U.S. AGENT

“Oh. So you’re the helpful type. We’re not friends— why exactly would you want to help me?”

“Yeah, well, they didn’t recruit me.” It’s not like they’d want a spleenless drunk anyway. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“You are much more involved than I am. What exactly are they monitoring you for?”

“Not an agent anymore, but yeah. Hi.” Coulson looked to other man with a hint of a forced smile. “Can’t say I know who you are, I’m sorry to say.”

“No. I am the strongest.” Thor corrected him quickly. “And you’re not an Avenger at all.”

“…You’re still in my way.”

Yelena sobers, the half smile falling from her lips. “It doesn’t matter what I say. Valentina is benching us all. We’re liabilities until they fix this Pleasant Hill issue.”

“Neither. Both. How about this: you can pick.”

“I’ll do so.” Her tone is cool, face an impassive slate. “But they teach you to cover all your bases.”

“And so.. you’re the one that dictates how many questions are too many? Why do I find that so hard to believe.”

“I’m a private investigator, dumbass. Do I look like a fucking S.H.I.E.L.D. lackey to you?”

“I have no clearance.” The Savage Avengers may have had Avengers in the title, but they were very obviously different. “Nor do I care what you do. Just stay out of my way.”

“That’s weird, because it was empty when I got here. I don’t see a name on it.”

“Everyone I talk to? Belova lead the mission that got you all arrested and taken into Pleasant Hill. From what I’ve read, she was leading most of them before that as well.” 

“We have the same clearance.” The words are quiet and accented. Antonia and Walker have been paired up on assignment, unfortunately. The Russian killing machine and the disgraced star spangled man. There’s surely supposed to be irony here on Valentina’s part, but Antonia isn’t amused. “Also, you talk too much.”

“well that’s news to me,” john shook his head. there was nothing he dreaded more than working with some of the russian thunderbolts. key word some. yelena was on thin ice.

The snarky question probably wouldn’t have bothered Matt that much on a normal night, but this was different. He was asking about Elektra. The same Elektra that supposedly died that night with him under that rubble. Who brought out, at most times, the worst in him. Violence it was then. Gripping the other man’s arm, Matt used his other hand to pull out a truncheon as he slammed it against Walker’s kneecap. Not hard enough to shatter it, but jarring enough to force him onto his knees as he twisted his arm. “Let me ask an easier question, then. Why is Fontaine so worked up about S.H.I.E.L.D.?

“I don’t quite understand your role. You are not Captain America, yet it seems that you desperately want to be. Do I have that right?”