Title: Mortem Cantor: Behind the Shield

Summary: It was a good thing the new scientist, Dr. Harry Evans, was working out so well. Because nothing else was going Fury's way. And that was before Loki made off with the Tesseract and some of his people. Maybe AU to Mortem Cantor by Kyandua.

Characters: Nicholas Fury, Harry Potter

Rating: T for Fury's language, lots of it

Disclaimer: Merely borrowing the characters and plot lines. The Harry Potter series belongs to J. K. Rowling. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (Avengers, Thor, Ironman, Hulk, Captain America, etc) belong to Marvel. Mortem Cantor (excluding parts that belong to the Harry Potter or Marvel Cinematic Universe) belongs to Kyandua. You'll also find occasional references to other movies, which belong to their respective owners.

ooo

Chapter 2: Coffee Run

[Companion to Mortem Cantor Chapter 1]

At least he hadn't expected today to go smoothly, Nick thought irritated as he stood in the massive line for Sasha's bake 'n' break. This wasn't his usual coffee bar. (He didn't actually have a usual coffee bar.) Unfortunately, some jerk pulled the fire alarm at the local Starbucks across the street. False alarm or not, the flashing lights and sirens (which the college kids running the chain still hadn't figured out how to turn off) threatened to turn his budding headache into a migraine. Which he Did Not Need right now.

'Evans', as the manager had called him, was interesting for a barista. The head of S.H.I.E.L.D. usually got a stronger reaction from civilians over his eyepatch. More importantly, the kid was packing. But Evans' interactions with his coworkers and boss suggested a long-standing familiarity built up over months at the least, so he wasn't some plant assassin for the day. Still a potential assassin, mind, but not likely there for him. Even if the Starbucks fire alarm was staged, no one knew Fury would go out for coffee today. (It's not paranoia.) "Strong black, no sugar or milk. Double shot."

The other oddity was the thin scar on Evans' forehead. The Sowilo symbol-lightning. It wouldn't even register as odd on a Good Day. But after New Mexico. Well. Lightning was supposed to precede Thunder. Except when they arrived at the same time. After paying close attention to the way 'Harry', as his nametag proclaimed, put together his coffee (there were no attempts to slip something in-Fury was almost disappointed), he accepted the cup and left. Barton followed him out. "Anything?"

"No sir." No threats from the crowd or outside. "The barista noticed me."

"Hm. His name's Harry Evans. Have someone look into him when we get back." There was no way this barista had anything to do with the clusterfuck in New Mexico or with Thor. No, Fury had another reason for looking into the kid.

Evans seemed observant. He had good instincts. Young, physically fit, and might even know how to use the weapons he'd been carrying. The kid was exactly what they looked for in potential recruits for S.H.I.E.L.D. And if the background checks turned up irregularities (which wasn't all that uncommon among potential recruits). Well. Then they'd take a closer look. (It wasn't paranoia. They were out to get him.)

"Yes sir."

When he first got involved in S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury had learned there were no such things as coincidences. Decades later, now Head of the agency, he knew that yes, there really are coincidences. They're just rare. And you can't tell coincidences from enemy action until far too late. They'd just have to wait and see which one Evans was.

"The hell? I asked for the dossier of a barista. What the fuck is this, Barton?"

"Sir, Harry Evans the barista has two Ph.D. degrees."

"Then why the fuck is he working as a barista? Nevermind. How does a teenager have two Ph.D.s? And where's the rest of the file."

"That's the problem, sir. There's nothing else. He just suddenly appears three years ago. No birth certificate, no immigration papers, no driver's license, nothing. We've got financials going back three years. He's got an apartment with a $20,000 balance on the mortgage, $50,000 in student loans, a bank account, a couple credit cards. He's been working at that coffee shop for the past two years... Oh, and you're going to love this, sir, one of his thesis papers is on a possible wormhole between here and Asgard."

What a coincidence.

"Have an invitation delivered. I have a few questions to ask Dr. Evans."