DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters from Guardians of the Galaxy, either in its movie or comic incarnation. I own any OC I can invent, though. I am not making a £ out of this. It is just for shits and giggles.
Hi folks, the bad news is that even though this new chapter is quite long, after this I only have two other chapters written down. The good news is that the next one is going to be another long chapter made entirely out of smut.
I blame Star Wars for everything (except the smut).
Warnings: police procedures, science! some mild speciesism, angst, some language (and Capt America does not approve!).
Enjoy, and please don't shout at me!
The conference call soon shifts from the infirmary into a more appropriate conference room/incident room.
High-resolution display screens line most of the wall surface, and the table is another big touchscreen. There is a lot of space to brainstorm and organise ideas. Good, Ronan thinks, they will need it.
On the other side, Shanleigh has also transferred the call to one of the biggest incident rooms in the Accuser compound, and has called up her hand-picked team: Euan, Morthwyl and Aodhfin, plus Donya, a very dark brown-skinned girl that must have graduated after he left the post, and Maylah, a fourty-something pink-skinned scientist, even paler than Coulson, with barely a trace of either blue or dark pigment in her skin.
When they first see Shanleigh's team, the Terrans seem to be very surprised to see that not all of them are blue. To Ronan it seems quite odd, since apparently Terrans also come in all colours, from very pale pink to very dark brown, but one has to make allowances for expectations, and try to smooth out misunderstandings, so he tries to explain, much to the amusement of his former colleagues.
While Terrans produce just a dark protective pigment, Kree can produce two different ones, one blue and one dark, in variable combinations. The few people who only or mainly produce blue pigment are called irtiyu, people who only or mainly produce the dark one are called khem, which means black, even though most of them look only light brown, while the people who produce very little of either, are called hedj, which translates into white, even though they are mostly pinkish. The irtiyu gene is recessive and quite rare, because it is associated with lower tolerance to oxygen and lower metabolism of some sugars, so khem and hedj are the vast majority, especially in the lower castes which make up most of the population of the outlying colony worlds.
Fitz and Simmons seem fascinated by this piece of knowledge. Coulson instead seems quite worried, for some reason. Maybe he is afraid he will turn blue too, sooner or later. Ronan doesn't think he should worry, he reckons it would suit him well, instead. Even though he is quite short, he has the sort of sharp, manly features and confident demeanour that high-caste women seem to appreciate, and judging from the looks Maylah is giving him, it shouldn't be hard for him to find a mate among the Kree, even less if the family of his not-quite-father adopts him.
After this point is clarified, the meeting proceeds quite well and without any hostility. Ronan translates as best as he can between the Accusers and the Shields and soon all that blank space on the screens starts filling up with data of all kinds, notes and questions.
With some effort in translating the dates from the Kree dating system to the Terran one and back, they manage to build up a plausible timeline for the arrival of the mysterious Kree on Terra. Starting from the date of the first sighting in Portugal and going backwards, they allow a few days for the man to find a ship and supplies, and then a few more for him to get used to 20% oxygen. As Ronan suspected, the dates sit in very well within Cathair Fiyero's pro-Xandarian stint at the helm of the Kree Empire.
Identifying the man is also a relatively easy task. Skye sends over the anthropometric picture they took of him for their file. For Aodhfin it's almost child's play to cross-reference it against the Accusers' own anthropometric databases.
The known offenders register does not yield any close match, but the servicemen and civil servants database does, instead.
"The man you have captured is Vithek, son of Vryok. His family is affiliated with House Derwen. - Aodhfin reveals, flashing a copy of the file to the SHIELD terminal - Here it says he is an health and safety inspector at the Ring on Kilda." he adds, as he scans through the document.
"No chance." Skye comments.
"That usually means they are secret service. They always leave a few at the Ring, to check the situation." Shanleigh comments.
"That's what we suspected." Ronan agrees.
"Are you saying that you have been watching Terra all the time?" Agent May asks after Ronan has translated the Accuser's words.
The Kree exchange glances.
"Well, yes. - Morthwyl finally admits - We didn't want any other Empire to colonise the Blessed Lands and harm our folks down there." he explains.
"Well, people, you missed the Asgardians having themselves honoured as gods about a thousand years ago." Tripp comments with a shrug and a frown.
"Right. Thor and Loki and all those talks about destruction. We didn't see them land because they used the bloody Bifrost..." Shanleigh comments, not very pleased with the news.
"Exactly. - Coulson comments - Now, about our forgetful friend: he had the intel about the lost ones from his position, correct?" he comments.
"Correct. - Shanleigh replies - He had a high clearance and access to a wealth of information." she confirms.
"The crux of the matter now is whether he was operating on Terra under orders from the government, or whether he had gone rogue. - Ronan summarises - Do you have any information on this matter?"
Aodhfin nods, and pulls out another document.
"According to the records, he vanished all of a sudden, with no prior notice and no explanation. His family filed a missing persons notice for him about a week after he went off the grid. - he continues - Their statement records that he was quite excited and anxious on the days prior to his disappearance. He told his mother via holocall that he had discovered something of great importance for the safety of the Empire." he adds.
"And then his department asked for him to be found and arrested for desertion. - Euan comments with a grimace - Way to give themselves up..." he adds.
"Was his disappearance investigated?" Ronan asks.
"Only very cursorily. - Shanleigh admits - He took his personal ship and most of the stuff he had on Kilda. There were no signs of violence, and everything lead us to think that he had left his post voluntarily." she adds.
"Many of the people who end up being posted at the Ring flip the lid, eventually. - Donya comments - It's very lonely and isolated and the shifts are very long. It's hard work." she explains.
"Plus, we were quite understaffed at the time. - Euan adds - Apart from all the people we have lost in the war, Fiyero ordered us to dismiss a bunch of officers and put a lot of red tape around us. He said we were overstaffed, inefficient and too expensive." he reveals.
"But he didn't reduce our duties, the scoundrel. - Shanleigh adds - We were running ourselves ragged, until Lady Derdriyu allowed us to recall all the people we had dismissed and take up more recruits." she continues, nodding towards Aodhfin and Donya.
"So that was it? Case closed?" Coulson asks.
"Pretty much. We were betting on some mid-life crazy plan of rearing cattle on a colony world, or finding his true self in a spiritualist commune on the blue moons of Centauri. Even if we had wanted to prosecute him for desertion, we had no one to spare to chase him up. - Morthwyl replies flippantly - His mother threw up a bit of a fuss, saying it was all a governmental cover-up, but eventually even she calmed down. The wife was the least fussed. She is even trying to have him declared dead so she can remarry."
"She won't be happy to hear that he is alive and well." May comments.
Morthwyl shrugs. "You can't always get what you want." he comments.
"I suppose it's true. - Coulson accedes - Our friend Vithek had convinced himself that the Lost Ones were an immediate threat and wanted to eliminate them all. I am lead to believe that this is not a common sentiment among your people." he adds.
"It's not mainstream, no." Shanleigh replies.
"There are some groups of people who think the Lost Ones will return but only to destroy us. - Euan intervenes - But they are some sort of cults, at the very fringes of society, and no one takes them really seriously." he adds hastily.
"Well, Vithek was taking them dead seriously. - Tripp retorts - The question is: why? Was he acting under superior orders? Did he get compromised? Or was he always part of one of these cults and was sent to infiltrate your organisation?"
On Hala, the Accusers stare at him with horrified faces.
"We cannot exclude a priori any of these possibilities. - Shanleigh says finally - We will have to investigate more thoroughly." she adds, casting significant glances to her underlings.
"There is more. - Skye intervenes - Our blue friend wanted to kill all the Lost Ones, and there must be a few hundred of thousands, if not millions around. To me sounds like a huge plan, even for a determined, trained man." she argues.
"He might have had accomplices, either still back there or down here." Ronan concludes for her.
"Didn't you ask him when you captured him?" Morthwyl asks, quirking an eyebrow.
"We would have wanted to, but Bobbi hit him over the head with the forgetting stick, and he forgot." Skye retorts, crossing her arms over her chest.
There is a fair amount of rolling of eyes and sighing.
"How wonderful." Euan comments.
"Can you ask them if they think he had a way to kill them alll on his own? - Simmons asks, gently nudging Ronan and pulling him out of his train of thought - I mean, we know that the Gifts of the Lost Ones are chemically activated, so I was thinking that maybe your scientists have put a second chemically activated construct into the Lost Ones, some sort of failsafe, if you know my meaning." she continues, hiding her worry with a wide, frozen smile.
"Yeah, you didn't stick into us some sort of killswitch that would drop us all dead at once if you felt like killing us, right?" Skye insists, casting a sharp glance towards the screen.
"Of course not!" Ronan tries to reassure her. He hopes not, but he cannot really be sure.
The born Lost Ones wouldn't have been modified like that, but the made ones might have been. He turns the question to the others, hoping for reassurance.
"As far as I know, there is no evidence that this has ever been done to any of the Lost Ones. - Maylah replies pensively - After Eamon's people defeated the Rebel Families on the Blessed Lands, they screened as many Gifted as they could find and the historical genetic databases currently in our possession don't have any records of killswitches." she adds, checking her data on a pad.
"They can't have sampled 100% of the population, for obvious reasons, but provided that the sampling was done thoroughly and appropriately, and that might be a big assumption, if there is such a killswitch among the population and they haven't detected it, it would be an outlier, affecting a tiny percentage of the population." the Kree scientist argues.
Skye gives her a hard look.
"I mean, it would be terrible if they were to die, and it would be a huge loss of life if the Lost Ones have grown to a popolation of millions, but it wouldn't be the optimal way of eradicating them all." Maylah adds hastily, blushing light blue.
"Then how?" May insists.
"A metabolic poison tailored for the specific metabolism of the Lost Ones? Good old legwork? A trap? Getting you Terrans to do the hard work?" the Kree officers propose, with variable degrees of conviction.
"What about the Soul Gem? - Coulson intervenes - Loki was using it to bend entire crowds to his will. Maybe Vithek wanted to use it to unleash mass suicide."
"And let's not forget that Vision is basically a Gem-powrered weapon of mass protection. All that power could have been used very differently." Fitz adds, looking expectantly at Ronan. Great, and now he has become the local expert on Infinity Gems, the Kree thinks, forcing himself not to roll his eyes.
"Well, the Gems are actual condensed energy of some sorts, but not all of them are as volatile as the Power Gem. - he replies - Vision might have found a way of unlocking and using it, but it is not an easy feat. Not everyone would be able to do it." he adds.
"But Loki did." Coulson insists.
"Maybe, but I think that in Loki's case it was just him. - Ronan replies - The Infinity Gems have powers of their own, but they also amplify the powers of their wielders, and he is a crafty Jothunn. There is more to him than just ice and sarcasm." he adds with a certain fondness. He has grown to like him a lot over the course of their acquaintance.
"What is a Jothunn?" Ward asks.
"A member of the species native to Jothunnheim, the planet closest to Asgard. - Ronan explains - The Asgardians call them Frost Giants, when they are not killing them for sport."
"So Loki is not Asgardian?" Skye asks.
Ronan shakes his head. "He was taken hostage as a baby, to ensure the good behaviour of his biological father, King Laufey of Jothunnheim. He didn't know it, and he didn't take it entirely well when he found out." he adds.
"You seem to know him quite well." Coulson comments, turning towards him with an angry expression.
"I do. He is kin to me by way of marriage, more or less, and he was Thanos' plaything before I was. - Ronan replies calmly - The Mad Titan fished him out of hyperspace when he let himself fall off the Bifrost after his first falling out with Odin, and tortured him into attacking Terra. I recently fell into the hands of the same man who had him, and I must say that he was very efficient at breaking people." he adds, pointing at his scars.
This seems to calm Coulson down a bit, to give him pause, at least.
"And why would he do that?" he asks.
"Why does he do things? - Ronan retorts with a sigh - To create a war between Terra and Asgard, and to get the Space Gem for himself." he explains.
"There was an official inquest. Loki was acting under duress, and is only partially responsible for his actions against Terra. - Shanleigh adds to support him - He is almost as much of a victim as you are, battle-brother. The true culprit is Thanos." she adds.
"It's a very meagre consolation after you have been stabbed through the chest and put through all kinds of hell. - Coulson retorts grimly - But since our mutual friend is here, I will have time to sort this matter out later." he continues, flexing his hands into fists.
"Let's leave aside the matter of how he Vithek wanted to eliminate the Lost Ones for the moment..." he says, quickly typing up the question and pushing it to a corner of the shared workspace along with the others.
"Do we have any reason to think that Vithek wasn't operating alone, that he had brought cohorts here on Terra?" he asks instead.
Shanleigh thinks about it for a moment.
"His file says he wasn't exactly gregarious, but extremism and conspiracy theories can unite even a group of loners. - she muses - If he wasn't part of an extremist group to begin with." she sighs.
"Do you have proof of the presence of other Kree on the planet?" Euan asks.
"Not yet, but I couldn't help notice that hadj Kree and khem Kree look a lot like Terrans except for the eyes and the pointy ears, no offence meant." Coulson replies, after waiting for the translation.
"There is no offence. - Maylah replies with a smile - At least some Terrans are quite pleasant to behold." she adds, giving Coulson a significant look.
"I don't think I have to translate that, do I?" Ronan asks, growing dark blue in embarrassment.
Coulson turns a darker shade of blue and shakes his head, while the rest of the Agents and the Accusers chuckle to themselves.
"I am just wondering if his cohorts might be lying low after we caught him, trying to blend in and hatching a new plan." he argues.
"You are right, we cannot discount this possibility. We will look into his associates and scour the missing persons lists. Maybe we can spot a pattern." Shanleigh proposes.
"And we will round up the anti-Lost Ones cults and give them a grilling they won't easily forget." Morthwyl adds fiercely.
"That would be very helpful. - May intervenes - We will look into any 0-8-4 and suspicious activity, to see if we can spot anyone who doesn't really belong." she adds.
"Yes, well, if you stick them and they bleed blue, they are probably Kree, unless they are blue-blooded Xandarians. But the Xandarians are much warmer, and their ears are not pointy." Moryhwyl chimes in.
"What about metabolic poisons? - Skye chimes in - They are going to need a lot of it, if they want to cross off us all. If we knew what compounds they might be using, we could track down any big shipments and get some bearings on their hideout, if there is one." she proposes.
Ronan translates, and the Accusers nod approvingly. Skye has good hunting instincts.
"I'll upload a list of the plausible substances on this workspace. - Maylah offers - Ronan should be able to translate it for you, but if you need anything, just give me a call, alright? I'll upload my contact details as well, in case you need them." she adds, casting another coy glance in Coulson's direction.
Both files ping on the shared workspace. Fitz and Simmons launch themselves at the first one, thanking the scientist profusely.
"There is just one thing I don't understand, and since you are a geneticist... - Skye declares - Why do we have to be Awakened? Why don't we get our powers from birth?" she asks, looking away and hugging herself.
Shanleigh shrugs and looks at Maylah.
"I think it was done to give the Lost Ones a choice. - the scientist replies, shrugging lightly to signal her uncertainty - You see, the first ones to get enhanced, chose that fate of their own free will, but their children would be born with the enhancing construct. They would not have had a choice. By adding the chemical switch to the constructs, our forefathers gave them the ability to choose. They could live their lives in peace, without ever using their Gift, or they could undergo the Awakening ritual and come into their power when they were old enough to know what they were doing, hopefully." she explains.
"It is not pleasant at all, the Awakening." Skye protests.
"Birth is not a pleasant process either, but it's the result that counts. You'll know it if you decide to have biological children of your own. - the scientist replies - Now, do you have any more questions? If you don't, I think I'll leave. I have an incubation that is running out in ten minutes." she adds, lifting up a timer for all to see.
"Just one more thing. - Ronan butts in - We are sending you a genetic sequence for identification. It's to put a name on Coulson's late father. It's a long story." he explains, pulling out a sequencing chip.
Coulson sighs and takes a sterile pin from the desk. He pricks his index finger and squeezes a drop of mostly blue, but still somewhat purplish blood into the device and hands it over to Ronan, who picks it up gingerly from the holding tab and slots it expertly into the forensic module attached to his comm. It is a non-standard piece of bounty hunting equipment, a relic of his law enforcement days, and it has proven extremely useful over and over again.
"I am sending the data now." he announces
Maylah frowns for a moment, then her face lights up with excitement. "It's transferring." she confirms - I'll come back to check it when I am finished with my experiment."
"Do I want to know about this story?" Shanleigh asks, when the scientist has left.
"I don't think so. Not now, at least. - Ronan replies after a brief, silent consultation with Coulson and May - Let's focus on the mission."
"Yes, let's. - the Supreme Accuser agrees - Aodhfin, can you re-read the minutes for us?" she orders.
The youngster nods. "So... we have to search into Vithek's past and examine his known associates to come up with a list of suspects. - he enumerates - The Shields will try to root out any sleeper agents and will track down the chemicals that might be used to eliminate the Lost Ones." he finishes.
"I think we should keep an eye out for them here too, review the shipments, in case they took their raw materials from here." Euan proposes.
"Good point. Donya will take care of it. - Shanleigh approves - I suggest leaving this comlink open, so that we can update each other with results as they come up." she proposes.
The Terrans approve enthusiastically. Ronan sighs but lets the subject drop. It's not like he really needs his comm.
"Let's have another meeting in a week, unless we have urgent..." Coulson is saying, but the door to the incident room opens violently, slamming into the wall.
The Agents all pull their handguns out and turn towards the potential threat, only to be faced with several of the Avengers and Thor.
Coulson curses and lowers his weapon.
May doesn't seem happy either.
Ronan is slightly baffled. Aren't they supposed to be all working together?
A red-haired woman stalks towards Coulson and slaps him hard on the face.
"We though you were dead! You deceived us!" she accuses, her fine features distorted by a grimace.
Coulson presses a hand to his cheek with a wounded but not entirely surprised expression.
"Natasha, I can explain." he offers.
"You'd better." the woman threatens, arms akimbo.
"What is going on in there?" Shanleigh asks, caught between amusement and worry.
"I am not sure. Some sort of family spat, I think." Ronan replies with a shrug.
Shanleigh chuckles quietly.
"We'll leave them at it and get a head-start on the legwork. - she announces - We'll call back in a few days, unless we have a major breakthrough, alright?" she proposes.
"Alright. - Ronan confirms - Good hunting, Accusers." he salutes
"And to you, comrade." Shanleigh replies with a smile before ending the call.
"Were you having a Skype call with aliens? - the Avenger called Iron Man asks, poking his head through the door - And that's your new team? They look cute." he adds as he walks in, unheeding of the murderous glares May, Tripp and Skye are giving him.
"It wasn't my decision to disappear. - Coulson explains, ignoring his antics - It was Nick Fury's. He ordered me to stay away from you." he adds.
"He exploited your fake death to push us to fight together. - Natasha retorts, her voice still hard - You two broke our trust." she adds.
"I didn't fake my death. - Coulson retorts - I died for real. Some sort of residual emanation from the Soul Gem kept me here, but my heart was so messed up that they had to graft the heart of a long-dead Kree inside me to give me a chance to pull it through. I am not even fully human any longer..." he explains, and finally Natasha backs off a bit.
"Fury assigned me to a new team to give me the chance to recover, but the truth is that you didn't need me anymore. You had gone beyond that. - he adds quietly - But I was needed here, with them. Maybe the job wasn't as showy, but we did good things. I missed you and Clint, Natasha, I really did, and I regret that this deception caused you pain, but I do not regret this." he adds, gesturing towards his agents.
"You could have at least let us know that you were alright." says a blondish man with a pair of sunglasses.
"No, I could not. - Coulson retorts, shaking his head - You know how it works just as well as I do, Clint."
"Damn! - the man curses - I do, but... if Fury had not let it slip out, we still wouldn't know. It's not fair, Phil. It's not, and you know it." he insists.
"You are right, Hawkeye. But let's leave the past behind for now, and rejoice in the fact that our friend in in fact alive, even though in possession of an alien heart. - Thor chimes in - It will be good to fight alongside you again, Phil son of Cole." he declares with his usual solemnity, gripping the agent in a bear hug.
"Yeah, it's good to have you back." Clint agrees, while the others hum and nod their approval and come closer to hug Coulson or pat him on the back.
Ronan feels suddenly out of place, but there is no way for him to slip away unnoticed, so he stays, trying to make himself inconspicuous.
"So what's with the aliens, people? - Iron Man asks again when the moment has passed - Were you getting to know the family of your donor, agent Coulson?" he jokes, nudging him with an elbow.
Coulson seems very embarrassed.
"Is he always so inconsiderate?" Ronan asks to a blond, tall Avenger in a blue, white and red uniform.
"Only when he is insecure." the man replies.
"I can hear you!" Iron Man comments, piqued.
"That is precisely the point. - Ronan retorts - A little respect for other people and their feelings wouldn't go amiss." he chides, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hey, Cap, it looks like you've found your alien counterpart. - Iron Man jokes - Another big man with a big stick up his ass... just what we needed." he laments.
Ronan grinds his teeth together and forces himself to ignore him.
Beating up one of the Avengers is not the wise thing to do at the moment, not when he has just narrowly avoided a diplomatic accident with the agents of SHIELD.
"Those were the Accusers of the Kree Empire. - Thor explains in his stead - They are mighty warriors and our allies."
"We are conducting a joint investigation. - Coulson adds dryly - We might have stumbled into Thanos' next move to target Earth."
"Wow! That was surprisingly fast. - Falcon exclaims - How did you manage?" he asks. His overgrown puppy air and enthusiasm remind Ronan of Morthwyl.
"A mix of blind luck and hard conversations." Tripp replies, shrugging his shoulders.
"Yeah, they must have been pretty hard indeed, judging from the bruises." Clint comments.
"We had a small cultural misunderstanding. It's all solved now." May retorts, exhuding confidence and authority. Even though she is shorter than the Avenger and quite battered, Clint takes a step back and nods.
"If you say so..." he concedes.
There is no doubt, May is a real portent.
"So, what do you have?" Black Widow asks.
"For now only suspicions. - Coulson reveals - Nothing that requires an Avenger intervention, just yet." he adds.
"Aliens yes, Avengers no?" Iron Man comments, grimacing and crossing his arms on his chest.
"What is wrong with this Terran?" Ronan asks himself.
"They are part of the problem, and therefore of the solution. - Coulson explains - They already know what it is all about."
"And we are not supposed to." Iron Man insists.
"It's about us. - Skye declares - The people known to SHIELD as Inhumans, which is a really crappy name, in my opinion." she adds with a wry little smile.
"The mutants that have been cropping up recently." Iron Man says.
"We're not mutants, just enhanced alien hybrids. - Skye protests - And apparently we've been around for what, eight thousand years?"
"Seven thousand. An alternative name is Lost Ones or Gifted. Some communities might still define themselves as such." Ronan clarifies.
"The cropping up might be because we have been using and dumping a lot more chemicals in the last fifty years or so. - Simmons chimes in - The... Gift is chemically activated. Maybe prolonged exposure to some of the components can trigger the Awakening. Ideally we would have to isolate the Gift construct and test it in rats to know for sure." she offers.
"Or maybe the Lost Ones are just coming out of hiding." May proposes.
"Why would they be hiding?" Hawkeye asks suspiciously.
"Because people react badly to other people who are different from them, and in the past it was even worse. - Skye replies promptly - Does the Spanish Inquisition ring a bell? Or the Holocaust? I mean, we still have some damned Nazis from HYDRA lurking around." she adds, looking a bit frazzled.
"I share your worries, Agent Skye. - Scarlet Witch intervenes - Many people out there still see us either as gods or as monsters. I can feel their fear pressing on my mind when we get out, like maggots crawling and trying to get under my skin." she explains.
"Yes, but maybe now, after two alien invasions, evil robots and you Avengers, some Inhumans think that the world is weird enough to accept them." Tripp argues nonetheless.
"Hell yeah, - Falcon comments - It can hardly be any weirder than alien diplomatic legations popping on up Earth just like that." he adds, nodding towards Ronan.
"Or than knowing that some crazy entity is planning to destroy the Universe. - the blond man, who cannot be anyone but Captain America, chimes in - What role do the... Gifted play in all of this? Are they on Thanos' side?" he asks.
"I don't think so, but maybe he has already sent agents to stoke up their animosity towards either the Kree Empire or the Terran authorities. - Ronan replies - Thanos loves to pit two species against each other in a war to the death. He hardly ever dirties his hands." he adds.
"Yeah, guys, seriously. Can you imagine if people came to know that there are part-alien people on this planet? - Skye continues with obvious dismay - There are enough crazy conspiracy theories, and crazy people who claim they have been abducted by aliens. And the bastards who already hate half of the world population for not being white enough, or straight enough, or religious enough? It would be a massive witch-hunt, basically open season on all "weirdos", including us standing here in this room." she concludes, looking pointedly at the Avengers.
"Who can blame them? - Iron Man comments - Weird people and aliens have never been good news to humans."
"We have come to help." Ronan points out.
"The average human is defenceless against an enhanced being. It would be enough that one of them goes rogue or slips up to cause massive amounts of damage and casualties." Iron Man continues, ignoring his remark.
"Says the man who made Ultron..." Captain America comments, not quite under his breath.
Iron Man gives him a fiery glare, but does not reply.
"Our objective is to investigate the situation and defuse it before we get to a crisis. - May points out - We don't know yet if the Lost Ones are a threat as a whole or not."
"Seeing that they have stayed put for a few thousand years, I'd say they are not. - Tripp chimes in, stepping forward to stand in Iron Man's way - And what was that thing about folks being innocent until proven guilty?" he provokes.
"Of course, because you know that we'll be here to clean up after you when the moment comes." Iron Man retorts.
"So far, it has been mostly the reverse, Stark. - Coulson retorts decisively - You save the day, and we clean up the mess. Fair enough, but this time there will be no need for any mess. We have this." he adds calmly.
"I highly doubt it. - Iron Man retorts - But you know where to find me when things get too hot to handle for the likes of you." he adds spitefully, then turns on his heel and leaves, nearly barging into Peter and stepping on Rocket's tail as he comes through the door.
"Hey! What's your problem!?" Rocket exclaims, turning to glare at the man.
"Did we miss something interesting?" Peter asks, stepping closer.
There is a rapid exchange of glances.
"Just Stark being Stark." Coulson says in the end.
"And a new bit of the plan to destroy the Universe, apparently." Skye emends.
"Someone has been working while we had our little pissing contest... - Peter says, giving Ronan a seductive smile - I guess you are feeling better, then..." he adds, and Ronan wishes he wouldn't put so much subtext in his words.
He nods, trying to push aside the images of rumpled sheets and bare flesh that his words have put in his head. The need that has been sleeping in him since they arrived wakes for a moment before he can push it back down, but the smile on Peter's face says he has seen it.
"Right, I am sure that there will be another meeting or briefing of some sort now. We gotta know each other beter and share intel and so on, I know. - Peter starts, as if nothing had happened - But can we have it in front of a pizza or a burger? Pretty please? I have been piloting the Milano most of the way and I am starving." he adds.
To be honest, Ronan is feeling quite hungry too, now. Not quite as much as the last time he has been "high", but still...
"It has to be pizza! Peter has been talking about it and how amazing it is all the karking journey! - Rocket butts in - Hey, is that a frequency-activated shock bomb?" he asks straight away, pointing at one of Fitz's projects.
"It is." Fitz replies, either amazed that someone has recognised it, or totally confused by Rocket's appearance.
"Sweet! - Rocket comments - There is nothing better against robots and cyborgs. Makes 'em writhe and scream in pain." he adds with his usual disturbing grin.
Fitz just gives him a wan smile.
"Don't mind him. It's just his way of making friends. - Peter adds - So, about this pizza? Who is up for one?" he insists.
"I wouldn't mind." Coulson admits, shaking his head.
"Me neither." Skye chimes in.
"I am all for one too. - Loki says from the door - It is the only good memory I have of Midgard... Oh, it is you." he adds quietly when he sets his eyes on Coulson.
A deep hush falls on the room as the Jothunn stalks towards the Lost One, looking at him with burning red eyes.
His clothes, normally impeccably straight, are rumpled and slightly askew, and his usual mask of calm is down. Surprise and guilt play on his features as he gives the SHIELD operative a once-over.
"When they told me you were not dead, I found it hard to believe. - he says in an awed whisper - But here you are, alive and well."
"No thanks to you." Coulson retorts dryly.
"No. - Loki admits - I killed you. I know I did. I plunged the blade clean through, all the way. You should have died a quick death." he adds.
"It was the Soul Gem." Coulson explains.
"Of course. Now it all makes sense. - the Jothunn comments quietly - You look changed."
"You too." the Lost One retorts.
"This is my true form." Loki reveals.
"And this is what happens when you are brought back from beyond with some help from a dead alien." Coulson offers.
"A Kree?" Loki asks.
"Got it in one." Coulson admits.
"You have my most sincere admiration for pulling it through with your sanity intact. - the Jothunn adds - I wouldn't have wished that fate on my worst enemy. And you were not." he declares, dipping his head in a sketchy bow.
Coulson seems surprised, but manages to nod in acknowledgement.
There is a long pause as the two assess each other in silence.
"Why are you here?" Coulson asks eventially.
"The mind and the will behind what I did were not mine, even if the hand that struck the blow was. - Loki replies - I am here to say that I wouldn't have done any of what I did, if I'd been in possession of my own free will." he declares.
"Accuser Shanleigh and your team-mate explained the situation to me." Coulson comments, jerking his head towards Ronan.
"So? What do you say to that?" Loki asks with his usual, defensive haughtiness.
"I say you still are a conceited jerk, but I am all for giving people second chances. - Coulson replies without missing a beat - Not third ones, though, if you know what I mean." he warns, giving him a long, hard look.
"I think I do. I too would be very disappointed with myself if I relapsed. - Loki retorts dryly - Don't worry, Phil son of Cole: I would rather die a thousand deaths than serve Thanos again. May my tongue rot in my mouth if I lie. May my kin shun me and disown me again, if I renege on my promise. May my soul drift forever in the Void if I harbour treason in my heart." he declares solemnly.
"Sounds good to me." Coulson confirms, holding his hand out towards the Jothunn.
Loki takes it and shakes it decisively, keeping his red eyes trained on Coulson's brown ones with a raw, vulnerable look on his face.
"Now, for this pizza-and-briefing... - Coulson continues, letting go of Loki's hand - The canteen makes disgusting pizza, but I know a nice place not very far from here. Obviously we can't go there, we'd cause a major panic outbreak if we did..." he explains, looking pointedly at Rocket.
"And that's why I hate homogeneous planets..." Rocket comments.
"But we can have it delivered." Coulson concludes.
"This seems like an agreeable plan." Ronan comments, hoping that Rocket woll not make too much of a nuisance of himself.
"I second." Peter chimes in.
"Yeah, whatever. As long as it is pizza." Rocket retorts, without even looking their way. He is too busy showing Fitz and Simmons how to tune the shock granades for various uses.
The two the scientists are listening intently to him and replying with suggestions and observations of their own. It looks like they are having fun.
"We have lost them." Peter comments.
"Let's hope they don't blow up anything." Ronan adds, shaking his head in dismay.
"How likely it is?" May asks sternly.
"Not very. - Peter replies - Rocket knows what he is doing. Most of the time."
"He is one of the most gifted mechanics I've ever seen." Ronan adds.
"But he is a raccoon!" Skye comments.
"And a brave person." Loki chimes in, obviously taking the defence of his partner in mischief.
"Let's leave them at their own devices. I am sure they will show up when the food is on the table. - Captain America suggests - Let's find somewhere we can fit all our crews in, have lunch, and take things easy from there. I am sure we can make this joint mission work, if we just stay calm, give it a bit of time..." he declares.
"...And mind our language!" Thor chimes in with a laugh.
"Eh?!" most people except the Avengers exclaim.
"That too. - Captain America agrees ruefully - You're never going to let me forget it, are you?" he asks his comrades.
"Sorry, Steve, but it is too tempting to let it go." Natasha admits with a chuckle.
"It's a long story." Captain America says, going pink in embarrassment.
"I'm sure we will have plenty of time to hear it while we eat. - Ronan chimes in - We don't know each other almost at all now, but we know we all hate Thanos. It's a start, at least, and we can build on that."
"It's a lot. - Peter intervenes - I've managed to pick up dates with even less common ground than that, back in the day." he adds with a grin.
"We don't need to be friends to work together." May objects, crossing her arms on her chest.
"But we need to know each other at least a bit to work well together... you know, to avoid cultural misunderstandings, and to figure out who works better with whom..." Skye counters, grabbing Peter and Steve and pulling them out of the meeting room, without even waiting for a response.
"It might sound naif, but she has a point." Loki chimes in.
Coulson gives him a hard look, but eventually nods.
May sighs, but starts following her.
"Come on, folks! I'm starving!" Skye yells over her shoulder as she marches her two catches away.
"I'd better call the restaurant." Coulson sighs.
Skye's team-building attempt works pretty well, in all honesty.
Pizza is in fact an amazing delicacy, as amazing as Peter claimed it to be and then some, and encounters everyone's favour.
J'rth, in particular is quite taken by the new dish and manages to polish off nearly three whole pizzas on his own before collapsing in what the Terrans call a food-coma.
Rocket also partakes liberally, but is too preoccupied with sharing tales of engineering mishaps with Fitz, Simmons and a really tall, powerfully built dark brown Terran who goes by Mack to really stuff his face as he is sometimes wont to do. Judging from the intermittent bouts of laughter, they seem to be having fun.
Peter has discovered that Steve is the Capitan America from his childhood comics and has latched on him like a child with a new toy. He is bombarding the Avenger with questions, but Steve doesn't seem to mind. He seems a good-natured, honourable fellow and Ronan wouldn't mind talking to him, if only it was possible.
If Steve is busy with Peter, Ronan himself is no less busy with Skye and Coulson, who seem determined to bury him under a ton of questions about the Kree Empire. They have already managed to make him promise that he will teach them the language. He would have volunteered anyway, though. They will surely need it, during the course of the investigation.
Thor and Loki are chatting quietly with Vision and Wanda, most likely updating them about family matters. Drax, Gladiator, Tripp, Falcon, War Machine and a pink Terran called Hunter look at each other with suspicion first and then end up talking shop in a corner, while all the ladies have banded together and are probably trading daring tales of adventure and a healthy dose of embarrassing stories about the rest of them, from the looks of it.
May seemed to be the most sceptic about the benefits of having a relaxed chat with the rest of the would-be task force, but now she seems to be having quite a bit of fun.
It seems like everyone has managed to find someone to talk to, someone they can relate to, and the conversation is flowing.
Ronan judges it a very auspicious start.
They haven't instantly become best of friends, but at least now they understand each other at least a bit, and some tenuous threads of trust has been spun between them.
They are starting to realise that they are truly in this together, and that no one is trying to take advantage of anyone else, so when Fury calls them up for a new meeting, something to do with the President, the antagonism seems to have died down almost completely, and they show an admirable unity of intent.
It seems like things are looking up, for now.