Crap
The words hung heavy between the two, the tension in the air suddenly so thick it could be cut with a knife. The rest of Phil’s family was watching the situation in anticipation, ready to step in if necessary - no one knew how Alan would react.
Alan openly stared at the director, his father, looking like he was about to pounce at the older man any second. Phil, although avoiding eye contact, looked just as uneasy, thinking that he should’ve just kept his mouth shut, but wanting to comfort his son more than anything else. However, he had to refrain from doing so, knowing that the gesture would not be appreciated.
The silence stretched for minutes, as neither of the two males said a word, one processing the new information, and the other not wanting to trigger a reaction. Phil was terrified of making the wrong move - Alan’s whole world just turned upside down.
Finally, the silence was broken by Alan, as he uttered a silent “Why should I believe you?”. Phil finally glanced at his son, heart breaking as he noticed the expression full hurt and dejection. The question shot through the room like a bullet, dangerous and volatile. Alan’s facade was broken - the kid looked close to tears, wanting to hope more than anything but scared to hope again. Phil frowned: his fourteen-year-old son should not have been put through so much - he was just a kid.
“How… how do I know you’re not just saying this to lure me into SHIELD? I mean… I know I am good at combat, I am smart, I would be a valuable asset, but that… that does not give you the right to… to lie to me like that.” Alan avoided Phil’s eyes as he talked, voice becoming angrier with every second, the strain in his voice more and more noticeable.
“I know how this sounds, and I know that you might have trouble believing this, but it is true. We can take a DNA test again, and even though you won’t understand it,” raising an eyebrow at Alan’s scoff, Phil continued, “which is okay, you’re only fourteen, you haven’t even gone to school yet, and we will fix that soon.”
Alan’s look of hopefulness quickly turned to that of disgust, understandably so. He may have been fourteen, but HYDRA made sure to teach him enough to pass as a doctor - that was one of his undercover missions in Russia. The serum they gave him did not only enhance his physical abilities, but his memory as well. He was smart, and he was a better agent than any other SHIELD specialist, he was damn sure of that, and he wouldn’t stand around while he was talked down to - he was a kid by age but certainly not by mind.
"You'd be surprised with how much I actually know, Coulson." The teen sneered, glaring at the older man. "I want to see the DNA test, and I want to know what will happen next. You owe me that much."
Phil took a deep breath, calming himself down. He did not enjoy being talked to like that (and neither did his kids, seeing the teen disrespect their father angered them as they continued watching the whole ordeal) but Phil knew that it was not the right moment to reprimand the kid. He had to keep his temper and mouth in check. “We will conduct the DNA test again. After that, I can show you the tower, you can meet the rest of the family and once we go over the rules-” The director was cut off by the now furious teen.
“Rules?” The teen almost growled at the word, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms. “You really think you’re going to make me follow some rules like “clean your bed” or “be nice” like I am just another teenager?!”
Phil levelled his youngest with a glare of his own, interrupting the rant. “I think that you will find followign the rules to be the best course of action, if you want to enjoy your time here. I am no longer going to stand by and let you disrespect me-”
And Alan exploded. “THIRTEEN years.” The teen was red in the face, fists clenched. “I was alone for thirteen years, so no, you do not get to stroll in and act like my father and order me around when you GAVE UP on me, and you were not there for the last decade.” Taking a deep breath to calm himself down and cursing loudly when that did not work, the teen clenched his teeth, continuing. “I was alone and you were not there. I don’t blame you for the kidnapping, HYDRA is good, it happened and their methods shaped me into the person that I am today. However, I was still alone. You, dear father, were never there. You were not there to support me or comfort me after a particularly hard beating. You were not there when I was threatened for not solving a problem. You were not there to patch me up after getting shot during missions, and not there to help me with an extraction plan when HYDRA did not have one. You haven’t been there for me, so you DO NOT get to just come into my life, tell me that you are the sperm donor, because, tough truth, that is all you are to me at the moment. You do not get to try and control my life - and if you want to send me away, then so be it. BUT YOU DO NOT GET TO ACT LIKE MY FATHER, YOU HEAR ME?” The young boy yelled at his father, tears visible in his eyes, threatening to spill any second now. There was so much pain in his voice, but the worst part was that Phil knew his son was right. Meanwhile, the teen stood up, kicking his chair over and walked away from the table.
Phil remained frozen in shock, staring at the table in front of him intently, keeping his head down. The kid had a point - why would he have the right to stroll in and control him when Phil was not there when Alan needed him the most? Phil gave up, and Alan had to suffer. A loud crack resounded in the room, sounding more like a gunshot than the sound of Alan’s knuckle against the titanium enforced walls. The older man looked up immediately and glanced at his youngest, feeling his heart rate speed up and chest tighten. Clint and Nat rushed to the holding room, not coming in but ready to do so if Alan’s physical violence turned towards their father.
Speaking of the teen, he was breathing heavily, with his back to his father, his head and left hand against the wall, the knuckles on the right hand bleeding, looking like they were severely bruised if not broken. Alan did not seem to notice the state of his right hand, instead intending to focus on calming himself down from the sudden outburst that Phil had coming for the past thirteen years.
Phil took a step, moving to approach his son, but the teen heard him, turning around rapidly and taking a defensive stance, the unspoken “Don’t” floating in the air. Alan’s face was tear-streaked and red, but, despite that, his eyes looked quite threatening and he looked every bit the assassin he was, not caring about the pain radiating from his right hand and the blood dripping on the floor, forming a small red pool. Phil eyed the wound in concern - he could not help but worry. Clint and Natasha, on the other side of the door, tensed, sensing that Alan could lose it and attack their father any moment now.
Alan did lose it, but in a completely different way. After a minute of silence, the teen put his arms down, wordlessly picked up the chair that he had previously knocked over and sat in it, hiding his face in his hand, shoulders trembling as his body shook with quiet sobs. Phil knew better than to touch his son, but he did not know what else he could do to help the kid, so he simply turned around in an attempt to give the younger man as much privacy as he possibly could without leaving the room - he could not abandon his son after the way their “talk” went.
To Alan’s credit, it took him all of two minutes to recompose himself, as he finally took another deep breath, steadying himself. He stood up, turning to look at his father, crossing his arms over his chest in a determined manner. “I want to know what happens next.”
Trying again, Phil looked at his son, maintaining eye contact. “First, we head down to the lab and conduct the DNA test again, if you’re sure that it will make sense to you. I can then show you to your room, and you can meet the rest of my children, if you want to. And you, unfortunately, can’t stay here without supervision because-”
“I am a HYDRA assassin and you have to make sure I don’t kill all of you in your sleep.” The teen finished for his father, rolling his eyes and smirking - the fact that the smirk seemed unsure this time did not go unnoticed.
Phil sighed for what felt like the millionth time, “An ex-HYDRA assassin, but yes, you are not wrong. As soon as you are ready, we can go down to the lab.”
Alan let out a dry laugh, unconsciously changing his pose to stand “at ease”. Nodding at his father, he showed that he was indeed ready. Phil then signalled at the camera, opening the door as he heard it unlock. As they headed towards the lab, the director tried to make some small talk. Phil consciously avoided mentioning anything about rules, figuring that the time for regulations and guidelines would come a little later.
Spoiler alert: it didn't.