Avenging Time

Head Injury

“What are they doing? They obviously not getting in,” Nick murmured as the Doctor looked up at him. The woman from before turned toward him, thinking that it was a distraction. A call came over Nick’s radio as the intruders threw another grenade. Nick listened as his eyes widened. As Tony was fixing the engine and Natasha and Thor dealt with the Hulk, Loki had escaped. Thor, who went into the glass chamber room to check on Loki, had been tricked and now hurtling towards the ground. As was the Hulk, since shooting him down didn’t seem to work. Suddenly, a glimpse of movement caught Nick’s eye as an arrow shot into one of the computers, taking a second propellor out. The floating fortress now sunk to the side as the computers frizzed and shut down.

“What happened?” the Doctor whispered as the invaders retreated. Nick and the woman tried to stand up in the slanted bridge. Nick called Tony to pick up the speed, as they started to sink. The Doctor, who hated to be ignored, brought out his sonic screwdriver to find out for himself. The arrow, or so it looked like, carried a virus designed to shut down at least one more engine and all the computers for a certain amount of time. He tried to reverse the process, but it was deadlocked. He couldn’t even pry the device out of the hardware. Nick left as the commotion seemed to calm down. “Nick, where are you going?”

“Saving a soldier,” he replied, briskly walking down the hallway. The Doctor dashed after him, letting the woman take control of the cleanup. He was interested to know what he meant and thought he might be of help. Nick glanced back towards the Doctor as he caught up. “What are you doing?”

“What I always do. Try to help,” he replied, matching the director’s pace. Nick rolled his eye and glared at him.

“Fine, but don’t get in my way,” he grumbled, traveling toward the glass chamber room, that used to house Loki. The Doctor nodded, stunned that he would say that. Weren't they saving a soldier? How would he get in the way of that?

“Understood,” The Doctor answered, nodding his head. Nick sighed as he punched in a code at the door. Phil, the one who had directed him and Andrea earlier, was lying and bleeding against a wall. Luckily, someone had already sent a medical crew by the time they got there, so the Doctor didn’t have to get in Nick’s way. Nick shooed them away for a moment to talk to Coulson. The Doctor stayed away, examining the internal and external damage to his body. Besides, it seemed like a private moment. Soon, Nick stood away as Coulson passed out and brought out his radio.

“Coulson is dead,” Nick began, shocking the Doctor. He ran over to him and checked his pulse. It was faint, but still there. Panicked and concerned voices came from the speaker, but Nick shook his head. “They called it.”

“What are you doing?” the Doctor whispered, standing up from Coulson as Nick turned off his radio. “He isn’t dead.”

“I know,” he replied as the crew took Phil away. The Doctor gaped, but did nothing. The crew was just taking him to safety. Nick sighed and glared at the Doctor. “They need something to Avenge. Phil knew what he was doing and wanted to make sure that the Avengers Initiative off the ground. He knew the risk, but the crew said that he should live.”

“That was so reckless!” The Doctor hissed, walking up to Nick. “He could have been killed, Nick!”

“He knew what he was doing,” the director growled back as his eyes met the Doctor’s. The Doctor straightened his jacket and took a step back, ready to make for the door. “Don’t you dare tell anyone. Do you understand? No one. Not even Andrea. We have to get this ball rolling and this was the only way we could make it work. We knew that Loki would somehow escape, and it was Phil’s job to get injured, to fake his death. If anyone were to know that he was alive, then they would have nothing to avenge. If they don’t have anything to avenge, they’ll fall apart faster than you can say Coulson.”