Another Door Opens

In which Phil Coulson, recently ousted from his position as Director of SHIELD and on the run with his newest recruit, Lance Hunter, drops by the Tower to have a chat with some old acquaintances.

"Alright, I'm just going to say it, sir. That's a giant bloody tower. And just absolutely hideous. I thought our base was bad but this is even worse." The male voice with the British accent filtered out from behind an open newspaper which hid the speaker's face.

"Yeah, not my style either. But then I'm supposed to be dead so announcing my name on the side of a building isn't exactly subtle." The second speaker, with a soft-spoken American accent, was also hidden behind an open spread of the New York Times.

"Fair enough. So what's the plan now, boss?"

"We wait for a bit. Have you read this article on page twenty-seven? Says here that a new species of poisonous frogs was just discovered in the Amazon. Fascinating."

"Yes, terribly fascinating." The sarcasm was undeniable.

—

Inside the eloquently described building, Maria Hill, Director of Human Resources of Stark Industries, was briskly crossing one of the many walkways that connected the different floors and offices of the lower levels of the Tower. The open concept design and glass-panelled staircases and walkways allowed for natural sunlight to illuminate the wide office spaces. It was quite an improvement from her previous office spaces when working with SHIELD; a fact she often reminded herself whenever she regretted her decision to start working for Stark Industries. Reaching her department, she walked into the reception area where her secretary worked. A large bouquet of flowers was perched at the edge of the desk - an explosion of colours and greenery.

"Good morning, Director," the brunette at the desk greeted her cheerfully, adjusting her glasses. "You've got a call waiting for you in your office. Oh and these flowers were delivered this morning. There's a note but it seems to be written in code. Some secret admirer, perhaps?"

Maria frowned. "Not if I can help it. Give me the note and dump the flowers."

"But they must have cost a fortune!"

Ignoring the secretary's shocked expression, Maria grabbed the note and strode past without a second glance. "I hate flowers."

—

"Remind me again what we're doing here? Because standing across from one of the most secure buildings ever built while on the run from a government organization that is technically not supposed to exist is not my idea of fun." Back outside the Tower, leaning against the low stone wall of an enclosed park across the road, the British voice continued complaining.

"I'm quite aware, thank you. But unfortunately for us, being on the run means very limited resources for what we want to do, and the list of people that could possible help us out is even more limited. So we don't have a choice. And besides, you signed up for this."

"A decision I'm starting to regret, unfortunately. Although legally speaking, a signed napkin probably doesn't mean shit."

"Hill will get the message soon. She hates flowers."

"I bloody hope so. And there better be coffee in there. Or a beer."

"It's 8:30 in the morning!"

"So?"

—

Maria found Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff in the commons. The two former SHIELD agents, before the government agency had disappeared after the destruction of the Triskelion, were sipping their morning coffees at the island table in the kitchen. There was a small bowl of fruit and yogurt in front of the redhead while a loaded plate of eggs, hash browns and bacon occupied the place in front of the blond male. They nodded their head in greeting.

"You're several floors away from your office," Clint remarked. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."

"Don't worry, Barton, you're not in trouble this time. I need your help."

"Sounds like you're in trouble," commented Natasha.

"Not me, but an old friend of ours. I just received a coded message from Coulson and I think he's somewhere just outside the Tower, most likely undercover or he would've come straight to my office. Which means he's afraid of being recognized."

"So would I if I pulled the died-but-secretly-alive card," Clint deadpanned.

Maria frowned and shook her head. "He wouldn't show up unannounced. Not like this. I can't reach him on his phone, and all communication to Playground is down."

"That definitely sounds like trouble," said Natasha. "I figure you want us to bring him in without anybody noticing?"

"Please."

—

The two figures, faces still obscured by their newspapers had been standing motionless for awhile now. Almost motionless. The foot belonging to the Brit was tapping agitatedly. Suddenly a white van pulled up and screeched to a halt beside them. In bright letters on the side was written Bill and Bob's Ventilation Systems. The passenger window rolled down.

"Good morning, gents. We're new to this area of the city, trying to find the Avengers' Tower. You wouldn't happen to know where it is, would you?"

Two faces appeared, both obscured by baseball hats and sunglasses.

The shorter of the two men's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You mean that Tower? How in the bloody hell can you miss that!"

"Good to see you, Barton. I imagine Hill sent you?" the other asked casually.

"Yup, hop in!" Clint replied.

The taller of the two quickly opened the side door and stepped in. He turned around to his partner who was still standing at the side of the curb. "Come on, don't look so surprised. I told you I had a plan."

They both entered the van. As soon as the door was shut, the driver took off with another squeal of tires and drove up to the Tower gate.

The blond-haired passenger in the front seat turned around to look at the two in the back seat. "Hi. I'm Bill, this is Bob."

The red-haired driver looked up in the rearview mirror and winked. "Coulson. Glad to see you alive."

Phil Coulson smiled. "Romanoff. Heard you two have moved on to bigger and better things."

"Well unfortunately we never got the memo that SHIELD was still up and running," Clint grinned. "Had to accept the offer on the table."

"Can someone please explain to me what's going on? I feel like I'm being kidnapped and I don't like it." Coulson's partner had flung of his hat and sunglasses to reveal close-cut blond hair and a very annoyed expression.

"Just hang in there, Hunter," Coulson replied with that infuriating grin that meant he wasn't explaining anything.

Clint jabbed a thumb in Coulson's direction. "For a guy who's faked his death all this time you really haven't gotten the hang of disguises yet. You've still got the same shades as before; how is anyone not supposed to recognize you?"

"I figured Hill and you two hadn't gone completely soft in Stark's luxury tower and that you'd be around soon enough to pick us up."

"Lucky for you, sir."

Meanwhile, Natasha had passed the front gate and driven the van around to the back of the Tower. Two security tried to approach the van but she waved them off imperiously. Nobody was a fool enough to go up against the Black Widow and so the four occupants were able to exit the van without notice. After the appropriate codes were entered on a small keypad, a large door slid open to reveal a freight elevator. All four quickly entered and the door slid shut. As the elevator began to move up, Clint continued his interrogation, leaning back casually against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Who's your sidekick, there?" he asked his former handler with a nod in the direction of the scowling figure.

"I can speak for myself, thank you very much. Lance Hunter, SHIELD agent. And you are?"

Coulson spoke up. "Hunter, these are former SHIELD agents Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. And current Avengers Hawkeye and Black Widow.

"Hey there," Natasha smirked with a lift of her chin.

"What's up?" asked Clint.

Hunter looked from the two to Coulson. "Are we getting the Avengers involved in this? Because I thought this was strictly SHIELD business."

"It is. We're just here to see an old friend," he glanced at the two ex-agents. "Old friends."

The elevator doors opened to reveal the commons area of the Avengers. "Nice crib you guys got here," Hunter commented as he stepped out. "Are you accepting applications too? Just in case this whole SHIELD thing goes sideways."

Coulson ignored the question, nodding his head in approval as he looked around as well. "I have to say, this place has changed a lot since I was here last. It's looking great."

The two Avengers had stepped back, exchanging a knowing look. The privileged few that allowed to step in to the commons always had the same awestruck look on their faces. Phil Coulson in particular was grinning like a little kid at Christmas. Footsteps sounded from around the corner and then Maria Hill appeared, dressed in a black and grey pantsuit and with the ever-present wireless extension around her right ear.

"Phil." She stepped forward to greet the arrivals. "I'd say I was happy to see you but I'm sure this means trouble."

"Maria. You know I wouldn't be here unless it was really serious."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Who's this?" She jabbed her chin the direction of Hunter who was examining the custom designed salt and pepper shakers someone had left on one of the smaller living room tables. They were both miniatures of the Tower.

"Lance Hunter. He's with me."

"Ah yes, the mercenary."

"SHIELD agent, actually," Hunter interrupted, setting down the salt shaker and leaving a trail of fine white crystals everywhere on the smooth black surface of the table. "I signed the contract and everything."

Coulson shrugged. "Well, sort of anyway. He's good. Let's just say we're in a bit of a tight spot right now. Long story short, there's two SHIELD's now and the other ones executed a nice little coup d'état and are after us and another one of my agents that we have to get to before they do."

Clint glanced at Natasha. "See this is what happens when we don't stick around. Everything goes to shit."

"I blame the ex-wife," said Hunter. "She's a bit of an evil double-crosser that one."

Maria raised her eyebrows. "Bobbi Morse is against you? Who else?"

"Mack, Weaver, Oliver, Calderon. All led by Gonzalez."

"Robert Gonzalez?"

"The one and only."

"I never liked that bastard," Clint commented.

"You and me both," Hunter added. "You wouldn't have anything to drink in this joint, would you?"

"Anything you want," said Natasha, heading to the bar.

"Remember Hunter, you're driving!" Coulson called after him.

"Ah shit," Hunter groaned. "I'll stick with coffee then. Though you could refill my hip flask with your finest."

Meanwhile the former Commander had taken Coulson by the arm and took him over to a corner. "Phil, what exactly is going on. You're supposed to be chasing Hydra, not having leadership squabbles amongst yourself."

"Tell that to the others. Apparently I keep too many secrets and that didn't sit too well. Now they want to run SHIELD like a democracy, throwing words around like transparency and accountability."

Maria swore under her breath. "As if those two things exists in democracies. Is that why all communication to the Playground is down? Have they taken over?"

The ousted SHIELD director needed and caught his former colleague up to speed. "I got out with May's help, but she and FitzSimmons are still there. Now we're trying to reach Skye. She's at the Retreat and they know. We need to get to her as soon as possible. With backup."

"How'd you manage to get here?"

"Stole a car. Well, Hunter did," Coulson excused himself. "But I need you to make a call for me. And find a quinjet."

"That's quite the favour."

"I'll owe you one."

Maria looked Coulson in the eyes. "That'll be easy enough to repay."

They joined the other three at the bar where Natasha passed them each a cup of coffee. Coulson accepted his with a a quick thank you. "What do you want, Hill?"

The brunette paused, glancing briefly at Clint and Natasha. "We've started up our own little hunt after Hydra. More specifically, Loki's sceptre. You've been after them for a bit longer and might know some things. Can you get us it's location?"

Coulson raised his eyebrows. "You mean to tell me you're looking for the death stick of doom that was responsible for my death?"

"That more or less sums it up. We figure it's probably better if Hydra doesn't prolong their rights of possession."

"Not going to argue with you there. What have you got so far?"

"Our last lead was Jasper Sitwell."

Hunter swivelled around his chair and clanged his empty coffee cup on the bar counter. "Who's Sitwell? And Loki? And what's with this sceptre? I thought we'd gotten rid of the whole monarchy business, with few notable exceptions of course, including my own dear motherland."

"The sceptre is evil, Loki even more so, especially in combination. And Sitwell is a SHIELD agent who turned out to be Hydra," replied Clint.

"Former agent," Natasha emphasized. "Had an ugly run-in with the front end of a truck and ended up on the losing side of that encounter."

"Sucks to be Hydra." Hunter signalled for another cup of coffee.

"Well you'll be interested in hearing that after the death of Dr. Whitehall, Hydra has replaced him with two new head honchos for the science department: Baron Von Strucker and Dr. List," Coulson informed the others. "Coincidentally both old friends of Jasper Sitwell."

"And you know where they are?" Maria asked.

"No, but we're on their trail. Or were, before I got kicked out of the director's chair. But I'm going to get this fiasco sorted and then go after List. If I find anything, I'll let you know."

Maria nodded her thanks. There was a silence for a bit before Hunter slowly raised a hand, looking around at the others. "I'd hate to be rude, but is there any way I can get some breakfast? I'm absolutely starving and we drove straight through the night without stopping to eat."

"Check the fridge," Clint replied, pointing to the stainless steel appliance in the kitchen. "If you're lucky, it hasn't been all cleared out after the last grocery run."

"Thanks man." He managed to find a carton of milk that wasn't expired yet and poured himself a generous bowl of cereal. Sitting at the island, cheerfully crunching away on his muesli, he suddenly looked up. "Sorry boss, forgot all about you. Did you want some too?"

"That's okay, I don't really eat breakfast. But I'll make myself a sandwich for on the road."

"Not staying for lunch, Coulson?" Clint asked. "We've got so much to catch up on. I'm most curious to find out all the details on Operation TAHITI."

"What can I say? Massages and mojitos on a beach for several months," Coulson shrugged nonchalantly. "You know I miss those days sometimes, back when two smart-mouthed agents, ex-circus performer and ex-KGB assassin, both with a penchant for disregarding authority was the biggest headache I had to deal with."

Natasha smirked. "And you said you were only two happy to hand us over to the Avengers. I hope the new kids are treating you alright."

"They've managed to triple the amount of grey hairs on my head, but they're not bad. Worse are all these villains popping up all over the globe with an axe to grind."

"You wouldn't know what to do with yourself if you didn't have a world to save from imminent danger and destruction," replied the redhead with a wry grin.

"Yeah well what else have we got coming for us? Robot invasion? Aliens abducting us?"

"Don't jinx it, boss!" Hunter called over from the kitchen. "Or I really will have to rethink my career options."

Coulson finished his coffee and set the cup down. "I think that's it then. Thanks for the rescue and the coffee. Maria, I appreciate the help. I'll keep you posted on the sceptre, but odds are it's somewhere in Europe."

"Anytime. I hope you get this thing with SHIELD sorted and back in the director's chair. It needs you. Meanwhile we'll refocus our search and wait for your intel."

They shook hands, and Coulson turned towards Clint and Natasha. "Would it be too much to ask to get a ride to where we parked our vehicle?"

"Not at all. We'll send you a bill later."

"Bill it to Gonzalez. You don't just oust me as director without feeling the consequences."

A/N: Another little crossover with Agents of SHIELD in celebration of Season 6 and Coulson's return! This little one-shot takes place right after S2E15 'One Door Closes'