Chapter 13: Turn, Turn, Turn

Ok, so I've been wanting to write this chapter for a while, and I finished it last week, and then I forgot to publish it. So sorry! I'm writing the dialogue for the next chapter now, so it should be out faster, though my homework is really in the way, as in, I have 3 French tests next week. 

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Chapter 13: Turn, Turn, Turn

"Was that an order? To shoot me in the bloody head?"

With my head pulsing, my eyes fluttered open, bearings slowly returning.

Right; everything was going to crap.

"Hold on," Coulson barked, now down the stairs, his aim still at May, "we aren't headed to Fury anymore." We were headed to Nick Fury? "I don't know where we're headed, and I can't get Fury on the line because Fitz cut it!"

"Skye and Kennedy told me to!" Standing up, I realised my part was false, but I'd go along with it. Skye shook her head, "Someone was talking to the real Clairvoyant." May managed to keep herself composed, hardly moving. "Fitz, want to explain why you were tampering with the plane's SAT cable?"

Fitz said he was completing maintenance, not tampering. "Because that's relevant! Don't turn this around on me!"

Coulson switched hands on the gun, facing him, "Fitz." He looked to Coulson, then to May in surrender, "I was trying to speak with Simmons at the Hub."

I understood the 2 were close but an encrypted line was pushing it. Coulson asked the same thing, but Fitz cut in angrily, "Simmons and I know you and Skye have been hiding things about GH-325! Simmons' just trying to understand how it works!"

"Fitz, who's she talking to?" May asked, careless of the weapons pointed at her head; the drug was much more precious. Keeping his gun aimed, Coulson approached Fitz, asking for entry. Fitz refused, and with good reason; this place was a war zone. We managed to convince him to do so, Skye entering with orders to find our destination.

May looked on, asking, "Coulson-" "You stay put!" he yelled and turned to Fitz, "Tell me who Simmons is talking to, because if it isn't someone we trust, she's in serious danger. And Kennedy?"

Leaning against the car's hood I replied, "Yes sir?" Even with the moment's intensity, he asked, "You feeling alright? That was a nasty fall."

If I hadn't been aiming my icer myself, I would have hit him. "You saw me hit my head on the car and you ignored it?" Coulson shrugged, cold demeanour falling into place once he laid eyes on May, "I was caught up in the moment."

"Nice to know you care."

Minutes later, Skye pulled up a signal, but not helpful ones. "What do you mean 'noise?'" Coulson asked, gun still pointed at May, who'd entered too. The rest of us encircled Skye's laptop, confused at the noise in question. "I mean noise across every S.H.I.E.L.D channel." Coulson turned back to May, "You want to fill us in? We root you out, and suddenly the plane shuts down."

"I don't know what's happening, I wish I did. You have to believe me." Coulson didn't.

I wasn't one to judge, but this was the 1st time I had seen them act how I'd been taught. When everything went wrong, as anyone would.

A voice crackled across the Bus, "Do you read, 6-16? Enemy aircraft on my tail, over."

Garrett.

Lovely, a mole- my SO- is rooted, and the most annoying agent since Strucker was returning on the Bus. Why couldn't Trip visit as often? He was far less an eyesore. Minutes later Garrett boarded the Bus, whom I directly avoided, staying by Skye's side as she decoded the signal.

"It's a simple message repeated. It should only take a minute longer to decipher," Skye explained as we watched intently.

"Can I ask the obvious question?" Garrett exploded, "What the hell?" That reaction was perfectly reasonable considering you were chased by S.H.I.E.L.D's drones. "We don't know. We don't even know where our plane's headed."

"I saw your trajectory; you're being sent to the Hub."

"Victoria Hand," Coulson whispered. Fitz stood by my side, answering, "Hand? Can't be." With a quick glance his way, I realised I was far enough to be safe from Garrett when he'd no doubt look for me afterwards. "Can't be what now?" John asked.

"The Clairvoyant."

Garrett looked at Skye in disbelief, "I thought Ward capped that guy." The room grew silent, waiting for Coulson's theory. "I don't believe the man Ward killed was the Clairvoyant. I think he was a decoy." It was a plausible idea, with enough evidence, but raised more questions. "That's a lot of trouble for a red herring."

"Because the Clairvoyant is a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, using high level clearance to stay ahead, making it seem like she's got psychic abilities."

"You think Victoria Hand's the Clairvoyant?"

Coulson raised his eyebrows as if to say, Isn't it obvious? "That doesn't make sense," Garrett reasoned, "I was stationed with Vic in Lisbon, she's a hardass but you really think she's capable?"

"Excuse me, didn't she just try to blow you out of the sky?"

"Don't get me wrong she's definitely crazy," he replied, "but her actions prove she's not the Clairvoyant. She's been hiding in plain sight all this time. Why reveal herself now?" I realised something was off; Skye had stopped typing. She stared at the screen, which was silent too.

"Out of the shadows, into the light," I read out once the text was clear, mind flashing to when Garrett and Ward told me those words. Another phrase appeared on the board; HYDRA.

After the 'revelation' that HYDRA was still around, the 4 of us travelled to the ramp. "I thought HYDRA was defeated after World War 2," Fitz commented, pacing. Coulson nodded, strolling too, "S.H.I.E.L.D was founded afterwards." Fitz stopped pacing "And now they're back?"

"HYDRA always comes back."

"Cut off the head, 2 more will take it's place," Coulson recited, making repulsion fight its way up my oesophagus, burning skin with cold fever. There was something off about Coulson saying that.

"It's got to be an activation signal to HYDRA members within S.H.I.E.L.D," Skye explained. Coulson accused Hand of being 1 of those agents, unaware of those in his presence. "Ok, stop," Fitz pleaded, "What does that mean? In S.H.I.E.L.D?"

I couldn't help but wonder if this was why Whitehall wanted me out. Garrett put his hands on his hips, "Targeting Level 8 agents, seizing power. Wonder how deep it goes."

"The signal is everywhere. Deep."

"You know what this means?" Garrett chuckled that we were screwed.

"We can't change course," Coulson pointed out, "and we don't know what's at the Hub." Garrett stepped closer, "I say we blow a hole in this puppy and parachute out, live to fight another day." There it was; the HYDRA self preservation. I used to have it myself, but now I wanted to fight.

"We can't."

"It's a cherry ride, I'll give you that, but let's not hand over the keys," Garrett replied. Fitz, who'd been leaning on the wall for support, added, "Simmons is at the Hub." I hated to say it, but I'd forgotten about Simmons' and Trip's departure. "Crap, yeah," Garrett sighed, "I don't like the odds."

With the conversation finished and plan constructed, the team disassembled, but I was unable to escape Garrett. I spoke first; "This HYDRA thing? You knew?" He chuckled, reaching the wall above and caging me, "Of course I knew. I've been at this forever." I tore away the roof of his cage, though the rest wouldn't be an issue.

"You realise who I am, right?" The agent seemed unstirred, staring me down with intensities I hadn't encountered. "Yeah I do. And I'm not scared."

We remained silent, grasping to find words, but Garrett spoke, "You were never supposed to know." My eyes widened and fists clenched, "Never supposed to know?"

"You weren't supposed to stay here this long. And now you've put a real spanner in the works," Garrett grumbled, walking away. He stopped once he had taken 5 steps, "You may have allowed S.H.I.E.L.D to survive. Happy now?"

I didn't have time to revel in my mischief, or ponder over the secret that HYDRA hid as Coulson assigned me to guard May, a task I wasn't looking forward to. The door's opening creak startled her, eyes widening when she saw me, "Coulson assigned you?"

She said 'you' like I was the last person she expected to see.

I shrugged, "Yeah. I never thought this would happen though." May agreed, and we fell into our usual silence.

HYDRA had been in S.H.I.E.L.D since the beginning, and that had been hidden from me since the start. Not once had I heard a whisper of their undercover op. They had gone against their most basic morals; freedom, equality and independence.

Looking at it now, HYDRA had never really exercised any of those, S.H.I.E.L.D had, they had since I entered the Bus.

"So this whole time, you've been a double agent?" I asked, breaking the silence. May nodded, rubbing the gauze over a wound. "It was for Coulson's good." I asked whether she had other motives, to which she declined with such an intensity she couldn't have been lying.

"What did Fury say?" I asked, since she'd used the line beforehand. She looked at me like I was psychic. "I'm not an idiot, it was either Hill or him."

"I called Fury; and he's dead."

It took a while for that news to sink in. Nicholas J Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Assembler of Avengers, and a very hard man to kill, had been just that- killed.

Now, crawling through the halls of the Hub, the team split; Skye and Ward to do something technical, and everyone else retrieve Simmons.

Garrett, Fitz and I dressed ourselves as guards and put the others in cuffs for the first part of our plan. And doing the first step, we burst through the doors, Garrett yelling, "Caught 'em, slippery bastards. Agent May took 1 in the arm," gesturing to May's bandaged limb, he pointed to Fitz and I, "softies wouldn't let her bleed out."

One of the 2 guards approached John, "Do you need medical assistance?" The HYDRA operative nodded, "Just your sidearm," and proceeded to strike his face, knocking him out cold.

The scuffle was short; I only needed to knee the remaining guard in a special place and elbow the face to finish. Fitz muttered about Simmons as he reached the computers, typing frantically.

Within minutes of scouring feeds, I managed to find not Simmons, but the next best option; "Agent Hand! Outside the East Wing Situation Room." Fitz burst to life, making my insides melt with devotion; that could save his life one day. "Simmons there? We're not moving until we find Simmons."

Garrett paced, "All say it again, best bet to save her; use the ventilation system to get above the room, drop down and put 2 bullets in Hand's heart."

"That's an option," Fitz nodded, who I agreed with; Simmons and Trip were currently stuck in a melting pot of HYDRA agents. "Without questioning?" Coulson inquired, which angered Garrett, "Questioning what? Whether she wants to kill us fast or slow?" Coulson pressed on, "Last time we shot the wrong man."

"Because she wanted us to! This is a battle for S.H.I.E.L.D's soul and we're on the front lines."

"That's right, it's for S.H.I.E.L.D's soul, and murder without consideration-" "Consideration?" Garett fumed, "Consider this! She had 1 of my men killed with a bomb rigged to his gas pedal, the others were floating in a motel pool and they weren't doing the backstroke."

"We can just as easily ice her," May pointed out. He shook his head, "You don't put someone like her on ice. She had Skye shot in the stomach! Mike Peterson burned alive, and turned into a freak. She tortured you, using the same machine she used to brainwash that bitch in the flower dress..."

I stopped listening because I picked up a fault, and Coulson did too; eyes wide at the truth, fighting against the weight of the veracity.

"I never mentioned that," he muttered.

It dawned on everyone else, we all started to step away in fear of the monster he was.

"I never said Raina had been inside the machine, I never told anybody."

Garrett was the Clairvoyant.

"I must've read it in a report," the Clairvoyant insisted. His pleas were stupid, even Fitz had caught on, reaching for my hand and gripping it with a soldier's strength. "You weren't with us." Garrett sighed, trying to maintain his lost control, "How many more have to suffer?" Coulson shook his head as he realised, "You showed up right after."

"What are you driving at?"

"After Skye was shot, Quinn said it was so I could lead the Clairvoyant to the cure. That's what I did, I walked you in there."

The surprise made me squeeze Fitz's hand in full strength. He winced and looked at me like a child getting punished.

"It's been a rough day, I get it, but you need to take a second..." Garrett trailed off and saw our faces, realising we were beyond saving, "Dammit."

The doors erupted with soldiers, yelling orders to surrender. Garrett raised his hands, as though he were a conductor, "Take it easy!" Coulson yelled to the soldiers that he was the Clairvoyant; a traitor, but they were silent. "Gentlemen," Garrett drawled, "I know Agent Sitwell was in charge of filling your ranks so a few of you know what to do."

A group of them aimed at their comrades and shot, the hunted dropping to the floor; dead.

"Hail HYDRA!"

I was deeply, and utterly screwed.

"Those 3 men in your unit," Coulson sighed, "guess they asked the wrong questions." Garrett seemed unaffected that he'd murdered his own, saying HYDRA had been about keeping quiet. Fitz hadn't let go of my hand, and mumbled, "Are you going to kill us?"

"That wasn't my plan, otherwise I could've done it anytime I wanted."

"Fury would bury you for this," Coulson spat. Garrett exhaled, indicating he didn't care, "Instead, he'll have to roll over in his grave. He must've uncovered our secret; top brass had to do what they had to."

Top brass; HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D as high as they came, and I had no clue. "We had a good thing going too; waving the S.H.I.E.L.D flag as hard as we could." Coulson seemed to not be shocked into submission, but more determined, "For HYDRA? You believe that crap? Spreading death & destruction?"

That was what they thought HYDRA believed? That was what I'd been taught about S.H.I.E.L.D, and yet, each had done the opposite.

"I felt the wind changing direction and swung my sail. You should too," Garrett advised.

"I would die before serving HYDRA you sick son of a bitch."

It was weird even contemplating it, but I could see where Coulson was coming from. Garrett shrugged, "I hate to tell you but, you've been serving HYDRA all along. I guess death is the only alternative, it's a shame I consider you a friend. I was happy when I heard you made it through."

"So happy you had me tortured for 3 days to discover how they did it."

"I didn't enjoy that. This is me being honest." Fitz squeezed my hand again, and I squeezed back. There was no way I was going to let go. "This is you being a psychopath."

Garrett walked to May, "I know you'd follow him to the grave so..." He raised the left corner of his mouth and moved to Fitz, "As for you, you'll hold a high rank in our tech division if you volunteer. If not, you'll hold no rank and pain. Either way, your services are required."

Fitz's grip had become lethal, and he looked Garrett straight in the eye with damp cheeks, "You're going to suffer for what you've done, I plan on being a part of that." Garrett smiled genuinely, "I like you kid."

"And Kennedy Montgomery, from files on both ends, you're very helpful. But best to discuss that later." I knew that if I spoke, I'd lose inhibitions and snap his neck, so I just stared, letting him know optically.

"Alright, let 'em have it."

They surged forward, but no shots sounded; the lights flickered. With a bang, they went out entirely, scarlet emergency lights flashing, causing a nauseating strobe effect. Fitz ran under a desk, and I stood a few metres in front, protecting him.

The first solder was easy; I reached for his legs and flipped him, stepping on his wrist before he could fire and landing a clip in the face.

I knew I was fighting against my own and if Whitehall ever knew I'd be so dead, but I didn't care.

The second was harder; I had to dodge a few bullets, but I managed to wrench the weapon away and knock him out. The last soldier had seen what I did, and came with a move that I couldn't counter. So I dropped to my knees, executing a 'Drop It Like It's Hot,' not caring if anyone saw. Once he was down, I elbowed his face to make sure he was out.

2 gunshots sounded, which were from Fitz who he dropped the firearm as though contagious.

Once the fight ended, more agents rushed in. I was about to exhale and surrender when I saw Hand, complete with red streaks. And by her side,Trip and Simmons, who raced to Fitz. Coulson announced he wasn't HYDRA, as if we hadn't noticed. "We heard- everything," Hand replied as an agent pulled a bug from behind a pipe. "Who is? How deep does it go?" he asked.

Hand was silent; most people, and too deep.

The HYDRA agents were lead out, each accompanied by S.H.I.E.L.D agents, looking pretty sorry for themselves. I watched them go, wondering if any knew who I was, and if any were going to rat me out, because I didn't want to go.

If I had to deal with HYDRA again, I'd scream. I was confused and lonely, with no one to turn to. I remembered the last time I'd felt this way, when I first met Crystal, and how she had made me feel; it confused me for a while but I'd given in.

But this was going to take time and I needed one thing to prove who was right; S.H.I.E.L.D's reports on my missions.

"I saw you fighting back there," May stated. So she'd seen me, which was expected, since I'd gone all out. I shrugged, hoping she wouldn't press further, "And I beat them, thanks to my SO." May shook her head, "The way you fought; that was something different." I passed it off as my SO raised an eyebrow, "Maybe you'll enlighten me sometime."

She walked off, suspicion growing from where her boots clicked against the ground.

"Hopefully you won't have to."