The good, the bad and the downright ludicrous

Thirty minutes later a very flushed but happy looking Phil Coulson approached the door to Fury's office, he knew he would be pissed that he had delayed coming down but he had a little chance of happiness with Melinda May and neither he nor the world would stop him.

***knock knock knock***

"I won't bother to ask what took you so long, cause I have a feeling I already know. I am happy for you but if you think about being late again, I will shove an I.C.E.R gun up your ass."

Coulson was laughing inside but he knew not to let it show his face, cause he knew that Nick Fury wouldn't hesitate to follow through on his words.

"So Director, what do you need from me?" Phil thought he would stretch is mental muscles again and have a go at reading peoples minds, he was looking at Fury waiting.

***How do I tell Coulson we need them to on a black op? Can he still read minds? Is he reading mine? What if….***

He never got chance to hear that last of the thought, "Phil, if you're reading my mind the same rule as before applies. Christmas is just around the corner and I need something for the three on the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, you're looking good, round about now." Nick looked at him over the top of his specially made glasses and Phil knew that all joking was set aside.

"Now three reasons I called you here. One a black ops that include the entirety of your team, two your psychic abilities and finally the research we need to start on May and her army."

That was something that caught his attention because he wondered how long that would be able to ignore the facts before they came crashing down, a week that was his answer and now he was being made to face the world.

"Someone has an artefact that has the ability to alter the genetic make up of the person who is wearing it. Now normally that would not cause us a problem as we have registered every artefact but it is working now on humans with genetic mutations that the human race has not seen. So either people are going to start asking questions or investigating into things that S.H.I.E.L.D. would really rather be left alone. So we need you and your team to go and get the artefact but for the love of god, please do not touch the thing and watch out for the heat sensor guns surround the camp."

Phil gave him an 'Are you kidding me look'.

"It's not even a week and your sending a team that is not at full strength to go in and obtain something that could essentially screw with our whole being. Nick they're kids…"

"You and May aren't?" He raised his eyebrow at him and his lips thinned, he knew what they had been through and yet he was still pressing them to do this stupid op when there were other operatives who could go, but why was he so intent on it being them?

"Look there is one operative I still dont trust and I think they are up to something, I couldn't associate him with Hydra but I don' think that he is pure S.H.I.E.L.D. and if I sent him on the job without anything watching him, then the artefact may not come back to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Phil had a feeling that he was not being told the full story but if Fury wanted them to go then they had no choice but to go, "What else do we need to do, sir?"

"Well, next week, I need you to go down the lab and test you psychic powers and no before you give me that look it is all at your leisure. There is nothing that we will do that if you are not comfortable with. We want to see how far it can go and is there potential to unlock it without harming you. If harm we think harm will come to you then the whole thing will be stopped immediately and you can have my word on that."

Phil looked at him, "Its something I am going to discuss with May first, she is more that just a friend now and anything that I do will affect her. I have only just been offered the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D. so can you please forgive me if I am not racing down there with May skipping behind me. I have gone from Agent to Fugitive back to Agent again in a few months."

"I know but you have already seen the changes that I have made and the people that I have disposed of." He used the quotation expression with his hands at the mention of 'disposed'. "It's not the same S.H.I.E.L.D. as before, I told you before 'The people I can trust, I can count one hand and I am not afraid to cut off fingers.'" Phil knew why he was saying that and he knew that he and fury were the same, trust was a rare thing for either of them.

He knew that May would've to go down the lab too, they needed to figure out the sting behind the DNA and the army that was waiting form them down in the bunker.

"Has May decided what to do with her doubles yet?"

"Nick why would Melinda want anything to do with them, we need to work out how the hell someone has managed to replicate her to the dot?"

"What you mean, Phil?"

"Well, Melinda has certain marks and I-"

"I don't want you to finish that sentence regarding the mark Phil, but I totally agree we need to see how far they have got when the personality adaptations too. I love May don't get me wrong, Phil, but an army of them? Jesus, not much would have me handing in my resignation but I had enough problems controlling just you two can you imagine if there were hundreds…?"

Phil smirked and went to walk out of the office door, he knew that he needed to discuss this mission with May because she was not going to be happy at all and would take some serious persuading to do it.