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.

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 Series) belongs to Kyandua. You'll also find occasional references to other movies, which belong to their respective owners.

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Author's note: No I will not be rewriting Behind the Shield. There's a disclaimer in the first chapter that this story might not be compliant with Mortem Cantor. I figure that covers any parts that might not match up anymore.

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Chapter 7: Consequences

[Entire chapter occurs around/during Mortem Cantor Chapter 14]

Fury rummaged through the drawers of Dr. Foster's lab, looking for the tools he needed. Agent Hill had come through for him at the hospital. Since Foster and her team were in Norway, he shouldn't be disturbed by anyone curious about what he was up to.

Fury had intended to see whatever it was that had alarmed Evans under the microscope. But after the last few days, he had a more pressing experiment to conduct. Like a DNA test.

Not that he actually thought that Evans was related to Banner.

Of course not.

But, well... it was a bad idea to completely discount an idea just because it came from a disreputable source (i.e. the S.H.I.E.L.D. rumor mill). S.H.I.E.L.D. hired the best and brightest and sometimes those minds made connections no one else did. 'Utterly ridiculous' and 'truth' were not mutually exclusive.

And it was a matter of importance if the kid was actually related to Banner. Or even Hill. Foster's lab still held Banner's tissue and blood samples (under lock and key, not that that would stop the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and he had a sample of Hill's blood (that she didn't know about and never would).

No one else needed to know he was even considering Romanova's nonsense.

Especially not Romanova.

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Just as he'd thought, Evans and Banner (and Hill) were not related. And didn't Fury feel a little ridiculous for even entertaining the idea. Fury shook his head at himself over his naivety. Then he paused and glanced again at the remaining blood in the vial... and remembered who'd drawn it. If Evans were related to Hill, she'd probably switch it with someone else...

Goddamnit! Sometimes, Fury hated being so paranoid. This was going to bother him. He'd have to collect a DNA sample himself if he really wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Unfortunately, he'd wasted too much time on this as it was. He needed to put the vial back in storage and get back to the bridge. Maybe when this week's crisis had passed he'd have some free time to investigate further.

(Free time, yeah right.)

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Loki had taken Dr. Selvig. Their leading expert. The scientist who'd spent the most time studying the device, coming up with the breakthroughs that had allowed them to make working weapon prototypes. That on top of whatever arcane knowledge Loki himself might hold.

Only three scientists from the Tessaract project had survived the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base. They were all Fury had to fight Loki on the scientific front.

Unfortunately, two of the surviving scientists had been critically injured and had yet to wake up. One of the two had yet another surgery scheduled for tomorrow. Which left him with only one Dr. Harry Evans.

Fury didn't particularly like those odds.

But he was used to them.

And as unlikely as it was, maybe Evans could pull it off anyway. It was too late now, but he'd had Dr. Foster investigate the wormhole Evans had discussed in his thesis. The spot had slowly but steadily gotten brighter and larger until it rapidly dilated about six hours before Loki opened the 'door'. That was all before they'd shipped her and her assistant off to Norway for their safety—if Loki went after them, hopefully old Norse territory would be the last place he looked.

For all that the kid was only a kid, Evans had managed to identify and track the wormhole that Loki had come through, with only his own personal resources. With all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s equipment and a team of experienced scientists behind him (and a considerably smaller search area than the entire universe), maybe the kid could find the Tesseract.

So he would put Evans in charge of the search.

(Yes, Fury was still an optimist. Pessimists didn't survive long in positions of authority in S.H.I.E.L.D., before turning into insane nutcases. ... no Fury was not an insane nutcase.)

Fury'd give the kid whatever help S.H.I.E.L.D. could offer, manpower-wise. Such as it was.

A couple dozen scientists had been called to report to the Helicarrier before takeoff—some of their best, but none of them had any skill or experience in this area. (The Tesseract project had already sucked up anyone who did.)

Plus anyone who could possibly get up to speed in under a day (which probably meant he'd have to let Stark in on the project finally, damn it all. At least the pest's midlife crisis would benefit S.H.I.E.L.D for once. But the day he put Stark in charge of anything was the day Hill shot him as an imposter. As she should).

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On a completely unrelated note, Fury wanted Evans nowhere near the gamma radiation research. Not anymore. After the Spork Incident... he did not need Evans turning himself into a Hulk on accident (and not just because of what that would do to the rumor mill).

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"What, Romanoff?"

She shrugged, "Nothing new really. Some accusations of nepotism. Putting your step-son in charge of the science department after so little time."

Fury nodded. That was only to be expected.

"Oh, no wait," she continued, happily the moment he'd relaxed, damn her, "there was that one rumor about white room training."

"What."

"Like in the Matrix with the brain implants and the virtual reality and the downloading information directly into the brain," Romanova explained, knowledgeably. "His scientific understanding is much better than his age suggests and then there's those advanced ninja moves he pulled in the gym. Those are clearly downloaded.

"But he's also clearly still getting used to being out in the real world. He's a complete klutz. I didn't know it was possible to get that many papercuts on accident. He's constantly got small bruises on his shins or elbows or forehead. Every day, he's limping differently from some new injury. And he's got a ridiculous explanation every time—tripping or standing up too fast or falling down the stairs—I'd inquire about domestic abuse, but I'm pretty sure the parrot isn't responsible.

"And then there's his ignorance. A couple years in the real world were enough to get him up to date with a lot of the usual cultural references, but there are obvious gaps when you go looking.

"Plus," she grinned suddenly, "you pull of the Morpheus look perfectly."

Fury struggled to remember why he was allowing her to get away with this. Better than Coulson. Right. Coulson's revenge had been cruel and unusual, and Romanova was a compulsive overachiever. She'd find a way to do worse. He could put up with rumors. He had to.

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Fury gave Coulson a few moments to page through the Avenger files. He'd be calling a meeting soon enough, but Coulson, as their handler, needed to be briefed on his new team first. Fury was going to enjoy this.

Sure enough, Coulson stilled, staring at the name on one particular folder near the end of the stack. "You said he was just a consultant." Coulson accused.

Fury shrugged. "I lied."

"You're an asshole, sir."

Fury holds back a grin. "But I'm an equal-opportunity asshole. Do tell Agent Hill I haven't forgotten her."

As Coulson leaves to prepare for the meeting, Fury allows himself that grin. Coulson had gotten stuck on Stark's Avenger status and hadn't yet noticed the other file Fury had slipped in. He'd find out soon enough.

Two down. See how Romanova liked being Stark's teammate. Putting all his headaches on one team was somewhat risky, but Fury has hope that it won't backfire on him too badly. (Of course it will. Still utterly worth it.)

Now he just had Hill left to deal with. Perhaps he should start doing something about those rumors. They might start to die down if left alone long enough and that just wouldn't do. And someone needed to introduce Banner and Evans.

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[Possible future after Barton attacks the Helicarrier]

"By the way, I know this isn't a good time, but you owe me $200 and have to spend the next week calling me Master and waiting on me hand and foot."

Clint Barton frowned from his hospital bed, "The bet? That's not fair Nat, I wasn't able to do anything this past week. Though, I did attack the Helicarrier... and I shot Fury, so technically, I should win."

"Not your fault." Natasha flicked her fingers at his forehead. "And I definitely won. Fury's second wife is Agent Hill, his step-son is that new scientist you brought in, who happens to be Bruce Banner's biological son who inherited the Hulk's invulnerability and spent most his life in the Matrix learning astrophysics and chemistry and how to be a ninja."

"..."

"Fury lets me repeat all the rumors to him because I was so broken up over your kidnapping."

"...you win, Master."