"I guess I just don't understand how her bracelets stopped working in the first place," Steve said.
"Like, I told you before, Old Man," Tony began, clearly frustrated, "Wherever she is, they are blocking the sensors from-"
A thud came from the other side of the lab. Steve and Tony were now on high alert. But that alert soon turned into relief once Y/N stood up from behind one of the tables.
"Y/N!" The men exclaimed, hurrying towards the woman.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said as she got brought into a hug by her brother.
"Where were you?" Steve asked.
"Honestly, no idea. At some city, secluded in some mountains."
"Are you alright?" Tony fussed, looking over her body.
"Yeah. Nothing happened."
"Was Skye there?"
"Yes and her mother."
"Her mother?"
"Her mother is the leader of where we were taken. That's why she stayed, to get to know her. I have to get a hold of my team though. They're going to need help."
~~~
Hunter and Coulson had been rescued by Mike Peterson in a quinjet after the 'new SHIELD' tried to take them in. They were now rescuing Fitz, who had escaped with Fury's toolbox. The quinjet was cloaked and waiting on a roof that Fitz was suppose to meet them on. Fitz was running up the parking garage, being followed by the SHIELD agents assigned to track him. He ran into the quinjet, breathing heavily. Hunter and Coulson were watching the monitor.
"That won't end well," Hunter commented.
One of the agents trailing Fitz, ran towards the cloaked quinjet, running smack dab into it. The agent Gell onto his back as the men grimaced at his hit.
"Get us in the air," Coulson ordered.
"Will do," Mike replied.
"Mike?" Fitz questioned.
"Hey, Fitz." Mike glanced over his shoulder. "Good to see you again."
"New hardware," Fitz noted, walking towards Mike. "Hey, how did you upgrade-"
"Not now," Fitz," Coulson stopped him.
"Strap in," Hunter said.
They moved to the back of the plane as Mike flew them out of there. They sat down and strapped themselves in.
"Hey, those tips for evading the tail were very useful," Fitz said. "Thanks."
"The toolbox?" Coulson wonders.
Fitz took it out of his backpack and tossed it to Coulson. "Yeah, it's been a while since I've been in the field solo." Coulson turned on the box and set it on the floor of the plane. "Not since, um..." Fitz continued, touching his head.
"Well, it looks like you held up all right," Hunter commented.
"Yeah, held up quite well, actually. And you?"
"Fitz, we need to find Skye and Y/N," Coulson stated. "Problem is, all we know is that they were both taken by the same powered man who took Raina and Cal."
"Do we have any leads?"
"Sir, there's an incoming transmission," Mike informed them. "It's coming from the private line."
"It's probably, Stark," Coulson replied. "Patch him through, let's see if he's figured anything out about Skye and Y/N's monitors."
"On it."
"Coulson?" Y/N's voice asked through the quinjet.
"Y/N?" Coulson wondered. "Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I'm fine. I'm at the Tower. You?"
"In the quinjet with Peterson, Fitz, and Hunter."
"I'm on my way then."
"What does she mean-" Mike started. He never finished because Y/N walked through a portal, entering the quinjet.
"Oof," she said, leaning up against the wall. "I've never done that before."
"You okay?" Fitz unbuckled and rushed over to Y/N.
"Since when do you have powers?" Mike questioned.
"Nice to see you too, Mike. I'm fine." She swatted Fitz away. "That just was a little harder than I thought it was going to be."
"Where were you?" Coulson asked, worried.
"I don't know," Y/N shook her head as she sat down. "But Skye was there."
"She was? Why isn't she with you?"
"She chose to stay, Coulson. Though I still believe we need to find her."
"Find her?" Hunter repeated, confused. "I'm sorry, weren't you just with her."
"Like I said, I don't know where I was. And we can't just portal there without knowing more. So, do you guys have any leads?"
"No, but HYDRA might," Coulson answered, pulling up files on the toolbox. "HYDRA's new heads, Strucker and List. My sources say they're researching powered people. Apparently, they're even more obsessed than Whitehall."
"Great," Y/N muttered.
"We need to know what they know, get into HYDRA," Hunter explained.
"Desperate times, desperate measures," Fitz stated. "Count me in."
"Me too," Y/N added.
"I'm relieved to hear you say that," Coulson said. "We're making a deal...with Ward."
"What?!"
"Y/N-"
"How the hell did he survive?! I shot him 3 times!"
"He-"
"And how did you know he survived? How long have you known?"
"Long enough. We have no choice. We have to make a deal. I promise you though, that if he does anything to turn on us, I'll let you have your way with him."
~~~
They headed to Tijuana, Mexico, with Y/N furious the whole way. Coulson had tracked down Agent 33's mom, finding out where Agent 33 was from her, and had found out that Agent 33 had saved Ward from dying. Y/N and Mike cleared out a restaurant while Coulson found Agent 33 to force Ward to meet with them. Coulson and Y/N were waiting at a restaurant table when Ward entered. He had to be checked out by Mike before being able to go back and meet with Y/N and Coulson. Ward sat in the chair opposite Coulson with a sigh and a grin.
"Ward," Coulson greeted.
"I'm flattered, bringing the robot along just for a sit down with me," Ward said.
"There's no need for false modesty. We both know you're that good. But, frankly, this isn't about you. I'm after bigger fish - Strucker, List."
Ward shrugged. "Can't help you. Not in HYDRA anymore."
"But you were," Y/N stated, glaring at the man in front of her.
"Even then, I only knew them by reputation, never met either."
Both Coulson and Y/N scoffed. "Again with the false modesty," Coulson said. "You're resourceful. But you know a guy who knows a guy."
"You know, last time I suggested we work together you called me a deluded son of a bitch. And you, my dear Y/N, shot me."
"Things change. I'm offering you a deal, help me and I'll let you walk away, free and clear. No more looking over your shoulder."
"When somethings too good to be true, it's a lie."
"Not lying. I tried the stick with you before, it didn't work so well, so I'm offering a carrot."
"I'm listening."
"Get us inside. After that, I put you through the TAHITI protocol and then you're free to go."
"Wipe my memories. Well, that sounds like a threat, not a carrot. I like who I am."
"A murderer and traitor?" Y/N questioned.
"Sorry," Coulson continued. "My offer's the only way you leave here. I'm taking a huge chance. You could have run. You didn't. You risked your freedom for her, that says something. Says that maybe there's still good left in you. Maybe Garrett, your family, didn't destroy all that. TAHITI will erase all the bad, let you be the man you want to be, start over."
"Free and clear?" Ward wondered.
Coulson leaned forward. "I give you my word as director of SHIELD."
"But does she give her word?"
"As long as you don't shoot me again, I won't shoot you again," Y/N stated, already forming different plans to kill Ward in her head.
Ward leaned closer. "I might know a guy."
~~~
Ward and Agent 33 had brought along Bakshi, who they had brainwashed into doing what they ordered him to do. They were all now in the quinjet. Hunter and Coulson looked pretty relaxed with Y/N angry and Fitz nervously bouncing his leg, hand on his gun, and eyes on Ward.
"Bakshi reached out, arranged a meeting with Dr. List," Coulson stated.
"And are we sure we trust Stepford Bakshi?" Hunter asked.
"Trust might be a little strong."
"Bakshi's been instructed to act exactly as he would have...before," Ward explained.
"Before the brainwashing?" Hunter clarified. "Oh, well, in that case, I feel comforted."
"Any questions?" Coulson asked the assets siting across from them.
"How much longer?" Agent 33 asked.
"A couple hours," Mike answered, at the wheel.
"So, Fitz..." Ward started carefully. "How've you been?"
Fitz looked down, squeezing his eyes together, trying to calm himself down. Suddenly, he jumped up and launched himself at Ward, with Hunter and Coulson also rising to restrain him.
"Hey!" Coulson exclaimed. "Hey, hey, hey!" Hunter turned Fitz away from Ward. "Sit down, Agent Fitz."
"I'd like to have at him, too," Y/N commented. "Let him see what I can do."
"Unfortunately, for you, I've already seen what you can do," Ward taunted.
Clenching her jaw, Y/N quickly formed multiple portals. She went through one to get to Ward, grabbing him by the neck, before taking them both through another to the roof of the quinjet. It was crazy windy, but Y/N used a portal to anchor herself between places.
"What the-"
"Don't underestimate me, Ward," Y/N growled. "You have no idea what I can do to you."
They both appeared back in the quinjet. Agent 33 pulled Ward back into a seat with Coulson grabbing Y/N.
"Stay put, Agent Rogers," Coulson ordered.
"Bakshi, sir? Bakshi?" Fitz went on. "No, he is - he is - he's the exact same as Ward. So he will double cross us the second that he's with HYDRA."
"Yes, he would. If he was going in alone."
"He's not?" Ward questioned, everyone surprised by Coulson's answer.
"He'll have his bodyguard with him."
"That'd be me," Mike stated.
"We'll monitor the entire meeting through Mike's eye."
Ward raised his hand to say something. "Dr. List's instructions were explicit," Ward said. "Bakshi was to come alone."
"Luckily Bakshi's good at talking his way out of things. Aren't you?"
Bakshi looked up at Coulson. "I've been told it's one of my more useful skill sets, yes," Bakshi responded.
"See? No problem."
~~~
Once the small team was where they needed to be, Bakshi and Mike left, leaving everyone to watch everything through Mike's eye.
"Three men, heavily armed," Hunter noted as he watched the monitor. "Bet there's more where they came from."
"Does it matter?" Ward asked. "You got a cyborg on board with rockets in his arms."
"He's not a cyborg," Coulson defended. "He's a SHIELD agent...with rockets in his arm."
"Our world is much more complicated now after the tragic death of Dr. Whitehall and the ensuing bloodbath that it caused," List said over the monitor. "Tell me, Mr. Bakshi, exactly how you managed to escape unscathed?"
"What are you implying, doctor?" Bakshi asked.
"I was just curious if you might know anyone involved."
"Let's see how Bakshi holds up under questioning," Coulson said.
"He's held up worse than this," Agent 33 commented.
"You think I poisoned the Baroness?" Bakshi questioned. "Killed Bloom?"
"Someone put a bullet in his head," List said. "I assume it was you..."
"Or Strucker. But you had the most to gain, and look, here you sit, alive and well, with more money and manpower than ever."
"See?" Ward said. "Told you he was good."
"The truth is," Bakshi continued on the monitor, "I didn't escape unscathed. I was captured by the US Government. Mr. Peterson helped me escape. You do recognize him, don't you? Well you should. HYDRA invested quite a bit of funds turning Mr. Peterson into the prefect killing machine. Money well spent, I might add."
"What's he doing?" Y/N asked.
"He's gaining List's trust," Ward answered.
"I know Strucker has been experimenting on powered individuals," Bakshi told List. "I believe that with a compliance upgrade Mr. Peterson would prove quite useful to him."
"You're offering him?" List questioned. "To me?"
"Consider it a sign of good faith."
"This wasn't the plan," Coulson stated. He looked at Ward angrily. "What are you doing?"
"Getting us to Strucker," Ward replied.
"Bastard sold us out!" Hunter yelled.
Ward leaned forward and took the gun out of Fitz' holster, pointing it at Hunter. Hunter drew his own gun, pointing it at Ward. Coulson took out his gun, pointing it at Ward, while Agent 33 had a knife to Fitz' throat and Y/N had a gun aimed at her.
"Put the gun down," Coulson demanded.
"It's the only way," Ward said.
"Put the gun down, now."
"Just listen to me!"
"I'm not going to tell you again."
"Do you want to get to Strucker or not?"
"Fitz, are you alright?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, I'm delightful," Fitz responded.
"Strucker wants powered people," Ward explained. "Bakshi alone doesn't get you to him. Deathlok does, and he can take care of himself, trust me. It was either Mike or Y/N, since she apparently is powered now."
"Trust me?!" Coulson exclaimed. "I ought to shoot you just for saying that."
"Uh, sir," Fitz tried to get Coulson's attention.
"What if this goes south?" Ward asked. "Would you have been willing to sacrifice Mike, or Y/N?"
"That wasn't your call to make," Y/N said.
"Sir!" Fitz continued. "Deathlok is, um..."
Hunter glanced over his shoulder to the monitor. "Is that Deathlok's targeting system?" He asked.
"Yes. He's gonna - He's - well he - he's about to kill everyone."
"Not a bad idea, actually."
"No," Coulson said. "We need them alive. Fitz, tell Mike to stand down."
"Yeah, no, that's not gonna happen," Fitz said, unable to move from Agent 33's hold.
"Let him go, 33."
"My name is Kara and I don't work for you anymore," she responded.
"Weapon systems are hot," Fitz warned.
"Let him go!" Y/N yelled.
"On the count of three we all put our weapons down," Ward said.
"Three!" Coulson replied.
Everyone lowered their weapons. Fitz quickly told Mike to play along. Coulson stepped up to Ward.
"You pull anything like that again, I'll let Y/N throw your ass off this Quinjet at 20,000 feet," Coulson warned.
"They're taking off," Fitz informed.
"If Strucker's overseas, I'd say that's probably where they're going," Ward suggested.
"Then we tail them," Coulson ordered.
~~~
They tailed them, keeping watch of the monitor.
"We're landing?" Bakshi questioned. "Already? I thought Strucker was in eastern Europe."
"He is," List replied. "But first, we're making a stop. Have you heard of quantum entanglement, Mr. Bakshi?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Well, we at HYDRA, for the last several months, actually-"
"Quantum entanglement?" Hunter repeated. "It sounds like a method of torture."
"We have found incidents of photon intensity so great that particles can exist simultaneously in two spaces over great distances," List explained on the monitor.
"Never liked science or big words," Hunter commented.
"But for something to be in two places concurrently-" Bakshi started.
"No, no, no. This is a quantum entanglement bridge," List clarified. "We think it was created by a powered person, one we intend to capture."
"The teleporter," Fitz said. "They're tracking about the teleporter. The one that, um, took Cal in Wisconsin and - and Raina."
"And Skye and Y/N," Coulson added.
"This is about Skye," Ward stated.
"Why would HYDRA want her?" Kara asked.
"Don't know," Y/N quickly responded.
"Are you sure they aren't after you, Y/N?" Ward asked.
"I'm different. And I haven't had my powers for as long as they've been tracking Gordon."
"Gordon?" Coulson repeated. "You know his name?"
"Yes. But only because he told me, after he took me."
"Took you?" Ward repeated. "What's happened since I last saw you?"
"Like I'd tell you. We should get ready for whatever waits for us where we're going."
"Can't you just portal us there?"
"Her powers don't work like that," Fitz stated. "They, uh... they're just different."
~~~
They landed the cloaked quinjet on the building that Mike and Bakshi were entering with a HYDRA team. They began gearing up to fight. Fitz was closely watching the feed on the monitor.
"Sir, Skye- Skye's here!" Fitz exclaimed. Everyone's heads snapped towards Fitz.
"Where?" Coulson asked.
"10th floor."
Ward cocked his gun causing Coulson to point a warning finger at him.
"Don't even think about it," Coulson said. "You keep HYDRA off us. Y/N and I will find Skye."
They headed out of the quinjet and into the building. Fitz stayed in the quinjet to keep everyone informed of what was happening with Mike.
"Sir, Deathlok's down. I've lost his feed," Fitz said, frantically. "Uh, sir, I think somebody's trying to hack into it."
Y/N rounded a corner to see a HYDRA soldier at the end of the hall. She shot him down as the others came up behind her. Another HYDRA agent entered the hallway, causing Ward to take him out.
"We need to split up!" Coulson said.
"We'll cover you," Hunter said. "Go find Skye!"
Y/N and Coulson nodded at each other before moving towards where the HYDRA soldiers came from. Y/N could sense that Ward was following them, covering their backs.
"Skye?" Coulson called. "Skye!"
Suddenly, a body was thrown in front of them. Y/N looked, realizing she knew who it was.
"Lincoln?" Y/N gasped.
"Who the hell's that guy?" Ward asked Mike, who was coming towards them, having been the one to throw Lincoln.
"Don't know," Mike answered. "Packs a mean spark."
"He's a... a person from where Skye and I were taken," Y/n explained.
"I think he's protecting Skye."
"Where is she now?" Coulson asked. "Can you scan the floor?"
"Optics are down," Mike said. "I think she went around that corner."
Coulson, Ward, and Y/N went in the direction Mike indicated. There was a swarm of HYDRA soldiers in the hallway they entered, causing them to have to fight them off. As they fought them off, Skye entered the hallway, shocked to see all of them. Especially all of them working together.
"Skye?" Coulson said.
"Coulson?" Skye said, started to hurry toward them. She got close to Y/N when Gordon appeared between them.
"I need to get you both out of here," he stated.
"What?" / "No, no, no! Not yet! Not yet!"
Skye tried to shrink away, but Gordon quickly grabbed both her and Y/N, teleporting them both away. They landed in the Afterlife courtyard, where Cal was already. Before Y/N could do anything, she felt a needle in the side of her neck.
"Gordon!" Skye shouted. "What are you doing?"
Y/N's legs gave out, causing Skye to have to catch her.
"She needs to realize though she's not really one of us, she has powers," Gordon explained. "And she can access the Afterlife, which puts us in danger."
Black spots clouded Y/N's vision and soon, it became too much, and she let the darkness take over.
~~~
Y/N woke up, lying on a bed. Moving her head to look around, she noticed Skye sitting beside her.
"Sk-" Y/N paused, swallowing. "Skye."
"I'm so sorry, Y/N," Skye cried, coming closer.
"It's not your fault."
"They took Lincoln. HYDRA has him."
"Then why are you here? Shouldn't you have convinced Gordon to save him by now?"
"I was waiting for you. To see if you could take us."
"I can try." Y/N sat up. "But I'm still a little tired from whatever Gordon put in me."
"He shouldn't have done that."
"Yeah," Y/N put her legs over the bed, "he shouldn't have." She took a deep breath. "I don't even know where to go, Skye. I don't know where they'd be." She stood up, getting dizzy. "Woah."
"I've got you," Skye steadied her. "I guess you won't be an option. We're going to have to go find Gordon."
They found him outside of the room they had been in.
"We want you to take us to Lincoln," Skye said.
"No," Gordon said, heading out of the building.
"We need to get to him," Y/N said. "To save him."
"No one is entering or leaving Afterlife right now."
"Gordon-"
"What part of "no" didn't you understand?"
"The part where you won't take us to Lincoln," Skye said.
"I would, but whatever you injected me with his still in my system," Y/N said.
"I told you, no one enters or leaves Afterlife until we know it's safe," Gordon repeated.
"It'll be too late by then," Skye said. "SHIELD may be wrong about a lot of things but they never leave a man behind."
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't give up hope just yet," Raina interrupted. They all looked towards her. "Skye and Y/N can save Lincoln. I saw her do it."
"Wh-you've seen it?" Skye repeated.
"We think Raina's gift may allow her to see things before they happen," Gordon explained.
"I thought her gift was spinning really fast to collect gold rings."
"Tell me what you saw."
"Maybe she's right," Raina said. "What I saw doesn't make much sense. Why would Coulson be working with Ward?"
"Coulson and Ward... we asked him for help," Y/N said.
"And they were both their at Cal's office," Skye added. "But I didn't... tell anyone."
"You both have to go," Raina stated. "You do go."
"Go where?" Y/N asked.
"Lincoln's in a dark room with two doctors. They're cutting into him. You find him, Skye. You're the only one who can save him."
Skye looked from Raina to Gordon. "You have to take us," she said.
Gordon shook his head. "I promised Jiaying I wouldn't use my gift."
"You need permission to save a friend?" Raina asked.
"Last time I went back for Lincoln, HYDRA almost captured me. How will this be any different?"
"Because where you are taking them is a long way from HYDRA."
Gordon dropped in women off in the Bus. They looked around, hearing noises from the cargo bay. They entered, no one having noticed them yet. Ward, May, Fitz-Simmons, and Coulson were all in the cargo bay. Ward had his hands up, with May having a gun pointed at him.
"May, wasn't me," Ward said.
"Then what the hell was it?" Coulson asked. Seeing movement from above, Coulson spun around and pointed his gun at the women above. "Skye, Y/N." He lowered his gun.
"Hey, guys," Skye greeted.
"This is great," Ward said. "We finally got the team back together."
~~~
"How are they all? Are you making friends?" Simmons asked Skye. Fitz-Simmons, Skye, and Y/N were in the command room of the Bus.
"Yeah. How did you get the intel about the base?" Fitz asked.
"Can you control your powers, or...?"
"Yes. Yes, I-I promise I will tell you guys everything," Skye said. "It's a lot. You may not believe me, but just, not now."
"Well, we're just happy to see you and you're being so secretive. And Y/N's not helping."
"No, I'm happy to see you, too, but-"
"Yeah, we've got a mission to do, not much time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," Fitz said.
"No, Ward is here," Y/N explained. "Nothing personal should be talked about in case he's just-"
"Did I hear my name?" Ward asked, entering the room with May and Coulson.
"He's like Candyman," Skye said under her breath.
"We should review the op," Coulson suggested. "Ward, I can't believe I'm saying this..." Ward gave Coulson a grin. "Bring us up to speed on Bakshi's intel."
"Alright," Ward responded, hitting buttons on the table. He turned to look at the monitor behind him. "Bakshi's using old HYDRA text channels to provide us with intel, although mu-" He turned back to face the others and was met with Fitz' hostile face. "Much of it is, uh..." He glanced over at Y/N and May to see their hard faces. "Much...all right. Can we just address the elephant on the plane? I know. This is weird. Mistakes were made."
"And people got hurt."
"By you," Y/N repeated.
"And I could stand here and explain again how my parents and brother left me vulnerable-"
May scoffed. "We all had our traumas, Ward," she said. "Didn't turn any of us into psychopaths."
"Well we all have our own ways of coping, don't we? For example, I was yours."
"Watch it, Ward," Coulson warned.
"Look, I'm just saying we all made mistakes. Coulson handed me over to my abuser, thank you. Y/N shot me-"
"After you killed how many people?" Simmons questioned.
"Yeah, and we were a team and a family, and you betrayed us," Fitz added.
"I know. It's what I regret the most," Ward sighed. "Not the lying, the SHIELD agents I had to put down, and- I'm sorry- not even dropping you two into the ocean. It's this. My actions destroyed this. I'll regret that forever. Cause there were good times. Right? Before? I mean, for a while there, we were a good team. Weren't we?"
"I'm still happy I shot you," Y/N stated.
"Yeah, me too," Fitz said.
"Should've aimed for the face," Simmons added.
"Yeah," May agreed.
"Guys...I know this is so weird, but we have to come back to the mission," Coulson said. "Two teams. Skye, Ward and Simmons on rescue and medical. Fitz and I will break in to missile defense and gather intel. Y/N and May's with us for firepower."
"Wait, I'm not on rescue?" Y/N questioned.
"Let me handle the job assignments. The point is, there's a lot of challenges ahead. We don't want to implode before we even get there. And Ward, just...no more talking...to people."
They each nodded, going their separate ways to prepare. Y/N immediately caught Coulson's arm.
"Why am I not on rescue?" Y/N asked. "I could get them out faster."
"Cause I need you with me," Coulson answered. "The intel we grab could tell us where the scepter is."
"And we- I need to know it," Y/N sighed with an understanding nod. "Okay."
Coulson gave Y/N a small smile before leaving her to think about the scepter. She turned to go get ready when she was stopped by Ward. Her eyes frantically looked around, quickly realizing it was just him and her. Her heart started pounding.
"I just want to talk," Ward said, raising his hands to calm her. She stepped back. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"You won't get the chance to again," Y/N responded.
"Y/N-"
"No. I don't want to hear what you have to say. Your words mean nothing to me." Y/N turned around to leave.
"Don't you want to know why you weren't dead on the spot?" Y/N paused. "You and I both know that I should've have shot you straight in the head or heart, but didn't. Don't you want to know why? Why I couldn't do it? Why I gave you a fighting chance?"
Y/N clenched her fists and slowly turned. "You didn't give me a fighting chance." Y/N shook her head. "My survival was not because you decided to graze my heart instead of shoot right on. I died. Flatlined, multiple times, thanks to you. You didn't save me. I saved me." Y/N turned back around.
"I loved you." She froze again. "That's why I couldn't do it."
"You obviously didn't love me enough."
"It hurt when you shot me. Not just physically, but emotionally. It made me realize how much pain I put you through, and for that I'm sorry." Y/N stayed silent, anger stirring inside her. "Y/N-"
"Apology not accepted."
Then Y/N opened a portal and entered the cargo bay, leaving Ward alone in the common area.
~~~
Everyone was prepping in the common area as May flew the Bus.
"We've been spotted," she announced. "It's time... I've got visuals on the target. Buckle in."
They all grabbed their things and ran up the stairs to the quinjet. Y/N was shakily nervously, knowing that the plan entailed.
"They've locked on," May stated.
Shakily, Y/N tried to strap herself in.
"Here," Ward said, "let me-"
"No!" Y/N yelled. "I'm fine."
May got into the quinjet, just as the Bus was hit. They were all buckled in as the quinjet fell from the sky. Y/N had her eyes clenched shut.
"I'm starting to think they wasn't a very good plan!" Coulson yelled, eyeing Y/N. "Is there anything you can do about the drop?!?"
"Not if we want HDYRA to believe we're debris!" May replied.
"I'm really starting to wish I hadn't eaten that hot pocket earlier."
"Hold on!"
They all grunted each time the quinjet was hit. Skye grabbed onto Y/N's leg, trying to calm her down. May landed the quinjet as safety as she could.
"Everyone okay?" May asked.
Nobody answered, simply staring at Y/N, who was still trying to control her breathing.
"We're all good," Coulson responded.
They all unbuckled as May lowered the ramp. The team walked through the snow towards the facility. They broke in through the boiler room, each entering with their guns drawn.
"Clear," May stated.
They all holstered their guns and removed their winter coats before continuing into the facility. As they went deeper, they heard a hit being delivered before a body dropped at the end of the hallway they were in. The team rounded the corner to find Bakshi waiting for them.
"I was being followed," Bakshi said.
"Calm your mind, Bakshi," Ward ordered. "Your compliance will be rewarded."
"It's good to see you again, sir. Where's Kara?"
"Exactly where she needs to be. Is List still here?"
"Yes, sir. In the lab, along with the other prisoners."
"And the mainframe room?"
"Down the hall, to the left."
"Everyone clear on their team's objective?" Coulson asked.
"If it's agreeable, I'd prefer to join Agent Ward's team."
Coulson looked at Skye. "Is that gonna be a problem?"
"Hardly," she responded.
"Remember, just 15 minutes till Gonzalez's jets arrives. Move."
Coulson, May, Y/N, and Fitz went in the direction indicated by Bakshi. When they reached the mainframe room, their seemed to be only one guy in there. The soldier shot at the small team, but was shot down by May before he had the chance to do any harm. Coulson entered behind May, taking out another soldier coming from a different section of the room.
"You're up," Coulson said to Fitz as him and Y/N entered.
Fitz sat down at the terminal and began typing away. Coulson and Y/N looked at each other, Coulson motioning towards another room. The two quietly, but quickly, moved into the another room. Y/N began working on that terminal, searching for Strucker's location and the scepter. A few minutes later, May entered.
"Hey, need to move," she stated.
"Just one minute," Y/N said, still working.
"Come on, this wasn't the plan." Coulson looked at her. "Or was it?"
"May-" Coulson began.
Their attention was drawn away when the door opened. Soldier's began entering the room Fitz was working in. May quickly shot the soldiers down.
"Either you both come with me now, or you're next," May threatened, aiming her gun at Y/N.
Y/N took the flash drive out of the computer. "Okay, after you," she said.
~~~
Coulson and Y/N were walking to meet Gonzalez, the man who now was claiming to be the director of SHIELD, and Bobbi in the hallway.
"Okay, I think that we need to discuss this," Bobbi was talking to Gonzalez. "Because-"
"Discuss what?" Coulson asked. Bobbi turned to them, Y/N making note of the guilty look on her face. "What are we discussing now?"
"Time to honor our agreement," Gonzalez replied.
He held out Fury's toolbox. Coulson took it, hitting some buttons to unlock it before handing it back over.
"Here you go. Unlocked and all yours," Coulson said. "Go nuts. At least until Fury shows up and asks for it back."
Gonzalez's head snapped to look at Coulson.
"Spoiler alert," Y/N taunted.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Agent Rogers," Gonzalez said, offering his hand.
She took it. "Can't say I feel the same."
Coulson pulled out his phone that was running. "Hey, we have to take this," he said to Y/N. They both turned away as Coulson answered it. "Hi. Can you hang on a second?"
They went to Coulson's office and put the call through the wall monitor.
"I bet Gonzalez wasn't happy when you said he wasn't invited to this chat," Maria Hill stated.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't too happy when he blew a hole in my base and kicked me out," Coulson responded. "We all live with disappointment, and right now we have bigger problems."
"Does that mean you found it?"
Coulson looked over at Y/N and nodded. She opened a portal and entered into Maria's office in the Tower. Y/N handed the flash drive over to Maria as she closed the portal between them and Coulson.
"I'm guessing HYDRA doesn't know Loki's scepter was the weapon that killed me," Coulson said. "But, I bet they know it can control minds."
"In their hands, that's catastrophic," Maria stated. "Please tell me you know where it is."
"Sokovia," Y/N answered. "We're pretty sure List is headed there right now."
"Y/N just gave you the flash drive that holds everything we found on Strucker's location," Coulson explained.
"Coulson, why didn't you just tell Gonzalez why you really wanted to get onto the HYDRA base?" Maria wondered.
"Believe it or not, he puts every decision to a vote." Maria scoffed. "I know. And I was pretty sure if I'd been honest I'd lost the swing vote, so I did what I had to do."
"Last thing, Theta Protocol, is it ready?"
"Yes it is. Time to bring in The Avengers."