Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers.


Chapter 23: Devoid

"There's no sign of them. The earth swallowed Mandarin and Maya. This fucker has taken her and Jarvis can't find any trace of them. And your um, employers can't either. They would've told me, I went from "Consultant" to "Running point" on recovering Mandarin. Whatever the hell that means in their stupid jargon. Can't they just talk like normal people?"

"So you're the average Jason Bourne now?"

"Oh no, I have class. And a building with my name on it. Bourne couldn't afford that. Speaking of the building- how about you and I go there? Pepper had this crazy idea about making it the Avengers tower or something"

"Oh your ego must be devastated by now. So, a building? For us?"

"Well, don't overdo it now, but, yeah, why not? Has a lot of floors, you could probably have 10 each."

"I don't think Fury would allow it. I can't even leave this fucking building now."

"But your best friend here has his own flying device you know, I could swoon you out of here. Literally, just call me."

"I may take you up on that one of these days" He took deep breaths, Tony poured two glasses of whisky and came nearer him, inadvertently checking his pupils. Bruce couldn't help feeling watched and angry that Tony was doing that too.

"The green guy is giving you trouble?" We need to go, you need to let us free.

"It's getting… tricky. Life is not so great right now, but hey, Betty's coming to the office and that's supposed to fix everything"

"Whose idea was that? Oh, let me guess, Captain Tightpants' girlfriend" If you'd only shut up right now.

"Stop that, she means well, I know, but I don't want Betty on harm's way and if she's close to me, well, you know how things go" Tony took a long sip looking intently at his friend: dark circles under his eyes, untouched food on the back desk, loosen up shirt that fit perfectly a week ago... He could pick on a meltdown when he saw one.

"You know if you get tired of the sweet deal you got going on here you can always come to my R&D section, I even changed the building to have ceilings tall enough to fit uhm, the other you"

"I don't think the other guy is into science" he was about to toss yet another pad towards the glass wall but Tony grabbed it mid-air. We have to go, what are we waiting for?!

"Your reflexes are better with that crap on you, aren't they?"

"Oh yeah, Pepper's loving it" Oh fuck you Tony.

"Could you not gloat in front of the guy who can't have sex? Thank you"

"Yeah, about that. I was thinking, maybe now that you control better your other charming personality you could-"

"I'm not risking it. And lately…" Bruce whispered "I don't who's in control anymore" Tony drank Bruce's glass in one shot and poured another. "I'm all ears"

Bruce gazed at the camera in the corner "So are they." Bruce showed him the screen he was working on and Tony came nearer, looking amazed at the formulas and rates in front of him "Banner, you've been a naughty boy"


Fury was looking intently at Norman Osborn's speech on live television. His sugarcoated attacks towards the Avengers and SHIELD were shifting towards a more direct approach, making subtle but clear accusations to the Agency's ulterior motives.

Osborn's tie was crooked, his hairdo was uneven. Odd, his PR person was all in the details. Osborn had both of his hands on the stand. His hands… something clicked on Fury's head and he zoomed the video to have a closer look. Osborn's nails weren't dark blue anymore due to his heart condition; his hands weren't pale or wrinkled anymore. He took some screenshots and saved them on a pendrive.

Osborn's speech was finally coming to an end, receiving cheers from the crowd. Fury took a long breath and stared at the little device on his hand. He put it in his pocket when someone knocked on the door.

"What can I do for your Dr. Hoban?"

"Banner's reaching a peak, he had another seizure. I was able to retrieve samples and crossed checked them with what I could find in our database, which isn't much and his ratio is… disturbing"

"Have you run this through Dr. Morse?"

"No, I came directly to you. She's- She's compromised. Her closeness towards her marks is blurring her judgment" Fury gave him a piercing look "You disapprove"

"I don't disapprove of her attachment; I disapprove of your methods. She wasn't ready for this. Do you want them all dead? Because Dr. Hulk is one tantrum away from wrecking this entire facility!"

"Watch your tone agent Hoban." He took a deep breath. "Do you think she knows this is happening?"

"Yes, and she probably swept it under the rug like everything that's happening to that team"

"Alright, keep me posted." Hoban waited for any other order. Nothing. Fury was okay with this. How could he be okay with this?

"Anything else Dr. Hoban?" he clenched his teeth. "Agent Romanoff was pregnant sir"

"I'm aware of that" Hoban was thrown off by his knowledge. He was hesitant; he wasn't sure whether he should let Fury know of his other suspicious since it could land Penny in big trouble but ultimately, this was bigger than them. "I think there's something going on with Rogers"

"I'm also aware of his closeness with Dr. Morse and it is being handled." Hoban came nearer the desk "No, it's not that. I think he's deteriorating." Fury's eyes widened astonished. "Ok, talk."


There is something missing, I can feel it. They've taken you away and now I'm here, waiting. Waiting for what's missing. All the sky and the stars, the city in the clouds, nothing can replace what's missing.

And you know it. You know there's something about me that you don't understand. That's why you're still here, that's why you hadn't left, that's why you hadn't turned like the rest. I beat you.

I intrigued you and for that you've changed. As much as I have with everything you taught me.

But I still feel, I still care, I still want, I still love. I'm still here and I'm still me. I don't know how it'll be if I ever leave this place, I'm scared, I admit it. But that's something else you'd like to feel, isn't it? You'd love to feel what I feel. That's why I'm not dead: you think you can use me to see what that's like.

But I won't let you use me to hurt them. I will find a way to destroy you if you hurt them.

But I don't think you know what you want. I think that, strangely enough, you're confused. Yes, you are confused. You were supposed to do something but now you're trapped with me. Only, I think this is by choice now. Are you developing feelings of your own?

I do nothing but think, I'm going insane, and you won't talk to me. You'd just show me things, ask me questions without words and see my memories.

I need my life back. Please, I need my life back. I have a job, a family, a daughter I've never seen.

Nothing huh? Threats won't work. Pleading won't work. I guess you're waiting for what I'm missing too. But what will happen then? What will you do?

I feel tired. I miss you in my chest. But you're not the reason why I feel something is missing, no. My chest hurts because I miss them. I miss them. All of them.

I wish you'd let me move and explain I'm still here, that you didn't beat me, that you didn't change me like you changed them.

I wish I could move and find her and hold her close to me. I hope you won't hurt her. I hope she'd let me apologize and explain what happened. I want to see her brown wavy hair in the sun. I want to breathe her in and I want to hold my baby girl. I wonder if she looks like her mother, I hope she does, I hope she grows as beautiful as her, with her brown hair and eyes. How can I love this much someone I hadn't even met yet?

Here they are again; they're taking me somewhere else. I can hear them when they speak to me, and when they think I'm not listening. I prefer it that way. I can know what they're up to this way. All the bad decisions they're making. I should be here helping them, stopping them from making everything worse.

And what about my blond little girl? I left her all alone and she has to take of everyone now. I promised her I'd never leave her and I did. I never said goodbye.

I have to wake up. You have to let me wake up. Please, how much longer are you gonna leave me here?

You are the one who'll decide when to awake, not me. And when you do, we'll grow together, entwined.

Agent Coulson was being moved towards Substation 2 when the elevator's energy was shut down. The nurse checked his vitals and he seemed to remain in his comatose state, just as he had been since the incident. Lights came back up and the elevator started moving up again. That's when she saw that his brain activity had peaked briefly and now it was back to normal. No movement, no response to stimuli.

The nurse disregarded it and moved the patient to his new room, blaming the elevator jam to the energy blackouts they had been having the last few days.