Sam and Clara both stared at him, waiting for him to continue. 'Who?' They both asked when it was clear he wasn't going to elaborate without them doing so.

'I'll let him introduce himself,' he told them. 'To Sam,' he added to Clara, 'not you - you're not coming.'

'But-'

'You said you weren't looking to stick with us,' Sam pointed out.

'Well, no, but I don't exactly have the resources I need to track them again,' Clara argued. 'If whoever you're going to talk to can point me in the right direction-'

'No,' Bucky shook his head. 'No, you're just a kid.'

'Oh, my God,' Clara groaned in frustration, tipping her head back. 'Would you stop saying that? I trained with S.H.I.E.L.D., I can turn invisible, they literally can't get to me.'

'If that were true, you'd still be on the way to Flag Smasher HQ,' Bucky pointed a finger at her. 'You aren't coming, end of.'

'Bucky,' Sam said once the other man had finished. 'Torres needs to know where we're headed.'

'Right,' he mumbled, getting out of his seat to start toward the cockpit.

Sam waited until Bucky was out of earshot to speak to Clara again. When he did, he lent forward, putting the girl under his scrutiny. 'Tell me what it is you want.'

Clara pulled her head back in a slight show of confusion. 'What I...? What I want is to find the Flag Smashers.'

'Why?' He asked. Sam noticed the hardening in Clara's expression, a darkening in her eyes. 'Why are you so desperate to find them?'

'I'm just doing my job.'

'I don't believe you,' Sam said honestly, narrowing his eyes.

Clara shrugged, breaking eye contact with the man. 'I'm not here to convince you, I'm here to complete the mission.'

'You're gonna have to convince me if you want to meet this contact.' Sam lent his back against the plane wall, folding his arms. 'So, convince me.'

Clara took a deep breath, exhaling slowly through her nose, frustration plucking away at her. 'These people... They're dangerous, Sam. Surely you've been told what they've done?'

'They're stealing supplies. Giving them to the people that the GRC aren't reaching,' Sam recounted.

'Yeah, they are,' Clara nodded, pursing her lips, feeling that anger stirring in her stomach. She clenched her fists, trying to keep her words calm and her emotions in check.

Why was everyone acting as though all they had done wrong was steal a few bandages from the big bad corporations? Clara didn't care about that, she cared about the parts the public weren't being told. Sam was working for the government to get to the Flag Smashers, so why wouldn't he be told about the reality of the danger he was facing?

'Whoa, you okay?' Sam asked her, shifting positions as her saw a faint purple glow spreading from her clenched fists. 'What's up, Kid?'

What's up? What's up is that terrorists were blowing buildings to pieces and nobody seemed to know a thing about it. Not even the Falcon, a man working for the same people covering up that whole mess. He's working for the government to track these people and still - he doesn't seem to know a thing. 'Wait,' Clara muttered, the idea of that not quite making sense to her. 'You haven't been in contact with the government, have you? You're doing this alone - off the books.'

'You're gonna have to fill me in on this thought process of yours.' He looked at her uncertainly, visibly relaxing when she unclenched her fist, and the colour dispersed.

'Holy shit,' Clara muttered, looking back to Sam. She rubbed a hand over her forehead. 'The Flag Smashers, they're blowing up buildings Sam. Those recent terrorist attacks are all connected to them.'

'Yeah, I saw the news stories. They're unrelated,' Sam told her, frowning slightly. It was true that there had been a trend in the Flag Smasher's activity and more terrorist attacks across Europe, but the press releases never connected the two.

'Those buildings - the ones that were destroyed - they were all used by the GRC for storage,' she explained. 'To start with, the Flag Smashers had been emptying out of all the resources inside before destroying the bases, but then, I don't know, they must've gotten desperate; they were trying to send a message and someone was keeping their name out of the press so, instead of handing out flyers, they thought they'd stick billboards in everyone's front yards.'

'What do you mean, "they got desperate?" ' Bucky appeared back at the far end of the jet and leant against a wall, listening in to their conversation.

'There was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent investigating their claims about the GRC, they were at one of the locations when it blew,' Clara scowled. 'They left all the supplies in there, too. They knew the agent was there, and they thought that would be as good a way as any to spread the word.'

'What happened to the agent?'

'She didn't make it out.'

'Well,' Bucky started, moving back to the seat beside Sam. 'Kinda makes sense now why they'd be desperate enough to send you.'

Sam kept his eyes on Clara, something still not feeling right, but whatever that was, wasn't clear to him. She showed no reaction to Bucky's comment, but likely because there was already the deep scowl plastered on her expression and she couldn't make it any deeper if she tried. 'Okay,' Sam decided. 'You can come with us, but once we get there, I'll decide if you're meeting him.'

Clara nodded, knowing that she would meet him, whether they knew that or not; it's not like they'd be able to see her following, anyway. If it was going to help her find the Flag Smashers, she wanted to know every piece of intel he offered. 'And we're still calling your S.O.,' Sam added.

'Yeah, sure,' Clara shrugged, and they soon they fell back into a silence, each of them waiting to arrive at their destination. As the minutes stretched on, each feeling as long as an hour, Clara grew restless. It wouldn't be so bad if she had her phone, she thought, sighing loudly as she moved to lay across the seats. 'So... where is it we're going?' She asked, her boredom evident in her tone.

'Baltimore,' Bucky told her.

'Maryland?' She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head to look his way. 'Who's in Baltimore?'

He didn't respond, instead tugging a phone from a pocket to scroll on whatever app he wanted to. Because he could. Because he had a phone. Clara looked at the phone longingly before switching her gaze to Sam. He was resting his head against the plane's wall, his eyes closed, but one peaking open when he sensed the girl's stare. 'What?' He asked.

'Nothing,' she said defensively, turning back to look up at the ceiling. Sam didn't press any further, which made Clara look back at him, wanting him to start a conversation so she didn't have to sit alone with her thoughts. He didn't start the conversation though, so they continued in silence for the next few hours, all of them waiting to land in Baltimore. 

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