Rose Red (An Avengers Fanfiction)

22

"Is there really nothing else we can do?" Clint asked for the nth time. "We're the fucking Avengers. We should have found her by now. It's been at least a month!"

"I'm not even gonna say it," Steve said.

"Well......we have to call it sooner or later," Tony said as he put his tablet down. "Guys, c'mon. She's gone."

"It might have escaped your attention that we lost someone under our watch." Steve snapped at Tony. In a few strides he was face to face with him, staring into his eyes. "We lost Maya and we haven't been able to find her at all. Just because you two didn't get along doesn't mean that you can just write her off as MIA or worse."

"You're taking this personally, Mr. Rogers." Vision said.

"Oh?" Bucky asked. "In case you haven't noticed she was kidnapped! God only knows what happened to her and what they might be doing to her. Damn right we're gonna take this seriously."

"Listen, you two. No disrespect to her (well, maybe a little) but you--any of you-- don't know anything about her. Her past is a shadier than Queens and she has abilities that she failed to completely mention." Tony held up a file, on it was the name Rose Red written in bold black letters. He placed it down on the table sliding it over to Steve.

Steve didn't break eye contact with Tony but Natasha reached out, opening up the files. Her eyes skimmed through the papers. Field reports, body counts, photographs.

It was all right there.

She'd seen bloodier ledgers. Hers was practically gushing red, this was nothing compared to hers but she did know how it felt to always look at your hands and see nothing but that vivid color of crimson.

"We know." Natasha said. "You showed us these. Why even bother showing it to us again?"

"I know that you know but to make my point even more clear, I'm going to show you her mugshot. FRIDAY."

"Of course, sir."

In the middle of the room, the picture showed up. It was the mug shot of a much younger Maya, battered and bruised but still very much alive. She glared into the camera with ferociousness, the life gone from her eyes. There were even fresh bloodstains on her face that stood out against her skin. The two very familiar bracelets glinted dimly against her wrists.

"This proves my theory right."

"Pray do tell. What would that theory be, Stark?" Wanda asked sarcastically. "Were Pietro and I not the same as her?"

She didn't like the way that Tony was presenting himself. He seemed more nasty and plain out arrogant than usual. This wasn't how Stark acted, this was much worse. This was just cruel and borderline mean.

"That true but this proves it. Maya can't be trusted," he said with a finality in his tone. "So is this enough information to hunt her down and send her back?" He turned to look at Steve who frowned in disdain, trying to deny Tony's logic. "Or are we gonna preach and sing about how she might be innocent? Because she clearly isn't.""

The air was tense in that room, you could cut it with a knife and use it as a gag gift.

Steve and Tony were once again at odds with each other about this, bringing the team itself down with them. The room had never been more divided.