Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for Lucy and her story line. All other parts belong to MARVEL.
Author's Note: Alright, we're getting down to the nitty gritty bits that take place right before the Avengers, you know what that means ;) this also means that this story is coming to a close; however, the sequel, which will start with the Avengers, is coming soon. I try and update every day or every other day so the wait shouldn't be too long. Thank you to all my fav/followers and a shout out to the reviewers. You guys make my day.
Love, thisismymo
Prologue – 1943 Over the Arctic Circle…
The landing wheels, that were the size of the super soldier himself, retracted into the plane, taking Steve with them. Inside Steve saw giant bombs that were labeled for the city they would destroy. New York, Chicago, the list went on and on. Hydra soldiers were running through the plane when Steve intercepted their destination. Swinging down from above he knocked one man over the side of the rail, punched another, and threw a discarded knife at the last soldier. Turning to the manual controls, he deployed one of the bombs, causing the masked man who was sprawled across it to fall out of the ship. Picking up another man, Steve threw him out the opening as well.
The Hydra soldier free fell along with the ejected suicide drone bomb that was meant for Chicago. Grabbing onto the top of the aircraft he hefted it open and pulled himself inside. The frozen ground was getting closer by the second. Frantically adjusting the knobs and buttons the Hydra agent tried to regain control. Boom! It was too late, the drone crash-landed onto the icy artic tundra, killing the soldier inside.
Back on the Valkyrie, Captain Steve Rogers was about to meet a similar fate.
"There's not enough time! This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York. I've got to put her in the water."
"Please don't do this. We have time. We can work it out."
"Tell her… that I lov…"
6 months after 'I am Iron Man'…
Between the howling winds of the Arctic Circle, the sound of a drilling machine could be heard. Various cranes, vehicles, and people were crowded around two particular men. Director Nick Fury was leaned over a hole in the hard snow; drill in hand, as he searched through the never-ending whiteness. Standing behind him was Phil Coulson, holding a long stick with a light at the end so Fury could see into the man made pit.
"Is it him?" Coulson asked trying to get a glimpse past the Director.
Fury unearthed the long dead Hydra soldier, "No." he stood up so the others could access the dig site, "But we're getting closer."
Later that same day…
SHIELD Base Camp, Northeast Coast of Greenland.
Back from their venture into the harsh environment Coulson and Fury were discussing their next move.
"I'm just saying we need to move now." Coulson grunted as he removed the heavy snow shoes.
Fury grunted pulling off his soaked gloves, "What I need now is for you to be a little less overexcited."
Coulson glared over at his boss, "I'm not over excited, I'm at the appropriate level of excitement. But a glacial shift in the coming months is an absolute certainty, which means that at any moment…"
"Relax, Coulson." Fury instructed adjusting his signature trench coat, "We'll find your favorite action figure."
"He's not just an action figure." Coulson admonished the Director, "He's more than that, and not just to me." the agent reminded Fury of their mutual friend. "I still think we should tell Marie about what we're doing."
"No. Absolutely not." Fury shook his head vehemently, and then he added in a softer tone, "I don't want to get her hopes up."
The two shared a sympathetic look for their old friend, when another agent called, "Director Fury! There was a call from the World Security Council."
Fury sighed tiredly, "Schedule a return call for tomorrow night."
"Actually," the agent replied hesitantly running his fingers through his dark hair, "they've already scheduled the call. It will take place in 12 hours…and they'll be calling you at HQ in New York.
"That won't work." Fury shook his head, "We're looking at another 2-4 weeks for this expedition."
"I…I know sir." The agent insisted, "But the World Security Council gave an executive order to shut down, pack up camp, and head home. They said they'd explain everything to you on the call."
Fury growled out incoherent grumblings as he stomped off to pack.
12 hours later…
SHIELD Headquarters, New York
An irritated Director Fury sat at his desk waiting for the Council's call. A moment later the screens flickered and a shadowed image of each committee member took over a screen.
"Director Fury, thank you for making time in your busy schedule to take this call." One of the men greeted.
Fury rolled his eyes leaning back in his chair, "Didn't leave me much choice when you pulled the plug on my Frostbite Mission."
Another man spoke up, "Were you able to locate the super-soldier?"
"No." the Director shook his head sadly; "We did locate an important clue that could have pointed us in the right direction. But with the ever-shifting topography of the Greenland ice sheet, I imagine we'll be starting from scratch again."
"A pity." A third councilman remarked dryly.
The Director sat up straight, tired of their games, "You want to tell me what this is all about?"
"We'd like to have an open discussion regarding the primary objective of SHIELD as an agency," the first man answered, "and of you as its Director."
"You're talking about the tesseract." Fury concluded.
The man nodded, "Reigniting the tesseract that is correct."
"Hey, no argument here. I love that objective, it's definitely one of my top three or four favorite objectives in the whole damn handbook!" Fury snorted, kicking his feet up onto his desk he continued, "But after trying nuclear, geo-thermal, electric, magnetic, electromagnetic, static, kinetic, solar, and about 47 other mixed variant energy sources without any results…we're a little short on ideas."
"There is a way, Director Fury, both history and legend can attest to it." The same councilman retorted. "What about the fabled Agent Zero? Maybe it's time we brought her in."
"She already refused." Fury said seriously.
"Then why does she still carry around that little hand gun from Doctor Zola?" the second man sneered.
"I don't know." Fury snapped, "But I know she's not going to support us. She already saw the world torn to pieces over this technology, she's not about to help us recreate it. At least not anytime soon, anyway, there's never been an account of her using it."
"Hmm." The third council member huffed, "Back to the topic at hand, we hope to expedite this process moving forward now that the Lion's share of SHIELD resources will be dedicated to the tesseract."
"Say that again?" Fury gritted out.
The man continued, "A prospectus outlining new budgetary allocations will arrive shortly. In keeping with the agency's mandate, the majority of funding, equipment, and manpower will be dedicated to analysis of the tesseract, coded as Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S."
"The purpose of this redistribution is to take focus away from current wasteful programs and redirect it to PEGASUS." The second man stated pointedly.
"What 'wasteful' programs!?" Fury demanded.
"It is a waste of valuable assets to prolong the search for Steve Rogers," the man clarified, "considering that his purpose would be insubstantial in the present day."
The first councilman agreed adding, "It is a waste of precious time to continue coddling Tony Stark when all you need concern yourself is the acquisition of his weapons technology."
"It is a waste," the second man finished, "of countless productive man hours to maintain surveillance on Doctor Banner, a man that has left you perplexed and undecided as to any course of action regarding his existence."
There was silence as the Council allowed Fury to digest their barbs before they went on, "We embrace your enthusiasm, but your approach is misguided. Our decision is that the tesseract is of greater significance at this point in time."
"And if I choose not to follow these new guidelines set forth in your 'prospectus'?" Fury leaned closer to the screens, staring at each member of the committee with his good eye.
"Then you'll be replaced with someone who will." The first man said simply, "If it helps to put this in perspective, then consider yourself on notice, Director Fury."
Outside the office Agent Coulson stood waiting for word from the Director. "That took awhile." He remarked as the doors opened.
"They had a lot to say." Fury replied stonily.
"Anything worth repeating?" Coulson joked.
Fury shook his head, "Not in polite company." And he proceeded to brief the agent on the contents of the phone call.
"So…" Coulson questioned, reacting to the amount of information, "what do we do?"
"We keep doing what we're doing and tell them that we're doing what they want us to be doing." Fury shrugged.
"How?"
"Hell, I don't know." Fury waved his arms, "Cook the books, whatever it takes to let us do this job right."
"…is that the best plan of action moving forward?" Coulson questioned.
"If it's not…" Fury remarked gravely, "We're going to find out the hard way."
Later that same night Fury was monitoring the collected footage of Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor. "What a mess." He muttered switching off his computer and heading to bed.
Two weeks earlier…
A few hours into the night his cell phone ringing the special vintage tone of one particular person interrupted his sleep.
"Fury." He answered already dreading the conversation that was about to follow.
"Nicholas." Lucy greeted, "I need to borrow Talia."
"Do I want to know?" Fury groaned out.
"Tony has gotten himself into a spot of trouble. I'm going to be on a short mission. I need her to watch over him."
"Why should I call her in?" he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Don't act like you haven't been watching him. This way, we'll both have answers."
Fury consented to the request and ended the phone call. Tapping on the screen he dialed another number. "This is Director Fury, tell the lab to expect Agent Zero, she'll probably be here in the morning."
One week earlier…
"Fury." He answered; midnight phone calls were too quickly becoming a normal event.
"Sir, in 72 hours Tony Stark will be dead." An agent notified him.
"I know." He replied tiredly getting up to put on his day clothes. "I'm coming in."
As the double doors to the SHIELD headquarters opened revealing the Director, the agents sprang into action.
"Director Fury!" one called, "Senator Stern wants to schedule a sit down with the department of defense to discuss acquiring the Iron Man weapon."
"Find out when he's busy, and schedule it for then." Fury never liked the senator.
"I need your signature sir, for the budgetary redistribution." A second agent requested.
As Fury was signing the document a third agent spoke up, "Sir, Agent Sitwell just checked in."
Fury looked up from the papers, "And?"
"He said that Banner cleared customs."
Fury nodded, "Tell Sitwell to stay on him."
A fourth agent stood up, "Sir, General Ross is asking for…"
"Tell him no." Fury cut off the man.
"Director Fury…" a fifth voice could be heard.
"What is it Coulson?" Fury asked wearily.
"…there's something you need to see." He continued.
"Then why aren't' you showing it to me?" Fury snapped.
Coulson hesitated, "It's not exactly something that fits in my pocket."
"Sit it out, I got a busy day." Fury turned to face the agent, his hands on his hips.
"My team has picked up an atmospheric disturbance above New Mexico." Coulson rushed out, "At first they thought it was a subtle aurora, but the electromagnetic signatures are off the charts and extremely abnormal."
"Is there a 50% chance that this 'atmospheric disturbance' is just a powerful lightning storm?" Fury remarked sarcastically.
"Closer to a 5% chance, sir." Coulson answered.
"That still puts it at the bottom of my to-do list." Fury interjected walking away, "But keep up the good work!" he waved over his shoulder.
Walking into one of the labs Fury threw open the doors and shouted, "All right, people, who's got answers for me?"
"Director Fury!" one of the more, energetic, scientists panted, "Sir, please come with me. We did extensive analysis on Tony Stark's sample and discovered an unprecedented level of Palladium radioisotopes spreading through his bloodstream. You'll see that here." Pointing to one of the microscopes for Fury to look at he continued, "Obviously this is directly related to the arc reactor in his chest. You see, Palladium is a tricky element. It's susceptible to something called 'catalyst poisoning' where it reacts with any compound and forms a chemical bond. In this case Mr. Stark…"
"Yes, I'm sure it's quite fascinating." Fury cut him off bored, "But is there a cure?"
"No." Lucy answered walking into the lab.
Fury looked up, "Agent Zero." He greeted then continued with his question, "No? Simple as that, no cure at all?"
"As I said before, sir." The young chemist said causing the two experienced agents to face him, "It's unprecedented. At no point in history has a human being endured such a prolonged and self inflicted exposure to Palladium."
Lucy nodded, "Every second that the arc reactor remains in Eddie's chest brings him closer to a complete breakdown of the circulatory system."
Fury rubbed his head, "And you said 72 hours?" he clarified looking between the two scientists.
"Well," Lucy replied, "There's this lithium dioxide." She held up a few vials she had spent the past few days making, "It's not a cure, but it could delay the inevitable. Stave off the systems and give him a bit longer."
"You can't make it stronger?" Fury took the vial inspecting the contents, "Permanent?"
Lucy gave a grim smile, "You don't think I tried? As an elemental solution, lithium is makeshift at best. No known element offers a permanent countermeasure to Palladium."
"Known?" Fury caught the emphasis on the word, snapping his gaze to her pointed look. "You think it's time?"
Buzz. Buzz. Ring! Ring! Both Director Fury's and Agent Zero's cell phones rang at the same time.
"Talia?" Lucy greeted.
"What is it Romanoff?" Fury questioned.
"We've got a problem." Natasha shouted into the phone as the sounds of the fight rang out behind her. Tony's home was currently being blown to smithereens as Iron Man and War Machine battled it out in their suits. If they continued at the pace they were going, soon nothing would be left but a smoking pile of ashes. "Stark is losing control."
"We'll be there tomorrow morning." Lucy sighed as she packed up her equipment.
"Try and contain the mess until we get there." The Director instructed, "Stay put and don't blow your cover unless Stark's about to kill himself."
Lucy and Fury both hung up their phones and went to prepare for the flight.
A moment later Coulson once again approached the Director, "Sir, if you'll just take a moment to glance at these satellite readings from the southwest region, you'll see that there is no way…"
"Dammit Coulson! It'll have to wait!" Fury bellowed, "Somebody get me a line to the World Security Council. They're going to have to hear me out now."
Fury sat at his desk, impatiently tapping his fingers. He looked up when an automated voice spoke, "I apologize SHIELD Director Nicholas Fury…But there has been an unforeseen delay…you must continue to hold for…five to ten minutes…"
"Nicholas?" Lucy poked her head through the door, "We've got to go."
In Malibu at Randy's Donuts…
"Go in through the back." Fury ordered Natasha. "I'll get him inside. When I do," he turned to look at Lucy, "you stick him in the neck."