message, hoping her desperation doesn't show. It's a good thing they're doing this by text or else her voice would be shaking by now. She isn't as emotionally strong as Peggy, has a much lower threshold.

You're sure she isn't just gone temporarily?

[ Steve's not sure if that mental image is a happy one or a sad one. A bunch of kids running around pretending that they were taking down Hydra. Steve had fought in that war so that Hydra's legacy would die, so that their name would no longer mean anything, so that they'd just be a few pages in the history books.

But he'd failed at that. They'd all failed. Even now, Steve knows his work against Hydra isn't done, that they'll be hiding away to lick their wounds after Project Insight's failure. And it's up to him to root them out, to cut off every head, and maybe one day he'll actually get ahead of them. Despite his best efforts with the Avengers, he doesn't think he's there yet.

Sharon deserves to be a part of that fight, he realizes, but he has no idea how to ask her about that now. He'll think on it. ]

I actually heard that one of the grandkids of the Commandos is still floating around out there. [ As a part of Coulson's team, actually, but that's a sore spot he doesn't need to press on. ] Antoine Triplett, did you know him?

[ Steve isn't going to comment on the FBI or the CIA, since it's not like he's that familiar with either organization anyway. He'd joined SHIELD because of Peggy and Howard, but with everything that's happened, he's at a point where he thinks the Avengers might function better on their own. So long as another Ultron incident doesn't happen, anyway.

It isn't desperation that Steve sees in Sharon's message, but hope. A false kind of hope, though, which makes him feel guilty that he has to act as the pessimist. ] Have you checked her room? If it's emptied out, that's a surefire sign.

[ She stares at Trip's name, unsure what to make of it. How had he learned about Trip, but not about her? And then she remembers. Coulson had been here. Coulson must have said something. It fit in with what Sharon knew. ]

His mom told me he wasn't dead. I thought maybe the strain got to her. He worked with Coulson, though? That would explain why she wasn't freaking out. That's actually really good. I was worried about her.

[ Because she herself had been convinced Trip had died. She didn't see how he could have survived. She'd mourned him, worried for his mom... Maybe she should have trusted his mom more.

At least Trip is alive, though. Somewhere out there. ]

Which is a long-winded way of saying yes.

[ It takes her several more seconds to respond to the advice about Peggy's room. She doesn't want to admit that Peggy had never told her which room was hers, that she'd never been trusted with even that much information. It isn't as if Sharon will have to look it up; she'd kept an eye out for Peggy after realizing Peggy was in Wonderland. But she was never given Peggy's blessing in having that knowledge.

She's also afraid of what she might find there. ]

I'll check it out, thanks. [ Another slight pause, then: ] If it's empty, are you going to be okay? Wonderland seems to be going out of its way to be a dick to you.

The strain?

[ Steve doesn't entirely follow what Sharon means about that, but it's not as if he would have known Agent Triplett's mother either. Maybe if he were back home, he would have done some more research after hearing about him, but there's not much on-hand here in Wonderland. ]

And yeah, he ended up on Coulson's team after SHIELD's fall. That makes me pretty confident he was in good hands.

[ Oh, Steve. If only you knew.

While Steve can't argue with the fact that Wonderland's been doubling down lately, he doesn't want to make this about him. That's what their argument had been all about, hadn't it? That he was self-centered, that he didn't think of other people enough. Too caught up in the role of Captain America to consider collateral damage. ]

I should be asking you that question. Peggy and I were close and we went through a lot together, but she was your great-aunt. You knew her for years. If Wonderland's being a dick to anyone, it's you.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not a mom, but it seems like people kind of go through hell after their kid dies.

[ And, you know, had their jobs and most of their coworkers blown up. Not to mention that SHIELD had been labelled a terrorist organization, and most of the politicians had hopped on the shit-on-SHIELD bandwagon. Why wouldn't they? SHIELD had fostered a terrorist organization in its midst for generations. Not very intelligent for an intelligence agency. ]

I'm glad he's okay, though. He and the other Commandos' kids are like family in a lot of ways.

[ All the ways that mattered. Whereas Sharon's parents had been big on diplomacy and working toward things as peaceably as possible, Peggy, the Commandos, and the ensuing generations were the ones who had taught her that she didn't need to take someone else's crap. That lesson had obviously had a huge impact on her.

His next statement throws her a little. She notices that he doesn't answer the question, that he throws the focus back to her instead. Was it the conversation about Bucky that had led to him being so concerned about her well-being? Her physical safety is one thing, but her feelings- Oh, shit. It isn't her being related to Peggy, is it? Oh, Christ.

Okay. Be realistic. He isn't just being nice because of her being Peggy's great-niece. He's a genuinely nice guy. Her being Peggy's great-niece is just one of the reasons he's being nice to her. ]

She didn't know who I was here. Doesn't remember who I am back home. You were the one she knew. I didn't know Bucky that well, either. You're gonna have to take victory in the wallow-off, Rogers.

[ In the end, after all, Wonderland had only made her think that she'd get to know Peggy, but Sharon was the one who had harbored the hope. That the younger version of her aunt might like her, give her blessing, something like that. And in the end, such hopes were stupid. She shouldn't have hoped in the first place. And it was especially ridiculous since Sharon knew she wouldn't be able to keep her memories. Pointless, really. ]

That stuff you were doing to catch up on modern times. Did you ever see Notting Hill?

Oh, yeah. I actually met someone here in Wonderland who lost her kid. I can't even imagine.

[ Because despite everything (and all jokes aside), Steve is young. He doesn't often show that side of him, and with the way that time works in Wonderland he can barely keep track of his age. Still, it's something that he and Sharon have in common. They've had to carry themselves like they're so much older than they really are, in order to be taken seriously. ]

I wish I had more information for you, but that's all I really heard.

[ Coulson and his team are long gone from this place, too. That's probably for the best, but it doesn't help Steve or Sharon right now.

She's announced that he's the winner in this situation, which really doesn't mean winning anything other than more scars where no one can see. Steve doubts that fighting Sharon on this will do him any good, so he decides to drop it. ]

Notting Hill? I don't think I caught that one. What's it about?

Right? I don't know how the parents here do it, being separated from their kids. Or having their kids here, also kidnapped. I've talked to Ellen about her daughter - I don't know what I'd do if I had to get my kid safely through an event. Probably lose it. Hell, going through the zombie even with Aunt Peggy was bad enough.

[ Not only because that was the first time Sharon had seen Peggy in Wonderland, when she had realized that her aunt was alive and young and in full control of her faculties. That had been when Sharon had decided not to reveal herself to Peggy immediately, because she wanted to make sure Peggy would be able to shoot her if she were overwhelmed by the zombies. ]

And no, that's great. You're from after I am in time. I'm glad he's still alive.

[ Ha. Haaaa. If only she knew. ]

It's a romcom. I don't know if you'd like it, but if the closets can do DVDs, maybe I can dig it out for you. But there's a group of friends, and whenever they have one brownie left, they go around the group and share their sob stories, kind of. And the saddest one gets the brownie. So in the scene, the person with the saddest story - clearly the saddest, right? like, downfall of her career and despondency of life stuff - doesn't get the brownie. It goes to the runner-up. It's kind of a joke, but it makes her feel better?

I think what I'm trying to say (and typing all of this out bit by bit is HARD, Rogers, so you better appreciate it) is that you've got to take the brownie whether you won it or not.

And you get a brownie out of it. So. You know. Actually a winner. Bronies.

[ FUCK SERIOUSLY? She'd gotten through that whole damn thing only to get screwed on that last bit? She'd proofread, damn it. And then sent just a second too soon because she'd thought, what, that she was too perfect for typos? Damn it.

And so, a couple seconds later, he gets another text. ]

BROWNIES

Yeah, there are a few mothers who are here with their kids and I'm not sure how they get by. That's a strength of will I can't even wrap my head around.

[ Like with Emma and Henry, for instance. Wonderland is enough of a stressor without having to take care of your twelve-year-old added in on top of that. Kidnapping kids here crosses a serious line, and it's why Steve won't hold back whenever he finds out who's really responsible for bringing them to this place.

If he ever finds out. ]

The closets do DVDs and Blu-rays, but it might take a few tries to get the movie that you want.

And all right, your point is made, I'm not going to say no to a brownie.

[ Whether it's metaphorical or not. ]

I can't believe you guys used to text on a number pad, by the way.

[ She's about to make fun of him for learning about Blu-rays so quickly despite his - ahem - advanced age, when she does a double-take and stares at the screen.

Had he just-

Her fingers hover over the keypad.

I can't believe you guys used to text on a number pad.

Is- is he making fun of them? Them meaning her generation? One of whom, sure, had been in the process of making fun of him for his age, but-

Holy crap. He'd just made fun of her. And he'd done it well. That had been clever. She's not sure anyone else in their world could pull it off.

And now she has no idea how to respond. Texting him a high five seems inappropriate, especially since she's one of the people he's making fun of. But she can't just ignore it, because Steve Rogers, the world's fittest senior citizen, just did something truly impressive. ]

We also wore tube tops that didn't cover our stomachs and wore four-inch platform shoes. Had to wait five minutes for a dial-up connection. Cell phones could double as murder weapons. I remember that we were one of the first people with a phone in our car. It had to be plugged in to work, but I was the hottest thing since sliced bread at school until everyone realized the phone barely worked. Man. Speaking of school. Pizza on Fridays, made in huge flat rectangles. You don't know how good you have it, Rogers.

[ The thing about Steve and his sense of humor is that he isn't too overbearing with it, not like a certain Stark that they both know. It tends to show itself at the most unexpected moments, and he doesn't draw much attention to it either.

Most people don't believe that he even has a sense of humor until they're exposed to it for the first time, which generally means that he's starting to get comfortable with someone.

That's still pretty shaky with Sharon, but it's easier to do over text message. ]

All this great stuff that I missed out on, I know.

[ Leave it to Steve to joke about something that's actually pretty depressing. ]

I would never say no to large amounts of pizza, though, I've gotta say.

[ Sharon makes a face. No, Steve. You don't know what you're talking about. That pizza had been so horrible that no one had wanted it but schoolchildren. And the only reason schoolchildren had wanted it was because they'd been young enough - and stupid enough - to think the monstrosity pizza was better than nothing. Oh, stupid, stupid children. ]

You poor, innocent fool.

[ She might continue, but she also has other matters to attend to. She has to determine for herself what happened to Peggy. As hard as it is to face, she has to face it.

And talking with Steve, as awkward and maybe almost-pleasant as it may be, is really just her putting it off. ]

I should probably get back to work. See you, Steve. Thanks for the advice. Old-timer.

[ With that, she logs off and heads to Peggy's room. As she had feared, it is cruelly barren, devoid of all traces that Peggy had ever existed in Wonderland. She goes back to her room and locks the door behind her. She even sticks a chair under the knob; she'd like to be alone for a while, undisturbed even by Natasha.

The next day, she leaves a box outside Steve's door. Inside is a DVD copy of Notting Hill, a plate of brownies, a slice of bland, rectangular pizza, and a note. I wouldn't say you missed out, Old Timer.

She doesn't tell him about Peggy's empty room. It sounds like he realized that and had accepted it far sooner than she had. ]

[ The only reason that Steve had been more able to accept Peggy's disappearance is because he's been through this song and dance before. It's not a dance that he likes the steps to very much, but he's gotten practiced at it all the same.

The items left at his door are all sampled with care. The pizza is pretty terrible, he has to admit, but the brownie makes up for it. Once he's eaten, he settles down to watch Notting Hill.

It isn't the same, watching it on his own. Bucky should be here; they'd always done their pop culture catch-up together.

Still, Sharon had cared enough to do all that for him. It's a good reminder that he's not alone, that even someone he's had a rough start with gives a damn. ]

[It could be a coincidence; after all, there are a pair of O'Connells here that Cami has no known relation to, so she herself stands as proof of the rule. But there are also families, people brought in who share last names because they're related by blood. Not only that, but the wording is formal, trained rather than the typical "have you seen them" she'd expect from most people.

Sharon has a hard time trusting, and a lot of loss to cope with already. Cami at least has to ask if there's another to add to that list.]

I'm sorry, but I don't know her. [She'll do at least that much, even if Cami can't provide much help when it comes to the question asked.] Sharon?

[ Oh, crap. Cami. Sharon closes her eyes tightly. She really had meant to go back for more therapy. She really had. But then Hydra had happened, and she'd decided to internalize instead. It didn't seem to have helped much, not if her blow-up at Steve was any indication.

She should have known Cami would still be here. Of course Bucky and Peggy would be taken away and the therapist would be left.

She takes a deep breath. She cannot think like that. It isn't Cami's fault that Peggy is gone. Wonderland is screwing them all over. Sharon can't forget that.

Just like she can't avoid Cami forever. Damn it. ]

Hmm?

I just wanted to be sure it was you. [After all, it has been some time since they'd spoken. Cami can't say she's surprised, when so soon after Sharon's visit to her office, Wonderland had made so many of them agents of the organization the woman feared. Sharon isn't one to trust easily anyway, and that particular event couldn't have come at a worse time for someone debating whether or not she wanted to open herself up to a therapist.]

So Peggy Carter is a relative of yours?

[ Again, Sharon doesn't respond right away. There's a lot to consider here. From Cami remembering her - goddamnit - to a yes/no question about Peggy that's... difficult to avoid.

And why should she avoid it? Why shouldn't she admit that her aunt is- was here?

Because Peggy might still be here. The hope is small, but it's still there, and Sharon doesn't want to give up on that. And she doesn't know how Peggy feels about their being related. Doesn't know if Peggy would even want people to know.

Maybe, if Peggy really is gone, she can own up to it. Peggy might not be proud of Sharon, but Sharon is proud of Peggy, prouder than Peggy may ever know. ]

We're both Carters.

[ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand avoidance. ]

[The non-answer tells Cami more than Sharon probably wants it to; she doesn't say no, which means that Sharon's choosing to to lie. But she's also choosing not to tell the truth beyond what Cami can assume: that whether they share blood or only a last name by coincidence, Sharon feels a bond with the presumably departed Peggy Carter.]

If her name is gone from the contact list, it's a good sign she's gone. Also if her things have disappeared. [The standard Wonderland checklist, which Sharon might have already gone through but just in case. In all honesty, while she does sympathize with Sharon's loss, Cami's main concern is quickly becoming Sharon's avoidance. Granted, it can be hard to pick up things from texting as opposed to video or in-person conversations--

But that is likely the point.]

You never came back.

[ She's halfway through typing her reply to thank Cami when the second text comes through.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

Aw, crap.

Shitshitshitshit.

She takes a long, slow breath.

Okay. So. Good news. Cami had noticed that Sharon had never showed up. Cami is an astute therapist. Which... isn't necessarily good news for Sharon. Since there are some things she isn't crazy about people noticing.

She finishes her thank you for the information about the contact list, then hesitates. Ugh. Whatever she writes, she suspects Cami is going to see through it.

Ugh. Competent therapists are somehow the worst. ]

Things came up.

Things, sure. [Things that Cami can easily guess at, and maybe that's why competent therapists are the worst in some ways. The ones who see past the defenses people put up, who can put pieces together to form a whole picture, are the ones who make people face the truth they don't want to deal with.]

I'm guessing the biggest thing would be that event from your world. The one that turned a bunch of people in HYDRA agents. [Sharon's worst fear come to life, horribly timed to take place not long after Cami herself had assured the woman that HYDRA wasn't a force in Wonderland.] I can't imagine how that would have helped you come to terms with this, particularly given the issues you have with trust.

[ Ugh.

Sharon softly drops her forehead against the desk a couple more times. Ugh ugh ugh. ]

As much as I don't want to talk about my trust issues, can I just point out that they're really just Hydra issues, and Hydra isn't an issue if all the Hydra agents are dead?

[ She keeps her forehead on the desk, looking at the comm in her hands. Cami isn't going to go away. Not until Wonderland sends her away. ]

I'm doing better now.

[ Mostly. She leaves her room now. Interacts with people. She's... fine. She's better. She has some people she considers friends. More that she can't stand. Some she's unsure of. But that's normal, right? She's getting back to normal. And doing it without having to tell anyone about things that had happened during the event.

Except Natasha. But that was because it was Natasha. Her closest friend here by a long shot and completely nonjudgmental and able to suss out everything from one or two little clues.

But Natasha isn't a therapist. Cami is. And Cami is... harder to talk to. Cami pushes. Maybe it could ultimately help Sharon, but something within Sharon feels compelled to fight against the helpfulness nonetheless. She's fine. She is. And she's going to be better. She is. ]

And how do you know who's a HYDRA agent?

[Because this could so quickly spiral into something she's familiar with, the paranoid uncertainty of someone who has been betrayed one time too many. Her logic is only sound on the surface; strip away that first layer, think it through, and "better" becomes a much harder label to claim.]

You want them all dead. You've got reason for it, but how many of them have been brainwashed to help HYDRA? Not to mention the dozens of other worlds represented here, with their wide variety of bad guys. There are demons, vampires, werewolves--humans who think nothing of hurting others for their own sick and twisted pleasure.

Where does it stop, Sharon? HYDRA isn't the only one putting people in danger. You're smart enough to know that.

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