Loki had escaped.
Hulk had fallen from the carrier.
Thor had been thrown out in an airborne prison.
Coulson was dead.
Tony's armor was damaged.
"Wow, all that happened in such a short time."
John's remark drew everyone's gaze.
Fury looked away, toying with a stack of cards.
The cards were soaked in blood. Coulson's blood.
Tony said nothing.
"These cards were found in Agent Coulson's jacket. He never got the chance to ask you to sign them."
Fury tossed the cards onto the table. Steve picked up one with yellowed edges stained with blood.
It bore a picture of Captain America.
"We're flying blind. Communications are down. We can't locate the Tesseract, and Banner and Thor are both missing."
"There's nothing I can do, either."
"I've lost my best man," Fury said.
He shook his head with a bitter smile. "Maybe I brought this on myself."
"Yes, we intended to use the Tesseract to make weapons," he said, beginning to pace. "But I wasn't putting my chips on that. I was betting on something far riskier."
You've already made the weapons, John grumbled inwardly.
Fury continued his emotional appeal, talking about the Avengers.
The plan had never been popular, but he preferred to put his faith in these people.
"The idea was to bring together the most extraordinary people in the world and see if they could become something more."
Fury's gaze settled on John.
John rubbed his ring.
The most extraordinary people in the world?
Did that include wizards?
Creating heroes?
John had little to say about that idea.
Who got to define a hero?
S.H.I.E.L.D.?
The government?
The public?
He picked up a card, narrowing his eyes as the blood stuck to his fingers.
Tony rose and left. Not long afterward, Steve walked out too.
John stayed