Hush

SEVEN

Tony had shut Ruby and Peter in one of the many bedrooms of the Avengers compound. It was a long, silver building with more windows than it did walls and the hallways echoed with footsteps now that there was half the amount of people there should be.

Ruby had never been a big fan of the Avengers. She had nothing against them, but she also never saw the fantastical in them. Peter, however, had fought with and against the Avengers. At fifteen years old, fighting the world's best defenders over a political conflict was not your average weekend trip and, yet, Tony Stark figured there was no better person to fight Captain America than Spiderman. Peter ran through the Avengers, telling her who was still around and who was a fugitive of the law.

She was disappointed to hear that Black Widow, the one Avenger she had every given any notice, was among those on the run.

It was a nice distraction, hearing tales of men with metal arms and women with red magic. But, through the night and day they were left alone, there was a constant nagging at the back of Ruby's mind. In the middle of the night she could hear the feedback of her hearing aid ringing through her mind and somewhere in the distance- outside the window, she could swear- was her father's voice yelling her name.

It was disjointed, the same noise she made whenever she tried to hum under her breath. The pluck of an untuned guitar string, a cat mewling through its final breaths. And no matter how hard she pressed her pillow against her ear or silenced her hearing aid, she could still hear him.

Peter never approached her about it, but he could hear her each night in the adjacent room, for what she thought was quiet whimpering and crying rattled his door.

He had no idea how to comfort someone like her.

An entire day had passed before the compound's AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y Peter had called her, summoned the two teenagers to a conference room.

In it sat Director Nick Fury, Tony Stark, Inspector Zoe Ness and his sister, Agent Auburn Stark. Seeing them all together now struck a chord somewhere inside Ruby and she didn't feel like talking to them, she couldn't. Peter, however, was quick to spit out a flurry of apologies and excuses to the point where Zoe looked exhausted with his energy. As the Inspector zoned out the boy, she zeroed in on Ruby.

"Ruby," she spoke with such authority Peter fell silent, everyone looked at her, "you're being awfully quiet." The teenager shrugged.

"I have nothing to say."

"Oh, really?" Director Fury spoke up now, pushing to his feet and bracing his hands on the table. Auburn rubbed at her brow and spoke his name under her breath which went unnoticed. "Because I have the 105th blowing up my phone wanting to know why alien tech is still in the hands of regular men, and why one of those men seems to be dead." Ruby resolved into a fish-like state. She wriggled down in her seat, mouth opening and closing with nothing to say. "I need an explanation, Radcliffe, because the Chief is knocking on your mother's door right now to tell her that her husband is dead and they have no idea how it happened."

"Nick!" Everyone looked up but Ruby, Auburn was standing now, hands braced on the table akin to her Director. "You seem to be forgetting that SHIELD doesn't actually exist anymore and the NYPD only entertains your version of it for the sake of handling the likes of vigilantes. And you're in no place to reprimand a child for the actions of adults." She looked at Ruby, her eyes softening, and leaned forward to grasp the girl's hand. "Ruby, we don't want a full account of what happened," Nick opened his mouth but was silenced by one look, "but we need to know your version and what to tell your mom."

It was silent, Ruby couldn't think around the ringing and water rushed into her ears. She shook her head, feeling as though she might cry again but trying her best to hold it together around these... heroes.