Hello everyone! Here is chapter two! Please don't hesitate to let me know if there are any grammar errors or the like. I double check but there's always a chance I missed something.

Disclaimer: I do not own Carrie White or the Avengers or any MCU characters in any way shape or form.


Chapter 2: Damage Control

It was one of those days. The one when Nick Fury knew he was simply getting too old to deal with all this shit. He read the report with growing disgust at how the disaster his agents narrowly averted could have been nipped in the bud entirely if someone had detected the Carrie White kid before everything went to hell. Fuck it, this could have been stopped if the school did its fucking job and got White the help she needed. Their incompetence and negligence could have resulted in a massacre that might have extended beyond the school. He was going to have to launch an investigation into how Carrie White slipped between the cracks pronto because another slipup like this could not stand. They might not get lucky next time and needed to learn from this near fuck-up.

The assholes that finally pushed White too far were Chris Hangersen and her boyfriend William "Billy" Nolan, textbook sociopaths. The former would've been in prison years ago if her daddy hadn't used his influence to get her off the hook, and had gone out of her way to torment Carrie White for years. The latter also had a record, but not as blatantly violent – whether it was because of circumstances or restraint on the kid's part, Nick didn't know yet. That said, he had an agent digging up any incidents that may not have gone into official reports. He would be surprised if they didn't find anything.

There was only one death, Tommy Ross, and by all accounts it was a reckless accident on Hangersen and Nolan's parts. The bucket they used to carry the pig's blood fell and the kid was just unlucky enough to be standing right in its path and get hit in just the right way to break his neck. Hangersen's father wouldn't be able to get her out of this – and Nolan was undoubtedly fucked too.

Aside from Ross there were only injuries, ranging from bruises to some broken bones. While some it had been caused by White's initial snap, a significant portion was simply collateral from the rush of desperate students attempting to escape her wrath. All those facts combined with her hellish childhood meant it was a relatively simple task to get Carrie White off the hook with legal charges, as long as SHIELD took responsibility for teaching her control. It certainly helped that most of the students at the prom were jackasses of the highest order who relentlessly bullied White and contributed to the abuse, though none of them save Hangersen held a candle to her deranged mother. Margaret White was now in a psychiatric order getting the help she needed and more importantly, very far away from her daughter.

SHIELD also used its connections to push for a legal investigation into the school and ensure there would be many reforms and punishments to correct the behavior that almost let to a massacre. After all, Chamberlain was one of those small towns were some families tended be related, however distantly. It wouldn't do for another child with White's abilities to go through that same hell. He could arrange for semi-retired agents to rotate shifts for surveillance on the town until something more permanent was established. That only left Carrie White herself.

She was sedated for now, with the best doctors SHIELD could offer overlooking her condition. The latest report explained they were waiting for her brainwaves to go back to normal before bringing her back. It was still dangerously agitated, and they didn't want to risk her still being in a rage when she woke up. They would definitely need a psychiatrist lined up. All in all, this wasn't as horrible as it could have been. It was fortunate ex-agent Dockson decided to retire in his hometown. Fury didn't like to think about how this would have turned out otherwise.

Carrie White would likely not be psychologically ready for front lines any time soon, but her power was still invaluable. It was important for the future of the Avenger's Initiative that she recover from the incident. If not the current generation he had lined up, there was always the next one White could join. He would need to wait until she woke up to put proper contingencies in place though, in the event of worst case scenarios. The kid would also need a handler/guardian to see to her well-being and foster trust in SHIELD.

Fury had just the person in mind.


When Carrie woke up, she thought she was dead. That was dashed when she opened her eyes and the bright flare of the lighting overhead blinded her. She winced and heard some shuffling.

"Sorry kid. Give me a sec."

The light dimmed and Carrie blinked the spots out of her eyes. There was movement and a woman appeared, looking down at her. The stranger was a bit younger than Mama, brown hair bundled back, dark eyes serious but not unkind. "Take it easy. Give yourself a minute, you were hit with some pretty strong stuff, kid."

Since her head still felt sluggish, Carrie listened. She reached out to feel around her, to get a sense of whoever was nearby as she tried to collect her thoughts. Concern. Caution. Pity. What? Why would. . .?

It all came back.

The prom.

Tommy was dead and she lost it and... and... She lost it. What happened after everything went red? Did she hurt people? Was Ms. Desjardin okay?

"Ms. White!"

She was evil. A monster. Carrie thought back to all those revenge fantasies she had about the girls who tormented her. Had she acted on them? Would be so bad if you did? A voice in the back of her mind whispered. They're the ones who pushed you until you bro –

Carrie screamed out loud, refusing to listen. Nonononononono

"Ms. White! Carrie! You need to calm down, you're safe!" The woman again. Carrie could hear a lot of footsteps, muttering, and doors swishing open.

"WHO DID I KILL?!" Carrie demanded. "WHAT DID I DO?!

The woman looked briefly surprised. "No one! You didn't kill anyone!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" She screamed. The fogginess was gone now, the fear and self-hate and guilt burning it away.

Lights flickered on and off, everything around them was trembling.

"Frank, get the tablet!" The woman snapped. She turned to Carrie again. "I can prove I'm telling the truth! My name is Julie Anders, you're in our infirmary and we brought you here from the high school. We had coworkers there, watching you. They stopped you before you could kill anyone!"

The lights stopped flickering, but the tables and everything not nailed down still notably trembled.

"Why?" Carrie was tense. They had been watching her. How much did they know about her life?

"We had a contact in that town who alerted us about you." Ms. Anders still hadn't lost her composure and calmly continued to explain as a man with light brown skin and hair handed her something black and rectangular. Carrie vaguely recognized it.

"Agents infiltrated the school to surveillance you. To be blunt, we were already in the process of a plan to extract you when the prom. . . sped up the timetable." Ms. Anders had been tapping on the rectangle block, which was glowing on the side facing away from Carrie. The could-have-been prom queen realized she had seen it before – a couple of her classmates used it during their free periods, though it wasn't always black and came in different sizes. Ms. Anders had called it a tablet. Carrie cautiously accepted the tablet when Ms. Anders handed it to her, and in amazement, realized there was a newspaper from her hometown behind that glass. She poked it experimentally and the picture of chaos outside the school vanished past the top of the screen. She swallowed and read the title underneath.

Girl Pushed Too Far!

Chamberlain is under fire as more of the horrific abuse Carrietta N. White suffered is brought to light. White was dumped with pig's blood shortly after being voted Prom Queen -

She read, and to her disbelief, realized that they were telling the truth. Tommy was the only death that night and while a lot of people were hurt, it wasn't anything life threatening. Wait – Chris was being arrested?!

"Chris is in jail?" Carrie whispered.

"She's being held without bail, and so is her boyfriend." Ms. Anders explained. "They've been deemed flight risks." When Carrie still looked confused, she clarified. "The judge decided they'll run away instead of attending their trial, so he won't let them out."

Oh. Well, that was something Chris would do.

She read on – there were several charges like manslaughter, physical assault and many, many others. Chris wasn't just being punished for prom night, all of the people who she bullied were launching their cases against her too. Carrie frowned, was Chris actually being punished for what she did? Mr. Hangersen couldn't get her out? It was so bizarre – Chris always got away with hurting people.

"Ms. White?" Carrie looked up. It was the man with light brown hair and skin, his eyes were dark, and she realized the man was a head shorter than Ms. Anders. "Are you feeling better?"

"I... I don't know." She whispered. Did it matter if she didn't hurt anyone and was relieved over it? Carrie would have killed people without remorse if those agents hadn't been there, didn't that make her a monster? What would Mama say. . .

Mama.

"Where's Mama?" Carrie shook. Her mother would kill her for this, and even if she deserved it -

"Where she belongs." The man said curtly. "Your mom has a lot of mental problems kid. Mrs. White has been sent to a place that will try to help her and keep her from hurting others."

Carrie faltered. "B-but what about me? Dad died; I only have Mama."

"Someone is on their way right now to speak with you about that and answer any questions you have." The man – no Frank, that was what Ms. Anders had called him – explained.

In one night, her world was spun upside down, had everything jangled around, and dumped unceremoniously at her feet with the pieces of its shell following suit. Carrie was only sixteen, she barely knew the people who seemed to remotely care about her and never left her hometown. There was. . . no one and nothing familiar. She was alone.

Mr. Frank put a hand on her shoulder as she broke down and cried.


I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry, things will turn around for Carrie.

Sincerely,

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