AN and Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers - I just use them to satisfy my muse.
Here's another chapter for you to enjoy and things are beginning to pick up!
Chapter 13:
Emma awoke with a smile on her face as she realized that she was held in the protective embrace of her husband. This was the perfect way to wake up everyday. It took them long enough to finally get to this point, but it was well worth the wait.
But her smile was short lived when her cell phone started to ring on the bedside table. She answered it, just as Clint began to wake up.
"Who was that?" he asked groggily as she hung up the phone a moment later.
"Fury," she said quickly getting out of bed and throwing on the first outfit she could find.
"What did he want?"
"I just need to fill out some paperwork. You know the typical bureaucratic bullshit that needs to be taken care of to keep in business."
"Gimme a sec and I'll go with you."
"It's alright," she said stealing a quick kiss. "He's waiting for me downstairs. I'll meet you in the common room in a few minutes. We'll get some breakfast then got workout on my targeting skills. Lord only knows that I need to work on my shooting."
"Ok."
"Where's Emma?" Banner asked as he, Steve, Clint and Natasha all gathered for breakfast. Tony had already gotten an early morning start on working on one of his new Ironman suits.
"She had to meet with Fury for a few minutes. She won't be long." Clint said as he took added milk to his bowl of cereal. As he went for his first bite, the doors to the elevator opened and out stepped Fury and Emma. But they weren't alone. He dropped his spoon back into the bowl in shock and disbelief.
All the assembled Avengers sat in shock at the sight of the third person that had been in the elevator.
"Umm, JARVIS," Banner said aloud. "Tell Tony he might want to come down here right now."
"Yes sir," the AI said.
Tony was deep into his work on his newest Ironman suit when JARVIS cut in. "Sir, Dr. Banner requests your presence in the common room. He sounded rather urgent."
"Really now? Let's just go see what has the good doctor all in a tizzy," he said standing up from his desk and taking the stairs down.
It didn't take him long to reach the floor where the common area was. "What's the commotion all about?" he asked coming out of the stairwell. But as soon as he saw Fury and the new person he had a hard time finding his words.
"What the hell is this!" he finally said.
"This is the result of modern medicine and technology working quickly to save a life," Fury said as Emma helped Phil Coulson slowly stand up out of the wheelchair that he had been sitting in.
"But we all thought you died!" Natasha said in disbelief.
"Oh I did. For a few minutes," Coulson said.
"They said you were down," Steve added.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that one is dead." Emma said as she helped Coulson over toward the group.
"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why keep this a secret?" Banner asked.
"Coulson was touch and go for about a week. We had him in isolation and were working to stabilize him. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. medics had done that, he needed time to recover. I honestly thought that Coulson was gone, just like all of you did." Fury added.
"But now I just need some more time to recover then I will be back bothering all of you," he said as he sat down at the table with the group that was still in disbelief. "I just wanted to come by and see everyone before I left for Portland for a few weeks."
"Aww the cellist," Tony said.
Coulson nodded before turning to look at Clint, who hadn't spoken a word. "This isn't your fault Clint," he said reaching out and placing a hand on Clint's shoulder. "Now get over your little pity party or I will have Emma hang you off the side of this building with no means of escape. You and I both know that she can and will do that."
Behind him, Emma smiled evilly. She had done something similar to that before to some Italian mob bosses before. But she would make it worse for her husband.
Clint nodded at Coulson's remarks as his eyes moved between him and Emma.
After a few more minutes of visiting, Fury and Coulson left to go to the airport. Everyone was still in shock that their favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had survived the stabbing by Loki. "You know what! This deserves a celebration! We never really celebrated that fact that we survived Loki's attack ourselves besides with shawarma. Pepper is planning my annual birthday bash for this weekend out at the old house in the Hamptons. You are all invited of course, but this gives us more of a reason to celebrate. We'll go out a few days early and relax."
No one seemed to disagree.
He slowly walked down the crowded Brooklyn street. Parts of it all seemed to be from a hazy dream to him – a past life that he couldn't remember. He shook the thoughts aside as he found his target: the Books Galore! shop. He entered the old shop and glanced all around for someone to help him or even for his target.
"Can I help you sir?" a young female voice asked.
He turned to look at a young woman, probably in her early 20s standing behind a counter. "yes, I was looking for Emma Carter. She is an old friend of mine from high school and I was in town and wanted to get back in touch with her."
"Sorry, she took a leave of absence for family reasons."
"Oh too bad. But thank you for your help," he said turning and leaving the shop.
Once outside he sighed. He wasn't used to failure. He still had another target to track. Perhaps by tracking this target – the Black Widow – he could find where Emma Carter had gone as well.
