Recruitment Drive: Reaching an Accord

Chapter 2

The train slowed to a stop at Chicago Union Station and disgorged its passengers. Among those two passengers were two fugitive SHIELD agents.

"And I thought British Rail was slow." Hunter said.

"Agreed, but you don't need to go through Homeland Security checkpoints to use Amtrak," Coulson pointed out, "Let me check the L routes to figure out how to get to our destination."

"Hopefully it won't take too long. Spring just started. Why is it so bloody cold?"

It took them half an hour to reach the headquarters of PENTAGRAM. Once they were at the castle, Coulson found that the guard looked like the base was on high alert for some reason.

"Can I help you?" The large man at the door asked.

"I'm Director Coulson, this is Agent Hunter. We need to speak with Agent Murphy. Can we come in?"

"I don't know. Can you?" The man stepped aside, but did not open the door.

"Alright, wise guy," Hunter said. "MAY we come in?"

"No, I phrased it right. I want to see if you two are physically capable of crossing the threshold without my permission."

Hunter's briefly wondered about that exchange, and his mind recalled bits of some bad Hammer Horror movies. "Daring us to enter without an invitation. Is he checking to see if we're vampires or something?"

"Possibly," Coulson admitted. He opened the door and stepped through, with Hunter following. Nothing happened.

The inside of the castle looked just as tense as the outside. They were stopped at another security checkpoint before reaching Murphy's office.

"We're going to need further proof of identity before you go any further." The young man in front of them said.

"You've met me before, Agent Borden." Coulson pointed out.

"I've met Director Coulson before, yes. And you do look like him. But I'll need more proof than that." He held out a pair of needles. "Bleed."

"What the bloody..." Hunter began.

"If you're imposters under a glamour, pricking yourself with a steel needle will dispel the illusion. And shapeshifters can't emulate human blood."

"Maybe we need add those to the list of things we need to test with the lie detector chair," Coulson quipped as he took one of the needles and pricked his finger.

After watching a drop of blood form on each of the visitor's fingers, Agent Borden relaxed.

"Okay, now that I'm sure that you're human, you can come in. Sorry about that. Things have been rather tense since that stunt the people from that other SHIELD pulled."

"They've already been through?" Hunter asked. "I knew we shouldn't have taken the train."

"No, you listen to me, Commander. Do you know what happened to the last person to commit a large-scale infraction against the Accords? Let me tell you. Mab manipulated him into destroying his professional reputation to the point where it will be centuries before any other faction in the supernatural community will trust him enough to take a job from him, murdering his own daughter, and then, for an encore, humiliated him in front of his own men to the point where they all jumped ship. I'd gone up against Nicodemus a few times before all that happened to him, and know first hand that he's a complete monster, and even I think it was cruel.

"Maybe you're willing to risk the wrath of the Winter Court over an incident where your man was clearly in the wrong, but I'm not. Stay out of Chicago and do not contact us again until you and your Council are willing accept responsibility for your actions and make reparations." Murphy slammed the phone down.

"I take it that was about the incident that Agent Borden mentioned earlier?" A voice chimed in.

Looking up, Murphy saw Director Coulson, along with another man she didn't recognize.

"Director. I was hoping you'd be trying to get in contact with me after what happened a few days ago. Could you tell me what this SHIELD Council and what's going on?"

Coulson paused to collect his thoughts. "The SHIELD Council is a self-appointed group founded by loyal agents who successfully held off HYDRA's attack last year and banded together. I had no idea they existed until they attacked the Playground last week, though I had been trying to find out what had happened to some of their members."

"When their representatives showed up, they claimed that you were keeping secrets - some project called Theta Protocol that you were planning to use for some kind of power grab, and that they relieved you because of it. They got really upset when I asked what authority they had to do so."

"Of course I'm keeping secrets. That's my job," Coulson pointed out. "I know that you're keeping secrets from me as well, but I'm not going to remove you over them unless I can prove that they're endangering my people or the mission. As for Theta Protocol, all you need to know is that it has absolutely nothing to do with your department. I was actually looking for the leader of the Council because I was hoping to put him in charge of the project. If he'd approached me about it openly, I'd have read him in within an hour of his clearing the security screen."

Murphy facepalmed. "If what you're saying is true, then they really are jumping to conclusions too quickly - something that their side of the story made rather possible. The closest thing they had to proof of anything is rather suggestive evidence that Agent Groves is up to something, but they have no idea what."

"She could be," Coulson admitted, "But so long as HYDRA is around, her immediate goals coincide with SHIELD's. Until then, she can be trusted to act against them. Now, what exactly did the Council's representatives do that has you on high alert?"

Coulson's listened as Murphy described the incident that Agent Calderon had kicked off while he had been traveling to Chicago. Coulson grimaced.

"So this guy harassed a girl in a pub," Hunter said, "Why are you acting like this is a major calamity?"

"If it was that simple, it wouldn't be," Murphy admitted. "Unfortunately, Molly Carpenter isn't just any girl, and Mac's isn't just any pub. The closest analogy in the mundane world would be if you assaulted the Vice President of the United States in the canteen of a neutral embassy."

"And SHIELD has enough problems right now without picking a fight with a paranormal superpower," Coulson agreed. "Agent Murphy, try to see if you can get me a meeting with either Ms Carpenter or a representative. We need to smooth things over before things get any worse."

The next day, Murphy took Coulson and Hunter to McAnnaly's Pub for the meeting. Standing on the other side of the bar was a woman in her early twenties, with a bandage wrapped around one wrist.

"Lady Winter, be known to Philip James Coulson, Director of SHIELD," Murphy formally introduced them. "Director, be known to Lady Margaret Katherine Amanda Carpenter, Queen-to-be of the Winter Fae."

Coulson bowed. "My Lady."

The woman's eyes were cold. "Why should I wish to speak with SHIELD, given the insult given to me the last time they spoke to me?"

"I came here to discuss that incident with you. If you wish, you may ask our host to confirm that I have no iron on my person as a sign of good faith." Coulson had made sure of that before going to the meeting. It hadn't surprised him that Murphy had commissioned several outfits that had no metal fasteners for agents sent on diplomatic meetings with the Fae. He had borrowed one in his size for the occasion.

At Lady Winter's nod, Coulson was searched and revealed to be clean. The two sat down at one of the tables.

"Lady Winter, on behalf of SHIELD I would like to formally apologize for the incident that occurred last week. Agent Calderon was not acting under my orders when he attacked you. SHIELD has no grounds or desire to seek a conflict with Winter."

"If that is the case, why was he here to seek a quarrel?" The air grew colder.

Coulson sighed. "Calderon is part of a group that was presumed lost in the aftermath of the Insight incident last year. They do not acknowledge my authority at this time."

The woman raised one eyebrow. "A leader whose subordinates refuse to follow?"

"A matter I am working to correct. While I cannot speak for the faction that Calderon has aligned himself with, I am willing to offer reparations for the breach of the Accords on behalf of my own."

Lady Winter paused to think. "There is a task that I need done. I would consider its completion to be appropriate reparation."

"And what would that task be?"

The woman laughed briefly. "Not going to agree to it in advance? I see that SHIELD doesn't pick fools to lead them," She produced a folder. "This will provide you with information on a dangerous item that has gotten loose in the mortal world. The task is to bring the item, or proof of its destruction, to me."

Coulson picked up the folder and walked over to his colleagues.

"What was that bit about not agreeing to it in advance about?" Hunter asked.

"Every study mythology? There are tales all over the place about people promising to do someone a favor without asking what the favor is first, and find themselves obliged to do something they regret," Coulson pointed out.

"I can name a few times I got caught with that by my ex-wife." Hunter conceded.

"So what is the item she wants us to track down?" Murphy wondered, opening the folder. Then she froze. "Uh-oh,"

"You know what that is?" Coulson inquired.

"I know of it. And if it's currently in circulation, we need to find it and either lock it up in Demonreach or give it the Mount Doom treatment as soon as possible."

"It looks like an old knife." Hunter said.

"It isn't just an old knife. It's the Athame of Morgan le Fae."

In the heart of Arctis Tor, Molly Carpenter stood before Mab, Queen-that-is of the Winter Fae.

"So you have accepted this Coulson's apology?" Mab inquired.

"Not quite, but while his people are endeavoring to recover that knife for us as a sign of good faith I believe we should leave them alone. If we can secure the Athame, Nemesis' ability to influence matters on this side of the Gates will be reduced considerably. It is not in our best interests to hinder them."

"And what of this other faction? This SHIELD Council? Will you send the Knight to avenge you?"

Molly knew she was being tested. "No. At least not yet. I don't want to kill them. There are other ways to express my displeasure."

A/N: Coulson's middle name is unknown, but his middle initial is J, so I chose something.

The Athame is a canon DF artifact, that has been causing problems for a very long time.

Molly is acting OOC, but this is a very formal situation, and given what happened she's resisting the urge to use her skills in illusion to make random SHIELD agents mistake the traffic signals on busy intersections. So she's channeling Mab to make it clear that she's speaking as the Winter Lady, not Molly Carpenter.

Next time, the Council learns why you shouldn't meddle in the affairs of fairies. They are inventive and quick to anger.