Chapter 36: SeedsNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
As luck would have it, or more like as my luck would have it, it didn't take long before we got our next assignment. Turned out we had to leave in a hurry and so Randolph ended up not coming with us, as we actually didn't even finish the overnight stay at that hotel.
I had the tablet with the details of the new mission at hand, as Fitz and Jemma made breakfast. "There is nothing more unsettling than being part of something so horrible, completely unaware" she shook her head as she sipped her tea. "The cadet could have died" she softly spoke, just voicing her thoughts.
Fitz placed a hand on her back. "We dropped those concepts years ago. We didn't know they'd be applied in that way" he tried to comfort her.
I stared down at my tablet once more, going over the information that agent Weaver sent us when she requested Jemma's and Fitz's presence in the Academy. "So…" I started and pointed at the photo of the device that instantly froze a whole swimming pool, trapping cadets inside. "Based on what we were briefed in, this device was planted in the filter days ago. It looks like someone was waiting for those specific cadets". As I read the information again I nodded to no one in particular. "And since it was composed of things you both designed we are called in to assist with the investigation"
"Precisely", Jemma said while Fitz nodded at the same time.
Now that I was more awake I noticed a detail that I had missed before. I looked up as I sensed May closing in and got to her as she was passing by. "It says here that it will just be me and FitsSimmons helping them out. What are the rest of you gonna do?" I asked as I walked with her towards the cockpit as she prepared to land the plane.
"After we drop you off, Coulson and I have other matters to attend to. And those include Ward" she said leaving too much space for interpretation.
I stopped her with a hand on her elbow. "What's going on?" I asked, not liking to be kept in the shadows.
She looked at me and then checked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear us. She leaned in and whispered in my ear. "You're not supposed to know, but because of what happened with Ward we need to head to HQ for a disciplinary action. This team might work outside of the system, red-tape-wise, but what happened had to be reported" she leaned back and looked at me. "You're the leader for this mission" she placed a hand on my shoulder and briefly squeezed before she disappeared behind the cockpit doors.
I stood there speechless for a good few seconds before I recomposed myself. Well… this mission was going to be more interesting than I first thought.
"God, I haven't been here since forever" I exclaimed as the three of us walked closer to the Academy.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Jemma said as she took a deep breath of the fresh air.
"It definitely does," I said, thinking back to those days. "It's weird if you think about it". Jemma turned to me with a look that said 'What is?'. "You know, how cadets from different Academies aren't supposed to interact, apart from Communications, and yet we lived together. You visited Operations and I visited SciTech"
She seemed to consider that and why that happened. "Probably had to do with you being 15 when you first came here" she concluded, a cute wrinkle between her eyebrows as she thought hard on it. I buried the urge to flick her on that spot as I saw agent Weaver close in and I nodded my head towards her to let the others know as well.
"There they are. It's so good to see you both" Weaver said as she shook hands with both of them, a genuine smile on her face.
"You are as lovely as ever" Jemma, ever the charmer said back and Fitz concurred.
"Thank you," she said and then turned to me with an extended hand which was my turn to shake. "Agent Skye, a pleasure to have you, ma'am". As I touched her I memorised her vibrational imprint to have for later use if I ever need it.
"Pleasure to be here," I said back with an easy smile on my face. "I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances. I heard there is a list of suspects?" I said, not really wanting to get off the track.
She pursed her lips and stood a bit straighter. "Based on the level of intelligence that it'd take to put a device like the one we've found together, we've narrowed it down to the top 10% of our cadets. I'm worried there is a bad seed"
I expected as much. "I know you already questioned the victim… Seth Dormer, was it?" I waited for her to nod. "Would you mind if I had a chat with him after FitzSimmons' talk?"
She looked a bit surprised by that. "I would have expected you to want to meet with him as soon as possible. The lecture should take a while"
I shook my head. "That would have been the ideal. However, I would like to be there for the lecture. Since the top 10% of your Academy will all be gathered in a room, I'd prefer to be present. While I am not sure anyone would attempt anything in such a restricted area, I'd like to get a 'feel', let's say, of the suspects" I explained. "It will help with the investigation later on"
That seemed a good enough reason to her and pointed towards the large building. "If that's the case, please follow me. I need to prepare these two for their lecture. I will make sure you speak with Seth after the lecture" she smiled and led the way.
I let the three of them walk a bit ahead of me and I stayed in the shadows a bit behind. I watched as students walked up to them, telling them what a great honour it is to meet them and just be happy that FitzSimmons visited. I always knew that they were the popular kids among SciTech cadets, but seeing them being greeted in such a way warmed my heart.
Suddenly a thought flashed through my head, as I remembered a particular place that the Academy had. I quickened my step and walked up to Weaver. "I just remembered, there is a place here I'd like to visit. Would you mind if I let you go ahead and meet you at the lecture hall? I know the way" I quietly told her so as to not attract attention from the surrounding students.
She smiled and nodded. "If you're certain you know the way. The lecture should begin in about half an hour. Shall I save you a seat or would you prefer a different arrangement?"
"That's okay. It will be just a while that I'll be gone. I'll find a seat on the back to keep an eye on things". I then thanked her and walked off.
It wasn't two minutes later when I found myself in front of the Wall of Valor. Names from S.S.R. and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had fallen marked the whole surface of the memorial. My eyes travelled to the date of the Battle and all the agents that died that day, many of whom I had killed. I let my fingers brush the names that I had memorised. My fingers lingered at the last name of the people who died that day.
'Phillip J. Coulson' it said.
I smiled sadly.
My eyes closed for a brief moment as I took a deep breath and let it out. I gave myself this one moment. And when I opened my eyes once more I walked away and didn't look back.
By the time I got to the lecture hall, the place was already almost fully packed. I found a nice seat in the back of the room, from where I could keep an eye on everyone. I eased down and watched as more people came in. I caught Jemma's eye, who was looking around. I waved a little bit at her and she smiled, her heart rate slowing a bit down now that she saw me.
As I sat back, I closed my eyes and focused. I let my powers travel through the ground and I slowly picked up people's vibrational signatures and heart rates. I didn't focus too much on everyone, but kept an eye out if anything spiked or seemed out of the ordinary. It would otherwise overwhelm me, to feel every single person's rate in a room as big as this one. So, with my eyes still closed, I relaxed further into my seat and waited for the lecture to start.
As Jemma and Fitz start talking, some hearts spiked and I then looked round to those people. They were, however, just very happy for the two scientists on the podium. Most of them eased back into a normal rate soon enough.
All of them but one.
Just as Jemma and Fitz were about to start the examples of technology falling into the wrong hands, this one person that I had focused on got up, looking alarmingly down. "What is this?! What's happening?" He started yelling and I immediately got up and made my way to him.
I saw as his lower body was already covered in ice and the cold layer was quickly making its way towards his head to completely take over.
"Stay back!" I yelled to the students around him and immediately felt the surrounding area for a device similar to the one that was found in the pool. By then, Jemma and Fitz had already joined us and Jemma was preparing a glucose shot in order to lower his body's natural freezing point.
My vibrations didn't have to travel far, as I picked up on the device that was under the seats a couple of rows away from the freezing guy. "I found the device!" I yelled at the two scientists.
"Smash the damn thing" Fitz yelled back as the ice had almost completely covered the cadet.
With no second thought, I stepped on it hard, destroying it. The ice instantly retracted from the guy as he fell towards the ground, while Fitz caught him and Jemma did the injection.
The other cadets that were surrounding us started clapping. I shook my head and looked over to where agent Weaver was. She noticed that I was moving her way and we met halfway. "I need everyone but the second victim out of here, to begin with. I'll have a talk with…"
"Donnie. Donnie Gill" she provided me with the name of the student who was just attacked. At the same time, she called up the buildings staff in order to secure the room.
"Donnie Gill?" I asked, the name was sounding familiar. "Wasn't he one of the people who were in the swimming pool when Seth Dormer was attacked?" With her affirmative, tight-lipped nod I took a deep breath in.
I looked back to where Jemma and Fitz were around Donnie, who was still shaking. A S.H.I.E.L.D. blanket was thrown around his shoulders. Absolutely no idea where this came from. The rest of the cadets had started to be shown out of the room and with the little more privacy that was provided, I moved closer to the trio of scientists. "Hey, Donnie" I gently said when I was close enough. "How are you feeling?"
His hands were rubbing his arms, as he was shaking slightly. "C-Cold" he stammered out.
My eyes travelled to Jemma who seemed to pick up on my silent question. "He just needs plenty of rest and to stay warm", she pointedly looked at me. Got it. I'll have to ask my questions later on.
I motioned to Weaver to come closer. "Just a question before you head back to your room. Can you think of anyone here who'd like to hurt you?"
"I don't know anyone" he answered. And while I tried to pick up his heart rate to see if he was lying or not, it was going abnormal fast as it was trying to send more blood to him limps and to warm him up.
As Weaver motioned to two other members of the staff to come and escort him back he turned to FitzSimmons. "I'm sorry I ruined your lecture. I was really looking forward to it" he tried to smile through the cold he felt.
"It's not your fault, Donnie," Jemma said softly with a sad smile on her face.
As soon as the cadet had left the four of us gathered around. "The device is being processed as we speak," Fitz said. "But if it's anything like the first one, no genetic material or fingerprints are going to be found on it"
"And I'm gonna guess the same will be with surveillance," I said to no one in particular. "I can try to bring something up but if the device was planted days ago and the system was down there isn't much that I'd be able to retrieve"
Jemma just shook her head with this whole situation. "Fresher pranks are a tradition. But these are something else" she was simultaneously worried and disappointed.
"Attempted murder?" Weaver voiced what we were all thinking.
"Since he was at the pool when the first attacked happened, you think he was the intended target all along? Did he have anything in common with the cadets in the pool other than being in the top 10%?" I asked the senior agent.
"These kids were popular". Her tone said it all.
"And Donnie was not. Got it". So, what he said about not really knowing anyone must have been the truth. This made things more complicated and more simple at the same time.
"Donnie hasn't made any enemies" she further explained about the young man. "But he hasn't made any friends either"
"He had a hard time adjusting?" Jemma caught up to the meaning behind Weaver's words immediately. "How old is he?"
"Eighteen. Youngest since you guys. 190 IQ and dropping out of high school when we met him. When things went well here we were considering graduating him early and assigning him to the Sandbox"
Wow, that was something. Only the best of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s scientists worked at the Sandbox. And Jemma seemed to share the same idea. "That's amazing. He'd love it there"
Weaver just shrugged. "He doesn't like it here. I'm afraid he will wash out" she clearly wouldn't like that to happen. However… that gave me an idea.
"Maybe that was the idea". Everyone's attention turned to me and I directed my next words to the head of SciTech. "Agent Weaver, keep working on the investigations. Interviewing cadets, instructors… Let me know if you have any new information" I motioned to the duo to follow me as we made our way out of the building.
"Where are we going?" Fitz couldn't help but ask, curiosity was always getting the better of him.
"Well, their interviews won't bear any fruits. Cadets are taught to keep secrets. So I thought, we could do our own little investigation. How about a trip to the boiler room?" I asked suggestively, thinking back to our days at the Academy.
"Oh, yes!" Fitz exclaimed just as Jemma squealed.
I lifted my hands to point to them that they should keep it down. "The thing is…" I started and both of them stopped jumping up and down. "I need you to go to Donnie's room," I said to Fitz, already anticipating the complaint from him.
"But— What—" he seemed unable to form proper sentences. "That's so unfair!", his accent popped up even more with his annoyance.
"I know, I know. But listen to me" I waited until he was a bit calmer. "Donnie is withdrawn. He definitely knows more than he's letting on. You and Jemma are heroes here, Fitz. He respects you. So, you hang out with him and then join us in the boiler room. Even if he had no clue who might be after him, he still needs a friend" I tried to reason and saw his resolve slowly come apart. "You remember how much help Jemma was to me. I don't even want to think how I would have been if I was alone" I added and Jemma hugged me from behind.
"She's right, you know. He could really use a friend and it's clear he looks up to you" Jemma helped out, still clinging onto my back.
Any final reservations he might have had flew out of the window with Jemma's input. He groaned and threw his head back before pinching the base of his nose. "Fine, fine. But the first round's on you" he pointed straight at me with a serious expression.
"Of course, of course," I said.
He seemed more satisfied with this whole idea now. "Well, in that case… see you later" and just like that he walked off.
I shook my head at how easy it was to actually convince him. He was a very nice guy after all and what he was doing was the right thing. I turned around and wrapped my hands around Jemma's neck, as her own were lying loosely around my waist from when she was hugging me. "Now…" I said with a smirk. "How about I buy you a drink, m'lady?"
I saw her blush and felt joy spread through me. All she did was nod and then she grabbed my hand and we started making our way towards the room. "What about the mission?", she asked after a while.
"I can multitask" I answered. "After I buy a, very beautiful, girl a drink, all we have to do is get comfortable with the students. Mingle, try to get them gossiping. See if we can find anything out" I turned to her and saw the unsure look on her face. "Or not. I know you're terrible at lying, so don't even try. You can just enjoy the beverage of your choice as I gather information" at that she instantly eased up.
It wasn't too long after that that we both found ourselves with a beer at hand and among cadets. It was easier than I expected to chat up with the barman, who turned out to be a Communications cadet and get the information on Callie Hannigan. Who, other than the fact that she lost her spot to the Sandbox because of Dollie, was also at the pool during the first attack and was at the top 10%. It seemed like a good place to start.
Soon I found myself playing pool with her. I whistled as she nailed her first shot. "Not bad," I said and watched as she moved around the table to see where to hit the white ball from.
She smiled with a relaxed expression. "Elastic collision, contact point geometry and practice" she shrugged it off. "So, what's your deal? I've never seen you here before and I don't beg you for a SciTech cadet, no offence" she quickly added and I swiftly reassured her that no offence was taken. "Newbie at Communications or just found out about this place?"
I looked around, making a real show out of it and motioned for her to close in, which got her intrigued and she did just that. "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," I whispered. "I'm not actually a cadet". I could both see her eyebrows rising as she did check me out again and I could feel her heart pick up. "I'm actually a fully-fledged agent. And…" I emphasised as I saw her not really believing me, "…I'm looking for the smartest mind you have here to duck out and join my top shadow unit," I said and showed her my S.H.I.E.L.D. standard badge. "I heard this was the place to look for that someone. Is that you?"
It was clear as day that she now believed me and was interested. "Could be" her words only made my suspicions true. "Shadow unit doing what?" She asked.
I moved a bit away gritting my teeth. "I've said too much already, but… that tech in the lecture hall? It was impressive. Whoever built it, I can see them moving to Level 6 within a year. Easily" I said as I took my turn to pool.
She looked sceptical. "Even though Donnie and Seth were hurt?"
I shrugged. "The boys survived" I brushed off.
I watched as she moved around the pool and got ready to take another shot. "Yeah," she said. "Probably the best thing that's happened to them all year". She hit the white ball and my hand came hard down on the pool table grabbing it. She wasn't expecting that.
"Why don't you tell me what you mean by that?" I asked, my tone more serious. "And I won't report what just happened to agent Weaver" I threatened.
She lifted her hands to show she meant no harm. "I'm just saying, they got to meet agent Fitz. They've been talking about it for weeks"
I narrowed my eyes as I didn't pick up any indication she was lying. This gave me a bad feeling, for we came just this day. And it was a last-minute thing. "Talking about it to whom?"
"Each other," she said and I instantly knew it was the truth.
They knew each other. They were looking forward to this lecture for weeks. They were the only ones to be attacked by the device. Shit, I thought. I turned around and motioned for Jemma to follow me out of the boiler room.
"They're working together," I told her as soon as we had some privacy. "Call Fitz, now," I said as we started making our way to the room that Fitz was at. "Tell him to get out of there"
She didn't question me, picking up the urgency in my voice. But by the time we got a hold of him, it was too late. He understood what had happened and then ended the call as he headed back to Donnie's room. As soon as that happened I instructed Jemma to wait for me in a building close by as I sprinted toward the room. I took out my Night-Night gun as I closed in the room. I couldn't pick up any vibration but a person who was laying on the floor. I barged in, not even bothering to check the room, knowing I would only find the rocket scientist. "Damn it, Fitz," I said as I bent down and gently slapped him on his cheek a few times, waking him up.
As he slowly came to, I took out my phone and called agent Weaver. As soon as she picked up I spoke. "Agent Weaver, this is agent Skye. I need you to initiate a lockdown to the SciTech Academy and set up a perimeter immediately. Seth Dormer and Donnie Gill were the two cadets behind the device and they're missing. I repeat, we are looking for Seth Dormer and Donnie Gill. We can't let them leave"
"Roger that," she said back. "Meet you back at the reception" and she hanged up.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed as the alarm blazed in every room and corridor within the Academy.
Notes:Sorry for the possibly abrupt start at this chapter. We jumped a few episodes from the series and moved to E12. Don't worry, there is a plan (or at least the idea of one) for the ones we skipped.
Also, sorry for the lack of originality for this chapter on my part. I remember really wanting to get over this episode to move to more important stuff and I didn't really feel like changing much. More changes will happen in the next chapter though!
Take care everyone and thank you for the support. See y'all tomorrow :)
Chapter 37: Bad InfluenceNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
"What do you mean you can't come?" I almost yelled in the phone's microphone.
"Exactly what that sentence means" Coulson answered from the other end of the line. "The process which we have to proceed with is time-consuming. We won't be able to meet with you guys until the end of the day" he further explained as calmly as he could. "Look, Skye. You were named the leader for this mission, okay? I believe in you. Believe in yourself that you will be able to sort things out" he said with trust leaking into his tone.
I took a deep breath to ground and collect myself. "Thank you. I will keep you posted on what happens here"
I could hear the smile in his voice. "Wouldn't expect anything less" and with that, the phone call was ended.
By the time I walked to where FitzSimmons were waiting I could still hear Fitz being hard on himself while Jemma just wanted him to give himself a break. "Okay, guys focus" they both stopped talking and turned to me, focused. "Good. Now, I have talked with agent Weaver and she's coordinating the search. They're going from building to building. How dangerous do you think they are?"
"Extremely dangerous" Jemma didn't bite her words. "From what we've seen so far, this device turns everyone around it to ice. Very rapidly and at a great range"
"But Donnie is a good kid" Fitz cut in. I looked at him and my expression said it all. "Trust me, he is! He just felt isolated. Seth must have befriended him to manipulate him, use him to finish the product"
This struck something in me. "Wait, hold on a sec. Product?"
He rubbed a hand on his face. "Oh. Okay… I think they have a backer. The device? The components are incredibly rare and expensive. Neither of them could find them in the open market by themselves" he explained.
I immediately grabbed him in a tight hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Fitz! You're a genius!" I said. I immediately walked to the receptions computers and plugged in my hard drive. Thank God I never go anywhere without it. "If they are rare, then we can trace the purchases," I said as I hurriedly typed.
T.A.D.A.S.H.I. was soon up and running, helping me on my search. I still had my phone next to me, should the two cadets be located by the team Weaver led. It didn't take too long before the picture of the man who backed them up with this device opened on the screen. "What is it with this guy?" I spoke loudly which made Jemma come closer and look at the screen. "Well, Fitz, seems you were right. We shouldn't have been looking for a bad seed but a bad influence. He's the worst there is" I told him as I moved aside for him to also see a clear picture of Ian Quinn.
"You have got to be kidding me" Fitz exclaimed. What had happened with their beloved professor and Gravitonium was still fresh in their minds. His eyes travelled to the components which were ordered by him. "These are thermopower radiation sensors"
"They were sent to Quinn's father, who's a lawyer at Quinn Worldwide. Quinn's buying their technology" I told them my findings.
Jemma scoffed. "What a sleaze," she said. I raised an eyebrow at the chosen word. "They have no idea he's a criminal" she justified. "To them, he's just a bold capitalist".
I agreed with her, oh how I did. I had only met the guy once more before and I had yet to forget our encounter. Based on his meeting with 'Jane', this was his classic MO, finding young talent and taking advantage of it. It made me sick to the stomach. I quickly called in Weaver and let her know of this new development. The search was now widened to include Quinn.
Just as I made a move to end the call, I noticed clouds gathering to pick up from seemingly nothing and wind starting to pick up outside. "Bring everyone in. Secure the doors and don't let anyone outside, I think the device's been activated" I told her. "Where's the nearest place for you to take cover?"
"The boiler room" I could hear her scream from the other end, the loud wind being the only reason why she was raising her voice in order to be heard. "Where are you three?"
"We're at the reception" I answered.
"Our safest place is the boiler room. You're too far away. The canteen of that building should be the safest place to be for you three, you should head there!"
"Roger that. Get as many people to the boiler room as you can" I said. "Stay safe, ma'am, and stay inside," I said as the call was finally terminated. I then turned to the duo, my eyes travelling from one to the other. "Any idea where the device is?"
"It should be at the dead centre of the storm". I nodded and she seemed to read my mind. "Skye, no! Don't you dare even think about it!"
I looked at her with an exasperated expression. "What choice do I have?" I asked back. "Someone has to stop it and it's getting worse by the second" I tried to reason with her.
"What are you two talking about?" Fitz cut in. I had, honestly, almost forgotten that he was there as well. He looked between the two of us and seemed to piece it together. "No! Skye! Are you mental? No-one would be able to survive that storm unless you are at the epicentre of it".
"Don't you make me pull rank, you two" I called back, looking at them seriously. "I need you both to be safe in the canteen. That's where agent Weaver told me we should head"
"Yes. We! As in: all of us. All three! Jemma, please reason with her" Fitz yelled with his high-pitched and stress-filled voice.
My attention turned to the biochemist. "Jemma, listen to me," I said gently and moved closer, grabbing both her hands in mine and squeezing. "We both know I'm the only one, right now, that can even try to get there. I can try to disable the device from here but it's a long shot. Even if I manage to do that, I need to make sure that the two cadets are safe". I looked back at Fitz but decided it was worth the risk. "I can shield myself, no-one else can"
Jemma, being Jemma, started rambling. "You don't have your gauntlets. A-And the pressure in your hands will be too much. We don't know if you will be able to sustain it until you reach the centre and it coul—"
A small squeal left her when my lips crashed with hers. Only when I felt her relax did I pull away. "I really needed you to stop talking," I said as I rested my forehead on hers. "I will be okay, alright? You just might have to patch me up when all this is over. Now, get out of here" I whispered, but as close as we were she could definitely hear me.
I felt her nod and that was all I wanted before I took a step away. I turned to Fitz who was frozen in place with his mouth hanging open. "Now, Fitz, you will have many questions and I will answer all of them. Just later on" I said and turned away. I needed to have T.A.D.A.S.H.I. with me, in my ear, and there was only one way to do that.
I took a deep breath as I moved closed to the double doors at the entrance of the reception. I lifted a hand and pressed one of my earrings, the mask instantly forming around my face. "Tee, since you're already in the system, I need you to shut all the surveillance of this building and the ones surrounding the storm"
"Right away, Skye" the U.I. answered in my ear.
With that, I bend down on one knee and pressed my hand hard on the floor closing my eyes. Focusing solely on my vibrations, I let everything else become noise in the background. Not really knowing the terrain that I was in wasn't making my job easy. Thankfully, though, it was vibrating so hard that it was hard to miss.
My fingers curled up a little bit as I send an extra wave towards the ice device. Strong enough to destroy it from the inside out. I watched with satisfaction as the device was blown apart. The device blew up in such a way that the two boys who were messing with it had to jump back to shelter themselves. There was no way that it had survived.
I looked over my shoulder and, of course, both of them were still right where I last saw them. "What part of 'get out of here' do you two not understand?" I asked as I got up shaking off my hands. I mentally cursed as I greeted my teeth. I hadn't used my powers that much and without my gauntlets in a while. It didn't hurt that much, but I had in mind what would follow and I wasn't really looking forward to it. "The device is destroyed, but I still need to get them to safety, okay? I can keep them safe. I also need you two to be safe here"
Fitz was still planted in the same spot, not really understanding what was happening as his mind was sent to overdrive with all the new information he just got. My eyes met Jemma's whose small nod was all I needed before I gathered my strength to get out there. This was gonna hurt like a bitch.
I was at the Academy's Med Bay. Jemma was tending to my bruised arms, as Fitz was in the corner of the room and I was talking with Weaver. "It's very fortunate that neither boy were harmed," I told the older woman. "Thankfully I managed to get to them before anything happened"
She nodded, having already thought of the consequences and the paperwork she'd have to fill if a cadet died. But that doesn't mean that it made it any easier for her. This whole situation was a mess that no one would like to be part of. "And I think I speak for all the stuff when I say that we're very grateful you managed to secure both of them. How did you get there?" She asked.
I heard Jemma scoff from next to me. "She had the ingenious idea to walk through the storm, hence the bruised arms," she said as she continued wrapping said arms. "The kids are smart. They wouldn't activate very close to buildings. Between your location and ours, we were the ones closer to the parking lot" she explained for my sake.
"I didn't have anything to cover myself, so my hands took the brunt of it" I added. "I thought it was the only way to get to them and try protecting them. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but every second I spend debating it was a second more of the storm getting worse"
"No, I understand" she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you, for trying"
"What's going to happen to Donnie now? He really is a good kid" Fitz spoke for the first time since we all gathered at this room. He didn't even ask about Seth, as he was convinced that he was the one that had manipulated Donnie all along.
All heads, as if one, turned to the security cameras in the room where we saw Donnie and Seth being placed at the back of an unmarked vehicle and led out of the facility. "We cannot be sure" Weaver spoke up. "There will be a hearing since they were students, but chances are that they'll end up in the Sandbox. But not as working scientists" she said grimly. She turned back to us and straightened her spine. "There are a lot of things that I need to take care of. Are you going to be okay here?"
I looked at Jemma who simply nodded. After that we all thanked Weaver and we were left alone in the large room. The only sound anyone was making was that of Jemma doing her job. "You need to report this to the Director," she said. "I will if you don't"
"I will, don't worry" I reassured her and she seemed to believe me. I was the first time I really had the need to use my powers while in the team and he needed to be made aware of the situation. "I also need to talk with Tony. He might be able to do something about the gauntlets. Maybe make them form like the mask? That way I will always have them with me" I added.
"Okay, hold on a second" Fitz seemed to snap back to the present. "The Director? Your mask, gauntlets? What's going on here? How did you reach Donnie? How did you know the device was destroyed? How—"
"Fitz, breath" I stopped him. I got up when Jemma gave me the okay and moved closer to him, seeing him stiffen.
He even took a step back. "Who are you?" He asked. And if I said that that didn't hurt a little bit I would be lying.
"She's still Skye" Jemma quickly came to my defence.
He then looked between the two of us. "And… And you two kissed! How— When did that happen?!", he shrieked.
I looked at Jemma, who looked back at me and we communicated with just our eyes. We'd talk about it later. I then turned back to the rocket scientist. "That's a story for another time" I started. He really didn't like that, but he was so confused that he didn't object. "Now, what you're gonna hear? You can't repeat it to anyone" I said with a heavy tone which he picked up and nodded, still not sure what he was agreeing to. "Remember back in the day, when I was still in the Academy and we had that little 'mission'? To find out where I was coming from?" It took him a while but he eventually nodded. "And the results were… peculiar, to say the least? And we eventually destroyed them?" He seemed to put some more of the pieces together and he looked a bit better as he started making sense of this whole situation. "Turns out, there is a reason why it's like that. But, long story short, after I left, Nick found me"
He lifted a hand to stop me from continuing. "Nick, as in…?" He asked.
"As in: Director Nicholas Joseph Fury" I explained and waited for the follow up which I was sure would come.
His eyes grew comically wide. "You're on a first-name basis with the Director?", he whispered-yelled. "And his middle name is Joseph?!"
I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it and greeted my teeth. "Shit, so… No-one can know that you guys know his middle name. He hates it. As in, will be very tempted to kill you if you say it. And… I guess we kind of are, on a first-name basis that is" I shrugged. "I usually call him Pirate though". Fitz was getting more excited, and I could tell that there were more things he wanted to ask but I stopped him short. "We're getting a little bit out of topic. Mind if I continue?", to which he quickly agreed. "Cool. Now, where were we… Oh, yeah! So, Nick found me but I was slightly different than I used to be. And I was also kinda injured"
Jemma scoffed. "Yeah, kinda?", she challenged.
"Fine," I said with an aside look to the other girl. "Kinda a lot injured. Satisfied?", to which she said "Very" with a smog look.
Fitz rolled his eyes at our antics. "So, you were kinda a lot injured, and…?", he prompted.
"That was when I was called in," Jemma said from my side. "Remember when in our sixth year in the Academy agent Weaver called me in and I disappeared for half a year?", which he definitely did as his eyes cleared and he nodded. "I had to take care of this fool right here. After that I kind of became the resonate expert on Skye and I am her go-to doctor given that I know her system's peculiarities" she continued. "So, all those times when I'd leave suddenly for a few days at the time, was because I needed to help this one out" she pointed to me.
I waited for him to process everything. "Your system's peculiarities? What is that supposed to mean?"
I smiled at him and gave my hand out for him to shake. He didn't really understand what was happening, but he took my hand either way. As I shook it, I let out a very tiny portion of quakes to his palm. "Quake, nice to meet you Fitz"
He immediately retracted his hand and took a couple of steps back motioning for me to hold on. He looked at his hand and then back at me. "Did you just say Quake?"
I smiled at him and nodded.
"Quake as in, the Avenger 'Quake'?" He asked for clarification. To which I nodded again. I watched as his eyes travelled back and forth between Jemma and I. He then paused and smiled brightly. "So… that means when you said before…" he looked at me with wide eyes. "You know Tony Stark!"
This was going to be a long day…
Notes:We are 94 chapters in the story, it was about time the two of them kissed, don't you agree? [My Beta definitely does XD].
Take care everyone and thank you for the support! See you all tomorrow :)
Chapter 38: Long NightNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
As soon as Coulson and May came to pick us up, I knew something had happened. For starters, Ward was absent. And while it was nice to feel no sense of hostility coming off any member aboard the plane, there were more pressing matters at hand.
Coulson had already been brought up to speed, as we had a sort of 'conference call' soon after Donnie and Seth were picked up. Agent Weaver was also present, which helped a lot with the details of what happened on her end. And as such, there wasn't any debriefing that needed to be done. At least not on his end.
Jemma and Fitz had gone off to bed, it was a tiring day after all, and May was in the cockpit. You know, as May does. I took out the phone that I had collected from Seth after I made sure neither he nor Donnie would try anything funny. He handed the phone over without much resistance and, in turn, I handed it over to the team leader, explaining what it was. "I was very tempted to make a call to Quinn, but I thought you might want to do the honours". At his raised eyebrow I further explained, "He sold technology to S.H.I.E.L.D. cadets, and would have gotten away with it had it not been for this whole incident. It's your call, but if you give me the word I will make it my daily purpose to track him down"
He looked satisfied with my small monologue and I took that as my cue to leave. My name being called was the reason I turned back around. "How come and you're not wondering where agent Ward is? And," he dramatically paused as he tended to do, "wouldn't you like to be here for this?", he joined at his phone.
I immediately shook my head, answering both questions, but still decided to elaborate on each. "Honestly, it's been a long day and Ward's not my concern at the moment. And, as for the 'being here' part, I actually wanted to ask if I could borrow the command centre? I need to make a quick call to someone, but it's kinda… classified?" I internally cringed at the way that I said that.
"Are you asking me or are you telling me?" Coulson said with a small smirk plastered on his face, which made me immediately relax. He noticed that and continued. "There are a lot of weird things that happen when you're around and I've kind of come to accept them. I'll make sure no one disturbs you" he promised.
A smile spread across my features immediately and I nodded. Whispering a soft, "Thank you," on my way out.
The moment I stepped into the room, I went to the table and activated it. Putting in my access code I locked the doors, turned off the cameras and microphones, and made the glass windows surrounding the room turn black so that no one on the outside could have a peak.
T.A.D.A.S.H.I. was already running on the computer and was waiting for my command.
I leaned back and took a deep breath as if to brace myself. It might have been a very long day, but it was going to be an even longer night. "Call him up," I said and the U.I. did so in a matter of seconds.
It didn't even ring twice before he picked it up. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" He yelled on the camera, his one good eye staring at me.
I smiled sarcastically at him. "Well, I didn't think to check the time before I called to catch up with my favourite pirate". I rolled my eyes and brought my hand up to rub my forehead. The headache was already starting and we hadn't even started.
There was a noticeable absence which made me look at the screen. Nick had his eye narrowed and brows furrowed. "What happened to your arms?", he asked. I could have sworn I heard a bit of concern in his voice.
"Well…" I looked down at the said part. "Long story short, I had to walk in the middle of a crazy snowstorm, use my powers as a shield while I didn't have my gauntlets". I saw that he was about to say something and spoke before him. "And it gets better. There's now one more person on the list of people who know I am Quake, S.H.I.E.L.D. cadets managed to get their hands on very rare components, which created the hell-of-a-storm that I mentioned, and the person who supplied them is none other than Ian Quinn himself. Ian Quinn who, by the way, I am almost positive we will go after as our next mission and I'm pretty sure works for the someone behind our little side research-slash-project". I managed to get all that out in a single breath and somehow render him speechless.
I clicked my fingers in front of the screen a couple of times as he hadn't moved in a while. "Yo, Nick? You still with me?"
I was about to grab my tablet to check the connection when he moved, letting me know he was indeed still there. "Now I need to clear my fucking schedule" He grumbled and I saw him start working on his computer, probably doing just that.
"What in the hell do you have to do in the middle of the night?", I asked.
He side-looked at me before resuming his previous task. "That's for me to know and for you to try and find out". The moment he finished typing his attention was back to me. "Now, back to business, let's take it one thing at the time, okay?" I nodded, though I was pretty sure that it was a sarcastic question. "How are you?"
I honestly wasn't expecting that. The concern was now more clear in his face, his mask dropping slightly. It was a sight of Nick that not most people got to see and that I hadn't even glimpsed since I found out that Coulson was alive. To be honest, it made me pause for longer than I would have liked. "Not too bad. Thankfully Simmons was there, so she patched me up. Said that I should be fine in a couple of days if I rest" I answered.
"So, a few days at least" he chimed in, clearly knowing that I wouldn't be just resting in those two days. After a quick confirmation from my part, he thought about what we should tackle next. "Now, what was this about Ian Quinn and his connection?"
"Other than the fact that he has been connected to two S.H.I.E.L.D. cases that couldn't have been possible without someone on the inside…" I made Tee send the latest mission's documents to Nick, "he's been working with CyberTech" I concluded.
The rare components that the two cadets used to create the device? Yeah… those came from CyberTech. The same company that supplied a lot of the machines in the Centipede lab that we found in Hong Kong, as well as few other cases that we had connected with our side project. All the information that I got from that lab would have been enough to close CyberTech for good, but…
"I thought we were keeping an eye on them," Fury said as he went over the documents.
"We still are" I answered and pulled up numerous other documents from our surveillance team who tracked their movements. "They are either being incredibly careful—"
"Or we have a leak" Fury finished my sentence and I nodded. "Motherfucker" he muttered under his breath. We both had been positive that the people we chose for this surveillance team were in the clear from our suspicions. But, as it turned out, we needed to re-evaluate each member.
"I already send out an order to let them know their mission is over and they're to go to the Triskelion for a debrief, with Maria" I emphasised the last part. This would be a day none of them would enjoy.
I could tell that Nick was really satisfied with that decision of mine. The small smirk he was wearing was enough of an indication. Which disappeared sooner than I expected, a more sombre expression taking its place. "If Quinn is indeed working with the same people you will be poking the bear, you know that right?"
"I do" I answered truthfully.
"We had agreed that we would observe from distance. Let them move freely and track them, see where they lead us" he recalled our initial plan. "Why is Quinn any different?"
I thought about it for a while. "He's one man. While he is the head of a massive company, he has been working against S.H.I.E.L.D. almost openly for a long time. We have a reason to arrest him, it's too good of an opportunity to pass. If he is, indeed, working with the same people it will be a good opportunity to get our hands on someone like that. He's probably just a pawn, but a powerful one. So I don't know if he'll have any worthwhile information. But even if he doesn't, even if he's not working with them, then it will be one less person with money and evil intentions out in the world" I reasoned.
He closed his eye and took a deep breath. I could tell that he wouldn't argue any more. "Fine. But you update me every step of the way, okay?" While it was phrased as a question, it was anything but. "Now, I'm guessing this was the short version of what has happened with Quinn. I need to know everything before we start talking about anything else" he said.
I pulled up a previous mission's details. "It all started when he kidnapped Dr. Franklin Hall…"
I woke up to someone knocking on my bunk's door. I grumbled under my breath. I was too tired and I hoped there wasn't a new emergency that needed to be taken care of.
I eventually got up and moved to the door, unlocking it. As soon as it had slid open I saw Jemma outside with a plate in her hands and a smile on her face. "Morning," I said and my voice was rough. Either because of how little sleep I had gotten, or how heavy that limited sleep had been.
"Barely," she said back and passed me to get in the small bunk. "What time did you sleep?" She questioned as she cleaned my small desk before placing the plate there.
"Late" I replied and looked at the clock in my room. It was just before noon. As Jemma was preoccupied with whatever she had brought in with her, I sat heavily on my bed and crossed my legs underneath me. "What's this?" I asked after a couple of sips of water from the bottle I always had next to my bed and my voice came out clearer this time.
"Well, you didn't come out for breakfast," she started explaining, "which is very unlike you. And then May said that you were in the command centre when she got up for her Tai Chi. So, knowing you, I guessed that you were there the whole night and you were probably still sleeping. But, yeah, you've never missed a single breakfast and I got kind of worried and the time passed and you were still not out and I didn't know wha—"
"You made me breakfast?" I cut her off because while I found her rambling adorable it was too early for me to deal with that.
That made her pause and grab the food and handed it to me, a blush rendering her cheeks which made the whole situation even cuter. "Uhh, yeah. I thought that this was a safe choice" she said pointing at the continents of the plate.
I looked down to see the breakfast that I usually had, just the way that I had it. "Since when do you know what I have in the morning?" I asked while patting the bed next to me for her to sit and keep me company.
She did so without a second thought. She leaned a bit forward, the blush more apparent as she tugged a few strands of hair behind her ear. "And I'm good at observing what's happening around me, especially when it comes to you"
Her face couldn't possibly turn a deeper shade of red. The corners of my lips turned up easily, while a warm feeling spread through my whole core. I leaned over and pressed my lips on her cheek in a small quick kiss. "Thank you," I said. All she did was nod, not even forming words and I shook my head as I looked at the food in front of me. "So, what did I miss this morning?" I asked to make easy conversation and Jemma jumped at the opportunity.
"Oh, Fitz did the most hilarious thing" she started and her hands moved all around as she explained. As I listened to her speak I really enjoyed the feeling of contempt that filled me.
Notes:A small, soft chapter... by that alone you should prepare yourselves for the next few chapters. As we are heading towards the end of the story stuff need to happen, right?
Also, I like how I accidentally forgot to put a title on Ch.36 (now fixed and called Seeds). Sorry about that ^^'
Thank you all for the support and take care! See you tomorrow :)
Chapter 39: T.R.A.C.K.S.Notes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
From that point forward, our main concern was tracking Ian Quinn. That same day Coulson gathered us all in the command centre to let us know of this development. We would still participate in minor cases and assist whenever our team was called in, but our resources would be put to tracking down Quinn and bringing him in.
And that's how sometime more than a week later we had our first breakthrough.
Ever since the event in the Academy, and whatever Coulson had said to Quinn on the phone, he had been very careful. So careful that I had a hard time finding any digital footprints of his. But eventually, something came up and we started working on a plan to bring him in.
His photo popped up in the command centre's main screen, where all of the team was gathered. His name was plastered with large letters right under his face. "You found him?" May asked, looking more in my direction than Coulson.
I moved my head from one side to the other and switched the documents that appeared on the screen. "Not exactly, but I know how we can. I tracked down an invoice from one of his shell companies. He made quite a purchase recently"
"How big?" May asked again, her eyes flying through the documents on the screen.
"About a million," I said. "For his company's standards it's not too big, but it's still big enough that we think it can lead somewhere. We might have no idea what it is at the moment, but it was designed and built by Cybertech Inc. A small company that deals with advanced technology research". As I said the name of the company I side-eyed May with meaning and she got it.
After all, since she was in on the secret research we had with the pirate, she knew Cybertech's involvement and our interest in the company.
"Which is where this gets interesting. They've hired a small private security outfit to transport the purchase. Former military. Ex mercs"
May lifted an eyebrow at that. "That's a lot of security for a single package. And it's not one of the most expensive ones that Quinn's company has ever bought" she commented.
"Exactly" Coulson agreed. "And because of the stunt that Quinn pulled off in the Academy, they know that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s got eyes on him"
"Which is why they transport it old school," I said and pulled up the route of the train that the package would be in. "Via train, through the Italian countryside. From Verona to Zagreb. Very rural, very isolated"
May looked very sceptical. "And you think he'll be on the train?" The question was ever so doubtful.
"No" Coulson replied and I nodded agreeably. "But I believe they are delivering the item to Quinn himself. We got an intel from Italian authorities who've been monitoring the situation"
"Well…" I dragged out as I could sense another question coming from the specialist. "We might have taken over their operation. Coulson asked nicely" I said and then coughed "Or not" in my elbow.
He just rolled his eyes at my antics and then brought our attention back to him. "If everything goes okay, Cybertech will have no idea we were even there and they will lead us to Quinn. Even if he is a no-show, in the end, we'll still be able to get the package" he explained. He then motioned to me in order to explain the plan that we had come up with.
"May, you'll be front and centre. You'll be the one to locate the package. I would help out with tagging it, but I need to be with Fitz in communications. FitzSimmons can't be alone, they still haven't passed their field test. Once you locate it, you keep track of it and report back. We might not be able to tag the package, but we'll be able to tag one of the security goons. Then, all we'll have to do is follow them to Quinn"
Jemma, honest to God, raised her hand after I finished talking. "And what about us?", she asked and side-looked at Coulson. "You," I said emphatically, "get to tag the head goon".
It wasn't much later when Fitz and I walked in undercover as a couple. Jemma's reaction when she found out is always going to be integrated into my mind. Everyone was getting in position just as the train started moving. I saw Fitz fidget a little at his seat and turned to look at him more properly. "Are you nervous?", I asked. The man mustn't have gotten a lot of glimpses into undercover operations. And the last one that he was in, the one with Ward, didn't go exactly as planned.
He nodded a little bit but tried and composed himself quickly. "So, are we British or American?", he questioned.
I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't really matter. If it did I would have briefed you into it beforehand" I explained.
He shook his head. "We're travelling together, we should always be from the same country" he explained.
I could see that he was still nervous so I went ahead with it. If it made him feel more at ease, then I would give him that. "While I cannot do a proper Scottish accent, I have picked up on the British one" I explain in my British accent. The surprise on his face was worth it. "I have been spending way too much time with Jemma" I explained.
He made a face at that and turned away. "Eh, don't remind me. How did you two even get together? You still haven't told me" he said.
Thankfully right at that moment, the train manager was coming through and that was our cue to get in position to get the keys from his person. I nodded at him and he knew to follow my lead. "Excuse me, sir. Do you speak English?" I asked the man politely as I stood up.
He immediately smiled at me and nodded. "Of course!", he said cheerfully. "How may I be of service?"
"Can you recommend a restaurant in downtown Zagreb?" I asked as I took out a map from my bag. "Something romantic if you can, we are celebrating our six-month anniversary with a Euro trip and we want it to be amazing" I closed in on him.
"Aw, young love," he said smiling as he took the map and pointed in certain areas. As I loomed over to see what he was pointing at, my hand slipped in his pocket and took his keys. Soon he finished with his recommendation and kindly handed me my map back. "That was so helpful. Thank you so much!" I moved back to where Fitz was and stood next to him. My hand found his and squeezed. "I'm sure it will be a great first night, right baby?" I turned to Fitz and kissed him on the cheek.
I could see his face growing red as he cleared his throat. "Yes" he squealed and I tried my hardest not to outright laugh. "Thank you for your help" he added looking at the train manager.
The manager nodded at us one last time before going his way, muttering "Young love" in Italian.
After that, we made our way to the luggage carriage. As I managed to unlock the door I spoke up. "You, ah… you got a little flustered back there"
"What?" He asked and moved past me into the carriage. "When you kissed me on the cheek like my grandmother? Way to sell our relationship there" he commented as he let his stuff fall on the floor. "I have a device that could have opened the door by the way" he mentioned off-handedly.
I just stared at him for a second after his last sentence. "Are you kidding me?" I hissed as I moved closer and started arranging my staff on a crate right next to him. "You should have mentioned that when we were coming up with this mission's plan. And as for the kiss, would you have liked to be the one to tell Jemma about it?" I asked and watched with satisfaction as he lifted his head, staring into nothing, and the colour drained slightly from his face. "I thought so" I smirked.
He shook his head and resumed his arrangements. "It's just that I'm always the gadget guy," he said and his voice held some sadness. "Maybe, sometimes, I wanna do things with my own bare hands. And you could have opened that door with your powers just as easily"
"Please, Fitz. You make those gadgets with your own hands" I said as I finished setting my equipment. "You know I couldn't have mentioned my powers. Coulson doesn't know and it needs to be kept that way" I reminded him. "We've talked about this, I can't just go around and showing off my powers to everyone"
At least he had the decency to look like he regretted what he said before. "Sorry. You know I didn't mean anything by it, right? I'm just stressed about this whole operation" he admitted.
I placed my hand on his shoulder and he turned his head to look at me. "I get it, I really do. But as soon as I turn the comms on, no more talking about things we're not supposed to talk about, alright?", I kindly asked him and as soon as I got a nod and a smile from him I did just as much, announcing it to the rest of the team.
We sat in silence as Jemma was rambling over in the coms. Because, "She's not good in improvisation. However, she excels in preparation". Her words, not mine.
As I was checking everything up I went through the plan in my head, for what must have been the hundredth time. This mission would have been so much easier with Ward. Despite the fact that I despised him and that his absence allowed some peace to fill the plane, he would have been perfect to accompany May. I felt really guilty sending her on her own, but after I discussed it with her she eased some of my worries. Plus, we couldn't possibly let Fitz or Simmons on their own. And I would have been glad to take May's place, had it not be necessary for my computing skills to be applied in this mission.
"He's headed your way" I shook my head as Fitz spoke to the other members. As soon as the head of Cybertech's security team, also known as Carlo, was tagged, the rest was up to May. She, in turn, activated her glasses and we were able to see what she saw and keep track of Carlo's movements within the train.
We worked in silence, something we had both agreed on doing when we needed to focus. I had figured out early on in our missions that if something was in dear need of being done, Fitz shouldn't be distracted. It's not that he wouldn't perform should that not be the case, the guy was a professional, but there was no reason to stress him out. I knew that he would let me know if he needed my help or if he was done with whatever he was doing.
The first indication of him wanting to talk was a heavy sigh that he let out when the announcer mentioned the three peaks of Lavaredo. "I wish we had more time to take in the scenery. It's supposed to be stunning" he said with a grunt.
I agreed wholeheartedly with that statement. "I know. We never get to see anything. If things ever calm down I'd like to take Jemma to a trip around Europe. Or maybe around the world… it would be amazing" I smiled to that thought.
I could feel him staring at me from the side and I glanced up to see the most peculiar expression on his face. "What?" I asked him.
"Nothing. It's just— How— When did you two…?" He trailed off.
I shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure when it happened if I'm being honest. At some point between finding each other again after the Academy and me joining the team it just… did, I guess. We're taking things slow" I finished talking and I felt like I needed to add something. "I'm sorry"
His expression morphed into a perplexed one. "What for?" He titled his head to the side looking like a puppy.
"I know you have a thing for her. This mustn't be easy for you"
His face went immediately red and he turned his attention back on the screen in front of him. "Wh-What are you talking about? Me? Having a- with Jemma? Pfft no," I smirked at him as he rumbled on.
My attention was suddenly averted elsewhere as I sensed someone closing in our wagon. I stood up, slowly and took my Night-Night gun with me which made Fitz stop. He looked back at the screen just as May's googles went offline. I saw that and Fitz stood up as well, getting behind me as I called in through my comms. "May, you copy? Anyone?"
"They know we're here" I heard Fitz say behind me. "All comms and phones are dead. They must use some sort of electronic scrambler"
I had made my way to the door, standing right next to it, with my back on the wall of the wagon as I felt the two presences stop by the door and get ready to barge in. I lifted my hand to my lips and then made a move as if I pushed something away so Fitz understood to be quiet and take cover.
As soon as he had done that, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could 'see' the guy on the other side of the door, with his hand on the handle ready to barge in. As soon as there was a change in his heartbeat, I opened my eyes.
He run in the room, gun lifted and ready to fire. As soon as he passed by me I made my move. It wasn't that hard to take him out to be honest, as his attention had zeroed in on Fitz's form hiding behind some luggage. I kicked the back of his knee, earning a yelp from him. As soon as he was with one leg on the ground, I brought the butt of my gun hard to the back of his neck and he collapsed.
I sensed another presence running towards us and I turned sharply towards the door, gun in hand, ready for whoever appeared. I blamed the fact that I was in a tense mode that I didn't recognise Jemma's vibrational signature as she closed in. But, as soon as she opened the door and kept on running, I let out a breath and lowered my gun.
She immediately run up to me and threw her hands around me in one of her fierce hugs. "Are you alright?" I asked as I pulled away checking her over. "What happened?"
I could see the sweat gathering on her forehead from both the running she did to get here and her stress, that was pouring out of her in waves. "The comms went down and Coulson send me to find you. We knew that we were made so he sent me here while he went to find agent May" she said.
That's right. That was the plan if anything went wrong. That Jemma would join me and Fitz and Coulson would assist May. I knew that May could take care of herself, but I was really glad for that emergency decision right now.
"Bloody hell" I heard Fitz curse from a few feet away. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Despite that I knew he was talking to himself, I found myself wondering the same thing. I looked down at the unconscious man and shook my head. "We lay low" I answered, lifting my head and found the science twins looking at me. I was the one that would lead them right now. "We wait here for a while. The plan was for Coulson and May to meet us here, so we stick to the plan. If they're not here in the next 5 minutes I'm going out". I could see Jemma was about to protest but a single lift of my hand silenced her. "Coulson and, especially, May are very capable agents. But we were still made. I need to make sure they're okay. Plus, whatever comes my way, I can take it"
"What about this guy?" Fitz's head motioned to the goon on the floor. "We don't know for how long he's gonna stay like that"
I title my head to the side and check my gun, seeing how many Night-Night bullets I had. I shot him in the chest three times. "That should keep him out until we need to leave the train" I reasoned and they both sharply nodded.
Notes:Here we go! An early update today cause I found time and the rest of my day will be busy. Get ready for the rest of this episode to play out in the next chapter.
Thanks for the support and take care, everyone. See you tomorrow :)
Chapter 40: BangNotes:
All rights go to Marvel
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Skye's POV
It wasn't too long after I left to look for May and Coulson that I returned empty-handed. "I looked everywhere. No sign of them. And I can't even pick up on their vibrations. They're off the train," I explained.
Just then the train came to a halt. "What is—?", Jemma started just as Fitz exclaimed "The train stopped"
We were in the middle of nowhere. There was no stop in the schedule at this point in the journey. That could only mean one thing. My train of thought was interrupted by an engine sound from somewhere outside. Immediately, all three of us headed to the window closer to the sound. Using my sleeve I cleaned a small part of the dirty glass, enough for us to have a peek through, but not too large to get spotted.
As expected, we saw the security team transferring the black case to a vehicle. "They have the package" I heard Jemma whisper.
"What do we do?", it was Fitz's turn to speak. I could already spot the anxiety leaking into his tone. "We're the only ones left"
I weighed the options in my head. We really couldn't let Quinn escape and we were on a time frame, the vehicle would take off soon. "Fitz" I called and immediately I had his full attention. "Did you pack a tracker with you?", to which he nodded without even pausing. I then turned to Jemma. "If I give you guys two guns to protect yourselves, is there any way you'll stay here and wait for the others to find you while I follow the package?"
"Absolutely none. We're coming with" she said with conviction.
I let out a sigh, not that I was expecting anything else. I briefly looked over to the rocket scientist but he seemed to share the same idea. "Alright then, we need to be fast and quiet," I told them and they nodded.
Following the vehicle wasn't too hard, thankfully. While we almost lost it a couple of times, that thing was so loud vibrationally that it was as if it was screaming in my head. It led us to a mansion and we took cover behind some bushes. The package had already arrived, but I could feel a number of cars closing in fast.
"Stay low" I whispered to the others as we waited for the new guests to appear.
The cars pulled up next to each other and people started exiting them. Soon, the person of the hour appeared. "You were right. Cybertech led us to Quinn" Fitz said.
I, absentmindedly, nodded as I activated the tracker. I handed it back to Fitz and took out my extra gun handing it over to Jemma. "Skye," she said with a stern voice. "No".
Fitz caught up to what was happening quickly. "You want to go in? Are you crazy?", he whisper-yelled in his high-pitched voice.
"I am not crazy. I am a trained agent that will go in and do her job. We can't let Quinn get away" I told them. He was the best lead we had in order to find more about the side project I had with the pirate. "If Coulson were here he wouldn't let that happen" I added. "As the person in charge right now I am making this decision," I said with a stern voice so they knew I wasn't messing around.
While I could tell that Jemma was against this idea, she knew me well enough to realise that there was no changing my mind. "Fine, but we're helping out". She didn't even let me object before she addressed Fitz. "You can disable the cars," she told him, not even asking. He nodded either way. "I'm sure when you go in you'll attract attention, we can delay him from the outside so if he tries to escape you have some extra time to catch up"
There was no room in what she was suggesting and I gave in. But not before I took my Night-Night gun and handed it to her. "No buts" I pushed the pistol in her hands. "Fitz already has a gun and I am not leaving you two without both carrying one"
While she didn't like the idea at all, she accepted that this was the only way. "What about you?"
"Other than the knifes I always carry with me?", I asked taking one blade out of my boot. It was a habit that I had taken up because of Natasha. "Don't worry. If I need a gun, I'll take one" I smirked at them and took off.
We had already wasted enough time as it was and I couldn't deal with them arguing with me anymore. I would have said that in a worst-case scenario I could shake things up a bit, but I had a feeling Jemma would argue. But, just in case, I took my gauntlets off my bag and wore them. This would come as a last resort but, the option was always open.
I hid my bag behind a tree as I rounded the large house. While there were guards almost everywhere, I found a nice spot to get in the house from. Very close to the ground there was a window, probably shedding light to a basement and outside of it, there was a singular guard.
The nature around the building was rather dense, so closing in undetected wasn't hard. As soon as the guy had his back on me I made my move. In seconds he was unconscious and I slowly dragged him over to where I was before, hiding his body. Patting his body down, I found his gun and took it. But as soon as I laid my eyes on the design I stopped.
This looked suspiciously similar to Fitz's Night-Night gun. I checked the calibers only to verify my suspicions. Yes, the bullets were Fitz's exact designs. Shit! I mentally cursed. The need to bring Quinn in just skyrocketed.
I checked the perimeter again and quickly run to the window. I wrapped my hand with my jacket and broke the glass as quietly as I possibly could. When I had my entrance point and didn't sense anyone coming towards this direction, I jumped into the dark room. Landing silently, I scanned the room. It was, indeed, looking like a basement of shorts. The strange part about it was that there was nothing in there. The cold room was completely empty.
Not dwelling on that, I moved to the wooden door and got ready. I closed my eyes and scanned the house. It seemed that other than the Cybertech security team, Quinn had brought a few of his own people with him. This was getting tricky.
While there might not have been anyone on the other side of the door, I knew that as soon as the first body fell, chaos would commence.
I knew that using my power needed to be a last resort and it would have been. At least when it came to using them against people. But since I had my gauntlets on, there would be no harm to creating an earthquake to throw people off balance, would there?
Kneeling, I placed my palm firmly on the ground and released my power. The building started shaking in an instant. I could sense people running around and I knew that this was my time to roll.
I opened the door and started making my way up the stairs. As soon as the first goon appeared he was shot down and lay unconscious on the floor.
As expected, that alerted people, and I heard shouting next. Quinn being the one giving the orders. I quickly run up the stairs and threw the table there on the ground, taking cover behind it. Having my vibrational mind map helped a lot because as soon as their fire seized I made my move.
Running up to the first person as they recharged, I shot them and immediately moved to the next one.
I heard shots from the back, just as a few more people came in from there. A guy in front of me tried to land a punch but I was quicker. I grabbed his wrist and twisted, bringing his body around and between me and the fire coming from behind me. As soon as the bullets hit the man he became dead weight. The fact alone that they didn't even pause while firing at one of their own made me certain they all carried dendrotoxin weapons.
Despite the man I was holding falling into unconsciousness, I held my grip on him and used him as a shield while I fired at the three people across from me. I managed to get one of them before the other two took cover.
As soon as that happened I let the guy I was holding fall down and I run to the next room, just as more people came from a side door. The room, which appeared to be something between a library and a living room, thankfully had a couple of sofas in. I jumped behind one as bullets grazed the place where my body had just been.
Had it not been for the quake, I knew that the bullets would have been properly aimed at my head. These guys were good. And there were quite a few of them. I could hear them fill the room I was in, all of them having their guns trained at where I was hiding no doubt. It was five of them.
Really quickly I mentally assessed my options. Not that I had a lot. Even with the ground shaking, my rounds weren't enough for all of them.
My hand was rising towards my earring, about to activate my mask when Ian Quinn's voice filled the room. "Whatever it is you think you're doing, I wouldn't do it if I were you," he said as a couple of very familiar grunts followed his words. "Unless you want your friends to pay for it". I heard the safety of a gun being released. If I had any doubts about what was happening, Fitz's squeal and Jemma's whimper were enough to make me understand.
"Alright," I said, lifting my hands over the sofas back, gun loosely held in order to show that I meant no harm. I slowly started getting up, still in a 'harmless-looking' position so that nothing would be misinterpreted.
I looked at the people gathered in the room. The five goons had now become seven, the new additions standing behind FitzSimmons, and Quinn was there as well, gun pointing at Jemma.
As soon as I had fully stood, the industrialist nodded in my direction and four people moved my way, guns still trained at my head despite the shaking. As two of them grabbed me and the other two searched me and took my gun and knifes away, I eased the earthquake. The building wasn't the most stable and now that Jemma and Fitz were inside as well if the ceiling were to fall it would be so much harder for me to protect them.
When they had made sure I didn't have any more weapons on me the two people behind me pushed me to the ground and on my knees, as their hands remained on my shoulders. I could almost feel their guns trained on the back of my skull.
"Well, well, well… if it isn't Jane. Or maybe I should call you Skye?", he lifted an eyebrow at the identity reveal to see my reaction. After a dramatic pause when no one said anything he resumed. "The Clairvoyant told me a few things about you. Imagine my surprise when he told me you are a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I mean, man, you played me like a fool. He also told me to expect you" the glint in his eyes spoke volumes.
"Let them go, Quinn," I said. "It's me you want, isn't it?"
That smug smirk was still on his face as he motioned to some of his goons to bring something in the room and open it. It was the package. "Leave us. Prepare the cars" he said and everyone but the four people holding us in place and Quinn remained in the room.
He walked to the package and brought a gun out. One of the Night-Night guns. Fitz's eyes grew in size as he recognised the design. "I already have so many of these," he said and casually threw it back in the box. "And before you think of anything, they're all empty". Of course they were. He wasn't stupid enough to bring so many loaded guns in the same room as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He slowly turned towards me. "Have you figured it out yet?"
I slowly started spreading my vibrations through the ground and towards the enemies in the room. "This was all to get me here" I replied to his question. My powers reached all the four people who held us at gunpoint. I left Quinn on his own for now. I wanted him alive for sure, so when I started making my way, vibrationally, in the people like I had done with the Chitauri, I let Quinn out of the equation. "But why? Why go to all this length just to get me here?"
"'Cause you're a wild card and 'cause I have my orders. The Clairvoyant says hi" and the second he finished his sentence a loud *bang* was heard.
My powers reacted on instinct and the four people I had wrapped my vibrations within dropped to the floor. The room started shaking before I had even realised what had happened. I saw Quinn, who had dropped his gun at the showcase of my powers going to lift it again. Not caring about outing myself anymore, I lifted my hand, and send a strong wave his way, sending him flying towards the other end of the room and out of a window.
That was when the pain registered and suddenly I felt like my stomach was on fire. Jemma and Fitz were shaken out of the trance they were in when a moan escaped my lips. They were next to me in an instant.
There was white noise in my ears, cancelling what was happening around me, that I hadn't realised before and FitzSimmons rumbling about brought me back to the present. "Help me up," I said. Thankfully neither argued about how we had to stop the bleeding and they knew that the best bet was for us to get back to the Bus. I could only hope that May and Coulson had seen our signal and were on their way. "Get me a gun" I grunt to Jemma as Fitz helped me up.
Fuck, I could feel my strength leaving me quickly. The use of my powers was probably not helping, but I couldn't stop them, no matter how much I willed myself to. As soon as I was on my feet, Jemma handed me a gun and I grabbed it as firmly as I could, which wasn't too much if I were being honest.
I could make out Jemma's worried muttering and Fitz's grunts as we made our way through the mansion and towards the front door.
I hadn't realised my head had fallen on my chest until Fitz froze next to me and I had to lift it to see a guy in black blocking the exit and pointing his gun at us. I was about to press the trigger when two loud *bangs* were heard and the man fell to the ground, May and Coulson appearing from behind him.
Seeing them, the last bit of strength I had put into holding the gun up left me and it cluttered to the floor. Jemma immediately came from my other side and took the rest of my weight. With the help of the science twins, and surely with May and Coulson coverings our backs I was rushed to the Bus that was parked right outside the tall building. When had they even arrived? Why had I not heard the engines?
It felt simultaneously like it took forever and no time at all by the time I found myself on the table in the Lab of the Bus. I saw a glimpse of May running away and I thought I felt the Bus taking off. Or that could have been my own vibrations going haywire. I was so tired I didn't know what was really happening.
My limbs were so heavy, and the pain in my stomach had dulled up to the point where I didn't feel it anymore. I felt the world go black and my eyelids start to close when a sharp voice called my name. It was Jemma's voice.
Suddenly, Jemma filled my vision. She was standing right over me, her hand on my face and her lips moving, forming words that I couldn't hear. I pushed myself to focus. "—ay awake. Okay? You need to stay awake for me" she said and I could see the tears running down her cheeks.
I wanted to lift my hand and grab hers, to tell her that it would be okay, but I couldn't. The pull was getting too strong and then my world went black once again and this time it stayed like that.
Notes:So... yeah. Won't say anything here. I'll just leave it at that.
Thank you for the support and take care everyone! See you tomorrow :)