Shades

Coulson discovered a treasure trove of newspaper clippings and copied files on Eden’s disappearance/death. They were in a milk box at the foot of Denny’s bed, guarded by a stuffed bunny and a hand-made rag doll with button eyes. Coulson faintly remembered that doll; Denny had made it herself. She called it Emi…or Amy…Amie. That was it. He remembered a feeling of surprise when she explained to him that it was the French word for friend. Denny explained with a precious little smile and proud posture, “I learned it myself.” Denny was always searching for something new to learn. Her curiosity knew no bounds and her imagination was infinite. As he placed the toys on the ground, Coulson wondered if he’d have ever gotten the chance to recruit Denny for SHIELD.
He read over the first article on the stack.

“Thursday evening police responded to a missing child report at the Owl River Lodge. Eden Marie Turner, age 6, disappeared the previous night after her parents put her to bed. National Park Rangers were also called in to help search surrounding forested areas. Eden’s parents and other family members searched the premises alone beginning early Thursday morning, when it was discovered the girl was no longer in her room. Cadaver dogs were additionally called on the scene when the lodge owner, David Gorman, insisted he be arrested, claiming ‘I did something I shouldn’t have’. Gorman wouldn’t say anything else. The girl’s parents, Ezekiel and Sophia Turner, remain hopeful there daughter is alive and alright and ask that anyone with further information please come forward.”

Gorman. Coulson guessed he had some relation to Ronne Gorman, and several articles into the stash he discovered that Ronne was David’s son. Coulson made a mental note to look further into the Gorman family.
He went back to the first article, and looked closer at the picture the newspaper used for Eden. It was probably a school picture, as Eden’s short and usually wild hair was straight and held away from her face with decorative plastic hairclips. Her face was crinkled with a genuine smile where the photographer caught her in the middle of a laugh.
Coulson had a sudden flash of remembrance, not of a specific memory but an impression of several, where Denny was running barefoot in the grass, prancing and preforming awkward acrobatics, a sunny smile on her face and leaves in her hair. Coulson couldn’t help but smile. Denny had been the picture of childish innocence. She’d kick off her shoes and preform miniature ballets for her family, humming her own accompaniment. She loved to dance— that’s why Coulson had given her the ballerina charm. Well, part of the reason. He had really given it in hopes that Denny would remember to keep her dreams. He remembered something that Sophia had said to him about Denny’s dance teacher telling her she didn’t have the body of a dancer. Denny felt so dejected and hopeless. “Never give up, because you never know where you can go if you don’t keep walking,” he had said.
Coulson sat back. He stared absently at his reflection in the dusty mirror hanging on the closet door. The more he delved into this investigation the more he remembered things he hadn’t thought about in a very long time. Or maybe he had. After learning what measures had been taken to revive him after New York, Coulson was unsure of the amount of trust he could give his memories. But these, these memories seemed very real. He was sure that no doctor, employed by SHIELD or no, could fabricate these things he was remembering.
He looked over and picked up the stuffed bunny. Turning it in his hands he discovered a cog on the back and wound it as far as it would go. A staccato tune rang out of the toy’s chest, and it took a few rounds for Coulson to identify the song. “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” continued to sound in the tomb-like silence of the room and Coulson decided to go through a few more of the box’s contents before he took it with him. He rifled through some of the pictures, and then the files, all of which said the same thing. No body found. No leads. And in the end Gorman was convicted of kidnapping and child endangerment but the sentence was reduced due to his apparent insanity and was institutionalized, only to be found dead three days later of unconfirmed causes.
The music slowed into a poignant silence. Coulson sighed and piled everything together again. It was just so strange, all of it. How could so many unconfirmed cases go unnoticed, or unattended, for so many years? Whether Denny was alive or not, Coulson felt obligated to find answers.
At the last moment Coulson decided to take the bunny and Amie with him.

Coulson had just crossed the threshold of his office when Clint arrived and leaned on the doorframe.
“Back so soon?” he asked.
Coulson dropped the milk box on his desk and looked to the windows, then to Clint.
“Why have we never looked into Ronne Gorman’s family?” he questioned.
“We did,” Clint frowned. “He was passed around between foster homes from the time he was eight and had a heavy criminal record.”
“But we never looked at his biological family,” Coulson sighed, gesturing to the box. “Ronne’s father was the man who admitted to Denny’s disappearance. He also met an unexplainable end. That’s three unusual, unnatural, and uncertain cases.”
“Three?”
“There is a connection between Denny, Ronne, and his father. If I can find out what that is then I’m hoping the pieces will all fall into place from there,” Coulson mused aloud.
“You’ll do that from here though, right?” Clint posed.
“At this point I have enough information to go off of what intel SHIELD has, yes.”
“Good.” Clint pushed himself off the door. “Because Stark has been calling Fury off the hook wanting to know when he can get rid of Loki, and Fury wants to talk to you.”
“In regards to Stark or the Gorman case?”
“He didn’t say,” Clint shrugged. Coulson’s mouth formed a hard line. He moved the box underneath his desk and straightened his tie.
“Hopefully just the Gorman case. I have a feeling that Stark is not going like what SHIELD has to tell him in regards to Loki, and I am not looking forward to delivering the news,” Coulson admitted.
“I can’t believe the Council agreed to that,” Clint muttered as he followed Coulson down the hall.
“I don’t think they did.” Coulson swiped his card to open the pristine glass doors that lead to the crowded common area. “Chances are Fury is doing it against their wishes, but even then I don’t think he wants to.”
“You think Thor bullied him into it?” Clint pried.

Notes