Author's Note: Tragedy! Due to technical difficulties, I don't get to watch AoS tonight. 8-( Instead, I will have to console myself by writing.

CHAPTER TWO

As her dead ex-boyfriend entered the SHIELD safehouse, which was already packed full of SHIELD agents and Avengers, a very overwhelmed Audrey Nathan felt her head spin, and she started to crash to the floor before being caught by Agent Morse. She and Elliot helped her onto a couch, and as she started to recover her senses, she felt another more familiar hand holding hers. "Phil?" she whispered, not believing her ears or eyes. "Is it..."

"It's me. It's really me. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have sprung it on you like that. I was just waiting for everyone to get together so I would only have to explain it once. And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I was alive, but I thought if I got too close to you, it would put you in danger. Clearly, I put you in danger regardless, but..."

"What about us?" Tony demanded, his brain fighting its way out of shock and clawing for some semblance of rationalization.

"I didn't tell you because Fury asked me not to. I don't know why myself, but I decided to respect his wishes."

This actually caused a couple of the SHIELD agents in the room to react with some surprise. "Wait a minute," Hunter said. "You're saying Fury came back from the dead, too?"

"I thought you said that the rest of that GH stuff was destroyed," Mack added with an underlying tone of real anger.

"As far as I know," Coulson affirmed. "I do know that Fury never came back from the dead. He only faked his death."

Hunter mouthed a silent "Oh", but Mack was less reassured. "What do you mean 'as far as I know'?"

Coulson shrugged. "Fury promised me that the last samples of the drug were in the Guest House when it was destroyed, but we all know how Fury likes to keep his options open."

Hawkeye was the next to start speaking again, if only in broken sentences. "You're saying... there's a drug... that brought you... back from the dead? Is that safe?"

With an adamant shake of the head, Coulson replied, "Absolutely not. And for the record, I told Fury it was a bad idea before, during, and after the surgery, but by this point, I guess I've mostly forgiven him." Audrey stirred on the couch, and Coulson's attention immediately returned to her. "Don't try to sit up right away."

"Hydra wants me... to get to you?" she asked him.

He swallowed and lowered his eyes. "That's my fault," he said softly. "A couple years back, I mentioned you in passing to a member of my team. That man turned out to be Hydra. Now he's the head of Hydra. Grant Ward."

It was the first time any of the Avengers had heard that name, which they thought was surprising, considering he was the head of Hydra. Actually, Wanda was growing very impatient with this whole conversation and finally demanded, "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

This brought out a quick grin of amusement, and Coulson stood up and offered her his hand. "Phil Coulson. Director of SHIELD. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Maximoff."

She ignored his hand, and he let it fall awkwardly, his smile fading as she said, "I don't know what I have to do with the undead." She tilted her head as she surveyed the other Avengers. "Should we not destroy this creature?"

At these words, the SHIELD agents all moved forward protectively with Daisy Johnson inserting herself directly between Wanda and Coulson. "You shouldn't," she said flatly.

"He said himself that he wasn't safe."

"I said the drug wasn't safe," Coulson protested. "There were some temporary side effects, but I'm totally fine now."

"Mental or physical side effects?" Jane queried from her position safely behind Thor. The scientist in her was understandably wary about unknown drugs.

"Um, yes."

Her equally-wary former intern chuckled nervously. "So you're, like, crazy now?" Luckily for Darcy, Thor was broad-shouldered enough that she could cower behind him with Jane.

"No."

"Not now," Hunter added under his breath.

"Not helping. The point is, I'm still me."

"Only an undead cyborg."

"Hunter."

"Sorry."

"Go to your room."

Hunter grinned and plopped onto the couch next to Audrey, who was finally starting to sit up. "I think last time we were here, this was my room."

The Avengers & co. watched this banter with undisguised bewilderment, but Coulson seemed satisfied with the outcome. "Good. Let's all sit down – or as many of us as can find chairs." He raised an eyebrow at Hunter who slid over a cushion and allowed Coulson to insert himself between Hunter and Audrey. Others in the room slowly did the same, many opting to sit cross-legged on the floor – mostly the SHIELD agents. Some of the others opted to stand, mainly Wanda, who crossed her arms and glared down at Director Coulson but agreed not to immediately dispatch him. All the same, Daisy opted to sit in front of Coulson, her back resting against his legs, and she followed

Coulson heaved a deep breath. "This is about how I pictured this conversation going," he admitted, "maybe minus Hunter's contribution."

"Sorry, boss. Just trying to keep the mood light."

On his other side, Coulson felt Audrey shrink away from him. "Are you really undead? Like a zombie or vampire or something?"

He scooted a little farther from her as well to give her space and to see her better. "No, nothing like that. I just came back from the dead. That's all. I'm still human."

"What about the robot thing?"

Coulson held up his left hand which was, unlike his right hand, covered by a black glove. Actually, she noticed for the first time that his whole outfit was a far cry from the suits he typically wore on the job. He wore dark jeans and a button-down shirt with a black jacket and boots and that glove. "I got a hand cut off a few months back, and I had it replaced a few months back with a cybernetic. It's basically like a technologically advanced prosthetic."

Audrey reached for his hand automatically but stopped when she realized what she was doing, her hand hovering an inch away from his. "May I?" she remembered to ask at that point.

"Of course." He offered the hand to her, and she slipped the leather glove from the slick black metal below. It wasn't the dull grey of scifi robots but a sleek black form that seemed very SHIELD. Audrey still turned it over carefully, tracing the seams with her fingertips. Her thumb pushed his sleeve back a little when she saw that the metal didn't stop at the wrist.

"How far up...?"

He pointed to a spot on his lower arm close to his elbow. Audrey couldn't think of anything more to say to that, but across the room, Darcy was getting over her fear enough to say, "That's kind of cool, right? I mean, I'd want a robot arm. I wouldn't cut my arm off to get one, but still... pretty awesome."

"That doesn't change what else he is," Wand snapped, "and his existence is an abomination."

Daisy was quick to come to her leader's defense. "Woah, hold up there. It may be a little weird, but weird is kind of your whole deal, so I don't think you have a leg to stand on here. Don't you go around defying the laws of nature? I mean, you're a witch."

"I follow the laws of nature. I take advantage of them. He, on the other hand, is not meant to exist." Her hands started to glow a bright crimson, and Daisy rose to her feet in response. "It could be a threat to the very fabric of reality, and we must eliminate that threat."

As she raised one of her hands, palm outward, Daisy mirrored the motion from her spot on the floor. Energy waves surged from her hands and crashed into Wanda, sending her flying back into the wall. "I'd like to see you try," she snorted.

Almost everyone scrambled back onto their feet, weapons clearing holsters and safeties releasing. Coulson rolled his eyes and waved for his people to return to their previous positions, which they did slowly and reluctantly. "Every time you people have a disagreement, this is what happens. Every. Single Time."

"Technically," Tony pointed out, "it was your agent who fired the first shot."

"Yeah, you're all a bad influence on her. Down, Skye."

Jaw tight, Daisy descended back to the floor. "What's the plan, sir?" she muttered through clenched teeth.

"We're all going to talk about this like reasonable adults."

Her eyes traversed the semicircle of the World's Mightiest Heroes, all of whom had weapons at least out, and most of whom had those weapons pointed in her direction. Talking, she thought, was not how this day was going to end.