Chapter 11: T.A.H.I.T.I

Hello again! Really, I have no clue what to put here, but it is Australia Day at the moment so Happy Australia Day! If that applies.

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Chapter 11: T.A.H.I.T.I

"How was HYDRA founded, Aurelia?" asked Wanda. Back in the dream room, my interrogator changed forms each time I blinked: my clone, the twins, Crystal, even to Sergeant James.

"HYDRA was founded by Schmidt on the belief that the loss of innocent life should be avoided at all costs."

"Wrong," my clone corrected, hands clasped behind her back, "HYDRA was founded by Schmidt on the belief that humanity couldn't be trusted with freedom."

"That..." "Makes sense?" Pietro offered. The sight of him yanked the air out of me, so I blinked, revealing Crystal, which was even worse, so I blinked again and was met with Sergeant James.

"Stupid, I was going to say stupid." James shook his head, blue-grey eyes sparkling, left metal arm shining. "You're close; the fact that you're here says so."

~~~

Since the dreams started, I had avoided sleep, but after the undercover op, I had no choice. A nurse stood entered the waiting room where the team remained since our arrival. "How is she?" Coulson asked.

"Not good. The shots perforated her stomach and penetrated the large and small intestines. We resected what we could but there's too much damage." My fists clenched, nails digging into my palms. "So what's next?"

The nurse nodded gravely, "We can keep her comfortable, but you'll need to make a decision whether or not to keep her on life support." In my mental distress, I caught May's eye, who seemed to be thinking the violent thoughts I was, though when she saw my fury, she mouthed Stand down.

"You're saying there's nothing to be done?" Coulson asked, though we all knew the answer, and the nurse's reply was unneeded- to call her family. "We're her family," Coulson murmured.

As the news settled in, May rushed off, and I tried to follow. But seeing my advances, she pushed me away.

So I stood there in the hallway, unsure.

Once the team was back in the Bus, Coulson gathered Fitz-Simmons and I to the lab. When the files labelled 'T.A.H.IT.I,' dropped on the desk, I knew my mission was about to end.

But I wasn't relieved in any sense, rather, part of me wanted to stay. It was an odd thought, that I had found friends in S.H.I.E.L.D of all places.

"That can't be! What you're describing is medically impossible," Simmons exclaimed, after Coulson clarified the facts of his death. "Except that I'm standing here. Proof that it's not impossible, and here's more proof, the file describing how they brought me back."

Fitz looked to the files, and back to Coulson, "Sir, it's against the law for us to read this."

"I don't care about your clearance level. I'm ordering you to read it."

"But I'm not a real agent, sir," I pointed out, clenching shaking fists hoping no one would notice. It was hard to imagine these hands ending 108 lives. "You're studying forensic science, specialising in molecular biology. We need every chance we can get."

"Yes sir."

I scoured my eyes over the report, brain whirring to decipher the jargon which the doctors had inflicted on Coulson. By the time my HYDRA phone vibrated, I was grateful for the release, so I excused myself from the lab, rushing to my cabin and locking the door.

"Any updates?" Whitehall asked once I answered. My brain grew numb, I had the answers downstairs, but my instincts told me to refrain. "No, but I'm close." Through the call, Whitehall chuckled, "I expected a little more from you." Rolling my eyes but revealing no other sign of my annoyance, I replied, "I'll work harder."

"See to it you will. I have an agent headed to you on S.H.I.E.L.D's orders, perhaps he will help. He knows who you are."

On my way back down, I walked in on a new agent entering the plane, though he spotted me first. Seeing me stop, the man smiled one of those smiles you see only once in your life.

The smile of a killer.

Behind him, another agent entered, whether he was HYDRA or not, I didn't know, but both men introduced themselves to Coulson as I walked towards them. "Agent Antoine Triplett, Agent Phillip Coulson."

Upon introduction, Triplett nodded, "An honour, sir." It was then he turned to me, "Who's this?" Coulson seemed surprised, noticing my presence, "Our other student; Kennedy Montgomery, this is Agent John Garrett, he's one of our finest." John Garrett held out his hand, which I clasped with enough strength to let him know who I was should he be Whitehall's man.

Garrett winked.

"A pleasure, sir."

~~~

"The Guest House isn't a S.H.I.E.L.D facility. We don't know who or what's in there, so we need to prepare for resistance," Coulson instructed, assembling his gun. We all crouched in the cargo deck, the sound of guns coming together clucking like hens.

Assembling a larger gun, Garrett looked up, "No contact from inside?" Garrett, despite being a new arrival, had settled well thanks to being a good friend of Coulson's and an experience agent, that much was evident from the small pot belly.

"I've tried every channel- no response," May replied.

Fitz rushed in, reporting Skye was prepped to be moved at a moment's notice.

Crossing my arms, I looked down at Garrett, and he winked again. I had 2 other HYDRA members with me now, constantly watching, surveilling my every move, something S.H.I.E.L.D hadn't done.

"We do our jobs right and this'll go peacefully," Coulson stated, once we were ready. "What if they don't want to help us?" Garrett loaded his own firearm, the click rattling like a dying man's breath, "I'll say pretty please."

"We need the doctors alive, and the place intact. If it does go sideways, Fitz, I need you down there to determine what Simmons can use to work on Skye. And then we take it. Let's move."

As we set out for the base, May held me back. "Kennedy? You get through this, you help us out, you could get your badge."

I was more happy about that than I cared to admit.

After much work to get inside, the guards of the Guest House- the facility which housed the drug GH-325- opened fire at us. The team raced towards the office desks for cover, Fitz and I crouching behind one together, I clutched the knives that May had finally entrusted.

Coulson yelled, "We've come for medical assistance, but if you continue firing at us, we will defend our-" he was cut off by yet more gunfire.

Summoning my courage, I reached over and threw a knife as Coulson grabbed one of Fitz's inventions, throwing it as light exploded from it's metal cage. "Clear!"

The 3 of us relaxed against the desk, though I remained by Fitz's side.

Once set up, we began to try to turn on the lights. But a small flashing red light originated from the corner of my eye. And as the movies say, nothing bad ever happens with a flashing red light. "Fitz, what's that?" I asked as he typed away.

Garrett walked towards the red light too, which turned out to be a timer.

"Hail HYDRA," Garrett whispered once we were close enough so Fitz wouldn't hear. I grinned and winked, as he yelled to Ward & Coulson, "We got a problem!"

The two came running, as Garrett inspected, "The whole place is rigged to blow." If Fitz's calculations were correct, there was enough to blow the whole mountain which we were located within. Ward picked up the clock, "Sir, less than 10 minutes."

"It's some kind of emergency override. Skye could probably get past it but I can't hack the panel which means we're trapped," Fitz answered. Lovely, the time we needed Skye the most and she was on life support.

Coulson and Fitz ran off to find the GH-325, leaving us HYDRA members alone.

Ward disassembled the clock to disable the bomb, though it seemed to be just a timer. "Detonator must be somewhere else," Ward sighed, dropping the clock.

Garrett shook his head, resigned, "It's not in here, or I'd have found it," he turned to me, "How's you're mission going, Tempest? This place looks like answers, you could go home, be rid of these fools."

Fool- probably not the word I'd use to describe Coulson's team, not a single one were less than genius in their respective fields.

"Sounds nice, but I haven't got my hands on those answers," I lied, glancing at Ward to shut him up. Garrett chuckled, "Whitehall did not seem pleased when he called."

Lovely, I had pissed Whitehall off, just what I needed.

"Whitehall's Whitehall, it's nothing special."

Ward looked up from the clock, eyebrow raised in awe and fear, "He's a leader of HYDRA." I lifted myself to sit cross legged on a desk, "He's essentially my dad; I'm not scared of him." Ward sighed in frustration, "I'll get Coulson and Fitz."

Once Ward left, Garrett placed a hand on my shoulder, "Get the mission finished, Aurelia, before all hell breaks loose." I shook his hand off, keeping eye contact, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know what they say; out of the shadows, into the light."

Biting back a sarcastic comment, Ward returned with Fitz who held small vial in his fist. "You got it?" I asked, just to be safe. Fitz lifted the vial as Garrett set up the explosive to open the door, and once he was finished, Ward set it off using a bullet, the crash reverberating through the chamber.

The two agents held open either door, grunting with the strength. "Can you slip through?" Garrett asked Fitz, who fit through and ran to the Bus. "Au-" Garett started, "Kennedy, go with him. Get that drug up there!"

I caught up to the engineer in no time, and together we burst into the Bus, panting hard. "We found it," Fitz and I stated, sprinting into the room to see Simmons giving Skye CPR, "What is it? And how much? Injected where?" Simmons asked, breathless.

Triplett, who had been watching beside Simmons reached for Skye's forearm, exposing the crease where needles were often injected.

Once the needle was ready, Simmons injected the GH-325, just as Coulson sprinted in, screaming, "Don't give it to her!"

"I was losing her anyway what harm could I do?" Simmons sighed, looking down on Skye's still body. We all stared at the device monitoring her pulse, resting at 21bpm- too low. "Come on, girl," Triplett murmured, and as if on cue, the monitor jumped from 21 to 60.

Skye's chest rose as if a god's hand had dipped inside, monitor glaring as her pulse leaped to 195- too high.

"She's spiking."

The room exploded into chaos as we encircled Skye, helpless as her body tried to accept the drug.

"Stop it, how can we stop it?"

All of us, scientists and operatives, S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA, stood utterly useless. The one emotion we had trained so hard to never feel.

"I don't know!"

Simmons sobbed as Skye gasped, salvaging oxygen, veins purple and skin lavender.

"Do something we have to do something!"

Skye's body dropped back to the mattress, gasps dropping in volume as the monitor ceased it's beating, displaying 60- safe.

"Her heart beat...she's stabilising."

"Can someone tell me what we just saw?" Ward asked, baffled like the all of us. Triplett chuckled, "Girl's a fighter. What was that stuff you just gave her?" Simmons looked up at Coulson in front of me and exchanged a glance, and replied, "I don't know, but it worked."

"You're a real miracle worker."

Garrett pushed a note in my hand, the paper softly crinkling in my palm like bones. When he had the time to write it, I had no idea, but I didn't care. After the adrenaline of worrying for Skye's survival, I didn't need more HYDRA drama.

Garrett and Triplett left, taking Quinn with them, and giving me a proper window to finally leave Skye in her fragile state. Alone once again, I folded open the note, and crushed it once I read the single sentence.

Get it done. I'll be back soon, and Whitehall better have answers.