Reflecting Words

Dawson stepped into the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters and tried not to stare at everything around her. The building was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. It was styled in a modern way and the latest advancements in technology were all around.

“Dawson, get a hold of yourself. You’re a reporter for The Times and must not seem fazed by any of this,” Dawson softly scolded herself.

Dawson couldn’t help but be excited though. She was on her way to where no other reporter had ever been before. Steve Rogers refused to give personal interviews to any media outlets but Dawson refused to take no for an answer. She was going to find out about the man behind Captain America and she was going to earn a promotion for it.

“Excuse me, Miss? May I help you,” a secretary said as she looked expectantly at Dawson.

“Oh I’m sorry. Hi, my name is Dawson Brooks and I have an appointment with Miss Romanoff.”

“Okay Miss Brooks. Please have a seat and I’ll tell Miss Romanoff you’re here.”

Dawson smiled at the secretary before taking seat being careful not to touch anything. Many of the gadgets around her looked dangerous and she didn’t want to be the cause of an explosion or something else equally as dangerous.

“Dawson, you made it.”

Dawson looked up and saw Natasha looking at her with a smirk on her face.

“Of course I made it. I wouldn’t miss the chance for my potential big break,” Dawson said as she stood up and walked towards Natasha.

“Don’t get your hopes up yet, D. I briefly ran the idea for an interview past Steve yesterday and he said no but we can try again. Until we find him would you like a tour of headquarters?”

“That’d be great,” Dawson said as she followed Natasha further into the building.

Natasha led Dawson around the headquarters and, even though she tried not to seem fazed, Dawson was amazed by everything. There were rooms for practicing and fine tuning skills, rooms with computers and various other technologies, and then rooms that looked like living spaces.

“Do you guys sleep here?” Dawson asked as they passed a room with a bed in it.

“Sometimes,” Natasha said. “If we’re waiting on a call that we think is coming soon or if we just need to recharge for a bit we stay here for a while.”

“Everything in here is just so amazing. I knew it’d be high tech but I never dreamed it would be like this,” Dawson said in awe.

“We need the best if we’re going to save people,” A new voice said.

Dawson turned around to see a large and intimidating man with an eye patch standing behind her.

“Nick, this is Dawson Brooks, one of my close friends,” Natasha said as she began introducing the two. “Dawson, this is Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Pleased to meet you Mr. Fury,” Dawson said as she reached out to shake Nick’s hand.

“Please call me Nick, Ms. Brooks. You look familiar. Have I met you before?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“Do I by any chance know your parents?”

Dawson slightly stiffened at this question but she smiled and said, “My parents died when I was younger so probably not.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry, Miss Brooks,” Nick apologized.

“It’s fine; you didn’t know,” Dawson said before changing the subject. “I must say, Nick, that I’m very impressed with your building and everything you’ve done to rebuild The Avengers.”

“Why thank you. I take it you know about the history of The Avengers?”

“I know a bit. I’m a reporter for The Times and did a bit of research on The Avengers when I heard you were rebuilding them. I like to be prepared for anything and obtain as much knowledge as possible on important subjects.”

“Smart girl,” Nick nodded his head in approval. “So you’re the reporter who is trying to interview Steve. When Natasha said she had someone who wanted to interview Steve I was expecting a middle aged man, not someone as young and beautiful as you. You must be very talented to already be working for The Times at your age.”

“Thank you,” Dawson blushed. “Honestly, I’m extremely driven.”

“Well that will come in handy with Steve. I’m afraid the Captain isn’t too thrilled with the idea of giving an interview, especially one about his personal life, and so far has been refusing to talk to you.”

“You would refuse to talk to reporters also, Nick, if you knew they only wanted gossip. I refuse to be part of some tabloid piece,” Steve Rogers said as he walked out of one of the rooms and up to the trio.

“With all due respect Mr. Rogers, The Times isn’t a tabloid; it’s a highly respectable newspaper,” Dawson calmly argued. “Hi, I’m Dawson Brooks.”

“Steve Rogers aka Captain America,” Steve said, introducing himself. “And I’m going to have to disagree, Miss Brooks. To me any piece that touches on the personal life of someone is a tabloid piece.”

“I’m going for more of the biography angle. The people of America are curious to know more about you. You do have a pretty interesting story.”

“You call it a biography I call it gossip. It looks like we’ll just have to agree to disagree, Miss Brooks.”

“So I take it that you’re still refusing to sit down for an interview with me?”

“That would be correct,” Steve nodded.

“Why don’t you just sit down and talk to me for a few minutes? I won’t take notes or record anything and then after that you can decide if you want to do an interview for real,” Dawson suggested.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to. I said I wasn’t going to sit down for a personal interview and I stand firmly by that statement.”

“I’m trying to compromise with you!” Dawson exclaimed as her anger began to get the best of her.

Steve gave a sarcastic chuckle. “I understand that Miss Brooks but I’m Captain America…I don’t compromise.”

Dawson glared after Steve as he walked away. She knew it would be difficult to convince him to do an interview but she never thought he’d flat out refuse. If she wasn’t in the presence of Nick and Natasha she would have stomped her foot and thrown a short fit but she kept a professional demeanor in front of the two of them.

“I told you it was going to be a long shot,” Natasha said as she gave Dawson a pitying look.

“Oh don’t worry, I haven’t given up yet,” Dawson replied. “I’ll convince him one way or another.”

Dawson’s drive and refusal to give up would be the downfall of them all.