Chapter 15
Coulson and Barton were waiting for them in the lair after the fundraiser had finished.
"I guess we shouldn't bother asking how you got in here." Oliver growled as they came down the stairs.
"Aaawww," Barton cooed, making a pouty face. "He's learning."
"We're not here to fight." Coulson said, as Oliver inched closer to his bow case. "We just want to talk."
"Not that you could beat me at an archery contest." Barton said, walking over to a rack of arrows. "Though I will admit to being impressed by the craftsmanship of these."
Felicity, who had been holding on to Thor ever since they walked into the lair, looked nervously at Agent Coulson. The man seemed calm and aloof, but she'd been around Oliver and Sara long enough to see through his façade. He was watching Thor's every move; accessing him.
"You're not locking him up." she blurted out. Coulson raised an eyebrow. "He hasn't hurt anyone and he's not dangerous."
"No one said anything about locking him up." Coulson said. "We have a few questions."
"Then ask them." Thor said, running his hand up and down her back in an attempt to calm her. She pressed her face against his chest.
The agent looked Thor up and down before launching into his interrogation. "Who are you?"
Thor straightened up and looked Coulson straight in the eye. "I am Thor, son of Odin." He rumbled, godlike. Felicity felt strangely inadequate next to him, but his hand on her back helped ground her.
Barton snorted.
"Clint." Coulson sighed.
"What?" Barton said. "Next he'll be telling us he's Horus son of Osiris."
"My people came to your realm a long time ago." Thor explained. "We lived among you, fought alongside you, taught you some of our ways. You believed us to be gods."
Coulson nodded. "That actually makes a strange amount of sense."
"Really?" Barton shot him a sideways glance of disbelief.
"There have been theories that some early religions might have been founded around much more powerful beings who visited from other planets." Coulson shrugged.
"And usually the people who believe those theories also have an impressive collection of tin foil hats." Barton muttered.
"After everything you've seen the last couple of days, you're telling me you're still skeptical?" Coulson retorted.
"I believe he's from another planet, I just refuse to believe that he's been here before." Clint said. "That would make him…"He paused to think. "Really old." He shot Roy a glare when he let out a laugh barely disguised as a cough. "I'm bad at math."
"Asgardians have longer life spans than people on Midgard." Thor said. "In addition we are stronger, more invulnerable, and when we do get injured we heal more swiftly. Thus your ancestors believed us to be immortal."
"And why have you decided to come back after all these years?" Coulson asked. Thor bowed his head and looked at Felicity. She gave him a nervous smile that she hoped was encouraging.
"I was banished for…disagreeing with my father." He murmured.
"Is that the Viking way of cutting off your trust fund?" Barton asked. Felicity glared at him. Being banished was upsetting enough for Thor without Agent Smartass making jokes about it. Thor gave her an amused look and gently squeezed her arm.
"That's Super-Secret Government Agent Smartass." Barton corrected. Felicity closed her eyes.
"I am Asgardian, Agent Barton." Thor said.
"What are your intentions towards our planet?" Coulson asked.
"I have none." Thor said. "I came here with nothing and had the lady Felicity not found me and given me shelter I do not know what would have become of me." He looked down at Felicity, his eyes full of gratitude and affection. Felicity felt her face burn and looked away. Catching Oliver's eye she saw that he looked cold, distant. Before she could give this expression any thought Coulson asked another question.
"What about the hammer?"
Thor tensed. "Mjolnir." He murmured. "It is truly on this realm?"
"You're saying you don't know." Coulson asked.
"My father took it from me before he cast me out." Thor said softly. "I have not been able to summon it to me since." He looked as broken as the day he'd failed to call Mjolnir to him. Felicity glared at Coulson.
"That's enough." She said.
"Ballsy." Barton said. "Stupid, but ballsy."
"He's answered your questions and I think it's clear he's not going to hurt anyone." She continued, ignoring Barton. "So just leave him alone."
Coulson gave her a contemplative look before nodding. "We're just going to need a blood sample."
"What?" Felicity growled.
"We need to make sure there aren't any foreign microbes that might harm us mere mortals." Coulson explained.
"He's been living with me for the last 2 months." Felicity hissed. "If there were, I would have shown symptoms."
"Well talking back to a person who could make it look like you never existed is a sign of psychosis." Barton said. Sara turned to face him.
"Try it, I dare you." She growled. Barton just gave her an infuriating half smile.
"You'll give us the blood sample." Coulson said, calmly. "And we won't go to the authorities and tell them about Mr. Queen's night time activities and Ms. Lance's former employees." A tense silence fell over the room.
"That's blackmail." Oliver growled.
"I'm charged with protecting the world, Mr. Queen." Coulson shrugged. "So at the end of the day, the needs of the planet outweigh yours."
Sara took a menacing step forward. "If you know I'm league, then you know what I'm capable of." She threatened.
"True, assuming you can beat me. Coulson didn't bring me along for my dashing good looks and charming conversation skills." Barton said. "Then there's my best friend. She was trained by the Red Room. You may have heard of her: alairmilat alssuda?"
Sara's eyes widened and she took a horrified step backwards. Barton nodded. "And while she might find me annoying, she won't like it if someone killed me. Mostly cuz she wants to do it herself. I die; she comes looking for those responsible."
Coulson cleared his throat, "the blood sample, or everyone here ends up cooling their heels in a cell while waiting for sentencing for aiding and abetting vigilantism."
"I've been undercover in prison." Barton added. "Trust me, it's about as fun as it sounds."
"Enough squabbling." Thor growled,
"Thor." Felicity said, but he shook his head and stepped away from her. Holding out his arm he glared at Coulson.
"There was no need to threaten these people."
"You seemed to be too honorable to let them suffer for you." Coulson said as he pulled a syringe from his pocket. Thor looked at it skeptically.
"That will not pierce my skin." He said. Coulson gave him an enigmatic smile
"It's partially made of vibrainium."
"That's impossible." Digg blurted out. Everyone looked over at him in surprise "The world's only piece of vibrainium disappeared with Captain America after WW2." He explained.
Barton chuckled "Looks like we have another Cap fanboy here."
Instead of answering Coulson put the needle in Thor's arm. Thor looked shocked, but didn't resist. After he'd drawn one vial of blood, he reached into his pocket for another. Felicity stepped forward and snatched the needle out of Thor's arm. Coulson frowned at her.
"One's enough." She said. "You're just testing for pathogens. You get one and you don't get to come back for seconds. He's not your lab rat." Coulson looked at her and then at Thor.
"Well I guess that's it for now." He said, putting the vial in a plastic bag and handing it to Barton. "Unless you want to discuss how you plan on handling the enhanced mercenary?"
They knew about Slade, of course they did. Everyone turned to look at Oliver. His jaw locked and he stared down the 2 agents.
"Look, you really don't know what you're dealing with." Barton said. "I've fought some of these people before and –"
"Actually," Sara said. "We do."
Coulson frowned. "How much about this do you know?"
Sara and Oliver looked at each other. They appeared to be having a conversation with their eyes. Finally Sara broke eye contact and turned back to the agents. "It's a serum called Mirakuru. It was developed in Japan during WW2 to give the country an answer to Captain America and…it does sort of work."
"Sara." Oliver growled.
"They can help us." She insisted. Turning back to Coulson and Barton she sighed. "We found some and injected it into a friend who was dying. It drove him crazy. He…he's here in Starling because he wants to kill Oliver and all he holds dear."
"His name?" Coulson prompted.
"Slade Wilson." Sara said.
Coulson sighed. "You wouldn't happen to have any of this…Mirakuru lying around, would you?"
"No." Oliver said firmly. Roy coughed. "No." Oliver repeated. "Who says we can trust them?"
"We wouldn't use it for experimental purposes." Coulson said solemnly.
"Yeah." Barton drawled. "We don't need a new Captain America." He smirked as Coulson shot him a warning look.
Roy stepped forward and cleared his throat. "You…you might want to clean off the needle." He said, holding out his arm. "I was injected with it. I'm enhanced the same way Slade is."
Coulson looked at him with interest. "Does this fact make you happy?"
"No." Roy glared. "I can't go outside without getting a headache from the thousand different noises and smells around me. I can barely go to work without wanting to punch every guy who pisses me off. I can't hold my girlfriend without being afraid that I might crush her or…" he looked haunted. "I never wanted this. The strength, the healing; it isn't worth it."
Coulson looked at him sadly. "Even Captain America's serum wasn't perfect. It made good men better, but bad men evil." He shook his head. "I can't imagine the war that must be going on in your head right now because while you seem like a decent guy, you're no Steve Rogers."
Roy gritted his teeth. "Do you think you'll be able to find a cure?"
Barton nodded. "We've got access to the world's leading scientists." He shrugged. "If the Science Babies can't find a cure, no one can."
The corner of Coulson's mouth ticked upward. "I'm telling them you said that."
"Do it and I make sure Fury finds out that you stole his eyepatch for a Halloween costume."
Coulson paled. "Arm, please?"
After taking a blood sample from Roy, the agents waited until Oliver had given them the full explanation of what had transpired on the island with him and Slade. Sara offered everything she knew about Ivo's research into the serum. Finally they left with promises that they would contact them soon.
"I think we should all go home." Digg suggested. Everyone numbly agreed. Felicity walked to her car, agitated.
"My lady." Thor said, putting his hand on her arm as she opened the car door. "You are tense."
"I'm fine. Are you fine, I'm…" she stopped, breathing heavily. Shutting the door, she waited for Thor to get in the passenger seat.
"I do not believe they mean us harm, my lady." He said.
Felicity sniffed and turned the key in the ignition. They drove in silence. Parking in front of Felicity's building, she turned off the car, but neither of them got out.
"I don't want to lose you." She said softly. "I'm terrified that they'll come in the middle of the night and drag you away." She bit her lip, shocked at how vulnerable her words were. How much Thor had worked his way into her heart. She turned her face away from his, embarrassed. Getting out of the car, she began walking towards her door. Then she felt a warm hand brush her cheek.
"Felicity, look at me." He said. She shook her head. "Please." He asked. She gingerly turned. He was staring at her, his eyes full of concern and determination. "I swear to you that whatever happens, I will always return to you."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." Felicity said, her voice strained. Thor smiled.
"I never do." He said, pulling her into his arms. Felicity hesitated a second before reaching up and putting her hands on both sides of his face. He leaned down and she kissed him. It was gentle at first, then Thor wrapped his arms tighter around her and pressed her against him. She put her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair.
"We should…" She gasped, pulling away from him. "We should."
"Go inside." Thor agreed. "I do not wish to share your pleasure with the street." He stopped and stepped back. "That is… I did not mean to imply…" Felicity grabbed her keys and opened the door. She knew Thor wouldn't make the first move, he was too honorable. Turning, she bit her lip. She was terrified. Of SHIELD, Slade, of being left alone again. If Slade came after the team there was a good chance she was in danger and that the fight would cost her the only friends she'd ever known. If SHIELD took Thor…she'd lose the man she was beginning to love. Just like she'd lost Cooper…and her father. Stepping forward, she placed her hand on his forearm.
"Come inside, Thor." She said. He stepped inside the apartment, shutting the door behind him and pressing his lips to hers.