Disclaimer: The Avengers, its characters and The Marvel Cinematic Universe belong to Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company, among many others. Marvel's Agents of SHIELD and its characters belong to ABC Studios, Marvel Television, Mutant Enemy Productions, among many others. What If…? belongs to Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company, among many others. I'm only a fan, writing this for my love of this film/television franchise.
A.N.: To the one guest reviewer that keeps asking me if Bruce is dead, yes, Bruce is dead, as depicted in the third episode of the What If…? TV series. The premise is that Tony, Thor, Bruce, Clint and Natasha were killed by Hank Pym before they formed the Avengers as revenge for his daughter Hope dying in the line of duty as an Agent of SHIELD. I just kept Nat alive with some subterfuge and brought Tony back as an AI/LMD.
Avengers Initiative: Reset
11. Revelations
With the Quinjet cloaked and at max speed heading out of the research facility, Steve was quick to keep putting pressure down on her wound as Jemma was laid down on the floor of the plane, Fitz also kneeling down anxiously by her other side.
"Jemma, Jemma? Can you hear me?" He said, grasping at her hand and mentally willing her to open her eyes with his touch and his words. "Stay with me. You need to stay awake."
"I'm awake," she rasped out, her eyes still squeezed tightly shut. "Get the emergency… kit." She said, her words faltering a little due to her pain, but she opened her eyes and tried to weakly point them in the right direction with a shaking hand. "You'll need to get the… bullet out."
"May, how long until we get to a hospital?" Steve asked as he looked over at the cockpit.
"No hospitals." Jemma said, shaking her head sharply and gulping another breath in before speaking again. "It's protocol."
"To hell with protocol!" Fitz exclaimed in exasperation. "You're our medic. If we take you back to the base, there's no one there to take care of you. We need to land in a hospital!"
"I'm sorry, but she's right," May said as she looked at them over her shoulder. "Our orders are to head back. I'm going as fast as possible and we can land at the base in forty five minutes."
"What good will that do?" Fitz exclaimed again, looking up at May and torn between arguing the matter further and staying by Jemma's side.
"Fitz," she said, her voice coming out in a hiss and his eyes snapped back down to her face, her brown eyes shining vividly up at him as a few tears escaped and ran back to her hairline towards the ground. "Get the kit."
After a long moment when Fitz just stared down at her, he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, somehow finding the strength to let go of her hand and getting up to locate the field emergency kit. As Steve continued applying pressure to the wound, Fitz brought it over and kneeled down beside her once more, a distant part of his brain marvelling that his hands had stopped shaking and that he knew what needed to be done. The first thing he did was to hook a saline line to her arm to keep her hydrated and push in some morphine for the pain.
"You'll need to get the bullet out," she said, once more squeezing her eyes shut and breathing deeply for a few seconds, trying to work through the pain as the medication slowly took effect. "A ricochet at an angle doesn't hit─"
"With as much energy as a direct shot straight from a gun, I know. So the bullet is still in," Fitz automatically completed the thought for her as he nodded along. "Stop talking and conserve your strength."
"Right," she replied, forcing a pained smile onto her lips as she looked up at him.
"I've treated soldiers in the field before," Steve said as he watched the young Scotsman hesitate as he looked through the emergency kit. "I'll need betadine, scissors or a scalpel and a pair of pliers."
Fitz nodded back in relief, as even if he knew the theory of what was needed in this situation he'd never done something like this before and his brain was back to fairly short-circuiting that it was happening to Jemma, of all people. He swiftly followed Steve's directions and some of Jemma's additional guidance and handed him the necessary instruments as the super soldier worked to remove the bullet. Fitz could feel her reaching out and squeezing his hand hard when Steve needed to actually open the wound a little more in order to reach in with the pliers and take the bullet out.
"Alright," Steve said with a grim expression as he threw the pliers with the bullet aside. "We need to find something to make a tourniquet."
"Here, take my belt," Fitz said, once more releasing Jemma's hand as he quickly moved to unbuckle his belt and remove it from the loops of his trousers.
"See if we have those packs of coagulating agents here," Jemma said through gritted teeth. "If so, you'll need to inject them before packing the wound and holding it closed."
"Got it," Steve said, finding the package and quickly filling a syringe, pushing the substance into her wound before packing it with more surgical pads. As Fitz took over and kept one hand down on her abdomen, Steve wound the belt around her and looped it tight to keep the pressure.
They'd done what they could for the moment with their limited resources. From then on, they sat mostly in tense silence on the floor of the plane for the rest of the flight back to their base, Fitz still holding one of Jemma's hands and Steve holding up the saline bag.
"Status update."
Coulson said the curt words as he walked into the R&D lab, a tense frown on his forehead as he looked at the members of his team that were at the base. May had reached out to them over just half an hour before with the summary of their mission and following the news that Jemma had been shot they were working nonstop to prepare for their arrival.
His first action had been to contact Dr. Fine, but the man was stuck in a surgery back at the Triskelion and wouldn't be available for a few hours at least. The next best thing they could think of was to move along with the building of the regeneration cradle. If all worked out, they'd be able to use it to at least keep Jemma stable until the doctor could arrive at their base.
"I think we got it," Tony said with a critical frown as he looked over at the assembly line he'd put together in the lab with Skye helping him along by manning the computers. "We decided to leave the whole cradle for later and for now we're focusing on just the part of the machine that works with the printing tissue technology."
"I've checked that we have the necessary materials here to get it working," Natasha said as she piped in from the back of the lab where she was looking at their stocked materials. "The only concern now is that this is untested technology. We'd be taking a risk by using it on one of our team members without any testing."
"It's a risk we might need to take," Coulson said as he crossed his arms and continued frowning.
"Don't worry, the calculations are solid and Simmons herself checked the biotech aspects," Tony said as he walked up to him, also frowning in concern despite his words before he let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand down his face. "God, she's just a kid."
"This never should've happened," Coulson said, nodding gravely in agreement.
"How the hell did the Asgardians know we were there?" Natasha questioned, some heat seeping into her voice as she walked over to join them by the assembly line that was working quite smoothly. "I thought this op wasn't in the official logs and even so, why would they come over to check on a trip done to a lab in the middle of nowhere in Tennessee?"
"I don't know that yet," Coulson replied curtly, his eyes sliding over to her. "But I let Director Fury know this and he's prioritizing the investigation."
"If we have a leak somewhere, then this should be kept in-house," Natasha countered with a frown as she stood with one hand against her hip.
"I agree," Coulson nodded back at her. "That's why we will be conducting our own investigation in parallel to HQ. I want you and Skye to take a look at that as soon as you are done here with the cradle."
"I can actually start right away," Skye said as she looked up at him from her laptop. "My part is pretty much done, as the assembly line is working as it should. At least until we can get back to building the main cradle, then we can incorporate this part that's almost finished into the whole product."
"Do it," Coulson nodded his approval and turned around to walk out again. "I'll be out waiting for them at the hangar."
As soon as Coulson left they could feel the tension in the room becoming more palpable. Somehow all the work they'd rushed to do since getting May's call had kept them focused until now and without the calm, collected presence of the leader of their team around it was like the genius inventor and the former Russian spy were seconds away from snapping at each other. Skye took note of that and hunched her shoulders as she looked down at her laptop, typing away at the keyboard as she started going through SHIELD's systems in her investigation, Natasha standing next to her and directing her where to go.
"Coulson's right, this should never have happened," Tony said after a moment, apparently no longer able to keep in silence as he started walking up and down the length of the aisle between the workbenches of the lab. "They should've gone in with backup."
"They had backup," Natasha said, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "A SHIELD security detail was securing the premises."
"Then they needed better backup." Tony said forcefully as he turned around at the end of the aisle and walked back up to where they were. "Or they should've waited for more backup to come before engaging a freaking alien in battle."
"There was no time, Tony." Natasha argued back as she frowned at him. "Coulson had already sent Rogers out to support the team and May is one of the best specialists at SHIELD."
"Well, they should've done better." Tony insisted with an angry frown. "Fury has a whole organization there filled with black ops operatives, where are those guys?"
"I don't expect you to understand the meaning of 'covert', but rolling out to a lab with a freaking army of black ops agents is not exactly inconspicuous." Natasha said in a dry tone. "It would've attracted even more attention and the Asgardians could've sent an army of their own instead of just one warrior. And don't get me started on how we're in this whole mess because of you." She muttered the last part under her breath as she tried to look down at Skye's laptop and focus on their investigation.
"I know that." Tony said, turning hurt eyes to her now. "You don't think I already feel guilty enough about that? They went out there to procure the new element for me, which is something I should be doing myself."
"Oh I'm not even talking about that." Natasha countered, standing up straight again to face him as she crossed her arms sternly. "Why do you think Hank Pym targeted you in the first place then turned his eyes to the Avengers Initiative? Giving out speeches about 'longest period of uninterrupted peace' ─ six months, really? And goading people to challenge you." She said, rolling her eyes and not giving him a moment to interject as she was on a roll now, letting out everything that had been simmering inside her for the longest time. "You're a fucking idiot, you know that? 'I've successfully privatized world peace'. What you did was accelerate the timeline and get everyone rushing to create the next big weapon, like Ivan Vanko. Whatever happens now, any new threats coming our way, that's on you. You think you're the only one smart enough to be able to come up with these things, but guess what? You're not, Tony."
"I know!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in a frustrated gesture, running a hand through his hair before continuing, not as loudly as his explosive cry but still clearly anguished. "I know that now. It was all ego and hubris, and I realize ─ belatedly, as it were ─ it was all because I didn't know how to deal with the fact that I was dying." He paused and took a deep breath in, leaving aside his usual sassy and evasive nature to also let out all sorts of feelings that had been trapped in so far. "But I was trying to make things right. I made Pepper CEO of Stark Industries because she's the best person I could think of for the job. I gave Rhodey the suit, because he's the only one I would trust with it. Anything good I ever did, was because of them. They're the best part of me." He paused once more, shaking his head and looking up despondently. "They were the best part of me. Now I'm just zeroes and ones, batteries, wires and sensors."
"Hey, you're still here," Skye said, speaking up for the first time in this heated exchange as she frowned in concern at him. "And we're all working to get you a body again. Even if you are zeroes and ones right now, so what?" She continued with a defiant little shrug and a smile. "Isn't that like the same thing in our DNA, only in a different language? Because that's also what we are, right? I mean, I'm not a genius biochemist like Simmons, but I know we carry genetic code. Our thoughts and feelings go out through electric impulses in our nervous system, not unlike those in electrical wiring systems. You're still here and that's what matters."
Tony looked a little too stunned as he just stared back at her, for a moment not knowing what to say. Then his face broke out in a tired, watery smile. "Thanks, kid."
Skye smiled back at him and Natasha just continued frowning a little as she watched them, but before any of them could speak again they heard hurried footsteps coming down the hall then the rest of the team was rushing in, Steve carrying Jemma in his arms and gently putting her down on the vacant bed in the medical bay.
"Okay, what do we do now?" Coulson asked as he hovered near the doorway to the medical bay, not knowing what needed to be done but willing to do anything to help.
"Get the portable x-ray and the ultrasound," Jemma gasped out as she pointed them in the right direction. "You'll need to check and assess the damage before we can proceed."
"Why is she still in pain? Didn't you have any morphine in the field kit?" Natasha asked with a frown as she walked up to them.
"She insisted on the minimal dose," Fitz muttered in reply as he secured the saline on a stand next to the bed. "She needs to be conscious and lucid to give out instructions."
They shot the x-ray and used the ultrasound; the images revealed the damage wasn't as extensive as they feared, as the bullet had only damaged her spleen as opposed to going through any other major vital organs. But it was still something that needed to be fixed with surgery.
"What about Dr. Fine? Did you manage to find him?" May asked as she ran into the lab, having stayed behind to properly power down the Q uinjet and close the hangar doors.
"He's still hours away," Coulson answered with a shake of his head.
"But we got a plan," Skye piped up. "We got the printing part of the cradle working. We can use it to fix her up."
"Untested technology? No, no way in hell," Fitz countered at once, his head snapping up from where he was checking the access of the saline line in her arm.
"Fitz," Jemma said with a patient sigh. "That's actually a really good idea."
"We don't know if that thing is working properly yet, Jemma." He turned with a frown to her. "We're not using you as a guinea pig."
"We're the ones who built it." She said softly as she reached out to put a placating hand on his arm. "I believe in us. Don't you?"
He shook his head a little to himself and rolled his eyes, as he knew she'd put him on the spot with that one. They'd created a great number of new technologies over the past few years and he knew as well as she did that their designs always worked to perfection.
"Alright, fine." He relented with a sigh and a nod. "Let's get this working then before you bleed out."
"Don't be so dramatic," she told him teasingly with a roll of her eyes. "The anticoagulants are already doing the intended job and keeping me from bleeding out."
He narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head just a little and she bit her lip down as she continued looking fondly up at his exasperated expression. 'Too soon', his eyes had said in that silent way they had of communicating. 'Sorry', hers replied in the same manner.
As Skye and Natasha brought in the partially built printing cradle, they all worked together following Jemma's directions to clean out the wound and make the necessary preparations to use the machine. When it was finally set up and working as it should, the whole group seemed to sag in collective relief for a moment.
It wasn't long before Coulson caught May's eye and the two of them headed outside. As they got to the hallway and continued walking down, he turned to her. "Are you ready to go out on another trip?"
"What do you have?" She asked with her lips set in a grim line.
"We're about to pay someone a visit." He said, gesturing out with his head as they kept heading to the hangar. "Better fuel up the jet. We're headed to Europe."
"Should I call the rest of the team?" She asked as she arched an eyebrow at him even though she already knew the answer.
"No," he shook his head. "This one is just you and me."
May nodded back, glad that she already had something else to focus on and that it would be just the two of them. She hoped this involved her punching someone as she could really use letting some of her frustration out, to be honest.
A few hours later, May was not-so-gently dragging in their person of interest into an interrogation room at one of SHIELD's old, off-the-books prisons called The Rat. The man looked quite disgruntled to be unceremoniously pushed down on a rickety metal chair, his hands coming up to smooth out the lapels of his blazer as Coulson took the chair opposite him at the table then May yanked his hands down to the table, putting them in cuffs.
"Why, this is a surprise," the man said, merely raising an eyebrow. "I can't imagine there's anything SHIELD could want with me, but even so you could've asked nicely, I'm sure."
"I'm past playing nice," Coulson said in a hard tone. "Over the last ten days, I've had agents and assets unexpectedly killed, an alien invasion taking over our planet and now one of my people just got shot and nearly died so you'll excuse our abruptness."
"I'm very sorry for your loss and all the troubles." The man replied, still in the same calm manner, making a contained hand gesture at him as he was restrained by handcuffs. "But I still don't know what that has to do with me."
"I've been looking for you for days, ever since an alien appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the desert, claiming he was Loki, God of Mischief," Coulson said as he stared back at the man, a gleam visible in his blue eyes. "You're supposed to be some expert on Norse mythology, the best one working out of Seville. Yet when SHIELD went knocking on your door, it was like you had suddenly vanished. I'm impressed, as it took us quite a few days to find your trail, Dr. Randolph. And not a lot of people can easily shake the biggest spy organization on the planet."
"I assure you there was no ulterior motive for this," he said with a light, unconcerned shrug. "I just needed a break and decided to take a trip through Europe."
"Yeah, I don't think so," Coulson countered. "You had several appointments in your calendar before your disappearing act and no planned vacation."
The man offered no explanation to this, as he simply continued to look placidly back at his interrogator.
"We'd like you to help us with these Asgardians," Coulson said.
"I don't know if there's anything I can do," the man shrugged once more. "I mean, I teach Norse mythology and literature. How was I supposed to know the things I was teaching were anything but myth?"
"Trust me, I was surprised, too." Coulson replied easily. "And I've been in contact with aliens before, but never ones that turned out to be mythological gods." He paused for another moment and regarded the man with narrowed eyes, but he just continued to calmly look back at him.
Coulson then made a quick gesture with his head and May stepped forward, brandishing a knife out of one of her pockets and aiming at his neck. The man reacted quick as lightning, his hand closing around the blade and easily bending it out of shape.
"You're right," May said with a smirk as she brought her arm back and dropped the useless knife on the table. "He's not human."
"Alright," Dr. Randolph said with a sigh, his hands snapping the cuffs from around his wrists. "How did you know?"
"It wasn't that hard," Coulson said with a smile. "Your area of expertise, the fact that you ran as soon as the Asgardians took over the place and how you remained cool as a cucumber when we dragged you into this place. I've dealt with aliens before and you don't get rattled easily. And people tend to be a little curious when I say I've met aliens before, but not you. So you're Asgardian?"
"Yes," he replied with another sigh. "I came here over a millenia ago as part of the army that fought the Frost Giants. When the army left back to Asgard, I decided to stay."
"AWOL, no doubt," Coulson said with a smirk. "Which is why you were so anxious to fall off the radar when your sovereign came barging in and taking charge of this planet."
"Can you blame me?" Dr. Randolph said with wide eyes. "I mean, Odin was bad enough, you did not want to get on his Majesty's bad side. But Prince Loki? That is another matter altogether. You know, we always thought that one day he would crack."
"So you were familiar with him? And Prince Thor?" Coulson asked with raised eyebrows.
"Familiar as in I knew of their existence because I was their royal subject? Yes. Familiar as in I was invited for tea at the castle? No freaking way." He said with a slight chuckle. "I was a mason. The only reason I joined the army of the Berserkers was because they needed people to fight and well, I wanted to travel. Then I fell in love with Earth and I stayed."
"If you love Earth, why won't you help us fight them?" May asked from her corner in the shadows as she frowned at him.
"Are you insane?" He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "They have a freaking army. I'm just one guy and I don't even have my Berserker staff anymore."
"Berserker staff?" Coulson repeated, raising an interested eyebrow of his back at the Asgardian.
Finally, it felt like they were getting somewhere in all this research on Asgard.
A.N.: I love myself some Nat yelling at Tony. And I swear I was already planning on incorporating Dr. Randolph and the Berserker staff into this storyline before someone made comments about it ─ people, stop giving out spoilers for what's supposed to come up in the comments! I swear, it's like you're reading my notes lol