The Great Scapegoat Coulson (Revised)

Having just gotten her new toy, Annie had been completely absorbed in after-school joyrides these past few days—not the kind of joyride where you drive a car, but the kind where you actually take a fighter jet up above the stratosphere and go wild.

The only thing that really bugged Annie was: she never got another chance to run into that tin can called Iron Man. What a shame! She'd even prepared a whole bunch of secret weapons just for him.

"Uncle Coulson, are you really not coming with us today?" Annie had changed into the custom-made, small-sized G-suit S.H.I.E.L.D. had tailored for her, and climbed aboard her personal flying mount, the Princess Annie.

Ever since she got this toy, she'd gone out for a joyride every day after dinner, only reluctantly flying back when the sky was almost completely dark. During this time, she'd even left her ever-present teddy bear at home! In her current state, Annie didn't know any Tibbers. Who was that?

Annie was having a great time these days, but someone else wasn't!

The military had lodged plenty of protests with S.H.I.E.L.D. about this red plane that hadn't been properly registered but kept messing around in national airspace every day. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s explanation was always: "Calibrating new equipment." And then they'd drop it. After several rounds of fruitless complaints, the military had no choice but to get used to its existence and turn a blind eye.

"No, no need! Thank you very much! You two have fun, don't worry about me. I'd rather enjoy the evening beach here." Coulson flinched when he heard Annie's invitation.

A few days ago, he'd been tossed around so badly in the fighter that he'd wished for death, eventually blacking out completely. When he woke up, he swore he'd never set foot in that red Quinjet again!

Those two up front had special G-force-reducing pilot seats, so they were fine. But him, Coulson, stuck in the back cabin? That place only had civilian sofas and the like now. G-force-reducing seats? Not a chance! Being strapped down with two seatbelts to keep from rolling around the cabin was already a luxury! But what good were two seatbelts anyway?

After firmly refusing the invitation, Coulson ignored Annie's calls, put on his sunglasses, lay back comfortably on a beach chair, and took a nice sip of a drink.

Melinda was with her anyway, so there was no real danger. He was absolutely not going to go crazy with that little girl again! The terrifying feeling of being strapped into the cabin while the fighter pulled all kinds of extreme maneuvers—he swore he'd never try that again.

Lying on the beach chair, he waved his hand, watching the red fighter lift off and fly farther and farther away until it vanished from sight. Only then did Coulson close his eyes with satisfaction. The evening sea breeze felt wonderful.

This seaside villa was really a great vacation spot. He wondered which damn bureaucrat it had been prepared for? Coulson thought maybe he should learn from others in S.H.I.E.L.D. and skim a little for himself when the opportunity came up during missions. For example, underreporting seized assets by one percent? That way, when he retired, maybe he could get himself a small vacation cottage by the sea too.

"Phil! You're really getting good at enjoying yourself." After who knows how long, just as Coulson was dozing off, half-asleep and half-awake, a voice sounded beside him.

Nick Fury's face was a bit dark. Well, to be fair, his face was always that dark.

But right now, he was very unhappy with Coulson! He'd just sat down silently on the lounge chair next to Coulson, and the guy hadn't even reacted? Was that the level of awareness a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent should have? Was this still the senior agent Coulson?

This subordinate was getting lazier and lazier, more and more fond of comfort. Sure enough, ease makes people dull! At this rate, Nick Fury was starting to wonder if Coulson could still handle field missions.

"Ah! Director, when did you get here?" Coulson was startled. Why would the Director have time to come see him? Had something happened again?

"Alright, alright! No need to get up. Just stay seated." Nick Fury waved his hand impatiently and lay back on the lounge chair just like Coulson. "Honestly, I'm a bit envious of your carefree life right now."

After lying down, Nick Fury let out a long breath. It had been a long time since he'd been able to lie down this comfortably! Lately, under all kinds of pressure, he hadn't had a single moment of relaxation like this! But at least Hill's operation was going smoothly, and more and more good news was coming in. He was feeling more confident.

"Director, is there something going on?"

Coulson didn't believe the Director had come just to chat. There had to be a mission. But he was a bit puzzled—if there was a mission, why not just send a message or call him to headquarters? Why would the Director come here in person?

"I knew I couldn't fool you!" Nick Fury nodded, turned to look at Coulson, his expression still a bit grim, as if something was troubling him. "You know, Phil? Right now, I can barely trust anyone. S.H.I.E.L.D. is facing an unprecedented major crisis!"

Coulson didn't reply. Since the Director had come here to say this to him, it meant the Director still trusted him! But why would the Director say something so alarming? Was S.H.I.E.L.D. really in some great danger? He hadn't noticed anything unusual about S.H.I.E.L.D. That shouldn't be! Though he couldn't understand it, hearing the Director speak so seriously, Coulson couldn't help but drop his playful expression and sit up straight.

"Phil, you know? S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by Hydra... badly." Nick Fury stared at the sea, was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Coulson, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"Hydra? Wasn't that wiped out a long time ago? How is that possible?" Coulson certainly knew the legend of Hydra! S.H.I.E.L.D.'s predecessor had risen by destroying Hydra, stepping on its corpse. But that was back in World War II.

"I used to think so too! Cut off one head, two more grow in its place... Hah, I guess there's some truth to it." Nick Fury let out a self-deprecating laugh, but his eyes were cold.

"I'll handle the Hydra matter personally. Don't ask about it! Don't tell anyone either. Just keep it in mind! But right now, there's another extremely important mission. You'll handle it, and there can't be a single mistake!" Nick Fury finished speaking and, without allowing refusal, handed Coulson a file.

The Avengers? Coulson took the file, still a bit confused. After flipping through a few pages, he immediately understood Director Nick Fury's intention.

It turned out that, in light of the increasing number of things beyond S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control—like mutants with all kinds of bizarre abilities, powerful aliens like Annie, the mysterious Kamar-Taj organization that S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't trace, the bald sorcerer Ancient One, and the recent arrival of Thor from Asgard with his damn hammer and Asgardian weapons—and finally, the re-emergence of Hydra...

These endless incidents were making Director Nick Fury feel more and more overwhelmed and exhausted. He didn't know what threats Earth would face in the future! So, Nick Fury planned to quickly assemble a special team to deal with these increasingly powerful enemies. Even though the Council had never approved his proposal, Nick Fury decided to bypass the Council and secretly form it anyway!

Coulson looked at the list of names at the end of the file. These were the Director's recommended candidates. The first one was: Annie Hastur!

Well, Coulson couldn't deny Annie's power. In his view, the abilities Annie had shown so far were just the tip of the iceberg! The deeper he got to know her, the more he realized how powerful she was. Sure, she was a bit playful and mischievous, but that was normal for a little girl her age! You couldn't expect too much.

Second and third: Hawkeye, Black Widow! Coulson knew these two well. They were old-school S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives. He'd skip them for now! As for their abilities? Average! Decent, but no special supernatural powers. Still, they were way better than regular agents.

Fourth: The Hulk? Huh? Wasn't he captured by the military after Annie beat him up? Had he escaped again? Damn! That green guy was pretty good at breaking out of prison, wasn't he? How many times had he escaped now?

Fifth: Iron Man? Oh! He knew this one too. The famous playboy, billionaire Tony Stark! The news had been buzzing about it recently. After being kidnapped by terrorists, this playboy had supposedly built a powerful suit of armor. Now he was called Iron Man.

Sixth: Captain America?

"Sorry, Director! Didn't Captain America die a long time ago when his plane crashed somewhere in the Arctic? He's been dead for over half a century. Where am I supposed to find him?" Coulson was very confused to see that name on the list!

Nick Fury stared at Coulson in silence for a full ten seconds! He was starting to wonder if he'd made a mistake entrusting this important mission to Coulson.

"How long has it been since you last paid any attention to what's going on at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Uh..." Coulson was momentarily speechless! Thinking about it, he really hadn't been keeping up with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s news lately. He'd been living a bit too comfortably, you know.

"Captain America was dug up a while ago. Not only is he alive, he's still young! He's recuperating now. As long as you tell him what you know, he should be easy to recruit. As for the Hulk, he escaped from the military a while ago. S.H.I.E.L.D. has his exact location. When you go to recruit him, just bring Annie along, and there shouldn't be any major problems."

Nick Fury sighed helplessly, stood up, and turned to leave. His dissatisfaction with Coulson had risen from "very unhappy" to "extremely unhappy." If he had anyone else to use, he wouldn't entrust such an important mission to him. After taking two steps, he turned around and roared at Coulson:

"The hardest one to recruit right now is Iron Man! Who was it that chased him all over the place a while back? Who chased him until the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea before giving up? What grudge do you have against him?! I don't even know how you had the nerve to call for support to get more fuel. Go on, tell me! Huh? Cat got your tongue? Too scared to say?"