[Author's Note: It should be obvious by this point, but I'm going to mention it anyway to stave off any possible confusion… By this point the story's gotten kind of AU as far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is concerned. Just to clarify, I started working on this between The Avengers and Iron Man 3. At the time, I knew Coulson was coming back for Agents of SHIELD, so that's how he made it in. I'm going to be pulling in various characters from all some of the new movies and shows in addition to characters from the comics, but I'm sticking with my AU timeline that I started with, for the sake of consistency. In honor of SHIELD starting up again tomorrow, I'm bringing those guys in this chapter, and since clearly SHIELD hasn't fallen yet in this timeline, it'll have to pretty much be the early team.]

"You know you can't bring weapons into Yankee Stadium, right?" Steve asked the group anxiously, watching the three SHIELD agents strap pistols under their jackets.

"We have permits," Natasha reassured him. "Though Clint may want to leave Lucy at home."

"Linda," Hawkeye corrected.

"Still not a great name."

"C'mon, it's not like I named her Lola." This was directed at Coulson, who bristled slightly at Hawkeye's jab.

"If you have a problem with my car…" he started to say, but Clint shook his head.

"It's a cool car, but a really stupid name."

Coulson looked like he was going to argue, but he laughed it off and said, "Well, at least I'll be seeing her soon." Hawkeye tilted his head curiously, and Coulson explained, "The Bus is swinging by after the game, and then I'm back to work."

The group shuffled into the garage of Avengers tower, where they were all staying, and Darcy asked, "You take the bus to work?"

"No."

"Okay…"

"Stark, did you remember to feed Lucky?"

Tony rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I'll call Pepper at dinner time and have her do it."

Hawkeye shook his head. "Wasn't the deal, Tony."

"Don't worry, I just did something with her. I took her outside just before we started getting ready."

"First of all, it's him not her. Second, they're not interchangeable activities. Both have to be done."

"Fine, just wait here. I'll go dump some kibble in a bowl."

It didn't take Tony too long to accomplish his mission, and the others spent the time lightly bickering over which cars to take from Tony's fleet of vehicles. They ended up dividing most of themselves between four cars while Coulson drove separately so he wouldn't be seen arriving with them.

It was a good call, since cameras were snapping the second the cars made their entrance at the stadium, from fans and newsmen alike. The newsmen caused further delay at the gate, and the Avengers just missed batting practice, much to Steve's dismay.

They crowded into the section of seats behind home plate that Tony had bought from the original ticket-holders. "I was going to get club seats," Tony told them as they were sliding into their seats, "but Mr. Secret Agent didn't want to be seen with us up there."

"Now I'm just a guy who happens to be sitting next to you," Coulson confirmed.

"One of the lucky ones."

The other fans in the surrounding seats seemed to agree with Tony, who ignored his team in order to work the crowd. "Don't mind him, Clint," Steve said to the archer, a bitter edge in his voice, "I'm sure Tony's still here for you."

Hawkeye laughed and shook his head. "I'd rather Tony spend some time with his fans. Honestly, I'm more of a loner by nature, and all of this team bonding would get pretty tiring if I had to actually talk to everyone the whole time."

Steve assumed that wasn't Hawkeye's polite way of telling the group to leave him alone, because to be honest, he'd never known Clint Barton to be that polite. He nodded understandingly but still called over to Tony, "Aren't you the snack brigade, Stark?"

"Aren't you tired of making everything into a military reference?"

"I promise you the army didn't have a snack brigade."

"But what would you know? It's not like you were in the real army."

Coulson was quick to jump to his hero's defense by pointing out, "Captain Rogers did see plenty of combat. Don't believe me? You can read all about it in the Captain America Exhibit of the Smithsonian."

"The what now?"

Before Coulson could reply, the sound of an explosion echoed overhead, and a dark shape careened downwards toward the stadium. It was a black plane, the back section of which was missing a few pieces and on fire, and it was hurtling toward centerfield.

The team stood reflexively though there was nothing they could do to help the failing aircraft. Thor still held out his hand to summon his hammer, which he'd left in the car, but he wouldn't have enough time to fly over there and save the plane, even if he'd had the strength.

Just before tragedy struck, the plane pulled its nose up and pivoted its engines to activate its vertical landing capability. It lowered itself into one of the shakiest, most uneven landings that the team had ever seen, but the best landing they'd seen from a plane that was missing most of its back end.

As soon as the plane touched down, taking up most of the stadium field, the Avengers noticed the white outline of a bird on the top of the plane. To be specific, it was the outline of the SHIELD logo eagle. They all looked over to Coulson, who nodded grimly.

"Yup," he said, his eyes fixed on the flaming wreck. "That's my Bus."