Tracing the Webs

Chapter 7

Hearing this conversation made Gwen feel uncomfortable.

"A short list, meant to protect them."

Right, and to keep track of the enhanced people. To use them. Just another reminder to keep my powers under wraps. They didn't ask to have powers.

I need to calm down or they'll be suspicious.

I should start up tai-chi again.

"Though in rare cases, SHIELD has had to take action."

Gwen shifted her weight.

She refocused on the case at hand. Chan Ho Yin's disappearance.

"They were wearing fireproof clothing, so they knew about him," Gwen commented. "How?"

Detective Kwan told them how. "It was the Rising Tide."

Gwen felt a brief moment of surprise before she remembered that Skye from the show did indeed do something stupid.

They all turned to Skye.

Coulson asked if Gwen knew anything. To which she responded, "I do not know everything she does with her time. I barely knew about her 'hacktivism.'"

And when they found out about Skye's secret boyfriend, Coulson asked her again. To which she repeated, "I do not know what she does in all of her free time. We're close but we don't talk about boys or stuff like that."

Gwen sighed and looked at Coulson. "Her heart's in the right place, but she made a mistake. What are you going to do?"

Coulson opened the door and looked her square in the eye. "Depends on what happens to Mr. Chan." He paused before walking out. "If Skye doesn't remain on the plane, what do you plan to do?"

That won't happen, though.

"If Skye ends up leaving the team and the plane, I would still stay. This is where I want to be." These were her true thoughts on the scenario.

Coulson nodded, "good."

They walked out and she was greeted with the sight of Skye sitting by herself on the couch, as agents looked through Miles Lydon's stuff.

Gwen turned to Fitz, who was adding Simmons questions she couldn't answer. "Aren't we her friends?"

"She didn't even tell me. Maybe it was to keep me out of it, protect me. But, they share a world that none of us do. They have a bond because of the Rising Tide's morals that we'll never understand." Gwen crossed her arms.

"Who knows what they've been through together," Simmons offered.

Despite the fact that Gwen knew about this by watching the show, the fact that Skye didn't tell her about Miles still hurt.

"Do we have to?" Gwen questioned when Coulson said they had to unlock Lydon's cuffs.

She was sure that she wasn't the only one hesitant to release him when she saw Fitz-Simmons' faces. For some reason, he really rubbed her the wrong way.

Perhaps it was his lack of remorse for what his actions have led to.

"We need him to make sure that we minimize the damage. He's the only one there that can hack the server," Coulson responded over the com.

Minimize the damage? "Coulson, what are you going to do?"

"Mr. Chan is past the point of return, and we have no way to bring him in. We have a plan to stop him, but it requires Lydon to redirect the vents to channel the blast to the roof."