Catalyst

"It feels good, yeah?" Stark asked, stepping up to the Asgardian. "I mean, you've been after this thing..." He cast a glance at the glowing scepter, "...since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…"

"No, but this…this brings it to a close." Thor nodded, passing his hands over the item.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for." Rogers interposed, walking up, also studying the artifact. "I don't just mean weapons." He nodded back at Hawkeye meaningfully. "Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

Stark nodded, though his thoughts were clearly elsewhere. "Banner and I'll give it the once-over before it goes back to Asgard." He suggested. "Is that cool with you?" Thor gave a short nod. "I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Thor agreed, rousing himself from whatever thoughts he was caught up in. "A victory should be honored with revels."

"Yeah." There was maybe just a hint of forced cheer to Stark's tone. "Who doesn't love revels." He glanced over. "Captain?"

Rogers was still studying the scepter. "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so yes." He looked up. "Revels." He turned his gaze back to the scepter. "I feel like I've finally finished the job I'd started with SHIELD."

"And I," Thor nodded, "that I have finally erased my brother's taint on this world." His gaze lowered. "My only shame is that it has taken so long. If I had realized, when first I heard of SHIELD's fall..."

"Not your fault." Cap shook his head. "The first thing I did after SHIELD fell was go on a road trip." He gave an irritated grimace. "The scepter... all these bases we've been taking down... I didn't even think about them."

"For what it's worth, I sifted through all that SHIELD info you dumped on the net, and its official position on the scepter is that it was taken back to Asgard." Tony raised his hands. "Honestly it took me a couple seconds to think back and remember that you weren't carrying a scepter when you took Norse Hitler back to Cloud City."

"I should have." Thor had grown used to Tony's irreverences, and no longer gave them a second thought. "I should have realized the power of the scepter; man was not meant to bear such tools." He sighed. "Such things have no hold on my mind, I fear."

Tony's eyebrows had jumped a little at the 'man was not meant' comment, but curiously he let it slide. "Well, fortunately it was on somebody's mind." He said, turning away.

"In case you're wondering, General?" Coulson said to the flabbergasted General Talbot, as they looked up at the suddenly de-cloaked Bus, "That's just the tip of the iceberg." Turning, he walked as slowly as he dared toward the quinjet decloaking on the grass. "Let's get out of here before the 'iceberg' runs out of gas." He muttered under his breath, jogging up the ramp.

"You got it, sir." Tripp said, clicking the relays on the cockpit. The ramp rose up and Coulson felt the floor of the quinjet lurch as it lifted off the ground.

"Big Bird here. Transmissions from Talbot's convoy... he's scrambling harriers to intercept." The radio resounded through the cockpit.

"Copy, Big Bird." Coulson nodded, settling into one of the seats lining the Quinjet. "Shadow protocol. Engage cloak and divert to appropriate safe houses. Radio silence. All squads rendezvous at the Playground."

"Roger that, Tweety Bird." The radio went silent.

"Engaging cloak." Tripp clicked a switch on the dash and a ripple of energy flowed over the craft. "Hey, boss?" He said, turning. "who chose the code names?"

"Me." Coulson glanced at him. "Why?"

"No reason." Tripp gave a quick shake of his head.

"No, really, why?"

"Really, I was just wondering, sir." Tripp coughed. "Shame that General Talbot couldn't be brought around."

"Mm." Coulson winced. "We're severely underpowered, we need allies of some kind. We have absolutely no muscle—at least nothing that can match Hydra's."

"We did okay against Creel." Tripp objected.

"Against a single agent." Coulson was still frowning. "Barely. Just the fact that Hydra was able to recruit him is bad enough." He seemed to think. "If that's what they did..."

Tripp glanced back. "Sir?"

"Just a thought... Creel's always been muscle-for-hire." Coulson said, settling back into his seat. "But the way he charged at me so his handler could get away..." A shake of the head. "That's not mercenary behavior."

There was a silence.

"Brainwashing, sir?"

Coulson gave a sour nod. "Simmons reports indicated they've been experimenting with it for a while, but..." He shook his head, "...nothing quite on this level. We need to find out what they're doing, and fast."

"You said Hydra had a way of 'convincing' people." Skye commented, glowering at the traitor in the cage. "You were talking about brainwashing, weren't you?"

Ward gave a little nod. "It's not done often." He answered softly. "But it's done. It's a lot of work and some people aren't susceptible. Mostly used on high-value targets."

"Like you?"

Ward gave a slow, sad shake of his head. "I wish I could say that's what happened." He said, giving a little smile. "But I swore I'd never lie to you."

Skye stared at him, waiting for a response.

"No." Ward shook his head. "I was never brainwashed. Everything I did, good and bad, I did of my own free will. When Garret first brought me on—Mind control at that point hadn't gone much beyond LSD and image montages."

"They're a little... past that, now." Skye said, bitterly. She wasn't happy with what had happened to Tommy.

"That's recent." Ward confirmed. "Real recent. Until two years ago, brainwashing was mostly a laboratory experiment."

Skye frowned. "Why?"

"Above my pay grade." Ward shook his head. "Garret didn't do much with brainwashing—he held that the 'incentive program' made for more effective soldiers. I mostly heard about it secondhand—from other Hydra cells that were using techniques Strucker'd developed. But where he got the inspiration..." A shrug.

'You've got to know more than that." Skye challenged.

Ward sighed. "There was one time. Strucker reached out to Garret—maybe as a way of ensuring his loyalty, I don't know—and offered him a special deal. See..." Ward gestured, "I told you that a lot of people weren't susceptible. The methods they were using then had about a 50-50 success rate. But." Ward held up a hand. "Strucker told Garret that, for especially valuable prisoners, there was a foolproof procedure."

"What procedure?"

Another shrug. "All I know is that Strucker said he alone could administer it. Garret never took him up on it."

Skye started as a thought occurred to her. "Would he have done that... with Coulson?"

Ward blinked, apparently thrown by the question. "I... don't know." He admitted. "No." He said, after a moment's thought. "Garret never trusted Strucker, and he definitely wouldn't have trusted him with Coulson."

"Would you have done that with me?" Skye's mouth had a harder twist.

Ward was quiet for a moment. "I said I would be honest." He mused quietly. "I don't... think so. Certainly not at first."

"Later?"

Ward lowered his gaze. "Maybe."

"What now, you sick scum?" Agent 33 hissed, as the Hydra agents took her off the harness. "Finally accepted that you'll never break me?"

"In a sense." Whitehall smiled. The former SHIELD agent was shackled and dragged over to a specialized shipping container. "Let us say that I am convinced that we will break your mind before we break your will."

"Told you." Snarled 33 triumphantly. "You should have saved yourself some time, just shot me MMARRRGGgghh..."

"Fortunately," Whitehall continued, as a gag/oxygen mask was fitted over the captive's face, "there is a Hydra facility devoted specifically for breaking resilient wills like yours." He gave a small wave as the agent was stuffed into the shipping container and the lid locked shut. "Do say hello to the Baron for me."

"Are we there yet?"

"No." Coulson answered.

"This conveyance is inefficient, and this journey is pointless." Sif grunted from her seat. "The bifrost may be accessed anywhere on earth, we do not need to go to this location of yours."

"No," Coulson agreed. "But it's a lot more convenient for SHIELD if the energy-beam-from-the-skies happens a long way away from civilization and recording devices."

Sif rolled her eyes, but she sat back. "There was another task that Odin gave to me." She said, after a few moments. "I have no time to pursue it now, but perhaps, you, son of Coul..."

"Shoot." Coulson shrugged.

"Loki's scepter." Sif answered. "It was not Asgardian, but we have reason to believe it was an item of great power. Such things can be... disruptive." She faced Coulson. "It was Odin's wish that while on earth, I should respectfully request SHIELD to return the item to Asgard for study and safekeeping."

Coulson blinked. "SHIELD never recovered the staff. We assumed that Romanov had given it to Thor and Thor..." His voice trailed off and his eyes widened.

"Crap."

"Loki's sceptre." Simmons brought the hologram up on screen.

"Gave me my killing blow. Sorta." Coulson shrugged. "Asgard thought we had it, we thought Asgard had it."

"Three guesses as to who probably does." May said tersely.

"This is the likely source of Strucker's breakthrough." Simmons gestured to the hologram. "An artifact like this could easily jump Hydra's neurological re-writing program fifty years into the future, providing them with the means to produce indoctrinated individuals like the ones we've seen."

"Probably also the 'foolproof technique' that he mentioned to Garret." Bobbi Morse, standing off to the side, nodded. "Loki's mind-control was too unstable—a single blow to the head would shake the victim out of it—but if you used this to get the victim into a suggestible state, and then supplemented that with the other methods..." A shake of the head. "You'd have a dependable, rock-solid brainwash."

"It's literally a weapon of the gods." Coulson chewed his lip, staring at the image. "Extremely disturbing to think of Hydra having their hands on it."

"There is some good news." Simmons insisted brightly. "Apparently the staff gives off a unique energy signature."

And the bad news?" May asked, drily.

Simmons winced, "Our satellites are unable to locate the signature. Strucker must be masking it somehow."

"And guarding it, with more resources than we can imagine." Coulson nodded. Simmons looked at him nervously, but Coulson did not look grim or resigned, just thoughtful.

"Skye's new powers..." Fitz started.

"Can we not call them that?" Simmons interrupted.

Fitz flushed and seemed about to respond, but Coulson cut him off. "We need to find it first. Simmons, Fitz, Mac." He turned to the duo. "Look at Dr. Banner's research on the staff just prior to the Battle of New York. He may have some insights that can help you find the signature again." Turning again, he looked to Bobbi and May. "Intel on this staff and its housing-"he jabbed a finger at the hologram, "—are now priority one for our intelligence cells. We especially want to know where it is being held, but info on the masking device will work too." Bobbi and May gave him a short nod.

"Good." Coulson dropped his arms and moved away from the hologram table. "Now. I need to make a call."

"Asgard didn't have it?"

"Apparently not." Coulson shook his head.

"Christ..." Hill placed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "…what a mess. Alien tech, loose in the wrong hands, alien tech that BRAINWASHES people, no less." A sigh. "This could potentially destabilize..."

"Maria..." Coulson interrupted, just a bit of tightness in his jaw. "You don't need to stress the importance of this to ME."

Hill stopped. "Right." She sighed.

"Anyway, there is a bright side." Coulson shrugged. "This is exactly the sort of thing we need—a unified threat to bring the Avengers back together.

Hill's face took on interest. "Hawkeye and Thor, certainly. Probably even Romanov." She shook her head. "But forget about Cap. He's gone to ground, I doubt even you know where he is."

"I don't." Coulson admitted. "But I think I know someone who does..."

It was a large graveyard, with nothing to be seen for miles but tombstones and grass. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, barely anywhere to hide even a planted microphone.

All of which made it a perfect place for the current Director of SHIELD. He stood by a particular grave, but despite the flowers clutched casually in one hand, he did not seem particularly interested in it. He kept glancing around, as if looking for something.

"Somethin' on your mind?"

The sudden voice made Coulson jump and half-turn. "Seriously, someday you need to teach me how to sneak up on people like that." He grinned at the dark-skinned man in sunglasses looming just over his shoulder. "It's wicked cool."

Nicholas J. Fury, former director of SHIELD, raised his eyebrows at his successor. "What do you want, Coulson?"

"To learn how to do that." Coulson shrugged. "But also..." He passed over a file. "I need you to talk to a mutual friend of ours."

Fury opened the folder. His eyebrow went higher. "Well, that IS an oversight." He mused. "Loki's sceptre, huh?"

"Wherever it's being stored, the team and I don't have the punch to get to it." Coulson grimaced.

"So pass it onto Hill, let her handle it." Fury handed him back the file. "Isn't that what you've been doing?"

Coulson looked at his old boss with something akin to wonder. "You know, I thought I was supposed to be the new spymaster."

Fury shrugged. "Can't blame an old man for hearing things."

Coulson shook his head and looked away. "I need your help." He stated plainly. "With Hill, and with another project I'm working on."

A slow grin spread across Fury's face. "Trying to get me back into the world?"

Coulson grinned back. "Trying to save it."

A/N: The scepter is an example of a wasted opportunity. It was so thrown-in-at the last minute, and it could have been integrated so well with the mind-control subplot that the series had going on all season. And it could have been this cool moment-Coulson hunting for the weapon that killed him... And it just wasn't. It was a quick easter egg at the end of an episode. Not sure if it was because Marvel Studios didn't let AoS do anything, of because they didn't have time, but either way... DISAPPOINT.

I was told once that there is an account/comic strip/one-shot that details how Hydra got the staff. If there is, I couldn't find any info on it (which sort of explains why Marvel misses opportunities like this-they have SO many tie-ins to organize, they can't quite keep track of what they have and haven't said.)

This chapter was actually written last week. But then I stopped, because I realized, "no, they started rebuilding the helicarrier BEFORE the start of Season 2. I should go back before then and show the story of how they rebuilt the helicarrier before I talk about the scepter."

Stopped doing that for two reasons. One, it's more dramatic than the scepter, and I want to save it for later. Two, it was ballooning out of control and getting a lot longer than I intended this 'deleted scenes' fic to be. So now, potentially, my deleted scenes fic has more deleted scenes, unless people are crushingly interested in how Coulson got Hill to work with him to the extent we see in this chapter.

On that note, review! I love how many faves and follow this story has gotten- a lot more than I expected, to be honest-but I love getting more concrete/tangible expressions to connect me with my readers.