Despite the fact that Camryn had basically been benched from the mission, she still made sure to listen to the briefing. She needed to be ready in case she was called into the field.

It was a typical steakout type mission. The chances were it was a relatively low risk base with little information inside it.

Shield was always making new enemies though, and they liked to be three steps ahead of them at all times. It ensured they were doing the arresting and not being arrested.

She still didn't agree with the mindset Agent Trenton had, but she knew better than to say anything else. She knew she was being stupid. After all, there was no way a superior agent would knowingly put those in their charge in danger. Camryn was confident the woman would make the right choice if the time came. But ultimately she hoped there would be no suspicious activity.

Throughout the briefing, Camryn could feel Wyatt's glare. He had told her to behave and there she went mouthing off at a superior. It would make him look bad if anyone found out they were dating.

Avoiding his gaze turned out to be rather easy. Especially when she was frustrated at Wyatt separately, and because he didn't bother even trying to stand up for her. He knew what Agent Trenton was thinking of doing was wrong. They all did. But she had been the only one to decide to say anything about it, and look where that got her.

Benched.

Camryn picked at her nails when the briefing stopped, all the other agents mentally preparing for what was to come. Steakouts could be mentally challenging. You had to stay focused, even in extreme conditions. Whether it was snowing or raining, or there was just no activity, an agent had to be focused on looking for the smallest change.

Personally, she thought it was ridiculous she had been benched from the mission. Ultimately, she had done nothing other than remind her superior what the mission was supposed to be. Observation and not infiltration.

It wasn't a difficult concept, but it seemed Agent Trenton was intending on playing the hero. Taking down an entire base with her amazing leadership.

Camryn liked to play hero, but never at the risk of anyone's life but her own. She did have standards after all.

Agent Trenton had been serious when she said Camryn was not to leave the Quinjet. She got shut in while the others disembarked the aircraft, relying on the monitors and external cameras to keep up with what was happening.

It was all peaceful. Silent. There wasn't even so much as a leaf that blew in the wind. It seemed odd that it was such a high target location, yet there seemed to be no one in it.

Naturally, Agent Trenton took this as a sign they should all go inside. Had it been left up to Camryn, she would have called the entire thing off. Something just seemed fishy, like everything was too calm. Like it was staged.

But Camryn was left to watch as Agent Trenton, Wyatt, and nine other agents moved towards the base, spreading out. They were ready for a fight, one Camryn didn't expect to happen.

If there were agents they would have seen movement. And as far as Camryn could tell, no one had picked any heat signatures up from the thermal camera.

Gnawing on her lower lip, Camryn sat, waiting patiently for anything to happen. She wanted to catch sight of one of the agents, hoping maybe they would pop back up and give the all clear.

But they never did.

She felt the explosion first, the way it shook the entire Quinjet. The camera was delayed, meaning the speakers were too. Otherwise, the Quinjet was sound proof.

She saw the explosion on the monitors next, the entire building just blowing up before her eyes. She let out a scream, shooting up from her seat and rushing to the hanger door, hitting the button in a panic to make it lower.

This couldn't be happening. Someone had just managed to hack the cameras. That was it.

But she smelled the smoke, and saw the destruction with her own eyes. She let out a sob, an overwhelming feeling of guilt washing over her. She should have been in there with them. Or she should have fought harder against them entering the base.

She wasn't sure how long she was standing there before she heard the rustling of leaves, her gun in hand in an instant.

"Don't shoot! I swear to god, do not shoot!" Agent Trenton demanded.

Once she was fully in sight, Camryn lowered the gun. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and her confusion was written clearly on her face.

"What the hell happened? We need to look for other survivors!" Camryn said.

"We were going in from different angles. I thought I heard someone coming up behind me so I turned around to look. And then the building just exploded…" Trenton explained, her eyes wide.

"There could be others! We have to search for survivors!" Camryn demanded.

"No! We need to get back to base." Trenton snapped, shaking her head.

"There could still be agents out there! We have to try! We can't just leave them!" Camryn argued, her voice raising.

"There are no others! They're all dead. Look at that base. There is nothing left! Comms went dead. There is no one left!" Trenton shouted. "Now you have two options. Get on the Quinjet and go back to base with me, or stay behind and look for dead bodies."

Camryn took a step back at the harshness of Trenton's words. It didn't add up. Had she not intended for this to happen, she would have shown some remorse. But instead she seemed perfectly fine. And Camryn didn't like it.

"Fine." She conceded. "Let's go."

She got on the Quinjet, taking one last glance at the base before sitting down and strapping in. It was a long flight, and it gave her plenty of time to think over it.

By the time they arrived at headquarters, Camryn felt numb. She had been left to think over what had happened, about everyone that had died, and it left her numb. She didn't even notice Agent Trenton slip away.

She was the only one left. It was worse that she knew she should have been in that building and she wasn't. It was worse that Wyatt had died too, despite the fact that she had planned to break up with him. It took away her choice.

It took away her choice and it left her with survivors guilt. They never should have gone into that base. It was a suicide mission. But Trenton had insisted, and Camryn was pissed.

Anger was the first emotion she had felt in hours, and she quickly let it control her.

Storming through the halls, Camryn only had one thing on her mind — finding Trenton and making her explain. Someone needed to pay for what happened to those agents. Trenton never should have let that happen. She never should have let them die.

She looked through all the halls, not caring how long it might take to find her. Camryn's fists were clenched, and when people saw her, they quickly moved out of the way, whispering once she had passed. No one was stupid enough to try to stop her. But maybe had they known what she was about to do they would have.

When Camryn located the brunette she was looking for, she lost all self control.

"You. You little bitch! This is your fault!" Camryn snarled, storming up to her and grabbing her shoulder, jerking Trenton around to face her.

Trenton's eyes narrowed. She wasn't scared of Camryn. Why would she be?

"I'd remember who you are talking to, Agent." Trenton warned, shoving Camryn's hand off her shoulder.

"Oh you mean a murderer?" She snarled, shoving the woman back. "You did this! You're the reason they're all dead!"

By this point, others had stopped to stare at the pair. It was like seeing something tragic in slow motion. You wanted to look away, but at the same time you wanted to know what would happen next.

"Listen you little bitch, I did nothing wrong." Trenton snapped, shoving Camryn back with an equal amount of force. "Take a walk and calm down."

"Do not tell me what to do! We see how well that worked out for those agents."

"Maybe had you kept your mouth shut you would have been in that building and none of this would have happened. Unless you plan to start blaming yourself just as much as you blame me, back off." Trenton warned. "Too bad your boyfriend was on that mission. Maybe you could have saved him."

The comment made Camryn completely lose it. She lunged for Trenton, throwing a punch. It was much different from her usual fighting style. It was messy, controlled by emotions rather than logical thought. But it was still enough for her to knock Trenton to the ground, scratching at her and punching her as they began to roll around on the floor, the hallway filling with their screams.

None of the occupants moved to stop them, the only ones who did being those who were alerted as soon as the fight stopped.

Camryn jerked as arms wrapped around her, yanking her off the other woman. She continued to fight and thrash, her assailant slamming her against the wall in attempts to control her. Had she been calm, she wouldn't have hit her head.

"Camryn! Camryn, stop it!" Steve shouted, keeping her pinned to the wall. "Look at me! Stop."

Steve had been leaving a meeting with Fury when they had both heard a commotion and rushed down the hall. Steve certainly never expected to see Camryn attacking another agent. And it hadn't taken much for him to realize he needed to intervene.

He continued to say her name until he saw some recognition.

It seemed to be enough to break through her rage, the sound of Steve's voice. She stopped fighting, though she did squirm in his grasp. Looking into Steve's eyes, Camryn saw the concern there.

She whimpered, her eyes watering. "They're gone. They're all gone." She whispered, staring up at him.

"Who, doll? Who's gone?" He asked, tucking hair behind her ear. All he cared about in that moment was keeping her calm.

"All of them! It's her fault… she sent them on a suicide mission." She whimpered, beginning to cry.

"Rogers, take Simmons to a seperate room. I will deal with her later." Fury said sternly, shooting the woman a glare as he helped Agent Trenton up.

Steve nodded, scooping Camryn up and carrying her to an empty room. On instinct, he set her down and began looking her over, checking for any injuries. Even after weeks of not talking to her, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to take care of her. It was just in his nature.

"Cami, look at me. Why did you attack her?" He asked, cupping her cheeks and making her look at him. "Talk to me, doll."

"She–She killed them all. The mission. They… They were never supposed to go in. But she made them and it exploded." She whispered, beginning to cry.

Steve frowned, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry doll. I'm sorry. Hey, it's gonna be okay, alright? Do you want me to call Wyatt?"

"Wyatt was on the mission."

The words made Steve flinch, and he quickly understood why Camryn was so distraught. He couldn't exactly blame her. He was sure he would have lashed out if he had lost Camryn on a mission like that.

"Oh." Was all he could say. He slipped beside her and pulled her into his lap, rocking her gently. "It's okay. I've got you."

"Captain Rogers. I told you to bring her to a seperate room. Not comfort her. She just attacked another agent." Fury said sternly. "Who, lucky for her, sustained only minor injuries as far as the medics could tell."

"Sir, Agent Simmons likely didn't intend to cause that agent any harm." Steve argued. He didn't want Camryn to get into trouble.

"I think I'll be the judge of that. Agent Simmons, my office. Now." He said sternly, turning around and stalking off to his office.

Camryn sniffled, wiping her nose as she got out of Steve's lap. "I'll be okay, Steve. Don't worry about me." She said, that numb feeling returning full force.

She didn't wait for him to say anything before wandering to Fury's office, waiting to be yelled at. She knew what she had done wasn't good. But Trenton deserved it.

"Sit." Fury said sternly. "That display was completely irresponsible and unnecessary. You attacked another agent. What exactly did you hope to accomplish?"

"Agent Trenton was at fault for the deaths of all of those agents. I felt as though someone needed to make sure it was known the fault was hers." Camryn replied, staring past Fury rather than looking at him.

"And you just thought that should be you?" Fury scoffed. "We have protocols, Agent. Ones that deal with situations like these."

"Protocols that would have given her nothing more than a slap on the wrist, because we're agents and things happen. And the only witness to those actions would be placing her word against mine. She would have no repercussions for what she did. She led those agents into a suicide mission." Camryn snapped.

"And you have to trust that we will handle it. You do not get to play vigilante here." Fury shot back.

"Vigilante? I wasn't playing anything! She refused to even consider the fact that she was at fault. She tried to say it was my fault that they died! That it was my fault he died." Camryn said, standing up.

"Agent, I need you to sit back down and calm down." Fury said.

"No! I am not going to sit down. If agents like that are who you let be in charge then I am done with Shield." She snapped, pulling the badge from her belt as well as her gun.

She slammed them down on the table. "Have a good life." She snapped before storming out.

She rushed home, making sure she managed to avoid Steve in the process. She couldn't stay in DC. She needed to get away. And she knew just the place. It was somewhere no one would think to look for her. Someplace she could recuperate.

"Mum? Do you mind if I come home for a little while?" She asked into the phone softly.

"Of course, darling. We always love your visits. Is something wrong?" Julia asked.

"No mum. I just need some space. I'll be there soon. I love you." She said.

Camryn was gone before Steve even managed to make it home. All that was left were her boxes, all ready to go. But Steve had absolutely no idea where she had gone. And he wouldn't for quite some time.

—

To DBZFAN45: Thank you for reading! I'm so glad you enjoyed and seem to be getting invested in the characters! Camryn definitely is going to have her fair share of emotional struggles, but Steve can't always be the hero hehe! There is definitely a lot more coming. I can be pretty mean to my characters. So, I hope you stick around. Things will all be right eventually! Thanks again for reading and leaving a comment!