Chapter 9: The Magical Place

Happy New Year! I hope 2016 is a great year for everyone reading this! I hope to get this book done sometime this year (obviously) so I can get started on other projects.  

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Chapter 9: The Magical Place

36 hours proceeding Coulson's kidnapping, and my anxiety was through the roof.

HQ sent in huge amounts of manpower, including Agent Victoria Hand, an agent I was wanted to be my mission sometime soon.

In an attempt to escape from her red streaked presence, I stayed in my cabin, trying to keep my head calm despite the illegal emotion boiling in the pit of my stomach.

Then, a rather familiar alarm rang across the plane; Skye had managed to lockdown the systems again. I didn't think much of it, thanks to Skye's computer nanny aka Bracelet of Death, she hadn't been able to access so much as her phone account.

At least until I heard through the doors, "I want you off this plane immediately."

Throwing my book down and rushing next door, Ward and I asked, "What?"

Surprise, surprise, it was Hand that was bringing the thunder.

Skye powered past us to Hand walking down the Bus, "Wait! I know I'm not some badass field agent like May or Ward but this is what I do. You can't kick me off this mission!" She calmed down, "Listen, I'll do whatever you say, all this protocol crap doesn't matter, what matters is Coulson."

Victoria seemed unfazed, "Well protocol crap matters to me; you're a distraction and you're gone."

Ward added, "Agent Hand, I know Skye's methods are unorthodox, but she's a member of this team, she can help." I nodded along, hoping my support would aid Skye's case, "Kicking her off would be like loosing a limb."

"Don't push it, recruit."

Biting back my own insults, I remained silent, boiling beneath my skin. Hand continued turning to May beside us, "Agent May, your professional opinion; will this girl be of any use to us on this plane?" Hope replacing my anger, I blinked widely at my SO.

"No."

Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D loyalties only ran so deep. Had this been HYDRA, a team would never betray the other.

Hand turned to her men and that was the last straw. If I couldn't kill them as an act of rebellion, I would have to try other outlets. "If Skye goes I should too; it's only fair." Skye shook her head, placing a hand on my shoulder, and friendship in her eyes, "No, we don't want the team to be more out manned than we already are."

"You sure?" Despite her situation, Skye smiled, "Yep. Keep them in line." And with that, Skye left, Ward by her side.

Once they were gone, I turned to my SO, "I know you and Skye butt heads, but I got to admit, that was out of line." Staring after Skye, May answered, "All I did was tell the truth."

I rolled my eyes, praying to some higher power to give me strength; loyalty to friends came way before honesty, May doing otherwise baffled me.

"By kicking Skye off the plane?"

"You want to be a S.H.I.E.L.D agent?" I brought my eyebrows together, confused at the engima before me, "Why do you think I'm still here?" May turned me to face the other soldiers, "Look at the amount of agents here." I looked back at her, stating the obvious, "There's a lot more than usual."

"Exactly. Skye works better outside the system," May concluded, releasing me and retreating, "You're welcome."

~~~

"What fresh heaven is this?" I asked, holding yet another Fitz-Simmons invention. Simmons snatched the device, passing it over to Fitz who began fixing a screw.

"The Centipede soldiers have a port on their delivery device to inject refills," Fitz explained. He finished with the screwdriver, showing it off to Ward and May, "With this injector cuff, we can use the port to our advantage." Simmons took the device off Fitz, "By injecting a dose of dendrotoxin to incapacitate the soldier."

"How's it work?"

She shrugged, holding the device over Ward's wrist, needle unsheathing, "Just simply lock it around the soldier's forearm."

I smiled; once again, the duo had managed to create a genius invention. If only they'd been HYDRA, we would have annihilated S.H.I.E.L.D. Ward wasn't as convinced, "Sounds like riding a bull for 8 seconds."

Fitz nodded, staring up at Ward, "Yeah, exactly, it's that simple."

From Simmons' pocket, a phone rang. "Hello?" Simmons greeted, and confirmed it was Skye with several embarrassing phrases like 'manscaping.' To my side, May rolled her eyes and ripped the phone from Simmons, "Skye, what have you found?"

Skye had followed a money trail, finding Centipede had recently bought a property in the desert. Which most likely meant that this new property was Coulson's new location.

Hand began to send her own team out, when my own team decided to branch off- by doing perhaps the worst plan, telling Victoria Hand.

Upon hearing it, she scoffed, "We're about to launch a major assault on Centipede and you want to take your team to the desert based on a hunch from Skye?"

"It's not a hunch," Ward growled. In that moment, I prayed to the HYDRA gods that Whitehall would let me kill her when this was all over. Fitz nodded, "Skye followed the money to Centipede." As per usual, Simmons added on to Fitz' statement, "Turns out they recently purchased a small development less than 100 miles from here."

And per usual, Hand didn't care, "That's great news for their real estate portfolio. But we have confirmed activity at the lab, I'm taking a Strike team to investigate, end of story."

"So we split up, you take the Strike team and go after Centipede, we'll investigate Skye's lead, see if Coulson's there," May suggested, though it sounded more of a command than anything else. That was my SO.

It dawned on Hand's face of May's true intentions all along, "You wanted to back my decision to kick Skye off the plane."

"Seems like it worked out."

"Seems like you played me."

"Seems like my SO owned your ass."

Ward shook his head, urging to stop the rising intensity, "This isn't personal, but I am taking my team, and we're gonna find Coulson. Send backup if you want."

And with that, we were free from Hand.

The ride to the property was a surprisingly stressful one.

Despite my training, despite the constant drilling, I couldn't help but let my mind wander through the states that we could find Coulson. Clenching my jaw, I tried to ward off the feelings of anxiety; he was S.H.I.E.L.D, I needn't care about his wellbeing, his death would be a blessing, nothing I should waste my breath about.

And yet, the image of Phil's bloody body, bruised and beaten, still and cold, was enough for me to swallow my screams.

The new property Centipede had bought was creepy as hell and as useless as a needle. The wooden town itself was deserted, save for the mannequins that were placed around like a giant's dollhouse, like a nuclear testing town that had been spared.

Skye was easy to find; May ran over the soldier about to attack her. Once she was by our side again, Skye stated, "Coulson's got to be here; we need to split up."

"Or run," Simmons suggested, noticing the soldier behind us. Decked in full gear, I gulped, "I like that idea." Ward pulled out Fitz-Simmons' device, "I'll take care of him." I started to scan the surroundings for any sign of Coulson, but he was probably in one of the many cottages.

May gathered the remaining agents under her wing, "Come on, let's move!"

And so the search for Coulson began.

May and I ran off as a duo, taking down whoever- or more relevant, whatever- stood in our way. Searching in every shack, every house, every home, knocking down doors and ransacking rooms.

In that moment, I let go of my protocols- Coulson was my mission, and I had to get to him, for his information or for myself, I didn't know, nor did I care, because I needed him for both. As if in reply, Coulson's cry echoed throughout the town.

Skye reached the cabin before May and I did.

Coulson lay, bloody, bruised and beaten on a machine. Both his eyes were closed, though his left harboured a deep cut, white shirt stained with the same liquid. He lay utterly still, muttering, "Please let me die," over and over and over again.

The cut of those words dove so deep they rendered my useless.

Whatever he was seeing behind his eyelids made me shudder, to make a man like Coulson plead for the mercy of death.

The machine powered down, leaving Coulson gasping from the release. Once his right eye opened enough to see Skye clothing his hands, he relaxed sighing her name as he fell asleep, this time to more peaceful images, settling my unease.

My mission was still a go.