Always Mine (An MCU Fanfiction)

11. In Heroes

Peyton's P.O.V 

I made my way back to the bridge to check on everyone while Natasha stayed by Clint's side. Along the way, I learned that Craig had been injured during the attack and was in the medical bay getting stitches. It wasn't life-threatening, but it was another reminder of how badly things had gone. I kept trying to contact Casey through the comms, but there was still no response. 

Come on, Case. Say something. 

Every unanswered attempt tightened the knot in my stomach. Casey could handle herself, but after everything that had happened on the Helicarrier, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Then word spread that Loki had escaped. My heart sank. 

A few minutes later, I learned he'd taken Casey with him. For a moment, I couldn't breathe. That explained the silence. I clenched my fists. Loki had the scepter again. I didn't want to think about what that could mean for Casey.

"Agent Coulson is down," Fury's voice spoke through my earpiece. 

The words hit me like a punch to the chest. 

"No," I whispered. 

My eyes immediately filled with tears. Phil Coulson had been one of the first SHIELD agents who made Vince and me feel welcome. He treated us like people instead of weapons or assets. He was the one who helped Vince and me come up with our callsigns. Phil even let me get my hair dyed when half of the organization confused me for my twin. 

Hearing he was gone brought me right back to the day someone told me my parents had died. That same numbness. That same disbelief. 

Soon, I found Vince back on the bridge with the others. Fury pulled something from his pocket and tossed it to Steve. I immediately recognized them. 

Phil's Captain America trading cards. The blood staining them made my stomach twist. 

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them," Fury said. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor, and Armstrong. I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." 

Nobody interrupted him. 

For once, even Tony remained silent. 

"Yes," Fury continued. "We were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to. To fight the battles that we never could." 

I frowned. 

Using the Tesseract to build weapons sounded insane. The thing was powerful enough without anyone understanding exactly what it was. 

"Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea," Fury said quietly. "In heroes." 

A moment later, Tony stood up and walked out. 

"Well, it's a good old-fashioned notion," Fury added.

The rest of us left the bridge as though we'd just attended a funeral. 

The atmosphere was heavy. Nobody wanted to talk. 

"Hey, sis." Vince glanced at me as we entered the break room. "You alright?" 

"Barely," I answered.

Sean and Nicole walked in behind us, both looking just as miserable. 

Sean pulled a small SHIELD access card out of his pocket. I recognized it immediately. Coulson had given it to him during training.