Chapter 18


"Yeah, okay we get it, you're good at illusions. You can wake up now. And clean up the mess you've made of my kitchen." Tony's voice was flat and unamused.

Bruce, on the other hand, looked highly amused. "Maybe he really is dead. That, or he'll rise in a minute and begin the zombie apocalypse. Explain that one to SHIELD."

"Explain what to SHIELD?" came a voice from around the corner.

Both men spun rapidly to face the owner of the voice.

"Um, stay where you are!" Tony ordered meekly.

"Right. That's gonna work, Stark." Agent Coulson stepped around the corner, his eyes shining positively gleefully. "What's the big secret?"

Bruce backed slowly away from the kitchen in an effort to get some space, eyes wide in anticipation of what was about to unfold.

"Really, Agent… I think you should stay there… I'll explain to you over a drink!" He stepped forward in a half-hearted attempt to divert the SHIELD agent.

"Move aside, Tony." Coulson's voice was hard and flat. A direct order.

"Hey, I'm not technically a member of your force - don't play well and all that – so I don't actually have to take any orders – hey!"

Coulson pushed past him into the kitchen. Tony closed his eyes and waited.

There was a generous silence, then, "Oh. Here I was thinking the worst, and I find you two just wanted to have some fun without me?"

Tony frowned. "What?" He turned around and just about choked in his surprise. His previously blood-soaked kitchen was spotless, the limp body replaced by a very alive-looking girl wearing – well, not wearing very much really. She had medium length sleek black hair, bright green eyes, a very tiny black sequinned swimsuit and large black bunny ears. She smiled sweetly at Coulson. She turned and winked at Tony, whose jaw had practically hit the floor.

"Really though, I'd expect this kind of thing from Tony, but not from you Bruce." He turned questioningly to the Doctor.

The man, who had gone quite an impressive shade of red, raised his hands in surrender. "Believe me when I say: This is not what it looks like!"

Coulson smiled slightly amused. "Riiiight. I haven't heard that one before."

Tony spluttered then said, "No, really. I'm just as surprised to see her as you are."

"Right, okay. So, she just walked in here uninvited, through all your security, and you were just in the process of kicking her out when I came over. It all makes sense now." The agent replied sarcastically.

The other two men exchanged a look. "Well, he was actually pretty close." Bruce stated.

Coulson frowned and looked between them. "Wait… really?"

Tony turned to him. "Well, you just got in here uninvited, through all my security, didn't you?"

The man blinked. "Well, that's part of why I was here to see you. I tried to call you but your phone seems to be down… and when I got here, nothing was locked and your doorbell system wasn't going either. What happened to Jarvis?"

A dark look crossed Tony's face. "Jarvis is… temporarily out of action."

Coulson glanced up at the girl standing beside him who was now fiddling with her hair in a rather ditsy fashion. "Do you mind if we talk somewhere… private? Something weird has been going on…"

Bruce looked up sharply. "What's going on?"

Coulson glanced uneasily at the girl again. "Seriously, who is she?"

Bruce waved his hand impatiently. "It's fine. What's been happening?"

The other man's mouth tilted uneasily, but he explained anyway. "I got a call yesterday from the Director asking me to investigate some unexplained power cuts and surges happening in a certain area of the city."

"Fury? Asking?" Tony cut in with a snort.

Coulson threw him a withering look. He continued. "I started to get uneasy once I looked into it more. It seemed to be much more widespread than Fury had made it out to be. And…" he paused uneasily, "the problem appears to be getting worse very quickly…"

Bruce frowned. "What do you mean?" His breath sounded short and Tony glanced up at him warily.

Coulson continued. "Well, places that were unaffected by the cuts yesterday had started to get small power outages today, and the places with the cuts yesterday were getting them more frequently today. Also the affected area is growing very rapidly. It gives me a bad feeling, especially since the cause is completely unknown. We have no idea what is causing this. When I realised the new affected area contained Stark Tower… well I called. I thought maybe it was something you were doing? Or at least, that you wouldn't be affected since the Tower has its own power source…" he trailed off.

"It's not the power supply that's being affected." The dark-haired girl spoke up. "It's the equipment."

There was a shocked silence.

"How do you figure that?" Tony asked slowly. "Before Jarvis went down, there were no readings out of the ordinary. What kind of interference leaves no trace?"

"Leaves no trace that you can detect." The girl corrected. She smiled sweetly. "I believe you people would call it magical interference."

There was a click of the safety coming off a gun and Coulson raised his arm to set the girl in his targets. "Okay, that's it. No one moves until I know who the hell she is."