Liar, Liar - Loki x Reader

Epilogue: The Avengers Initiative

"John DeLaney wasn't just a great man. He was a good one."

I was standing at the altar, wearing one of my many black dresses. The crowd in front of me was a mixture of my best friend's colleagues, family and friends. They were all gathered here for one purpose. To say goodbye. 

"He always did the right thing," I continued. "Even if it went against a direct order." I looked at Coulson, who gave me a sympathetic smile. He knew that I blamed myself for his death. It was my fault that he went against Coulson's orders and ended up in the line of fire. I suppressed a sob, not wanting to cry in front of a crowd.

"John always knew. I don't know how, but he did. He always knew what the right thing to do was. I wish that I knew what to do now that he's gone." Silence. Everybody just stared at me. It was hard for me to talk to these people, especially to his parents, knowing that he was gone because of me.

"I never know what the right thing to do is. He helped me with that. He guided me so that I could be a better version of myself. He would always say that I helped him more than he helped me though. He wasn't just a role model for me. I loved him like a brother. Nothing that I can say now will do him justice, so... Wherever he is, I hope he knows that we'll miss him and that we'll never forget him and the impact he had on our lives." I looked at his parents this time. "You raised a brilliant son."

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I was walking briskly through the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. It had been a few days since the funeral and I'd come to accept the fact that he was gone. I still blamed myself, but I was working on it.

"He wouldn't blame you if he were here."

His parents' words rang through my head, making me smile lightly. They were right. Although, I could voluntarily set fire to a puppy and he wouldn't have blamed me. Not that I would do that.

"Agent L/N, Director Fury is waiting for you in the lab."

I nodded at the other agent before making my way to the lab. Of course, there were multiple labs, but I knew which one he meant. I could hear Fury talking to Erik Selvig.

I sped away towards the lab that they were in. If I remembered correctly, this was where the Tesseract was being studied.

"Fury, Selvig," I greeted them, walking into the room. I looked around quickly and spotted another man with them. "... and Barton. It's good to see you."

Clint nodded at me, then gave me a quick smile.

"Agent Barton, agent L/N. I presume you are wondering why I brought you here," said Fury. "I need the two of you to watch the Tesseract. Be here to defend it if someone were to attempt to... remove it from our custody."

"Sounds easy enough," Clint replied. "I doubt anyone could take the two of us together, plus any backup that comes our way."

"Good. You can start right away."

He turned around and started to walk away.

"Excuse me, sir," he turned around and looked at me, eye patch gleaming menacingly. "Why did you choose us?"

"Why do I do anything?" he countered. "I felt that you were the most qualified for the job, and you have that nose thing so you can help out if necessary."

I nodded, accepting his answer. I wasn't complaining, I just didn't understand why he hadn't asked Coulson to do it.

"Besides, you two could use the time to get to know each other better," he continued.

Clint and I looked at each other, visibly confused.

"Sir?" he asked, making Fury sigh.

"Have either of you been told about the Avengers Initiative?"