Agent Staves; Avengers Assemble [BOOK 1/?]

XIV - a friend and a musty bitch

"Rebellious." Regina smirked as the jet became airborne. "We're rubbing off on you, Cap, whether you like it or not." He scoffed a small laugh, shaking his head as he sat down, Natasha moving to stand beside Regina.

"You sure you're okay to be out here, Staves?" She asked, looking down at the girl with slight regret. She shouldn't have let Regina come. None of them should have. But they'd rather bring her along themselves so she's more compliant to orders than her take charge herself. It had happened before, and it wasn't a memory they really wanted to bring back up. "You took a pretty massive hit. And you're still angry about Fury. It isn't like you've never lost your nerve on a mission."

"I won't." Regina assured her. "Not this time. If it's going to be my last with S.H.I.E.L.D, I might as well make it a good one, right? After this, I don't know." She shrugged, leaning back. "I go to some cushy, most likely fully bugged house. Go to school for once, or get homeschooled - whichever - be a kid or some bullshit. Probably see my friend in person again, specifically to piss Fury off."

Natasha scoffed a small laugh. "That friend you struck the deal for? That might be your dumbest idea yet."

"The friend you struck a deal for? For their protection?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Regina nodded. "Known him since I was seven years old, been thick as thieves ever since. Quite literally. I wasn't the only one there when the bomb went off, Cap. I never worked alone. I was just the only one to get caught. And I'm keeping it that way." She added certainly. Off-the-grid communications had never ceased between the two, and sometimes Regina thought that maybe Natasha or Clint suspected it, but they'd never treated it as an issue.

"Why haven't you ever just brought him in? Got him to go straight like we have?" Natasha asked. She'd been wondering it a while, Regina knew, but she had never asked. She didn't know if it was the spy being considerate or just not caring so much, really. Regina cracked a smile, crossing her arms. "I never wanted to go straight, Nat. He doesn't either. Being under S.H.I.E.L.Ds big fat thumb is about as fun as fighting Loki was." She shook her head. "I couldn't get out, but that doesn't mean I'm going to drag him in either." She shrugged. "How far outare we now?"

"Won't be long now." Clint said. "But it looks like the portals opened. We've got one hell of a fight ahead of us."

"That musty bitch can give me the best he's got."

"He did., Miss Staves. You were unconcious for some hours, and you've lost the feeling in parts of your left hand-"

Regina groaned at the AI. "Shut up, Teri." She interrupted. "If you're going to make snarky comments this entire time, I swear on all I've got that I will disable you." She threatened,  fully aware of the ridiculousness of threatening a disembodied AI that nobody else could hear.

"We're here." Natasha said, not looking nearly as concerned by it as Steve did. "And it's messy. Staves, you able to do a jump? We need someone on the ground. Now."

Regina grinned, giving Natasha a mock salute. "On it like a car bonnet." She said, pulling the hood up.

"Never say that to me again."

Regina snorted, smirking at the woman. "What are you going to do? Retire me?"