Avengers II: The Human Shield (A Thor/Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 14

Sorry again for the long wait!**  This chapter is longer (almost 3x) so hopefully that makes up for it a bit.  As of today (11/27/14) there is 154 days left until Age of Ultron, to meet my goal of finishing this story before then I will have to write a chapter every two weeks, so get ready ;) 

Chapter 14

Stark Tower, Main Kitchen, 8 AM EST; New York, New York

Any kitchen owned and inhabited by Tony Stark was bound to be a madhouse. Add in a super soldier, a couple of master assassins (with extra sass), a doctor-slash-rage monster, and two gods- and you get a proverbial train wreck.

It was into this chaos that poor Pepper Potts walked into.

To her credit, she managed to get to the lone table with only a small spot of smoothie on her skirt. Tony was manning the coffee machine, and by the mess on the counter was anything to go by, it had only taken him a few tries to get it right. Deftly dodging a waffle that was floating suspiciously in Loki's direction, he silently handed her a cup. Wedging herself safely in a corner, in part to avoid Steve running around with a hot pan, Pepper tried to process the chaos.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the entrance of one very annoyed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Tony noticed too, and settled himself in to watch the show.

Agent Mason dropped her phone into a surprised Clint's lap, and proceeded to drop herself into the nearest, thankfully empty, chair- and let her head hit the table with a thud.

Clint didn't pause in eating his meal, instead satisfying his curiosity by glancing at the phone's screen. Whatever was on the it seemed to amuse him, because he was suddenly smirking at his plate. Without even looking, he flicked his wrist- sending the phone-turned-projectile careening towards Natasha. Neither saw it almost hit Bruce on the head, or clip a now-visible floating plate of cinnamon rolls.

Nevertheless, Natasha managed to catch it before she gained a rather large bruise on her forehead. She afforded a bit more attention to the device, but didn't quite seem to see the humor in it. With an odd look towards Agent Mason's slumped form, she took one of the few edible and intact breakfasts, a bowl of fruit, and set it- along with the phone- beside her head.

"I suppose I have to go talk to him, don't I?" Mason's voice was muffled by the table, but it would have taken more than that to hide the sarcasm. She didn't wait for an answer, swiping her phone off the table, and ignoring the bowl.

"Uh... coffee?" Tony held the pot out as she passed him on her way to the elevator.

"No thanks, the last thing my brain needs is caffeine. Don't wait up."

...

S.H.I.E.L.D. Central; New York, New York

"You know full well what the problem is, Fury!"

"I fail to see the problem, all of the criteria are met."

"That's not the point." Agent Mason fell back into her recently-vacated chair with a huff.

"If you don't think you're capable-" He was cut off by a dry laugh.

"You already know I'm going to do it, I have every other time. But tell me, is there any way that this is someone's idea of a joke?"

Fury sighed, and when he spoke his voice lost some of its edge, "You need to trust the system, the people who put these ops together are the best."

"You-" Agent Mason's eyes shot to the closed door, "All of them? Was that really necessary?"

Fury raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask what she was talking about. He was saved the trouble when the table he was leaning on sprang to life.