Chapter 35 – No Autographs
35
Edinburgh, Scotland
Streets
3:48 a.m.
By the time Steve Rogers and his team made it to their Quinjet, it was already in flames, joining the rest of Edinburgh.
The populace of the city awoke shortly after the warship fell, the Chitauri unleashing their horde upon the capital of Scotland. The night sky was lit up in a flurry of bright orange flames and streaks of blue. Chitauri chariots dominated the skies, dive-bombing buildings, tearing apart the streets of Edinburgh, and leaping into buildings, slaughtering the populace. One of the first things the Chitauri destroyed was Steve Rogers’ Quinjet, the four Avengers retreating back into the city once the Chitauri focused their fire on them.
They had no choice but to take to the streets, rushing from building to building, doing everything in their power to survive the onslaught of the Chitauri invasion and hopefully… escape it. Steve Rogers led his team, which consisted of Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and the weary and wounded Wanda Maximoff. The screams from the city, from the Chitauri, from the helpless people of Edinburgh constantly assaulted Steve and his team. He wanted to turn back, to do everything in his power to protect these people.
He knew he couldn’t. The Chitauri were too many. They were so few. They killed whatever tried to stand in their way, but they were never stuck for long, moving swiftly across the European warzone to find an escape. That escape was slowly approaching, the outskirts of the city within range. Steve picked up the pace, ensuring that Sam kept a close eye out and helped Wanda throughout the madness. As he turned back to ensure his team’s safety, Rogers’ eyes fell upon Edinburgh.
And what remained.
What befell it.
What they couldn’t prevent.
No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn’t. The Chitauri invaded via Command Center, the gargantuan warship hanging over the capital city and releasing droves of chariots and Leviathans down upon Scotland. Explosions plagued the night, lighting up the city as buildings collapsed into a fury of fire and ash. The Leviathans roared out into the night, slithering through the skies and circling the city. The Chitauri pockmarked the darkness of the night sky, the storm clouds releasing torrents of rain to douse the flames. It did little. The showers couldn’t contain the fires of Hell. It raged and raged.
And Steve Rogers just stared at it.
He wanted to fight. Every shred of his being cried out to him, begging him to answer the calls for help. When the Chitauri attacked once before, he didn’t hesitate to risk his life for every citizen he could find. Captain America would have given his life just for one innocent. Captain America would have led his soldiers into the war and fought when no one else could. Captain America would have done that.
He would…
But Steve Rogers couldn’t. He needed to protect his team first and foremost, his friends. They weren’t ready for a fight that big. They were tired, wounded, desperately unmatched for an army of that size and magnitude. They would retreat, gather themselves, then do everything in their power to turn the tides. Not now, though. Now… they needed to run.
Steve clenched his jaw at that thought. Running from the war, from the fight, letting innocent civilians die. They couldn’t save them, no matter how much he desperately wanted to. Hundreds of thousands have already perished worldwide from the invasion. More would just add to that. So much more. They couldn’t protect them, defend them, nor save them.
They would return… and avenge them.
Rogers tried to convince himself of that painful thought as he turned away from it all, his back to the screams. He would only face more ahead as Wanda collapsed in the streets, crying out to her wounded leg. Sam fell over her, his wings jutted outwards in a protective embrace. Natasha spun her neck around, rushing back to the two on the concrete. Steve came running up to them.
Sam checked her leg, pulled up her pant leg, and observed the large cut on it, probably a wound during her fight with the two aliens earlier that night. Shaking his head, Sam turned back to Steve, saying, “She’s hurt bad, Steve!”
“We’ll find some medical on the way!” Rogers replied, already striding past the two of them. He kept his eyes locked with the outskirts of Edinburgh, very few buildings remaining ahead of them and nothing but open land beyond that. “Right now, we need to get out of this city!”
His eyes slowly fell down to Romanoff, the Widow slowly backing away from whatever she could see in the darkness above. “We got incoming, boys.”
She said it so quietly that nobody heard her. They were too preoccupied with their gazes latched to the stormy blackness above. Rain pelted them, wetting their hair and keeping strands latched to their forehead. Black Widow barred her teeth, whipping out her staff and separating it in half. “We got incoming!” she screamed.
The street was ambushed instantly, chariots dive-bombing the four Avengers upon Natasha’s final warning. Sam bent down, using his right wing to shield Wanda as she lied against the door of an abandoned vehicle. Wilson stood in front of her, his wing shielding himself, his machine pistols at the ready as the Chitauri filled the road ahead of him. He and Wanda both watched, breaking away from the Chitauri to see Steve rip the car door out from Wanda’s left. She could only stare as Steve stood behind the group, the car door he gripped held outwards like a shield.
After counting how many hopped off the chariots and covered the street behind them, Steve shot his gaze back, waving his team away as he shouted, “Get out of here; I’ll hold ‘em off!”
The Chitauri screeched and swarmed them, firing away with their rifles and diving in straight for hand-to-hand combat with their targets. Steve Rogers proved to be a formidable opponent, delivering strikes straight from his fist that sent Chitauri plummeting to the street, lying dead upon impact. He used the car door to block oncoming strikes from the Chitauri rifles, slamming its edge onto their heads and neck, killing them instantly.
He shot his head back for a split second, growling to see that Sam, Natasha, and Wanda hadn’t moved. They did their best to fight back, to hold off the swarming pain. Natasha drove her baton into the legs of the nearest Chitauri that swung for her, kicking its legs out from under it and delivering the killing blow by slamming her baton into its neck. It lay on the ground before her, her ferocious glare shooting upwards as the next came. And the next. And the next. Steve shook his head, turning back and kicking a Chitauri square in the chest.
“We’re not leaving you behind, Steve!” Sam yelled, using his right wing to protect Wanda while his left acted as his personal shield. He fired away with his Steyr SPP, picking off Chitauri one by one, doing his best to aid Natasha and the creatures that swarmed her.
Steve slammed the door against the nearest Chitauri. He spun around, screaming, “Go!”
“Not without you!” Romanoff shouted back, whipping out her pistol and sending two rounds into the alien directly ahead of her. It dropped dead, bullets riddled in its chest and dark blue liquid spilling in the rainy streets. More came her way, firing at the Widow and Natasha barely rolling out of the way.
Grumbling at that, Steve shot his head back to the Chitauri, raising the car door to block the onslaught of their firepower. A certain Chitauri he could see through the window picked off a small object from its belt, igniting and tossing it right for Steve. Jaw falling, Steve brought the door towards the object and braced for impact. He was launched back once the grenade was thrown his way, the car door just being enough to block most of the blast. It skittered away from his grasp. Rogers hit Natasha, the two rolling on the street and resting flat on their backs. Sam looked down, eyes widening behind his goggles. He bent down, using his wings to create a protective dome around him and Wanda.
“Steve, get up!” Sam called from within his containment, looking through the small crack between the wings. He could see Steve pressing his gloved-fists to the cement, groaning as he and Natasha pushed themselves up.
When he lifted his eyes, he and Natasha met, the rain pelting and rushing down their faces. They could hear the alien growls all around them, slowly circling and overcoming them. Natasha lips were barely separated, her eyes shifting over to her right. Steve turned to his own, whispering, “Oh, God…”
The Chitauri circled them, staves raised, the ends of their barrels glowing bright blue. They had already fired on Wilson, his wings being all that stood between them and Wanda. And them… they had them surrounded. Completely at their mercy. Neither Steve nor Natasha moved, almost unprepared for what the Chitauri had in store. Almost frozen solid as their rifles ignited.
Almost shocked to see the resounding gunfire fill the air, tearing apart the Chitauri that filled the road.
Their bodies were torn apart, like shreds of paper against the onslaught. Both Steve and Natasha shielded their heads from the gunfire, looking up only once they felt the gust of wind and the Quinjet fly directly between the buildings, out of sight and quickly making another turn their way. Instead of striking the Chitauri in the streets, however, it dove downwards and fired another round from its minigun, taking out the chariots that filled the skies.
Once it flew past, the chariots hit the streets in fiery husks, the Chitauri screeching to the skies and to the Quinjet. They were so focused on the Quinjet that they nearly forgot about the two Avengers lying before them. That’s all they needed.
Steve and Natasha finished off the remaining Chitauri that had survived, Sam joining quickly and launching himself in the air, unloading his magazines into what remained below. Steve delivered blow after blow, his fists a bloody pulp of alien blood as he stood over the remains of the final Chitauri. Natasha drove the end of her baton right into the creature’s skull, its dead body falling before her. Sam hit the ground feet first, wings retracting into his backpack when he noticed that the fight was over.
They had won.
For a moment, that is.
Placing his machine pistols back into his holsters, Sam breathed heavily, scanning the skies. The Quinjet had mysteriously vanished, out of sight but not out of mind. It was all the Avengers could think about. Sam started them off, asking, “Who was that?”
Steve couldn’t seem to find the right words at the moment to answer Sam’s question. He and Natasha were constantly looking upwards, trying to block out the pouring rain, and find what had saved them. His beard was soaked, leaking droplets of rainwater as he kept his head pointed to the skies. He wouldn’t turn away. Neither would Natasha. They almost completely ignored Wanda.
“You guys…”
Finally turning back her way, Steve and Natasha could see as Wanda raised a shaking finger down the road, where the outskirts of Edinburgh lay ahead. Sam joined them, following all of their gazes where Maximoff pointed. The Avengers remained frozen in the rain, watching with awestruck expressions as a massive Quinjet—much larger than any Quinjet they had seen before—slowly descended to the street. It appeared to be camouflaged, the ship’s hull colored pitch-black once it came into view. Its wings were so long that the plane had barely fit between the buildings, just having enough room to settle dead center in the street.
Its engines slowly died, nothing but the patter of rain atop its roof and in the street being the only sound amongst the deathly silence of the Avengers. Steve Rogers took the first and cautious steps forward, hand held out to Natasha, Sam, and Wanda behind him. Sam had already picked up Wanda and slung her arm over his shoulder, keeping the woman close and ensuring she was safe by his side. He followed Steve to one of the largest planes he had ever seen. And he had seen quite a lot in his time.
The Avengers steadily approached the unidentified jet, led by Steve Rogers until they reached the tail, where the rain poured above them in small streams. Before they could take another step forward, they took a precautious step back when the ramp to the plane fell downwards, opening up and revealing the light from within to the four standing soaked in the storm.
Once the ramp touched the road and settled there, the Avengers lifted their heads to the inside, where a lone man stood in the light. His shadow was cast upon them, Steve having to raise a hand to block out the brightness of the lights. He couldn’t see much of the man, just his face darkened from the shadow he cast and his hands resting in his pockets, wearing a black suit and gray T-shirt beneath. Steve could make out more of his appearance as he strode down the ramp, slowly becoming more and more visible with each step he…
Steve dropped his hand.
Natasha’s jaw fell, a silent gasp leaving her.
Sam’s mouth slowly fell open. He and Wanda didn’t share the same astounded expressions as their fellow Avengers, but were still somewhat surprised to see a familiar face. More so Wilson, less so Wanda, as she had never seen him before in her life.
The others have. Especially Steve and Natasha.
They could never forget the man that brought them together so many years ago, the man that lit the fire and ignited the Avengers into the team they were. The man… who was supposed to be dead.
Phil Coulson smiled at their expressions.
He didn’t laugh, though. No need for that. Instead, Coulson reached up and removed his sunglasses, finally meeting the eyes of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff once more. After so many years, after so long of standing on the sidelines as the Avengers tore apart cities, fought amongst themselves, and were now divided. Soon to be brought together again by him.
By them.
Phil met Sam’s eyes still hidden behind his goggles, smiling to see Wilson well and alive once more. He didn’t know the Falcon very well, or the Scarlet Witch at all for that matter, but now would be more than enough time to settle that. To settle everything that happened.
And it began by breaking that barrier. They stood apart from each other, the Avengers soaking in the rain while Phil stood without a drop on him, safely under the tail of the Zephyr One. For so long, neither side could bring themselves to break that barrier between them, and Phil couldn’t blame them. They might as well be staring at a dead man. That was the last they saw or heard of him anyway.
In the end, as Coulson preferred it to be, Steve was the first one to speak. To say, “Phil…”
He said it almost like he couldn’t believe what he was staring at, like it was a dream, something that shouldn’t be. Coulson couldn’t blame him, nor Natasha for her frozen state of shock. All of that changed. All of those unsettling expressions shifted to growing smiles when Coulson spread his own, his familiar smile being the assurance they needed to know it to be true. To know he was true.
Especially when he said, “It’s good to see you again, Captain.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.”
Phil continuously smiled at that, to the Avengers walking behind him as he led them through the Zephyr. Even now, it was still a joy to see their reactions to all the tricks S.H.I.E.L.D. had up their sleeve, especially Coulson. Their greatest trick yet. It brought him back to simpler times, back when he was just bringing said Avengers onto the Helicarrier for the first time, seeing their shocked expressions after watching it rise right out from the ocean waves.
Natasha walked on his left, Steve on his right. Sam walked behind them and held up the wounded and limping Wanda. “We saw you dead. We watched as they carried you away, Phil,” Natasha exclaimed, leaning forward to possibly learn something from his expression. Even now, he still held that same, knowing smile. Like he never even changed. Natasha grinned at that, breathing a breathless gasp. “How is this possible?”
Phil turned her way. “When it comes to S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha, almost anything is possible. Just wait till I tell you guys about our trip to the future.”
“Trip to where now?” Sam asked, looking up.
“Another story for another time,” Phil interrupted, taking back control of the conversation before it steered somewhere he didn’t wish to discuss at the moment. “What’s important to know is that Nick Fury was the one who brought me back from the grave. He said I was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most important assets, if you can believe that.”
“I can,” Steve said with a warm smile.
Phil smiled back to him, continuing shortly. “Fury deemed the operation classified, not even the Avengers knowing about it. He gave me alien blood, just the kind to resurrect dead agents stabbed through the chest by mischievous gods. Before we all knew it, I was back in the game at S.H.I.E.L.D., eventually rising to status… of Director.”
All three Avengers looked his way, minus Wanda who kept her head low. “Congratulations,” Steve told him, his voice sounding surprised.
Phil nodded to that. “Short-lived victories,” he said, waving his hand in front of him in small, circular motions. “One thing led to another, S.H.I.E.L.D. was shown as nothing but a terrorist organization not once but twice, and we traveled to the future to prevent the total destruction of Earth.”
“I would assume you guys… failed considering current events?” Sam piped up from the back.
“Oh, we didn’t account for the Chitauri coming back. The Earth was literally destroyed in the future, completely shattered in half.”
They stared at Phil in total silence, the only sounds being their footsteps. Coulson pursed his lips, nodding in response. “We’re working on it,” he said, facing forward to the set of doors directly ahead. “But in the meantime, now would be appropriate for you to meet the rest of your team.”
At first, Steve assumed that Phil was referring to Stark and the others and was actually starting to feel apprehensive about what remained beyond the sliding door. His growing anxiety was settled when several new faces were all that he and the Avengers saw when Phil led them into the main bridge of the Zephyr. It was like every activity, be it monitoring, scanning, and—hopefully not—piloting seemed to cease for a brief respite the moment the doors slid open and out stepped Director Coulson and the four individuals behind him.
And they all knew who they were. Phil Coulson stared forward, smiled wider than usual. He held out his hands to the four behind him. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, stepping aside. “Mission complete. I’d like you to meet the Avengers.”
Several agents rose from their seats, clustering together just to get a sight of them. Others, the ones with a little more backbone, stepped forward and filled the gap that stood between the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the four members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The bridge of the Zephyr One was cluttered with noise, bodies, handshakes, smiles, laughter, and everything else that came from meeting superheroes. Steve was well accustomed to meeting fans—though it had been a couple years—but he still had to force a smile and shake as many hands that were offered his way. It wasn’t all that bad. Part of him was glad to see there was still a S.H.I.E.L.D. after so long.
Natasha took in the atmosphere as much as she could with a bright smile on her face. It had been four long years since she had been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. A piece of her almost forgot what it was like, the secret agent life. Part of her missed it, the other part moved on to protecting the world alongside her fellow Avengers. Sam couldn’t shake too many hands, soothing the hurting Maximoff. Phil stood close by them, only allowing the agents to interact with Steve and Natasha.
And low and behold, Phil couldn’t help but smile at what he saw. “It is an honor to meet you, Captain,” Leopold Fitz said, shaking Steve’s hand roughly with both of his. Rogers chuckled, gripping both of Fitz’s palms and shaking it even harder in return.
“Yes, it—” Jemma began, realizing her voice was cracking. She cleared her throat, holding out her hand to Rogers. “Yes, it is. Oh, so exciting!” she exclaimed, beaming to see the Captain America’s hand gracing her own. The same hand that did its part in saving the world more than once. It was softer than she expected, much calmer than the way he shook her husband’s.
Steve smiled to them, releasing his hand from the young, British woman. “It’s nice to meet you both,” he told them, hands resting on his belt. “And it’s Steve Rogers, by the way.”
“So… the Avengers, huh?” a voice called from behind. Fitz’s expression almost broke, his eyes widening and his mouth opening wide to stop Steve from turning to meet it, but it was too late. Spinning about, Steve gazed onto the young man with the arm sling, his somewhat fatigued and joyless expression centering on Steve Rogers and observing him up and down. It was almost like he was wondering if who was standing before him really was one of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.
Eventually, he just shrugged, holding out his free hand. “I’m Deke. I’m their grandson.”
“Deke!” Fitz shouted, hand rising to cover his face. “You’re not supposed to tell people that.”
After shaking Deke’s hand, Steve managed a short but polite chuckle, turning back to Fitz and Simmons. “You two look so young,” he told them with another chuckle.
Simmons gripped onto her husband’s arm, leaning onto his shoulder with a laugh. She sighed, shaking her head and saying, “It’s a long story.”
While Steve Rogers dealt with trying to comprehend the story Simmons was telling him, while also having to deal with more fans in the form of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Natasha Romanoff’s fate was quite similar to Steve’s, although with less hands shoved her way begging to be shaken. She took it one step at a time, taking quality moments to meet each individual.
“Ms. Romanoff,” Mack said, stepping forward with his hand outstretched and his smile welcoming. He had to bend his neck down to Natasha, the Black Widow smiling up at him. She looked down to his hand. “It’s a pleasure.”
Natasha gripped his, finding it stronger than she expected. As well as Mack, feeling her hand tightening around his. She said, “The pleasure’s mine… um…”
“Alphonso Mackenzie,” he told her, still gripping her palm, almost trying to see if she would ease on the pressure. She didn’t. “My friends call me Mack.”
Natasha smirked knowingly his way. “I’ll call you Mack, too.”
Breaking the handshake, feeling his hand fill up with much-needed blood once more, Mack offered it to his right, to where Yo-Yo stepped forward and joined Natasha’s smirk with her own. “This is my girlfriend, Elena Rodriguez. We call her Yo-Yo, on account of her powers.”
“I’ll call her Yo-Yo—Wait, powers?”
“Can move back and forth faster than you can blink,” Yo-Yo said, smirking at Natasha’s frozen expression. “Wanna see?”
Natasha slowly smiled, holding out her gloved-hand. “You know what… I’ll take your word for it.”
They gripped each other’s hands and shook. Natasha finally took notice to her metallic palms, raising a curious brow at that. She gave off a soft “huh”, Elena already beginning to explain her situation to the Black Widow. While she did so, while their conversation just became numb to Phil Coulson’s ears, the Director turned back and managed to hear Wanda groaning, Sam lifting his eyes to him.
“Fitz, Simmons, take Ms. Maximoff into the medical station and get her patched up,” Phil said.
“Right away,” Simmons declared, stepping forward alongside her husband, forcing themselves to break away from their conversation with Steve Rogers. They approached Sam, who allowed the woman to ease into their arms. Fitz and Simmons wrapped Wanda’s arms around their shoulders, gently making their way to the medical room in the Zephyr. She vanished alongside them in the hallways.
Sam watched them leave, assuring Wanda had a safe journey to get some medical help. As he stepped out into the cluster of agents to follow their trail, he was stopped by a taller individual, almost bumping into him and his heavy armor. The two stared each down, Sam observing the man from head to toe. He met his eyes, saying, “Cyborg?”
Deathlok raised a brow, smiling slightly. “That easy to tell?”
“Mostly the head,” Sam said, caressing his own. Deathlok rubbed his scalp, turning his eyes downwards back to Wilson. Watched him chuckle lightly. “That, and I scanned you.”
Deathlok chuckled at that, joining Sam’s. He held out his hand. “Michael Peterson,” he said.
“Sam Wilson,” Sam replied, gripping his metal-plated hand and shaking it hard. “Good to meet you.”
The congregation of Avengers and agents grew only louder the longer Phil let it persist. He let it go for as long as possible, grinning wide and proud to see the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. finally reunited after so many years. So many years of having to help from the shadows. No more. That night would mark the start of the rebirth of S.H.I.E.L.D., to prove to the world they were truly there to help. The bonds they held with the Avengers, the growing bonds Phil was watching before his very eyes, just brought a warm feeling to his dying heart.
Both Steve Rogers and Natasha met with Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, Steve eventually running into Mike Peterson, who was also a pretty big fan. Big surprise there, considering he was the first cyborg to be a fan of Captain America. At least, it was a first for Steve. Natasha was locked in a conversation with Morse and Hunter, the couple explaining the wedding disaster to the Black Widow, who found the story to actually be quite entertaining. Sam was with her, laughing alongside Lance and Bobbi. Steve smiled at that, glad to see his team interacting well with the agents.
He turned to his left, unfortunately bumping into a young woman with long, dark hair. Steve apologized quickly, but soon met her eyes, saw the ripe excitement and the growing grin on her lips. She wore an agent’s uniform, silver gauntlets on her forearms and gloves covering her palms. Steve couldn’t help himself and actually joined her smile, chuckling heartily to see her giddy expression the longer she stared at him.
She shook her head. “Hi,” she began shakily, shooting out her hand. “My name’s Daisy.”
Almost apprehensive at first and noticing that her fingers were practically touching where the star used to be on his chest, Steve chuckled at her. Daisy took a step back, blushing profusely. It only worsened when his powerful hand fell into hers, shaking it gently, yet still strong. Just right. Just like him. “Steve Rogers.”
After forcing herself to break away from the handshake, Daisy rubbed her shoulder nervously, holding her small and awkward smile with her idol. “I-I already know who you are… and you,” Daisy said, pointing to Natasha who came up to Rogers’ side. Natasha’s lips parted, her brow furrowing as she stared at the young woman with a curious smirk. “Captain America… Black Widow… I’m kind of a big fan, always have been… and… uh…”
“You all right?” Steve laughed. It wasn’t the first fan he had met, but she was definitely one of the most skittish. It was adorable.
Daisy blushed, rubbing a strand of hair to rest behind her ear. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, it’s just… I’ve always tried to be like you two, a superhero and a kick-ass secret agent. I’ve always looked up to you both… never thought I’d ever see the day you two were standing right in front of me… so…”
Natasha picked up for her. “You have superpowers, too?”
Having to force herself to meet Natasha’s gaze, Daisy smiled, her black bangs bouncing to her movements. “People call me Quake. I can pretty much create earthquakes with my hands,” she stated proudly, holding up one of her gauntlets for the Avengers to see. “You can thank the Inhuman powers for that.”
They stared at her gauntlets until she dropped them, returning their eyes back to Johnson. She almost crumbled under their combined gazes, smiling and shaking her head. “It’s just… such an honor to meet you both, really,” Daisy exclaimed, holding her hand out to Natasha. She shared Johnson’s smile, raising her gloved-palm and meeting Daisy’s. Her eyes lit up at the touch. “So awesome… Black Widow… Captain America…”
“It’s…” Steve said, interrupting her, raising both of his hands, “… just Steve, if you don’t mind.”
Eyes bugging out, Daisy pulled her sweaty palm back, turning to Rogers with a sorrowful expression, feeling like she had done something wrong. “No, not at all,” she said, trying to justify herself. “I… actually prefer to call you… by your actual name, knowing we might be working close together, it might be simpler to… do so.”
“You sure you’re all right?” Natasha asked, smirking her way.
“Right as rain,” Daisy said, her chest rising and falling sporadically. She pointed to the front of Zephyr, stumbling in that direction. “Whoa… I need to go lean against that wall over there.”
Natasha and Steve both smiled at each other.
“Heads up!” Coulson announced, silencing every conversation and keeping the attention of the bridge on him. With all eyes centered his way, every Avenger and every agent, Phil continued. “I hope you all got acquainted with each other, because we’ll be working close with the Avengers for quite some time. Nick Fury’s mission was very clear: we get every Avenger back together, we bring this team back together.”
Steve and Natasha’s smiles both fell at that. Sam shot his head over to Rogers, who acknowledged his look quickly.
Phil held out his prosthetic hand to said Avengers, declaring, “Since we already have Captain America, Black Widow, the Falcon, and the Scarlet Witch with us, that doesn’t leave many more. Our next stop is New York, to pick up Tony Stark and whoever else is with him. Any questions?”
Steve shocked the whole room when he raised his hand. Everyone turned towards him. Every agent, every fan, every cyborg, every technician, everybody. Even the one standing in the shadows, turning his fiery eyes to the First Avenger. He listened from the darkness, listened and watched to how Phil would react.
He almost didn’t, then slowly pointed his way. “Yes… Captain?”
Dropping his hand, Steve rested it with his other on his belt. “Stark’s gonna do things his own way,” he said loudly, smaller conversations sparking just from the first sentence. They silenced when he continued. “I suggest we do the same, head on a different course. Somewhere safe.”
Phil was almost taken aback by Steve’s response. Then again, after remembering how both Steve and Tony felt about the Accords, it didn’t necessarily feel out of left field. He could tell the tension was still there, no matter how much Steve tried to justify it. “Captain, with all due respect, our orders from Fury are clear. We need to bring the Avengers back together—”
“And we will,” Rogers interrupted him, hands gripping his belt tightly. “But right now, with what’s happening to the world around us… I just don’t see us making it to New York in one piece.”
“Don’t underestimate us, Captain!” Davis called from the pilot’s seat, Piper by his side waving back. Steve and several others turned their way, Rogers smiling at them.
“I don’t,” he replied, turning back and observing the crowd of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that surrounded him, all the bright, young, experienced, and brave faces that would risk their lives just for him and his team. For the mission. He respected that. “I don’t underestimate any of you. But for precaution… we need to go somewhere to recuperate for the time being, to gather ourselves and understand exactly what’s going on here.”
“The aliens we fought offered a pretty… menacing warning before they retreated,” Natasha offered, giving Steve a little more support for his argument.
“What did they say?” Phil asked.
Everyone turned to Sam as he said, “‘Our father will tear apart these miserable worlds until he’s satisfied.’”
Repeating it word for word, exactly as they heard it. More hushed whispers broke out amongst the agents, Phil turning to Steve and Natasha for confirmation. Their eyes were enough, but their nods were the nail in the coffin. “There’s more going on here,” Phil admitted, finally nodding as well, finally giving Steve the leeway he desired. “All right, Captain, we’ll listen to you. We’ll follow your lead… as long as you help us reunite the Avengers by the end of this.”
He watched as Steve slowly ended up nodding, despite how much he appeared against it. Like he was trapped in his own inner battle. “We won’t have any choice,” he eventually muttered.
“Great,” Phil said, turning his eyes back to the shadows of the Zephyr, watching as the young man stepped out and approached the large group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Once he entered the light, Phil could see that his attention was focused primarily on Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. The Avengers only. He held out his hand towards the end of the crowd. “Captain, I’d like you to meet Robbie Reyes. He helped track you down.”
Consequently to that, every agent backed away as Reyes made his approach, splitting like the Red Sea as he stopped just behind Rogers and Romanoff. The two Avengers were joined shortly by Sam Wilson, the three turning back to meet the man’s gaze. It nearly caught them all by surprise, seeing the bright orange ignite in his dark pupils. Just for a split second, then it was gone, replaced only by Robbie’s growing, distrustful frown.
“How was he able to do that?” Natasha asked, sharing his frown with one of her own.
He replied almost instantly, stepping closer until he stood a foot away from both Steve and Natasha. “It’s called the Spirit of Vengeance, chica,” he told her, voice sneering at the end. Natasha wrinkled her nose at the nickname, reeling her neck back only slightly as she saw his eyes light up a bright orange. “It has no bounds.”
Once the fire died down, leaving just the man in its place, Natasha held a closed smirk his way. She said, “This one’s got a fiery mouth.”
“You have no idea,” Reyes muttered, his voice low and threatening.
He stood up to the Avengers, sizing them up, studying and knowing them just by staring into their eyes. Reyes saw everything. Their strengths, their weaknesses, their hopes, desires, fears, all in less than a few seconds. Steve slowly began to frown, Sam joining him the longer Reyes stared into their eyes without a word. Wishing to break the rising conflict amongst them, Phil Coulson stepped forward, declaring loudly, “You want him to find somewhere safe, Captain, he can find pretty much—”
Steve raised his hand, cutting Coulson off. “That won’t be necessary.”
Almost scoffing at that, Reyes stared only at the one they called Captain America. “You know somewhere I don’t?” he questioned, slapping his finger on Steve’s uniform.
He met the man’s eyes and saw something hidden within it. Something great, beyond anything Robbie had ever seen before. His smile fell apart the longer he stared into that knowledge. Knowledge beyond compare, experiences to go alongside it. And through those eyes, through that knowledge, Steve Rogers held a knowing smirk.
“I know somewhere most of the world doesn’t.”
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Somewhere with equines?
Holy shit, Phil Coulson is teaming up with the avengers! HELL YES!
This was a really hot chapter right here. ;)
Well this was a pleasant unexpected surprise for Steve and Nat seeing Phil Coulson, the man who they long thought dead and what brought the founding Avengers together in the first place, alive after so long and now back to help them. And they couldn't be more glad to see him again with the feeling on Phil's end mutual. Every agent on Coulson's team must be really honored to be working along side some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, especially Daisy considering how awkward she is taking this all in. She has practically looked up to these people as legends, devoting herself to live up to them as an agent and a hero, and now here she is standing beside a few of them ready to help save the world, perhaps even as an honorary Avenger.
I think their next likely stop is going to be Wakanda, the place Steve knows well enough that will be safest to prep up and plan their next move until they can make sense of the situation. As important as it is, Steve is just not yet ready to face Tony, but he knows that he may not have a choice about it later on. Although if Wakanda is their destination with the knowing that Bucky is there, wouldn't that make the Ghost Rider a liability? It would make sense since Bucky does have innocent blood stained on his hand from his time as the Winter Soldier, unintentional as it may be, and the Rider is not so forgiving of any and all sins.
9187149
Im guessing wakanda.
The first S.H.I.E.L.D and Avengers team up! The reactions were priceless! The reunion where everyone comes together is gonna be epic!
Ooooh, that's gonna leave a mark!
Well the band is ever so slowly getting back together and the forces of good are starting to unite for the coming battle. Now we just have to see if there's enough time for it to actually matter against a planet conquering army.
9187323
Coincidence.
Steve: "*Sigh* I miss my shield."
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!
Hello again, Phil. And Daisy, wait till you meet Fluttershy.
Question: Will Wong, Strange, and Bruce say the whole Infinity Stone-debacle in lieu of the movie, or will it be improvized?
2: For the final time, will there be interactions between Rainbow and Yo-Yo?
And between you and me, I would like to imagine the new Phase Three Marvel Studios logo in their own universe version: first, after the comic flipbooks start receding and transitions into the various Marvel heroes we like, here's what I always imagined since this story began, crazy as it was: Twilight Sparkle, still a unicorn, worried face and wind blowing through mane, appears behind Iron Man in the left-hand corner almost closer to the Hulk fading in on the right, with her name and quotes on a script. Next after Ant-Man and Black Panther, Rainbow Dash, in her usual aloft position, wings in flight position, with a serious face and sneer and eyes looking at us, appears behind Peter Quill and Black Widow, right before Thor fades in, again with her name, and a script that says "I'm 20% awesome." then the usual goes on with Captain America, and after throwing his shield and flashes into a clip of Asgard, alongside previous MCU movies, clips of Avengers: Age of Ultron alongside A Beautiful New Age, with Starlight smiling evilly after a clip of Falcon is shown, and Captain America: This War of Ours, on the roof of R in MARVEL, we see Rainbow Dash and Twilight, face to face, alongside the fractured Avengers, then as we pan into the finishing touch, various clips of A Beautiful New Age and This War of Ours alongside the older MCU movies and various Phase Three movies play about at random before fading to red, and the finished logo plays as usual.
Just to emphasize that point
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be
So the Avengers might still be split for this story. Guess we'll see
But didn't it get a bit reavealed in Black Panther?
9187149
Holy crap I am disappointed in myself that I didn't think of that!!!!
Might be hard to get there though since they don't know it's right above their heads.
9187463
Your first question also makes me wonder
It only took six years in the field, Daisy. And I find your reaction adorkable!
Not really realated to any chapter but I found this on Pinterest and it's quite awesome
https://pin.it/ptzofds7tv25li
Hopefully everyone are able to see it. I know sometimes Pinterest doesn't work for everyone.
So, Steve and Natasha's reunion with Coulson finally happened... And it was spectacular!
The Avengers got to meet Coulson's team and vice versa. Loved Daisy's adorkable reaction!
There's already tension between the Avengers and Ghost Rider. This'll be interesting.
Gee, I wonder where that could be?
I do hope the two sides reunite.
That Daisy meets Cap was amazing! And well, we go to Wakanda.
AND THE DAREDEVIL TRAILER AAAAA
9187499
).
Imagine at some point if Thanos actually throws Luna's moon (what's left of it anyway
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/11/24/1593255__safe_artist-colon-filipino-dash-dashie_princess+luna_angry_bust_female_gritted+teeth_jewelry_mad_mare_open+mouth_pony_quiet_regalia_simple+bac.png
"You wouldn't dare...!
9188179
Maybe
I just know if Thanos does do anything remotely similar to the movie Tony's (and anyone else's) reactions are going to be the same as in the movie or at least I hope so.
Wakanda? Equestria? Wakuestria?
9188179
If he does, all hell will LITERALLY break loose.
9188179
Oh he will, he will not let the strongest will falter to "lowly authorities" just like that, whatever hard choices he makes, he'll pass through with all his willpower, just to get to what he calls "mercy".
9187149 More like vibranium.
9187187 media1.tenor.com/images/ce6db22a18d8b0f038d089ef9e2dc43d/tenor.gif?itemid=10834385
9187217 Oh, yeah...
9187225 Daisy Johnson as an honorary Avenger. I like the sound of that.
9187243 It certainly will be epic.
9187323 It's pretty much everyone's plans at this point.
9187412 Probably not. But they could try.
9187460 Shield misses you too, buddy.
9187463 We'll get something similar to the Strange, Wong, and Bruce thing. I can't say about the Rainbow and Yo-Yo interaction because I'm still figuring out how the story's gonna go.
9187499 Not all of Wakanda got revealed.
9187528 Super adorkable.
9187787 Wakanda forever!
9188044 Chapters gonna be coming out more frequently before Daredevil season 3 drops.
9188362 Wakuestria... forever?
9188851
Interesting and mysterious
*wakanda drums earrape*
9189383 wAkAnDa FoReVeR
Dang S.H.E.I.L.D. found them fast.
Really nice to see the Avengers meet Coulson again.
Im thinking Cap is talking about Wakanda at the end their.
9189938
Question: Will Stan Lee cameo in this one? Cuz no Marvel movie or story is marvelous without the Man on board.
9189971 And you are correct!
9190325 Of course Stan Lee will have a cameo in this!
9193905
The videos he posted in the comments of the first chapter.
Sorry if I was vague on that part.
9194153
What you like em?
9189383
WAKANDA FOREVER!!!
Good thing The Avengers arrived when Steve and his crew needed the help, considering the mayhem they went through. Course I would think it be wise to respect Fury's orders and get the whole team together as soon as possible. But if recovering from their own wounds is a bit of a priority at the moment, I see no other reason why it be wise to go to Wakanda, a place where most of the world doesn't know or 'try' to explore willingly. Hopefully for the moment the aliens don't know about this place either, but it's not going to take long before they end up fighting to defend the world as well. Least we get to see some familiar faces during that upcoming part.
*Kendrick Lamar intensifies*
I do believe Steve has met a spirit of vengeance before in WW2 according to the comics
Wakanda 🤩
The Avengers reunion with Coulson actually went pretty well. Their meeting with the other agents was pretty good too, and of course Daisy meeting her heroes in person for the very first time was kinda cute. I’m not sure I agree with Cap’s decision not to get Tony and the others right away. They need all hands on deck now!