Title: Symbiotic
Author: SLynn
Summary: As SHIELD decides to work with someone new, the Avengers are learning just how well they really work together.
Notes: Have I thanked my beta yet? Thank you Tripp3235! Also - um, and I know I'm not alone in this but... I need SDCC footage. Now. So many good things to come in the MCU! Hopefully you like this next chapter. Enjoy!
"Hey!"
Bruce's head jerked up from the desktop sending a stack of papers falling to the floor. "What?" he asked, scanning the room for a moment before finally landing on the source of the voice. On the person who had woken him from his inadvertent nap.
"I'm sorry," Bobbi said with an embarrassed chuckle. "I know I shouldn't have," she said as she set down the bag she'd carried and hurried to begin cleaning up the mess, "but I had to. I had to. It's childish and immature but..."
"Dangerous," Bruce added as he leaned down and helped.
"...funny," she finished with a smile. "It was funny."
"It would be less funny had the other guy decided to make an appearance," he pressed, standing up and stretching into a yawn.
"If the other guy popped up every time you were startled this building would be full of holes."
Bruce didn't argue with her this time. Bobbi was right. The other guy was surprisingly content here in the Tower. Bruce felt it.
Instead of finding comfort in that realization, it unnerved him.
"What are you doing here?" Bobbi asked, leaning against the desk as Bruce sat down again and logged back onto his computer.
"It's not even eight in the morning and you're wondering what I'm doing here?" Bruce asked in return. "You don't even live here yet, Bobbi. What are you doing here?"
"You wore that yesterday."
"All my clothes look alike," he said making her laugh. "What? Do you think that if you just get here early enough each day and leave late enough each night Tony won't notice that your room is still unoccupied?"
"I'm moving," she said, shrugging it off with a wave. "I am."
"You can't fight Tony."
"Apparently, you can't," she agreed, "and I couldn't sleep. Started thinking about those tests we'd ran and knew you'd be up so... I brought donuts."
"What kind of donuts?" he asked, eyeing the bag she'd brought in with interest.
"Maple glazed," she smiled as she retrieved said treats and set them down at the counter. "The only kind there is."
"Someone has to introduce you to sprinkles."
"Well, someone should get out every so often and pick up their own."
"These are good," Bruce said around a mouthful, causing Bobbi to roll her eyes.
"You're welcome," Bobbi returned, heading over to her own workstation to begin. "What have you got going on?"
"Not much, but speaking of Tony, he stopped by last night. Wants to make certain we're encrypting all of our files."
"We are," Bobbi said, confused by the request.
"I know."
"So, what happened?"
"I don't know," Bruce said with a shrug. "Something set Tony off so... be warned."
"Well, no one called me last night, so I'm going to go off of the assumption that the world isn't coming to an end."
"Good call."
"What do you think happened?" Bobbi asked seriously.
"It could honestly be just Tony being Tony," Bruce admitted, but as he said it he caught sight of Phil. Already in his suit. Walking quickly down the hall. "Or not."
Bobbi turned in the direction Bruce was looking and immediately grew tense.
The two of them watched as Phil scanned the lab and moved on without stopping.
Out of habit, Bobbi took out her communicator and gave it a once over. Seeing no new messages, she put it away again and glanced back at Bruce.
He looked as perplexed as she felt but neither of them spoke. People hurrying the halls of the Tower wasn't anything new. Likely the problem, if there was a problem, was already contained and so they settled in and got back to work.
"Good morning," Jane said as she arrived, fifteen minutes later with a cup of coffee in one hand and Darcy trailing a few steps in her wake.
"You're early," Bobbi commented without looking up.
"Her boy-toy is back on Asgard," Darcy smirked, sliding on to the counter after retrieving a donut of her own. "What else is she supposed to do?"
"Please don't call him that," Jane sighed as she began flipping on the various machines she'd be using.
"Please," Bruce stressed under his breath.
Darcy only smirked knowingly as she picked apart her pastry.
"So," Jane said as soon as she'd gotten set up. "What's going on today?"
"Same as yesterday," Bobbi said cautiously, stopping and giving the other woman her full attention.
"Why?" Bruce asked, also eager to hear if there was more to hear.
"It's not even eight yet and everyone is awake," Darcy explained. "And dressed. And sober. That's not right."
"Phil looks tense," Jane added, coming closer to the group and leaning back against the nearest counter. "Jasper and Maria have taken over the conference room. Pepper is holed up in her office and Tony -"
"Is headed this way," Darcy interrupted, sliding off the counter as the four of them turned and watched Tony's arrival. "What's up?" she asked as soon as he'd entered the lab.
"Good," Tony said, ignoring Darcy's question as he focused on Bobbi. "You're here already. Movers are heading to your apartment as we speak. No more fence sitting. You're going to be a full time occupant as of now."
"Okay," Bobbi answered hesitantly. "Can I ask why the sudden rush?"
"You can," Tony said with a nod, "but not right now. We're going to have a general all-hands kind of meeting in about..." he said, trailing off as he checked his phone, "...I don't know when. Soon. This morning. We'll discuss it then."
"What's going on?" Bruce asked.
Tony stopped and let out a huff of air, rubbing his face before turning and shaking his head.
"Soon," was all he said. "Just, everyone hang out," Tony said as he backed out of the room.
No one said anything until Tony was on the elevator and off of the floor.
Darcy let out a low whistle. "Wow. He is so bad at that. No wonder Pepper runs the business. Maybe she should run the Avengers, too."
"He does seem... nervous," Jane hemmed.
"I don't think he's slept in a week," Darcy countered. "Or ever. He really shouldn't like operate heavy machinery or try and keep state secrets in his condition."
"Anxious," Jane decided. "He seems anxious."
"How much caffeine do you think he's had?" Darcy said, continuing to ask Jane questions which the other woman hardly seemed to hear.
As the two of them exchanged banter, Bruce's attention shifted from the elevator Tony had left on and back to Bobbi.
One look confirmed it for him. It wasn't nerves or anxiety Tony had been displaying. Something deep in Bruce's chest had connected with it. Bobbi saw it, too.
It was anger.
Phil hesitated outside of the door to Carol's bathroom not sure if he was ready for this conversation.
Not helping the matter was the fact that the shower was running, Clint was waiting in the other room, and technically Carol didn't know either of them were in her private rooms.
"Do you want me to knock?" Clint asked and Phil could hear the smile in his words.
Instead of answering, he did what he came to do and rapped loudly against the door.
"Yeah?" Carol hollered over the din.
"Sorry to disturb you," Phil called out.
"What do you need?" Carol returned without a hint of anger or annoyance.
"To talk," Phil answered. "Clint's here. I need to talk to both of you."
For a beat there was silence. The shower had turned off and there was absolutely no sound coming from any part of her room.
"Give me a minute," she said, her voice closer to the door than it had been. Carol was no longer shouting.
"Take your time," Phil said, turning to go, but before he got far she called out his name. "Yes?" he asked in return.
"I had that dream again last night," Carol said.
"You should have called."
"I can't keep doing that," she said softly. "It's not fair."
"Yes, you can," he countered as if it wasn't something they were going to argue about. "It's what I'm here for."
Without waiting for a response, Phil left her bedroom, shutting the door behind him and sat down in the nearest chair. Clint stared at him expectantly but that never bothered Phil. He'd be more concerned if the other man wasn't staring.
"So?" Carol asked as she stepped through the door five minutes later wearing sweatpants and a tank top, her hair still wet.
"Have a seat," Phil said, motioning to the side of the couch Clint wasn't occupying as he got to his feet. He stopped and took a breath. Better to just get on with it. "The World Security Council has decided to work with the Skrull leader."
For a moment there was complete silence. Phil looked first to Clint and then Carol, but neither of them registered any kind of reaction.
Just as he was starting to explain further what this meant, Clint laughed.
Really laughed.
"No, come on," Clint said, leaning back and slinging his free arm across the back of the couch. "What's going on?"
"Having inventoried and dissected the Kree machinery at the newly discovered outpost, the Council feels that the Kree pose a more immediate threat."
Clint stopped laughing.
He stopped laughing and smiling and started to stare again. This time, not at Phil, but at the floor.
"Newly discovered outpost," Carol repeated quietly, her jaw set dangerously tight. "Would that be some new outpost I haven't heard of, or is this the same one that our new allies, the Skrulls, kept us locked up in like lab rats?"
"It's the same."
"This isn't happening," Clint said, tipping back his head to stare instead at the ceiling.
"And these Kree, that we've never had any dealings with... none, really that wasn't caused or created by Skrull interference... they're the immediate threat? They're the most immediate threat?" Carol questioned. Each word coming from her mouth a little louder than the last.
"I am not happy about any of this," Phil said as evenly as he could. "Neither is Director Fury."
"Then why is he going along with it?" Clint snapped.
"He has his reasons."
"Which are?" Clint pressed, tired of finding more questions in place of answers.
"There's an all-hands meeting in ten minutes," Phil said, ignoring Clint's absurd question. He should know better than to ask at this point. "We will discuss, as a group, how we are going to handle this situation."
"How we should handle this situation is by locking those creatures back up," Clint returned, getting to his feet and beginning to pace the room. "This isn't some op we can plan. This isn't a mission. We can't prepare for this. We're letting them in. We're just going to open the door and let them into SHIELD. Into the Avengers. This is insane."
"Tony has no intention of allowing any Skrull into this Tower or near the Avengers," Phil answered as calmly as he could. "As for SHIELD, that is no longer your concern."
Clint bit back his retort, opting instead to turn and face the window.
"He's right," Carol said, jerking her thumb in Clint's direction. "This is crazy. This is... The Skrulls spent years in that place, trying to make it work and now SHIELD is just going to break it all down for them? What else are they giving up? What exactly did they get in return? What'd they sell their soul for?"
"Carol," Phil started to say, but was quickly interrupted.
"How can you be so calm about this?" Clint yelled, wheeling back around and still far too angry to be having this conversation.
"It is my job to be calm," Phil said, the strain beginning to show. "And I am not aware of the particulars. I don't know what they want and I don't know if anything was exchanged in return for their cooperation."
"What do they want for ours?" Clint asked because he knew... he knew SHIELD and nothing was free. Nothing was ever for free.
"For the Avengers cooperation, SHIELD is willing to continue to provide diplomatic support."
Carol looked at Clint, but the other man was staring back at the ceiling, so instead her eyes found Phil.
It was a threat - the Council was threatening the Avengers.
Play along or risk becoming vigilantes.
Clint mumbled something low and inaudible before storming out. As the door slammed, Phil crossed his arms and dropped his head, still standing in the center of the room.
"Sit down," Carol sighed, waving at the chair as she dropped her head into her hands.
"I should probably go."
"Why?" Carol asked. "I'm not mad at you, Bug. I know you didn't do this. I know you don't like it any more than we do. How long have you known?"
With a sigh, Phil sat down and checked his watch. "About eight hours now."
"Do you think if we'd told them everything -"
"Nothing we could have told them would have changed this," Phil interrupted. "They don't care what the Skrulls have done, only what they can do."
"Still."
"I told Director Fury," Phil said quietly, looking momentarily at his hands before raising his eyes back to meet hers. "It was all in my private report. No one else knows. I'm sorry, I was obligated... I should have asked you first. Given you the chance to tell him yourself but..."
"It's fine," Carol said, shaking her head. "He needed to know and I'd... I'd rather forget. If I could forget, I would, but I guess that's not something super-DNA does."
"It wasn't your fault."
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that."