Chapter Seven

Tony came rushing in, holding up a small something-or-other in the air, in a mix of triumph and fury. "I found a tracker on the little bugger!"

"That's hardly a surprise, Tony," Tasha said sardonically. "After all, he is a spy."

"You're a spy, and you don't have a tracker on you," Tony shot back.

"When the mission called for it, I have."

It was rather humorous to watch Tony's mouth open and close several times in shock. "Well, anyway, the little prick was broadcasting his location the entire time! HYDRA knows where he is!"

"Tony," I placated, "I'm fairly sure they knew where he was anyway, since he didn't make it to where he was supposed to take me. It's a rather logical place for him to be, after all."

Tony huffed. "Fine, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Then he stomped over to the elevator, presumably to take the tracker apart for study in his workshop. Or to viciously stomp on it like a two-year-old.

"Barbie Girl" started playing from my phone, scaring poor Achilles off my lap and straight to Tasha's. Grinning, I answered, "Hey, Delia. What's up?"

"I need your help, Emily," she said quickly. "We all do."

My grin melted as I heard the worry in her voice. "Whoa, what's wrong? Are Drake and Ava with you?"

"Yeah, we were on a mission, and we just got back. And we had a waiting party of FBI agents when we landed. They say that SHIELD is a terrorist organization, and that they have orders to arrest us. What's going on?" she cried.

"Okay, Delia, where are you? Tell me where you are, and I'll come get you. I'll get you all out of this mess," I promised, though I wasn't entirely sure how I would.

"FBI headquarters in New York," she sniffed. "They wouldn't let Drake or Ava call, since Drake has an accent and Ava is Alexander Pierce's daughter. They only let me make a call because I look so innocent. Shows what they know," she added, the last part in a low mutter.

My mind whirled in a thousand different directions, but one thought stuck out to me. "Have you been read your Miranda Rights?"

"No, they just told us we were under arrest for terrorism. Like any of us would be terrorists! And then they started questioning all of us separately about who we know and what we've done with SHIELD."

"Okay, don't say another word," I advised. "Just sit tight, and I will be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Em!" Delia exclaimed, then gasped. "Oops, not another word. Right."

"See you soon." With half a smile at her adorable antics, and half a frown at my friends' predicament, my mind started working, trying to figure out some way to help them. Then, as everything clicked into place, a full-blown grin took over my face. "Tony! I need your help!" I hollered, running toward the elevator.

…

Forty-five minutes later, Tony and I exited his limo and entered the New York FBI building, while Happy kept the press away. I was wearing my highest heels (a present from Pepper) and best business attire, while Tony had on a suit that cost more than some buildings in New York. He had on his arrogant billionaire persona, and I was trying my hardest to emulate it. I knew that our best chance of getting Delia, Drake, and Ava out were for us to be as absolutely confident as possible. And I was not going to be the one to mess it up.

"We need to speak to whomever is in charge here," I said, as soon as we got to the front desk.

The woman behind the desk barely looked up at me. "You need an appointment to speak with Assistant Director Duncan," she said in a bored tone.

She did a double take when Tony started talking. "I'm sure he'll make an exception for me. Or I can go talk to the press out there, instead. I'm sure they would love to hear about how the FBI is holding three innocent people."

"Just one second," she said, smile pasted on to cover the slight panic in her eyes as she picked up the phone next to her. "Yes, Marge, Tony Stark is here to speak with the Assistant Director. Yes. Mm-hmm. An escort will be here to take you right on up to see him, Mr. Stark," she added to Tony.

"Thank you," he said, tugging his suit jacket down. Somehow, he made even such a simple gesture seem condescending.

A moment later, a middle-aged man walked over to us. "Mr. Stark, if you'll follow me, I will take you to see Assistant Director Duncan."

Tony and I both started to follow, but the agent stopped me. "I'm sorry, Miss, but only Mr. Stark is authorized to come."

I started to object, but Tony beat me to it. "This is Dr. Emily Coulson, the Avengers' private doctor and publicist. I'm not going if she's not going."

Watching the internal debate in the agent's eyes was quite entertaining. Finally, he gave in. "Alright, this way, please."

Unsurprisingly, the Assistant Director's office was on the top floor, and consisted of an entire corner of the building. Behind a mammoth desk of dark walnut sat an equally mammoth-sized man. The room was done in dark, masculine colors, and the rest of the furniture was rather small, and hard-looking, especially the chairs. The whole scene would have been rather intimidating, but I lived with a god and dated a supersoldier. And besides, I had once successfully argued against Nick Fury. A big man trying to throw his weight around was nothing to me anymore. It just made me dislike him instantly.

"Mr. Stark, always nice to see you," Assistant Director Duncan said, a fake smile plastered across his face. It somehow reminded me of a shark as he reached across his desk to shake Tony's hand.

"The feeling is mutual, I'm sure," Tony said, and I had to hide a grin. I could tell he liked Duncan about as much as Duncan liked him.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" he asked, his eyes raking across my body. His smile grew to a leer. I immediately felt dirty.

"Dr. Emily Coulson," I replied, feeling disgusted that manners dictated taking his outstretched hand, too. "I'm the Avengers' doctor and publicist."

"Well, what can I do for such distinguished folks such as yourselves? Oh, and won't you have a seat?" Duncan said, gesturing to two very hard-looking chairs.

"I think we'll stand," Tony said, giving my opinion, as well. "This shouldn't take long at all. You see, we heard a very distressing rumor this morning. One that I'm sure you will be willing to clear up for us."

"I'll do my best, of course. What was this rumor?" Duncan asked, looking very much at ease.

"We heard that you arrested three SHIELD agents this morning, for no more than being just that: SHIELD agents," I informed him.

"SHIELD turned out to be nothing more than a cover for a terrorist organization, and as such, we have been authorized to arrest any member of said organization, Dr. Coulson. Coulson, hm, wasn't there an agent with that name in SHIELD? And I believe a doctor, as well," he said, shark-like smile in place.

Panic welled inside me, but Tony was already ahead of the game. "Dr. Coulson has been on Stark Industries' payroll for more than two years. I can have the paperwork sent over, if you need to check. But that's not why we are here. We have been reliably informed that you are holding three members of SHIELD illegally, and questioning them illegally, as well."

"They are suspected terrorists, we don't actually have to follow the same guidelines as we would normally," Duncan smirked.

"You are fishing for information. You have no evidence, or even a glimmer of suspicion to hold them on," I rebutted.

"Out of the three of them, one is a known hacker, one is the son of a British spy, and the other is the daughter of the former head of HYDRA. I don't need evidence to hold them," he spat, standing up again. Since he was around six feet tall, he towered over both of us, but Tony didn't let it bother him, so I didn't either.

"I'm sure the press would love to hear all about how the FBI is holding people hostage based on their past actions that have been expunged from their records by the federal government, or better yet, their parents' actions. Oh, and the British consulate would be thrilled to hear about you holding one of their citizens without due cause. Well, it's been a fun chat. Emily, we have work to do." With that, Tony turned and walked toward the door, taking my arm as naturally as anything. "There's plenty of press outside. You could call a press conference, too. Make it official and everything. And I'm sure my lawyers will have a field day with this."

"Wait." Duncan's voice stopped us at the door.

"We really need to hurry, Duncan. We might make it in time for the evening edition of the Daily Bugle. After all, Jameson does owe me a favor or two. And my lawyers really need some advance warning," Tony said, turning us both back to face the other man.

Duncan's face had turned a sickly purple color. As a doctor, I knew I should probably be worried about his heart, but as a person, I couldn't seem to make myself care. Finally, he spoke. "Alright, you can take them. But if I find any link, no matter how small, between any of them and HYDRA, I will take all of them back into custody, and I will take you both down for obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting criminals."

"You won't," Tony smirked. "Now, where are the three agents? We have a busy schedule to keep. This superhero gig isn't as easy as it looks, definitely not for everyone."

Duncan made a call, and a few moments were spent in silence. Tony looked bored, though I knew he was anything but. Duncan was silently fuming, and I was incredibly nervous, though I didn't show it, hopefully. And then, finally, my three friends came through the door.

Ava came striding through the door and pulled her arm free of the agent "escorting" her with a disdainful glare. Drake looked like he was about to punch not his escort, but the one holding Delia's arm and practically dragging her along on her tiny, short legs. When her escort stopped, she stumbled a few steps, but not too much, since Drake was there to catch her. "You three are free to go," Duncan ground out, after another short silence. "But if I find any proof that any of you are HYDRA, I will bring you down."

"Always cheery, Duncan. Now, we will be off," Tony announced, gesturing for the four of us to exit. Delia made to hug me, but a subtle shake of the head stopped her. We needed to get out of there as quickly as we could.

Once we made the limo outside, through the crowd of press that followed Tony everywhere, and settled into our seats, the three agents launched into thanks, though Delia's involved squeals and flying hugs. She even threw herself at Tony, and his face was priceless. He was most definitely not used to Delia's over exuberance.

"She's even tinier than you are, Em. How is that even possible?" he asked, allowing her to hug him, while still trying to pull away from her.

"It's called genetics, Tony. You should know; don't you have a degree in that or something?" I teased.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," he grumbled back. "So, what are you three planning on doing now? I mean, you obviously have no future in SHIELD, even though it is technically still a thing. But it's really dead. So what are you gonna do now?"

Drake was busy pulling Delia back into her seat, so Ava answered. "I'm not really sure. All my life I wanted to be a SHIELD agent, so maybe it would impress my dad. That was really the only reason why I joined. So now I don't know what I'm going to do."

Tony nodded, then turned to Drake and Delia. "So what about you two?"

"Well, I could join either the CIA or MI6, but I'm not sure that's really for me anymore," Drake replied. "I think I want to stay in New York, though. It's been a good place to call home for the past two years."

"I think I can help with that," Tony announced. "Stark Industries always has need of good intelligent people, and we definitely could use an expert hacker," he added, looking at Delia.

She blushed, eyes wide. "I'm not an expert-"

"Dels, you can out-hack me, and I am rather good at it," I told her. "There's no need to be modest, especially when Tony's around. He's got that covered."

By the time we were back to Avengers' Tower, Tony had all but drawn up contracts for my three friends. They were all gushing thanks, once again, and he brushed it off. But, as he sent the others in from the elevator, I caught his arm to stop him. "Thank you, Tony. I can't ever repay you for this."

"Don't worry, Princess, I take care of my own," he replied, then gave me a quick squeeze. Then, he stepped out of the elevator like nothing had happened.

Shaking my head at him, I followed, ready to introduce my friends to those of the Avengers they hadn't yet met.

"I see it went well, doll," Steve said with a smile, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple.

Delia squealed. "Are you guys together?"

I nodded happily, and Steve answered. "Yes, ma'am, though I'm still not sure how I managed to convince her."

"All you had to do was turn those big blues on her," Ava teased. "I knew you would end up together from the first time I saw you. I called it, didn't I, Emily?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I grumbled, feeling my cheeks start to burn.

"Yes, you do," she crowed gleefully. "I called it. You told me to stop flirting with him, and I said you just wanted him for yourself. I called it!"

I merely rolled my eyes at her, but Steve interrupted before I had a chance to rebut. "Sam, come meet Emily's friends. They were in SHIELD with her."

The airman, who'd been invited to join the Avengers, swaggered over. And once he caught sight of Ava, the pause in his gait was almost imperceptible, but the increase in his swagger was not. A quick glance at Ava told me that she was just as interested.

"Sam, these are my friends, Delia Legrange, Drake Solomon, and Ava Richardson. Guys, this is Sam Wilson, the newest member of the Avengers," I introduced.

"Wow, you must be really good then," Ava flirted. "I mean, they don't invite just anybody to join."

"Well, I am pretty handy in a fight," he said, shrugging his shoulders modestly.

Steve snorted. "No, you just saved my life, that's all."

My friends quickly settled in with my family, and it was rather satisfying to see. We eventually managed to get back to normal life, with all of us back to work. So I went back to working in the lab with Tony, Jane, and Bruce, with Darcy plying us with food as needed. I also kept up with the publicity about the Avengers, making sure that the general populace still thought about my family positively. Those working for Stark Industries went to the lower levels of the Tower every morning, then came back every night. And the Avengers went out when needed, saving the world, just like normal. It was life as usual, without any major catastrophes. And it was wonderful.

AN: And here's a second one in two hours! I thought you all deserved it, with that almost month wait I gave you. Hopefully it was worth the wait. And I really hope that I got Tony's personality in this chapter. It was so fun to write! Love you all, tons and tons!