#She has a giant fucking laSer that blows a hole in the sky

[ask-cloverfield]

This show understands what a sexy robot is

[marblesarelost]

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

                                                   Chapter One

“Uh, guys?”  Iron Man squawked over the comm, and Hawkeye cursed under his breath as he loosed another arrow, drawing a new one from his quiver and getting a bead on another of the robotic birds.  “We’ve got a serious problem.”

“Robot birds that blow up aren’t enough of a problem, Tony?”  Natasha asked, kicking one into the air, away from the plate glass windows of the street.  

“Yeah.  Apparently not,” Iron Man replied.  “Somebody needs to get Strange, now, FRIDAY, call Stephen Strange, he’s in my --“  The roar interrupted him, and Hawkeye looked up to see now a shimmering dragon approaching from the west.

“HOLY SHIT!”

“Language,” ‘Tasha said acerbically over the comm.  “I see it. What is that thing?”

“Robot dragon,” Iron Man updated her.  “Looks to be about the size of a -- oh now that’s just -- what --“  Confusion filled Iron Man’s voice.  “The hell?”

“What is it, Tony? What’s going on?”  Hawkeye asked.

“Doom.  Doom’s…Doom’s here.  And he’s drawing the dragon away from us,” Tony said, disbelief joining the confusion.  “No giant proclamation, no DOOM IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE YOU NOW, no bullshit, he’s just…doing it.”

“What are the chances that he sent the damn thing and it’s a PR stunt?”  Hawkeye muttered; he had no love for Doctor Doom.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think -- aaaand right on cue, there’s Richards.  Have you guys got the Pidgeottos under control, ‘cause this could turn ugly,” Iron Man asked.

“Falcon’s on his way, right?”

“ETA thirty seconds,” Sam chirped over the comm.  “That thing is huge as fuck, y’all.  Maybe a thousand yards from head to tail, and it’s shooting laser beams at Doom, too.”

“Of course it is,” Tony added.  “And there’s Richards trying to wrap around it, that’ll end well, guys, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m gonna go help Doom out.”

“Go, we got this,” Natasha said curtly, and Hawkeye turned his attention completely back to the issue at hand, namely, shooting birdies from the sky before they could detonate.

“Why did you do this?” Tony could hear Reed screaming from a few hundred yards away.  “This is insanity, Victor, why --“

“Hey, Stretch,” Tony called as he flew up, firing repulsors at the dragon; it was made of a metal he had never seen before, and he was well versed in metallurgy.  “Where’s the rest of the Fearsome Foursome?”  Richards’ head turned, slamming towards Tony from his hovercraft.

“Defending the Baxter Building.  This is obviously a feint of some kind,” Reed snapped.  

“Yeah, no, we’ve been fighting birds made of this same alloy in the city proper for the last two hours,” Tony snapped.  “Jaws here only showed up when this came into view, and he was already fighting it, trying to hold it off.  So where the hell have you been the last two hours?”  

“The birds are a minor inconvenience,” Reed said, and Tony lost his cool completely.

“They’re rigged to blow if they get within two feet of the ground, asshat,” he shouted.  “I don’t even want to think about what this would do if it got too close to the surface!”  Exasperated, he flew to where Dr. Doom levitated, drawing the dragon towards himself with some kind of purple laser.  “No wonder you hate him so much,” Tony sighed.  “You got a plan, Doom?”

“I do,” was the reply, and Tony’s head jerked up at the difference in Doom’s speech patterns; usually it would be “Doom does indeed, peasant,” or some shit like that.  “I would like to get just a little closer, Iron Man, to ensure that I am correct about the genesis of this creation.  Do you think you can hold its attention for a few moments?”  Doom cut his eyes toward Tony.  “And try to keep Richards from killing us all?”

“I can do the first, no problem, chrome dome, but the second, that’s an issue.  He’s a dick.”  

“He has ever been so,” Doom sighed.  “Sixty seconds is all I ask.”

“Yeah.  Yeah, hey Auntie Anne, leave Doom alone while he checks this out,” Tony shouted as Reed came closer.  

“It’s obviously a trap, Tony --“

“Just on the off chance he’s playing straight, okay?  One full minute.  Go, Vic, I got your back.”

“Thank you, Iron Man,” Doom replied, inclining his head just a fraction before flying --

“HOLY CHRIST!”

-- straight between the dragon’s jaws as Tony fired his hand repulsors at full blast at the beast, backing away, away, farther and farther out to sea, drawing the dragon out with him, Richards speechless, his hovercraft directly in the way of --

“Get out of the way, dumbass, Jesus!”  Just in the nick of time, the hovercraft zoomed away from the dragon’s wing before it connected, and Doom flew back out of the dragon’s mouth, coming back toward Tony.

“It is an artificial construct created by a madman from another dimension,” he reported. “Someone who calls himself Kang the Conqueror.”  

“Oh joy,” Tony sighed. “Ideas?”

“Oh, yes,” Doom nodded. “I propose to return the package to its sender.”  He made some sort of motion with his hands, muttering under his breath, and a giant fire rimmed circle appeared, about half a mile away.  “A moment, now.”  Sure enough, a few seconds later, the dragon began to fade, becoming translucent, then transparent, finally shimmering away.

“Iron Man, report,” Cap’s voice came over the comm.  “All the birds have disappeared.”

“Yeah.  Yeah, Doom just…Doom just got rid of the dragon, too. We’re clear out here, Cap.”

“Great.  We’re going back to the Tower for debrief.  Meet us there.”

“Yep, just a sec.” Tony left his comm open as he waited for Doom to close the portal again.  “So what brought you here, anyway?”

“I noted the disruption in the space-time continuum,” Doom said, but he wasn’t looking at Tony. “Move!”  He dove toward Iron Man, driving both of them down toward the sea, as the Fantastic Four hovercraft hurtled toward the space they had been in. “Sorry, he’s --“

“No, he’s being a serious dick,” Tony agreed.  “Why don’t you come back to the tower, we’ll have burritos?  It’s Hawkeye’s turn to pick the after-fight food, he always chooses burritos.”

“I…appreciate the invitation, Iron Man, but I’m afraid I must decline.  Thank you for your assistance.”  Doom straightened, hesitated, then held out his hand.  “Mr. Stark.”

“Um.  Yeah.”  Tony gingerly accepted the handshake, and once they were no longer touching, Doom teleported away.  “Huh.”

“Why did you let him get away?”  Richards shouted.  “He’s going to the Baxter Building now, I know it!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so, Stretch,” Tony said quietly.  “I really don’t.”  With that, Tony flew off, turning his comm private, just between him and Cap. “Cap.  You heard that?”

“I did,” came the answer. “What exactly happened?”

“Richards tried to run us down, he would have gone through me to get to Doom, if Doom hadn’t seen him,” Tony sighed.  “I’ll be home in two, just…”

“Just what, Tony?” Steve asked, Steve, not Cap. There was a difference in the tone of his voice, it was gentler, certainly warmer.

“Just something is up with Doom.  Definitely something different.  He shook hands, Steve.  He offered, and he shook hands.  And he said thank you.  Doom -- you know, he doesn’t do that.”

“No.  No, he usually doesn’t.”  Steve’s end of the line went quiet.  “Maybe…maybe we should look into what’s going on lately in Latveria.  You know Putin’s all about recreating the Soviet Union, maybe he’s looking for allies in case things go bad.”

“That’s a possibility, and it’s a good idea,” Tony agreed as he landed on the roof, the suit falling away from him, picked up efficiently by one of the ‘bots.  “FRIDAY, download the video and audio of today, especially the last few minutes with Dr. Doom, analyze his voice and body language, get back to me with the results ASAP, okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” the AI agreed.

“I want you to play the video on my mark in the conference room.  It’s important; I want the rest of the team to know just how helpful Reed was.”

“He certainly seemed so willing,” FRIDAY agreed, sarcasm lacing her voice.  She was coming along nicely, he thought; she might not ever pass the Turing test, but then again…then again, she might.  She just might.  Tony grabbed a smoothie from the fridge in the communal kitchen, and headed to the conference room, entering with a smile that hid his current contemplation, nodding to Pepper beside the door.

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?”  She asked, a tiny smile lighting her face, to be met by his own, a bit smugly.

“That will be all, Miss Potts.”  He lingered in the doorway, letting her surreptitiously run her fingernails over his back as she walked away, running shivers up his spine.  Promises for later.  Taking his seat, he propped his feet on the conference table, grinned wildly up at Steve, who was shaking his head with a small smile of his own. “Cap.”

“Tony.  Okay.  Let’s go over what worked, what didn’t, and what we can learn.”  For about ten minutes, Captain America and the Black Widow went over the footage FRIDAY had pulled from surveillance cameras, pointing out holes in their strategies, flaws in their systems, and the team discussed how to do a better job next time.  However, they all kept cutting their eyes to Tony, obviously curious about the run-in he’d had with Doom and Richards, and eventually, Cap nodded to him.  “Iron Man.  You were with the dragon at the end -- God, that sounds weird,” Cap chuckled, shaking his head.  “Fill us in.”

“Sure thing. FRIDAY?”  Immediately, the screen filled with the silvery dragon, and Doom before it, blasting it and obviously trying to draw it away from New York. “So this is what I flew into. Note the weird purple laser things, if you will, that Doom’s using.  They’re obviously keeping the dragon’s attention, but they’re not really like any lasers I’ve seen.  Guys?”

“Eldritch magics,” Scarlet Witch said, her eyes narrowing as she watched.  “Von Doom is known for wielding such things.”  She frowned as the scene unfolded before them.  “He isn’t…this is…”

“Why isn’t he being as belligerent and DOOM-y as usual?”  Hawkeye asked, leaning forward over the table.  “He’s almost…I wouldn’t say he’s being friendly, because I don’t think he knows how to be friendly, but…”

“Casual.  He’s being casual,” Tony agreed.  “He’s not doing the whole FEAR DOOM thing.  He’s…guys, I was there.  He was trying to be helpful.”

“Yeah, but Doom, you know? He’s not being an -- oh, Christ, here’s the asshat,” Clint sighed as Richards came into view again.  His fists clenched on the table as Richards spoke dismissively of the explosive birds.  “That utter bastard!  He didn’t care!  He didn’t --“

“No.”  Tony agreed, his voice and expression flat.  “He didn’t.  FRIDAY, what are the current civilian casualty numbers?”

“Eight dead, 46 injured, financial damage estimated so far as less than ten million, sir.”

“Do me a solid, send all four members of the Fantastic Four a private email detailing those numbers, and attach the video where Reed says the birds are a minor inconvenience,” Tony ordered.  “And ask Pepper to implement Plan Hippocrates for the injured, and offer Hades to the survivors of the dead.”

“Yes, sir.”  The Avengers watched the rest of the footage silently until Doom dove toward Tony, the camera in his mask capturing the bright blue F4 on the hovercraft speeding within a foot above the two as they descended, then righted themselves.  That drew a whole new round of shouts of “dickmunch!”  “Asshole!”  “Fuckface!” Captain America, Tony, and Natasha were the only three who remained silent, watching the film carefully.

“FRIDAY, rewind five seconds, replay at half speed,” Natasha ordered, and the film replayed as she watched, her arms crossing over her chest, green eyes sparking in anger as she did so.  “Play on at normal speed,” she ordered afterward.  They watched as Doom offered his hand, as Tony shook it, then Doom’s disappearance and Richards’ accusation.

“Thoughts?”  Captain America asked after the clip was done.

“Richards did not even attempt to pull the hovercraft over Iron Man.  He did not call out a warning.  He was willing, in that instant, to drive right through Tony in order to perhaps do…something…to Doom,” Natasha said, her words clipped and precise, her eyes cold. “Perhaps he was trusting in the armor, in the warning system, but it was foolish and impulsive.”

“And dangerous,” Steve added, frowning.    

“Sir, I have finished the analysis you asked for,” FRIDAY offered.  “According to my calculations, there is a 94.6 percent probability that Dr. Doom was indeed attempting to be, if not friendly, at least not unfriendly. At no time does his posture, respiration, or heartbeat indicate a threat toward you or even Mr. Richards.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY.  Tell you what, look up any recent news stories -- let’s say within the last six months -- about Latveria, would you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Download them to my personal terminals.  Okay,” he said, turning back to the rest of the Avengers.  “So.  Thoughts after hearing that?”

“Let’s…I don’t know…” Steve began.  “Let’s look at it this way.  It appears that maybe, just maybe, Doom showed up to help without an ulterior motive.”

“He had every right to unload on Richards after what he tried to do,” Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest.  “And he didn’t.”

“No.  He didn’t.  But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious, Tony.  Let’s put it this way; for now, unless he is actively trying to kill us or anyone else, we’ll treat him as a non-belligerent neutral.  Best I can do, until we get more information,” Cap offered, and Natasha nodded.

“It is for the best at this point.  He did one good thing.  One unselfish act does not mean a change of heart, no matter how one might wish it,” she said slowly.  “We wait and observe.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair.  “Okay.  Wait and observe.”

“Why --“ Hawkeye began, and Tony cut him off.

“He’s a genius, he’s extremely powerful in his own right, and I’ve just…I’ve got a feeling.”  Tony shrugged, looking down at his crossed arms. “It doesn’t hurt that he built himself a suit, you know?”

“No, cool, I get you,” Hawkeye shrugged.  “I get you. Okay.  So no aiming at Doom unless he aims at me first, got it.”

“Pass it on?”  Wanda asked, and Steve nodded.

“Yes.  Call Xavier’s school, if they want details, tell them to call me.”  Steve’s chin lifted just a bit into what almost every Avenger liked to call his “Captain America” face.  “I’ll explain if necessary.”

“Great.  Can we have burritos now?”  Sam asked, and everyone laughed.

“Dismissed,” Steve grinned. “Burritos sound really good right now.”

“You guys go on, I want to start a scan on the armor I wore today, be right there,” Tony promised as the Avengers rose to leave the room.  He took the elevator to his workshop, waited a few beats just to make sure no one had followed him.  “FRIDAY?”

“Yes, sir?”  The AI answered.

“Send the footage of our debrief to my terminal here.”  He tapped out a quick email to the Latverian embassy in New York, requesting that they forward it to “the Lord Protector of Latveria.”  Once done, he attached the video, and added a personal touch.  “I want to give you a chance.  I’m trying.  Don’t let me down, okay?”  He clicked send, and breathed a little easier as he left the workshop again, heading up for burritos and camaraderie. 

“Short stack!”  Tony called the next day as he entered Jane’s labs. “Come with me.  Foster, I’m stealing your R2 unit.”

“Beep-fuck-boop-you, Tony,” Darcy Lewis countered, looking up from the notes she was transcribing into English from Janese.  

“Even better, you’re Darcy-Wan Kenobi, and you’re my only hope.  Come on.”  He waved fingers at her, and she sighed, standing and grabbing her bag.

“Janey?  You okay?”

“Yeah,” came the distant answer from behind one of Jane’s machines.  “Yeah.  You’re going with Tony.  I ate about an hour ago, right?”

“Uh��yeah, about an hour and a half ago.  I’m sure this won’t take too long.  This won’t take too long, will it, Tone Loc?”

“No, Salt, it won’t,” he grinned.  “What? I already have a Pepa.”

“And I would never dream of attempting to take her place, because she is a saint and a goddess among women,” Darcy said, following him out of the lab and down the hall to the elevator.  Tony nodded.

“You have no idea how much I agree with that statement, Darce.”  They entered the elevator, and Tony pressed a button to a few floors below, still within the Avengers block.  “So. Your degree is in poli sci, right?”

“Yeah,” Darcy agreed. “I’m working on my thesis for my master’s.”

“Awesome.  But you get politics.”  He cut a very serious look at her, and she nodded, her eyebrows drawing together.

“Well…yeah.  I minored in history?”

“Great, that’s fabulous, because you may need both.  I have a proposition for you, well, Pepper will explain it better, I think, maybe, but --“ he paused, then nodded to himself, stepping to the far side of the elevator.  “Do me a solid, don’t freak out, okay?  FRIDAY, halt the elevator, engage prime privacy mode, code HORNDOG.” Immediately, the elevator stopped, a second set of doors engaging over the first, and Darcy’s breath caught. “Listen,” Tony began.  “That’s just a code word, it’s a joke, really.  Here’s the thing.  You know we were called out yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Darcy agreed. “Robot birds and then the dragon thing, it was on the news.”

“Great.  Did you see who else was after the dragon thing?”

“No…” she dragged out the word.  “Who?”

“Victor Von Doom.”

“Doctor DOOM?  Was he --“

“No.  He was helping us.  And I kind of get the feeling maybe he doesn’t want to be quite such a dick anymore.  I asked FRIDAY to give me a heads up on news out of Latveria, you know, political stuff and whatnot, and apparently there’s a lot.  A LOT, lot.  And I don’t get it all, but you.”  Tony pointed at her.  “You do. Or at least, I think you will.”

“Okay,” Darcy nodded. “You need me to go through the data and extrapolate what his intentions are?”

“Brilliant.  You’re fucking brilliant, Short Stack, that’s it exactly.  So Pepper and I talked about it this morning, and she’s going to go over all the paperwork, she’s actually waiting in your new office --“

“I get an office?”

“You get an office. With your own coffee machine.  And a paycheck.  A fairly decent paycheck.  Because when we talked about it, Pepper said, well, I’ll let her tell you what she said.  Long story short though, the Avengers Initiative and Stark Enterprises need an in-house political analyst, and guess what, you’ve got the clearance and you’ve got the background, you’re it.”  Darcy’s jaw dropped, and Tony chuckled.  “Looks like you’re in.”

“Uh, yeah!”  Darcy agreed, then sobered.  “But who’ll help Jane?”

“Oh, honey, we have minions! We have lots of minions.  Minions who are drooling over the chance to maybe be able to work with Janey.  No problem there, okay?  She’ll have her choice of assistants, I promise.”  Tony looked up at the ceiling.  “Friday.  You may disengage prime privacy mode and set us going again.”  The inner elevator doors unlocked, and the elevator began to move again.

“They have to make sure she eats.  She’s…” Darcy bit her lip.  “She gets caught up, you know?  And sleep. You don’t know how many sets of notes I’ve had to save after she fell asleep and knocked cold coffee onto them.”

“I get that,” Tony said, nodding.  “I had a Rhodey and a Pepper, Jane had you.  We’ll find her somebody, Darce.”

“Pinky swear?”  Darcy held out her left hand, pinky extended, and Tony linked his right pinky with it solemnly.

“Pinky swear.  I’ll go back up and talk to her in a minute.  But I --“ the door opened, and he led her out into the hall, past several doors to where Pepper Potts stood smiling in a chic white dress with emerald green trim.  “Pepper!  Love of my life!  Chatelaine of my tower!”  

“Tony, you just saw me an hour ago,” Pepper said, shaking her head softly, though she accepted and returned his hug.  “Hi, Darcy. Did Tony get you up to date?”

“Somewhat,” Darcy said as she approached.  “He said you’d fill in the details.”

“Of course.  What’s next on your agenda, Mr. Stark?”  Pepper asked, eyebrows rising.

“I…have to go talk to Foster and explain what’s up, and get her to set up interviews for her new science minions?”  Tony offered, and Pepper nodded.

“Correct. ��And at four o’clock, you have a conference call with Zachary Belman and Paul Franklin, and you will be on that call, Tony.  You will.”

“Right.  Yes.  I promise.” He shook his head no with every word.

“You will.  And then we’ll order pizza from Val’s downstairs and watch Heavy Metal.”

“Oh.  Well.  If that’s on the agenda, absolutely.  It’s…” he glanced at his watch.  “It’s two. I have plenty of time.”

“Your office, Tony.  I want you in your office at three forty-five,” Pepper said.  “Not the workshop.  Your office.”

“Right.  Okay.”  He pecked her cheek, clapped Darcy on the shoulder.  “Have fun, Artoo, you get to sign lots of stuff now.”

“Sure,” Darcy agreed. “And Tony?  Thanks.”

“No problem, squirt,” he offered breezily, passing by her on his way back to the elevator.  “See you in a couple hours, Pep.”  Pepper shook her head, her delicate gold earrings swaying as she did so, looking after him fondly.

“So, let’s go into your office, Darcy,” she offered, opening the door.  The office wasn’t really that big, a standard room in the Tower.  A desk faced the door, with two chairs before it, a computer, a coffeemaker on a small cabinet to the left with a ten gallon water cooler beside it.  Pepper closed the door behind them, and took a seat in one of the chairs before the desk, Darcy joining her there instead of behind the desk.  Not yet.  Not yet. “There’s a communal kitchen on this floor as well; this is the Avengers’ legal advisory floor, everyone here has a clearance level or two below yours, but then, yours is special.”  Pepper’s smile grew a little wider.  “He’s right, I do have quite a few forms for you to fill out.  There’s a scanner there,” she pointed.  “If you’ll just scan the documents in and email them to HR, we’ll get everything taken care of.”  Pepper half-frowned then.  “How…have you been getting paid, working for Jane?”

“Yeah.  She pays me out of the grants and whatnot,” Darcy said, nodding.  “I mean, Tony pays for all of her stuff, right, but she still applies for grants and stuff from the government and NASA and whatnot and pays me out of those; she says it’s to make sure they don’t forget her name and what she’s discovered.”

“As if they could,” Pepper said, her smile returning.  “I’m glad. I was concerned when I found you weren’t already on the payroll.”

“Thanks.  Yeah, I live here, in Jane’s extra bedroom, to save some money.  It’s expensive to live in New York, and it just gets worse every day,” Darcy sighed. “But.  Can you fill me in a little more on what exactly you guys are looking for from me?”

“Absolutely,” Pepper nodded, setting the file folder down on the desk and facing Darcy.  “Your first long-term assignment is to look through the files already in your Avengers Initiative email, I set that up for you, the password’s written on a Post-It underneath your mouse pad, feel free to change it but let me know what it is, just in case.  You’re to read through them and draw what conclusions you can, write a report, and send it to me.  FRIDAY will sift through the news for you and update you on any new stories regarding that assignment.  Your short-term assignments will be kind of on-call, as it were; if the Avengers have to leave the country for threats on foreign soil, we’ll need to know how friendly or unfriendly those countries are to the Avengers specifically, and to the U.S. in general.  I don’t know how much notice you’ll get for those short-term assignments, to be honest, and you will be awakened in the middle of the night to give opinions and advice.”

“Okay,” Darcy agreed. “I guess that’s why I get the personal coffeemaker.”  Pepper chuckled.

“And a mini-fridge and microwave,” she agreed.  “We’re going to expand the political team in a week or two, but you’ll be the head of it, mainly because you will almost assuredly have the highest clearance.  Do you have any experience heading a team?”

“I can do it.  Can’t be any harder than herding scientists,” Darcy shrugged.

“I’m going to keep it at your level, bachelor’s degrees going on for master’s, and your team will consult with others who have doctorates in political science if you feel out of your depth or you want to get a second opinion.  Can you get me a list of who you’d feel comfortable collaborating with or consulting with?”

“Yes.  Absolutely, let me make a note of that,” Darcy nodded, taking her phone from her purse and opening her notepad app.  “There we go.  With an alarm….you’ll have that by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“Great.  Well, I guess I’ll let you get to it.  And…” Pepper looked a little…uncomfortable.  “If necessary, I can make arrangements with Giada’s downstairs for an expense account?  For business wear.”  

“I…no.  No, I have…I dress like this for the lab, it’s safer,” Darcy said quickly, looking down at her jeans and blouse.  “Sparks and stuff, you know.”

“I do,” Pepper nodded. “But the offer’s there, if you need it.”

“No.  No, I’ve got business wear, Ms. Potts, I’ll dress for success from now on, no problem.”  Pepper nodded briskly, tapping the folder on the desk as she stood, and Darcy stood a second later.  “Thank you. For the job and…and everything.”

“It’s my pleasure to work with you, Darcy.  Welcome, officially, to the team.”  The two women shook hands, and Pepper left the office.  Carefully, Darcy closed the office door behind her.  Her office door.  Her office.  She had an office.  And she would be using her degree, actually using her so-called “soft science” to help her friends, to help Thor and Clint and Sam and Tony and ‘Tasha.  She walked around her desk, looking out over New York in the fall afternoon, and nodded to herself.  “You got this, Darcy.  You got this.”  She made coffee, finding the three bags with a note -- “Didn’t know what roast/brand you preferred, tell Friday and it will be delivered, PP.”  Then she sat down at her desk, her desk, she had her own desk, in her own office, and started filling out the paperwork.

@subsilvernight

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Vital Signs, pt 13

Word Count: 1785 Tags: @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso, @to-pick-ourselves-up-7, @outside-the-government, @jimfromsales, @donnaintx, @enterprisewriting

I returned to the helicarrier as soon as I’d given report on Coulson. When we flew off it, there was smoke billowing from around one of the turbines and there was debris all over the deck. The carrier had internal stabilization to such a degree that I hadn’t realized we were in any trouble at all.

On the return trip, I made sure to look more closely at the damage. We were lucky to still be in the air. Fury met me in the infirmary to debrief me.

“How was he?” He demanded. I took a deep breath.

“He flatlined during transport. We wheeled him in with me doing compressions, and they took him immediately to the OR. I don’t know.” I looked down at myself, and tugged at my scrubs. They were beginning to stick to me, as the blood dried. So much blood. I just wanted a shower.

“We have a lot of wounded from the attack. Are you fit?” He asked. I nodded grabbed the clipboard off the desk. Thankfully, it was all minor wounds.

“Not a problem, sir.”

“We’ll have sit-down about medical needs when this settles. In the meantime, there are two doctors inbound from the Hub. They’ll be here by nightfall.” He put his hand on my shoulder; “You acquitted yourself like a veteran, Richmond.”

I walked away to see patients, and didn’t let my mind wander from my task for what felt like hours. I finally had a chance to sit down and relax, and I took it, absently thinking I should probably also go take a shower and clean up. My scrubs were completely stiff. Steve strode into the infirmary, in his Captain America uniform. He had a cut over his eyebrow. I hopped up, but before I could run to him, he held his hand up to stop me.

“It’s nothing, Lex. Just a scratch. Are you okay?” He looked around the infirmary as though he was struggling with a decision and then pulled me into his arms. I bit back the tears that had been threatening since I’d returned to my post.

“I’ll be fine. This isn’t my blood.” I buried my face in his chest and held him tight. He squeezed me in response, and looked down at me.

“Coulson,” he said. I nodded. He shook his head, and looked pained. I reached up and touched his face, traced my fingers along his jaw, and then touched the scratch on his forehead. He winced just enough that I pushed him into a seat and cleaned it up. He gave me a brief rundown on what had happened while I put liquid stitches on the wound, which was much deeper than he’d led me to believe.

“I gotta go.” He rose from the chair. I nodded. He pulled me close again and kissed me. It felt like goodbye.

“Don’t you dare kiss me like that and walk out the door,” I said as I pulled away, “You are Captain Motherfucking America, Steve. Whatever it is you are going to face, you will be back.” I pulled him back to me, and kissed him with the promise of after. He laughed suddenly, breaking our mouths apart.

“You have such a dirty mouth, Lex.” He bit my lower lip and then stood up straight, “Yes, I will be back. Be safe, stay put. It pains me, but trust Fury.” He turned and strode out of the room. I checked in with the nurses and then excused myself for a shower.

When I returned to the infirmary, the new doctors were on deck, and lounging at the desk, talking with the nurses. There was only one person awaiting treatment, so I waved to the new arrivals and saw to the final patient before checking them into the duty roster. They all stood quickly as I approached the desk

“Hi. I’m Dr. Alexandra Richmond. I’m the chief medical officer.” I shook the three doctor’s hands, “I was only expecting two of you.” A short balding guy in a lab coat, who’d introduced himself as Dr. Carson, cleared his throat.

“Fury changed his mind. He asked us to give you this.” He handed over a memo with directions for disaster planning. It was very detailed, and outlined exactly what his expectations of the three new doctors were. Including naming Dr. Carson as the chief medical officer. Which was my job. I furrowed my brow at the last line and looked to Dr. Carson for an explanation.

“You’re to report to the bridge for orders, Dr. Richmond,” he offered.

Fury was standing looking out the window at a departing quinjet when I walked on the bridge.

“Sir,” I said, and waited for him. He turned toward me and nodded toward a chair. I sat.

“Coulson didn’t make it,” he said it quietly. I felt the air rush out of me, like I’d been punched in the gut. I bit back tears. I’d lost patients before. But I’d never lost someone I knew. Someone I’d spent time with, learned from, respected. Fury put his hand on my shoulder.

“We need you on the ground. Loki is planning on unleashing hell on the city, and there’s going to be a lot of casualties. I’ve contacted Midtown General, and they’ve agreed clear as many beds as they can. They want you to run the ER. It will be our medical command centre,” he explained. I nodded, mutely.

“This is completely off the books. The Avengers deployed on their own to manage this risk. SHIELD is just setting up a response team for the potential injuries.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The Council didn’t approve the Avengers Initiative. They don’t want SHIELD involved. You’re leaving in 30 minutes,” he dismissed me, and handed me an envelope, “This has all the protocols you’ll need to set up medical command at Midtown General.”

I was almost at the door when I stopped and turned back to Director Fury.

“Sir? Why me?” I asked. I was a brand new doctor. He smiled.

“You are field tested for much worse.” He meant New Mexico. I hoped he was right.

The SHIELD medical corp follows the same general uniform guidelines as the rest of SHIELD, so I was exceptionally obvious in my black scrubs as I walked into Midtown General. They were more fitted than the average scrubs as well, something that had been explained to me as making them more responsive to the needs of fieldwork. I thought that was bullshit, but I did notice I wasn’t constantly pulling at my neckline to make sure my chest was covered, which had been a huge issue in my scrubs during residency. At any rate, I stood out like a sore thumb walking into the ER.

True to their word, Midtown had cleared as many beds as they could. The ER was deserted. Staff were hustling around setting up triage stations and supply carts. Erica waved me over to the desk.

“Dr. Jameson said to give you the floor.” She hugged me in welcome.

“Thank you, Dr. Smith. I don’t know what we should be expecting, bu-“ The sound of something exploding interrupted me. The room shook, lights flickering, dust shaking loose from the ceiling tiles. We both ran toward the door.

“What the fuck?” There was some sort of hole in the sky above Stark Tower, and there was something flying out of it.

“Is that Iron Man?” Erica pointed at a red blur in the sky. Whatever it was flying out of the hole in the sky started to blow up.

“If shit is exploding, that has to be Stark.” We both stood riveted to the spot. A nurse approached me.

“Dr. Richmond, is there anything you need us to prep?” She asked. I shook my head without looking away from the sky.

“Nope. Just be ready for lots of patients. Make sure distribution is ahead of the game on supplies.” It was absolute, sudden, extreme pandemonium outside. Erica and I just kept watching. The aliens were starting down the streets on their flying chariot things, and they were shooting laser beams out of their weapons. It was unimaginable.

“Oh, this is so much worse than New Mexico,” I mumbled under my breath. Erica grabbed my arm.

“What the fuck is that?” She shrieked and pointed to the sky. I looked back toward Stark Tower, where a giant, armoured, flying snake had emerged from the rift in the sky. It flicked its tail and took the top off a building just a few blocks away from us.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. The flying snake kept whipping its tail, and taking out floors of buildings, leaving rubble and debris everywhere. A huge piece of the wall of a building crashed down into the ambulance bay. Erica and I jumped back.

“We’re never going to get people in here,” she said. She was still clutching my arm. I pulled her back inside the ER and ran to the nurse’s station. I pulled open the envelope and scanned the list of contacts Fury had given me. I grabbed a phone and started making phone calls, and scribbling notes down on a scrap of paper. We had a plan. I called over the staff and got the head nurse to page all available doctors down to the ER. I climbed up onto the desk so everyone could hear me.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. There’s half a building in our ambulance bay, and we’re the nearest hospital to what’s happening outside. Whenever victims are stable enough, the fire department is going to transport them out of the area to another hospital. Emergent cases are going to come to us. I want the three trauma bays made sterile, stat. We’re going to send three teams out into the street to start sending walking injured in, what’s left of our bay will be the central pick up for ambulances. The three outside teams will take disaster kits out. Triage, treat or send them to safety. Any questions?” I called over the crowd.

“I have combat experience, I was a nurse in Afghanistan.” A nurse stepped forward, “Who should I go with?” Erica waved him over to her. I quickly sorted through the staff and built the three outside teams. We all took radios and disaster kits and prepared to go outside.

“Listen, you are no good to anyone if you get hit. Be mindful of where you are. The cops know we’re heading out, the EMTs know we’ll be out there too. Make sure you are able to go home tonight.” I said to the teams as we headed out the door into the chaos.