Struggling To Adjust (Book Three of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Sparrow and SHIELD

"You did WHAT?!"

There were few things in life that Tony Stark was scared of. An angry Pepper Potts was one of them. So was an angry Natasha Romanoff.

Apparently, an angry Jemma Simmons was one of them, too. "We don't know where they went," he tried to tell her as she fumed angrily. "Simmons, I'm sorry, I really am, but they did the whole crash bang save the world thing, but then they were gone."

"And they were right in front of you," Jemma muttered, shaking her head and pacing back and forth as Coulson and May did investigating around her, Fitz asking around. "Don't you want the Doctor to pay?"

"Of course!" Tony exclaimed. "Bruce and I both do!"

"Then do you have any idea who the blonde woman is? What her name is?"

For a second, Tony was tempted to tell Jemma her friend really was alive. But then he remembered the look on her face as she talked about everything she had suffered since Canary Wharf. So, instead, he said, "Johanna Rossini."

Jemma sighed. "We still need to find a match on that name," she whispered angrily before nodding curtly to him. "Thank you."

Tony blew out a breath and joined Bruce, who was waiting by the limo they were taking to the airport. "Did you tell them?" he asked.

"No," Bruce replied. "But Agent Simmons is scary. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the Joneses said anything."

"Let's hope not," Tony muttered, getting into the limo. "Or else I know someone who would kill us."

***

"Mum, really," Tish tried to tell her mother as she paced back and forth, Leo still sitting on the steps, "I'm sure Martha is fine!"

"She's not answering her home phone," Francine replied frantically. "And I don't know where she is!"

"Excuse me?"

Francine looked up to see a man in a suit standing there. "Yes?" she asked.

"Agent Phil Coulson, of SHIELD," he introduced himself, showing him his badge. "If you don't mind, ma'am, I'd like to ask a few questions."

"Do you know where my daughter is?" Francine demanded.

"Mum!" Tish hissed.

"Your daughter?" asked a British woman nearby, who then walked over, an interested look on her face. "What's her name?"

"Martha," Francine replied. "Martha Jones."

The two spared a look, the woman looking excited. "This is Agent Jemma Simmons," Coulson introduced. "If I might ask, Mrs. Jones, was she by any chance associated with a man called the Doctor?"

"Yes!" Francine cried. "Yes! That's him!"

"We need you to tell us exactly what happened here tonight. Because if the Doctor was involved, something is going on."

Tish listened to her mother go on, but when she was about to say the Bad Wolf's name, she interrupted. "His friend was called Johanna Rossini. She was Australian, if that helps any."

Jemma looked at Coulson. "Mr. Stark said the same thing," she whispered.

"And she was with him at the hospital," Coulson whispered back before nodding to Francine. "If you hear anything from her, give us a call." He held out a card. "We have . . . personal business with the Doctor to take care of."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, why?" Francine asked.

The look in Coulson's eyes darkened, and a fury took over Jemma's that would've made Tish run. "He got one of our best agents killed because she trusted him, and two more got caught in the crossfire," she spat. "Agent Jessie Nightshade, and Agents Saleen Harper and Skye."