An Unlikely Romance - The Avengers (Part 1)

Chains of Fate

It was only a few days later that Fury came to talk to you again. After your last conversation with him, they had dropped all pretense of subtly removing objects from the building and opted to start outright carrying things away in the middle of the night, starting with the nonessential furniture.

By the time Fury showed up the couch was replaced with some folding chairs, the TV had disappeared entirely, and you were frankly surprised on meeting him in the front room that the refrigerator was still there. All of the training equipment had been hauled out, as well. Honestly, you were pretty used to being bored; the hard part had been listening to Clint go through withdrawal.

Yet still somehow Fury made a reasonably subtle entrance, sidling in along the wall just as you came out to the living room to see who had been put in charge for the day. The same eyepatch and trench coat he always seemed to have freshly cleaned and ready, the same stern expression, the same stance that seemed somewhere between commanding officer and executioner... the only thing different were his arms. Clasped behind his back, certainly not an unfamiliar pose for him, you could see them shifting and twitching. Just a little. One of the small details you couldn't help but notice with your vision.

"Had any new thoughts on trust lately?"

"Look, I don't ask for much-"

"Bullshit," Fury said without missing a beat.

"-but could you at least wait until I've had my morning coffee?"

"Figured you could use a different kind of morning pick-up. Good news always brightens my mornings, but Agents Romanov and Barton don't seem to enjoy bringing it to me."

"Pardon me if I'm used to hearing you mention good news a little bit more sarcastically."

"Look there's a reason I don't come into this place in the mornings - I've got a lot of better things to do with my day than sit here and sass you, but you make it so damn easy. I brought you two pieces of good news. I'll let you pick which one you want first, but word of advice - take the painkiller. Makes the other one a lot better," Fury joked, finally pulling his hands out from behind his back. In them were two separate items, a needle in his left hand, and a strange device that looked something like a pair of plastic pliers in his right.

"Yeah, bullshit!" You half-shouted, taking a step back. Fury hadn't brought any nurses with him, hadn't even asked you what you wanted, and now he showed up with medical-grade implements? You were-

"Calm down, I can see those gears turning. You're gonna panic for about another ten seconds until you realize I didn't bring any nurses, but I also didn't bring Agents Romanov or Barton with me to deal with you. That means I'm not planning on a fight. And believe me - I'm always planning on a fight."

"Look I get the blood tests, but at least I can see there's nothing in *those* needles. What the fuck is that?"

"I just told you what's in here, but if you want me to emphasize a little more, it's trust," Fury said, quirking his one eye at you. "That's what I brought you today. A big ol' doctor's prescription for trust, and a note that says if it hurts in the mornin', that's just too damn bad."

"Alright, alright, the vague taunting isn't helping," you groaned, taking another step back and through the doorway, now halfway back into the hall. "Let's say I believe that it's a painkiller... that's *terrifying*, because what the hell are you going to do to me that is gonna hurt that bad? You gave me a *spinal tap* with no painkillers."

"We had to be sure there was no contamination. We don't know how your system reacts to *anything*. Agent Romanov had to talk me into giving you children's strength Tylenol after."