project janus, 𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴¹

six

"Hello, Agent Starr. Enjoy yourself?"

Eli jumped into action as soon as the Captain spoke. "Captain Rogers! How are--"

"Cut the bullshit."

Oh shit.

"--Yup, okay, got it." Eli shut up as Captain Rogers stepped aside, motioning for her to enter the elevator. She was reluctant to do so, but she stepped in.

(But not because he wanted her to.)

When the elevator door dinged and the doors opened once more, Eli waited for Rogers to get out first, but he didn't.

"You go," he insisted. "I'll walk behind you. Or should I say walk behind me?"

"Nope, the first one was fine." Eli shot a wide smirk his way. She knew he was going to take her to Director Fury--SHIELD's glorified principal's office--but she still couldn't help but smirk. After all, even if her plan had only been semi-successfully pulled off one time, it had still been pulled off. Eli had still saved people that day, and if she got blacklisted for that, that was fine. She was okay with whatever was coming her way--because she'd saved lives. And that was what was really important to her.

Director Fury's office required special clearance for anyone who wanted to enter--but not today, it seemed. Because as soon as Rogers and Eli approached, the recognition pad lit up green, and the doors to the office slid open.

Fury was standing behind his desk (which was funny, because Eli remembered right then that she didn't think she'd ever seen him sit behind it) when they stepped in, and his one good eye was focused on Eli herself. "Agent Starr," he said firmly. "It's been a while since I've seen you in here."

"The Elegy Corner debrief wasn't exactly a party, sir."

Fury didn't crack a smile, which was fine, because Eli really hadn't expected him to. She'd never seen Fury smile.

(Had anybody?)

"I suppose it wasn't. Sit down, Agent Starr. Captain Rogers." Both agents did as Fury said before Fury began talking again. "Agent Starr, I was informed today by an employee that Captain Steve Rogers had called in to take a day off--do you know anything about this?"

"I'm afraid I don't, sir. Have you asked Captain Rogers about it?"

"I did, actually. I talked to Rogers when he showed up for work earlier today, and he informed me that he had never made that particular phone call. Now, how would that be true?"

Dammit. Eli was going to kill Sabine--that was her one part of the plan! She was supposed to call Rogers and tell him that they didn't need him at work that day, because Sabine's voice was the only one that Rogers didn't know yet. Had she forgotten? She must have.

Sabine had never really been that reliable, in all honesty. As Laurel's twin, she tried so hard to be the opposite of her sister. Eliyah guessed she had succeeded in that regard. A field agent instead of a scientist, a short-haired, blonde menace instead of a long-haired, brunette quirk. In all regards, and by all means, Laurel and Sabine were polar opposites.

(But they never saw each other that much, anyway, so Eliyah supposed that it didn't really matter.)

"I'm not sure, Director Fury."

"Well, that's the thing, Starr. I'm sure how it happened. I thought about it, and there's only one person in this organization who would have been able to make that call--one person who can change their voice, appearance, and anything else about themselves. And that person is you."