Doll and James

JARVIS, turn off the light

"And did you pursue?" Fury asked the team plus Lana.

"The tunnels went in two opposite directions, pursuing would include splitting up, having no escape route and we knew nothing of the territory. It wasn't worth the risk," Natasha stated.

"That call is up to me, Romanoff," Fury reminded her, leaning forth in his chair.

"No, Natasha is right," Lana agreed from her spot, feeling very much like the odd one out amongst the geniuses and heroes.

"Who are you to question me? You're not even on the team, miss...?"

"Williams, sir," Lana replied quickly, making a few discrete eyes go between her and her father. This was the first time she announced her last name to them.

"But," she continued; "All I was saying was that Natasha-"

"Acted against orders," Fury interrupted.

"Lana was the one who figured out there was tunnels," Bruce informed helpfully.

"How?" Fury asked before receiving the full explanation.

"That was quite clever, miss Williams. Do you know a lot about electrical systems?" he asked.

"Well, no, but-"

"Oh, so you didn't, I don't know, study that? Or strategic warfare?" he continued.

"N-no, business and marketing, but-"

"But you still thought you were qualified to give orders different than the ones given by our trained agents and strategics?" Fury said, raising his eyebrows.

"I..." Lana didn't know what to say. Of course that wasn't what she had thought, but to her it'd seemed logical that since she knew the answer, she shared it.

"You were right. You need to sign in with HR so they can have you sign a contract," Fury stated, almost surprising Lana as much as when McGonagall had offered Harry cookies.

"A - a contract, sir?"

"So you can consult officially. That way, I won't have to report you for listening in on confidential plans and interfere - and your friends won't get in trouble for letting you. Romanoff. Good job finding those tunnels today," He added and she sent him a small nod.

"Good. HR, first thing tomorrow," Fury told Lana before leaving.

"Did I just become a SHIELD agent?" Lana asked the room in a weird voice.

"More like... A SHIELD strategist," Natasha butted in, obviously trying to help her cope with the sudden change.

"Lana?" Tony asked as he sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Hey," she greeted, not looking up from her book.

"How do you feel?" he asked carefully. Lana slowly closed her book before putting it away.

"What's on your mind?" she asked before explaining; "You wouldn't be asking me out of the blue, you're not that sentimental. You care about me, and you'd ask if you saw an opportunity, but you wouldn't just ask out of the blue unless you had something on your mind."

"That's... Pretty insightful, actually," Tony admitted, adding a wrinkle between his eyebrows; "When did you become so insightful?"

"Answer the question, dad. What do you want?" Tony sighed.

"I want you to go back to England," he told honestly.

"Why?"

"Because, Lana! This world is dangerous, and it's... Weird! It's never going to offer you the normal life you deserve. A life you have, and a life you're going to lose if you stay away too long," he explained and leaned back in the couch.