Bad For You

2

When they pulled into the underground parking garage at the compound Nat and Clint were there waiting for them. Before Lanie could even open the back door Bucky was out of the van and across the lot, lifting Nat into his arms.

"Gods, they are so pretty its almost criminal they ended up together." Lanie said to Sam as she hoisted her backpack up onto a shoulder and closed the door behind him. "But when I see how stupid in love they are, I can kind of forgive the universe."

"They are weirdly adorable together." Sam said with a laugh as he waved at Clint and started heading into the building. "You coming up?"

She shook her head and pulled her keys out, heading toward her beat up compact. "Nah, I've got somewhere to be."

She took another step but a hand curled around her upper arm, halting her.

"Not so fast," Steve gripped her arm so tightly she thought it might bruise. "Tony's upstairs. We need to have a talk."

"I'm off the clock now, Rogers." She pulled her arm from his hand and rubbed away the soreness.

"Clock back in." He turned on his heel and headed to the door.

Lanie walked into the room where Tony was waiting and made a face pointing to Steve's back trying to convey her 'what the fuck' attitude without words. Tony just shrugged and tossed a pack of candy the table and she eagerly snatched it up and torn into it, mirroring his motion and shoving handfuls into her mouth.

"Really, Tony?" Steve crossed his arms.

"It's chocolate, Cap, not a shower of praise."

Lanie plopped into a chair ready to receive her reprimand.

"She went into a dangerous situation without training. She put the mission, herself and Sam at risk. She defied an order to stay out of it."

"Says the man who went on a solo mission to save his bestie without permission." Both men's heads snapped to her as she dumped another handful of candy into her mouth and spoke around it. "What, you want to deny it? Because I'm sure I can bring up the Smithsonian presentation that actually does praise you for defying orders. And I went into that confident in my ability to get shit done. I wouldn't have left the van if I thought I could have fucked shit up."

"This is different."

"Why? Because I'm not a man? Because my reasoning wasn't the sanctity of friendship?"

"Because you didn't know what you were doing," Steve threw his arms open in frustration. "Because you could have gotten people hurt."

"Cap," Tony started but Lanie cut him off.

"You had one whole fucking week of basic prior to being a stage personality for six months when you pulled your stunt. And you guys can get hurt on every mission whether I insert myself or not." She stood harshly, her chair shooting back and toppling behind her. "I'm not going to stand here and be lectured by a hypocrite when what I did worked exactly like I planned so I could be home on time for other engagements, which you've now made me late for." She turned to Tony. "Do you have anything to say?"

Tony sighed and rubbed at his temples. "Get trained or don't do it again."

"Fine," she snatched her pack off the ground and stormed out.

A few minutes after Lanie had left Steve turned to Tony. "That's all you had to say?"

Tony sat back in his chair, emptying the last of his own candy into his hand. "Did I ever tell you how I found Lane, what she was doing before I brought her on?" Steve shook his head. "She's a chameleon, Cap. A thief with two dozen identities and the tech ability to make them all look legit under even the toughest scrutiny; I'm not even sure Lane King is her real name. The only reason I even knew she existed is she tried to hack Friday, for shits and giggles I might add, and nearly succeeded but after the whole Ultron debacle I had a few extra trigger alarms built in." He pushed up from his chair and headed to the door. "She might not be trained but that doesn't mean she's inexperienced. And frankly if I were in her shoes, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. It worked out, pal, mission successful. No one got hurt. Take the win and let this one go."

Tony took two steps into the hall before Steve called out. "If she's a thief what the hell is she doing working for us?"

Tony let out a small laugh. "I want to retire one day. Between Harley and Peter my physical exit is covered but mentally..." He ran a hand over his goatee in contemplation. "They're smart but they're good kids and they think like good guys. So, I made her an offer, a bet really. That if she was as good as she thought she was she could prove it by using her skills to best the competition. Just from the right side of the law, mostly, moving forward."

"And she just accepted? Changed her ways and went straight?"

Tony started down the hall and out of sight but called out, "What can I say, Cap, she can't back down from a challenge."