Their blue coloured friend had struck again. And now they were once again too late. It was once again Inhumans.
Rebecca, Mack, and Daisy were on the Killer's trail as the rest of the team looked for clues about him or things to trace.
Daisy and co were direct, the rest were more background in this job.
Coulson radioed the agents, cutting in and out every so often.
"You're cutting in and out, sir. We've trailed the killer to the industrial park a half a mile south of you. Backup would be nice." Daisy said as the three used their flashlights to cut through the dark. Even still, visibility wasn't the best.
"Thank god this guy is both blue and emits it with his power, makes him far more easy to see." Rebecca quipped, the Daisy smirking, with Mack rolling his eyes.
"I heard that, agent Sitwell. And, backup is on it's way. Hold tight." Coulson ordered.
"Copy that." The three of them continued down the path. However, as Rebecca noted, Mack was creeped out by the whole place.
"We all good there, Mack?" She asked, a teasing tone to her voice.
"Yeah...Just, how'd I let you two talk me into this?" He asked, trying to keep his voice strong, but the slight fear was there, "I had a garage, workbench full of new tools, my own espresso machine."
"If you wanted to stay, all you had to do was say, buddy." Rebecca said in response. Mack looked her way with a faux betrayal look.
"That easy, huh?" Rebecca rolled her eyes as she turned to watch their six, but she did smile.
"We need to figure out how this thing is finding Inhumans and why it's killing them." Daisy said, getting her two friends back on track.
"I know why," Daisy questioned him, "Instinct." He looked at the two as they stacked up against the wall. He went first, with the other two flanking him on either side, "It's like a Great White Shark, built to eat, sleep –"
"And kill." The other two finished for him in his assessment.
"I was gonna say, 'make little baby sharks,' but then Jaws was probably twenty years before either of you were born, so..."
"How old are you?" Rebecca's question went unanswered as they heard a door slam. They all kept their guns up, now more on edge.
"Do we have movement?" Daisy asked, struggling to see.
"I don't know. I can't see a damn thing." The three were squinting real hard to try and spot anything.
However, neither of the trio moved. Something Daisy observed, "Well, do you want me to take point?" She offered, internally hoping the answer was no.
With slightly shaking hands, Mack answered, "I'm going." As he slowly led the two towards the door, his heart racing and anxiety doing a number on him.
Passing yet another corner, it came up blank. But, it was at least one step closer to getting out of this shithole. And it led them to a shorter hallway, just with a door at the end. Great.
"Oh, it's got to be long gone. I mean, something that big can't just slip away without –" Mack was cut off by more noise behind the door.
"Uh oh." Rebecca whispered.
"Damn it, I had to jinx it, didn't I?"
Daisy, however, tried to decipher what the sound was, "Sounds like something's trying to get out."
"Or in." Mack added.
"And if it wants out, it goes through us. Just great." Was Rebecca's addition.
"We got this." Daisy assured her friend.
"We do. Come on." Mack said, leading them to the door. Daisy and Mack were on either side of the door, with Rebecca in the middle.
"Three..." They put their hands on the handles, "Two..." They got ready, "One..." The door went open, only for light to flood the area.
"Put your guns on the floor!" Or some variation of that was what all parties shouted.
However, one voice broke it all up, "Everybody, stand down!" Rosalind. She walked into the room, wearing a black suit with a red shirt underneath, "SHIELD's not the enemy and you definitely don't want to piss off young agent Johnson here. We've got about nineteen Agent Johnsons on our side, though none can take down a building. Rosalind Price, by the way." She introduced herself after doing the dick measuring with SHIELD.
Coulson then walked up behind her, "Coulson?" Daisy questioned.
"It's ok, the ATCU is here to help."
"Really? 'Cause the other day, they wanted Daisy's head for their trophy case." Mack argued.
"Agent Mackenzie –" Coulson tried to say to talk Mack down, but Rosalind spoke up.
"Bit of an exaggeration. But, that was then, this is now. And right now, we're here to contain a threat, same as you. Fan out! She said the last bit to her people, and they did just that.
Daisy was never one to be silent in moments like these, "I get that you cut a deal with them, but for the record –"
"It's a means to an end." Coulson said, hoping it would stop the tirade.
It did not, "Ours, or theirs?" Coulson didn't answer, he only walked away.
"Rise and shine, kiddo. Got a job for you." Ward greeted Aaron as he work form his sleep. The room was a small one, a narrow one with only a bed in. But, it was something. The man handed the boy a coffee, "I didn't really know how you liked them, so..." He said as Aaron drank from it. It was a decent one, just the coffee part with nothing else in.
"I like it plain, nothing else gets in the way of it." Aaron said, getting up and rubbing his eyes, "What's up?"
Ward leaned against the doorway, "You know, I always liked that about you, Aaron, you are always ready to go. No small talk, just get right in. Real go-getter –"
"Don't bullshit or butter me up, Ward. Now, what'd you want?" Despite the words, there was a slight smile on Aaron's face.
Ward mirrored the uptilt of the lips, "Big day, today. Need you to run an errand before you we get to the big one." Ward was still being cryptic, but at least Aaron could give him the fact that he now had something to go with.
"The 'big one'?" Aaron asked, finishing his coffee.
Ward took it off him as he spoke, "Just a collection job, need some more guns and something sell on the side to fund this thing. After that, we go after someone that means a hell of a lot to SHIELD," With that, Ward held up a photo of a man. One Aaron had met once.
Dr Andrew Garner.
"Jesus, that desperate, huh?" Ward smiled and scoffed at Aaron's words.
"Less 'desperate' more 'stragetic'. Look, this one means a lot to May, and it means a lot to Coulson that May is ok. It's a domino effect. Topple one, it keeps cascading."
"Aren't I on that metaphorical domino pile?" Aaron had to ask.
Ward shook his head, "Used to be. Now, you're clear of the crosshairs, kid. Trust me, they won't it's you."
"Better not." It was quietly said, but Ward caught it.
"Hey," He approached the boy and lifted his chin up with his fingers, "Even if it does, it'll bounce back on me, they won't blame you. Besides, sometimes in war – personal or otherwise – you gotta lose some to win some."
Aaron didn't speak, he just nodded, even if the words hadn't fully sunken in.
The crew had returned to the base, now with Bobbi coming back in the DNA results, "They confirm the killer is an Inhuman. He's killing his own kind."
"I don't get it. If he knows what it's like, what we go through, I just – I refuse to believe Mack's Great White Shark theory. He's not some mindless wrecking machine." Daisy said.
"Agreed. The killer's tracking its prey. The question is how." Coulson looked at his other agents for help. He did, however, clock Rebecca on her phone as she was looking for something.
"Alisha knew these people. They were friends of hers before the outbreak. Maybe the killer was, too." Bobbi put forward her hypothesis. Alisha was the Inhuman who could clone herself, the one on the boat who nearly killed Aaron and Daisy. Now she was on Coulson's payroll.
Well, maybe not pay roll, but points still stands.
"It's possible, but before Alisha was attacked, the couple mentioned that they got some weird email, right?" Daisy didn't wait for an answer, she only put the email up on screen and continued, "Well, that email had a nasty virus attached to it. It chewed up their operating system like a blender. I was able to un-mangle it, and it looks like the virus was planted to track their location." Daisy informed her friends.
Coulson, before he spoke, looked to Rebecca again, and saw her concentration on her phone, "Do we know of any other Inhumans who got this email?" He asked, removing his eyes from the woman.
"Joey Gutierrez didn't. I checked. But the others. I don't know, it's not like we have a ton of candidates to work with." Daisy answered.
"Did Aaron?" Rebecca asked, still looking at her phone.
"Not that I know of. What are you looking at?" Daisy asked her friend.
"Reach out to the ATCU, let them know what you found." Coulson ordered Daisy.
"Taking this team-spirit thing a little far, aren't we?"
"Fitz and I grabbed that laptop before they got there. Why would we share this intel?" Bobbi questioned.
"We know the ATCU has found Inhumans in the past, confiscated all their belongings. Let's see if they've come across this virus before." Coulson explained.
"If we share with them, what do we get in return?" Daisy continued the questioning.
"What do you want?" Coulson threw back at her.
"I don't know, let's start with how many Inhumans they've come across, where they take them." She seemed like she could go on for a while with the list of questions. Daisy looked to Rebecca, seeing the woman bite her nail.
"Daisy has a good point, sir. We don't know nearly enough about them." Bobbi backed Daisy up with.
"I agree, but if we want answers, then we got to play ball." Coulson advised, "Share the intel. Trace the virus to its source." With that, Daisy and Bobbi took their leaves.
Coulson then turned to Rebecca, "Speaking of answers, what's going with you?" He asked.
Finally, since she had entered the room, Rebecca looked up from her phone, "It – It's Aaron's phone, sir. It's come back online. I've been tracking it...I'm sorry that I didn't tell you." She said the last bit quickly, as if otherwise she would never get the chance to.
Coulson nodded, "It's alright, I was going to ask you to see if you could keep an eye on him. Can you show me what you've got?" Rebecca nodded, plugging the phone into Coulson's computer and having the CCTV footage come up on screen.
It showed a normal street, but there was a building that looked to be condemned on one side of it.
One thing that got their attention, was a van parked on the other side of the road to that place. CCTV was always grainy, but SHIELD had a way of not fucking up the zoom in when they did. And they got the hit they were looking for.
"There he is." Coulson said, as if Rebecca wouldn't recognise him. However, there was someone next to Aaron, someone that looked to be around Aaron's age, if not a little older. He had a goatee and looked nervous.
"Whose that?" Coulson asked, pointing to the man.
Rebecca went back to her phone, "That's what I've been trying to figure out..." At that, her phone 'pinged' with an answer, "There we go! Simon Owens, twenty-four, recent member of the old gang used to run with." She informed her boss.
"Still no name for that one?"
"Couple of them, all racist." Coulson let out an 'ah'.
"Ok, so why is Aaron running with a member of that crew?" Was the question clearly pressing on Coulson's mind with this conflict. He seemed to have a lot of that to deal with lately, this was one he didn't want to escalate.
"Question is, 'why are they hanging out near a smack den?'"
"That's a 'smack den'?" Coulson asked, pointing to the building.
"That, and used to be used a place for gun smugglers, maybe it still has them."
"I think we're about to find out." At Coulson's words, he saw the two getting ready to leave the van.
"Look, Simon," Simon looked to the boy, "I've got your back in there, ok? We go in, grab the shit, and we get out, alright? Anything goes wrong, you reach for your piece, just aim it at them? Most of these fuckers are too high to even react or care. Trust me. Besides, this place falls through, we go other places, we find what he needs."
"Sure, sure." Simon said, his hands shook as he slotted the clip into his weapon. Aaron put a hand over it, waiting until they met eyes.
"We got this." He sounded so sure, but Simon saw an anger in his eyes, he saw his veins turn dark a little.
He didn't mention it, but did gulp. The two left the van.
The two watched as the other two entered the building, both with hands in pockets. There as a stretch of silence, of nothing but normalcy in the street. Just people going about their day, not aware of the dangers of the world.
The next moment, flashes came from inside, and people who were in the street started running.
Lust for life by Iggy Pop started blaring from Rebecca's phone, and the footage paused as a caller ID appeared on screen.
"Shit, shit, shit." She swore, swiping 'ignore' on a person called 'Claire' before the footage came back. When it did, it showed Aaron and Simon exiting the building and booking it down the street, a rucksack on the back of the pair. They ran, ran as fast as their legs could take them.
Some people from inside the building came out, guns drawn and they fired at the pair as they ran. Rebecca swapped to another camera, a wide angle of the street. Aaron went around the corner, skidding a little and barely catching himself. Simon followed. Their mouths opened and closed with words the pair in the office couldn't hear being exchanged. However, they did see an almost nostalgic look on Aaron's face, as if he missed what was happening; running with what they guessed was drugs in their bag as they were chased.
Coulson remembered back to what Aaron said, about him being used as bait, about how he lived in New Orleans as a son of a gang leader. Andrew had told him how it had affected him, the causes it had had on him. But, one thing Andrew as sure one – other than the boy's double depression – was that he was used to chaos. He'd still panic under it, but it was a normal to him.
Coulson saw it in this moment, how the boy put his all into running, but how he was almost thrilled by this chase. How, for once, he looked alive.
Again, another caller ID appeared on screen, 'Thomas Dempsey' appeared on screen, again she swiped 'ignore' as Born Slippy (Nuxx) by Underworld blared out of the speakers.
By the time she had, Rebecca scanned through the cameras, only to come up blank. However, she then saw that in the original camera, Simon was closing a van door and getting in the van. As soon as he was in, the van took off.
"He looked around them." Coulson voiced, "Simple tactic, but a damn effective one." He noted, he sounded almost like he was a bit impressed.
"I need to go see Andrew about Simmons, you gonna be ok up here?" Coulson asked. At the question, Rebecca paused, "What is it?"
"I haven't seen her yet..." She suddenly remembered.
Coulson approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure she understands. Besides, you have plenty of time do that, don't you? She's here now, and she gets that there's a lot going on." His words helped her a bit, as she nodded with a small smile.
"Man's on a mission. He's desperate." Were the words Rebecca heard from Melinda May as she continued to go through the footage her calls had interrupted.
"How desperate?" Was Coulson's question. However, Rebecca's was 'when the hell did she come back, and why?'
"His latest bad idea, walking into a HYDRA stronghold alone for a shot at finding Ward." May's frustration with the man was obvious.
"I admire his courage. Sounds like suicide." Coulson said as they entered the office.
"Ward knows Hunter's face. If there's a chance they run into each other on this job –" May didn't need to finish the sentence.
"Hunter needs backup." Coulson concluded.
"More than I can provide." May said.
"That's saying a lot. Most of our resources are focused on a manhunt right now, or a monster hunt. Or, well," He looked to Rebecca, "Very little another problem that's slowly growing," He then got back to the matter at hand, "But if this leads to Ward, that would be huge. When is Hunter going in?"
"I'm waiting on specifics. But I know Hunter's been operating primarily on the eastern seaboard. He's in too deep, Phil. It's affected his judgement." She said, concluding her thoughts on Hunter.
Coulson only chuckled, "...What?" May asked, a little self conscious.
"It's like you never left." He said, simply.
"But I did." She said, bluntly.
"Look, I'm sorry Andrew's here. I didn't mean to make it more awkward." He meant the words.
"It's fine. We're all professionals." May seemed to want to move past it.
"Yeah, but we're also friends. If the reason you haven't come back is because we're working with him –"
"It's not." She was firm in her answer. The other presence in the room seemed to go ignored. That presence was doing her job, but also making a note to find Fitz when she could and ask his opinion on something.
"I told you, I can find someone else to consult." Coulson offered.
"Don't. Andrew's really good at what he does. You need him." May said.
"Yeah. But I can replace him. You, now so much," The words seemed to touch May, "What happened with you two?"
May let out a sigh, "The reason Andrew left me had nothing to do with SHIELD. It's..it's about me. Always has been."
Coulson said the words he'd been meaning to say to a lot of people on the team lately. He figured he might as well start with his best friend, "You're too hard on yourself. You know that?"
May nodded, smiling a little even. She nodded to his lack of a normal part of his attire, "No tie?"
"Still practicing." By that, Coulson meant the hand.
"Look better without it." May said with sincerity.
"Thanks." Coulson said, softly.
"I'll call you as soon as Hunter reaches out." May promised.
When she was gone, Coulson turned to Rebecca once more, "Got all you need?" He asked as she took her phone from his laptop and put it back in her pocket.
"Got a board downstairs, might as well put it to some good use, right? Build something of a file up on this." She said, leaving to do just that.
"Rebecca?" She caught the door hinge and pulled herself back at his calling of her name, "You should go see Fitz and see if he'd like the idea." He said with a knowing smile. He knew it was serious, what was going on, but he knew that they needed to mess around when they could; be that with games, film, shows, books, or...this.
"What idea, sir?" Rebecca said, trying to feign innocence.
Coulson gave her a knowing look, "Just don't tell me you'll leave Aaron a 'Choose life' post-it-note when you find him?" He asked.
Her smiled softened a little, "Only if he doesn't need one." With that, she was gone.
"Hey," Daisy greeted with a knock on Rebecca's door. The other woman turned, smiling at her friend in a silent greeting, before putting up another picture on the board. Now, it was filling up. Now, she was getting somewhere, "What's all this?" Daisy asked, pointing at said board.
"It was from Aaron's house. Thing just had Katie's name on and nothing else. My best guess, it was an attempt to figure out who killed her and –" She stopped when she saw Daisy's face at the mention of her fallen sister. Rebecca cleared her throat, "Sorry."
Daisy shook her head after a moment, "Don't be. It happened, and we need to talk about it more. I just wish I could've gotten him to stay, maybe all this wouldn't of been necessary." Daisy said, sitting on the bed.
"He doesn't blame you, you know that, right?" Rebecca had to check.
Daisy looked at Rebecca with a timid smile, "Yeah, I know. It's just –"
"Just what?" Rebecca asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"He's hurting, bad. I mean, we helped him get to an almost stable place, then it all just fell apart again. Can't help but think a constant stream of 'What if's' and how that would've played out."
"He hasn't hurt anyone. Despite what this board says, or said, it was just a theory and nothing solid." Rebecca said, hoping it would assure her friend.
Daisy nodded, "Coulson needs a team ready to go for our guy. You up for it?" Daisy asked, remembering why she came to this room in the first place.
"Sure, yeah. Let me just get my stuff and I'll meet you out there."
Aaron drove the van, trying not to speed but also trying not to be too slow to be caught by those they had just robbed, "How much we get?" He asked his comrade. Simon, who sat in the back, leant down and opened the first of the bags, seeing bags of weed and cocaine in them.
"Drugs. Decent amount." He called back to the driver.
"And the other one? Just kind of grabbed and ran." Aaron called.
"I know, I was there." Simon said, in a more lighthearted tone. Aaron smiled a bit at the front, glad that the man was less nervous now. That the hit of adrenaline had hit him too.
Simon leaned over, face screwing up in pain, he looked down at his side, seeing blood start to pool there. He looked at his hand, seeing blood on it. He didn't, however, speak about it. He only opened the other bag.
"Got a load of weapons. Ward'll be able to unload these. Maybe get us in his good graces." As Simon spoke, his tone went airy for a moment as he leaned back, trying to ignore the pain in his side.
"Hopefully." Aaron had looked back in the mirror just as Simon had fully leant back. Aaron had been in this situation before; the running and the shooting, so he knew when someone was hiding an injury.
It was why he floored it. Now not carrying about speeding.
Daisy had led the way, this being the first joint operation with the ATCU and SHIELD teaming up. Before they had entered, Daisy had made her want known, to see how they are treating the Inhuman's, and while Rosalind had agreed, she wanted something in return. But, as of the moment they were in, they had a new man to find.
Rebecca entered the room Daisy was in, seeing computer equipment everywhere. The guy had been an IT man, along with a serious gamer apparently.
When Rebecca entered the room, she saw Daisy, crouched over what used to be a cocoon, "Shit." Rebecca said, making Daisy turn to her.
A rumble came from a closed door, both women turning to it and raising their weapons. Daisy and Rebecca shared a look, Daisy nodding to the door. Rebecca went to the side of it, while Daisy approached it from the front. The two women shared one more look, a silent count down starting.
When they finished it, Daisy kicked in the door. It revealed a wardrobe, but also a man with a cut hand and his face in this hands. He was sobbing. He was scared.
Daisy put her weapon away, "Hey. Hey. It's ok, we're not here to hurt you." She assured the man, crouching down so they were on the same level. Rebecca moved to Daisy's other side, getting a view of the man as she holstered her own gun.
"Please get out. Please..." The man said while whimpering. Rebecca didn't blame him, changing like this off the cuff and then being hunted would do something to a man who had lived a normal life up until that point. To be thrown in the deep end like that and expected to swim.
""What? I...I can't hear you, what did you say?" Daisy asked, leaning forward a little.
The man took his hands away, revealing his check having a wound as well, but it looked to be festering, "Get out. Get out!" He said, louder in an exclamation. He ran towards them, and Daisy had no choice but to send him back with a Quake. It knocked some railings and clothes on him. Rebecca but her hand to her chest, trying to calm her heartbeat down.
Mack entered, obviously having heard the commotion, "Daisy, Rebecca, you two alright?" He asked, helping Daisy up and giving Rebecca a glance.
"Yeah. But, he's not." Daisy said. The other ATCU agents swarmed the room. However, the man Daisy was referring to let out a whimper, so he was ok.
Mack moved to the closet, "Mr Frye, come out and say hello." Mack was more...forceful this time, dragging the guy out and not giving him a choice.
He was in pain, that much was clear. But, whether it was from Daisy or something inside of him was still unclear at this point.
"How hard did you hit him?" Coulson asked, looking to Daisy for answers.
"Not that hard." Daisy answered.
"So, what's wrong with him?" Rosalind asked.
"Whatever it is, this isn't our man." Rebecca said. Seemed Daisy's theory of him being the killer had just gone out the window.
"She's killing me. Get her out of here." Frye groaned as he shuffled back to the wall, eager to get away from Daisy it seemed.
"He's having some kind of reaction to our special friend here." The secondary leader, Banks, of the ATCU said.
"You think?" Mack was highly sarcastic.
"If we want answers, might help if she's not here." Daisy scoffed and looked to Rosalind, "Just a thought."
Daisy then looked to Coulson, who nodded. With that, Daisy took her leave, quickly followed by Rebecca.
"You didn't need to follow me, you know?" Daisy said as she noticed Rebecca following her out of the building.
"Yeah, well, didn't exactly wanna be in there with the bee king himself," Off Daisy's look, she retracted her statement, "Sorry." She sat down on the steps.
"What's been going on with you? You've been more distracted lately." Daisy asked, leaning against the railing.
Rebecca ran a hand down her face before she spoke, "Kind of fighting a war on two fronts here. I mean, I get the world's changed, with Inhumans and in other ways, it's just...there has to be a rule book, right? There has to be a way to deal with it, a way to approach it. You had to do what you had to do in there, I'm not denying that. It's just..." She wasn't quite sure how to finish the sentence.
"There has to be a way to respond, or we won't know how to contain it." Daisy filled in. Rebecca nodded at it.
"We need rules, structure, something to bind us together."
"Maybe we do. And, we'll get there. But, there's always more than one option. Even the old SHIELD had that."
Rebecca shrugged, "Not a lot of the time. It was more, shoot or ask questions, then a last resort. This seems to just be a lot of last resorts. Just seem to be doing whatever feels right at the time instead of a procedure."
"Like the 'Welcome Wagon'?" Rebecca chuckled a bit at the old ways.
"Yeah, like the 'Welcome Wagon'."
Mr Frye was led out of the building in cuffs, led by Banks, "Andrew could help him. There's no way the ATCU has anyone on their staff with his experience." Daisy said, almost as if she was trying to be heard by the ATCU. Rebecca was now stood up, and the four SHIELD agents were reunited.
"And where are they taking him? Do we even know?" Mack asked, adding to Daisy's fuel.
"We can't just give them free rein like this. We can't just look away." In a way, it was ironic, given who SHIELD used to be and then was when they were damned.
"Mack, you accompany them. Check out the containment facility. Gather whatever intel you can, report back to me." Coulson ordered.
"I should be on that truck too, sir." Daisy protested.
"We got a major HYDRA operation unfolding. I may need you." Coulson's response only kept Daisy going.
"Not as much as Frye needs me."
"I don't like it either, D. You in their crosshairs just the other day." Mack ha always been a caring soul.
"Yeah, and look how that worked out." Daisy was blunt.
Rosalind came down the stairs, leadership face on full, "We're ready to roll." She told the agents.
"Not quite yet," Coulson gave Rosalind pause, "How heavily sedated is Frye?" He inquired.
"On a scale of one-to-ten? About a six. No one likes a drooler. Why?" She answered plainly.
"I need you to squeeze two more onto that truck." Coulson said, gesturing to said truck as if she forgot what it was.
"That's not what we agreed on." Rosalind shook her head, displeased with this notion.
"Sharing is a two-way street. We invited you to the party. Now we need to know what you're doing with the guests," Coulson always did have that 80s way of phrasing things, always a one liner, "Come on Rosalind, fair is fair."
Rosalind thought about it for a moment before she spoke, "Just give me a minute." Her ton was one that held a minute defeat in it. She walked over to Banks, talking to him in hushed whispers. Coulson looked back to his two agents who would be leaving, giving them a silent heads up.
Rosalind returned to them, "Alright, hop on board." With that, two of the three partners left to get on the truck. Rebecca was the one who stayed, meaning she now listened in on Rosalind's and Coulson's banter, "Does it really have a laser finger?" Oh, she meant the hand Coulson had.
"Sorry. It's classified." The two almost seemed to enjoy this back and forth, the spy talk and all that.
"Ward!" Aaron didn't care if it looked professional. In fact, Aaron had abandoned all that bollocks years ago. Instinct had always driven him. The "sir's" and "ma'am's" were drilled into him from a young age. But, everything else was instinct.
And, right now, that instinct was to shoulder the weight of a dying newbie who had been shot on his watch and yet who had not spoken about it really.
"What happened?" The new Director of HYRA asked as he helped bring the poor man into a spare room, putting his body on the table.
"Got shot. I thought it was just a graze. Fucking idiot." Aaron said it all in, pretty much, one breath. His breathing was high in breaths per second, he had some blood on his back, and a bit on his hands.
So, unfortunately, par for the course for the boy.
"Aaron," The boy looked to Ward, seeing his calm gaze, "Did you get the load?"
"Really, now?!" Aaron seethed.
"Yes, now! Did you?" Ward asked again.
Aaron had to give himself a moment to get his head straight. He closed his eyes and took a small breath before he spoke, stuttering through his words, "Yeah, we got it. Some drugs to sell and guns to keep."
"Unload them," Again, Aaron looked at Ward as if he was insane, "I'll keep Simon alive, alright? Just, go get the guns and drugs before someone spots them," When Aaron didn't move, the man had to use one of the old tactics HYDRA used on the prisoners, "NOW!"
Aaron shrunk back, physically recoiling at the tone and loudness of the words used. But, he complied with the order, even if he gave the dying man one more look.
As soon as Aaron was gone, Ward looked back down at the man who was clearly not going to make it out of this, "You know, if there's one thing I'll give the kid, it's that he never fully did lose his ability to empathize. I mean, you could see it in his eyes," He made sure Simon met his eyes, meaning Simon could see Ward's eyes go cold, "The way he only wanted to give you a peaceful end. Don't worry, I'll make it quick." Then, a SNAP! Occurred, and Ward let go of Simon's now snapped neck.
Aaron returned a few moments after, and Ward was quick to put a rag on Simon's wound before removing it slowly. Aaron entered, dragging two bags behind him. His back was to Ward, so the man slowed his movements even more. But, he let the silence stay.
Aaron moved to the door, before moving the bags in more. There was a hole in one of them, a bag of weed sticking out from it. Ward noted it, but he saw that none had escaped, so it was something.
Finally, Aaron turned, only to see Ward with that bloodied rag and a faux-empathetic look on his face. Aaron's own face dropped at the sight, "It was quick. He didn't feel a thing." Ward promised the boy. At least that was true.
Aaron approached the now deceased body. He closed the man's eyes. In the moment, he missed the way the head was so easy to maneuver, and how it fell back to one side when he had done his deed.
"I found some things on that Francis kid," Ward kept talking, keeping his eyes on the boy but unsure if the kid was really listening, "Last name is Connolly, family is into the underbelly, seems like you both have that in common. Now, I'm gonna funnel those drugs through his dad, get closer so I can give you a clear shot, alright?"
Aaron sniffled, but nodded. Ward sighed and approached the boy, "Aaron, I need you to look at me." It took a few seconds, but the boy complied, "I need you to get Andrew. Ok, now this is a loss, and I will inform the family, I promise you, ok? But, don't let his loss be for nothing, alright? Sometimes we have to lose to win, right?"
Aaron's eyes searched Ward's for...something, the man wasn't sure, but the boy parroted what Ward said, before hitting a table on his way out.
It was a small store, a little corner shop. Still, Aaron entered it, acting as if he was going to buy something. If he wasn't kidding himself, some of the things in this shop were useful to him; maybe the cliché drink of choice and the cliché thing that ruined your lungs to go with it.
"That's a live feed, in case you're wondering. Dr Garner's on his way to teach a class right now. Psych 301, I believe. I've got my men on him right now....Watching him die like this isn't quite the same as, oh, let's say, holding the woman you love in your arms while she breathes her last breath. But, hey, it's the best I could do on such short notice." Ward taunted May. He had thrown her a phone, one of a live feed of Andrew in the store.
In said store, Andrew clocked the man who was recording him, "Hey, what you doing?" The man didn't respond, but someone else had for him.
"Hey, professor. Where you been?" It was Alexander, the boy Aaron and Ward had kidnapped. Apparently, he was some HYDRA big wig. Woopty doo, in Aaron's mind. Still, the boy played with a lighter, not a good sign.
"If I don't call off my men in the next thirty seconds, Dr Andrew Garner, the ex-Mr May, is a dead man. All you have to do is put your weapons down, and I'll let you go." Ward promised May.
As Alex approached Garner, he could tell he was in for a fight. As his eyes went between the two now assumed hostiles, his eyes went to a figure he hadn't seen in a while, "Aaron?" He asked. The other two turned as they saw the boy checking out some beer.
"Doc." Aaron greeted, semi-casual. His tone, however, carried a message, 'I'm sorry'.
It took Andrew a moment, and during it, Alex spoke, "You know, you're a tough guy to track down."
"What's going on here, Alex?" At Garner's question, another HYDRA agent walked in with a gas can. It was Aaron's cue to leave. Was it part of the plan? He'd be fucked if he knew. He just knew he had to get out.
Ward was informed of Aaron leaving, and he had also been told of the Agent with the phone getting Aaron in frame. Ward smirked, "Oh yeah, then there's surprise number two," He couldn't hide the smugness in his voice as he gloated, "You see, May, you find someone like Aaron – who understands loss and is lost himself – you give him a purpose, you tell him 'I'm here for you' and you promise him you can fix his problems for him when he's like this....Hell, he'd eat out of your hands for months if it got even one step closer to finding the guy." He could tell that May and Hunter had shared a look, "You two weren't the closest to him, I get that. But, did no one visit? You just left him in that empty house all alone, with his pain and guilt? God, May, I expected better of you, especially."
He was enjoying this, but also using it to exercise some demons that SHIELD had brought him, mainly the time when SHIELD wasn't even going to extract himself or Fitz, "But, that's always been SHIELD's way, hasn't it? Leave those behind that would slow you down?"
Aaron had been sat in the car, being on escape. He had his bag of items next to him, taking a moment to actually take in what the fuck had happened in the past twenty-four hours. The main theme, he'd let someone else die, again. And it was his fault, again.
He saw what looked to be a figure leap over the front of his car. Before he could even ask on what was happening, the whole shop went up in flames. A crescendo of fire rushing from it. Rubble and glass littering the street.
Aaron looked on at the fire, Andrew had been there. Andrew, a man who had shown him nothing but kindness and offered a helping hand was dead.
Another name on the list of people he had let down and let be killed. All in the space of twenty-four hours.