The cold steel of the SHIELD headquarters shooting range matched the disposition of the sole occupant practicing his craft. Natasha stood there, silently watching as Clint emptied his quiver into the targets that littered the range; she had wanted to follow him when he had stormed out of the meeting, but knew that he wouldn't have wanted her company, not yet. The archer had left the Tower, disappearing for two days before coming back to actively avoid every other member of initiative; he was back, question was when was he going to be ready to talk. That time was now as it turned out, the fact that she had not been told to leave yet confirming the situation; when he fired his last arrow and set to work putting away his gear, she approached her fellow assassin.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked without pausing in his task though the words were as empty as the space he had left in the tower for the last few days.
Natasha shrugged her shoulders. "He seems just like the Coulson we knew; not to say there aren't differences, this one is more open, more friendly, but it's him. Our Coulson never let those feelings show as much."
"They figure out how to send him back yet?" Something akin to hope fluttered across his face, a desperate need to hear that the contestant reminder of what he had done could be avoided.
"Stark and Banner are working on it, doesn't sound like it's going to be an easy fix though. He's probably going to be here for a while. You might want to give some consideration to not being an asshole around him," suggested Romanoff managing to be both forceful and understated in her proposal.
Clint let out an indignant huff. "I got a distinct impression that he doesn't want me around, so I don't think that will be a problem. With all the killing his friend and destroying the world stuff, I can understand; I wouldn't want to be around me either."
"What gave you that idea?"
A bitter smile spread across Clint's face. "I entered the kitchen earlier and he jumped; Coulson never flinched like that for no one, not around me anyway. Oh, and there's the fact that I killed everyone, that's bound to put a damper on a friendship right?"
"You didn't kill them." The assassins locked eyes until Clint relented under Natasha's gaze conceding that her point was valid, even if he didn't personally agree or see the difference between himself and another version of himself.
Romanoff was at a loss; the relationship she had had with her handler was easy to apply to the 'new' man, making it easy to determine how to treat him. The voice was the same, so much so that she often found herself forgetting the differences and just listening to the calm, steady voice that had saved her so many times. She knew how she felt about Coulson and how he had helped her through so much, but it was a small fraction compared to everything Clint and Phil had gone through. Barton had saved her life, gave it direction; that's what Phil did for Clint. She couldn't imagine being in the situation her friend found himself in now, so she did not push the man before her any further; instead she just pursed her lips and said one last thing.
"You two need to talk, it's what you would have done if it was our Phil." Natasha didn't expect a response but she knew the archer would at least consider her words.
An odd quietness embraced the halls leading from Fury's office; normally meetings, even those of a pleasant nature, saw raised voices, but this meeting was shrouded in silence. It was the worst news Coulson could have imagined and the only response he could muster was to sit in the Director's office and stare dumbfounded at the wall. He was glad Nick was there to ask the questions that his muddled brain couldn't supply at that moment.
"Are you sure, Stark?" asked Fury as he leaned forward over his desk; his usual unreadable mask firmly in place.
"As sure as I can be with something like this. Look if I had all the time and resources in the world, I might be able to figure it out but…" Coulson appreciated that Tony looked slightly apologetic about the situation. "The facts are, the orb is powered by the Tesseract and all things considered I don't think Odin is going to allow Thor to hand it over to us."
"Understandably. I'm also certain I wouldn't allow it back here," concurred the Director.
"Anyways, if I can't power it properly, I can't run proper tests and simulations. As near as I can figure, Barton charged our orb enough from that whole council experiment debacle, that it gives off a signature, which is probably what brought Coulson here to this dimension."
"Get to the point Stark." The irritation was beginning to flow off of Fury.
"The orb in Coulson's world would be depleted. If the orbs connect to the ones that are powered, he could spend the rest of his life traveling from dimension to dimension and never get back to his. We can't control where he'll end up."
That caught Phil's attention, knowing the man across from him well enough to where a conclusion was already being drawn; one that he didn't like."I have to try Director. You don't know what's at stake. I…"
"I think I do Coulson; I can't send you on a mission, in good conscious, that has a zero chance of success. Even if you do get back to your world, what's left there? You can't go back and change anything, it will be exactly how you left it. From what I've heard of this place, your world, I can't justify sending anyone there, especially not you." Fury's features softened a little, the persona addressing the agent drifting from the Director of SHIELD to Nick, who was speaking to a friend. "I can't send you there, not to a place like that. I have made a few questionable decisions in my career, sent many good people to their deaths, but I will not send you back to that place."
A pang of guilt stabbed at Coulson as he saw the remorseful look on Nick's face."Sir, I respectfully request…"
Fury snapped, "Denied."
"But…"
"Denied agent!"
"You can work with us," blurted Tony. Both men stopped glaring at one another and turned to the billionaire. "We need a handler. No offense Fury, but the one we have now… And as much as I hate to agree with Cloak and Dagger here, you're more valuable here Phil than wandering around the universe for something that's never going to work."
"I think that's the smartest thing that's ever come out of your mouth Stark," agreed Fury as he leaned back more comfortably in his chair. "Effective immediately, Agent Phil Coulson, you are reinstated into SHIELD and operating as the liaison and handler for the Avengers.
Phil would have said he spent the night sleeping on the Director's orders, but there was no way he could sleep, not with the looming decision and clouds of guilt over his head. He spent all night making lists and charts, trying to weigh the pros and cons about staying in a world not his own, but so much better than what he left. He knew they were right, if he couldn't go back and complete his objective then there was no point, but Coulson had never walked away from a mission before, no matter the odds.
These people believed he could do good here and he had to admit it would be nice to work with his team again, only they weren't his team; they were the other Coulson's team, and as much as he wanted to believe everyone would be how he remembered them, it wasn't a very likely possibility. Interactions were awkward, but nothing that wouldn't sort itself out with time. He never really had a relationship with Rogers, and it sounded like the other Coulson didn't know him extremely well either, so things were pretty much a blank slate with him.
Like in his world, this Doctor Banner seemed very accepting of everything; in fact, that relationship seemed the most familiar and easy to fit into. Stark was… he was a better version of himself and though Phil missed his friend, there was a certain amount of relief to see this version of the egotistical genius. The only real difference Coulson could find in Thor is the god seemed to carry different chips on his shoulder. The thunder god still took responsibility for the wrongs of his brother, but since things turned out differently in this universe, the burdens Thor was saddled with gave him a different perspective.
Natasha was Natasha. She was trying to adapt to this turn of events and as Phil would have predicted, she was attempting to make the best of it. He appreciated it, but it was still strange, like only half the relationship was there. There was no doubt in his mind should he do or say anything that suggested he had an ulterior motive she would not hesitate to slit his throat. Coulson had to constantly remind himself that their relationship here was the one they had shared in his world before the war. They hadn't had the unfortunate excuse to bond further over their loss of Barton.
Then there was the archer; Clint seemed to give him a wide birth and any contact they did have was cold and distant on his part. It was almost like Barton knew he had broken his promise to Hawkeye in the other dimension, like there was a big neon sign above Phil's head that screamed I let you down, I let you become that monster. The agent found himself relying on all of his restraint to stop himself from groveling at Clint's feet, begging for forgiveness; either that or embracing him in a hug that would make Thor proud. All the while, he would be thanking every god he knew of that Barton was free and safe, that Phil had not failed him. Instead they avoided each other at all costs, and Phil knew that everyone had to notice.
The moment of truth came days later when the Avengers' alarm sounded at the tower and the team was called into action. They all assembled and Coulson found himself in the thick of the chaos that these superheroes brought, for the first time. Steve handed Coulson a comm. unit and clapped him on the back. "You ready for this sir?"
"We're about to find out," sighed Phil. He tried to ignore the looks the other SHIELD agents gave him as he took command of the situation. It felt familiar and right, but there was still a slight hesitation in his voice as he gave directions to his team in the field. His team, even if technically they weren't; he had spent the last week studying their files, brushing up and learning the differences. He needed to know exactly what these people were capable of, that they had the same experiences that Phil remembered them having. Calling out plays and referencing missions that they had never done would only lead to disaster.
For the most part anyway, things ran smoothly; there were still a few mistakes, the ones that usually came when someone new was embraced into an established team dynamic, but nothing to jeopardize the mission. Not until Hawkeye managed to get himself cornered on a rooftop. From there, things started spiralling out of control.