Well, it's Director now.

"The world is full of evil, lies, pain, and death and you can’t hide from it. You can only face it. The question is when you do, how do you respond, who do you become?" Phillip J. Coulson, current S.H.I.E.L.D. Director & former level 8 agent.

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

Rooftops

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

Clint took a moment to stare at Coulson’s hand. On the one hand, going inside was probably smart because he’d get warm and dry, but on the other, he wasn’t sure he was ready to go inside and face everyone just yet. “Can we get coffee?” he asked, taking Coulson’s hand.

[shield-director-coulson]

Grabbing Clint’s hand as a faint smile spread across his face, he helped him up and padded his shoulder. “You can have as many pots as you’ll need.” he told him and began to make his way to the door leading inside.

[stephen-v-strange]

[shield-director-coulson]

“Anything else I can help you with ? Do you need a ride to get back to your place ?”

[shadowcatprydexkitty]

“Quinjets?” she asked in awe. If they were as cool as they sounded then she so wanted a trip in one of those babies.

[shield-director-coulson]

“Smaller than the X-Jet but just as cool I promise.” he said, still amused by her excitement, it was a nice change for once to see someone smile around here.

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

Rooftops

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

“You say it like it’s that easy,” Clint muttered, glancing down at his hands. Clint never was the one to really let his vulnerable side show. He learned the hard way what happens when he did that - people tended to take advantage of it. 

[shield-director-coulson]

“We both know it’s not. I won’t pretend it is, given the fact I know most of what you’ve already been through.” he stepped toward him and put his hand on his shoulder slowly. “We should be getting in at least, I’m not forcing you to get back in med bay but I’m not letting you freeze out here either.” he said, extending his hand to him now, waiting for his decision.

[stephen-v-strange]

“You know that I will help you the best I can.” Strange corrected himself. “When I can.”

[shield-director-coulson]

He nodded shortly. “I know that and I thank you for that, since you’re not forced to do it and I know that too often we forget that we’re lucky to have people like you helping us around so thank you again”

[thor-thundererofasgard-archived]

I Can Explain

[enchanting-amora]

thor-thundererofasgard:

Thor understood many of their concerns - it was hard not to. He had seen what evil his brother had brought upon this world, namely this city, but he could not leave his brother behind again. “Odin would dare not come here. It was because of him that Loki appears as he does now. If you must know what has become of him, Vision, just know that Loki made mistakes and he was being punished, but even I could see the punishment that Odin had bestowed upon him far outweighed his actions. I could not take him to any of the other Realms to keep him safe, for I do not trust the safety of my brother to anyone but those who stand in this room.” His eyes lingered on Amora for a brief moment - he did not fully trust her yet but she was banished here and her concern for Loki seemed sincere. “I do understand that should Barton ever find Loki that problems will arise and I will handle them to the best of my abilities. I will tell him exactly what I tell you all - Loki is of no threat. The bands upon his wrists are of a magic I have not seen before and not easily broken. It binds his powers to him. He cannot us his trickery so he is very much human. I will take full responsibility of him. I only ask of my friends that you help keep him safe….for now, at least.”

“Be silent, child,” Amora hissed at Wanda, her eyes glowing a menacing shade of green, “I am Amora of Asgard, and I am the fury you will face should death befall the Laufeyson.” The goddess kept herself in check; these were Thor’s friends and allies. Killing them would not put her back in his good graces. She looked over to the Thunderer and dared him to test her before lowering herself back to Loki’s side. She touched his hair gently and examined his wounds. They were far greater than she would be able to heal at the moment. She would need time and study. “Shall I talk to this Barton?” she inquired, her tone of voice now entirely made of velvet, “I can be very persuasive.”

[icarusofhousestark]

Tony trusted Thor … most of the time. He still thought that he had his agenda , but all in all, he trusted him more than another god or goddess. The man crossed his arms  He cocked an eyebrow in sheer surprise at the other voices rising, actually considering to help him. He turned to his team in disbelief. Maybe it was Zemo, maybe it was being tortured, maybe it was just his gut feeling that they would all regret it, but he was still adamant in his no. Yes the explanation was saddening.  “God.” he whispered and shook his head. Many things were going through his head , as he rubbed his temples.  “You …are not to speak to Barton, or even go near him” he told Amora. He was trying not to look at her, to stand his ground.  He could not take a decision knowing how this was all going to end.  So he said nothing, just shaking his head in disbelief.  “ This is not a decision I can make alone. The whole team has to be okay with him being here, and detained.  “ he took a step forward.  “And if we do this, he will be your responsibility, if he fucks up, it will be on you , if he hurts one of us, it will be on you, if he only looks wrong at Clint, he’s out.  Detained in maximum facility with a way to neutralize him if he does anything …and you will explain this all to Barton , because you brought him here. If they agree , those are the terms, no negociation possible. “

[scarletwaanda]

“Well the Amora, if you are so concerned about Loki’s wellbeing then maybe you should be the one looking after him. You seem like you can take of it yourself” Wanda told her. She didn’t like the way the woman talked to her or anyone else here for that matter. Wanda glanced over at Loki as the rest of them argued. She listened to what Thor had to say and it seemed to make sense. He trusted them to take care of his brother, he was his family. Wanda would be acting the same way if it were Pietro. But Pietro hadn’t caused nearly as much harm and destruction as Loki had. Nor had he hurt a member of their team as much as Loki hurt Clint. “I’m sorry Thor but there has to be another way.” She said looking at him before turning to the rest of the team. “We need to think of our whole team here. Our whole family and what this is going to do.” Wanda felt as if she was already losing this battle but she was going to stick to her guns on this one.

[v-cogitoergosum]

Vision listened what Thor had to say and watched the reactions of the others. Clearly if Loki wasn’t as powered as he was before then he wouldn’t be such a threat, the threat they feared so much. It seems otherwise that Clint was the problem with Loki around. Vision looked up to Wanda. He wanted to agree with her but, there was so many variables here. “I’m afraid there’s no other way.” Vision bitted his lips and looked down, walking through the room, speaking. “Thor is right. If what he says is true, and I trust our friend, then Loki shouldn’t be in any other place than this one. If people recognizes him… That would be terrible. Yes he did bad things, we all did. As humans agree to say that everyone deserves a second chance, Loki deserves that one too.” He paused. “We all had one. If I’m right, I can say Thor had a second chance to change and become better, as Mister Stark, as many of us here. And now people trust us. Maybe we could try.” 

[shield-director-coulson]

The benefice of the dout. That was something he was willing to give to Thor but since they were talking about Loki here, he wasn’t really sure it was a wise thing to do. But as he said and everyone probably wanted, he listened to what the god had to say to defend his brother. As far as his trust went when Thor was involved, he had to say that he had a hard time believing that the Trickster was now harmless since he was still stronger than most of any man but in a way, having the Avengers to serve as his captors -he wouldn’t say protectors ‘cause at least half of them had issues with him too in the past- but there was Clint too. He’d lose it if he only knew about what was going on right now and he’d delt with too much already to force him to accept that. So on that point he was agreeing with Tony about the fact that he shouldn’t go near him in any way. The discussion was getting tense but he furrowd his brows at Vision’s last word. “Second chance ? It’s not the first time he pulled tricks and got people around him hurt.” he let out a little bit too loud but the subject was still itchy for him.

He took a breath to calm down and try to analyse their options if they really were going to do something as stupid as that. “Any idea of how long he’d be staying here ? How long those marks are going to be effective ? How you think you’re gonna explain to Barton what you’re asking of them ?”

[mspottsceoofsi-blog]

The Broken Bottle [Pepper& Phil]

[mspottsceoofsi-blog]

Pepper shook her head. “I don’t think this lesson was very helpful all things considered. All that I learned was that Greg is a fucking coward and didn’t want to deal with the shit that we should have.” She said, bitterly. “The stuff I did wrong…Greg just made it worse…He didn’t communicate with me anymore, and I finally gave up trying…Kind of the same with Tony in a way. God I have such bad taste in men.” Pepper chuckled humorlessly. “You and May though…You guys fit together. In a way I hate you both for being so great together.”

[shield-director-coulson]

“His loss. I know dozens of men who’d kill to have you.” and he meant it in a way. She had everything for her, except love but he knew she still had to deal with her feelings with Tony, one way or another if she wanted to get what she wanted. “You feel like you have bad taste but that just bad circumstances. Having someone is already hard when you’re living a normal, every day life, so with what we’re dealing with...” She was too harsh on herself. “Tony is a good man...in a way.” he commented and grinned for a second at her answer. “Green isn’t your color.” he joked about the fact she was jealous of their relation but he looked in front of him for a moment. “She was always here for me, even when I pushed her away. I’m not even sure I deserve someone like this. And guess after all the shit we saw together, we’ve learned to settle for what we got.”

[icarusofhousestark]

Tony laughed, then put his drink maybe a little too hard on the table.  “Don’t call her Pepper. That’s my nickname for her, and she is not Pepper anymore, she is Virginia. “  he corrected. “ Friendship on the call, I suppose, cause I have not seen you around since that  one hospital visit … must be the papers filling…right ? “

[shield-director-coulson]

He furrowed his brows as the glass hit the table so harshly and he sensed this little chat wasn’t going to be friendly much longer. He didn’t answer that statement and looked at him as he kept going. “Oh now you’re blaming me for not visiting but you pushed me away when I came ? What exactly am I suppose to do now Stark ? Waiting for you do stop brooding in your lab because you’re too stubborn to let anyone help you because you can’t stand to care ? But you do care and that’s eating you.”

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

Rooftops

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

“How can I?” he asked, looking back at the world around them. “How can I focus on myself when I don’t even know how to fix myself? I used to be able to fix my mistakes by going out with the Avengers, but I can’t even do that now.”

[shield-director-coulson]

He understood his doubts, but if he didn’t let anyone helping him out to fix it, they’ll be running in circles for ever. “Because that’s what you always do. And because people are willing to do anything to help you to get back on your feet, if you’d just let them...”

[shadowcatprydexkitty]

“Well, Lola is beautiful. Are there any other really cool cars in here?”

[shield-director-coulson]

“Depends on your definition of cool cars but yeah, we got some pretty cool vehicules down here, like the quinjets.”

[mspottsceoofsi-blog]

The Broken Bottle [Pepper& Phil]

[mspottsceoofsi-blog]

“I know. Just this crazy dream I sometimes entertain. That Tony would manage to get his shit together long enough to be normal…” Pepper could tell that her words were slurring, but there was no way to get her tongue completely under control until she was sober again. She sank down again to the floor, curling herself into a ball. “I hate it. Sometimes I think that Tony is my soulmate but he doesn’t love me anymore. So I moved on. I did my best to move on and now I’m back to square one.” Pepper absently dipped her finger into a drop of wine left on the tile floor, drawing a circle of purplish red against the cream colored flooring. “I’d kill to have what you and May do. I’d do anything to have someone who loves me like you do her.”

[shield-director-coulson]

He could easily understand what she was talking about and as a matter of fact, he believed for a time that her influence on him could actually do the trick but it didn’t. Can’t help someone if they don’t let you in. “Sometimes nomatter what you do, you’re stuck and it’s frustrating as hell but I don’t think you’re back to square one. You’ve learned from all this. Or as C.S. Lewis put it: experience is a brutal teacher, but god you learn.” It probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now but he was sure she’d get back to her feet, she was one of the strongest woman he’d knew afterall. “It wasn’t always like that you know. It took time and it certainly wasn’t all rainbows & butterflies.” he added before he smiled a bit. “You’ll get there in time, you’ll see.”

[shield-director-coulson]

Barton: Fury said I would be suspended in the morning, but more importantly, what does the "J" stand for? James? John? Jojo?

Coulson: My middle name is more important to you than being suspended?

Barton: If it's Jojo? Yes.

[icarusofhousestark]

He let his glass go against Phil’s and drank a bit.  Focus on the better things  Tony, a voice in his head stated. “So …what have you been up to …apart of course being the crying shoulder of Virgina ?” he asked, bitterness evident in his tone, not towards Coulson but the situation. 

[shield-director-coulson]

He downed a couple of gulps too and put the glass down as Tony spoke again. Ah, the delicate matter. “Pepper’s is my friend, and being a friend involves being there for them when they need.” he started to answer “but appart from that, you know, the usual. Trying to recruit new agents, watching over potential threats, filling papers...”

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

Rooftops

[shootstraight-nevermissarchive]

“Everything. This whole messed up situation.” Clint wasn’t sure he was quite ready to talk about what happened and he probably never would be. There were just some things he wished he didn’t have to relive, but there was no real way to explain this without reliving a bit of it. “When Tony escaped, we got separated and I got hit with something….a hallucigen or something. It’s all cloudy but I remember fighting a Hydra agent, but according to Tony, it was him. I just…I don’t know. I believed that Tony left me. An entire month I thought that and some of the stuff Zemo said and did made sense. He got into my head, Coulson because some of the stuff isn’t adding up anymore and everything is falling to shit. Every time I get near Tony, a part of me wants to punch him and another part wants to believe him, I’m off Avenger duty, per Tony’s orders, I can barely sleep without dreaming about what happened…I’m a mess and nothing makes sense anymore.”

[shield-director-coulson]

It was painful to watch him doubt himself like that. He knew everything he’d already gone through and he didn’t deserve it. Nothing of it. he’d do his best to help him back to his feet but only if he’d let him and they weren’t there just yet. “If it’s any help, I also want to punch him most of the time.” he joked dryly with a small shrug and a nod, before he looked at him with that paternal look he couldn’t helpmost of the time. “Give it some time. With what you’ve been through, you can’t expect to get better just by snapping your fingers. I know you’d rather do something, I know how cranky you can get when you’re bored but Clint, if you wanna keep doing your job, now’s maybe the time to think about yourself first.” 

[mspottsceoofsi-blog]

The Broken Bottle [Pepper& Phil]

[mspottsceoofsi-blog]

Pepper stubbornly shook her head. “I know he cares, it’s just…he’s really shit at showing it like a normal person.” She hugged her legs tightly to her chest. “Besides. You’re not here to talk to me about Tony. What happened to comforting me about Greg fucking off to who fucking knows where fucktown USA?” She asked bitterly. “I just miss him. Both of them.” Pepper mumbled. “Do you think it’s possible to be in love with someone but then to be soul mates with someone else?” 

[shield-director-coulson]

Phil mockingly shrugged hearing her saying that. “Tony, normal person ?” he gave her a knowing look. He smiled though when she spoke again. “Well, I don’t know if you noticed but you started out first, I merely followed.” he answered, trying to lighten the mood a bit. He simply nodded when she admitted she missed them and he could easily understand her but there wasn’t much he could do -except maybe send someone to track down Greg but he wasn’t going to open that door-. Lifting his chin when she asked him her question, he contemplated it for a few seconds. “I know it’s possible. I know it is because that’s how I felt with Audrey. I loved her, she made me happy, I almost felt like I could have a normal life but she wasn’t my soul mate.” He never tlaked about that before, not that openly at least. “Somehow I always knew that, that May was that person for me but you know, life happened...”

[shadowcatprydexkitty]

“Really? Oh that would be so cool!” Looking between the car and Coulson, she said, “I love cars…and bikes. Logan has this really cool bike and I’ve always wanted to take it for a ride but he doesn’t let anyone ride it.”

[shield-director-coulson]

“Yeah, Logan never striked me as the sharing type when it comes down to his bike but I can’t blame him for that, I’d be an hypocrit then.” Yeah, he could get why he didn’t want to let anyone else ride his bike, just like he did with Lola.

[marvelninenine]