Ugh, this was supposed to be a short chapter (like, 7 pages max) and updated quickly… and then this happened. It's from Coulson's POV, just a little for fun to help set up for the sequels. I don't know, it's a filler but it's also kind of relevant for backstory and future events? Either way, we see some Fury, Natasha and Phil so yay! And I of course don't own any of them…

Um, I hope you guys like this chapter and if not that's okay too. Anyway, thanks for the favorites/follows I serious love you guys. Review if you want? Also if you head on over to my tumblr blog (link is on my profile) you should be able to see the visual of Nicole and her fancy kid Asgardian armor. Check it out, because my roommate is a fab artist that I love.

Just a reminder, next chapter is going to be after I see AoU, so it's going to have a pretty long author's note attached to the bottom of it going into detail about the future of this series, which I think I'm going to call 'Age of Miracles' ? I don't know, let me know what you think. Also, I've already pretty much read up on all of the major spoilers (I know, I'm that kind of person) so if you guys want to talk to me about it, hit me up because I'd love to talk about it. I may also upload a review of the movie on Tumblr after I watch it, and I can post a link or whatever? I just have a lot of feelings about this movie that I haven't seen yet, and need someone other than my roommates to talk to about it.

Anyway, wrapping up this spiel, so enjoy the update!

Adara.

Chapter Nineteen:

September 19, 1992, SHIELD Base: The Quarry, Location: Georgia

He wasn't a huge fan of the heat, at least, he wasn't a huge fan of humid, sticky heat. It made his shirt cling unpleasantly to his body and his suit seem like a hotbox. However, when the Director of SHIELD and his SO had sent him down to deal with a 0-8-4 he wasn't in a position to argue. Not that he would have anyway; this 084 hit close to home to both himself and his agency.

When the granddaughter of one of the earliest SHIELD agents, and a former Howling Commando, walked out of ground zero after an explosion without any damage, people had a tendency to take notice.

Outwardly, it might seem odd for a person dressed in a crisp, dark suit to be walking into the worn down building in the middle of piles of rubble, but one thing that he had learned from working at SHIELD was that there was always something deeper.

"Good morning." The secretary behind the counter looked up sharply, pausing as her hands fell down beneath the desk. No doubt either reaching for a weapon or a panic button; the Quarry was isolated for a reason, SHIELD kept a lot of dangerous artefacts at this location and as such certain protocols were expected.

And what did it say, when a six year old was being housed here?

"Is it?" He questioned, a small smile on his face. "It was a little dry for my tastes."

There was a sort of silent acknowledgement after that, an almost imperceptible nod as she reached up to hover her fingers over the keys on the phone. "Do you have an appointment, Mister–?"

"Coulson. Phil Coulson." He answered, reaching out to flash his badge quickly. "I'm here for a consultation?"

The secretary pressed a button, gesturing as the industrial sized door buzzed and unlocked. "You'll want the basement floor, extension 726 when you're prompted."

"Thank you." He smiled warmly at the woman, pulling open the door and stepping into the hall. It looked as average as any other industrial building, a few rooms that led to shabby offices, a bathroom, and at the end of the hall there was an elevator. It was an innocent looking thing, three walls and sliding doors with a panel of buttons. He pressed the button for the basement, and as soon as the doors slid shut the elevator shifted.

Another panel slid out from a slot beneath the floor buttons, a keypad and a small speaker. He typed in the three digit code that would give him the access he needed, prompting the speaker to hiss and crackle.

"Vocal identification, please." He bent slightly, shifting his briefcase as he positioned his mouth closer to the panel.

"Agent Philip J. Coulson." He spoke clearly. "S-K-J 0-8-U-7-3-4-2"

There was a flash of green, and the elevator started dropping quickly. Coulson fit his fingers under the collar of his shirt, trying to draw some sort of air inward. It didn't do much, especially considering the tightness of his tie, but there was a small amount of relief. He didn't understand how some people managed to handle the climate.

He contemplated the situation ahead of him.

A 0-8-4 the likes of which hadn't been seen since the incident in China back in '88. It wasn't exactly the same, there had only been one casualty though the other two were still in ICU but the amount of sheer power… This would require a delicate hand.

The elevator slowed and finally stopped, the doors opening to reveal another hall. This one was carved out of thick stone, and it didn't take a genius to tell that they were underground. Deep underground. He stepped into the hall and looked straight ahead. There weren't many doors this time, there didn't need to be. The entire purpose of this hall, of this level, was to house the large room at the end, just around the corner. The walls and floor were bathed in orange light, the sharp shadows of two figures visible against the ground.

"You Coulson?" He rounded the corner, footsteps echoing as the two turned to look at him.

"I am." Despite the circumstances he couldn't help the small tremor of excitement. It wasn't every day that he got to shake hands with Dum Dum Dugan, after all. The man had a firm grip, and he looked young, relatively speaking, for someone his age.

"Are you here to help, Agent?" The woman beside him asked quietly, her pale face drawn as she pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. Her large brown eyes were red rimmed from crying, and she looked as though she hadn't slept in a week.

He doubted that she had.

Phil shifted his gaze to the large glass panel and–more importantly–the figure behind it. The room itself was empty except for the little girl sitting in it. She was pressed into the farthest corner, arms around her knees as tears streamed down her freckled face. Her eyes were closed, and it looked like she was whispering something to herself. Taken at face value, she just looked like a scared child… but face value didn't account for the fire storm that was raging all around her. He had to admit, it looked bad, it looked really bad, and Coulson felt a little out of his depth. But there was a reason why the director had sent him specifically.

He stiffened his shoulders, tightening his grip on the handle of his briefcase as he offered his most reassuring smile.

"I'll try."

IOI

September 18, 2011, SHIELD Base: The Triskelion, Location: Washington DC

He knew it was going to be a busy night when he received a call from Director Fury to make the four hour trip to SHIELD's main base at the Triskelion. He had just finished wrapping up business with the paperwork that was stacked on his desk; running point on SHIELD's three top agents didn't exactly come easy.

Arriving at the Triskelion, there was a certain buzz in the air that didn't bode well. It wasn't inherently obvious from the lobby, but he could feel it the farther into the building he went. People were rushing back and forth, a slight panic to their steps as he made his way to the elevator that would take him up to Fury's office.

"Welcome, Agent Coulson." A feminine interface greeted him, opening up a panel directly to his left. Coulson pressed his thumb onto the scanner, long since desensitized to the slight burn as it read his print. It required a certain amount of clearance to access the Director's office; not just anyone could come barging in and as his right hand man Phil was one of a small number who had that access.

"Hello… Martha." His lips twitched into a smile, recalling the first time he had heard Nicole refer to the interface as such.

"What?" The young agent shrugged, an innocent expression on her face that was slightly ruined by the black eye. "She sounds like a Martha."

It had strangely caught on.

"Director Fury requested you be brought directly to him, Agent." Just like every other time, the interface didn't even respond to the moniker in the slightest.

His lips tightened in the corners, and Phil twisted to look out the glass windows. The view was typically breathtaking, especially the higher up he went, showing the sky glittering off of the Potomac and the lining buildings. The effect was somewhat lessened by the overcast night sky, but the ambient light reflecting off of the water was nice in its own way. And it was a little soothing; Phil didn't typically get the elevator all to himself. Even if the ambience was nice, the reasoning behind it was cause for concern. Director Fury didn't usually commandeer one of the elevators unless it was urgent business… urgent like finding America's only super soldier in the ice.

But this didn't involve Rogers, or his partner, at least he was almost positive that it didn't; Nicole had sent him a quick update after their plane had touched down in Georgia yesterday. It hadn't been necessary, but Phil would be a liar if he said he didn't allow himself a soft spot for his agents. He had right from the start, when he'd gone against his SO's direct orders and offered Barton a second chance and a position in SHIELD. The look on Fury's face when the archer had turned around and done the same thing with Romanoff had been hilarious.

The mountains of paperwork? Less so.

"Agent Coulson." And speaking of the devil… Romanoff was waiting just outside the director's door, her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall. "Took you long enough."

He gave the agent a smile, blue eyes crinkling at the corner as he made his way to where she was waiting. "Natasha. Nice hair."

The redhead absently lifted a hand to her now short, perfectly curled hair. It was a big change from the waist-length locks she had been sporting back in Malibu and Coulson could only imagine how relieved Natasha was to have finally cut it all off.

"Traffic was horrible getting out of the city." He explained, cutting a glance to the door. "Any idea what this is about?"

"Not a clue. But Fury's been in a mood ever since he called you to come in." She answered, her face giving nothing away. Not that he had expected anything different; the Black Widow was SHIELD's absolute best when it came to espionage, she could switch through personas like costumes.

"Well that's not good." Phil sighed, "Let's go see what's got him so upset."

He reached out to knock twice on the door, the sound echoing loudly in the empty space around them.

"Enter." Fury barked, his voice harsh and strained to the point where Phil could hear his frustration. Sharing a look with Romanoff, his fingers caught the handle of the office door and pushed it open. It had been a while since he'd been in the Triskelion, let alone Fury's office; not since the day before he'd left for his temporary housing in New York. Nothing had really changed, except that this time the windows weren't hazed to block out the light of the morning. They were perfectly transparent, allowing him an excellent view of the cloudy sky.

"You asked to see me sir?" Phil cleared his throat as he entered, coming to stand in the center of the large room.

Director Fury was standing with his front facing the windows, head bowed as he studied a large tablet in front of him. "Do you know what this is?"

"I… can't say that I do, sir?" He shrugged, setting his briefcase down as he entered farther into the room with Romanoff on his heels. "I assume it's got something to do with why you called me in?"

Director Fury spun on his heel, setting the tablet down on his desk and, with a flick of the wrist, displaying the content for both of them to see. There were several things going on all at once, the most pressing of which was the video feeds of several armed, uniformed individuals creeping through tall grass. Coulson narrowed his eyes, the blue orbs flicking from the videos to the map that highlighted somewhere south of a very poor rural village. He didn't recognize the uniforms, meaning that they were some sort of private mercenary group.

"I haven't seen them before." Natasha answered at his questioning look, "What's going on?"

"That's where Banner's hiding, isn't it?" Coulson asked before the director could answer, reaching out to expand the map. "You think these are Ross' men?"

Fury shook his head, a look of disgust on his face as he filtered through several notes to pull up a new clip from the SHIELD surveillance software. It showed the mercenaries approaching a rundown shack, their entire postures stiff and cautious. There was a flash of smoke, a loud bang that obscured the video and when it cleared… Phil could just barely make out the blur of a figure escaping.

"That was Banner wasn't it?" Natasha asked, her eyes analyzing the footage. "Do we know where he went?"

"Not a clue, unfortunately. In all of the chaos of these men, Banner has–once again–managed to disappear into the wind. That's why I called you in Coulson; with Dugan out I need you and Romanoff to find Banner's new location and figure out everything you can about who is behind this." Fury informed them from his position, closing down the program.

There was something about the Director that looked exhausted, and Phil hadn't noticed it until that moment as they stood in his office illuminated by the overhead lights. It made him wonder just how heavy the world weighed on his shoulders, how much was hiding beneath that black cloak and hidden eye.

"I forwarded the information to your office, you can work from there." Coulson nodded at that, the erroneous thoughts passing from his brain as he focused on the task ahead.

He looked at Natasha, the redhead watching him with her unreadable gaze. He didn't need to know what was going on in her brain though, because the message was clear as day; she was willing to defer to him on this one which was a bit of a surprise. He may technically be her superior, but when it came to certain missions–most missions–he allowed his agents a high degree of independence. He believed it fostered critical thinking and better teamwork, and as of yet neither member of Strike Team: Delta had disappointed.

"Yes sir." Coulson dipped his head in acknowledgement, taking the continued silence as a dismissal.

He swept out one arm to allow Natasha to go first, his brain already working a mile a minute. The most pressing issue that they would need to see to would be dealing with the private military force that had initially spooked the man. They needed answers; how the men had even found Banner's location, what the deal was with that smoke cloud, and where the doctor was now. His main concern was making sure that there were no incidents or injuries.

"Coulson." His footsteps froze at Fury's bark, and Coulson threw a questioning look over his shoulder. "A word in private?"

"Of course, sir." He turned his attention back to Natasha, offering his briefcase. "Take this to my office. I need you to get started on managing those soldiers. Find out everything you can about them and get a SHIELD team out there to do clean up."

"Would you like me to make you some coffee too?" Natasha asked with a smirk, taking the case.

The corners of his eyes crinkled at the quip, and he shrugged a shoulder. "It'd be nice."

Natasha muttered something in Russian as she left, leaving him alone in the office with Director Fury. His boss was watching them closely with an expression just as, if not more so, guarded than the redhead's had been. Phil met that gaze easily; Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, was a man known for his secrets, keeping them close and generating a reputation for being dangerously smart and deadly. Always three steps ahead of the game.

His reputation wasn't wrong, but Phil liked to think that the years he'd spent training under the man, in the time that they had both risen to their current positions in the organization, had desensitized him. He still knew that he didn't want to cross Fury, but the man had been his mentor and that knowledge did dull the knife a little bit. It also meant that he could read the Director better than a select few, and right now Coulson saw that there was something weighing on his mind.

"What is it, sir?" He asked, long past the point where he would beat around the bush and wait for his boss to speak.

Fury glanced over at him, before his gaze went back to the screen in his office. There was a flicker of light before another video appeared on it. Only this time Phil wasn't surprised by the footage he saw; he had seen it many times before.

He watched as Captain Rogers fought off the men in the Department of Homeland Security. SHIELD had taken custody of the prisoners almost immediately following the incident, where they had learned the truth behind the attack. It had been an unfortunate instance where Stark had been caught between a rock and a hard place. One of Justin Hamer's less lucrative associates had found the plans for the Hammer drones and had decided to try and prove a point to Stark after what had happened at the Expo. At the same time that some of the members of Stark Industries board had decided to personally try and deal with Ms., Potts. He had no doubt that Stark would have been able to handle himself fine, but it was still lucky that Nicole and Rogers had been there.

The man moved like he had been fighting all of his life–which, he had–but the ease in which he dealt with the hired thugs was breathtaking. It reminded Coulson of the night he'd watch Thor tear through highly trained SHIELD agents like they'd been mall security guards.

"Rogers, duck!" The voice that echoed faintly from the muffled volume was Nicole's, a moment before she went vaulting over the table to crash into the man who was trying to aim at Captain Rogers as he grappled with another. The blonde went down without a question, watching his partner in action with a surprised expression on his face.

They worked very well together, the two of them. Their movements around each other were still a little off, but that would be fixed by training together and further missions, but it was a good start. They had the kind of chemistry that he had seen between Romanoff and Barton when they'd first started working together. It had been the first time he'd seen Dugan in action in a while, and Phil made a mental note to compliment May on her training abilities because the redhead was fierce.

"I've talked to Dr. Cross, and she recommended that we return Rogers to the field." He looked up sharply at that, ripping his gaze away from the looping footage.

Director Fury was still focused on it though, his gaze somewhat distant as his mind worked on unknown levels. "And I'm inclined to agree with her."

"Do you think that's wise, sir?" Phil questioned. "It's only been a few months, after all."

"I've been told that he's making exponential progress." Came the careful answer. "So I'll admit that I'm considering it. It would start out small, lower level missions at first, but we both know that we're wasting a perfectly good opportunity the longer we keep him inactive. Rogers isn't the type to sit on his hands and do nothing."

Coulson had heard of Ross' promise to get Rogers back in the field, and he knew that the director was right. He had grown up on the comics, the stories, and the movies of Captain America; saying that he was a fan would be an understatement. Phil had sworn his heart had stopped beating when Fury had told him that they'd found Rogers in the ice and that he was still alive, and he had been very invested in the recovery of his idol. He realized the value of waiting to make sure that Rogers was mentally and emotionally ready to return to the field, especially after everything that had changed but a not inconsequential part of him really did just want to see the man in action.

"You're going to ease him back into the water though?" Fury wasn't stupid, he hadn't gotten to be director of one of the biggest intelligence agencies for nothing.

Fury just looked at him, the answer as obvious as the deadpanned expression on his face. "I was thinking of giving him a partner. And if that goes well, putting him in charge of a team."

"I assume you mean Agent Dugan?" It would make sense, considering how well they already worked together.

Fury grimaced slightly, tapping the fingers of his left hand against his desk. "It would be good to get Dugan back into the field as well, but she's been running solo missions for the past year. Before we do that, I want both of them to be assessed by senior agents. I need you to get them assignments with Romanoff and Barton respectively. After that… we'll see."

"How immediate do you want this?" He asked. Phil had access to Natasha right now, but that could change in the week or so that Nicole was on vacation. And Clint was currently in San Antonio looking into the appropriation of several pieces of scientific equipment that was too dangerous for public exposure.

"As soon as you can manage it." Fury answered. "I've already pulled Romanoff for this, and as soon as Barton wraps up he's on his way back to the Bank."

The director turned to pin him with his remaining good eye. "I need to make sure that those two are up to par before I bring them in on the Initiative, Coulson. We've already lost Blonsky–and I'm still not sure that it was a good idea–and with this shit going on with Banner? SHIELD can't afford these setbacks. The world can't afford these setbacks if something bad happens."

"Understood sir." Barton was not going to be pleased; SHIELD had been pulling him in and postponing his vacation time for months now, ever since the hammer had dropped in New Mexico. "I'll get right on it."

"Good." As though he could see the track that Coulson's mind was on, Fury let out a long sigh. "And inform Barton that after this, he can take a month off. Paid."

Well, that might cheer the archer up.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that." Phil smiled slightly, nodding. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Dismissed, agent." At those two words, he turned back to the door to head down to his office. Natasha was no doubt busy at work, meaning that all he really had to worry about was finding Banner. It would be easy to do with the algorithm that Dugan had developed, but as per their compartmentalization Nicole was the only one who had access to it. All of the data that she had compiled on Dr. Banner was saved to an external drive that she kept on her person at all times.

Still, how hard could it be?

IOI

September 19, 2011, SHIELD Base: Triskelion, Location: Washington DC

It was harder than he had imagined. Coulson and Natasha had worked through the night with only little to show for it. A clean-up team had been deployed almost immediately, entering the area and collecting everything they could find for processing. The privatized military force had put up a fight, resisting heavily, but luckily his group had been able to extract a few of them that were on their way back to the Triskelion for questioning.

He was going to let Natasha handle that.

Of Banner, however, there was absolutely no trace. In most situations the man had settled in densely packed areas, trying to blend in with the local populous as best he could. That normally gave Coulson a little more to work with in terms of visuals and information but now? It was almost seven in the morning and he was running out of options.

"So just call Dugan." Natasha suggested from her seat, one leg crossed over the other as she messed around with his desk. "Have her find him for you."

"Put that down." He huffed at the redhead, who was currently inspecting his favorite paperweight. "She's on vacation."

Natasha rolled her emerald eyes, setting the glass sphere down gently before spinning in his chair to face him. "It's not like you're asking her to come in. Just call her and explain the situation, I'm sure she'll understand."

"This early?" He knew that Dugan wasn't willingly a morning person, and Phil couldn't guarantee that she would even answer the phone let alone be understanding about it, especially at six in the morning.

"We're SHIELD agents, Phil." Natasha shrugged. "And while you may have a soft spot for your recruits, that doesn't mean they can't get over the fact that they're needed even while they're on vacation."

Romanoff wasn't… exactly wrong. Coulson did allow himself a soft spot for the individuals he personally recruited into SHIELD. Considering the circumstances in which he first met Nicole however, he didn't feel particularly guilty about that. It was why he had recommended Fury assign her to May for training; his friend wouldn't go easy on her, but she would make sure that Nicole learned the best in terms of fighting and control. And if sometimes it was a little difficult for him to reconcile the mental image he had of a six year old girl curled up and terrified in a corner with the woman he knew today, so what?

They both did their jobs, and it wasn't like he showed any undue favoritism.

Of course, Romanoff did have a point and they needed to find Banner as soon as possible.

He pulled his phone off of the receiver, dialing in the number that would connect him to Nicole's cellphone. He wasn't expecting her to answer, and after the third ring he was more than ready to hang up as a lost cause and try again in a few hours when he heard the sound of ambient noise interrupt the ringing. There were several groans, and what sounded like a hand smacking a table before he finally received something intelligible.

And it wasn't exactly nice.

"What in the actual fuck?" Nicole hissed, her voice quiet and hoarse from sleep. "You had damn well better have a good reason for waking me up Coulson, or so help me God."

He resisted the urge to huff out a laugh; she may have a respect for authority, but when woken up at six in the morning when she wasn't supposed to be had a tendency to kill the woman's manners.

"I do, actually." He replied easily. "I'm sorry to have to call you when you're on vacation, but we have a situation."

"A situation that requires me specifically? What did Banner disappear again?" The question was spoken sarcastically, but Phil figured he'd let his silence answer. "Wait, did he? Again?"

"We need you to find him. We've been trying for about nine hours with no luck." He explained, shifting his weight at the stream of expletives that left her mouth.

Phil heard the sound of rustling from the other end of the line, and he could imagine that it was Nicole getting out of bed to get her things. "Of course you do. What caused it? Was there an incident? I'm assuming not."

"No incident, just some unknowns; private sector." He explained, fighting his amusement at her pained groans. Nicole had a flare for the dramatic that bordered on ridiculous sometimes. A small part of him was glad to see her back to her old self though, she always got low whenever she had a misfire with her powers, or a mission went south.

"Keep an eye on Blonsky." The woman noted, the tell-tale clack-clack-clack alerting him to the fact that she was on her laptop. "He was being pretty sketchy when I saw him in DC; making vague references about Banner but I told you about that already. Um, let's see here… I've got the program up and running right now. It's going to severely slow the bandwidth in the neighborhood, but I'm tapping into the satellites now. Should have an answer in a little while."

"Good to know. I'll let you go and you can email me your results?" There were other things that he needed to look into, including a message that he'd gotten from the labs downstairs wishing to discuss something with him. Something from the data that they'd taken from the Destroyer back in New Mexico; they would be sending Agent Simmons up at his signal to explain further.

"Oh," Nicole's response was cut by a loud yawn. "Sure, whatever Phil."

"Everything alright over on your end?" He asked lightly, before he could help himself. He still received the regular reports from Nicole informing him on Captain Rogers' personal improvement, but this was a big step.

"We've only been here for like a day, Phil." The redhead huffed in exasperation. "But yes everything is going fine."

"How was it, meeting your grandfather and everything?" The more information he had, the better he could assess whether or not the Captain was ready to return to the field. At least, that was part of the reason; Phil was genuinely invested in Steve Rogers' recovery.

"It was fine." Nicole sounded briefly annoyed, before her voice softened again. "I mean, I think it's starting to set in how much everything has really changed for him, but at the same time… it's like lancing a blister; he's getting all of the nasty gunk out so that he can start healing, you know?"

He did know, because Phil had been in that situation before, he had seen other people in it as well.

A memory of Bahrain came up then, practically carrying May out of the building as her body had gone into shock. He remembered her murmuring, the words I couldn't save her branded into his soul as his best friend had finally broken. He remembered the sensation of her clinging to him as she sobbed…

"Right. I'm sorry again for waking you up this early. Get me Banner's location as soon as you can, okay?" He jerked himself out of that memory, pushing it to the back of his brain.

"Will do, boss." Nicole yawned again. "Talk to you later, well… hopefully not. No offense, Phil."

"None taken." Sliding the phone back into the receiver, he was aware of Natasha's eyes focused completely on his body. He glanced over to find the redhead watching him with an amused expression, though there was something guarded in her green eyes.

"What?" He asked innocently, reaching over to minutely adjust the position of his paperweight so that it was back in the exact spot that it was before. "What's that look for?"

"Nothing." Natasha rolled her shoulder, pushing up onto her feet. "Is there anything else you need me for?"

Phil recalled Fury's words from earlier. "There is actually."

An edge of professional coolness entered his voice at that and the Black Widow picked up on it instantly. Her expression turned curious, eyebrow quirking at the possibility of a challenge.

"I want your professional opinion on Agent Dugan." He explained. "And whether or not you think she would make a good candidate for the Initiative."

Natasha appeared thoughtful, weighing her words on her tongue before looking back into his face. "I think that there's something dark inside of her. Something that maybe even she doesn't fully understand. But it's in there, and it's bad, for as much as she tries to hide it. You remember why we call her the Sentinel, Phil, you remember what happened in the Yukon. That was bad as much as it was a victory for SHIELD."

"That being said, she has a unique set of skills. Her powers alone would qualify her, I think, but her personality fits as well." The woman continued, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Dugan's adaptable, and she's good at working with diverse individuals. She's a team player, even if she has a tendency to place a lot of weight on her own shoulders. She could be great as a member of the Avengers, but she's like Rogers in that she's going to take any failures hard."

Natasha bit her lower lip as she paused, brows pulling together as she seemed to argue internally with herself for a moment. "All that being said? I stand by what May suggested; she's an excellent candidate and certainly better than some of the people you and Fury have put forward. Plus, she's a pretty heavy hitter."

Coulson nodded, relieved to hear his thoughts echoed by Natasha. Her line about Nicole having something dark in her. He had seen glimpses of it, seen it when she sparred against Natasha, when that idiot Daniels had gotten his arm broken for fighting dirty. There was something that she was hiding, but she hid it well. And he believed that she genuinely did try to be the best that she could be.

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff." He glanced down at his watch. "I'm glad you feel that way, because as soon as she gets back next week I need you to accompany her on a mission. You're going to evaluate her officially for Fury's records."

Natasha pinched her lips into a scowl at that, the expression flitting over her lovely features before they returned to that cool mask that she'd never quite abandoned. "Good to know. I expect you'll at least make it challenging."

"Don't I always?" He smirked. "You're free to go, get some rest and something to eat before the prisoners arrive for questioning. And will you send Simmons in on your way?"

An absent wave was all he received in response, and Phil let out a sigh as he sank down into his recently abandoned chair. He had been right in his assumption and it had been a late night. His suit felt a little rumpled, and at some point he had shucked off his jacket to roll up his sleeves. That had been somewhere between his fourth and fifth cup of coffee, he thought? It was also promising to be a long day; once Natasha was able to get into her interrogations, it would be a lengthy process in drawing up the reports of the incident in China.

Coulson was contemplating whether or not he could get away with locking his office door and taking a nap when it opened again. Hopes dashed, he sat up in his chair and rested his hands patiently on his desk.

Agent Simmons bobbed in cheerfully, a bright smile on her face that was conducive of a morning person who had received a solid eight hours of sleep.

He remembered when he received eight hours of sleep.

"Good morning sir!" The agent greeted, her voice chipper. "I heard that you've been in your office all night, so I brought you this."

Phil graciously accepted the thermos, unscrewing the cap only to be hit with a heavenly aroma. The coffee had a hint of cinnamon to it, and even by smell he could tell that it was better than the crap SHIELD had managed to whip up. But Simmons wasn't done there, and the English woman shifted her load of papers to hand him a neatly wrapped muffin as well.

"How did you know that blueberry is my favorite?" He asked with a genuine smile on his face, pinching off a bit of the top of the muffin.

Simmons just gave him another one of her smiles, pushing her long hair behind her ear. "Agent Weaver told me a long time ago, when we were leaving the Academy for the Triskelion."

Coulson snorted at that, gesturing for the Agent to sit down. "So you said that this had something to do with the data from Puente Antigua?"

"Oh!" Simmons brightened considerably at that, nodding excitedly as she set down several files. "Oh yes, well, not exactly. It has more to do with the blood and cell samples that Dr. Maurer took from Agent Dugan when she came in earlier this month. It was just standard, comparing them to previous samples and you've already read the reports."

"Yes, the ones that suggested her abilities were still growing, and that you suspected they would hit a peak before plateauing." Which made him wonder just how Nicole was going to handle that. It wasn't exactly like they had a lot of missions that required her particular pyrotechnic expertise. There were a few jobs that they could send her on, but ever since Stark and his Iron Man suit had decided to try and privatize world peace, those missions were becoming less and less.

But Phil had already forwarded his concerns in that matter to Director Fury, as well as the suggestion that they use Nicole when it came to talking down other individuals that they wanted to put on their index.

"Exactly!" Simmons opened up another tablet–SHIELD had an abundance of them–and brought up some wavelength readings. "Well, I was looking at her cell structure and I noticed something unique about them. And it looked familiar, so I began running analytical comparisons… These readings are what we were able to take from Thor in New Mexico, and these ones on the right are what we took from Nicole right after the incident."

The young woman came around the edge of his desk, bracing her hand on the back of his chair as she pointed to the two graphs. "As you can see, they have completely different make-up."

"Except the platelets." He noticed; they were deceptively similar. So were the readings from her cells, which were much more productive than the average human's.

"Yes, that's what I thought was strange. You see, Agent Dugan's blood platelets have a mutation that allows her to withstand high temperatures and it's nearly identical to Thor's. The same with her cells, and we did a scan… the electro-responsive system is highly similar as well." Simmons was practically vibrating with excitement, and Coulson felt a little less thrilled with the news.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "So what you're saying is that Nicole is an Asgardian?"

She shook her head, dark eyes turning back to her findings. "Not at all, sir. They're similar, yes, but they're also very different as well. Not to mention that there are some parts of Nicole's DNA that are very human. What I think is that she's a hybrid; part human and part… something else. Something older than humanity. Of course, that's just a hypothesis that I can't back up without anything to run comparisons on."

"Have you told anyone else about your findings Agent Simmons?" His thought turned to Simmons' partner, Leopold Fitz. The two were typically inseparable, and he had little doubt that she'd run at least some of her findings by him. Coulson wasn't as concerned with the specialist however, as he was with her reporting it to her higher ups.

"No sir, just you so far. Don't you think we should tell the Director?" Simmons looked at him with wide eyes when he shook his head.

"Director Fury has a lot on his plate right now." He explained gently. "So I'm going to handle this. Keep it on the down low unless you can come up with something more conclusive. If we can figure out more about what gives Agent Dugan her abilities, I'll deliver this to him myself."

"Y-yes, of course Agent Coulson." If Simmons looked unsure–and she did–she hid it very well after a few seconds. "That's all I needed to show you, and I have my preliminary findings all in my report."

"Thank you Agent Simmons." Coulson gave her his most reassuring smile as he nodded to the young woman. "And thank you for the breakfast, it's delicious."

"You're quite welcome sir." Her watch beeped in warning, prompting the agent to glance down at it. "Oh! I must get back to the lab, my samples have finished titrating."

"I wouldn't want to keep you." He nodded in gentle dismissal, watching as she hurried out of the office.

As soon as he was gone, Phil groaned and turned his attention back to the data he had been presented with. He would have to tell Fury about it; this had unprecedented implications if Simmons was right. They had been wondering how Nicole had gotten her abilities for a long time, and they had assumed it had just been a genetic anomaly. Well, they didn't need to entirely scrap that idea; her genetics were a little odd, because they were mixed with something else. But he needed to make sure that Fury would use this knowledge wisely; Phil trusted his boss, he really did, but at the same time he couldn't help but picture Nicole trapped in a lab for the rest of her life. He liked to believe that Fury wouldn't do that, but for all his pull in SHIELD, the Director was still at the mercy of the World Security Council and there was only so much that he could do in defiance of them.

So he would just hold on to this information until he could figure out exactly what to do with it.

The notification from his email caught his attention, especially when he noticed that it was from Nicole. With more than a little reluctance, Phil opened the message, his desktop being flooded with maps, surveillance and information all related to Dr. Banner. His eyes drifted down to the bottom right corner, noticing that it was only just going on seven.

It was going to be a long day.