Bruce gingerly slipped into the Surveillance Room, seating himself next to Natasha at the long black table. Tony, Clint and Steve sat quietly opposite them, each lost in their own musings. Swarms of SHIELD operatives flittered in and out of the room, as they desperately attempted to chip away at a large chunk of ice frozen over the surveillance console.
"Did the intruders do that?" Bruce whispered to an indifferent Natasha.
"No. The Draugur," Natasha replied brusquely.
"Danny?" Bruce asked incredulously.
The female agent didn't bother to reply as Thor and Fury swept into the room, Fury moving to stand at the head of the table as the Asgardian smugly seated himself next to Bruce. The much smaller scientist blanched at the sight of Thor's broad smile. He had been perpetually happy since he had found out that Danny was being held in captivity on the Helicarrier.
Fury sent a look to the excavating agents, who quickly fled the room with a sharp salute and the hiss of the closing door.
"It seems," Fury began, planting his hands onto the long black table-top, "That Rogers has come across some rather discrediting news about our… situation. While we do not know if this was part of Loki's plans, I am now asking that all members of the Avengers Initiative to try to maintain as much control at all times as possible, lest we fall into the same problem again." Fury's single eye flicked obviously over in Bruce's direction, making his cheeks burn in shame.
"How should we act next then, sir?" Clint queried, "If this is a ploy of Loki's to lower earth's defences then how do we respond?"
Fury lowered himself into his seat and leant forwards, "We fight fire with fire."
"You mean… use the Draugur?" Natasha asked bewildered, eyebrows raised. Bruce felt his own do the same.
Fury tipped his head at her, "That is correct, Romanoff. This 'Phantom', as it calls itself, is our closest link to capturing Loki and his associates. Loki's plans to take over the Vatican may have failed, but he has succeeded in planting discord and distrust into the public's eye. Even if it was unintentional."
Thor's beaming face morphed in an intimidating glower, his voice low as he hissed, "Have you not understood any of my warnings? Draugar are never to be trusted! They are not capable of feeling – the freak could turn on us at any time!"
Steve burst out angrily, "Danny's not like that! He's different! You can't just assume—"
"You have not seen what I have seen, mortal," Thor spat, "Never in all the epochs of my life have I met a more cruel or vicious creature than one of Hel's spawn! My brother's sins do not compare to ones committed by those foul beasts," Bruce thought he heard Thor's voice waver – the god almost seemed scared.
"You do not have to worry about that, Thor," Fury stated, "I have complete control over the Draugur at the present time. Our focus should primarily be on Loki and what his plans are next."
Bruce looked over and tried to catch an unusually sombre Tony's eye, but the Ironman simply ignored him to stare down at the table with a deep frown.
Clearing his throat, Bruce squeaked, "Don't you think it's a little odd?"
"Think what is odd, Mr Banner?" Fury clipped out, reclining back in his chair to stare at Bruce.
"It's just that –from what Thor and what Tony told me in the Vatican – Loki didn't seem to put up much of a fight. Thor said that these ghosts – sorry, I mean Draugar – are some of the scariest things around… But it sounds like they weren't even trying."
"It is true that they are not as strong or as fearsome as I remember." Thor admitted, tucking his burly arms across his chest. Bruce noticed Tony's eyes narrow, but the genius still refused to speak.
"Are you suggesting Loki wasn't at the Basilica to overthrow it?" Natasha pressed.
"There weren't even any hostages this time, unlike in Stuttgart." Steve added as he gazed at Danny's ice-block, "Loki thrives off attention – the Vatican's always been a popular tourist destination, even in my day. He could have had hundreds under his control, but almost nobody was hurt…"
"The Vatican was a distraction." Clint concluded.
Steve looked at him puzzled, "But why? Just to get his sceptre?"
Natasha shook her head, "No. It must be something more than that. Loki's not one to stay quiet forever, he'll be back."
/ / /
Danny rolled over onto his stomach, burrowing his face deeper into the soft goose-down pillow. This was exactly what he needed – a nice, long relaxing nap. It felt good to forget everything that was going on, to teeter between the edge of responsibility and sleep to just fall off without any worries into unconscious bliss.
Hearing a door shut with as soft clack, Danny bundled himself up further in the sheets with a reluctant groan, throwing the thick duvet over his head. Footsteps neared the bed before stopping short, and Danny thought he heard a masculine chuckle through his sleep-induced haze. Another pair of feet slipped into the room shortly after – much lighter than the first – and soft whispers began to carry back and forth between their owners – too soft for even Danny's advanced hearing to catch.
Repositioning his broken hand, Danny found that he just couldn't care anymore. He couldn't care about Vlad, Loki or any of the escaped ghosts. It just felt too good to sleep. Even if it was Thor sneaking in to beat him to a pulp… well, there could be worse ways to go than in a king sized bed with thousand-thread Egyptian cotton sheets. Snuggling further into the pillow, the halfa sighed contently before the voices faded into the background, slipping away as he fell into oblivion once again.
The howling cry of an alarm jolted Danny awake, sending him scrambling to escape his bed-cloth cocoon and becoming much more personal with the floor than he ever cared to be. Freeing an arm, Danny shoved the rest of the tangled sheets off and pushed himself up off the ground, looking wildly around in confusion. Where was that wretched noise coming from?
The main door flung open with a bang as it collided with the wall, making Danny jump back and raise his arms defensively, an ecto-ray flickering weakly in his uninjured palm. Pepper Potts stood in the doorway, gawking at the glowing hand in wonderment.
"Danny!" She finally hissed, snapping out of her stupor, her voice almost inaudible as the alarm raged on, "You have to change!"
Danny blinked languidly as he lowered his arm, "Wha—? Why?"
Slamming the door shut behind her and leaning on it heavily, Pepper said, "Because of SHIELD, Danny! Remember? The world's under attack!"
Danny attempted to shake off the remains of his sleepiness, "Attacked? What are you talking about? And what's it gotta do with me?"
Pepper swallowed nervously, "Tony said Fury's sending you in."
/ / /
Fury watched over the Operations Room with a frown as the alarms continued to wail. SHIELD agents rushed back and forth from their stations – the room a catastrophic clash of noise and panic. News broadcastings from across the globe covered the screens, as footage of invading Draugurs swept through cities at an alarming pace, leaving trails of destruction and havoc everywhere they went.
"Sir, there have been sightings of the Draugar in Greece and India now, as well as Northern China and Russia!" Maria called up to the platform.
"Where is Loki now?" Fury asked his lieutenant calmly.
"We're not certain, sir, but Anderson has discovered a sixty-eight percent match just outside of Uppsala, Sweden."
Fury frowned deeper, "No other traces?"
"No, director."
Tapping on one of his thin, glass computer screens, Fury said, "Very well. Send in the Draugur as a decoy, then the Avengers. We're going after Loki."
Maria hesitantly saluted her commanding officer before barking out navigation codes to the nearby agents. Fury turned back to his screens, staring peevishly at the documents and files scattered across them. The Draugar were more troublesome than he had originally assumed, but soon they would become SHIELD's most valuable assets – and most loyal. Fury smiled as he locked the encrypted 'Draugur' folder. Maybe Phantom was the key.
/ / /
Danny gasped desperately for the thinned air from behind the constricting muzzle as he was directed out of the roof's alcove, his lungs burning painfully as the wind whipped around him. The glowing, energy-sucking manacles clasped around his wrist and cast clinked derisively at him with each step, while the four SHIELD agents held their weapons out warily, making him long for Pepper's companionship and rational mind.
Pepper had been forced to leave after they had discovered Danny residing in her room in his ghostly form, but had argued greatly before she was removed for them to strap on his mask and cuffs. Danny mentally snorted, the chains didn't really matter anyway – Fury already had him trapped.
Homesickness hit him again as he thought back to his friends and family he had inadvertently put in danger once again, a sob ripping from his throat before the air escaped his lungs entirely, making him choke.
Breathing heavily in an attempt not to suffer from oxygen deprivation, Danny sped across the tarmac with a burst of his weakened ghostly energy, heading for an open-hatched Blackbird – ducking low as he clambered inside, wary of knocking his head on the low ceilings again.
Depositing himself on one of the benches, the halfa growled at the armed guards who had followed behind, taking off their portable oxygen tanks and shutting the hatch with a metallic clang. The agents hesitantly seated themselves opposite Danny – strapping on their seatbelts as the Blackbird's engine began to hum – weapons still poised.
Fuming, Danny turning to the window as a distraction only to catch sight of Fury standing in the alcove, his own oxygen mask wrapped securely around his mouth and nose as he stared unblinkingly back at the halfa. Swivelling back in his seat, Danny felt his irises burn as they flared dangerously, making the SHIELD agents flinch back as a snarl tore its way through his mask. Huffing moodily as the guards clenched their weapons tighter, Danny took a deep shuddering breath, the way Sam and Tucker had taught him after his incident with Vortex a few years ago, and forced himself to calm.
Repeating the process a few more times, Danny quickly found himself coming to a conclusion. Fury and the Avengers may want the same thing as Danny, but there was no way he was ever going to work just in SHIELD's favour – he'd make sure of that.