This is a message to the lovely htbuzz: thank you. Your messages seems to get to me exactly when I need them most. It is because of you that I'm diving back in the pool again...

I believe that there are two types of fan fiction. First, there is "what if" fan fiction, where the author throws out a question and builds their story around it. Like, "What if Castle were a wizard?" for example.

The second type of fan fiction is corrective fan fiction. Corrective fan fiction is where the author fills in a missing scene or give a show something it's lacking. And there is one show out there right now where the thing that most fans seem to think it lacks is super powers. Good thing I have plenty of them lying around...

This is a crossover between "Castle" and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". Since that's the obvious part of this equation, let's get to the not-so-obvious part: this is set in the weird and wonderful twilight zone that is my Castle very alternate universe of the Guardians of Shangri La, which started in my story "Four Winds". It is the spiritual successor to my Guardians/Avengers crossover "North Star", although you won't need to have read that story to enjoy this one.

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything but the concept for the Guardians. If you think I own Castle or Marvel Comics you obviously haven't seen my house. The Castle characters will not show up in this preface...but they will show up in the next chapter. For Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans, this is an AU branch off from the very beginning of the excellent episode "T.A.H.I.T.I.". Although, I'm hoping you'll catch on to that from the preface. ;-) I've quoted some lines from the beginning of that episode, as well as from parts of "The Magical Place", but not too many, I hope...

Comments and questions are highly encouraged! And on with the show...

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"He's drifting..."

Agent Phil Coulson had been 'drifting' for what seemed like an eternity. It was the only way he had to escape the pain.

"This is wrong," Dr. Streiten declared, with a firm angry insistence that spoke of his emotional conviction on the subject.

Another spike of pain tore across Coulson's temple. "Can you feel that?" he heard the nurse ask him.

"No," Coulson exclaimed, his voice breaking with pain. He tried to move his arms, his neck...anything that would let him get away. The effort was futile. All he could do was plead. Plead to the one man who seemed to be sympathetic to his plight. "Please," he begged the doctor. "Please...please just let me die..."

The time for that has passed, a voice echoed in Coulson's head.

I must be 'drifting' again, Phil thought, confused by the unfamiliar voice that rang through his mind.

A deep rumbling purr of a large cat seemed to echo around the room, although no one but Coulson seemed to hear it. The mortal world seems to be...unwilling to release you, great warrior. They have gone to great lengths to keep you among the living.

I don't want to...Coulson insisted.

I know, the voice agreed. But your...situation can no longer be changed. You will remain among the living for now. I am here to bring you comfort in this trial.

Who are you? asked Phil.

Another deep rumbling purr answered his question, but the waves of the sound seemed to run *through* Coulson, killing the pain as they went. He felt warm, safe and at peace for the first time since he had awakened from his resurrection. Who *are* you? he asked the voice a second time.

The edges of Coulson's vision turned blurry, then orange. The orange circle shrank into a single point of light, which then grew and shifted until the face of a bengal tiger filled his view. He felt a warm presence cuddle up against his side, along with the soft rubbing of fur against his skin. I am a servant to those who protect the innocent, the tiger declared. I am here for you as you are here for others. Whatever you need, I swear it will be given you...

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Skye was dying.
A member of his team was dying a slow and painful death, and there was nothing that Coulson could do to stop it.

Agent Coulson paced fitfully outside the chamber that was keeping his troublesome young protègé alive...barely. There had to be some way to save her. But how?

Simmons matched his pacing step for nervous step. "Sir," she stammered nervously, "I...I don't know what you think I can do for her that they haven't already tried at the hub..."

You know who can help her, a familiar deep voice purred inside Coulson's mind.

Coulson had to fight to keep his expression neutral, lest his subordinate know that an invisible bengal tiger had wrapped itself around his legs and joined in the conversation. You're here, he thought, hoping that the tiger could hear his thoughts as it always seemed to in his dreams. Please...Even Coulson's mind-voice was laced with obvious worry and panic as he locked his gaze on Skye. Please, if there's any way you can help her...

I cannot, the voice replied calmly. But I do know someone who can. As do you.

Coulson swallowed hard as his few fragmented memories of his resurrection came rushing to the front of his mind. Them? Do we have to go...there...

The tiger vanished from Coulson's side and reappeared in the life support unit, jumping up so that his two front paws were propped up on the bed and he stood on his hind legs. I would never allow you to submit another to those horrors, the tiger declared. No, I am thinking of another.

Coulson had to resist the urge to pound his fist against the glass. Who?! he demanded.

The one who helped the Black Widow, the tiger calmly replied.

A fresh new set of memories rushed to the front of Coulson's mind, and he instantly knew exactly where they needed to go. How will I find them?

The image that came to Coulson's mind, he knew, sprang from a thought that was not his own. Find this warrior, the tiger told Coulson. He will lead you to them.

A violent pounding noise caught his attention. Coulson looked away from Skye and toward the ceiling. Judging from the location of the sound, Coulson knew it could only be one thing. And as important as saving Skye was, Coulson knew that Quinn's life was almost as important...if only to stop the clairvoyant from coming after all of them even harder. "May..." he growled, sounding oddly like the tiger whose voice had been rumbling in his mind.

Quinn's face was already covered in blood by the time Coulson and Ward arrived at the holding cell. "May! May!" he called out, immediately getting his friend's attention. "Outside, now."

Coulson followed an enraged Melinda May into his office at the front of the plane. "He deserves to die, not her," she declared angrily.

"Agreed," Coulson chimed in. "But right now, Quinn doesn't matter - only Skye does, and I need you to pilot the plane."

May stared at Coulson in stunned disbelief. "You heard what the doctor said..."

"She said there was nothing more they could do for her," Coulson argued, "but I know someone who can. Someone who's helped people that have gone through far worse than Skye to make a full recovery."

May shook his head, confused at how Coulson could know of such a person but she didn't. "Where is this person, then?"

"I don't know," Coulson replied matter-of-factly. "But I know who can take us to them. Set a course for Brooklyn. We need to find Steve Rogers."

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Comments welcome!