May 2nd, 2012
New York, New York—SHIELD Headquarters

The normally calm SHIELD offices were in chaos when Quinn Scott finally arrived. People were running everywhere, yelling just to be heard over the din… She could see their mouths moving and knew it should be loud, but she could barely hear anything past the rush of blood in her ears. Her mind was firmly locked on Agent Coulson and finding out if he was okay—on finding out what was happening in the Mojave Desert where SHIELD and NASA had been studying the Tesseract; as she rushed to Coulson's office, she realized that Agents Clint Barton and Maria Hill, and possibly Director Fury, would also be at the facility and facing the same danger.

Her heartrate increased—she needed to know what was happening. She went as fast she could, but with the brace on her bad leg, it didn't feel anywhere near fast enough.

"Any word from the desert?" Quinn asked as she passed a high-level agent she knew by face only. He shook his head and continued in the opposite direction. "Fucking hell…" Quinn murmured. "Thanks for nothing." When she reached Coulson's office, she dropped her bag on the floor and sat heavily in the chair. Only then did she realize she didn't really know what to do next; for lack of any other option, she powered up Coulson's computer and then turned on the television on the wall.

Her phone rang just as she was opening Coulson's e-mail.

With more than a little fear bubbling inside, Quinn looked down at her screen.

It was Coulson.

Heaving a sigh of relief, she swiped her thumb across the screen to answer the call. "Coulson, thank God you're all right. What the hell happened? Wait—you are all right, right?"

A weary chuckle floated across the line. "I'm okay, kid. Shaken, but physically fine. Not… not everyone was so lucky, but most people made it out and Fury's already called in teams to search the rubble for survivors—"

Panic kicked up in her chest again. "Wait—rubble? Boss, what the fuck happened?"

"The Tesseract opened a portal, Quinn. Someone came through—possibly an Asgardian named Loki, but I'm not sure, since I was focused on getting all the PEGASUS Phase 2 equipment and research out of there—and brought the place down around us. He got the Tesseract, and Dr. Selvig." Coulson cleared his throat and that panic inside Quinn turned back into cold dread. She knew whatever his next words were, they would not be good. "Kid, this Loki… He got Clint."

Quinn's brain didn't want to process Coulson's words—she had to have heard him wrong. For a moment, she was completely silent and still, waiting for Coulson to correct himself. When he didn't, she said, "You mean… Clint's…"

"He's alive," Coulson said quickly, seemingly realizing how his words had been taken. "But he's been brainwashed. Or something. It's chaos. We're on our way back to New York. The Director has officially reinstated the Avengers Initiative so they can track down Loki and get the Tesseract back, so we need to round up everyone. I've got to call Natasha in from Russia, so she can track down Dr. Banner, and then I've got to go get Stark."

Quinn's chest was tight, her stomach turning a little. It felt like things were starting to fall apart and her eyes were burning like she wanted to cry. "Do you want me to call Stark?"

"No. Let me handle Stark. I need you to get a location on Dr. Banner and send it to Natasha so she can head there as soon as she's done in Russia, and then I need you to relocate Dr. Jane Foster. Arrange for her to be moved somewhere out of the way. Somewhere safe. In addition to her connection to Thor and Asgard, she's been studying dark energy with Dr. Selvig. This Loki might go after her."

Quinn tucked her phone between her shoulder and her ear so she could reach forward and start typing, calling up the surveillance files on Dr. Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk. "I'm on it, Boss. Anything else?"

"Stay with Captain Rogers. Fury will approach him, and if he accepts, he can catch the quinjet with us out to the helicarrier."

"Will do." Quinn was so twisted up inside about the events Coulson had described, about her friend being captured, and about the Avengers Initiative rocketing forward, that she didn't even bother to make a joke about Coulson wanting to share the quinjet with his hero. "I'm in your office now, but have to go home and gear up. I was at the gym with Steve when you called."

Coulson, apparently, had no such issues, but he'd always been the kind of person who tried to lighten the mood. "'Steve,' huh?"

Even twisted up as she was, Quinn found herself laughing. A little of the tension lifted. "See you soon, Boss. I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too, kid. See you."

Quinn ended the call and then dropped her cell on the desk beside the keyboard, turning her full attention to the surveillance files in front of her. SHIELD had kept tabs on Dr. Bruce Banner since he'd vanished after nearly destroying Harlem in an attempt to stop another genetically mutated solider, codenamed the Abomination. They left him alone, but when someone had that much power… SHIELD wasn't going to let them out of sight. The Hulk, Banner's other self, and the Abomination, had both been created in an attempt to recreate the super solider serum; the first attempt sanctioned, the second not so much, and SHIELD watched for similar events closely. Once she had the location—a remote village in India—Quinn e-mailed the info to Natasha's secure phone, and then set out on her next task.

Dr. Jane Foster was no fan of SHIELD, not since Coulson and his team had confiscated her equipment in Puente Antiguo. They'd given it back and apologized, but that hadn't been enough to ease the anger. However, SHIELD had promised Thor that they'd keep an eye on Jane—and Dr. Selvig—so that's what Quinn was going to do.

Her mind started to wander as she waited for Dr. Foster's files to load. She thought about when she'd met Clint, how he'd taken her under his wing and she immediately became a little sister to him. He'd taught her how to use her favoured throwing knives, and how to shoot a bow, though she wasn't very good at it; they'd gone on missions together, they had each other's back. Shit. Quinn ran her hands over her face and back through her hair, still loose and messy from her time at the gym. He couldn't be gone. She would do whatever she could to help get him back. Shit shit shit.

It didn't take Quinn long to locate Dr. Foster. As she arranged for her to be moved to a SHIELD observatory in Tromsø, Norway, her mind switched to the Norse myths and legends she'd enjoyed reading—up until something out of that world had nearly killed her. If it had been as Asgardian named Loki who came through the Tesseract's portal, then he could be Thor's brother, the god of mischief. That would lead nowhere good, she was sure, but they might bring Thor back to Midgard. She thought about the brief interactions she'd had with the big Asgardian. He'd been kind and warm towards her, surprised she knew Norse mythology and had been ready to believe that he was really a god when everyone else was skeptical. There was part of her that hoped he did come back.

As long as no more buildings fall on me.

Quinn finished Jane's reassignment and sent it through, waiting until the mission was assigned to a team and accepted, and agents were dispatched. She loaded up the files on her tablet so she could keep tabs on the progress while she was on the move, and then set about gathering her things; she left all the windows she'd had open up for Coulson. As soon as she had finished her tasks, Quinn's weariness caught up with her and suddenly, she was exhausted and needed to go to bed as soon as possible.

Since it was 2:30 am, she wasn't exactly surprised.


May 2nd, 2012
New York, New York—Steve's apartment

For the first time since he'd woken up from the ice, Steve Rogers felt tired.

After Quinn had left the gym, Steve hadn't felt like continuing his work out, and had come back to the apartment, showered, and changed into a clean pair of sweatpants and a black t-shirt. Quinn had said something about the Tesseract and it had sent him into a spiral of thoughts: When had SHIELD found the cube? Why wasn't it locked away? Why were they studying it? What was SHIELD planning? What was Director Fury planning? What was he after? He'd tried to find answers he was satisfied with as he made himself a sandwich, and then he'd sat down to read through more of Agent's Carter's mission files.

He was glad to know that Peggy had had an amazing life after…everything. It broke Steve's heart a little that that life couldn't have been with him—how was someone supposed to cope with coming back to the world and finding out that the life they thought they'd have was gone? But he really was happy for her. Steve had sketched idly as he read, images of Peggy, of Bucky Barnes, the Howling Commandos, and…Quinn. It surprised him how well her face stuck in his mind, how easy it was to draw her.

As he finished off his latest sketch, Steve heard noise out in the hall, and was on his feet before he'd really thought about it, opening the door and sticking his head into the hall. Quinn was shuffling out of the elevator, her eyes half-closed, her limp pronounced. Her gym bag looked like it was weighing her down. Worry instantly filled Steve's chest.

"Quinn?"

Her head snapped up, as if she was startled. One corner of her mouth twitched, but the smile didn't take over, her tawny eyes missing their usual light. "Steve."

"Are you okay?"

Her shoulders sagged a little as she pulled her keys out of her pocket. "I…don't know." She was having some trouble, so Steve took the bag from her shoulder; she looked at him and smiled wanly. "Thanks, Steve."

"Is Agent Coulson okay?"

"Yeah." She finally got the door open and headed inside, Steve following, his eyes roving over the collections of stuff filling her apartment as they did whenever he visited; he liked the little glimpses into her life, and that she was comfortable enough to display them to him, a relative stranger. "He's fine, but Agent Barton, my friend, my…brother…" Her voice thickened and she dropped onto the end of her bed, tears already visible on her cheeks. She didn't sob, her shoulders didn't shake. "I'm so tired. I can't think straight."

Steve dropped her bag on the floor by the door and stepped towards her, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. "It's okay, Quinn. Get some sleep."

"Director Fury's going to come and talk to you in the morning, I think. Ask you about joining the Avengers Initiative."

"The Avengers?"

"It…might be in the files. I'm not sure."

"I'll look. Go to sleep. Holler if you need anything," he added with a smirk.

For a moment, there was light in Quinn's features again as she chuckled. "I'll be fine. Thanks, Steve."

She smiled up at him, and the last thing he saw before he left her was Quinn falling backwards onto the bed, not even bothering to remove her shoes or her brace.

As he locked Quinn's door and returned to his own apartment, a new worry took root inside—whatever Directory Fury wanted, whatever the Avengers Initiative was, he could almost guarantee that it wasn't good. He returned to the files intent on searching out any mention of the Initiative, but instead, he found himself flipping through Quinn's file again.

There were several mentions of Agent Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye. They both worked under Agent Phil Coulson, he'd trained her, and they'd completed several missions together. A letter from Agent Barton was attached to Quinn's file, recommending her for her last promotion that moved her from Level 6 clearance to Level 7. Steve wasn't surprised Quinn was so upset by Agent Barton's capture. She was attached to her team, as Steve had been to the Howling Commandos.

He sighed, and then started searching for any mention of the Avengers Initiative or the Tesseract.


May 2nd, 2012
New York, New York—SHIELD HQ

When Quinn saw Coulson later that morning, she didn't say anything, just threw her arms around him and hugged him for a moment. He returned the embrace, pressing a light kiss to her head. "Don't scare me like that, Boss," Quinn said as she stepped back from him. "I'm not sure I can handle it." She forced a laugh.

"I'm not sure I can handle it either, kid." He hooked one arm around her shoulders and gave her another hug before they started for his office; Coulson had come down to the lobby to meet her. "How are things going with the captain?"

"This in reference to me calling him 'Steve,' right? Well, he asked me to call him that, so it means nothing."

"And?"

"Things are going well, I think. He spends a lot of time reading the files, as is to be expected, but he's adjusting to the twenty-first century quickly. Nothing seems to faze him where technology or customs are concerned, though he still dresses like it's 1945." Which I still really want to tease him about, Quinn added silently. "He trusts me, at least as far as not hiding SHIELD things from him goes. He knows I'll tell him what I know. And what I can," she added a second later. She was aware she'd told Steve things she probably shouldn't have, and she also knew Coulson probably wouldn't care, but there was no sense in pushing her luck.

Her mentor raised an eyebrow anyway, probably guessing where her mind was at. "That's good," he finally said. "I'm looking forward to meeting him."

Quinn snorted out a laugh. "I bet." She looked at her phone. "Director Fury should be talking to him now at the gym. We should get ready to go."

"There's no rush, kid. The quinjet won't go anywhere without us. You're flying it, remember?"

Regardless of that fact, the two agents did speed through their preparations—making sure all the files they would need were uploaded to the server so they could be accessed from the helicarrier, double checking that the Phase 2 crates had made it from the destroyed base to the carrier, and making sure they had everything packed that they might need for however long they were onboard—and were at the hangar, on board the quinjet a full twenty minutes before their scheduled launch. Quinn settled behind the controls and began her pre-flight checks, doing her best to ignore the flutters of anticipation and nerves in her gut; she couldn't help but wonder if Steve had agreed to Fury's proposal, and if he would show up.

"Take a deep breath, Quinn," Coulson said, once she'd started tapping her fingers on the control panel.

"I'm fine. Just anxious to get going." She could have played it off like she was excited to go out to the helicarrier—the massive fortresses were not used often, and Quinn had only been on one while it was on dry land—but she knew Coulson wouldn't buy it. He always saw right through her, and besides, he was probably about as excited as she was about the possibility of Steve joining them. "Did they finish his uniform?"

"Yes. It's onboard the carrier, along with Tony's suit."

"Good."

"Do you think he'll like it?"

"As long as it functions," Quinn said, laughing.

"As long as what functions?"

Something inside Quinn thrilled at the sound of Steve's voice. She climbed out of the pilot's seat, being careful not to hit her braced leg on anything, and moved to stand in the centre of the ship, smiling as Steve climbed the ramp. "You'll see."

He came to a stop a couple feet in front of her and for a heartbeat or two, they just looked at each other. "Are you okay?"

Quinn nodded. "We're on our way to do something about it, so yes. Also, Agent Coulson is in one piece." She gestured to where Coulson stood. "Steve, this is Agent Phil Coulson. Boss, Captain Rogers."

"It's, uh, nice to meet you. I mean, with you actually awake."

Steve smiled and shook Coulson's hand, remaining patient when the handshake went on a few seconds too long. "It's nice to meet you, too. Quinn's told me a lot about you."

"Oh?"

"Nothing bad, Boss. Promise." Quinn grinned before heading back to the controls and fitting herself behind them. She heard Coulson and Steve find their seats, Coulson keeping up a steady stream of chatter the whole time; Quinn grinned again, to herself, because it had been a long time since Coulson had sounded so happy. "Buckle up, boys. It's time to take off."

The quinjet whirred to life beneath her, and though she knew what was coming was bound to be intense and dangerous, Quinn couldn't help but realize just how alive she felt. It had been almost a year since the building had fallen on her, less than six months since she'd gotten the brace from Tony and realized that maybe her old life wasn't out of reach, and she was more than ready to get back to the action, even if she'd be stuck on the helicarrier for it.

It felt good to be doing something, going somewhere for a mission again.