Jaden: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Resurrection of Agent Coulson

It seemed like almost a year had gone by after Coulson's death. Director Fury had asked me to be a part of the team that he was developing. But I was against it from the start. Coulson never would have wanted project T.A.H.I.T.I. to be reopened. I know because I was a part of it from the beginning.

"Raising a man from the dead, while not unheard of, would be absolute insanity, Sir. It's your choice to bring him back, and if it's a success, I'll join his team. But I won't be a part of T.A.H.I.T.I." I said stating exactly how wrong I thought this was.

"Then you'll be pleased to know that Coulson's back among the living, as if you didn't already know. He specifically requested that you be a part of his new team." He laid a piece of paper in front of me on his desk. "This is the list of agents he wants Hill and you to vet."

"Yes, Sir," I sighed, grabbing the paper and walking to my new station with Agent Hill. It was then that I was informed by Coulson himself, where I would be vetting his list of agents. Behind the glass used in interrogation rooms. He wanted my opinion of each agent, but it was to be written down in my own evaluation. Hill was to vet them as if she were by herself.

While I respected the decision, I had my reservations about a few, and made a note of them. The feeling that something could go wrong at any moment never once leaving the front of my mind.

"I bet you're wondering why I asked you to be a part of my team," Coulson politely began.

"I have my suspiscions, Sir, but I think I should keep them to myself for now," I replied, knowing that, at least for this part, he wanted my gift as a human lie detector. No one has ever gotten a lie past me. And no one, aside from Coulson, and sometimes the director, ever took stock in what I could do.

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, Agent Ward?" Hill's voice carried through the glass.

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," the answer rolled off his tongue as if he had said it his whole life. "It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out SHIELD."

Ward had one good thing going for him at the moment in my book. He had a sense of humor. And that was rare in this business.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was the line between the world and the unknown. The people of the world aren't ready to know what we do.

"And when we can't do that, we keep them safe. Something turns up... like this Chitauri neural link... we get to it before someone bad does," he answered. It was true. And he seemed to spew all of the right answers. But that was all fine and dandy until he heard Coulson and Thor's names.

"I don't think Thor's technically a god," he added to the strangeness he had been seeing since he joined the agency. I couldn't help but scoff. If Thor wasn't a god, then Loki couldn't have been considered one either. Meaning I wasn't. And I knew that I was one.

Ward wanted to know why he was pulled out of his station in Paris. It was a good question, but to get his answer, he was going to have to ask Coulson.

"That, you'll have to ask Agent Coulson," Hill stated, crossing her arms. The confusion on his face was enough to make me almost laugh. But this was a serious moment, and laughing at Ward's response would not have been appropriate in Coulson's book.

Ward was clearance level six. I was clearance level five. So how did I know about Coulson's resurrection aside from Fury telling me? I had the same powers as my father, yes. But before I left Asgard, Odin gave me a gift, saying I was now the goddess of knowledge. Suddenly I knew everything there was to know. Every classified mission. Every secret Fury had in his arsenal. It was enough to make Fury want to give me the same clearance level he had. But I said I wanted to work for it.

"I know that... Agent Coulson was killed in action before the battle of New York. Got the full report."

I smiled over at Phil, my adoptive father. Not the full, full report I mouthed. He was getting fidgety, and couldn't seem to help himself with his response.

"Welcome to level seven."

I came out of the corner behind him. While I didn't approve of Ward, I had to apologize on Coulson's behalf.

"Sorry... that corner was really dark, and he couldn't help himself. He's a bit of a joker." Maybe I was wrong about S.H.I.E.L.D. agents not having much of a sense of humor.

Like everyone else that was a level six or lower, Ward was under the impression that Coulson was dead. But he understood now that Phil's death was faked as a motivation tool for the Avengers. And it worked.

Plus it wasn't that much of a stretch since he stopped breathing for forty seconds. Well, that's what he knows anyway. And I was under strict orders from the director to not say a word.

"Eight. It gets longer every time you tell it," Hill corrected, looking my way. It was her way of silencing me, not that I was going to disobey a direct order from Fury. Coulson never saw our shared look.

"Yeah, well, you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini, you can tell it your way. I was looking at the big white light, and it felt like a lot longer than eight seconds."

While I was glad that the world was no longer in the cross hairs of my father's rage, talking about him made me uncomfortable. Dismissing myself from the meeting, I began making my way out of the office. I never saw the footage that Ward was about to see a video file of the person we were going after. Whoever that was.

Thinking about each agent's interview, I read them like a book. Some were even outed as H.Y.D.R.A. operatives. In the long run, two scientists, and Agent Grant Ward passed Hill's examination. While I was the human lie detector, Hill was the superior agent. And Ward was on my list of reservations.

"Keep that list, Jaden. He does anything suspiscious, add it. We don't want to let him know we're on to him," Coulson said as he exited the briefing room. He was the only one who believed in my abilities. He was actually the only one who knew almost everything I could do. Normally, he was one to follow procedure, but it was different with me.

He put me on the gifted list, yes, but he kept a lot of my powers under wraps.

"I'll meet you on the bus. We'll make introductions there, understood?"

"Yes, Sir."