The wind was blowing hard on the deck of the carrier, so much so that a runway crew ran out to anchor down their quinjet. Sam was the first one off the jet, followed by Bucky, who was escorting the dealer they had captured with his right hand, and carrying the broken Centipede in his left. Clint was the last one to come down the ramp, stopping at the bottom and surveying the scene. The last time he had been on a Helicarrier, Sam had been told, he had nearly blown it out of the sky thanks to Loki's control. Being on one again probably brought back more than a few bad memories.
A tall, dark man wearing a Nick Fury-style trench coat walked out to greet them, shielding himself from the sun and wind with one arm. Sam silently thanked his goggles for the shielding as he walked up to greet him. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up!" He shouted over the noise of the wind and turbines. "We've been holding this position for over 48 hours."
"Well, I'm glad we didn't disappoint," Sam responded, extending his hand. The taller man took it, shaking it firmly. "I take it you're the guy in charge around here?"
"That'd be correct," The figure responded. He looked behind Sam at the other two heroes and their prisoner, and once he saw that was everyone, he gave his crew the signal to finish up and take the jet to the lower deck. He then looked back down at Sam. "Let's head inside! I'll explain everything once we're out of the wind!"
"Gladly!" Sam yelled. The man turned and began walking back towards the tower doors he had come out of, waving all of them after him. Sam began to follow, but stopped and looked back at the others, who hadn't moved. He knew what they were thinking. This could still be a trap. Their jet had just been taken to a lower level where it couldn't be deployed from. Now, they were headed indoors, where it would be much harder to escape from. It made sense to Sam. The last time he and Bucky had been on a Helicarrier, they had fought it out and all three helicarriers that had been in the air self-destructed. That had been during Hydra's attempted takeover. But if these guys were Hydra, Sam thought, why wait until now to kill them. They could have easily been blown out of the sky by those Quinjets. To give them a fighting chance would be incredibly unlike that organization. So he nodded and waved his guys forward, waiting until they started moving before turning and heading for the doors himself. The dark man had stopped by the doors, waiting for them to accompany him indoors. Once they had reached him, he had waited for all of them to go inside before he went inside himself, making sure nobody was left standing on the deck.
"Follow me to the elevator," The man in charge instructed, passing them with his coat flowing behind him. The three of them plus the prisoner followed suit, unfamiliar with the surroundings, except Clint. The doors for the lift automatically opened for them as they approached, and they all proceeded inside, except the prisoner, who the man stopped as a security unit came up behind him. "Is there a problem?" Bucky asked.
"No problem," The tall man replied. "We have prison cells for a reason though. These men can escort him there."
Once again, Bucky looked to Sam for confirmation. Sam nodded once, and Bucky let the prisoner go. "Take him away, then," He said. As soon as the prisoner was gone, the elevator doors closed.
The man pressed in a series of buttons, and the elevator started going up. Then he turned to them. "Alright, so I figure I owe you an explanation."
"I'd appreciate that, yeah," Clint responded.
"I'm sure you already heard it on the radio," The man began, "but my name is Director Alphonso Mackinzie, though everyone just calls me Mack. I'm the current Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.."
The elevator doors parted to reveal a large hallway, with people passing from side to side, corridor to corridor, all working on some various task or another. "After the Hydra coup in 2014, fragments of S.H.I.E.L.D. were still scattered across the world. It's a bit of an oversimplification, but after a while, we were able to reorganize and went legit again under Jefferey Mace, but as I'm sure you know, a killer android, a few explosive barrels, a virtual universe, and an LA city slicker with a flaming skull among other things resulted in going off the deep end again for another few years, during which time my team and I stopped an alien invasion, twice, and accidentally time-skipped over the blip, and we were finally able to get solid foundations back down about a year ago.
"Since then, we've been working to try and restore the world back to something relatively normal, and simultaneously protect the Earth from any massive problems that come up. We have a defense force in place in deep space monitoring that situation in partnership with S.W.O.R.D. to make sure we don't have any unexpected attacks from above again, as well," Mack paused as they rounded a corner.
"What happened to your team? That's why we're here," Bucky asked.
"Well, we're kind of all over the place right now. I've called a few of them, but some of them are rather hard to reach," Mack explained.
"How so?" Sam insisted. He didn't make this trip for nothing.
"Well, Agent Johnson is spearheading the operation in deep space, so she's unreachable at the moment. I had some of the techs set up a signal with a repeating message that's trying to contact her, so once she receives the message, she'll be on her way," The Director stated. "Commander Rodriguez should be landing soon with the rest of her unit. May retired from the field to teach at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson Academy in D.C., along with the science team Fitz-Simmons, who are raising their daughter Ayla in southern Scotland-"
"Wait, Fitz-Simmons? Is that one person?" Sam asked, confused. Bucky groaned.
"They were a famous science duo back in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s heyday. They were just kids at the time, but it sounds like they got married and retired," Clint explained. Sam blinked in surprise. It appeared that his old S.H.I.E.L.D. knowledge was still very much intact.
"And they earned it, too," Mack added. "Another one of my people is currently in another dimension. I think he's kind of my alternate-reality counterpart at this point…"
Now Sam was actually confused, and he got the feeling that all the others were too. Except maybe Clint. He had time traveled with the others, so it probably wasn't too foreign of a thought. "And of course, I think you're already acquainted with…"
Mack gestured to a man about Sam's height as they came onto the bridge. He wore a fine suit and tie, and seemed to have been waiting for them at the briefing table just behind the command center. "Hey guys," He said with a smile, then his eyes landed on the awestruck archer in the back, and his smile got a little bigger. "Clint," He acknowledged.
"Oh my god…" Clint stuttered, pushing past Bucky to get to the man. He wrapped him in a tight embrace, breathing heavily. "Coulson! Y-You're alive!"
"I thought Fury already told you," The man, evidently this 'Agent Coulson' they had heard so much about. He returned the hug, but not nearly as tight.
"We thought you were dead! We all did!" Clint managed. "But you're here! And you look-" Clint took a step back and studied his old friend up and down. "You look completely unscathed!"
"Yeah, that wasn't the only time I've died in the past ten years. It's kinda my superpower," Coulson informed casually. All three Avengers looked at Mack.
"What? I said it was an oversimplification," The Director defended himself.
"Well, I walked out of it all with super strength, bulletproof-ness, an energy shield in my hand, a sweet souped-up ride, and, essentially, immortality," The veteran deadpanned. Sam went wide-eyed in surprise. Clint's jaw just dropped even further.
"When did that happen?!" The archer demanded.
Coulson thought back for a moment. "Pretty quickly after I got possessed by a flame-headed demon," He recalled.
"And that's what gave you powers?" Bucky asked. Sam knew that tone. Though he wasn't showing it, Bucky was probably the most confused of any of them here.
"Not exactly. I got the energy shield about a year before that," Coulson said. Then he held his left wrist out in front of him. "You wanna see?"
"Ah- Let's hold off on that, for now. You guys can keep nerding out after we get you settled," Mack interrupted.
"I wasn't thinking we'd be moving in," Sam replied. "We just came here to see what you know."
"I'm aware of that, but considering that our knowledge of the prototype enhancers you encountered is far more extensive than your own, I suggest you take my advice when I say that you won't be able to tackle the situation alone," Mack countered. Then he turned his attention to the group as a whole. "Now, the briefing will be in the tactical room tomorrow, once we know who else is going to make it. Until then, I'll-"
"Director," One of the Lieutenants said from the bridge crew. Mack turned to him.
"Yes?"
"Commander Rodriguez's unit is inbound," She informed.
Mack sighed, running his hand over his head. "Alright, I'll need to debrief those guys, then," He said to himself. "Coulson, can you escort them down to their cabins?"
"Sure," Coulson replied, looking at the three superheroes before him. He gestured back in the direction of the elevator. "This way, please."
Clint followed after the veteran Agent quickly, catching up to his old friend's side quickly. Sam, on the other hand, stayed back with Bucky, holding their ground in front of the Director. Once he realized they hadn't left yet, he said one final word to them as he was leaving the bridge. "Look, I know the last time you two saw S.H.I.E.L.D. was in the midst of the fight against Hydra, and you think that this may just be a front. Whether you believe me or not, I'm not Hydra, and neither are any of my agents. You can take our help, or leave it. It's up to you."
And then, without another word, Director Mackinzie passed through the bridge doors with his trench coat trailing behind him. Sam sighed as he followed the tall man with his eyes. "I don't like it," He said to Bucky, who was also watching as the Director disappeared around a corner.
"Me neither," The Winter Soldier replied. "But he's not wrong. You and I can only do so much, even with Clint here to assist. We need backup."
"I agree. But I still don't like it. Be on guard," Sam advised his friend. Bucky nodded, then the two of them followed out the doors themselves, following the direction they had seen Coulson lead Clint. Whether these people were friend or foe, having a place to stay other than his sister's house would be a nice change of pace.
"The upper decks around focus mostly on mission control. The bridge, obviously, is the most used," Coulson explained, as the elevator started to descend. "Deck two is more focused on command outside of the helicarrier. That's where we have briefings, meetings, and more, and make sure that nobody does anything stupid on assignment.
"Deck three is communications, and five is the R&D section, though it is a little underused considering that we have better and more established facilities elsewhere," Coulson paused as the elevator doors opened to a much less crowded deck. Then he continued, "and this is deck four, where the quarters are."
"What kind of quarters?" Clint asked. As Sam well knew, there were a variety of different types of lodging in these accommodations. But when he asked, Coulson looked over his shoulder, and smiled.
"Well, as quarters go, Clint, these ones are awesome," He said to them. Then he led them through a door to their left bringing them into a massive, almost lounge-like space. It wasn't a whole lot, just a few simple couches and tables, a TV, and a bar in the corner, with a fridge in the wall. Down both the long sides of the room, there were doors spaced out every 20 feet or so, adding up to fourteen or so. Each one of the doors had a name printed on it, and a symbol to go with it. And at the very back of the room, mounted sleekly on a large window and illuminated from behind, was the Avengers A.
"Damn," Sam said, studying the symbol. "A little overkill, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I know, but I couldn't help it. I thought it looked cool," Coulson confessed. "Each of these has been retrofitted to accommodate one of you, with varying aesthetics, utilities, and equipment. I think you'll find them to be to your liking, but feel free to rearrange as you see fit."
Sam was only half listening to Coulson now, browsing down one of the walls and reading each name off the doors. These ones he knew. Rhodes, Bartan, Lang, Barnes, Banner, Wilson… then at the very end of them all, there was something that confused him. A blank door, no symbol, no name. He frowned, looked around at all the others across the room. They each had symbols and names. "Who's this one for?" He asked, looking back at Coulson.
"No one, just like the other two across the way," Coulson indicated another two blank cabin. "There have been a lot of suggestions, but each of them got decided against for some reason or another. At first, it was going to be for King T'Challa. Then Thor. Then it kinda bounced around for a while, everything from Danvers to Parker, before we eventually just decided to leave it and see who showed up," Coulson explained.
"Why not just assign it to someone?" Bucky asked, finding his quarters door and examining the single star symbol.
"It didn't make sense to assign it to someone who would never be around to use it. That way, if someone just passes through they have a place to stay," Coulson said. Clint wandered over to the other side of the room, reading the names on the other doors, and examining their symbols.
"So these other cabins… they're for S.H.I.E.L.D. members?" Clint guessed.
"In a sense," Coulson agreed, walking out into the room. "Mack did an evaluation-"
"Wait, Mack?" Sam interrupted. "The Director?"
Coulson shrugged. "That's what we call him when we aren't referring to him as the Director," Then he turned back to Clint. "He did an evaluation of which S.H.I.E.L.D. assets would be best suited to bring into the operation, based on previous missions and knowledge of Centipede."
"Speaking of which," Bucky interrupted. He approached Coulson menacingly. "Why don't we hear about some of these previous missions? You say you know what Centipede is, yet I haven't heard much about how."
Sam's eyes flicked away from the symbol on his door to Coulson as Bucky spoke. The man looked unfazed by the Winter Soldier, simply looking up at him slightly and smiling. "Sure. You want a beer? Or maybe some Zima? This is gonna take some time."
Bucky's steely gaze shifted to Sam, who shrugged. Why not? he tried to say. Bucky sighed, looking back at Coulson distrustfully. "A Zima, please," He said in the coldest tone possible. Coulson nodded, proceeding over to the fridge while Bucky found a seat on the couch.
"I'll take one of those too! Please," Clint said as he made himself comfortable by the wall. As much as it wouldn't have hurt him to relax a little bit, Sam chose to pass on the drinks. He wanted to stay clear headed while they were still around uncertain allies. Bucky's fortunate to have that enhanced metabolism, Sam thought to himself. He chuckled. He can drink to his heart's content and won't feel a thing. As for Clint, S.H.I.E.L.D. was where his work began. He was comfortable here. To him, this was home.
Coulson distributed the beverages before he sat down beside Clint, folding one leg over the other. Bucky maintained his metal stare at the man, an intimidation tactic Sam had watched him use on more than a few occasions. Coulson just smiled back again, twisting the cap of his beer off and taking a sip without breaking eye contact. The silence began to set in between them, drawing an invisible line between the two. Sam's eyes began to dart back and forth, watching this contest with intense curiosity. The both of them stared, unyielding, into each other's eyes, neither one blinking and showing no exasperation in doing so.
This could go on for days, Sam realized as he watched between the two of them. Bucky's training as an assassin had given him an unflinching coldness that he could turn on at any time. And Coulson didn't even seem like he was entirely human anymore. In combination, they could stare for eternity even if there was yet another army of aliens descending on the world. Sam was almost envious. Is he trying to get a read on this Coulson guy? he thought, then shrugged the feeling away.
Sam took his shield off his back, admiring the smooth vibranium sheen it had. The red and blue coating on the outside clung to the metal tightly, no matter how much of a beating it took. The shield had been through a lot, for its perfect finish. It had been hit by cars, thrown through glass panes, blasted with ash from explosives…
Beat in a man's chest, Sam suddenly remembered. He was back in the square in Latvia. John Walker pinned the Flag Smasher super soldier against the stairs to the fountain with his leg. He furiously raised the shield over his head, screaming in uncontrollable rage. Then he brought it down on the man's chest.
Once.
Twice.
The man started screaming for mercy as his ribs cracked, and Walker hauled the shield back over his head one final time. Just as Sam had managed to part the crowd and get a view of what was happening, Walker let out one final, brutal yell, and brought the shield down as hard as he could. With a sickening crunch, the shield was embedded in the man's chest, blood splattering everywhere, including the shield. Sam's hand unconsciously stroked the edge that had been coated in blood, as if scrubbing it clean once more. He knew he could have stopped that.
He could have kept Walker from killing that man.
He should have kept Walker from killing that man.
He should have kept the shield.
"When did you first encounter Centipede?" Bucky blurted, breaking the silence. Sam suddenly snapped back to reality. Clint gave him a concerned look as Coulson started to answer.
"Just after the Battle of New York, in Los Angeles. A video of a super soldier leaping from an exploding building with a woman in his arms appeared on the internet, posted by an anonymous hacker group known as 'The Rising Tide'. S.H.I.E.L.D. looked into the movements of a super soldier that matched the description of the man in the video… but he was somewhere else entirely. It was determined that the man in the video was new to the superhero scene, and S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly put together an op to recruit him," Coulson said after a sip of his beer. "I had just assembled my field team, and gotten them approved to go into action. We took the op, dispatched from the Hub, and landed in LA a few hours later.
"On the flight over, I sent the video into the tech department to trace the IP address that it was posted from. Once we had a location on an eye witness and had access to the crime scene, I sent my science team and a specialist to go do some forensics work and see what they could find. Meanwhile, I took the other specialist on the team to go bag a hacker. Turns out she was better than we thought, and she had ensured that according to public records, she didn't even exist. She was the one who clued us in on Centipede. Frankly, I had never heard of it until she said the name."
"Who was your original suspect?" Sam asked. He had a feeling he knew, but he had to be sure.
Coulson looked up at him. "Isaiah Bradley. I understand you're familiar?"
"Yeah. I've gotta say, I'm not surprised a faceless organization like your own knew about Bradley and never said anything. Real integrity, there," Sam replied disappointedly.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't allowed to disclose the identities of Enhanced or Gifted individuals to anyone without clearance or organization. I didn't know who he was until he was mentioned in this case," Coulson said. "As wrong as it was, I couldn't do anything about it, and I ended up having much larger problems to deal with after the fact."
"That doesn't make it right," Sam insisted.
"I agree. I didn't say it was," He pointed out. Sam drew a breath to continue the argument, but then he realized Coulson was telling the truth. He hadn't said it was right. And in the business of superhero-ing, it made sense that he never had time to do anything about it.
"The girl. The hacker," Bucky said. Coulson turned his attention back to the Winter Soldier, taking another sip of his drink. "What became of her?"
"Well, after we closed the case, prevented the Centipede soldier from going to Chernobyl in Union Station, and recruited him into S.H.I.E.L.D., I gave her a chance. She wanted to know the truth. She had skills I considered useful, so I gave her a chance and recruited her as a consultant, the same way we brought Stark onto the Avengers Initiative. I never imagined that she would go from a hacker nobody to Quake, the Destroyer of Worlds since then," Coulson explained, getting a fond look on his face.
"Wait, the hacker and Quake are the same person?" Sam said.
"I know, right? Who knew!" Coulson jested.
Bucky frowned, muttering just loud enough for Sam to hear: "sounds like the perfect way to plant a Hydra agent in S.H.I.E.L.D."
Before Sam could respond, Clint jumped into the conversation. "Alright, I've gotta know now. What are these powers you've got?"
Coulson turned to his old friend and grinned. "I've gotta say, I think they're pretty cool," He responded, standing up and walking to the other side of the room. He held out his left hand before him, fist clenched, and looked at Clint. "Shoot an arrow at me."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said, shoot an arrow at me. It's okay. I can't die, remember?" Coulson said.
Sam was now intensely interested in what Coulson was doing. Clint hesitated for a moment, then pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow. He drew it back about halfway, and aimed for Coulson's shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing," The archer said, shaking his head in disapproval.
"Just watch," Coulson replied. "I'll be fine."
Clint released the arrow. As it flew towards its target, Sam's eyes flashed to Coulson who hadn't moved a muscle. Instead, just in front of his hand, a spinning circle of energy began to appear, quickly spreading out equilaterally. It hadn't fully finished forming by the time the arrow arrived, but instead of flying into his shoulder, it struck the glowing blue energy and stopped dead in its tracks. They all looked at him, confused for a moment. Even Bucky was interested now.
The energy then stopped expanding, having expanded to the size of Sam's shield and with a bright S.H.I.E.L.D. logo in the center. And energy shield, Sam thought. Then, just the Same as it had activated, it vanished back into his hand.
"Now that's cool," Clint said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Right?" He agreed. "It's super flashy."
"That's built into your hand?" Bucky asked.
"Why? You jealous too?" Sam jabed. Bucky glared at him, causing him to chuckle in satisfaction.
"Among other things," Coulson answered. "I can also adjust my eyes to see any form of light, and my ears to pick up any sound. And I have super strength."
"You're a cyborg now," Sam stated. It was obvious now. His own cyborg companion had a lot of similar traits, despite the fact that he was now looking over his own vibranium arm in some level of disappointment.
"That's… one way of putting it. But then you take into consideration that I don't need air to breathe and can't die, that word doesn't seem to work so well."
"Wait. You're saying that you aren't even human anymore?" Clint said, dumbfounded. "Like, not at all?"
"Believe it or not, no, I'm not human anymore. The technically accurate term I think is 'Chronicom'," He explained. "Wait. Actually, I don't think I count as a full-on Chronicom." Coulson seemed to pause to think for a moment. "'LMD' is the proper phrase then."
The three Avengers in the room exchanged a glance. "Meaning?" Sam asked.
"'Life Model Decoy'," Coulson said. "My organic body died some time ago, but I still have my mind, existing in a quantum-state with all of my own memories."
He seemed to notice the sudden skepticism in all of their faces, and he sighed. "I get that look a lot these days. To put it simply, I'm already dead. That's why I can't die. But if it makes you feel any better, I didn't ask to be brought back. I didn't want to be brought back. But now that I am back… I can't bring myself to leave again."
He looked around at the three of them, seeking acceptance. But nothing but silence hung over all of them. Sam knew what they were all thinking. He's an android. Not a human, he could hear echoing around him. And then, to himself: One of the Big Three. Coulson let out a heavy sigh again.
"I know none of you trust me now, and I can't say I blame you. But trust that I told you the truth about myself, and that I want to put Centipede to bed just as much as the rest of you." And without another word, he turned and strode to his cabin door, and stepped through. All they saw of him now was the eagle logo painted on his door.
"Okay, now I really don't like it," Sam said to his friends once he was satisfied they were alone.
"You can say that again," Clint agreed.
"I don't think any of us like it, but you said it yourself, Sam. We don't have a choice," Bucky reminded the both of them. "We have to work with them if we're going to stop Centipede."
A beat of silence passed as they all stared at the door Coulson had just gone through, each one of them in silent agreement of the danger they were now in.
"If something is up, and they are playing a game of their own, we need to be vigilant. They won't try and do anything so long as we're still useful," Bucky stated. "We need to get some rest. The cabins should be safe. But I'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight."
"We all will," Sam and Clint both replied. The three Avengers went to their respective cabins, opening their doors stepping through. Sam found a mount for his shield and suit on his wall, and hesitantly began taking it off and hanging it up.
If Steve taught me one thing, it's that people deserve a second chance, he thought, looking up at his shield once more. Let's hope that we're not giving one to the wrong people.