"I have my current team to think about too," Coulson pointed out. "Besides, they should have new handlers. This is a new situation, after all."

Fury considered it for a moment.

"You know Barton and Romanov best," he said. "They listen to you more than anyone else. So I'll reinstate your clearance with the Avengers Initiative, to level nine. Don't make me regret that, Phil."

"You know I won't." Coulson smiled a bit. "Thank you, sir."

"Go corral your assets and let me run my agency," Fury said. With that, he hung up and left Coulson to make his arrangements.

Coulson hung up as well and took a bit of time to figure out how he was going to do things. Because this could get complicated. And it was going to get emotional.

By this point, Avery had gotten the three kids to wind down, and was sitting in the common area with them. The kids were all sprawled out on the couch, asleep, and Avery had a spellbook and various papers spread on the table in front of her.

Coulson looked at her for a moment before he settled down as well with some of his own papers.

Avery glanced up at him.

"They all kind of keeled over a little while ago," she said softly. "I figure it's best to just let them sleep where someone can keep an eye on them."

Coulson nodded. "Makes sense," he agreed. "Children are known to get into quite a bit of trouble, after all."

Avery nodded and looked back down at the diagram she was putting together. It was rather complex, with runes and shapes coming together into a circular sigil. She studied it for a moment, turning it so she could see it from every angle, before putting down her pen.

Coulson went back to his paperwork, though he did keep an eye on the kids. Just in case.

After a few minutes, Avery stretched.

"I think I'm going to get some sleep," she said. "I'll look over my work in the morning, just to make sure I didn't miss anything, and I'll try to unravel the spell then."

Coulson nodded. "That's fine," he said. "Take your time. We'll be heading by New York after you're done."

That made Avery raise an eyebrow.

"Really?" she asked. "What for?"

"To drop you off," Coulson replied blandly. "Makes things easier for everyone."

"I can just as easily call for a ride," Avery pointed out. "In fact, that was originally the plan. So why drop me off personally?" She paused. "Unless there's something else you're planning."

Coulson looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Now why would I be planning anything?"

"Because you usually are," Avery replied. She studied him for a moment. "So tell me, why the personal drop-off? Especially when it means getting so close to the tower?"

"I did hand-pick you two," he said, instead of giving her a proper explanation. "So it's my job to make sure you two manage alright with your new assignment."

Avery snorted.

"You want to see Barton and Romanov again," she said. "I thought you decided to stay away?"

Coulson shrugged. "It would seem they need a bit of a push."

"An hour ago you were trying to convince me to just give them time," Avery said, watching him.

"I changed my mind. It happens from time to time. I think Director Fury keeps a list. It hasn't required more than one set of hands to count yet."

Avery couldn't help but snicker.

"So now what?" she asked. "We had to be specially instated to level eight just to be able to give orders to the team, if we need to. Last I checked, 'Agent Phil Coulson' was both level seven and dead."

Coulson just shrugged. "Level doesn't matter so much where the team is concerned."