home ; 𝐬. 𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 , 𝟏

24 | the show must go on

2 4

the show must go on

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Why is she still here?"

Cara gulped. It was the day after she was supposed to have left, and she thought she'd be more stubborn when this confrontation came, but she was wrong.

When Nicholas Fury stepped into the common area of the Avengers Tower, it was as if the relaxed atmosphere had been sucked away by a vacuum. His face was expressionless and impartial until he'd seen Cara sitting on the couch. Then his eye darkened, and he took a threatening step closer.

"I said, why is she still here?" His booming voice was loud enough to grab the attention of everyone seated in the room. Which was everybody.

Cara just rolled her eyes at the big deal he was making, while Steve stood up.

"Because she knows everything," he said, "and she's not useless anymore."

"Thanks, sweetums," she muttered. "Because I was useless before."

"You do realize that I am the one that brought you all together to fight the forces that go against us? If it weren't for me, you'd all be alone, wondering what the hell to do with your lives!" Fury's voice was dangerously low as he spat the words.

"You don't own us," Nat put in, and stood up to face him, arms crossed defiantly. "Besides, we do all your dirty work for you."

He shifted his weight and sighed. "Agent Romanoff--"

"No, you just listen for a second." She stepped closer to the director, glancing at Cara with an unreadable look on her face before moving her gaze back to Fury. "This kid--uh, Cara, tried to jump me, yes. She also brought her annoying sarcasm into the tower, yes, which I can only handle a certain amount of. And yes, I kind of agreed when you ordered her gone, but that is not fair anymore, not now, not when she's made relationships with us that have changed our lives. For better or worse, I'm not saying," she shot Cara with a pointed look as she said it, knowing that she'd take it as an invitation to be friends.

"And we all know you hate not having control. Not everything we do is going to be under your watchful eye, Fury. It's about time you let us live our own lives."

"I never--"

"Do you really want to go the denial route?" Cara sneered at him, "because if you do, shit's about to hit the fan."

He faltered.

"Anyway," Nat interrupted, "since I'm the only one that'll deal with this as calmly as possible, I'm just going to say this: Rogers wasn't completely wrong. Cara may have been a waste of space when she first got here--"

"Thanks," Cara huffed.

"--but that doesn't dismiss the fact that she's helped us loosen up around here. She's literally been here for a week, and she's already managed to go on a Shawarma raid with Stark, train with Clint, and...almost get into Rogers' pants." Her smug grin was the widest Cara had ever seen, and she scowled.