Chapter 32 - An Origin Story

"Incompatible?" Fury spoke with a dangerous edge to his voice, as he glared at the aged doctor who was communicating him via video conference from a classified location. "That isn't what I wanted to here, doctor."

Dr. Streiten rubbed his temples in exasperation. "Sir, we're doing the best we can, but the extensiveness of Agent Coulson's wounds are more extreme than all of the other subjects that we've worked with."

"Yeah, I got that before." Fury said, impatient. "What I don't get is how this is slowing down progress. The G.H.325 successfully healed four of the subjects and brought the fifth one back from the grave. How exactly is Agent Coulson incompatible?"

"We've applied three doses of the serum already, Director Fury." Streiten said. "But the fluids from the alien specimen are more complex than you realize. Specimen five was dead for only a few hours. Coulson has been dead for months. The first two doses have reconstituted his damaged tissue, but have yet to actually resuscitate them."

"Well keep working on it." Fury ordered vehemently. "Phil Coulson is an asset that, under no circumstances, can be sacrificed willingly. If this operation is the only chance at bringing him back, we're not going to waste it."

Dr. Streiten's gaze lingered with Fury's cold stare for a few moments, before he sighed in resignation. "Yes, Director Fury. I'll report our progress when I'm able."

Once that was said, the signal was cut, and Fury gave another sigh as he sat back in his chair. He turned his chair around to gaze out the large window behind him to get a better view of the city outside. The Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new headquarters, was a large cylindrical building in Washington, D.C. After learning of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s role in the conflict against the Chitauri, the U.S. Senate requested that the agency make its home base closer to the heart of the U.S.

Set up next to the Patomic River, the Triskelion had a massive underground complex where very secretive work was being done.

Fury didn't turn when the door to his office opened. Agent Tremel, dressed in a formal uniform signifying a higher rank than that which she was previously endowed, clutched a holopad close to her chest as she stood in front of Fury's desk. Since the battle of New York, Tremel had been exceedingly helpful in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s recovery operations, and played a significant part in the discovery and subsequent recruitment of Danny Fenton to the Avengers Initiative. This awarded her a special position as Fury's secretary, a job more fitting for her as she wasn't the type to enjoy field work.

Giving a soft ahem, Tremel got Fury to face her. He did so, and looked up at her expectantly. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to inform you, sir, that Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff have apprehended Silas Baker and his terrorist cell, and the newly ordered shipment for Project Insight has just come in." She explained.

Fury nodded, "Good. Is that all?" Fury grabbed a glass of ice water that was on his desk and took a drink.

"Er, not quite. You have a message from a..." Tremel paused, and tapped on her holopad to recheck the message. "... Madison Harper."

Fury gave a start, and choked on some of the ice cubes. Coughing, Fury quickly regained his composure, and looked at a surprised Tremel with a stern glare.

Tremel just blinked helplessly in confusion. "Director Fury?"

"Patch me in. Now. And make it secure."

ooooo

Soladat and Skye entered the debriefing room, while Ward, who was currently quite unhappy with how the interrogation went, stalked off to his quarters. While Soladat started working the high-tech holotable, Skye stood nearby, looking at Soladat curiously.

"You're not like the other shield agents."

Soladat lifted an eyebrow and stared at the girl. "Is that a compliment?"

"Ward doesn't really like your style." Skye said, smirking. "Though, it is... preferable."

"Ward and I haven't always seen eye to eye." Soladat confessed, pulling up an enlarged image of Michael Peterson's licence. "He's also a little sour around me. All the times we've worked together in the past, I've always come out on top, and my methods were never as extreme as his. He's a man who likes to believe assertiveness is the best possible way. Now, I'm assertive in battle, and I don't give a damn about security, but I don't like people suffering. If there's an easy way, I'll take it."

Skye looked impressed. "Huh. Wish the guys in dark coats shared your optimism."

"One did." Soladat said darkly. While working with Peterson's ID, Soladat searched through various records and data regarding the man. Among the articles that came up was a rather recent newscast. Soladat frowned, and with the wave of her hand, she moved the image off of the holotable, and a second later, a monitor on the wall turned on and played the newscast.

"... remains in critical condition. Employees could not identify the attacker, but security footage confirms that this man," the image on the screen showed black-and-white security footage of a bald black man in a ragged old coat looking over a comatose man buried under a mound of cargo and supplies. Skye's face lit up in surprise and mild horror when she saw the man violently rip a piece of machinery out of a nearby wall. "assaulted the factory foreman and cost hundreds of dollars in civilian property. Police are..."

"This is... wrong." Skye said, shaking her head. Mike wasn't like this. She knew. She had talked to him. "This is not the guy I met. He was... he..."

"He just needs a break." Soladat finished, smiling slightly. "We can give him one. What have you got?"

Skye looked over at Archangel, forming a smile of her own.

ooooo

Soladat placed Mike Peterson's ID on the holotable, and Fitz, Simmons, Skye, May, and Ward, who was glaring at Skye in obvious distrust, watched as various pieces of background info appeared on the screen.

"Michael Peterson." Soladat said, arms crossed as she looked down at the information. "It says here he's a factory worker. He was married and has one son, but his wife left them after he received an injury that cost him his job. Sometime later he miraculously heals from the injury even though it should have crippled him for life. My guess is, he gets an offer than someone can make him strong again."

"And he's suddenly all Captain America-centric." Agent May finished.

Soladat nodded. May shook her head in confusion. "Who would even have the tech to do that? And why would they want to?"

"I don't know." She then turned to the male scientist of the team. "Fitz, what did you guys find at the remains of the building?"

"Some security footage." Fitz answered. "It shows what happened right before the blast."

"Play it." Soladat ordered.

Nodding, Fitz ran his hand over the table, and on the large monitor hanging from the adjacent wall, an image appeared. It showed a short scientist in a lab coat talking to a very stressed out looking man, who was pointing a furious finger at the scientist and appeared to be yelling.

May narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What are we seeing?"

"Well, it appears that this man," Fitz pointed at the angry man. "Is... well, angry at the other man."

Soladat lifted an eyebrow at the clueless response, while May and Ward just groaned in annoyance. Skye however, smirked slightly, trying to hold back a giggle. Seeing the mixed reactions of the team, Simmons was quick to add in.

"The data is very corrupt."

"Yeah." Fitz said, letting off a mild laugh. "Like Cold War Russia corrupt. I can't sync the time code without-"

"What about the audio?"

Everyone turned to look at Skye, who had stepped forward, staring intently at the image. "I was running surveillance on the lab. I had my sights pointed at the window before the blast. There are some digital files in my van. There's too much background noise for me, but you guys could probably-"

Simmons' eyes lit up, and she turned back to Fitz. "You can do that, can't you? Find a sync point and-"

"Well, I can't scrub the point exactly..."

The rest of the team just watched as the pair whispered ideas for each other. They couldn't quite make out what was being said, before they both smiled in agreement at something and looked back at the rest of the team.

"That would be good. Thank you very much." Fitz said, Simmons nodding in approval.

"Your van's here." Soladat said, looking at Skye. "And you were right. We couldn't decrypt the files."

"The encryption is coupled to the van's GPS." Skye explained. "If we can get the van back to that alleyway, then I'm in business."

"Agent May will escort you." Soladat said. Not questioning Soladat's decision, May nodded, and ushered for Skye to follow. When the two exited, Ward, who had been silent the entire time, walked over to Soladat, grabbing her by the shoulder and forcing her to face him.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

"Excuse me?" Soladat said, frowning.

"You're sending her into the field, and she's not even an agent." Ward explained. "We can't trust her. She's a security risk."

Soladat's eyes narrowed. "We've been over this, Grant. She's an asset, and we could use her."

"I still don't like it."

"I never asked what you liked." Soladat said, her tone suddenly gaining a venom that people rarely ever heard from her. "I decide what goes on with the team, Ward. And if I say this girl is vital to the operation, then she stays. You don't get any say in this."

Ward's eyes narrowed, and he spoke back with an equal amount of venom. "I'm Level 7 clearance, Wrekk. I get a say in things just as much as you do."

"Not here you do." Soladat shot back harshly. "Your presence in the team wasn't my choice. I could care less about you, Ward. You're only here because I'm trying to honor Coulson's choice. That and your combat skill is of some use to the operation. If you want to help, fine. All you have to do is follow orders. You can either do that or find somewhere else to be, but do not question my choices. Am I clear?"

"... Crystal." Ward said before he turned around and walked out of the room, his movement full of anger and frustration.

Soladat watched him leave, and then sighed. She turned around to face Fitzsimmons, who had looks of surprise on their faces, having overheard the argument.

"Don't you two have work to do?" She said, glaring.

Almost immediately, the scientists scrambled out of the room, heading downstairs towards their lab.

ooooo

Mike looked through the window to the hospital room, where a young woman with red hair was being tended to by a nurse. Taking a deep breath, he held the bouquet of flowers gently and entered the room. Closing it behind him, he cleared his throat, making his presence known to the patient and nurse. The patient's face immediately lit up in surprise, and she sat up, stuttering slightly.

"Wow..." She said, seemingly in awe. "You... you're him."

"Yeah." Mike said, smiling. "I'm glad you're doing okay."

He walked forward, offering the woman the flowers, which she took, and smiled up at Mike. "Yeah. Thank you. They're beautiful."

Smiling at the pair, the nurse decided to leave them be. The patient's face immediately changed from one of gratefulness to wariness, and once the nurse exited, she turned back to look at Mike. She now looked absolutely furious.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She growled.

Mike just sighed helplessly. "I don't know where to go, Doctor. Everything's getting..."

Mike was struggling to say the right words. He looked on the verge of a breakdown. "I know what's right, I do! But no one will listen to me. I volunteered because YOU said things would change."

The woman immediately stood up from the bed, glaring at him. "You said you could keep it together! Our first subject lost it, he walked into the lab with a freakin bomb-"

"I'm not like him!" Mike elucidated firmly, glaring back at the young doctor.

"Well tell that to your foreman in the ICU-" the doctor's spiteful reiteration was cut off when Mike reached forward, grabbing the neck of her hospital gown.

"I saved your life!"

"You," the woman shoved him away, "exposed me!"

She walked away from him, moving over to the window and looking around in paranoia, looking to see if anyone was watching. She spun around to face Mike again. "You exposed the whole program! The people who gave me this technology? They are very serious and they do NOT wan't to be revealed."

She glared firmly. "Mike Peterson needs to disappear."

Mike stared at her morosely, silent, thinking. He sighed. "You're right. I'm not him anymore. I'm someone else now."

The woman just stared at him like he was insane. He turned away from her and started to walk towards the open window. Realizing what he was about to do, she moved forward to try and stop him. "You're juiced, Mike! And you're losing it just like the last guy! My God, this whole thing is a disaster."

"No." Mike said, turning back to face her. "It's an origin story."

"Peterson!" She started to yell, but he jumped out of the window. Running over, she looked outside, only to see that he had disappeared.

"Damnit." She cursed, and instantly moved over to the hospital phone. Dialing a single number, she held it up to her ear. It rang for a few moments before a voice answered.

"Hello?"

"This is Dr. Deborah Lucio." She said. "I need to speak to Raina."

Hello everyone. I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been a little busy recently. I'm gonna try updating more. I promise.

Now, about the mention of Danny Phantom in this chapter, for those of you who are curious about that, his introduction to this universe is explained in my other story, Dossier: Danny Phantom. And for those of you who might think I made Soladat seem a little harsh towards Ward, that was intentional. I used to like Ward, but when the whole HYDRA story arc in Agents of SHIELD started, I lost all respect for him.

I am Groot: I like this story. I also like the title image, though there are some characters I do not recognize, like who's the creepy white-haired kid, the girl standing next to the Hulk, and the blonde woman and blue-skinned guy in the background?

Thanks. I made that using photoshop. The 'creepy white haired kid' is supposed to be Danny Phantom. I'm not too happy with the image myself but it doesn't really matter by this point. The girl is Carrie White. The blonde woman in the background is Claire Voyant, the bitch of this story, and the blue skinned guy is her new partner, Blackheart, who was introduced in Dossier: Danny Phantom. You may know him from the Ghost Rider movie.

Guest: You SO chucked Garrus Vakarian romance dialogue in there... respect rising

Thanks I guess. I'm a huge fan of Mass Effect, and wanted to incorporate some measure of that franchise into this story, which led to me including Xegh Hikesh. The story of Hikesh's people will play a major part in Phase Two of this story. It already has played a big part in Thordis: The Dark World.

Mr Deacon: Great story. I like this universe you are making. But I'd like to know the order in which your stories are set. Also, where is Kirby by this point? I know he's in SHIELD custody right now, but where exactly? And do you have any other franchises you plan to incorporate?

The first story in the chronology of my stories is Thordis, which is set a full year before Phase One in United They Stand. The two dossier stories are concurrent to each other, and are both set a month after Phase One. Thordis: The Dark World is set another year after Phase One.

Kirby is being held at a secret SHIELD facility, where he and his technology are being studied by some of the agency's greatest minds. He'll come in later.

And yes, there will be a few other third-parties incorporated, but I'm not gonna go overboard. Some people have already expressed their concern with me overcrowding this fic, and I'm gonna do my best to focus on the characters that are already present before introducing any others.