Friends to the End: The One after Vegas
Oct. 21st, 2013 02:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16Title: Friends to the End: The One after Vegas
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: The wonderful mash-up of Friends and Avengers
Character/Pairing(s): Clint/Jessica Drew, Jessica Drew/Vange Whedon, Tony/Pepper, Phil/Clint, Clint/Natasha, Clint/?, Natasha/?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some violence, medical talk and mentions of rape, suicide and depression
Spoilers: Pepper and Phil discuss the end of Iron Man 3 so skip the last scene between the two of them if this applies to you.
Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue from Clint and Kate is actually taken from Matt Fraction although I added the Merida bit.
Summary: It's the aftermath of Las Vegas; Bobbi and Clint have surprising news, Thor won't accept what anyone tells him and is Kate Bishop joining the Avengers?
Beta: HUGE Thanks to lavendergaia and Valoscope and i_llbedammned
The One after Vegas
November 23, 2017
A golf tournament played on the television behind the bar as Phil Coulson waited for Jessica Jones to show up. It was a hotel adjacent to the one they nearly destroyed the day before. The bartender had that look like she had asked to work on Thanksgiving. He'd seen that expression before too many times from people with no one waiting for them at home.
"I was worried you wouldn't have waited. We had a video call with Daniella and I...I hate having to leave her like that. It confused her to see us but not be able to touch us," Jessica explained as she walked up. He nodded.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Phil asked.
"Kate Bishop, what does SHIELD plan to do with her?" Jessica answered with her own question.
"Hopefully, a debriefing will be all that's needed. We'll monitor her and make sure there are no lasting side effects," he explained. It didn't even sound believable to his own ears. He hadn't decided the best course of action for someone who'd suffered abuse and was a little too excited at being in a major battle.
"She took out some of those drones with us and she used Hawkeye's bow. I've never seen anyone else use his bow," she argued.
"I don't want to bring a twelve-"
"Thirteen," Jessica corrected.
"A thirteen year old in as an asset. It's not right," Phil argued. A man sat down at the other end of the bar. Ten in the morning and he'd already ready reeked from alcohol.
Welcome to Vegas, Phil thought.
"Peter wasn't much older. Luke was fourteen and why did Aunt May make you bring in Peter in the first place?" she asked. It had been one of those nights that Phil never cared to repeat. May had shown up at his apartment a couple of hours before his alarm was set to go off. She'd been in tears over her revelation of Peter's other identity and she'd begged him for help.
"May was concerned that Peter was on the path to getting himself killed and needed someone to show him how to work together with others who could watch his back," Phil spoke.
"Right, and she'll be the same way, I know it. If we do nothing, her death will be on all of us," she argued.
"How about me and you go to the back?!" the other patron yelled loudly at the bartender who was pretending he wasn't there.
Phil hated this situation with Kate. There weren't any good outcomes from this.
"I'll have Romanoff take her back to New York. She can debrief and assess her like she's done with Stark and everyone else. That's all I'm going to promise for now," Phil told her.
"Thank you," she acknowledged.
"Come on, this is Vegas. All women are whores. Just give it to me!" the guy exclaimed.
"Jones, distract the bartender a moment. Her name's Milli and she isn't having the best day," Phil told her. As Jones did as he asked, he applied pressure to a few key points on the belligerent man so he fell limp in his arms. When Phil let go, the unconscious body fell with a thud on the tile floor, catching the women's attention.
"Guess he couldn't handle his liquor," Phil said with a shrug.
*************************************************************************
Pepper kissed the yellow-eyed baby's cheek and he squealed in delight.
"Who's your favorite aunt? Who's your favorite aunt?" she asked in between kisses.
"You realize that we're going to visit Marie and she's going to ask them the same thing," Amanda pointed out.
"Yes, but Marie didn't carry them in her uterus for nine months," Pepper pointed out and handed over Max so she could take Gracie. Lakhi was sucking on her tail.
"I vas so worried when I heard about the battle yesterday, but you and Tony are okay," Kurt spoke and hugged her. It was still a bit strange sometimes but she loved having a brother.
"Miss Potts, Agent Coulson's plane has departed Las Vegas and is expected at La Guardia in four hours," JARVIS announced.
"Thank you, JARVIS," she said while watching the babies. They looked around for where the new voice was coming from. The adults laughed.
"Hi Lakhi!" Tony said, picking her up. He threw her in the air which the other two enjoyed. However, Lakhi didn't like the surprise and disappeared with a black mist.
"What'd I do?" Tony asked with a frown.
"She's fine," Amanda said. Pepper could tell she was used to this.
"Lakhi, come out now!" Kurt called. With a pop, she appeared halfway across the room on the couch.
"Her new favorite trick," Amanda explained. Pepper liked this levity especially the distraction from what she wanted to talk to Phil about.
*********************************************************************************
Sif shook off the effects of the Bifrost before checking her surroundings. It was the lobby of Avengers Tower. She made her way for the closest elevator.
"Lady Sif, how may I help you today?" asked the mechanical voice.
"JARVIS, take me to Thor," she requested.
"Yes, Lady Sif. He's on the medical floor. I trust you are aware of his condition and that of Mr. Loki?" JARVIS asked.
"No, I was commanded to come by the queen. She told me nothing of the reason," she explained.
"Both men were in a battle yesterday in Las Vegas. Mr. Loki has been declared dead by SHIELD from his injuries. Mr. Odinson won't leave his side," JARVIS informed her. Her breath caught for a moment at what he'd said. Despite everything, her thoughts turned to when they were all young and she had yet to become a warrior. Her blonde locks flew freely. Only seconds passed before it was tainted by Loki's later deeds. The same blond locks were on the stone floor. Loki was crying from the permanence of his actions. Then, Loki became older with Odin's scepter in his hand.
She frowned.
Hadn't they been through this before? Sif recalled the feast they held to celebrate Loki's life with vivid detail. To be honest, many had celebrated his death more than anything.
Still, despite everything, Thor loved him and if he was distraught then, he had to be inconsolable now.
There was a ding and the doors opened.
"Who are you?" asked a young woman in a white coat.
"I am Lady Sif. Where's Thor?" she asked her.
"Oh...well then, follow me. I'm Simmons. This isn't really my element but Bruce needed an assistant with a high clearance level and there you have it," Simmons rambled as she led Sif through the floor to a private room. She knocked on the door and motioned for Sif to go in.
Sif turned the handle and walked in. Thor didn't even look up. His back was to the door as he held a bandaged hand. The whole body was wrapped. It was unrecognizable. How did they even know it was Loki? It could be another of his tricks.
"Thor?" Sif asked. He looked at her in disbelief. Then, he hurried to her side and gave her a boisterous hug that included being swept off her feet. She gave him a look and he set her down.
"I thought I imagined you," he explained. "Did mother send you?"
Sif nodded. Thor had burns across his face and his hands had lighter gauze. They'd been in battle together. It must be why Thor was positive of the body's identity.
"We should put together the feast and give him the proper ending," she suggested.
"I- I can't," Thor spoke. His voice was soft; a whisper compared to his usual volume. "I can't be without him again. What is Thor without Loki?"
"Perhaps it's for the best. He can have peace from himself," Sif suggested.
"No, the mortals have taught me. Death is never such an easy solution. It always leaves pain behind."
"The only pain from this death will be on you and the queen," she spoke as it seemed to her.
"You say this but I know whose dagger you carry always," Thor retorted. Sif reached into one of her hiding spaces and pulled out the unique weapon.
This dagger had propelled her life from a being a girl of court and leisure into a mistress of battle. It held two curved blades welded into a Bilgesnipe's tooth. Everyone fell for Loki's lies at least once. It was his best talent.
"You mentioned the words of Midgard. They have a belief that when someone does wrong upon you, they are a fool. When that person does wrong upon you a second time, you are the fool," Sif replied. "This reminds me not to let it happen a third time."
"Many of his misdeeds ended up for the best like cutting your hair," he spoke. "Even convincing us to do battle against Jotunheim...it was best that the All-Father cast me out. I was unfit to rule."
While it was progress that Thor was speaking of Loki as dead, the blatant rewriting of history irked her.
"Loki had no love for Asgard anymore. He's denied allegiance for years. When was the last time he called you 'brother' without a sneer?" she asked.
Thor crossed his arms and she saw anger flit across his features.
"No matter what Loki did, he was and will always be my little brother. I have no memories of life before him," he spoke. "And more importantly, you were not there yesterday."
The haunted expression told her that he had seen Loki's death.
"Loki..." Thor started and had to stop. His blue eyes filled with tears. "Loki gave his life for mine. The villain threw a ball of fire at me. Loki caught it instead. Otherwise, I would be the one in that bed."
Sif found it hard to believe but could tell that it had to be the truth.
"The Queen told me none of this," she explained. Thor stiffened for a second. His eyes glanced at the tile floor before resting back on Loki.
"As much as your presence comforts me, why send you and not come herself?" Thor asked. An answer didn't seem to be wanted. "Balder and I have discussed before how Loki was her favorite. If there was no hope, why did she not come to pay respects and make arrangements? Why leave him here on Midgard?"
He stepped over to Loki and rested a hand on the bed. Then, he raised it in a fist and brought it down on the
bedframe.
"There must be some way on Midgard to save him; something we've missed," Thor spoke. Then, he turned back to Sif again. "I won't rest until I find it."
It was a fool's folly as was so many of the adventures they'd lived. She could only hope to catch him before he fell too far.
***********************************************************************
Phil had headed for Avengers Tower as soon as he reached New York again. He hadn't slept in nearly two days and wasn't sure when his schedule would allow it.
Well, that wasn't completely true. He'd probably have plenty of time after the meeting with Fury but he was trying not to think about that. Pepper seemed to guess this as she handed him a cup of straight coffee on the main Avengers floor.
"Any chance of having Thanksgiving?" she asked with a hopeful expression.
"Not yet, there's still fallout to deal with," he told her.
"Everyone, I should inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Clint Barton is coming up the elevator," JARVIS intoned. Phil choked a little and Pepper patted his back until it passed.
"What is JARVIS talking about?" Darcy asked. Her green eyes were wide in confusion.
"I don't like being left out of secrets," Tony complained.
"JARVIS, send the happy couple directly to Medical. We'll meet them there," Phil spoke, chugged the rest of the liquid and set the mug in the sink before they entered the elevator. After a brief ride, they exited into the lounge.
"I'm fine," Clint argued. His arm was in a sling that was stained red. Bobbi had a more pristine looking sling. Phil looked at Bruce.
"I know, he's lying. I'll make sure they both get a full work-up," Bruce promised. Even if he didn't do the procedures himself, Bruce was good at making sure things got done. Phil supposed that people really didn't want to piss off 'the other guy'.
"What did you do in Vegas after we lost track of you?" Phil asked.
"Oh, we sort of got married," Clint explained. Phil noticed that he was wearing a gold band.
"I don't remember a thing but the receipt I found had them included in the package," Bobbi explained, holding up a hand with a matching a gold ring.
"SHIELD always has the best drugs," Clint commented.
"And the drinking," Bobbi added. This was real. Clint and Bobbi had married. On one hand, he couldn't believe Clint would do such a thing. On the other hand, this was exactly the sort of thing Clint would do and he'd dragged Bobbi into it. Phil noticed Simmons had an anxious look but he directed his attention at Clint, saying, "As soon as the doctors clear you, we're having a meeting with Fury."
"Ouch, principal's office," Tony remarked. Clint looked like he wanted to put a hand a through his hair but with his arm broken, he had to settle for his left one. Bobbi stared at the tile floor. Simmons was squirming so he went over to her.
"Sif is here," Simmons burst. "She and Thor are combing through the medical library, asking JARVIS questions and confusing the network with their search queries. Thor's convinced he can find something to bring back Loki."
"Keep them isolated and out of trouble. Bring in Fitz if you want. Contact me if they mention anything involving a monkey's paw," Phil told her. She gave him a look that she was mentally rolling her eyes. "I have to inform Fury that we've located Barton and Morse."
"Or Barton and Barton," Darcy suggested.
"One thing at a time," he replied. He needed to call Natasha.
*********************************************************************
Natasha hung up the phone. You could always trust Barton to fuck things up more. Phil was going to need her and Pepper. Phil and Clint were her best friends. She could say this with certainty when it wasn't so long ago that she wouldn't let herself admit to any attachments.
Attachments were a liability and liabilities got you killed. At the very least, they hurt.
Maybe that hadn't been Winter she had seen in Paris. Maybe it had just been the importance that everyone had been placing on her birthday yesterday rubbing off on her. Maybe it was these feelings that were confusing her thoughts about Loki.
"Zhizn' prozhit' — ne pole pereyti," she whispered to herself.
None of it had to matter right now. Soon, she would be flying back to New York with only a teenage girl for company. She wondered how much Vodka she could get away with.
***************************************************************************
"Hi baby," Jessica Jones said, picking Daniella up at Luke's parents' house. Her eight month old daughter squealed and squealed again when she saw Luke.
"That's it. You're a daddy's girl, aren't you?" Luke asked and kissed her forehead. Then, he kissed Jessica. It was strange. After her parents died, it felt like her life would never be normal again. Now, she had her own family and she doubted anyone could guess their day jobs by watching them together.
"I'm expecting all of you to stay and eat," Luke's mom spoke. "It is Thanksgiving after all and that's a time for family."
She put an arm around Jessica and squeezed. Putting aside the memories of the day before and Kate Bishop, Jessica couldn't be happier.
****************************************************************************
Darcy Lewis wasn't used to being included in the meetings with Fury. The Avengers tended to prefer that Phil deal with Fury and report back to them. She sat beside Steve and Phil while resisting the urge to doodle on the pristine paper in front of her. The SHIELD logo was emblazoned across the top and she liked to use it as a launching point. She gave in when she noticed that Steve was already drawing a scowling Fury.
"Tell me what happened," Fury ordered.
"I pissed her off," Clint explained, nodding at Wanda.
"I just told my dad to hurt him a little. It wasn't supposed to escalate like that," Wanda said and Darcy could tell she was sorry.
"No matter what he did, Clint is a fellow Avenger. Revenge is not what we do. We could have had a meeting about it and discussed the matter before coming up with a resolution to suit you both," Steve spoke. Darcy tried not to laugh at the idea. Clint and Wanda were supposed to have a hug and let that be the end of it?
Clint had said Phil's name by accident when he was supposed to be marrying Wanda in London. It wasn't like he just ate the rest of the pizza bagels or something. Everyone had been embarrassed for Wanda and her failed wedding reported around the world.
Fury didn't seem impressed by that solution either.
"I don't know about that but Rogers is right. The Avengers are more than just soldiers. They're public figures. People look up to you. What you did was not only immature but it put everyone in danger. I'm talking not just about Frank's actions but Barton's as well. You ran off on your own with no back-up to face a proven mass murderer. Neither of you are fit to be Avengers at this time. I'm placing you both on probation. You're suspended," Fury stated. Darcy closed the mouth she'd opened in shock.
"Barton, even if I take you back, you'll be on medical leave for how long?" Fury asked. Darcy was fairly certain he already knew and wanted to impress the situation on Clint. Darcy didn't know herself so she paid attention to his answer.
"I don't know- a few months I guess," Clint spoke as he looked at the table.
"Try eighteen months," Fury corrected him although he was looking at Wanda. "It's a compound fracture with multiple breaks which is just what I want to hear about my best sniper."
Wanda looked like she wanted to disappear and Darcy knew she had the ability. However, she stayed.
Then, the screen behind them came to life and Agent Blake appeared. Agent Blake had once tried to order her to make coffee. When she threatened to add rat poison, he never asked again.
"Sir, Charles Xavier is insisting on a video conference. It's about the events yesterday," he explained.
"Put him through," Fury stated and Blake's face was replaced by the head of the X-Men. Darcy had never seen that expression on him before. It seemed to be a combination of worry and anger.
"Nicholas, did you order Loki's attack on Sybil Dvorak?" Xavier asked.
What attack? Darcy thought and could tell the sentiment was echoed around the room.
"I have yet to ascertain exactly why Loki was even there, but I can assure you that he was not under my control," Fury stated.
"Magneto is very concerned about the attack and after hearing the results, so am I," Xavier spoke. "If you did order this attack, I want your honesty. Even Agent Brand of SWORD corroborated that Loki attacked Sybil while she was in the middle of attacking your Agent Morse."
Darcy wondered what Loki could have possibly done. Clint had a hand up to his face as though this made sense to him.
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"Miss Dvorak has been stripped of her mutant powers. Her DNA still shows the mutant gene but it's been rendered dormant," Xavier explained.
"How?" Sitwell asked.
"You can do that with magic?" Wanda asked. Like everyone else, she seemed very intrigued and Darcy couldn't blame her. No one had succeeded at taking away someone's powers before.
"Loki has powers. He's been studying for centuries and the Tesseract taught him even more. He held back during the Battle of New York because he felt we weren't worthy enough and he was still tired from what they did to him before. We've never actually seen Loki fully using his magic," Clint uttered.
"Agent Lewis, do you agree with Barton?" Fury asked.
There were so many things that Darcy preferred to forget.
"Yes," she said with a small nod.
"Nicholas, this is serious. If others find out about this, if Graydon Creed and his so-called Friends of Humanity find out about this...the entire future of every mutant is in jeopardy," Charles spoke.
"Loki is the only person to pull this off, probably the only person who could pull this off and I signed his death certificate myself," Fury argued. Clint looked at Steve who nodded. Darcy hadn't thought about how Clint didn't know about that.
"I'm not sure if that will be enough," Charles stated and with that, the signal disappeared. He'd hung up on Fury.
"Bobbi said someone dressed in green saved her but she assumed it was Danny," Clint informed them.
Loki saved Bobbi and Thor yesterday? Was there a brain transplant involved? Was it a bet gone wrong?
She found herself annoyed that he was dead because now they would never know.
"Loki was your responsibility. We should have been known what he was capable of and someone should have told me when he arrived in battle. Barton and Frank were also your responsibility. You even lost Barton and Morse during the battle. I'm disappointed," Fury spoke, looking at Phil. "You're suspended until further notice as well."
"What? No! I- " Darcy began to argue.
"I accept responsibility for my actions," Phil agreed with a nod.
But...but...Darcy had been the one to lose Barton and Morse and what about Fury himself? Phil might have lived in one of Loki's extra bedrooms, but Fury lived right below them.
"I expect I will be put on suspension as well?" Steve asked.
"Hell no. You think I want Stark or someone else leading the Avengers? They voted for you fair and square and I'm going to keep it that way," Fury answered. "You're dismissed."
"Wait for me outside," Phil said, leaning towards Darcy. She nodded and waited in the hall. It wasn't long before he came out, followed by Fury. As he walked away from them, Darcy argued, "Can he really do that?"
"Yes, he can and he should," Phil replied.
"But...but I thought you were BFFs from way back?"
"Yes, but this is about duty. I failed mine so with the exception of one loose end, I'll go on leave," Phil spoke. His blue eyes were softer than usual. "They'll need you. Sitwell will take my place in the interim but Rogers and Romanoff don't always respect him."
"Rogers got to stay," Darcy argued again.
"I know, but there wasn't much choice. Barton was suspended already, Thor is emotionally compromised and Rhodes would never leave his family for that long. No one else has enough leadership experience," he explained. "But I know you can do it and it'll be over before you know it. I need you to do something else for me, too."
"Anything boss man," she said and he smiled.
"I need you to find out how Loki knew something was happening and where," Phil told her.
"Absolutely," she said with a nod. Phil was about to leave but she felt this next part had to be said.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you about Clint, that I didn't watch him better," she apologized.
"It happens to all of us. I turned my back on him once when he was full of painkillers and didn't find him until three hours later when he was running naked through the streets, that was...thirteen or fourteen years ago," he said with a smile.
"Rio, right?" she asked.
"No, Budapest," he answered.
"Phil, you fell in love with an idiot," Darcy stated. He didn't say anything back.
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Natasha watched the girl climb aboard and settle her belongings as though she took a private plane every day. Perhaps she did, considering her father. She seemed the usual height for a thirteen year old, maybe a little shorter. Her hair was long, straight and black. Natasha found the purple luggage amusing.
Then, the teenager spotted her. She walked over and took the chair across from her.
"You're Natasha Romanoff," she said.
"I am," Natasha confirmed. "And you're Kate Bishop."
"I just assumed they'd send...you know some lackey to debrief me," Kate explained.
"Did you have any problems with your dad? Since it's Thanksgiving and all?" Natasha asked.
Kate laughed.
"Do you know what today is to the rest of the world? Thursday, maybe even Friday. With his daughters out of the way, that means more time for him to be working," she explained.
"And how does that make you feel?" Natasha asked.
The teenager shrugged before adding, "I'm used to it."
Natasha could tell she hated it. Her father didn't respect her and she craved it. With her emotions this close to the surface and easy to read, Natasha thought Kate had a point. Why did Phil request Natasha instead of the closest certified SHIELD shrink?
"And your sister? What does she think of yesterday?" Natasha asked. They needed to know whether that would be a problem, too.
"She has Blaine so she's pretty set. It's their honeymoon after all. Last time I saw her, she kept talking about how lucky I was that the Avengers saved me," Kate said and rolled her eyes.
Most people Natasha knew used sarcasm to hide their feelings. It was probably one of the most common tactics.
"And what about you? The way I heard it, you helped saved our asses so what's your take on it?" she asked. Kate's blue eyes were confused at first. It was doubtful that people often cared what she thought.
"I...I," Kate started but Natasha had to nod before she continued, "I loved it. I felt powerful and needed and in control and I hadn't felt that way since..."
She trailed off and clammed up.
"Since your mom died?" Natasha suggested.
Kate shook her head and Natasha realized how wrong her first guess was. The teenager had pulled her legs up and clutched them protectively. Her head was lowered and she seemed nervous again.
"You were raped."
Kate startled. She almost fell out of her chair and she gaped at Natasha.
"How did you know?" she asked. "Do I have a secret sign on me or something? Can everyone tell? Because my sister..."
Natasha could state the obvious; about how her symptoms were text book. Even Phil must have noticed something that made him choose Natasha for this. Instead, she was leaning towards her least used option.
"Happened to me, too," she admitted although she didn't add that she would have been around Kate's age the first time.
"Is it some sort of requirement for an Avenger?" Kate asked. Natasha found it odd. There were several of their members who had been sexually assaulted but it wasn't common social media knowledge.
"No, but a normal person typically doesn't want to be in mortal peril on a regular basis from anything and everything," Natasha replied.
"So, you're all fucked up in the head," Kate restated. Natasha wondered if she was even seeing a therapist or anyone. If so, she wasn't making much progress.
"Basically," Natasha agreed.
"But I was actually helping and I could fire arrow after arrow and see them hit and I...I liked it. I liked that I caused them pain."
Kate's voice became softer and softer until it became a whisper.
"It felt good, didn't it?" Natasha asked.
The girl looked at her with eyes that glistened before nodding.
"Is that bad?" Kate asked.
"No, no, it's normal. I felt that way. I had everything taken from me so I thought the world owed me and if they were that naive, they deserved everything I gave them," Natasha admitted. "But I'm better now. I made peace with my anger and I use my skills to help others. A lot of people could have died yesterday."
She didn't mention how it was a struggle every day, how easy it could be to slide back into old habits or how much she wondered whether she was helping the right people.
Kate nodded. Then, she added, "I want to be a good person. I want to help people."
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Clint wasn't surprised at his less than warm reception or the way people avoided him. He could feel their stares when they knew he wasn't looking at them. Even Phil hadn't talked to him since he and Bobbi first arrived at Avengers Tower.
Then, he turned a corner and almost ran right into Jess.
"Jess!" he said with a grin that had soothed savage beasts for decades.
"Clint," Jess greeted and crossed her arms. Okay, she was definitely upset. "What's this I hear about you and Bobbi?"
"I got married?" he asked.
"It's not a question. Did you or didn't you?" she retorted.
"Yes, we did," Clint admitted. Jess shook her head. He hated when his ex-wife shook her head like that.
"I can't even say I'm that surprised. You were really that drunk?" she asked.
"And pain killers," he added.
"Okay, I have to get this out of my system," Jess said and he prepared himself for anything that might come. However, he hadn't been prepared for this. Jess slapped him hard across the face.
"What?"
"Did you even think about your son at all before you went off on your suicide mission?" Jess asked.
"Well, no..."
Jess slapped him again.
"Not exactly," Clint clarified. "But I thought that if Magneto would just get his revenge over with for screwing over his daughter, then it would be better for everyone. Wanda already insisted that her dad would never hurt a little kid like Ben. Besides, you came, too."
"I did because I wanted to protect you from yourself and Vange gave me hell when she found out but I accept my mistakes," Jess spat.
Clint hated coming between Jess and her wife.
"Is she still pissed at you?"
"Yeah, but we're working through it because that's what you do in a real marriage," Jess told him. It was true. Clint and Bobbi had never actually dated. He couldn't recall much of the engagement and even less of the actual ceremony. They weren't able to consummate it due to their injuries. Still, it was a legal marriage according to the paper.
Jess' face softened.
"If you two are going to make it stick, then Vange and I want both of you over for dinner. We should know Ben's stepmother better," she said before walking away. Clint nodded as she looked back.
******************************************************************************
"Who's your favorite Avenger?" Natasha asked.
Kate narrowed her blue eyes.
"Is there a right answer to that question?" she replied. Natasha wanted to smile.
"I'm not looking for self-gratification. I wanted the honest answer. It tends to tell a lot about a person," she explained.
"Well then," Kate answered. "I like Hawkeye. Archery seems to be my best weapon and my favorite color is purple."
"Purple's always been his color," Natasha commented. She recalled the first costume she'd seen him in. It was purple with this ridiculous mask. She'd never told him that she saw him perform before they actually met.
A concerned look came over Kate's face.
"Was Hawkeye injured? I just found his bow and quiver. He doesn't seem like he'd just leave it around," she said.
It was an astute observation for a thirteen year old.
"Yes, in fact, his arm was so badly broken that he'll have surgery tonight or tomorrow and about eighteen months of rehabilitation," Natasha explained.
Kate's blue eyes widened.
"Eighteen months without Hawkeye? But..."
"We'll still have Hawkeye but strictly for promotional appearances and light duties," she explained while withholding a chuckle. Kate had tried to be coy but she was definitely a fangirl.
*************************************************************************************
"What's that?" Mary Jane asked, setting down her purse and backpack on the floor of Peter's dorm.
"It was a text about us having a meeting tonight," Peter explained as he deleted it. He watched her for a minute; reveling in her smile and the way her hair flipped that certain way. She was his rock; a steadying force in the midst of chaos. If they were a chemistry compound, she'd be his base.
He'd thought his Aunt May was a constant, too...
"Peter, you're a million miles away. What happened yesterday?" Mary Jane asked. He took her hand and pulled her onto the bed with him.
"It wasn't the mission. It was afterwards. It turns out...it turns out that Aunt May is the leader of a secret organization similar to SHIELD. Actually, she and my parents used to work for SHIELD until they broke away and formed their own group," he explained.
"Wow, that's..." she paused as though collecting her thoughts. Then, she added, "That's awesome! I mean, I always thought she seemed cooler than everyone else' aunt but...I never would have thought of that. Oh, but you're freaking out, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah, all this time and she never told me. I mean, why didn't I even suspect something? All those trips and activities and I just believed her! I'm such an idiot. Coulson knew this whole time, too," Peter complained.
"Well, they were busy...you know, having sex and stuff..."
He closed his eyes and leaned against the small twin bed frame.
"That is the worst mental image," Peter complained. His hazel eyes glared at her and he reminded, "You promised not to bring that up again."
In response, she giggled and tried to hit him with a pillow. He couldn't help smiling. Then, another thought hit him.
"Do you think he and my aunt were...before he was principal? She told me that she asked SHIELD to take me in," he told her. She gave him that look like he was an idiot.
"Your aunt was so worried about how you would feel that she didn't date at all and didn't you tell me how Coulson offered not to date her if you weren't comfortable with it?" MJ reminded him. They were never serious either which made Peter feel better. His aunt had other boyfriends and Phil dated Clint all that time.
"Right," he agreed and nodded. She always made him feel better. When he saw Luke with Jessica and Danielle, it made him wonder what it would be like to marry MJ and have children of their own.
He hugged her close. They had plenty of time for that in the future.
"You're not good with change, Peter. You like things to stay the same forever. I totally understand why she would want to put that off," she spoke. Hadn't he just been thinking of changing their relationship in a future tense?
Despite three years together, he wasn't even ready to share an apartment together. She was right. He had to be pulled kicking and screaming into changing.
"Do you want to go visit Aunt May with me?" he asked. She smiled and nodded.
************************************************************************
Bruce was reading over Clint and Bobbi's files when Thor burst in.
"I know how to save my brother," he announced. Bruce felt sorry for him. There was nothing to be done.
"I was reading and the typical treatment on Midgard is to move healthy skin to the injured areas, wrap in gauze as you have done, medications and an influx of blood," Thor explained.
"Yes, and if Loki had only partial burns, like second or third degree, maybe even four, then we would have done so. Loki had six degree burns. We wrapped him in gauze not for his own sake, but to keep his body in one piece instead of leaking all over the Quintjet," Bruce spat. It was mean.
However, he wanted to impress on Thor how serious this was. The quicker he accepted this, the better they could help him grieve.
"What about the skin transplant?"
Bruce gripped the side of the desk. It was no use. Thor was too stupid when it came to his brother.
"Skin transplants are taken from a patient's uninjured areas, usually thigh or near the groin. Except for some brief patches on his feet and ankles, Loki has no skin left. It was burned away," he explained. Thor's blue eyes were contemplative.
"What about the blood? I could give him mine," Thor offered.
Phil's voice came to him from the day before when he told the other medical officer never to argue with an Asgardian. Plus, Thor's blue eyes sparkled and he definitely didn't want a crying Asgardian in the office. Instead, he'd try to make a deal.
"We'll give Loki a blood transfusion using your blood and when that's completed, I will run every test I can think of for you-"
"Yes, Banner, finally-"
"BUT if there continues to be no life signs, you have to let him go," Bruce insisted. "Would your brother even want to live like this? He would have to be hooked up to machines for every life function. Machines would breathe, keep his blood flowing like a heart and eliminate waste. It's not living."
"Until that moment, I am not giving up on him," Thor argued.
Bruce nodded and began a mental list of every test he could think of to prove Thor wrong.
*********************************************************************************
Phil's phone chirped. He took it out to find a photo message.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Rhodes Family!
James Rhodes had his arm around his wife, Rae, while she held their young son, Nathaniel. Phil smiled. Then, he spotted who he was looking for.
"No," Melinda May said as though it had become instinct.
"You don't even know what I'm going to say," Phil pointed out.
"I know Fury suspended you which make me assume that you want to lead the bus as well as driving it," she stated.
"Would you rather have Ward take the lead? He's not ready for that kind of responsibility," he argued.
Melinda crossed her arms and frowned.
"I hate you."
"No, you don't," Phil stated.
"And you're in love with an idiot," she commented. Phil ignored this as his phone chirped again. Natasha had landed with Bishop.
****************************************************************************
Darcy was having her second high profile meeting. This one was even more exclusive with just her, Phil, Steve, Jasper and Natasha.
"We're here to discuss whether we need to add Kate Bishop as an asset," Phil explained.
"The girl?!" Steve asked in disbelief.
"She did take down some of those extremis drones," Darcy argued. "But are we even allowed to have minors? Wouldn't we need her dad's permission?"
"There are ways around it," Phil stated. "First, I need to know if it's necessary. Romanoff?"
"Bishop is dealing with issues, including PTSD. The nature of her assault makes her particularly susceptible to feeling powerless which is compounded by her family situation. She's a very high risk for becoming a vigilante if left on her own," Natasha stated. When she was surrounded by them all the time, Darcy could forget how the Avengers had smarts other than just their superhero powers. Wait, what...
"What assault?" Darcy asked. Steve looked in the dark just like her. However, Phil and Natasha looked at each other while Jasper looked down at the table top.
"It was a sexual assault, right?" Phil asked in a soft voice. Natasha gave a brief nod. Darcy put a hand to her mouth. Who would do that to such a young girl?
"She also mentioned an Avenger who had also had that happen. There wasn't a name with it but someone knew about her and what happened before the Las Vegas incident," Natasha mentioned. Jasper held the worst poker face imaginable.
"Do we agree that Bishop should be added as an asset?" Phil asked.
"But you invited me here which means you want her as an Avenger," Steve commented.
"It would be the easiest solution. She would have an outfit that would keep her identity disguised. Her need for vigilantism could be allowed in a controlled setting and she already feels comfortable with at least two of our members. Plus, we could keep her away from SHIELD more easily," Phil explained. "She's still just a girl. We shouldn't overwhelm her all at once. This trip on the Helicarrier is bad enough."
"This is true," Steve agreed. "Fine, I agree."
He held up his hand and the others followed.
"With that settled, I guess you'll have to make do without me," Phil spoke and tried to make into a joke.
"We're having a meeting tonight to discuss everything," Steve spoke. Darcy had a vague recollection of that being mentioned. With everyone together, it'd be the perfect time to have Natasha's birthday party/Thanksgiving. She looked around and the others were standing up. There were some phone calls to make.
"Sitwell, I want you to stay a moment," Phil spoke. Darcy knew it had to be about Kate and Jasper's odd behavior.
**********************************************************************
"Jasper, you helped Jones with Bishop before," Phil spoke. It wasn't a question but the other agent nodded anyway.
"Jones is the one that found her after...after it happened," Jasper explained. This time, Phil nodded and some oddities began to click.
"That pedophile we happened upon last month...you set that up, too," Phil guessed.
"She was a twelve year old girl, Phil. I was afraid to even let my girls out of the apartment. What if he had found one of them instead? I couldn't let that happen," Jasper argued. "Bishop had changed her clothes in the car so I used the DNA left behind to find him."
Phil shook his head.
"I'm not mad about that. I understand but I am disappointed. If you had come to me, we could have made a plan together. Kiddie porn is only going to get him five years probably, twenty years at best but..."
"We can't have Kate testify against him. We can't put her through that," Jasper argued.
"I know, even if she did, the most he could get is twenty-five years," Phil said with a sigh.
"That's such bullshit!" Jasper exclaimed. "He could just get out and do it again."
Phil still wanted to believe in second chances. However, there were some situations...
"I'll look into it. I'll have plenty of time," Phil promised.
*************************************************************************
Kate pinched herself although the cold air biting through her jacket should have been enough. This was real. The past two days had been unbelievable. Right now, she was on the deck of a flying aircraft carrier called the Helicarrier. Military men were the worst at naming things. Natasha had promised a ride back to the city and home after telling her she was an Avenger. This still made no sense to her. She was practically a kid. How could they have that much faith in her?
Still, she better act up to their expectations before they kicked her out or something. Natasha had also mentioned coming up with a secret identity. Then, she noticed the door open and a man walk out. It was Clint Barton also known as Hawkeye. She tried not to stare.
A thought struck her. If he was an Avenger and she was going to be an Avenger, they were technically teammates. You were supposed to be friendly with your teammates.
"Hi, I'm Kate Bishop," she said. Although her body didn't want to, her mind thought the polite thing was to stick out her hand for him to shake.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me? I'm trying to look for someone, thought they might be here," he retorted. Kate would not let that get to her.
"Sorry about the arm," she said.
He did the smallest of shrugs and turned away from her. Fuck this, if he was going to act like a brat, she could play that game, too.
"I'm going to be an Avenger, too. Maybe I could be Hawkeye while you recover," she called after him. Then, she crossed her arms over her chest. He strode back to her with just a few large paces.
"Listen, little girl, who do you think you are?" Clint asked with a growl.
"The one who used your stuff yesterday to take down some of those bad guys," she pointed out.
Why didn't I use the actual names? I sounded so stupid, Kate thought. In her anger, the words hadn't come.
"You? You're her?" Clint asked in disbelief. After a moment, he began to nod. "Fine, you want to be Hawkeye? Then, you come with me."
Kate was thrown by this response but he started walking so she started to follow. They made their way to a part of the ship that she hadn't seen yet. It was a gym except in the professional sense with different rooms for different purposes. Clint stopped at a door marked Archery. He seemed to hesitate before pulling out an ID card, sliding it and typing in a code. It was like he wasn't sure it would work. Then, there was a hiss and he opened the door, making sure she caught it before coming inside.
"I make the shot and you come up with your own name. You make the shot and I'll let you be Hawkeye for a while," Clint offered. "Deal?"
"Sure," she said with a nod. Then, she remembered everything he had said. "How can you make a shot with a broken arm?"
"It's how I used to win bets," he mumbled as he got out the bow and arrows. She wasn't sure if it was a lie or not. Then, he put a chair about eight feet away from the target. She watched as he stripped off his right shoe and sock. Clint sat in the chair, held the bow in place with his right foot and notched the bow with his left hand before pulling it back and letting go.
It hit the center of the bull's-eye. It was one of the coolest things she had ever seen.
"Your turn," Clint said with a smirk. He held out the bow.
What?
"You can't make that shot -- Nobody can make the Robin Hood/Merida shot. I don't care how good you are," she argued. One moment he seemed to be human and the next, he was back to being an ass.
"Oh yeah? And why not?" he asked. He was being serious.
"Because it's impossible, ya doof. That's why. Even the Mythbusters couldn't do it, and there's five of them next to one little old you," she complained.
"I'm not making that shot, you are," he spoke. His smirk was insufferable. What did she ever see in him? "Break my bull's-eye and you've earned being Hawkeye."
"I can't," she spat.
"Listen, Kate, I don't want to get all life-coach on you but...you're gonna miss each and every shot you can't be bothered to take. That's not living life...that's just being a tourist. Take every shot, Kate, if it's worth caring about, no matter how impossible you think it is. You take the shot," Clint spoke.
She held out her hand and he handed her the bow. Kate moved the chair, strung the arrow and aimed. She was nervous and felt self-conscious with him watching. It wasn't like yesterday when she was one of many just trying to stop the bad guys. She let go and cringed before it landed. Kate already knew her aim had been off as soon as it left the bow. The arrow still made the bull's-eye but just left of where his arrow was still embedded.
"You seem to be half-way smart. I'm sure you can come up with a fine nickname," Clint said and held out his hand for the bow. "Make sure you have the skills to back up that attitude."
"Fuck you, Hawkeye," she said, handing the bow back and running out of the room which would have worked better except for that stupid door. She ran for the nearest bathroom and locked herself in a stall. Maybe this whole thing was just stupid. She hated the tears that started to come.
*******************************************************************************
"Shit," Clint spat and put the equipment away. He was pretty sure he had made her cry but she also seemed to be a spoiled brat who was used to getting her way due to daddy's bank account. Clint hated being around people like that. There were times he couldn't even stand being around Tony.
For the past two days, Clint couldn't seem to do anything right. His chest felt tight. He needed to find Bobbi so they could talk, but she hadn't been waiting to return to New York. Kate was there instead. Clint tried Medical again. However, they told him that he'd just missed her.
When he found Bobbi, she was chatting with Fitz.
"Clint! Fitz was telling me about this fascinating project that Simmons is working on. I can't wait to be back at the Tower. Steve's flying us, right?" she asked.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Can we talk somewhere private?"
"Leo?"
"Our office is right there," he said and pointed to what Clint had thought was a closet. Clint motioned for Bobbi to go first. Inside, it was about the size of a closet, too.
"I'm not a good person. I got a lot of people hurt yesterday, including you. I got Loki killed apparently.-"
"Well,-" Bobbi tried to interrupt but he had to get everything out first.
"I think I just made a teenage girl cry. My ex-wife has slapped me twice today and I still haven't called my son to tell him I'm basically okay," he said before looking at her. "I'm not a good person. What we did was probably the most fucking stupid thing ever but you can still get out of it. I was reading up on these things. We didn't 'consummate the relationship' as they call it, couldn't in our condition. You could still get it annulled free and clear, like it never happened."
"But I would know it happened. I would know I had a shorter Vegas marriage than Britney Spears and I don't want that," Bobbi stated.
"I'm not a good person. I'm not that good of a husband," Clint argued.
"I've seen you in battle. I've seen you with Ben. You make mistakes but you're a good person. This marriage was half my idea, too," she argued back.
"So you want to work on this?" he asked. "I've already had one failed marriage. I don't really want another one."
"I'll work on it if you work on it," she agreed.
"We've never even kissed or that I can remember," he said.
"Yeah, we should probably fix that." She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. They just looked at each other for a moment and his chest felt a little lighter. His lips met hers and they kissed.
************************************************************************************
Darcy was starting to feel overwhelmed with everyone trusting her so much. She was used to being the assistant or an intern or just a small part of everything else.
Now, she was expected to supervise a meeting between Kate Bishop and Nick Fury in Fury's office. She'd only been in his office twice before since he tended to use everyone else' office. She studied Kate. Just about everyone had watched her grow up from paparazzi photos although thirteen was far from an adult.
She seemed so young yet so old at the same time. Darcy couldn't imagine having to deal with being raped at that age. There were girls who killed themselves over less than that.
Her blue eyes were a bit red though as though she'd been crying. The door opened and Darcy said, "Come on."
Fury stood inside and Darcy closed the door behind them.
"Director Fury, this is Kate Bishop; the newest member of the Avengers," she introduced. Kate stuck her hand out, put it back and stuck it out again as though unsure about it all.
"That's okay, Miss Bishop. I'm not big on those types of rules," Fury explained. "It's been a trying couple of days. How are you?"
"Fine," she said with a shrug.
"Everyone respecting you?" he asked. His file on her must have included the rape.
"Yeah, basically except..." she hesitated."Hawkeye was an asshole."
Fury began to chuckle.
"You find that funny?" Kate asked with annoyance.
"A little. Everyone I hire is called an asshole or a bitch at some point. I don't hire people to be nice. I hire people because they're the best," he explained. Kate smiled a little on the last word.
"People called Coulson that?" Darcy asked.
"I have audio of not only you calling Agent Coulson that but describing a very elaborate, very imaginative death for him over five minutes involving sea monkeys, cheese and a Taser," Fury spoke. She reddened because she had forgotten all about it.
"He had stolen my iPod with all my music and I was drunk. Jane makes a jungle punch that...," Darcy started before remembering she was in the presence of a thirteen year old. "I'll just shut up now."
"If you really care about music, you have to do vinyl. There's nothing else like it. MP3s sound too polished and fake now," Kate spoke
"How do you even know about vinyl?" Fury asked.
"I like the retro stuff. It's usually better," she said. Fury smiled.
"What made you decide to play the cello?"
"I don't know," Kate said. It was the first definite lie she'd heard from her. "It was sad so I could make it say how I felt without actually saying it."
This was more real. Darcy hadn't needed to read her file to remember that she'd been young when her mom died. Fury's brown eyes were empathetic.
"Something tells me you're going to be a fine addition to the team," Fury said with a nod. Kate smiled. "I'll have someone speak to Barton and if anyone else makes you feel uncomfortable, tell me. Go on and wait outside. I have to talk to Agent Lewis a moment. She and Agent Sitwell will be in charge of the Avengers for the time being."
Kate nodded and left them. Fury turned to Darcy.
"I need you to get me Kate's birth certificate; her real birth certificate," Fury spoke. Darcy didn't bother containing her confusion.
"Kate Bishop's birth was the cover story of People. Everyone knows it. It was a surrogacy but the birth mom was even interviewed," she pointed out.
"A woman paid to tell lies. I need to know her real parents," he ordered.
"Which means you think you know who they really are," she guessed.
"I don't know with absolute certainty. I have a suspicion, that's why I want you to find out for me," Fury explained. Darcy was a thoughtful a moment.
"Does that mean I know who you suspect her parents are?" she asked. He pointed to a door which she took as a 'yes'. She loved mysteries and secrets so this was going to be fun.
***********************************************************************
Steve thought they would be flying back soon. He was waiting by a Quintjet on the tarmac. Then, his phone had beeped and Fury had wanted him to talk to Clint about his behavior with Kate. After asking for a current location, Steve headed back inside.
Clint and Bobbi were in the commissary.
"Bobbi, I need Clint for a bit. It won't be long and then, we can leave, sorry about this, ma'am," Steve apologized. Bobbie smiled. Her blue eyes twinkled. She was amused by him calling her ma'am. They went to a semi-private hallway.
"What'd you do to Kate?" Steve asked.
"The spoiled brat?" Clint asked. Steve gave him that look that always made Tony cringe. It worked for the archer, too.
"I messed with her a bit, yeah," he said. Steve crossed his arms. "Fine, I was a bit of a dick and I think I made her cry."
"Of course, you did," Natasha said, walking up.
"She is a teenage girl though. Aren't they known for over-reacting? How bad off is she?" he asked.
"Like you didn't sign her cards," she retorted.
"Hey, I..." Steve started to interrupt because he had tried very hard to make up for his initial nastiness towards Coulson. However, they were only looking at each other and Steve realized he wasn't really in the conversation anymore. Sometimes, Clint and Natasha could have whole discussions with vague phrases full of meaning that no one else could understand. It was like when he was growing up and the Italians would talk in Italian in front of him so he didn't know what they were saying.
"Fuck," Clint says after their short exchange. It seemed apt in this situation. He also saw an opening in the conversation.
"Kate needs our guidance and support. She's had to grow up a lot before yesterday even happened," Steve told him. He could see Clint processing this and turning to Natasha.
"Not like Dagestan?"
"Yeah," she confirmed. Clint frowned.
"I didn't know-"
"Yeah, but-"
"Yeah," Clint agreed and Steve had once again witnessed a conversation he couldn't follow. "I'll talk to Kate. She's going to be on the Quintjet, right?"
"Along with everyone else," Steve reminded him. Not everyone needed to know about Clint's behavior.
"Nah, it's fine. They'll find out anyway," he said.
*************************************************************************
Kate waited on the Quintjet as everyone else came in. They wanted her to stay buckled in the seat but it was too confining and the seats were too close together.
"Why can't Natasha sit beside me?" she asked.
"Because she's the co-pilot," Coulson explained. His voice never seemed upset with her and she liked that especially after Clint earlier. "It's regulations for minors to be in the center seat but how about this time, you can be on the edge and Darcy can sit beside you?"
She looked at Darcy who gave her a smile. This idea might be okay. She nodded. Two other people were walking up the ramp. It was Clint and a blonde. She had stepped behind Coulson before even realizing it.
"Kate, I'd like to talk to you," Clint spoke. His voice was soft and apologetic. It could be some sort of trick. She stayed where she was. He nodded.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I was a dick. How long have you been shooting?" he asked.
She hesitated and told him," three months."
There were gasps all around her but she enjoyed the shocked look on his face best.
"Then, you definitely need to come to Stark Tower next Saturday," Clint told her.
"Why?"
"Because I have to make sure you're not going to tarnish the Hawkeye name for the rest of us," he said. Her anger started to rise again.
"What? Another test?"
"No, girly-girl. You want it for the meantime, you can have it," Clint said and threw something at her with his good arm. She caught it and saw that it was his purple trademark sunglasses.
She was Hawkeye.
"Go out. Fight hard. Screw up. Save the world a few times," Clint continued. "Just keep taking the shots, okay?"
Maybe they had misjudged each other at first. He had been having a rough day and he was trying to make up for it.
"Thanks, Hawkeye," she said, clutching the glasses tightly.
"No problem, Hawkeye," he uttered.
"Oh, that's going to get confusing," Darcy whispered. The acoustics still carried it everywhere. "Maybe we could come up with a nickname or something, like he could be Hawkguy."
Kate saw Coulson give her a look that she was being insane. Hawkguy did have a nice ring to it though...
*************************************************************************************
"Natasha, do you want to come with me and Clint to the Medical floor? Bruce has some more tests for us and Simmons has a special project," Bobbi told her.
Natasha hesitated. The medical floor was where they were storing Loki. She hadn't seen him since before Las Vegas. Did she even want to see his corpse?
Bobbi was already holding Clint's hand but grabbed for Natasha's as well.
"Fine," she agreed before Bobbi or Clint could break something else. They exited the elevator together.
"Tests first, science later," Bruce spoke before Bobbi could run off. She watched them leave and began wondering around. There was a morgue but she doubted that Thor would have allowed that. He would want Loki laid out until more arrangements were made.
Tony had also had a part of medical set-up for prisoners or patients that needed to be separated from everyone else. She decided to try there first.
While she couldn't make out what he was saying, Thor's booming voice was recognizable. This was it.
However, she had never really understood the need for the body once the person inside it was dead. Sentimentality was something Steve would do. Hadn't she stood over Maria's body and felt nothing? Shouldn't she remember him as he was, not like he was now?
She also didn't want any confusion over what they had which was a mutual scratching of itches that both were highly skilled at.
Natasha took one last look at the door and walked off.
**************************************************************************
Phil thought it was a bad sign when Pepper had two large Margheritas waiting for them with an even larger pitcher.
"What is it?"
Pepper stopped, bit her lip, wrung her hands and crossed over to him. She gulped down half her drink before starting. Phil was beginning to be frightened at what she wanted to talk to him about.
"Phil, when you were dead, we had that business with the Mandarin..."
He nodded. The Mandarin was none other than the scientist Aldrich Killian.
"For our debriefing afterwards with SHIELD, Tony, Rhodey and I lied," Pepper uttered. "They were trying to protect me."
"Why?"
He'd never seen her like this before.
"Killian kidnapped me to get to Tony but he didn't stop there. He made Tony watch as...as he injected me with Extremis," she admitted.
"Oh Pepper, that's killed people before. What happened? Were there side effects?" Phil asked. He realized this was the issue that she had been dealing with all this time; alluding to it but never actually telling him what it was.
"It...it worked, Phil. I killed Killian. I did, not Tony and Rhodey like they said," she explained. He took her hand and squeezed. "We kept it a secret and Tony investigated how to fix. It did, or it seemed to but..."
Phil put an arm around her.
"When I found out Mystique was my real mother, I wondered if...if that was why I took to Extremis so well. Some of the others didn't even survive being injected with it," she said. Tears were falling.
Phil hugged her close. He hated to see her this way.
"I think Tony and I would both agree that if being Mystique's daughter was how you survived, then we're glad for it. She's a horrible person but you're nothing like her. You're one of the best people I know." He added, "Especially with putting up with Tony."
He was pretty sure that could put a smile on her face and he was right.
"You were Rescue yesterday. I haven't seen Rescue since before Maria died," Phil pointed out. She nodded.
"When Darcy mentioned that Extremis was involved, I knew I couldn't let anyone of you face that on your own. I had to finally face my past," she said. Her blue eyes were shiny.
"Did it work?"
She nodded.
"It's how I finally got the strength to tell you. You don't have to write a report or anything, right?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Of course not. I wouldn't tell Nick about this. I'm not even on the clock. I'm suspended like Clint and Wanda," he explained.
She was surprised like everyone else had been. Then, he watched her compose herself.
"Stay with us tonight, Phil. You can't go back home. It'll be too empty," she said. He was about to argue that Loki wasn't a homebody but he knew she was right. It was a different kind of empty when you knew they weren't coming back.
He took a large swallow of his drink and mentioned, "We might have to make a lot more if we're going to have one of those nights."
Rarely had he and Pepper had those nights and it had been years but he liked when Tony was away and they'd spend all night drinking and talking.
"Actually, Darcy and I have put together different plans since everyone else has to be here for the meeting anyway. I think Darcy's calling it 'Natasha's birthday and Thanksgiving that We're Almost All Alive with a Celebration of Loki'," she explained.
"That's a little long, even worse than Strategic Homeland Intervention-"
"I know," Pepper agreed with a laugh. "Oh, we'll have to add wedding party to it somehow, too."
He shook his head.
"You're in love with an idiot."
"I know," he confirmed and they shared a look.
"I have to check on the party prep.," she said and he nodded. Then, his phone chirped.
"Bruce, what's going on?" he asked after checking the Caller ID. This could mean anything.
"I figured out a way of doing the blood transfusion with Thor's blood and I gave it four hours which finished forty-five minutes ago. As his part of the bargain, he'd allow me to use every test possible to prove Loki was dead," Bruce explained.
"Mmmhmm," Phil added so he would know he was still listening.
"I tried to be thorough but most of the tests were just impossible to conduct like the EEG and Transcranial Doppler. For the MRI, I decided to use the Multinuclear imaging. We had a portable machine that we ran over his body and the tests were odd. His oxygen content was much higher than I would have expected and there were some other elements that were off-"
"That can't just be explained by gases released by decomposition?" Phil asked. He didn't understand all the medical jargon but this was one of the few things he did know.
"That's the thing, he's not. I can't tell any evidence of decomposition anywhere," Bruce stated. All this time, Phil should be used to anything and everything...
"Then, what did you do?"
"I used Magnetoencephalography (MEG) which confirmed electrical activity so I tried a PET/CT calibrated for Psions and..."
Bruce blustered. Phil closed his eyes. They'd been so stupid.
"We never tested Loki for Psions when we had him on the Helicarrier," Phil spoke.
"They were off the chart. I'm out of my expertise here. I'll have to contact Hank about it," he complained.
"So he's alive after all?" Phil asked.
"I'm not sure I'd go that far but he doesn't appear to be quite so dead," Bruce answered.
****************************************************************************
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: The wonderful mash-up of Friends and Avengers
Character/Pairing(s): Clint/Jessica Drew, Jessica Drew/Vange Whedon, Tony/Pepper, Phil/Clint, Clint/Natasha, Clint/?, Natasha/?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some violence, medical talk and mentions of rape, suicide and depression
Spoilers: Pepper and Phil discuss the end of Iron Man 3 so skip the last scene between the two of them if this applies to you.
Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue from Clint and Kate is actually taken from Matt Fraction although I added the Merida bit.
Summary: It's the aftermath of Las Vegas; Bobbi and Clint have surprising news, Thor won't accept what anyone tells him and is Kate Bishop joining the Avengers?
Beta: HUGE Thanks to lavendergaia and Valoscope and i_llbedammned
The One after Vegas
November 23, 2017
A golf tournament played on the television behind the bar as Phil Coulson waited for Jessica Jones to show up. It was a hotel adjacent to the one they nearly destroyed the day before. The bartender had that look like she had asked to work on Thanksgiving. He'd seen that expression before too many times from people with no one waiting for them at home.
"I was worried you wouldn't have waited. We had a video call with Daniella and I...I hate having to leave her like that. It confused her to see us but not be able to touch us," Jessica explained as she walked up. He nodded.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Phil asked.
"Kate Bishop, what does SHIELD plan to do with her?" Jessica answered with her own question.
"Hopefully, a debriefing will be all that's needed. We'll monitor her and make sure there are no lasting side effects," he explained. It didn't even sound believable to his own ears. He hadn't decided the best course of action for someone who'd suffered abuse and was a little too excited at being in a major battle.
"She took out some of those drones with us and she used Hawkeye's bow. I've never seen anyone else use his bow," she argued.
"I don't want to bring a twelve-"
"Thirteen," Jessica corrected.
"A thirteen year old in as an asset. It's not right," Phil argued. A man sat down at the other end of the bar. Ten in the morning and he'd already ready reeked from alcohol.
Welcome to Vegas, Phil thought.
"Peter wasn't much older. Luke was fourteen and why did Aunt May make you bring in Peter in the first place?" she asked. It had been one of those nights that Phil never cared to repeat. May had shown up at his apartment a couple of hours before his alarm was set to go off. She'd been in tears over her revelation of Peter's other identity and she'd begged him for help.
"May was concerned that Peter was on the path to getting himself killed and needed someone to show him how to work together with others who could watch his back," Phil spoke.
"Right, and she'll be the same way, I know it. If we do nothing, her death will be on all of us," she argued.
"How about me and you go to the back?!" the other patron yelled loudly at the bartender who was pretending he wasn't there.
Phil hated this situation with Kate. There weren't any good outcomes from this.
"I'll have Romanoff take her back to New York. She can debrief and assess her like she's done with Stark and everyone else. That's all I'm going to promise for now," Phil told her.
"Thank you," she acknowledged.
"Come on, this is Vegas. All women are whores. Just give it to me!" the guy exclaimed.
"Jones, distract the bartender a moment. Her name's Milli and she isn't having the best day," Phil told her. As Jones did as he asked, he applied pressure to a few key points on the belligerent man so he fell limp in his arms. When Phil let go, the unconscious body fell with a thud on the tile floor, catching the women's attention.
"Guess he couldn't handle his liquor," Phil said with a shrug.
*************************************************************************
Pepper kissed the yellow-eyed baby's cheek and he squealed in delight.
"Who's your favorite aunt? Who's your favorite aunt?" she asked in between kisses.
"You realize that we're going to visit Marie and she's going to ask them the same thing," Amanda pointed out.
"Yes, but Marie didn't carry them in her uterus for nine months," Pepper pointed out and handed over Max so she could take Gracie. Lakhi was sucking on her tail.
"I vas so worried when I heard about the battle yesterday, but you and Tony are okay," Kurt spoke and hugged her. It was still a bit strange sometimes but she loved having a brother.
"Miss Potts, Agent Coulson's plane has departed Las Vegas and is expected at La Guardia in four hours," JARVIS announced.
"Thank you, JARVIS," she said while watching the babies. They looked around for where the new voice was coming from. The adults laughed.
"Hi Lakhi!" Tony said, picking her up. He threw her in the air which the other two enjoyed. However, Lakhi didn't like the surprise and disappeared with a black mist.
"What'd I do?" Tony asked with a frown.
"She's fine," Amanda said. Pepper could tell she was used to this.
"Lakhi, come out now!" Kurt called. With a pop, she appeared halfway across the room on the couch.
"Her new favorite trick," Amanda explained. Pepper liked this levity especially the distraction from what she wanted to talk to Phil about.
*********************************************************************************
Sif shook off the effects of the Bifrost before checking her surroundings. It was the lobby of Avengers Tower. She made her way for the closest elevator.
"Lady Sif, how may I help you today?" asked the mechanical voice.
"JARVIS, take me to Thor," she requested.
"Yes, Lady Sif. He's on the medical floor. I trust you are aware of his condition and that of Mr. Loki?" JARVIS asked.
"No, I was commanded to come by the queen. She told me nothing of the reason," she explained.
"Both men were in a battle yesterday in Las Vegas. Mr. Loki has been declared dead by SHIELD from his injuries. Mr. Odinson won't leave his side," JARVIS informed her. Her breath caught for a moment at what he'd said. Despite everything, her thoughts turned to when they were all young and she had yet to become a warrior. Her blonde locks flew freely. Only seconds passed before it was tainted by Loki's later deeds. The same blond locks were on the stone floor. Loki was crying from the permanence of his actions. Then, Loki became older with Odin's scepter in his hand.
She frowned.
Hadn't they been through this before? Sif recalled the feast they held to celebrate Loki's life with vivid detail. To be honest, many had celebrated his death more than anything.
Still, despite everything, Thor loved him and if he was distraught then, he had to be inconsolable now.
There was a ding and the doors opened.
"Who are you?" asked a young woman in a white coat.
"I am Lady Sif. Where's Thor?" she asked her.
"Oh...well then, follow me. I'm Simmons. This isn't really my element but Bruce needed an assistant with a high clearance level and there you have it," Simmons rambled as she led Sif through the floor to a private room. She knocked on the door and motioned for Sif to go in.
Sif turned the handle and walked in. Thor didn't even look up. His back was to the door as he held a bandaged hand. The whole body was wrapped. It was unrecognizable. How did they even know it was Loki? It could be another of his tricks.
"Thor?" Sif asked. He looked at her in disbelief. Then, he hurried to her side and gave her a boisterous hug that included being swept off her feet. She gave him a look and he set her down.
"I thought I imagined you," he explained. "Did mother send you?"
Sif nodded. Thor had burns across his face and his hands had lighter gauze. They'd been in battle together. It must be why Thor was positive of the body's identity.
"We should put together the feast and give him the proper ending," she suggested.
"I- I can't," Thor spoke. His voice was soft; a whisper compared to his usual volume. "I can't be without him again. What is Thor without Loki?"
"Perhaps it's for the best. He can have peace from himself," Sif suggested.
"No, the mortals have taught me. Death is never such an easy solution. It always leaves pain behind."
"The only pain from this death will be on you and the queen," she spoke as it seemed to her.
"You say this but I know whose dagger you carry always," Thor retorted. Sif reached into one of her hiding spaces and pulled out the unique weapon.
This dagger had propelled her life from a being a girl of court and leisure into a mistress of battle. It held two curved blades welded into a Bilgesnipe's tooth. Everyone fell for Loki's lies at least once. It was his best talent.
"You mentioned the words of Midgard. They have a belief that when someone does wrong upon you, they are a fool. When that person does wrong upon you a second time, you are the fool," Sif replied. "This reminds me not to let it happen a third time."
"Many of his misdeeds ended up for the best like cutting your hair," he spoke. "Even convincing us to do battle against Jotunheim...it was best that the All-Father cast me out. I was unfit to rule."
While it was progress that Thor was speaking of Loki as dead, the blatant rewriting of history irked her.
"Loki had no love for Asgard anymore. He's denied allegiance for years. When was the last time he called you 'brother' without a sneer?" she asked.
Thor crossed his arms and she saw anger flit across his features.
"No matter what Loki did, he was and will always be my little brother. I have no memories of life before him," he spoke. "And more importantly, you were not there yesterday."
The haunted expression told her that he had seen Loki's death.
"Loki..." Thor started and had to stop. His blue eyes filled with tears. "Loki gave his life for mine. The villain threw a ball of fire at me. Loki caught it instead. Otherwise, I would be the one in that bed."
Sif found it hard to believe but could tell that it had to be the truth.
"The Queen told me none of this," she explained. Thor stiffened for a second. His eyes glanced at the tile floor before resting back on Loki.
"As much as your presence comforts me, why send you and not come herself?" Thor asked. An answer didn't seem to be wanted. "Balder and I have discussed before how Loki was her favorite. If there was no hope, why did she not come to pay respects and make arrangements? Why leave him here on Midgard?"
He stepped over to Loki and rested a hand on the bed. Then, he raised it in a fist and brought it down on the
bedframe.
"There must be some way on Midgard to save him; something we've missed," Thor spoke. Then, he turned back to Sif again. "I won't rest until I find it."
It was a fool's folly as was so many of the adventures they'd lived. She could only hope to catch him before he fell too far.
***********************************************************************
Phil had headed for Avengers Tower as soon as he reached New York again. He hadn't slept in nearly two days and wasn't sure when his schedule would allow it.
Well, that wasn't completely true. He'd probably have plenty of time after the meeting with Fury but he was trying not to think about that. Pepper seemed to guess this as she handed him a cup of straight coffee on the main Avengers floor.
"Any chance of having Thanksgiving?" she asked with a hopeful expression.
"Not yet, there's still fallout to deal with," he told her.
"Everyone, I should inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Clint Barton is coming up the elevator," JARVIS intoned. Phil choked a little and Pepper patted his back until it passed.
"What is JARVIS talking about?" Darcy asked. Her green eyes were wide in confusion.
"I don't like being left out of secrets," Tony complained.
"JARVIS, send the happy couple directly to Medical. We'll meet them there," Phil spoke, chugged the rest of the liquid and set the mug in the sink before they entered the elevator. After a brief ride, they exited into the lounge.
"I'm fine," Clint argued. His arm was in a sling that was stained red. Bobbi had a more pristine looking sling. Phil looked at Bruce.
"I know, he's lying. I'll make sure they both get a full work-up," Bruce promised. Even if he didn't do the procedures himself, Bruce was good at making sure things got done. Phil supposed that people really didn't want to piss off 'the other guy'.
"What did you do in Vegas after we lost track of you?" Phil asked.
"Oh, we sort of got married," Clint explained. Phil noticed that he was wearing a gold band.
"I don't remember a thing but the receipt I found had them included in the package," Bobbi explained, holding up a hand with a matching a gold ring.
"SHIELD always has the best drugs," Clint commented.
"And the drinking," Bobbi added. This was real. Clint and Bobbi had married. On one hand, he couldn't believe Clint would do such a thing. On the other hand, this was exactly the sort of thing Clint would do and he'd dragged Bobbi into it. Phil noticed Simmons had an anxious look but he directed his attention at Clint, saying, "As soon as the doctors clear you, we're having a meeting with Fury."
"Ouch, principal's office," Tony remarked. Clint looked like he wanted to put a hand a through his hair but with his arm broken, he had to settle for his left one. Bobbi stared at the tile floor. Simmons was squirming so he went over to her.
"Sif is here," Simmons burst. "She and Thor are combing through the medical library, asking JARVIS questions and confusing the network with their search queries. Thor's convinced he can find something to bring back Loki."
"Keep them isolated and out of trouble. Bring in Fitz if you want. Contact me if they mention anything involving a monkey's paw," Phil told her. She gave him a look that she was mentally rolling her eyes. "I have to inform Fury that we've located Barton and Morse."
"Or Barton and Barton," Darcy suggested.
"One thing at a time," he replied. He needed to call Natasha.
*********************************************************************
Natasha hung up the phone. You could always trust Barton to fuck things up more. Phil was going to need her and Pepper. Phil and Clint were her best friends. She could say this with certainty when it wasn't so long ago that she wouldn't let herself admit to any attachments.
Attachments were a liability and liabilities got you killed. At the very least, they hurt.
Maybe that hadn't been Winter she had seen in Paris. Maybe it had just been the importance that everyone had been placing on her birthday yesterday rubbing off on her. Maybe it was these feelings that were confusing her thoughts about Loki.
"Zhizn' prozhit' — ne pole pereyti," she whispered to herself.
None of it had to matter right now. Soon, she would be flying back to New York with only a teenage girl for company. She wondered how much Vodka she could get away with.
***************************************************************************
"Hi baby," Jessica Jones said, picking Daniella up at Luke's parents' house. Her eight month old daughter squealed and squealed again when she saw Luke.
"That's it. You're a daddy's girl, aren't you?" Luke asked and kissed her forehead. Then, he kissed Jessica. It was strange. After her parents died, it felt like her life would never be normal again. Now, she had her own family and she doubted anyone could guess their day jobs by watching them together.
"I'm expecting all of you to stay and eat," Luke's mom spoke. "It is Thanksgiving after all and that's a time for family."
She put an arm around Jessica and squeezed. Putting aside the memories of the day before and Kate Bishop, Jessica couldn't be happier.
****************************************************************************
Darcy Lewis wasn't used to being included in the meetings with Fury. The Avengers tended to prefer that Phil deal with Fury and report back to them. She sat beside Steve and Phil while resisting the urge to doodle on the pristine paper in front of her. The SHIELD logo was emblazoned across the top and she liked to use it as a launching point. She gave in when she noticed that Steve was already drawing a scowling Fury.
"Tell me what happened," Fury ordered.
"I pissed her off," Clint explained, nodding at Wanda.
"I just told my dad to hurt him a little. It wasn't supposed to escalate like that," Wanda said and Darcy could tell she was sorry.
"No matter what he did, Clint is a fellow Avenger. Revenge is not what we do. We could have had a meeting about it and discussed the matter before coming up with a resolution to suit you both," Steve spoke. Darcy tried not to laugh at the idea. Clint and Wanda were supposed to have a hug and let that be the end of it?
Clint had said Phil's name by accident when he was supposed to be marrying Wanda in London. It wasn't like he just ate the rest of the pizza bagels or something. Everyone had been embarrassed for Wanda and her failed wedding reported around the world.
Fury didn't seem impressed by that solution either.
"I don't know about that but Rogers is right. The Avengers are more than just soldiers. They're public figures. People look up to you. What you did was not only immature but it put everyone in danger. I'm talking not just about Frank's actions but Barton's as well. You ran off on your own with no back-up to face a proven mass murderer. Neither of you are fit to be Avengers at this time. I'm placing you both on probation. You're suspended," Fury stated. Darcy closed the mouth she'd opened in shock.
"Barton, even if I take you back, you'll be on medical leave for how long?" Fury asked. Darcy was fairly certain he already knew and wanted to impress the situation on Clint. Darcy didn't know herself so she paid attention to his answer.
"I don't know- a few months I guess," Clint spoke as he looked at the table.
"Try eighteen months," Fury corrected him although he was looking at Wanda. "It's a compound fracture with multiple breaks which is just what I want to hear about my best sniper."
Wanda looked like she wanted to disappear and Darcy knew she had the ability. However, she stayed.
Then, the screen behind them came to life and Agent Blake appeared. Agent Blake had once tried to order her to make coffee. When she threatened to add rat poison, he never asked again.
"Sir, Charles Xavier is insisting on a video conference. It's about the events yesterday," he explained.
"Put him through," Fury stated and Blake's face was replaced by the head of the X-Men. Darcy had never seen that expression on him before. It seemed to be a combination of worry and anger.
"Nicholas, did you order Loki's attack on Sybil Dvorak?" Xavier asked.
What attack? Darcy thought and could tell the sentiment was echoed around the room.
"I have yet to ascertain exactly why Loki was even there, but I can assure you that he was not under my control," Fury stated.
"Magneto is very concerned about the attack and after hearing the results, so am I," Xavier spoke. "If you did order this attack, I want your honesty. Even Agent Brand of SWORD corroborated that Loki attacked Sybil while she was in the middle of attacking your Agent Morse."
Darcy wondered what Loki could have possibly done. Clint had a hand up to his face as though this made sense to him.
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"Miss Dvorak has been stripped of her mutant powers. Her DNA still shows the mutant gene but it's been rendered dormant," Xavier explained.
"How?" Sitwell asked.
"You can do that with magic?" Wanda asked. Like everyone else, she seemed very intrigued and Darcy couldn't blame her. No one had succeeded at taking away someone's powers before.
"Loki has powers. He's been studying for centuries and the Tesseract taught him even more. He held back during the Battle of New York because he felt we weren't worthy enough and he was still tired from what they did to him before. We've never actually seen Loki fully using his magic," Clint uttered.
"Agent Lewis, do you agree with Barton?" Fury asked.
There were so many things that Darcy preferred to forget.
"Yes," she said with a small nod.
"Nicholas, this is serious. If others find out about this, if Graydon Creed and his so-called Friends of Humanity find out about this...the entire future of every mutant is in jeopardy," Charles spoke.
"Loki is the only person to pull this off, probably the only person who could pull this off and I signed his death certificate myself," Fury argued. Clint looked at Steve who nodded. Darcy hadn't thought about how Clint didn't know about that.
"I'm not sure if that will be enough," Charles stated and with that, the signal disappeared. He'd hung up on Fury.
"Bobbi said someone dressed in green saved her but she assumed it was Danny," Clint informed them.
Loki saved Bobbi and Thor yesterday? Was there a brain transplant involved? Was it a bet gone wrong?
She found herself annoyed that he was dead because now they would never know.
"Loki was your responsibility. We should have been known what he was capable of and someone should have told me when he arrived in battle. Barton and Frank were also your responsibility. You even lost Barton and Morse during the battle. I'm disappointed," Fury spoke, looking at Phil. "You're suspended until further notice as well."
"What? No! I- " Darcy began to argue.
"I accept responsibility for my actions," Phil agreed with a nod.
But...but...Darcy had been the one to lose Barton and Morse and what about Fury himself? Phil might have lived in one of Loki's extra bedrooms, but Fury lived right below them.
"I expect I will be put on suspension as well?" Steve asked.
"Hell no. You think I want Stark or someone else leading the Avengers? They voted for you fair and square and I'm going to keep it that way," Fury answered. "You're dismissed."
"Wait for me outside," Phil said, leaning towards Darcy. She nodded and waited in the hall. It wasn't long before he came out, followed by Fury. As he walked away from them, Darcy argued, "Can he really do that?"
"Yes, he can and he should," Phil replied.
"But...but I thought you were BFFs from way back?"
"Yes, but this is about duty. I failed mine so with the exception of one loose end, I'll go on leave," Phil spoke. His blue eyes were softer than usual. "They'll need you. Sitwell will take my place in the interim but Rogers and Romanoff don't always respect him."
"Rogers got to stay," Darcy argued again.
"I know, but there wasn't much choice. Barton was suspended already, Thor is emotionally compromised and Rhodes would never leave his family for that long. No one else has enough leadership experience," he explained. "But I know you can do it and it'll be over before you know it. I need you to do something else for me, too."
"Anything boss man," she said and he smiled.
"I need you to find out how Loki knew something was happening and where," Phil told her.
"Absolutely," she said with a nod. Phil was about to leave but she felt this next part had to be said.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you about Clint, that I didn't watch him better," she apologized.
"It happens to all of us. I turned my back on him once when he was full of painkillers and didn't find him until three hours later when he was running naked through the streets, that was...thirteen or fourteen years ago," he said with a smile.
"Rio, right?" she asked.
"No, Budapest," he answered.
"Phil, you fell in love with an idiot," Darcy stated. He didn't say anything back.
************************************************************************
Natasha watched the girl climb aboard and settle her belongings as though she took a private plane every day. Perhaps she did, considering her father. She seemed the usual height for a thirteen year old, maybe a little shorter. Her hair was long, straight and black. Natasha found the purple luggage amusing.
Then, the teenager spotted her. She walked over and took the chair across from her.
"You're Natasha Romanoff," she said.
"I am," Natasha confirmed. "And you're Kate Bishop."
"I just assumed they'd send...you know some lackey to debrief me," Kate explained.
"Did you have any problems with your dad? Since it's Thanksgiving and all?" Natasha asked.
Kate laughed.
"Do you know what today is to the rest of the world? Thursday, maybe even Friday. With his daughters out of the way, that means more time for him to be working," she explained.
"And how does that make you feel?" Natasha asked.
The teenager shrugged before adding, "I'm used to it."
Natasha could tell she hated it. Her father didn't respect her and she craved it. With her emotions this close to the surface and easy to read, Natasha thought Kate had a point. Why did Phil request Natasha instead of the closest certified SHIELD shrink?
"And your sister? What does she think of yesterday?" Natasha asked. They needed to know whether that would be a problem, too.
"She has Blaine so she's pretty set. It's their honeymoon after all. Last time I saw her, she kept talking about how lucky I was that the Avengers saved me," Kate said and rolled her eyes.
Most people Natasha knew used sarcasm to hide their feelings. It was probably one of the most common tactics.
"And what about you? The way I heard it, you helped saved our asses so what's your take on it?" she asked. Kate's blue eyes were confused at first. It was doubtful that people often cared what she thought.
"I...I," Kate started but Natasha had to nod before she continued, "I loved it. I felt powerful and needed and in control and I hadn't felt that way since..."
She trailed off and clammed up.
"Since your mom died?" Natasha suggested.
Kate shook her head and Natasha realized how wrong her first guess was. The teenager had pulled her legs up and clutched them protectively. Her head was lowered and she seemed nervous again.
"You were raped."
Kate startled. She almost fell out of her chair and she gaped at Natasha.
"How did you know?" she asked. "Do I have a secret sign on me or something? Can everyone tell? Because my sister..."
Natasha could state the obvious; about how her symptoms were text book. Even Phil must have noticed something that made him choose Natasha for this. Instead, she was leaning towards her least used option.
"Happened to me, too," she admitted although she didn't add that she would have been around Kate's age the first time.
"Is it some sort of requirement for an Avenger?" Kate asked. Natasha found it odd. There were several of their members who had been sexually assaulted but it wasn't common social media knowledge.
"No, but a normal person typically doesn't want to be in mortal peril on a regular basis from anything and everything," Natasha replied.
"So, you're all fucked up in the head," Kate restated. Natasha wondered if she was even seeing a therapist or anyone. If so, she wasn't making much progress.
"Basically," Natasha agreed.
"But I was actually helping and I could fire arrow after arrow and see them hit and I...I liked it. I liked that I caused them pain."
Kate's voice became softer and softer until it became a whisper.
"It felt good, didn't it?" Natasha asked.
The girl looked at her with eyes that glistened before nodding.
"Is that bad?" Kate asked.
"No, no, it's normal. I felt that way. I had everything taken from me so I thought the world owed me and if they were that naive, they deserved everything I gave them," Natasha admitted. "But I'm better now. I made peace with my anger and I use my skills to help others. A lot of people could have died yesterday."
She didn't mention how it was a struggle every day, how easy it could be to slide back into old habits or how much she wondered whether she was helping the right people.
Kate nodded. Then, she added, "I want to be a good person. I want to help people."
*************************************************************************
Clint wasn't surprised at his less than warm reception or the way people avoided him. He could feel their stares when they knew he wasn't looking at them. Even Phil hadn't talked to him since he and Bobbi first arrived at Avengers Tower.
Then, he turned a corner and almost ran right into Jess.
"Jess!" he said with a grin that had soothed savage beasts for decades.
"Clint," Jess greeted and crossed her arms. Okay, she was definitely upset. "What's this I hear about you and Bobbi?"
"I got married?" he asked.
"It's not a question. Did you or didn't you?" she retorted.
"Yes, we did," Clint admitted. Jess shook her head. He hated when his ex-wife shook her head like that.
"I can't even say I'm that surprised. You were really that drunk?" she asked.
"And pain killers," he added.
"Okay, I have to get this out of my system," Jess said and he prepared himself for anything that might come. However, he hadn't been prepared for this. Jess slapped him hard across the face.
"What?"
"Did you even think about your son at all before you went off on your suicide mission?" Jess asked.
"Well, no..."
Jess slapped him again.
"Not exactly," Clint clarified. "But I thought that if Magneto would just get his revenge over with for screwing over his daughter, then it would be better for everyone. Wanda already insisted that her dad would never hurt a little kid like Ben. Besides, you came, too."
"I did because I wanted to protect you from yourself and Vange gave me hell when she found out but I accept my mistakes," Jess spat.
Clint hated coming between Jess and her wife.
"Is she still pissed at you?"
"Yeah, but we're working through it because that's what you do in a real marriage," Jess told him. It was true. Clint and Bobbi had never actually dated. He couldn't recall much of the engagement and even less of the actual ceremony. They weren't able to consummate it due to their injuries. Still, it was a legal marriage according to the paper.
Jess' face softened.
"If you two are going to make it stick, then Vange and I want both of you over for dinner. We should know Ben's stepmother better," she said before walking away. Clint nodded as she looked back.
******************************************************************************
"Who's your favorite Avenger?" Natasha asked.
Kate narrowed her blue eyes.
"Is there a right answer to that question?" she replied. Natasha wanted to smile.
"I'm not looking for self-gratification. I wanted the honest answer. It tends to tell a lot about a person," she explained.
"Well then," Kate answered. "I like Hawkeye. Archery seems to be my best weapon and my favorite color is purple."
"Purple's always been his color," Natasha commented. She recalled the first costume she'd seen him in. It was purple with this ridiculous mask. She'd never told him that she saw him perform before they actually met.
A concerned look came over Kate's face.
"Was Hawkeye injured? I just found his bow and quiver. He doesn't seem like he'd just leave it around," she said.
It was an astute observation for a thirteen year old.
"Yes, in fact, his arm was so badly broken that he'll have surgery tonight or tomorrow and about eighteen months of rehabilitation," Natasha explained.
Kate's blue eyes widened.
"Eighteen months without Hawkeye? But..."
"We'll still have Hawkeye but strictly for promotional appearances and light duties," she explained while withholding a chuckle. Kate had tried to be coy but she was definitely a fangirl.
*************************************************************************************
"What's that?" Mary Jane asked, setting down her purse and backpack on the floor of Peter's dorm.
"It was a text about us having a meeting tonight," Peter explained as he deleted it. He watched her for a minute; reveling in her smile and the way her hair flipped that certain way. She was his rock; a steadying force in the midst of chaos. If they were a chemistry compound, she'd be his base.
He'd thought his Aunt May was a constant, too...
"Peter, you're a million miles away. What happened yesterday?" Mary Jane asked. He took her hand and pulled her onto the bed with him.
"It wasn't the mission. It was afterwards. It turns out...it turns out that Aunt May is the leader of a secret organization similar to SHIELD. Actually, she and my parents used to work for SHIELD until they broke away and formed their own group," he explained.
"Wow, that's..." she paused as though collecting her thoughts. Then, she added, "That's awesome! I mean, I always thought she seemed cooler than everyone else' aunt but...I never would have thought of that. Oh, but you're freaking out, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah, all this time and she never told me. I mean, why didn't I even suspect something? All those trips and activities and I just believed her! I'm such an idiot. Coulson knew this whole time, too," Peter complained.
"Well, they were busy...you know, having sex and stuff..."
He closed his eyes and leaned against the small twin bed frame.
"That is the worst mental image," Peter complained. His hazel eyes glared at her and he reminded, "You promised not to bring that up again."
In response, she giggled and tried to hit him with a pillow. He couldn't help smiling. Then, another thought hit him.
"Do you think he and my aunt were...before he was principal? She told me that she asked SHIELD to take me in," he told her. She gave him that look like he was an idiot.
"Your aunt was so worried about how you would feel that she didn't date at all and didn't you tell me how Coulson offered not to date her if you weren't comfortable with it?" MJ reminded him. They were never serious either which made Peter feel better. His aunt had other boyfriends and Phil dated Clint all that time.
"Right," he agreed and nodded. She always made him feel better. When he saw Luke with Jessica and Danielle, it made him wonder what it would be like to marry MJ and have children of their own.
He hugged her close. They had plenty of time for that in the future.
"You're not good with change, Peter. You like things to stay the same forever. I totally understand why she would want to put that off," she spoke. Hadn't he just been thinking of changing their relationship in a future tense?
Despite three years together, he wasn't even ready to share an apartment together. She was right. He had to be pulled kicking and screaming into changing.
"Do you want to go visit Aunt May with me?" he asked. She smiled and nodded.
************************************************************************
Bruce was reading over Clint and Bobbi's files when Thor burst in.
"I know how to save my brother," he announced. Bruce felt sorry for him. There was nothing to be done.
"I was reading and the typical treatment on Midgard is to move healthy skin to the injured areas, wrap in gauze as you have done, medications and an influx of blood," Thor explained.
"Yes, and if Loki had only partial burns, like second or third degree, maybe even four, then we would have done so. Loki had six degree burns. We wrapped him in gauze not for his own sake, but to keep his body in one piece instead of leaking all over the Quintjet," Bruce spat. It was mean.
However, he wanted to impress on Thor how serious this was. The quicker he accepted this, the better they could help him grieve.
"What about the skin transplant?"
Bruce gripped the side of the desk. It was no use. Thor was too stupid when it came to his brother.
"Skin transplants are taken from a patient's uninjured areas, usually thigh or near the groin. Except for some brief patches on his feet and ankles, Loki has no skin left. It was burned away," he explained. Thor's blue eyes were contemplative.
"What about the blood? I could give him mine," Thor offered.
Phil's voice came to him from the day before when he told the other medical officer never to argue with an Asgardian. Plus, Thor's blue eyes sparkled and he definitely didn't want a crying Asgardian in the office. Instead, he'd try to make a deal.
"We'll give Loki a blood transfusion using your blood and when that's completed, I will run every test I can think of for you-"
"Yes, Banner, finally-"
"BUT if there continues to be no life signs, you have to let him go," Bruce insisted. "Would your brother even want to live like this? He would have to be hooked up to machines for every life function. Machines would breathe, keep his blood flowing like a heart and eliminate waste. It's not living."
"Until that moment, I am not giving up on him," Thor argued.
Bruce nodded and began a mental list of every test he could think of to prove Thor wrong.
*********************************************************************************
Phil's phone chirped. He took it out to find a photo message.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Rhodes Family!
James Rhodes had his arm around his wife, Rae, while she held their young son, Nathaniel. Phil smiled. Then, he spotted who he was looking for.
"No," Melinda May said as though it had become instinct.
"You don't even know what I'm going to say," Phil pointed out.
"I know Fury suspended you which make me assume that you want to lead the bus as well as driving it," she stated.
"Would you rather have Ward take the lead? He's not ready for that kind of responsibility," he argued.
Melinda crossed her arms and frowned.
"I hate you."
"No, you don't," Phil stated.
"And you're in love with an idiot," she commented. Phil ignored this as his phone chirped again. Natasha had landed with Bishop.
****************************************************************************
Darcy was having her second high profile meeting. This one was even more exclusive with just her, Phil, Steve, Jasper and Natasha.
"We're here to discuss whether we need to add Kate Bishop as an asset," Phil explained.
"The girl?!" Steve asked in disbelief.
"She did take down some of those extremis drones," Darcy argued. "But are we even allowed to have minors? Wouldn't we need her dad's permission?"
"There are ways around it," Phil stated. "First, I need to know if it's necessary. Romanoff?"
"Bishop is dealing with issues, including PTSD. The nature of her assault makes her particularly susceptible to feeling powerless which is compounded by her family situation. She's a very high risk for becoming a vigilante if left on her own," Natasha stated. When she was surrounded by them all the time, Darcy could forget how the Avengers had smarts other than just their superhero powers. Wait, what...
"What assault?" Darcy asked. Steve looked in the dark just like her. However, Phil and Natasha looked at each other while Jasper looked down at the table top.
"It was a sexual assault, right?" Phil asked in a soft voice. Natasha gave a brief nod. Darcy put a hand to her mouth. Who would do that to such a young girl?
"She also mentioned an Avenger who had also had that happen. There wasn't a name with it but someone knew about her and what happened before the Las Vegas incident," Natasha mentioned. Jasper held the worst poker face imaginable.
"Do we agree that Bishop should be added as an asset?" Phil asked.
"But you invited me here which means you want her as an Avenger," Steve commented.
"It would be the easiest solution. She would have an outfit that would keep her identity disguised. Her need for vigilantism could be allowed in a controlled setting and she already feels comfortable with at least two of our members. Plus, we could keep her away from SHIELD more easily," Phil explained. "She's still just a girl. We shouldn't overwhelm her all at once. This trip on the Helicarrier is bad enough."
"This is true," Steve agreed. "Fine, I agree."
He held up his hand and the others followed.
"With that settled, I guess you'll have to make do without me," Phil spoke and tried to make into a joke.
"We're having a meeting tonight to discuss everything," Steve spoke. Darcy had a vague recollection of that being mentioned. With everyone together, it'd be the perfect time to have Natasha's birthday party/Thanksgiving. She looked around and the others were standing up. There were some phone calls to make.
"Sitwell, I want you to stay a moment," Phil spoke. Darcy knew it had to be about Kate and Jasper's odd behavior.
**********************************************************************
"Jasper, you helped Jones with Bishop before," Phil spoke. It wasn't a question but the other agent nodded anyway.
"Jones is the one that found her after...after it happened," Jasper explained. This time, Phil nodded and some oddities began to click.
"That pedophile we happened upon last month...you set that up, too," Phil guessed.
"She was a twelve year old girl, Phil. I was afraid to even let my girls out of the apartment. What if he had found one of them instead? I couldn't let that happen," Jasper argued. "Bishop had changed her clothes in the car so I used the DNA left behind to find him."
Phil shook his head.
"I'm not mad about that. I understand but I am disappointed. If you had come to me, we could have made a plan together. Kiddie porn is only going to get him five years probably, twenty years at best but..."
"We can't have Kate testify against him. We can't put her through that," Jasper argued.
"I know, even if she did, the most he could get is twenty-five years," Phil said with a sigh.
"That's such bullshit!" Jasper exclaimed. "He could just get out and do it again."
Phil still wanted to believe in second chances. However, there were some situations...
"I'll look into it. I'll have plenty of time," Phil promised.
*************************************************************************
Kate pinched herself although the cold air biting through her jacket should have been enough. This was real. The past two days had been unbelievable. Right now, she was on the deck of a flying aircraft carrier called the Helicarrier. Military men were the worst at naming things. Natasha had promised a ride back to the city and home after telling her she was an Avenger. This still made no sense to her. She was practically a kid. How could they have that much faith in her?
Still, she better act up to their expectations before they kicked her out or something. Natasha had also mentioned coming up with a secret identity. Then, she noticed the door open and a man walk out. It was Clint Barton also known as Hawkeye. She tried not to stare.
A thought struck her. If he was an Avenger and she was going to be an Avenger, they were technically teammates. You were supposed to be friendly with your teammates.
"Hi, I'm Kate Bishop," she said. Although her body didn't want to, her mind thought the polite thing was to stick out her hand for him to shake.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me? I'm trying to look for someone, thought they might be here," he retorted. Kate would not let that get to her.
"Sorry about the arm," she said.
He did the smallest of shrugs and turned away from her. Fuck this, if he was going to act like a brat, she could play that game, too.
"I'm going to be an Avenger, too. Maybe I could be Hawkeye while you recover," she called after him. Then, she crossed her arms over her chest. He strode back to her with just a few large paces.
"Listen, little girl, who do you think you are?" Clint asked with a growl.
"The one who used your stuff yesterday to take down some of those bad guys," she pointed out.
Why didn't I use the actual names? I sounded so stupid, Kate thought. In her anger, the words hadn't come.
"You? You're her?" Clint asked in disbelief. After a moment, he began to nod. "Fine, you want to be Hawkeye? Then, you come with me."
Kate was thrown by this response but he started walking so she started to follow. They made their way to a part of the ship that she hadn't seen yet. It was a gym except in the professional sense with different rooms for different purposes. Clint stopped at a door marked Archery. He seemed to hesitate before pulling out an ID card, sliding it and typing in a code. It was like he wasn't sure it would work. Then, there was a hiss and he opened the door, making sure she caught it before coming inside.
"I make the shot and you come up with your own name. You make the shot and I'll let you be Hawkeye for a while," Clint offered. "Deal?"
"Sure," she said with a nod. Then, she remembered everything he had said. "How can you make a shot with a broken arm?"
"It's how I used to win bets," he mumbled as he got out the bow and arrows. She wasn't sure if it was a lie or not. Then, he put a chair about eight feet away from the target. She watched as he stripped off his right shoe and sock. Clint sat in the chair, held the bow in place with his right foot and notched the bow with his left hand before pulling it back and letting go.
It hit the center of the bull's-eye. It was one of the coolest things she had ever seen.
"Your turn," Clint said with a smirk. He held out the bow.
What?
"You can't make that shot -- Nobody can make the Robin Hood/Merida shot. I don't care how good you are," she argued. One moment he seemed to be human and the next, he was back to being an ass.
"Oh yeah? And why not?" he asked. He was being serious.
"Because it's impossible, ya doof. That's why. Even the Mythbusters couldn't do it, and there's five of them next to one little old you," she complained.
"I'm not making that shot, you are," he spoke. His smirk was insufferable. What did she ever see in him? "Break my bull's-eye and you've earned being Hawkeye."
"I can't," she spat.
"Listen, Kate, I don't want to get all life-coach on you but...you're gonna miss each and every shot you can't be bothered to take. That's not living life...that's just being a tourist. Take every shot, Kate, if it's worth caring about, no matter how impossible you think it is. You take the shot," Clint spoke.
She held out her hand and he handed her the bow. Kate moved the chair, strung the arrow and aimed. She was nervous and felt self-conscious with him watching. It wasn't like yesterday when she was one of many just trying to stop the bad guys. She let go and cringed before it landed. Kate already knew her aim had been off as soon as it left the bow. The arrow still made the bull's-eye but just left of where his arrow was still embedded.
"You seem to be half-way smart. I'm sure you can come up with a fine nickname," Clint said and held out his hand for the bow. "Make sure you have the skills to back up that attitude."
"Fuck you, Hawkeye," she said, handing the bow back and running out of the room which would have worked better except for that stupid door. She ran for the nearest bathroom and locked herself in a stall. Maybe this whole thing was just stupid. She hated the tears that started to come.
*******************************************************************************
"Shit," Clint spat and put the equipment away. He was pretty sure he had made her cry but she also seemed to be a spoiled brat who was used to getting her way due to daddy's bank account. Clint hated being around people like that. There were times he couldn't even stand being around Tony.
For the past two days, Clint couldn't seem to do anything right. His chest felt tight. He needed to find Bobbi so they could talk, but she hadn't been waiting to return to New York. Kate was there instead. Clint tried Medical again. However, they told him that he'd just missed her.
When he found Bobbi, she was chatting with Fitz.
"Clint! Fitz was telling me about this fascinating project that Simmons is working on. I can't wait to be back at the Tower. Steve's flying us, right?" she asked.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Can we talk somewhere private?"
"Leo?"
"Our office is right there," he said and pointed to what Clint had thought was a closet. Clint motioned for Bobbi to go first. Inside, it was about the size of a closet, too.
"I'm not a good person. I got a lot of people hurt yesterday, including you. I got Loki killed apparently.-"
"Well,-" Bobbi tried to interrupt but he had to get everything out first.
"I think I just made a teenage girl cry. My ex-wife has slapped me twice today and I still haven't called my son to tell him I'm basically okay," he said before looking at her. "I'm not a good person. What we did was probably the most fucking stupid thing ever but you can still get out of it. I was reading up on these things. We didn't 'consummate the relationship' as they call it, couldn't in our condition. You could still get it annulled free and clear, like it never happened."
"But I would know it happened. I would know I had a shorter Vegas marriage than Britney Spears and I don't want that," Bobbi stated.
"I'm not a good person. I'm not that good of a husband," Clint argued.
"I've seen you in battle. I've seen you with Ben. You make mistakes but you're a good person. This marriage was half my idea, too," she argued back.
"So you want to work on this?" he asked. "I've already had one failed marriage. I don't really want another one."
"I'll work on it if you work on it," she agreed.
"We've never even kissed or that I can remember," he said.
"Yeah, we should probably fix that." She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. They just looked at each other for a moment and his chest felt a little lighter. His lips met hers and they kissed.
************************************************************************************
Darcy was starting to feel overwhelmed with everyone trusting her so much. She was used to being the assistant or an intern or just a small part of everything else.
Now, she was expected to supervise a meeting between Kate Bishop and Nick Fury in Fury's office. She'd only been in his office twice before since he tended to use everyone else' office. She studied Kate. Just about everyone had watched her grow up from paparazzi photos although thirteen was far from an adult.
She seemed so young yet so old at the same time. Darcy couldn't imagine having to deal with being raped at that age. There were girls who killed themselves over less than that.
Her blue eyes were a bit red though as though she'd been crying. The door opened and Darcy said, "Come on."
Fury stood inside and Darcy closed the door behind them.
"Director Fury, this is Kate Bishop; the newest member of the Avengers," she introduced. Kate stuck her hand out, put it back and stuck it out again as though unsure about it all.
"That's okay, Miss Bishop. I'm not big on those types of rules," Fury explained. "It's been a trying couple of days. How are you?"
"Fine," she said with a shrug.
"Everyone respecting you?" he asked. His file on her must have included the rape.
"Yeah, basically except..." she hesitated."Hawkeye was an asshole."
Fury began to chuckle.
"You find that funny?" Kate asked with annoyance.
"A little. Everyone I hire is called an asshole or a bitch at some point. I don't hire people to be nice. I hire people because they're the best," he explained. Kate smiled a little on the last word.
"People called Coulson that?" Darcy asked.
"I have audio of not only you calling Agent Coulson that but describing a very elaborate, very imaginative death for him over five minutes involving sea monkeys, cheese and a Taser," Fury spoke. She reddened because she had forgotten all about it.
"He had stolen my iPod with all my music and I was drunk. Jane makes a jungle punch that...," Darcy started before remembering she was in the presence of a thirteen year old. "I'll just shut up now."
"If you really care about music, you have to do vinyl. There's nothing else like it. MP3s sound too polished and fake now," Kate spoke
"How do you even know about vinyl?" Fury asked.
"I like the retro stuff. It's usually better," she said. Fury smiled.
"What made you decide to play the cello?"
"I don't know," Kate said. It was the first definite lie she'd heard from her. "It was sad so I could make it say how I felt without actually saying it."
This was more real. Darcy hadn't needed to read her file to remember that she'd been young when her mom died. Fury's brown eyes were empathetic.
"Something tells me you're going to be a fine addition to the team," Fury said with a nod. Kate smiled. "I'll have someone speak to Barton and if anyone else makes you feel uncomfortable, tell me. Go on and wait outside. I have to talk to Agent Lewis a moment. She and Agent Sitwell will be in charge of the Avengers for the time being."
Kate nodded and left them. Fury turned to Darcy.
"I need you to get me Kate's birth certificate; her real birth certificate," Fury spoke. Darcy didn't bother containing her confusion.
"Kate Bishop's birth was the cover story of People. Everyone knows it. It was a surrogacy but the birth mom was even interviewed," she pointed out.
"A woman paid to tell lies. I need to know her real parents," he ordered.
"Which means you think you know who they really are," she guessed.
"I don't know with absolute certainty. I have a suspicion, that's why I want you to find out for me," Fury explained. Darcy was a thoughtful a moment.
"Does that mean I know who you suspect her parents are?" she asked. He pointed to a door which she took as a 'yes'. She loved mysteries and secrets so this was going to be fun.
***********************************************************************
Steve thought they would be flying back soon. He was waiting by a Quintjet on the tarmac. Then, his phone had beeped and Fury had wanted him to talk to Clint about his behavior with Kate. After asking for a current location, Steve headed back inside.
Clint and Bobbi were in the commissary.
"Bobbi, I need Clint for a bit. It won't be long and then, we can leave, sorry about this, ma'am," Steve apologized. Bobbie smiled. Her blue eyes twinkled. She was amused by him calling her ma'am. They went to a semi-private hallway.
"What'd you do to Kate?" Steve asked.
"The spoiled brat?" Clint asked. Steve gave him that look that always made Tony cringe. It worked for the archer, too.
"I messed with her a bit, yeah," he said. Steve crossed his arms. "Fine, I was a bit of a dick and I think I made her cry."
"Of course, you did," Natasha said, walking up.
"She is a teenage girl though. Aren't they known for over-reacting? How bad off is she?" he asked.
"Like you didn't sign her cards," she retorted.
"Hey, I..." Steve started to interrupt because he had tried very hard to make up for his initial nastiness towards Coulson. However, they were only looking at each other and Steve realized he wasn't really in the conversation anymore. Sometimes, Clint and Natasha could have whole discussions with vague phrases full of meaning that no one else could understand. It was like when he was growing up and the Italians would talk in Italian in front of him so he didn't know what they were saying.
"Fuck," Clint says after their short exchange. It seemed apt in this situation. He also saw an opening in the conversation.
"Kate needs our guidance and support. She's had to grow up a lot before yesterday even happened," Steve told him. He could see Clint processing this and turning to Natasha.
"Not like Dagestan?"
"Yeah," she confirmed. Clint frowned.
"I didn't know-"
"Yeah, but-"
"Yeah," Clint agreed and Steve had once again witnessed a conversation he couldn't follow. "I'll talk to Kate. She's going to be on the Quintjet, right?"
"Along with everyone else," Steve reminded him. Not everyone needed to know about Clint's behavior.
"Nah, it's fine. They'll find out anyway," he said.
*************************************************************************
Kate waited on the Quintjet as everyone else came in. They wanted her to stay buckled in the seat but it was too confining and the seats were too close together.
"Why can't Natasha sit beside me?" she asked.
"Because she's the co-pilot," Coulson explained. His voice never seemed upset with her and she liked that especially after Clint earlier. "It's regulations for minors to be in the center seat but how about this time, you can be on the edge and Darcy can sit beside you?"
She looked at Darcy who gave her a smile. This idea might be okay. She nodded. Two other people were walking up the ramp. It was Clint and a blonde. She had stepped behind Coulson before even realizing it.
"Kate, I'd like to talk to you," Clint spoke. His voice was soft and apologetic. It could be some sort of trick. She stayed where she was. He nodded.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I was a dick. How long have you been shooting?" he asked.
She hesitated and told him," three months."
There were gasps all around her but she enjoyed the shocked look on his face best.
"Then, you definitely need to come to Stark Tower next Saturday," Clint told her.
"Why?"
"Because I have to make sure you're not going to tarnish the Hawkeye name for the rest of us," he said. Her anger started to rise again.
"What? Another test?"
"No, girly-girl. You want it for the meantime, you can have it," Clint said and threw something at her with his good arm. She caught it and saw that it was his purple trademark sunglasses.
She was Hawkeye.
"Go out. Fight hard. Screw up. Save the world a few times," Clint continued. "Just keep taking the shots, okay?"
Maybe they had misjudged each other at first. He had been having a rough day and he was trying to make up for it.
"Thanks, Hawkeye," she said, clutching the glasses tightly.
"No problem, Hawkeye," he uttered.
"Oh, that's going to get confusing," Darcy whispered. The acoustics still carried it everywhere. "Maybe we could come up with a nickname or something, like he could be Hawkguy."
Kate saw Coulson give her a look that she was being insane. Hawkguy did have a nice ring to it though...
*************************************************************************************
"Natasha, do you want to come with me and Clint to the Medical floor? Bruce has some more tests for us and Simmons has a special project," Bobbi told her.
Natasha hesitated. The medical floor was where they were storing Loki. She hadn't seen him since before Las Vegas. Did she even want to see his corpse?
Bobbi was already holding Clint's hand but grabbed for Natasha's as well.
"Fine," she agreed before Bobbi or Clint could break something else. They exited the elevator together.
"Tests first, science later," Bruce spoke before Bobbi could run off. She watched them leave and began wondering around. There was a morgue but she doubted that Thor would have allowed that. He would want Loki laid out until more arrangements were made.
Tony had also had a part of medical set-up for prisoners or patients that needed to be separated from everyone else. She decided to try there first.
While she couldn't make out what he was saying, Thor's booming voice was recognizable. This was it.
However, she had never really understood the need for the body once the person inside it was dead. Sentimentality was something Steve would do. Hadn't she stood over Maria's body and felt nothing? Shouldn't she remember him as he was, not like he was now?
She also didn't want any confusion over what they had which was a mutual scratching of itches that both were highly skilled at.
Natasha took one last look at the door and walked off.
**************************************************************************
Phil thought it was a bad sign when Pepper had two large Margheritas waiting for them with an even larger pitcher.
"What is it?"
Pepper stopped, bit her lip, wrung her hands and crossed over to him. She gulped down half her drink before starting. Phil was beginning to be frightened at what she wanted to talk to him about.
"Phil, when you were dead, we had that business with the Mandarin..."
He nodded. The Mandarin was none other than the scientist Aldrich Killian.
"For our debriefing afterwards with SHIELD, Tony, Rhodey and I lied," Pepper uttered. "They were trying to protect me."
"Why?"
He'd never seen her like this before.
"Killian kidnapped me to get to Tony but he didn't stop there. He made Tony watch as...as he injected me with Extremis," she admitted.
"Oh Pepper, that's killed people before. What happened? Were there side effects?" Phil asked. He realized this was the issue that she had been dealing with all this time; alluding to it but never actually telling him what it was.
"It...it worked, Phil. I killed Killian. I did, not Tony and Rhodey like they said," she explained. He took her hand and squeezed. "We kept it a secret and Tony investigated how to fix. It did, or it seemed to but..."
Phil put an arm around her.
"When I found out Mystique was my real mother, I wondered if...if that was why I took to Extremis so well. Some of the others didn't even survive being injected with it," she said. Tears were falling.
Phil hugged her close. He hated to see her this way.
"I think Tony and I would both agree that if being Mystique's daughter was how you survived, then we're glad for it. She's a horrible person but you're nothing like her. You're one of the best people I know." He added, "Especially with putting up with Tony."
He was pretty sure that could put a smile on her face and he was right.
"You were Rescue yesterday. I haven't seen Rescue since before Maria died," Phil pointed out. She nodded.
"When Darcy mentioned that Extremis was involved, I knew I couldn't let anyone of you face that on your own. I had to finally face my past," she said. Her blue eyes were shiny.
"Did it work?"
She nodded.
"It's how I finally got the strength to tell you. You don't have to write a report or anything, right?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Of course not. I wouldn't tell Nick about this. I'm not even on the clock. I'm suspended like Clint and Wanda," he explained.
She was surprised like everyone else had been. Then, he watched her compose herself.
"Stay with us tonight, Phil. You can't go back home. It'll be too empty," she said. He was about to argue that Loki wasn't a homebody but he knew she was right. It was a different kind of empty when you knew they weren't coming back.
He took a large swallow of his drink and mentioned, "We might have to make a lot more if we're going to have one of those nights."
Rarely had he and Pepper had those nights and it had been years but he liked when Tony was away and they'd spend all night drinking and talking.
"Actually, Darcy and I have put together different plans since everyone else has to be here for the meeting anyway. I think Darcy's calling it 'Natasha's birthday and Thanksgiving that We're Almost All Alive with a Celebration of Loki'," she explained.
"That's a little long, even worse than Strategic Homeland Intervention-"
"I know," Pepper agreed with a laugh. "Oh, we'll have to add wedding party to it somehow, too."
He shook his head.
"You're in love with an idiot."
"I know," he confirmed and they shared a look.
"I have to check on the party prep.," she said and he nodded. Then, his phone chirped.
"Bruce, what's going on?" he asked after checking the Caller ID. This could mean anything.
"I figured out a way of doing the blood transfusion with Thor's blood and I gave it four hours which finished forty-five minutes ago. As his part of the bargain, he'd allow me to use every test possible to prove Loki was dead," Bruce explained.
"Mmmhmm," Phil added so he would know he was still listening.
"I tried to be thorough but most of the tests were just impossible to conduct like the EEG and Transcranial Doppler. For the MRI, I decided to use the Multinuclear imaging. We had a portable machine that we ran over his body and the tests were odd. His oxygen content was much higher than I would have expected and there were some other elements that were off-"
"That can't just be explained by gases released by decomposition?" Phil asked. He didn't understand all the medical jargon but this was one of the few things he did know.
"That's the thing, he's not. I can't tell any evidence of decomposition anywhere," Bruce stated. All this time, Phil should be used to anything and everything...
"Then, what did you do?"
"I used Magnetoencephalography (MEG) which confirmed electrical activity so I tried a PET/CT calibrated for Psions and..."
Bruce blustered. Phil closed his eyes. They'd been so stupid.
"We never tested Loki for Psions when we had him on the Helicarrier," Phil spoke.
"They were off the chart. I'm out of my expertise here. I'll have to contact Hank about it," he complained.
"So he's alive after all?" Phil asked.
"I'm not sure I'd go that far but he doesn't appear to be quite so dead," Bruce answered.
****************************************************************************
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-10-21 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-11 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-30 10:40 pm (UTC)Seeing Coulson just throw out agent knowledge so casually makes him seem so badass.
I like seeing the contrast of Sif's many visions of Loki. It sums up very nicely the mixed versions she has of him. I also like the fact that she is still bitter, but still carries around his dagger.
I feel so bad for Phil because Clint and Bobbi got married. The happy part with the babies was needed to make up for the bits with Clint and Natasha.
Is there a meaning behind the Russian that I am missing?
Even in death Loki manages to get what he wants, by neautralizing her powers with magic.
It's kind of endearing that Budapest is a thing between Clint and Phil.
The assessment that all the Avengers are fucked in the head is actually pretty apt.
I am actually surprised by how open Natasha is being. Usually she plays her cards pretty close and this girl is a stranger. Any reason why?
It's kind of heartbreaking to see Thor try so desperately to bring back his brother.
Clint really is an ass at times. He has the worst timing.
Why is Phil trying the thing with Bobbi if he still has feelings for Clint?
I'm intrigued to see how alive Loki actually will be at the end of this. I also enjoyed seeing Bruce's scientist side.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-01 05:52 am (UTC)Zhizn' prozhit' — ne pole pereyti
It's a saying that basically means Life was never meant to be easy.
Damn, I really worried about my Natasha characterization because...
On one hand, she is very guarded as you said.
But then, she's a little thrown by the Loki thing and just found out Clint got himself married and she sees a little bit of herself in Kate between having to grow up fast and the rape.
I am totally open to suggestions about how it could be played better. I don't want Kate coming off as a special snowflake or something.
You know I wrote this last month. I hadn't seen Thor 2 yet or really read that many spoilers apart from Frigga so after writing both the death scene and this chapter...I felt vindicated in what I wrote because there is so much dissension among Marvel fans about whether Loki is capable of good deeds even though in the comics, he's sacrificed himself a couple of times to save Asgard and there was the Tess Black Spider-Man issue.
I mean Loki even apologizes at the end there which most agreed that he wasn't capable of and it was just...awesome.
Ah, Clint and Bobbi...
Well, I thought their comic book relationship had some very interesting turns.
Ross on Friends wanted to stay married to Rachel after their Las Vegas marriage to the point of sabotaging their annulment...I didn't want Clint to come off too much of an ass though...he does that all on his own as you pointed out.
But both would be a cop-out in terms of the story...
In terms of the story, Clint does still love Phil and has loved Phil for a very long time...even during his first marriage.
However, he also is developing a reputation for totally sucking at relationships. His ex-wife digged at him for not knowing how to be in a relationship and his last real attempt with Phil ended with him cheating on him with Wanda.
By staying married, he thinks he's being a mature grown-up for once.
Yay, you're intrigued! THANK YOU!
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Date: 2013-12-01 07:06 pm (UTC)I understand the Clint thing a bit more now. It makes sense, even though I'm pretty sure it will backfire on him in the long run.
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Date: 2013-12-02 07:03 am (UTC)https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9002234/21/Friends-to-the-End