Chapter 5
“So,” Steve asks in the car, “how’d you know?”
“How’d I know what?”
“I didn’t want to say it in there, but those walls are pretty thin, for a rich guy’s house,” Steve clarifies. “How’d you know what that guy was doing to his daughter?”
Leila sighs. The euphoria is starting to drain from her body now. “Because I’m not an idiot. Next question.”
Steve is quiet for a long moment, and she hates how she can almost hear him trying to put puzzle pieces together.
“I’m sorry,” Steve says finally.
“For what?” she asks, like she doesn’t know.
“For pushing earlier. I shouldn’t have. Just…like I said. If you ever decide you do want to talk to someone...I’m here. If you want.”
Leila takes a long moment to process this, before looking at him. She can’t really summon enough anger to punctuate her words, so she settles on the lighthearted devil-may-care tone she’s prone to using with him.
“You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you, Rogers?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Here’s a tip. You don’t know as much about me as you think you do. You need to think more creatively.”
His lips twitch in a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Before they leave for Fort Falsworth, Leila insists on a twenty minute detour. “Just one last loose thread to tie up,” she tells Steve.
When they arrive at Daniel Fisher’s house, Steve starts to get out of the car, but Leila stops him. Ideally, she wouldn’t have brought him at all, but it’s not like she can drop him off somewhere without explaining why. She’s already pushing it as it is.
It’s a nice little apartment--not ideally big enough for a family about to adopt two teenagers, but she thinks they’ll manage. She knocks and hears a “hang on,” and then it’s a minute before a heavily pregnant Jennifer Fisher answers the door.
“Hi. Can I help you?”
“Yeah, hi. Are you Jennifer Fisher?” Leila asks, more out of courtesy than anything else.
“Yeah, I am. And you are…”
“My name is Lindsey White, I’m with Child Protective Services.” She hands over a fake ID. “I’m just here to inform you--have you spoken with your in-laws lately?”
A flash of recognition goes off in Jennifer’s eyes. “Yeah, we talked to them just an hour ago. You’re here about the twins, right?”
“I am,” she says jovially. “I just wanted to inspect the house, just as a matter of course.”
“Yeah, of course,” Jennifer says, stepping aside. “Come on in.”
Daniel Fisher is a quiet, unassuming man, but Leila doesn’t think that’s because he’s hiding any secrets. He looks like his siblings, and he works as an accountant, and he seems happy to take in Camden and Tessa, but not so happy as to be suspicious. More relieved than anything else. Leila’s not sure how much he knows, but there’s no way he’s under the impression that his mother and stepfather are good parents.
He checks out for now, but Leila resolves to keep an eye on things anyway. She’s not sure why; she’s already gone far out of her way for them. Maybe that’s why, actually. Sunk costs fallacy; she’s invested a lot into their safety already. Might as well make sure it was worth it.
Or maybe, part of her thinks, before she shuts the train of thought down hard--maybe protecting Tessa and Camden Nolan is as close as she’ll ever get to having protected herself when she needed it.
She gets back into the car ten minutes after arriving.
“That was quick,” Steve says.
“I’m very efficient.”
“What were you there for?” he asks as he pulls back onto the road.
“I was following up on one last lead.”
“I don’t believe you,” Steve says bluntly, and Leila grins.
“Okay, smart guy,” she says. “What do you think I was doing?”
“I dunno.” Steve smirks. “I guess I’ll have to think about it creatively.”
“There’s one thing I can’t put my finger on,” Steve says on the quinjet back to DC.
“Don’t sell yourself short, I’m sure there’s more than just one thing you can’t put your finger on, Rogers.”
He ignores her. “Why’d Harker do it, d’you think?”
Leila considers this, looking out the window at the world passing under them, and sets her phone down. Her attention has shifted, and she looks at him.
“I think he wanted revenge.”
“Revenge…?”
“He found out he was on a watchlist,” she clarifies. “I think he was mad because SHIELD could’ve saved him, and we didn’t.”
“How does that lead to blowing up a science fair?”
“I guess Captain America doesn’t know what it’s like to get so mad at the world you just wanna fuck shit up.” Her tone is light, but as she hears her own words she can’t help but think back to the twins, hacking intelligence agencies and setting houses on fire just to feel something. To control something.
He smiles, that dry almost-smirk he does sometimes. “Now who needs to think more creatively?”
“Do you know why I called you in here?” Fury asks that night.
“Was it the kick-me sign I left on Sitwell? Cause that wasn’t me.”
Fury rolls his good eye. “I understand that you’re interested in working cases involving gifteds again.”
Leila sits up straighter. “Yes, sir,” she says, almost reflexively, and she hates how eager it makes her sound.
“After your performance in New York, and your efficacy in recruiting Captain Rogers, I’m inclined to let you, on a conditional basis. I’d want to meet with you personally after each case.”
It’s everything she’s wanted since she joined STRIKE Team Delta. It’s the whole reason she chose to join SHIELD instead of fighting their threats. If she plays her cards right, it’s the key to everything she’s ever wanted. Everything she’s worked toward.
“There’s actually something else I want.”
She says it impulsively, before she can stop herself. She’s barely even had the thought before the corresponding words come out. If she’s quiet, she knows that deep down, even if she could’ve stopped herself, she wouldn’t have.
That’s why she never stays quiet.
Fury looks at her inquisitively; she imagines this is as close as he ever gets to surprised. He tilts his head, gesturing for her to go on.
“I want Richard Harris on a watchlist. And his wife.”
“Do you think they’re terrorist threats?”
“No. But they’re still dangerous.”
Leila waits as he studies her, waits for him to ask her for detail, tries to work out what she’ll say, how much of it is hers to tell and how much is not--
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I’m trusting your judgment on this. Don’t make me regret it.”
“You won’t,” Leila says, and there’s a part of her that actually bothers to hope that it’s true.
“In the meantime, I still want you on Gifted cases,” Fury continues, and she can’t help but smile a little.
Finally.
There’s still something about Nick Fury that puts Steve on edge. It probably has to do with all the secrecy. Steve believes he made the right choice in joining SHIELD, but the whole environment is so contrary to everything about him, he feels like a puzzle piece out of place.
He’s the spy, Stark had told him. His secrets have secrets.
There were no secrets between Steve and his team in the war. The Howling Commandos were almost a hive-mind sometimes. No filter, no boundaries--it was how they managed to act as one. It’s hard to get used to the new dynamic. Something about it just viscerally feels off.
“Captain Rogers,” Fury greets as Steve walks into his office after Leila leaves. “Thank you for joining me.”
“You called, I came,” Steve says flatly. Fury smirks.
“I recently spoke to Agent Whittaker about working outside of counterterrorism--specifically, in cases regarding gifteds.”
“I’m sure she was thrilled.”
“I want you on those cases with her,” Fury says without preamble. “And I want you to report back to me on them.”
Steve studies him. “What are you leaving out?”
“I don’t just want your reports on the cases. I want your reports on her. Her behavior.”
Steve’s instinctive response is “no.” He likes Leila. At this point, he considers her a friend, although he’s not certain she’d say the same about him. And it’s not hard to pick up on how much she values her privacy.
On the other hand, it’s not as though he has much of a choice in the matter. You don’t turn down a direct order from the Director of SHIELD unless you want to get fired, which he doesn’t. Despite his discomfort with certain aspects of SHIELD, it’s more or less the only thing he has going on in his life just now. He doesn’t know what else to do without it, and the thought sends an ice cold shock of panic down his spine.
And then he remembers their near car crash. And the way she seemed to zone out at Linda Harker’s house. And the way she heard a door open and pulled a gun on him.
Steve doesn’t think Leila’s hiding anything more than any other SHIELD agent. But he does think it couldn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes on her, if for her own sake more than anyone else’s.
And besides, if the time ever comes where he needs to lie for her, he can decide on that then.
“Okay,” Steve says finally. “When do I start?”