Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or Spidey.


Chapter 21: Keys to the Kingdom

One more try. This has to work. It has to work.

It has the plant, it has the transcription factor calculated. I reverted the growth. It's stable now. It has to work.

It has to work. This has to end. It has to work.

He grabbed the little tube from the sample reader, pocketed before anyone could see him and started looking for needles in Penny's office. The drug cabinet where she kept everything was closed. Fuck, fuck, fuck. And then he remembered she had been working with samples of her formula in the back of the office. He found a syringe there and a flask of it. He sighed relieved grabbing both things just in case. Too much people are here now, I'll gotta do it later. Later. Outside. Gotta go outside. Leave people out of harms' way. Betty...If only he could talk to Betty.

But then the anger spoke to him.

"Betty knows we love her. And she's not scared of us." Bruce tried to quiet the anger down, but it wouldn't be ignored anymore. "You can't hide from us. I remember everything you don't want to."

Flashes of his childhood started filling his head with pain and anger. The clenched jaw... the closed fists... the broken arm... the blood on the wall… the cops… the mourning clothes… Stop. Stop now.

"Now you remember too. Remember father beating up mother. Remember mother bleeding. Remember how we couldn't fight. But now we can"

Stop. NOW.

An alarm started bleeping on Penny's iPad. He clicked it and saw a little window with his stats. He figured it all came from their inserted chip, that thing must have sensors too. But she's not here. Good, she won't get scared.

"Penny is our friend. She's not scared of us. We won't hurt her."

You'll lose control. I can't be sure.

"We don't hurt friends. We need to hurt bad people. Bad people gets hurt."

Bruce didn't realize he was closing his fists too tight on the flask, and didn't realize until he felt the cut. "SHIT!"

Hoban rushed to Penny's office and saw Bruce bleeding and clearly distressed. The brown in his eyes was little to none and Hoban feared for everyone's safety. Bruce started taking low sharp breaths and soon he was more calmed.

While stitching up his wound Hoban asked him what happened. "I just remembered something I hadn't thought of in a long time. I'm sorry if I scared you"

"Takes a lot more than that to scare me Dr. Banner" Liar, you're terrified of me even looking at you.

"That flask that broke… Was it something you were working on?" Go tell your boss, I dare you. I dare you.

"No, it was Penny's formula. I was working with some variables and wanted to see how it worked on a sample" Smile, smile and make him go away. Go away. Just go away Hoban.

"He'll tell Fury. He don't trust us."

"Good then, we won't have to give you any meds to counter-effect anything. That's good. I do need to give you this, just for the cut." Bruce nodded and felt a pinch.

Hoban smiled while placing a big band aid over the stitches and told him he was all set. Bruce thanked him and rushed out to the cafeteria, to get a soothing tea. When he was out of eye reach, Hoban grabbed a different needle and gathered what was left of the flask on the floor, along with the gauze he had used on Bruce.

Let's see if you're telling the truth or not Dr. Hulk.


"How is the recruitment going Doctor Morse?"

"Good morning to you too Sir" Fury sat down and gestured her to do the same. He seemed concerned, looking at her intently.

"No coffee this time? Okay, well, recruitment's going well Sir. He'll come around when we need him."

"Will he now?"

Penny cleared her throat, "Yes"

"Does that mean he agreed to the terms?"

"Not yet" Fury started leaning on his desk and clenching his teeth.

"Estimated date?"

"Soon"

"Soon is not enough. Times are changing fast; reality is not what it was a year ago. We need to move forward." Fury got up and came closer to her, with his hands in his pockets. Please not the bracelet, not the bracelet, not the bracelet.

"So things changed and now you want him in the Avengers?" He sat next to her and started playing with something in his hand. An old bracelet with charms. Frak.

"Now we need him. Half of the team is unstable" She nodded. Not even this office is secure now, fraking great. This day keeps getting better and better.

Fury sighed and leaned back on the chair next to her when he saw her picking on the bracelet. "How is Cheese Doctor?"

"He's stable but irresponsive. I wanted to request permission to get a safe identity and transfer him to a regular hospital."

Fury's countenance changed for a second, "I can't allow you to do that." She got up visibly upset and vocal about it,

"You got your rock, what more do you want?!"

"You have no medical rights on him, I do. He stays."

"But he's-"

"He's staying. He's not going to be transferred to a low-security hospital so his cellist can visit him" Penny was suddenly shocked. Of course he knew. Why wouldn't he? She wasn't precisely the queen of covertness when it came to Patricia and Zoe.

"You stay away from them. They have NOTHING to do with SHIELD. He'll wake up, and you'll discharge him and he'll have a normal life outside of here. You get the rock, he gets his freedom. That was the deal Marcus!"

"Barbara that's enough! If he wakes up, we'll see if he's stable enough to make his own decisions. And if he is, we'll see what he wants to do." Suddenly his desk intercom beeped and Agent Hill's voice came colder than usual. "He's here Sir"

"Send him in" Fury cut the comm. "And stop calling Marcus, we are not in Queens anymore. I'm Director Fury, your Direct. Line. Of. Command. Agent!"

"Then stop calling me Barbara, you're not my mother and I'm not 10 years old anymore!"

"Stop acting as if you were then!"

"SIR!" Steve's tone behind Penny put a stop to their quarrel, and it felt like a direct warning to Fury. Steve cleared his throat. "Do you want me to come back later, Sir?" Oddly enough, the director wasn't upset.

"No need, please sit down" In a swift move while heading back to his side of the desk, Fury quickly dropped the bracelet on Penny's robe. She sighed and started heading outside.

"Doctor Morse, please stay." Penny turned around looking confused at Steve and Fury. But Fury wasn't kidding. She sat down while Rogers stayed up next to her chair.

"Rogers, I called you up because I- we've made a terrible mistake. With you." Fury opened the first drawer of his mahogany desk and pulled out a folder with Steve's name on it.

"Those are your current bank statements, ownership of your bike and enough information for you to be able to rent any flat you'd like." Steve looked at the papers and sighed. He'd want this for long but...

"Also, this is your new passport and driver's license" Steve grabbed it with his other hand and looked at the dates "July 4th... 1981?"

"Yes. 18, 81, we thought it'd be easier to remember." Fury paused "Captain Steven Rogers was your grandfather, MIA in 1945. He had a sweetheart who bore your father, Joseph. He died during the Lebanese Civil War soon after you were born. Your mother died when you were a young boy. Your story's pretty much the same after that. It's all there."

"This sweetheart you're talking about... You mean Major Carter...?"

"No, not Mrs. Carter. This was an assistant for the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Blond, a pretty girl. She died in 1987 and according to our records you knew her. I mean, your grandfather did" Steve remembered her. Actually, he remembered how mad Peggy got when she found them kissing. He couldn't help blushing and clearing his throat.

Penny picked on his blush and their eyes' met briefly. "But Sir that never-"

"Now it did. Captain Rogers is dead. Welcome to your new life Mr. Rogers." Steve kept looking at the papers and at Fury and didn't really understand why Penny was there. He felt tired and excited at the same time but he couldn't help thinking there was a catch. There's always a catch.

He started feeling he was lacking air and that his heart was pounding oddly. He tried to calm down. He hadn't felt that in so long... It couldn't be, no, he was too excited about this, it couldn't be that... He was healthy now, no more asthma, no more heart condition. It couldn't, it just...

He decided to sit down looking at the papers, hiding his distress. Fury was too eager to continue with debriefing them to pick on Steve's sudden change of posture, but Penny's eyes were fixed on him. His shallow uneven breathing... His carotid artery and chest showing a different rhythm...

She hated being right. Hated it. Hated it. Hated it. Ok, she was acting like a 10 year old.

Fury continued, "We have arranged for you to have an interview for an arts teacher position. I believe some of your WPA murals are still out there. You should check them out."

"Sir, this is, I'm very grateful Sir, don't get me wrong. But... Why now?"

"We finally decided to listen to Dr. Morse" Penny chuckled in disbelief. "Does that mean you're letting Bruce off the hook too?" Her voice seemed skeptical and rushed. Her long working hours were finally showing.

"Unfortunately Dr. Banner will need to stay within the premises until we can sort out some issues with General Ross' department"

"You mean until you have enough leverage to keep him with us"

"If you want to put it that way Doctor, yes"

"So, asking you to take Bruce as my roommate is out of the question, right Director?"

"I'm afraid so Rogers. He can't be a part of the Avengers either until this is finally settled. Soon I hope. Besides, Dr. Ross will be joining us next week. I'm positive that Dr. Banner will prefer her company to yours"

"You're bringing in Betty? That's great! We can work on Bruce and the Super Soldier form-"

"Dr. Ross is coming to take your place in the team as biochemist Dr. Morse"

"Wh-What?" Fury decided to ignore her for the time being and continued debriefing Steve "As I said before, we should've never locked you up here Rogers, you're an American citizen and a valuable asset. We'd be thrilled to have you in our staff permanently" Fury made a pause. Steve looked at him. Of course. Work for them.

Steve looked at Penny, who seemed tired, upset and clenching her teeth. She reminded him once again of Bruce when he tried controlling the other guy.

"I see." Steve paused and saw his new driver's license. "And if I say no..."

"I thank you for everything you've done for this Agency and we'll call you if something requires the Avengers to assemble, which is scarcely happening anymore. Outside of those calls, you're a regular citizen." Fury took out a civilian badge with Steve's photo and placed it in front of him. Subtlety wasn't one of his strong points.

Steve took the badge and looked at it closely, then put it back on the desk. "If I say yes what would I need to do Sir?"

"I was hoping you'd ask that. Unlike Barton or Romanoff, your identity hasn't been compromised. You have all the skills needed for a covert operative. Now, since your Handler is on medical leave for a month, agent Morse will take on her position. If you choose to accept that is"

Her position. Romanoff. Of course it was her. "But Sir, I have other tasks that hadn't been completed yet"

"And you'll perform exceedingly as usual agent Morse. I thought you'd be happy being reinstated"

"Am I being reinstated Sir?"

"For the time being. Now you'll be actively handling Rogers. In the event of something new developing, we'll see. You'll need to behave, no crazy stunts Morse." Fury paused. This seemed to be a harder sell than what he had anticipated.

"You'd be in good hands captain. Agent Morse was one of our finest agents. She knows every protocol there is to know and has more clearance than most of the people you've met in the building. She was top of her class and-"

"And also got caught and tortured behind enemy lines. I'm not precisely a role model when it comes to agent performance" Fury got up and leaned over his desk, placing his knuckles firmly on the table.

"Romanoff was my first choice but she's on medical leave. Reagan too. Barton's been assigned to pair with major Danvers. I can't afford losing more active agents on the Avengers initiative. Half of the team is down already." He sighed and looked at Penny. His eyes were no longer ordering but pleading. It only lasted a second but Steve realized then that Fury wasn't just a tough man making tough decisions behind a desk, and he wondered what was truly upsetting him, and why was he reaching out for Penny of all people.

"You were one of the finest agents we had Barbara. And you're on your way out to teach on ESU. Rogers' on the way in. This is temporary, Just do it."

There was that name she hated again.

"What happens when Romanoff is back on her feet again?"

"We'll work the details as we move forward. Besides Rogers hasn't answered yet." Fury cleared his throat again and looked at Steve "You don't need to answer right away captain, you can sleep on it. I'll need an answer by Monday though."

He got up and stood next to Penny "No need to sleep on it Sir. I'll be happy to work for this agency, and with Dr. Morse. When do we start?"

"Right away. Here-" he brought up another folder. "This is what Romanoff had put together as your base adjustment training. You'll report back on Monday with a revised plan."

"Sir, Pe-Dr. Morse needs to get some rest" Both Penny and Fury looked at Steve with puzzlement.

"I'll be fine Sir. I'll continue to work on my current tasks and have this ready by Monday." Something in Penny's tone had changed. She was detached, matter-of-factly, cold... Even her posture had changed. Fury half smiled and nodded at her.

"Also Sir, I request permission to inform agent Rogers on my current tasks regarding the te-"

"Denied"

"But Sir"

"Denied agent Morse" She clenched her teeth and took a deep breath, looking at Romanoff's folder.

"Before you go, it's come to my attention that you two have developed... certain closeness."

"I'm his doctor Nick"

"Yes Sir, strictly professional"

"Good. I don't need to clarify that this isn't the CIA and we don't look forward in-house couples now, do I?"

"No Sir. We all know SHIELD prefers relationships with trusty civilians based on deceit and lies" Steve had to repress a laugh and could've swore Fury growled at Penny's comment.

"Good. We don't need another Clintasha." Both Steve and Penny nodded. Fury handed over the folder with Steve's adjustment plan to Penny,

"Make sure this doesn't spread Mockingbird."


As they stepped out, agent Hill came into the office and locked the door behind her. She came close to Fury's desk. "Did they buy it?"

"I doubt it. But their attention will be elsewhere, for a while at least"

"I think you're making a mistake Sir, they're not-"

"They're driven and good at what they do. And they both have an agenda of their own; they'll be too busy to care about ours. What's the status?"

Hill sighed in discomfort "None of the test subjects survived Sir."

"And the stone?"

"It seems to be going dormant Sir. It radiated more energy before Morse took it off of him."

"And he's still irresponsive." He sighed and Hill's nod.

"So the key isn't Rogers' blood. It's Coulson."

"But Sir we can't-"

"Thanks agent Hill. Dismissed" As she was leaving, Hill heard Fury talk to his AI, "Move agent Cheese to substation 2. Declare Pegasus 2 implausible. Communicate to World Security Council."

Fury looked through the window at the city. The day he feared the most was coming too soon, and he only hoped he had put his trust in the right people.