Consanguine

Alistair Fitz took a deep pull on his pint enjoying that first taste and the afternoon spilling through the window, the pub was mostly empty with only a few regulars steadily making their way through their pints. It didn’t bother him that he was in the pub far too early some of his best work had been started in pubs and while this place wasn’t the best pub in Glasgow its beer was good, it was quite and he hadn’t been banned from it yet. He leaned back against the faded fabric of his regular booth and let himself relax.

He was gazing out of the window lost in thoughts of his work when someone coughed politely disturbing his thoughts. Anger bubbled up inside him, people really should know that they shouldn’t disturb his genius and he turned to send these people away with a flea in their ear. The sharp words on the tip of his tongue died when he saw the motley crew of three looking at him.

He took his time to look them over and assess them.

 The leader was an older man with a pleasant expression on his face, even so he could tell this was not a man you could intimidate easily and there was something in his stare said that said however bad you think you are I guarantee I have seen worse. A taller younger man with his arm is a sling leaned against the bar, looking around the bar with intense interest. Finally standing behind the leader with his hands in his pockets and shoulders around his ear was his son Leopold. Leopold was still short and slight, still refused to meet his eyes and look anywhere but at the ground, like a coward. To his disgust Leo sported that appalling stubble young people are so fond of these days which made him look untidy and unprofessional at lest he was wearing a shirt and acceptable trousers.

The boss cleared his throat again “Mr Fitz I presume?” Wonderful he was an American

“Doctor” You have to remind these people who they were speaking to.

“Doctor Fitz, My name is Phil Coulson I am the director of SHIELD, I’m sure you remember your son Agent Fitz and” He glance around temporarily confused at where the young one had gone and gestured with over at sling boy “and that is Deke Shaw”

 Now there was something you didn’t hear every day, if SHIELD were approaching him then clearly it was a task worth of his genius. He gestured at Coulson to sit down opposite side of the booth. Leo didn’t move and stood staring holes into the wooden flood of the bar and the other guy who was examining a slot machine with concentrated interest.

He was clearly eavesdropping.

Coulson sat comfortable down on the bench, ignoring the tensions growing between himself and Leo and briefly examined the drinks menu. He put it aside after a minute and tented his fingers. “Dr Fitz, your former college Holden Radcliffe’s research has told us that you are a leader in the field of robotics and have experience calibrating mechanics to work under high pressure and at high speed.”

It was a long time since he had heard from Radcliffe, way back when Leo was small. The man was brilliant but a little to obsessed with augmenting himself with technology and immortality. Leo had twitched at the mention of Radcliffe like he was trying not to think of something unpleasant.

“What happened to Radcliffe?”

A slight shadow fell across Coulson face “Mr Radcliffe is no longer with us” The only person more skilled at robotics was gone, now he was truly a leader in his field.

He nodded and let a cold satisfied smile spread across his face while Coulson continued “Dr Fitz we have a project for you to undertake” Coulson spread several blueprints across the table, they were beautifully designed prosthetics of two arms but closer inspection of the blueprints made him realise that these were designed to move and respond at phenomenal speed.

He jerked his thumb at Leo “Why can’t he do it?” His boy the one his ex wife used to say so proudly was oh so clever was incapable of creating these robotics. That made him feel smug.

She was wrong the boy wasn’t as smart as she’d thought he was.

Coulson smiled pleasantly “Agent Fitz has done brilliant work on robotic prosthetics in the past” he took off his hand and allowed him to examine it. The work was exemplary and barely indistinguishable from a real limb and reattached easily when Coulson reattached it.

Maybe Leo wasn’t as worthless and he had thought.

Coulson continued “However he is working on several highly important project of his own at the moment, I can’t spare him for this. These arms are for a agent of mine who has suffered a severe injury on behalf of SHIELD and I want her to have suitable replacement as the current version of these prosthetics are currently not suitable”

Looking at the speed these limbs had to go he’d hazard a guess that the agent in question was an inhuman.

It was too interesting work not of him to try to complete.

Also his bank draft was very low and he was very behind on his bills the bailiffs were closing in “But nothing in this world is free Mr Coulson”

Coulson leaned back with his arms crossed “What do you want?” That is what he liked.

“I want my twice usual rate of consulting I use for major companies” SHIELD could afford it, which was proved when Coulson nodded calmly as if it was a given. “I’ll need some specialised equipment that the lab I work at doesn’t have”

Again Coulson nodded calmly “SHIELD will arrange the equipment you need”

He turned to look at Leo properly for the first time, who was clearly trying to ignore everything he said. “And I want an hour with my son”

Shocked Leo looked at him properly for the first time.

Coulson looked almost as surprised as Leo did. “Why? You haven’t seen each other in over twenty years.”

He slammed his hands down on the table making his empty pint glass jump, Leo had exceeded his expectations and he wanted to know more about what his son had done To know what his son’s hands have had, what his son’s mind had created. “That is precisely why I want to spend some time with MY son! Agent Coulson and he is my son Agent Coulson I am entitled to know more about him. An hour or I suggest that you find someone else to make your designs for you.”

An intense debate raged on Coulson’s face until Leo stepped forward “S-sir Its Ok” The boy was still a stuttered.

An almost fatherly expression came over the older agents face “are you sure because…”

Leo squared his shoulders “With respect Sir, I’ve survived worse” They shared an odd smile like they were making a joke and Coulson slid out of the booth and squeezed the younger mans shoulder. There was a sudden loud swearing from across the bar, the young man had knocked over a regulars drink in his enthusiasm about the slot machine and was hurriedly backing away from him and the regular advanced with a murderous expression on his face.

“You better get Deke out of here, before they kill him.” Deke had grabbed a pool cue and looked ready to use it one handed

Coulson grinned “I’ll show him Buchannan Street, he’ll like that” with that he dragged the young man out the door still wielding his pool cue like a staff.

“Don’t get him a fired mars bar you’ll both get arrested” Leo called after them.

As Leo slid into the booth, he signalled the barmaid for another round of pints. While she hurried to fill Leo’s order he took the opportunity to look at his son closely for the first time in just over twenty years. He remembered nine year old Leo sitting opposite him in a café fiddling with toy car parts completely ignoring him, it had been during one of the times he’d tried to make an effort with Leo to mould him into the man he needed to be to be a success. But Leo had only spoken to him when answering a question and glared at him with baleful eyes whenever he mentioned his mother.

Not much had changed in the twenty or so years since they’d sat together only this time the barmaid put two pints in front of them instead of a pint and a cola. He reached to take a pull of his pint while Leo stared into the amber depths of his pint as if it held the secrets of the universe at the bottom.

Silence ruled.

“So…” He broke the silence “How’s your Mum?”

Leo’s voice was low, matter a fact and bitter “Better now you’re not around.”

No matter how long it had been since he’d seen Leo, he still had the ability to get him to the end of his tether, “You will not speak to me that way Leo. I am still your father and”

“Fitz” Fitz interrupted him sharply “No one calls me Leo anymore” Fitz as if they were just workmates.

“Damn it Leo” He slapped his palm on the table to show he meant business “You will treat me with respect!”

Fitz had flinched when he had slammed the table but he glared back at him unflinchingly “Y-you walked out on us when I was t-ten, you left mum alone.” His lip curled up into a sneer “I don’t owe you anything!” He reached out and took a swig of his pint and he noticed that Fitz’s hands had a slight tremor to them.

Disgusted he shook his head at his son in disappointment even now as an adult Fitz couldn’t hide his fear. “I tried to make you a man Fitz” he stressed his sons chosen name mockingly “and ever now you can’t pull it together and be a man. You’re still showing weakness” he motioned to Leo’s shaking hand.

Fitz had his eyes fixed firmly on his pint “Hypoxia”

Nothing else Fitz could have said could have stopped him from completing his speech in expressing his disappointment in his son. “wha?”

He’d never been interrupted in one of his triads before and it complete through him

“Hypoxia” Fitz repeated and tapped his forehead “I got hurt when Hydra first crawled back out of the woodwork, I was without oxygen and it damaged part of my brain.” He glared at him “I have trouble remembering words sometimes and my hands shake because of it too.” He sipped his drink.

“It’s not because I’m afraid.”

Fighting Hydra eh? Maybe his son wasn’t such a coward after all.

They stewed in silence for ten minutes letting tempers and emotions settle. Though Fitz’s hands were empty of toy engines or wires they were in constant motion, his first thought was that Fitz was massaging his bad hand, but then he saw a gleam of silver-gold on the forth finger of Fitz’s right hand as he twisted and turned his wedding ring deep in thought.

So he had a daughter in law.

He flicked his finger at the ring “So you got married eh?”

For the first time since he’d sat down Fitz smiled slightly. “Yeah”

Getting information out of his kid was like pulling teeth.

“Jemma Simmons” and just like that his kids face transformed. It was like looking at a completely different person, like his world had just been lit up at the mere mention of her.

“I don’t get to meet her” He would only allow a truly remarkable woman to remain with his son.

Leo shrugged one shoulder “She wanted to come and support me, but I didn’t want her to meet you” he took another sip of his pint and sighed tiredly “plus she said that I needed to get to know Deke” What Deke had to do with this he had no idea.

“You got a picture of her?”

Leo sighed again, he hated sighing it was a sign of apathy and drew his phone from his pocket, he flicked it on and showed him a picture. This Jemma Simmons was a pretty young woman around the same age as his son with long brown hair and a classically attractive face, next to her was his son who was positively beaming and they stood with their arms around each other.

 Completely, deliriously happy to be in one another’s presence

He handed the phone back to his son “Your Mum didn’t tell me” He should have been present at his sons wedding, he was his father.

Fitz’s face turned surly again, clearly he didn’t like the idea of him being at his wedding “Mum doesn’t know.” He swallowed another sip of his beer “it was a recent thing”

“She pregnant?” That remark earned him another glare from Fitz but when he spoke again he sounded calm.

“Not yet” Fitz sounded very certain about that for some reason.

“Then why the hurry?” To Alistair Fitz you only married women you knocked up. That question earned him a disgusted look from his son.

Fitz twirled his ring around his finger observing the patterns of light glinting off it, he looked slightly sad “We just wanted to get married before something else terrible happened, before we got separated again.”

He took the chance to try to teach Leo how women should be treated “It doesn’t matter if you split up again Leo, There are plenty more fish…”

“Not to me” Fitz snapped at him, draining his pint and glancing at his watch.

 He had had enough with Leo’s disrespect of him. He pinned Leo with his gaze and was gratified to see Leo cringe back from him. He leaned forward invading Leo’s personal space.

“Your problem Boy, is that you care to much. It’s your Mother talking and her womanly weakness that prevents you reaching your potential”

“My Mother raised me to be a good man!” Leo snapped fiddling with his empty glass. He chose to ignored Leo and continued on to press his point.

“Don’t snap at me Boy, I could have raised you to be a great man “He bellowed “You’re an agent in a dying organisation, you’re not even a director of Sci-ops. You’re held back by how your mother raised you, by SHIELDs principles. If I’d raised you I’d have thrashed that out of you so you wouldn’t buckle to guilt or womanly sentiments. I’d have taught you to respect me and how to get respect. You didn’t get that strap cross your back and look where it’s gotten you! You could have been great, so much Wasted Potential!!!”

Something dark and dangerous flittered across Leo’s face a moment before Leo’s pint glass shattered on the wall behind him. He felt himself being grabbed by the collar and physically hauled out of the booth and pinned against the wall. He was taller than his son and heavier but his son held him still by the front of his shirt with only a little visible effort.

“It’s not a weakness” Leo snarled at him, hot breath brushing his cheek and for the first time in a while he felt afraid, he wasn’t lecturing to a frightened boy anymore nor to a lesser person but to a superior. And that intimidated him as much as that sudden change in Leo had.

Their tussle disturbed the regulars and the barmaid but Leo released him breathing heavily before anyone intervened or the police were called. He paced rapidly in a tight circle, running his hands through his short hair. Dimly while he was trying to regain his breath, he remembered Leo doing similar motions as a child to calm himself down from an angry outburst.

Fitz whirled around on him vibrating with rage. “I know what sort of person I’d be if you’d raised me” he shouted “I’ve been him, he’s a monster! He kills people in cold blood! he tortured inhumans in the name of scientific discovery! He nearly killed Jemma and the rest of friends and he wouldn’t care! He’s a ruthless sociopath that enjoys every minute of it!”

Fitz paced around like a tiger in a cage “I’m glad you left and Mum had to raised me by herself even though it was hard. Cos I got to meet Jemma, I got to meet my team! Cos otherwise I’d be a twisted sociopath, thinking I’m better than everyone else.”

The like you was unsaid but implied.

He was stunned leaning against the wall trying to regain his breath and realigning his world view that his boy believed he was better off without him. A few soft wheezing noises came out of his mouth as he tried to put Leo back in his place but not words came out.

Fitz slammed his open palm onto the table to get his attention “You will complete this work for Coulson” Leo was commanding each word precise and clear and all he could do was nod along it agreement “You will complete the project satisfactorily or I will make sure all of your funding disappears. Do I make myself clear?”  

“Perfectly”

“Good.” Fitz straightened his collar easing them back into faultless alignment. The dangerous look in Fitz’s blue eyes faded slowly away and he started to play with his ring again twisting it round his finger and rubbing the smooth platinum surface.

Alistair felt himself slide back into his seat and downed the second half of his pint while the barmaid, with a fearful glance at Leo swept up the shattered glass. It had been a long time since he had been physically and mentally cowed and to have it done to him by his own son was maddening like an old lion, being surpassed by a younger rival male. Briefly it occurred to him to wonder how Fitz knew what it would have been like to be raised from him.

 He didn’t want to know his son worked for SHIELD they ran into weird stuff on a daily basis. It did make him respect him slightly more now though. Fitz might deny it but in some ways he took after his old man.

The bar clock chimed the hour and Agent Coulson and the young man Deke burst back in to the pub and looked only mildly surprised it was still there. Agent Coulson strode over to them, surprisingly cheerful for a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“Are we in agreement Dr Fitz?”

He contemplated Leo for a moment and then Coulson. It would not be wise to double cross either of them. He stood wiped his hands on his slacks and they shook hand. “We are indeed Agent Coulson.”

Coulson nodded “We’ll send you everything you need”

Leo slid out of the booth and stood next to his boss, he didn’t look at him “I’ll see you Alistair.”

He very much doubted that he would. Leo wandered over to Deke and took a firm grip on Deke’s jacket, dragging him away from the slot machine that he had been fascinated with earlier. He couldn’t quite catch their muttered conversation, Deke appeared to be enthusiastically recounting his day and Leo had a resigned but fond look on his face.

Coulson dusted his hands on his trousers “We’ll be in touch Dr Fitz”

As unobtrusively as they had arrived they left, Leo only looked back at him once, his face was unreadable. He pulled one of the blue print back closer and signalled for another beer.

Time to get to work.