Caris stomped into her room on the Helicarrier, locking the sliding door behind her.
"Damn asshole, no respect for anyone," she muttered darkly, stripping down to her black sports bra. "I could just-!"
Before she could begin to curse to herself further, there was a knock on her door.
"Caris?" she heard from the other side. The young agent huffed, crossing her arms while staring at her reflection in the mirror. "I heard that," came the voice from the opposite side of her door. If Caris's hearing was right, she heard amusement lace the voice of her adopted sister. With a heavy sigh that made Natasha chuckle, Caris unlocked her door.
"Was it Stark?" the older agent asked though she already knew the answer.
Caris growled. Natasha smiled. "I think he gets better the longer you're with him," the redhead told her ward pitifully. Caris snorted at Natasha's feeble attempt to make her feel better. "I'm almost 100 percent sure that isn't true about Stark," she retorted.
She turned to Natasha with her arms crossed and a scowl. "Why do I have to work with these people, Nat?" she whined. "It took me years to warm up to you; how am I expected to trust these people at the drop of a hat if I don't even know them?"
Natasha looked at the younger girl with pity. She knew that Caris's mistrust came from her abandonment; she was afraid to get to close to anyone after her parents left her. Natasha had spent 18 years raising Caris to do one thing: trust nobody but your own. Now, she regretted her choice in making Caris just like her. Natasha had thought she was doing something for Caris, teaching her to defend herself and make herself someone to be feared.
Natasha wondered if she had done the right thing for Caris or for herself.
"Caris," she older assassin began. "You need to trust these people. I mean that. If you don't you could die. And I'm not sure if I can lose you. Contrary to popular belief, I do love you, Carissa, and I would jump in front of a bullet for you just as likely as I would Clint. So please, if for nobody else but me, try and trust these guys, at least a little bit."
Caris glanced over at Natasha's pleading gaze, her heart softening at the sight. She sighed heavily. "I guess I could be trusting, just this once," she muttered. Natasha smiled. Her hand reached out to ruffle the younger assassin's hair, making the girl squeal unhappily.
"Now c'mon," the redhead urged. "Time to see what these heroes are really made of." Caris grinned as Natasha strutted out of the room and into the hallway, confident as ever.
That was her Nat.
Caris watches as Steve and Banner both walk enter the bridge with wide eyes, turning in circles in order to take everything in. The gleaming bridge was teeming with agents, all with headsets and wearing black from head to toe. The sight must have made the men very overwhelmed, obviously, and Caris had to suppress a grin.
There was slight movement beside her, and Caris turned her head to see Natasha standing at her side.
"Banner looks like a kid in a candy store," her friend whispered. Caris giggled.
"Steve just looks like he has no idea what's happening," she responded.
The two agents grinned at one another just as Fury entered the room. He, like his agents, was completely dressed in black, his dark eyes studying the room with a critical eye. Caris remembered being a first-time agent, having to deal with Fury's demanded perfection. Of course, he still demands perfection, but she has learned to deal with it after all these years.
The young agent looked on as Steve stepped beside Fury, rifled in his wallet, and handed the SHIELD director a crisp bill before taking a seat. The gesture made Caris crack a smile in Fury's direction. He caught her eye with his single one and offered a wink—or what Caris thought was a wink. It was sometimes hard to tell with the eye patch.
"Doctor," Fury says, reaching over to Banner, who reluctantly reaches out to shake the dark man's hand. "Thank you for coming."
Banner nodded awkwardly, clearing his throat.
"Thanks for asking nicely," he responded, sneaking a glance at Natasha, who raised an eyebrow in response. Caris coughed in order to suppress a laugh, catching the eyes of the shy scientist and her boss.
"Just something in my throat, sir," she croaked, still trying to suppress laughter. "Don't mind me." Natasha glowered at her friend suspiciously when the two men continued their conversation as if no interruption had been made. Caris shrugged innocently before winking at her friend and listening to Phil as he spoke.
"—If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us," the older man was saying. Natasha chose that moment to pipe up.
"That's still not gonna find them in time," she insisted. Caris watched the tension build in her friend's eyes.
"She's right, sir," Caris added. "We may have control of most of those wireless cameras, but we can't narrow our search well through that many. There has to be something we can search for in order to speed up the process."
Banner nodded in agreement with the girl. "Call every lab you know," he said. "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I can rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. That way we can rule out a few places. Do you have a place where I can work?"
Fury nodded at the him before turning to Natasha.
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner his laboratory, please," he ordered. Natasha inclines her head before leading Banner off the bridge, but not before giving Caris a gentle nudge of her hip. Caris's eyes followed the form of her friend and banner, and a smirk climbed onto her face.
"Kids," she remarked under her breath in amusement.