Nico di Angelo and the Avengers

Chapter Seven: In Which Fury Trusts Natasha's Judgement (Only Tony is Surprised)

Full title that was too long for wattpad lmao: In Which Fury-- Who Has, Quite Frankly, Seen Some Shit You Wouldn't Believe-- Trusts Natasha's Judgment Implicitly (Only Tony is Surprised)

~*~

Breakfast was, surprisingly enough... not shitty. Well. The atmosphere was shitty, because everyone was silent and/or very tired and/or deeply depressed, but the food was good-- Nico needed to remember to ask Thor where he'd learned to cook like that.

Nico was well aware that his eyes were still puffy and red, and, quite honestly, he was perpetually five seconds away from bursting into tears again, but he managed to smother all those feelings like the cheese smothered the chunks of potato before him. Steve sat beside him, hunched over his food, his face gaunt. Nico felt for him-- they were in the same boat, now, but it was a boat Steve had sailed before, and that fact seemed to be weighing heavily on his shoulders. Nico hated boats. 

Still, it was peaceful enough, everyone sitting together in silence, eating and slurping coffee as though their very souls depended on it.

Or at least it was peaceful enough, until a man with an eyepatch stormed in. Tony squawked, looking surprised.

"Hey, Fury," Clint said through a mouthful of hash browns, "What's up?"

"What's up?" Fury asked incredulously. "What's up with the security breach last night? What's up with you bringing in two unknowns without telling me first?"

"Didn't Tony tell you?" Natasha sighed, rubbing at her temples. "No, of course not. Sorry, sir. Thor brought them in to deal with the situation in the Bermudas. This is Nico di Angelo. The other one was--is-- Will Solace."

"And where is he?"

Nico's fork broke in his hands, the shards flying across the eating area. "Security breach," was all he offered as an explanation, voice terse.

Fury paused, clearly unsure what to do with himself. "I see. My apologies." He turned towards Tony. "This is your Tower, Stark. What are you planning to do about this?"

Tony looked at the others in the group. "Well, we were-- are-- going to track down the... uh, things that took Will. We're pretty sure they're the same people we've been tracking. Then once we found them, we... Avenge?"

"Alright. Do that." said Fury. "They're on San Salvador Island."

"How--"

"I have my resources, Stark. We were able to narrow that much down, but the specifics will be up to you. I trust you can get yourselves there?"

"Yes, sir," said Natasha. "But we need to discuss our plan of action. The threat is not... human."

Fury sighed. "It never is, anymore. Report, Agent Romanoff."

But it was Nico who answered. "The creatures that broke in last night, they were Harpies-- wind spirits, and kind of weird looking chicken/women hybrids. They, as well as a whole legion of other monsters, are serving Menoetius, the Titan of Anger and Rashness. I don't know why, but he wants me for something." Nico shrugged. "Probably has to do with my dad."

"Your dad?" Fury asked.

"Hades," Nico answered. "King of the Underworld."

"Alright," said Fury.

"You're not more surprised?" Bruce looked confused, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

Fury shrugged. "Eh. After learning of the existence of Asgard, I figured pretty much every other mythology had at least a small chance of being true. Nothing really surprises me anymore. Besides, I've been dealing with non-human shit for... for a while." He sighed. "Well. If Natasha trusts you, di Angelo, I suppose I do as well. Welcome aboard, for what it's worth." He turned towards Steve. "If you need anything, you know where to find me."

With that, he exited, his leather duster overcoat swishing in his wake in an incredibly dramatic fashion.

"So, uh," said Nico, "who was that?"

"Nick Fury," answered Steve, "Former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Technically, he's dead."

"Fun." Nico said, deadpan. "You do know he planted a few bugs on his way in, though, right?"

"I'm surprised that's all," Tony said loudly. He turned towards Natasha with narrowed but suggestive eyes. "How'd you get him to trust you so much, by the way?"

Natasha looked at him icily; clearly she picked up on the hidden accusation in his words. "I follow orders, unlike some people. Do that enough without complaint, and he trusts you with things."

"Besides," Clint said, "she's saved his hide at least five times."

There was a long silence save Tony's loud, almost angry chewing on a waffle.

"So," pondered Thor, absolving the tension, "Menoetius is on the Island of San Salvador, that much we now know, but what is our plan of attack?"

Nico though the question over. "Well," he said, "we need to figure out how to get to the Island in the first place-- it's not as if we can just hop into the Sea of Monsters with no problem." He sighed. "But before we even start thinking about that, you need weapons. Gear."

"We have weapons," said Bruce, confused.

"Yeah, okay, let me clarify: you need weapons that will actually work on monsters. Thor, Mjolnir should work, and, Bruce, the Hulk should be able to manage through sheer strength, but the rest of you..."

"Tell me what we need, and I can make it," said Tony.

"Thanks, but no, you can't," Nico replied. "You need Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold, and no mortal can get that, let alone forge it. No, we need..." he sighed. "We need to go to Camp."

Thor nodded. "That is a good idea; we can also seek the wise council of Chiron, as well as plot our course of action in a far safer environment."

"But first," Natasha said pointedly, "we need to get dressed."

"Oh. Yeah."

~*~

oof oof oof she short she short and i don't have chapter 9 fully finished yet but i wanted to get this out here cos the next few chapters are normal/long in length and i'm almost done w/ 9.

This. Hm. Isn't my absolute best but dw abt it fajfkalsdfjklsdf i wanted to get it OUT and it's really more of a filler.

Fury: that's what I do. I look cool and i know things.

ALSO CATCH THAT, LIKE, SENTENCE-LONG REFERENCE TO CAPTAIN MARVEL YEET YEET!

aLSO in case any of you were confused: the hidden accusation in t*ny's words was like... well... basically he was accusing her of sleeping with Fury to gain his trust. And I will break him over my knee like a stick if he does that again lmao (I say this. as the author. don't worry about it. It was in character but in character makes me want to throw hands. hahaha.)

anyway.....

yeet.