I meant to respond to a previous review before. Sekhem, I haven't read any Travis McGee novels either. It stuck out to me, so I web searched Travis McGee and Tahiti, and got the description Skye quoted. Tada!
Thank yous to all those who reviewed chapter 5! MissAdventurer, isi7140, RavenMerc, Ghost Rider of the Aragon, Esmerelda Diana Parker, Jelsemium, Qweb, LarielRomeniel, Sammy, Revenger Tigger, TFKpuppet, and BenRG.
"You just keep doing what you're doing doctor," Fury said, making his way across the room to the team, "We'll take this in the other room."
The doctor nodded, looking far less cowardly and innocent than he had seconds earlier. Which unnerved the team a bit.
Fury stopped in front of them; giving them a moment to let his presence and proximity sink in. "Agent Coulson."
"Director Fury."
Fury breathed a sigh. "You shouldn't have found out like this."
Coulson gave a short nod, his face still impassive. "I agree."
Fury nodded and walked through the group, leading them into the private room.
"That's it?" Skye asked in disbelief. "You're not going to tear him a new one?"
Coulson waved her off as the team lined the wall closest to the door. Fury never said he was sorry for anything he did and if he apologised, it never sounded like one. That was just the way he was. He couldn't afford to appear weak or lacking in control. Coulson understood that. Understood that that was probably the most he would get.
"We still don't really know what I should tear him a new one for." Coulson reminded, taking position ahead of his team. "Ready to give me a reason, sir?"
Fury stopped at the foot of the bed, eyes fixing on the unconscious man, a small, sad smile forming on his face for a second, before he turned back to Coulson. "That day on the Helicarrier, I told the Avengers you were down; that the medics had called it. I lied. By the time they got there your heart had stopped. They managed to get a pulse, but didn't believe they could keep it. You crashed multiple times. No one expected you to survive, by all rights you shouldn't have; so, of course, you did. But your body reacted to the trauma and blood loss and slipped into a coma, which you have not woken from."
"You keep saying 'you', sir. I'm not in a coma," Coulson motioned to the bed, "'he' is. So who am I?"
"You're Phillip Coulson."
"No, apparently, the man lying in the bed is Phillip Coulson. But I seem to have his memories, or is that all made up, like Tahiti?"
"I should have known I couldn't send you to a tropical paradise and have you take it at face value." Fury said, exasperated. "Everything you remember of your life before Loki is real, Coulson."
"Everything except for me." Coulson held out his arms. "I don't know what to ask, because I feel real. This feels like skin. So, what am I?"
Fury gave him a regretful look. "You're a Life Model Decoy."
Coulson blinked; his brain trying to begin processing what was just said. But one piece of information screamed it's way forward and he was unable to hide the shock and indignation from his voice. "Stark?" He knows about this?"
Fury's brow furrowed, his words precise. "What? No. Are you kidding? Why do you think most of this facility is off grid, why there are no cameras? This place is as Stark proof as we can make it."
"But he-"
"Read some early stage classified documents and has had fun using that Life Model Decoy line a few times to throw it in our face."
Skye spoke up. "But you know he probably knows Coulson's alive right? He's Tony Stark. All he had to do was look up the security feeds."
Fury looked at her expectantly. "Really? And what did you find?"
Her mouth fell open once, "Nothing, but you've had plenty of time-"
"There was no footage. During the attack, our mainframe was," Fury looked at Coulson, "compromised. Security on multiple decks were disabled. There was nothing for anyone to find."
Coulson was silent as he looked over his body. "I bleed."
"As you should. The body's a bit more durable, but if it didn't bleed or feel real, it wouldn't be much of a decoy."
The team stood in various degrees of shock. FitzSimmons were frowning and looked like they were trying to work out what an LMD would entail.
Coulson let out a sad sigh. "I have no muscle memory."
"What?" May asked.
"Since I've been back, I've had trouble doing things my body should have known by heart. Taking guns apart was the first one I noticed. There have been other things, that just felt a little off."
"So, what?" Skye asked "You just download his brain into a robot?"
"The LMD's are a bit more advanced than a robot. What do you think, these things just hop off an assembly line?"
"Hey, watch it!" Skye warned.
Fury turned, surprised, and looked at Skye like she was a child speaking out of turn. "Excuse me?"
She actually managed not to look too intimidated. When she felt Ward take a step closer to her, for support, she found her voice. "Coulson's not a 'thing'."
Fury's expression shifted, and they thought it might actually be respect forming as he continued to stare at Skye. "No, he's not."
"Then what happened?" Coulson asked, sounding more and more at a loss, "How are Coulson's memories in here?"
Fury silently walked around Coulson's bed to his head, then, carefully, took a hold of it and turned it toward himself, showing them the back of his head. The back, that had a very alien looking device attached to it.
"What is that?" May asked, slowly.
They were surprised when it was Ward who answered, his voice subdued. "That's a Chitauri Neural Link."
So, I'm curious... who saw that coming?
