"I was the director of SHIELD: the agency that supervised a whole bunch of the heroes. Padme, Tony, and someone I'd never met named Bucky were under my command. Honestly, that was the strangest part for me, once it hit me. That I was the boss with a capital B. That's never been me. I took orders and I noticed things."

She got up and poured him a cup of tea, holding it out to him, then waited through the silence until she'd taken her seat to speak again. Her tone was one she'd honed over many years, from studying her own mentors: one that brooked no bullshit, but wasnt' accusatory, either. "Y'know, where I come from, there's an acronym for 'fine'. Wanna guess what it is?"