State of Grace ; The Avengers

04; the helicarrier

The jet landed on the Helicarrier and soon the engine stopped roaring.

Karina headed towards the ramp that Agent Coulson and the one and only Captain America were descending, after her eyes caught the red bob that belonged to Natasha. She hadn't seen nor heard from the Russian for a while: due to the fact that she had spent months monitoring the Tesseract, all the contacts with the outside had been strictly forbidden to keep the project a secret. Barton was good company, but only when he decided to actually step foot on the ground, which didn't happen as often as the Czechoslovakian had hoped.

"They need you on the bridge. Face time." Natasha was talking to Coulson when Karina finally approached the small group. With a nod, he turned around and started walking away, but not before sending her a tight lipped smile. "Agent Niklova."

Karina responded with a small bow of her head, dark hair flying around with both the move and the wind, the corners of her mouth barely curving upwards, then brought her attention back to Natasha and the Captain.

"It's been awhile, Niklova." The redhead sent one of her enigmatic smiles to the other agent and laid a hand on Karina's shoulder, squeezing it lightly in a greeting way. This time, the brunette's mouth did curve in a more genuine smile, but soon returned to her neutral expression when she directed her attention to Steve Rogers.

"Captain, I'm Agent Niklova." She extended her hand and the man shook it firmly, nodding his head only once.

"It's a pleasure, ma'am."

Karina ignored the formal greeting and crossed her arms as they resumed walking, her bright eyes scanning the deck for a few moments where the other agents were starting to set everything up for the Helicarrier ascent, before going back to Natasha and Rogers.

"I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Romanoff asked, a smug expression on her face as she and Karina exchanged glances. The latter shook her head slightly, the child-like smile of her best friend flashing in her mind.

"He probably needs to consult Lara first." She muttered, throwing an exasperated look towards the hangar of the Helicarrier where her friend was surely making a mess of some sorts. Lara just couldn't stay still for more than a few seconds and of course that could only lead to bad things.

Natasha laughed a little at the comment, receiving an odd look from Rogers.

"Trading cards?" He asked, both amused and a little baffled at the idea.

"They're vintage."

"And both Coulson and Lara are very proud." Karina added to the other agent's statement.

Steve Rogers seemed uncomfortable and didn't answer, as his eyes darted around the deck, before stopping on a person in particular, who seemed a little disoriented while he turned around on his heels in the attempt to avoid people coming his way.
"Dr. Banner!" The Captain called, leaving quickly the two assassins behind to meet up with the doctor.

"I think we scared him." Natasha whispered in her ear, making the other woman snort in amusement, then pressed her fingers on the earbud.

"Time to go?" Karina asked, even if she already knew the answer. The brunette tipped her chin towards the two men's direction and the agents approached them quietly, not wanting to intrude.

"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath." Romanoff informed, just in time. The engines of the Helicarrier started to roar and both Rogers and Banner exchanged confused looks as they started to walk towards the edge of the deck.