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Recluse of SHIELD (Season 6)- GHOSTS -

-Preface- The price of victory

Mick stood alone in the back of the small country style church in Boston. It was hard to be here, much harder than he thought it would be. Phillip James Coulson had passed away, this time for the last time. That alone was a strange thought, but the wild ride it had been since Nick Fury had Coulson revived wasn’t one Mick would ever regret going on. It gave him more time with the man who stepped into the fathering mentor he needed. It put him on a team with a family that was strong enough to handle anything the world could throw at them. Strong enough to stop the world from ending. At least, in a sense.
It was true SHIELD stopped the world from being torn apart by Glenn Talbot in his gravitonium induced psychosis, but that wasn’t the only threat the world faced. Glenn Talbot had tried to warn them about a mad titan named Thanos. Unfortunately, leaving Talbot to stop Thanos destroyed the world due to his lust for power, which was a future none of them wanted to endure again. On the flipped side of the coin, Thanos defeated the Avengers, managed to gather powerful artifacts known as Infinity Stones, and used them to wipe out half of the universe with a simple snap of his fingers. The people that vanished weren’t picked in any manner either. It was completely random. There were newborns left without parents, elders losing their entire family at the end of their lives, newborns vanished from their mothers hands. It was pure chaos.
No one knew for sure who all was missing, versus who had vanished. Mack and Yo-yo had been running themselves ragged trying to compile that list while also attending meetings with the fractured US government. Today was honestly the first time they had all been together in a few months.
“She’s going to need you up there Webby,” Mack said as he patted Mick’s shoulders.
“I know,” Mick grimaced. “I just thought going through this a second time wouldn’t hurt this bad.”
“How weird is it to say that?” Yo-Yo asked as she smiled sympathetically.
“So weird,” Mick wiped a tear from his face as he chuckled.
“Is everyone else here?” Mack asked as Mick nodded.
“I don’t think May left,” Mick said.
”I’m sure she’s taking it worse than the rest of us,” Yo-Yo said as Mick shrugged.
“It’s really hard when you lose your world,” Mack stated as Mick thought back to Mack’s struggle to leave the Framework because of his daughter, and his own reluctance because of Sam.
“It’s been a while, eh mate?” Lance Hunter walked in with Bobbi Morse behind him. “Sorry it’s never under better circumstances.”
“How’s Daisy holding up?” Bobbi asked as Mack and Yo-Yo started to seek out a seat.
“It’s been rough,” Mick said as he started toward the front.

The eulogy was touching, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. To make things a little more difficult, Mack, Mick, Fitz, and Lance were the bearers. Watching everyone place their lily on Coulson’s casket was heart wrenching. It was their final goodbye. It was hard to say who was hurting worse, although May was much less receptive to conversation than everyone else. After everything was over, Mick watched May stand by the grave silently. Everyone knew why, her love for Coulson was on a much different level. It had to be killing her inside to have been there as he took his last breath. It had to be torment knowing that we could’ve saved him if the circumstances had been different. “I’m going to talk to her,” Daisy said as Mick nodded. “I’ll catch up with you guys at the hotel.”

“May,” Daisy said softly as May tensed up and brushed her cheeks. “You don’t have to be a lone wolf. We’re all here for you.”
“I know,” May said, her voice raspy. She then cleared her throat before looking at Daisy trying hard to force her emotionless expression to hide her intense pain. “I knew it wouldn’t be long, and it didn’t matter how much I tried to tell myself it couldn’t be longer, it wasn’t enough time.”
“It still bothers me that he wouldn’t let us save him,” Daisy placed her arm around May as they stared at the grave.
“He wanted to go out on his own terms,” May sighed. “And this time, he did. Peacefully.”
“May, I’m so sorry,” Daisy said as May shook her head with a soft smile.
“Don’t be,” May wiped a tear from her eyes. “It’s what he wanted.” May then shook her head, wiped her face, and took in a deep breath. “What are you guys doing about this disappearance phenomenon?”
“We’re still trying to piece it all together,” Daisy shrugged. “All we know for sure; it was caused by Thanos. Mack has us with Natasha and Rodgers investigating everyone’s claims, and it’s bad. There’s so much loss.”
“Anyone we know?” May asked.
“A few people that Mack knew from his STARS days, Patten Brent. Jerren Bennet turned up on the list recently, I don’t know if Mick knows about that yet,” Daisy said as May shook her head and frowned.
“So there wasn’t an order to it?” May asked as Daisy shook her head. “Are Fitz and Simmons working on reversing it?”
“They just got to come back from the EU yesterday,” Daisy said as May nodded, unsurprised by that. “The EU has been on lockdown since immigrants began pouring in from countries that lost their entire established government thanks to the snap.”
“I’m glad news travels slow in Tahiti,” May said as Daisy nodded in agreement. “Phil would’ve never rested if he knew what was going on in the rest of the world.”
“You’re right about that,” Daisy smirked. “It’s still weird hearing his first name.”
“Then don’t use it,” May smirked. “Do you still need a pilot?”
“You sure you want back aboard our crazy train,” Daisy asked as May smiled at her.
“Phil would want me to keep an eye on you kids,” May teased as she looked back at the grave with a hint of resolve.
“We’d be glad to have you back,” Daisy smiled as she looked fondly at the grave.

Chapter 1: Picking Up the Pieces

Walking through the streets of DC felt like walking through a third world country. There was chaos abounding. Windows were shattered in what was once nice apartment complexes, doors barely hanging on their hinges. Mangled cars from collisions, when their drivers vanished. Other cars had their rear windows smashed, seemingly abandoned leaving children trapped inside their car seats. Worse yet were the planes that crashed into neighborhoods due to the lack of pilots. Not even Hollywood with all of it’s cataclysm movies could prepare for this sight. Nothing had been spared from this terrible nightmare, as images like this spun across the media as people struggled to cope with their new found lives.
“I hate seeing this,” Mack said as he shook his head.
“It’s almost as bad as the Lighthouse,” Yo-yo stated as Daisy grunted. ”I staid almost.”
“At least we can try to rebuild here,” Jemma said.
“One problem with that,” Mick started. “No one knows how to start. It was easy when it was just one place, you start cleaning up the impacted area and rebuild it. How do we do that when some countries don’t even exist anymore?”
“That’s what we’re meeting with these guys for,” Mack stated firmly. “I think if SHIELD joins with the Avengers, then maybe the world will trust us enough to start picking up the pieces.”
“What if they don’t trust the Avengers either?” May asked to Mack’s dismay.
“Then we work on our own until we get global clearance,” Mack replied as May nodded.
“At least you have a plan,” she stated.

They entered the Capitol Building, as security guards flocked toward them. Mack flashed his SHIELD badge, and immediately things began to change. The guards didn’t act hostile at all, they showed Mack tremendous respect. They led the team through several halls before they entered the huge auditorium where several government representatives sat, with about as many empty seats around them. In the center of the room sat two very familiar faces; Natasha Romanoff, who had dyed her hair blonde and cut it, and Steve Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers stood up, shaking Mack’s hand first, then working his way down the line, ending with Mick. “Thank you from coming out here,” he stated as Natasha stood.
“Sorry about your loss,” Natasha said looking directly at May.
“If we would’ve known,” Steve started.
“Don’t,” May stated harshly. “We’ve all lost people we cared about recently. No point in bringing that up now.”
“Right,” Steve said with a nod.
“It’s been a while,” Natasha smirked at Mick. “You’re all grown up now.”
“And you’re blonde,” Mick said with a grin as Daisy stared at him curiously.
“Not to cut your little gathering short, but we do have some very important matters to sort out,” Nicholas Greenwich, a senator from New Jersey stated.
“You’re right,” Steve nodded as he urged the team to sit at the table in front of himself and Natasha. He then cleared hiss throat as the room fell silent. “Let’s open this meeting up with a moment of silence for those who can’t be here.” Steve could be heard praying under his breath, surprising Mick with his faith in this given moment. With another clearing of his throat Steve grabbed the mic. “The world is struggling. Everyone is hurting in ways we can’t even imagine. They don’t have anyone to turn to. No one can just swoop in and put it back the way it was a few weeks ago. We promised to protect the world, and we failed. Plain and simple, we failed. Our promise as Avengers was to avenge the world if anything ever happened, but we don’t even know how to go about that.”
“We’ve spoken to a few different governments; No one knows how to handle this global crisis. The Wakanda’s have offered to assist in any way they can, once they reestablish order due to the loss of their royal family. The European Union is currently dealing with a power struggle as most of their countries leaders vanished, leaving a serious power vacuum in their wake. Terrorist organizations have moved in to capitalize on the demoralized people,” Natasha took over. “We’ve deployed STARS to try to fend off as much violence as we can.”
“That’s why we brought these guys here,” Steve took over again, pointing at the SHIELD team. “I was surprised when I saw their efforts in the Battle of Chicago, especially after the problems we’ve had with SHIELD in the past. I think with their recent efforts they’ve earned at seat as an officially backed government entity.”
“It’s true, SHIELD did aid in the Chicago incident,” Mary Bayfield, a senator from Illinois stated. “But, it could be said that they caused this indecent as well.”
“How do you figure?” Yo-yo snapped.
“General Hale, and General Talbot were your people,” Daisy barked.
“Were they not also HYDRA agents?” Pat Bernard, a senator from Colorado, asked. “And wasn’t HYDRA born from SHIELD?”
“With all due respect, HYDRA was around long before SHIELD was,” Steve stepped in.
“Even still,” Mr. Bernard stated. “SHIELD has been operating against government orders to disband for a year since we lost Director Mace.”
“Actually, about six of those months, we weren’t,” Mick stated. “Half of our team was trapped in a desolate future, while Agent Fitz and myself were being detained by the late General Hale.”
“Order!” Horace Gabbard, current Speaker of the House from California, barked as he slammed the gavel down on his desk.

The rest of the hearing went about as well as anyone could’ve hoped. Steve continued to defend SHIELD, and promote unity until the vote came. A thin majority voted in favor of SHIELD, but it was enough that the preceding Vice President, Amelia Everette, allowed for the reinstatement of SHIELD. The team cheered after the hearing, until the addendum to the reinstatement was issued. The two Avengers were now in charge of the public face of SHIELD, and would be held accountable if anything went awry.

“It’s better than nothing,” Steve shrugged as they headed outside.
“You sure you want to tarnish that pretty face with this band of misfits?” Natasha teased.
“You cause more trouble than we do,” Mick scoffed as both Steve and Natasha smiled.
“Just so we’re clear,” Steve said as he looked up at Mack and held out his hand. “We’re just the public face, you’re still in charge, Director Mackenzie.”
“Thanks Captain Rodgers,” Mack said with a smile, both shaking hands firmly. “Where should we start then?” Mack turned to his team.
“Recruiting,” Daisy suggested.
“Yeah, I’m sure there’s tons of people who want to join SHIELD to provide humanitarian aid, where they think we fight aliens and super villains now,” Fitz moaned.
“Humanitarian aid is heroic,” Jemma stated as Fitz rolled his eyes and nudged Mick.
“Not as heroic as taking down a super villain or an alien overlord,” Fitz argued.
“We don’t know that the Kree won’t still come,” Yo-yo stated as everyone glanced at her skeptically. “I’m just saying, they might end up with their chance.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Steve said with a nod.
“I don’t think we can handle another alien attacking us right now,” Natasha shook her head.
“We’ll deal with that if it happens,” Mack stated. “Right now, the world needs to know we’re there for them.”

Chapter Text

Enoch walked around the small space station of his old acquaintance, Noah. His purpose was to see that Davis Hale survived in the cryogenic tank so they could save Leopold Fitz’s friends in the future. It had only been one hundred and eighty five days since they left earth, they still had seventy three years and three hundred and thirteen more to go. This would be easy to handle, as for a Chonicom, that wasn’t long at all. After checking looking over the fuel reserves, adjusting the orbital trajectory, he looked out over the sea of stars. Why he did this, he wasn’t exactly sure, but humans did it quite frequently on their television shows, and it had just become a strange habit once he tried it.
Time was proceeding as usual, until an alarm went off, drawing his full attention. This wasn’t usual at all. Enoch reached the tank with it’s blaring vitality alarms. He then looked inside, and was quite unsure how it became empty. No one was aboard this space station, not since Noah left to take his place on earth in assisting Leopold Fitz and the other members of SHIELD. The door had not been opened, and to his knowledge, humans could not simply disappear. At least, not ones without inhuman or supernatural power. Neither would be applicable to Davis Hale. This sparked many questions; one being, could the future already have been changed? Was there another catastrophic event that the Seer not warned him about? His mind quickly began running several calculations. If he diverted from his mission to bring Davis Hale to the future, would the known cataclysm still occur? Was this new cataclysm a result of staying on their current path. Would diverting from the designated course cause world ending paradoxes?
More alarms began to sound, drawing the immediate attention. He hurried toward the bridge as the warning lights flashed. His eyes fixated on the screens once he reached the command station. There were several Confederate war ships passing nearby as if they were regrouping, all dangerously close to this station. Thankfully, it must’ve registered as abandoned due to the low power output, but this drew another question. Where were they heading? The only planet with life in this solar system was Earth. It was then Enoch realized something was horribly wrong. He needed to contact Leopold Fitz. He needed to warn him of the dangers that were coming his way. It would be extremely risky, but some times risks were necessary to prevent a cataclysmic event. That amount of warriors could overwhelm the humans if they weren’t prepared.

“We’ve got another report of a large energy spike!” Fitz barked as the computer’s warning echoed through the halls from Mission Control.
“Where is it this time?” Mack asked as Fitz quickly pulled up the map, blinking red just over a small town in Ohio.
“We need a team on the ground,” Mack stated firmly.
“We’re about ten minutes out,” May replied over the speaker.
“Remember, we’re just trying to catch this creature, not kill it,” Mack stated. “We need to analyze it so we know what we’re up against.”
“Ok, that wasn’t our fault,” Daisy stated over the speaker. “It materialized from the atmosphere and combusted as it fell!”
“We’re already being watched like a hawk, we can’t afford any more scrutiny,” Mack sighed.
“Don’t worry, Sir,” Jemma stated. “We’ll do our best to get at least a sample!”
“Thank you,” Mack said then turned to Fitz. “Any clues as to what is causing this Turbo?”
“Unfortunately,” Fitz frowned as he tinkered with his tablet. “No. If I had one of those Infinity Stones to analyze, I could compare the two energy signatures.”
“Doesn’t sound like Thanos was quite willing to share them,” Mack smirked.
“It makes me wonder though,” Fitz started. “If we would’ve failed to stop Talbot, could he have stopped Thanos?”
“I saw that future,” Mack said firmly. “It wasn’t pretty. The whole world was ripped apart by his lust for power. Even if it did stop Thanos, the world is better together than the remnants of the human species being confined to this base.”
“It was just a thought,” Fitz sighed as Mack turned his focus back to the screen.

The tires of Mick’s bike spun out as he and Daisy landed carefully thanks to her quake powers. May hated when they jumped out of the hatch like that, but it was a necessity if they were going to figure out what was causing these strange energy spikes.
“Nice landing,” May snarked over the comms. “That bike isn’t going to hold up if you keep doing that.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Mick grunted. “We needed to be on the ground, so we that’s where we went!”
“You could’ve at least waited until we were closer,” Jemma’s concern was evident.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Daisy asked.
“We’re getting close! Keep your eyes peeled for anything down there!” May barked “We’ll cover you from above.”
“Rodger,” Mick and Daisy said harmoniously.

They flew down the road at incredible speeds, which was much easier thanks to the fewer people. The abandoned car’s that still lined the roads made it much more tricky than it should be, but tricky was fun. It was also a somber reminder of just how dangerous the world still was. Despite the serious nature of the mission, Mick’s mind was stuck on the fact Daisy was holding on to him so tightly. It was quite unusual for them to be so close with her training Ruby and his constantly chasing these strange power surges. “Signal is spiking!” Daisy yelled over the roar of the engine. “We’re right on top of it according to this!”
Mick twisted the bike as it screeched to a halt. The two looked around to see several abandoned buildings, marked by firefighters with a spray painted X for empty. The wind began to howl, mingling with with a high pitch electrical whirring. Sparks shot from the sky above, then a man began to appear from the chaos. He was on the small side, but it didn’t change Mick and Daisy preparing for a fight. No sooner than he appeared, several large draconian creatures burst from the swirling vortex with ear spilling shrieks.
They quickly began circling the man, he began sprinting toward the two of them. “Ready?” Daisy asked as she lifted her hands, ready to launch a quake.
“Let’s do this,” Mick nodded as his two sabers crackled to life with blue electricity.

The dragon like creatures screamed as Mick and Daisy began fighting them off. They recoiled at Mick’s slashes, while Daisy quaked several back toward the steadily fading vortex. A few of them vaporized in the electrical storm, while others left the two heroes in favor of their original prey. The man screamed in blood curdling agony as two of the creatures lifted him into the sky while others were snipping and biting into him.
“What do we do about that?” Daisy asked as Mick frowned.
“Launch me and I’ll try to web him?” Mick shrugged as the two gave chase as best they could.
“How are you going to catch yourself?” Daisy asked as Mick shrugged again.
“I trust you,” Mick smiled.
“This is insane!” Daisy stated.
“What other choice do we have?” Mick asked as he jumped atop a car. “Now or never!”
Daisy winced as Mick jumped from the top of the car into her quake, sending him through the air like a paper airplane. The force of the quake stung quite a bit, but he fought through the pain as he gained enough altitude. He began shooting several web lines, hitting the man, then jerking him free of the monstrous creatures. He suddenly felt another surge, launching him even higher. The decent was much faster than Mick anticipated, slamming into something solid and unaccounted for. He shook his head realizing he was now sitting in the back of the quinjet with a look of disapproval from Jemma and May both.
As Mick tried to regain composure the man jumped from the hatch into a free fall. “What the heck?” Mick quickly followed after catching the chute Jemma tossed. “Our guy has a suicide issue! I’m-“ Mick paused as he looked around, seeing no one else in the air. “Where’d he go?”
“Pull the chute Bellouve, you’re falling too fast!” May barked, Mick reluctantly listening. “Mick lost the target, do you see anything down there Daisy?”
“I’ve got eyes on Mick, but there’s nothing down here,” Daisy replied.
“So we lost another one?” Mick sighed.
“At least this time we have proof something existed,” Jemma said as Mick felt a hint of relief. “I’m pulling a blood sample now. Maybe we can find out just what we’re dealing with.”
“We’ve got a much bigger problem,” May stated plainly.
“How much bigger?” Daisy asked.
“Knowing our luck, catastrophic big,” Mick grunted as he slowly drifted toward the ground.

“I’ve got them, what’s going on?” May asked as Mick, Daisy, and Jemma stood behind her.
“We had a message from Enoch,” Fitz’s voice came over the speaker. “Judging by the time stamp, it’s from about two months ago. I don’t know if you’ll want to hear it though. It’s gonna really upset Mick.”
“Just tell us,” Mick demanded.
“Davis Hale vanished, presumably due to Thanos,” Fitz paused as Mick growled. “That’s not the worst it. He saw confederate ships heading our way.”
“Great, first energy vortexes now a freaking Kree invasion?” Daisy huffed.
“What’s Mack saying about this?” Jemma asked.
“He doesn’t know,” Fitz sounded nervous. “He and Yo-Yo left base to deal with another hearing.”
“Great,” May sighed.
“Guess we’re getting overtime today,” Daisy smirked as Mick stood silently staring out at the clouds. She frowned as she began to rub his shoulders, feeling the emotions he was trying to compress by his tense stance.

Chapter Text

The Lighthouse felt as emptier than usual, with no one coming to unload Zephyr One once they landed. That didn’t change the haste the four of them placed in seeing this message from Enoch. Ruby sat in the chair Daisy usually had, engrossed in her oversight mission. Fitz, however, was quite relieved to see his wife and friends enter the room.

“Let’s see it,” May ordered as Fitz nodded.

“Agents Leopold Fitz and Mick Bellouve, we may have trouble. Davis Hale has inexplicably vanished from the containment pod, which endangers our current mission to get him into the future. Even more troublesome would be the many ships headed in your direction. I fear it may be Confederate warships. I hope this message reaches you before the warships. They may also attack my ship once they realize it is inhabited. If this does occur, all hope will be lost in changing the future. I do realize your world may already be destroyed, and if it is, this message is in vain, though for some inexplainable reason I do not believe that to be the case. Which is quite irrational, as I am aware, which I am called on my home planet.”

“It’s so good to see him alive,” Jemma said happily looking at the screen.

“It’s always so odd hearing you talk about that future,” Mick grimaced. “Even more strange hearing him.”

“At least you haven’t heard it as many times I as have,” Ruby muttered as she peaked over her computer.

“I was trying to analyze it!” Fitz barked. “If anything around here is weird, it’s you and your seismic fits!”

“Hey!” Ruby and Daisy fussed in tandem.

“You didn’t mock me when I was learning to control my powers,” Daisy glared as Fitz eased behind Jemma.

“That’s because we were all scared you’d accidentally quake us to oblivion,” Fitz mumbled.

“Enough,” May barked as everyone began to focus. “Fitz, what did you find out from that message exactly?”

“Thankfully Enoch is using a version of our calendar,” Fitz shrugged as the video on screen shifted into a wall of text. “It appear to be from May 31.”

“The day Thanos attacked Wakanda?” Daisy asked as Fitz nodded.

“Figures,” Mick grunted. “Everything leads back to that day.”

“At first, I wondered if that was the ships Enoch could’ve seen,” Fitz began. “Then I started looking into the government space station and satellite scans when I found something fairly disturbing.”

Everyone stared curiously as the screen shifted into images of a small fleet of space ships approaching the red tinted planet at a slow speed. Both May and Daisy took in deep breaths. “Those look like Quovas’ ships.” May stated.

“When were those sighted?” Daisy asked as she tensed up.

“That’s been the troublesome part. The dates are scrambled,” Fitz replied as he turned to Daisy.

“How can that be?” May asked as Fitz shrugged.

“Send them to my laptop, I’ll run them through a few decryption programs,” Daisy stated as Ruby sighed.

“Don’t start that again,” Fitz grumbled. “The Lighthouse might not withstand another one of those tantrums.”

“I’m not throwing a tantrum!” Ruby fussed, stomping her feet as the room began to shake causing the lights and screens to flicker. She held her breath and eased back down into her chair.

“You’re not helping at all with that,” Jemma glared at Fitz.

“Don’t you know girls are sensitive?” Mick teased as every female in the room glared at him before they left. “See,” Mick snickered as Fitz rolled his eyes.

“You’re a right numpty,” Fitz teased as they both leaned on the railing, staring at the big screen. Mick shook his head, always amused by Fitz’s Scottish banter.

“I bet I hear about it later, but whatever.”

“Did you get a good look at whatever is causing those electrical spikes?”

“It looks like those warp holes you see in science fiction movies, with lightning crackling all around it,” Mick said as Fitz seemed almost skeptical. “The weirder part were the little mini dragon like things that were coming from it.”

“Dragon like creatures?” Fitz skepticism was much higher than Mick expected considering all they had been through so far.

“Yeah, they were drawn to this strange guy in tattered clothes. They kept nipping and biting at him and flying towards his face,” Mick explained. “Then they just vanished after he bailed out of the Zephyr.”

“I don’t understand what these vortexes are,” Fitz sighed. “There’s no rhyme or reason to them as far as I can tell.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Mick sighed. “But the bigger question is, what do we do about Enoch?”

“One problem at a time, right?” Fitz asked as Mick shrugged.

Daisy sat in her room watching her computer run several different programs at once while also having her upbeat mix playing on her laptop which featured songs from artists like Walk the Moon and Kings of Leon. There was so much clouding her mind, like her previous encounter with those strange creatures, the doubt she had of being a good SO for Ruby, even the stress of SHIELD missions themselves. They had been running ragged trying to keep up with the criminal uprisings and government overthrowing that had been consuming the Middle East, South America, and parts of Africa. Thankfully, Mack pulled them out of that to handle this vortex phenomenon. That, however, deeply bothered the US government officials that were in oversight of SHIELD.

She leaned back on her bed closing her eyes to relax for a brief moment. Until her computer pinged. Her eyes shot open quickly as walls of text appeared over the video and stollen satellite pictures. She selected it then ran it through a filter, setting parameters for any form of dates. The ring like ship photo pinged from days before Thanos’ attack, which made sense being that they’d all seen those things from new coverage after the fight against Talbot. The warships were odd. Some were before, which made sense being that of Quovas’ ship, the look alike were the problem. They had dates both before Thanos and after, with the most recent one being a few weeks ago. This bothered her greatly. Did that mean they had made contact and left, did they follow the signal from Enoch, or was there something else they were missing? She needed more information, and without Mack or the two Avengers, the government wasn’t going to speak to her. They still resented her for the Talbot conspiracy, despite her helping to save Chicago. It was infuriating, but unsurprising.

She debated briefly on hacking into NASA herself, but knowing how much it would upset Mack if he found out deterred her. Maybe talking things over with May or Simmons, because calling her Mrs. Fitz just sounded weird, would help. She closed her laptop with the lab in mind as her first destination.

It was both interesting and horrifying to watch Jemma in the lab. The way she was so focused on the small blood samples of the strange creatures on Mick’s sabers, and the sample she pulled from the floor of Zephyr One of the guy. The computer to her right had some reconstructions of the creature, which weren’t really all that similar. It was still hard to accept seeing those dragon like creatures being real, despite all of the strange things she’d seen throughout her tenure with SHIELD.

“Have you found out anything?” Jemma asked pulling Daisy out of her spaced out thoughts.

“Nothing substantial,” Daisy said with a frown. “Looks like you’re having good luck.”

“Not as much as I had hoped,” Jemma said distraught. “I keep running into these abnormal readings for the man.”

“How so?”

“His DNA is human-like, but yet, there are alien properties to it,” Jemma pointed at the screen to the left. She showed images of the DNA strand from the sample she had compared to a normal human DNA strand. The sample looked as if it had an extra layer of crusty looking stuff over it as well, extra pieces that humans didn’t have and more interwoven connections. Listening to Jemma explain it sort of made sense, but looking at it felt like trying to read in an unknown language. It ultimately came back around to almost human, yet with some matching strands to the dragon like creature which was where they started to begin with.

“Thanks for the science lesson Simmons, but you’re way over my head,” Daisy said as Jemma chuckled.

“It feels like it’s over mine as well,” Jemma frowned.

Ruby stood in a corner of the training room tightening her inhibitor bands onto her wrists. They sent a strange choking like sensation throughout her body, numbing her powers by blocking off whatever caused them to pulsate through her hands. It felt like a clog in her wrists with the way her powers were suppressed, giving her the illusion of being normal again. The nightmares of her powers accidentally crushing Werner and seeing her friends die thanks to the gravitonium. They also helped in silencing the voices that rattled her brain causing her powers to spiral out of control to begin with. It took a while for her to completely silence them with the inhibitors, and when paired along with training with Agent May was extremely helpful.

May was much more thorough than the HYDRA trainers she had trained under previously. She never intentionally drew blood in combat training, nor tried to break her psychologically.

SHIELD was much different than anything she had ever known. These people, despite their reservations, seemed to care for her. Patten was the first, and they had an interesting connection. His loneliness and her despair really harmonized and the two felt whole when they were together. Unfortunately, their budding relationship was cut short when he turned to dust right before her eyes. Then there was Daisy and Mick. The two that fought the hardest to not only save her life, but deemed her worthy enough to be forgiven.

Daisy was her hero growing up, and she turned out to be every bit of the hero she’d imagined her to be. She was instrumental in training her to gain control over the powers that haunted her as well as the trauma caused by them. She was so grateful for Daisy and her compassion. It’s because of her that Director Mackenzie allowed her to stay and become a SHIELD trainee. Well, that and half of all life vanished leaving everyone hurting for help. Daisy and May helped her understand how oversight worked, being that Director Mackenzie wasn’t sure she could handle the stress of the field yet. He was probably right. If Agent Fitz could rile her up so easily with his constant nagging at her for her short comings, the stress of field work would probably end horribly for her and anyone else around.

May walked onto the mat, then motioned for Ruby to follow. Her anxiety was high, partially thanks to May’s intimidating demeanor, as well as the unreadable stoic expression. Ruby took in a deep breath as she joined May, the two nodded, and began to stretch. It was here May had taught Ruby to breath out her problems, to let go of the nightmares and focus on what was around her. After stretching would be going through combat stances, the one thing that reminded her of the movie that she’d watched with Patten called the Karate Kid. These were the easiest part of training with May, but there’s always a calm before the storm. Once those were over, it was combat. Her elite HYDRA training was no match for May and her vast knowledge of counters.

It was late when Mack and Yo-yo returned to base. Without interacting with anyone he headed straight to his office, hoping to unwind a little before debriefing. He shook his head as he slumped down into the chair. He didn’t feel worthy enough for this place. The office was too big for him, the chair didn’t fit him right. The weight of this position was just too much. It shouldn’t be him at the helm, Coulson should. He couldn’t help but feel all wrong, as they should’ve done more to save him rather than leaving him in Tahiti until he passed. He tapped the small metal box on his desk, and the hologram of Coulson appeared. It began talking, repeating the message Coulson made about what makes a director of SHIELD that had been recorded for the previous director, Jeffery Mace. Another person that they failed to save. Another piece of ammunition that the government used against them.

Mack took in the word of Coulson, something he’d often done while trying to convince himself that what they were doing was the right thing. He closed his eyes and began to pray, begging God to give him the wisdom needed to lead SHIELD in a way that could be seen as commendable. The door opened, as did his eyes, smiling in relief to see that it was Elena. She had become his strength when he felt weakened by this heavy burden. She kept him grounded, reassured him, and focused on the mission at hand.

“Haven’t you memorized that yet?” She asked with a playful grin, as she leaned on the door after closing it.

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Mack replied with a grin. “It’s not really about the message, but the man speaking.”

“I know,” she said as her eyes seemed to sparkle with affection. “I miss him too, but we did the right thing.”

“It’s just hard to believe that looking at everything going on.”

“It could be so much worse,” she said as she eased over, placing her metallic arms on his shoulders, and rubbing them. It was so strange the metallic feel of them, but yet, they felt real enough to him. She’d come so far in learning to control her prosthetic arms that they could hold hands and touch without her being afraid of hurting him. “At least the world isn’t fractured and we’re left floating in space.”

“The world is still fractured, just in a different way,” Mack stated bluntly, but he knew what she meant. That apocalyptic future they were supposedly flung into, still haunted his nightmares from time to time.

“Really?” she groaned as Mack shrugged.

“I know what you mean,” Mack said with a smile as the two locked eyes. Elena eased down until the door flew open, Fitz standing there turning red.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt, Fitz said turning backwards and rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s okay,” Mack frowned. “What’s up, Turbo?”

“Well,” Fitz stammered before finally turning back around to face them. He explained the message from Enoch, the pictures he acquired from NASA’s space station (which Mack wasn’t thrilled with the potential illegality), and the concerns therein.

“I guess I’ll make a few calls and see if Rodgers or Romanoff can get us some legal access,” Mack said as Fitz bit his lip anxiously then nodded. “Did Mrs. Fitz figure out anything?”

“Not that I’ve heard. She’s been down in the lab all evening,” Fitz seemed a little frustrated by this.

“I’ll go down and check it out,” Elena said winking at Mack as she walked toward the door.

“Thanks,” Mack stated. “Show me what we’re looking at,” Mack suggested as Fitz nodded. 

Chapter Text

Ruby took a few steps in the dark room before the lights came on. The Particle Infusion Chamber, beside it that large steel box with something she could hear slithering around inside. “Part of us,” the two voices that haunted her mind; one being Franklin Hall, the other being Ian Quinn. She felt herself jerked into the infusion chamber, the door slammed before she could escape. Smoke then quickly filled the chamber, seeping into her body. Her lungs burned with every breath, her limbs felt like they were on fire. She screamed wildly, pounding on the door despite the unbearable pain it brought to touch anything. The door then flew open, and she watched as the snake-like liquid floated in the center of the room, taunting her.
She tried to run toward the door and escape, only for the snake to block her. For a moment, she saw her old friends; Werner, Jake, and Bri standing outside the room reaching for her. She reached for her chakram on her back, unhooking it from the holster, then slinging it at the snakelike monster. It absorbed her chakram, then turned it’s sights toward her friends. She screamed as it lunged at them, crashing over them like a wave. She could hear their voices, screaming in pain and terror as the beast consumed them.
She dropped to her knees as it turned toward her, bigger, stronger. It using all of the voices, taunting her as it closed in. It then split apart into the shapes of her friends, walking towards her with their arms out. She cried out as her arms began burning once the liquid touched her. She closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate with one last whimper. Her eyes shot open, feeling the warmth of someone’s hands on her head.
“Another nightmare?” A familiar voice asked as Ruby’s mind shot back into focus.
“Yeah,” Ruby said as Daisy ran her hand through Ruby’s platinum blonde hair. “Same as always. Was I screaming again?”
“Screaming, causing the lights to flicker, pulling at the inhibitor band,” Ruby’s eyes widened at those words.
“I’m never going to get control over this,” she sighed.
“It’s hard to conquer it when you’re scared of it,” Daisy said as Ruby frowned.
“It’s killed everyone it’s touched,” Ruby felt tears falling down her face.
“Almost everyone,” Daisy said warmly, leaning her head onto Ruby’s. “You’re still in the fight. Besides, Simmon’s last report showed that the toxicity levels are barely in the double digits. Your body is starting to adapt to the stuff.”
“What if it makes me as crazy as that Talbot guy went?” Ruby closed her eyes, terrified she’d have to be killed like he was.
“You’re nothing like him. His mind was completely broken and reprogrammed,” Daisy pulled Ruby’s head up, her brown eyes looked on Ruby’s.
“By my mother, who was encouraging me to be the Destroyer of Worlds.”
“We stopped that from happening,” Daisy said adamantly.
“You think you did,” Ruby sighed.
“I know we did,” Daisy’s hope was almost sickening. It was worse that Ruby wasn’t sure that Daisy believed it herself. “Want a snack? I’m sure Jemma has some treats tucked away someone in the lab.”

Mick sat at one of the corner desks in Mission Control, groggy from his night shift. Thankfully it was an uneventful night, just a few recons and check-ins. Mack and Fitz walked in as Mick stretched. “Anything interesting?” Mack asked as Mick shook his head.
“I wish,” Mick grunted as Mack patted his shoulders when they walked over to the main screen. Fitz shifted his screen over, showing Mack the various images he acquired. It was still strange looking at the alien ships on the screen. Stranger the ones that reminded him of Qovas ship, but smaller. Maybe that was just how Confederate ships looked?
“Daisy did decipher a few of the dates,” Fitz stated as he slowly zoomed in on an image showing what looked to be debris beside a few of the ships as they approached. “What I cannot wrap my mind around is this,” Fitz highlighted the debris. “Where is all of this from? No other scans I could get had this on them save for the International Space Station.”
“Maybe it’s from the other timeline?” Mick blurted without much thought, drawing the skeptical looks from both Mack and Fitz.
“That’s not possible,” Fitz stated firmly.
“But what if it was?” Mick asked as Mack was slightly amused at his delirious arguing with Fitz’s frustration.
“It cannot happen, Mick,” Fitz cleared his throat. “That timeline would’ve ceased to exist from the moment we changed it, meaning everything from it would be gone too, hence why we could not find Deke during the clean up of Chicago.”
“What was the time stamp on that debris?” Mack asked as Fitz looked.
“May 31, 2018,” Fitz stated.
“No,” Mack shook his head as it sunk it just what that could’ve been. “I don’t think that’s debris Fitz.”
“You don’t mean,” Fitz slowly realized what they were looking at.
“That’s the missing half the world,” Mick’s flat tone silenced the room.
“So you think the ship was one of Thanos’ then?” Fitz asked.
“Judging by how it’s not here anymore,” Mack said as Fitz scrolled through a few images. “And because we haven’t heard anything else from Enoch; The Kree were planning to invade, but Thanos’ attack turned them away to regroup.”
“So you still think they’re coming?” Mick asked as Mack nodded slowly.
“They’re too proud to quit. The ones we faced in the future never cared about losses, only getting results,” Mack stated. “I am concerned about Enoch though.”
“What can we do about helping him?” Mick asked as he slowly began feeling a second wind. “It’s not like Zephyr One is equipped for long space journeys. We barely made it back with the upgrades Coulson had put on it.”
“Then we’ll just do some more upgrading,” Mack stated. “We owe too much to Enoch and Agent Hale to leave them stranded out there.”
“But Davis isn’t with him, he dusted,” Mick frowned.
“That doesn’t mean he won’t come back. I refuse to accept that we can’t fix all of this,” Mack stated. “We’ve come too far to lose faith now.”
The screen began beeping loudly, drawing the three men’s attention. “There’s something flying through the atmosphere at incredible speeds!” Fitz exclaimed as he silenced the alarms. “Looks like it’s heading for the Avengers compound?”
“I’ll radio over to Rodgers and see what’s going on,” Mack stated as both Mick and Fitz nodded. “Keep an eye on things and let me know if anything changes.”

Being part of SHIELD was so much different that HYDRA. Daisy was such a laid back Supervising Officer. While HYDRA kept to a strict schedule, lights out by nine, rise by six, breakfast from six until seven, classes from seven until noon, lunch until one, then combat training based on class and age until six, then it was dinner, study, and lights out to repeat over and over until you’re released to the field. Even when HYDRA was all but snuffed out, leaving only her mother and associates hiding in Blue Ravin Ridge, did she get any sort of reprieve. Even then she still stuck to the schedule, replacing class time with training exercises with Bri and Jake.
With this team particularly, it was more like a family. If someone needed rest, others would cover for them so they could. If there was an injury during training, you didn’t fight through it and keep going, you rested so that you could heal. There was always someone to lean on if you needed help. Even when STARS and SHIELD gathered in the Lighthouse, which was getting less frequent with the government guys preferring to use the Avenger’s compounds for housing and training sights like they had been with STARS already, everyone treated you like you mattered and not something expendable.
“Hey, earth to Ruby,” Daisy waved her hand pulling Ruby from her trance as they sat at the table in the cafeteria. Even this room felt homier, almost welcoming.
“Sorry,” Ruby said, looking away from Daisy to not make eye contact.
“You’ve got to get some food in your system!” Daisy smirked. “I know I hated training on an empty stomach.”
“Yeah,” Ruby frowned.
“Still thinking about those nightmares?” Daisy asked as Ruby shook her head. “I know you don’t like talking about them, but I’m always here if you change your mind.” Ruby noticed Daisy’s eyes shift from her to someone behind her. There was a quick spark to them which only meant one person. “You look like a zombie!”
“Yeah,” he sighed, his voice was even raspy. Must’ve had to talk a lot last night. Ruby turned to see the bags under Mick’s eyes and his paler than usual complexion. “Operation White Bolt was a success by the way. Only two injuries, and they were self inflected from what I understood,” Mick smirked as Ruby shook her head.
“You mean Tassland shot Delmar?” Ruby laughed as she remembered the two men bickering while she was Oversight.
“Surprisingly, no,” Mick chuckled. “Oswald broke his ankle as they were heading to evac.”
“That’s a relief,” Ruby sighed. “But does it count since I didn’t see the mission through?”
“Being that you only missed the last hour of them yelling at each other while wandering around looking for the evac, I’ll give you the points for it,” Mick smirked.
“Thanks,” Ruby smiled warmly. “Must be cause you like my S.O.”
“That helps,” Mick leaned on Daisy briefly.
“What was the alarm about earlier?” Daisy asked as Mick began to explain the situation.
“You don’t think Thanos is coming back, do you?” Ruby was clearly concerned.
“We’ll know something as soon as the Director does,” Mick sighed.
“You really need to get some sleep babe,” Daisy rubbed his cheeks as Mick smirked goofily.
“I’ve still got a few energy drinks in the fridge,” Mick said as Daisy playfully shoved him backwards. “Besides, if I lay down, you know Mack’s gonna make an all call.”
“So what’s your plan then?” Daisy asked as Mick raised his brow and shrugged while easing over to the fridge.
“Drink this until I pass out?” Mick popped the tab.
“You’re ridiculous,” Daisy shook her head.
“You know those are terrible for you, right?” Ruby asked as Mick shrugged while taking a heavy swig.
“But they work,” Mick coughed and crinkled his nose.
“Let’s go before he gets delirious,” Daisy shook her head.
“Too late,” Mick staggered behind them, exaggerating his tiredness to seem drunk.

Mack walked out of his office, unsure how he felt about this news. Apparently, SHIELD was still keeping secrets, even though they promised to be transparent. There was a new hero that had landed at the compound following the calling of a strange beeper that belonged to former Director, Nick Fury. Her name was Captain Carol Danvers, formally of the Air Force until a freak accident gave her powers, and now she’s a galaxy hopping hero. It just felt so surreal. Sure he had seen heroes first hand, been face to face with a hero of his own, Captain Steve Rodgers, worked with heroes like Quake and Recluse. It didn’t take away from the surreal feeling though.
It was just as weird as finding out the last of the Asguardians were now in Norway, in settlement they deemed New Asguard. So much of the world he knew was changing, some of it for better, some of it for worse. The talks of opening the world borders to anyone who sought asylum seemed worthy on paper. The unification of the government sounded good too. There was just something about it that bothered him. He’d read his bible enough to know that those things which sound too good to be true, often are. People, despite there only being half as many as there were, still were people at the end of the day. The dusting didn’t take away their sinful natures, nor did it force upon them godly ones either.
One thing was clear after the meeting, Captain Danvers was on their side. She did say she’d seen Confederate ships out near Jupiter, but they seemed to be stationary. It was then Mack asked for permission to send his team out and explained the full scope of his mission. This was going to be the hard part. He was going to lead this team, it wasn’t going to be a SHIELD officially sanctioned one. No one could know that they were bringing back a robot or the government would panic. It would be what Agent Romanoff referred to as ghost protocol. They were willing to cover for him in his absence, and would do what they could to assist.
He stepped out, his team being the only ones in the Lighthouse, if you included Recruit Hale. She would be the risk on this mission, but they couldn’t very well leave her behind. She needed them, and her training with HYDRA had her as an expert fighter. The only downside was her inability to fully control her powers. Perhaps this mission would be a good thing for her. Despite his excitement, his concern for the mission was heavy. Would his team actually want to leave the planet or would he only have a skeleton crew?

Chapter Text

“So we’re going right back to the old SHIELD after promising changes?” Fitz asked, clearly unsurprised at the notion.
“Did you really expect anything less with Natasha, lived on lies and secrets, Romanoff being Co-Director?” Mick asked as Mack shook his head. This wasn’t exactly how he intended this to go.
“The secrets aren’t the point,” Mack stated after clearing his throat. “They want us to investigate this situation secretly because of who we are. I don’t like lying to the public, but I understand why something like this needs to be covert.”
“Covert I don’t mind, but calling this a black ops mission with no backup isn’t a good plan,” May stated firmly.
“People are finally starting to accept their loses,” Elena stated as she stepped up to Mack’s side. “Do we really want them to panic over another potential alien attack right now?”
“And what if this prompts some kind of retaliation that can still destroy the world like in the future you guys talk about?” Ruby asked as everyone glanced at her curiously. “I saw the simulations that Patten ran about the world exploding, and heard him and Deke talking about it. What if it’s the aliens that blow the hole in the planet?”
“Like some kind of Death Star laser blast?” Mick raised his brow as Ruby glanced at him as if he spoke a foreign language. “Ok, so you haven’t seen Star Wars, got it.”
“They why would the Kree have called me the Destroyer of Worlds in the future, if it was really them?” Daisy asked as Ruby shrugged and shook her head.
“The same reason I was convinced Gravitonium would make me the Destroyer of Worlds?” Ruby suggested.
“You got a theory, Turbo?” Mack asked as everyone looked toward Fitz who was lost in thought.
“Jemma and I went over the world ending theory dozens of times, and the multiversal effect of changing the timeline,” Fitz took a breath. “In my theory, we would know the future was changed by something big occurring that would have to cause any traces of the old future to vanish. As we know, Deke, vanished in Chicago, which indicates that his future is effectively destroyed, and anything that happens going forward is completely separate from anything that you would have experienced in that future.”
“In simple terms,” Jemma spoke up. “If for some reason the world could be shattered again, then it’s not leading us to the future that we were brought to.”
“And I really don’t think world destroying space lasers are a thing,” Daisy teased as she shoved Mick who simply rolled his eyes.
“It’s a big universe, who knows what’s out there,” Mick smirked as Fitz shook his head. “I mean, Fitz did make me a lightsaber.”
“More of a particle beam within a contained energy field that simulated a lightsaber’s appearance,” Fitz replied as Mick just stared at him blankly. “It wasn’t really a lightsaber,” he shrugged to Mick’s shaking of his head.
“To get back to the point,” May stated as she looked at Mick and Fitz, then back to Mack. “Are we all ok with going to space for this mission, or do you want to sit this one out?”
“I’m in,” Daisy shrugged with a smirk.
“If she’s in, I’m in,” Mick said quickly.
“Count me in,” Ruby said as she adjusted the inhibitor bands on her wrists.
“I’m up for it,” Elena said as everyone looked at Jemma and Fitz.
“I’m not thrilled about it, because last time I went to space we came home with a homicidal alien possessing Grant Ward,” Fitz grunted.
“We’re in,” Jemma said as Fitz huffed.
“Then we’re all set,” May said as she looked at Mack and nodded.
“Then let’s get the Zephyr prepped to go,” Mack smiled with a nod.

“There’s no turning back now,” Daisy said to Mick as the two watched the loading ramp close them in. He was clearly much more concerned about heading off into space than she was. It was just as nerve wrecking as it was the first time he stepped onto the Bus with her.
“Can you imagine how he would feel that we’re launching off into space?” Mick said as he unwillingly found himself thinking of Coulson.
“He’d be so giddy,” Daisy said as she rubbed Mick’s back. “You remember how much he talked about Maveth?”
“Yeah,” Mick nodded fondly. “Said it was just like Tatooine with it’s two suns. Maybe we should watch Star Wars while we fly out there?”
“Really?” Daisy teased as the Zephyr lurched as it began to take off.
“They said it’ll be a few days with the upgrades Fitz’s team did thanks to Qovas’ ship scraps.”
“And you’d rather spend that time watching movies about space while we fly through it?”
“Again, it’s days,” Mick said as Daisy rolled her eyes. “I‘ll make sure to take a look at Mars and it’s moons when we get there, but the rest is just stars and stuff I could see from home.”
“Maybe I can get some training in with Ruby then,” Daisy shrugged as Mick frowned. “What?”
“She can beat just about any agent we throw at her thanks to her HYDRA training,” Mick stated flatly. “It’s too risky to try to teach her to control her powers.”
“She’s been doing so well,” Daisy said firmly.
“Because of the inhibitor bands,” Mick argued. “We can’t risk them running out of juice while we’re out here, or we might not make it back.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Ruby scoffed as she leaned against the wall.
“I,” Mick started to back peddle as Ruby shook her head.
“I get it,” she shrugged. “I saw it on Mack’s face too. You only took me along because you don’t trust me alone.”
“That’s not it,” Mick sighed, knowing that that was a big part of why she was on this mission.
“Don’t feel bad,” Daisy walked over to Ruby, placing her hands on the girls shoulders. “They were scared of me too right after I got my powers. It took time, but I did earn their trust.”
“Thanks,” Ruby half smiled as she looked up at Daisy. “I was sent to tell you guys to buckle down. It’s going to be rough leaving the atmosphere.”
“Appreciate it,” Mick said as he and Daisy followed her upstairs.

Time seemed to move so much slower in space. The suns position on the horizon had no bearing on day or night here. Everything was night, with just a bright star behind them giving them lights going forward along with the lights aboard the Zephyr. It also didn’t help that Mack was still very skeptical of all of this. He closed off the small office, sat down in his chair, then pressed a button on the small black cube on his desk. A hologram of Coulson appeared before him, staring forward at attention. He’d heard the message dozens of times, but always found motivation from it. Perhaps it wasn’t because of the message, but because of the filling the void left from losing Coulson. As it continued on describing the work of the director, Mack leaned back in his chair wishing the real Coulson could be here to give him advice.

May sat in the pilots seat, looking out into the sea of stars, Mars still far away but on the horizon. She had a small holo map beside her, which was set up by the Fitz’s. She still didn’t like calling them that, as she preferred FitzSimmons. She looked over at the small hula girl that she had taken from Lola, Coulson’s corvette which was parked in the lighthouse. She hated just how much losing him weighed on her. She wished she could push back these emotions, to stop feeling just like she used to. This love wasn’t as easy to escape as it was with Andrew.
She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to shove back these longing feelings. “It’s ok if you miss me. I miss you too,” her eyes jolted opened as she heard Coulson’s voice. She looked around the cockpit wondering where it could have come from. Her racing heart only annoyed her. It had to just be her mind messing with her. Perhaps she needed a break, thankfully autopilot could run the Zephyr while she went to clear her mind.

Fitz sat on their bed in their bunk, next to his wife. She was reading one of her favorite books, Pride and the Prejudice, one that Fitz had never really bothered with. He preferred the more science fiction style. It gave him idea’s of what he could create next, helped him push the boundaries of how far they could really go. He looked down at his tablet, checking to make sure the new systems on the Zephyr were running smoothly. Alien technology still made him very anxious, it was amplified by not being able to test it before having to take it to field. While Jemma was more at ease with these kinds of field tests, he was not.
“How many times are you going to check that?” She asked as he looked up to see her playful grin.
“I just want to be sure we’re not going to be stranded out here,” he replied as she shook her head.
“Look at the view,” Jemma pointed at the small circular window at the center of their bed. She’d always had a thing for astronomy, it was something she enjoyed with her father while she was sick. “I wish we could see the stars like this back home.”
“Well, we could always have Daisy turn off the power grid or something, then at least you’d see the standard constellations we’re used to.”
“That’s highly illegal, and you know it,” Jemma smiled as he shrugged.
“I’d break the law a time or two for you,” he smirked as he went in for a kiss. Their lips met, and he still felt the same electric sensation from the very first time she ever touched him. It was his one of his most favorite things.
There was a knock on the door which ruined the moment. “We’re not home,” he murmured as Jemma crawled over him to slid the door open.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Mick said as he blushed as the sight of Jemma’s lipgloss on Fitz’s lips as well as the ruffled blankets on the bed. “Was just coming to ask if you wanted to watch the Star Wars saga to kill time, but you’re clearly busy. So I’ll just go.”
“That’d be brilliant,” Jemma stated as Fitz looked mortified. “We can make a date of it! I’ll go make some popcorn!”
“Thanks,” Fitz groaned as Jemma climbed out of bed passing Mick by.
“Sorry,” Mick shrugged. “Maybe you should put up a sign or something?”
“The bloody door was closed,” Fitz barked. “It doesn’t matter, she was reading anyway.”
“Reading what?” Mick asked skeptically. “You’re lips are quite shiny there bud.”
“It was a just a peck,” Fitz shook his head.
“Yeah, okay,” Mick mocked as Fitz shoved him as he climbed out of the bunk.
“Don’t be daft,” Fitz teased. “Are we starting with the originals, or the prequels?”
“I’m not sure. Ruby hasn’t seen any of them and that’s the only reason Daisy agreed to watch them.”
“Let’s go originals, that way the Vader reveal isn’t so apparent,” Fitz stated. “Unless she knows Dutch or German, then of course she’d probably figure it out quite quickly.”
“Then why not just watch the Prequels first, so then it doesn’t matter?” Mick asked as Fitz paused and stated at him blankly.
“Do you really want to have this argument right now?” Fitz asked as Mick smirked slyly, then shook his head. “Then we’ll watch the Originals then the Prequels.”
“Fine,” Mick smirked.

Chapter Text

The Zephyr shook wildly as it approached Jupiter. The gravitational pull from the giant planet was more than May was prepared for, after all, what could prepare you for such a flight really? She fought for control as she navigated her way through a rocky debris field, keeping the Zephyr relatively save, save a few scraps and nicks. They approached the spherical space station at a much higher speed than May had wanted. “Fitz, do you have the codes to open up that pressure lock?” May called out over the intercom. She struggled to slow the ship down, opting for a loop as they buzzed the space station.
“Working on inputting them now!” Fitz finally replied.
“Work faster!” May ordered as their fuel tank was getting too low to make to many more passes like that.
“The docking bay should be open now!” Fitz replied as May looked for some kind of opening. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally spotted it, carefully turning the Zephyr to port. Once the Zephyr touched down, she was slightly more relaxed, but only slightly.
“Great flying,” Coulson’s voice haunted her from the co-pilots seat.
“You’re not real,” May muttered as she tried to keep her focus forward rather than giving in to test her theory.
“I am real, real to you,” Coulson’s voice trailed off as the door slid open.
“That was pretty rough, you ok?” Yo-yo stated as she slid into the co-pilot’s seat.
“Fine,” May said firmly, pulling herself out of the seat. She wasn’t about to talk about this with anyone. If this was really all in her head, she’d deal with it the way she did best, alone.

It was interesting seeing how tight knit Mack and his team were. Mack lead the group, but usually partnered with Mick or May as rearguards depending on the situation, while Daisy, and Yo-yo typically were leading the charge as the strikers, due to their inHuman abilities. The way they functioned on a good day would make you think they had a hive mind, unlike when they were so disjointed a few months back. Today was special though, Ruby was part of this strikers, leaving May, Mack, and Mick to cover them. Not because they trusted her or her powers, rather they didn’t want to leave her alone in the Zephyr.
Daisy stood at point, Yo-yo on her left, Ruby on her right. The Fitz’s we behind them, with May on their left and Mick on their right, Mack followed with a really cool looking shotgun axe like thing. Ruby had heard stories of this unique weapon, but seeing it first hand, especially in the arms of Mack, was something incredible. It was also strange to see Mick with a baton and pistol rather than his saber he usually carried.
Ruby took in a deep breath, focusing her mind on the mission. The Hydra training was at war with her SHIELD reformation, kill anything that seemed a threat versus non lethal incapacitations. She clenched her chakram tightly as they stepped around the corner. All of it made the flickering lights of this space station less menacing.
“You ok Blondie?” Elena asked, making Ruby even more uncomfortable. Elena, or Yo-yo, always seemed uncomfortable around her. It made sense, as it was these chakram that took her arms, but she wasn’t ever sure if she still hated her for it.
“Fine,” Ruby replied.
“First SHIELD mission jitters?” Daisy asked as Ruby shook her head.
“I’m fine,” Ruby repeated. They could clearly see something troubling her, and that was bothersome, the mission itself was the easy part. She’d done plenty of take downs with Hydra, especially against SHIELD.
A panel sparked down the hallway, forcing everyone in to focus. They eased closer to the panel to see it had large gashes across it.
“What could’ve done that?” Ruby asked as Fitz stepped forward to examine.
“The Kree,” Elena said as Ruby raised her brow to match her curiosity.
“Why would they attack this place though?” Mick asked as Daisy stepped forward.
“They’re probably hunting me after the confrontation I had with Kaisus’ father in that mind space thing aboard Quovas’ ship,” she sighed.
“So they weren’t waiting to come grab their prize?” May stated as Daisy rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement.
“Then what turned them away?” Mack asked.
“Based on the timeline, and the fact that Davis Hale was known to have vanished as well, they probably were affected by the disappearance,” Jemma said which made Mack even more uncomfortable.
“They must’ve lost a lot of soldiers to turn tail,” May’s tone was harsh.
“Maybe it wasn’t what they lost, but who?” Mack suggested.
“Losing your leader would deter an attack,” Fitz stated with a shrug.
“So what do we do now?” Mick asked holstering his pistol.
“We look for Enoch,” Mack said plainly.

It was odd for Mick not to be working with Daisy, but understandable. Couples weren’t really supposed to be together in the field, it made things get complicated, made you vulnerable. It’s just most of the last few years with SHIELD, everyone was coupled, except him and Daisy. FitzSimmons had been a thing since the Academy, even if it had ups and downs. Mack and Yo-yo have been a thing for a couple years, as had Coulson and May apparently. That didn’t make it easier to be split up, especially when she’s paired with a bomb that could potentially kill then all at any time.
Mack and May went in one direction while in search of Enoch, or another way to get into the central area of the station. Yo-yo and Daisy took Ruby in the other. The circular layout of the space station meant they’d all meet back here eventually. Hopefully. Here he was tasked with guarding Jemma and Fitz while they worked on fixing this panel to open the heavy doors that would lead to the center of the station.

“I thought Enoch was a super advanced humanoid, so why the hell would his species use such flimsy techniques?” Fitz fussed.
“Maybe they weren’t so advanced when they made this station?” Mick shrugged as he looked at some of the rust and wear inside the panel.
“That’s highly unlikely,” Jemma stated as she watched her husband work with an awe like expression.
“Do you think they could take all kinds of forms?” Mick asked as the two scientist looked at each other curiously before looking at Mick. “Like, Enoch looked human. Do you think others could look more alien?”
“Are you asking if he could’ve shape shifted or something to blend in with his attackers?” Jemma asked as Mick shook his head.
“I don’t think we have to worry about Enoch turning into the Terminator,” Fitz said as Mick shook his head again.
“I mean, do you think some aren’t humanoids, but models after other aliens, if there’s any that don’t have the human like form, I guess?” Mick shrugged.
“Well, Kree are human like, and those Hunter things were too,” Jemma said as Mick shrugged. “Even the Chitauri were human like.”
“The only sci-fi alien we’ve ever seen was HIVE, and that thing seemed to be one of a kind,” Fitz stated plainly. “And even then, it was really only it’s head that was tentacles.”
“I guess they could take the form of any of those forms if they do have a human like frame,” Jemma shrugged.
“Wonder if we’ll see any odd shaped creatures like in Star Wars?” Mick pondered aloud.
“It is a big universe,” Jemma said with a smile.
“Probably not though,” Fitz shot down the glint of hope Mick had. “Give me a hand with this!” Mick quickly slid over grabbing a wire that slipped from Fitz’s grasp, holding it up as he tied it to another wire before putting a cap on it. “This should do it.”
“Open sesame,” Mick waved his hand in an arching fashion as the door made a groaning noise, followed by loud gears grinding. It was extremely slow, but the door did finally open, to a dimly lit room full of screens of various sizes.
“Should we wait for the others?” Jemma asked nervously as Mick drew his pistol as a wave of dread filled him.
“Stay behind me,” Mick growled as he eased into the room, almost sensing someone watching them. He held his pistol out and angled as he passed by rows of screens. Clearly this room was the Command Center of the station. As he crossed the room, they saw something tucked into a corner. He ran over, seeing the large blue body, with black blood coming from various wounds.
“That’s a Kree warrior,” Jemma said as Mick and Fitz looked a little surprised. “But what could’ve done this?”
“I am highly trained in various combative techniques, if you surrender now, I will spare your lives,” the three turned to see Enoch, bearing a few injuries to his body in which you could see his robotic skeleton under his artificial flesh.
“Remember us?” Fitz asked as Enoch tilted his head and examined the three.
“Agents Leopold Fitz, Mick Bellouve, and Jemma Simmons,” Enoch said with a strange hint of fondness. “What are you doing here?
“You called us for help?” Mick replied.
“When you did not respond, I feared that the world had already ended and I would be left to deal with this crisis on my own,” Enoch replied. “I was not sure how I was going to send your friends back, but it is clear that something has altered the timeline.”
“Thanks to you and Davis, they came back, we changed the future, and were married,” Fitz stated proudly. “She’s now Jemma Fitz.” Jemma held out her hand to Enoch as the two shook.
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Jemma said as she looked over Enoch.
“I do not understand,” Enoch stated.
“Right,” Jemma shook her head. “We met before in the future, so I knew what to expect, but it’s just hard to accept that it really happened. You and Agent Hale gave your lives in order for us to return home.”
“I am glad to know we succeeded in averting the extinction level event,” Enoch nodded. “Although I am terribly sorry for the loss of Agent Hale. He was a very good friend to me for the brief time we interacted before he as frozen. Do you by chance know how he spontaneously combusted?”
“It wasn’t exactly spontaneous, nor did he combust,” Mick frowned. He then explained what he knew about the conflict the Avengers had with Thanos, and how he used the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe.
“That is quite unfortunate to have traded one cataclysmic event for another,” Enoch stated bluntly. “It does explain why my attackers suddenly ceased their attack.”
“Would you like to return to Earth with us? We can probably fix your injuries,” Jemma said as Enoch touched a few cuts on his face.
“I would like that very much, but I am concerned about Agent Hale’s container being left behind,” Enoch stated.
“He’s not coming back,” Mick said coldly. “He was an unfortunate victim of the death lottery.”
“What if these events played out similarly in the other timeline?” Enoch stated as Fitz glanced at him skeptically.
“Explain,” Fitz’s tone was screaming doubt.
“What if the titan, Thanos, still acquired the Infinity Stones and still wiped out half of the universe, and at some point it returned allowing Agent Hale and myself to find your team in the future and send them home?” It was a pretty good question Enoch proposed, or at least it must’ve been to silence Fitz into biting his bottom lip as he pondered the possibility.
“Then I guess we bring the pod,” Fitz finally stated. “We still don’t know the full workings of time travel, and it’s multiversal effects. This would be a grand way to test that theory. Much better than Deke.”
“You’ve got to be nicer about him! He saved your life!” Jemma huffed at Fitz.
“One good deed doesn’t fix how I felt about that misfit and him calling me Bo-Bo,” Fitz grunted.

Chapter Text

Daisy slammed a Kree warrior against the wall with a powerful blast leaving him to fall unconscious to the ground, while she could hear Ruby fighting around the corner. She had to hurry, Kree we’re far too strong to face without powers, probably much worse if Ruby exerted herself beyond what the inhibitors could block. She couldn’t help but worry about Mick and the others, would he even be able to hold his own against them? Would the Fitz’s be safe? What about Mack and Yo-yo? She shook her head, first things first, she had to help Ruby!
Daisy sprinted around the corner, very impressed to see Ruby sliding under her opponent, cutting the back of his legs, the black blood pouring out as he dropped to the ground with a roar. She quickly blasted him so his head slammed into the wall, then dropped to the ground motionless.
“You ok?” Daisy held out her arm as Ruby sheathed the chakram on her back before grabbing Daisy’s hand.
“Little bruised, but nothing big,” Ruby looked down at the flashing inhibitor band which was blinking a yellow light.
“You sure?” Daisy pointed at Ruby’s arms.
“I tried really hard to hold them back, I swear,” Ruby looked as if she were about to be punished.
“That’s not even what I was worried about,” Daisy smiled, pointing at the torn pieces of Ruby’s outfit and the blood trickling down her arm.
“Some stitches and that will be fine. He threw me into the broken wall after I tried to take him down the first time,”Ruby looked slightly relieved. Was Hydra really that hard on her before, that even the slightest mistake would warrant backlash? After Daisy wrapped it by tearing her own sleeve, they set off to find everyone else.

“It would appear that we are no longer alone on this space station,” Enoch pointed at a flickering screen showing a small Kree ship in the docking bay next to ZephyrOne. The other screens relayed the message video unavailable across the screen in blue text.
“Son of a-“ Mick slammed his hand into the table beside him.
“They’re probably ok,” Jemma said calmly as Mick pulled his blade and pistol from his sides.
“I’m not concerned that Daisy won’t be, I’m concerned about the time bomb with her,” Mick started toward the door.
“Do you trust Daisy or not?” Jemma’s words cut Mick to the core. Of course he trusted her. “Then you have to trust she can handle training Ruby.”
“That’s not even the same thing,” Mick barked. “I trust Daisy to be herself and handle situations.”
“But do you trust her training Ruby?” Mick stared at Jemma, unable to answer the question. He wanted to say yes, but his distrust of Ruby’s instability was just too high. “I trusted you, even when you were infected with the Darkheart Serum all those years ago, do you remember that?”
“Vaguely,” Mick sighed. It was something he wanted to forget. The serum that almost turned him into a cold blooded killer, a perfect Hydra weapon.
“Do you remember who advocated for Daisy when she received her powers?” Fitz asked as Mick’s anger began to quell. “You practically begged Coulson to keep her on the team, to trust that she could learn to control it, just like you did.”
“What happened to that kind of trust?” Jemma asked as Mick frowned.
“Alright, fine,” Mick grumbled. “But they may need our help.”
“I could let them know to head for the Command Center, but that will alert the Kree to our whereabouts as well,” Enoch stated.
“Any kind of message we try to send out alerts both friendly and threat,” Fitz stated.
“Do you have any weapons on this thing?” Mick asked as Enoch processed the question.
“This Chronicom Station was not designed for combat, so there are no on board weapons besides anything you may have brought with you,” Enoch replied.
“Then we need to get to the Zephyr, that way we at least have more firepower,” Mick suggested.
“What about the others?” Jemma asked.
“Send the all call,” Mick shrugged. “We’ll fight our way there if we have to, then at least you guys will be safe as well.”
“Are you sure about this plan, Mick Bellouve?” Enoch asked as Mick shook his head and sighed.
“I can’t say it was on my agenda to fight big blue aliens, but I also can’t say I’m not a little excited about the prospect,” Mick smiled mischievously.
“Thankfully I have several different combat vocations, several being that of hand to hand,” Enoch stated as he reached over the desk for a small microphone plugged into a computer.
“You guys think you can handle moving that cryo-chamber thing?” Mick asked as Fitz and Jemma nodded. “Cool, let’s make some noise.”

Mack let out a sigh as he placed his shotgun-axe in his back. “I really hoped we were done with those guys,” he grunted as Elena nodded in agreement, placing herself beside him to prop him up after the hefty fight.
“Hopefully it’s just bruising,” she said as May grunted as she rounded the corner.
“Hopefully Bellouve didn’t just screw us on the escape,” May growled.
“I’m sure he has a plan,” Mack tried to be positive.
“Fitz, maybe,” Elena smirked. “Mick, doubtful.”
“At least it gives us a clear shot back to the Zephyr,” Mack winced as he felt the swelling on his arm and ribs from the blows the Kree soldier had landed.
“Are you going to be ok?” May asked as Mack nodded, leaning heavily on Elena.
“Might need you to do the heavy lifting,” Mack groaned as the muscles in his chest ached.
“Hah,” May shook her head. “That’s the easy part.”

Daisy ran with Ruby at her side, the hallways slowly starting to blend together, leaving her unsure if they were actually running in circles through the circular satellite. The ground shook, causing Daisy to trip. Ruby reached down, helped her up. It took a while before they reached the hanger. Daisy watched briefly as Mick used webs to pull down the towering Kree, then slam his black with the blade, dropping him with the electrical current, then turn to another that was closing in. Before Daisy could blast the foe, he dropped to the ground with a chakram wedged in his head. “Good throw,” Daisy said as Ruby winked.
Mick waved his arms urging them to hurry. “Everything ok?” Ruby asked seeing Mick’s bruised face while she pulled the chakram from the fallen Kree.
“Just waiting on you guys,” Mick tried to sound optimistic through the pain.
“Destroyer of Worlds!” Taryan ran into the room, cracked armor, bloodied, with a double edged blade in hand.
“Which one?” Ruby sneered as she, Mick, and Daisy readied for an attack.
“Is it true Thanos won against your mighty heroes?” He asked standing tall and proud, yet strangely distraught.
Mick stood up, looking at the giant blue man like alien with sympathy. “Who’d you lose?”
“Many soldiers,” Taryan stated before looking at the ground. “And my wife.”
“We were told that it was his intention to wipe out half of the life in the universe,” Mick stated as he eased his way toward the Kree.
“Don’t play sympathetic with us, your guys attacked us!” Daisy barked.
“I told my men to be prepared for anything, as this could have been one of the Black Order outpost,” Taryan said as Mick took in a deep breath.
“Why did you call her the Destroyer of Worlds then?” Mick asked as Taryan looked away.
“I knew it would garner attention,” he replied.
“What do you want?” Daisy snapped as she walked to Mick’s side.
“I want my wife back,” Taryan still wouldn’t look at them. “I want revenge on the monster that took her from me.”
“Don’t we all,” Mick growled. “We have no way of fighting him while he has the Infinity Stones though.”
“You’re welcomed to try though,” Daisy said snarkly.
“So he is no longer on the Earth?” Taryan asked.
“No,” Mick replied. “He’s been gone for a while, and we have no way of finding him. Much less defeating him.”
“Then I have no interest in your powers, Destroyer of Worlds,” Taryan scoffed as he turned to his ship.
“Good, because you weren’t getting her,” Mick barked as Taryan shook his head.
“You should hope that I don’t find Thanos boy,” Taryan said, looking over his shoulder.
“No?” Mick shook his head. “You should hope you don’t find him. He defeated people much better than you with just the snap of his fingers. You’re not going to be much more than a flee.”
“Survivors guilt is quite the poison,” Taryan said before he entered his ship. “It can kill you, or drive you to kill others.”
Mick glared as the hatch closed to Taryan’s ship. He then turned toward the Zephyr, where May stood on the loading ramp watching curiously. “Let’s go home,” Daisy rubbed Mick’s shoulders.

Chapter Text

“Thank God you’re back in comms range!” Agent Piper shouted as everyone stood in Mission Control of ZephyrOne. “We’ve got reports of a large UFO landing somewhere near New HQ!”
“Has Captain Rodgers or Agent Romanoff said anything?” Mack asked deeply concerned.
“No word from them yet, Sir,” Agent Davis interjected.
“Comms with HQ have been hit and miss since the last electro storm,” Agent Piper added.
“Did we get any more of those creatures?” Mack asked, his stress was beginning to show.
“Not that we’ve heard or seen. It was over Nevada, lasted about two hours before it dissipated,” Agent Davis replied. “Piper did a satellite scan since we didn’t have the resources to leave the Lighthouse.”
“Anything else go wrong while we were away?” Mack seemed reluctant to ask.
“Not that we’re aware of, Sir,” Piper replied.
“Good,” Mack sighed. “We’ll be back on planet soon, keep me as updated as you can.” The line disconnected as Mack looked over the team. “I hate to do this, but once we’re in the atmosphere, we need to split up and investigate those problems.”
“How do you want to go about it?” May asked.
“Well, seeing that you‘re Z-One’s pilot, you’ll be with me. Yo-yo; You’ll also be with me. Whatever landed at the compound, surely the three of us along with all of STARS and the Avengers can handle,” Mack stated. “I want Mick and Daisy to investigate the storm sight, since they’ve had the most on the ground experience with them. Fitz, Simmons, I want you with them. Gather as much intel on these things as you can. Ruby, you follow any order Daisy gives you. Enoch, you’ll be along for the ride with me.”

Deke and Cori walked over to the dilapidated bar, smoke plumed from its smoldering remains. Former patrons and employees stood speechless in the parking lot. “Can anyone explain what happened?” Cori’s assertive tone took command of their attention.
“We we’re getting things set up for the pool tournament, when it started thundering,” a tiny framed woman with neon blue hair and skin tight clothes spoke.
“Thundering is an understatement!” A raspy man barked with full beard and torn sleeved, plaid shirt and jeans. “Sounded like all hell broke lose out there! Wind was howling, building was even shaking!”
“Sounds like a normal thunderstorm to me,” Deke frowned.
“Nothing normal about it,” spouted a tall muscular man in sleeveless white shirt, worn jeans and an flag durag. “It came completely out of nowhere. Was no rain with it, just purple looking clouds and lightning.”
“Purple lightning?” Cori asked as they all nodded.
“Okay, that’s more up our ally,” Deke stated.
“Did anything strange come from it?” Cori asked as everyone shook their heads.
“Just the bolt that took our building away,” the tiny woman stated.
“Took it away?” Deke asked curiously. “You mean burned it down?”
“No, she means took it away,” the man in plaid stated. “Place been sparking on and off since.
“We were thrown out when lightning struck,” the larger man said.
“Thanks,” Cori stated as she convened with Deke as he slowly approached the smoldering foundation. “Think we can grab a sample to bring it to HQ?”
“That was my plan,” Deke smiled at her. He reached out with a bag in one hand and a glove on the other. The ground sparked, causing him to recoil.
“You ok?” Cori asked as Deke nodded slowly.
Deke reached down again, this time Cori had a hand on him. The ground sparked with purple lightning, this time it reached out for him. “Deke!” Cori cried out as he began to fall into a swirling vortex. She grabbed his hand, using a bevy of pulses from her empty arms to launch them free to no avail. The vortex was pulling them inside wether they wanted to go or not.

Mick sighed in relief as the quinjet touched down on the runway. He looked over at the Harry Reid building while pondering if he’d ever really been to Vegas before. After grabbing a vehicle from the storage bay they set off for a location, a small bar on the outskirts of town, marked on Fitz’s tablet. “So is this like a mini vacation?” Ruby asked looking at the many signs welcoming them to Vegas.
“Not exactly,” Mick stated.
“Uh, yeah!” Daisy cheered. “After a week in space, we’re going to relax a bit before returning to base!”
“But we’re on a mission?” Fitz was understandably concerned by Daisy’s excitement. “Plus, is she even old enough to be here? Isn’t there an age restriction or something?”
“We’re not going to a bar,” Jemma stated as Ruby stuck her tongue out at Fitz.
“That’s exactly where we’re going according to the intel,” Fitz glared at Ruby.
“She’s old enough,” Daisy turned from the front seat smiling at Ruby who sneered at Fitz.
“The assignment comes first,” Mick interjected, only to pause seeing an advertising billboard featuring Laynie Daniel’s concert that was happening at MGM Park. That peaked his curiosity, would someone from his old life still be around, or was she blinked out of existence as well? “Once we’re done checking this place out, we can go exploring.”
“See something you like, there?” Daisy asked with a skeptical look at Mick.
“Any time I look at you, I do,” Mick smiled as Daisy rolled her eyes.
“You weren’t checking out that woman on the corner back there?” Daisy seemed quite annoyed.
“No,” Mick shook his head. “Saw an advertisement for Laynie. Made me wonder if she’s still around or not, that’s all.”
“Laynie Daniels?” Daisy seemed a little surprised. “That might be fun. Think you can get us in?”
“I don’t know?” Mick sighed. “I haven’t really talked to her in a few years. I think the last time was just before I was abducted into the Framework.”
“Framework?” Ruby questioned.
“Great,” Fitz murmured. “I finally quit thinking about it, and now you bring that whole mess up again.”
“No one is going talking about it,” Mick said with bitterness.
“We can talk about it later,” Daisy said as Ruby nodded while Mick rolled his eyes.

Everything seemed off when they arrived at the small bar, Lost in Liquor Landing. The building seemed so much more antiquated than something that had recently been built. Thankfully the police had the place roped off and guarded. That would make surveilling the place easier. After flashing their newly updated badges, they slipped under the perimeter tape.
“I thought this was supposed to be a new bar?” Jemma looked at the clearly aged wood of the cabin style building.
“Maybe it’s reclaimed?” Mick suggested.
“Would fit the lost in the name,” Fitz suggested as he tapped his tablet.
“Then what’s all the debris?” Ruby suggested as she pointed out the strange unevenness and splintered wood around the foundation.
“How new is this place supposed to be?” Daisy asked as she stepped over several pieces of roof with fresher shingles attached.
“It was brand new when we built it a week ago,” a bronze toned woman in shorts and a white tee said with a VIP badge dangling around her neck. “I’m Silvia Summers, the owner of this place, well, sort of this place.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mick asked as Ms. Summers walked through the debris toward Daisy.
“Why don’t we step inside and I’ll show you,” she stated, pushing the door with it’s shattered pane glass windows. Mick, Daisy, and Ruby followed her, while Fitz and Jemma stayed to scan the exterior.

The inside of the bar was in horrible shape, the floor was broken up with pieces of roof peaking from underneath, tables were strewn about in disarray, with chairs tossed about. The shelves behind the bar had collapsed, and there was a strange looking machine tucked in the corner, that almost resembled a jukebox, but far more advanced than anything Mick had ever seen.
“Welcome to Lost Land, or what’s left of it,” Ms. Summers sighed.
“Any idea’s as to what happened?” Daisy asked as they carefully walked around looking at the incredible damage.
“A storm blew through the night after we finished setting up, and yesterday I came in to this,” she waved her arms around the room.
Ruby followed Mick as he eased across the floor, struggling not to fall. It took a lot more effort than he wanted to admit before he reached the strange looking machine. He reached out, feeling the cold glass and steel. “Is that a jukebox?” Ruby asked as Mick looked at her, surprised that she followed.
“Never seen one like this,” Mick looked over the machine. “And it seems so out of place with the theme she was clearly going for.”
“What do you mean?” Ruby asked as Mick turned around.
“Looking at what’s left of the decor, this place was meant to be old fashion,” Mick pointed at the ragged looking tables and chairs, as well as some of the classic black and white pictures that were still somehow hanging.
“That thing is pretty interesting isn’t it?” Ms. Summers asked looking over and Mick and Ruby. “Had an actual record playing one, then that showed up. None of the songs on it are remotely familiar though.”
“Care if I power it on?” Mick asked as she shrugged. He reached down, staring curiously at the strange looking plug and outlet. It was much sleeker than anything he’d seen, much like the machine. The outlet was more like a USB port with several prong receptors inside, but larger and rounded. The plug matched, circular with prongs encased.
“Need some help?” Ruby teased as Mick shook his head and scowled.
The machine flickered as it came to life. The screen imitated 3D, images very similar to the hollow table in the Fitz’s lab. Mick began cycling through several of the songs, under the modern list, none of which were remotely familiar to him. He made his way to classics, seeing songs by more familiar artists, before landing on Laynie’s most recent recording she’d sent him to preview. “This can’t be right?” Mick muttered as he pressed play.
“Where’d you find that?” Ms. Summers asked curiously. “You can’t even get that one on ITunes until later this year.”
“Um, Mick, Daisy,” Jemma poked her head inside the bar. “You may want to come and see this.”
“Everything ok Jemma?” Mick asked as he began trekking across balancing with Ruby’s help.
“I don’t think words will explain it as well as seeing it for yourself,” Jemma said as Daisy grabbed Mick’s hand helping him to reach the flat floor.
Mick and Daisy shared a very concerned look before looking back towards Jemma who smiled nervously. “Excuse us for a moment,” Daisy said as Ms. Summers nodded.

Once outside, they started to look about, Mick’s eyes went straight to Fitz, who looked horrified, then he traced his gaze. There was Deke, standing there, perfectly healthy. He was wearing a grey suit, with a white shirt, and grey tie. On his collar there was a strange pin shaped like a golden sword. Next to him was something much more curious. A woman. She had Daisy’s brown hair, height, fair skin, his hazel eyes, yet mixed with a hint of of unfamiliarity in the face. Mick turned to Daisy, who clearly mirrored his concern. “Grammy, Poppy?” the woman said in disbelief

Chapter Text

Mack stepped off Zephyr one seeing the large gold painted ship with its silver trim planted just to the side of the main compound.
“That’s one big UFO,” Yo-yo stated as they walked toward the front doors.
“Doesn’t look too unidentified to me,” May pointed at the name Benatar painted on the front panels.
“I believe I have heard mention of this ship,” Enoch stated. “It was owned by a group of beings who referred to themselves as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Seemed a rather pompous title for a group, but who am I to judge?”
“These guys good or bad?” Mack asked as Enoch pondered the question.
“Neither,” he seemed rather unsure. “The records I have show them mostly good, but breaking many rules in the process.”
“Sounds good enough to me,” Yo-yo shrugged.
“Better than a threat for sure,” May stated.

Mack nodded in agreement as they stepped inside. Agents from both SHIELD and STARS were swarming, security was very tight. Whoever was inside was meant to be top secret. They made their way upstairs into the meeting room. Mack opened the door walking in alone, quite surprised to see a weakened Tony Stark hooked up to an IV at the main table with Steve, Natasha, and Rhodes. He also noticed a robotic looking woman sitting in the corner of the room, scowling at everyone.

“Director Mack,” Steve stood from his chair, shaking his hand while Tony scowled. “I assume your mission was a success?”
“Yes, we recovered one of our friends, the other was unfortunately a victim of the dusting.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Steve stated with a nod of condolence.
“We wouldn’t have lost if you wouldn’t have gone rogue,” Tony sneered.
“Now’s not really a good time,” Natasha stated.
“Got it,” Mack stated. “I was just here to find out about the UFO.”
“Carol Danvers just dropped off a friend for us,” Natasha stated as she lead Mack to the door. “We’ll debrief once we get Tony settled.”
“We’ll be around then,” Mack stated as the door closed behind him. He looked at his team as they stared curiously. “Tony Stark is back and wasn’t dusted. We’ll be debriefing as soon as the Avenger issues are settled.”
“That bad in there?” Yo-yo asked.
“Worse than the hearings were,” Mack said as even May was surprised.

“Grammy, Poppy?” Those words made Mick’s head spin. The fact that that girl was looking directly at Daisy and himself just made it worse. Is this how Fitz felt? Sick to his stomach, confused, terrified any move he’d make could now wreck the future and erase this person from existence?
“Hold on,” Daisy broke the silence that seemed that seemed to stretch into forever. She almost seemed sure of how to respond, almost was the key word there. She was clearly at the same loss for words that Mick had been.
“I mean, yeah they’re old, but not that old,” Ruby spoke up.
“I don’t understand what’s going on right now,” the woman said as Deke grabbed her hand.
“Those dreams I told you about, I’m not sure they were really dreams,” Deke said as the woman buried her head in Deke’s chest.
“What the heck are you talking about?” Mick’s eye was twitching, something about him holding the girl who looked so much like Daisy bothered him on levels he couldn’t comprehend.
“From what we gathered,” Jemma stepped in. “Deke doesn’t remember being in the past with us, to him it was all a dream.”
“I don’t understand,” Mick rubbed his head.
“Neither do I,” Daisy shook her head. “All of this is a bit too much at the moment.”
“Well, maybe we should head to SWORD HQ and sort it out,” Deke suggested.
“SWORD?” Ruby questioned.
“Sentient Worlds Observation and Response Department,” the woman said after taking in a deep breath. “We work for them.”
“Never heard of it,” Daisy stated as the two women stared skeptically at one another. “And of the two of you, I really only know him. So I don’t know that I trust you.”
“Unfortunately we know him,” Fitz corrected.
Deke smirked and shook his head. “Bobo, always being a teaser. I’m Deke, and this is my wife, and partner, Cori.”
“Wife?” Mick exclaimed, unsure why that term bothered him so much. He also garnered some interesting looks from Jemma, Daisy, and Ruby.
“And you’re related to us?” Daisy asked slowly as Cori started to nod. A smile slowly crept across Daisy’s face as she looked at Jemma, who seemed unsure of this strange reaction. “We become a family!”
“Not exactly,” Fitz murmured as Jemma and Daisy embraced.
“Close enough! You’re grandkid hooks up with mine!” Daisy cheered as her and Jemma spun around cheering.
“Isn’t this going to screw up the timeline because you know the future?” Ruby asked as Mick clenched his head still struggling to accept any of this as real.
“That’s why we need to go to SWORD HQ, they should be able to help us sort all of this out,” Deke stated.
“There is no SWORD HQ!” Fitz barked. “We only have SHIELD!”
“Maybe you don’t know it as SWORD yet?” Cori suggested. “What was it called back in the Nineties?” She tapped her head briefly. “Pegasus or something like that?”
“Nineties?” Mick shook his head wondering how they could assume this was the nineties while Fitz watched him with a Cheshire grin.
“Project Pegasus?” Jemma questioned. “I know I’ve heard of that before, but I thought it was shut down?”
“I’d put money we could find it on the database,” Daisy shrugged. “That or Mack will know something about any of those things you said.”
“Mack’s definitely going to want to know about this,” Mick said shaking his head. “I think I’m going to need a drink before I know anymore though.”
“You don’t drink,” Daisy and Jemma said in unison.
“Today I am,” Mick said as Fitz laughed.

Natasha walked into the briefing room, sitting across from Mack and his team. “Where’s the rest of the Ghosts?” She asked trying to lighten the tension.
“Already on assignment,” Mack stated. “You know how it is.”
“No rest for the weary,” Natasha frowned. “Especially not now.” She sat tall in the chair, eyes closed and rubbing her temples. “Why don’t we start with what happened with you guys, and then I’ll fill you in on what you missed here.”
Mack explained, with the help of Enoch, what all happened in space. The threat from the Kree, the loss of Davis Hale, then Enoch explained what the Chronicoms knew of Thanos. Natasha then explained what she had learned from Carol Danvers. It wasn’t just Earth that was effected by Thanos’ victory. The entire universe fell victim, just like he planned. She also explained that they were working with the half cyborg and adopted daughter of Thanos, Nebula, to pinpoint where in the universe Thanos may have gone. Once they figured that out, they planned to confront and defeat Thanos, then use the Infinity Stones to reset the universe to its rightful state. Now it was just a waiting game.
“And you’re sure you can win this time?” Elena asked as Natasha shrugged.
“I think with our newest ally, Captain Danvers, we should be ok,” Natasha stated.
“Do you want to bring some of my team?” Mack offered.
“No,” Steve stated as he walked in. “I’d rather have heroes here that could pick up the Avengers mantle if something goes horribly wrong. The world needs heroes to be around, especially right now.”
“That’s what you guys are for,” Mack stated.
“If only we were enough to stop it the first time, Director,” Steve sighed.
“How sure are you that things can be reverted?” May asked.
“At the moment,” Steve frowned.
“We’re not,” Natasha stated bluntly.
“We just have to hope that it will,” Steve and Natasha exchanged condescending stares.

The quinjet felt so crowded, even though the crowd was in the hold. Mick in pilot, Daisy next to him, yet the only conversation was behind them. Daisy looked over at Mick, he looked stoic, tense, and wearing Coulson’s old sunglasses. She wondered what could be going through his mind. Was he excited or scared of the future, knowing they have a grandchild? Or was he just hung over?
“What are you staring at?” Mick broke the silence, smiling as he glanced over.
“Nothing,” Daisy shook her head and raised her brow.
“Did I do something stupid last night?” Mick asked as Daisy snickered and shook her head.
“Besides drinking too much?” Daisy teased as Mick adjusted his glasses.
“Yeah, that was pretty dumb,” Mick rubbed a hand through his hair. “How can we have a grandkid right now?”
“Well, when a mommy and a daddy,” Daisy started.
“Shush! I know how that works!” Mick grunted. “I meant you and I. We haven’t.”
“I know,” Daisy sighed at how serious Mick was. “I was just trying to make light of things, jeez. Why are you being so uptight?”
“I don’t know,” Mick sighed. “This whole tampering with the future thing, it scares the heck out of me.”
“Tampering with the future?” Daisy asked contentiously. “You mean Cori and Deke?”
“Yeah,” Mick frowned.
“Clearly Deke had a much better life than the last time we saw him, but he’s the same knucklehead,” Daisy looked back seeing Fitz’s unpleasant scowl locked on Deke, while Cori was leaning on Deke, and the two appeared to be napping. All the while, Jemma and Ruby were playing cards on the floor.
“You’d think I’d be excited that we have a grandkid here because that means we become a real family, but it’s just weird. It’s almost a ton of pressure to make something happen as if we really have no choice in the matter,” Mick said as the realization hit her. He wasn’t scared of Cori and Deke. He was scared of the relationship that came with them.

Upon arrival, the Fitz’s vanished to places unknown, Ruby headed off to her bunk to rest, which left Mick and Daisy to deal with Cori and Deke. They headed straight for mission control, finding it mostly empty. Agent Piper sat at the helm, clearly exhausted. “Who’s that?” Piper pointed at Deke and Cori.
“Long story,” Daisy stated. “Have you heard from Mack?”
“Not since he landed at the Compound,” Piper reported.
“And the current missions?” Mick asked.
“All hands on humanitarian aid, under orders of Captain Rodgers,” Piper stated.
“So why are you sitting in here?” Daisy pondered.
“Just in case there was another freak storm,” Piper stated. “Orders from Director Mack.”
“So wait, you guys are dealing with the Vortex too?” Deke asked as he walked over toward the monitors.
“Vortex?” Mick and Daisy asked in unison.
“Rifts, spacial tears, distortions,” Cori followed up. “Whatever you want to call it, we’ve been dealing with that in our time too.”
“You never mentioned any of that,” Mick glared at the two of them.
“How do you think we ended up here?” Deke asked as Mick frowned.
“We were investigating at the same bar you were at, when a distortion opened up, and we fell through,” Cori stated as looked at the map curiously. “Next thing we knew we were on the ground again, but here instead of home.”
“Were there any strange looking dragon creatures?” Daisy asked as her and Cori stood side by side, their resemblance was uncanny. Aside from a few feature like her height, eyes, skin tone, and smaller figure, she almost matched her perfectly.
“No, but there was one thing,” Deke said ambiguously. “There was a strange woman who appeared for a little while. Do you remember what she called herself?”
“Izel,” Cori said somberly. “That woman gave off a terrifying aura. Slaughtered so many of our agents before just vanishing.”
“Well, that’s horrifying,” Daisy stated as she looked toward Mick. “So we potentially have a time traveling sociopath and creepy dragon things?”
“Let’s just hope that’s all that’s going on,” Mick frowned.
“I found Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S!” Jemma exclaimed as she ran into the room. She caught her breath as every eye focused on her. “Sorry, that was a long jog.”
“It’s ok,” Daisy smirked as Jemma flipped the main screen to her tablet.
“Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. was studying the Tesseract in 2012, which as we know what taken by Thor back to Asgard. It was also defunded just after Loki’s attack on New York. At the helm of the operation was the man Doctor Eric Selvig,” Jemma stated.
“Great, then maybe he can point us to S.W.O.R.D. in your time!” Cori cheered.
“That would be great,” Fitz entered the room somberly. “If Doctor Selvig wasn’t one of Thanos’ victims.”
“So we’re back at square one then?” Mick groaned.
“Not exactly,” Fitz smirked. “I did find a file with one other name on it in the old database we had from Fury’s box.”
“Oh wow, you were digging deep in the past huh?” Daisy teased as Jemma and Fitz both nodded.
“Does the name Maria Rambeau mean anything to you?” Fitz looked at Deke and Cori.
“I’m pretty sure Rambeau was the name of the first Director of S.W.O.R.D.” Deke stated. “But why would that,” he paused briefly. “Oh! Because she might be the same person!”
“I swear you’re not related to me,” Fitz rolled his eyes.
“So we have a lead then,” Daisy smirked.
“Sounds like we’re going to pay a visit to Ms. Rambeau,” Mick said firmly. “It’s about time S.H.I.E.L.D. meets S.W.O.R.D.”

Chapter Text

“Stoic as ever,” Coulson’s voice haunted her.
“Go away,” May ordered.
“Is that way you really want?” Coulson’s voice was harsher, darker now. “I would’ve thought you wanted to keep me around. I thought you loved me?”
“I love Phil Coulson,” May turned to see a partial appertain of the man. “I don’t know what you really are, besides annoying.”

“Everything ok?” The appertain vanished into smoke as Mack stepped into the cockpit.
“Fine,” May growled as she turned her focus forward. “Clear skies and a smooth ride.”
“We’re you talking to yourself?” He asked as May looked over at him briefly.
“And if I was?” She asked harsh, but inquisitively.
“Nothing, whatever keeps your focus,” Mack stated as he slid into the copilots seat. “Daisy and the others are looking into something called SWORD, ever heard of them?”
“No,” May stated plainly.
“What about a Maria Rambeau?”
“I know that name,” May stated. “She was one of the people over Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S, but after that went offline, she retired to south Louisiana with her daughter. Why?”
“Well,” Mack stated. “Apparently Deke came back from the future and and mentioned her.”
“Really?” May sounded skeptical.
“Oh it gets weirder than that,” Mack smiled. “He didn’t come back alone. Apparently he’s married to Mick and Daisy’s grandkid.”
“Oh how fun,” May cracked a smile as Mack continued to fill her in.

Mick and Daisy were off preparing the quinjet, and the Fitz’s were who knows where, doing whatever two scientist do when they’re alone. Not to mention those two people from the future that couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Ruby gagged at the thoughts of the couples crept into her mind. She pulled her blanket over her shoulder and stared at the wall. She craved sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she saw people that she’d lost. Some nights it was her friends; Jake, Bri, and Werner. Some nights is was her mother, even through their strained relationship. Even worse were the nights she thought of him, Patten Brent. The man who was friends with Mick Bellouve. The man who’d lost his wife and unborn child to her mother’s pursuit of S.H.I.E.L.D. and everyone that stood with them. The first person to really show her compassion when she was brought into the Lighthouse.
She didn’t care that he was so old, as he didn’t care she was so young. They shared a bond of loss, heartbreak, and betrayal. Why was he chosen to die? Everyone said it was completely random who disappeared, it’s how some countries lost no one and knew nothing of the Disappearance, while some lost a majority. She remembered one of the worst places they were dispatched to, a nearby hospital that had lost all of it’s staff, leaving some patients completely helpless. It was heartbreaking to see the deceased who could do nothing to change their circumstances.
“You shouldn’t be alive,” she heard a cruel, darker, twisted version of her own voice in the back of her mind. “You should’ve died with them. They never should have saved you.”
“Go away,” Ruby yelled as she could feel the terrible presence of darkness around her.
“They don’t really care about you,” her voice hissed as cold leathery fingers rubbed her cheek.
“That’s not true!” She tried to argue, despite her trembling voice.
“They’ll never love you like Mother did,” she cold feel the chill of breath on her neck
“My mother never loved me!” Ruby screamed as she turned over, her powers blasting from her extended hands, shattering the mirror on the wall. She began sobbing as she slid the bands from her nightstand back onto her wrists. She shouldn’t need these things to suppress her demons. She shouldn’t have to suppress demons at all. She punched her pillow as she sat up. Maybe she just needed to work out. Surely that would wear her out enough to sleep dreamlessly.

“It’s so weird seeing you guys again,” Deke stated as he tailed Mick while he carried supplies onto the quinjet. “It makes you wonder if dreams are really just alternate realities or something.”
“Have you ever heard of Back to the Future?” Mick set the crate of rations down, glaring at Deke.
“Never heard of it?” Deke muttered. “Is that some kind of book or something?”
“Time traveling DeLorean,” Mick started as Deke shrugged. “It’s a great movie. Sparked many an argument between Fitz and I a few months ago about time travel and changing the timeline, especially while we waited for everyone to come back from the future.”
“It’s complete scientific rubbish,” Fitz chimed in bringing a bag of tools onboard as Mick rolled his eyes.
“It makes plenty of sense!” Mick barked.
“So you think a time traveler can simply erase their own existence by altering one event?” Fitz challenged. “All the while still remembering the events that were supposedly erased?”
“I mean, we altered the world from being destroyed didn’t we?” Mick argued. “The others still hold those memories, don’t they?”
“Are we really going to do this now?” Fitz moaned. “Yes, and I told you that if someone simply vanished, it meant we erased that timeline and shattered the loop. He’s clearly still here, unfortunately,” Fitz glared as Deke before rolling his eyes.
“But Marty’s life wasn’t the same after going to 1955 either. He made it better by making his dad more bold and standing up to Biff! And this Deke thinks we were just dreams and is clearly living in a better world!”
“Clearly Deke is the same twit we knew before he vanished! He just has a few more screws lose than we thought!”
“Umm, ouch,” Deke looked at Fitz in offense.
“He’s married to that girl!” Mick argued as he and Fitz glared at each other furiously. “So clearly it must’ve changed in ways we can’t fathom!”
“She’s your granddaughter, and she has a name,” Deke tried to interject.
“Stay out of this you!” Fitz barked as he and Mick stood at odds. “It’s more likely that Deke went to some parallel universe or something, and the dreams are his minds way of coping with the change!”
“That sounds more unbelievable and convoluted than just accepting Back To The Future’s time traveling rules!” Mick yelled back at Fitz.
“Oh does it now? You think you have a better understanding of science than I do?” Fitz and Mick were face to face in their fit of fury.
“Will you two stop?” Jemma slapped the back of both their heads. “Neither of you truly understand the complexities of time travel, and you’re not going to use a fictional film from the eighties to argue over it.”
“This is why we don’t tell you about movie nights,” Daisy glared at both Mick and Fitz as she headed to the pilot’s seat to load her bag.

Mick and Fitz reluctantly dropped the argument, making sure everything would be in order for an early morning departure, pending on Mack’s approval. Daisy headed back towards her room, pausing when she saw Ruby practicing on the punching bag in the rec room. She watched for a few moments, the form, the precision with her swings. She really was a perfect soldier. She could’ve rivaled Ward. She thought back to that traitor, then wondered if he would’ve ever met her while he was working with Hydra. Did Ward know about Hale and Hydra’s connection to the Kree’s confederacy? She felt the frustration of past emotions swirling, which caused her to push those thoughts back to the dark recesses of her mind where they can die. Ward didn’t deserve the time or effort of remembering, not after everything he took from them in both his life and death.
“Still can’t let go, can you?” She spun around, looking for the source of the haunting voice. “You’ll always be my Skye,” his voice made her shutter, but yet there was no Ward anywhere to be seen.
She must be more tired than she thought, it has to just be a twisted day dream, feeling more like a nightmare. She rubbed her eyes, then looked back to see Ruby now leaning on the wall. She looked exhausted, almost like she hadn’t slept in days. Without wasting another moment, Daisy set off to console her trainee.
“That was impressive to watch,” Daisy smiled as plopped on the floor beside Ruby. “Thought you were going to bed?”
“I was,” Ruby frowned, then took a long gulp of her drink. “Can’t sleep.”
“Nightmares again?” Daisy watched as Ruby’s disappointment etched across her face. “You know you can talk to me any time, right?”
“I hate interrupting you when you’re busy,” Ruby stared at the wall, clearly refusing eye contact.
“I’m your S.O. I can make time for you, no matter what’s going on,” Daisy started to reach for Ruby, only for her to stop her and shake her head.
“I hate being a burden, and that’s all I’ve been for you guys,” Ruby said with a heavy sigh.
“That’s not true at all,” Daisy said to Ruby’s dismay. “I’ve really enjoyed working with you, all of us have!”
“Fitz hates me,” Ruby rolled her eyes.
“Ok, he does hold grudges,” Daisy frowned. “He still throws how out of control my powers were when I first got them.”
“But did you actually try to kill him?”
“No, not exactly,” Daisy sighed. “At least not on purpose. I did a lot of regretful things when I was under Hive’s influence.”
“Hive?” Ruby asked curiously. “Wasn’t that some mythical monster that Hydra was trying to bring to Earth or something?” She motioned like her fingers were tentacles.
“Yeah, except, just like everything Hydra tried to dip it’s hands in, it wasn’t exactly what they planned for,” Daisy looked at the ground both bitter and remorseful. “It killed so many people.” Her voice trailed off as she briefly remembered Lincoln. So many sacrifices were made, but that one still haunted her. Maybe his memory would always haunt her. Mick, any time Lincoln came up, would say losing true love leaves the worst scars. Both of them had lost people on their way to each other. She wondered if Samantha haunted him like Lincoln did her. Samantha, being much more fresh of a wound for Mick thanks to the Framework incident.
“You ok?” Ruby asked pointing at the tear falling down Daisy’s face.
“It’s nothing,” Daisy tried to push the past behind her.
“I know exactly how you feel,” Ruby leaned her sweaty head on Daisy’s shoulder. Daisy nodded her head and chuckled. “What?”
“Mick would probably make a goofy face and quote a Disney film to try to make me smile right about now,” she pictured that goofball ear to ear grin with his crinkled nose.
“Like what?” Ruby raised her brows in intrigue.
“Oh trust me, he’s a Disney compendium. I was just picturing him singing Hakuna Matata or however you say it,” Daisy placed her arm around Ruby.
“I sure hope he sings better when he’s sober,” Ruby snickered.
“A little,” Daisy smiled warmly as Ruby laid her head on Daisy’s shoulder again. “Want to crash in my room? We have a briefing bright and early with the others.”
“It’s been a while since I had a sleepover,” Ruby and Daisy snickered.

The night was much shorter than he wanted, feeling completely drained as he staggered through the hallway to Mission Control. May stood fully alert, which was completely jarring considering his exhaustion level. Mack and Yo-yo seemed a little more normal, both sipping on rather large coffee cups. Daisy, Ruby, FitzSimmons, and the Shaws (whose existence still bothered him beyond reason) were all more tardy than he. “You want a coffee or something?” Yo-yo offered.
“He prefers these,” Mack tossed a Monster energy drink at Mick who fumbled the can before getting a grip on it.
“Thanks Boss,” Mick popped the tab, taking a swig. He didn’t care too much for the flavor, but the rush of the concoction send shockwaves through his system. “You guys have a late night?”
“Made it back around 1:30,” May stated.
“Oh! Hey look at that! I remember you guys!” Deke said as he walked out dressed in jeans, a button down, and blazer. His wife, Cori, right behind him with her hair in pony tail, dress pants, and a button down. “How’s it been?”
“Deke,” Mack nodded at them as he stared at him in disbelief.
“Wow, there’s no mistaking that resemblance,” Yo-yo muttered.
“Got that right,” May stated.
“Good morning,” Cori said with a smile holding out her hand to Yo-yo. “Agent Cori Shaw.” Yo-yo, Mack, and May introduced themselves while Jemma and Fitz walked in both with large cups of coffee.
“Long night?” Mick asked as Fitz gave him a slight grin.
“Spent a few hours looking at the results from that man’s DNA test from before we went to space,” Jemma yawned.
“You’ve had other human visitors from the rifts?” Cori asked. “I thought Grammy said you had strange dragon creatures?”
“There was one guy,” May stated. “He vanished into thin air, just like the dragon things that were chasing him.”
“What did you find out?” Mack shifted focus back to Jemma.
“His DNA make up is slightly off from our own human DNA,” she started to explain. “There are extra chemicals rather than our four, adenine guanine, cytosine, and thymine. I couldn’t find a match in any databases.”
“So he was alien?” Mick asked.
“Not exactly,” Jemma shrugged. “Just a different kind of human.”
“Could he have been Inhuman?” Daisy asked as her and Ruby joined the group finally.
“Not quite,” Jemma sighed once again. “You have the same basic DNA structure, just some additional lines that give you your powers, while also comparing it to Mick’s altered DNA thanks to the toxins that gave him his powers.”
“Do you think comparing it to my DNA could help?” Cori asked as everyone looked at her skeptically. “I’m either from the future or another universe, so I don’t see how it could hurt.”
“That might be helpful, if you don’t mind,” Jemma shrugged.
“We’ll get on that after our meeting,” Mack interjected. “I made a few calls on our Person of Interest. Ms Rambeau lost her daughter thanks to Thanos. She’s also a cancer survivor living outside New Orleans.” Mack looked at Mick, who was clearly bothered about going back to Louisiana. “I figured you’d feel that way. That’s why I’m going to take Yo-yo, Deke, and Cori with me.”
“I can do that, you don’t,” Mick started only for Mack to stop him.
“I think it would be better with Director to Director,” he stated. “Networking and all of that.”
“Your call Boss,” Mick frowned as he took another swig of his drink. “But we already loaded the quinjet for us.”
“Then we’ll take the Zephyr. It’s roomier anyway,” Yo-yo smirked.
“Don’t crash my plane,” May teased, nudging Yo-yo as she winked.
“So what do we do?” Mick asked.
“Keep an eye on things, get some rest, maybe chill on the energy drinks,” Mack chuckled. “Your eyes are twitching Webby, and you haven’t stopped squirming since you opened it.”
“Whatever,” Mick rolled his eyes with a grin.

Mack stepped out of the black Camry, looking at the nice sized yard and home of Ms. Rambeau. It felt so welcoming, not like most of the places they’d been to as of late. Shockingly warm despite it being December, which Mick had warned him about.
“What do people do with this much room?” Deke asked as Mack looked at him curiously.
“Farm, enjoy life, relax?” Mack stated as they eased up the walkway toward the front door.
“How can you relax when you’re sweating so much?” Cori grimaced as she wiped her forehead.
“I’m sure they get used to it,” Mack said as he reached out to knock on the screen door.
“You can come on in,” an elderly woman’s voice called, leaving Deke and Cori quite confused.
“Ms. Rambeau?” Mack asked as he eased the door open to see the dark skinned woman in a suit with a blue and red bandanna, matching that of the suit Carol Danvers wore, on her head.
“That would be me,” she said with a smile.
“My name is Alphonso Mackenzie,” he said as he held out his hand toward her.
“Forgive me for not getting up, these old bones just ain’t what they used to be,” she smiled warmly. “That and the cancer gave me a good whipping. Praise God it’s in remission now. You’re the new SHIELD director I’ve seen on TV, right?”
“Yes Ma’am,” Mack nodded politely. “This is my partner, Elena Rodriguez, and these two are why I’m here.”
“Cori Shaw,” Cori reached out eagerly, shaking hands with Ms. Rambeau. “This is my husband and partner, Deke.”
“You have a problem with these SHIELD agents you want my help with?” Ms. Rambeau asked looking them over.
“That’s the funny thing,” Mack looked at the two of them. “They’re not SHIELD, they’re SWORD.”
“Really?” Ms. Rambeau looked at them curiously. “And why does that bring you here to me, Mr. Mackenzie?” She asked with a sly grin.
“Well, based on conversation, they said you were the founder,” Mack stated as Ms. Rambeau nodded.
“They aren’t my agents, as I personally vet anyone we bring in. You could say I have trust issues like Ol’ Nick Fury did, except mine run much deeper,” she stated. “You see, SWORD was founded to deal with extra terrestrials. Specifically to protect a species know as the Skrull from the Kree.”
“You‘ve dealt with the Kree?” Yo-yo asked as Ms. Rambeau nodded.
“A long time ago we did,” she stated. “My good friend Carol took care of ‘em before setting off to free the remnants of Skrulls from their captivity.”
“So what are Skrulls then?” Mack asked as Cori and Deke looked at each other with concern.
“They’re creatures that shape shift and toppled many societies by replacing vital people,” Cori spoke.
“That can’t be right,” Ms Rambeau looked confused. “The one’s here took on their own lives, living in plain sight so the Kree won’t find them.”
“I know it’s hard to believe Director, but it’s true, at least in our past it is,” Deke stated.
“Your past?” Ms. Rambeau asked.
“That’s the other part that lead us to you. They’re not from out time, they’re from the future. They came from one of the electrical storms,” Mack stated as Ms. Rambeau looked toward the window.
“Those aren’t storms. They’re aftershocks of multi-dimensional travel. Temporal distortions, if you will. We’ve been looking into them since last year, they’ve only gotten worse since Thanos’ attack,” she stated.
“Last year?” Yo-Yo asked.
“About the same time that the late General Talbot went into the hospital, and SHIELD vanished,” she answered. “There we’re only a few then, not much of a problem. Then a massive energy spike appeared over Rivers End, followed by several more rifts appearing. These much stronger than the first.”
“So they’re in tandem with the monoliths?” Mack pondered aloud.
“Those rocks that Hydra idolized?” Rambeau retorted.
“That’s the ones,” Yo-yo nodded.
“The white one drug is into the future, then Hale tricked us into bringing a bomb into our base blowing up the black and white one, tearing open a rift to what we called the Fear Dimension,” Mack stated.
“Twice you mention the future,” Rambeau stated skeptically.
“Two different futures,” Deke said.
“One apocalyptic, in which the world was destroyed by Talbot in his search from gravitonium,” Yo-yo stated.
“And the one we’re from,” Cori added.
“And you’re part of SWORD in that future?” Ms. Rambeau asked, receiving a nod from Cori and Deke. “I’m going to need to let Hayward know about this, he’s been filling in while I’ve been out with treatments.” She started to stand, only to collapse, Mack grabbing her before she hit the ground. Her phone began to ring as Mack helped her back to her seat.
“I’ve got a team running an investigation on this phenomenon,” Mack said as Ms. Rambeau smiled. “Any information you can give us to help fix the situation would be greatly appreciated. We can take this one off your hands.”
“I can appreciate help from time to time,” Ms. Rambeau said with a sigh. “I’ll get Hayward to send you the data we’ve gathered so far.”
“Thank you so much for your time,” Mack said as Ms. Rambeau smiled.
“Thank you,” she said. “First real visitors since I lost my daughter. I forgot how good company was.”

Alerts screamed as Mick sprinted into Mission control seeing May at the helm, her eyes fixed on a still frame, ignoring everything else. He took a glance and his heart dropped, his eyes widened. “Impossible,” he muttered.
The image of a man who looked just like Grant Ward stood outside of a government building with Lincoln Campbell and Samantha Lane behind him. He pulled his focus away from the image to look at the rest of the screen, seeing the location of the storm being Colorado.
“Is everything ok?” Daisy asked as she patted Mick’s shoulders, then traced his eyes. “Lincoln?”

Chapter Text

“We need to move now,” May demanded.
“I’m not disagreeing,” Daisy interjected as May stormed toward the quinjet. “Ward is dangerous, but why would Lincoln or that girl follow him?”
“Because they’re not the ones you’d know,” May barked.
“What does that mean?” Daisy punched the wall as May paused only to glare.
“Ask Mick on the way, I’m sure he can explain it to you,” May stated.
“He’s clearly shaken up by seeing his dead ex girlfriend,” Daisy’s belted.
“And you’re shaken up by seeing your dead ex’s too,” May quipped as she slammed the door to the cockpit closed.

“You’re sure it was them?” Fitz asked as Mick nodded slowly. “And it was that version of them?”
“They’re definitely from the Framework,” Mick replied. “They had the odd eagle on their shoulders, and Lincoln’s scars.”
“Oh that’s not good,” Fitz seemed much more nervous.
“That’s why we’re going to grab them,” Mick stated.
“And who’s going to accomplish this? Oh that’s right, the same people that captured him and tortured him in the Framework,” Fitz rolled his eyes.
“What choice do we have?“ Mick barked.
“Let Mack and Yo-yo deal with it?” Fitz exclaimed.
“And if Lincoln is completely unstable and attacks them?”
“Yo-yo is quite fast,” Fitz replied.
“Not happening,” Mick glared.
“Just be careful out there,” Fitz said as Mick smiled. “We’ve lost enough.”

“What did you do?” Lincoln screamed as electricity crackled around his hands.
“Lincoln, calm down,” Samantha reached out her hands trying to sooth the dirty blonde man. She wasn’t really sure how to honestly answer him though.
“I’m not going back to lockup!” Lincoln blasted between Samantha and Ward only for them to barely escape.
“We’re not Hydra!” Ward yelled as he ducked behind a car to catch his breath.
“Like I’d believe that!” Lincoln yelled. “What do you take me for, and idiot? I know you were on the team that brought me there!”
“Things have changed!” Samantha responded, blasting a wave of icy wind at Lincoln trying to divert his attention from Ward.
“Come on!” Ward fussed as he ran away from the car as it crackled with electricity. “We we’re trying to get you out of there!”
“Don’t lie to me!” Lincoln bellowed as a wave electricity surged around him.

Samantha was blasted backwards as her wall of ice exploded with crackling and sparks, crashing into bushes a few feet away. “You alright?” Ward asked helping her up as they turned back to see electricity coursing around Lincoln.
“He’s becoming unstable,” Samantha said as Ward grimaced. “If we don’t end this quick, someone is going to get hurt.”
“You mean us, or?” Ward asked as she rolled her eyes. “I was kidding.”
“Ice isn’t working, so you think of something mister hero,” she scoffed.
“I’ve got one icer impact shell, if you can get his attention I can drop him,” Ward suggested.
“You and punching things,” Samantha rolled her eyes. “You better not miss.”
“When have I ever missed a punch?” Ward looked at her skeptically, only to receive a glare in return.
“Move fast, Wonderboy!” Samantha took in a deep breath, then a cloud of mist spawned around her, flowing out and encompassing the building. “It’s too dry to keep this up long!”
“Don’t you worry, I’ve got this!” Ward sprung into action, running with the thickening fog.

“Where did this fog come from?” Daisy asked as she looked out the windshield of the quinjet.
“I’d bet on Samantha, she used to create cover in bad situations,” Mick said as May tried to find a safe spot to touch down.
“You might have to jump and I’ll catch up to you if that’s the Lincoln Campbell from the Framework,” May looked over her shoulder at Mick and Daisy.
“Why do you keep saying things like that? What did you guys do to Lincoln?” Daisy asked.

Mick thought back to those memories he shoved into the darkest depths. They were fake, in a sense, but they felt so real. Soon he began to explain it all to Daisy, so perhaps she could understand what they were up against.
It was him, Samantha, Skye, and Ward in a Hydra dropjet; which was very similar to a quinjet but more weaponry. May, after a careful landing, stepped out of the cockpit to brief her Outcast unit. The mission was clear, infiltrate the Inhuman safe house, if you can bag them, do it, lethal force was authorized if it became necessary. Either way, the bodies were to be put in cryogenic containment and returned to base for evaluation and containment. Shield could not be allowed to get their hands on empowered individuals. Their continued war against us was bad enough without powers getting involved, adding that to the mix would result in much worse casualties.

“No turning back now,” Ward nudged Mick with a smirk.
“No regrets,” Mick and Ward bumped fists.
“Don’t get cocky,” May slammed a pulse rifle into each of their chests. “There may be SHIELD agents here. Only prisoners we take are the ones that register, so keep your glasses on.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Ward and Mick said in unison.
“We’re trusting you to get a scan once we breech,” May looked at Sam.
“I’ll make sure the data link is stable,” Skye said with a smirk.
“Good,” May stated. “Let’s move.”

The iron like smell of blood sorted through the corridors of the facility. Intel hadn’t prepared them for this many SHIELD agents. Mick gasped as they stepped into a large auditorium. It was full of people encased in stone. “What the heck happened here?” Mick asked as May eased close to one of the bodies.
“Terregenesis,” May muttered. “They were forcing people to go through Terregenesis.”
“Bunch of monsters,” Ward sneered as he began to lower his weapon.
“And they claim to be heroes,” Mick scoffed as his eyes jumped to a piece of gravel falling from one of the bodies. “Uh, are they supposed to do that?” Mick asked nervously as Ward looked around in confusion as well.
“Guys, I’m getting a massive energy spike,” Skye’s voice came through the comms. “And has anyone heard from Sam?”
“No?” Mick replied trying to mask his concerns.
“They’re all Inhuman!” May yelled as rocks began to fly across the room as they shattered from their rocky cocoons.
“What’s the orders?” Mick asked as varying powers, such as wind, water, fire, and electricity began to surge around the bodies of the newly freed creatures.
“Nothing’s changed, stun the ones you can, non lethal if possible,” May barked.

Several tried to escape one a dirty blonde, had to be in his twenties, started to run leaving a trail of electricity in his wake. Ward started after them, Mick taking note and dropping as many Inhumans until May nodded for him to chase after them. He ran through several hallways before he heard a loud crackle followed by a wave of cool mist pouring through the hallways. He staggered his way through until he escaped into a field. There he saw Ward standing over an unconscious dirty blonde boy, and Sam shaking off to the side.
“You guys ok?” Mick asked as Ward glanced back at him with a few burns on his face and tatters on his gear.
“I’m fine, go check on her,” Ward motioned back toward Samantha, as she seemed really distraught. The vividness of the memory faded as Daisy was staring at him with wide eyes.

“Wow, and I thought Fitz was screwed up because of the Framework. You guys were pretty dark too,” Daisy stated as May started her decent.
“I’m surprised you haven’t told her about all of that,” May sneered.
“I don’t like talking about it,” Mick said as May smirked.
“So you finally learned how to be quiet?” May teased as the quinjet touched down.
“Look how well that’s working out for us now,” Daisy rolled her eyes.

Ward panted as he looked at the unconscious boy. It didn’t matter how many times he’s done it, fighting Inhumans simply sucked when you don’t have powers yourself. “Think he’s going to be a little more forgiving when he wakes up?” Samantha asked as she leaned over trying to recoup her energy.
“I doubt it, but it wasn’t him I was concerned about, it’s the girl he had with him,” Ward stated. Hydra had become much worse since Madam Hydra and the Doctor disappeared, new more deadly men taking their place, such as Dr. Whitehall and Von Strucker.
“Where is she anyway?” Samantha asked as the fog faded fast.
“Don’t move,” both Ward and Samantha turned around seeing a faces they hadn’t seen in years. “Where’s Lincoln?”
“Mick?” Samantha stood upright, slightly confused.
“Don’t,” May growled as she took point, standing between Mick and Daisy. “Stand down now, Agent Bellouve. I won’t repeat it again.”
“We’re not here to cause problems,” Samantha held her arms up, kneeling down in surrender.
“What are you doing?” Ward hissed.
“Look at them, they’re in SHIELD gear. Only difference is the eagle,” Samantha snapped back. “This must be the world that they told us about.”
“Where’s Lincoln?” Daisy barked.
“He’s unconscious, but probably not for long,” Ward stated, slowly raising his hands. “I hit him with a Dendrotoxin injector built onto my knuckle guards.”
May eased over to them, cutting eyes at them, then verifying Lincoln’s state. “How did he escape Hydra?”
“We raided New Haven,” Ward replied.
“So it wasn’t like Asylum?” Mick asked bitterly as he kept his distance.
“Oh no, it was very real,” Ward stated as Mick looked distraught. “We freed a lot of them. Some thankful, some a bit more resentful. Lincoln kept his distance though, supposedly working with some mercenary group that ended up kidnapping grabbing our best mechanic for some reason.”
“Ok, I’m going to pretend to understand everything happening right now,” Daisy rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“What does that mean?” Samantha asked looking up to three of them.
“We can explain on the way to base,” Mick replied. “Everything going on right now is just really complicated.”
“We’re not leaving until we find Hope,” Ward stated firmly.
“Hope?” Mick and May asked in unison.
“She’s the banner of the resistance, a real child prodigy in arming SHIELD in our fight to topple Hydra completely,” Samantha said as Daisy realized just what they were referring to.
“Hope Mackenzie?” She muttered.
“That’s her!” Samantha exclaimed.
“Oh boy,” Mick rubbed his face in frustration.
“Where did you see her last?” May asked snapping into action.
“Lincoln had taken her hostage, he released her to face me, then we were dropped here,” Ward shrugged.
“So we don’t even know if she’s in this world then?” Mick asked.
“Sammy,” a small voice came from the alleyway. “Is it safe now?”
“Yeah,” Samantha held her arms out with a warm smile as the little girl ran into them.
“He’s starting to stir,” Ward motioned toward Lincoln.
“Good, maybe we can talk him down,” Daisy stated as May simply shot Lincoln with the ICER. “What the hell, May?”
“Trust me, we don’t want him waking up before we get back to base,” she holstered her weapon. “Let’s get them loaded, before we draw any more attention to ourselves.”

Mick was silent until the reached the quinjet, his mind wasn’t ready for this, his heart wasn’t ready for this. Not only was Samantha, standing here, but it was the one whom he married in the Framework. Combine that with Ward, his best friend from the Framework, and Lincoln; the first man Daisy ever said she truly loved. What was he supposed to say to any of them? He’s sorry, things aren’t like they were in the Framework, he’s with Daisy and doesn’t love Samantha? The bigger question was how was the Framework moving forward, didn’t Aida delete it in her rampage?
“You look lost,” Ward stated as he nudged Mick with a semi-grin. “Trying to solve the mystery on your own?”
“I guess you could say that,” Mick frowned.
“I’m an open book, ask me anything you want,” Ward smiled warmly as Samantha took a seat next to him with Hope beside her.
“I’ll start,” Daisy shrugged as she sat down looking at the unconscious Lincoln buckled into the seat next to Ward. “How do you people even exist? I thought the Framework was wiped by Aida.”
“Framework?” Samantha asked raising her brow.
“It was a computer simulation some of us were injected into while Aida, or Madam Hydra, tried to replace us with Life Model Decoys,” Mick sighed. “It was almost completely opposite of the world we’re in now.”
“So Hydra isn’t in charge, and SHIELD is run by the bad guys?” Ward asked as Mick shook his head.
“What? No!” Mick grunted. “SHIELD is the good guys, and if Hydra still exists they’re hiding really well.”
“It’s really good to see you alive,” Samantha said trying to calm the situation as Mick looked at her confused. “We we’re worried you’d die trying to get back to your world.”
“Jake said you guys were locked up,” Mick looked down. “I thought for sure that you would’ve been,” his voice trailed off.
“Hey,” Ward nudged Mick. “Because of what you guys did for us, the world started to change. Some good, some bad, but we kept fighting. Hydra still has the stronghold, but people have hope. They’re helping us fight the good fight.”
“So those servers, they actually saved your world?” Mick mumbled as Daisy looked at him skeptically. “I thought they were only temporary?”
“I did too?” Daisy looked over at Ward and Samantha.
“Perhaps our world wasn’t as much of a simulation in the end then?” Samantha shrugged.
“Deke did have a strange simulation program in the future, seemed so much like the Framework, but it’s data was corrupted, so there wasn’t anyone in it,” Daisy shrugged.
“Great,” Mick groaned. “Another connection to him.”

Once they landed, Ruby met them with the inhibitor bands and FitzSimmons met them with a gurney. Ward and Mick quickly placed the bands on Lincoln’s wrists then buckled him down on the gurney. “Be very careful with him,” May warned.
“I’m very aware of how dangerous he can be,” Fitz replied.
“I’ll let you know once he wakes and is stabilized,” Jemma said as the two carted Lincoln off.
“Huh, the Doctor working with SHIELD, never could’ve dreamed that one up,” Ward stated.
“Yeah, there’s a lot here you wouldn’t have imagined,” Daisy stated as she grabbed Ruby and lead her away before she could ask questions.
“She still hates me because of me from here?” Ward asked as Mick shrugged.
“I think all of this is a bit much for all of us,” Samantha stated.
“The Director is going to want to know how you guys ended up here, especially since we’ve already got what we assume are time travelers,” Mick stated as he lead Samantha and Ward into Mission Control. “Were there any weird electrical storms, strange creatures, or out of place people?”
“We had a combination of all of that,” Ward stated as Mick used a tablet to pull up pictures of various electrical storms and the grainy images of the strange dragon like things people had seen during the storms.
“We thought they were some kind of Hydra monstrosities at first,” Samantha looked over the images. “But the creatures infested both Hydra and SHIELD agents.”
“Infested?” May asked, surprising everyone with her silent entrance.
“They’d find a host, worm their way into their body making them almost zombie like,” Samantha explained. “There was also a group building some kind of tower, those creatures seemed to be drawn to it, but we couldn’t ever investigate it due to the constant attacks from Strucker’s forces.”
“I wonder if all of this could be connected?” May frowned.
“Maybe,” Ward said as he seemed to be focused on the dragon like creature. “Anyone who was infect always muttered the same thing when you tried to talk to them before they’d get violent.”
“Restituo,” Sam interjected. “We tried so many things, but the only think that stopped them was being shot in the center of their chest.”
“Even then, they’d turn into stone and with thorn like spires,” Ward added. “And if one pierced you, it was like a fate worse than death. More people died from that poison on those thorns than being infected by the creatures.”

“Where am I?” Lincoln screamed as he fought against the restraints. “Let me out of here!”
“Mr. Campbell, I need you to calm down,” Jemma stated as he glared ferociously.
“How do you know my name?” He barked.
“It’s very hard to explain that right now,” Jemma said keeping a careful distance from the bed while monitoring his rising heart rate. “I need you to breath Lincoln. Try to tell me what happened before you arrived here.”
Lincoln started breathing heavily, almost as if he were compliant. “I was trying to bring that girl back to SHIELD when those two Ex Hydra agents attacked me.”
“Do you mean Hope Mackenzie?” Jemma asked Lincoln closed his eyes, thinking back, then nodded. “They said she was a hostage.”
“Boss needed her to help finish the machine so he could stop the Convergence,” Lincoln jerked at the bed again.
“Who is your boss and what is the Convergence?” Jemma asked as Lincoln seemed to be growing more frustrated.
“The Convergence is the end of the world! She comes in, drains the life from the planet, leaving only death behind!”
“Who does?” Jemma grew more concerned as Lincolns vitals continued to rise.
“Izel!” He cried out as the machines began beeping rapidly.
“Please relax, I don’t want to sedate you!” Jemma cried as Fitz ran into the room with the sedative in hand.
“No! You’re HYDRA! This was all just a trap! She’s coming! Boss can stop her! We’ll all die if we don’t help him! SARGE!” Lincoln screamed as Jemma slammed the needle into his neck. His body fell limp as Jemma and Fitz stared at each other gravely concerned.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: Out of the Framework

Ruby watched Daisy as she continued to pace frantically muttering about someone named Lincoln, whatever happened in the field had really messed with her head. She wanted to ask, she wanted to be a good friend, but she wasn’t exactly sure how that could help. It didn’t help that she wasn’t wearing the inhibitor bands, so she was also struggling to keep her own concerns under wrap. Her powers lashing out would only make whatever this was a whole lot worse. She was also curious about the other people that were brought it. Why did they have a strange looking SHIELD emblem on their shoulders? Are they new recruits? Where they in hiding since the HYDRA uprising and that’s just the old logo? All of these questions with no answers, so she had to start somewhere.
“Daisy?” Ruby said softly, unsure of how she’d respond.
“How could Mick not tell me that Lincoln was in the Framework,” Daisy muttered as she passed by.
“Daisy,” Ruby repeated, a little firmer this time. “What’s happening right now? Who are those people that you brought in?”
“Sorry,” Daisy shook her head, pulling herself from her thoughts. “It’s going to sound crazy, but the girl is Mick’s real world formally dead ex-girlfriend and wife from the Framework Samantha Bellouve, the buff guy was my formally dead ex, and real world Hydra agent, Framework SHIELD agent Grant Ward, and the other guy is another formally dead ex of mine brought back by the Framework, Lincoln Campbell.”
“Wait, so that crap Mick and Fitz told my mom about the computer simulated world was actually real?” Ruby seemed a bit taken back by that. “We thought they were just screwing with us to buy time for you guys to get deep into hiding.”
“No, they were really trapped in that twisted hellscape,” Daisy frowned. “Oh, and the little girl that was with Samantha and Ward, that was Mack’s formally dead daughter, Hope.”
“I see why this has you so messed up now,” Ruby said as felt a rush of confusion as well. If these people were data on some computer system that was supposedly destroyed, how were they walking around like normal, real people? Was that really any more far fetched that aliens invaded, super heroes walk around and have battles with super villains, or half of all life being snapped right out of existence?

Jemma stood watched as Lincoln’s vitals blipped on the monitor outside of his room, Fitz steadily pacing back and forth behind her his focus locked on that tablet in his hands. None of this was making any sense. How could they be here? It was the question that only brought more questions than answers. She clearly has real blood from Lincoln, and he’s accepting real fluids. His heart is really showing up on the monitor. How could data replicate that? It was as if the Framework was more than just a simulation, it was almost like a true world on it’s own. How could that be though? Was it because of Aida’s Darkhold influence? So were the people she had blow off as just fake and data actually living breathing people like Mick, Fitz, Coulson, May, and Mack once believed? Is that more of the reason why Director Mace died in the Framework he died in reality? But then how could people like Lincoln, Sam, and Hope be alive there, but missing here?
“Could it be all connected?” Fitz’s voice startled her. “What if somehow when Aida left the Framework in her enhanced body, it transformed everything in the Framework into something more? But that doesn’t makes sense, how could a simulation become reality?”
“Could it be a multiverse effect?” Jemma asked as Fitz seemed to brush off the notion. “Maybe those electrical storms are rips in the multiverse?”
“But what could rip open a multiversal vortex?” Fitz asked as he and Jemma both were perplexed. “It is more plausible than time travel now though, with these new revelations,” Fitz nodded toward Lincoln’s door.
“Perhaps,” Jemma nodded in agreement. “These people, if that’s even the right word for them, all lived and died in our time, and would’ve never had the memories of the Framework. So how can we just stay fixed on the Time Travel aspect of things, when there is clearly a multiversal dynamic?”
“But that still leaves us with the bigger, much more pressing question,” Fitz looked into Jemma’s eyes. “What could tear a hole through time or the multiverse?”

Mack stepped out of Zephyr One still struggling to wrap his mind around the news, Hope was here. May wouldn’t just say that to mess with him, not something like that. Not after knowing how hard it was for him to leave her when the Framework was collapsing. Those memories haunted him, he could still remember being on the bus with her trying to escape the city before Hydra hunted them down. He remembered holding her tightly as Elena begged him to follow her. He remembered Grant Ward and Samantha Bellouve telling him that they’d protect her, and he’d see her again. Then Hope’s last words to him being I love you, and I’ll miss you before she ran off with them to somewhere safe.
The anticipation of actually seeing her, seeing how much she’d grown, seeing that spark in her eyes. Elena grabbed his hand, and his eyes found Hope, standing right next to May. Her hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, she was wearing jeans that had what looked like oil stains and a gray dirty looking tee shirt with the elongated eagle who’s wings stretched across touching each corner of the shield. Was she working with SHIELD in the Framework now? She even looked older, only by a few years, which brought tears to his eyes.
“Daddy!” Hope exclaimed as she ran up to him, jumping into his arms. His heart fluttered with joy, as he gripped the girl tightly.
“Look at you,” he spoke though hoarsely. “You’re growing up too fast!” Which was an odd statement and thought, considering they all had believed them to just be data previously.
“I’m a mechanic just like you!” She cheered as Mack felt a strange sense of pride swelling inside mixing with so much confusion. How could this be real, how could she be in the real world? Was this some after effect of the infinity stones’ power?
“I’m so glad you’re doing well,” Mack said as he hugged her again, brushing the tears from his cheeks as Hope stepped back doing the same.
“It’s good to see you again Ms. Elena,” Hope waved as Elena winked which provoked a giggle.
“Do you mind going with Ms. Elena to my office Baby Girl?” Mack asked as Hope nodded happily. “I’ll be there shortly.”
“I’m sure I can handle it,” Elena said nudging Mack as she and Hope headed toward the elevator.
“You’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would,” May said with a half smirk.
“I’m still waiting to wake up,” Mack said as May nodded. “What’s FitzSimmons thoughts so far?”
“Disbelief, dread, confusion. Seem to be fixated on a multiverse theory, but they’re struggling to put it together. Any help from SWORD?”
“I’ve got Cori and Deke looking at the little bits we got from that. They’re just as in the dark as we are, but apparently it’s been happening since we went to the future.”
“Huh,” May being surprised was unusual. “So it’s not from the infinity stones?”
“They didn’t rule it out, being that Doctor Strange had the time stone and could’ve used it without anyone knowing,” Mack stated as May rolled her eyes.
“Boy that could’ve been nice to know previously,” May grumbled. “Any other news that we missed?”
“The Avengers found Thanos,” Mack shrugged. “They plan to handle it in house. Guess we’ll know what happens when the dust clears. ‘Til then, we just keep being us.”

Mick sat in his room, everything was so odd. Ward and Samantha were off somewhere, which inexplicably bothered him. Daisy was reeling from seeing Lincoln alive, which brought great fear to him. Her wounds from losing Lincoln were much fresher than his losing Sam. Was she like him, holding on to the memory of Lincoln with the same fondness he felt for Sam? Was she going to leave him in favor of Framework’s Lincoln? It bothered him greatly having these thoughts. Thankfully his sulking was broken by a knock on the door.
“You look rough,” Ward said standing in the doorway. “Anything I can help you with?”
Mick stared, how in the world was he supposed to respond to this? Last time he saw the real Ward, his body way lying defeated on Mavith with a crushed chest. He didn’t count HIVE, even though it used Ward’s body and memories. They were the farthest thing from friends at that point. Yet Framework Ward was one of his best friends, a really great guy who played the traitor to HYDRA and devoted himself to helping people escape from their tyranny.
“You don’t have to talk, we essentially debriefed with May. I’m sorry your world is this broken,” Ward’s sympathy broke through the walls Mick wanted to keep strong. “Whatever is happening, I’m sure you guys can fix it. You gave us the strength to fix ours.”
“Stop,” Mick sighed. “I’m struggling enough as it is. None of this is making any sense to me. I don’t even understand how a multiverse can even exist.”
“I had a hard time believing your world existed too,” Ward patted Mick’s shoulders. “Maybe we just aren’t made to understand everything.”
Mick turned to look at Ward who wore a cheesy smirk. “If you could only understand how difficult it is for me to both hate you and want to be your best friend.”
“I’d imagine it’s much worse in this world than back in mine,” Ward stated as Mick nodded. “I actually looked up the me from this world, he was pretty messed up.”
“That’s only what was documented,” Mick said as Ward smirked again. “He came back as a zombie monster thing that fed off the life force of others. It was Daisy’s boyfriend Lincoln that ended up stopping him by sacrificing his life by flying to space in a quinjet.”
“That’s why Skye was having a hard time with Lincoln being here?” Ward asked as Mick nodded.
“She really does prefer Daisy,” Mick said as Ward shook his head in frustration. “It took me a while too. In a twisted way, I’m glad we didn’t have much time together after the Framework because I kept calling her Skye while I was locked up.”
“Have you guys ever really had a moment to just unwind and sort it all out?” Ward asked as Mick looked at him as if to say, yeah right.
“You wouldn’t believe all of the insanity that’s happened since we made it back to this world,” Mick’s smile surprised him. He then opened up to Ward about the last year and how crazy it’s all really been.

Cori and Deke walked into the lab, seeing Fitz scribbling on a dry erase board mounted on the wall. Fitz was clearly engrossed in his working, muttering and mumbling about different things as he scribbled various lines and numbers on the board. Cori was quite intrigued with Fitz’s apparent calculations, but wasn’t exactly sure what some of it meant. The timeline things made sense, but what were the other things? Director Rambeau seemed quite sure that the vortexes were multiversal, which made Fitz’s scribbling that much more confusing. Had something else happened? It was Deke that finally broke their silent observation.
“What was Framework again?” Fitz spun around with an annoyed expression at Deke’s voice.
“I don’t have time for all of this,” Fitz started.
“I don’t think it’s a fixed point, I think it’s more of a flowing theory,” Cori said as Fitz raised his brow looking back at the board then at Cori.
“What makes you say that?” Fitz pondered as Cori shrugged.
“Same time of day, same location, same day of the week, the only difference was the year really,” Cori stated. “I mean, I can’t prove my hypothesis clearly, but based on what I’ve been through I’d say it’s a pretty solid theory.”
Fitz just stared at her, then looked at Deke with disappointment. “That actually makes sense to a degree,” Fitz muttered. “However, that just doesn’t work when you bring in the people from the Framework. They simply shouldn’t exist at all, yet their lives continued on in that simulation as if Aida never deleted it.”
“Wait, it’s a simulation system?” Deke asked as Fitz just stared at him wonderment. “Do you think it’s like that system we found on those old hard drives that HQ restored?”
“Excuse me?” Fitz was both annoyed and curious.
“It was like a real world in there, almost like a perfect snapshot of the past,” Cori said as Fitz’s eyes widened. “It was a project that several historians were working on. They said it was hidden in some HYDRA base in the ocean.”
“HYDRA base in the ocean?” Fitz pondered as an alarm began to sound. “Jemma!” Fitz sprinted off toward the hospital wing.

Everyone filed into Mission Control, seeing Mack at the helm, with the core team standing front and center, Cori and Deke standing on the left, while Ward, Samantha, and Hope stood on the right. Mack clicked a button and the screen shifted to two new electrical storms, one large, over New York, the other smaller, near Russian oil rig sight Ivanov had once used as a base. “I hate having to split up like this, but we don’t have much of a choice. Daisy, I want you to take Mick, and Ruby; head over to New York and see if you can get a handle on things there. May, I want you to take Yo-yo, Deke, and Cori to get an analysis on what’s going on over there.”
“What about us? We want to help,” Ward stated as Mack looked quite uneasy.
“You’ll be back up if Daisy’s team struggles.”
“Daddy, please, Agent Ward and Agent Bellouve are great in the field,” Hope stated as Mack felt the draw of wanting his daughter happy.
“Would it be a problem if they went with you guys?” Mack turned to Daisy, who then looked at Mick.
With a nod, Daisy looked back at Mack. “Guess it’ll be fine. More hands shouldn’t hurt.”
“I’ll give you any information I can,” Mack stated as both teams set out quickly.

Chapter Text

Daisy flew well despite the winds from the storm shaking the quinjet. Samantha and Ward gripping tight the overhead rails, while Mick braced himself between the cockpit and seats. Lightning flashed before them, and the quinjet shook hard with the thunder. “We need to get on the ground before it get’s worse,” Mick suggested as Daisy nodded.
“I didn’t expect it to be this bad,” Daisy muttered.
“None of them have ever been this bad before,” Mick caught Ruby as she started to fall from her seat during the decent.
Daisy punched the panel as the electrical systems began to malfunction. “Ward, get over here, things may get a little dicey!” Mick yelled as he struggled to get the hatch to open.
“What’s the plan, Mick?” Ward asked as he took the helm.
“I’m going to help Daisy get to the ground, then she’s going to level this thing out before we crash. I just need you at the controls to make sure we don’t overshoot it!” Mick yelled as Daisy looked at him bravely. “Think you can handle this?” Mick looked at Daisy as she nodded
“I think I can manage,” Daisy winked at him as she eased close to the edge of the halfway descended hatch. She jumped jumped out, and Mick rushed to the edge to make sure she would land safely, not anticipating the vacuum trying to pull him out as well. Ruby and Sam jump up, grabbing him as he was being pulled out of the hatch, then the ship shook once Daisy began to blast at it.
“100 feet to the ground!” Ward called out.
“Mick, she can’t support this whole thing, can she?” Sam asked nervously only for Mick to shrug while biting his lip.
“75 feet and falling fast!” Ward yelled. “Systems still unstable!”
“Oh come on!” Mick clutched the rails trying to figure out how to keep Daisy safe from the impending crash landing.
“If it crashes now, she’ll still be effected!” Sam warned as Ruby closed her eyes with her hands trembling.
The quinjet shook wildly before stabilizing. “We’re slowing down, but how?” Ward asked looking back to see Ruby kneeling down touching the floor of the jet.
“Ruby?” Mick asked as she seemed to not hear him. “Keep her calm, I’m going to make sure Daisy is safe.” Sam and Ward nodded as Sam knelt beside Ruby, while Ward returned to the cockpit. Mick jumped from the quinjet, using a web line to ease down to Daisy’s side, as she carefully set the quinjet down with a look a relief and confusion.
“Did the systems come back on or something?” She asked as Mick shook his head.
“No,” Mick began webbing the jet to stop it from being blown over by the powerful winds tearing through the field. “Ruby helped out. Not sure about the technicals, that’s a FitzSimmons thing.”
“You really have a problem with name changes don’t you?” Daisy teased as Mick shrugged. “Everyone alright?” Daisy asked as Sam, Ward, and Ruby jumped down from the hatch.
“Yeah, thanks to you guys,” Ward said, the wind slowing slightly. “Pretty impressive work there.”
“Yeah, well, Daisy shrugged as Ruby looked slightly pale. “You okay? Mick says you used your powers to help!”
“I don’t even know what I did or how I did it,” Ruby smiled nervously at Daisy.
“Instincts can be a powerful motivator,” Sam said with a smile, patting Ruby’s back.
“What’s the plan now?” Ward asked as they looked toward the raging electrical storm.
“We figure out what’s causing that,” Daisy stated as they began their trek toward the south.
“What’s the likelihood that a car works?” Ruby asked as she really didn’t want to walk several miles to get to the heart of the city.
“Based on the quinjet’s malfunctioning, very slim unless there was something out here pre 2000,” Ward replied to Ruby’s dismay.
“Your powers are pretty similar to mine, and I can launch myself pretty far,” Daisy stated as Mick stated at her.
“You launch yourself into the sky and you’ll end up struck by lightning,” Samantha said before Mick could get the words out. “However, I might be able to use my ice to blast us through the streets if someone could steer.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt more inept,” Ward shook his head and frowned.
“Aw, don’t feel bad, I’m sure you still punch things like a pro,” Mick teased as Ward rolled his eyes. “I always felt the opposite here until Daisy got her powers.”
“That supposed to make me feel better?” Ward asked.
“This probably will; the you from this world always beat me without needing powers. He just had incredible fighting skills,” Mick said as Ward smirked slightly. “It’s why I’ve spent so much time trying to learn from May and Bobbi in the few windows we get of downtime.”

Zephyr one struggled with the incredible turbulence as they neared the storm. Unlike the previous ones, this seemed to be strengthening. Something about it had unnerved May, something big was coming but what could it be?
“I don’t think we can get closer, we’ve got gear losing power,” Yo-yo stated over the coms.
“Can you get any readings?” May asked.
“It doesn’t appear so,” Cori replied. “It’s presenting as a standard thunderstorm.”
“I’ve never seen a thunderstorm with red clouds,” May rolled her eyes as she stared at the swirling clouds with frequent lightning breaking free. “Then we’ll get closer.”
“Are you sure we can handle that?” Yo-yo asked as May glared at the storm.
“Do you have a better plan?” May barked.
“Don’t go in there,” Coulson’s voice echoed in May’s mind. Her body tensed. “It’s too dangerous. You know this.”
“Why am I hearing your voice?” May asked after closing comms with the lab.
“Maybe I’m your voice of reason?” Coulson replied. May tried to ignore the hauntingly comforting voice.
“You should be here!” May barked as she slammed her fist on the control panel.
“I’m always with you,” his presence began to fade, frustrating her greatly.
“You can’t leave me now! Talk to me Phil!” May yelled as she heard the warning beckons blaring.
“You okay?” Yo-yo was now in the pilot’s seat struggling with the controls.
“Fine,” May shook her head trying to figure out what happened. “Where are we?” she looked at the now clear sky.
“We lost comms and went into a free fall,” Yo-yo said as May stood up, holding herself on the pilots’ seat. “When I got in here you were yelling for Coulson and we flew right into the storm.”
“Then where did it go?” May rubbed her head.
“I wish I could tell you,” Yo-yo shrugged. “I didn’t change our course at all. It just vanished.”
“Have you tried to radio Mack?” May asked sitting down in the co-pilots seat trying to figure all of this out. Yo-yo shook her head, so May picked up the radio. Nothing but static no matter what buttons she pressed. “So we’re completely on our own.”
“Think you can handle the wheel now?” Yo-yo asked as May nodded slowly. “Gotta make sure the kids aren’t still hiding under the tables.”

Mack paced back and forth, surprised when Jemma and Fitz walked in with a looks of concern. “How’s Lincoln?” He asked.
“We had to sedate him again,” Fitz replied.
“Is that what’s got you so upset?” Mack looked at Jemma.
“I wish it was,” she replied.
“Based on the information we’ve gathered,” Fitz stepped in. “We think these storms are some how connected to the Framework and potentially from there to the future.” Fitz took in a breath as Mack looked at them skeptically. He then pulled out his tablet, showing a very rough looking sketch. “From what I gathered from conversation with Cori Shaw, the Framework may still be active. Very active.”
“How can that be? I thought it was wiped when the rig sank that housed the original servers?” Mack asked as Fitz nodded.
“Sort of,” Jemma shrugged. “We had temporary servers on the Zephyr but they were highly unstable, which is how we got you out, but apparently SWORD found those original servers in the future and tried to restore them.”
“We believe that’s how time continued to move forward in the Framework,” Fitz added in. “The part that still eludes us would be how they’re connected to our world.”
Mack then looked at the screen, seeing the two storms still raging, and both teams vanished. His heart sank, his mind questioned the call of sending them all in. “So I could have just sent our whole team into different times or dimensions?”
“There’s more,” Jemma’s voice was shaking. “Lincoln was saying Sarge was coming. He’s got to come so they can stop the Convergence.”
“Sarge?” Mack raised his brow as the two of them shrugged. “Since everyone has come through these storms, maybe this Sarge is in one of them.”
“Or it could be something much worse,” Hope walked in with a somber look on her face. “You know my SHIELD has been fighting HYDRA. One of our victories landed us information that they had a world altering weapon, something called Izel.”
“Izel?” Jemma gasped. “Lincoln was yelling that too.”
“Cori and Deke mentioned it as well,” Mack frowned. “I just wish we knew who Sarge is and what exactly Izel is.” Mack rubbed his hands over his face.
“I might be able to help,” Hope suggested. “Lincoln said was going to bring me to Sarge until Ward and Bellouve showed up. Maybe he’ll talk to me?”
“No,” Mack said firmly. “I’m not putting you in a dangerous situation.”
“He wasn’t hurting me,” Hope stated just as firm.
“This isn’t up for discussion-“ Mack stated as Hope stomped her foot.
“You might look like my Dad, but you’re not him,” Hope clenched her fists. “My Dad would do what has to be done regardless of how dangerous it might be.”
Mack just stared as he felt a bevy of emotions crash over him. It was painful knowing she was right. This wasn’t his baby from this world. Sure, she was the daughter he raised in the Framework, but was that enough to call her his? His anger crashed over his sorrow. He swallowed hard then looked at Hope with deep concerns. “If you’re going to do this, I’m going with you. I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“Thank you,” Hope stated as she looked at Mack with a partial smile.

A large bolt of lightning flashed overhead in the now blood red sky. Winds howled through the city streets, as the team pressed forward to reach the center of the storm. “Looks like we’re close,” Mick looked into the sky watching the clouds as they swirled.
“What are we looking for?” Ward asked as they froze when a large bolt crashed into a parked tanker truck. The truck exploded, launching them backwards, crashing to the ground.
Daisy stood up, looked around for Mick and Ruby with blurred vision, seeing several figures standing in the aftermath of the explosion. There was five people if her eyes could be trusted. One large looking man helping up a smaller figure, possibly a woman, one smaller man one looking at a man just outside of the haze of smoke and flames. Daisy rubbed her eyes. Something about him was so familiar, but that shouldn’t be possible. “Coulson?” She muttered as she only caught a glimpse of his face before another lightning bolt slammed into the ground between them.

Chapter Text

May brought the Zephyr down, hovering just above the ocean. Her mind reeled, was she seeing Coulson because of the distortions, or was that really just in her head? She had a bad habit of repressing things, thinking back to when Andrew transformed into Lash, and even when Lash was killed protecting Daisy. Some things you just had to push down though, emotions can’t slow you down, especially in the field. She locked the controls, then made her way down to the lab.
It was strange looking at Cori, she was so similar to Daisy, yet their personalities couldn’t be more different. She was quite versed in the lab, but like Daisy, her focus was on tech. It was also strange seeing Deke being useful. They worked together quite well, although he was much clumsier. “How’s it coming?” May asked making her presence known.
“These readings are strange,” Deke muttered.
“They just don’t match anything from before everything went haywire,” Cori clarified.
“Explain,” May said as Deke looked a little more rattled by her harsher tone than Cori was.
“This is the data I was gathering before,” Cori pulled up a what looked like significant amounts of radio waves and some kind of intense frequency readings as well as the high electrical output on a line chart. “Some of wattage is due to the lightning, but you can see that in the spikes.”
May examined the screen carefully, seeing the rational that Cori was working with. There were several spikes, but a constant high line until the last few minutes when everything leveled off. “Com’s are still out,” Yo-yo walked into the lab with slightly frustrated.
“That may be due to the high electrical surge we experienced,” Deke suggested. “That may have blown a fuse on the inline?”
“I didn’t see anything, but you’re welcome to look,” Yo-yo shrugged. “May, are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“I’m fine,” May shook her head. “Let’s go check your theory,” May glanced as Deke as he seemed slightly unnerved at the prospect.

Mick helped Ruby back to her feet as everyone slowly came to. His ears were still ringing as he looked around to see Ward pulling Samantha up. Where was Daisy?
“You guys ok?” Samantha asked.
“Been better,” Ruby replied rubbing her head.
“At least the storm is over,” Ward pointed at the grey clouds in the sky rather than the red that had been.
“Yeah,” Mick grumbled, looking around in uncertainty, still not seeing where Daisy could be.
“Guys! A little help over here!” He felt relief and concern wash over him hearing Daisy’s voice. They rushed a block down to see Daisy helping some people from debris. In all of the chaos, they’d never considered the people who were trapped in this mess. Mick and the others moved quick to check on anyone who may have been harmed by the lightning, and once the cops and first responders gathered to deal with checking the rest of the city, SHIELD dispersed.
Once they returned to the quinjet, Daisy quickly jumped on the computer, trying her best to pull any data from near by surveillance cameras rather than just returning to base. “What’s got you so frazzled?”
“I could’ve sworn I saw Coulson right after that truck exploded,” Daisy said slamming the wall in frustration as none of her searches panned out.
“He might not know us, even if it is a Coulson,” Mick said to Daisy’s frustration.
“But what if he does?” Daisy snapped. “Wouldn’t you give anything to have him back?”
Mick hung his head as Daisy turned back to the computer screen. “I miss him just as much as you do,” he started as Daisy glared.
“We need to let Mack know what’s going on and check in with May and the others,” Daisy sighed.
“Right,” Mick frowned.

Jemma walked back to the lab, completely fatigued. She needed a break, they all needed a break. She peaked at the tablet on the counter to monitor Lincoln’s vitals so she didn’t have to walk in there just yet. This whole mess was bothering her, not just because her time off was cut short, not just because she’d only seen her husband for a few hours each day, but because the science didn’t line up. Lincoln’s blood shouldn’t be real outside the Framework. Ward, Samantha, and Hope shouldn’t be able to exist outside the Framework. Deke shouldn’t have memories from the future they stopped; nor should whatever have pulled them from their time or dimension, whichever made more sense at the moment, even be able to reach them.
Her head pounded as she struggled with fatigue. She leaned on the desk, her eyes too heavy to keep open. Her conscious clinging to reality due to her listening to the beeps coming from Lincoln’s monitors. “Jemma?” Fitz’s voice pulled her from the brink of sleep.
“Yes?” Jemma pulled herself from the stood and desk she’d been leaning on.
“Why don’t you let me take watch and you get some rest?” He smiled warmly.
“I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t go into shock again,” Jemma sighed.
“I can watch over him. You need rest,” Fitz stated slightly more firm. Despite her trying to resist giving in, he pulled her close and kissed her, which was all she needed to be convinced. “Let me help you.” He said softly as Jemma nodded.
Fitz stood watching his wife leave, then turned his focus to the monitors. Lincoln seemed to be peaceful at the moment. This opening gave time for him to research more into SWORD with their new linked systems. He pondered why two top secret organizations could be operating at the same time, that do very similar things, and mostly out of the same government. He then found himself wondering if Coulson knew about SWORD. He’d been so open with them about everything, so maybe SWORD wasn’t on his list.
The SWORD database was quite large for a fairly new organization, the Foster Theory being a prominent go to for explaining what could be going on. That was the theory he was working with in his trying to make Zephyr Two more able for space travel, granted his understanding of the tech from Quovas’ ship was rather limited, Enoch had been helping him as well since they returned home. If he could just figure out how to create a temporary bridge, they’d be great. The other part of the theory, that one that says you speaks of traveling into another dimension was the troubling part. What if that meant more than just another realm of space, but truly another version of reality?
Unfortunately Eric Selvig and Jane Foster were labeled as part of the missing, so he couldn’t really ask either of them. He studied the way the way Foster described the strange portals in London from 2013 in her book, then thought back to the way the grey monolith worked. If he only had a fragment of that thing left to study now, maybe he could make sense of it, but instead they were in a gravitonium casing that held that a rift to the fear dimension closed.
“Maybe that’s what we need is to investigate that rift?” A chilling voice, remnant of his own haunted his mind.
“No,” Fitz shook his head. “I don’t need you or your insane ideas.”
“But I helped so much last time,” the haunting whisper caused him to flinch. “You could say, it was because of me the world was saved.”
“You tortured my friend!” Fitz barked, clutching his head.
“I did what you couldn’t! Those things you consider too risky,” the Doctor’s tone was so dark, terrifying, it was hard to try to push him out of his mind.

“Are you alright Leopold Fitz?” Enoch’s voice chased away the darkness that had been invading his mind.
“Fine,” Fitz nodded, relieved that the Doctor seemed to be at bay for now.
“I have troubling news,” Enoch stated as Fitz looked up from the tablet and rubbed his face, as if it would clean the darkness from his mind. “Zephyr One has vanished.”
“What?” Fitz gasped. “Surely it’s just an aftershock from getting so close to that storm.”
“I thought the same thing,” Enoch stated. “But I have not been able to get a reading on its location, where I have been able to locate QJ221, which also flew into one of the distortions.”
“How long ago has it been?” Fitz asked as he pulled up the map on the tablet.
“It has been three hours since the last sighting of Zephyr One,” Enoch said plainly.
“Bloody hell,” Fitz groaned, burying his face in his hands once more. “Can this day get any worse?”
“I have heard that asking such a question usually leads to more undesired out comes,” Enoch stated as Fitz glared at him. “I believe you refer to such a conundrum as jinxing.”

Nothing was going right on Zephyr One. Even after fixing the blown fuse, both comms and data link were shot. Thankfully May was skilled enough a pilot to navigate them back to the Lighthouse without it. Or so she thought. Upon arrival, River’s End looked to be in ruins, the Lighthouse collapsed. May’s heart began to race. Did something happen while they were gone? Could that be why nothing was working, did something destroy the Lighthouse? She needed to investigate, maybe they could piece together what’s going on. They touched down just outside the city, May and Yo-yo gearing up for anything, while Deke and Cori each carrying a side arm as well.
The sky was oddly hazy, the air even had a stale taste to it, yet it was eerily familiar to her. May lead the way into the city, seeing the destruction first hand was surreal. It was a ground assault, but it didn’t recently happen based on the overgrowth.
“Call me crazy, but this doesn’t seem like our River’s End,” Yo-yo stated as Cori and Deke began to examine some of the buildings and the battle markings.
It was when they reached the Mayor’s office that May realized just. What was going on. She remembered this mission, as clear as day. This town was a SHIELD stronghold, her and her team destroyed it. She remembered the blood and cries, the people screaming in fear. It was a completely different life, one that she had hoped would be completely forgotten.
“Hydra did this?” Yo-yo gasped seeing the large black Hydra emblem spray painted over the entrance to the Mayor’s office.
“Not the Hydra you know,” May groaned.
“What do you mean?” Yo-yo asked.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” May sighed.

Chapter Text

Despite River’s end being a wasteland, there was still a few sound structures. She couldn’t remember every going to this site, even though from the looks of it, it was a SHIELD stronghold. Then again, she didn’t exactly get put on every mission either. May shook her head trying to repress the dark memories of the Framework. She led the team out toward the remains of the once proud lighthouse on the point, now dilapidated, after what looked to be an air raid destroying it. The elevator shaft that lead down into the base of the Lighthouse had collapsed, probably due to AIDA not having any data to work with on what the base looked like.
“Is this really the Framework?” Yo-yo asked as May frowned. “I watched it blink out of existence, so how are we walking around in it?”
“I don’t think it’s the Framework we know,” May sighed. “It might be on it, but the fact we’re here without any gear makes me wonder.”
“This Framework thing you keep talking about,” Cori spoke up. “It was a digital recreation of the world, correct?”
“A corrupted version,” Yo-yo quipped.
“It was supposed to be used for training purposes, but things went awry,” May clarified. “It was corrupted by a rogue AI and a mad scientist.”
“Doctor Holden Radcliffe?” Deke asked as both Yo-yo and May shot him a skeptical glance. “Like I tried to explain to Bobo, we found some submerged severs, and when we finally managed to get it operational, there was a name that kept reappearing in the data that said Doctor Holden Radcliffe.”
“It wasn’t until Deke tested the mind transfer devices that we realized just what we were working on,” Cori added.
“So is Radcliffe still alive?” Yo-yo asked as Deke and Cori shrugged.
“This world, at least if it really is the Framework you’re talking about,” Cori sighed. “It’s a one to one recreation of the world.”
“One to one?” May seemed quite impressed. “I knew the world was big, but I guess I never thought they programmed the whole thing.”
“Oh it was huge. We can’t even recreate the servers because we just don’t have a way to replicate that technology,” Cori said as May didn’t seem surprised at all.
“None of that answers the big questions,” Yo-yo rolled her eyes looking over the lake. “How did we get in here, and how do we get out?”

Mick watched everyone disembark the quintet, his frustration with everything slowly coming to a head. Was Daisy really upset that he didn’t believe her about Coulson? Why would this Coulson she supposedly saw be any different than the people they’d met so far? Deke and Cori were from a different era or something like that, Samantha and Ward were somehow from the Framework that wasn’t supposed to exist anymore. So unless that Coulson was plucked from the past, the likelihood of him being connected to them was slim. He punched the wall as before making his way down the ramp. Ward caught him by surprise waiting by the door.
“You need to talk to her,” Ward said as Mick cut a glare. “You’ve always had that issue, remember when I had to smooth things over for you and Sam after that Christmas debacle?”
Mick shook his head. It was so weird that a fake memory for him was the real thing for Ward. It was a pretty funny memory though. He heard Samantha talking with Skye about a certain kinds of gifts they’d want knowing he and Ward were lost in the football game. He went and bought the computer that he remembered, which was ironically the one Skye had described rather than what Samantha wanted, to which he still had no idea what that was. Ward thankfully bailed him out using the intel from Skye to get Samantha’s ‘real present’ and swapped with Mick claiming he forgot with everything going on at work that they hadn’t traded the presents like they planned. Either way, Ward was right, they needed to sit down and talk this out. How could he pull that off with everything going on?

Lincoln opened his eyes, his mind very foggy from whatever drugs they’d dosed him with. He struggled to break free from the restraints only to realize that his powers had been completely suppressed. Of course the Doctor knew of his powers and would prevent him from escaping. Not like it was the first time he was experimented on by that monster. Forced Terregenesis, so many needles, destroying the life he’d worked so hard to build. All for what? To punish him for SHIELD for trying to recruit him? For the luck of the draw of being an Inhuman? He was an accomplished doctor himself, working hard to save so many lives of his patients without regard to them being SHIELD or HYDRA.
Now he hated them both. Because of them there was always fighting, a never ending war. Constant casualties and torture to anyone unlucky enough to be Inhuman. Once Madam Hydra and the Doctor were defeated by the Subversives and the rekindled SHIELD rebellion, the madman Baron Strucker took charge of HYDRA in the vacuum. People were constantly struggling, and the supposed HYDRA ultimate weapon, Izel was brought to light. She was a deadly monster with an army of strange creatures at her disposal. Creatures that existed only to kill, and were harder than anything to kill in response. They infected people, destroyed their minds and will, and if their host died, they’d crystalize, then explode destroying anyone within a mile of them.
He remembered clearly the moment he was freed from the HYDRA prison by that man, Sarge. He looked like a man named Phillip Coulson, a teacher turned SHIELD agent, featured on all of the HYDRA most wanted banners along with known conspirators and traitors; Skye Johnson, Jemma Simmons, Melinda May, Mick Bellouve, Samantha Bellouve, and Grant Ward. Sarge had a team he was working with to get close to Izel. Close enough to kill her with a special sword he’d forged. Apparently HYDRA hadn’t created her, but summoned her from what Sarge had explained. He had been hunting her for years, following her from planet to planet trying to stop her from destroying everything in pursuit of some ancient powers. It didn’t matter where she went, there was only death in her wake.
Sarge had came close to killing her quite a few times, once on a planet of human looking robots, that ended up turning on him when Izel convinced them she wouldn’t destroy the planet. He and his team only escaped due to a a being named Isaac, who gave Sarge a special device that brought him to this world. He was determined to defeat her this time, at least that was the plan before these strange electrical storms. Those things, and the threat of SHIELD kept her at bay giving them time to build the capture device that would hold Izel long enough for Sarge to end her once and for all.
“How are you feeling Mr. Campbell?” The strange bold man with his odd speech and movement patterns asked as Lincoln glared at him.
“I want out. I’m not working for any of you people. I’m tired of your petty little wars!” Lincoln belted.
“Well,” the man said as he tilted his head, looking almost curiously, but yet somehow a blank expression. “I am not sure of which wars you speak of, but I am sorry to hear you do not wish to work with us, although I must inform you I am not a person.”
“That’s enough,” Jemma rushed in. “Thank you for helping Enoch.”
“I thought you people vanished, why come back now?” Lincoln growled. “Izel too much of a threat to you?”
“This may be hard for you to accept, but you are in a different dimension,” Jemma stated, confounding Lincoln. What did that mean? Sure Sarge mentioned traveling to different worlds, could he have meant dimensions?
“While I may look like the Jemma Simmons you knew of, you are certainly not the Lincoln Campbell from my world,” she said calmly as he continued to watch her skeptically.
“How do you know?”
“The Lincoln from this world sacrificed his life to kill a monster and save the world,” Jemma said with a hint of remorse.
Lincoln shook his head in disbelief. This can’t be happening. She had to be lying, this had to be a SHIELD recruitment hazing or something. He was prepared to argue until Jemma pulled up a video of him boarding a plane wearing a SHIELD uniform, then the plane took off after a girl was blasted out by some electrical wave. Could she have faked this? No that couldn’t be it, SHIELD didn’t have this kind of tech, only HYDRA did. He grabbed his head struggling to come to terms with what he just saw.
“No!” Lincoln growled in frustration.
“Let me talk to him,” Fitz walked in with that little girl Sarge sent him to find as Lincoln’s eyes widened, fear and dread creeping back from the many weeks this man had tortured him.
“Fitz please,” Jemma stopped Fitz at the door. “You’re making his heart rate spike.”
“He’ll believe me,” Fitz stated, not taking his eyes off Lincoln. “Trust me.” Fitz’s voice was cold, calculated, just like Lincoln remembered.
“I swear I’ll kill you as soon as I’m free from these restraints,” Lincoln growled. “You won’t get a second chance with me!”
“After what I did to you in the Framework, I don’t blame you for feeling that way,” Fitz said that weird word that he’d heard Jemma say before. “I can’t tell you I’m not the same man that did that, but I can tell you I won’t do that here. I’m trying to figure out what Izel is and why you were ripped from your world and brought to this one.”
He didn’t know what Izel was? This man was second in command of HYDRA, surely he’s lying. Maybe he’s just trying to get information from him, but that also brought more questions. Why was the Doctor with SHIELD instead of HYDRA? Was he now a Subversive traitor to the cause? All of these questions awakened a migraine. Lincoln squeezed his head trying to piece all of this together, but nothing made sense.
“Please Lincoln,” Fitz knelt beside the bed, so much compassion and regret in his tone. “You said a man named Sarge was trying to kill this Izel, and Agent Ward and Bellouve told us Izel is a HYDRA weapon. Is it a weapon or a person?”
“We really do want to help,” the little girl stated, pulling on the small bit of compassion that Lincoln had left.
“She’s a monster. A world destroying harbinger of death,” Lincoln stated.
“Please tell us everything you know, so that if she comes here, we can stop her,” Hope asked as Lincoln shook his head. Such a dirty tactic to use the girl, but something deep down told him to trust them. That maybe, just maybe, they were right. They could help take down Izel.

“Daisy,” Mick called out to her as she slammed her fist into the punching bag. She only came down alone when she wanted to vent her frustrations. She had ditched her battle attire in favor of a cami and leggings, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and already had her knuckles taped. She was clearly livid.
“Go away,” she barked as Mick stepped onto the mat, well prepared for what was probably going to come next.
“We need to talk,” Mick stated, mentally bracing himself for the fight that was about to be.
Daisy turned to him, a furious scowl. She took in a deep breath then held out her hand, Mick eased his leg behind him, ready to take the blast. It wouldn’t be the first time she blasted him, and surely she wasn’t going to use her full force. “Go away.”
“Not a chance,” Mick stated defiantly. “We need to figure this out.”
It didn’t matter that he was prepared for the blast, it still knocked him clean off his feet. He felt the air leave his lungs, gasping to reclaim it. Daisy was already running at him, ready to swing. He quickly jumped to his feet, just in time to lean back from one swing, and catch the second one. Knowing she trained with May, he shot a web, pinning her foot to the ground before she could sweep him. She blasted it off as Mick let her continue to charge him. He barely avoided several hits before catching one hand in his. She looked even angrier, swinging with the other as Mick grabbed it too. He then swept her legs from under her, which she had clearly anticipated. She wrapped her legs around him, flipping using her upper body strength mixed with a pulse from her powers, and slam him into the ground sitting on his chest. She stared into his eyes, still furious, but quite intrigued he dared to fight with her.
“What did you want to say?” She pinned his arms to the ground, leaning over him.
“I’m all in for finding out if that Coulson you saw knows us and bringing him back.”
“Really?” She leaned close to him as his heart raced. He wanted to kiss her, and knew if he dared break eye contact things might go very bad. She smiled at him, she knew he was putty in her hands now. “What about your Framework wife? You’re not going to run back to her?”
“Not a chance,” Mick said as Daisy leaned down kissing him. There was the spark they’d been missing for a while. Even if it wasn’t true, everything was perfect in this moment, and he wasn’t about to let it end just yet.

May’s ears perked as a quinjet flew overhead bearing the HYDRA emblem. Thankfully ZephyrOne was cloaked, so that wasn’t going to be an issue. The problem started when the quinjet circled back around, toward them. “Everyone head back to the Zephyr!”
“They might be here to help?” Deke stated as Yo-yo shook her head and grabbed his arm, spinning him around.
“Not these guys,” Yo-yo shoved him. “They’d assume kill us all and ask questions after we’re dead.”
“Especially if this really is the same Framework we were in before,” May stated. “I’m on HYDRA’s kill on sight list.”
“What did you do?” Cori asked as she tried to keep up with them.
“I betrayed HYDRA and assisted in the assassination of Madam HYDRA,” May stated as the quintet buzzed passed them.
“They’ll know we have the Zephyr once we head inside won’t they?” Deke asked. “Maybe we can get them off our trail? What do you think, Babe?”
“This does qualify as an emergency,” Cori said as she stopped, forcing the others to stop as well.
“What are you doing? They will kill you!” Yo-yo yelled.
“Watch this, it’s pretty cool,” Deke said with a smirk as May raised her brow.
Cori took in a deep breath, holding her hand down toward the ground as a light blue aura flickered around her. She moved almost in a choreographed motion, then threw her arm out in the direction of the oncoming quinjet. A burst of lighting shot from her hand slamming into the quinjet, sparks flying as he burst into flames as it veered to the right, crashing into the lake.
“Well that might come in handy,” May said with an approving nod.
“What’d I tell you, pretty cool huh?” Deke laughed.
“Figures she’d have some kind of powers,” Yo-yo stated as May agreed.
“Let’s go pay a visit to SHIELD HQ and see if they know anything that may help us,” May sighed.
“You know where they are here?” Yo-yo asked curiously.
“From what I remember of their base, it’s the old Playground,” May responded as they walked aboard ZephyrOne.
“Haven’t been there in a while,” Yo-yo said as May nodded. “Let’s see how much stranger this day can get.”

Chapter Text

A scruffy man wearing a jean jacket walked with a younger tan boy with puffy black hair walked around a large truck with a large trailer attached. The younger boy looked quite sickly, struggling to keep his breath. “Don’t screw this up,” the boy panted as he stared at the scruffy man. “We only have one shot.”
“I’ll make sure we avenge you Tinker,” the scruffy man rubbed the boy’s head as dust puffed around.
“You better,” Tinker coughed, scales mixing with blood splashed into his hands. “I’ll flip the switch, no driving like a granny. Eighty Eight miles per hours. Got it?”
“I’m not Jaco,” the scruffy man said with a remorseful smile. “See you in the next life, kiddo.”
“Buying into Snowflake’s theory now are we?” Tinker grimaced as the creature in his chest began to stir.
“Anything is better than what’s about to happen to you my friend,” the man sighed as he climbed into the truck, cranking it promptly.
“Take care of my girl, Pax. Godspeed,” Tinker walked to the side of the trailer, flipping several switches as he made his way to the end. “Make that witch pay.” He growled as he could hear the creature screaming as concoction Lincoln had made for him began to wane. He collapsed as the creature began tearing into his heart as its toxins infected his blood. He watched as the truck gained speed, feeling his life being ripped from him as the creature’s toxin reached his brain. “My only regret is I can’t see you die, Izel.” His body went numb, his mind empty, falling back into the empty void of the abyss.

“Eyes up, Team.” Mack stood in the center of Mission Control, not in his normal laid back style, but his much more intent, commanding leader style, black flowing trench coat remnicient of former Director Fury’s. “It’s been twenty fours hours since we lost contact with ZephyrOne. I’ve had a few fly by’s from our government sources, and there’s no wreckage or anything, so we’re to assume they went through a dimensional rift.”
Mick and Daisy stared on in disbelief while Ward and Sam seemed quite focused on Mack.
“While I have Agent Mackenzie working with FitzSimmons trying to get as much info from the framework Lincoln Campbell,” Mack’s eyes landed on Daisy who was clearly still bothered by Lincoln’s presence. “Unfortunately I need the four of you to investigate the leveling of a building that occurred in Philadelphia late last night.”
“A demolition seems a bit beneath our line of work, doesn’t it?” Daisy asked as Mack nodded, then pressed a button so the slide changed.
“Sarge?” Sam and Ward gasped as Mick and Daisy’s faces went pale.
“Coulson?” The two exclaimed.
“Now you see why we’re involved,” Mack said as Mick and Daisy clutched their hands together. “There’s not a whole lot of footage, but there was three of them, the one that looks like Coulson, a small framed girl with dark hair and two knives on her hips, and a big guy with more facial hair than he had on his own head and a leathery looking jacket, waiting outside of that museum, then around two thirty a truck burst through the museum, with a quick powerful burst that resembled the rifts we’ve seen. We just thought it was a mistake, until we were sent the photo’s from the government this morning.”
“I vaguely remember that Coulson guy,” Ward interjected. “He’s the one that reinvigorated SHIELD. This guy isn’t him. Sarge is ruthless, doesn’t care who’s in his way, HYDRA or SHIELD, he puts them down. We don’t really know what he’s after, as when we were close to catching Campbell, we ended up here instead.”
“Then it’s even more important that we bring him in. Our world is enough chaos, we don’t need more. Find them, bring them in,” Mack demanded.

“This is SHIELD 1-6-1-0, identify yourself or you will be shot down,” a voice came over the the intercom.
“This is SHIELD Agent Melinda May,” she replied, curious as to how they’d respond.
“Melinda May?” There was silence following her name, which amused her. They certainly weren’t going to find her in that database, as last time she was here, she was HYDRA.
“I’m not from this dimension, we slipped through some kind of electrical storm. I need to meet with the new Director,” she really didn’t like explaining things over coms, but if this kept going, they’d either run out of fuel, or be shot down. Neither of those things were on May’s agenda for today.
“I’m going to need more than just your word, because your name came back as HYDRA.”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but you’re just going to have to trust me, Director Mace did, and so did Ward,” May frowned, unsure that this was going to work.
“Director Mace has been dead for a few years now,” the voice responded. “You know Agent Ward?”
“Yes, and I know where he is,” May replied.
“We’re opening the hatch, but just know, they’ll be guns on you all the way to the Director. If you try anything,” the voice warned as May started her approach.
“That’s perfectly fine with us,” May replied as she brought ZephyrOne toward the hanger.

Things went about as smooth as they said, no sooner than the hatch opened on ZephyrOne, dozens of armed SHIELD guards greeted them with rifles aimed to kill. Thankfully, all four of them were trained agents, giving them the wherewithal to adapt to the situation, even if Deke was quite a bit more afraid visibly. Seeing the old playground, not in ruins, was a bit nostalgic. They walked through the corridors, up the stairs pausing just outside the Directors Office. May’s heart fluttered for a moment, unrealistically hoping to see a version of Coulson when the doors opened. Much to her surprise, it was Agent Triplett wearing a modified version of Director Mace’s Patriot suit. The disappointment wasn’t long lived, given that he was a good agent before his tragic end back home.
“Melinda May, the Hydra traitor, and I’m assuming these are some new subversives?” Triplett welcomed them in, shaking his head as the guards offered to follow.
“So you remember me?” May asked as Trip smiled his usual cocky smile.
“Who could forget what you guys did for us?” Trip remarked as he offered them all chairs in front of his large oak desk emblazoned with its strange looking SHIELD logo. “Because of you people were willing to fight back against HYDRA, especially after we found out you took out HYDRA’s top three, then vanished from existence.”
“You’re welcome," May shrugged, knowing it would be hard to explain that it really wasn’t as simple as he makes it sound.
“Man, you guys are pretty freaking awesome!” Deke remarked. “Heroes everywhere you go!”
“Stop,” May ordered as Deke’s amazed expression faded as he looked at the ground. “We need your help trying to get back to our world again.”
“And I’m sure we could use your help again in our fight,” Triplett stated as May raised her brow. “Maybe it’ll be like last time too, you help us and get back home, and we get another chance to take back our world.”
“What’s the problem this time?” May asked as Yo-yo seemed uneasy about getting involved in this.
“HYDRA has this monster producing thing called Izel, and a mercenary named Sarge,” Trip started.
“She’s a person,” Cori interrupted. “She creates the dragon things with her dark magic.”
“So you’ve met?” Trip looked at her curiously.
“We have,” Deke said nervously.
“They’re actually from a different world too,” Yo-yo chimed in as May nodded.
“Oh,” Trip seemed a little taken back. “So we have to figure out how to send all of you back to your own worlds? That sounds much more complicated than dropping you off at a steel mill and hoping for the best.”
“Yeah, that’s not an option this time,” May said as Yo-yo, Deke, and Cori looked at her curiously. “Have to bring our ride with us.”
“That is a really nice plane,” Trip said with a grin.
“So where’s this Izel?” May asked, shifting focus back.
“Supposedly working with HYDRA. We’ve been tracking them by their movements by these poor souls who get turned into these crystal pillars,” Trip explained as the monitor turned on behind him. Several of the pillars matched locations of the rifts they’d been sent to investigate.
“You don’t think,” Yo-yo nudged May as she nodded.
“Those crystal things are causing the rifts,” May suggested, however the one near the Russian site was oddly missing.
“Has Izel this Sarge been spotted?” Cori asked as Trip turned around, shaking his head.
“Izel, no, Sarge yes. We sent Agent Ward and Agent Bellouve to retrieve one of our scientist who was kidnapped,” Trip started.
“As in Mick Bellouve?” Cori asked.
“Samantha, actually, Mick was with her,” Trip pointed at May.
“Is she a relative?” Cori asked as Trip’s face went blank, unsure of how to answer.
“Not in your world,” May replied as Cori looked a bit confused. “Things were different for us when we were here. Don’t look too much into it.” May then turned her focus back to Trip. “Bellouve and Ward appeared in our world after a rift appeared, along with Hope Mackenzie and Lincoln Campbell.”
“That explains why we haven’t been able to contact them,” Trip frowned. “So does that mean Sarge is off our world as well?”
“That I don’t know,” May frowned. “We were investigating a black site when a rift opened up, dropping us here.”
“Figures,” Trip sighed. “Then I guess we’ll just roll with what we know then. I’ll be getting your plane restocked and I’ll get you in our next debrief. Until then, you guys make yourself comfy.”
May shook her head and sighed. “Thanks Trip,” she said as he smirked.

Deke sat watching all of the agents as they moved about like little worker ants wondering if that’s how they looked back at SWORD HQ. It certainly felt that way. He closed his eyes seeing his apartment, the peaceful sky, then it unraveled before him to the gruesome image of a man screaming out as a small dragon like creature forced its way into his mouth and down his throat. His skin color paled as more dragons swooped down from the sky, thankfully Cori used her powers to form an electrical dome which kept them safe. More civilians were attacked as the creatures burrowed themselves inside their bodies. The ones that lunged toward the barrier would make a shrill scream and their skin would turn grey and crystallize, then followed an explosion of crystal shards mixed with the remains of their host. Then there was that hauntingly beautiful song. She always sang it before the creatures went berserk.
His eyes shot open as sirens blared, hearing that song ringing in his ears.
“Man, we just sat down,” Deke moaned. “How’s a guy supposed to relax?”
“Don’t worry,” Cori grinned as she stood up with her hand out. “We’ll take a nice vacation once we get back to our time.”
“It better be a long one,” Deke huffed. “To the beach or something.”
“I hear Tahiti is a pretty magical place,” Cori winked as Deke shrugged.

May stood in the conference room along side of Yo-yo, both had eyes fixed on the screen. The images could’ve been ripped from a slasher film and no one would’ve been any wiser. A tall, red headed woman with a slim figure and leather military looking attire, stood amidst a flurry of small dragon like creature, blood and strange rock like structures all around her that had pierced several of her foes dangling them high off the ground, opposing her looked to be cops and first responders mixed with civilians, which was clearly outmatched and terrified.
“We’ve got reports from that this woman just ripped apart a New York museum,” Trip broke the silence.
“What would HYDRA want with a museum?” One of the agents called out.
“That we don’t know,” Trip shrugged. “We just know that these people are in immediate danger.”
“Holy crap,” Deke blurted out as he walked into the room, drawing all eyes on himself. “She really is here.”
“You recognize her?” May asked as Deke’s face lost it’s color.
“Of course we do,” Cori said somberly. “That’s Izel.”
“You expect us to believe that’s the HYDRA super weapon?” One of the agents laughed.
“Believe us or not, that is her,” Cori’s eyes narrowed.
“So she’s an overpowered Inhuman,” Trip shrugged. “We’ve got ways of dealing with that.”
“She’s not Inhuman,” Deke shuddered. “She’s something so much worse. She’s like death itself.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” Trip asked as everyone looked to Cori and Deke awaiting an answer.
“You find somewhere to hide and hold the people you care about tight. There’s no stopping her,” Deke was visibly terrified.
“Yeah, that’s not happening. There’s innocent people dying out there,” Trip scoffed.
“Then go out there and die, don’t say we didn’t warn you though,” Deke retorted.
“Deke,” Cori grabbed his shoulder and sighed.
“We’ll go out there and face her,” Yo-yo stepped up. “Not like we haven’t faced deadly creatures before, how much worse can this one be?”
“Oh,” Deke scoffed. “Let me just tell you! You go in, she has her monsters rip and claw their way into your body and turn you into her personal slave, if you’re lucky you die before that. Once she’s done with you, the creature inside you crystalizes, and self destructs, leaving a deadly crystal spire where you once stood.” Everyone looked at the blood and the rock structures and then back to Deke, much more concerned about what he was saying now. “Then, to make it so much worse, she has this song that she sings to calm her victims, and it works really well let me tell you. Once she starts singing, you’re drawn to her, no matter how much you try to fight it.”
“So we’re screwed no matter what?” A couple agents cried out.
“Man, HYDRA went all out to make sure we can’t win this war,” another moaned.
“Every weapon has a weakness,” Trip tried to reassure his agents. “We just have to be willing to fight and figure it out.”
“I’m in,” Yo-yo shrugged.
“Me too,” May smirked.
“If it means we get back home, I’m in,” Cori said as she looked as Deke who shook his head reluctantly.
“Guess I don’t really have much of an option do I?” He muttered. “Couldn’t be a good husband if I left my wife alone to face a demon.”
“We going to let the otherworlder’s outshine us?” Trip asked as a few of his agents began to volunteer for the fight. “That’s more like it.”
“Guess you’re going to need a ride, huh?” May asked as Trip smiled coyly. “When are we leaving, Director?”
“Wheels up in ten,” Trip said firmly.

Chapter Text

Ruby watched as Mick and Daisy paced around the back of the quinjet. She wondered if they were even hearing the warnings that Ward and Sam had issued about Sarge. Could they even think clearly with the potential to have Coulson back? Would she be the same way about her mother, or the friends she lost? The thought of her mother returning filled her with dread. With her mother gone, there were no heads of HYDRA left that she knew of. It was true, she did miss Werner, Jake, and Bri. She would be exceedingly glad to have them back, but not blinded like this. The only person she could think of that may drag her into this kind of stupor was Patten. If he came back, she sighed. She shouldn’t think about that right now, there were much bigger issues at hand.
“SHIELD six, one, six to Control Tower, are we cleared for landing?” Ward asked.
“This is Control, we have a clearing,” the radio replied as Ruby’s focus turned back to see Samantha watching Mick and Daisy with a look of concern.
“You three ready?” Ward called back as he began flipping switches.
“I just hope they’re not too far gone,” Mick replied.
“I doubt they’re just hanging out waiting to see how we react,” Daisy suggested.
“Sarge doesn’t just sit around,” Ward stated. “He’s always on the move. Trust me, we’ll know soon where he’s been, perhaps getting an idea of where he’s going.”
“And what if this Sarge is really just Coulson, and he’s looking for us?” Daisy asked as Ward shook his head.
“You’re not going to listen to reason until you see it for yourself, are you?” Ward barked.
“If you lost someone important to you, wouldn’t you do anything to get them back?”Mick belted.
“Why do you think I fight, Bellouve?” Ward snapped as Mick then recoiled as he struggled with the memories of the real Grant Ward killing most of his family out of spite, and the memories of Framework where Grant lost his family due to them opposing HYDRA during the takeover. “Just because you forgot that you and Daisy replaced the people I cared about from my world then vanished from existence, doesn’t mean losing you both didn’t hurt us.”
“I’m sorry,” Mick looked at the floor ashamed.
“We didn’t even realize your world would continue to exist,” Daisy chimed in. “I tried stopping it from collapsing when the servers went offline. We thought the Framework was gone with all of you as well. I mean, Deke had a barely functioning version is his destroyed future, but I thought that was based on the data I managed to salvage.”
“Memories better left forgotten then,” Samantha said coldly.
“Will you all stop?” Ruby fussed. “Let’s just get this job done and figure out how to fix this before anything else can go wrong.”
“The sooner we find Sarge, the safer your world will be,” Ward said bitterly. “Then maybe we can figure out how to get back to our own.”
“Probably for the best,” Mick said resentfully, refusing to look toward Ward or Samantha, as the jet touched down.

May flew over the destruction, trying to get a scan of what they were about to get into, when another apparition of Coulson appeared in the co-pilot seat. “You just can’t help getting into these situations, can you May?”
“How are you here?” May asked after muting her headset.
“I never left you,” Coulson shrugged. “I’m always with you.” She felt the warmth of his fingers as he laid his hand over hers.
“No, you left me, I lost you in Tahiti,” May said, trying to ground herself and fight back the emotions.
“Did you though? It’s quite the magical place,” Coulson smirked as his body vanished into shimmering lights.
“Why do you keep doing that?” May growled as she shook her head while looking for a good place to land. Only to be thwarted by dense fast moving black clusters that looked almost like a cloud. “What is that?”

“Agent May! Pull up! We’ve got a big problem down here!” Trip’s voice came over the speakers following an abrupt warning siren.
“What’s going on?” May responded as she began shifting the controls to bring Z1 back into flight.
“The Shrike are tearing into the frame!” Trip replied.
“What the heck is a Shrike?” May belted, no sooner a jet black dragon like creature flew in front of the windshield. “Of course, those things,” May grimaced.
“Bad, really bad,” Trip yelled.
“Hold on!” May barked as Zephyr One’s engined kicked into overdrive, May even feeling the force shoving her back into her seat. After some dicey maneuvers, she managed to get away from the city quickly, but one of engines had been damaged, so they weren’t getting too far without rerouting its power. Unfortunately, Fitz wasn’t here to fix it while airborne and she couldn’t leave the cockpit in case more of those things showed up. Too much strain would ground the jet, so she forced herself to find a clearing and put the jet down so she could inspect the damage herself. Trip met her halfway down to the ramp with concern written all over him.
“Everyone ok?” She asked as Trip nodded.
“Few scrapes, but we held them from getting inside,” Trip’s tone was still shaking. “Landed too soon to be back at base though.”
“Yeah,” May shook her head. “One of the engines are stuck, can’t go that far with it like that without damaging our ride.”
“I might have a couple greasemonkies on board, just let me know,” Trip smiled at her.
“I might take you up on that,” May said as she started toward the hull.

A short ride across town, and they were inside the barricade. The damage looks so much worse in person. Worst than that was just how much of a rift the team had now. It was Ward and Samantha keeping to themselves, while Ruby stood off on her own watching to see what Mick and Daisy were going to do. Mick took in a breath as he walked forward. He introduced himself as an agent of SHIELD, then took notes as the officers began to give details of their investigation. A truck burst through the building, demolishing the bottom level, toppling the top down from the back forward. Fifty people injured, dozen pretty severe, even a couple of fatalities. Thankfully, the building wasn’t at maximum due to the ‘blip’ or what the media had begun calling the disappearance. Mick thanked them for their time, as he set off to look at the destruction on his own.
“Coulson wouldn’t do this,” he thought to himself. “He wouldn’t condone something like this.”
“Pretty bad isn’t it?” Samantha’s voice surprised him. “Makes you glad that half of the building’s populous vanished, right?”
Mick stared at her, realizing she didn’t mean it as dark as it sounded. She was right though, it a twisted way, it was good that most of the residents had vanished. Mick rubbed his face in dismay. “It’s almost like how we had to look at the positives amidst the terrible things we did when we worked for HYDRA.”
“Do you still remember when we demolished the SHIELD Academy?“ Samantha asked as Mick nodded. “Sarge did things like this back in our world, demolished buildings, slaughtered HYDRA, SHIELD, and civilians. It seemed so random what the purpose was. His crew trashed a museum, a town near a lighthouse, much like the one near your base, a jewelry store,” Samantha frowned. “None of it made any sense then, and it still doesn’t now.”
“You’re right, none of that makes any sense,” Mick sighed as Samantha placed her hand on his shoulder. “Coulson always planned everything, did whatever he could to make sure there were no casualties.”
“That’s what Grant was trying to tell you,” Samantha looked into Mick’s eyes. “Sarge, as much as you may want him to be, is not Phil Coulson. Just like no matter how much Ward wished for you and Daisy to go back to being our Mick and Skye, it just couldn’t be.”
“But,” Mick wanted to argue, but her putting it that way, brought so much conflict to mind. How could he argue with her logic?
“You need to prepare yourself to have to fight him,” Samantha said as Mick shook his head. “Or at least let Ward and I fight him.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Mick said somberly.

May looked at the engine, seeing several dead Shrikes lodged in the gears. This frustrated her greatly, as it took some careful maneuvering to climb up and clean that out. To make matters worse, the creatures shrieking could be heard nearby. This didn’t bode well at all.
“Sounds like something out of a horror movie, doesn’t it?” Yo-yo asked as May nodded. “The Shaws have a make shift radar. They’re really panicking right now, especially Deke.”
“He’s always been a flake,” May stated, checking her side arm.
“You think this Izel is going to be as tough as they’re saying?” Yo-yo questioned.
“I’ve seen those creatures in action, they’re nothing to scoff at. Her though,” May shrugged. “Even Thanos died.”
“Too bad we didn’t get to face him,” Yo-yo said as May smirked.
“I think we’ve had our fair share of crazy alien threats.”
“Got that right,” Yo-yo chuckled.
“How much longer?” Trip asked walking down the ramp.
“Ten minutes tops, Boss,” the agent replied.
“Make it five,” Trip replied. “We’ve got a massive amount of boogies heading our way, and I don’t plan on being Shrike food.”
“Ten-four,” the agent replied.
“How far out?” May asked as Trip looked disturbed.
“Eight to ten miles at the most,” he responded.
“That’s not really enough time to get out off the ground without more of those things clogging the engines,” May grunted.
“Maybe we could cloak and try to take her by surprise?” Yo-yo suggested.
“That might work,” Trip seemed interested in this plan. “But that about the Shrike? We can’t touch her with those things around.”
“We’ve got firepower,” May smiled.
“I hope it’s enough,” Trip frowned.

Chapter Text

“Apparently we’ve got a robbery in an Ohio convenient store, owner says the large truck they left in vanished,” Daisy walked over to Mick as he combed through the images from re-enactment that Fitz sent over following the data they gathered. It seemed like someone detonated the museum, a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, then the truck crashed through the debris.
“They’re moving pretty fast then?” Ward asked eager for something with a little more excitement.
“It’s been about seven hours, so about normal,” Mick chimed in.
“Bigger question is what are they looking for,” Samantha said as Ward nodded.
“We’ll just have to ask them ourselves. Mack wants us to fly out ASAP,” Daisy said as Mick shrugged, then closed the laptop.
“Beats the heck out of sitting around here kicking rocks,” Ward pulled the keys from his pocket.
“Agreed,” Ruby grunted as she followed after Ward.

May stood with a team of agents, aiming down the ramp, anxious to see if Izel and her Shrikes were going to break through. Their blood curdling shrieks, the air of dread, no one wanted to breathe. Wind caused Zephyr One to shake as they approached. Everything settled, as if a calm of the storm.
“Do you want me to go check?” Yo-yo asked as May seemed uneasy. It felt too risky, too easy for it to be over, but perhaps the cloaking worked.
“I’ll send a few of mine,” Trip shrugged as both Cori and Deke came running from the lab down the stairs.
“Don’t open,” but it was too late, the hatch began to creak, then several brown and black dragon creatures began tearing their way into the ship.
“Open fire!” May and all of the SHIELD agents began firing at the almost endless amount of the creatures. They’d crash to the ground, dissolving into a black shadowy mist only to be replaced by more. The hatch slammed to the ground, as Izel stood at it’s base, smirking darkly, as if she knew they’d crumble to the silence.
“Fall back!” May ordered as she, Trip, and Yo-yo reached the sliding shatterproof glass doors of the lab. It was far too late for several agents, as Shrikes ripped and tore their way into their mouths, climbing through their throats or any other opening they created dropping them lifeless on the ground. The doors sealed, leaving the remaining agents trapped on the other side to be slaughtered by the endless hoard. All the while, Izel stalked up the ramp, looking at the lifeless bodies of the SHIELD agents. She tapped a few with her feet, and they began to stand. Their skin had paled, eyes darkened, sunken in. They looked like zombies, following Izel as she crept toward the glass.
“SHIELD, I presume?” Izel looked at the eagle emblem emblazoned on the doors of the vehicles as she passed them. “I had hoped I would eventually find you. You have something of mine, and I would like them back.”
“Go to hell you witch!” Deke barked bravely from behind the glass, much to the amusement of Izel.
“Oh sweet little boy,” she rubbed her hand over the glass as Deke tried hard to stand firm in her face. “You know nothing of hell. I can promise you, the hell you humans imagine is nothing compared to what I’ve lived through.”
“Are we supposed to feel bad for you?” Yo-yo asked while rolling her eyes. “We’ve seen demons before, even fought along side of the Spirit of Vengeance.”
Izel’s smile turned scowl, digging her fingernails into the glass causing an ear grading noise. “I am impressed, you are much more brave than anyone I met in HYDRA. I will make a proposition for you.”
“What ever you offering, we’re not buying,” May started firmly.
“Oh I think you’ll want to hear me out,” Izel stated with contention. “Have you heard of a man named Sarge?” Trips eyes widened as he flinched, causing May and Yo-yo to look at him curiously.
“We’ll deal with him once we destroy you,” Yo-yo stated.
“Destroy me?” Izel chuckled. “I think you’re gravely mistaken. The only one with the power to destroy, is me.” At her words, several dead agents stood, and began making a booming shriek.

After grabbing a full size SUV from the airport, they finally arrived on the convenient store. There was merchandise thrown all over the floor, the owner was surrounded by police who seemed to be looking over the security footage. “Man, these guys have no regard for anything do they?” Samantha stated as she stepped over glass from a busted display case.
“Chaos for chaos sake,” Ward grunted. “Typical of Sarge and his crew.”
“You faced this guy before, right?” Ruby asked as Ward shook his head.
“Never head on, just saw the mess he left behind,” Ward remarked. “We were trying to find him to see exactly what he was after, never once got the chance.”

“So that’s what Coulson would look like if he were evil?” Mick tried to joke as Daisy punched him and shook her head.
“He’s not evil,” Daisy frowned. “Just confused.”
“And Ward was just misunderstood,” Mick frowned as Daisy scowled. “Look at him, this isn’t the Coulson we know. He’d never act like this.”
“I know,” Daisy sighed. “But he looks like a perfect match. Maybe he’s in there somewhere?”
“We’ll find out,” Mick said hopeful. “Maybe Fitz can analyze this when we get back to base? We’ll just see how similar they are.” He picked up a cup from the counter that Sarge had left after taking a few sips.
Daisy’s ringer interrupted them, she quickly answered listening intently. “Shipping facility? We’ll check it out.” Mick raised his brow as Daisy motioned for everyone to follow her. After a short conversation with a police, she was driving them in the direction of the newest attack.
“A shipping center would be a good place to hide that truck,” Samantha suggested.
“Why hide a truck that you can make invisible?” Mick asked, peering into the back seat.
“So no one accidentally finds it,” Ruby suggested. “HYDRA used to hide things in plain sight all the time.”
“She was in HYDRA too?” Ward asked as Mick sighed and nodded.
“Hers was more forced on her by her psycho mother,” Daisy stated, the car leaning hard as they flew around a curve.
“It happens,” Samatha smiled warmly. “We all make mistakes.” Her words cut off by another hard turn.

They jumped out of the SUV looking around seeing several shots burned into the containers from kind of futuristic plasma based weapon. The guard seemed to be traumatized as Samantha and Ward tried talking to him and getting his story.
“So do you think it’s weird that Samantha and Ward are dating?” Ruby asked as Mick raised his brow looking at her skeptically while piloting the scanner drone.
“They are not?” Mick said almost disturbed by the idea.
“They totally are,” Ruby laughed.
“What makes you think that,” Mick felt the jealousy coming from his Framework memories, which annoyed him.
“They’re just like you and Daisy, except they’re better at hiding it,” Mick turned to Ruby and glared. “Why does that bother you so much? You’re happy with Daisy, aren’t you?”
“I’m not bothered,” Mick grunted. “And I am happy with Daisy.”
“Then you should be happy for your ex too,” Ruby snarked as Mick huffed, a strong wind blew kicking up dust as Daisy cursed in the distance, Mick used a web to catch the drone before it crashed.
“Stupid freaking wind,” Daisy clenched her fists as she joined Ruby and Mick. “Lost the tracks just over there.”
“I’ll see if the drone can pick up anything,” Mick shrugged, as he pulled the webs from the bottom of the drone before starting it up again. They watched the tablet screen as the drone flew high, picking up nothing except another large crate stack.
“Hey, there’s a robbery alert at a nearby jewelry store,” Ward came over after hearing it from the officer.
“How far?” Daisy asked as she ran over to the cop.
“Few blocks west,” he replied.
“Tell you’re guys to stand down, we’ll handle it,” Daisy stated as Mick brought the drone in. “These guys are clearly dangerous.”
“I’ll let them know,” the officer said as Daisy’s team dashed to the SUV.

“What’s happening?” Trip gasped, barely audible over the noise his deceased agents were now making.
“She’s about to make them explode,” Cori said popping her knuckles, preparing for a fight.
“You can’t go out there!” Deke barked, grabbing Cori’s shoulders. “Those Shrikes will kill you.”
“We can’t just let her destroy the Zephyr,” Yo-yo replied, looking to May for the next move.
“Do you want to hear me out now, or would you like to see what happens next?” Izel taunted as May grit her teeth.
“If you wanted to destroy the Zephyr, you wouldn’t have waited for us to open it,” May growled. “You need it for something. Spill it.”
“Very perceptive,” Izel smirked, then snapped her fingers, and the former agents dropped to the ground, silent and lifeless with a misty aura bubbling off of their bodies as well as the hoard of Shrikes that were crawling around dissolving into smoke. “I would rather you help me willingly.”
“What do you want our help with?” Trip asked.
“I’m looking for three artifacts that were stolen from me,” Izel stated. “They are the only way I can stop Sarge and his ilk from destroying everything you know and love.” She paced around the glass as if she hadn’t just slaughtered dozens of people. “My Di’Allas.”
“Never heard of them,” May glared.
“Special stone tablets that can control time, space, and reality,” Izel stated, watching as Yo-yo’s face contorted.
“You don’t think she means the monoliths, do you?” She whispered to May. It was an intriguing idea, but a fruitless one as they had been destroyed.
“See, I had followed information I found on Chronyca-2 and sought out Earth. From there, I searched for SHIELD, and before I could investigate I was blasted by a group called SWORD into this infernal prison that resembled the Earth, and HYDRA tried to imprison me,” Izel explained.
“You deserved it!” Deke barked. “You’re a monster!”
“It takes a monster to destroy a monster,” Izel snapped, her face fierce expression causing Deke to flinch.
“So you’re trying to stop Sarge?” Trip asked as Izel looked at him, almost longingly.
“I don’t mean to be a monster,” Izel said with an innocent grin. “You have no idea what Sarge is capable of. He destroyed Chronyca-2 when he found out I was there, just like he’s done to every planet I’ve come across.”
“I don’t trust her,” Cori said firmly as May seemed to agree.
“If you don’t believe me, I can show you. There’s distortions tearing apart this world as we speak, those were set in motion by Sarge and his crew to kill me before I can stop him,” Izel said as May glared.
“What does that have to do with us?” May asked harshly.
“You’re not from this world, you’re from the outside,” Izel stated.
“What makes you think that?” May snapped, clearly distrusting Izel.
“I can see something about you that is different than him,” Izel pointed at Trip. “There’s a special light within you that seems to be missing from everyone here. I just need you to help me escape, and I will stop Sarge from destroying your world.”
“She’s lying,” Deke argued. “She’s a destroyer. You can’t trust her.”
“Then we’ll all die in this world together and Sarge will continue on his path of destruction,” Izel shrugged as she turned toward the exit.
“So we help her and possibly die, or we ignore her and probably die?” Trip stated as he looked at May, Yo-yo, Deke, and Cori, who all wore the same annoyed expression.
“We’ve already seen just what she is capable of,” Cori said as May frowned.
“You can’t be seriously considering helping her. She’s a freaking monster! She’ll kill us as soon as she’s done with us!” Deke argued.
“What choice do we have if the world is being torn apart?” Yo-yo asked.
“What do you want us to do?” May tapped the glass as Izel spun around with a devilish smile.
“Bring me to where you came into this world, and I may be able to open a way out,” Izel said calmly.
“And then we just leave my world and the people I care about to die as the world collapses on itself?” Trip asked bitterly.
“Better than dying in it yourself, right?” Izel asked as Trip frowned.
“We need to know if she’s telling the truth about the rift tearing apart,” Yo-yo said as May nodded in agreement.
“I’m sure the rift has grown large enough to see it from here,” Izel said callously
“Guess I’ll be brave enough and find out,” Trip offered cautiously.
“You don’t have to,” Yo-yo started as Trip shushed her.
“It’s my world that’s potentially ending,” Trip tried to put on a brave face.
“Again,” Yo-yo added under her breath.
“I’m telling you if you open this door, she’s going to kill us, Deke stated nervously.

Daisy and crew arrived in minutes, four dead security guard slumped on the ground around the showroom. Two more slumped against the walls down the hall with no sign of the person in charge of the showings.
“Still think Sarge is like your Coulson friend?” Ward asked as they made their way to the back of the building, checking each room.
“Don’t talk to me like you know me,” Daisy stated as Ward smiled. “You already know I’m not you’re Skye.”
“Even still, I just don’t want you or Mick getting hurt by this psycho,” Ward replied as he cleared another room.
“They’ve got to be in the vault,” Samantha stated as they looked down the hall seeing the thick metal door.
“I ran the footage, they didn’t leave,” Ruby stated. “Mick’s checking the perimeter just to be sure. They do have a lady hostage though.”
“Then we need to get in there,” Daisy looked toward the steel door.
“We could blow it open with our powers,” Ruby suggested.
“We’d run the risk of killing the hostage,” Ward said.
“I might be able to freeze the lock and you shatter it?” Samantha suggested.
“That could work,” Daisy frowned. “We just need eyes on the situation. Can you grab the infrared from the truck?”
“No problem, just don’t start the fun without me,” Ward smiled.

Trip returned with a grave expression. “She’s right. Looks like a black hole in the sky, steadily growing as we speak.”
“So we just help her then?” Deke asked.
“Not without a contingency plan,” Yo-yo held up a pair of inhibitor cuffs.
“You think those can stop her?” Cori asked.
“Better than nothing,” Yo-yo shrugged.
“Cuff her and let’s go,” May ordered as Deke grumbled before sulking away. “Don’t take your eyes off her.”
“Don’t worry,” Trip said with a nod.

Mick and Ward returned using the tablet to scan the wall. “How many people did you say were with Sarge?” Mick asked as Ruby looked up at him curiously.
“Should be four. Sarge and another guy, a girl with them, and the woman they took hostage,” Ruby recounted.
“I’ve got five heat signatures,” Mick showed stated as Daisy peaked at the tablet.
“How can that be?” She asked as Samantha and Ward looked just as dumbfounded.
“It’s got to be some kind of tech they have, but how could that work?” Ward pondered.
“How long do you think it’s going to take before we can bust that lock?” Daisy asked as Samantha frowned.
“Ten minutes or so it should be brittle enough to shatter the lock,” she replied.
“We might not have that,” Mick frowned. “I’m gonna head back to the shipping yard, maybe we missed something?” Mick suggested.
“Just be careful,” Daisy frowned at the idea of Mick going alone.

He arrived, jumping out of the car and looking around. There had to be something. No one saw the truck leave, there was no destruction of it breaking out of the back side of this place. The problem was, it could cloak. The wind picked up again causing Mick to squint. He walked a few steps forward, the wind seeming to only hit his feet, as well as the dust easing as well. He took a few more steps forward before bumping into something hard. Of course! The answer was right in front of them, they just couldn’t see through the cloak!
Mick tapped on the frame as he tried to see just how big it was before a door opened.
“What the?” A slim man with a scruffy beard asked as Mick shot a web at his face, pulling him out of the door. The man tried fighting back, only for Mick to pin him to the wall with webs after knocking him out. He climbed into the trailer, seeing a small portal like hole in the wall, only to see a much heavier set man with a full beard peak through it with a confused expression.
“Finish bagging up this stuff Snow,” his deep voice called as he climbed through the portal popping his knuckles.
“Oh this will be fun,” Mick frowned as the man seemed like a giant compared to him.
The man grunted as Mick tried to shoot a web, only for it to be caught. He then proceeded to sling Mick into the wall before Mick released. He shook off the daze as the man charged him. Mick slid under him as the man swung down at him. He then sound around kicking the man over, and coating him in webs upon impact.
Mick rushed toward the portal, jumping through seeing the hostage being held at knife point by a dark haired girl. “Where’s Jaco and Pax?” The girl murdered before Mick shot a web at her knife, and pulled her forward. She staggered, releasing the hostage.
"Get out of here, don’t look back,” Mick ordered as the assailant lunged at him furiously. Mick caught one swing, then took the kick to his side. She then ripped her knife from the webbing swinging and cutting into his shoulder before he kicked her backwards and into the wall. She shook of the impact, but not before Mick coated her in webs.
He started toward the door to unlock it, only to gasp in utter horror and shock as a blade protruded from his abdomen. He gasped as pain shot through his body, burning, electric, consuming.
“Looks like this planet has more tricks up its sleeve than I gave it credit for,” the man truly looked just like Coulson, even sounded just like him. “Too bad you had to get in my way.”
“Coulson?” Mick asked as the man seemed taken back to be called that, pulling his blade from Mick.
“Never heard of him,” Sarge stated as Mick fell to the ground in fetal position, watching helplessly as Sarge freed the girl and helped her through the portal. The door swung open as Daisy and the others started to rush in. Sarge then grabbed a flashing beacon over the portal pulling it through as the wall returned to normal.
“Mick!” Daisy cried out, rushing to his side as he gasped and coughed.
“What’s happening to me?” Mick gasped as Daisy looked down at the wound in horror. Mick’s body was turning to stone.

Chapter Text

“You knew he was an inhuman and didn’t tell anyone?” Daisy glared as Jemma looked over the cocoon of rock around Mick.
“It wasn’t that black and white,” Jemma replied while she tried to move sensors around to make sure Mick’s heart was still beating in there.
“It’s pretty black and white now!” Daisy belted.
“Let’s take a step back for a moment,” Mack said trying to cut the tension in the lab. “Are we sure this is terregenisis?”
“Based on the vitals I can pull through the Cocoon, yes,” Jemma replied as Daisy paced back and forth in frustration.
“So that means this Sarge guy is carrying around a sword made of Terregen crystal?” Mack asked as Daisy nodded. “Then we need to get that away from him before he starts causing any more problems.”
“He’s already doing that,” Fitz walked in with his tablet in hand. “We just had reports of a large scale static burst. Seems to spring from California, and radiate across the globe.”
“Any chance we can trace his location based on the blast?” Mack asked as Fitz shook his head.
“I considered that already,” Fitz murmured. “The static in the air is disrupting satellite feeds, and the local authorities have no intel for us either.”
“Great,” Mack grunted as his phone began to buzz. He pulled it out seeing a message from Natasha Romanoff that stated that there was a break in at Stark Industries California branch along with a picture showing Sarge’s crew. “That just makes this much more difficult. Daisy, I’m going to need you and your team back out there. Sarge’s crew just stole from AIM’s California branch with ease.”
“You’d think they would have a defense system, or something to stop that from happening,” Fitz gasped. “Any idea how they broke in?”
“They didn’t provide those details. Just they want us investigating it before it goes public. AIM is still technically government contractor, and this would make things really ugly if it gets out.”
“What about Mick waking up from terregenesis?” Daisy fussed.
“He managed to control his powers in the past without much help,” Fitz stated, then ducked down as Daisy turned her frustration to him, hand at the ready to quake him.
“What if this is something completely different? What if his powers are too much for him?” Daisy snapped, debating whether or not to blast him if he dared to speak again.
“Maybe you should trust us to handle it?” Jemma said, letting her temper get the better of her. “We are the ones who nursed him back after his run ins with both the Darkheart and DarkForce.”
“But are either of you inhuman?” Daisy spat, neither one responding with more than a frown. “I didn’t think so. This transformation messes with your head, makes you feel all kinds of wrong. Like you’re not even your self anymore.”
“And you think he didn’t feel that way when Arachnid attacked him and gave him the powers he already had?” Fitz chimed in, quite resentfully. “Don’t chide us because you’re scared. We’re all bloody scared of what changes could be happening in there!”
“We love him too,” Jemma added on. “I promise we’ll take care of him while you’re gone.”
Daisy sighed heavily, dropping her arms in defeat. Mack looked quite impressed with how brave the two scientist had in their years at SHIELD. “You better radio me as soon as he comes to.” Daisy stated bitterly.

Ruby waited for Daisy to return, not wanting to be in the way of team scientist while they tried to sort out Mick’s potential inhuman status. It was hard dealing with such loss, the vividness of Daisy’s screams while Mick’s body began to turn to stone, the horrified look on Samantha’s face, Ward’s utter disbelief. She blasted through the wall where that Coulson look alike vanished, only to make things slightly worse having a hole in the vault of the jewelry store. It really only solidified her case, this Sarge guy isn’t Coulson. Coulson would’ve never stabbed Mick, even if he knew Mick was an inhuman and that blade wouldn’t kill him. At least from what she knew about, that was the case.
The look on Daisy’s face when she stormed out of the lab only begged more questions. Was Mick actually dead? How should you ask someone if their boyfriend is dead? Should you ask such a thing at all? “Get geared up, we have a score to settle.” Daisy’s words were harsh, much harsher than usual.
“Yes Ma’am,” the only words that Ruby could think to say in the moment.

Fitz walked into Lincoln’s holding container to bring the food tray. “Still not going to let me out? Do you not trust me yet?”
“Do you blame us?” Fitz rolled his eyes.
“I told you everything I knew about Sarge’s plan and about Izel,” Lincoln growled.
“But yet, we have no idea what that electrical discharge was, or how to reverse it,” Fitz matched Lincoln’s glare and tone.
“I don’t know what he could be doing,” Lincoln stated. “For all I know he’s putting out a calling card for me.”
“Too bad you’re not answering it,” Fitz huffed as he turned to leave.
“You’re not much different than the Doctor after all,” Lincoln hissed.
“You have no idea,” Fitz replied coldly.

Ruby watched Daisy as she struggled to control her emotions. It was odd to see her like this. Usually she was much more grounded, composed. It made sense though, even after she and Mick defeated Talbot, she was quite shaken up, protective of him while he recovered, more so right after the disappearance. This was right up there with how she after right after Agent Coulson passed away. Erratic, throwing herself into work, vulnerable to mistakes. She knew that, it’s how she was regent Daisy found her. The simultaneous deaths of her three best friends, and the overwhelming powers infecting her body. She longed to comfort her mentor, but just couldn’t think of anything to say that wasn’t cliche.
Everyone would say, something like I’m sorry, I know how bad you’re hurting, or I’m here for you, but none of that ever really felt sincere. HYDRA certainly didn’t prepare her to be compassionate either. She thought about how Daisy just sat with her after Patten turned to dust. She thought about how she’d braid her hair, and how comforting it was just to have her there. She stood up, staggering over to Daisy as the jet veered. She then sat beside her then played with her hair.

May pushed Zephyr One as hard as she could, Izel sitting beside her in the co-pilot seat. The world was collapsing, and this time, there wasn’t going to be a way to return. No data to save, no second chances for anyone here. The only people that had a chance to escape were the ones with them. The wings shook hard as they flew over the Russian airspace.
“I can feel it, there’s a storm coming,” Izel smiled darkly. “Are you ready to be back home?”
“I’ll be glad when you’re in SHIELD custody,” May hissed.
“I thought I already was,” Izel taunted as she stood up and slid open the door. “You just get us to that rift, and I’ll make sure it opens.” Just the tone Izel used made May’s blood boil. She wanted to put a bullet in the witches head right now, but unfortunately working with her was a necessity.

Daisy’s team touched down at LAX, then wasted no time heading to the AIM facility. She moved with purpose as they walked inside. “Oh great, more intruders,” a frantic man with slicked back blonde hair groaned as two guards started to walk up to them as Ward puffed out his chest, clearly intimidating one of them while the other stood his ground.
“We’re with SHIELD,” Daisy flashed her badge as the guard backed down.
“It’s about time,” the frantic man rolled his eyes. “How are you guys going to get my stuff back?”
“I don’t care so much about your stuff,” Daisy grunted. “We’re only after the crew that stole it.”
“That’s not how this is supposed to work,” the blonde man scoffed.
“Then you go chase after them yourself,” Daisy quipped.
“Are all SHIELD babes this aggressive?” The blonde man fussed as Daisy blasted the wall beside him, sending several cracks through it as the man squeaked like a mouse, leaving him and his guards unsure what to do next.
“I’d probably stop wasting out time if I were you,” Ward smirked as the man frowned. “You can start by telling us what they took, and where they went.”
“This job really is the worst,” the blonde man rolled his eyes as he walked over to a computer terminal. “They took several cases of transmitters, CPU’s, prototype weapons,” the man continued rambling.
“Why would they go after gemstones, computer parts, and weapon shells?” Ward looked back at Daisy as she scoured the footage they’d pulled for her.
“Maybe he wants to make a weapon?” Samantha suggested to the grimaces of everyone else.
“Gemstones?” The blonde man questioned, then his eyes widened, locking eyes with his guards.
“You have more information for us?” Ruby took notice of the paleness and the new twitchiness of the man.
“N-no,” he stammered as he started to back away. “I just remembered I need to check on something, part of being the boss. You guys can handle this, right?”
Ruby shook her head as the man and his two guards started off. He wasn’t about to give them the slip that easily. Her HYDRA instincts kicked in, that mixing with her powers was an interesting combination. The ground under the three men cracked, causing them to stumble.
“Ruby?” Samantha touched Ruby’s shoulder, startling her. “You ok?”
Ruby looked to see the wall of debris blocking the three men and they all looked terrified. “I am so sorry!” Ruby gasped.
“What the heck was that?” Ward asked as Daisy looked at Ruby, then at the men curiously.
“They’re hiding something, and I wanted them to spill it, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” Ruby looked deeply concerned.
“What are you hiding?” Daisy glared at the three men. “We won’t stop her next time.”

Jemma gasped as cracks began to appear in the cocoon. She rushed over, the rocks trickled, then crumbled, Mick falling down with them. He looked normal enough, and she wasted no time pushing the rocks out of the way to embrace him. He looked quite confused as to how he ended up at base, but it didn’t matter. He was alive, and she could explain the rest in a moment. “Are you feeling better?”
“I guess?” Mick said as Jemma released him, and held out a hand to help him up. “Did Sarge really stab me?” Mick stood up with Jemma’s help, looking down at the tear in his gear, but seeing his body mended.
“With a Terrigen blade of all things,” Jemma said as Mick’s confusion washed out, his face now pale and deeply concerned. “Calm down, we don’t know what’s going to happen if you get worked up.”
“Calm down?” Mick snapped he felt his heart racing. “I was just in a freaking cocoon having who knows what change about me!” Mick felt the rush of blood to his face, a charge of emotions sweeping throughout his body. His eyes burned, his hands tingled, he kept hearing a droning hum. Jemma’s look of deep concern jarred Mick from his frustration.
“Please calm down,” Jemma said nervously, as she backed away, leaving Mick quite confused. “I think I know what your inhuman powers are.”
“Really?” Mick snapped, throwing his arms in the air, followed by the light getting brighter before it exploded above his head. “What the heck was that?” Mick ducked down as if he were in danger, then looked back at Jemma full of confusion and fear.
“Looks like you and Lincoln have a lot more in common than you thought,” Jemma said with a nervous smile as Mick shook his head. “Good news is, at least we are prepared for this.”
“Bloody brilliant,” Mick grunted in a mocking English accent.

“You sure we can trust her?” Yo-yo asked over the comms.
“No,” May replied. “But what choice do we have at the moment?”
“Anyone else finding it weird that my team seems to be following her now?” Trip asked as Yo-yo nodded.
“It’s almost like they’re zombies. No laughing or cutting up like they did before,” Yo-yo raised her brow.
“As soon as we go through the rift, I want her in the containment unit,” May said as Yo-yo smiled.
“First star to the right, right?” Trip asked a with a coy grin.
“More like no place like home,” she smirked.

Izel lifted her hands as the Shrikes began to materialize, flying out and into the sky. She muttered strange, almost demonic sounds, causing the Zephyr to shake wildly. She began to sing an oddly alluring song, and several of the SHIELD agents began to gather at her sides. Electricity crackled around the Zephyr.
“It’s time,” Izel smiled as she turned to Yo-yo and Trip.
“Like hell it is!” Deke yelled as he burst in from the lab, firing ICERS at Izel.
Her eyes narrowed as Trip’s agents acted as shields for her, throwing themselves in front of the shots, then falling out the hatch as they were stunned.
“What are you doing?” Trip belted as he watched in horror as his agents continued to protect Izel.
“Exactly what I wanted them for,” Izel stated grimly. The sky behind her flashed, then then it was night. ”We’re here.”
“Great!” Yo-yo started to rush her, then snapped back, struggling to get a Shrike off her face, Trip jumping in to help as the dragon like creature sliced into their flesh.
“End of the line for you, witch,” Cori thrust out her left arm, flinging lightning at Izel, who used her last two SHIELD agents to attempt to protect her, then was knocked off the ledge by their bodies. Cori then turned her attention to Yo-yo, grabbing the shrike and electrocuting it, causing it to scream out before going limp. “You ok?”
Yo-yo brushed her face, blood coating the her ams, which had cuts revealing their prosthetic nature. “I’ll be fine.”
“Holy crap,” Trip shook his head in disbelief looking at the many gashes in his own hands, while stunned at Yo-yo’s injuries.
“Do you think she’s actually dead?” Deke asked panting as the hatch closed.
“Do you want the truth, or do you want me to make you feel better?” Yo-yo asked.
“Both?” Deke said curiously.
“Past experiences with creatures like that, she’s probably alive and going to try to take revenge on us,” Yo-yo said as Deke rolled his eyes.
“The more I’m around you guys, the less I like you,” Deke huffed as Cori snickered.
“We better let May know what happened. She’s not going to be happy,” Yo-yo said, exasperated.
“At least we should be safe for a little while, right?” Trip asked as Yo-yo shrugged.

“Why is it always a laser?” Ward asked as the eccentric CEO cowered against the wall.
“Makes it clear who the idiot villains are,” Ruby glared at the man.
“What I don’t understand is why you’d put it on paper and not have it somewhere safe,” Samantha was dumbfounded.
“Just tell us it’s weak point in case this psychopath actually builds it,” Daisy rolled her eyes.
“It’s not like some sci-fi doomsday device,” the man said disgusted.
“They’re always just like that,” Ward said bluntly.
“Either tell us, or we’ll make sure the government knows exactly where it came from,” Daisy threatened.
“Please no! My boss would have me killed!” The man begged. “There’s a flaw in its battery system. If the wires aren’t hooked up exactly par the schematic, the laser will overcharge and self destruct before it can fire.”
“And here I was expecting a self destruct button,” Ruby shook her head. “This is just basic intelligence.”
“It’s not that simple to just re-wire thank you,” the man scoffed. “The panel is as large as the wall with industrial grade wiring. It’ll take incredible strength to just remove one much less switching them around. Even then, it’s a very tight space to work with.”
“So it’s better just to detonate it and be done?” Samantha asked.
“As if! The machine will have an EM protector, as well as anti-lock on technologies,” The man gasped.
“So we have to get close to it, and blow it up the old fashioned way?” Ward had a slight smirk.
“It’ll emit its own EMP to prevent that,” the man said half proudly to the disdain of his company.
“This is going no where,” Daisy rolled her eyes. “I’ll get Fitz to find a work around, or I’ll find one myself. Give me a copy of the schematic.”
“I can’t,” the man looked at the ground, clearly embarrassed.
“That was the only one?” Samantha asked shaking her head with an unsurprised smirk and the man grunted.
“Do you at least know which way his truck went?” Daisy asked with frustration boiling over.
“Took a left,” one of the body guards said from behind them.
“Thanks,” Daisy rolled her eyes, motioning for her team to follow her out the door.
“For nothing,” Ruby scoffed as they left.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20: Things We Love

“We’ve got word that Sarge killed a civilian in an alleyway, leaving a strange blue knife in his chest,” Mack stared at the screen, several agents behind him seemed quite frantic as more screens popped up on the main monitor.
“That’s psychotic,” Daisy’s voice came from the speakers.
“We’re sending you the data we’ve got from the locals, supposedly they’re moving the body to the morgue shortly. Oh, and to help you relax a little, Mick is out of the cocoon.”
“And?” Daisy seemed highly concerned with her voice cracking slightly to the amusement of Mack.
“Jemma is doing a work over now. They put inhibitors on him to suppress what she believes is bio-electrical powers. Seems like someone has a thing for sparklers.”
“Whatever,” Daisy laughed. “So he’s ok then?”
“Seems to be. He’s a little miffed that Sarge stabbed him, but I figured that’s par for the course,” Mack said with a grin. “I’ll keep you posted on any updates, or I’ll have him call you if he doesn’t short anything else out around here.”
“Thanks Mack,” Daisy replied then disconnected.
“Daddy,” Hope stood up with a smile on her face. “I’ve got a bead on ZephyrOne!”
“Oh thank God,” Mack let out a bit more emotion than he intended, but it seemed to bring joy to the rest of the room.

“These things are uncomfortable,” Mick pulled at the tightly latched inhibitor cuffs on his wrists. “I see why Ruby hates them now.”
“It’s just temporary,” Jemma said as Fitz didn’t seem nearly as confident in that assessment.
“We just can’t have you shorting out the base while Lincoln is here,” Fitz said as Mick scoffed with a teenage like eye roll. “He’s still going on that he’s going to kill me for my crimes in the Framework.”
“He’ll have to go through me first,” Mick snorted.
“Won’t be too hard without your powers,” Jemma said as she looked quite condescending. “Not to mention, that Lincoln has a much larger electrical outpouring than the one we knew.”
“Meaning?” Mick frowned.
“The experimentation I conducted on him not only gave me the ability to give his powers to Ophelia,” Fitz started.
“Aida,” Jemma interrupted begrudgingly.
“Aida,” Fitz rolled his eyes and shook his head. “But he was one of the few that survived the enhancement trials.”
“So simply put, he’s stronger than our Lincoln was?” Mick asked as Fitz and Jemma nodded harmoniously. “Then I need to figure out how strong my powers are. Take these things off!”
“You’ve shorted out several lightbulbs and several of our scanners,” Jemma started.
“Thanks for all that extra work,” Fitz grumbled.
“Not to mention burning your own forearms! You’re clearly not able to control the bio electric overflow,” Jemma said firmly.
“I can’t even use my webs,” Mick flicked his wrists several times while glaring at Jemma.
“And how many times did everyone insist you not rely solely on your powers?” Fitz teased only for Mick to sneer.
“Bite me,” Mick snapped, throwing his arms up, to the amusement of Fitz and his wife. The lights flickered momentarily as Fitz and Jemma stared at Mick who wore an innocent expression.
“Inhibitors are working just fine on him,” Jemma said looking at the monitor as Mick lowered his hands slowly.
“Lincoln!” Fitz scurried out of the room with Jemma and Mick following behind quickly.

Ward slid car to a stop as they spotted Sarge and his crew holding a civilian against a wall. Daisy, Ruby, and Sam jumped out ready to unleash their powers on Sarge and his team. “Looks like we have company Boss,” a tall lanky dirty blonde guy with patchy facial hair stated as he raised a brow to the Shield team. The larger man sized them up, shook his head and put more force into pinning the man to the wall.
“Let him go, or you’ll regret it!” Daisy ordered as Sarge didn’t lift his eyes to her, only flashed the blue dagger in his hand.
“You really don’t want me to do that,” Sarge stated, even his voice matched Coulson’s. Daisy’s heart raced as memories of Coulson flashed before her eyes. Surely this is how Mick ended up getting stabbed, she was paralyzed by nostalgia and longing.
“Oh but we do,” Ward stepped up, firing his ICER, hitting the skinny guy who collapsed to the ground.
“Huh,” Sarge looked over at his fallen comrade. “Always has to be one tough guy hero type. I wonder if you tough guys are like the last tough guys we met? Jaco?” As he said that the overly large man hesitantly released the man he had pinned and faced the SHIELD team.
“Some of them look familiar,” a girl peaked out, with a rather crazy look in her eyes, catching the man before he could flee, stalking around him like a lioness to her prey.
Ward wasted no time firing at Jaco, who looked down at the pulses of blue then back at Sarge curiously. “They sting a bit, but nothing I can’t handle,” Jaco said in a gruff tone.
“Figures,” Sarge shook his head as he looked down at the other man. “Pax isn’t much of a fighter.”
“Let him go,” Daisy ordered again holding her hands out, still unsure if she could actually attack this man without feeling immeasurable guilt.
“What is this?” Sarge mocked the girls poses, provoking Ruby to blast the girl into the wall, giving the hostage a means to escape. "Oh, that’s different,” Sarge seemed rather impressed.
Samantha followed up by forming an ice block around the feet of the larger man, leaving Sarge even more intrigued. “So a world with super heroes, too bad you’re fighting the wrong guy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Daisy barked as Sarge smirked.
“I’ll tell you, if you can prove your worth,” Sarge said darkly.
“What do you want?” Daisy asked without hesitation.
“Well, I did go through the trouble of catching that guy,” Sarge motioned in the direction the hostage ran.
“We’re not helping you kill someone,” Samantha stated firmly.
“That thing wasn’t a someone, but a something,” Sarge stated plainly.
“You hunted people in our world too,” Ward said fiercely.
“Your world?” Sarge raised a brow. “That doesn’t narrow things down. I’ve been to several worlds that ended up destroyed over the course of many years. You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“Our world is a semi-parallel to this one,” Samantha stated as snow twirled around her hands as she prepared to blast him.
“Again, not really narrowing it down much,” Sarge’s face screamed he didn’t really care at all.
“Why do you look like Coulson?” Daisy barked as Sarge stared at her curiously silent. “Oh now the cat got your tongue?”
“No, just wondering why you’re the second person to call me that,” Sarge stated bluntly. “Stabbed the first one, watched him turn to rock. Wonder what’ll happen to you?” He lunged pulling his shimmering blue rapier from his side, brandishing both the dagger and the sword.
Ruby, without regard or hesitation blasted Sarge through the building with a powerful tremor, leaving everyone speechless. Daisy looked at the hole in the wall as debris and dust gathered, then back a Ruby who was in shock herself.
“Take these guys into custody, I’ll deal with Sarge,” Daisy started forward.
“We don’t have room in the car for prisoners?” Ward stated.
“Stuff the skinny one and the girl in the trunk and put Gaiganto on ice on the roof for all I care. Take them to the jet and back to base, now,” Daisy ordered as Samantha, Ward, and Ruby exchanged glances of concern. “I want answers from him, no matter what it takes.”
“Daisy you can’t be,” Ruby started only to be interrupted by Daisy quaking the wall so that it collapsed, leaving no way for her to be followed.

Jemma burst through the door, Fitz and Mick on her heels. They all paused, dumbfounded as Lincoln sat in the containment unit staring at them slightly confused as to the audience. “Want me to dance and juggle for you?” Lincoln sneered. The lights flickered again, Mick grabbed his ears. “You hear that too?”
“Hear what?” Jemma asked looking between Mick and Lincoln.
“She’s coming,” Lincoln said as he and Mick locked eyes. “That’s the sound of her arrival.”
“Izel?” Mick asked as Lincoln nodded somberly. Lincoln’s expression and tone sent shivers down his spin. Hearing Deke talk about that thing, now this; it was overwhelming. “Why can I hear it?”
“Must be in tune with some serious electric signals,” Lincoln stated as he raised a brow at Mick. “Perhaps you’ll hear this too?”
Mick’s body tensed as a paralyzing pulse ran through his body. It felt like knives scraping his brain causing him to drop to the ground.
“Stop it right now!” Jemma demanded as Lincoln laughed in amusement, the laughter and the pain stopped as Fitz pressed a button. Lincoln screamed, the unit emitted a pale glow, as Mick shook his head to regain composure. “What did you do Fitz?”
“I upgraded that containment unit,” Fitz said darkly as he pressed the button and the lights returned to normal. “When it’s turned on, it reflects all of his powers around the room. Much like grounding a plug, it contains the power completely.”
“That could kill him if he,” Jemma said in horror.
“That’s the point,” Fitz frowned. “Unfortunately, his little show with Mick proves he can’t be trusted. And we’ve already lost enough since this mess started.”
“Fitz, this isn’t you,” Mick stated as Fitz looked at him in such a dark manner it pulled memories from the Framework back to mind.
“I did what had to be done,” Fitz said somberly.

May landed the Zephyr in the dock, so grateful to be back at base. She was met with a team, including Mack. The fun part was seeing Mack’s reaction to Trip. Trip was clearly impressed that Mack was director in this world, even more so with the Lighthhouse. Yo-yo embraced him before he could say a word, indicating just how perilous this trip had been. After a long debrief about everything that happened to them, Mack informed them about what’s been happening while they were gone.
“How can he look like Coulson?” Yo-yo asked as Mack pulled up the pictures they had.
“Where is Daisy’s team?” May asked, her eyes fixated on the screen.
“We just got word from Ward that they’re bringing in Sarge’s crew, but Daisy is still in pursuit of Sarge himself,” Mack stated.
“I need a quinjet then,” May said quickly. “Z1’s too low on fuel.”
“No, we can’t,” Mack said as May gave him her signature ‘I’m not really asking’ glare before turning heel.
Hope stood aside before being run over by May before she could enter the room. “Is everything okay?” She asked holding a tablet close to her chest timidly.
“As close as it can get,” Mack stated. “Did you find something?”
“Maybe,” Hope wasn’t sure of herself. “I looked at some of the data Agent Fitz compiled about the Storms, and it’s kind of strange.”
“What do you mean?” Mack asked as Hope laid the tablet on the table, then opened several paged out with maps of the area the storms.
“This is what we know from how these things effected your world,” Hope started. “And if you apply that to this weird overcharge I learned involving Ley Lines,” she overlaid the maps showing several converting lines where the storms erupted.
“Have you brought this to FitzSimmons?” Mack asked as Hope shook her head. “They’ll probably make more sense of it than me. It does look like quite the pattern though.”
“He kind of intimidates,” Hope said as Mack chuckled. “Fitz isn’t so bad once you get to know him. Elena can you keep tabs on May while I check this out?”
“Got it,” Yo-yo smirked as she watched Mack walking out with his daughter.

Daisy crept into the building to find Sarge amidst the debris, very concerned that he could be dead based on the damage. She looked around seeing no more damage, yet no body. She looked spun around, only to feel something slam into her, the rest went black.

Sirens blared throughout the base, Mick’s nerves going crazy with all of the flashing and electrical impulses wearing on him. He could feel the power swelling in his body, crashing against the inhibitors like a furious ocean in a storm. He fought through the turmoil as Mack burst into the lab with Hope. “What’s going on??” Mick asked as Mack shrugged.
“Comms are down,” Mack frowned. “You guys okay?”
“Oh we’re all perfect,” Fitz stated sarcastically. “Best day ever.”
No sooner than he finished speaking, crash was heard outside the lab, putting Mick and Mack on guard. “You sure you’re up for a fight?”
“I’d be better if you’d take these stupid things off,” Mick grunted as he popped his knuckles.
“You’re about as whiny as Ruby,” Mack teased as Mick rolled his eyes.
The door burst open as Enoch wore a strangely concerned expression. “I believe we may be in trouble,” he stated as everyone nodded as if they weren’t surprised by this revelation at all.
“You don’t say,” Fitz rolled his eyes.
“I do say,” Enoch tilted his head looking directly at Fitz. “This threat is not on account of your current list. This threat is-“
“Enoch,” a large man with strange markings around his eyes and a large alien-like rifle in hand appeared at the bursting of a brilliant white light.
“Chromicom Hunters,” Enoch finished his sentence as Mick and Mack stepped up to guard Enoch as he joined Fitz, Hope, and Jemma behind them.
“Hand over the fugitive Chronicom and there will be no harm done to you,” the Chronicom stated as Mack and Mick looked at each other, Mick handing him one of his Chelicerae sabers, then the duo taking a fighting stance. “You’ll have to forgive us if we don’t have an easy time trusting robots,” Mack stated as the hunter clearly wasn’t amused.
“Then you will suffer the same fate as this traitor,” the Chronicom lifted his gun only for Mack to slam his blade into it. This was clearly predicted by the Chronicom, who kicked Mack aside, then slammed the barrel of the blade into Mick’s blade, the force launching him into the wall, then sliding down as he winced in pain. The hunter took a step forward, only for Mack to jump back into the fight. The two grappled over the gun, exchanging blows (with Mack looking much worse for the wear than the Chronicom).
Mick pulled himself up, shaking his head seeing the inhibitor on his right hand fractured and sparking. He reached over, pulling the broken piece off as Mack was slammed into the floor. The power block was gone, everything radiated to his right wrist like a bursting dam. Without a way to control it, he simply held his right arm out aimed at the Chronicom hunter before he could crush Mack under his foot. Several lights overloaded as blue electricity shot from Mick into the Chronicom hunter. Circuits from the Chronicom crackled as his body convulsed, his flesh burning off revealing the metallic face underneath. The Chronicoms eyes began to glow red as Mick dropped his arm, stopping the outflow of electricity, leaving everyone speechless
“Oh no,” Enoch said clearly wishing to convey emotions. “He is in overload, and will self destruct momentarily.”
“We need to get out of the lab then!” Mack barked. “Can you get up, Mick?”
“He’s sweating profusely!” Jemma exclaimed as she rushed to Mick’s side as his head fell forward.
“I’ll carry him, everyone out now!” Mack ordered as the Chronicom began making a screeching noise. Fitz slammed the panel as blast doors slid down, followed by the ground shaking and a rippling explosion that even cracked the glass of the blast doors.
“I fear that stopping this hunter is only going to provoke more to attempt to bring me in,” Enoch stated as he looked at the smoke seeping through the cracks in the glass.
“Then we’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Mack said as he looked at the unconscious Mick in his arms. His face was charred a bit, and his arms were as well.
“That was pretty cool,” Hope said with a smile as Mack tried to smile back at her. “So this is how interesting your days get?”
“We try not to let it get this way,” Jemma stated. “We much prefer quieter and relaxing days.”
“Like we ever have those,” Fitz sneered.
“We try,” Jemma scoffed. “I need to get vitals on Mick.”
“Right,” Mack said as they started toward the medical wing.

Daisy’s eyes fluttered to memories of Coulson sitting by her side, patting her wounds with a warm towel after the brutal fight with Talbot. She felt so comfortable, so relaxed, until it slowly faded. In Coulson’s place stood a much darker version of his face, more scars, fierceness to his eyes, and beside him a slender girl with black hair and pale skin. Across from her was the same older, receding hairline, heavy set man. He was tied to a chair, struggling to breathe free of the restraints, all the while trying to scream through the gag.
“How long have I been out?” Daisy asked as Sarge shook his head and the girl snickered in amusement, toying with a blue knife in her hands.
“Not really the right question you should be asking,” Sarge stated.
“You really think this one can pass initiation?” The woman asked sizing up Daisy, clearly unimpressed by her.
“I think she’ll be alright,” Sarge said with a cold stare. “You’ll want to pierce him right in the heart, going under the ribs.”
“I’m not helping you kill -“ Daisy barked until she gasped as blood and brains splattered against the wall behind the man. “You monster!”
“You have no idea,” Sarge said as he took the knife from the woman, setting it on the table next to Daisy before walking out locking the heavy metal door behind him.
Daisy’s heart raced, as she pulled her arms out of the oddly loose restraints. She grabbed the knife, fully intent on using it to take out Sarge and the woman with him, until the man’s body began to move. His body contorted, unnatural cracking of the bones as it pulled itself into a semi-upright position.
“Whoa, what is going on?” Daisy muttered to herself gripping the blade tightly as the man’s now glazed over eyes searched the room until they locked on her. The man lunged at her with an unnatural scream, Daisy quaking him back into the wall. The wall dented from the impact, the man dropping to the ground, his bones cracking back into place causing Daisy to grimace.
“What the heck are you?” Daisy muttered, quaking its arms and legs so they were beyond disfigured. The man screamed out, black diamond like rocks began shooting out of the mangled limbs. She considered quickly what Sarge said about stabbing it, quaking the rock that almost impaled her so that it shattered, then slammed the blade into the man’s chest, quaking it deeper for good measure. The man’s body went limp, the scream turned into a gurgle, then black liquid poured from his mouth.
Daisy scrambled back, mortified by the encounter. She leaned against the wall panting profusely. “Just what have I gotten myself into?” She pondered rubbing the cold sweat from her face.

Chapter Text

Chapter 21: Things We Hate

“What do you mean you left Daisy behind?” Mick punched Ward in the jaw in front of everyone in Mission Control. “What in the absolute hell is wrong with you?”
Mack and May grabbed Mick before he could swing again, wrestling him away from Ward.
“It was an order from our team leader!” Ward spat blood on the floor, and wiped his face.
“That psycho will kill her!” Mick yelled as his eyes flickered a brilliant blue, causing the inhibitors to shock him, yet he continued to fight to get to Ward, forcing free of May’s grip.
A brilliant flash crossed Mick’s body, he then fell to the floor, almost hitting the floor if it weren’t for Mack’s strength. May then holstered the ICER on her hip, everyone staring at her quite surprised. “What?” She asked nonchalantly.
“A little heads up would’ve been nice,” Mack said as Ward and Sam still seemed quite uneasy. Prep him bed in medical, and see if you can increase the compression on those inhibitors. Felt like touching one of those plasma orb with a little extra punch.”
“Will do,” Fitz nodded.

“What was that thing?” Daisy asked as Snow and Sarge looked over the dead body with its black veins looking like webs across the pale skin.
“That’s what happens when a Shrike infects someone,” Snow said somberly. “Sad really, no chance for a beautiful second life having their first one stolen from them.”
“And a Shrike is?” Daisy raised her brow, only for Snow to smile at her grimly, reaching for a knife. She then plunged it through the little bit of flesh that wasn’t crystallized near the blade.
After a moment, she began to rip through the bones, their cracking along with how happy Snow seemed to be about this made Daisy dry heave. Snow then pulled the two halves of the chest apart revealing the top half of dragon like creatures she’d seen before. Its wings spread across the entirety of his chest where the heart and lungs should be. To make matters worse, all the veins and arteries were connected to this creature, each one jet black like the creature. It looked like something straight out of Aliens. Daisy’s stomach lurched, this time, vomit spewed splashing on the floor.
“Told you it wasn’t beautiful,” Snow seemed amused by Daisy’s reaction.
“We’ve seen those things a few times, but they vanished every time those storms ended,” Daisy wiped her mouth with her sleeve after spitting the bile from her mouth.
“They’re precursors to Izel,” Sarge stated. “They’re little beacons for her. If left unchecked, they’ll tear their way into the heart of the planet to sap its life and give it to her.”
“Why?” Daisy asked with great alarm.
“She has been gathering life energy in order to awaken a vile beast that has the capability to bring ruin to the entire cosmos. A creature known as Pachakutiq,” Sarge said somberly.
“Of course it would be that,” Daisy rolled her eyes. “It had to be world ending or psychotic ruler.”
“I don’t know how close she is to awakening that beast,” Sarge stated with exasperation. “But I am sure she’s close. I can feel it in my bones. I have to stop her before it’s too late. No matter what it takes.”

Ruby sat at Mick’s bedside, being that there was nothing else to do. Mack had grounded all flights out while he and May try to interrogate the two guys that were in the containment unit. Mick murmured and stirred, something about Coulson but it was very inaudible. He finally woke up, clutching his head. She’d taken a few shots from an ICER during HYDRA training, in hopes that that her body would develop a tolerance to the dendrotoxin, but every time felt just as mind crushing as the first. Body numbing, muscles give way, and you wake up with a killer headache that puts any hangover to shame.
“You going to hit me too?” Ruby stared at him her eyes sharp and focused.
“You were following orders from your SO,” Mick’s voice was raspy, it matched the pain that was clearly flooding his head.
“So was Grant,” Ruby said icily. “Daisy was the lead. She gave the order. We followed it.”
“He should’ve stopped her,” Mick groaned rubbing his hands across his face, massaging his temples hoping to ease his discomfort.
“You’re holding a grudge against him for something he didn’t do,” Ruby kept her intensity as Mick dropped his hands revealing his brooding scowl.
“What are you talking about?” Mick was deflecting, she’d clearly struck a nerve. HYDRA training 101.
“You’re still bitter at Ward for being in HYDRA. Or is it that he didn’t stay dead on Maveth? Or could it be that he’s hooking up with your ex, Samantha?”
“Stop talking,” Mick ordered with a harsh tone.
“No, you’ve got to get over this,” Ruby barked. “A divided house can’t stand, right?”
“Ruby, stop now,” Mick’s tone deepened, becoming much harsher and more fierce. She watched his left eye begin twitching, the lightning flickering while the red lights on the new inhibitors began to glow.
“Why? Because I’m right?” Ruby continued to antagonize him, knowing full well what could happen if this test failed. “You need to get past this. Grant is on our side.”
“Stop calling him that!” Mick bellowed. “He’s a monster, a traitor! He’s murdered people in cold blood!”
“So have I. Probably just as much, if not more than him,” Ruby said harshly. “Does that mean you hate me too?” She watched as Mick’s face contorted. “I attacked you guys, tried to kill you. I was a HYDRA agent through and through. What makes us different? The fact that he was a plant versus outright?”
Mick stared at Ruby furiously, unable to come to an answer. “I don’t fault you for hating Ward, from the few times I heard Mother deal with him, I thought he was quite a prick. This guy you’re projecting that on though, this isn’t him. Our Grant Ward is dead, died on Maveth, at you and Coulson’s hands if I’m not mistaken.”
“Yeah,” Mick frowned as he looked away. Clearly his part of that still bothered him too.
“Grant isn’t the same as Ward. He’s a SHIELD guy through and through from what I’ve seen and heard. He betrayed HYDRA, and helped you guys to escape his world. This Grant is a hero,” Ruby said as Mick covered his face and shook his head.
“Why does it matter if I can’t stand Grant Ward no matter where he’s from?” Mick asked as Ruby looked at him plainly.
“I feel like if you still hold that kind of grudge against him, then you probably feel that way about me to somewhere deep down,” Ruby said as Mick’s face contorted once more, although it was clearly more agonizing than frustration.
“I don’t resent you for anything you did under HYDRA’s influence,” Mick said, his tone much softer, compassionate even. “You’ve well over proved yourself to be a good person.”
“So has Grant,” Ruby said as Mick sighed.

“Any luck?” Mack asked as May walked out of the interrogation room brooding. “That bad?”
“That guy is a complete moron,” May scoffed. “He’s hasn’t stopped talking since I walked in. He’s been ranting that Sarge isn’t going to leave him here, and that we’re going to regret bringing them.”
“Got more than I did. This guy just sat there staring at me, as if he didn’t understand English,” Mack said as May looked intrigued.
“Why don’t you deal with Flapjaw and I’ll see if I can break through this guy’s wall?” May suggested as Mack shrugged. “Good luck in there.”
May walked in to see the large, gruff, heavy set man wearing what seemed to a form of hide for a jacket, rugged jeans, and a white shirt. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow. He had the appearance of sleeping, yet his eyes weren’t moving. May eased into the chair, watching. She stayed silent for a few moments, fixated on her prey. He was unflinching, stoic. His eyes opened, then he raised a brow at her. The look the two shared spoke more than enough. He had no intention of talking, and he could sit here as long as it took to prove it. May stood up, then headed for the door.
She stood outside, watching Mack and the lanky man on the colorless monitor. Mack at least had the chance to get in a few words between the songbird’s constant speaking. She was so glad it was muted, just that man’s nasally voice annoyed her.
“You didn’t even speak, that’s pretty impressive,” Coulson’s voice echoed in her mind.
May’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t have time for this. Mack’s door opened, and he wore an exasperated expression. “Man, that guy can talk.”
“Did he say anything worth wild?” May asked.
“I think I’ve got the names of Sarge’s crew, but I’m not exactly sure,” Mack said. “Big guy is Jakko, his name is Pax, there’s someone named Snow, and someone named Sparks, and of course Sarge.”
“So we potentially have three of Sarge’s men in our base?” May asked as Mack seemed as uneasy about that as she did.
“And Sarge has one of ours,” Mack added.
“A problem we need to remedy fast,” May stated firmly. “If Sarge is as bad as this guy claims, Daisy could be in deep trouble.”
“But who do we send?” Mack asked as May raised her brow and smirked. “I don’t think I like where this is going.”

Daisy sat beside Sarge in the cab of the truck while Snow worked on cleaning and prepping the weapons. Sarge’s tracker picked up another Shrike host, which was very troublesome. One hand, Daisy hoped to be able to save people from any more Shrikes, but on the other hand, she knew first hand what the Shrike would do once it infected a person. She needed to radio her team, let the know she was okay. She stood up, walking into the trailer, Snow eyed her briefly before she returned to sharpening the dagger in hand.
There was so much tech here, surely she could put together a make shift beacon. Perhaps even find the stolen plans for that doomsday device Sarge had stolen from AIM. She looked down, seeing a tablet sliding across the floor as the trailer leaned durning a turn. Snow looked fixated on her work, giving Daisy the perfect opportunity to try to get a message out. The tablet’s OS was quite interesting, but the problem was the strange language it was in. Thankfully it only took a few moments of looking to realize it was an encrypted coding language. It would take forever to decipher this without a computer, or so she thought. It was then she noticed the repeating pattern of what seemed to be a flipped alphabet, then keyed in using that hunch. The tablet unlocked, and she smirked. It was like riding a bike after that. She used the coordinate for the Lighthouse to send an encrypted message to Mack and the others to let them know she was safe. Fitz would probably be able to, at the very least, get a generalized idea as to where they were when the message sent.
“You ok over there?” Snow asked as Daisy nodded.
“Just looking over all of this stuff, it all seems pretty impressive,” Daisy lied, easing the tablet to the table behind her as she turned around.
“Tinker liked collecting all kinds of electronics,” Snow said almost sadly. “Too bad he sacrificed himself to help us get here.”
“What do you mean?” Daisy asked as she walked over to Snow who now seemed slightly distraught.
“We stole some energy from a group called hydro or something, and in order to dimension hop someone had to flip the switch that would turbo charge the truck, he volunteered,” she explained. “He was also fighting an infection from the Shrikes. His tech kept the little demon at bay for a few days until we got back.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Daisy said as Snow nodded.
The trailer lurched, then the hydrological hissed loudly. “His sacrifice gave us this chance, that’s why we have to get the job done this time,” Snow said as Sarge walked into the trailer.
“Go time,” Sarge said as he walked by, grabbing the dagger from Snow’s workbench.

May walked into the medical wing, Jemma slightly flustered as she tried to comprehend the vitals coming from containment pod 0104, which currently housed Jaco. “Where’s Ruby?” May’s voice jarred Jemma’s concentration.
“She’s in there with Mick,” Jemma pointed to room two.
“Perfect,” May replied. She headed into the room without a courtesy knock, hearing Mick and Ruby talking about his past. “We’ve got a mission.”
“Really?” Mick dropped his previous conversation looking at May quite skeptically. “Mack’s going to trust me in the field?”
“He doesn’t get an option,” May stated firmly.
“I like it already,” Ruby smirked.
“What about my new uncontrolled powers?” Mick asked as May’s eyes narrowed.
“We’re going to catch the guy who unlocked them,” May’s sharpness struck a nerve in Mick. “You’ll have to keep those inhibitors on, and lean into your training.”
“Fair enough,” Mick stated as he and Ruby stood up. “When do we leave?”
“Now,” May said grimly.

Chapter Text

Daisy walked beside Sarge and Snow through the crowd of people in San Diego. She noticed all of the memorials on the side streets, murals that defaced some Avengers for their failure, sure she’d seen pictures online, but nothing matched seeing it in person. Seeing the hurting on peoples faces, feeling the raw emotions radiating from them. Mix that with the knowledge that there is still threats they have no clue about, infecting people at random. It all made her sick to her stomach. When could they ever know peace? When could they have just a moment to relax and not face world ending tribulations?
“There’s our girl,” Sarge paused, holding up his tablet to see a dark skinned woman, moving about as if there were nothing wrong with her. She didn’t speak to anyone, was careful not to bump anyone. This woman didn’t resemble anything like what the other person did. You’d never even know she was infected, if it wasn’t for the app scanning her body, showing the outline of the dragon like creature in her chest.
“She seems so normal,” Daisy muttered as both Snow and Sarge snorted.
“They start out that way, makes it easier to lull victims to that witch,” Snow stated as Sarge pulled the knife from his side holster.
“You don’t care if anyone sees?” Daisy tried to slow him down, which only annoyed him.
“Your people don’t scare me,” Sarge stated bluntly. “But if you want stealth, you’re free to kill it yourself.” Daisy took in a breath, flashbacks from her accusations she dealt with under Director Mace crossed her mind, forcing her silence. “Then keep quiet about how I do my job.”
Sarge moved quickly, the woman seeming to take note of his presence. She moved slightly more erratic, peaking over her shoulder to see them tailing her. Her face showed no emotion as she weaved her way through the crowd, Sarge growing more frustrated as he pushed people aside, Snow quick on his heels. Daisy stopping to apologize while trying to keep up. She’d never really done SHIELD kill missions, but watching Sarge, she could see Coulson doing this. She shook her head trying to focus, seeing Sarge full out running after this woman who was now heading for a train station. Sarge and Snow split up, Sarge motioning for Daisy to follow Snow. She reluctantly complied, the woman now knocking trash cans over, weaving into the traffic to escape.
Sarge blindsided the woman, tackling her to the ground, causing a great commotion from the bystanders. At least they would’ve been until Snow pulled a pistol. From her side, causing the bystanders to flee for their lives. Daisy covered her face with her hands, this was the last thing she needed. Bad publicity. She was already well known for her heroics in the Battle of Chicago, a highly publicized member of SHIELD. If anyone saw her face while these two were attacking this woman it could be really bad for religitimization.

“Get away from her!” A powerful pulse sent Sarge crashing into the wall of the train station. Daisy spun on her heels seeing May, Mick, and Ruby jumping out of a quinjet she must’ve missed flying by. She quickly noticed the red glowing inhibitors on Mick’s wrists as he fixated on Sarge who was climbing to his feet. The woman began to escape as Ruby confronted Snow. Daisy quickly ran to grab the fallen knife on the ground and give chase to the woman.
“You go after her, I’ll deal with him,” May glared at Sarge.
“Let me guess,” Sarge scoffed. “I remind you of someone?”
“In your dreams,” May sneered.
“I’m no dream,” Sarge cracked his knuckles. “I’m a nightmare!” He swung hard, May narrowly ducking under, reaching to counter, only for him to beat her to it. She slammed into the ground, barely avoiding his fist as it slammed into the concrete.
May wrapped her legs around him, using her body weight to flip him. He smirked in amusement, then shoved her hard, flipping the two of them over. He reared back ready to slam his fist into her, only to be sent flying backwards by another blast from Ruby, who then spun around kicking Snow across the face, dropping her to the ground.
“Thanks,” May grunted, as Ruby helped her up.
“He’s pretty tough,” Ruby noted as Sarge stood up, rubbing the back of his head, blood on his had as it came forward.
“At least we know he bleeds,” May began to charge at him, fist reared back.
“Melinda?” The way he said it caused May to freeze in place. Ruby watched in utter confusion as May stood dumbfounded. “I thought you were,” Sarge didn’t finish his sentence before he collapsed on the ground.
“Did he just call you Melinda?” Ruby asked as May walked over to Sarge, examining him closer.
“Get cuffs on the girl, we’ve got to find out where Mick and Daisy ran off to,” May ordered, unsure of what she heard.

Mick jumped down onto the tracks, following behind Daisy as she followed that woman that Sarge was attacking. “Daisy!” He called out, wondering if she even heard him. He wished he could use his webs, cause then he could probably stop the both of them, but with these stupid inhibitors that was out of the question. He growled. Thankfully, they weren’t running into the oncoming track, but that wouldn’t matter if a train were to come up behind them. He was quite surprised when the woman jumped down into a utility tunnel.
He jumped down, in time to see Daisy quake the woman into a wall of steel pipes. “What what the heck are you doing?” Mick barked as Daisy looked at him with remorse. She started to swing the blade in her hand toward the woman, and without thinking, Mick threw his blade, knocking away Daisy’s hand from the woman. “Stop!”
“You don’t understand, this isn’t what you think!” Daisy said as Mick grabbed Daisy and pulled her away from the woman.
“You were about to stab her!”
“She’s a monster!”
“Then let the courts handle her!!” Mick cried as the woman started to get up and run without saying a word.
“Not that kind of monster!” Daisy pulled free, blasting the woman with another quake. She slammed into the concrete wall with a shuddering crunch.
“What the hell has he done to you?” Mick tried to catch Daisy as she broke free from him.
“You just have to trust me!” Daisy grabbed the knife running at the woman.
“Just explain now!” Mick sprinted after her, tackling her, and jarring the knife from her hand.
“Mick she’s going to explode into crystals that will kill us if I don’t stab her soon!” Daisy stated as Mick shook his head, unable to comprehend what Daisy was trying to imply. The woman started to stir, only for Daisy to blast her again, more bone crushing echoed in the tunnel, frustrating Mick even more.
The two grappled, Mick trying hard not to hurt Daisy, she clearly doing the same, yet both weren’t relenting until the woman let out an ear splitting shriek.
“What was-“ Mick’s voice trailed off as he watched the woman’s flesh begin to sparkle, little crystals forming all over her from her feet, making their way up her body.
“Told you!” Daisy barked, grabbing the blade, running at the woman. She impaled her just before the crystals reached her chest, Mick standing awestruck.
Daisy panted, looking back at Mick with relief. “Remember those dragon creatures?”
“Yeah,” Mick looked at Daisy with immense skepticism.
“Turns out they don’t eat people, they infect them.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t have all of the details,” Daisy said as she walked over to Mick, who didn’t take his eyes off the mostly crystallized woman. “But these things are bad news, and we need to figure out if we can cure people infected by them without having to kill them.”
“Yes,” Mick looked at Daisy nervously.
“So you’re inhuman?” She smiled as she pulled his arm up looking at the inhibitors.
“Yeah,” Mick smirked. “Surprise.” He shrugged as she shook her head.
“We can talk more about it after we figure out how to get that thing back to base,” Daisy said as Mick nodded.

“We’ve got reports of a vigilante calling themselves Ronin, slaughtering obvious criminals that work for the Tracksuit Mafia, and now a few reports from the Mexican Cartels info boards, any ideas?” Mack stood in his office with Natasha Romanoff on screen.
“I’m not sure,” Natasha replied, Mack not sure if he believed her based on a curious look in her eyes.
“Do we have permission to look into this?” Mack prodded slightly, hoping to get some truthful information out of her.
“No. We’ll let it be for now,” her tone indicated she had a hunch of what was going on. “Any updates on the freak storms?”
“I’ve got my best teams on it,” Mack said as Natasha seemed about as uneasy about the situation as Mack was. “Hopefully we’ll have it resolved soon.”
“I’ll do my best with keeping the governments off your back,” Natasha smirked. “This whole world unification thing has all of them pretty focused for the moment.”
“Something about that doesn’t sit right with me,” Mack glowered. “But if it’ll help people, I won’t buck the system.”
“It’s got Steve on edge too, don’t worry,” she replied, which made Mack feel slightly better. “You guys stay focused on the task at hand, I’ll look into this Ronin thing. At some point we have to finish accommodating Thor’s New Asgard settlement. Hopefully soon we can all take some time off to recoup.”
“Will do,” Mack said as the screen went black. After a deep breath, he looked back at the small box on his desk, in it housed a holo-message from Coulson. It gave him the rundown on how to be a good director. He’d listened to it at least one hundred times, but still gleaned from it every time he activated it. Some of it was just to see his old friend and mentor, other times it was to help in his bouts with doubt.
The door opened as he started to reach for the box, Hope’s big brown eyes peering between him and the box. “Agent May is in route with two people in custody and a Shrike victim.”
“Did she recover Agent Johnson?”
“Yes, she’s safe and sound,” Hope smiled. He couldn’t help but remember his time in the Framework, watching this little girl grow up. It was so conflicting having her here, almost making the Framework feel much more real. He began to wonder if seeing people from the Framework effected Fitz, who suffered the most from his tenure there.

“Why does he keep spewing smoke?” Jemma paced around, looking at the feed from Jaco’s cell.
“Maybe he’s an inhuman, and his power is smoke?” Fitz suggested, Jemma shaking her head.
“His DNA that we could read doesn’t seem to have any Kree traces,” Jemma was going over all of the data in her head, surely the solution was there, she just hadn’t landed on it.
“What if he’s alien?” Fitz shrugged.
“He looks too human!” Jemma replied aghast Fitz would suggest something so off.
“Asgardians look human as well, in case you’ve forgotten,” Fitz stated as Jemma slowly remembered the several encounters she’d had that were blocked out by the dreadful time she’d spent in the future under the human like Kree.
Jemma walked to the computer, pulling up the DNA they’d had on file from Thor, just out of sheer curiosity. The only similarities were from the human-likeness they all shared. It did however give some validity to Fitz’s theory. “What if you’re right, and he is alien, what do you suppose would cause smoke the constantly come from his breath?”
“Given the sheer amount of gases in the natural air we breathe,” Fitz started. “It could be dozens of possibilities. “Oxygen is quite flammable. Helium perhaps…” Fitz continued listing gases as Jemma began to focus. Could it be something so simple, flammable gases? Her mind struggled to rationalize this, because if that was the case, wouldn’t he have been breathing smoke when they found him? It had to be something else. She thought back to her time on Maveth, the dark dying planet. It’s thin, yet breathable air, then the transition back to earth, having to spend a few days on constant breathing treatments to readjust to earth.
“Breathing treatments!” Jemma gasped, haunting Fitz’s listing as he looked at her curiously. “You’re right, Jaco must have some form of specialized air from wherever he is from for him to not have been breathing smoke when he arrived! Fitz you’re a genius!” She kissed him as he looked both content and confused all at once.

Mack stood by with Yo-yo as the quinjet landed. Seeing Sarge on the monitor was one thing, but seeing if he truly resembled Coulson in person was another. First off the deck were Daisy and a slim, dark haired, pale girl. She had bruising on her face, which made Mack wonder who this girl was unlucky enough to fight. Behind them was Ruby using a cart to move what looked like a crystallized body, followed by Mick and May using a stretcher to carry the unconscious body of Sarge. His resemblance was uncanny. His stature, down to the receding hair line was almost a perfect match for Coulson. You’d swear they were identical twins.
“That’s surreal,” Mack said as May nodded.
“Bringing him to a containment pod, Jemma can check him out from there,” Mick stated as May lead the way.
“I didn’t want to believe he could look just like him,” Yo-yo stated. “Makes me wonder who got to knock him out.”
“I’d bet May,” Mack said as Yo-yo looked at him curiously.
“You don’t think Mick would want a little revenge for stabbing him?” Yo-yo inquired.
“I’m sure he would, but May wouldn’t tolerate a psychopath wearing Coulson’s face,” Mack stated as they followed behind May and Mick. “It’s going to be interesting seeing her interrogate him when he wakes up too!”

Jemma looked eagerly at the cystalized woman, Fitz slightly more reserved about the autopsy. “So she’s infected by the Shrike? Or she is a Shrike?” Fitz asked as Ruby shrugged.
“Daisy said infected, and that the knife is what is keeping the thing in her at bay,” Ruby replied. “Not sure if that means taking the knife out will reawaken whatever is in her, but she suggested I stay just in case.”
“That sounds so reassuring,” Fitz groaned.
“I think it’s rather intriguing. We’ll get a first hand look at what these creatures are, and maybe learn how to stop them,” Jemma smiled. “We just have to figure out how dense these crystals are!”
“You’re far too excited when it comes to this,” Ruby scoffed.
“How can you not be excited to see biology in action?” Jemma asked as Ruby grimaced.

“You’re making a big mistake,” Lincoln stated as Mick glared at the unit where Sarge was laid. “He’s the only one who can stop her.”
“I seriously doubt that,” Mick scoffed. “Sounded like Izel took a one way trip out the back of Zephyr One.”
“Did you find the body?” Lincoln asked darkly.
“We didn’t look. A fall from thirty thousand feet would kill anyone,” Mick shook his head.
“Not her,” Lincoln stated bluntly. “She’s more than what you think. If there’s still Shrike alive, I promise you, so is she.”
“Excuse me?” Mick looked at Lincoln as he smirked.
“If there are Shrike, Izel is still alive,” he repeated. “You saw one, didn’t you?”
“And if I did?” Mick raised his brow.
“That’s how you found him? He was hunting it wasn’t he?” Lincoln continued to press.
“Why do you care?” Mick glared.
“Keep him locked in here then, don’t come crying to me when the world ends,” Lincoln scoffed.

Chapter Text

Chapter 23: Collision Course

Sarge’s eyes slowly opened, a hazy images flooded his mind. Nothing made sense, it felt temporal. He could hear familiar voices, but they were distorted. Was it his own senses failing him, or was this just a hallucination? He saw figures of people, everything about them blurred, yet he could feel the familiarity. He knew these people, he cared about them, but at the same time they were nothing more than blots. He could hear screaming, his heart quickening. He knew that voice, it was her voice. His mind strove against the image. He felt the bitter conflict, he reached for the blot he knew to be an important woman to him, so close, within arm length.
A monstrous humanoid being with brown leathery flesh, razor fangs and black eyes appeared before him, jarring him backwards. He gasped, his focus now showing a metallic holding room, a small table that he was handcuffed to. He smirked with a stark realization, that Daisy girl thinks she played him by bringing him to her base of operations, when in reality she just brought him back to his team. It wouldn’t be long before they took over this place and made it their base of operations.

Mick slammed his fist into the heavy punching bag, images of Daisy stabbing that woman, the eerie shriek she let out, and the way her body was contorting. That woman looked human, but clearly was monstrous. The way her limbs snapped about brought images from various horror movie monsters to his mind. He slammed the bag harder and faster. The bands on his wrist buzzed and pulsed as his frustrations grew stronger. His heart raced as he swung faster and harder, the pulsing now becoming painful. One punch after another, culminating in Mick picturing the bag as Sarge, who was taunting him about controlling Daisy. Mick put everything into this blow before the bag flew back, crashing into his chest, knocking the air from him.
“Working through some things?” Cori asked as Mick released the bag, catching his breath. “Those things look pretty painful,” she pointed at the red burn marks forming on Mick’s wrists.
“Yeah, they suck,” Mick rubbed his wounds.
“I thought you had control over your webs?” She asked as Mick shook his head.
“It’s not my webs that are the problem, it’s the electricity,” Mick sighed.
“You mean like this?” Cori held out her hands, electricity sparking around as if she had a plasma ball. Mick watched with intrigue as Cori shifted her hands, showing complete mastery over this trick. She then clapped her hands down, the electricity dissipating with a small crackle.
“Neat trick,” Mick grunted. “I had a friend who had control of his electrical powers too.”
“My grandparents taught me that,” Cori said as Mick shook his head. “ Grams would make the wind, Pops would make the lightning, and it was so relaxing seeing them work in harmony like that. It was probably my favorite way they’d put me to sleep. They always joked about needing to make a friend who could control water, and it would be like a real mini storm.”
“That’s kind of funny, I hated storms when I was younger,” Mick reminisced.
“It only changed when you were locked outside in the middle of a storm when you were like ten,” Cori was almost asking, reminding Mick that she claimed to be his and Daisy’s descendant. “You said this was a much better way to get over my fears of both my powers and of storms.” Mick wasn’t really sure what to say. It sounded like the kind of thing he’d do, but it was still hard to imagine having a kid, much less a grandkid.
Sirens shattered the peaceful moment, Mick’s focus tightening as did Cori’s. The two shared a brief look of concern before the lights flipped to backup mode. “Why can’t we just have a moment to catch our breath?” Mick walked to the wall, picking up his Chelicerae, squeezing them to engage the sabers.

Daisy explained the last few days to Mack and Yo-yo. She explained what she learned of the Shrike, how to kill them, and how dangerous they could be. Unfortunately the questions they asked about Sarge, she couldn’t answer. She felt even more of a failure for not finding the weapon schematics Sarge had stolen from AIM.
“At least we have the bigger threat,” Mack said with a sigh of relief. “For what it’s worth.”
“I don’t know, something seems off,” Yo-yo added as Mack looked displeased.
The alarms sounded, breaking the tension.

Fitz had been frantically working on several concoctions to attempt to quell the smoke pouring from Jaco’s nose. On top of that, Jemma was slowly dissecting the dragon like creature. Ruby stood by, wishing to drown out the stomach churning sounds of bones crunching and organs slipping as Jemma dropped them into a bucket near her feet. Ruby gagged as she caught sight of the bloody mixture dipping from Jemma’s arms.
Blood normally wasn’t a problem, given her role as an assassin for Hydra, but this was so much worse than anything she did. It was probably the noises that made it worse. Tuning out the sound of a gurgling foe was easy, you could walk away from that. This, she was trapped with.
Enoch stepped in the room with an empty canister, Fitz looked at him hoping for good news. “I regret to inform you, this did not alter Jaco’s condition. By my calculations, it had worsened.”
“Bullocks,” Fitz grunted. He then slammed his fist hard on the desk.
“It’s okay, you’ll figure it out,” Jemma tried to console him.
“I’m not a bloody chemist,” he growled. “I specialized in technology, this is your department.”
“You’re more than welcome to take over here so I can work on that,” Jemma glanced over at Fitz with a rather intimidating glare.
“No thank you,” Fitz muttered as he began plugging in more formula’s to try.
“Did you feel that?” Ruby stood up, looking around skeptically.
“Feel what?” Jemma looked up from her work.
The floor shook and the lights flickered. “That’s not funny,” Fitz shot glance at Ruby.
“I didn’t do that,” Ruby said defensively.
“Oh dear,” Enoch stated plainly as bright lights flashed underneath the doors leading into the lab. The door burst open as the alarms began blaring, revealing three well armed Chronicom Hunters, two tan males and a smaller dark skinned female with a gun in each hand, pointing at everyone in the room.
“Give us the traitor Enoch and the time travelers,” the woman in front demanded.
Jemma and Fitz looked at each other with deep concern, Ruby scowled furiously.
“What time travelers to which are you referring?” Enoch questioned as all eyes set upon him.
“The ones who wrought the curse of Thanos, which brought the destruction of Chronyca-2,” the woman stated firmly. “We have traced the origins to this planet, specifically, to your actions.” She pointed both of her guns at Enoch.
“Atarah, I can affirm I had no input on the effects of the one known as Thanos,” Enoch stated, tensions still quite high.
“We have evidence you have tampered with the time stream. Your assignment was observation, no intervention,” Atarah said, almost in an aggressive manner despite Chronicoms being unable to have emotions.
“I was only allowed to intervene under duress of a cataclysmic event,” Enoch said as the hunter trio shared a look, then focused back on Enoch.
“Your intervention for this one planet, Thanos was able to gather the Infinity Stones, thus causing the universal cataclysm,” the way she said it was quite condemning.
“So you’re saying if we would’ve let the world end, Thanos wouldn’t have wiped out half of all life?” Jemma asked, that thought having never crossed her mind after her trip to the desolate future until now.
“According to our source,” Atarah stated as Enoch looked quite skeptical.
“Your source must have been mistaken,” Enoch stated.
“Then why don’t you allow us to peer into the minds of the time travelers and we’ll find out for sure?” Atarah challenged as Fitz shot a glare at Enoch, who was clearly processing the outcomes of compliance.
“What makes you believe we have time travelers here?” Fitz asked as the hunters looked at him grimly.
“We have several temporal abnormalities reported from this sector, each one stemming from this one planet. Some dating back to Earth-date, May 12, 2017,” Atarah said as Fitz’s face dropped. “Recognize that date do you?”

May opened the door, Sarge sitting smugly handcuffed to the table. “How long before you ask me to run this place?"
“Not even in your dreams,” May growled.
“I guess we’ll just have to see about that,” Sarge scoffed. “How’s Jaco holding up, since I’m sure he’s here."
“Fine,” May wasn’t about to give Sarge any ground. Sarge simply smirked, frustrating May. Did he actually plan for this? Was his team planning a coup? She wasn’t about to let this go. The room shook, Sarge’s expression shifted from smug to amused.
“Guess things aren’t perfect in paradise?” Sarge gloated, setting May over the edge.
May stood up, moving without warning. She slammed Sarge’s head into the table as hard as she could. His eyes glazed as his head bounced, May slamming him down once more just for precaution. Sarge didn’t sit back up after that impact. May actually smirked seeing the blood as it dropped from the fast forming protrusion.

Mack led the charge toward the holding cells where Pax, Snow, and Jaco resided. Yo-yo snapping back with a look frustration. “They’re gone, the doors were melted.”
“What?” Mack raised his brow. “Just what are we dealing with here?”
“Did FitzSimmons say anything about somebody being inhuman?” Daisy asked as Mack shook his head.
“Only inhuman was,” Mack paused as Yo-you’d eyes widened. “Oh no."
“Lincoln,” Daisy gasped.
“We need to get to the lab,” Mack ordered. “He’s probably going after Fitz.”
“What about Sarge?” Yo-yo asked as Mack grumbled. “
“I know May is tough, but Sarge isn’t like Coulson. I’ll go help her deal with him,” Daisy stated as Mack nodded.
“Meet back in Command once we get this settled,” Mack ordered as he and Yo-yo left Daisy.

Mick and Cori rushed toward Lincoln’s holding cell, pausing as they caught sight of Pax trying to unlock Lincoln’s inhibitor bands. “Almost done yet?” Lincoln asked as the doors slid open. “We’ve got company.”
“Great," Pax saw Mick armed with his sabers and looked disgruntled. The inhibitors fell to the ground as Lincoln rubbed his wrist and smiled grimly.
“Go find Boss, I’ll buy us some time,” lightning crackled around Lincoln’s body. “I’ve been needing to stretch a little.”
“Bring it on, Sparkles,” Mick glared, taking a wide battle stance with a saber in each hand.
Lincoln blasted forward with electricity trailing behind him, Mick trying to attack, only to be sent crashing into the wall behind him. His body crackled as he looked up seeing Cori’s fist and feet coated in electricity as she dueled with Lincoln. His wrist were burning as the inhibitors continued suppressing his powers, almost debilitating him. He forced himself up, catching Lincoln by surprise after he knocked Cori to the ground.
Lincoln staggered backwards and looked at the flashing red on Mick’s wrists with amusement. “Oh this is going to be good,” Lincoln formed a large sword made of pure electricity. Every hit Mick blocked caused his sabers to over charge, the hilt heating up with the amount of energy it was trying to store. A heavy swing sent Mick crashing into the containment unit, before Cori jumped in, catching the blade before Lincoln could impale Mick.
“You’re pretty good, but even you can’t handle this kind of power,” Lincoln’s eyes were glowing with power. Cori grunted and groaned as she tried to hold up Lincoln’s blade, the sheer energy singeing her skin as it inched closer to her.
Mick screamed out as his wrist felt like they were being crushed under the weight of the inhibitor before the room flashed a teal blue. The crushing weight was gone, Lincoln was even staggering backwards. He clinched his fist, electricity crackling with his knuckles. Lincoln looked quite impressed.
“Guess the dog can get off his leash,” Lincoln smirked. “Now can you play?” He blasted forward Mick meeting him with a punch of his own. Their knuckles met with a powerful blue explosion.

“Give us the Time Travelers, or be terminated,” Atarah stated. “I will not ask again.”
“Get bent,” Ruby threw out her hand, blasting one of the male hunters backwards, drawing the focus of the other two. Atarah and the other opened fire, a few of the shots grazing her right shoulder as she tried to duck behind one of the lab tables.
“What the hell was that?” Fitz asked as he looked frantically at Ruby.
“Clearly talking our way out wasn’t an option,” she rolled her eyes.
“I do not see a way in which we all escape without casualty,” Enoch stated from behind Fitz.
“We’ll just have to fight our way out,” Ruby suggested after looking at the blood dripping down her arm.
“Oh that’s brilliant,” Fitz snarked. “You blast them with your powers, and Jemma and I will throw beakers at them.”
“There is one way out of this,” Enoch said without Fitz paying any mind. “You will not like it though.”
“I don’t really like any of your plans I’ve seen in action,” Fitz shook his head.
“They do work out though,” Jemma shrugged to Fitz’s dismay.
“I believe this plan will work itself out, but you are going to have to trust me,” Enoch said as Jemma nodded. “Leopold Fitz, you are going to have to trust me.”
“Fine, fine,” Fitz grumbled. “Whatever, I’ll trust you.”
Ruby watched as Enoch reached out touching Fitz’s shoulder, then he fell forward into the table, unconscious. Then he reached up, pointing a finger at her. His finger tip opened, as something flew out at her. It stung like a bee, the room began to spin.
“Atarah, I have taken care of the combatants. I will comply with your request and provide you the time traveler, Jemma Fitz,” Enoch’s voice was distorted as Ruby tried hard to fight whatever sedative he had shot her with. She watched as Enoch stood up, took Jemma by that arm, and walked forward. It was then, everything went too bright to focus, forcing her eyes to close.

Chapter Text

Sarge’s eyes fluttered, intense pain flowing through his head, his ears rang. It was as if a concussion grenade had been set off. He could see red warning flashes, seeing people running against where he was staggering. He had to go back. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew it was important. He could picture something, he could see the outline of something. No! That was someone! Someone of vital importance!
He struggled to pull the memory forward, the harder he pulled the worse the pain. His body was moving better than his mind as he fought his way through the fleeing crowd. He saw clouds of smoke, felt the raining debris, and the heat from nearby fires. His heart ached, he knew several of the people that lived in these buildings. They were friends.
Steadily his mind was clearing. Steadily it was coming back. He continued down the block until he reached the deviated STRIKE HQ building. It was there he saw her, her face was bruised and charred, her hair matted with blood. She was holding something tightly; it kept squirming as two being approached. One looked like a giant overly muscular black leathery skinned humanoid monster, the other smaller, her face was much more human like, short pixy cut red hair, blood smattered clothing. Behind them was spacial rend, with a desolate looking darkened planet behind them. This was the justice for the tampering with the Darkhold. “Melinda!” He called out as the woman turn to him. It was her undoing, the woman with the monster impaled her through her back, narrowly missing the now exposed child in her arms.
Sarge’s heart leapt into his throat, his hands flew forward, as the woman with red hair caught the child, looking at her small round face and her black hair as it courted her face. “Please, don’t hurt Skye. I’ll do anything,” Sarge begged.
The world shook around him, jarring him from his dream back to reality. He stared at the woman sitting across from him, she looked identical to the woman he called Melinda in his dream, albeit slightly older more battle hardened, much like himself.
“Who’s Skye?” She asked, clearly ignoring the warning sirens.
“Don’t know,” Sarge lied, he knew her, she was that child in Izel’s hands. Why he knew her, that he wasn’t sure. Could this be memories he’d repressed that these repeated head wounds were bringing back, or were they just illusions brought on by things he’d seen through his hunting of Izel?
“Who’s Melinda?” May asked starkly. He could see it in her eyes, this combination of names clearly bothered her. Possibly as much as him resembling this guy Coulson that he’d been called a few times now. This intrigued him quite a bit, almost enough to toy with her mind while waiting for his crew to break him out of this pathetic excuse for a holding room.

Mack sprinted into the lab with Yo-yo right behind him. He’d already ordered the other agents to go into lock and key protocol until further notice. He walked in seeing the lab coated in soot from gunfire, but it appeared to be more energy rifle. His first thoughts went back to 2093 with the Kree and their advanced weaponry. “FitzSimmons, Hale?” He called out, looking around at the destruction.
“Found two of them!” Yo-yo called out, kneeling behind the table. “Hey, you guys ok?” She tapped Ruby’s shoulder.
“Where’s Jemma?” Mack asked as he knelt down by Fitz, curious as to why he was unconscious with no apparent injuries. “Is she injured?” He looked back at Yo-yo.
“No,” she replied, both a bit confused as to what was going on.
“Boss we have a bird attempting to leave,” a voice came over Mack’s handheld radio. “Are you guys in pursuit?”
“No,” Mack pulled the radio from his belt. “Nothing should be anywhere near the hanger.”
“I’ll take Cetra team and investigate,” the reply made Mack uneasy. Surely someone would’ve let him know if they were planning on leaving, right?
“Maybe we should get down there too?” Yo-yo suggested. “They might have Jemma.”
“I’d hate to leave these two unprotected,” Mack said heavily. “I’ll go, you stay with them.”
“I could go faster,” Yo-yo said with a smirk.
“I need that speed to keep these two safe,” Mack said firmly.

Daisy reached the holding cell just in time to see Lincoln arrive with massive power coursing around him. Part of her heart broke as she looked at him. This Lincoln had been through so much suffering, endured the torture of the Doctor, and now was dealing with being stuck in a new reality. Maybe he could be saved, much like Ward and Samantha? But then again, maybe he was too far gone. Her Lincoln was a hero, did that mean this Lincoln was meant to be a villain?
“Oh look, another one from my list,” Lincoln noted as he reached for the door.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Daisy held up her hands, hoping for Lincoln to stand down.
“Oh trust me, it really does,” Lincoln stated blasting electricity at her. Luckily it slammed into the wall behind her, but the electrical aftershock was enough to knock her to the ground. “You people never want to cooperate until it’s too late. Not this time, we’ve got the jump on her. I just need to get Sarge out of here so we can end this.”
“Like hell you’re taking him,” May barked as she kicked Lincoln as soon as he opened the door. Lincoln staggered backwards, giving Daisy time to recompose herself, with her and May

He shook his head in frustration, then unleashed a devastating shockwave that slammed May and Daisy into the walls behind them. May tried to recover but Lincoln wasted no time blasting her with an energy ball to subdue her. Daisy heard the crackling coming from the other room and jumped to her feet. She blasted Lincoln with a powerful quake, the impact left indentions in the wall. It was too late, Sarge already had his hands free. He slammed the chair into her back, leaving her completely disoriented.
“Good job Spark, let’s blow this popsicle stand,” Sarge said as Daisy groaned and grunted, but was unable to retaliate.

Mick’s eyes opened to see small fires all around the room. Every electronic device had been overloaded, including the handheld radio that had been on his side. It was then he noticed the unconscious and burned Cori. He scrambled to her weakly, then picked her up. Every muscle in his body begged him not to, but he had to get her to medical. Cori needed Jemma.
He staggered down the hallway, electricity shooting from his body, arcing onto every electronic device it could. “Sure could use those stupid inhibitors now,” he bemoaned until he reached the holding cell seeing the unconscious May on the floor with a ring of burn marks on the walls. May was fairly charred up as well, causing him to kneel down to set Cori down to check on May. He breathed easier when he felt her pulse. He then stumbled into the holding cell seeing Sarge gone, but Daisy unconscious with blood near her.
He fell at her side, pulling her onto his lap, the electricity around him popping and crackling uncontrollably, thankfully nothing harming her. The lights flickered above him before exploding in their fixtures. “So he escaped?” May’s voice caught him by surprise.
“Looks like it,” MIck groaned.
“Then we find him before he escapes,” there was tremendous determination in May’s tone.
“What about them?”
“We don’t have time to waste,” May said sternly, Mick acknowledging how dire this was.
She helped him up, then looked at him sternly. “You’ve got to rein that in. You’re shorting out everything you come into contact with.”
“I don’t know how,” Mick replied.
“I wasn’t asking,” May snapped. “I’m telling you to focus and get this under control.”
Mick gulped, clearly May wasn’t in much of a compassionate mood.

Mick and May ran into Mack and Ward as they rushed through the corridors, where Mack explained the situation. The fact they were slipping through the base so easily was bothersome. How did they know where to go? Was it a string of lucky guesses or had someone been feeding them information? It could be they’re forcing the information out of Jemma and using her as a hostage, which was extremely problematic.
“Now what?” Ward punched the door that had been sealed shut by the now fried computer system. May looked at Mick expectantly.
“Juice it up,” she said bluntly.
“I can’t control it,” Mick shrugged, May’s furious glare making the situation that much worse.
“Come on, Buddy,” Ward tried to sure up Mick.
“I can’t,” Mick insisted.
“Stop saying that,” May snapped. “You can control it. You taught yourself how to control the powers you inherited from Grant Reigns, what makes these any different?”
Mick stared at her. It had been years since that name had been brought up. “You certainly didn’t act like this when Daisy got her powers. You acted like it should be super easy to control and that you could teach her. What happened to that?” May’s words were cutting him to the core. “I think it’s something much worse. It’s not the powers you’re scared of, it’s the person that caused you to get them.”
“May,” Mack said as Mick closed his eyes staring at the floor, clearly holding something back.
“No,” May growled. “What would Phil say to you if he saw you right now?”
Mick clenched his fist, doing everything he could to swallow the emotions swelling in his chest. Why would she throw that at him right now?
“You know he’d be encouraging you, he’d say you can do this. The exact same thing he trained you to do when Daisy went through this, the same thing you and Daisy have done for Ruby. This isn’t any different. Jemma is in trouble, your team needs you. Man up and get a grip,” May demanded.
Mick shook his head, May was right. Coulson would be pushing him to succeed right now. Probably not as harshly as May was, but that was her personality. He took in a deep breath, focusing on the mission at hand. His eyes opened, trying to imagine the wiring running through the panel that would power the opening mechanism. He reached up, placing his hand on the panel. “Easy,” Mick whispered to himself, hoping that would help control the flow of electricity from his hands. His hand tingled as the energy flowed from him into the panel, slowly opening the door.
“Good job Webby,” Mack patted his back, then pulled back as if he were shocked by static.
“Sorry, still working on it,” Mick said as he released the panel following behind them.

Jemma’s heart raced as the rainbow lights around her faded. Her eyes took a moment to focus, the ship around her all too familiar feeling. The Chonicoms ship was dreary. For beings that had a form of life, their decor matched their demeanor, synthetic. Jemma followed the male hunters as they lead her away from Atarah and Enoch. This drove her anxiety even higher. Separated from the only being she knows and who knows how far from anyone she knows. Surely Enoch knew what he was doing, he’d find a way to get them back home, or for their friends to find them. The door slid shut, she was now completely isolated in space. It was a misfortune she was no stranger to, yet there was no solace to be found here. All that could be done was wait.

They reached the hanger just in time to see a quinjet launching hastily, teetering due to the water pouring down from premature opening of the hatch. Thankfully they had a system in place for this, but it didn’t make it less frustrating. It also delayed any chances they had of pursuing Sarge’s crew due to the flooded hangar.
“How did they pull this off?” May slammed her fist into the wall.
“I have no clue,” Mick replied.
“It’s like they had this place all mapped out,” Ward suggested as Mick began to wonder. It was a strange theory, a plausible one though.
“Maybe Lincoln mapped the place with electromagnetic pulses?” He was rather nervous to voice this without bouncing the idea off Fitz or Jemma, maybe even Daisy.
Mack and Ward seemed to be debating the possibility, while May didn’t seemed phased at all by that possibility. It made him wonder if May knew some of the testing that was done to Lincoln. He knew Fitz would have an answer to this wonderment. Unfortunately Fitz wasn’t down here.
“We need a tracker on that bird,” Mack stepped up with his radio in hand.
“We’ll get right on it,” Hope’s voice responded.
“Are we going to try and trail them?” Ward asked as May sloshed through the water toward ZephyrOne.
“Who know’s what he’s going to do now that he’s free,” May stated bluntly. “The man is deranged.”
“Did you ever get anything out of him?” Mack asked as May looked over her shoulder without a word.
“Nothing useful,” she stated plainly. They didn’t need to know he said her name and called out Skye. None of that mattered at this moment. What mattered is capturing him before something else could go wrong.
“Sir, we have another problem,” Piper’s voice came over the radio.
“There’s several shrikes reported near River’s End,” James Davis’ voice interrupted.
“Great, we lose one and find the other,” Mack groaned as they shared a skeptic look of what to do next.
“What’s your orders?” Mick asked as Mack was clearly at a loss.
“We can’t leave the citizens unprotected,” Mack said wearily. “We also can’t let Sarge escape.”
“Lincoln kept repeating if the Shrike were around Izel is too. So maybe the two of them can take each other out?” May seemed slightly amused at the prospect.
“Even if they do, he’ll slaughter any civilian that gets in the way,” Ward interjected.
“Any civilian that get’s infected by shrike is as good as dead from what I’ve seen,” Mick replied.
“Then we need to get our team together and get up there,” Mack said firmly.

Fitz eyes shot open, frantically he scrambled as Jemma was no longer in his line of sight. “Where are they?” He asked in a panic, Yo-yo looking over the ransacked lab.
“We believe Sarge took Jemma,” Yo-yo replied to the confusion of Fitz.
“How?” The word escaped him before he had time to process what was said. “The Chonicoms, where are the Chonicoms that were just right there?” He clarified, leaving Yo-to now baffled.
“Chonicoms did this, not Sarges’ crew?” She questioned.
“How could Sarge attack us from his cell?” Fitz exclaimed.
“Because he and his crew escaped,” Yo-yo stated as Ruby began to stir.
“No! This was the bloody Chronicoms!” Fitz barked. “Where are they? Where is Jemma?” Fitz was becoming frantic. Losing her was unfortunately just part of his job with SHIELD, it’s happened far too many times over the years. This wasn’t about to deter him. He’d get her back, just like always.
“He took her,” Ruby said hoarsely. “He offered himself, and took her with him.”
“Enoch,” Fitz growled. “What are you playing at?”
“Whatever it is, when I see him again, I’m tasing him,” Ruby grunted to Yo-yo’s amusement.

Everyone had regathered in the lab, doing their best to patch themselves up. Injuries or no, they had to get out and take care of the Shrike problem. Mack gathered a team to follow him into River’s End, Trip, Yo-yo, Daisy, Sam, Piper, and James. May would be taking Ward and Mick to find chase down Sarge and his crew. It would be on Fitz, Deke, and Cori to figure out what made those blades Sarge used to stab the Shrike so special and to quickly replicate them if possible.
“We’re really pushing our limits today. I tried to call in for some back up, but I don’t know that we’ll get any help. We may truly be on our own out here. It’s never stopped us before. We have to be the shield, it’s who we are. Those people need us. The world needs us,” Mack stated. “And when it’s all over, I swear I’ll make sure you get some well deserved paid time off.”
“And a pint or two?” Fitz added with a smirk.
“As many as we need to forget all of this,” Trip said warmly.
“I don’t know about that,” Mack smiled. “Good luck.” Mack nodded, May and Fitz nodded, accepting their assignments as well. “Keep me in the loop, you’re my eyes, ears for them, and hope,” he said to his daughter standing at the front of mission command.
“Don’t worry, Daddy,” she smiled.

May wasted no time leading her squad down the corridors, each one of them armed in black out SHIELD strike gear. Mick’s breathing steadied as his resolve to control his powers peaked. May was right, Coulson would be pushing him right now. Stop Sarge, and save Jemma. He could feel Coulson standing beside him, proudly. His eyes flickered with electricity the quinjet lurched. Ward looked across at him, slightly confused. “You alright? Not going to take out our electrical, huh?”
Mick looked to his left side, placing a hand over his heart. “Nah, I’m fine now. May was right. I just needed one of those tough love speeches from Coulson.”
“He seemed like a great guy for the short time I knew him,” Ward smiled.
“He was,” May interjected. “And that’s why we have to save Sarge.”
“What?” Mick and Ward both recoiled at this notion.

Sarge stood behind Jaco as he piloted the small aircraft, looking out on the horizon. His mind filled with terrible vivid images. Closes his eyes briefly, watching the strange enigmatic memories playing over and over, unable to come to terms with who Melinda is, who Skye is, why were they so important to him? Why did two of those women from SHIELD remind him of them? He was going to get his answers. Not from SHIELD, but from Izel. They just needed to reach the beacon. Once he activated it, these crystals should replicate the signal that calls out to her. He wasn’t exactly sure how he knew this would work, but he knew it would. She would heed the crystals calling. They just needed to Spark to power it. He’d get his answers to all of his questions just before he took the life from her, just like her monster stole the life from that woman, Melinda.

Chapter Text

The scene in River’s End was terrible. Shrike were tearing through the sky, swarms of them looking black clouds of death preying on the poor souls trying to seek shelter from the creatures onslaught. To make matters worse, buildings weren’t safe long, as the creatures would just force their way through seeking to find a host to infect.
“Holy crap, Mack,” Daisy gasped as she was a shrike swoop down, quaking it into a building before it could grab a woman who had dropped to the ground screaming in absolute terror. “How are we supposed to stop this?”
“You keep your mouths closed and keep blasting those things back to hell,” Mack ordered, firing his shotgun axe at the nearing shrike as it spiraled onto the ground screaming with its right wing mostly severed, leaving a trail of black blood as squirmed.
“So we just hit them with our powers and what?” Ruby questioned, instinctively crushing a shrike with a gravity warp as it flew toward her.
“We hope for a miracle,” Mack’s tone was not nearly as optimistic as he probably had hoped.

Fitz stood over the table. He was livid. Twice now Enoch had taken Jemma from him, this time however, he fully intended to get her back. He slammed his fist on the table, gazing furiously at the autopsied shrike. What made this thing tick? What about that dagger stopped it dead in its tracks? Typically being impaled would stop anything, but the insides of this creature made no sense to him. No discernible organs, just black ooze. Almost as if everything inside of it simply turned to mush. That wasn’t possible was it?
He looked at the screen showing the analysis of the blade. No known poisons. This is where Jemma would excel.
Fitz slung his chair down, running his hands through his hair as he began pacing. “Damned dependency,” Fitz froze. Not even a breath escaped him at the sound of his darker alter ego. “If only you’d take a page from my book and do your own work, maybe things would run a little more efficiently here?”
“You aren’t real,” Fitz broke his silence, pacing around the lab feeling the cold sweat taking hold of him.
“Who’s to say you aren’t the aberration?”
“You’re from the Framework,” Fitz tried to be firm.
“Some more ephemeral than corporeal,” the Doctor interjected, examining the body of the deceased Shrike with contempt. “Yet, here we both stand.” He slammed the blueish blade into the creature leaving at a loss for comprehension.

“What do you mean we’re saving Sarge?” Mick barged into the cockpit and questioned as the Zephyr flew at high speed. May had only explained pieces, she wasn’t sure why, but she believed Sarge was Coulson from a different universe. Much like Lincoln, Tripp, Ward, and Samantha; so it wasn’t that much of a stretch to believe such a thing. But how could that ruthless brute be any affiliation to Coulson? There had to be more to this story.
“There’s more to him,” May said firmly. “I’m not sure how deep it goes, but I have a feeling that we can save him.”
“May he stabbed me,” Mick argued. “From the sounds of it, he’s killed who knows how many people.”
“Does that means that part of Coulson’s not worth saving?” May questioned as Mick wasn’t sure what she meant.
“No, of course I want to,” Mick tried to see the positive. Could Sarge really be a replacement for Coulson? What did May see in him during her interrogation? “I get he looks like him, but the guy’s mind is a monster.”
“He called my name, and Skye’s,” May stated as Mick looked at her skeptically. “Granted, after I slammed his head on the desk, but the way he said it. It was like a memory or something triggered. I can’t explain it, but I know I felt the good in him. It’s just buried under the callused shell.”
“Huh,” Mick looked at May, knowing now exactly what she meant. Of course a glimmer of hope under a callused shell would make her want to save him. That is her. But was this because May actually saw a glimmer of hope, or because she just missed Coulson so much? “I want Coulson back too. God knows we could use a flicker of hope right about now.”
“I’ve got a bead on the quinjet! Based on the sat feed, they’re heading to a wide open field with a massive tower like structure,” Ward’s voice over the comms interrupted the solemn moment.
“Should make landing easier,” May said as she checked the small screen showing the distance between them and the target. “Be ready for anything.”
“Right,” Mick was quite unsure of himself the closer they drew.

The Doctor examined the vile creature as Fitz watched in awe, wondering what the sadistic man could desire. He pulled the blade, looking at the ink like blood dripping off of it, then wiped it with a cloth. His eyes fixed on the blade, raising his brow as he looked at Fitz and back at the blade.
“Did you make this?”
“No,” Fitz stated.
“Didn’t think so,” the Doctor sneered. “Is it alien?”
“It came from someone who’s supposedly been across the galaxies,” Fitz replied as the doctor continued his focus on the blade rather than the Shrike. Fitz recalled when the Doctor persona took over and he removed the inhibitor from Daisy, that it was because he was the only one that could do what needed to be done, could that be what was happening now?
“Do you believe him?” The Doctor asked.
“After all I’ve seen, I don’t doubt him,” Fitz replied as the Doctor looked intrigued.
“Are you really so willing to work with me to get Jemma back?” The Doctor looked at Fitz with contempt.
“I would do anything for her,” Fitz said firmly. “Even if it meant becoming like you.”
“Interesting,” the Doctor raised his brow. He then flicked the blade, holding it to his ear with a grim smirk. “That’s hauntingly beautiful.”
“What?” Fitz reached for the blade. He sipped forward onto the desk, realizing it had truly all been in his head.
“Any luck?” Deke walked into the lab seeing Fitz a little flustered and pale.
“Hush,” Fitz flicked the blade, hearing the strange siren like song radiating from it. “It can’t be that easy.”
“What can’t?” Deke asked as Fitz hushed him again.
“The blade produces vibrations?” Fitz questioned in excitement. “Make yourself useful and help me run some test! We need results yesterday!”
“Yes, Sir?” Deke scrambled as Fitz point at a computer and began yelling out figures to plug in.

Things were beginning to get desperate in Rivers End, Daisy and Ruby were quite worn out, even Yo-yo was struggling. They had to keep pushing though, they couldn’t leave any civilians to be infected by these beasts. Another wave of Shrikes began to slam into a building, which indicated there were more civilians.
“I can’t” Ruby panted as her arms throbbed with the idea of trying to blast the shrikes.
“We can’t quit now,” Daisy patted her on the back trying hard to encourage her. She knew full and well that Ruby probably had peaked with her powers and would be in full exhaustion if she pushed any further. It was pretty amazing she’d done so well without any major accidents so far.
A shrike swooped down, Daisy blasted it into the side of the building, causing it to shriek under the debris as it crashed to the ground. She ran to Ruby’s side, as the poor girl was too exhausted to stand. “We can’t stay here, that thing is going to explode into deadly crystal spikes,” Daisy pulled at Ruby who was struggling to get her body to cooperate through her fatigue.
“Go without me, I can’t keep going,” Ruby muttered as Daisy shook her head. She continued pulling Ruby, hoping to get just out of range of the crystals for when the screams stopped.
“Mack! Ruby and I are probably about to be trapped on Ferris,” she said on the coms, quite calmly all things considered.
“We’ve got help incoming,” Mack said, his voice full of hope. “Everyone fall back to the pinch point!”
“I don’t think we’re making it there,” Daisy repeated.
“Don’t give up hope yet,” an unfamiliar woman’s voice replied over the comms. “We’ve got a bead on Johnson and Hale. Sending in the Shield now.”
“Copy,” Mack replied as Daisy looked up seeing a heavily armed quinjet tearing through swarms of shrikes, dissolving them in midair. The screaming stopped as something heavy fell in front of her just as the screaming stopped. She braced herself over Ruby, hoping to stop the crystal from impaling the girl.
Something heavy slammed into her, but it was warm, felt human like. She waited a moment before moving just in case. She turned to see Captain America kneeling with his shield held firm before him and the shattered black crystals of the shrike ending where they met the star spangled vibranium shield.
“You girls ok?” He pushed his shield forward, making sure the crystals weren’t a threat anymore.
“Yeah,” Daisy said in disbelief. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Mack said it was pretty urgent, and urgent usually calls for Avengers,” Steve said as he looked at Ruby who was pretty worn down.
“How did you know your shield would shatter that things crystal?” Daisy asked seeing the crystals piercing into the building around them.
“Your friend Fitz seemed pretty confident shrike are weak to vibration,” Steve shrugged. “Vibranium can handle that.”
Daisy looked intrigued. Her powers worked off vibrations, did that mean she could shatter the shrike all together? She needed to get into contact with Fitz to get the exact pitch. With that, surly she could put an end to the shrike over River’s End. “I’ll carry the girl, you lead the way, surely between the two of us, we can reach the pinch point, right?” Steve asked as Daisy nodded. Mick would be so jealous if he knew she was working with Captain America right now, and if they got out of this, she was going to be sure to let him know.

Sarge’s machine did look like a giant laser yet there was something un-intimidating about it as well, but how in the world had he managed to assemble this thing without them realizing it? Was it able to be cloaked like it truck? Was that somehow here too? Or did he move it using one of those transporter things like when he escaped the jewelry store? Mick shook his head as he followed May and Ward as they snuck their way forward. It was clear Sarge and his crew hadn’t been here very long, there was a lot of yelling and hectic movement.
“I don’t think the machine is operational,” Ward said as he watched Pax running around with Snow plugging in giant wires as a team, while Jaco did it almost effortlessly.
“I think you’re right,” May said as she seemed to be plotting. “We need to strike now while they’re all distracted, or else this could get ugly.”
“Stealth?” Ward suggested.
“That would be ideal, but I don’t see Lincoln,” Mick looked around very nervous. “I have a feeling that if he’s on guard duty, that’s off the table.”
“I also don’t see Sarge anywhere,” May said plainly.
“That either means they could be busy finishing up on the top end of the machine,” Ward started. “Or they’re expecting us.”
“You think you can hold it together to neutralize Lincoln?” May’s words were always so harsh and blunt, yet Mick knew they were well meaning.
“All else fails, it’s two overcharged batteries fighting on some kind of electrically powered laser, what could possibly go wrong, right?” Mick shrugged as Ward and May both looked at him stone faced. “I’ll try and suppress my electrical powers and just stick with what I know, jeez. Have a little faith in me.”
“So we’re going with Plan A and go with ICER’s,” May reinforced. “If things go south, we do what we have to do to survive. It’s just us three, no reinforcements. Don’t forget, we want Sarge alive.”
Ward planned to work his way up the old fashioned way, while Mick planned to use webs to slip up to an overhang with webs. May was a fan of the idea, so she followed. Once they reached the overhang they laid low, hearing Pax and Snow bickering about how terrible things were going to get once they turned the machine on. He was convinced that Izel wasn’t going to show, and just her hoards of monsters, Snow was slightly more optimistic. May motioned him forward, when Mick frozen in place. He felt it, an electric pulse. The hairs across his body stood on end.
“He know’s we’re here,” Mick mouthed as May looked at him slightly confused, while he repeated. Another pulse, this one slightly stronger. May must’ve seen the reaction on Mick’s face.
“Lincoln,” she whispered and Mick nodded. Seconds later, the radio’s on Pax and Snow’s side confirmed what May and Mick feared.
“We’ve got a few uninvited guest to our party,” Sarge’s voice was cold and harsh. “Do not let them mess this up, we’ve only got one chance to end this. It launches in ten minutes.”
“Do you think they’ll become beautiful butterflies?” Snow twirled a hook-ended knife in her hands as Pax looked quite uneasy.
“You do know they don’t all become butterflies, right?” He said to her disdain.
“Why don’t we find out on you?” She threatened as he backed down quickly.
“Believe whatever you want," he turned away before he mouthed the word psycho.

“You take him, I’ll deal with the psycho,” May said as Mick nodded. Less stressful taking out the lazy guy than the crazy knife girl, less likely his powers would accidentally go off. “On my mark, move.” May slipped around the corner as Pax resumed working on wiring up the machine while Snow went to scope out the area. May then gave the signal, disappearing around the corner leaving Mick to deal with Pax on his own. He pulled the ICER from his belt, lined up his shot, steadied his finger when the tower shook.
“Ten minutes already?” Pax looked up, then noticed Mick behind him. “Oh boy, if I don’t get this wired up properly and the Boss fires up this thing, we’re all going up in smoke. Might want to consider that before pulling that trigger.”
Mick looked at Pax skeptically, who then raised his hands, daring him to shoot an unarmed man and find out. “What’s this thing do?”
“It’s a beacon. With the crystals we stole, it’ll simulate the signature of this space rock thing that witch Izel has been chasing across the universe.”
“What?” Mick looked just as confused as Pax.
“All you need to know is she’s after this rock that’ll give her the power she needs to awaken a universe ending monster.”
Mick’s mind wondered briefly, then the tower shook again. “So Izel will be drawn here?”
“Yes, her and the hoard of monsters. The Boss is planning on on ending her as soon as she arrives.”
Mick was so torn on what to do, should he believe this, and stop Izel, who both Ward and Lincoln warned as a major threat, or should he stop Sarge who he knew to be a threat? “What about the shrikes? How are you guys going to deal with that?”
“Supposedly when she dies, her monsters die,” Pax said, but he didn’t seem nearly so sure about that as he’d like to be.
“May’s going to be ticked,” Mick grunted. “Let’s get this done before I change my mind.”
The building shook as Mick and Pax shared a look of concern, then a thud came from behind them. “What is that about?”
“Pre-show,” Sarge’s voice startled Mick. “Don’t let me slow you down. If you’re going to work, by all means, do it.” Sarge pointed a pistol at Mick as he reached for his ICER, then smiled grimly. “Just you wait until the fireworks go off. You’ll really want that gun then.”

Ward followed behind Jaco, waiting for the opportune moment to take down the giant of a man, but the way he was moving, almost as if this whole thing were a set up. Could Sarge really be playing that big of a chess game with them? He was always one move ahead of them back home. It was like he knew every way they’d attempt to apprehend him before they could strike. It was that moment of thought that cost him, Jaco slammed Ward’s torso with a heavy steel canister, sending him crashing into the railing. He barely caught himself before slipping over, moving as Jaco tossed the canister at him.
“You really shouldn’t be here,” Jaco warned. “At least it’ll all be over soon.”
“Yeah, when we stop this crazy train,” Ward started at Jaco, who took in a deep breath, causing Ward to look slightly concerned about what was about to happen. Jaco then exhaled, and fiery smoke flew from his mouth, Ward barely rolling out of the way, it melting the railing and metals it touched. “You actually breathe fire? Neat trick.” Ward tried opening fire at Jaco, several ICER’s hitting him, only for Jaco to look at the impact area’s at raise his brow. He then looked back at Ward who was now slightly more concerned. “ICER’s don’t affect giants, noted.”
Jaco ran at Ward, who cracked his knuckles ready for an interesting bout of hand to hand combat with a man who could triple his size.

May followed Snow around the corner, but it was clear she was much more perceptive than Pax. She spun around using the corner to jump out of May’s reach, May narrowly avoiding the blade as she slashed. The two women kicked at each other, May quite impressed with Snow’s combat prowess. She’s clearly been trained, but it wasn’t going to be enough. She was far too reliant on that knife in her hand. May used that weakness to her advantage, disarming the girl, then slamming her into the wall. She staggered backward, trying to reorient when May lunged, pausing only when she heard clapping.
May turned to see Sarge standing there, quite amused at this little skirmish. “Finish her off, she’s clearly not worth keeping around if she can’t pull her weight.”
“You don’t mean that,” May said as Snow leaned against the wall, still reeling from the head injury. “She’s part of your crew. Your crew is like your family.”
“That may be how it was for that Coulson people you knew, but for me, everyone is expendable,” Sarge said as May shook her head in disbelief.
“I don’t believe you,” May said as she started forward, prepared to attack him, forcing head trauma is what made him say her name and Skye’s name before. “I’ve heard you crying out names that didn’t sound expendable.”
“Yet, you don’t see those people anywhere around me, do you?” Sarge glared. This infuriated May. She rushed at Sarge, he smiled. This is clearly what he wanted.

The tower began shaking wildly, wires sparking as Pax began to move frantically. “He’s about to set it off,” Pax said almost remorsefully. “It’s about to get crazy. Please tell me you have actual ammunition in that thing.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Mick said as he stood up. Pax was right, the electricity was buzzing around in the wires. Lincoln was powering up the device. If he were going to stop this, this would be the only chance. He wrestled hard with what to do, begging anyone, even God for some form of clarity. The buzzing grew louder, his heartbeat faster.
There was a massive blast of energy, the machine began vibrating wildly. He needed to find May and Ward. Whatever was happening, they needed to leave now. “May, Ward, come in!” He called over the comms.
“Little busy right now,” Ward called out, sounding as if he were struggling.
“We’re about to be busier,” Mick replied, then stared in shock as he watched May roll across the ground as Sarge chased after her.
“You might want to save that energy,” Snow said as she pointed up at the beam of light in the sky. “They’ll be here soon.”
“What about you guys?” Mick asked.
“It’s our job to protect the beacon until the witch is dead,” Snow said. “How’s Flicker holding up?” She spoke into her radio.
“I’m fine. You guys need to hurry up and get in positions,” Lincolns’ voice was oddly reminiscent of the one he knew. Heroic, brave, valiant, frustrating.
“Where’s May and Sarge going?” Ward’s voice caught Mick by surprise, he seemed much less stressed now.
“Not sure,” Mick replied. “But I’m going to follow them. I have a very bad feeling about all of this.”

It felt like only moments before the sky darkened. Countless shrikes began swirling around the beam of light, like moths to the flame. The entirety of the field was only lit by the pale light emitting from the machine, leaving Mick to draw his saber and ignite it, just to feel a little better. Shrikes began attacking the tower, gunfire could be heard, yet there was no sign of Sarge, no sign of May. Ward grabbed Mick’s shoulder, as a way of communication over the deafening shrieking.
“Come in May, we need to rethink this plan,” Mick tried in vain to speak over the droning from the shrikes.
“Maybe we grab the Zephyr and force our way out?” Ward suggested directly into Mick’s ear.
“We can’t leave without May, and she’s not leaving without Sarge,” Mick replied.
“I don’t think they were planning on coming back from this Mick,” Ward said as Mick nodded. “Based on how things went with Jaco, once we realized we both want to stop Izel, he made it pretty clear, they’re ending things here, one way or another.”
“That’s what I gathered from Pax too,” Mick frowned.

A large electrical surge forced them to stagger, leaving Mick quite concerned as he looked back toward the tower. The beam of light flickered. “Lincoln!” Mick called out as a powerful shockwave erupted, and the tower began to collapse. The shockwave send Ward and Mick flying back into the field as waves of energy pulsed over them.

May stood beside Sarge as Izel descended before them on a chariot made of her shrikes. She seemed quite alive for a woman that went sky diving without a ‘chute out the back of the Zephyr, curtesy of Cori and her electrical powers, not all that long ago. May simply locked eyes with her, watching Izel glance curiously between Sarge and herself.
“Now where have I seen this before?” She taunted as Sarge clutched at his head, pain filling his face as his left eye twitched. “Do you remember anything at all? Or is it still blind hatred of me?”
“Shut up!” Sarge brandished his blade. “You’re nothing but deceit and lies. It all ends here!” He started to lunge at her.
“You can’t kill me,” she smiled grimly, Sarge stopping, the blade inches from her chest. “You feel that, deep inside you, don’t you?”
Sarge pulled back, a look of deep confusion washed over him. Why did he stop? He had the kill strike, she wasn’t even going to retaliate!
“All this time, I’ve been wondering, how did you do it,” she stalked around Sarge as he shook his head, something inside him was stirring, something that wasn’t connected to him. Something fierce, terrifying, evil. “How could you take down my most fierce warrior, my love? You, a Terran.”
Sarge looked at his sword, he started to swing it at her, again stopping just inches from impact. What was holding him back? Why couldn’t he finish the swing?
“Don’t worry my love, soon we’ll be together again,” Izel said as the tower behind them exploded. “I felt the Di'Allas, it’s close to those SHIELD Agents. We just need them to take us to them. Just a little longer.” The shockwave blasted through the area, May reached for Sarge, slamming into the ground with incredible force.

Chapter Text

Steve and Natasha walked with Mack as they offered aid to the displaced citizens of River’s End. While they weren’t actually inside the Lighthouse base of operations, the top side structure was quite sizable as a shelter. It was a great relief that the Shrike that all but vanished from the area, but why was the bigger concern. Did it have something to do with May’s team? Were they okay? There was nothing but radio silence from them, but they were on a capture mission, so perhaps they were still in pursuit.
“Did I really get carried by Captain America?” Ruby murmured as she started to wake after passing out in her exhaustion.
“Yeah,” Daisy smiled.
“Can I embellish on that story when I tell it?” She smiled mischievously.
“It’s your story,” Daisy leaned against the wall, relieved that she had a small break in action. Ruby then began to weave a very embellished story about how Steve saved her, they shared a look, and how he heroically carried her with his surprisingly large muscles and soft affectionate grip. It was right up a teenage girl’s fantasy, that was for sure. The only thing that could’ve made it more fantastical was it being Thor, all thought that probably would’ve had both Ruby and Daisy swooning.
“You were pretty brave out there,” Steve said as Ruby looked down and blushed. It was rather humorous, more so ironic given her Hydra background.
“You’re pretty amazing too,” she mumbled, almost inaudibly.
“Mack wanted to see you, there’s an update on the strike team,” Steve said as Daisy perked up. “I figured you knew what that meant.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on things here,” Natasha said with a grin as she helped Daisy up.

Mick’s eyes fluttered open, debris from the tower was everywhere. Oddly enough the Shrike were gone, the sky was clear. His head was pounding, he tried to move, only to realize how sore he was. “Ward, May?”
“Mick?” Ward’s voice was a slight relief. Mick turned to see Ward just a few feet away, clearly in just as much a haze as he was. “You okay?”
“Bruised, but fine,” Mick replied, looking back at the crater where the tower was. He clenched his fist. They sacrificed themselves in order for Sarge to have a shot as Izel, there was no way around it. Nothing could survive that blast, if had a nuclear feel to it. “We need to see if he killed Izel, that was the point of all of this.”
“Right,” Ward helped Mick to his feet. “Do you have a link to comms?”
Mick then tapped his ear, realizing he dropped his piece at some point during the chaos. He reached in his pocket, pulling his phone to see the shattered screen then groaned. “We’re on our own.”
“Just like New Orleans then?” Ward popped his neck, it took Mick a minute to figure out what Ward was talking about. “You don’t remember?”
“Can’t say I do,” Mick said as Ward frowned.
“We were sent to shut down a rebellion, they nearly destroyed the city with crude explosives that were meant to be in missiles that would’ve been launched at Hydra base. Had to escape as the city essentially sank into the river,” Ward explained as Mick’s ability to recall the most of the memories from the Framework had become rather hazy over the last few months.
“Sorry man,” Mick said as Ward shrugged it off.
“I can’t expect you to hold on to two lives worth of memories,” Ward remarked. “Let’s find see if we can find May and get out of here.”

A few moments of searching through the debris, the duo located Sarge’s unconscious body, then May. Both were slightly bruised, but came to fairly quickly.
“Where’s Izel?” Mick asked glaring at Sarge, as if to dare him to try anything.
“She was here, I had her dead to rights,” he started to explain, then looked through the rubble, finding the obsidian blade he carried on his side close by where he had been sitting. He reached for his head, wincing in pain as he clearly struggled to recall what happened next.
“She’s gone,” May interjected. “She and her monsters vanished in the explosion.”
“Gone, as in dead?” Ward asked for clarification.
“Vanished before my eyes. Whatever that explosion was, she simply vanished,” May explained harshly. “Think you can fly us back to base?” May looked at Ward expectantly.
“I’m sure I can,” Ward replied taking note of the strange look on Mick’s face.
“Good,” May said rubbing her temples. “I’ve got an incredible headache. I’m going to rest for a bit. Don’t crash my jet.”
“Right,” Mick replied, staring skeptically. “Let’s hope the Zephyr survived this whole ordeal.” Mick looked at Ward who leaned toward him as if he knew that Mick had something he wanted to say in private. “Something isn’t right. I’m calling base once we get back to let Mack know. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Got it,” Ward nodded.

Fitz’s hands trembled as he sat on his bed. His mind whirled about, every which turn landed back on one thing, rescue Jemma. He didn’t care if the team handled the shrikes, he didn’t care if Sarge was killed or left alive, all he wanted was to save his wife. How though? He couldn’t pilot the Zephyr, autopilot wouldn’t be any help without knowing where she was to begin the search. May wasn’t going to abandon the mission, he wasn’t about to trust another Ward. Mack wouldn’t abandon SHIELD, so there went his list of trusted pilots.
He brushed his hands over his face, a part of him could solve this problem. A part of him wouldn’t be slowed down at all. “No,” Fitz barked clenching his muscles tightly. “I am not the Doctor, I don’t have to be him.” His voice was shaking, just like every other time these thoughts haunted him. It strengthened him, giving him the resolve he needed last time Jemma was missing, but now, she wasn’t whisked through time, just space. He’d overcome that obstacle once already. “Jemma, give me a sign, something anything. I’ll tear apart the whole universe if I have to. Just tell me how to find you.”
A brief moment and there was a rippling of matter in the corner of the room, Fitz reached for the pistol he kept in the desk drawer for emergency purposes. The rippling then flashed and before him stood the female chronicom, Atarah stood before him. “You are Leopold Fitz, husband of Jemma Fitz. Am I correct?”
“I am,” Fitz kept the gun pointed at her, not willing to take any chances after their last encounter.
“Is it true that you are a brilliant scientist?”
“I am well versed,” Fitz replied, unsure now of where this conversation was heading, or why she was complementing him in such a way.
“Enoch has sent me to warn you of the dire circumstances you face. The Chronicoms are seeking after the key to saving our planet. I do not believe these motives are as pure as they are letting on, because if I am understand correctly; Our planet is doomed to die by the hands of the being known as Izel in the year 2091. If in fact we need just a key to save our planet then we had no need for your mate, the time traveler.”
“My friends are planning to end Izel, so that should save your planet,” Fitz said harshly.
“This is another point Enoch brought before the council, and yet they have persisted in this time travel pursuit,” Atarah explained.
“We don’t know how to time travel, and the times we’ve been forced to were because of a monolith that’s been destroyed by another chronicom that tried to save us from an explosion that tore open a worm hole to the fear dimension!” Fitz argued.
“And there is no other means of time travel you are aware of?” Atarah asked as Fitz shook his head.
“Enoch used the rock to send them forward, and then used the same rock to send them back,” Fitz frowned. “It was a loop, they left on a set date, returned on a set date. Supposedly it kept cycling through until we changed enough to break the cycle. Even then, I believe that loop timeline was really just multiple branches that were just oddly similar until we broke free creating a new branch while the other still existed in a parallel.”
“So a multiverse?” Atarah asked as Fitz shrugged.
“I wrestled with the concept, but after all of this, I believe so,” Fitz admitted. “But how does all of that apply to Jemma?”
“That I am not sure,” Atarah seemed to show signs of remorse, which weren’t usual for a chonicom.
“Atarah the hunter, I never would’ve thought you as a traitor to Sibyl’s order,” a male’s voice voice echoed through the room just before a flash appeared beside Atarah.
“Traitor?” She gasped as the man quickly grabbed her. “I am no traitor!” She struggled to break free, although it seemed in vain by the strength of the assailant.
He snapped her neck, dropping her body as his feet before stepping on her lifeless body. “Leopold Fitz, if you wish to see Jemma Fitz alive, then you will find the key to the future. Use this beacon to let me know once you have it and we will bring you Jemma in exchange.”
“How?” Fitz started as the man reached down picking up Atarah’s lifeless body and placing it on his shoulder.
“The opportunity will present itself soon enough. Do not fail us Leopold Fitz,” the man said in a grim tone as he vanished, leaving Fitz standing alone with the gun in hand in one hand and the strange metal cylindrical device with the black button in the other.
“Here you stand at the crossroads Leopold,” he heard the doctors grim voice taunting him in the back of his mind. “We take what is ours, no matter the cost, or you can suffer trying to figure out another solution.”
“I,” Fitz stammered as he slumped down on his bed, staring at the the devices in his hands. “I’ll save you Jemma, no matter what it costs.”

Sarge laid amongst the chaos, the raging black leathery skinned monster snarling around above him. He rolled away from his powerful swipe. His claw seemed to snag on rebar from a collapsed wall, but it refused to slow down, ripping back its powerful arm, snapping the nail from its hand then continuing its assault all while Izel laughed grimly. The child in his arms screaming as Izel began to sing in an odd tone, one that caused his vision to blur, almost as if it were trying to seize control over his mind. The monster’s claw broke him free of his trance, gashing his chest, his body crashing to the ground near the rebar and its broken claw.
He could feel it, this wound was going to kill him, but he wasn’t going to die alone. He grabbed the claw piece, unsure how this could work, but it was the only shot he had. The beast lunged, he pulled in his left side. He used every ounce of strength he had slamming the broken claw into the neck of the beast. It stood upright, staggering backwards with a roar. Black blood poured from its neck, catching the attention of Izel.
“What have you done?” She screamed as she looked at the monster in horror, then back at Sarge. “Use this thing to recover!” She held up the crying child by the back of her neck as the beast’s eyes shot to her. Sarge’s heart dropped. He already lost his wife, he wasn’t about to lose his daughter too. He forced himself forward, adrenaline coursing through his veins. The beast began to glow as it reached out for her. The two bodies collided, Izel screamed out in rage, there was a crunch. Skye’s crying stopped. Her body fell to the ground, landing beside her lifeless mother, their faces both looked at peace as Sarge’s vision started to fade.
He felt darkness surrounding him. A great evil trying to consume him. It wasn’t strong though, it was very weak, as if it were clinging to life. “Be strong for us,” he heard Melinda’s voice. “Please, you have to live for us.” He could see her holding their daughter wrapped in a veil of light. He so badly wanted to join them. “Phillip, if you don’t stop her, she’ll just do it again. You’re the only one who can stop her.”
“Don’t leave me,” he said weakly. “Please don’t leave me.”

His eyes opened to see the inside of another holding cell, darkness and rage filled his mind. So that’s who those two were. That’s what he’d repressed all this time, Sargent Phillip Coulson of STRIKE. He was a failed hero carrying the weight of the monster he was supposed to have killed. That’s why he couldn’t kill her. The monster inside him wouldn’t let him. At least now he knew that monster could die. Even if it meant he had to die, someone else could kill Izel, he’d destroy her heart just like she destroyed his. Now, how could he convey this message? If Pachakutiq could infect him, he would bet money Izel could do the same thing. It did explain a little more how she eluded him so easily, she just found a new body to inhabit until she could escape. It had to be how after so many different planets he chased her to considered her a weapon and not a person.
She was in the field with him, she promised that beast inside him that they’d be together soon. So she’d have to be someone close by. One of these SHIELD agents more than likely. He didn’t know them good enough to test them. He’d just have to watch, wait for an opening. If she was going to haunt him, she’d make sure she could do it from somewhere she could see him squirm.
Sarge watched the agents around him like a hawk, the smaller boy with the electrical powers would be a good candidate as Izel could use his powers to force others to do her bidding, but only if she knew he had them. The beefier guy was flying, so he probably wasn’t her host, then there was the one that looked like his dead wife reincarnate. She was there when he tried to kill Izel, that would be the perfect body to torment him with after all of these years. Sarge closed his eyes, refusing to give Izel the satisfaction of seeing his frustration.

Daisy stood by with Piper, Davis, Cori, and Deke as the Zephyr touched down in the bay. It had been a while since it had this many scratches and dings, which made her more grateful that they even made it back. Piper and Davis met Mick on the ramp, securing Sarge while Cori and Deke took May from Ward off to medical for an evaluation.
“Must’ve hit her head pretty hard, huh?” Daisy asked as Mick didn’t take his eyes off of May until she was out of sight.
“He’s convinced that that explosion did something to her,” Ward explained.
“She couldn’t tell me what happened with Sarge, she can’t tell me what happened to Izel other than she just vanished, she didn’t fly us back because she had a headache,” Mick said Daisy’s expression agreed something was off.
“Maybe it’s just shellshock?” Ward suggested.
“Not from May,” Daisy said. “Her giving up flying the Zephyr for a headache is like McDonald’s giving up the Big Mac.”

Cori and Deke made their way to medical where Fitz stood waiting with a cranial scanner ready to go. May stumbled as she entered the room, Deke reached down grabbing her arm. There was a brief pause between the two as May stood up, looking around as if she were lost.
“Headache getting worse?” Cori asked.
“I guess?” May took a breath trying not to get frustrated.
“Let me scan you and make sure there’s nothing serious, then Cori can finish the rest of the exam,” Fitz stated.
May willingly laid on the table while Fitz did his scan. She tried to recall the last few moments, but all she could remember was being in the field with Sarge and Izel, seeing him so close to stabbing her, then the explosion. After that everything was blank until she came to when Deke caught her. Even some of her worst head injuries never left that big of a gap, there were always lucid moments in between black outs.
“Everything looks fine, must’ve just been a heavy blast,” Fitz suggested. “Granted, I’m not that good at this, and it’s more Jemma’s thing, but she’s currently off in space with murderous robots.”
“We’ll get her back,” May said firmly as Fitz nodded.
“You boy can leave now, I’ll do my best to finish up the exam,” Cori said as Deke shrugged, walking out without a word leaving Fitz to raise a brow as he walked out behind him. He watched him for a moment the oddness of Deke’s silence bothered him, but then he shook his head thinking it best to not bother with whatever was going on with that. He had enough of a crisis to deal with, getting involved with his future git of a grandson was just far too much.

Mack sat in his office, sorting through the debriefs with Natasha and Steve sitting opposite of his desk. It was a complicated mess, one that if you weren’t affiliated with SHIELD you’d never believe. Several people from a computer simulated reality now existing in the place of people that were once dead from our reality, two individuals from who knows what reality both of which are tying to kill each other, one may or may not have succeeded. Then two individuals from the future, in which they have no clue how to send back, and one agent that has been abducted to space by humanoid robots that have apparently been dwelling on our planet for a while.
“So how soon are you going to have me disavowed and committed?” Mack grunted as Natasha smirked.
“Sounds like a typical Tuesday afternoon under Director Fury to me,” she teased.
“You’re doing fine, Director,” Steve said warmly. “Now that it seems like the Izel threat is handled, what’s next on your list.”
“Well, we need Agent Simmons, er, Fitz. She’s vital to operation,” Mack said thinking back to all of the amazing work Jemma had done over the years.
“What would we need to get her back?” Steve asked calmly.
“That I don’t know,” Mack frowned. “Both Ruby and Fitz mentioned they wanted the key to the future and time travel, but none of us who traveled through time did it willingly, like I told you before, it was all the monoliths. We had no control over it, we just had to be there when the things opened up.”
“And they’re gone now,” Natasha asked as Mack nodded.
“Sealed up by a device Fitz designed to close the rift to the Fear Dimension,” Mack leaned back in his chair, looking over at the computer monitor that scrolled between various feeds of the security system of the Lighthouse. He looked curiously as he saw Deke making his way toward the quarantined area of the basement.
“Problem?” Steve asked as Mack started to stand reaching into his desk for the ICER he kept beside his standard handgun.
“Could be,” Mack replied, holstering the ICER to his belt. “Can we put this meeting on hold just a little longer?”
“Do you want us to assist?” Steve offered.
“Nah, for all I know it’s a practical joke gone wrong,” Mack stated as Natasha raised her brow.
“And you pack heat for that?” She questioned.
“It’s a knock out gun, and trust me, if I was really concerned, this would be coming with me,” Mack pointed at his shotgun axe set in a wall mount to his right.

Mick reached the hospital wing, just as May stepped out. He glared at her and she glared right back. It was the exact reaction he’d expect from May, but he couldn’t take the chance. “Why’d you let Ward fly us back?”
“I let him?” May was just as confused as Mick, which bothered him even more.
“You don’t remember?” Mick said as May shook her head. “You said you had too much of a head ache to fly.”
“And you were stupid enough to buy that?” May’s eyes narrowed. “Did you have eyes on Izel to confirm her death?”
“No,” Mick shook his head as May clenched her fists. “You insisted she just vanished.” May then punched him. “What the heck?” Mick rubbed his shoulder where May hit him.
“We need to find Sarge now,” May ordered.

Ward and Sam followed Daisy as she went down to oversee Sarge’s medical evaluation delivery to his holding cell. He wasn’t about to escape again, and she knew first hand how manipulative he could be. He was oddly complaint, just silent. Perhaps remorseful over the loss of his entire squad? Or was he simply sizing up these new agents to find suitable replacements?
Everything was going well until Deke walked by. As he passed by, he and Sarge had quite the odd silent exchange. Deke then continued on without a word, Sarge fighting to break free of his confines. Ward and Daisy jumped in, grabbing an arm each, pulling Sarge back into the containment unit after he knocked the two agents down.
“What did he say?” Samantha asked as Sarge continued fighting against Ward and Daisy.
“That’s not who you think it is! She’s here!” Sarge belted out viciously.
“Stop, or I’m going to stop you!” Daisy warned as she looked at Ward.
“I have to stop her!” Sarge slammed Ward and Daisy backward into Sam, only for Daisy to recoil by blasting Sarge into the back of unit with a powerful quake.

Deke walked into the open area, staring at the damaged boxes with intrigue. There was a make shift containment unit housing a large glowing silvery orb. He looked at the door seeing his own reflection albeit slightly distorted. He approached the silvery orb, holding out his hand only for a spark to burn him.
“You ok there, Deke?” Mack asked, Deke pulling his hand away from the orb and turning to him. “Why don’t you back away from that and let me fix that burn up.”
“You should leave,” Deke’s voice was flat, yet distorted. Almost as if it were mixed with another.
“I don’t think I should,” Mack pulled the Icer from his waist. “I’d rather not shoot you, but I will if I have to.”
“Go ahead and try,” Deke threatened. Mack obliged, firing two shots, one into Deke’s left leg, then the other into his right shoulder. His body dropped with two blue flashes, where he stood was a woman, dressed in dark purple leather with fiery red hair in a pixie cut.
“Let me guess,” Mack said ready to fire again. “Izel?”
“The one and only,” she smiled grimly. “And now, you can help me. I need these to get to a special temple, and I need to do it without drawing too much attention to myself.”
“Like I would ever help you!” Mack opened fire, only for the shots to phase through her. He began to back away, trying to stay out of her reach.
“Mack!” He turned to she Yo-yo entering the room.
“That might do well,” Izel taunted as she took note of Yo-yo’s prosthetic hands.
“You’re not gettin near her!” Mack threatened as he fired at Izel once more now that she was no longer transparent. She surprisingly outran the shots, reaching Yo-yo and phasing into her body.
“Try and harm me now,” Yo-yo laughed darkly, only for Mack to clinch up. “You humans are so predictable. Never willing to harm one another to meet an end.” Yo-yo then walked back toward the chamber, grabbing the silvery orb, walking out as it’s sparking simply charred her prosthetic arms.
“What are you going to do to her after you get what you want?” Mack asked.
“Do you care about this woman?” Yo-yo looked at Mack with contempt. “If you truly care about her, then you’ll get us out of this place without drawing any attention to us.” Mack grimaced. He couldn’t let any harm come to Yo-yo, not after all of this.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Mack said deflated. “Just don’t hurt Elena.”

May and Mick arrived in holding just in time to see Daisy slam Sarge against the containment unit with a powerful quake. He dropped to the ground, his eyes glowing with a red hue. He started to lunge as Mick flung his arms forward encasing Sarge in a cocoon of webs as Ward pulled both Samantha and Daisy backward. It was a matter of seconds before Sarge tore free of the webs, snarling with an unearthly tone.
“You have to kill me!” He was almost begging with heavy distortion in his tone. “If you don’t the beast will awaken! That’s what she wants!”
“No,” May shook her head. “There’s got to be another way.”
“Melinda you have to save Skye,” Sarge said his voice breaking through, sounding more like Coulson in this brief moment. “I can hold it back, take my blade and kill me. Please.”
“What did you say?” Daisy looked at Sarge, as May ran to his side.
“Melinda please, do it before it’s too late, don’t let that witch kill our baby,” Sarge pleaded as Daisy’s eyes widened at the pain in Sarge’s tone.
“See, I told you he’s in there. We can save him. We just have to figure out how,” May said, showing raw emotion with tears in her eyes. Mick stood, his eyes bouncing between Daisy and May, both of which were fighting back tears, and then Sarge as he convulsed in an inhumane manner before collapsing on the floor.

Chapter Text

“We can save him!” Daisy exclaimed, the two standing alone outside the medical room where Cori, Hope, and May were inside overseeing Sarge’s exam.
“Daisy, he stabbed me. Even if there’s a part of Coulson in that guy, it’s not our Coulson!” Mick argued.
“Isn’t a part of Coulson worth saving?”
“I’d give anything to have our Coulson back, but this guy isn’t him. There’s a monster inside him. You saw the beast in him awakening!” Mick pleaded as Daisy shook her head refusing to give way. “Look at what happened when Talbot got the Gravitonium and it corrupted his mind? What about Lash, did you forget about that monster hiding in plain sight? Do you really want to risk Sarge going all HIVE on us? What about your dad and the gruesome things he did with his Jeckyll and Hyde self.” The words slipped out in Mick’s fit of frustration. He watched as all of it hit her hard. “I’m sorry,” he started to reach for her, for her to pull rip her arm away.
“I’m going to find a way to save him,” Daisy spat. “Even if I have to go through hell on my own to do it.”

Mack plugged in the coordinates and the authorization keys into the quinjet, looking back to see Elena still infected with Izel’s spirit holding the silvery orb in one hand, stroking it with the other. “There, can you get out of here body now?”
“I don’t think I will just yet,” Izel stated, her voice and Elena’s overlapping. “She’ll still prove useful until we reach our destination. Less chance for another mutiny.”
“What do you think that thing is going to be able to do when you reach this temple?” Mack pondered, figuring she intended to kill him and Elena anyway. A smile crossed Elena’s face.
“I’m going to reshape the world,” Izel’s voice was alone, almost melodic. “I just need to find a way to reforge my Di’Allas.”
“Good luck with that, we don’t have anyone with powers to reforge rocks,” Mack said, slightly relieved that while Deke may have come from the future, Flint did not.

After being shunned by both May and Daisy thanks to his stance, he sought out Fitz, hoping that the brilliant scientist would side with him as well. Much to his surprise, Fitz and Deke were working on belts that emitted a low frequency in the lab. Seeing the two working together in silence, mostly by their mannerisms, it was clear that Deke heavily favored his grandfather.
“Life give you lemons?” Fitz asked as Mick nodded.
“The ladies are going crazy about this Sarge could be Coulson thing,” Mick sighed. “Didn’t Jemma do some kind of test on him while we had him?”
“Like a DNA test?” Deke asked. “Yeah, the two were practically identical, Sarge being slightly distorted due to his potential dimensional traveling.”
“You’re not helping,” Mick grunted.
“Science doesn’t lie,” Fitz said harshly. “Can you hear the vibration from this?” Fitz tapped a button on the buckle of the belt, holding it up to Mick’s ear. He looked at it wondering if he was supposed to hear something, shrugged, these shook his head. “Perfect.”
“What’s that for?” Mick asked.
“If we get attacked by Shrikes, it’ll keep them from infecting us,” Fitz stated bluntly. “Also, might prevent Izel from infecting you as well.”
“Excuse me?” Mick recoiled. “She infects people?”
“Well,” Fitz looked exasperated at Deke who clearly wanted to explain.
“I had a weird situation earlier. Remember when you guys came back and Agent May had to go to medical?” Mick nodded. “Well, she tripped, I caught her hand and everything gets all hazy. The next thing I remember is waking up in the basement with a killer headache and a bruise on my left leg and my right shoulder.”
“That is weird, but what does that have to do with Izel?” Mick asked as Fitz looked at Mick expectantly.
“What did May say happened to Izel?” Fitz asked as Mick’s eyes widened.
“Then why the heck haven’t you told anyone else?” Mick clenched his fists, clearly frantic.
“Mack went to handle it, said not to follow him until we had a few working,” Fitz replied calmly.
“And where is Mack now?” Mick asked as Deke and Fitz shook their heads, then began tinkering on a fifth and sixth belt. “Who else knows?”
“We only just found out through a relay that Mack and Yo-yo and Izel took a quinjet off base,” Deke said, leaving Mick feeling numb. “I believe a guy named Triplet was left in charge in case Mack doesn’t come back.”
“You’re really not helping,” Mick’s hands trembled. Now not only was Daisy and May in danger from dealing with the monster that was Sarge, but Izel can body snatch and has Mack and Yo-yo. Something had to be done, something drastic.
Mick fled the lab in frustration, his pessimism showing only the worst outcome; everyone dying a horribly painful death. “I’ll go through hell alone if I have to,” Daisy’s words echoed in his mind. It was then instinct and terrible choices took command. Hell, maybe that would be enough to handle the monster in Sarge? He just needed to find a way to get the monster there. Without realizing it, he was at Ward’s door.
“You look like you have a bad idea,” Ward smirked.
“Oh I do,” Mick said. “Might land us in hell if things go bad.”
“Sounds like a fun time,” Ward shrugged.
“Someone say fun?” Ruby asked leaning on the wall. “I could go for some fun.”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Mick said as Ward and Ruby both nodded. “We need to get to Los Angeles. Guy I’m looking for should be there.”
“If he wasn’t dusted,” Ruby frowned.
“Oh trust me, the guy we’re going after can’t be dusted,” Mick said confidently.

The slums of Los Angels were so much worse now, everything more run down, boarded windows, dead animals in the few windows of the homes were their owners must’ve been dusted.
“I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere this bad,” Ruby muttered as she saw a dog with skin clinging to its bones rummaging through a trash can.
“I doubt these poor people have even been checked on,” Mick’s remark was much harsher than he intended, but was probably true. Even they couldn’t be everywhere for everyone, no matter how hard they tried to get things cleaned up.
“Perks of being in the slums,” Ward stated as Mick slowed down, stopping the car at a small home where the grass even seemed to be dead. “You sure this is the place?”
Mick climbed out of the car, walking over to the garage, the black ‘69 Charger barely visible through the hazy windows. “Very sure.” Mick knocked on the door, holding one hand on his hilt of blade, ready to draw it, dependent on who answered. After a few moments of silence Mick knocked again, drawing looks of concern from Ward and Ruby.
“You never did tell us who we’re here for,” Ruby stated.
“Gabe, Robby, open up!” Mick slammed his fist on the door, Ruby now even more concerned by his frantic actions. “Either open up or I’m coming in!”
A loud demonic roar billowed from the house, then the door blasted forward, knocking Mick to the ground. The backside smoldering, and from the shadows of the house stood a silhouette with flames around the skull. Ward and Ruby pulled Mick from under the door as the monster stepped out, belting out another ear piercing roar.
He wore a white shirt, leather jacket, with a chain wrapped around his chest over his left shoulder, black jeans, and black military boots. “Robbie, it’s been a while,” Mick said as the monster simply growled.
“Ok, is this guy inhuman or something?” Ward asked.
“He’s something,” Mick left his weapon sheethted as Ghost Rider cracked his knuckles. “I didn’t come here to pick a fight. I came because I need both of your help.”
“Both?” Ruby asked skeptically.
“We’re tangled up with some kind of demon monster things, and I can only think of one person who can stop that kind of thing,” Mick said as Ghost Rider reached out grabbing his shirt lifting him off the ground. “I also wanted of offer condolences. I’m sorry you lost Gabe in the dusting.”
Ghost Rider screamed, throwing Mick out into the street, then reached up grabbing his head. “You must be desperate to come here.” Robbie Reyes’ voice helped ease some of the pain Mick felt.
“Guys, this is Robbie Reyes, you met his alter ego, Ghost Rider. We go back a bit,” Mick stood up shakily as Robbie looked at Ward and Ruby, then back at Mick. “I have a lot to fill you in on. Care to sit down? My heads throbbing.”

“What do you mean Mack and Yo-yo are missing?” May asked as Trip had gathered everyone into Mission Control.
“I lost contact with their quinjet, some where the Gulf near Central America. Mack’s been leaving bread crumbs for us, so I’m assuming he’ll get us something soon,” Trip sounded hopeful, but seemed rather doubtful.
“And he just left you in charge?” Daisy looked at Trip curiously.
“I do run SHIELD where I’m from,” Trip said smugly. “Well, did before Izel destroyed my world.”
“Director Trip did a really good job fighting against HYDRA,” Hope said clearly hoping that would ease up some of the tension.
“So how to we proceed with rescuing Mack and Yo-yo while also getting rid of Izel once and for all?” Samantha steered the focus back on mission.
“You guys made any headway with those disruption belts?” Trip looked to Fitz, Deke, and Cori.
“We’ve got seven that work,” Fitz said firmly.
“One that’s a little glitchy,” Deke added as Fitz glared at him, clearly asking why without having to utter a word. “It might come in handy in case we need more people.”
“Or it’ll get someone killed,” Fitz argued under his breath.
“What about the save zone protocol I asked about?” Trip looked at Hope.
“Zephyr One should be compatible,” she said as she brought a schematic over to Fitz, who looked it over briefly then nodded.
“So we’ll have six in the field, and amplify one?” Fitz asked as Trip nodded.
“I’ve lost enough to Izel, so if we can avoid anymore, I’d prefer that,” Trip said, he then pulled up a map on the main screen that showed one flashing green dot in California, and several red dots from New York down to the Gulf of Mexico. “This red line is where Director Mackenzie and Elena Rodriguez were last pinged. I believe there were heading somewhere in this region. Sammie, this is your thing.”
“So I have been researching your world, trying to learn as much as I can. I did look up Pachakutiq out of curiosity. Turns out there was some kind of deity worshiped in Central America that ancient Mayan built as a tribute to this deity,” she replied, highlighting the location of the temple on the map.
“It does seem like that could be where they’re going,” Daisy said looking at the map.
“Then we shouldn’t waste any more time,” May said. “Let’s go force her to take this monster out of Sarge.”
“What if that’s exactly what she wants?” Fitz asked harshly, drawing every eye to himself. “I’ve listened to the stories these two told about her, and what gathered some of what happened in your world,” Fitz motioned up toward Trip. “Even Sarge says she’s been looking for this Pachakutiq. Now that she’s found him, she just needs to get him out of Sarge, and I’d bet that temple is the key to it. Well, that temple and she stole the container that was sealing up the distortion from the destroyed monoliths.”
“Why would she want that?” May asked as Fitz shrugged.
“It all has to be connected somehow,” Cori stated.
“The only one who could answer that is resting inside Sarge,” Fitz said bluntly.
“We don’t want to awaken that beast,” Trip said as Sam and Cori nodded in agreement.
“Then we just play into her hands, and hope for the best,” May blurted out. “I know with his sword, I can kill Izel. After that, we figure out the rest.”
“So just bring Sarge to this temple and hope for the best?” Sam asked, quite skeptically.
“Any better plans?” May asked, seeing if anyone would challenge her.
“What about Mick’s team?” Deke looked back at the map seeing the green dot.

“So your friend Coulson just doesn’t know how to stay dead, does he?” Robbie smirked at his dark humor.
“I don’t think it’s him this time,” Mick said as he looked at Ward sitting in the bar chair. “What’s your take on alternate worlds?”
“The Multiverse is a real thing, but very few people ever cross those walls,” Robbie said firmly.
“He did,” Mick nudged toward Ward.
“I thought you were giving off an unfamiliar aura. What world?” Robbie asked as Ward shook his head, unsure of how to answer.
“His was connected to ours through the Framework,” Mick said as Robbie raised a brow. “It was made by Aida the Darkhold.”
“How interesting,” Robbie looked perturbed. “You’ve intrigued the Rider, which could be pretty dangerous. I can’t promise that he won’t kill that Sarge guy though if he’s as twisted as you say he is.”
“I’m willing to take that risk if it means saving Daisy from that monster,” Mick said as Robbie shook his head.
“You’re running a rough gambit, and I hope it works out for you,” Robbie said as they shook hands.

Mack followed Yo-yo into the large Mayan temple tucked away deep in thick of the Central American rolling hills forest. Down, deeper into the depths, the only light was that of the glowing gravitonium orb in Yo-yo’s hand. The reached a large open room with a round stone window, hirogliphics lined the walls, depicting what looked like men, shrikes, and ghost looking creatures.
“Beautiful stonework isn’t it?” Izel asked, her hand flickering out of sync with Yo-yo’s briefly igniting several torches hewn into the wall. “It took several generations to accomplish this wonderful work. Such a shame we need a mason to reforge these Di’Allas still. Such a special location, do you know why?”
“Dense forest so no one finds you?” Mack suggested.
“It’s a Convergence Point, where two dimensions intersect. On the other side of that window, resides my world. You lovingly referred to it as the Fear Dimension, or Hell, I believe.”
“I’m guessing that’s what drew out those monsters that we killed when the rift opened up once those things were destroyed?” Mack asked as Izel smiled.
“Very good, the last time I was here the world was in its infancy, humanity was uncouth. I had planned to open the rift between our worlds, giving my people freedom from their prison that we been trapped in. I was close when those imbeciles impaled me, offering me as a sacrifice hoping to appease a warring tribe. My spirit was sent spiraling across the universe, unable to return home, unable to die, until I was given a new form by Strike in a completely universe. I began to unleash my brethren on that planet until Phillip Coulson killed my beloved,” Izel explained.
“Through whatever means he used, when the two of us clashed we were sent beyond the bounds of that universe. I had woken on a planet full of foreign life forms with a strange new power. I began using this new power to gather planetary energy and launch myself through dimensional walls. Phillip, now donning a new name, Sarge, chasing after me,” she continued on, almost as if she were just buying time.
“I destroyed several planets before making my way back to a fractured Earth. I felt the pull of my Di’Allas, but as I closed in, something strange happened. The universe collapsed around me. I awoke on Earth, but the Di’Allas was out of reach. I could feel it’s calling, but it was distorted. I followed its call to an organization called SWORD,, until they trapped me in a strange device that somehow transported me to another Earth. Yet, everything around me was shadowy and dark, and none of my Di’Allas were there. The shadowy presence I could recognize though. It was the same as what drew me to Strike all of those years ago.”
“Thanks for telling me why you’re here?” Mack shrugged, trying to figure out her angle.
“Aren’t you curious about the one detail?” Izel asked, having Yo-yo set down the gravitonium orb in the center of the room. “The one where everything around me changed in an instant. Almost as if something changed the future, perhaps?”
Mack stared at her, curious as to where she was going with this, not liking what she was implying. “Kasius was a merchant of inhumans, was he not?”
Mack’s eyes widened. How did she know about that? Does that mean she knew about Flint? It shouldn’t matter, it’s not like she could bring him here, right?
“She’s thinking of a boy, he’s a very young boy. Such an amazing skill. He’s the one who reforged my Di’Allas and helped you return home. What was his name again?” Mack’s heart sank. She was drawing on Elena’s memories.
“Flint,” Mack said softly. “His name was Flint. Now stay out of her head.”
“Perfect,” Izel walked Yo-yo over toward Mack, then reached her hand out, dust forming from the ground, swirling around until Flint had been fully formed.
“Mack? Yo-yo?” The boy asked fearfully as he looked around.

May followed the crew as they loaded Sarge’s containment unit onto the Zephyr, his face looked pale and feverish. She had his sword sheathed on her back. She couldn’t help but seeing Coulson laying on that bed tossing and turning restlessly, however this time she wasn’t helpless to save him. She wasn’t going to just sit here and watch him die. She wasn’t going to let that monster destroy him from the inside out. She was going to force Izel to separate the two so she could have one more shot at her happy ending. One way or another she would have her happy ending with Phil Coulson.
“You ready for this?” Daisy asked placing her arm on May’s shoulder.
“I’m ready for a real vacation,” May said as she turned toward to cockpit. “Did you talk with Mick?”
“No,” Daisy said firmly.
“Don’t wait too long,” May said. “I’d hate for you to regret it.” May walked away leaving Daisy speechless.

Fitz stood in the lab of ZephyrOne, his heart racing. So far, it was just as the Chronicom said, Izel was presenting them with the opportunity. How was she going to restore the monoliths though? Were the Chronicoms actually going to bring Jemma back? Maybe he should have a back up plan, after all, the Doctor always had a contingency. Perhaps it was time to put some of the Doctors twisted idea’s into practice?

Chapter Text

Mack stood in awe as the dark skinned boy stood before them. His eyes danced between Flint and Elena, realizing Izel had now released her. “Flint?” she asked as Mack wrapped an arm around her, taking note of the now prowling Izel.
“Mack, Yo-yo, where am I?” Flint asked timidly as his eyes raced around the unfamiliar stone temple. “Is this your world? How am I here?”
“Mack what’s happening?” Elena asked looking up at Mack whose gaze was fixed on Izel.
“What are you going to do now?” Mack asked the vile woman.
“I told you before,” she said with a wicked smile, reaching out for Flint’s shoulder. “I’m going to reshape the world.” She then phased into his body as he let out a whimper. With full control over Flint’s body, she reached out her hands, particles from inside the Gravitonium container began to swirl around free from their prison. Three separate Di’Allas formed, one white, one grey, one black.
“How are we going to stop her?” Elena asked in a slight daze.
“I’m still trying to work that out,” Mack admitted. “Hopefully the Calvary will get here soon.”

May sat alone in the cockpit, her mind and heart racing. She took a few deep calming breaths to ease the anxiety, then she felt his presence. “How many times have we been in this situation now?” Coulson asked her.
“Too many,” May replied. “I’m going to save you this time.”
“Are you now? I thought I was pretty clear, I wanted to go out on my own terms. Do you really think he’s good enough to be me, though?” Coulson asked.
“He’s as close as I can get. He had a family, lost it all, just like me,” May said as Coulson seemed amused at her sentiment.
“So two broken people who lost everything, what, replacing what they lost with pieces from other dimensions?” he questioned.
“Is it so wrong that I just want to be happy with even a form of you?” May asked harshly.
“I’m not judging you,” Coulson said as he looked out the window. “I’m just want to make sure you know what you’re doing.”
May looked over to see the cockpit empty, shaking her head. Was this all crazy? Was she being rash about trying to save Sarge? She pushed the thoughts back. Rash, brazen, crazy, it didn’t matter. Phil would do it if he were in her situation. She had to do this. There was no turning back.

Daisy sat in her bunk, she held the letter Coulson had written her, the one she refused to read for months now. Now it sat in her on her bed, tear stained.

Daisy,
It’s hard to believe it’s been five years, when it feels like it’s been a lifetime. I still remember when you were that smug little hacker, now you’ve grown into such a confident agent of SHIELD. If you’d have asked me back when I first met you if I believed you’d become so ingrained in my life, becoming the daughter I always dreamed of having, I don’t know that I would’ve believed it.
I am so proud of you, so proud of how you’ve taken everything that’s happened in stride and continued pushing forward. I know finding out about your parents was tough, letting them go was harder. Yet hit you’ve endured, you soldiered through, fought and overcome. I know losing me is going to be hard, because letting you go is hard. They’re all going to need you. You can keep this family together.
I want you to know, I’m so happy that you and Mick have each other. May and I have joked about it for a while, that he was like your puppy. I’m just sorry that I won’t be there to see your relationship grow. I hope you two are as happy as FitzSimmons.
Don’t ever forget just how strong you are, don’t ever forget how loved you are. Be brave, be the amazing woman I always knew you could be. Please don’t ever lose your spark, don’t ever stop questioning everything, challenging all possibilities, and above all else, don’t ever stop believing in yourself.
I love you, always.
Phil

She reached for her phone, she needed to make things right. Time was of the essence, and she didn’t know if they were going to make it back from this mission.

Fitz looked over several of his old drones, reminiscing of the simpler days. Maybe once he got Jemma back they could truly take a break. Get away from it all for longer than a fortnight. Maybe they could start a family, live some sort of normal life? He looked at the email on his tablet with the pictures of the little house on the Sumerset coast. He shook his head, trying to constrain his frustration at the congratulatory email from their realtor. Jemma should be here for this. The should be celebrating right now, not be who knows how far apart by the hands of psychopathic humanoid robots.
“You don’t have to let them win,” the Doctors voice reminded him. “You know you cannot trust them.”
“I know,” Fitz clenched his fists. “What should be done?”
“If they want the keys to time, perhaps we should take a set for ourselves?” The Doctor suggested as Fitz raised a brow. He looked at the drones, then thought of Jemma. The answer was clear, but the execution needed to be discreet, surgical in fact.

The Di’Allas finished reforming, Mack and Elena standing back as Izel released Flint. She looked over the three great stone monuments as the boy dropped to his knees. “Thank you for your help, for that, I will release you from your suffering!” Izel held out her hand, then clenched her fist.
“Flint!” Elena called out as the boy gripped his heart, dropping to the ground his body dissolving into the same dust he was formed of.
“You’re going to pay for that!” Mack released Elena, then began charging at Izel who seemed greatly amused. She twirled her hand methodically, Mack freezing dead in his tracks when Hope appeared before him.
“That’s right,” Izel taunted. “You’d do wise to steady your hand if you wish your daughter to be unharmed by what happens next.”
“You leave Hope out of this!” Mack growled viciously.
“Did you make sure to tell your team to bring Sarge with them when they come?” Izel asked, Mack’s eyes narrowing. “Oh yes, I knew all about you giving them our coordinates.”
“We’ll win this fight,” Elena growled as she started to ease herself up.
“I guess we’ll see about that,” Izel said smugly. She touched the black Di’Allas, several hundred shrikes peeled off it. “Go, bring us hosts, our brothers and sisters will need fleshly bodies to walk in this realm.”
“So that’s why you kept us alive,” Mack growled.
“And that’s why I want those very special people on your team. Only the best for my most loyal,” Izel laughed. “I may need some help, perhaps you four will do?” Four figures stepped out of the shadows, Snow, Pax, Lincoln, and Jaco their faces pale with black veins. Their eyes had been glazed over, and their bodies badly burned.

Daisy was needed to make a clearing for ZephyrOne to land, but once it was down, the team made their way toward the large ancient temple. From the sounds of things, the shrike had been unleashed and were swarming.
“Guess we’ll be trying out these belts pretty early then won’t we?” Daisy said trying to sound bravely.
“Don’t worry, they’ll work,” Fitz said pulling the strap on his backpack tightly.
“All else fails, we unleash the powers,” Deke suggested looking over at Cori, Sam, and Daisy.
“I feel so much safer now,” Sarge groaned with immense sarcasm.
“Nothing is going to fail,” May grunted as she stayed by Sarge’s side, clutching his sword in one hand and her pistol in the other.
“Guess she’s bringing out the welcome wagon for us!” Sam pointed as the shrike began to dive at them.
“Urgh!!” Sarge grunted as his body convulsed. “It’s beginning. We have to hurry.” Sarge caught a shrike mid air, ripping it in half before tossing it aside as his eyes flickered between their normal hue and red tint.
“You know what to do,” May said as Daisy nodded.
Daisy took in a deep breath, then pointed her hands at each other. Wind swirled, audibly everything around her trembling, then slowly she moved her hands, the orb unleashed, leveling the trees and obliterating any shrike in their path straight to the temple.
“You ok?” May tapped Daisy’s shoulder.
“I’ll feel it in the morning,” Daisy shrugged off the pain as more shrike began to fly out from the temple.
“If we can get in, I can temporarily seal the exit,” Sam stated.
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Cori said with electricity crackling off her finger tips.

It was a hard fought sprint into the depths of the temple, but they reached the interior, seeing a bruised and beaten Mack and Yo-yo unconscious against the wall, Izel standing in front of a strange glowing blue circle with the three monoliths reformed behind her.
“See how close we are my love?” Izel didn’t even bother turning to see them. “Your strength should be back now, take hold of your new body and help me! Together we can destroy these humans and reclaim what was rightfully ours all of those years ago!”
Sarge groaned as his body convulsed. He shook his head, and clenched his fist. “I’ll die before I let you win!” Sarge growled as he lunged for Izel, his fingers becoming more beastly.
“Kill them!” Izel screamed as her four warriors stepped forward.
“Oh no,” Daisy’s eyes widened seeing the four of them fully infected. Lincoln’s eyes began to glow a purple color, then he blasted several strikes of lighting at them. Cori narrowly deflected them into the walls with a blast of her own. “We have to be careful when we kill them or the shrikes in them will impale us!” Daisy called out.
“Then we’ll use this,” May brandished Sarge’s blade.
“You can also use these,” Fitz pulled a few steam punk looking daggers from his backpack. “They’ll vibrate for around four hours, which should be long enough to escape.”
“Sure hope so,” Samantha said taking two daggers in hand and looking at Fitz clearly still holding a slight hint of distain for who he was to her.

Daisy and Cori went head to head with Lincoln, Cori using her powers to cull his electricity, while Daisy slammed him with her quake pulses. May was facing off against Snow, who now had black leathery blades where her hands had been.
Samantha was holding back, battling his fire breath with her own ice powers, Deke fighting Pax off with a dagger while Fitz tried to make his way over to check on Mack and Yo-yo.
May managed to get the upper hand over Snow, cutting off one hand as the husk of a woman screamed in an otherworldly agony. Snow began getting erratic, making the fight an easy win for May, who quickly decapitated her. Fitz wasted no time plunging a dagger into the convulsing body as it landed at Mack’s feet.
“That’s not a good way to wake up,” Mack gasped as Fitz smiled at him.
“Could be worse, Fitz helped him up. “We gotta get you guys out of here.” Fitz pulled a belt from his back, placing it in Mack’s hands. “Just keep her close and you should be fine.”
“You’re the best Turbo,” Mack said with a nod.
Fitz then looked to see Izel and holding Sarge’s arms as May ran at them. His arms had become leathery, monstrous. It was clearly taking over him, making Fitz wonder if Mick was right. Maybe there wouldn’t be enough of Sarge left if Mick managed to find the way to separate them. He shook his head, knowing he had another mission. Something bigger that had to be done. He needed a piece of each of the monoliths, but he needed to get them without getting caught up in all of the fighting.

Lincoln blasted the ceiling, causing it to crumble, dust filling the room, everyone struggling to see what was before them. Daisy was then sent crashing into the wall by a powerful electric blast. In her dazed state she could see his purple glowing eyes as he made his way toward her, she couldn’t bring herself to move. His hand began to glow, then an orange light flashed. Lincolns hand spun around, followed by a glowing red. She heard the scream of the shrike, then watched as Lincolns body ignited it a righteous blaze, crumbling away into dust.
“You alright?” Mick reached his hand down, pulling Daisy up as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad to see you too. I’m sorry.”
“I know,” Daisy kissed him briefly as Jaco crashed into the wall beside them.
“Sorry, did I interrupt?” Ruby asked with a smirk. “We kind of have a world to save though.”
“You brought GhostRider?” Daisy watched as he grabbed Pax, and his body then ignited, before it turned to ash.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Ruby asked.
“What about Sarge?” Mick asked as Daisy pointed, they then noticed Sarge and Izel fighting, May rushing at them.

“I don’t know why you insist on fighting me!” Izel screamed, throwing Sarge backwards, as he growled anomalistically. “You cannot hurt me, Pachikutiq won’t allow it!”
“He’s not stopping me so far!” Sarge swung his heavy arm down, narrowly missing Izel with his now beastly claws. “I’ll have my revenge! I don’t care if it cost my life, I’ll take you down with me!” His voice was becoming distorted, monstrous.
“Your human flame has almost run its course,” Izel taunted, grabbed his arms, the frustration of her able to hold back his assault frustrating him more. “It is fitting that you found a human that looked exactly like her.” Izel’s eyes went to May as she charged at them.
Izel then sidestepped the swing from May, dancing away from the blade in almost a ballerina’s fashion. “And you, you love this facade. He reminds you of your own lost lover, does he not?”
May said nothing, just swung the blade.
“That’s going to make this so much more fun,” Izel laughed and grabbed May. She shrieked, recoiling as May smiled at her.
“You’re right, that was pretty fun,” May said rearing back to drive the blade into Izel. Before May could land the killing blow, she gasped. She looked down, blood coated claws protruded from her stomach. She wasn’t sure what to think, how it happened, whose claws they could be. She released the sword, her body now going into shock, as she fell to the ground. All she could see was the twisted smile of Izel, and the bloody claws attached the monster standing next to her. It was the thing that was beside them that confused her the most. Phil Coulson, smiling at her, holding out his hand, as if he were oblivious to everything around them. She closed her eyes, and reached up weakly.

“May!” Mick and Daisy screamed in unison. They moved harmoniously, Daisy blasting Izel into the wall with a powerful quake, Mick using webs to pull back the monster that had been Sarge.
“Kill me, please,” Sarge begged, his voice barely human, more monstrous, his skin now brown and leathery.
Tears filled Daisy’s eyes as the monster tore through Mick’s webbing, then slammed its powerful fist into him, sending him crashing into the ground. She blasted him as hard as she could, the monster barely moving backward. A burst of lighting and ice slammed into the monster, causing him to roar, then another blast knocked him backwards. Behind her stood Cori, Sam, and Ruby.
“No!” Izel screamed out in a fit of rage. “I won’t let you humans win again!” The temple began to tremble around them.
Ward had May in his arms, when GhostRider finished off Jaco before turning his focus to Pachakutiq. “You got this, right?” Ward asked as GhostRider popped his chain.
“Get them out of here,” Daisy said to Ward while she was helping Mick back to his feet.
“What about you guys?” Ward asked hesitantly.
“We’ll be fine, just go,” Mick reached for the sword, then turning his focus to Izel. She held her arm out, Daisy blasted her with a quake causing the room to shake wildly as the portal opened. Hooded black figured from a dusty dark realm began making their way toward them.
“It’s too late! They’re all free now!” Izel screamed as Pachakutiq slammed his massive fist into GhostRider. “You three can be their new hosts!”
“They always do that, don’t they?” Mick looked toward Daisy. “It’s not over until it’s over!” Instead of rushing at Izel like she clearly expected, Mick shot a web at the monolith, pulling it as hard as he could. The portal flickered, Izel becoming enraged ran at Mick with a spear forming in her hand.
Daisy blasted Pachakutiq to draw his attention from GhostRider, then blasted another of the monoliths causing it to shake while Mick blocked the attacked from Izel. GhostRider then drew out his chain, the fire causing Pachakutiq to recoil every time it cracked near him.
The sword in Mick’s hand began sparking wildly as Izel managed to break through his defense. He let out a scream, slashing across her chest. She staggered backwards, electricity flickering off of her as black blood poured from her wounds. Pachakutiq moved to rescue her as Mick moved to impale her, Daisy blasting him backwards into the oncoming whip of GhostRider. Mick slammed the blade into Izel’s chest, she gasped, then her eyes made their way up to see Pachakutiq go up in flames while entangled in the GhostRider’s chain.
“So this is how it all ends,” she muttered weakly. “Damned humans, every one of you. One day I’ll escape again. I’ll get my revenge.” It was then Ghost Rider grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up so he could peer into her eyes. She screamed out as her body began to burn to ashes in his hand.
Daisy turned to see ashes where Pachakutiq was. The temple shook as Ghost Rider looked up, as if he anticipated something dangerous. He cracked his whip, spinning it around to open a portal leading just outside the temple. “I guess you were right,” she said softly.
“I wish I wasn’t,” Mick held out his hand for Daisy to go first.

Fitz stood shakily waiting for them all to be gone, then quickly pressed the button on the pager. It was a matter of moments before several Chronicoms appeared before him in the crumbling temple.
“Fitz!” Jemma gasped as they shoved her and Enoch out of their way, and then moved toward the monoliths. “They’re going o betray you! They don’t just want to save their planet, they want to take ours!”
“We need to run, now!” Fitz smirked, he knew they’d double cross him, but he prepared for that. He’d explain it all to Jemma later, but they’d be safe now. The temple shook wildly as an explosion went off, everything around them began to collapse, they narrowly escaped to see a sinking crater where the temple had been.

Mick and Daisy arrived back at ZephyrOne to see everyone on the ramp full of remorse. The two of them quickly realized without having to see what happened. The machine hooked to May was flatlined, her face was pale. She looked at peace though. Daisy covered her face, Mick wrapped his arm around her.
“I’m sorry, I tried everything I could,” Cori said with a raspy tone.
“We all knew it was a risk to bring him,” Samantha sniffed.
“Don’t,” Mick said as he patted Cori’s shoulder. “Look at her, she’s okay with this.”
“She’s probably in Tahiti with Coulson,” Daisy said with a sob as she leaned her head on Mick.
“Yeah,” Mack smiled, then looked out to see Fitz walking up with Jemma and Enoch behind.
“Is that May?” Jemma gasped as she sprinted toward May’s body. Mick and Daisy both caught her, holding her as she sobbed.
“I know it’s tough, but we need to get out of here before the authorities come digging to figure out what’s going on,” Tripp suggested.
“Right,” Mack said firmly. “Agent Ward, if you don’t mind, can you fly us out of here?”
“Yes Sir, Ward said with a somber nod.

Upon arrival to the Lighthouse, everyone was given time off over the loss of Agent May. There was a small, yet not small, service held in her honor in the same church that Coulson’s was held in. They even managed to procure the plot next to his to bury her. Mick and Daisy ended up taking a trip to his hometown, showing her where he grew up, the graves of his family, and of Samantha. It was there, under the cool winter air and the allure of the Christmas lights he proposed to her using a very special ring, the ring that had once belonged to his grandmother, one that he intended to propose to Samantha with, a ring that he’d always kept around his neck to remind him to never lose sight of what he lost.

Jemma and Fitz stood in the doorway of their new home, she much more nervous than he. “Why didn’t you tell them?” She asked as he looked at her.
“Because the temple imploded,” Fitz stated. “I doubt they could’ve escaped with it, and even if they did, it’s been two months, they’re clearly not coming after us.”
“It still feels wrong not to have it all on the table,” Jemma said nervously, she’d never been fond of keeping secrets.
“I won’t let anything happen to us Jemma,” Fitz said firmly. “I’ll protect us, no matter what.” She seemed a little more at ease as they looked out over the horizon. The sunset over the channel was quite soothing, and it was only made better by the fact that this was theirs.