Turn

2- Andra Matar

"No! Please don't kill me!" I cried desperately. "No, no, no, no- ahh..."
"Game Over" flashed across the screen, blinking repeatedly, it's sole purpose to mock me and remind me of my failure.

The irony was loud and clear. I spent every day getting shot at as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and on my days off, I played video games where I got shot at. "America's favorite pastime." I sighed, setting down the controller, and shifting on the worn-down couch.

Nobody, of course, replied. I was alone in the shared apartment. S.H.I.E.L.D. was a full-time vocation, days of rest at personal request only. Everyone who helped pay the rent was doing the same thing as I- having guns fired at them, through, without the protection of virtuality, and the smarter of the group inventing the guns.

I was smart as well- I had skipped a grade, and there weren't too many dumb S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, at least not for long. However, these were the people who graduated five years early, and I wasn't one of them.

I saw my phone screen light up an instant before it started to ring. I cringed, knowing that if the caller turned out to be who I suspected it was, I would be very unhappy.

The wave of relief washed over me when I saw "Dad". I answered, swiping across the screen, ignoring the icon reminding me of several missed calls.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Andra."

"Hi, Dad." I chorused, a smile dashing across my face. "You scared me. I thought you were Mom calling. For the third time."

"Well, let me assure you, I am definitely not your mother. But I am doing this because of her."

I suppressed a groan. "I was... napping?" I tried.

Laugher was heard at the other end of the line. "Andra Matar, you may be an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but we all know you cannot lie to your old man. Besides, it's your mother who needs the excuse."

I scratched my forehead. "Right."
"You can only avoid your mother for so long, Andie. This is serious. It's circling back to me now. Believe me, if I have to talk with Kendra one more time, I'll explode."

"Message received. I'll give her a- do I have to?" I complained.

"Yes, Andie. Do it before Pepper calls you too." I didn't bother hiding the groan that time, the metion of my half-sibling too much.

"Love you, Agent 55."

"Love you too, Dad." He ended the call. I stared down at the black screen, dreading the inevitable lecture I was about to receive.

I dialed anyway.

"Andra Potts!" My mother snapped.

"Hiii, Mom." I cringed at the use of my real last name.

"So what's the excuse this time? Andra Jennifer, I am your mother. I am your extremely worried mother who has a daughter that risks her neck each day and can't even call back."

I closed my eyes, listening to the rapid-fire scolding, knowing a headache was sure to come on. This could go on for hours. There was no escaping the wrath of my mom. No wonder she and my father were never officially together. One night, and I can barely believe he put up with her that long.

Kendra was just getting warmed up.

"But you know who you do have time for? Your father. So you only have two worried parents instead of four. Is it only worth half the effort? I carried you inside me for nine months and this is how you repay me?"

I did my best to get a word in. "Dad raised me for sixteen years, so yes, I communicate with his part of the family. And if I die, Mom, I'll call and let you know."

A small smile crossed my lips as I played with my raven black hair, the conversation not taking up half my of attention. This was completely normal, and by now, I was an expert at these rebukes.

Always a price to be paid with sassing my mother. She would probably never let this go, so I was surprised when she replied after a moment of painful silence.

"I'm going to assume you regret that and pretend it never happened. In the future you will call me back, okay? This isn't optional. I don't care if you're and agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., you're still my 19 year-old daughter."

Briefly, I wondered if I could simply get off with a measly apology and begging for forgiveness, but this time I was in too deep. "Does Pepper get this?" I demanded.

Annoyed, Kendra fumed. I didn't need to be there to feel her anger- her expression was easily imaginable- lips pursed, eyes narrow. Worse than the Hulk, my father liked to joke.

"No." She said flatly. "Because she's years older and hasn't been shot five times."

My mouth dropped open a little. "Four. Four times, in the gut, harmless." I protested.

"You can't even hear yourself. 'I only got shot four times'. Goodness."

"On the contrary, I do remember saying that." I said.

There was, naturally, more.

"And do you have an Avenger as a boyfriend? I think not."

I rubbed my invisible beard thoughtfully. "I hear Captain America's single." I mused. "and that's incredibly sexist. Maybe I'm dating Romanoff."

She sighed. "Mom, Pepper fell 200 feet to a firey explosion while Tony Stark watched."

"And Pepper called and told me herself. Not a story on the TV three days after she came home from the hospital."

I acted like I couldn't hear her statement. "I could take Stark. All I'd have to do is get him drunk. Shouldn't be too hard, considering he loves his bottle."

Mom was unimpressed. "Like you could defeat Tony."

I gagged. "Please never call him that. And I could do it. I'll prove it. Stark Tower. Tonight. Midnight. I'm gonna kill him."

"You are absurd." Mother stated.

Anger burned in my stomach. Kendra could never take me seriously. Nor had she seen me in action. To her, I was just a fluke in her otherwise perfect life. I hadn't lived with her for a day, save for the summers I visited. It was a shame. Michigan in the summer was beautiful. And I went to New York.

"Can we just do the thing where I apologize and you pretend you actually care?" I spit. "Because Call of Duty is, well, calling."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Andra. This type of behavior is unacceptable."

"That makes two of us. And only people who raised me get to tell me what to do."

"Andra, I love you-."

"Bye, Mom." I said, hanging up abruptly.

I leaned back into the couch cushions, groaning again and running my finger through my hair frustratedly. Family was ridiculously complicated. Family was a giant mess and I was smack right in the middle of it.

So much for a relaxing day off.
***
And... cut!
Hello, fellow agents! I am so excited to have this wonderful opportunity to write with Animalsandadjectives . I think its going to be a lot of fun.
This chapter was written by jordieblob16 .
I hope you enjoyed it!
-Jordie