60

You’re pretty sure you’re dreaming (or hallucinating or something; can dusty countryside produce mirages?) when you spot the payphone box stuck up on a weather-beaten wooden post by the side of the road. You haven’t seen a house or a car since you started walking, and there’s nothing anywhere around, so why the hell is there a phone here?

It’s real, though, and when you dial the special S.H.I.E.L.D. collect code for emergency pick-up, it’s Coulson who answers. The relief in his voice is audible even over the crackling line, and that strikes you as just a little unusual, because this is Coulson and his façade never cracks.

He puts in an emergency transport order to the location he traces from the phone line, then reassures you that the rest of the team are fine (Tony’s a little banged-up, but he’ll recover), and that everyone is back at headquarters gearing up for a rescue mission that is now unnecessary.

You can’t help but grin. “Sorry to disappoint.”