The "new" SHIELD's border members, Gonzalez, Oliver, and Weaver were in the room, along with Bobbi and May. There was little time for chitchat, the meeting began right away. Y/N and Coulson started with the news footage, playing on stations around the world.
"Cards on the table," Coulson said, throwing an access lanyard for the helicarrier onto the table.
"Obviously, you and Fury have been keeping busy," Gonzalez commented.
"What can I say? I'm a company man. With the fall of SHIELD, Fury felt we needed a failsafe. Something completely off the books, a break in case of emergency type of thing."
"Seems like you broke it wide open," Weaver replied.
"And saved the day in the process," Bobbi added. Y/N immediately noticed the look Weaver and Oliver shot Bobbi.
"Excuse me, but you weren't there," Y/N said, anger lacing her words. "If it weren't for the helicarrier, hundreds of thousands of people would be dead. Breaking it wide open was the only option.
"What Agent Rogers is trying to say is that, what's transpired over the last week is a lot to take in," Coulson said. "We know. When I found out that this ship had survived HYDRA's attack, and still had that classified cargo on board, that you placed spies on my base, that I couldn't keep my own people safe...I felt like I'd failed as director. And the truth is, I did." He laughed a bit, looking down. "A coup will make you think about things like that. I tried to do it all alone. That was a mistake. Even Fury had a world council watching over him, providing guidance."
"What are you suggesting?" Gonzalez asked.
"One SHIELD, where I operate as director under your advisement." Gonzalez shared a look with Bobbi, Weaver, and Oliver. "This way, we'll have a cool underground base and a boat."
"It's hard to argue with a man who helped prevent Ultron from killing thousands of people. But there are plenty more battles to be won and one closer to home that I fear the helicarrier won't solve."
~~~
After the meeting, Y/N escaped to the medical wing for some medication for her leg. May had followed her there.
"You okay?" May asked, folding her arms as she watched Y/N.
"I'll live," Y/N responded with a wince.
"Fury make you come here?"
"What do you think? He couldn't stand the thought of Phil getting pushed out of the director's seat. You still mad he kept Theta Protocol a secret?"
"I won't be forgiving him that easily."
"He did help save thousands of people."
"So did you." May silently observed Y/N as she rewrapped her injured leg. "Does Stark know you're here?"
"I couldn't disappear after a world ending fight without telling him."
"Hmm," May hummed with a nod. "Something's different," May thought. "Something happened."
"Aren't you intuitive," Y/N laughed out loud.
"What?"
"You noticed something is different."
"How did you-"
"What's different is that I can now read minds."
"What?" Coulson questioned from the door way.
"The Mind Stone in Loki's scepter. I can also control minds. Came in handy when Steve and Tony started at each others throats."
"And you didn't think to tell me sooner?" Coulson stepped forward.
"Um... no. I did only get these abilities a few days ago and I was asked to come here, unwillingly, and was forced straight into a meeting. Sorry I was too busy saving the world and helping that group of people understand why we hid Theta Protocol." Y/N groaned as she stood back on her feet. "You know what, I am done helping all of you. Don't come in attacking me like that, when you don't know what kind of hell I've been through this week. I've already gotten all this from my brother, I sure as hell won't take it from you!"
"Y/N, I didn't mean to-"
"I'll be on the base, packing my things and saying my good byes to the team. I'm done being questioned for everything that happens."
"Come on, Y/N," May said, stepping closer as a portal formed behind Y/N. "He didn't-"
"I don't care."
Y/N rushed through the portal, closing it before Coulson and May had a chance to do or say anything else. She looked around, letting out a sigh of relief when she realized she was in her bunker on the base. Leaving the room, she wasn't surprised to find her teammates in the lab.
"Guys," Y/N called softly.
Skye and Fitz-Simmons turned there attentions from what they were focused on to Y/N at the doorway. Her eyes quickly filled with tears.
"What happened?" Fitz rushed up to her. "Are you okay?"
All Y/N could do was shake her head as the sobs began. Fitz quickly brought her in for a hug. Simmons and Skye rubbed her back as Fitz tried to calm her. When they calmed her down, they helped her into a chair and then she told them about her new powers, the events of Sokovia, and what had happened on Gonzalez' ship.
"I know it probably sounds like I'm over reacting," she said. "But I'm so tired.... So tired of fighting and people questioning me.... Just so tired."
"Understandably so," Simmons said, rubbing Y/N's leg.
"So that's why I'm... I've decided to take a step away from the team."
"What?!" They all exclaimed.
"You can't do that," Skye said, clearly hurt. "What if I need you?"
"Oh, Skye," Y/N cooed, grabbing her hand. "You will always be welcomed at the Tower and I will always be a phone call away. I just... I need some time for myself. I really haven't had any since I was found. I've always kept myself busy with missions and taking care of people. And... I need a break."
Suddenly, Skye's phone began ringing. She sighed upon seeing it was Coulson before answering it. He told her of the classified cargo in Gonzalez' ship. A rectangular shaped stone with carvings on it, in a large glass box. It frequently turns into liquid, sloshing around a few times, before turning back into a stone. Coulson asked if Skye, Y/N, or Lincoln knew why Gordon and Raina would be after it.
"I have no idea," Skye stated. Coulson and May showed up at the base about an hour after his call, pulling Y/N and Skye into Coulson's office. "Seriously, Y/N and I have never heard of anything like that before and neither has Lincoln."
"And you believe him?" Coulson asked.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You barely know him."
"I know enough. He and Jiaying helped me. They never tried to hurt me-"
"Though they did try to hurt me," Y/N muttered.
"-Th-they taught me to channel my power so I wasn't hurting myself. These are good people, Coulson."
"Are they? People, I mean."
"What?" Y/N questioned.
"I mean, look Skye, I know you feel connected to this group, but you won't tell us much about them, you're keeping to yourself-"
"I've been taking care of Lincoln," she argued.
"Okay, but from our perspective, we don't even know what to call them."
"Inhumans. Our ancient ancestors called themselves Inhumans, and we just want to be left alone."
"We?"
"If they want to be left alone, then why infiltrate a military vessel?" May asked.
"You're assuming that this thing is a weapon. Well, it's in SHIELD's possession. Maybe they're just afraid of it - afraid of what Gonzalez might do with it."
"We're not the enemy here," Coulson stated, standing up from his desk.
"This man teleported onboard, Skye," May defended. "He's clearly very dangerous."
"I portaled my way onto the ship as well," Y/N said. "And have other abilities now too. You going to lock me up and question me? And you can be just as dangerous May."
"I heard about what happened to that little girl in Bahrain," Skye stated. "Jiaying told me the whole story. Did you know that she was Inhuman?" May looked at Skye, clearly shocked, as both Coulson and Y/N looked between the two women. "They both were. So you, of all people, should understand why they'd want to keep their location a secret...what they're so afraid of."
~~~
It was the morning and Y/N hadn't gotten the courage to leave just yet. She was walking towards the lab when she saw Gonzalez and his crew. Lookin into Gonzalez' mind, she learned that him and his crew were headed to Coulson's office and that they had found the location of Afterlife. She portaled herself in Coulson's office.
"Y/N, I'm about to have a meeting," Coulson started, "is there something I can help you with?"
"Well, I'm still the assistant director, aren't I?" She responded. "I should be in the meeting as well."
"I don't know-"
"Rogers, Coulson, May," Gonzalez greeted upon entering, his crew behind him. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all," Coulson quickly replied. "Agent Rogers was just leaving."
Throwing a glare at Coulson, Y/N looked at May for some help. She didn't give any. With one more look at Coulson, she noticed him subtly pointing to his head.
"Leave and portal into the secret stairwell behind the monitor," Coulson instructed. "You'll be able to listen in from there."
She quickly did as she was told. Gonzalez and his crew explained that they had found the location and put the map up on the large wall monitor.
"What's our plan of attack?" Gonzalez asked.
"Who said anything about an attack?" Coulson fired back.
"These people are a threat."
"We don't know that," Bobbi retorted.
"We don't know anything about them."
"They could teleport into this room right now and leave a bomb behind," Oliver said.
"We've seen what Skye is capable of. Lincoln could short out our entire system," Weaver stated. "And then there's Y/N, who can now also teleport into places."
"I understand your concerns, but the last thing we need is to start a war," Coulson said. "We just finished one for God's sake."
"Action needs to be taken, Phil," Gonzalez argued.
"Which is why I'm proposing a sit down with their leader, this woman Jiaying. We'll call it a fact finding mission."
"They'd need to agree to that first," Weaver said.
"We could use Skye is a liaison," Bobbi suggested. "She is a SHIELD agent."
"Is that still true?" Gonzalez wondered.
"Of course it is," Coulson replied.
"Now's a good time to find out where Skye really stands," May added, seemingly doubting Skye's loyalties."
~~~
Y/N made sure she was walking down the hallway with Skye when Coulson told her they were going to the Afterlife.
"No, you cannot go there," Skye said. "Listen, secrecy is what they value most."
"We can't ignore their existence," Coulson reasoned. "They're not ignoring ours."
"Please!" Skye hurried to stand in from of Coulson, stopping him from walking.
"Look, at the very least, we need to find out how many people we're dealing with, assess their powers, place them on The Index. You know how this works. You're a SHIELD agent."
Skye took a second before answering. "I-I don't know what I am anymore." Coulson seemed taken back by this. "Okay, just...let Lincoln and I go first. They're probably worried about us. Y/N can take us. I'll talk to Jiaying, explain why you're coming, that you just want to help. She'll listen."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because she's my mother."
~~~
"I'm leaving after this," Y/N said. It was just her and Coulson headed towards the lab. "I need a break."
"No," he answered.
"No? I'm sorry, what?"
"I can't let you leave... I can't lose you."
"As in your agent or your friend?"
"Both."
"Too bad. It's time for me to slow down, figure some things out. Like you've suggested a few times." Coulson sighed. "My heads falling out of the game, Phil. I need to leave it before it costs someone there life."
"I understand. I'll just.... I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." The two entered the lab.
"Time to go," Coulson said.
Fitz-Simmons, Skye, and Lincoln turned to look at them. Skye closed her bag, zipping it, before sharing one last look with Fitz-Simmons and walking towards Coulson and Y/N. They exit the lab, Coulson and Y/N leading with Skye and Lincoln following, side by side.
"How'd it go?" Skye asked Lincoln.
"The Indexing?" Lincoln clarified. "They just asked a lot of questions. But I'm sure you guys already have my blood from when I was out, right?"
"It's protocol," Coulson reasoned.
"HYDRA said the same thing."
They stopped walking. Coulson turned to face Lincoln.
"I know you've been through a lot, but you can trust us," Coulson said. "You'll see." Lincoln just stared, saying nothing, so Coulson turned to Y/N. "You ready?"
"Always," she replied with a nod.
"Okay." Coulson looked between Y/N and Skye. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay," Skye replied.
"Okay."
~~~
Y/N put them in the courtyard of Afterlife. Luckily, Jiaying was there. She immediately went up and hugged Skye.
"Are you alright?" Jiaying asked.
"Yeah," Skye responded.
Jiaying looked at Lincoln. "What happened?"
"A lot," Lincoln answered. "But I'm okay."
"A doctor at SHIELD patched him up," Skye said.
"SHIELD?" Jiaying repeated.
"We need to talk."
"Go to the recovery room," Jiaying instructed Lincoln. "Have one of ours take a look at you." He nodded and walked away. "Come. Tell me everything."
Jiaying lead Skye away. Skye casted a look over her shoulder to Y/N, who nods in okay. As the two women leave further, Y/N notices Gordon and Raina near by, looking grim. Curious, Y/N peeked into Raina's mind.
"SHIELD is coming," Raina thought to herself. "This is my chance to be the hero."
With that, Y/N quickly left back to the base. She put herself outside of Coulson's office, where himself, May, Bobbi, Gonzalez, Weaver, and Oliver were in a meeting. Coulson was briefing them.
"Agent Weaver, you'll be with me on QJ36," Coulson said. "We'll land a good distance from their main buildings here." He pointed to the map on the monitor. "Now, I'll go in first, alone, unarmed."
"You shouldn't be the one going in," Gonzalez stated.
"Care to elaborate?"
"You're too close to this. Skye's like a daughter to you and her mother is these people's leader."
"I'm banking on that personal connection to everyone through this safely."
"You shouldn't be. This is one of the greatest threats SHIELD's ever faced."
"I agree," Weaver added. "A whole race of people with powers..."
"And you've proven time and again that you're not objective when it comes to Skye."
"That's you opinion, not fact," Bobbi retorted.
"Want to talk facts? Ultron was created because people were too close to Tony Stark. They were blinded by his charm. They trusted him. Never even thought to look at what he was working on. And The Avengers, they let one man do whatever he wanted, and the world was almost destroyed for it. We're SHIELD We're better than that. Or at least we should be."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Y/N growled, stepping into the office. Everyone's head snapped towards her. "You weren't there. We weren't blinding by his charm. He didn't tell us what he was working on because he thought he was protecting us. And Tony wasn't alone, Dr. Banner was working on it with him as well. They thought they were creating something that would allow the Avengers and SHIELD to go home. To have families. For the fight to end."
"You aren't suppose to be here, Agent Rogers."
"I can be anywhere. Have you forgotten that?"
"No, I haven't. That is why I need to meet with these people. Coulson is not objective when it comes to you or Skye."
"No one is objective when it comes to those on their team! At least if they're an actual team."
Gonzalez stood up from his chair, going toe-to-toe with Y/N. "Agent Rogers, it's time for you to leave."
"Make me." Guns cocked around the room, all aiming at Y/N.
"Woah!" Bobbi called. "Oliver and Weaver, what are you doing?"
"She's dangerous," Oliver stated. "Even without powers, she's dangerous."
"Y/N, stand down," Coulson said. "Y/N... please..."
Y/N peeked into Gonzalez' mind. "All you want it war. And from the looks of it, you might get it. But I'm not going to be here when it happens. If SHIELD involves you, I don't want any part of it."
"Y/N-"
"No, Coulson, I'm done. Tell the team I'm sorry that I didn't say a final goodbye."
~~~
Tony was in his lab, getting the final plans ready for the new Avengers Facility he was going to build in upstate New York. The construction was going to start tomorrow, and they were to work all day and night until it was finished. Tony had decided that the team needed more space and privacy to train.
"Boss," FRIDAY called, "Y/N Rogers has returned to the Tower."
"Already?" Tony questioned. "It must have gone well. Where is she?"
"The training room. She's already going at it will a punching bag."
"Okay then," Tony stood up and headed out of the room, "it clearly did not go well."
Tony hurried down to the training rooms. He heard your punches before he even opened the door. As Tony drew near, he could see the tears rolling down your cheeks.
"Honey?" He carefully called, only to get no response. "I'm going to assume that the meeting didn't go well."
"It... wasn't... the meeting..." Y/N said, in between punches. "It was... everything... else..."
Tony silently watched for a moment before completely going to Y/N's side and grabbing her arm. "Okay, okay. I think it's time for you to either talk about it or go to bed."
"Fine," she sighed.
Tony quietly led Y/N to their room. He guided her to sit on their bed before helping her unwrap her hands.
"I quit," she whispered. "I'm done... I need a break."
"How did Coulson take it?"
"Not very well."
"And Skye?"
"Since there's been no major earthquakes, then I think okay."
"Well," he pulled her hands up, placing kissed on them, "I think that was smart. I've been... I've been thinking about retirement too. No missions, just paying and designing everything."
"Do you think we'll be able to do it? To slow down?"
"I think that, together, we'll be able to do anything."