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Chapter 9: Director Fury

Fury's office was on the far left corner of the building, taking over a good portion of this side of the floor. Stark would call it the Penthouse (and was incredibly mad when he had to settle for a built-in parking spot in the 10th floor terrace, with the oh-poor-peasants).

Penny walked slowly with the hills. She could use them as well, she wouldn't jog with them like Romanoff, but hey, she could pull the agent-in-a-suit outfit. She hadn't walked in them in a long time, that was all. No reason to go out, no reason to stay in, nothing to go home to.

She tried shaking off those thoughts from her head. Effing drugs. She couldn't get there again, not now, not when it was so important to stay focused in the task at hand. She looked towards Fury's office and the door was wide opened. He was pacing up and down, reading from a pad.

She reached the door and knocked slowly "Doctor Morse, please come in." Ever obedient, she walked in towards the desk while he closed the door behind her. She sat down at one of the chairs and waited to be bossed around. "How are you feeling today?" his voice was still coming from behind her "I'm good Sir. I could use some cof-" a mug with a latte was placed on the desk right before her.

"Thank you Sir."

He sat on his desk. It seemed oddly normal, like taken from a banker's office. Papers, phone with speakers, picture of a dog. A Badass rottweiler. It did had 3 different touch screens, a touch-desk and 2 or 3 pads also, but pretty standard mahogany all the same.

She put some sugar on her coffee and took a small zip, taking all the smell in. She still felt her senses heightened. Side effects. Great.

"Can you resume your functions?" Would that buy me more time? Nah.

"Do I get an extension with the formula deadline if I say no?"

"No."

"Then I'm okay Sir." He took a zip of his own coffee. Black coffee of course, no sugar.

"What's your game plan?" She wondered if she was tripping or if he had actually started sounding like a bank director.

"Banner found the glitch in the formula. I need to synthesize it and once that's done, ray it."

"Is Stark helping?"

"I hadn't asked him. Dr. Ross is." he gritted his teeth. "I heard. Agent Hill wasn't pleased with that."

"Agent Hill is not aware of my task regarding the team. I mean, not all of them."

"No, she's not. But that doesn't mean you can gloat and do what you please Dr. Morse."

"Noted. If I may Sir, Banner needs Dr. Ross."

"Does he now?"

"Yes. He has emotional containment that only heightens his split personality. The only way he'll truly be in control of the Hulk is if he faces his inner demons."

"That's what you've come up with? Split personality and child trauma?"

"No, that was quite clear 5 years ago Sir. Most of his fears and lock ups are related to childhood. He's very reluctant to talk about that." he looked at her intently "Go the Freud way and blame the green guy on bad parenting."

"So, you've had thought this through."

"Yes sir. Dr. Ross can balance him out. It'll help me reach out to him and see if both personalities can coexist."

"And if they can't?"

"They have so far. I believe adding Dr. Ross to the team will not only bring incredible value to the research part of this agency but will bring stability on his fragile mind."

"I'll think about it. Now rays. You need to develop the formula with specific ray rates in order for it to work, correct?"

"Yes."

"Get Stark."

"But Bruce can-" he stared "I will Sir. Then I need to test it. If things go well, I can use it on Agent Cheese and operate him."

"What's the window?"

"12 hours, 14 at the most. It will depend on the formula. I'm counting on Captain Rogers' blood helping stabilize his system a bit longer."

"Counting on?"

"I have statistics. It's been a year and all his brain functions seem to be alright. No change. They should've decreased after a year of sustained coma, yet, they're not."

"What are you saying?"

"He's not waking up because of the junk of Tesseract Loki left in his chest Fury, he should be up and running otherwise."

Fury hated that device. He hated having the idea of making weapons with it, but they needed a way to defend themselves from external attacks. There hadn't been any since the team of divas came together.

In its place however, mayhem all over the world started. Everyone wanted a piece of this team, whether it was the government (any of the 10 behind SHIELD) or the increasing fan base on the web, he was the only firewall between the Avengers and the mess out there.

"So you think that if you put this temporary formula you can successfully extract the shred and save his life?"

"Yes Sir, I can."

"You better get to it then, I need him here."

"What are we going to do about them sir? If this goes well I mean."

"Nothing. If the surgery is successful, they'll be happy to have him back."

"I think you're underestimating their ability to be pissed off. Sir."

"Why are you so concerned?" They're my friends and I'm a deceitful bitch.

"I've made a connection with them. They won't be pleased knowing I've been lying to them all this time." And Clint will kick my ass.

"You are a big girl. When you chose to use Captain Rogers' blood on him, you caused a lot of problems. The only reason why you're not in Guantanamo right now is-"

"Because I did the right call?" she smirked, which only made Fury more visibly upset "Because it worked. I believed you when you said you were making progress about this serum. I covered up to get this working"

"You covered up because what you used to motivate them to be a team was a lie, Sir." Cos you're that kind of manipulative asshole. He paused. Apparently she wasn't concealing her inner thoughts very well. So he did the obvious thing.

"You have 2 weeks left for testing and succeeding with the formula."

"And then you pull the plug."

"Yes." I'd like to see you try.

"And nothing ever happened."

"Things would be a lot easier for me if I just cancelled this entire task Dr. Morse. And I still can, remember that. So don't try playing games with me." Not games, just hints here and there.

"I wouldn't dare to, Sir." He got up and placed his knuckles on his desk. Such a badass, so scary.

"If you tell them, Phil Coulson is gone, and you'll end up teaching in some campus. It's his future life or their trust, your call."

She took a deep breath and reassessed the situation. Like the 10 billion times before. She wanted Phil around; there were so many things he deserved to see for himself, to live them... But Bruce and Steve… They were her friends, and there was only so much deceiving she could handle. Plus there was Clint, he could spill the beans any minute, to Romanoff or anyone. If he got it. Sure he got it, I mean, he got it. He must have gotten it.

She took a deep breath and coughed to clear her throat, but it hurt. "Is there anything else you need from me sir?"

"Actually, yes. I need you to contact Peter Parker." he handed over a pad with information and resumed his bank director sitting position. "You want him to join the party Sir?"

"Not exactly." she read the Compensations part of the debriefing. "Oh, paid internship and a full scholarship in ESU. Because he's broke..." She looked at him "I see why you're choosing me for this."

"Well, I think is appropriate." he sat back. "I'm honoured you chose me for this, but wouldn't someone like Romanoff be more... appropriate for this task?" she timidly looked over the pad.

"We're not bringing him in for questioning. He needs the money and is very smart. And a loose cannon. Just like you."

"Thanks for the compliment Sir."

"You've seen Coulson do this countless times, time to take on the mantle" she suppressed the smile "It can take time, he's not going to just want to join SHIELD."

"I'm sure you can find a way to get him to work for us."

"I'll start today Sir." she was getting up to leave.

"There's one more thing. We've retired Wyatt yesterday after your... incident." She seemed doubtful "And you want me to be Lead MD?" He was giving her way too many chores already. "No, I'm bringing someone else for that. And to help you with the surgery"

He pressed a button on his desk phone "Send him in". Did he have a secretary now? Penny turned to the door to see who it was. A dark blond man with a Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants and a relaxed attitude came through. "Hello Sir, Birdie." She was beaming at the new guy "How was your flight Dr. Hoban?"

He came nearer the desk and sat on the chair next to Penny "It was... fast! They put me in one of these new triangular things Birdie, I wanted to pilot it, but it didn't have controls. Very disturbing."

Fury cleared his throat "Dr. Hoban will resume Dr. Wyatt's tasks."

"Only, I'll make sure to keep Opioids away from you!" they shared a sarcastic giggle.

"And will help you with your other task, in the event of the surgery happening."

"Oh it will most definitely happen, Sir."

"Good then. Show him around would you? Dismissed" They nodded and walked out.

The moment Fury's door was closed behind them, they yelled like school girls while hugging each other "Oh my God Hobbie, I can't believe you're here. How did he talk you into this? Weren't you like-"

"Enjoying myself in a beach, tanning my pink and oversensitive skin while listening to the seagulls?" she nodded "Well, it was more of a "deal with malaria, diarrhea and no running water" while finding sand in places I didn't even know I had. Daily." She pat him on the back "Well, that's what the Peace Corps do you know." He sighed "Yes, but I was pretending to be in the Peace Corps, see? I helped with what I could, but I was there for reckon, bag and tag, do spy thingies!"

They got into the elevator "So you came back for the running water and frapuccinos? That's so shallow of you!" He slapped her shoulder "I came after he said what that hwoon dahn had done to you, thank you very much." she pinched his cheeks "Oh so sweet of you!"

"And to see Stark up close."

"I can't believe you're still fangirling about Stark."

"He's Tony Stark! He reaches Mach 3 with his armoured suit!" Suddenly they reached the 10th floor "He's a jerk trying to overcompensate!" and Bruce was right there getting some coffee.

He waved at Penny and the newcomer "I guess you're talking about Stark?" she smiled, introducing Dr. Alan Hoban as the new MD.

"You had us worried yesterday." He brushed her arm in a comforting way and nodded stating he was going to his office. Hoban started asking her about the surgery, way too loudly, "Fury didn't tell you about the secrecy part?"

"Well, he wasn't detailed as to how much we're supposed to say."

"No one's supposed to know the details Alan."

"Wow, I hit a nerve! Alright (faking a whisper) Penelope."

"There are lives at stake." One life at stake.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. How are you copying with this whole um, Cheese thing?" They reached her office "It's hard, I mean, the numbers look promising but he's still, you know. Gets frustrating" She looked at Bruce through their shared glassed window and he looked away, pretending not to have heard everything they had just said. She hid a pleased look.

Bruce went to his Phone and called Steve. "Hi! Remember what we were wondering the other day? When we were waiting? Well I got the name. Of the restaurant. Yeah, so we can google it and see if we can order takeout. Come around later? Bye." His eyes met Penny's for a moment while hanging up. She looked away having a pleased half smile.