***Author's Note*** Happy Thanksgiving from the U.S to all my wonderful readers! It's because of you guys that I continue writing and I sincerely hope you all had an amazing holiday! If you've read this far, I can't express my gratitude to each and every one of you for following the "Crypt Keeper" series! You guys are the best!

As always, I'll do my best to update often and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you might have! (But no spoilers, I promise!)

Thank you so much, yours always,

TheRabidRabbit

Director Fury rushes to the scene, marching with a small army of paramedics flanking at his sides to provide aid for any remaining survivors. As the Agents are inspecting the hallways for any injured persons, he stumbles upon the two bodies left in a room meant to control the worst of outcomes they could foresee; two of his best agents were lying there, one sprawled on the floor with a veil of long black hair covering her face, and the other, an old friend, resting his bloodied body against a wall, his breathing escaping him faint and gentle. Fury makes a movement to try and stir the woman, to see if she was still conscious, but a croak escaped the crackled lips of his fallen comrade, pleading with him to leave her be.

"No, don't… she doesn't need to see this…" The words came out in a several deep gasps, the sheer effort Coulson was putting into speaking causing several beads of sweat to break out of his pores and begin to trickle down his forehead. His eyes are open, but there was no longer the familiar glimmer of life in the depths of his dark brown eyes, the spark he used to have in them had been smothered out by the heavy cloak of death that hung over his bent shoulders. Fury could scarcely believe what he was seeing was real, that this poor broken creature was actually his senior officer.

"It's alright, I won't, I promise." The Director coaxed, slowly moving away from Diana. He couldn't risk stressing Coulson any further; he could see that from the extent of his wound that the Agent was already too far gone to be saved. The blood that had stemmed from the large hole in his breast had already soaked into his clothes and painted the metal wall behind him, at this rate he wouldn't be with them for much longer. Coulson begins to shutter as he speaks once more, he's so cold to the touch now, and the pallor in his cheeks revealed such a stark contrast to the ruby-red fluid that stained the corner of his mouth.

"I—I want her to know… that I don't want her… to get revenge. It'll—it'll only destroy her." The image of Diana being possessed by her blind rage triggers a stress reaction that makes Coulson begin to faint, but the Director's hands are there to catch him and keep him upright, there to keep him from falling apart. Even on his forearm, Director Fury and feel the thick, metallic liquid begin to solidify into the sleeves of his suit, but he doesn't let his grip slacken, he engages the Agent with conversation, trying to keep him grounded for as long as he can. Part of him is terrified of what could possibly be going through his mind. Was he angry? Would he curse him for driving him to his death? Did he hate him for letting their situation get so far out of hand?

"I'm sorry, boss. The god rabbited." Coulson breathed, limply moving his head side to side to try and shake the confusion that was swimming around in his head. Nick Fury was stunned; was he actually apologizing to him? "Diana… s-she lost the scepter… It's because of me, it isn't her fault…" Fury can see the final darkness begin to cloud over Coulson's eyes, so he holds onto him just a little tighter, gently nudging his arms to try and stir a reaction from him, to keep him focused as long as he can.

"Just stay awake," The Director says gently, but Coulson was already starting to leave his body, the stiffness in his muscles starting to loosen inch by inch, "eyes on me." He urges, putting his hand to Coulson's face, forcing him to look at him. He looks so tired now, the lids of his eyes were half-closed, and a lazy smile came to the Agent's face when he saw how serious his boss's face was. All he needed to do was shut his eyes…

"No, I'm clocking out here…" He murmured; the urge to sleep overpowering all other thoughts.

"Not an option." Fury gives the order, but there was no force behind it. There was nothing he could do to keep Coulson tied to the earth any longer. His death was finally upon him, and all he could do was give him the decency to hear his last words and see to it that he gave him a proper funeral.

"It's okay, boss. This was never gonna work… if they didn't have something… to…" He never finished, his chest doesn't rise back up for him to take another shallow breath; Coulson was gone. The Director lets a deep sigh escape from his lips, lines of despair coming upon his brow as he said a silent, final farewell to his old friend, lifting his hand to allow the paramedics to document his passing. He can hear Agent Crypt begin to stir to his left; she was finally starting to wake up.

"Please," He tells the Agents behind him, who look up from their paperwork to gape at him like does in headlights. "Could you take him to another room? She's not gonna want to see this." They immediately mumble their compliances and two of them grab Coulson's legs, and another latches on to his torso, delicately carrying his body somewhere out of sight. Director Fury can't help but feel the heavy weight of guilt bear down on his shoulders, but he had to respect Coulson's final wishes. He didn't want Agent Crypt to see him like that.

The woman's movements become more cognitive, and Fury kneels besides her, carefully placing his hand under her arm to help her sit upright. She's wincing all the while, hissing at the throbbing in her belly and the soreness of her head. When she regains her senses, her sounds of pain are silenced; her storm colored eyes boring deeply into his lonely brown iris, darkening to the color of ominous rainclouds. She tightly purses her lips into a thin line; turning her head to the red spot on the wall that marked where Coulson had been sitting just moments before. He can see her putting two and two together in her head, Fury knows Diana isn't a fool; the sharpness of her glare could split a man in two, her silent rage festering behind such beautifully colored eyes.

"What happened to him?" She asks simply, her words dripping with the poison of malice.

"Try not to talk, you're injured." Fury soothes, hoping his tones are soft enough to not anger her further. Diana grinds her jaws together hard enough to crack marble, but she doesn't say anything to press the matter. She rises to her feet and stands alone, looking down at the Director when she asks her next difficult question.

"Loki, where's Loki?" Another long sigh comes from the aged man, and he uses bent his knee to prop himself back up slowly to break the news to the Diana to her face. She didn't want him to try and avoid her question again with more concerns about her safety.

"He escaped." The Director answered bluntly, straightening his spine to prepare himself for her impending verbal assault. She was making him uneasy with her silence, it had to be the calm before the storm; she had always been the Agent that spoke her mind, never keeping her thoughts or opinions hidden from anyone. It was such an irony that she had been a mind-reader, since no one ever had to wonder what was going on in her head at any given moment. But the fantastic release of her rage never came: Diana Crypt hadn't spoken a word in rebuttal, never screamed or exploded in the Director's face the countless other times he had seen her do to previous supervisors.

"I'm sorry—" He began weakly, but Diana struck down the meager words with a sharp dismissal of her hand.

"Don't," she cut in, her eyes moistening with tears. He never had to say a word, she already knew the news that was coming, even without ever having to read Fury's mind, Diana knew what he was going to say next and she had to stop it from reaching her ears. She didn't want to make it real. She shakes her head and turns her back on him, ripping her headpiece from her ear and marching out of the room, letting her tears fall behind the black veil of her hair. Nick Fury waits until Diana is out of earshot to announce the news to the rest of the Agents and the Avengers, but it doesn't make the burden on his shoulders any easier for him to carry.

"Agent Coulson is down," Nick Fury reports sadly, feeling as if he had been aged ten years in a matter of seconds, the next words he says leaving a bitter taste in his mouth as he confirms Diana's worst possible fear. "They called it."