Vengeance [Avengers Fanfiction]

[Chapter 12]

[Quinn]

    The helicopter touched down with a light thud, jerking me from my thoughts. An agent on the landing pad rushed forwards and slid the door open, gave a salute to the Captain, and then scurried away.

    "Here."

    I looked over to see that Captain America was holding my switchblade out to me. I took it from him and tucked it into my jacket before giving a nod of thanks.

    "Almost forget it?" Steve asked as we stood to exit the helicopter.

    "No. Just wondering if you were going to give it back or not. You could've gotten my fingerprints off of it, identified me."

    "I promised to try and keep Fury off of your back about your identity. A promise is a promise." He shrugged.

    I decided that Captain America was the type of person who was honest, straightforward, and kept his word. That didn't mean that I had to trust him.

    When I stepped out of the helicopter, Director Fury's scowling, irritated face was the first thing I saw.

    "Briefing room. Now." He demanded, turning on his heel and stalking towards the building, leaving no room for discussion. Steve and I complied, following him down a series of hallways and elevators until we reached the room I was taken to when I first arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D.

    The rest of the Avengers were already sitting at the long, mahogany table surrounded by dark, leather chairs. The second we entered the room, all of the discussions came to an abrupt end, but I caught fragments of the team members' conversations.

    "-keep your eyes open." Agents Barton and Romanoff looked to be in deep discussion about something. The way the assassins looked at me with a spark of distrust and suspicion in their eyes on an otherwise carefully blank face told me it had something to do with me.

    "-no, Thor, cars don't run on magic. They run on gas, which..." Tony's voice explained to a confused Thor. Dr. Banner, who was seated next to Stark, had a look of amusement on his face as he listened to Tony and Thor's exchange.

    "Good morning." Fury addressed the group, all eyes now focused on him. Steve sat next to Banner and I sat on the far side of the table where none of the chairs close to me were occupied.

    "Is that what you call being dragged into a meeting room before six in the morning and without any coffee?" Stark grumbled.

    Fury ignored him. The doors to the room opened and a woman wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. catsuit and who had her dark hair in a bun, a man wearing a smart, black suit and tie with brown hair, and Vincent Crowe,  with his graying hair slicked back and wearing a similar suit to the other man, stepped into the room.

    "Hill, please pull up the information. Crowe, take a seat." Fury ordered.

    The woman, Agent Hill, obediently strode to a laptop at the end of the table and typed something, causing a holographic display of information to flicker to life.

    My eyes followed Crowe as he sat a few seats away from me to my left. He turned and gave me a chilling, almost mocking smile, before turning his attention back to Director Fury. Something about Crowe set me on edge, but I kept my face, even though you couldn't see much of it, blank and maintained my composure, no matter how irritated or uneasy I felt. Or how much I wanted to smack that stupid smirk off of Crowe's face and demand why I had a feeling that we'd met before.

    "Coulson, I assume the mission went well?" Fury asked the agent standing next to him.

    "Yes Director, though it was a bit harder than I anticipated. Made it a bit more interesting, though, even with the extra resistance."

    Fury nodded in approval.

    Thor stood as he noticed Agent Coulson, eyebrows drawn in confusion and looking shocked. "Sir Coulson, how can this be that you are in my presence unharmed and alive? I watched Loki kill you before my very eyes."