Lieutenant - Daughter of the Captain

Chapter 44.0 - Accords

Carter knocked on the open door, announcing her entrance. Wanda and Pietro sat on her bed, watching the news reports as they captured the aftermath of the incident in Sokovia.

Pietro turned around first, getting up and approaching her.

"Good luck," He grumbled, and then took off, speeding toward his own room.

"What's his deal?" Carter joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Wanda sighed, "He's upset that he wasn't there. He thinks he could have prevented it. He blames himself," She responded.

The girl walked in and sat next to her, shrugging.

"Sounds like someone else I know," She said simply.

Wanda gave her a look in response.

Carter smiled, elbowing her, "Come on, you know you can't hide your feelings from me. Even the completely incorrect ones," She began, before softening her voice. "What happened out there wasn't your fault, and the whole team knows it. I'm not saying it was his, either, but even if he hadn't sped off the roof and crippled himself and was on mission that day...it's nearly impossible to eliminate civilian casualties," She explained, trying to ease the woman's mind.

"Carter, this isn't just a few casualties. This was a building full of people, and I threw a bomb at them," Wanda argued.

The girl rolled her eyes, shutting off the tv, "No, Rumlow threw a bomb at them. If anything, this is on him,"

"Turn the TV back on, they're being very specific," She responded, before looking towards the door.

Carter turned to see Steve there, leaning against it.

"I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it," He started, and Carter softened slightly.

He'd told her why he'd been distracted. She knew he blamed himself too.

"Rumlow said Bucky, and well, all of a sudden I was a sixteen-year-old kid again, in Brooklyn...And people died..." He sat on the bed, grabbing Carter's hand and playing with the charm bracelet Tony had gotten her for her thirteenth birthday, almost an entire year ago.

She'd be fourteen soon.

"That's on me," Steve added, but Wanda shook her head.

"That's on both of us," She argued.

"This job..." He continued, "Try to save as many people as we can, and sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. And we need to find a way to live with that. Next time..." He pauses, considering, "...maybe nobody gets saved."

There was a brief silence in which Carter jumped out of her skin as Vision fazed through the wall.

"Vis," Wanda scolded, "We talked about this,"

"Yes but, uh, the door was open so I assumed that-," Vision hesitated, gesturing to the door, before stopping himself, "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. stark was arriving,"

Steve nodded, "Thank you, I'll be right down,"

"I'll...use the door." He began to exit the room, before adding, "Oh, and apparently he's brought a guest,"

"You know who it is?" Steve asked.

"The secretary of state."

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"Ah- no can do kiddo, you're not needed in this meeting, I'll page you when we're done," Tony said, stopping Carter from following Wanda and Steve into the conference room.

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, you guys let me in all your meetings-" She stopped spotting Secretary Ross coming up behind him. "Ah, I see...nice to formally meet you, Mr. Secretary," She reaches out a hand.