Terribly late, but here it is the first chapter of the year. Also, no Loki and no Tony, but next chapter is already translated and will have both. That said, I wanted to thank you for your comments, they always make my day!
Chapter beta'd by Sara, thank you so much, dear!
NoToLogins: Thank you, both for your wishes and for your comment!
Chapter 42: The rising storm
"Sir."
Fury turned his gaze towards Maria Hill's emotionless face.
Silent and composed, she was the perfect example of efficiency, like she was a weapon built by Stark Industries. He couldn't have hoped in a better right man, especially now that he didn't have Coulson to rely on.
He had known her for years and, even if she put up an impassible stare, he was able to recognize her hidden emotions. Annoyance, in this case, and disappointment. He wasn't going to like what Maria was about to tell him.
"Yes?"
"The Council demands your presence in the communication room."
They were alone, so he allowed himself to show a grimace.
After that wretched decision to send a nuclear missile against Loki and the Chitauri almost a year before, he had kept as much distance as he could from the Council. They still exchanged information and sort of worked together for the same goals, but they both knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. was now more independent, since Fury could ruin every member of the Council just letting the media know that they had decided to sacrifice New York.
If they became enemies, maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. and even the Avengers would be disbanded, but the Council would be utterly destroyed and he still had the upper hand. Or, at least, he was sure he had had it once, since Stark had been on his side, because even if the billionaire didn't trust and didn't like him, he knew that Stark trusted and liked the politicians behind the Council even less.
Now that Iron Man was missing and that there was a global threat incoming, being summoned by the Council was a bad sign.
He reached the communication room anyway, hearing the light footsteps belonging to Hill behind him.
On the screens, the politicians' faces showed a mix of worry and irritation.
"We have received your report regarding Johann Schmidt and his interrogation, Director", the Council spokesperson told him without even greeting him.
"Then you have also received my recommendations. This matter has to be kept from the public until we hear from Asgard; in the meanwhile, you must prepare a line of defense, a global army ready to face Thanos and the Chitauri."
"We have people doing that for us. But what about your Avengers? Why aren't you considering them in such a difficult situation?"
"With all the due respect, sir", he said, adding an ironical edge to the last word. "If you're telling me that a handful of fighters should stop a whole army, you're either a fool or an idiot."
Hill had remained silent during the discussion, a motionless figure next to the door, but even with his back turned on her, Fury knew that the shadow of a smile had appeared on her lips as soon as he stopped talking and the Council's members reacted with indignant comments and outraged words.
He listened to them with amused contempt. During the last year, the Avengers had thwarted several terrorist acts and attempts at conquering nations or even the Earth in every part of the globe and now it seemed like the governments were taking their intervention for granted, happy that there were heroes fighting their battles and taking responsibilities in their place.
Time to let those politicians know that they still had some usefulness.
It took almost a minute for the Council's members to stop their offended blabbering.
"We don't expect the Avengers to fight alone, but they would be useful on the battlefield and their presence would increase the soldiers' morale", a senator said, and at least she seemed like she was more reasonable than the others. "I believe that such heroes would be the best incentive to form a global army."
"The Avengers will fight, as they have always done, but this time there isn't gonna be a portal to shut down. There's going to be war, a large scale invasion."
The senator nodded and he hoped that at least the Council would listen to his words, so that they would be ready to defend the Earth when the time would have come.
The spokesperson of the Council, now less composed than before, glared at him.
"And what about Stark?"
"We still haven't discovered where he's being held prisoner, but given the last clues found in Red Skull's headquarter, we assume that he's still alive."
"Suppositions aren't enough! Stark is our best asset in the incoming war. We need his weapons and if he's nowhere to be found we must at least have his suits and his blueprints, so that our engineers can build us an army of Iron Men."
"I thought the government had already War Machine."
"That suit is too precious for us. We aren't going to dissemble it to study how it works, since our engineers can't guarantee that they would be able to rebuild it like it was. We need Stark's prototypes and his blueprints."
Fury held back a smile.
Of course Stark would never let the government put its hand on one of his suit without being certain that no one would be able to replicate it.
"And how would this matter have something to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
The politician's face tensed in irritation.
"That woman, Potts, keeps refusing our requests to give us Stark's lab and its contents."
"Which is perfectly in her right to do," he replied without any emotions.
He had kept an eye on that woman since Stark had become Iron Man and he knew that it wouldn't be easy to intimidate her or force her to do something against her will. If she took one position, very few people would be able to make her falter.
Even now that her boss and ex-lover had disappeared, Virginia Potts remained the iron lady of the Stark Industries, which she led without the slightest hesitation or weakness. She was the unshakable, strong willed woman who had proven to be able to boss around a man like Stark and in some ways, she was even more dangerous than him. Apart from the financial empire she controlled, it was her information network in particular that should be feared.
Her friendly relationship with the Avengers had given her access to confidential information about the billionaire's disappearance and the latest developments, and since the last few weeks, Fury suspected that somehow she had managed to have Jarvis hacking the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s servers, even if he hadn't been able to find any proof on that matter.
"It's not her right if it endangers the worldwide security."
"You can't say that. And I can assure you that if you decide to attack Potts, you'll make a huge mistake: the public opinion will be against you in the blink of an eye, you'll lose the economical and military support of Stark Industries, which will soon be essential in the upcoming war, and if we'll be able to find him, even Stark himself will be your enemy. Stark such as Iron Man."
And not only him. Barton and Romanoff belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury didn't think they would betray him if they had to choose which side to be on, the government or Stark. Banner, however, would undoubtedly be on Stark's side and there was the possibility that even the Captain, following his sense of justice, decided to defend Potts.
"That's why I want you to take care of it, without forewarning and without traces. Secrecy should be your forte, isn't it, Director?"
Sure, and then, when the US government begins mass producing Iron Man suits, everyone will think that your engineers have abruptly become geniuses.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. responds only to me and there's no way I'm gonna order a raid against Potts."
The disappointed faces of the Council gave him such sweet satisfaction, even if he couldn't avoid being worried about their intentions.
"We'll talk about this again."
Of course they would, but before that, he would make it so that Potts came to know she had better strengthen the tower's security. He didn't agree on Stark's decision to maintain the technology he had created secret. In another situation, he would have followed the Council's request, but now it was foolish to make an enemy out of the biggest and most powerful economical empire in the world. There was Stark too, to consider, because before his disappearance he was loved by the public opinion, so taking action against his will would be a disastrous choice.
Potts was smart and knew how to move in the PR area way better than Stark: where he fought in his suit, she fought with words and economical leverage, in a more lethal way. A military attack from the Council, or worse, from S.H.I.E.L.D., would resolve only in their end. Fury hoped that those politicians would not be so foolish to really antagonize her.
"Is it all?"
"No, there's one more thing."
Fury stared at them one by one, with a feeling that he wouldn't like what they were going to tell him.
"It's about Banner. Without precise information on Thanos, we believe that the Hulk will be our best hope at stopping him."
Feeling confirmed, indeed.
"And what would it mean?"
"Banner has always been unstable. We can't risk the possibility that he decides to disappear, so he must be kept under strict surveillance."
"Doctor Banner is a free person and has my complete trust. Try to pressure him with an unjustified detention and let's see how long it will be before the Hulk decides to take a stroll through New York, causing more damage than Loki usually does. And this time, there won't be Stark to write a check in your stead."
"That will be your problem, Director. You are still working on the weapons that should be able to weaken or stop the Hulk, aren't you?"
Fury clenched the hands he was keeping behind his back into fists.
"You already know the answer."
"Then I don't need to tell you anything more. Send us regular reports about the progress with those weapons and keep Banner inside the Helicarrier, or our next decision will be to dismiss you from your position and to choose a man who is much more reasonable as your replacement".
