I stood in the lounge room, arms crossed over my chest with my hands tucked up in my sweater watching the chaos that was my Mom make a fuss.
"Have you got enough food for the next few days?" Mom asked me for the 3rd time in the last 10 minutes.
"Yes and even if I don't I'll go and raid Clint's freezer," I blew out a small frustrated breath. "But you've cooked enough food to feed a small army. I'm scared of opening the freezer in case it all topples out and kills me in the avalanche."
Dad coughed from behind me as he tried to hide his laughter. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the smile in response.
Another week had passed since Riley's funeral. Mom and Dad were heading back to New York as soon as Mom stopped making a fuss over me being left here by myself. Clint, Natasha and Jared had all been called away on a mission a few days earlier. I wasn't cleared to know about it but I had a very sneaking suspicion it was to do with the group who we encountered in Syria. I'd hugged them all a little tighter than normal before they left. Jared promised me that they'd all come back in one piece.
"I just don't want you to have to worry about anything," Mom looked slightly frazzled as she stood there with her hands on her lips looking up at me.
"Mom, between you, Lynette and Evans I don't have a single thing in this world to worry about right now," I said honestly.
Lynette and Tessa had flown back to Minnesota yesterday. After our dinner at HeeBeen, I'd started to be able to talk to them both a little more. Tessa boyfriend, Jesse had made it for the funeral as well. I'd even gotten the courage to sit down and work a few things with Lynette. I hadn't really realised how much Riley had actually left to me. He'd wanted me to not only have his SHIELD payment, but what he got from their family business too. I tried to refuse both of them but Lynette was stubborn. She sat there with her arms folded and told me she had more money than she ever dreamed of and I'd take it so I'd never have to worry about money as well. Just like Riley had wanted. When I tried to repeatedly refuse it, she arranged for it to go into a separate account to be there just in case I needed it. I instantly handed the account details over to my Mom and told her not to let me touch it and keep it as a trust fund for Alexi instead. Our apartment was still sitting there, waiting for me to decide what I wanted to do with it. Riley owned it as well, so there was no rush to actually do anything with it. Evans and a few of his guys went and cleaned out the kitchen so I didn't have to worry about fridge coming to life with a new ecosystem.
"Why don't you come back to New York with us?" Mom's face lit up at her sudden suggestion. "You don't have to go back to work for another few weeks. It could be fun?"
"I promised Laura I'd help out while Clint is away," it was a small stretch of the truth. While going to New York didn't sound so bad, I don't think I could deal with an equally empty house there. Mom and Dad were both needed back at work ASAP. At least here in DC I still had people I knew around. If I got too lonely I'd had a few options on where to go.
"I really don't like the thought of you hanging around here by yourself," Mom sighed as my rejection.
"I'm not by myself," I tried not to sound argumentative. "Coulson is dropping in twice a day. The guys from Bravo team won't stop blowing up my phone with texts. Laura will probably knee cap me if I don't drop in regularly. I'm well covered Mom."
Mom really wasn't buying it terribly well. I partly didn't want to go because I was also dying for my own space. Mom was hovering, trying to keep me busy every second of the day. While I wasn't saying no to the shopping trips, I was starting to feel guilty and exhausted all at once. Mom was overindulging my shoe fetish as a means to get me out of the apartment and not sitting there doing nothing all day. But I had to admit, the pair of brown knee high boots Mom found for me were amazing. When I showed them to Natasha she was very adamant that when she got back we had to go clubbing and I had to wear them.
"I just don't want you to be lonely sweetie," Mom pursed her lips as she looked at me closely. "Yes, I know I'm frustrating the shit out of you. But you should know why I don't want you here by yourself."
I did know. Jared had told me it was standard protocol to keep me basically on suicide watch until I was able enough to be evaluated. I was just lucky enough to have a handler, especially one like Coulson, that knew me well enough that I wasn't sitting locked in a padded cell. Especially after my little freak out back at Camp Cooke. SHIELD were watching me very, very carefully for a brain snap.
"I'll be fine Mom," I pulled her into a tight hug. "I'll go bug Laura tonight. Lila has ballet lessons this afternoon so I might even go to them. Abby has an ultrasound in a few days that I promised I'd drive her to. I've got plenty to keep me occupied."
"Are you sure you don't want to come to New York?" Mom's voice sounded a little teary as she hugged me tightly.
"I'm sure," I felt really guilty for knocking her suggestion back once again. "I'll be fine and if I'm not I'll call. It's only a few hour trip there if I want to ride up."
"Have someone drive you up here," Mom corrected as she pulled away. I pulled a face of disgust at the thought of having to do that.
"Stop fussing Linda," Dad shoved Mom out of the way and wrapped me up in a suffocating hug. "Kari will just steal a Quinjet and come up. Won't you?"
"Paul!" Mom admonished him quickly and slapped his arm. "Don't encourage that."
"Yeah because I'd do it too," smiling felt a little easer this week. It didn't feel so forced. Laughing didn't quite feel so hollow. I still couldn't say Riley's name without getting teary. But at least I could manage to semi function. Getting through the day was still exhausting. I'd fall into bed by 8pm most nights and be fast asleep until well after 7. Having nothing to get up for made it very easy to fall into the routine of lingering in bed for another hour every morning as well. Having Dad deliver coffee in bed most mornings didn't exactly help my motivation to get out of bed.
"I know you would," Dad pulled back and gave me a playful smile. It faltered as he looked at me more closely. "Ring us if you need anything. No matter what time of day it is."
"I will," I promised. I really meant it. "Now go otherwise you'll get all the crappy traffic."
"We'll call when we get home," Mom pushed Dad out of the way for another hug before she left. She clung on a little tighter and longer than normal. When she finally broke away she looked more than a little tearful this time. She opened her mouth and I knew instantly what the question was going to be. Again.
"I'm fine," I cut her off before she asked me to come back to New York again. "Go."
After another few hugs from both of my parents, I was left alone. For the first time in 2 weeks I was completely alone. I wasn't sure if I was excited that I could lay on the couch eating ice cream in my underwear. Or terrified that now it'd just be me and my mind to keep myself company.
I glanced at my phone to read the time. It was only 1130. I wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was packed from top to bottom with food. But there was nothing I wanted. I did the same thing to the freezer and the cupboard. Just standing there staring at the shelves having no idea what I wanted. I wanted something but I really didn't know what it was. I settled on a bag of Doritos before flopping down on the couch and turning the TV on.
I ran through every single channel available on Jared's extensive cable and came up with nothing to watch. A Captain America documentary was playing on one of the Discovery channel which kept my attention for about 30 seconds. It was more to do with the 2 gorgeous men smiling in the old camera reel. Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers were both gorgeous specimens of men. As soon as the narrator started to drone on about something else I got bored and kept channel surfing.
The Doritos quickly lost their appeal. I only got 1/4 of the day way through the bag before putting them back. I shuffled around between the fridge and pantry yet again trying to work out what the hell I wanted. A handful of Twizzlers later and I was back on the couch, channel surfing and feeling utterly bored. It took another 10 minutes to feel like the walls were suffocating me. I couldn't sit still. I felt like I was ready to jump out of my skin. I'd shift into a position which would be comfortable for 5 seconds before I felt the need to move again. The second Twizzler I shoved in my mouth nearly made me gag at the sudden disgusting taste of it. I ran to the sink and spat it out, quickly rinsing my mouth out with water. Blegh. I knew I avoided these little red sticks of artificial devilry for a good reason. I threw the bag back into the cupboard where I found them. Fuck this. I needed to go for a run and burn some of this nervous energy off.
It took me a grand total of 2 minutes to get dressed and be out in the muggy mid morning sun. There was a small park nearly a mile away that would make for an easy jog there and back. I shoved my earbuds into my ears and let the techno mix blare into my ears. My feet hit the pavement and I threw myself into the run. My legs ached within the first 100 feet but it felt good to be out of the apartment. Until I hit about the half a mile mark. I couldn't go anymore. I stopped dead, gasping frantically for air as I doubled over. Ok, maybe I was a bit worse off than I thought. I could usually go for miles before I needed a breather. My heart rate was stupid high, even after standing there for a few minutes trying to get my breath. My legs were shaking and there was no way I could make myself jog anymore. I'm sure it was just the heat. It was unbelievably sticky and hot, even this early in Spring. Feeling deflated I slowly made my way back to the apartment.
I didn't bother with a shower by the time I'd made it back. I just cranked the air con up and fell onto the couch. Nothing could stop me from falling asleep right then and there.
I woke up at 2122, feeling terrible with my back aching. I groaned, getting up and stretching out feeling my back and neck crack and pop as I moved. I really needed to stop sleeping on the couch. It wasn't doing my back any favours at all. The kitchen light was on, along with a note on the bench from Coulson saying he didn't want to disturb me. So much for going over and seeing Laura and the kids today. My phone only had one text on it from Mom letting me know they got back to New York safely.
I sighed. Great. I wouldn't sleep at all tonight after sleeping all day. Maybe I should go for another pathetic excuse for a run and see if that wears me out again. My stomach was screaming at me for some real food. Luckily for me there was plenty of that in the freezer. Mom and Dad were both excellent cooks, unlike Jared and I. I was pretty happy to find some of Mom's Irish stew in the freezer. There was even a small loaf of sourdough bread to go with it.
After dinner I sat on the couch again, flicking through the various channels feeling utterly bored and wide awake. I finally settled on Return of the Jedi out of nothing else being on. Not that I minded. I was a little bit of a geek at heart sometimes. The original Star Wars trilogy was one of my favourites. I finished the stew and curled up with a pillow, finally settling down and actually watching the movie all the way through. After it'd finished I dug up the first 2 original movies in the DVD collection and put them on. I fell asleep again halfway through The Empire Strikes back. It'd only been a day and I was already going crazy from boredom.
The next 3 days passed much the same. I'd go for a run, gradually getting longer and longer each time. Come back to the apartment. Eat. Sleep. Wallow on the couch in loneliness and wonder what the hell I was going to do with my life. Right now I'd give anything to be back at work. It might be another reminder of Riley, but at least I'd be too busy to feel anything. Sitting here alone gave me far too much thinking time. Some of it was useful, but most of it was just a reminder of how alone I was right now. I'd gotten a few scarce messages from Natasha letting me know they were all fine on the mission. Even visiting Laura and the kids hadn't eased that horrible pit where I felt like nothing was ever going to fill it again.
On the third morning while I was having my morning coffee a reminder popped up on my phone. Seeing what it was in my calendar made me throw together a bag and jump on my bike, heading straight for the Triskelion. I was surprised when I scanned my ID I was actually allowed in the building. I was half expecting to be locked out. But I got in, parked my bike and headed straight up to Coulson's office. Just as I exited the elevator I saw him walking away from me.
"Coulson," I called hurrying after my handler down the busy hallway. It was packed more so than usual, I had to weave my way through people as I came up where Coulson was. Coulson turned at the sound of my voice and waited for me to catch up.
"You are not meant to be here for another 2 weeks," Coulson scolded me gently. I didn't miss the concern in his face. I squashed down my own irritation. It wouldn't get me anywhere if I got pissed off at Coulson. He would just get his back up and whatever I was going to ask would be a definite no. He'd mentioned last night on his drop in that he wouldn't make it because of work today. I'd just forgotten what was actually going on.
"I know," I couldn't find the words that I wanted to say to come out next. I had a feeling the answer would be a very firm no. But I was going insane sitting at home doing nothing but think. Then the thinking was driving me insane. I needed something to get me out of bed in the morning. My work email had come through this morning as a reminder about Coulson's meeting with Stark today. It was something straight forward that I could easily go and do. I just needed to get out of the apartment and start doing something. If I was busy I wasn't able to get upset.
"If you know, what are you doing here Kari?" Coulson asked looking at me with his never ending patience. People flowed around us not paying attention to our conversation. It felt weird being back at work. The world was still turning around me like nothing had happened. My entire life might have just been turned upside down and thrown into chaos. But SHIELD continued to function. The world outside of me continued to throw itself into chaos and disaster. But life went on. I needed my life to start moving on as well. This was one huge step into making it happen. Maybe a premature step, but it needed to be done.
"I need to get out of the apartment," I said quickly deciding honestly was going to be the best approach. I couldn't lie very well at the best of times, let alone to Coulson. "I'm going insane. Mom and Dad left 3 days ago and I'm sitting there staring at the TV with nothing to do. I need to be useful and do something. I need something to get me out of bed in the morning."
I could see all range of emotions suddenly go across Coulson's face. Like me he didn't have a very good poker face. But he was the master of getting them under control very quickly. He looked concerned, thoughtful and proud all at once. I stood my ground just holding his gaze hoping he'd let me at least do something. Right now I wouldn't care if I had to carry his files around for the next 2 weeks. It was at least something to get my mind off everything.
"I'm flying to Edwards, leaving in 25 minutes," Coulson finally said. "Go get dressed. You can fly us there."
I didn't need any encouragement. I shot off like an excited kid in a candy store. I'd been hopeful and stored a fairly nice business suit in my backpack incase Coulson said yes. It didn't take me long to get changed and I was in the Quinjet and doing a pre-flight before Coulson had even walked into the hanger. Seeing me already in the pilot seat made him give me a genuine smile. He walked up and gave my shoulder a quick squeeze.
"Are you sure about this?" Coulson asked.
"You have no idea how good it feels to be sitting here again," I replied honestly. It really did. Right now was the happiest I'd felt in weeks. "I just need to do something."
I trailed off not knowing where to go with that sentence. Rightfully I probably shouldn't be flying until I cleared my latest round of psych evaluations There would be at least a months worth of sessions with Andrew before I'd even be allowed anywhere near an active mission. It made me realise Coulson had just stuck his neck out for me in a big way. The fact he'd been so quick made me think he hadn't even cleared this with anyone yet.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "Getting back means a lot to me."
"I know," Coulson gave me one of his rare genuine smiles. "Nothing keeps STRIKE Team Delta down. We are the best at what we do and nothing can stop or change that."
I couldn't think of anything else to say so I just returned the smile. It still felt a little forced and awkward on my face but it was there. Jared had been right with needing to pick the pieces of my life up. Suddenly I realised I could pick myself up and keep trudging along. Nothing can change the outcome of what happened. If I sat there dwelling on it, I was going to go crazy. Burying all the emotions that came with it was much easier. Coulson took the co-pilot seat next to me instead of sitting in the back. Looks like this should be a good flight with Coulson's stories to keep me entertained.
"Ready for take off," I'd finished my preflight and strapped myself in while opening the radio channel. "629 Bravo requesting permission for take off."
"629 Bravo you are clear when ready."
I took a breath and let the familiar throb of the engines go through me. Squaring my shoulders I couldn't help but feel a more genuine smile tug on the corners of my lips. Months ago I thought SHIELD was going to be the end of my life. But even with everything that had happened over these last few weeks made me realise that this was where I was meant to be. I had found another family in this life. I couldn't keep wanting to go and re-live in the past. This was my life now.
Coulson and I were both silent until I was in the air. It's not like I needed to concentrate too hard getting in and out of the Triskelion. I'd gotten that part down so easily I could do it in my sleep within my first week. The air traffic was light today so it didn't take long for us to climb to cruising altitude. I turned the auto pilot on and fiddled with the controls for a moment. I wasn't sure how I wanted to say what was going to come next. But direct was always a good way to do it.
"I'm staying," I blurted out. I cringed at my complete lack of tact with such an important statement. I hadn't meant for it to come out just like that. But its one thing that I had given a lot of thought to over the last few days. All I could think about was getting back to work and being useful again. My heart might have felt like it was still broken but I needed to be useful and do something. Work wasn't a chore, I loved my job now. I couldn't see myself doing anything else. It hadn't been hard to come to the conclusion that once my year of compulsory service at SHIELD was up I was going to stay. Even after everything that had just happened. Jared's conversation with me when he found Rhodey's business card had just cemented in what I was already thinking.
Coulson turned to look at me but said nothing else. He didn't even look surprised.
"My year is up soon and I've decided I'm staying," I clarified rather unnecessarily. "I kind of like my job here."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Coulson reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a small black wallet out. It was a standard ID and badge holder. "I was waiting for the right moment to give you your new ID."
"Why do I need a new ID?" I was confused. There was nothing wrong with my previous ID and badge.
"Welcome to level 6."
"Serious?"
"Have a look" Coulson looked amused as he handed my new ID over.
I flipped it open, nearly dropped it in my haste. There it was. Nothing different on my ID except that I was now a Level 6 agent instead of a lowly Level 4. Dammit, I was kind of hoping for a new ID photo. The standard terrible mugshot in all IDs stared back at me. But the level 6 on it was something very new. And exciting. This would enable me to go on so many more missions with Clint and Natasha. No longer would they be dragged down to boring missions for my sake. Shit just got real. Instead of being terrified, I was actually excited. Being excited felt really good. There really was light at the end of the tunnel. For once it might not be an incoming train.
"Whoa," was all I could manage out. I felt my lips pull into a smile again.
"When you didn't request any time off after Syria except for your forced time, I knew you'd be staying," Coulson reached over and gave my leg a small squeeze. He looked so proud of me right now. "You've been an exceptional Agent over this last few months. You have thrown yourself at every challenge head on and made more progress than most Agent's do in years of training. I'm very proud of you and the Agent you've become."
I felt myself blush from the rare compliment coming from Coulson. There was a question that had been nagging at me for months.
"Phil" I started feeling a bit unsure of myself. Better in than out with the question. It was one of the many things that had come across my mind while I was sitting there doing nothing over the last few days. "Why did I get assigned to you guys? Not that I'm complaining but it never made sense in my mind. No one else has ever made it onto this team. Why me? I'm nothing special."
Coulson was silent for a minute. A very long minute. I'd put the jet on autopilot so I had nothing to do but fidget, picking at my nails absently while I waited for my answer.
"If I tell you, do you promise not to get angry about it no matter what?" Coulson finally answered. He looked a little cautious.
I nodded wordlessly, curiosity burning through my now.
"SHIELD had been trying to get a hold of you since the day you graduated high school," Coulson started sending my eyebrows shooting up. "You've never flown under the radar by any means, despite what you think."
This was news to me. I waited patiently for the whole explanation before I interrupted Coulson.
"Your SAT score of 2350 kind of made you stand out. Not only that, but your request to go to what you call a normal school," Coulson chuckled briefly. "When you showed no interest in joining SHIELD and went for the Air Force instead there some the issue of your recruiter kind of losing your paperwork and getting things shuffled around."
I shrugged half heartedly. That was nothing new. Any government agency had a habit of losing paperwork. I'm sure the reason Jared got into the Academy straight out of high school was Mom's doing. However Coulson had gone to absently picking imaginary lint off his pants and not looking me in the eye. Natasha twirled her hair, I picked my fingernails and Clint tapped his fingers against his leg as a nervous habit. I'd never seen Coulson do anything, so I'm guessing this was his. The fact he even had a nervous habit was news to me. Not much could get the unflappable Agent Coulson in a bind.
"I knew your recruiter," Coulson finally spat out what he was trying to say. "There was a push from higher up to snap up the smart Lyngley twin, so I called in a few favours. Your paperwork got lost and shuffled around a lot on purpose. He tried to talk you out of being a Pilot and generally tried to push you away from the military. Technically USAF snaffled you up first go around. It wasn't until the recruiter went on holidays and someone else handled your paperwork you got in. SHIELD had been hoping you'd give up on the idea but you just kept persevering."
"That I did," I said dryly. I wasn't mad, especially not at Coulson. It didn't surprise me in the slightest the SHIELD was messing with my life long before I actually joined SHIELD. I'd spent a year sitting around waiting for something to happen with my life after high school. I'd never been so bored in my life.
"Yeah," Coulson looked the most uncomfortable I had ever seen him. "We even sent in Natasha to try and make your applications disappear but it was too late. I got raked over the coals for letting it slip through the cracks. Then you kept distinguishing yourself in so many ways as a Pilot. If that incident at the bar hadn't happened, I would have been knocking on your door not long afterwards and throwing every bit of charm I could to get you to join SHIELD. Fury even tried to persuade Jared to talk you into it, but Jared was pretty firm on leaving you where you were happiest."
"So my life was never really my own," I wasn't surprised in the least. Jared had told me plenty of times over the last few years that I was being watched. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if SHIELD really did come knocking if those fuckheads hadn't of tried to drug me. "SHIELD was always going to come knocking on the door whether I wanted to or not."
"You don't sound too surprised," Coulson said carefully.
"Not really," I shrugged. "Between my entire family pestering me to join, and my Mom being very unhappy about me being in the Air Force I kind of had a feeling it'd happen eventually. So why assign me to Nat and Hawk?"
"That was more of a hunch than anything else," Coulson relaxed back into his chair looking relieved. "Natasha had liked you before she even met you. Between Jared's stories about you, and me sending her in to try and fix my fuck up with your Air Force recruiting. She had decided you and her were kindred spirits. She even volunteered to head back to your old place and help me pack up your apartment."
"I didn't know it was you and her doing that," I shot Coulson a look of disbelief. Then felt a bit uncomfortable thinking of everything they had to pack up. Here's hoping it was Natasha packing up the contents of my 2nd draw on my bedside table and not Coulson.
"Yeah well I felt I owed it to you a little bit. Met your neighbour too and she shovelled Tasha and I full of pastries, and cried when I told her about you. We had to tell her you were dead, died in a training accident. She was pretty upset."
"Yeah I figured that was the story," I felt a pang of brief sadness at poor Mrs Jackson thinking I was dead.
"So when you joined SHIELD, Natasha was the first one to suggest you'd make a good addition to the team. She tailed you for the first 2 weeks to see how you'd handle everything. That day you knocked Jared on his ass during PT just cemented her decision," Coulson continued with the rest of the story. "Barton was the very indifferent one about it. You know the story, he doesn't trust easily and having another person intruding on his very closed off personal life wasn't sitting too well with him. Honestly, if that day at the range you met him, if you hadn't of shattered the arrow I don't think it would have been any chance of persuading Barton to let you on the team. Driving back from the range he became pretty adamant that you'd fit right in. From there it was just a case of reporting back to Fury about my initial hunch on you. Fury was more than happy to hand you over to me to keep an eye on."
"And here I am," I finished quietly. It was a surprise that Clint might have been against me before we'd met. For once I was very glad that my ego got in the way of my common sense.
"And here you are," Coulson confirmed with a nod of his head. "You're not mad?"
"There's no point in being mad over something I can't change," it would be very easy to get angry about this. But what was the point? My entire life had changed, mostly for the better, because of what happened that night at the bar. "At the end of the day, yeah it's annoying SHIELD tried to screw with my life. But I'm happy here and with my life. I wouldn't change that for the world."
"Good," Coulson gave a small chuckle. "Because here I was thinking you might throw me off the jet for what I just told you."
"I'd give you a parachute at least," I laughed at Coulson. It felt good to laugh again. Very good.
Silence went between us for another few minutes. Coulson was looking out the window at the clouds in the sky.
"Evans is going to offer you Riley's position on his team," Coulson's words nearly made me fall out of my seat in surprise. "Next to Barton you're the best shot any STRIKE team has. I told him I'd talk to you first so it wasn't a surprise."
"I don't want Riley's job," I said instantly. "I'm happy where I am."
There wasn't any need to mull over that offer at all. It was true, I was very happy where I was. I didn't want to fill Riley's shoes on his team. As much as I liked everyone from his team, it just wouldn't feel right.
"Good," Coulson looked very relieved at my words. "I was hoping that was going to be the answer."
"Sorry you're still stuck with me," I gave Coulson a lopsided smile. "You let your kids keep the stray and now she's pretty happy in her new home."
"I have to admit, the stray I let my kids keep has gone beyond all my expectations," Coulson's smile was a lot more genuine than mine.
"Though, I am slightly curious now since you're being so honest with me," I looked at Coulson as the thought suddenly crossed my mind. "Who would I have ended up with if it wasn't Hawk and Nat?"
"Either Rumlow or Evans," Coulson's answer surprised me a little. "Rumlow asked for you first, but Hill was hesitant about him having no experience as a handler so she didn't say yes straight away. Not to mention his team are on the younger side, mostly single guys. You can see where that might have ended up."
"Not well for any of them," I wrinkled my nose. There were some attractive guys on Rumlow's team, but STRIKE guys were well and truly off the cards for me now. Even if I'd been assigned to Rumlow's team I probably would have still ended up with Riley. But if I'd ended up on a big team I'm not sure I'd be where I was right now. I don't think I would have liked just being another number to make up a STRIKE team. I sure as hell wouldn't have been getting the experience I'd gotten with Natasha and Clint. Despite me feeling like I was still light years behind Natasha and Clint's skill sets. At least they made me feel useful and if I didn't get something, we just kept going until I got it. It wasn't just Riley I was missing right now. I was missing Natasha and Clint something terrible as well. I'd never had everyone away at once before.
"No I can't imagine it would," Coulson chuckled briefly. "So today, you can either come with me. Or sit here waiting in the Quinjet. Its up to you."
"I'll come with you," I said instantly. "I'm still curious about how he actually managed to escape."
Plus I didn't really want to be sitting in the Quinjet for god knows how long by myself. It was just as bad as sitting at home by myself.
"You and a lot of other people too," Coulson said dryly. "Sit back, take notes and see if you can pick up anything. We'll compare notes over dinner afterwards."
Coulson was making this sound more like a pleasant day trip more than anything else. I was very glad I'd gotten off my ass this morning and come into work. This was just what I needed to get me back into the swing of things.
"Who's shouting dinner?" I asked.
"SHIELD," Coulson had a small smug grin. "So if you want to pick, make sure its somewhere nice."
I was definitely going to google somewhere nice and expensive for us to have dinner. Order the most expensive items on the menu and the premium scotch. It was Malibu. I'm sure there were more than enough nice and expensive places to eat.
The flight to Edwards was uneventful. But Coulson was in a chatty mood making it go quickly. It was good to have something normal happening. As usual, Coulson already had a car waiting for us on the tarmac. After the flight I was more than happy to put my feet up and let Coulson drive us over to Stark Industries. After a boring exchange with the front receptionist Coulson and I both sat in the waiting room.
Coulson flicked through the latest Time magazine while I fiddled on my phone. We waited. And waited. Then waited some more. It got to the point where even Coulson was beginning to look at his watch.
High heels coming down the stairs made me glance up. Pepper Potts was walking down the stairs with a determined march. I gave Coulson a nudge with my arm, making him pull his attention up to the stairs.
"Miss Potts?" Coulson looked relieved. "We had an appointment."
Pepper looked at Coulson in confusion for a second. Right before a look of hard determination came across her face.
"Did you forget our appointment?" Coulson asked politely.
"Nope," Pepper's steps increased. "Right now. Come with me."
"Right now?" Coulson jumped to his feet. I was only a second after him. Where ever Pepper was going, she was definitely in a hurry.
"We're going to have it right now," Pepper glanced over her shoulder. She looked scared and determined all at the same time. It reminded me of myself for my first missions. I was scared but at the same time absolutely sure I could do what I was about to do. "Walk with me."
"Okay," Coulson hurried to fall into step with her.
"I'm going to give you the meeting of your life. Your office," Pepper marched right out of the building. Coulson and I were right behind her.
Shit. I didn't think this was what Coulson had imagined. The look he threw at me meant one thing. He was going to be in trouble for bringing me along with what was about to happen. Why did I always manage to end up in the situations where everything went to shit? I might have to start calling myself shit magnet.
"Get me an office," Coulson was on the phone straight away. "Somewhere secure. And some backup would be great as well."
This day just got a whole lot more interesting.
Authors Note.
Sorry for the late update everyone. I just had a case of epic writers block. Then some major doubts about this chapter. But here we are.
Your support for this story has just been amazing. Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews and just supports this story. You're all amazing.
Just before someone points this out. No, what Kari is doing right now is NOT healthy and there is going to be repercussions later on. Shit magnet seemed to fit her pretty well though!
Obscured Angel pointed out something that I've done completely unintentionally. Sam Wilson (Falcon) best friend was named Riley. I made Riley's best friend in this with his friend being Sam as well. Funnily enough, those were the two names that came from a random name generator. An accident, but kind of funny too!
Until next time.