Begin Again | Sam Wilson

Chapter Three

"Barton!" Fury's voice boomed from the second floor. "My office."

Every agent in the building went silent and turned to where Brianna sat at her desk. Why Fury had to yell at her instead of sending an e-mail or even calling her, she didn't know. It was slightly humiliating and it reminded her of being called to the principal's office. She closed out of the window of her computer and stood from her seat so she could walk to Fury's office.

"Was the yelling necessary?" Brianna asked as she walked inside.

"I need you to do a press conference." He told her, ignoring her question.

She sat down across from him. "You're going to have to be a little more specific than that."

"It's about Wanda Maximoff." He said.

Brianna tensed. She knew exactly what he was referring too. A week ago, Wanda kidnapped a town in New Jersey after retrieving Vision's body from a SWORD facility. For obvious reasons it drew quite a bit of attention. After finally coming to her senses, Wanda released everyone and fled. That was the extent she knew about the case.

"I thought that was in SWORD's jurisdiction? And didn't the FBI take over after they arrested Director Hayward?" Brianna asked.

"Correct, but people are still asking questions, naturally. We've taken over the investigation." He said.

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "I don't know if I'm the person for this particular job. I may be biased. Wanda is my friend and teammate."

"You agree with her taking a whole town hostage and controlling them?"

"I didn't say that, Director Fury. She was mourning and when people are overcome with grief it can make them make bad decisions. We shouldn't have tinkered with Vision. We should have just let him..." she didn't finish her sentence.

"It was your friends, Dr. Banner and Stark that made that decision, not us." Fury pointed out. "The briefing is in a few hours. Be ready."

Brianna stood up. "Do we know where Wanda is? They're going to ask."

"We do. That's all they need to know."

Brianna wanted to continue to argue about why she shouldn't speak to the press about Wanda, but Fury wouldn't care. There were times in her job where she was going to have to speak about things she didn't agree with. She would just have to put her best brave face on and suck it up. For an hour she wrote down a few notes and main points to go over, so she wouldn't lose her train of thought.

Fifteen minutes before the conference, she walked to her locker and pulled a blazer on over her button up and pulled her hair down from the updo she had. That was about as presentable as she was going to be. She wasn't nervous. She was just worried that she was going to disappoint Fury or say the wrong thing. She stood outside the SHIELD building in front of a podium where at least thirty different news reporters had gathered.

She glanced up at the group as she gripped the edges of the podium tightly. This would be her first live conference. She wished it covered an easier topic though.

"Good Afternoon everyone. My name is Agent Barton with SHIELD. Approximately a two weeks ago our sister organization, SWORD, began an investigation into the city of Westview, New Jersey. When they arrived to the city they found it encompassed in a dome made from energy. Upon further investigations they found that the source of the energy was coming from Wanda Maximoff."

"Through significant negotiations with Miss Maximoff, they were able to bring the dome down and the city of Westville returned. They were no injuries to its occupants. The Director of SWORD, Tyler Hayward was arrested for conspiracy to murder Miss Maximoff. I can take questions now if there are any?"

"Agent Barton, does anyone know where Wanda Maximoff is? I mean, how do you allow someone who kidnapped a town to just walk away without any repercussions." A female reporter asked.

"We do know where Miss Maximoff is located. She is safe. As for legal ramifications, that is up my boss, Director Fury. Although, I wouldn't expect any given the fact of what Wanda has done for this world." She said.

"Does the public need to fear Maximoff?" Another reporter asked.

Brianna shook her head. "Not at all. She is not the villain. Like many of us, she's been through a lot and is trying to piece her life together."

"Do you think there will be a need to reinforce the Accords now?"

"The Accords didn't work the first time. I can guarantee if the Accords hadn't been implemented that the Avengers would taken Thanos down the first time they encountered him." She said.

"Can you tell us where Captain Rogers is? Due to the nature of your relationship with him, you must know where he is?"

Brianna stiffened. "Captain Rogers has nothing to do with what I'm speaking about. That will be all. Thank you."

She could hear more questions being yelled at her as she walked away. She didn't care though. She knew in the morning some news website would spin her words around and make it seem like SHIELD didn't care. Or that they were purposely hiding Wanda. She had seen the articles and videos making Wanda out to be some dangerous person, but she wasn't. Yes, she was powerful, but she had also saved the world.

Brianna was thankful to return home after the long day she had. She had stopped at a take out place near her apartment and picked herself something up for dinner. She wasn't in the particular mood to cook anything. She set her food on the counter and walked to the small closet so she could change into something more comfortable. Once she did, she grabbed her food off the counter and sat down on her couch. Just as she was about to shove a fork full of food into her mouth, her phone rang. A low groan escaped her throat as she reached for it so she could answer.

"Brianna Barton." She said into the phone, not bothering to even look at the caller ID.

She heard Sam chuckle on the other line. "You sound ecstatic."

"I just got home from work and was about to eat when I was interrupted." She admitted.

"I apologize. I was just calling to compliment on your press conference today."

"You watched that?" She asked surprised.

"I did. I've never seen you look so rigid before. You looked absolutely miserable."

She sighed. "It was pretty awful."

"I thought you wanted that position?"

Brianna had no idea what she wanted. Well, she did. She wanted Vision, Natasha and Tony to be alive. She wanted Steve to walk through her door and tell her he was wrong and that he loved her more. She wanted everything to go back to normal when she first joined the Avengers.

"You good, Bri?" Sam asked after she was silent.

"Y-Yeah. Just...feeling lost."

"Want me to come over and we can talk about it?"

"Sam, you live like an hour and a half away. I'm fine. I promise."

"My offer still stands about helping me." He said.

She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Do I get paid?"

He chuckled. "A little. Probably not as much as SHIELD pays you. It isn't about the pay, you know?"

"I know. What would it all entail if I possibly said yes?" She asked.

"Well, you would have to meet the General of the Air Force since this is a special situation. We would report to him. Some of the missions we would go on, only we would know what they entail. He may ask you a few questions; are you willing to risk your life, can you keep a secret? They may test some of your abilities to make sure you're capable of fighting."

"I think we've established that I'm capable of fighting." She pointed out. "I will conduct one mission with you. Just one. And we'll see how it goes from there. Okay?"

"Okay." Sam said. "I knew you didn't want to retire."

"I never said retire. Just take a break. Send me the details."