Frost

Chapter 50

Escape plan

"That was reckless. What were you thinking?" asked Steve, scowling alternately at Ivy and Clint. He had arrived at her location only a few minutes after Ivy's call and had taken her to headquarters. The silence in the car was unbearable and got worse when they entered the small meeting room with Natasha and Clint. Ivy sat in one of the chairs and propped her elbows on the table as she kept burying her head in her hands.

Natasha sat across from her with a somewhat neutral expression on her face. Clint had been leaning against a wall, coffee in hand, while Steve stood in front of the table. Ivy felt like a little kid who had done something wrong and was getting scowled by her parents.

"It wasn't Clint's fault, he couldn't have known something like that would happen" Ivy muttered, staring at the small dart lying on the table. "You don't have to defend me, Kid. I shouldn't have left you alone. Cap's right about that" Clint muttered back and Ivy turned her head to face him. She couldn't read his face either.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have done that" Steve agreed with him. Ivy didn't like his tone. She turned to him and glared at him. "Nothing happened. Jack helped me get rid of the sniper" Ivy said calmly. Steve looked like he wanted to say something against it, but Natasha beat him to it. "We'll check him out. Do you know his last name?"

"What do you mean check him out?" asked Ivy, looking at Natasha. "He's been helping me. You sound like he did something wrong" said Ivy, not understanding why Natasha was so suspicious. "In this world, you rarely find honesty and people with good intentions. Most of the time people do things for a selfish reason. You learn that with time" Natasha calmly replied and leaned back into her chair.

"But he helped me without asking anything in return" Ivy continued to defend the man. She knew that Natasha didn't trust people easily, especially because of her childhood, but Ivy could swear with her life that Natasha was wrong. "He pulled me into a bar in time and hid me from the sniper who had been following me" Ivy added.

Natasha glanced at Clint and then slid the tablet in front of her over to Ivy. "He wasn't hiding you from the Sniper. It was Clint who was looking for you" Natasha said and Ivy stared at the surveillance video that showed how a few seconds after Jack pulled her into the bar, Clint ran past the same bar. "He couldn't have known Clint meant no harm. He thought he was the man who had been following me and reacted quickly" said Ivy, continuing to maintain her position. "Why do you find it so hard to believe that someone would do something good without any ulterior motives?" asked Ivy, looking at the three agents.

"Like Natasha said; you learn that over time. All three of us have trusted people too easily at one time or believed in the good in them. And we've made mistakes that taught us to be more cautious rather than trusting everything and everyone" Steve replied and Ivy sank into her chair.

"Did you tell Fury about this?" Ivy asked quietly, staring at the dart in front of her. She heard Natasha sigh and looked up at her. "Not yet," Natasha said, straightening up in her chair. "But we have to. It's a serious matter. Someone tried to kill you in public."

"And what are you going to do? Lock me in here forever and let me go crazy in these hallways?" asked Ivy, standing up in frustration. "Because I'm not going to let you do that. I'd rather be out there looking over my shoulder every minute and living my life instead of being trapped here and not having a life at all" Ivy snapped, glaring at Steve. "We're doing this to protect you" he replied, looking into her eyes that sparkled with anger.

"From what? From that?" Ivy lifted the dart from the table and held it up in the air. "Ivy, put it back down, we still have to send it to the analysis" Natasha warned and Ivy shook her head. "All you've done since day one is lie to my face" Ivy hissed and the three Avengers froze. "You know who I was, you knew about my powers, but still each of you lied to my face. I may have lost my memory, but I'm not blind, nor am I stupid. You want me to trust you?" Ivy turned to Steve, who looked at her in shock. She had always been good at interpreting other people's feelings. Had she known all along that they weren't being honest with her? Why hadn't she said anything before?