Chapter 7: Repairs

Hello again! This chapter took a little long due to school finishing, but not that it's over, I'll try to update faster. Speaking of, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D's winter finale was BLOODY FANTASTIC!

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Chapter 7: Repairs

Since the adventure at the nauseating Hub nothing much happened. At least, until we got the call about a telekinetic.

When I got the message, my heart stopped, mind whirring back to a time when the wind ruffled my hair and rocks floated. But when the image of the telekinetic; Hannah Hutchins, came into view, I was simultaneously relieved and disappointed.

For a second I thought Strucker decided to let them enter my battlefield. But it seemed they still needed training. They still weren't ready.

"Kennedy," May clicked her fingers in front of my face, wrenching me out of my mind. "Yes?" I asked, blinking to recover from the fright and the cosmetics I so carefully applied. "Were you listening to anything I said?"

"Of course," I lied, turning to my native tongue.

"Then what did I say?"

Damn it, she had me there; my brain was in Eastern Europe, let alone American airspace.

"I was filling you in on the mission." May turned back to the screen with Hannah's profile on it.

"In my defence, you missed training today," I replied holding my hands up in surrender. May didn't show up to training at all, Ward wasn't even around to fill in; I spent the morning with the punching bag.

"That was unavoidable."

"Oh?" I scoffed, sarcasm overpowering diplomacy, "You probably got laid by some dude from the hotel." Side note: We finished a mission only last night and stayed in a hotel in Belgium. Silence reigned, and for a moment I thought I was actually right.

"The reasons why I miss training are confidential."

It wasn't approval, but not denial either. Smirking, I found myself at a crossroad; be a diplomat, or dig for information. "I had to tell you why I was late last week, Cavalry."

Curiosity won.

May's shoulders straightened into a morbid line, no longer a woman but a mercenary. "That's a card you don't get to play."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I scoffed, unwilling to surrender my pride. "It means; no one is allowed to call me that." A gentle, cruel smile played on my lips. "Maybe I wouldn't if you told me what happened."

It was true; the only one in this business- excluding the Avengers- with a nickname was me, and I would love to know just how May joined in.

"That's my business." May stalked out to greet Coulson and Skye, whose footsteps echoed below. "I thought S.H.I.E.L.D was about protection; that involves trust," I replied.

"Then you entered the wrong group."

After climbing down, both May and Coulson shut me down in terms of going with them to bring in the telekinetic. I couldn't talk of my personal investment, so I couldn't push near as much as I would've liked.

The file on Hannah Hutchins was sad enough to be written by Shakespeare.

Hannah Hutchins was the safety inspector at her town's particle accelerator- which was awesome- until it exploded under her watch, killing 4. Being a religious community, she was blamed for the fatalities, which seemed to trigger her 'telekinesis.'

With a near silent murmur, "Better catch up on your homework," from May, Skye, Coulson and Ward left to bring Hannah in, while Fitz-Simmons departed to retrieve data from the particle accelerator.

The welcome wagon went south; that much was deducible from the unconscious body Ward carried in.

"What. The. Hell?"

Ward, straining with the woman's weight, answered, "It went south. A car went haywire." The startling image of a car running people over flashed through my mind. Shaking the image out, I moved over to hold the woman's ankles, "A car?" Coulson strolled past, "Best not to ask."

Ward and I deposited her in the Cage atop a thin mattress, a choice which both Ward and I protested against. The 4 of us; Skye, Fitz-Simmons and I, crowded around the screen, eager to listen to Hannah's story.

The interrogation was a real downer; filled with self pity and grieving for people long lost, emotions which I hoped to never encounter.

"So sad," Skye sighed, turning off the feed since the 'killed my friends' vibe was killing the mood. Simmons turned away from the machine measuring Hannah's brainwaves. "And normal. These readings are entirely within normal ranges. All I can tell from these is that she's upset."

"You need a computer for that? May's in there; the woman who shot her." Simmons raised her eyebrows, and corrected, "Sedated her." Shrugging, I added, "From the description you guys gave me, it sounded like she shot her."

Skye smiled, "Kennedy's the only smart one in the room apart from me."

Fitz replied in exasperation, "Things got out of hand, May sorted it out. She's the Cavalry." Skye crossed her ams, "Where does that name come from?"

The two scientists answered in unison: "Didn't Ward tell you?" and "You don't know?"

Simmons grinned as if she knew something we didn't, "Of course not. You spent no time at the Academy. It's quite a story." Skye rolled her eyes, "Well, Ward isn't exactly a chatty SO." I thought of this morning's conversation, "Neither is May."

Fitz began, "Imagine: a heavily secured compound in Bahrain. Multiple S.H.I.E.L.D agents taken hostage, tortured. May's mission; eliminate the threat."

"You mean kill people," Skye corrected. Simmons shook her head mournfully, "Not people; squads of mercenaries, almost 100." Fitz shook his head, "More than 100."

"More than 100 men, heavily armed. Her vehicle got totaled, so she rode in," Simmons recounted. Fitz armed himself with finger guns, "And she had a M249 in each hand." Simmons nodded in agreement, "And she rode in on a horse."

Fitz nodded in agreement, "Hence the name," and mouthed, "the Cavalry."

I coughed, "Bull dust."

Skye looked at them skeptically, "Is this real?"

The biochemist answered, "She eliminated the threat single-handedly. She saw a lot that day."

Plugging the device into the holographic table, Fitz muttered, "Particle accelerator data loading." With the flick of his hand, the hologram of the particle accelerator appeared. A victim to curiosity, Skye reached out and grabbed a piece which Fitz noticed and smacked her hand for.

"You do not get to touch that! 2 semesters minimum of holographic engineering before you can touch this!"

"All right, all right. I get it!" Skye yelled, "I didn't go to your stupid S.H.I.E.L.D Hogwarts. I'm gonna go upstairs. And I'm gonna do research on my boring old, flat computer."

As Skye left, I couldn't myself help but stare at the periwinkle image longingly. If I could just grab a small piece, I could study- "Don't even think about it, Kennedy," Fitz cut into my thoughts, scaring away any idea of disobeying him. "But-" I started, "No."

"Fine," I sighed, "I'll go watch the rest of the interrogation in my bunk."

Sighing in relief, I lay on my bed, and turned on the feed from the Cage, absorbing as much information as possible.

Once again, Hannah didn't disappoint when it came to being a mood murderer. She claimed she got reports of a loose part from co-worker, Tobias. This assembly it seemed, was why the particle accelerator exploded. However, after breaking the news that Hannah may be telekinetic, she claimed God was punishing her instead.

What could you expect from someone after traumatic events? If I had her Catholic upbringing, I too, would point the finger at someone else.

That was when the power went out, the plane shuddering with the loss. Entering the Mission Room, Coulson and Simmons, walked past leading me along. "What happened?" Rushing to the cargo deck, Coulson answered, "We lost power." Simmons decided elaborate on that, "We're going down."

"How did that happen?" Locking ourselves into the seat belts lining the deck, Coulson asked, "Is now the time?" The buckle locked in, secure around my hips,"Right. Sorry."

May and Ward managed to land us safely, though not without a few hiccups. "The girl do this, sir?" Ward asked, hair still not an ounce off even in the near darkness. Familiarity struck me, though I didn't know why.

"We believe Miss Hutchins is the victim here. Our theories about her powers have been disproved."

Ward turned to me, surprisingly, "By who?" I nudged my head at Simmons, the greater scientific mind, who clarified. "I saw a ghost. I know how that sounds but a man attacked me and then he disappeared."

"Did you get a good look at him?" May asked, confused like me.

Ghosts were beings of stories, not here. Never here.

"He de-materialised!" she insisted, though something seemed off. Like a puzzle had been completed but a toddler had lost the final piece. "May, is the Cage still shielded?" Coulson asked as I gripped my torch like I would a weapon. "Most of the power's dedicated to it."

"The man or whatever he is has been tormenting Miss Hutchins. The Cage might be the only thing protecting her now," he turned to Ward, "We'll inform her."

"Sir," Skye piped in, "can it me to tell Hannah? Her life has been turned upside down and she's been put in a nightmare box." She spoke truth; Skye would be the best for the job to tell her the news.

I raised my hand like in class, "She has a point, sir."

A flash of intrigue flared in Coulson, "Alright. I'll head upstairs and activate the emergency transceiver. Take a firearm, escort Fitz-Simmons downstairs and try to get us up and running-" "Wait," Simmons cut in, and then it hit me.

"Where's Fitz?" we asked in unison.

We found the missing puzzle piece.

A ghost was wandering the Bus and Fitz, innocent Fitz, was ready to be a victim. Coulson continued, "The orders remain. Kennedy-" "Will go with me," May cut in, eyes flicking to me.

I looked over to Skye, screaming, Help me! She shrugged, I can't help you, buddy.

"Ok, Kennedy with May," Coulson agreed.

"Come on," May gripped my arm and dragged me to the cockpit.

"What can you tell from the controls?" my SO asked, once at our destination. Eyes scanning over the controls, I knew exactly what had happened, but my story didn't cover for aviation."You're the pilot." She shrugged, unaffected, "You're my student." I picked the easiest piece of data, "Most of the issues are in Avionics Bay 2."

"We're good here?" I asked, eager to get back to the company of several people. She grinned, clearly enjoying tormenting me with a supernatural being on board, "Power down the controls."

Even without knowledge of aviation, anyone would know that was a bad idea. "What?" We needed to get back to safety, but May clearly didn't care, relishing in my fear,"Do it, Kennedy.""

"Fine then, Your Majesty."

The two of us were about to round the final dark corner to the Cage when Skye reached earshot, in the middle of a deep conversation.

"It's simple and it's a little sappy but, that's the version I like; 'God is love.' The thing that holds us together. And if that's true I don't think He'd punish you for making a mistake. I think He'd forgive a mistake."

There was a moment of silence when I nudged May who seemed to be in a world of her own. No doubt thinking of Bahrain.

May turned the corner, ordering, "I'll stand guard. Coulson needs helps with the emergency transceiver." Still sitting by the door, Skye answered, "I better stay here. Kennedy can too."

"It needs to get done, not discussed. And Kennedy's staying by my side." The protectiveness in her voice caught me off guard, it contrasted so differently to the cockpit. Skye turned to the door, addressing Hannah, "I'll be nearby if you need me, ok?"

Skye stood to face us, "Try not to hurt her any more than you already have, Agent May."

Once she was gone, May and I were left in the tense silence of the impenetrable darkness."You going to tell?" I asked cutting the silence. "Tell what?" My hands formed fists in my jacket, "Why they call you the Cavalry."

"Don't use that name."

"You know about me, the least you can do is return the favour." May shook her head, brushing the metal of the Cage. "There are better times for this."

"You're right," I sighed after a while of biting the inside of my cheek in thought, and was met with May's incredulous expression, "What? I can admit I'm wrong."

The lights flashed yellow and May turned to me in alarm, and after exchanging silent glances, we opened the door to Hannah, the disproved telekinetic.

Bursting the door open, my welcome came stumbling ahead of my hair. "Hi Hannah. I know this is weird, but you've got to come with us. I'm a friend of Skye's." Once she'd processed the information, Hannah nodded in May's direction, "You're with her." I shrugged nonchalantly, "She's not that bad. Deep down she's all fluff."

May yanked her out of the Bus and into the surrounding woods in which we crash landed. Almost tripping to keep up, Hannah asked, "What are you going to do?" May kept her grip on Hutchins, "Fix the problem." The telekinetic turned to me, hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, "You said fluff.

"I said deep down."

We reached May's destination; a nearby barn. And once inside, my SO began, "I don't mean to scare you I just mean to use you as bait." Checking the perimeter, I called out, "Remember the fluff." Hannah sighed, worried out of her mind. "Oh that's comforting." Leaving Hannah in the centre of the barn, May stated, "I have to draw him out. Away from my people."

"Then what will you do?" Hannah trembled, pulling her sweater sleeve over her fingers. May turned to face her, "Whatever I have to." From my place at the entrance, I added, "It's our job."

Hannah didn't have time to get comfortable; Tobias materialised in a web of black and blue.

"Tobias? Is that you?" Hannah asked him. Though Tobias had no time to answer; May was already on him.

I entered the battle alongside her and quickly realised why Coulson chose her as my SO. We fought blow for blow, equal in all but allegiance, keeping the ghost at bay. Tobias managed to get May in a hold, teleported out and before she could react, hit her across the spine.

A blow which I swiftly returned.

After what seemed like ages of adrenaline soaked combat, we managed to knock him out. With a stern, "Stay here" from May, I was assigned to protect Hannah.

Tobias and May launched into action again, the rumpus causing a rafter to fall above us. Curving my body around Hannah's I braced for the impact, an impact which never came. Tobias took the hit for us.

We scrambled away and stood by May, as it seemed she had more good luck than I did. Tobias got up yet again, making his way toward us, causing my fists to assemble.

"Tobias wait, they're friends!" Hannah pleaded, "You have to stop- please."

May, the ultimate mother bear, explained, "We believe you're trapped between worlds. This world and-" "And hell!" Tobias finished, falling to his knees, "I'm being dragged to hell for what I did."

Hannah's voice trembled, but not with sadness, "What did you do?"

"If I loosened a few bolts, and then you'd visit. It was the best part of my day. I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."

"Tobias, how could you?" Hannah questioned, though we knew the answer. "I killed them! And even worse they started blaming you and I tried to stop them." She shook her head, "But you hurt more people." Tobias attempted to defend himself, "Please, maybe if you forgive me, I won't go to hell."

"Only God can forgive you," Hannah answered.

"And he won't," May added, "You can't undo what's been done, that will be with you forever. But holding onto this, clinging to the person you could be; that's hell. And you're dragging her down with you. You have to let go, before my people come and make you do it. If you care about her and I know you do, let her go."

The rest of the team arrived, reminding me we were on opposite sides of this war. I had to stop pretending otherwise.

And Tobias turned to dust around us.

~~~

The doors to the cockpit opened, revealing the Cavalry herself.

Sprawled across the shotgun chair I sighed, "You said come to the cockpit at 1800. It's 1815. What happened?" May grinned like a demon, sitting down, "You'll see."

The cockpit grew silent again and May exhaled through her nose, "It was a welcome wagon. We were investigating an Enhanced and tracked her to Bahrain, but it went south. A civilian girl and our agents were taken hostage. I went in, and crossed them off."

"Wait, no horse?" Eyes set on the periwinkle clouds around us, May asked, "Who said anything about a horse?" I chuckled, realising how gullible I'd been today. "Fitz-Simmons. Said you had a M249 too."

May pressed a button, allowing us to hear from Bus' main room.

"It's not funny. I was sleeping peacefully," Fitz's voice echoed above everyone's chortles. The team burst out into guffaws as Fitz accused each member of the prank done to him, but I'd already pieced it together. "Well who did? Look, the bunks should be off-limits! Don't laugh! Because I know it was one of you!"

Melinda grinned like a madwoman, turned off the comms and stated, "Shaving cream.

I leaned back, coughing down laughter, "Melinda May, you ripper."