Chapter 17: What Do You Mean He's Not Dead?
Thanks for all the reviews.
Oops, I guess Goose is a girl, according to the Wiki. I always thought it was a male. Oh well, for this fic, Goose will remain a boy. A lot of research went into this chapter. It is mostly Marvel Cinema Verse.
Also, again shamelessly tooting my own horn, if you like Deadpool I have another fic about him called Deadpool's Fun. It is a crackfic, of course. I meant to say that many chapters ago.
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"Coulson?!" came the exclamation for many at the table. All of the Avengers were in various states of shock. It had been the man's death that had brought them together as a team. How had he survived? Had Fury lied to them? If he had there'd be hell to pay.
Clint and Natasha were particularly upset. Phillip J. Coulson had been their boss, in a way. He was their handler in SHIELD. He was close to them and to hear that he was still alive was both happy and distressing news.
"Phil?" Pepper said in a whisper, looking to Tony. She had been told about the man's death. He had been the only SHIELD agent she liked. Even if he was a bit pushy. That was until Natasha became part of the household. Still, Phil had saved her life from Stane.
"Who is Coulson?" Sirius asked, looking at all the shocked faces. The magicals in the room were all confused at the reactions of the Avengers.
Loki was perplexed. He was sure he had killed the man named Coulson. His scepter had gone through the man's chest and there was no recovery from that. He wasn't sure he wanted to confront a man who's death he had been a part of. Though, he was intrigued on how the man was alive.
Goose came wandering in and jumped on Ivy's lap. She had given up on finishing the last of her rice and reached down and started petting him.
"A dead man," Stark said, throwing down his napkin and getting up to go and meet his 'guests'. "At least we thought he was dead. Natasha, Clint, care to explain?" he asked the two agents. "Let them in, Jarvis," he said to the AI.
"We're just as surprised as you are," Clint said, very upset that his old mentor was alive and no one told him.
"Fury has a lot to answer for," Natasha said in a deadly tone. She didn't like surprises like this one. Sure, she was glad Phil was alive, but it would have been nice to know sooner, and not have it sprung on her like this.
Everyone got up and started to the living room where the doors were. The dishes could wait. Ivy was carrying Goose and he was staring at the doors like he couldn't wait until they opened.
Thor and Loki stood in the background, Thor ready to defend his brother, and Loki was concerned. His magic was bound by half and he was loath to use it against the mortals. Ivy would be disappointed in him if he did. And no one in the house wanted to upset the little princess.
"Mr. Goose, do you know one of the men coming?" the cute little girl asked the non-cat. He seemed to be thrumming with energy. Like it was a reunion that was a long time coming.
"Yes. I know both of them, but Nick Fury took care of me for a while. I am the reason he only has one eye, though he tells people he lost it in battle. It was an accident, of sorts. He was cuddling me when I didn't want him too. I gave him warning and swiped at him with my paw. I accidently took his eye out," Goose said, not at all upset that the man was coming.
He hoped it was a happy reunion. Goose had disappeared on him after all, but he had been bored in the man's office and wanted to find someone else. And he did, Ivy. However, he had spent many years in Fury's office, until the Tesseract was finally coughed up. When that belly ache was over, it just seemed time to move on.
It wasn't like he swallowed the damn thing on purpose anyway. It was just to keep it out of enemy hands.
"Oh, does that mean you're going to go back with him?" Ivy asked, getting upset that her Mr. Goose might leave her. He was one of her closest friends. She loved that he liked spending time with her. He even had tea parties with her, if no one else was around.
"No. I will stay with you. You need me, he does not," the non-cat said, butting heads with the little girl. He swore to protect her, and that was what he was going to do, even if it was against and old friend. Though he didn't think Fury stood a chance against Ivy's cuteness.
"Thank you, Mr. Goose," she exclaimed, hugging him tight.
The doors were opened by Jarvis, and Fury and Coulson walked in. Fury was looking around the room like aliens would jump out any moment and attack him. His eye first landed on Goose.
"Goose," he cried in happiness. He moved forward to take the cat from the girl. Then he noted the girl, who he assumed was the girl from the interview. That meant she was Stark's new daughter. "Miss Potter, do you know what you are holding in your arms?" he asked Ivy. She was the cutest thing he had ever seen, but the Flerken in her arms was dangerous if handled incorrectly. He didn't want her hurt.
"I am holding Mr. Goose," Ivy said like it was obvious. She even lifted him a little bit to show that it was indeed Mr. Goose in her arms.
"And do you know what Mr. Goose is?" Fury asked as if questioning a small child, which she was, but she didn't appreciate his tone.
"Yes, he's a Flerken," she said, primly, holding on tighter to her friend/bodyguard. "He is also my friend," she stated, her perk little nose crinkling a bit. "Isn't that right, Mr. Goose?" she asked the non-cat in her arms. She smiled at the non-cat, who purred in response.
Goose butted heads with her again, showing that he liked the girl. He then hissed at Fury and raised his hackles. He might like the guy, but he was upsetting Ivy. He meowed at Fury and the man got the point.
Fury, remembering the temper of the cat, decided to let it go. He looked around at all the adult faces and soon his eye landed on Loki. "I should arrest you," he stated, moving forward as if to do just that.
Ivy, Goose and Thor moved to stand in his way. They made quite the group of defenders. Thor standing tall and strong with his armor on, and Ivy in her pink dress with a cat in her arms.
"You will not arrest my brother. He has already been tried for his crimes and is being punished. The Allfather has spoken," Thor said, hefting his hammer as if to use it. "I will stand in your way, and I do not think you can best me in a fight. Though, I think friend Tony will be upset if we ruin his house," he added, a wind from nowhere blowing his hair and cape about. It also ruffled Ivy's hair and dress.
"You leave Mr. Loki alone," Ivy said, stamping her cute little foot. She looked adorable.
"Do you understand what this man did?" Fury asked Ivy gently. He was besotted over how cute she was, but this man was a murderer. "He killed a lot of people," he stated, pointing an accusing finger at Loki.
"I understand that he was being manipulated," Ivy said, her face was in a firm visage. Goose had jumped down from her arms and he was positioned in front of her. "Didn't you see my interview?" she asked, smartly. She knew that was what had brought the man here in the first place. "I made sure everyone knew that."
"How does a little girl like you know a big word like manipulate?" the Director of SHIELD asked, his tone was both condescending and confused. He was conflicted as to what he should be feeling over this little girl. One part of him wanted to pick her up and take her away from the murderer, and the more paranoid part of him wanted to know why he felt that way and argue with her.
"I'm a Stark," she said as if it explained everything.
"Adopted," he pointed out. He knew she wasn't Stark's biological child. He had kept tabs on any offspring the man might have had, and so far, Stark had been careful in his liaisons. There had been a couple of scares, but blood tests had proven those to be false. Ivy was not his child, for all they had the same type of hair. She looked more like Loki's than Stark's. Those eyes were rare. They glimmered like jewels in her pretty little head. Now they were sparkling with indignation.
"Daddy, this man is being mean to me," she called out and started looking pouty. There was even a bit of hurt in her tone.
That got all the other adults into a frenzy. They all started harassing Fury.
Pepper and Tony came to pick up Ivy as if to protect her from the big bad man. The others gathered around and were shouting at the man for his trespass. Loki was forgotten about for the moment, which had been the goal.
"Back off, Fury," Tony said, cuddling his little girl to his chest. She put her hand over his arc reactor. She loved touching the outside of it. It let off such soothing vibes. Perhaps because it was what was keeping her daddy alive.
"Why are you picking on a little girl?" Natasha asked from her place off to the side of Loki and the small family. Clint was by her side, glaring at the man. There were many things they tolerated from Fury, but picking on Ivy was not one of them.
"You leave her alone and answer our questions," Bruce said, his eyes going green. He was taking some deep breaths to calm down.
"Hey, you had better be nice to my goddaughter, or I'll give you what for," Sirius said, going to where Tony and Pepper were, Remus by his side. They were glaring at the man who dared make Ivy upset.
"I am very disappointed in you, Fury," Steve said, like he was a superior to the man. He could pull off the disappointed look almost as well as Ivy.
"Woah, back up, everyone," the one-eyed man said, holding up his hands in supplication. "I wasn't trying to upset her," he added, looking for all the world like a harassed man. "I'm sorry, miss," he stated, stepping back a pace. Then his eye narrowed again. That was not something he would do. Was there some magic going on here?
"Director," Coulson said, who had also been forgotten during the confrontation.
His voice got the Avengers to start in on Fury for another reason. "Why didn't you tell us that Phil was alive?" Natasha asked, her tone was lethal as was the gun in her hand, which was not quite pointed at Nick Fury.
"Yeah, I remember distinctly you telling us that he was dead," Tony said, putting Ivy on the floor again. She watched them all have another go at the Director of SHIELD and was wrinkling her forehead in thought. She didn't like all the anger in the room. She was about to ask them to stop when the man, Coulson, spoke.
"I asked him not to," Phil said, coming up to Natasha and putting his hand on the gun and pushing it down to her side. It hadn't been pointed at anyone, but it had been in a ready position.
"What? Why?" she said, stunned that he would do that. She thought they had been closer than that.
"At first, I didn't even know that I had died and had been brought back to life. When I found out I had been brought back to life using GH.325 serum, and that my memories had been erased, I was already being assigned out. My next assignment was deep undercover. I couldn't let anyone know I was alive," he explained, his hand was still on her gun, but his eyes were soft. "You know how that is," he added, knowing she would understand.
He had been very upset over the whole ordeal. He still didn't remember the safe house or coming back to life. He only vaguely remembered being in the room with Loki. All he had were videos of the incidents. Fury had showed him what had happened when he confronted him. He was supposed to go on assignment to a new team, but Ivy's interview brought new information that Fury wanted him to investigate.
"And now?" Natasha asked, looking at her former handler. She did understand. She didn't like it, but she understood.
"Now, I would like to confront my killer," he said, finally releasing her weapon. "Loki," he said, nodding to the Norse God of Mischief. His face was blank. There wasn't a shred of what he was feeling on his visage. He knew that this man was responsible for his death. However, it was in the line of duty that he had died. That and if the little girl was correct, then it had been out of Loki's control.
"Coulson," was all Loki said. He was wary. This man was more likely to try and kill him than Barton. Though he seemed to be in more control than the archer. Still, it was always the silent ones that got you in the end.
"I understand that you were being controlled, like Barton was. Do you know who it was that was calling the shots?" he asked, taking out a notebook like it was completely normal to be asking the man who killed you questions about your own murder.
"Thanos," was the answer. It was given reluctantly, as if speaking the person's name would summon them.
"Who or what is Thanos?" Fury wanted to know. He was still standing aggressively in front of the Norse gods.
"He's a Titan," Thor answered, his voice full of worry. The Titans were not a people that one would confront lightly. If Thanos could control one of Asgard, then he was one to be reckoned with. For all that Loki was a Frost Giant, he was raised an Asgard. He knew how to resist torture. They were trained to handle themselves in war from the time they could walk. Loki was the weakest among his family, true, but he was no pushover. "The Titans are powerful, god-like beings, much like the Asgard," he added, looking at the Avengers and magicals in the room to see what they thought of what he was saying.
Everyone was paying attention, even little Ivy. Her hand was creeping into Tony's. She looked like she was going to go and find this Thanos and scold him for being a meanie head. From what Thor knew of the little girl, she might get away with it too.
"He is a warlord," Loki added. He too looked worried. "He is set on destroying half of the population of the universe. To do this, he requires all of the Infinity Stones. Of which the Tesseract holds one. The Space Stone. I know of two more that are here on Midgard. There are six altogether." He looked at Fury with a calm face. "If he gets all six, he will use them to destroy half the population of the universe, as I said."
"Tell me of the other two," Fury said as if he were debriefing one of his subordinates.
"No, he would pluck the information from your mind," Loki said, knowing that the Titan might do just that, or at least torture the man to get it. Loki well remembered the torture. Though, he might not like the one-eyed man, Ivy would be upset with him if he got Fury hurt. Even if she thought Fury was a mean man.
"Listen to me," Fury said and then went to step forward.
Ivy stepped in front of him again. "You leave Mr. Loki alone," she demanded, putting her hands on her hips, and glaring at him. Tony was standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder. Pepper was beside Tony. They would have made quite the family portrait, if the tension weren't so high.
Goose hissed and swiped his paw at Fury, who leaped back, remembering that this was no normal cat. He was a bit hurt. "Goose, I'm hurt. I thought you liked me," he said to the non-cat.
"Tell him that I am protecting you, but don't tell him I said it," Goose told Ivy. He had never talked to Fury telepathically. The man didn't know he could do that.
"He's protecting me," she said, lifting her chin, making her look more adorable.
"There is no need to protect you from me. I'm the good guy here," Nick said, completely flabbergasted as to how he wound up being the bad guy. "Loki is the one who killed all those people," he pointed out.
"And he is paying for his crime," Ivy said slowly as if she was speaking to a child and not the one that was the child. "I already told you; he was being manipulated. Your Mr. Coulson is doing the right thing and asking the right questions. You are being aggressive, which is wrong." She wagged her finger at him, and he looked properly chastised, for a moment.
"How come you are acting far above your age?" the paranoid man asked, giving her the stink-eye. There was no way this was normal. Seven-year-old girls didn't talk or act like this.
"I told you, I'm a Stark," she said, beaming a smile at Tony.
"Not biologically," he pointed out again.
"Daddy, make him stop saying that," she pouted, using her cuteness at full force. There was even a tear in her eyes.
"She's a Stark in all manners that count," Tony said, picking up his little girl. "She's just as smart as one, and that's all you need to know." He hugged her tight to him and rubbed her back to comfort her. He then put her back down and went to get a drink. Pepper stepped in and held Ivy's hand.
"So, you didn't use dark magic to make her smarter?" the one-eyed man asked, making everyone stare at him with different faces, though most of them were shocked.
"How do you know about magic?" Sirius wanted to know, palming his wand in case he needed to erase memories. Though there was only the other two men here that weren't supposed to know about magic.
Others were grabbing their weapons, though they weren't sure if they were going to use them. It was the magicals' fight. Still, they would stand by their side if necessary. Ivy was to be protected at all costs.
"I am a high ranking official in the United States Government," Fury stated, puffing up his chest.
"What he means is, he's a spy," Tony stated, flopping down on a couch now that all the drama had played out. He was sure there would be no more confrontation.
Loki was playing it safe and keeping to the wall. Thor was standing with his brother. Bruce stood with them. He didn't want to play nice with SHIELD.
"Are you okay, Mr. Loki?" Ivy asked in a cute voice. She came up to him and gave him a hug around his waist.
"Yes, little one. Thank you, for sticking up for me," the man said, though he wasn't sure how he felt hiding behind a little girl, no matter how cute she was. He was pretty sure he lost some man points somewhere.
"Mr. Thor stood up for you too," she said, pointing to the man still by his side. She gave Thor a brilliant smile, like he had done a wonderful thing.
"Yes, thank you, Thor," Loki stated, grasping Thor's forearm in a manly shake.
"It was my pleasure, brother," Thor's voice boomed throughout the house.
"So, magic," the only person not in the know said. Phil Coulson looked at all the unshocked faces and sighed. It was just one more thing the government had kept from him. He wasn't totally shocked, not after being brought back to life using alien drugs.
"Technically, you shouldn't know this," Fury said as he too took a seat, though in a chair. "But Ivy, Black, and Lupin are all magical," he stated, pointing to each as he named them.
Everyone took seats around the room, bar the three that were standing at the wall. Thor, Loki and Bruce were being wallflowers for this dance.
"So is Mr. Loki," Ivy said as she crawled in Tony's lap. Goose decided to stick close and jumped on the back of the couch and sat near Tony's head.
"He's an alien," Fury said like that made a difference.
"So is Mr. Thor, and he is not magical," Ivy argued. She wasn't sure she liked Mr. Fury.
"Boss, you're arguing with a seven-year-old," Phil felt the need to point out. He took a seat closer to Natasha and Clint, more used to them than anyone else in the room, bar Fury.
"She is no normal seven-year-old," Fury stated, once more fighting off the effects of the power of cuteness. She smiled at him, and he caved again. "You're right, not all Asgardians are magical," he sighed.
"Actually," Loki said, holding up a finger. "That's not quite true. They all are, to a certain degree. I have far more than others, though that might be because I am a Frost Giant, though they are a warrior race…" he wandered off in thought for a moment. "Anyway, even Thor has a bit of magic in him, or he would not be able to handle Mjolnir," he stated, pointing to the hammer in question, "or create the storms. There is a reason we are called gods," he added, for Ivy's benefit.
She still didn't get that they were worshiped because they had magic. She knew she didn't want to be seen as a god because she was cute. She thought about that for a moment. As she was lost in a world of endless tea parties, friends and unicorns, the adults talked around her.
"No, we didn't use any dark spells to make Ivy smarter," Tony said, lying through his teeth. He didn't even glance at Sirius. "She's just naturally bright."
"Her parents were as well," Remus added for the benefit of those that didn't know the story behind the Potters. Most of the Avengers had been told, but the Asgardians, Fury and Coulson didn't know.
"I don't see any obvious quirks, so I will take your word on that," Fury said, knowing this spell only because he had been told to keep an eye out for it.
"It's not your business either way, muggle," Sirius said, not liking this guy's bossiness. He reminded him of Mad-eye Moody. Only, Sirius liked Mad-eye, he was beginning to not like this guy. Fury was too full of himself.
"Everything is my business," Fury stated as if that were fact. "And don't call me that name," he added as an afterthought. It was too close to being called simple or stupid.
"I beg to differ," Steve said, indignant. "You are not God," he added, insulted that this man thought he was deserving of knowing everything. "Not everything is for your knowledge."
"If it protects the Earth, then yes, it is my business," Fury reiterated. He would ferret out any information that was needed to protect his planet.
"We are going to have to disagree on that," Steve said, folding his arms in a defiant manner.
"You are a soldier, you will do as ordered," Fury stated, pointing a finger at the man.
"I'm retired," Captain America stated, getting up and going to the sideboard to pour himself some water. Even in tense situations like this, he would not drink alcohol.
"You leave Mr. Steve alone," Ivy said, clapping her hands at Fury to get his attention to her. "Why are you starting fights with everyone?" she asked, really not liking him. He was nice to her but mean to everyone else. And he was even snippy with her, which was not something she was used to, except for her aunt. However, her aunt never gave into her like this man did.
"I'm not starting fights," Nick said, looking hurt that she said that. He didn't want her upset with him.
"Can't you just get along?" she pleaded with him, with big green eyes.
He caved again. "Come, Coulson, let's leave them to their evening. We got what we came for. Romanoff, Barton, bright and early," he said, getting up and heading to the doors.
"Phil," Clint said, making the man turn to him. "Are you going to be sticking around?" he asked, hoping he was.
"As long as there is a threat to Earth, I'll be around," Coulson said, turning back to the doors. They left in good spirits, though they were confused as to what had happened in that house.
Fury knew he had come to lay into Loki and set things straight with the Avengers, but that hadn't happened. Well, not like he had planned. He only got to air a bit of what he had come to say.
Was he losing his touch? Was he mind-whammied? He didn't feel mind-whammied. Would he feel it? He'd better check himself over when he got back to the helicarrier. They had some alien medical exams that would detect if he was being controlled. He was a paranoid old sod.
Still, it had been nice to see Goose again, even if the non-cat seemed to be upset with him. That Ivy child was so cute that they could use her as a weapon against the enemy. Just point her at them and let her pout. Wham! instant caving. He didn't like that it worked on him, but if he could get her on his side…