The silence stretched thin over the room and everyone in it. Eden had become so flustered and anxious she could no longer eat, and instead twiddled a popper between her hands.
“I know that this is probably hard for you,” Coulson said. “And I don’t like asking you the same questions, but we need answers. We can’t fix something we don’t know about, and you are the only information source we have that has the capability of giving straight answers if she wants to. And we are willing do to anything in our power to help you.”
Denny’s eyes lowered as Coulson spoke. She picked apart the popper in her hands and freed the jalapeño from its fried crust. She slowly licked the cream cheese off her fingers and nibbled the edge of the pepper, letting the tangy heat of the juice numb her lips and tongue. What could she say? What was she willing to say? She really knew nothing that she could tell them even if she was willing to educate them on Shades and her power. The flame was neither magic nor telepathy and yet at the same time it was both. It was a psionic weapon created by a peoples she knew little about to fight a breed of darkness that kept evolving. Even if there was a way to train the flame, the Shades would surely grow stronger faster and her efforts would be for naught. She chose to keep this pessimism to herself.
“Your organization and your people were gathered to help this world, but this isn’t something you all can help with. Even if I told you everything I know, even if I knew everything there was to know about Shades and what they are scheming, it wouldn’t do you any good.”
Coulson looked disappointed in the answer.
“At least we know more about them, the Shades, now than we did before her arrival,” Bruce said quickly. “Surely if we examine what we know we can find a temporary solution.”
“And what do we know?” Tony asked rhetorically. “Shades can’t be seen, though they seem to work in conjunction to equally invisible energy bursts. They can possess people and animals of sub-human intelligence. And the longer they stay attached to a host, the deader that host becomes.”
“If we,” Clint looked at Denny apologetically, “imagine that we don’t have your help in this, do you have any suggestions as to how we could at least track these things?”
“Lilac,” Eden said. “They reek of lilac. Not like a light, perfume-y smell, but a sickening and oppressive lilac smell. They’ll eat a lot of meat. Uncooked meat. I think the idea is that the host is decaying, so we’ll eat protein out the wazoo and hope for the best. I don’t know that that actually works, I suspect it doesn’t. I can’t explain the uncooked part either, except that maybe their is an innate fear of flame and heat. And the eyes will look different. Empty. Listless.
“They spread like a disease,” Eden added, looking around the room. “If you found even one in one area, there will be others. Some of them, it seems, are going to be better at keeping host than others. Even if the human host dies, the Shade is still there. It will just go to a new body. In theory a medium of some kind could see where the Shades are, but psychics are more prone to possession.”
“Could magic of any kind keep them in one area?” Thor asked. Eden shrugged.
“I don’t know enough about magic to say.”
“What about spiritual cleansing methods like smudging,” Natasha asked. “Would they have any affect on a Shade?”
“No. Shades have learned to mimic the spiritual power of lilac, hense their smell. They learned that if they copy the power that the lilac bush has, it cancels other spiritual cleansing and exorcisms.”
“How do they mimic a plant?” Bruce asked.
“Everything has a certain energy to it,” Eden explained. “Particularly natural things like plants and rocks, which are used by trained individuals to balance and disperse negative and invasive energies. Shades, being spiritual entities and creatures with bodies made of energy, can sap the energy of something else and absorb it into themselves. Lilac has a high spiritual vibration, but it has been notoriously harder for humans to replicate the fragrance of lilac or condense it into the form of, say, an oil. That made it the perfect plant for Shades to use, because they had never been expelled with it before.”
Bruce nodded as if it made perfect sense to him, but looked to Tony for verification. Tony only offered him a shrug.
“You mentioned fear of fire,” Coulson said. “Would we be able to use that against them? How well would that work in keeping them at bay?”
Eden shook her head. “It may work very well for a short time, but Shades are obstinate and bold. It won’t trick them for long. The only lasting fear they have is against the gold flame, whatever it really is.”
“There has to be a way to replicate it,” Tony said. “If you could make this flame, then maybe we could…”
Eden shook her head.
“I hate to be difficult, but that would be a horrible idea.”
“And why’s that?” Tony asked impetuously.
“Science could very well make a copy of the flame, but controlling it, and controlling who uses it, would be difficult. The Shades themselves could very well get there hands on it and weaponize it against themselves,” Eden said, as though it were obvious. “I mean, think about Sentinels.”
“Or Ultron,” Clint added. Tony prickled.
“This is entirely different,” he said in his defense.
“It isn’t,” Eden argued. “You’re trying to find a fast solution to a deep-rooted problem. I’m not saying fast wouldn’t be better. And I know more than any of you how dangerous Shades are, and how much they need not to be here. But if the Shades aren’t excised right, it will cause more problems, and nothing will be able to save you.”
“Well then, Miss I-have-a-problem-for-every-answer, what do you think we should do?”
“Take a deep breath and relax,” Eden said. “It isn’t what you want to hear, but you’re going to have to trust me. It’s something I learned in the Dreamscape and it applies very well here in the waking world. Relax. Do what you can, but don’t stress yourself. Things will either resolve themselves or not. I will train and get as far as I can, and that’s what I can do to help. But you are all going to have to accept that if things go wrong, you all may die. And that’s just how it’s going to be.”
“That sounds like the dumbest answer,” Tony said. “You’re basically telling us to accept losing now, before we’ve even done anything.”
“No, I’m telling you to do what you can, but if you fail, know that you did all you could. There is no point in stressing over something that you can’t change. I’m trying to give you long-term advice while you focus on the immediate issue,” Eden reiterated. “Humans seem to become fixed on preserving themselves infintely, when that isn’t how the universe functions. Everything cycles back on itself, circling in and out of existence. If this is to be your downward cycle, go out with a bang.”
“We can’t let this world fall to ruin,” Thor said.
“I’m not saying to do that,” Eden huffed. “I’m saying, do what you fucking can! And don’t worry!”
She pointed to Tony and Bruce.
“Do your science! If you figure something out, great! I’m not letting you copy the flame!”
She pointed to the assassins and Coulson.
“Disband SOMU! Cleanse those agents! They will be a massive problem in the future!”
She gestured to Thor. “Do whatever the hell gods do. Smash stuff. Use thunder powers. I don’t care. But all of you need to not worry. Because that is just going to set you back and make you do stupid shit. Kapish?”
“And how are you going to train your…whatever?” Bruce asked her.
“I’m thinking about it, okay? That is my problem. Let me worry about me, and you worry about you,” Eden said calmly. “How about we all work on that for now? If we don’t get anywhere before the next incident, God forbid there be one, then we can reassess what should or should not be worried about.”
They couldn’t think of any better argument. It seemed to suffice for now, and Eden was more than happy to be taken back to SHIELD Headquarters. Eden had dinner with both Clint and Natasha, and was escorted to a small room that was something like a luxury prison cell.
Eden sat cross-legged on the cot, her hands up in the air before her. It looked like she was holding an invisible ball. She focused on her breathing, and concentrated hard to summon the flame, and keep it glowing. It was pitifully weak, and she knew it. She was getting no better at it! She tried to tell herself that at least she was getting no worse, but that was little comfort. She understood the Avengers’ fear. There world was in danger, and they had no way to defend themselves or the ones they loved. Eden couldn’t blame them for being angry with her. Even she was upset with her lack of ability. Several minutes later Eden realized she was not seeing the minuscule flame between her hands at all. Her mind was elsewhere. She dropped her hands and slouched in defeat. There was a knock at the door and she snapped to attention.
Coulson invited himself in. Eden couldn’t bring herself to greet him. She knew what he was here for.
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you what you want to hear,” she said.
“You’re sure there is nothing that you can tell us, nothing we can help with?” he asked again. She shook her head.
“Nothing, except to get that team of scientists out of the Shades’ business,” she said, her frown deep. “There is something very not right about them, Phil. I can’t emphasize that enough.”
“We’ll look into it,” Coulson assured her with a kind smile. “Goodnight, Denny.”
She slid her legs under the blankets and scooted forward so she wouldn’t hit her head on the wall as she lay back. Before she rested her head, though, Eden paused.
“You know you’re the reason I’m back, right?” she said to him as he turned to leave. She lowered her head against the pillow, and stared at the ceiling. “I saw you in a dream. You were surrounded by people in a courtroom. I was in the jury. And as I watched, you became possessed by a Shade. I had the power to help you. I had to help. It wasn’t even a question in my mind at the time. But it was so easy in the dream, and now that I’ve been awake for the first time in years, I feel…almost helpless. Vulnerable. I can’t function here like I can in the Dreamscape.”
“Would you have helped if it weren’t me?” Coulson asked. Denny shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Well,” Coulson smiled, albeit somewhat forced. “I am glad that you’re back, Denny.”
Even if you are making my job more difficult. He didn’t say it, but Eden could feel the thought crossing his mind.
“I’m sorry,” Denny said quietly.

“Nothing?” Natasha asked when Coulson came back.

“We’re just going to have to turn her over to Weston and hope she gets her act together.”

Notes