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Aaron Cross was on his boat off the coast of Florida when he saw it.
The big plane was flying low, lower than it should be for its size, and that alone was enough to make him suspicious. Then the thing jettisoned what looked like a storage pod of some kind. He’d think it was a drug drop if it weren’t for the fact that on the very edges of his senses he could hear screaming and see the shadow of movement in the window.
Some asshat had just dumped people into the water.
That wouldn’t do at all. As Aaron piloted the Ace in the Hole closer to the drop site, he radioed Marta that he might have some patients for her soon. He could practically see her eyebrows rising, but she didn’t ask any questions beyond what she needed to prepare for.
“Not sure. Haven’t fished them out of the water yet, so I don’t know what the damage is.”
“I’ll wing it then,” Marta replied dryly.
Aaron grinned as he dropped anchor. “Situation normal,” he started.
“All fucked up,” Marta finished.
They signed off and Aaron sent up a word of thanks to whoever looked out for sinners like him. The whole situation with Outcome had been a shit show from start to finish, but it made him the man he was and brought him a best friend in Marta Shearing.
Even after their names had been mysteriously cleared and a ridiculously large sum of money had been deposited in their accounts (although he had a pretty good idea who was responsible), they’d stayed together. They might have been free, but they felt safer knowing they had each other’s backs. Aaron had discovered a love of boats during their stint on the fishing trawler in the Philippines, so when he suggested Florida as a place to settle, Marta agreed and decided to open a clinic instead of returning to research. They threw darts at a map of the state and the Keys were the winner. Aaron ran fishing and diving charters, and did the occasional security consult, when he felt like it. Marta took care of the various ailments of the locals and the occasional bout of alcohol poisoning from dumbass tourists, as well as the occasional consult for various universities.
It was a good life. He really hoped he wasn’t about to fuck it all up, but he needed to see if there really were people in that pod.
Aaron put up the diving flag then strapped on fins and an oxygen tank and fitted his mask over his eyes. He tipped over the side of the boat and let himself sink into the soothing embrace of Calypso.
He could see the pod clearly on the ocean floor. Thankfully it wasn’t all that deep, maybe eighty feet, but plenty dangerous all the same. There were a few air bubbles escaping, but for the most part it looked fairly water-tight. If there were people trapped in it they at least had air for a while.
Aaron got down to the pod and sighed as he looked through the window. He was really hoping he was wrong, but no, inside was a man and a woman, both unconscious. He could see blood on the woman’s head, and from the mess inside he could make an educated guess that the landing had been pretty rough.
He examined the exterior of the pod and tried to figure out the best way to help them. He was pretty sure he had tools on board that would get the door open and he had a spare oxygen tank. Providing their injuries were superficial, they looked like they’d be okay until he was prepared.
Aaron made his way back to the surface, wondering for a moment if he should call the Coast Guard and let them take care of it. He discarded that idea almost immediately. He might not have a kill order stamped on his forehead anymore, but he preferred staying off official radars if at all possible. No, he and Marta could help these people, so that’s what they’d do.
He radioed Marta again to apprise her of the situation and then gathered up what he thought he might need. Within twenty minutes he was on his way back down.
The man- boy, really, now that Aaron got a good look at his face- was awake and fiddling with some electronics. It looked like he was trying to rig a beacon of some kind. Smart kid. Aaron took his wrench and banged it against the door. The man flailed, eyes darting every which way, as he tried to source the sound. His eyes widened comically when he saw Aaron. Aaron waved and the guy automatically waved back.
Aaron took the board and grease pen he’d grabbed and wrote a brief message. He held it up to the window for the guy to read:
Name’s Aaron. Gonna get you out. Serious injuries?
The guy fumbled in his pockets for a moment before he came up with a small notebook and a pen. He wrote back:
Fitz. Jemma. She’s still unconscious. Concussions for both. Not serious, don’t think. Bruises. Nothing broken.
Aaron nodded, wiped the board clean, and wrote:
Good. Try to wake her up. Got extra tank and breathers. Do you know the code to open the door?
Fitz blinked a few times and Aaron could see him trying to work the answers out. He started scribbling on his notepad and Aaron’s eyebrows rose as he flipped the page and kept writing. When he finally stopped and held it up to the window, Aaron sighed.
He wrote:
Sorry, buddy. Can’t read it. Too small.
Fitz’s shoulders slumped and Aaron could see him talking to himself. Aaron wrote again and tapped the door. Fitz looked up and Aaron held up the board.
It’s all right. Take a deep breath. I promise I will get you out. K?
Fitz did take a deep breath and then started writing again. When he was done, Aaron could read it:
Interior lock damaged. Frame warped in fall. Override might work, but door will be stuck. I’m trying to rig a way to blow door from inside.
Aaron blinked. Okay then. His initial impression was right, the kid was pretty smart. He cleared his board and wrote again:
Got explosives here. I’ll get set up while you wake your girl. We’ll have to work fast. Need her at least cognizant and ready to move.
Fitz read it and nodded grimly. He moved to where he’d laid Jemma out into a more comfortable position and Aaron started shaping the charges. They’d have thirty seconds at most to get moving after he blew the door.
He glanced up and saw that Jemma was sitting up with a hand to her head. Fitz motioned towards him and Aaron would have grinned if he could at the look on her face when he waved at her.
He finished what he was doing and wrote:
In 10 sec take a deep breath.
They both gave him a thumbs up, so Aaron mentally crossed his fingers and started the countdown. He moved around the side of the pod and pressed the button on the one. The door blew and he was moving against the force of the percussive wave before it had a chance to dissipate.
The light was out in the pod, so Aaron had to rely on the one clipped to his vest and his memory of where Fitz and Jemma had been when he started the countdown. He found them and swung the extra tank off his shoulder. They each took a mouthpiece and nodded when he gave them a thumbs up. He grabbed his board and wrote one last message:
We’ll take it slow and easy. Only about 80ft down. You’ve got a full tank, so you should be fine. Ready?
He held it close to them under his light so they could hopefully see it through the sting of the salt water. They both nodded and he had to take them at their word. Aaron turned, led them out of the pod, and up to the surface.
He kept an eye on them as they figured out a way to carry the tank between them and keep pace with each other. It was pretty obvious they’d worked together for a while. They fell into sync easily and that set his mind at ease. They reached the surface without any problems and Aaron sent up another word of thanks.
He hauled himself up onto the deck, shed his tank and mask, and then reached down to help his rescues.
Jemma curled in on herself as she lay on the deck and pressed her hands to her eyes. Fitz leaned against the wall and stared blankly at his hands.
Aaron gave them a few minutes as he got the Ace ready to go. He marked the coordinates in case the pod had to be retrieved and radioed Marta that he was on his way back.
He rummaged through his berth and came up with two pairs of sweatpants, two t-shirts, and two towels.
When he came back out on deck he found Jemma curled around Fitz as he cried. Aaron almost went back down below to give them more privacy, but Jemma looked up just then and met his eyes. It felt like a gut punch, because he knew that look. He saw it in the mirror most mornings: Betrayal.
“I, uh, I found you both some dry clothes and towels. The bathroom’s not much, but you can at least wash off the ocean and get dry,” he said.
Fitz didn’t seem to hear him, but Jemma gave him a wan smile. “Thank you, Mr….” she trailed off.
Her accent gave him pause, but he recovered quickly. “Cross, but call me Aaron. Fitz said you name is Jemma?”
She nodded. “Dr. Jemma Simmons. This is Dr. Leo Fitz. I can’t thank you enough for rescuing us. If I may, how did you find us?”
Aaron grimaced. “I saw the pod drop. I thought it might be a drug drop and was just gonna leave a tip for the Coast Guard, but then I thought I heard screaming so I figured it was worth checking out. I’m glad I did.”
She nodded almost absently as she stroked Fitz’s head. He seemed to have calmed down some and turned his head to see Aaron still leaning in the doorway. “Thank you,” he whispered hoarsely.
Aaron gave him a lopsided smile. “You’re welcome.” He moved out of the doorway and said, “Uh, you guys wanna get cleaned up? We’re about two hours out of port, but I’ve got a good-sized first aid kit on board and my best friend is a doctor. She’s ready to take a look at you when we get in.”
Jemma pushed Fitz to get him to stand up. “You go first.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded firmly. “Yes. Go.”
Fitz eyed her for a moment before acquiescing. He took the towel and clothes Aaron offered him with a wan smile and went down below.
Once he was out of earshot, Aaron asked Jemma, “Is there anyone you want to contact?”
Tears welled in her eyes and her chin wobbled before she got hold of herself. “I don’t know if it’s safe or not.”
Aaron debated with himself for a long moment. They had obviously pissed off the wrong people. He’d saved them from a watery grave; did he really want to get any more involved? His gaze wandered to Jemma again, looking like a drowned rat, but with an underlying strength that reminded him so much of Marta, and he dropped his head in defeat.
He was such a sucker for a damsel who needed just a little bit of help to save herself. Rubbing a hand over his face, Aaron said, “I got a friend I can call. He kinda specializes in the impossible. I’m pretty sure he’d be able to help you.”
Jemma eyed him warily. “I don’t want to get anyone hurt.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I might be retired, but I can still hold my own, and my friend is one of the best there is.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before nodding. “If he can just find out if our team is safe, then Fitz and I can make a plan. I need to know if Phil Coulson is okay.”
Aaron froze. He stared at Jemma blankly as he went through the last two hours. The pod…there was a symbol on the side... Oh fucking hell.
“You and Fitz are Coulson’s Wonder Twins. You’re Fitz-Simmons,” he said flatly.
Jemma stared at him in horror as she tried to press herself into the wall. “Are you Hydra?” she squeaked.
That shook him out of his thoughts. “What? No! Why would you think that? No, Phil is the friend I was going to call. What’s he gotten his dumb ass into now?”
He heard Fitz behind him and moved just in time to avoid getting clobbered in the head with a frying pan. Aaron caught Fitz’s arm and disabled him as gently as possible. “I swear to God, I am not your enemy.”
Fitz scuttled over to Jemma and Aaron set the frying pan down. He held his hands out to his sides. “My name is Aaron Cross. I’m a former Outcome Operative. Phil Coulson cleared my name and my best friend’s name when we were being hunted by every alphabet agency you can think of after my bosses burned the program. I owe him my life.”
Jemma tilted her head and he could see her thinking. Her eyes widened. “Oh! I remember that! Dr. Marta Shearing, one of the most brilliant minds in the field of genetics- we collaborated once, but she disappeared a couple of years ago. I asked Agent Coulson if he would look into it and he assured me she was safe.” She looked at Fitz who was trembling next to her. “What do you think, Fitz?”
Fitz stared hard at Aaron. When he finally spoke, Aaron blinked at the thick Scottish brogue. It made it a little difficult to understand him. Where did Coulson find them? Jemma didn’t look like she had any trouble understanding him, though. “He could have left us to die down there. He didn’t. He’s offering to help and right now we need all we can get. I don’t think we’ve got much choice.”
She nodded thoughtfully and some of her wariness eased. Aaron relaxed a little. He looked at Jemma. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll see if I can get Phil on the horn. Where is he supposed to be?”
They traded glances and Fitz answered, “Cuba.”
Aaron sighed. “Of course he is.”
Jemma gave him a strained smile as she took the remaining clothes and towel and went below deck.
Fitz fidgeted with the hem of his borrowed t-shirt and mumbled, “Sorry I tried to brain you with the frying pan.”
Aaron’s lips twitched. “It’s all right. I might have done the same in your shoes. You up to telling me what’s going on?”
Fitz looked at him in surprise. “Have you not seen the news in the last twenty-four hours?”
Aaron shook his head. “I’ve been on the water for the past two days and we don’t have a TV at home right now. The last one had an unfortunate meeting with a Wii controller and we haven’t gotten around to replacing it yet.” Fitz’s lips twitched but he didn’t smile. “What’d I miss?”
“SHIELD is gone. Hydra’s been hiding inside it since the War. I don’t know what brought it on, but they made themselves known. Their operatives are all over the government. All of SHIELD’s files have been dumped on the Internet,” His breath hitched and he swiped at his eyes. “One of our teammates, our friend is Hydra. He locked us in the pod and dumped us like so much garbage.”
Fitz looked like he could really use a hug, but Aaron needed to sit down. He’d heard the stories; that Hydra hadn’t died with Schmidt in World War Two, but he thought they were just that: stories. Had Byer been Hydra? It wouldn’t surprise him. He wondered if he’d ever been used to do their bidding and he felt nauseous.
“You okay?” Fitz asked. “You look a little green.”
Aaron held up a hand and put his head between his knees. If SHIELD was really Hydra then were he and Marta actually safe? Were they going to have to run again? Oh fuck. He’d gone soft. He wasn’t prepared to deal with this kind of shit on the spur of the moment anymore.
After a couple of minutes Aaron cautiously sat up, fairly certain his breakfast would stay down. He grimaced at Fitz. “Sorry, just needed a minute.”
Fitz snorted. “Yeah. I know how that feels.”
Aaron took two more deep breaths then stood up. “I’m gonna call Phil,” he said before he ducked into the wheelhouse.
He got them underway and radioed Marta. “Pack our bags and keep them on standby. Shit’s hit the fan and I don’t know if it’s gonna land on us or not, but I want to be ready. Find a TV and see what you can find out about SHIELD. Hit the computer, too.”
There was a long pause and then Marta said, “Marigold.”
He grinned fleetingly at their code phrase to make sure neither was compromised. “Chrysanthemum.”
She sighed. “Okay. I’m pretty sure I remember how to do this.”
“There ya go, Warrior. It might not come to that. I could just be paranoid, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. If anyone comes by that you don’t know or if you get a bad vibe from someone, you get the hell out, you hear me? You keep yourself safe and I will find you. I promise.”
“Aaron…”
“Marta, please.”
She sighed. “Fine, but you better stay safe, too.”
“I’ll do my best. Do you remember a Dr. Jemma Simmons?”
“That’s quite the non sequitur, but yes. We collaborated on one of the few papers I was allowed to publish when I was at Sterisyn. She’s very young, but quite brilliant. Why do you ask?”
“Because she and her partner, Fitz, are on the boat with me. They’re the ones I pulled up from the ocean floor.”
“Well, shit. All right, I’ll see what I can find.”
“If things go like how I think they might, then we may have some company soon. But I want you packed and ready to go before worrying about any of that. Okay?”
She snorted and he could see her pinching the bridge of her nose very clearly in his mind’s eye. “Sure. I’ll go do that now. How far out are you?”
“Couple hours, maybe less if I push it.”
“Be careful. I’ll see you soon.”
“You, too.”
The disconnected and Aaron reached for the sat-phone. He dialed the number from memory and crossed his fingers that the line was still secure. There was a chance that Phil wouldn’t answer, but he’d promised and Aaron was really hoping he’d keep it.
It picked up on the second ring. “This is a really bad time.”
Aaron could hear gun fire in the background. “No shit, but I’ve got a couple of puppies on board who are very worried about you and the others. There anything you want me to tell them?”
He heard Phil murmur, “Oh, thank Christ.” In a louder voice, he said, “Tell them to sit and stay. Tell them good job. I’ll call you when we get out of this current mess and we’ll figure it out.”
“Are we safe?” Aaron asked.
“As far as I know,” Phil answered honestly.
“I guess that’ll have to do for now. Providing your shit show doesn’t land on our doorstep, you and your team can hole up with us while you regroup. If you need an extra hand I’ll help.”
“Aar-“
“No names. We don’t know how secure this line is. We better hang up so any tracing fails. Just try to give me a heads up before you guys get here, alright? My fingers are getting a little itchy.”
“Noted. And…thanks.”
“No worries. Get out alive.”
Aaron hung up and pressed the antenna to his forehead. Fucking Phil Coulson. Man’s in the middle of a gun fight and still sounded like he was just sitting down to a board meeting. He got more than his fair share of cool when it was passed out.
“Is he all right?” Jemma asked. She stood at the top of the stairs, toweling her hair dry.
Aaron nodded. “In the middle of a fire fight, but he sounded good. You and Fitz are going to come home with me and lay low. They’ll be joining us once they get out of whatever scrape I interrupted.”
Jemma’s knees buckled in relief and Aaron caught her before she fell down the stairs. Fitz came in and tucked her into his side. Aaron motioned them to the couch. “Just rest. I’ve got the watch.” They nodded tiredly and stretched out together. They were asleep in ten minutes. He envied them a little. He’d only been up for about four hours, but he could use a nap, too.
Aaron stood at the helm and tried to work out a plan. He didn’t have all the information, but that wasn’t anything new. What he did know was the guy that saved his ass (even if he never owned up to it) needed saving now. He could do that, or at least, he’d watch Phil’s back while he did what he needed to do.
After that, well, they’d have to wait and see.
-30-