17 Chapter Seventeen

The harsh lighting shines down on the table, reflecting off. It was cool in here, painted a boring grey color. The table was the same color as the walls, as was the uncomfortable chair Carissa sat in. She bounced my right leg, the chains shaking with it. Fury leaned against the table, watching her intently.

"How long since you've been interrogated?" He asks. 

She folds her hands on the table, looking up at him. "I wasn't. I was just arrested and placed. They had the evidence they needed, obviously. Why are we here?"

Fury pushes himself off the table. "We're here to talk about your dad."

"What's there to talk about? He's not around anymore. End of conversation." Riss snaps. 

"And how did that feel?" Fury asks her. He takes in her irritated tone and body language. She was more annoyed than anything else. She didn't know why she was here. 

She glares up at Fury. What the hell was he doing? "How do you think it felt?" She tries to dive into his head, hitting a wall. She shuts her eyes, the force of him fighting her off actually hurt.

"Don't answer my questions with a question. That gets us nowhere."

So, they were trying to get somewhere. "It sucked." She answers.

Fury raises an eyebrow at her. "It sucked?" He asked. He knew her, knew he wasn't about to get descriptive detail of her feelings. 

"Yeah, it sucked." She stuck with her answer.

Fury furrows his eyebrows, but continues. "Did Natasha's death suck?" He hated asking her that. He didn't like the fact he had to hurt her on purpose. Fury had gained a lot of respect for Carissa and not to mention, Tony would've killed him personally for what he was putting her through.

Her hands balled up in her lap. "Yes." Obviously, it sucked. He'd know that, he had to live through it, too. He hadn't seen it like she had. He hadn't seen the dance her dad had shared with Peggy the way Riss had. He hadn't seen half of the shit Riss had.

Fury nods. "What about Tony's?" He asks. He watches the girl's face go pale.

Her mouth went dry as the color drained from her face. The image of her, Morgan and Pepper pops into her head. Now, this was a little too far. "No." She forces out through clenched teeth. She set her hands back in the table.

"No?" He asks.

"That one fucking sucked." She answers. "That doesn't even begin to explain it."

Fury eyed her hands. "Where's Bucky?" He asked. He was being careful, knowing if she really wanted to, she could rip him in half.

"At home." She answers, pulling her hands back into my lap. She forgot how it could be perceived as a threat if her hands were visible.

"Does he know?" Fury asks. He was less wary when her hands were hidden, though he knew her power radiated through her body.

She forces her gaze away from her hands, looking up at Fury. "Know what?"

"That you could've saved Tony. It's obvious that you should've been the one to take the gauntlet." Fury answers.

"What?" She asks. She was specifically told she couldn't. That s wouldn't be able to.

"You were the most powerful Avenger on that field."

"I disagree. Thor was the most powerful." My dad, Bruce, Tony, Rhodey...they'd all disagree with what Fury said. She wasn't the most powerful, not even close. She had been the soul og the team. According to Tony and the Infinity Stones, Bruce was most powerful

"No, Thor was the strongest." Fury corrects her.

"Bruce." She simply states.

What was the point of this? To hurt her? Was he trying to get her to lash out? Then it dawned on her. He was trying to break her psychologically. He was trying to get her to lash out. He needed her for something.

"You're right about Thor, but I was not the most powerful Avenger. Tony did what he had to do; it was nobody's rightful place." He shouldn't have done it, they know that. They all know that.

Fury nods. "Let's talk about your mom."

"Let's not." She replies. Fury was pushing it and he knew it. He wanted to see how far he could push her.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Agent Carter, to be exact." Fury continues.

"Candace Carter." Carissa tells him.

"So, you know?" He asks.

"I didn't always. I found out in 2016, right before I went to Queens." She went to Queens to help Peter, but also because she didn't want to face losing Bucky. She also didn't want to face what she'd found out.

"What lead you to finding out?" Fury asks.

"She was always there. Sharon. I heard her say Agent Carter back when you had been shot. I forgot about that until my dad kissed her." It all flooded back. She didn't want it to, but it did. Memories of that night as well as her untaken opportunity to save her mom.

Fury nods. "So, you went digging. What did you find?"

What did she find? Something she wishes she would've left alone.

"Sharon and Candace Carter. Half-sisters, both the nieces of Peggy Carter. They didn't speak, despite working in the same building. My dad was looking for Peggy when he found Candace. What was meant to be a fling and forgotten became something more when a baby was added to the mix. They didn't get married; she just took his last name. It carried a lot of respect. She raised her baby as a single mom."

Fury leans against the table again. "You made things complicated."

Didn't she always?

"Beyond." Riss replies. "Sharon didn't know about a baby until I was walking, talking and raising hell. When I started going on missions was when I'd noticed she was around. She lived next door. I didn't realize until two years later, when I saw her again."

"You're a legacy." Fury says. "Big shoes to fill."

"You have no idea." She replies. "I got screwed in the parent department."

Fury hints at a smile. "Your dad is Captain America and your mom was one of my closest agents. You're a distant relative to Peggy Carter, you're with one of the Howling Commandos, you're friends with Spider-Man and you're in Iron Man's will. Impressive for a little girl."

"What's your point here, Nick?"

"Didn't you hear? You're in the will." Fury repeats. She didn't know that. What could he have possible left her?

"I give." She replies. She faked a curious expression.

"He left you the compound, the tech." Fury tells her.

Why the hell would Nick care?

"The compound was destroyed." She replies.

"Blue prints are being drawn up, all they need is your okay and construction will start." Fury tells her.

"I want the original. The one Tony designed." She says. "With a special design of my choice in one of the walls." Maybe Fury was having a sick day.

Fury nods. "I can arrange that."

"Can you tell me why I'm here now?" She asks.

"I told you. You were spoken highly of by six out of six of the original Avengers as well as the add-ons made by Tony." He tells her.

It didn't answer her question. Fury walks over to her, pulling a key out of his pocket. He unlocked the chains, letting her leg go. "I need your help, but you knew that already."

She nods. "Figured it out."

"You always were the smart one. Your friend may have gotten himself into some trouble." Fury starts.

"What did Sam do now?" Riss asks.

Fury shakes his head. "Parker." He tells her. Panic sets into Carissa.

"Is Peter okay?" She asks. She sat up, worried now. Peter was recklessly stupid, which was worse than being stupid. Once upon a time she made the Peter/Steve comparison. 

"He's fine, just gullible." Fury replies.

"Extremely. What happened?" She asks.

"Quentin Beck happened." Fury answers.

"Am I supposed to know what that means?" Riss asks.

"Have you seen the elemental attacks?" Fury asks her. She shakes her head.

"No. We don't watch the news in our house, we watch I Love Lucy reruns and That 70's Show. I assume that's what Bucky's doing now." She replies. She could just see him sprawled out on their couch. She wishes she were there with him instead of being stuck here.

"Cute." Fury says. "Watch this."

Fury stands, opening a cabinet to reveal a TV. He turns it on, pressing play. A big ass water monster appears on the screen. Carissa see a guy with a green helmet on flying around, who she assumes was the Beck guy Fury had mentioned before. Then she spots Peter. The lack of suit with the party mask over his face was a bit more obvious that if she'd seen his actual face. Sometimes she wonders if he thinks. Recklessly stupid.

"It's water. It's a water monster." She says. How the fuck is that possible?

"Yeah. A water monster." Fury confirms. "There are fire ones, too."

"What the hell is this? How do you even fight that?" Riss asks.

Fury shrugs. "Quentin Beck isn't from our time." He says.

"No." Riss replies. That was too much for her.

"What?" Fury asks.

"I'm not fucking with time anymore, Nick." She says.

Fury nods. "You don't have to. Listen. Beck knows where this goes, he's seen it. It destroyed his world, so he came here to help us."

Carissa makes a face at Fury. "This is the part where Peter's gullibility comes in, I assume. Or is it yours?" Riss knew better that to believe that shit. Changing the past doesn't change the future.

Who the fuck would believe a story like that? Peter. Peter would.

Fury rolls his eyes. "Both. He knew exactly what to manipulate to make his story seem true, but I don't know how he did it. I need your help to find out how he did it before something happens to Peter."

"What do you need me to do?" She asks.

Fury reaches into his jacket as he replies. "Go to Europe with me. Put all that Tony/Natasha training to use." He says, pulling her suit out and slamming it down onto the table. "First, suit up." He orders.

Fury slipped out of the room, leaving her alone to change. She started at the suit before she examined the suit more closely, noticing the material wasn't as shiny as it should've been. This wasn't her suit, it was Natasha's. He'd gotten her what she'd asked Pepper for. Her 2012 suit. She held it up, sniffling. She slipped it on, taking note of the holster on the thigh as well as the belt across it. The shoes to the suit had a two-inch chunky heel at the bottom. She left the top inch of the suit unzipped, just as Natasha had. She notices how it clings to her perfectly. She and 2012 Natasha were the same size, apparently. Nodding, Carissa slips out of the room.

Fury waits across the hall, nodding at her as she walks out. "It suits you." He says, walking down the hallway.

"Thanks." Riss replies, catching up to him. Maria is waiting at the end of the hall.

They get to the end of the hallway and Fury takes a sharp left. She's left with Maria. Before they walk away, Fury calls out again.

"Congratulations, Carissa." He says. She furrows her eyebrows and he motion towards her left hand. 

The simple round diamond sitting on her ring finger shines in the light. She smiles at Fury before walking down the hall with Maria.

They walk out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building onto the landing strip. A jet sat in the middle, waiting for them to board.

The follows Maria, soon joined by Fury.

"Can I call Bucky?" Riss asks.

Fury nods at the girl. "No details. Europe, Peter needs help, water monster. No Beck." Fury tells her. She nods.

As she types the number into her phone, the jet around her turns to dust in front of her very eyes. She screams, not understanding what was happening.

"Carissa, I've been waiting for you." A voice calls to her. She surrounded my mirrors now, nothing but her own reflection showing. "Or should I say we?"

Peter's reflection appeared in the mirror she was looking at.

"Peter!" She yelled, spinning around. She smacked into a mirror, sending her down on her ass as the mirror fell on her. Her hands flew up to catch it, but it never fell on her. When she put her hands down, she sat in a foggy cemetery. She could see the single headstone from where she sat, but she couldn't read it. She didn't want to.

She didn't move from her spot. She panted lightly, looking around her. She was confused.

The ground under her began to move as the headstone came rushing towards her. The wind blew her hair back, pulling it forward as the headstone stopped abruptly in front of her.

Margaret Carter. It was Peggy's grave.

"Maybe if you were good enough, your dad never would've left." The voice tells her. A hand lands on her shoulder. She glances up.

She screams at the figure behind her. Her dad, cheekbones cracked on each side, his suit ripped. He was just bone, staring at her as maggots crawl out of his mouth.

Carissa picks herself up, backing away from Steve. She bumps into someone else, turning to see Natasha. Her skull was cracked open, black widows inside the hallow space. Carissa scrambles away from her. A scream builds in her throat. She was terrified.

Another figure appeared as the two drew closer to her. She recognized the suit from where she was, the silver name tag shining.

Candace.

Carissa couldn't take it. A bloodcurdling scream left the girl's throat. Her hands lit up red and before she could stop herself, a hurl of red flew towards Natasha. She watched as something exploded in front of her. She had no idea that the fuck that was, but she didn't care. She needed out.

When she looked back, Natasha was gone. It worked. She closed her eyes, blasting off more. She heard more explosions. She finally opened her eyes to see broken drones.

She pulled herself up, gasping. She looked around, unsure of where the hell she was. She knew Beck was using illusion tech.

She knew how to stop him.

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