(A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one, I've been alternately keeping busy with drabbles and beating my head against the wall with insomnia, oh and sickness and just bleh. I do not own the Avengers and I never will that much is certain. This is still going to be a Thor/Loki, Thorki/ThunderFrost mpreg fic that includes some Brony/Science Boyfriends, eventual Cap/Coulson, Clint/Natasha. And now, because you have waited long enough, on with the show!)
Hands in Mine
Part 2
"He's going to be on the sidelines for quite some time," Steve said calmly, standing in a half defensive, half assertive pose, obscuring Loki from view. Tony stood at his left shoulder, Thor at his right, forming a wall between Fury and Loki. Behind them Loki, still recovering from his brush with death after his poisoning the day before, sat leaning against Clint's shoulder. His eyes were ringed by dark circles and his hands shook as they clung to Natasha's. The day before it had seemed as if his recovery would be quick and effortless, but he had been unable to sleep and had only kept a few bites of toast down that morning and so they had changed that assumption.
"And you don't think it necessary to tell me why one of my team is suddenly taking leave?" Fury asked curtly, eyebrow raised, arms crossed against his chest. The pose was mirrored by Bruce who stood at the back of the room, as the team physician it had been Bruce that filled out the forms for Loki's leave.
"Quite frankly Director that is none of your concern. I don't even know why you needed to call him in on this. He isn't fit for it," Bruce said flatly and Fury was forced to shift his gaze to look at the doctor.
"It is my concern. Loki is a tactical necessity," Fury said plainly and Thor growled threateningly at the Director.
"Is that all he is to you? Just a convenient piece of weaponry on the field? Is that something that you reserve for him or is that just a view that you apply to all of us?" Tony's voice was cold and dark. Only Fury could inspire that sort of anger in the billionaire.
"I'm sure that he sees me that way because I'm the only one of us that's ever been one of the bad guys. I'm sure he thinks that I ought to be paying the world back," Loki said softly, his voice was still weak and Clint's expression went from placid to sneering in an instant.
"Well that's just not going to be the way of it," Bruce was moving forward, motioning for Clint and Natasha to get Loki out of the room. The weakened God went with them willingly, his head dropping down.
"He can't leave yet, I'm not done with him," Fury declared and Thor stepped forward, hand wrapping around Mjölnir.
"Neither my brother nor I owe any allegiance to you; I can and will take him back to Asgard, then you will be down two team members," Thor said coldly though he knew that if they went back to Asgard their daughter would be at risk. Odin had never tolerated Loki's children before and there was no guarantee that he would this time, he silently prayed that Fury wouldn't call his bluff.
"You are not above SHIELD's own policies Director. As a Doctor, as the Team Doctor, I have made the call that he needs leave and you have seen the state of him. Now you either accept it, or I tell Tony to lock down Avengers Tower and SHIELD will never hear from us again. You will sit there and bite your nails every moment of every day and pray that we deign to come to your rescue," Bruce's tone was cold and downright worthy of Natasha at her most toxic. Fury took a step back in concern, Bruce's eyes were an odd hue of forest green but it had been ages since there had been an involuntary Hulk appearance.
"I would think that of all people you would understand how important he is, and yes, how much he owes this world," Fury said, regaining ground and clenching his fists. Things had been getting tense between SHIELD and the Avengers for some time, and neither party doubted that this could be the deal breaker.
"Agent Coulson," Tony addressed the thus far silent and unnoticed man in the room who stood some distance behind Fury. "Whatever he's paying you, triple it, pack up your office and be at the Tower by five tonight," Tony's voice was entirely serious and Fury whipped around just in time to see Coulson nod with a tightly clenched jaw.
"Don't worry about the pay, I don't much care if it drops really," Coulson said and was gone, leaving Fury on crumbling ground as he realized that he had made a grievous error that would not soon be corrected.
"You had your chance Director. I am sorry that it had to come to this," Steve said and he led the group out of the room. He had never been fond of SHIELD, but it had given him orders to follow and he had never questioned it until now. As he watched Thor gather the still trembling Loki against his chest, Captain America was certain that he had picked the right battle and stood with the right side.
Bruce gently tested Loki's pulse before shaking his head and ordering Thor to get the other man to the Tower, the stress was not good for the baby after all. Natasha was carefully stroking her stomach, a contemplative look on her face as Clint's arm lingered around her shoulders. Tony moved to intercept Bruce before he could go back out and give Fury a piece of the Hulk's mind. Anyone who dared to mess with the 'Little Green God' was not someone that Hulk appreciated.
"Why Coulson?" Steve asked at last as they all made for the helicopter Tony had brought them in.
"He's the most human part of that organization. Besides that, Fury was willing to actually kill him where Loki had only faked it. Do you doubt that he deserves his freedom?" Tony asked and the rest of the team blanched at what had been an obviously well-kept secret. Clint likely would have killed Fury in that instant if Coulson hadn't come walking down the hall behind them.
"I wouldn't want anyone else by our side," Steve allowed, his thoughts still on Loki and his daughter, the tiny precious gift of life that Fury was willing to risk. He didn't think about it when his arm slid almost defensively around Coulson's shoulders. The man was a force to be reckoned with, but it felt good to have someone to protect.
(A/N: And there is that chapter. I don't know why I am writing dick Fury but it is so satisfying. Probably I still can't forgive him for what he did to Coulson and the team. I don't have an eta on the next chapter but I hope it will be soon. Let me know how I did in the meantime.)
