Attendance Mandatory
S.H.I.E.L.D gets the bright idea that the team needs to work on talking about their feelings, so they bring in a psychiatrist whose job is to do just that. Insecurities will rise, insults will be flung, and issues will be resolved. But since it's the Avengers, just about anything goes. Character studies of the humorous kind.

Note: This is not an OC/anyone fic. It's just a fun, if they were forced to talk to a psychiatrist, type thing. It's meant to be funny.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Marvel. I think part of my soul would die if I did.

Prolouge


Her first thought upon arriving at the compound is, 'they don't pay me enough for this type of shit.'. It was everything a government run, supposedly secret agency was supposed to look like: cold, powerful, intimidating. Nothing she hadn't dealt with before. Except for the significant difference that if she insulted anyone here, she could be killed and no one would be any wiser. The difference between the government and rich, powerful people was the simple fact that one had more money than the other.

The agent who had picked her up told her to get out of the car and led her to a security checkpoint. She sighed heavily; she definitely needed to ask for that raise when she finished with this job.

Security gave her a quick pat down and search, looking through her purse and her work case, poking and prodding until they were satisfied she wasn't packing anything dangerous. The agent guided her down numerous hallways, twists and turns down every path and corridor. She swore they went through at least a few floors that required security clearance and she gave up attempting to memorize the path. Instead, she focused on the number of people who wore a genuine smile on their face (none).

Finally, they stopped outside a door, where the agent knocked three times.

"What?"

"I brought the guest you asked for, Director."

"Fine. Send her in."

The agent nodded once at her, opened the door, and left, his shoes clicking and echoing in the otherwise empty corridor. She headed straight inside, shutting the door and found the empty seat in front of the only desk in the room. Director Fury, the dark-skinned, bald and one-eyed man before her looked every bit as intimidating as he sounded. She supposed that to run a high class, high tech agency like S.H.I.E.L.D. that you had to be somewhat terrifying. She wondered if the eye patch was for show.

"Director Fury." She greeted.

"Miss Ammerisi." He returned. "First, let me thank you for agreeing to this…endeavor."

"It's my job." She shrugged. "Besides, psych evals aren't as trying as one believes."

His smile turned wry. "I wouldn't be so quick to assume that this will be the same as your other jobs. This clientele will be a bit…different than normal; you'll be working with the Avengers."

"Oh." Was all she could manage. Clearing her throat, she sat up straighter and collected the small bit of professionalism she had lost with that bomb drop. "I'm sure that they're not so different from anyone else."

Fury's smile widened. "I'm sure." He grabbed a thick folder and handed it to her. She tucked it away in her work case, promising to look at it on her own time. "Your 'evals' will begin tomorrow. I'll have an agent show you to your room."

"Of course." She moved to leave, but hesitated at the door. "Director, I was under the impression that when I was hired, I would be working with agents."

"You are. The Avengers are technically agents. But your reputation precedes you, Miss Ammerisi. If anyone can handle these guys after…well, after that, then I'm almost positive it's you."

She nodded, even though she had no idea what that was. Yup, she was going to need a big pay raise.

-x-

Her room was near the office she was supposed to be using, and that was a hall or two away from the mess hall. She was grateful for that; getting lost while on the job would be embarrassing and could hurt her credibility as a professional. And she loathed that more than anything.

The room was sparsely decorated; a bed, a desk and a small bathroom, complete with a small shower and toilet. Her suitcase, which had arrived before her, was on the bed and she set her other bags on the desk. After quickly assessing the remainder of the room, she sat at the desk and sighed.

It was time to frontload herself.

Turning on the desk lamp, she pulled out the thick file Fury had given her, realizing that there were multiple files within. The mass file itself was labeled "the Avengers Initiative", with a big black "CLASSIFIED" stamped in red across it. There was a note attatched:

'Miss Rhea Ammerisi,

These are notes that you should find helpful on each of the individual members of the Avengers Initiative. This information is highly classified and the only reason it is being realeased to you is due to your high recommendation. However, if you release this information to anyone, and we will find out, then we will have to deal with you. I'll let you take that statement however you'd like.

Good luck, you're going to need it,

Director Fury'

Amused, Rhea tucked the note away and found her notepad and a pen. There was going to be a long night ahead of her if she was going to get through all the members in the file. She'd take a break later to see the team actually train together (the agent who dropped her off at her room had let it slip). Until then, she'd get cracking on the files and make a primary assessment of each member so she wouldn't be stumbling during her time with them. Attending the training session would offer her some supplementary notes.

A small smile blossomed on her face as she put on her glasses and opened the first file, who would also be the first one she'd meet: Steve Rogers. This was going to be an interesting job.


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First on the block: Captain America.

.chary