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15 | listen up

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This time, even though Cara was bored out of her mind and wanted to go back out, she stayed in Steve's room where he'd left her for a second time.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.," she sighed. If she was going to be here alone, she'd at least talk to someone. "You there?"

"I am always here," he replied kindly. "But please, I think it best that you obey Mr. Rogers' wishes this time."

Cara rolled her eyes. "I will, you don't have to worry." She stared at her hands, unsure of where to look when talking to the program. "I just want to have someone to talk to. I mean, I'm sure it gets kind of lonely just...being, right?"

She was sure that if J.A.R.V.I.S. were human, he'd shake his head at her, a small smile on his face. "Not when the events in this tower are entertaining to be around," he answered.

Cara's eyes widened, a smirk glittering on her face. "Like what?" She asked, rubbing her hands together. Time to get some dirt on these people, she grinned to herself.

"I'm afraid I can't display those experiences, Miss Jan--Cara," he corrected himself smoothly, and she smiled at the thought of convincing him to call her by her first name. But then she frowned.

"You ran a test on me," she said.

"I did," he replied simply, waiting for her to continue.

"So I'm guessing you know. About my parents."

"I do."

"I didn't kill her," she said, and found herself talking faster by the second, "I didn't. Whatever that bastard told to the newspaper reporters is fake. There was something wrong with her when she went into the hospital, I didn't do anything to her, no matter what they say."

"Cara," J.A.R.V.I.S. calmly interrupted, "I may be a program, but I do have a rather high level of intellect, thanks to Mr. Stark. I know that what you say is the truth. There are many holes in the stories told by the newspaper and other online files." There was a pause. "You are lucky that you aren't in prison right now."

Cara breathed. "I know." It was nice to know that someone other than herself knew the truth, and believed it. She'd tried to tell people what happened for the longest time, before fleeing her home state and coming to New York, where she had been put into foster care. But whenever she brought up the subject, it never ended well for her, no matter what.

There was a knock at the door, and Cara snapped out of her thoughts, stood up, and opened it to reveal Steve, who wore a disappointed look on his face.

"What happened?" She asked carefully, no jokes coming to her mind to lighten the mood.

He shook his head, and her heart sunk. "He wants you gone, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Can't you--"

"Believe me, I've tried," he said, "we've all tried. Even Nat, for some reason. But Fury doesn't usually change his mind once it's made up."

"But--"

"No, Cara. I'm sorry, but you have to be gone by tomorrow morning."

Seriously? She thought to herself, shaking her head. They took me in, and now because of one guy's opinion, they're just gonna kick me out? She couldn't believe it.

Cara pushed past Steve, muttering, "Well, we'll see about that."

Steve said something to her, calling her back, but the blood was rushing too loudly in her ears for her to make out the words. She stomped her way into the living room, where Fury was about to leave.

"Just who do you think you are?" She said angrily. With her hands on her hips, she shot him the meanest glare she could muster.

"No one," he said simply. "As I understand it, these fools have told you almost everything about themselves. There's no point in me telling you my name, you'll probably figure it out sooner or later," he said coolly, turning around to face her, his long black trench coat swishing through the air.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, I may not like to admit it, but their decision to give me a place to live was the best thing to ever happen to me."

He nodded once. "Maybe. But as it was a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it." He shifted his weight, unfazed. "I want you gone before you learn anything else."

"And would it really be that bad?" Cara stood her ground, anger and frustration flaring, running hot through her veins. "If I already know this much, why not just tell me everything else and keep me around?"

"Because--"

"I mean, come on," she smirked. "I could be the female counterpart to J.A.R.V.I.S. Except, without the natural intelligence," she frowned slightly, but then looked up at Fury to see his reaction--or lack thereof.

His demeanor hadn't cracked at all.

So she just did what she did best--tried again for a joke. "Look, Jack Sparrow--or should there be a 'captain' in there?--I don't appreciate your coming in here and demanding that I leave. Despite what you may think, you don't own me. I'm free to do whatever I like. And if that means parading along the streets of New York spilling all of your secrets, then so be it." She paused, taking a breath. "But, seeing as I'm a good, decent person, I won't. But something else I won't do is leave. Because I have no where else to go."

"Well that's not my problem, is it?" Fury responded, and turned out to exit the living room.

But Cara wasn't going to let him have the last word. She sped up to him, whirled in front of him, and smacked him straight across the face.

"Listen up, buddy boy," she snarled, "I'm not leaving. And if you're not okay with that--well, I don't give a flying fuck what you think. So if you don't mind, I'm going to sit my ass down and stick around."

At first, he looked shocked and offended that she'd raised a hand against him, but then his eyes--excuse me, eye--darkened dangerously. He looked as if he were about to say something, though he turned on his heel and swiftly walked out.

Steve rushed in. "What happened?"

"This is the day you will always remember as the day Jack Sparrow almost got away." She rolled her eyes as Steve stared at her, confused.

"Oh, come on," she groaned, "you haven't seen it?" She clapped her hands. "Alright, movie night, here we come."