Chapter 10: SHIELD From Coming Threats

Fury and Hill exchanged quiet glances as the videos showed a young woman with dark hair chopped short in black leather with silver on her arms. She looked to be oriental in origin and ran from the building after it collapsed. Video after video played as they watched.

Tony pointed at her freezing it as they turned so he could see her face. "I plan to have her on the actual Avengers. Or even the Defenders if they accept her. This was also on the news a lot. Actually right after the Accords and Siberia she appeared. She's a bit of a mystery but everyone calls her Quake. "

"Her real name is Daisy Johnson, she used to go by Skye," Maria said.

"You know her?" Natasha asked looking between Fury and Hill.

Fury sighed. "Now is as good a time as any. Is Barton here? If we tell you about Johnson we're going to need to tell you about the others."

"I'll go get him and catch him up on what's going on so far," Natasha volunteered leaving.

Steve and Tony were left looking at Fury and Hill sucpisciously. After a few minutes of silence Tony cracked. "What are you hiding now Fury?"

"More than I should have. I actually should have told all of you a long time ago," Fury said as Natasha and Clint sat back down. "Especially the two of you."

Hill interrupted. "Just listen. And don't get to upset."

Fury nodded. "Johnson was a SHIELD consultant on one of my best teams. On a brand new teams first mission they caught her working for the Rising Tide. She's one of the worlds best hackers. She actually joined as a Level One agent less than 24 hours before Hydra and the fall."

"So what did she do after SHIELD fell?" Steve asked.

"Worked for SHIELD," Fury replied. "Under the new director."

There was silence as everyone looked at Fury in shock. Steve broke the silence. "We took down SHIELD to end the corruption in it. To end Hydra. If you started it over with a new director then…"

"This new Director wouldn't let the corruption happen," Hill interrupted. "One of the best men out there."

"Who is it?" Tony demanded. "And why haven't I found anything about this?"

"Agent Johnson. She's good enough to keep anyone of their trails. You actually might have seen traces of their teams work," Maria explained. "But mostly it's undercover and has been under the radar. That's always the kind of man Coulson was."

There was a moment of silence. Clint was clenching his fist and Natasha looked empty though she had her hand on his shoulder. Steve looked shocked and unsure of what to say. It was Tony whose fury showed through. He never hid his emotions like the others, at least not as well. "Agent is dead. Loki stabbed him through the heart. We were all at his funeral."

"Phillip Coulson was dead," Fury sighed. "For eight days. We brought him back using an experimental procedure called TAHITI. He was given false memories and led to believe he'd only been dead a few seconds."

Clint's voice cracked as he broke. "Why didn't we know? Why didn't he tell us?"

"Because I told him not too. Obviously he tried anyway. We've intercepted all of his attempts. He gave up last year," Fury replied.

Clint balled his fists. "He was our S.O. Our handler. Phil has taken care of me since I was just 18 then you let me think he was dead."

Hill sighed. "I can't explain it very well. Phil might be the one to know best but the procedure that brought him back had some side affects. It's why we kept him away."

"Side affects?" Natasha asked coldly.

Maria nodded. "Phil was probably of all the people we tried it on or tested it on he was the one who handled it best. It's gone now those side affects. But we didn't want you to see him like that. After that it was us stopping him for not as good of a reason."

There was a small silence before Clint spoke up again. "And you would have let him suffer like that? You put him through this operation knowing there were side affects?"

"We prepared," Fury replied. "Phil was given a team. The one I mentioned before who's first mission ended up acquiring Johnson. They were supposed to help him on missions. But they were also there to end it if it got bad. First on the team was May."

"Mel?" Clint, Natasha and Tony asked together. Steve looked confused. So did Steve and Natasha as they looked at Tony surprised.

"I didn't know she worked for SHIELD. Her mom was part of the CIA. She worked with Dad and Aunt Peg a lot. We were thrown together a lot because of that."

"She's been a SHIELD agent longer than both of us," Clint replied. "She was Coulson's partner for years. She helped train me. Not to mention she was Maria's S.O. probably for a lot of others too."

"So she'd be a good ally?" Steve asked.

"The best. I considered her for the Avengers," Fury said. "Too bad she wasn't doing any thing but a desk job then. She only got back into field work when I asked her to watch Coulson."

Natasha and Clint sat a little straighter with less sadness and heaviness on them. Tony pulled up Mel's file and looked it over before putting it in a new file. He took one for Coulson too.

"The other specialist on their team was Grant Ward," Maria said. "I'll let them explain it but he never worked for SHIELD."

"Guy was always a douche," commented Clint.

"Ward and May were too take Coulson out if the need arose. But we had a biochemist and engineer there to help him if they could before the last option was taken. We gave him the best team out there."

"I think I know who you're talking about," Tony said pulling up two files and looking at Fury. "Fitz and Simmons. I've had my eyes on them for a while now."

"Youngest graduates of SHIELD SciTech. Responsible for some of the best equipment. Add them to the list. You'll want all of Coulson's team. Original or not."

"Who are the newer members?" asked Steve.

"I have a guess," Clint grinned. "Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter. Bobbi and I have always kept in touch."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Which is why she's a great agent."

Tony found her file and opened it grinning. He added it to the list. "Undercover work, good fighter, and Hunter is a merc with some good connections."

"She and Hunter are no longer part of the team though," Maria explained. "They ran into some trouble and had to quit."

"They're working for me now," Fury informed them.

"Geez Fury," Tony yelped. "How many hidden spies do you have working for you?"

There was no answer. Fury just looked at Hill again. "Mackenzie is on their team too. Good mechanic, huge man, awesome fighter and has the makings of a leader."

Tony did as he suggested then looked around the table. "Anyone else?"

"The InHumans," Fury and Hill said together.

Hill continued. "He had a team of them. Though only two could still be brought on. Elena, or Yo-Yo Rodriguez is Colombian. She has the ability to run somewhere with super speed and always slings back. Hence the nicknames. She was actually one of the few who signed the accords."

"Who's the other?" Steve asked.

"She's already been mentioned," Fury told them.

"Quake. Or Daisy Johnson. Or Skye. So it was Phil's team that recruited her?" Tony asked.

"Another of his strays," Clint said with a wry grin. "Hey, Nat! We have a little sister!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. She looked at Fury who continued Tony's information. "She can tell you her whole life story. It's an interesting one. But she found out she was an inhuman and her birthname was Daisy Johnson. She has the power to control vibrations."

"Hence the name Quake," Steve murmured. "Impressive."

Maria nodded. "I don't have all the details but she's no longer with Phil's team. She's on the run around the country. And they're trying to find her."

"We can help with that," Tony said smugly. He threw up a map projecting form different cities were timestamps and footage of Quake. Then he collapsed it and put it in the Expansion file. He looked around the table again. "Any other suggestions? I have a suspicion but I want to be sure."

"If you mean Sharon then bring her on," Steve blushed.

"Right," Tony said. "She's already moving to SI's payroll. Growing up with the founders of SHIELD means I know all their relatives and secrets."

"Not all of them," Fury reminded him. Everyone stared at him in shock realizing he had made a joke falling into another moment of awkward silence.