A Second Chance

Chapter 10 - The Only Option

"Hill, seriously? Does this feel like the right time?" Nick Fury, Agent Hill's boss, questioned his subordinate as he furrowed his brow, his unpatched eye looking at Roxanne skeptically.

"Fury, I know what you're going to say," the agent began explaining, showing one of her palms for transparency. "But I have decided to trust my instincts on this one. She can help us."

"Can she?" Black Widow asked, arching an eyebrow at the newcomer.

As she glanced at the faces that surrounded her, Ro gulped as she found everyone's expressions to be raging from incredulous to unimpressed. That is, everyone's except Captain America's. Her gaze landed on him once again to find him eyeing her with mere curiosity. This, far from making her feel less uncomfortable, only increased her anxiety, for she was having a hard time reading his more neutral expression.

"Woah, I'm sorry, someone must've forgotten to fill me in," the younger Black man exclaimed sarcastically as he gestured towards Roxanne. "Who is this?"

Hill took a step back and put a hand on Ro's shoulder as she addressed the rest of the group. "This is Roxanne Brooks, codename: Seda. A semi-recently discovered superpowered individual whom I think will be of great assistance to our mission."

Ro grinned nervously at the others. The agent now addressed her. "Brooks, meet Samuel Wilson, AKA The Falcon, army veteran and one of our few current allies. You're familiar with my immediate superior and SHIELD director Nick Fury, I believe. As for the other two, well, they need no introduction."

"Seda, you say?" Steve Rogers, Captain America, finally spoke, still eyeing the young hero curiously. "Are you that spider girl from New York?"

"Yes. Wow," Ro chuckled awkwardly, her face turning even redder than it already was. "Captain America knows who I am. I, I wasn't expecting that."

"Are we sure this is her? I thought Seda was Latina," the red-haired Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, questioned.

"I am, yes. S-Seda, I mean," Ro clarified. "I'm not Latina, obviously. But my adoptive family is. I-I sorta picked the name as a kind of homage to them." She outstretched her palms as her babbling became increasingly more nervous. "With all due respect, Ms. Black Widow, ma'am! I-I'm sorry if my answer sounded rude. I didn't mean for it to. Last thing I'd wanna do is disrespect any of you in any sort of..."

"Brooks. Focus," Maria Hill called her attention.

The girl stopped talking and looked from her recruiter's stoic face to the others, whose expressions had remained nearly unchanged from the moment they saw her. She put her hands behind her back and sheepishly looked to the floor. "I'll shut up now."

Hill continued. "Brooks here is another one of HYDRA's targets and enemies." She regarded Captain America. "A few days ago, they sent your good friend Barnes after her before they switched their sights to Fury."

Ro couldn't help but take notice of the way the agent referred to her assailant. His good friend?

"What would HYDRA want with her?" Romanoff wondered.

"Project Arachne."

There was silence for a moment. Nick Fury crossed his arms, as the other three exchanged unknowing looks with one another.

"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Sam Wilson, or Falcon, as Hill had noted, finally asked.

Ro and Maria shared a look. "Show 'em," the latter said, tilting her head lightly.

The younger woman nodded, then exhaled sharply as she took a few steps back and examined the dimly lit room. She looked up and mentally tried to measure the distance she would have to jump. Ro promptly took a more appropriate stance and, accompanied by a THWIP sound, threw a string of web from her left wrist to one of the rooms upper corners, and used the web to swing to the spot, sticking herself upside-down on the ceiling.