The Price We Pay for Family - 30

 

Cont...

Sam stared at the shipping logs and data transfers for hours till the pages blurred. Somewhere in those pages, they hoped to find records of where the blood was coming from. Or another warehouse. Whatever it took to find the source. 

But Sam had forgotten how good evil organizations were at hiding paper trails. It was like his brain turned into a pretzel staring at all the data. Somewhere the answer was there, but Sam's eyes wouldn't cooperate. 

"You look horrible," Sharon commented as she dropped into the seat next to Sam and thrust a steaming cup of hopefully something caffeinated in his face. 

"Wow, thanks." Sam deadpanned, snatching up the cup.

 "I think I'm going blind." John moaned from the table over.

 "Wowsy, that's such a shame," Sharon said mockingly. 

John glared, "You are truly awful." 

Sam snorted as Bucky's voice echoed in agreement in his head. 'She's kinda awful now.' 

"Have we discerned why they were taking the blood anyway?" Sam asked, sipping the coffee Sharon had brought and choking. It was grotesque; Sam knew his sister made better coffee than this. Wherever Sharon had gotten this abomination, it hadn't been from the kitchen they were holed up next to in the back room.  

"Sort of." Shuri leaned back precariously in her chair, looking up from her own spreadsheets. "By what I can tell, they were trying to extract the serum from his blood which wasn't working. The serum's garbage. They were also trying to infuse it into people with the same blood type, but so far, the data says that the new host bodies just flushed it out." 

"So they're trying to create supersoldiers?" John frowned, "Okay dark thought time. Why didn't they go after me? I have a better serum than he does."

 Sam had to agree to that point as he sipped the coffee again absent-mindedly and almost spat it out. Oh, it was horrible. 

"From their notes, they weren't just after the super part; they also measured obedience levels." Nakia commented from her corner of the small room, "They were looking for the subjects to follow their directions perfectly. None of them passed."

 Why would they measure for that? It's not like- oh. Oh. "Oh, my word, they're idiots." Sam blurted out what the scientists were trying to do.

 "Care to share with the class?" Sharon asked. 

"They think his serum holds the key to his mindless killer phase. That's why they didn't go for your serum," Sam nodded to John, "They're being stupid cause they don't know."

 "But the machine wiped his mind." Shuri pointed out. 

"Yeah, but that never got released to the public or the private even. You had to know people who knew people to know that. All they know was that this one guy was mindless and super." Sam shook his head, "the serum changed Steve radically; why not Bucky too?" 

"So they think that the serum is what makes him mindless?" Shuri repeated carefully, "Cause that would explain some of this weird testing. They were trying to stimulate the cells, but it never worked."

 "That makes sense; Bucky changed when he got free. They must have thought something in his blood had faded and were trying to turn it back on." Sharon reasoned.

 "So they're not out for just an army of super-soldiers," Nakia said slowly. 

"They're out for an army of mindless, innocent super soldiers." John finished softly. 

"Bast," Ayo said softly into the silence that descended. 

"I'm not sure I should be glad for their idiocy or concerned for their plans," John said, sounding genuinely conflicted.

 "I'm gonna call this in, see if Rhodey can't see if there are any similar cases like this." Sam decided, "Why don't we take a ten-minute break?" 

They all agreed and broke up as Sam stepped carefully into the busy kitchen. Sarah spared him a glance and a smile before going back to running the kitchen to utmost precision. Sam exited the kitchen through the front out into the dining area and spotted Okoye and Torres huddled in the corner, looking over technique videos and munching on homemade chips. 

Never in a million years would Sam have guessed that Okeye and Torres would end up friends. It was kinda scary. 

Sam stepped outside under the shade of the trees next to the outdoor seating and called up Rhodey. "Avenger's liaison Col. Rhodes speaking."

 "Wow, I am both amused and concerned. Don't you have caller ID?" Sam quipped. 

"Sam? Man sorry. It's crazy over here. I gotta Rouge CIA asset that just fell off the grid, half of mandipoor is burning, and somehow that's our fault, and I got a leak the size of the Grand Canyon. But anyway, what can I do you for?" Rhodey asked, professional voice fading away into a tired one. 

"Wow, that sounds like a loaded plate. I was just calling to see if you had any other cases that matched the MO of the one me and John just busted up. We found something interesting, and I just wanna run this down." Sam asked, sitting at one of the picnic tables. 

"Yeah, sure, give me a sec. How is that investigation going?" Rhodey asked, keys clacking faintly.

 "Pretty good. It's looking more and more like its original self the longer we look. I had Shuri take a look at some of the medical logs, and she's got some concerns." Sam said. 

"Yeah, I'd imagine. Okay. I'm sending you a list of cases that vaguely fit the description. Hopefully, that helps." Rhodey said. 

Sam's phone vibrated, "Got it. Say, thanks for pointing Sharon our way. She's been really helpful. Sure it wasn't great pulling her out of mandipoor with everything going on." Sam said.

 There was a long silence. 

"Run that by me again?" Rhodey said, voice no longer tired or playful. 

"Thanks for sending Sharon our way?" Sam repeated hesitantly, "What's up?" 

"Sam," Rhodey's voice was serious, "Sharon went rouge a week ago. She has suspected ties to terrorism, black market dealing, and treason. She's the reason Mandipoor is burning. Are you saying she's with you right now?" 

"What?" Sam reeled, "Yeah, she showed up three days ago in Vietnam, said you sent her. 

"Where are you right now?" Rhodey asked urgently.

 "My sister's restaurant. Odin's beard, are you saying that she's flipped?" Sam asked, feeling like the floor had just been ripped out from under him. He'd fought tooth and nail to get her pardoned, to bring her home, and this was what he got in return. 

"Sam, we think she's the Power Broker," Rhodey said bluntly. 

Thor's hammer, he was gonna be sick. "Oh, Frigga," Sam murmured. 

"Sam, you there, man? I have a SWAT team and FBI inbound. I need you to not do anything, okay?" Rhodey's voice seemed far away as Sam's mind kicked into overdrive.

 If Rhodey hadn't sent Sharon to them, she had found them on her own, which begged the question of why she was there and how she had known they were looking into Hydra remains. She'd also pitched the theory of the fake drowning, which was oddly specific. That was very concerning with this new information coming to light.

 She'd known what had happened. Sam couldn't imagine her guessing all she had without knowing something prior. She knew, and she was keeping it from them.

 Anger lit itself in Sam's chest, and he was already moving to his feet, "Rhodey, I'm gonna call you back."

 "Sam-!" 

Sam hung up. He had answers to find.

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