Work Text:
No matter what aspersions Tony Stark may make about his intelligence or lack thereof, Nick Fury is not stupid. Right now, with the Tesseract gone, Loki in the wind, Banner and Thor heaven knows where, Romanov injured, Barton coming done from whatever Loki had done to him, Stark in a state of shock and Rogers glaring at him – he wishes that he were stupid - because a stupid man would never have got involved in a situation like this. Nick Fury is a smart man, and even though it pains him to have to use Phil Coulson’s memory in this way, the situation demands that it be done.
The cards that Phil Coulson had worked so hard to collect, are now bloody and strewn across a conference table. Stark and Rogers have stormed out, but Fury is sure that this will be the kick that they need. He carefully picks up the cards, making sure to put them into order, and then he puts them away – later he will clean them so that they can be buried with Coulson. He allows himself one moment to think of absolutely nothing, and then he puts his game face back on – the day is not over yet. War is raging, and he cannot stand by idly and watch the world burn.