"Barton." Clint stirred. "Agent Barton. Wake up," a voice ordered. Clint slowly opened his eyes to see Director Fury standing over him. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Barton, but there's still a power crazed demigod out there that we need to bring down and we need your help to do it."
"Yes, sir," Clint said, his voice a little raspy. He cleared his throat and made to sit up but found he couldn't. His arms and legs were still bound by the medical lockup's restraints. He looked up at Fury.
"Now, Barton, I know a lot has happened. But we need you to be able to put aside whatever you're feeling and remember who the enemy is," Fury said. Clint looked away from him and didn't say anything. He was suddenly very tense. "The enemy," Fury continued pointedly, "is Loki."
"Yes, sir," Clint mumbled, trying to get a handle on his feelings.
"And like it or not, Banner is on your team. We need him with us on this." Clint's fists clenched. "Agent Barton, I need to know that you're capable of dealing with this situation and focusing on Loki. If we don't think you can handle it, we can't send you out there."
Clint took a few deep breaths. He had learned long ago to shut his emotions down and focus solely on work. In fact, for a long time, that had been all that he was: cold, logical, unconcerned with emotions or feelings. That was until Natasha came along and got him to warm up a little. Natasha… he thought, and suddenly the grief and rage threatened to overpower him again, but he reminded himself what a good agent she had been, how she'd been able to put all else aside for the sake of the mission. What would she think if she saw him like this? That he was being weak. That he couldn't handle the job. No, he thought. I can handle this. For her. To Fury, he said, "I can do it, Director."
"Good," Fury said. He trusted his agents, and Barton's verbal confirmation was all he needed (though if the Council had known about the threats Barton had been shouting just hours earlier, they would've wanted the archer locked up for days under hours a psychological evaluation, but Fury just didn't have that kind of time.) Fury unbound Clint's arms and legs. "Go get cleaned up and then go to the conference area, we're going to meet the others there to figure out our next move." Clint nodded, following Fury out of the medical lockup. "I'll be there in a few minutes," Fury said, turning and heading in the other direction.
The Director followed a long series of hallways to a section of the helicarrier that had several bedrooms. They were small and simple living areas, mostly just there for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to rest in when they were off shift and the helicarrier was going to be in the air for a few days. The majority were vacant now as everyone on the carrier was working cleanup after the battle, but a pair of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stood stoically outside of one. Fury waved them away as he walked up, not bothering to knock. "Dr. Banner," Fury said, pushing the door open, "what progress have you made?"
One Bruce had calmed down somewhat, he'd been cleared to leave the cell and shown to this room so that he could work in private. What little of the computer equipment could be salvaged from the lab had been brought here for his use. The guards had been posted outside the room just as a precaution, to notify Fury if anything happened – if Banner changed again. He hadn't in the few hours that he'd been in the room, though the guards had reported a lot of shouting and crashing noises. When Fury was inside, he realized why. A chair lay on its side and from the marks on the wall, looked like it had been violently thrown there. The mirror over the room's small dresser was smashed, pieces of it scattered on the floor among the remains of a broken light bulb from a lamp that had been thrown down as well. The room was dark and Banner was illuminated only by the glow of a small computer screen. His eyes were red from crying and dozens of little cuts across his hands, probably from the mirror, were bleeding, but he was engrossed in his work. "I've got a lock on the Tesseract now," he said, not looking at Fury but rather typing in more calculations into the computer. "And I think I might know a way to stop it."
"Good, report to the conference area and share with the rest of the class then," Fury said.
This made Bruce turn around and look at him. "With all due respect, Director," Banner said, sounding not very respectful at all, "I don't think it's the best idea for me to be around the other agents right now."
"Whether or not it's the best idea, Banner, it's the only one we've got. You're the expert on this, you need to tell them what they're up against."
"But-" Bruce began, but Fury gave him a hard look. He knew the risks, but he was confident that Banner could keep it together long enough to explain to the rest of the team what they needed to know. He was more worried about Barton losing it than he was about Banner. Bruce sighed. "Ok," he said, turning back to his computer. It wasn't particularly portable but he stored all of his information in a place where he'd be able to access it from other S.H.I.E.L.D. computers, like the one built into the table in the conference area, and then went to follow Fury. "Sorry about the room," he muttered as he pulled the door closed behind them.
Fury raised an eyebrow at him and almost laughed. Of all the damage on the helicarrier, and Banner was apologizing for a mirror and a lamp.
Clint walked slowly into the conference area. He was dressed in his normal S.H.I.E.L.D. gear again – not the costumes Loki's minions had been wearing – but he'd left his bow and arrows behind for the time being. He was unsure of how his emotions would be tested in the next few minutes, so he figured it would be better if he was mostly unarmed. He pulled up a seat and didn't saying anything. Tony and Steve were already sitting there, and Thor was there, but not sitting. The tiny Midgardian chairs were too uncomfortable for his big frame. Clint looked at Thor, remembering when he'd almost shot him in Arizona when the Asgardian had been trying to get Mjolnir back. Looking at him now, Clint doubted a regular arrow would've slowed him down very much.
Steve broke the silence. "How are you feeling, Agent Barton?" he asked.
"Better," Clint said gruffly. He wasn't sure if Steve was asking about him being free of Loki's control, or about how he was dealing with Natasha's death. Barton would refuse to talk to anyone about the latter, so he added, "At least like I don't have a psychopath messing with my head." Thor bristled slightly, but didn't say anything. There was another pause and Clint said, "Fury said he's on his way."
"So," Tony began cautiously, wondering if it would be wise to ask Barton again, "do you know what Loki's next move is?"
Barton nodded. "He's going to New York. You know what he's like. He wants to beat the world and he wants to be seen doing it. He's headed to –"
"Son of a bitch," Tony said, a realization hitting him.
"-Stark Tower," said Barton and another voice at the same time. It was Banner. He and Fury were just walking into the conference area. Immediately the tension in the room tripled. Clint locked eyes with Bruce. Tony and Steve looked at each other, wondering if they were going to have to jump in to prevent a bloodbath. Clint's fists clenched and he immediately knew it was a good thing he hadn't brought his arrows because he would have had a hard time not lodging on in Banner's chest then and there.
Bruce looked away first. It didn't take the murderous look in Barton's eyes for the doctor to know that Barton wanted to kill him. He didn't blame him. He wouldn't have been surprised or angry if Barton took him down right there. But he had a job to do and though Clint was clearly wound tighter than a spring, he didn't move from his seat. Thor spoke, somewhat oblivious to the tension. "I am glad you are well, Dr. Banner," he boomed. "We had a great battle."
"Ah, yeah," Bruce said awkwardly, "um, thanks." He cleared his throat and logged himself into the computer in the conference area's table, bringing up a diagram of the Tesseract and Stark Tower on each of the screens. "Loki's taking the Tesseract to Stark Tower," he repeated, "presumably with Eric Selvig to manipulate it. You know the rest. Loki's alien army. They're almost at the tower now."
"We need to move now, then," Tony said.
"And what?" Clint asked. "He'll have it set up before we get there, surely. Does anyone know how to destroy the damn thing?"
"Actually," Bruce said, "I have a theory about that. I'm sure Loki took his scepter back, but not before I could run a few tests on it." He brought up an image of the scepter and moved it toward the image of the Tesseract. "It's not powered by the exact same energy that the Tesseract uses, but they're similar. In theory, getting them near enough to each other might cancel the energy out. Hopefully, that will close whatever sort of door the Tesseract opens."
"Is there anything else you can tell us, Agent Barton?" Fury asked.
Clint shook his head. "Just that Stark's right. We need to move fast."
"Ok, I want you five on your way to New York now. Barton, you can fly one of our planes, right?"
"Yes, sir," Clint said, rising immediately to first get his arrows and then head for the deck of the carrier.
"Wait, five?" Banner said to Fury. "I'm only here to consult, remember?"
"Looks like you'll be suiting up with the rest of us," Tony said.
"Look, Stark, I told you, I don't get a suit of armor, and anyway," he lowered his voice as Steve, Clint, and Thor headed away, "I've caused enough damage already."
"We've got an alien army about to invade the planet," Tony said.
"I think you could stand to do a little more damage," Fury completed Tony's thought. "Go, Banner. You have a chance to do some good here."
Banner looked at Fury. Do some good? All he ever did was cause destruction and mayhem. Would fighting off aliens really make up for anything that he'd done? Would it make him hate himself less? Could he actually use this curse for something helpful? He glanced at Tony who nodded encouragingly, and then took a deep breath. "Ok, yeah," he said, hesitantly but with a tone of resignation.
"Good man," Tony said, clapping him on the back and they walked away, Tony to get his suit and Banner to hitch a ride on the plane that Barton was going to be flying. That would go well, he was sure.
Fury watched the Avengers walking away. It was a rag-tag team but he sincerely believed they could do it. "Turn us toward New York," he said through his com to the helicarrier's navigators. "We've got a world to save."
The ensuing battle raged for hours. Many civilians died, though fewer than would have if Loki had been allowed to continue with his plan. Iron Man and the Hulk had ripped through the Loki's alien army with devastating impact while Hawkeye coordinated their efforts from above, keeping an eye on the patterns and movement of the Chitauri. Thor directly engaged his brother, desperate to make him see sense. Captain America confronted Dr. Selvig, who couldn't turn the Tesseract off, but confirmed that using Loki's scepter would shut it down. With some help from Thor and the Hulk, the Captain retrieved the scepter and successfully stopped the Tesseract, but not before the Council ordered a nuclear strike on New York.
Iron Man bravely took the missile through the doorway that the Tesseract had created and directed it at the Chitauri's controlling ship, almost losing his life in the process. When the ship was destroyed, the remaining Chitauri collapsed in the ruined streets and though it had seen better days, New York was saved. Hawkeye cornered the thoroughly beat Loki in Stark Tower and held him under the threat of an arrow through the eye socket until Loki could be locked up and taken away. The Avengers saved the world, and though it was a hard-won victory, harder things were still to come.
In the following days, S.H.I.E.L.D. began releasing the bodies of its fallen agents to their families for burial. A general memorial service was held for all of the fallen in the debris of New York.
Phil Coulson's funeral was attended by almost every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the country at the time. The Avengers were there as well. Thor had insisted on attending before leaving with his prisoner and the Tesseract in tow. Tony had flown in the late agent's cellist girlfriend from Portland for the service. Many people stood up to give speeches about how great of a man Phil had been, and how devoted he was to his cause, Thor's speech moving most of the people to tears. The National Anthem had been played as Phil was buried.
Natasha Romanoff's funeral was a much smaller affair. There was no family for her body to be released to, so Nick Fury and Maria Hill planned her funeral themselves. The infamous Black Widow was buried in a simple black dress with her trademark belt around her waist and roses surrounding her. Far fewer people attended, as being a spy depended on having few people know who you actually are. Thor had already gone back to Asgard, but Tony and Steve stood in attendance with Fury, Hill, and a few other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as Natasha's black casket was lowered into the ground.
Bruce, unable to face what he'd done, didn't come.
Neither did Clint.