A campaign is made up of many discrete parts – You have volunteers and staffers and policy wonks and party officials orbiting a single person. At the moment, I was slugging it out to the end of the Democratic primary on a talkshow with Alice Howard. It had been a minute since I had been forced onto the talk show circuit. If I'm being honest, talk shows are probably as fun as it gets for me, since I don't love either inventing or politicking. But I still hated Howard's show, had since the 2014 election.
"This is hardly the first time that a SHIELD experiment has gotten into the wrong hands but the best defense is an enthusiastic embrace of the technology, not a huddled crouch. I wish I could take the Extremis, I have an extreme intolerance so" I waved my arm in a sling to finished the sentence.
"So, this isn't a pity play?"
"I don't want anyone's pity," Gosh I hated Howard. "You should choose between Maurice and I based on who you think is ready to be President." Maurice and I were still in the race, but Maurice could take an Extremis dose to fix his leg and I could not.
Howard was sitting at her desk, a snake smile on her face. She'd gotten older and you could see the lines, even as she dyed her hair and got botox. "Are you concerned with growing authoritarianism around the world?"
"I think everyone is a little concerned," I said, trying to keep my tone either from giving any kind of aid to my opponents in the Cry for Liberty. If I won this primary, it wouldn't for Cry of Liberty – Ellis' anointed successor, Gloria Pomares, was also of the opinion that we shouldn't provoke the rising authoritarian nations and so Cry for Liberty wouldn't have enough elected power to alter the course of U.S. foreign policy. "It is obviously something that matters. But I'm not going to throw away the new global peace for it."
---
Steve was waiting at the diner, drumming his hands on the table. Ward had promised to meet him here. He'd been scrounging for any hint of Bucky internationally or nationally – Apparently, he had become yet another rogue SHIELD asset. Sometimes Steve was glad that Peggy had been losing her memory retention before the organization she had worked so hard for.
He was on his second cup of coffee when Ward finally arrived, looking kind of… well, he looked bad. Steve got up and gave him a hug in greeting, "What's the matter?'
Ward hugged back and didn't say anything as they sat down. He looked across the table and Steve felt sure he was going to say something, but then he ran his hand over his face and sighed. "Work stuff, classified. Sorry."
"I understand," Steve said, looking over the table at him. "Did you manage to get anything?"
Ward nodded his head and slid him a thumb drive, "It's just a chart of identifiable appearances," he said.
"Thanks," Steve said.
Ward glanced around and then back at Steve, "Steve, have you considered not going out on this hunt?"
Steve looked back at Ward, "Not you too," he said. Daisy had agreed to help, but she'd been grumpy about it. So had Nat. It made sense, of course it made sense, but Bucky was Steve's best friend. He'd had his back through hails of bullets and the halls of high school, he was a good man. Steve had to find him, had to find him before the entire security apparatus of the United States.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"I'm not-" Ward paused and his mind seemed to turn, his face contorted in thought.
"What? What do you want to say?"
"Nothing," Ward said. "I hope you find him first Steve."
They had a meal that was otherwise quite normal.
----
"The Winter Soldier was a risk," Stern said, taking a drink of win as we sat around the Head Table for the last time before the election.
I looked over at the people I had put here – Konstantin, Salcedo, Durrani, Garrett– and sighed. I had been trying to fill this stupid group with supporters who were loyal enough and trusted me enough to let me set the agenda but completely revamping the structure of Hydra was a task I just hadn't had time to complete. "Of course it's a risk, we're aiming for world domination."
"Such a large risk to counteract some guy whose glory days were nearly a century ago?" Malick asked, shaking his head.
"One spark can become a flame, Malick. If they mobilize against us, we cannot hope to win. Steve Rogers is the most respected man in America, he fought the Nazis and Thanos and didn't dirty his hands anywhere in between here and there. He's a hero – When he speaks, people listen.Kill him, he's a martyr. Distracting him is what's best."
"Ward's got him chasing his tail now," Garrett said, proud of his protege. "I wouldn't worry."
I wasn't worried – We could bring Bucky back for reprograming instantly from anywhere in the world, Steve was really chasing his own tail on this one. The only thing worse for Steve would be for him to find him – It would be inconvenient for me, of course, but he'd feel compelled to protect Bucky even though he was guilty of – and I had the full CV – a century of black ops crimes. That alone would be a huge gift to me in pillorying him.
---
The convention was uproarious. There were protestors outside – There were always protestors outside these days. Cry for Liberty had been shut out on the international policy question this election – Not totally, they had a few senators from each side of the aisle who would say loudly that the United States needed a more aggressive foreign policy against rising authoritarianism, but most members of both party weren't going to argue with their standard bearer, even if they didn't like it.
I pressed down on my suit and looked over at Andromeda, "Kiss for good luck?"
Andromeda kissed me and I walked out into the bright lights, the giant screens of the stage shining down on me.
"Good evening," I said, waving to the crowd. "Today it is the great pleasure and burden of my life to accept the Democratic nomination to the Presidency of the United States..."