Author's Note: Just an interlude, but I'm working on the next full chapter as well. My stuff for Rose disappeared and I kind of had to rebuild. I've got a handful of fics I'm working on in a revolving basis. As I finish with one I will pull in a different one. Hopefully this will help me get my stuff under control.

Tenth Interlude – Coulson

He remembered everything.

Loki.

The spear.

Sharp pain.

Fury.

His vision going dark.

All of those memories stood out crystal clear in his mind.

The next set were not so clear. Sounds, scents, pain, and even flashes of color played through his memory, but all of them hazy and indistinct. Clarity only returned with his wakening to find the entire team gathered around his bedside, joking and laughing with one another. Reaching out…touching the closest hand…that had been more to prove to himself it was not a dream rather than to alert anyone to his status.

But alert them it had. He still felt a clutch of awe in his chest at the sight of these men and women clustering around him, relieved smiles on their faces. This – this team had been a dream, a vision, and here they stood. He could rest and continue to work on getting better, relaxing in the knowledge that things seemed to have gone according to plan.

Then came his debriefing.

Phillip J. Coulson had been called many things over the course of his career – some serious, some joking, almost all true. One thing he had never been called? Slow on the uptake.

Much as he respected his boss, Nick Fury would never qualify as a handler. The man's tendency towards grandstanding movements or subtle chess plays might give him the wherewithal to lead SHIELD, but it also meant he made individual agents nervous. A handler needed to be boss, partner, psychiatrist, and confessor. No single agent trusted Fury in all four roles.

And now the team, the Avengers themselves, didn't trust him at all.

Nick's mishandling of the team had left them without a center. They managed with Loki and the Chitauri out of sheer necessity, but long term… Long term might have turned into a disaster with the various egos and world views of the different members.

Then Natasha pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat by bringing in the one person no one at SHIELD, other than himself apparently, would have expected.

Darcy Lewis.

The young woman remained a curious enigma.

She belonged in a civilian file, all of the boxes checked and her full life's story in black and white in SHIELD's archives – a known and understood factor. And yet…she surprised them all. Being surrounded by geniuses meant people underestimated her intelligence. Being Clint's girlfriend meant SHIELD paper pushers relegated her to a subordinate role. (He needed to talk to Hill about revamping SHIELD's training. Unconscious or no, a romantic interest should not be automatically dismissed. Had they even bothered to check her IQ or testing scores?) She became the 'girlfriend' or the 'assistant' – few of them bothered to dig deeper as he had done.

Darcy Lewis blended into the background – one of the most wanted qualities for a handler.

And she managed to take on the role meant to be his. She became the center point of the Avengers. He did not begrudge her the position – much. Someone needed to take up the reins after he (technically) died. He wished it had not been necessary. Things grew more complicated with the team at odds with SHIELD, but there seemed no way to have avoided the situation. Fury's mishandling of the team meant none of them would have turned to a SHIELD handler – if one could have been found at all. None of the others could manage Hawkeye and Black Widow; he shuddered to think of any of them dealing with Iron Man or the Hulk.

The tangled web did net him the job of liaison. Lucky him.

Right now, as said liaison, he needed to quit woolgathering and start directing his attention to a different task. The Avengers' first request would pit him against Thaddeus Ross. The man offended his sensibilities, both ethical and professional, so Coulson figured he might be forgiven for a momentary glee in the prospect of outwitting him – easy as the task should prove. A hint of a smile flickered over his face as he picked up his phone.

"Dr. Ross? I would like to speak with you about the Avengers Initiative."