Authors notes
Errata: Dates on chapters 17, 18 & 19 are slightly incorrect. They should read
Chapter 17; 16th/17th November 2013
Chapter 18; 17th November
Chapter 19; 18th November
Story timeline Thursday 21st November 2013
Two searches come together, and a new alliance is formed.
Thor has a confession to make.
"It's only a trace, but the spectrographic signature suggests there was definitely something of Asgardian origin in that pit"
Fitz twiddled with the dials on the spectrometer to refine the reading while Sky peered over Jemma's shoulder at the drawing in her hands
"We sure it's them?"
The sketch artist with the dig had been able to complete a detailed technical drawing of the items before they were stolen. Two large, heavy looking, hoops covered in geometric patterns; judging by the photographs they were made of a dull bronze-like metal. Fragments of leather cord wrapped around them suggested they'd been used as neck ornaments at one point.
"Weeelll…" said Jemma speculatively "They don't match any other known Native American artefacts of the period and elements of the design do compare favourably with those of other Asgardian objects we've seen; admittedly we haven't seen that many…"
"Two; the Berserker Staff and Lady Sif's sword." Fitz interrupted "We've never actually seen Mjolnir."
"Three" Jemma reminded him "You're forgetting Lorelei's muzzle; but it's still not a huge sample group."
"Hey!" exclaimed Sky, a sudden glint in her eyes "Maybe this is some of Thor's old man-bling. If we find it and get it back to him, well, you know…"
Jemma smiled, still studying the sketch
"You are aware of the whole 'Thor has a boyfriend' thing, aren't you?"
"Yeah" snorted Fitz in amusement "a sarcastic English boyfriend. No-one wants to go up against that."
Sky shrugged
"Five minutes of flexing isn't going to hurt anyone…"
Jemma's far-away look suggested her agreement with that hypothesis. They were interrupted by Coulson's return, followed by Agent May.
"Not everything Asgardian happens to be Thor's personal property. Let's concentrate on the job in hand and try not to get distracted. What have we got so far?"
His tone was still abrupt and impatient Sky noted. He'd been on edge ever since last night for no obvious reason.
"Not much other than this sketch, the photographs and Fitz's readings" Jemma acknowledged. "They appear to be some sort of bracelets or wrist-guards…"
"Yeah, Thor-sized wrist-guards" muttered Sky, ignoring Coulson's annoyed glance
"…but they would have been too large for the average Hualapai so it looks like they used them as pendants" concluded Fitz.
"So, not much." He activated the comm-link "Ward, what about you?"
"Half a dozen or so bike gangs operating in the area, sir. One of them, The Devil Dogs, started dropping off the radar just after the robbery."
"Okay, get back to the Bus and we'll follow up on that." He took the sketch and the photographs from Jemma "I'll see if Professor Randolph can give us anything more."
###
"I'm sorry, Phil, they could be anything; even just regular wrist-guards. the Asgardian who called himself Professor Elliot Randolph spread his hands apologetically "I was a stonemason, remember? I didn't even see that much of Asgard before I joined the Berserker Army. If you get hold of the originals I might be able to tell you something more but until then…"
"Understood Professor Randolph, thank you for taking the time. Enjoy the concert this evening."
Coulson switched off the screen and sat down. It had been a long shot, but alien artefacts running around made him nervous and Randolph was the only Asgardian he could contact directly. It would be nice to think these were merely pieces of jewellery that had been lost a thousand or more years ago, then made their way along the trade routes over the centuries but he'd yet to run across anything alien that proved to be innocuous.
"Hey AC, 's'up?"
Coulson looked up to see Sky in the doorway, smiling. He had to remember to close his office door now and again,
"Randolph couldn't help us. Until we can track down these 'Devil Dogs' we're still in the dark."
She sat down on the couch and picked up a paperweight. It was one of those glass ones with a sea-anemone in it and she turned it in her hands to catch the light.
"No, I mean what's up with you? You've been twitchy all day. Bad news?"
Coulson sighed, weighing up the pros and cons of opening up. He hadn't told anyone yet, although Melinda kept giving him The Look. Melinda would be pragmatic and functional; Sky would tell him the right thing to do, even if it was impossible. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he'd come to trust her so much.
"An old friend of mine tried to kill himself at the weekend. I just found out last night."
"Oh God, AC!" Sky's face was a mask of shock "I'm so sorry, is he going to be ok?"
Coulson shook his head sadly
"I don't know. He's gone into near total shutdown and been admitted to a clinic for observation."
She got up and walked over to crouch beside him, putting her hand on his arm
"You should go and see him, we can keep things going on the ground here for a couple of days."
"I can't, it's Agent Barton. He thinks I'm dead" The pain in his voice made Sky's heart ache "He's been blaming himself for my death ever since. It's one of the reasons he tried to blow his brains out..."
"You went to see Dr Kerr and you don't even know him. I've heard how much Agent Barton means to you…"
"This is different. If it was just Fury's orders, I'd find some way round them" He looked down at her with a mischievous smile "Or get you to find some way round them for me..."
He put his hand on hers and patted it gently
"…But if I show up now, after all this time; if he finds out the organisation he's put all his faith in has lied to him about something like this, it could destroy him completely."
The cogs were already turning in Sky's mind
"I could find a way to talk to Dr Kerr for you. If he's as good as everyone says he could break it to him…"
"No!" The pain and sadness was gone from Coulson's voice, replaced by an emphatic authority "There are too many unknown variables in play right now, it could put both of you at unacceptably high risk."
Sky got to her feet and placed the paperweight down on the desk. Coulson glanced at it, then at her. She sighed and put it back where she found it.
"So, what do we do now?" She asked
He looked at her with a dry smile
"We go round up the Devil Dogs."
###
The bar was small, a typical roadside stop for this part of the state. Only a couple of cars and bikes parked outside, clearly business was slow on a midweek lunchtime; the weather chilly by Arizona standards.
"Ward should be doing this, not you." grumbled Agent May as they walked towards the door.
"Relax" said Coulson, Melinda was never happy when he ventured anywhere near the field these days "we're just stopping off for a quiet drink and a bit of light conversation with the bartender; background observation, nothing more."
As they got up to the bar door it opened and a red-haired woman in skin-tight jeans and a biker jacket came out. She stopped in her tracks and stared at him.
"Phil?!"
"Oh! Hi Nata…."
###
"You'll be glad to hear it's not broken." Jemma's voice was coloured with a bright edge of nervousness. One of SHIELD's most notorious 'specialists' sat upstairs drinking tea under the watchful eye of Agent May "I've stopped the bleeding but you might have a black eye tomorrow."
"I'll can live with that" grumbled Coulson, gingerly wrinkling his nose and picking up his jacket.
"So, that's the famous Black Widow" said Sky, looking at the monitor. The poised red-head sitting in the lounge didn't look to be much more than 30 "I figured she'd be a lot older."
"Don't be fooled" Coulson adjusted his tie. It was one of his favourites and fortunately he hadn't dripped blood onto it "Agent Romanoff made her first kill before you started junior high."
He grinned at her nervously
"Wish me luck…"
Natasha put her cup down as Coulson came up the stairs into the plane's lounge. He was glad to see she was using a coaster.
"I didn't think any of these Mobile Airborne Command Centres were still in operation" Her manner was light, conversational; the tone of voice you would use when having coffee with an old friend not talking to a man you thought had been dead for two years "Is this the latest addition to your collection?"
Phil sat down and glanced briefly at May who nodded and left.
"Fury had it reconditioned and brought back into service when I…" He paused, might as well jump in and tackle the herd of elephants in the room.
"…I did die, for 8 or 40 seconds or however long it was. I don't know. After they put me back together they sent me off to… …Tahiti… …to recover. When I came back on active duty, Fury had me assemble this team; to handle the 'out of the ordinary'. Things the average field team couldn't deal with but which weren't in the Avengers' league."
She arched her eyebrow slightly and picked up her tea again. Agent Romanoff was in full Observation Mode.
"Fury ordered my recovery kept a secret. Level 7 classification. He thought it might cause problems if some of the Avengers found out how he'd played them."
Natasha was silent for a moment. When she spoke her voice was calm and steady, Coulson knew her well enough to sense the adamantine control she was exercising
"It caused problems anyway, for Clint."
Coulson let out a long sigh
"That was the hardest part. Knowing how badly Clint took it, how he was being treated. I heard about him getting beaten up after the Peru mission…"
He saw the muscles around her mouth tighten very slightly
"He didn't tell me about that…"
Coulson had the feeling that certain Field Ops agents might be on unexpected medical leave soon. Agent Romanoff had her own private idea of what constituted disciplinary procedures where people who messed with Clint Barton were concerned
"…Believe me, Natasha, there were so many times I wanted to ignore Fury's orders and pick up the phone; to tell him this was one thing he didn't have to blame himself for. You know how much I care about him."
Natasha nodded. Like any other organisation, SHIELD was a hotbed of malicious gossip. There had been plenty of rumours that the older agent's interest in the feral, angry, teenager he'd brought in was more than just professional. It probably was at first, she thought, Coulson's buttoned-down control suggested hidden depths to the man. If so, he'd never acted upon it, instead becoming mentor, guide and surrogate father to a boy who'd known little but abuse, exploitation and violence for much of his life.
A lesser man, seeing Clint's desperate hunger for affection and acceptance, could easily have taken advantage of those needs; letting him believe it was what he wanted. Coulson's ability to sublimate his personal desires and instincts into the service of something other than himself was the man's true strength. It made him the paramount agent he'd become and linked the two men closer than any physical connection could. Thor often spoke about the 'Workings of Fate'. She didn't share the Asgardian's belief in a web of destiny that wove through their lives and bound them together, but if there was such a thing she could imagine Phil and Clint's encounter being part of it.
"I know, that's why I only bloodied your nose instead of driving the bone into your brain."
Coulson instinctively touched his red and swollen nose. He could tell Natasha wasn't joking.
"Thanks" he said, with a nervous laugh "I need it for a little longer."
She finished her tea and put her cup back down
"I'm not going to tell him. He wouldn't be able to cope with it…"
As Ainsley feared, Clint hadn't reacted well when the med crew arrived to take him to the clinic. Confused and disoriented, he'd become hysterical; convinced he was back in the days after the attack on the Helicarrier and being removed for interrogation and execution. It had taken Thor and Steve to hold him down while they sedated him and strapped him to a gurney. All the time he was screaming for Natasha and Ainsley to help him, not to let them do this, that it hadn't been his fault and he was sorry.
She'd gone with him to the clinic, Steve accompanying her, but there hadn't been much point. He was completely out and Dr Zabriski made it plain that until she'd got him stabilised their presence would be counter-productive. She'd had some choice things to say about the quality of the psych-care provided at Field Ops; her language hadn't been as colourful as Ainsley's but she clearly thought Clint should have been admitted for intensive treatment long before now. Her report to Director Fury would be spelling that out in great detail. Natasha had taken an immediate liking to Helen Zabriski, seeing why Ainsley had such regard for her. The short, plump, motherly woman was a force of nature when she was roused.
Ainsley hadn't come out of the apartment for the rest of the day. All Thor would say was 'He is very upset and wants to be left alone.'
"I wish I could be there" Coulson said quietly "I'm glad Clint has you and Dr Kerr. He needs people to care for him the way you do."
"I'm going to have to tell Ainsley…" she saw the look of alarm on the Agent's face. "Don't worry, he'll keep it to himself if I ask him. I think he already has suspicions and he'll find out one way or another anyway, better if it comes from me. That way you can 'consult' with both of us."
Coulson grimaced
"Fury won't like that."
"For now, Fury's likes and dislikes aren't my primary concern." She looked directly at him "I'm not going to waste my time with blame games. You had your orders, we had ours; but now the game's getting too big for us to work in isolation. If we can't work together directly it'll just have to be in a more roundabout fashion. The good old SHIELD tradition."
She sat back and crossed her legs, observing the agent's reactions. The conflict within him was clear; the old Coulson would never dream of circumventing Director Fury so blatantly, this Coulson had something different about him, a suspicion and ambivalence he would never admit aloud but was written behind his eyes. As he leaned forward in his seat she could see he'd come to a decision
"What's your interest in this case?" Caesar had crossed the Rubicon. Her response was short and to the point
"Barney Barton."
###
"I'll need copies of these. Thor might have some idea of what they are" she looked up at the team gathered around the holo-table. Agent May carried herself well but vibrated with controlled concern at Coulson's choice, whether she approved was difficult to tell. The two women had never worked together but she knew her reputation, and that it was well-deserved.
Agent Ward? Easier to read, he had a hard time keeping the involuntary tells down. That might cause him problems if he wasn't careful; emotional attachments and connections he wasn't acknowledging which could impact on future choices.
The girl, Sky, open and affectionate; clearly devoted to Coulson. Still at the start of her learning curve but with a great deal of latent potential. She was one to watch, possibly cultivate. Leo Fitz? Mousy and brilliant, hopelessly in love with Jemma Simmons. Natasha could imagine Isobel Kerr having been very much like her; compassionate, dedicated and with strength that even she didn't know about until she would have to use it.
"I can upload them for you" said Sky, eagerly "FitzSimmons has redone them in 3D."
"Thanks," said Natasha with a kind smile, handing the girl her phone "there should be enough memory on there. Just don't wipe my Kandy Krush high scores."
The girl's laugh was shy and nervous; clearly excited and apprehensive to be in her presence, new enough to the world of SHIELD not to be blasé. Spending so much time around the rest of the Avengers or under deep cover, it was easy to forget how 'normal' people reacted. Natasha realised with slight surprise she liked her. Clint would like her as well, she could understand why Coulson had taken her under his wing.
"So what now?" asked Ward. The dark-haired agent's nervousness about her presence here was evident and he appeared keen to distract her attention from Sky. Jealousy?
"We need to get back on the trail, pick up the scent before it fades" Barney had a habit of not leaving tracks, this was the closest she'd got and didn't want to waste any more time "'Leon Kruger' won't be around much longer and I suspect most of the Devil Dogs are feeding the coyotes right now."
She gave Ward an appraising glance, her cultured voice slipping into a rich Southern drawl
"Can y'all ride a hawg?"
The bike roared off in a trail of dust, Natasha straddling the back in the approved fashion; arms around Ward's waist. Sky joined Coulson at the foot of the ramp
"She's kinda nicer than I expected as well…" Natasha had given the girl her phone number; invited her to call next time she was in New York.
Coulson half smiled
"She's dangerous, she can afford to be nice." He turned and looked at her "And she's fiercely loyal, I don't regret my choice."
The last was directed at Agent May as she came up behind him.
"For what it's worth, I think you made the right call." She almost smiled at Coulson's look of faint surprise. "Agent Romanoff is right. We can't work in isolation on this, whatever 'this' is."
Coulson turned his attention back to the fading cloud of dust. Natasha had spoken about the fear she and Dr Kerr shared, the unshakable intuition that something dark and threatening was gathering strength beneath the surface. It gelled uncomfortably with the concerns that had been growing in him ever since they first ran across Project Centipede.
###
"How are you this evening, Little Bug?" asked Thor as he handed Ainsley his tea and settled down beside him on the couch. "You have been very quiet again today"
"Thinking about Clint" sighed Ainsley, leaning his head against his lover's shoulder. "Helen called earlier. He seems less distressed so they're reducing the sedation. She asked if I could take some of his personal things along on Saturday to try and help him settle."
"Will you take Clint something from me?" Thor's voice faltered "I… I want him to know I still love him."
He remembered the look on the archer's face as he helped hold him down to be sedated; the expression of panic and shock in Clint's eyes before he started howling in terror. Knowing his friend thought he had betrayed him tore Thor's heart open even though he knew it to be untrue.
Ainsley looked up at him, seeing the grief and doubt in Thor's eyes. He leaned up and kissed him softly on the cheek
"Come with me and give it to him yourself. Clint knows you love him, he's just a bit confused about things. He was scared, and didn't know what was happening."
Thor opened his mouth, hesitated briefly and then began to speak
"I was jealous, when you were first together." He turned to look at Ainsley, deep sadness in his dark blue eyes "I did not wish to share your heart with another, even Clint. I tried to, but a part of me always held back even though I loved him as my friend and comrade"
Ainsley opened his mouth to say something but Thor placed a finger lightly against his lips
"Shhh, Little Bug, let me finish. You know how hard it is for me to find the right words sometimes."
He lowered his hand and wrapped the doctor in his arms.
"While you were in the hospital I came to truly know Clint the way you know him. How he is kind, and funny, and good. And how his great heart is devoured by a terrible dark grief. When I consider my heart, I see you both there and my love for you is not diminished by his presence."
He raised Ainsley's hand to his lips and kissed the palm, then held it against his heart. Tears started to glisten in his eyes
"If stupid, clumsy Thor can love like that, I should not have doubted my wise, gentle healer. Please forgive me."
Ainsley rubbed his lover's chest, feeling the moisture in his own eyes
"There's nothing to forgive. I know how difficult this has been for you and I would have ended it any time you asked; but you never did. Even if you didn't realise it before, I could see how much you loved Clint. Maybe even more than I do, and he loves his Big Blond as much as I love my Snuggie-Bear."
Thor smiled broadly
"You will always be the light that calls me home, Little Bug" He bent his head and Ainsley deeply and passionately, feeling the young doctor's body responding against his; knowing they would be properly together for the first time in two months. "I will come with you when you go to Clint, together we will be the light that calls him back to us."