The awkward silence in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Steve, Nat, Tony, Clint, Bruce, and Thor were all sitting down, with Fury standing before them, having summoned them all to the Helicarrier for reasons unknown.
"I'll be the first to ask… what are we doing here, Fury?" says Captain America.
"It's been a while since we've all been in the same room together. Since you all stopped Loki and saved the world from destruction." Responded Fury.
"You called us here out of nostalgia?" asked Tony. "I don't buy it. You're working an angle."
"No, no, I just… I had something to tell you all." It seemed as if he was actually having trouble getting his words out.
"Nick…" said Nat, getting up.
"Sit down, Natasha. I'm fine." She did as she was told. "The reason you all worked so well together as the Avengers was because you had something, someone to avenge."
"Coulson." Said Hawkeye, looking at the ground.
"Yeah, Phil Coulson. The thing is… Coulson is…" began Fury.
"Alive." Said a voice, coming from behind where the Avengers were sitting. Each of them turned around and stood face to face with Phil Coulson.
"What sorcery is this? I saw Loki stab you through the heart." Exclaimed Thor, unable to believe this.
"It's not sorcery, Thor." Said Coulson. "If all of you would sit down I'm happy to explain-"
"No I don't give a crap about how you're alive, what I want to know, is why the fuck did you keep it from us this long?" said Tony, turning his attention to Fury.
"The regeneration process took time-" he tried to respond calmly.
"Time?! What, you couldn't have called us up and said 'Hey, Coulson's not actually dead by the way, he'll be back on his feet in no time', instead you have to make us think we got a man killed because we couldn't work together?!"
"Tony, calm down." Said Cap.
"Don't tell me to calm down, Cap, how can you possibly tell me you're not upset about this?"
"I am. But I'm being rational. Instead of freaking out, we should just be thankful that our friend is still alive."
Coulson was standing there, unable to look his friends in the eyes. He felt like he had betrayed them by not telling them. Bruce was sitting down, he ran his hand through his hair, attempting to calm himself down.
"I think I get it." Said Clint. This raised everyone's eyebrows. "When I was doing time as one of Loki's goons, none of them were able to function as a team. If we all went into the city willy nilly, unable to cooperate we would've failed. We needed motivation. That, I get."
"Thank you, Agent Barton." Said Fury.
"But what I don't get, is why you would be more than willing to sacrifice the life of a good agent we all call our friend! I don't care if you were planning to bring him back the whole time, and frankly even if you were-"
"Oh shut the hell up! All of you! Shut up, sit down, and listen!" shouted Fury, getting tired of everyone. Bruce was breathing heavily, and Tony put his hand on his back as he sat down. "I did not plan the death of Agent Coulson. I never could have predicted it. But Loki killed him anyway, and I seized the opportunity. In my place I doubt all of you would have done the same thing, but you're not in my place. You haven't seen the things I've seen, you haven't had to make the hard decisions I've had to make. But after Coulson died I had another hard decision to make. We had an off books project, called T.A.H.I.T.I., which was designed to bring back a fallen Avenger. Since you'd all gone your separate ways, I saw no better candidate for the project. Do I regret not telling you all? No, not for one second. Because that was our burden. But after the crisis was passed, after we'd all had time to move on with our lives, I saw no more reason to keep the truth from you. I'm not asking for forgiveness." And with that, Fury turned and left. Coulson awkwardly followed him, leaving the Avengers to sit and think about everything they had just learned.