Rise || Marvel

《8》Flirting or Fighting? Who Knows.

(Song: Revolution - The Score)

《 Tia's POV 》

The door slid open once again. Instinctively, I rose to my feet. Ross had returned, followed by Natasha, Steve, T'Challa and Sam. I saw Tony glance up from the phone call, expression hardening instantaneously.

"Try not to break anything while we fix this," Natasha said, not even bothering to look at any of the males directly. T'Challa ignored her. Steve and Sam exchanged knowing glances. I shoved my notebook (which I had been doodling in) into my jacket pocket and took a few steps towards the oncoming party.

Steve and Sam both shot me uneasy looks. Of course, they don't know who I am or why this random teenage girl is hanging around the Task Force headquarters. Haha! This probably looks super weird to them!

T'Challa, on the other hand, nodded to me, obviously recognizing me from the bombing in Vienna.

"Consequences? You BET there'll be consequences!" Tony announced loudly from the other side of the room. He strode towards us all, still apparently in the phone call. He scowled at Steve in particular, "...Obviously you can quote me on that, I just said it. Anything else?"

I caught a glimpse of Sam rolling his eyes, and nearly started laughing, but caught myself. Bad situation, Tia, bad situation. Don't laugh.

"Thank you, sir," Tony concluded. He lowered the phone and approached Steve and Sam. I fell into step beside Natasha, who was watching the scene play out with a slightly-worried expression.

"'Consequences'?" Steve inquired. He arched his eyebrow, as if daring Tony to speak.

"Ooh, this is not gonna go down well...!" I whispered to Natasha. She gave me a patronizing look, but didn't disagree.

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted," Tony explained in a lower tone, then began walking back towards Nat' and I, pausing to say, "Had to give him something."

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve called after his retreating figure. Tony averted his gaze, firmly turning his back on the two males. Natasha and I exchanged exasperated glances.

"Technically, it is the government's property..." Natasha shrugged, an almost teasing glint in her eyes.

Knowing the next line, I piped up, "Wings, too!"

I saw Sam mutter, "That's cold...", to Steve, both of them looking like they were about to throw temper tantrums. I waved goodbye (inwardly fangirlling that I actually got to speak to Captain America and Falcon) and hurried after Tony and Nat'.

"Warmer than jail!" Tony retorted over his shoulder. I could hardly suppress a snort. These dingleberries actually had the personalities of five-year-olds. With a lot of grumbling and cursing under (mainly Sam's) breath, the two males glumly trudged after us.

I, being the confused duckling I was, was completely lost again. By lost, I mean I was deep in thought, and only half paying attention to where I was going (luckily, Natasha was walking next to me, and prevented any unfortunate situations where I would walk face-first into someone).

What comes next... I know there's something else before Bucky gets brain-washed... Oh, right. The 'I wanna punch you in your perfect white teeth' bit...? I think.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Natasha asked quietly, quickly grabbing my arm and pushing me sideways into the room Tony had just entered.

"I just remembered something, that's all," I said quickly. I composed my face into a neutral expression and looked around. We were now in another glass-walled space with an identical table to the previous spot we had been in. The only difference was that this time, several rows of display screens showing security footage were lined across the wall to my left.

Steve automatically devoted his attention to the screens, and I knew he was trying to find where Bucky was being held. Tony sat down at the table, but this time I remained standing. Curious, I began scanning over the security screens, too.

"Hey, you want to see something cool?" Tony asked suddenly. I glanced around. The dark-haired man was now on his feet, and had pulled out a thin, rectangular object from his pocket. Already knowing what it was (thank you, movie knowledge), I wandered away from the glass walls and dropped into a spare chair.
Tony had started babbling to Steve about the pens, but Steve was clearly not in the mood for small talk and kept trying to change the subject.

"Is Pepper here? I don't see her," He glanced around pointedly. Tony exhaled.

"We're kinda... Well, not kinda-" He began.

"Pregnant?" Steve interrupted, smirking slightly.

"See, I can't tell if you two are still mad at each other, or flirting?" I groaned loudly. Steve stared at me incredulously, then at Tony.

Tony face-palmed, "Okay, new rule. You're not allowed to talk for the next ten minutes."

Turning back to Steve (and ignoring my devious grin), he denied the guess and two started mumbling about their love lives. I rested my head on the table.

"I don't want to stop, and I don't lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference," Tony was saying. You say that now, but based off the Infinity War trailers and theories, you run off to space with your adopted spider son and your new magician boyfriend... soooo..... yeah. Good job.

For the first time I'd seen him, Steve looked at a complete loss for words. Tony shook his head slightly and stood. I distracted myself with my notebook once again and tuned out of the conversation. I had started sketching the outlines for a manga-style scene.

I registered Tony had taken on a sarcastic tone again and rolled my eyes, tapping my pen against the frames of my new glasses. Steve had leaned back in the chair beside me. I heard Tony walk around to the other side of the table.

"Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth," Tony announced, "But I don't want to see you gone. We need you, Cap'."

It so sounds like they're flirting, what the heck. Also... FORESHADOWING BOTH THE END OF THIS MOVIE AND PROBABLY INFINITY WAR! HAHAHAHA! Ignore my sobbing.

Aaaaannnd then Tony ruined the moment by starting to babble about the Accords and Bucky again. Come on, man. I could sense Steve had shut himself off from the conversation, turning away from Tony, getting up and walking towards the glass again.

"I feel uncomfortable here, bye," I muttered. They're about to have an argument, and I don't really want to be in the room when that happens. I snatched up my notebook and hurried out of the glass room, leaving Steve and Tony to continue their conversation in private. I sat down on the small set of stairs that led to the security monitors and stared at them again.

Where was Bucky's cell to begin with? They'll know something's not right the moment the power fails. I just need to know which one, so I can get there as fast as possible.

Behind me, the glass door slid open and Steve stormed out.

And so it begins.