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"I'm quitting."
The occupants of the control room looked up in various states of shocK. Tabby could barely be brought to look up from her phone's keyboard. Monica brought out some righteous indignation from the bottomless supply she kept somewhere in her heart, but Aaron didn't even glance up from his cards.
"Go fish." He deadpanned. The Captain stuttered up at Elsa from his seat on a crate, cards forgotten.
Tabby sighed and snapped her phone shut, sliding it into her pocket. "Yo, guys. Don't worry, I totally got this." She strode forward and grabbed the redhead's elbow, steering her into the hallway and away from prying ears.
"Listen. Elsa." Tabby slapped a hand onto the redhead's shoulder despite the distasteful look it received. "I hate to break it to you, right? But you're a smarty Brit, I'm surprised you didn't notice if yourself." She leant forward, bringing a hand to cover her mouth and allow her to whisper conspiratorially. "But you know? We say that. A lot."
Elsa tossed her head and spun on her three inch heels, making for the exit. "True, but I mean it. There's nothing for me here. I could be out kicking out the teeth of great hulking Hyenabogs right now-"
"A whole pack of those Hyenadogs attacked here last week! Remember, clanky accidentally opened a portal to their universe again. You smashed enough jaws to last you at least a month, okay." Tabby tilted her head to the side, a look of disbelief plastered to her face. "You wanna know what I think?"
"No, luv, I don't." Elsa reached down to make sure her firearms were securely in place. "And it's Hyenabogs."
The blond woman waved a hand flippantly. "Whatever. My point was! Look, we've been on this stupid floating island for almost a year, you know? And it's fun and it's easy and you're totally too good for that, right? You're all fired up with your big words and your resignations but really you're just afraid you're gonna get soft." Tabby's mouth was like a runaway train – once it hit a certain speed, there was no stopping it. "Which is totally fine, okay! Captain would totally have that too, except he's always been soft. Aaron's too busy plotting out fleshy demise to care, and Monica flies off all the time to keep her instincts sharp or something. But she's totally iffy on it too. We don't get enough work done up here. But get this!" She raised an index finger to emphasize that here it comes, this is it! The point, the pearl of wisdom, the revelation!
"That's like, way all right."
As expected, Elsa was dumbstruck. Not quite according to plan was the fact that she couldn't even parse what had been said. "I'm sorry darling, but you're going to have to go over that again. Preferably in English."
A sigh. "I am speaking English! It's not like it's my fault if your first language is British!"
"Tabby. Just reiterate, please. None of this 'trying to be clever' business."
"What I'm saying is that it's totally okay to get soft. At least, a little soft. I mean, come on!" She planted her hands on her hips as a grin split her face. "We kick ass, right?"
Elsa couldn't help but snicker. "You'll find no argument with me, there. Though Captain could certainly do more kicking and less assing."
"Okay, except for Captain sometimes. But the point is that we're awesome." There was the index again, to show that there was another gem on the way. "So, if we're all kickass superheros, why shouldn't we get a few months off, right? I mean, we saved America. A lot. Then the world. We totally deserve a vacation."
"That sounds an awful lot like laziness." Elsa said pointedly. Her words were caustic, but her tone was inching towards jovial. As close to jovial as she ever got, of course.
Tabby barked a laugh in reply. "Well, sure. It's pretty lazy, too. But you've gotta admit, I still have a point, right?" She turned her head away slightly, so that she could glance at Elsa with maximum slyness. "One of us does this every few weeks, in case you like, hadn't noticed. Last time it was Monica with that 'Saving starving children' thing, and before that it was Aaron trying to get in with SHIELD and Mrs… Ms? Mz? Whatever. That Marvel chick. We all come crawling back, and you would too."
"So let me get this straight." Elsa shifted her weight to the other hip, still looking at Tabby appraisingly. "I should just forget about a fantastic job offer because it's more 'relaxing' here, and I'd just end up coming back anyway?"
She couldn't even be surprised when Tabby clapped with delight. "Oh, you totally got it! I knew you spoke real English."
Elsa held back the urge to sigh again. "Tabby, there's only one kind of English. We all-"
She was interrupted by a crash and a the roar of a distant explosion. Followed shortly by a very different kind of roar. Not the rush of displaced air, but something organic and alive and very, very angry.
"To your stations, people!" Monica's sharp 'You'd better believe I'm in charge' voice rang out through the halls. Tabby waltzed back to the control room without glancing back at the redhead, exuding a confidence that she'd be followed.
"We've got an Allosaurus with rocket legs trying to stomp out most of Sector 14." Aaron called from his customary place at the controls. "Looks like a few scattered oviraptors are hovering around it, too. They, however, lack the fleshy deities' gift of flight. Or jet feet."
The Captain groaned and brought a hand to his forehead. "It's always dinosaurs, isn't it? Why is it always dinosaurs? Why can't it ever be cute death-puppies or something?"
"Could you kick an adorable death-puppy?" Ask Elsa, stepping up behind him. "All right, don't answer that. You probably could."
"So could you." Monica shot back before Captain could get a word in. "I thought you were bailing on us. What happened, mm?"
Elsa just smirked and hoisted the shotgun over her shoulder. "I decided I needed a good rest."
The Captain seemed almost distraught at this. "This is what you call a rest?"
Tabby shrugged and started to explain, but Monica cut her off as well. "Alright people, get your stupid jetpacks on and let's get out there. Go, go, go, we have dinosaur tail to kick! This is what we do, folks!"
She made eye contact with Elsa, pulling on her jetpack. "And will continue to do, no less."
"Bloody hell, woman, it's almost as though you're trying to make us sound like we can stand each other."