★彡[ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴛ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ]彡★

Isabelle sat on the bench to wait for the bus, too bothered to walk all the way to her apartment. Her backpack rested at her side. She rolled her shoulder, wincing at the ache from carrying the heavy load of books.

She was glad that she was dismissed early for the day and had no more classes. It was harder to handle them with all of them constantly talking about the Avengers. Yet, it was always hard enough to pay attention in class either way.

The next few days dragged on in pretty much the same way. It was dull and nerve-wracking at the same time. A combination that Isabelle did not like. Especially now that five Avengers were crashing at her place.

Yelena, Kate, Peter and Kamala pretty much felt at place since they'd crashed at her place multiple times over the past couple of months, but she was yet to still bond with America who was quite awkward and shy whenever Isabelle approached her.

Those five were on Isabelle's mind more often than she'd like to admit, and she hated that in a way because of how much she was distracted by them. Letting out a sigh, she caught a glimpse of a dark, blurry picture of the explosion on a newspaper that had been left on the bus stop's bench.

She'd seen the article earlier, the media still trying to keep the spotlight on the fiasco, especially since anything related to the Avengers sold really well.

She was looking forward to getting home and cooking something to eat, hopefully, help her feel better. What she was not looking forward to was all the study work she needed to do. With a sigh, she stretched forward and looked down the street, hoping to see the bus coming. 

And then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Isabelle didn't jump. She didn't. Whoever had managed to sneak up on her, which wasn't really as hard as she liked to think, was heard snickering behind her at her reaction. 

Isabelle wasn't nearly half as mad at being startled as she was at seeing who was to blame for that.

"Hey Izzy," Kate greeted, grinning at her beside Yelena, Peter, Kamala and America, all five of them.

It was a testament to how much Isabelle hadn't expected to see those five that she could only stare. They all were dressed in their 'disguises', which consisted of caps that covered most of their faces and casual clothes, not wanting to attract any attention towards them.

But if Isabelle were being honest, the Avengers' typical undercover outfits really did not help at all. As if wearing a cap would make you a completely different person. She honestly didn't understand the logic behind it. It was really dumb.

"What the hell? What are you guys doing here?" Isabelle asked. 

"Well, we were bored and decided to come find you," Kamala replied, shrugging.

"You all are injured," Isabelle reminded them before turning to Yelena. "And you got shot."

"Yeah, I did," Yelena said slowly, raising an eyebrow. "You were there, I was there. Remember?" 

Isabelle shot her a glare. "Did you really go back out just a few days after you got shot?" 

Yelena shrugged. "Yeah, but I wasn't hurt too badly."

Isabelle strongly disagreed, but the five of them seemed to think that was a good enough excuse. There was a moment of silence between the group during which the only sound was the occasional cars driving past them.

"So you're all feeling better?" Isabelle asked after a moment.

"Yep," Kate answered cheerily, digging her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Oh, good," Isabelle said, flashing them a smile.

And then she kicked Kate and Kamala, the two closest to her,  in the shins, really roughly, with both of them too surprised to react.

"Ow! What the hell?" The two rubbed their leg, trying to ease the pain. 

Peter and Yelena both blinked, almost laughing before they both also yelped when Isabelle slapped the back of their heads, not bothering to attack America too, before ignoring them all and walking away from them, deciding she'd much rather walk after all. 

Even if she lived like twelve blocks away.

"Hey! Wait up!" They called out, jogging after Isabelle who continued to ignore them.

It didn't take long for them to catch up to Isabelle. Soon, they were walking next to her and behind her, who was still doing her best to not look at them.

"So, why exactly are you mad at us?" Yelena asked a few moments later, not really surprised when she didn't get a response.

"That was mean, making an injured person run like that." Kamala pouted. 

"Come on. At least say something," Kate said.

"I'm not talking to you guys," Isabelle stated impassively. 

"But you just did." Peter couldn't help but point out. 

Isabelle turned to the web-slinging hero with a glare who made a zipping mouth gesture. "Okay, shutting up."

"If you're mad, you should just say so," Yelena said while Isabelle turned around to glare at them. 

"I'm not mad. Why would I be mad? Just because you reckless idiots were stupid enough to go back out with all that's happened like it's nothing. Well, I'm not mad at all," Isabelle snapped, her frustration finally too strong to hold back. 

"You guys can go out and die if you want, see if I care. And don't even think about coming back to me when you get shot again because it will be useless!" She finished with a frown, crossing her arms.

They all just stared at her for a while, seemingly shocked at the dark-haired female's outburst. And then Kate, Kamala and Peter laughed, which was more like they snorted while trying not to laugh while Yelena and America tried their best not to smile.

Either way, Isabelle was deeply offended. "What is so funny?" 

Yelena just shook her head, smiling in a way that looked like there was more than amusement hiding behind it, and a bit of regret. "We just didn't know you were worried so much."

The look Isabelle gave Yelena very clearly told her otherwise. But of course, they knew better.

"Look, we're sorry for making you worry, you know. The reason we came to you was because we wanted to take you out for dinner or arcade or something as an appreciation for letting us stay at your place and taking care of us," Kate admitted.

"You reckless idiots really are dumbasses, you know that?" Isabelle huffed out, feeling her anger draining.

The five found themselves smirking at her statement. "So is that a yes?"

"I hate you all so much."