Tell Me When You Know

Newton's Third Law

Present Day

"Do I know you, Miss Adina? Because you obviously know me, and I am not sure if I am supposed to know you." Sam's voice cut through the building tension in the room like a hot knife to butter, effectively bringing Steve out of his musings.

Adina flashed a grin. "No, I do not expect people to just up and know everything about me. That would be irritating and public life is not up to my taste."

Sam gave a slow nod, lips pursing into a straight line. "And do you make a habit out of breaking into people's homes, Miss Adina?"

"Is it really breaking in," Adina's lips stretched further into a toothy smile that Steve wasn't sure if he liked, her brown eyes glinting with an emotion he didn't recognise and trained on Natasha, "if you leave the house key beneath a potted plant outside your door for any amateur to find?"

Natasha tamped down the urge to smile.

"In my defence, you weren't supposed to use it even if you found it," Sam said hotly. "Now, I repeat, who are you and what do you want?"

"And in my defence, I was bored and hungry. Also, without coffee, I tend to get cranky which doesn't bode well for the people in my company." As if to goad them further, the woman took a long sip of the coffee she had — quite rudely, in Steve's opinion — made herself. "By the way, I took the liberty to order some fresh coffee beans for you. That way, you can offer your guests actual coffee instead of whatever," she spared a glance in the general direction of Sam's kitchen cabinets, her otherwise beautiful features twisted into a deeply disgusted grimace, "monstrosity that you like to drink."

Sam, to his credit, didn't rise to the challenge, merely crossed his arms in a signature defiant gesture and attempted to stare the woman down. Obviously, the attempt wasn't as successful as he wanted it to be considering she simply took another long gulp of her beverage, all the while maintaining steady eye contact with him. The intensity in her eyes nearly made all of them fidget.

It was a long minute of silence before Adina sighed and leaned against the kitchen top. "I'm Adina Roy, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, also known as CIA. And I'm here to talk."

"You're the Director of the CIA?" The question tumbled out of Steve before he realised it.

"That's what I just said," she replied in an utterly dry voice.

"What is the Director of CIA doing in my house? And why would you break in?" Sam's bewilderment was generously echoed by his voice.

Adina, contrary to the other three in the room, was the epitome of calm and insouciance. "I am here to talk about the latest SHIELD atrocity. And I think you guys would want to sit down for this conversation."

"What about SHIELD?"

Adina nodded to the two short stacks of files on the small table, situated before the couch. "The first two are summons to a congressional hearing for one Steve Rogers and one Natasha Romanoff—"

"Congressional hearing?!" Steve hauled up to his feet, body coiled in a defensive stance as he frowned at the woman. "Why would we need to go to a congressional hearing? We took down HYDRA! I don't think that earns us a court hearing!"

Adina took another leisurely sip of her coffee, and at this point, Natasha knew she was doing it only to prove that she could; that they didn't matter to her; that she wasn't intimidated by them. It was a power play. "You took down SHIELD along with HYDRA. SHIELD was a legitimate government organisation that regularly dealt with classified intelligence and national security. I'd say that deserves an investigation and a hearing."