Chapter 25
“You heal now? What the hell does that mean?” Fury asked, looking around at the team. Okay, probably not the best way to start the explanation, but she was never one for making presentations. Especially when it was to someone she didn’t like. And she really didn’t like this guy.
“You found my blood in the elevator because I was shot. I’m standing here in front of you because of Steve’s blood,” Celia said simply, a little bit of weight falling off her chest as she said the words. It was out there now and there was no turning back.
“Is this true?” Fury asked, looking back at Steve.
“You think I had her in my tower for shits and giggles?” Tony laughed, walking back to the bar. Fury ignored him and kept staring at Steve, wanting to hear the words from the super soldier himself.
“It is,” Steve confirmed.
“Do you mind telling me how the hell something like that could happen?” Fury demanded.
“Yeah, I mind. After all this, I mind,” Steve stated, surprising everyone in the room. Celia looked down from where she was standing at his side, trying to catch his eye, but his gaze was locked on Fury.
“Excuse me?” Fury said, shock and anger coloring his words a bit.
“It doesn’t matter how it happened because that doesn’t change the outcome. The less people know about the specifics, the better.”
“You don’t think I have the right to know? I put this team together!”
“You think coming in here like this is the way to get people to open up to you? You didn’t parade any of our pasts like this when we came together. There were files compiled that you shared, but it was to help us get an idea of who we all were, so we could work together. You had no idea the circumstances of what happened in that elevator, and yet this is how you approached this meeting? Is this how Shield does things? Because I have to say, I don’t know if I can work with you if this is what I can expect.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying I don’t trust you. And you obviously don’t trust us, if this performance is anything to go by. Do you think we’re gullible enough to fall into the evil clutches of one person? Add to that you have agents watching the tower and don’t even bother telling us.”
“I’ve been kept in the dark for days, what was I supposed to do?”
“Come on Nick. I know you talked to other members of the team, even if you didn’t get the chance to talk to me. This was just spiteful. You wanted to have a gotcha moment and shove all this information in our faces like we can’t figure things out for ourselves,” Steve sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. Celia stood in shocked silence, not expecting Steve to push back against his boss like that. He had told her he’d back her as best he could, but she wasn’t expecting Steve to pull out what seemed to be long standing issues he had with the man.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep this team together? How much work I have to do to keep the council and even higher ups at Shield from coming in and shutting this whole thing down? Just the hint of anything below board could ruin everything we’ve worked for. So you may not like the way I do things, but my way gets results. My way keeps this team in business. And my way is the way things are gonna go if you want to stay a member of this team,” Fury stated, his voice rising as he went along. Celia could see Steve’s face turning red with anger. Even Clint and Natasha couldn’t completely hide the shock from their faces as they watched the two men argue.
“Okay boys, put them away, they are both impressive,” Tony laughed, standing at his end of the table again. “How about we stand down, calm down, and figure this shit out like the rational human beings we pretend to be?” Steve huffed out an exasperated sigh and crossed his arms. Fury just glared at Tony.
“Fury, maybe next time bring your concerns to the team without all the grandstanding and dramatics. There can be only one showman around here and I called dibs long ago. And Steve, maybe next time don’t air out all your pent up work grievances in front of everyone. It’ll only make the other person defensive,” Tony said, looking pointedly at the two men. “Or don’t listen to me. What do I know? I only ran a multibillion dollar company.”
He had a point, Celia conceded. She wasn’t expecting Tony to be the one to guide this train back onto the rails, but she’d be glad if he was able to. Celia figured he’d be happy to get the information his background search hadn’t found.
“I’ll admit, this may have not been the way to go about expressing my concerns, but I stand by everything I said. You said yourself you answer to other people. What happens if they demand you tell them every detail? It is safer for Celia and it is safer for me if that information never leaves this tower,” Steve declared, standing from his seat to look eye to eye with Fury.
“You’re willing to risk everything for one person?” Fury questioned, leaning forward in a challenge.
“She’s in this situation because of me. She at least deserves a chance. I’m not saying we put Celia on the team or bring her into Shield. Just let me handle this,” Steve said, leaning forward a bit too. They stayed that way for a few moments, silently battling, waiting for the other person to back down. Finally Fury sighed, stepping back and closing up his briefcase.
“When’s the last time you committed a crime?” Fury asked, moving around the table to stand in front of her. Steve stayed between them a bit, ready to intervene like he had with her and Tony during their tense moments.
“Yesterday,” Celia blurted out, figuring she should be honest, since the whole team knew about it already. Fury rolled his eye, walking to the doorway before turning and addressing the group one last time.
“Anything happens and it’s on you.” With that, he slid out of the room and into the elevator. Celia’s mind was brought back to when Tony had said those same words to Steve before storming off. She felt sick with guilt over the trouble she had caused these people. She was not worth all this turmoil she was creating.
This is why Celia preferred to do the behind the scenes stuff, the risky stuff that other people were afraid to do. She would stick her neck out where it was needed so Deb and others like her could do the more day to day living stuff. Celia wasn’t used to having to worry about what she did affecting a whole group of people, let alone a government agency. If Celia went down, she’d go down alone.
“Honestly, that went better than I thought,” Tony piped up from behind her. She heard the sound of papers shuffling and turned around to find him rifling through the folders. Of course Fury had left all of her information for the rest of them to peruse. Celia didn’t even know what all Fury had compiled, but she knew it would be more than she was comfortable sharing, especially this soon after meeting these people.
“Tony,” Steve groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tony started sliding the folder with her photo toward him, before Steve slapped his hand on top of it. Celia appreciated the gesture of trying to preserve some of her privacy, but she figured it was too late. Jarvis probably already scanned the pages into some database and was compiling all the info into a neat little powerpoint presentation to show to the team over brunch. Celia didn’t think she could be around for this part.
“Aw, come on Cap, I’m sure Holly doesn’t mind,” Tony said with a grin.
“I need some air,” Celia declared, hearing Tony say her old name so casually snapping the last thread holding her sanity together. She needed to get away from this place that was all Shield and Avengers and Tony. She stomped over to the elevator, leaving the team behind to do whatever snooping they wanted.
“Wait!” Steve called out, following after her. He grabbed her arm when he caught up and she fought off her impulse to snatch it away. He didn’t deserve it after all he did for her with Fury.
“I’m so sorry Steve, that’s not at all how I wanted this to go,” she whispered, not able to meet his eyes.
“I’m pretty sure it was me that caused all the drama. You barely said anything,” Steve said with a light laugh. Celia grimaced, wishing she had spoken up more. She might not have made things better, but she didn’t see how she’d make things worse.
“I need space. I can’t be here right now.”
“Don’t leave, please.”
“I can’t stay here while everyone dissects my life.”
“Then go up to the roof, where we were last night.”
“I need a break from all of this, just to get my head together,” Celia pleaded, needing Steve to let her go. He sighed, acquiescing with a short nod. She turned to enter the elevator when his quiet voice stopped her.
“You’re coming back, right?” Steve asked. The worry in his voice cut deep into her core. As if she’d let him go to bat for her so hard and then just take off.
“I promise I’ll be back soon. I just need a little time to clear my head,” Celia said firmly, stepping onto the elevator and watching Steve until the doors separated them. Jarvis seemed to know where to take her without her having to say anything and soon enough she was on the ground floor, walking out the doors much like she had that first day.
There weren’t too many people out at the moment, the small lull in foot traffic between most people getting to work and the tourists coming out in full force. She wandered aimlessly away from the tower, not planning on going far, but wanting to be far enough away from it that she wasn’t in it’s shadow for a few minutes.
Celia had considered stopping by Steve’s floor to get her bag, but she didn’t want him to change his mind and try to sway her from leaving. And the sight of her taking her stuff might make him worry more about her disappearing. So now she was left to walk around the city with no money or phone. It wouldn’t be the first time, but it definitely cut down her options on where to go. Celia really didn’t plan to be gone long, but she wanted to give the team enough time to get their fill of looking through the files before she came back.
She started to walk toward a nearby park, figuring a quiet bench and some people watching would do for now. The weather was nice and mild and the flowers were blooming, so it might be the perfect, calming moment she needed.
“Don’t make a sound,” a gruff voice ground out from behind her. Something hard poked into her lower back, prodding her along toward the opening of an alley. Was she really getting mugged? After running around half naked in the dark the other night with no issue, now she was being accosted, in broad daylight? Celia glanced around at the people they passed, trying to convey the danger she was in with her eyes. No one was paying attention and she didn’t want to outright call for help, in case any innocent person would get hurt. She could just ride this out and then let the man go. Her new ability would protect her.
They turned the corner into the alley where a van was already waiting. This wasn’t a random mugging.
“Wha-” she started, before a bag was thrown over her head. The man behind her wrapped his arms around her body, pinning her arms to her sides. He forced her forward, dropping her into the back of the van. Celia struggled as she felt him trying to bind her hands behind her back, but froze when she heard the cocking of a gun.
“Don’t move,” another man growled, stilling her movements. The first man snapped cuffs on her and tightened the bag over her head. He jerked her up and slammed her back against the side of the van, so she was sitting up. Celia brought her legs up to her chest, trying to keep herself as far away from the men as she could. She almost fell onto her side as the van took off, speeding away as best it could in the New York City traffic.
Celia leaned back, trying to catch her breath and listen for anything that could help her in her situation. She thought about all the movies and shows she’d seen where hostages counted turns and figured out where they were being taken, but that was bullshit. She had no idea where she was or where she was being taken. All Celia knew is that she was screwed. And she should’ve listened to Steve.