Rain dumped down on Seth's position as he patiently waited for his team to get in position. He was currently a couple hundred meters away from an abandoned warehouse where Hartley had set up a sting operation for them.
Only a few minutes later, he heard Skye through comms, "We've got ears on them. The package is in the open."
"Don't engage until the deal's done," May warned.
"Copy that," Skye chambered her ICER.
"Tripp, we got eyes," May asked
Seth swung his scope to a shattered window, a perfect view of the operation, "Archangel, in position."
"Now we do," Tripp answered May, pulling out a tablet showing the meeting.
"That's what I'm selling," Ex-agent Browning dropped a packet on the table, "I'm sure you'd like to see some credentials."
He flashed his S.H.I.E.L.D. badge.
"Agent Browning, for ex-S.H.I.E.L.D., you seem awfully indifferent to who we are," Hartley commented.
"What you are is the highest bidder," Browning put his badge away, "Whether you're in it for profit or for HYDRA, it doesn't concern me, not anymore."
Seth felt his finger brush against the trigger at the mention of HYDRA, images of agents holding guns on Simmons flashing through his mind.
"That's what we like to hear," Hartley crossed her arms.
"What are they buying from him," May asked.
"Intel, not hardware," Tripp answered, eyes glued to the monitor.
Idaho brought over a briefcase full of cash, opening it and showing Browning the contents.
Just as he was reaching for it, Hunter slammed the lid closed, "The mystery I'd like to solve is, why should we be paying you so much? This looks like a box--Sorry--A picture of a box. A picture of a box that you don't have."
Browning glanced between Hunter and Hartley, "The government has it, along with thousands of other assets they've seized from S.H.I.E.L.D., and they don't know what to make of half of them. I worked in a S.H.I.E.L.D. containment facility that had hundreds of boxes that look just like this. But this is the only one that has a level ten classified file dedicated to it."
Hunter looked at Hartley.
"You're selling us a needle in a haystack," Hartley voiced.
"Finding the haystack is up to you. I know your reputation, I'm sure you'll be fine," He fired back, "What I don't appreciate is you changing the terms on me now."
Seth let his view wander around the property, the rain making visibility a challenge.
"We're asking for clarification, Browning," Hartley replied calmly, "You're the one who changed the terms, bringing more than the two guards we agreed upon."
"I only brought two guards," Browning stuttered as he turned around.
Seth swung his scope back to the meeting in a heartbeat to find a man charging Browning.
The unidentified man dispatched both of Browning's guards effortlessly before snapping his neck. Hartley and Hunter wasted no time in dumping rounds into him, only for the man to stand back up.
"Archangel, going hot," Seth reported before sending rounds downrange.
He didn't have the extra second to line up a headshot so he settled for sending those burning rounds center mass. The bullets flashed up on impact but didn't cause any real damage.
The enhanced assailant quickly relieved Hunter of his sidearm, threw him over the table, grabbed the file, and jumped out a window outside of Seth's view.
As the mercenaries recuperated, Browning's guards were recovering, turning their weapons on the mercenaries before Skye and May brought them down with ICERs.
"What the Hell are you doing here," Hartley asked, lowering her sidearm.
"Who was that," Idaho added.
"A third party," May answered as she approached, holstering her sidearm as Tripp sprinted past them
"A party's what you call that," Idaho snarked.
"He's gone," Tripp looked out the window, "Twenty-five-foot drop."
"This was supposed to be an undercover operation," Hartley tucked her handgun away, "You want to explain why you're shadowing us?"
"We were your backup," Skye pushed a piece of metal on the ground with the muzzle of her ICER, "Which you needed."
"Yeah," Hunter looked down at the now-dead Browning, "So did he."
"LEOs four mikes out," Seth called through comms, his police scanner going crazy with reports of gunfire.
Hartley pulled out her phone, "Sir, Mark's down. Third-party, possibly HYDRA, and we're out in the open, what are our orders?"
Coulson said two words, "Go dark."
Timeskip:
The team collected Seth during their evac, the car ride filled with mostly complaints from Hunter.
"Our black-market contacts were the reason the guy believed we weren't with S.H.I.E.L.D.," He ranted.
"Coulson knows Hartley, she's the only person on your team he trusts," Skye fired back.
"But why'd you break silhouette protocol," Hartley butted in.
"He ordered us to," May and Seth responded together.
"We can't maintain solid cover with agents tailing us," Hunter continued, glancing at Seth, "At least this one kept his distance."
"And we can't be sure you won't run off with the money," Skye fired back, dropping her voice to a mutter as she glanced at Seth, "Not that you'd get very far."
"Any idea how that freak show found us, Hartley," Idaho asked.
"I have a theory," Hunter glared at May.
"Cool it," Hartley ordered, "The man said we were the highest bidder. That means he sent the word out wide."
"And he paid for that mistake," May and Seth said together.
"Yes, he did," Skye added.
"That's an understatement," Hunter agreed.
The group walked into the common area, finding a waiting agent Koenig.
"I know, I know," Hunter lazily held up his lanyard.
Hartley handed Koenig the briefcase.
"Director wants you for debrief," Koenig announced.
Seth dropped his backpack onto one of the chairs, his clothes still damp from the rain.
"The feeling is mutual," Hartley sighed, "Throw him up on the big screen. We'll tell him that his enemies have gone bulletproof."
"He's in his office," Koenig dropped the bombshell.
Idaho let out a low whistle, "Wow."
"Coulson's here," Hartley asked, "Kind of buried the lead there, Bill."
"Just agent May," Koenig clarified.
"Copy that."
"You know where I'll be," Seth collected his backpack before heading to his room.
He quickly changed out of his wet tactical gear into a dry set before eying two specific weapons sitting on his desk. He'd been preparing them for someone, in particular, just waiting for an occasion for them to need it.
Seth stole another glance at the two gleaming weapons before heading over to the shooting range, mind flashing back to a couple of months prior.
Flashback:
"Again," May ordered.
"We've done this twenty times already," Skye huffed as she attempted to load another magazine, spent casings littered the floor around her feet.
"Again," May repeated.
Coulson walked into the range with Seth in tow, a rifle case and sidearm case in hand, the senior agent only having to glance at the woman for her to stop what she was doing.
With a slight nod towards Seth, May stalked out of the room with Coulson.
Skye sighed, setting the magazine down on the bench.
"Rough day," Seth asked, mind flashing back to when Romanoff or May would have him shoot drills for hours on end.
"It's not good," She began to vent, "I've been here for, like, two hours, and no matter what, I'm either too unfocused or too tense. How am I gonna not be tense when she's just staring at me and waiting for me to screw up?"
"Truer words have never been spoken," Seth said, walking up to the bench and setting the cases down.
"I don--did you just agree with me?"
"May was my S.O., too," Seth looked at her, "You think I never said those exact words?"
"No."
"Sorry to disappoint, then."
"I just...thought that the Chimaera would have been a natural."
"She was," Seth turned to Skye, sliding a magazine into her handgun, "Shoot a drill for me."
"You can't be serious."
"I'm going somewhere with this, now shoot a drill."
She took the weapon from his hands, took a deep breath, and punched out, she was obviously very uncomfortable with her stance: she didn't have good balance, arms were so locked out that she was slightly trembling, and her head was cocked slightly to find the sight alignment.
"Wait one," Seth instructed before Skye even got the chance to put her finger inside the trigger guard.
"You want me to shoot, or not?"
"Safe it," Seth ordered, the woman complying.
"Am I going to shoot during this, or are we just gonna stare at a loaded gun," Skye growled, obviously frustrated from her lack of prior success with May.
"Close your eyes, Ginny"
"Uh...what?"
"Close your eyes," Seth repeated, voice softer this time.
She complied, closing her eyes and letting her breathing even out.
Skye heard a plastic case click open and felt her handgun replaced with another one, one much lighter.
"Now forget everything form-wise that May taught you and relax," She heard his voice from just over her right shoulder.
Her stance widened, one foot further forward than the other, the tension in her neck disappeared as she became much more comfortable than before.
"Open your eyes," Seth instructed.
As she did, Skye found herself in a stance that May would count as seven different types of wrong, and quickly tried to correct herself before Seth stepped in.
"No," Seth kicked her feet apart gently while guiding her shoulders back to their relaxed position, "Relax, you're shooting, not listening to one of Hunter's ex-wife stories."
She let out a small chuckle.
"Now bring this up to your eye instead of the other way around," Seth gently lifted Skye's handgun to her eyes, making sure her arms were still somewhat relaxed as compared to how she was earlier, "Go ahead."
Skye fired, and, although there were a few misses, she did far better than earlier on.
"How did doing that--"
"A gun is like a chisel," Seth explained, "Both are tools, but tools are only as good as the craftsman who uses them. Anyone can bang on a chisel or pull a trigger, but only a skilled sculptor or marksman can consistently create their art."
"It was only little things, though," Skye trailed off.
"Imagine that artist trying to sculpt with only half a chisel, or without a hammer," Seth continued, "Shooting is a conglomeration of a lot of things, your stance being a big factor. Your feet were too close together, your shoulders were too tight, and you brought your eyes to the sights, not the sights to your eyes. You weren't using your body right, it's like if the sculptor in my story didn't use their arms. A lot more difficult, right? Not gonna be as consistent."
She raised an eyebrow, "And you got all of that from the three seconds you had me look at the target?"
"Yes."
"Huh."
Just about that time, May walked back in.
Seth took the gun back from her, placing it in his case before heading for another lane.
"Alright," May looked at Skye, "Again."
Present Time:
"In position," Seth set himself up on yet another rooftop, trailing his target with Hughes' suppressed rifle.
"Copy, bunk biscuit's in play," May answered.
Seth watched Tripp bump into Talbot with a curt, "Excuse me."
The Air Force general stared down Tripp's retreating figure before being pulled back into a conversation with his wife.
Talbot quickly did a double-take as soon as the dummy phone started to ring, ordering his wife to get their kid.
"Who is this," Talbot growled into the phone.
"General Talbot, you're in danger. We're here to ensure your safety. Please listen carefully," Coulson's voice floated through.
"Agent Coulson, is this you," Talbot asked, "Show yourself so we can talk about it."
"There's no time. We're here to protect you. Listen to me."
"No, you listen to me. I have my own protection, and a cell for you at Gitmo," Talbot snapped the phone in two and threw the pieces down.
Talbot pulled out another phone and quickly barked orders into it.
"Watch your six," May yelled out, the general wasting no time in delivering several blows to Creel before being batted away by the enhanced.
May stepped in and delivered a few blows, knocking their assailant back.
Creel grabbed a steel ball and chain and began to re-molecularize his skin into the substance.
"Archangel, going hot," Seth reported before sending a single incendiary round straight for Creel's chest, the flaming lead sparking harmlessly off his now steel body, only singeing his shirt.
"Efficient," Hunter snarked.
"Your turn, Ginny," Seth said into comms as he began to exfil.
"On it," Skye responded, not bothering to hide the small smirk on her face. Ever since she'd made that comment on the Quinnjet, he'd started calling her that. She was cracking him open.
May cracked her neck and put up her fists as she approached the enhanced man wielding a ball and chain. She dodged three attacks before kicking him back, letting Skye hit Creel with an electric dart launcher of some kind, sending him to the ground.
Next thing Talbot knew he was being ushered into the car by two people in Air Force uniforms.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the Escalade's chair before turning to his left, finding May with an ICER held on him.
"Hi again," She smirked.
"Son of a bitch."
Author's Note: A long time coming, but wait no longer! Season two is now underway and I can't wait. This is the season where we see Skye's true lineage, and as we know, there's a bit of a twist with Seth now in the mix.
I'm super excited to get this rolling, and can't wait for you all to see some of the things I've been thinking up. Thank you all so much for being so patient, thank you for reading, leave a comment or suggestion wherever you see fit, and as always, stay safe!