FOUR MONTHS LATER. It had taken all of four months for Katharine and her team to fully infiltrate and take down a major HYDRA operation in Northern Ireland.

Now Katharine wouldn't lie, she'd miss Ireland and all the beautiful wonders it had to offer, but she missed her bed back in America a little bit more. So when she had been given the go-ahead and all clear, she found herself sitting through a seven-hour non-stop flight back to Washington DC.

When she landed, she contemplated calling Nina to come and pick her up but ultimately decided against it. If Nina were to discover that she was back in the states, she'd be forced to go to a bar or something rather than be allowed home. So she called a cab instead, nearly falling asleep during the short ride from the airport to her apartment, and almost forgetting to pay her fare due to the fact that she was extremely sleep deprived.

Not even five hours into her nap, Katharine was woken by her cellular device ringing obnoxiously loud. She reached over and slapped her hand onto her nightstand in search of her phone. When she finally found it, she pressed it to her ear and mumbled a sleepy, "Hello?"

"Agent Morgan," Kathrine shot up in her bed, hastily attempting to wake herself up, "Did I wake you?"

Katharine stumbled out of bed, looking around frantically for her pants. If Agent Coulson was calling her direct line, she was sure it was because she wanted something. And she felt weird talking to a superior officer without having pants on, even if it was over the phone.

"N-No," she stammered, finding her pants on the opposite end of the room. She pulled on the article of clothing, struggling to find her balance. She slammed a hand against her door frame and used the structure of her apartment to prevent what could have been a nasty fall.

Coulson must have heard her struggle from the other side because his next question was if she was okay, to which Katharine replied, "Fine and dandy, Agent. What can I do for you?"

"No need to call me Agent, Morgan. We've known each other long enough to drop the niceties," Coulson spoke. "I have a mission, a simple information extraction. It shouldn't take too long, a quick in and out at best."

Katharine weighed her options. She could either, a) accept this mission and be on a plane within the next thirty minutes, or b) say no thank you and go back to sleep.

"I'll be there in thirty," she responded, her inner workaholic craving to be back out on the field again. It was a drug, she would admit, but it wasn't one she'd be willing to kick anytime soon.

Coulson hung up the phone, satisfied with her answer.

Katharine sighed, looking around her messy and unkempt apartment. A person would think the place would be spotless after a few months of unuse, but this was untrue. She spotted her go-bag on the floor by her bedroom door. The clothes that had been in it beforehand were strewn around the place like a drunk person had been the one to pack it in the first place, and the rest of the items that used to be inside the bag were now outside the bag, messily placed in groups on her desk.

Her eyes flickered to her mirror and she was greeted by someone that resembled more rat than a person. Her hair was everywhere, no doubt accumulating knots and tangles by the second. Her outfit looked like it had gotten in a fight with her sheets, her shirt was now missing a button and was wrinkled to hell. The only put together part of her outfit was her pants, which she had struggled to get back on in the first place.

Katharine's eyes drifted to the top left corner of her mirror where she had stuck a photograph of her and Nina. The two were laughing in the photo, Katharine had on a kevlar vest and Nina wore a floor-length ball gown. The two looked so out of place next to each other but at the same time, they just fit.

Under the photo was a scrap piece of paper where Katharine had hastily scribbled Derek and Spencer's phone number. She didn't know when she had done it but there was a small heart floating in the air next to Spencer's name... God, December seemed so far away now. She had left them both with a promise of a call but between helping Agent Harris's team with interrogation and being sent away to Ireland she hadn't been able to find the time to sneak away and dial their numbers.

Not to mention she had left Spencer with a little more than a promise of a call, she was sure her intentions were clear when she had laid that kiss on his cheek...

Katharine shook the thoughts from her mind. She couldn't afford to be distracted now, not when she was about to go in for another infiltration mission. Besides, the odds that Spencer even felt anything for Katharine remained the same. One in fourteen million, the same odds of her winning the lottery...

Yeah, those were the odds--impossible.

"WHEN YOU TOLD ME I'D BE HELPING YOU WITH A MISSION, you didn't mention the fact that you've been locked up," Katharine scolded Coulson, who just looked at her with a smile on his face. In Katharine's opinion, he was way too happy for the situation he was in.

"Well, I thought you'd want in on this," he reasoned, intertwining his fingers together. "Besides, you work under my faction so it was a matter of time before I dragged you into this."

And, as if right on cue, Robert Gonzales walked through the doors. He closed them behind him, not too surprised to see Katharine also standing in the room.

"Agent Morgan," he greeted.

"Gonzalez," Katharine nodded her head slightly in his direction, acknowledging his presence. "Never thought I'd have to see you ever again."

"Likewise."

He looked her up and down, most likely trying to analyze if she were to be any true threat to whatever plans he had for the evening. Ultimately, he must have decided that her being there was only a minor issue and turned to Coulson.

"Robert. It's good to see you," Coulson made the first move, greeting the man that had entered the room.

"Is it?" Gonzalez asked.

"Okay," Coulson responded. "It's good to see my bus, but, hey, you look well, too."

Katharine crossed her arms, sinking into the background of the conversation.

"Why turn yourself in now, Phil?" Gonzalez questioned, walking forward to meet one end of the interrogation table that sat in the middle of the room.

"Strucker and List have been running experiments on enhanced people," Coulson explained. "They've set up a base in the Arctic. I have a man on the inside who fed us the location."

"I can't trust you," Gonzalez told Coulson. Katharine's eyebrows furrowed. Whatever she had understood from the situation before was now thrown out the metaphorical window. Obviously there were some things that Coulson had kept from her.

"Then trust the mission," Coulson insisted. He walked toward the table as well to stand opposite Gonzalez. "Robert, don't let this be about you and me. The one thing we still have, both of us, is stopping HYDRA. Don't we?"

"What's your proof?"

"Firsthand, List took Mr. Peterson."

Gonzalez spared a glance in Katharine's direction like he wasn't sure if she should be hearing any of the information that was being let out between the two men. Katharine turned her head, silently letting him know that whatever was said in this room wouldn't be leaving.

"Deathlok, the thing HYDRA created," Gonzalez said.

"Mike Peterson, an ally. He's been working for me."

"This is not helping your case."

Coulson didn't let up on his end of the argument. "We have a chance to hit HYDRA--hard. They're operating on powered people. We can shut that down and save lives."

Katharine's stance shifted under her uneasily. The thought of HYDRA operating on people like her sent shivers down her spine, and not the good kind either.

"Perhaps. But, I'm gonna ask again, why should I trust you?" Gonzalez questioned.

"Because we all have our secrets. You have one sitting in the cargo hold of your ship, but I'm still willing to work with you."

Gonzalez looks down and away as if he were a child just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "How do you know that?"

He looks back up at Coulson as the man pulls Fury's Toolbox from his pocket. Katharine blinked, recognizing the item.

"Because it's in this box," Coulson revealed, "which I will open for you if you trust me."

Gonzalez's eyes stay locked on the cube as Coulson lowers it to the table between them.

"May I?" Gonzalez motioned to the Toolbox.

Coulson nodded, pulling out a seat and sitting in it. Gonzalez followed his actions. He picked up the box and examined it while Coulson explained his plan.

After he finished his explanation, Gonzalez set Fury's Toolbox back down on the table.

"That's your plan?" Gonzalez scrutinized.

"I take it from your expression, you're not dazzled," Coulson voiced his observations, looking the other man in the eye.

"Why send a small infiltration unit?" Gonzalez questioned. "Why not a full-on assault? Blow the base to particles."

Coulson's eyes remained on Gonzalez, using his hands to narrate what he was saying. "I'd rather not sacrifice the prisoners. Rescue is ideal. We don't even know how many people HYDRA's holding."

"I'm not sure I'm willing to put my people at risk," Gonzalez admitted. Again, he looked in Katharine's direction. She held his gaze, not willing to back down from whatever childish fight the older man had been trying to pick with her.

"You don't have to," Coulson drew Gonzalez's attention back to him. "I've already got my own people picked out."

Gonzalez cocked his head at Coulson, considering Coulson's words before making a small noise of approval letting Katharine know that they had got him.

KATHARINE HAD A FEW BAD (OR TERRIBLE) MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUS, so she was glad when they had landed and then parked in the underground plane garage at the Playground. Katharine was quick to exit the flying machine right behind Gonzalez and Coulson. Behind her trailed Fitz and Ward, along with the two new people that she hadn't met before, Hunter and Kara.

Katharine wished she could have said she was the bigger person and introduced herself on the ride over, but she really didn't want to form any new emotional attachments. As much as she loved Coulson's team four months ago, she wasn't sure how much of it had changed in her time away. Coulson had only really filled her in on the important things, like how Ward had actually been a HYDRA agent and Skye had revealed herself as an Inhuman. Everything else had been deemed irrelevant by Gonzalez, saying that as she technically was no longer a SHIELD agent, she had no right to any more information than necessary.

Field promotion? No, talk about a field demotion.

Long story short, the ride over had sucked and Katharine was sure Gonzalez and his team sucked even more than he let on. Either way, she wouldn't be sticking around long enough to figure that out.

But speak of the devil, Gonzalez was the first to talk when they exited the plane."Agent May," he had greeted the woman.

"Sir," Agent May nodded her head slightly, acknowledging the man though her eyes never left Agent Coulson. "Welcome back."

Katharine watched in curiosity as the two interacted. The last time she had been in contact with any of them was in November when Simmons had nearly gotten herself killed due to the alien technology they had brought on board. But from what she could remember, the entire team had still been friends. Obviously something had changed.

"Nice to be back," Ward commented, grinning at the stoic woman. Her features almost soften when she realized that Ward was there but her walls stay up and guarded as if she just realized where she was.

"You'll be accompanied by guards at all times," Gonzelez informed them as May nodded to the men behind her. Katharine watched as they moved into position on either side of Ward and Kara.

"Each of whom will shoot you without hesitation. Remember that," May warned them, her voice hard and commanding.

Yeah, it looked like a lot has changed in the past five months.

"May's actually pretty friendly," Ward informed his friend, Kara, "once you get to know her."

Katharine watched from Coulson's side as Ward and Kara disappeared into the building, the guards trailing after them.

"You finally come back and you bring Grant Ward onto the base," May commented, not looking at either of them. "I hope this plan of yours works."

Coulson glanced briefly at Katharine before answering May. "You and me both."

WATCHING SOMEONE GETTING THEIR EYE REMOVED WAS NOT ON KATHARINE'S TO-DO FOR THE DAY. She had expected to be shot at, maybe, or even just received some generally disturbing news by word of mouth. But actually seeing the disturbing news in front of her... yeah, that wasn't what she expected.

"This video feed was streamed from Deathlok's eye less than an hour ago," Coulson explained without turning to face the group. Katharine had looked away from the screen at the first chance she got, opting to focus her attention on a spot on the floor rather than the screen. Despite there being no actual eye-removal on-screen, it still caused Katharine to feel a little queasy. One would think that after all her years of seeing severed limbs and such that she'd be used to it by now but nope, she still felt as sick as the first time she saw a dead body. She just got better at hiding her discomfort over the years.

There's brief static and then the feed cuts out, much to Katharine's relief. The blood-filled screen is then replaced with a live feed of Weaver and Oliver, both SHIELD agents from Gonzalez's little council.

"What happened?" Gonzalez asked, turning away from the screen.

"It appears HYDRA removed his eye," Coulson responded, also turning away from the screen.

"Well, we've got a problem," Bobbi stated, moving toward the middle of the room. She came to a stop right next to where Katharine was standing. "Without Deathlok's feed, we don't have eyes on the ground."

"Not true," Ward protested from where he was leaning against a glass divider on their right, "I have a man working on the inside, Sunil Bakshi."

"I know Bakshi, he's a HYDRA agent," Bobbi countered.

"Not anymore. Now he works for me," Ward stated. His gaze slipped over to Katharine for a moment before smirking, "Just ask Agent Morgan over there."

Katharine crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight onto her left leg. Her reluctance to use her abilities lied in the fact that she didn't fully trust Gonzalez or his team with the information of the full extent of her power.

Regardless, she still had an appearance to keep up. She responded to Ward sassily, "Says the HYDRA agent."

Word rolled his eyes at the younger woman. "My days with HYDRA are over. Just an independent contractor trying to make amends."

"We remain skeptical," Gonzalez said from his spot, leaning against the desk with his hands on his cane.

"With good cause," Coulson crossed to the middle of the room so that he was standing directly opposed to Gonzalez, "But I believe using Bakshi is the only way for us to successfully infiltrate this base."

"The base is in the arctic circle with nothing around for miles," Bobbie pointed out. "HYDRA will see us coming."

"Which is why it's critical I take in a small team."

Katharine looked up at the monitors as Agent Weaver spoke, questioning Coulson, "And just to be clear Agent Coulson, what is your objective here?"

"We rescue the enhanced prisoners, then disable the missile defense system so that SHIELD jets can fly in safely to bomb the facility."

"You really believe a small team can do this?" Bobbi asked, almost staring down Coulson.

"My team can," the man answered. Katharine tried to keep a smirk off her face. If she knew one thing from working with Coulson and his team, it was that they could do almost anything so long as they were working together.

"Then I suppose we should put this matter to a vote," Gonzalez decided. "Agent Morse?"

Katharine looked slightly to her right, awaiting Bobbi's response.

"I'm in," the blonde said, holding her head up just a little bit higher.

"Agents Weaver and Oliver?"

Weaver shook her head. "No. Too risky."

The bearded man shook his head as well, agreeing with Weaver's statement.

"Understood," Gonzalez bowed his head in slight acknowledgment. "But I'm voting to go ahead with this. That leaves you with the deciding vote, Agent May."

Katharine furrowed her brow. It was curious how Gonzalez hadn't even considered asking her for her vote considering she'd be one of the people infiltrating the base alongside Coulson and his team. She figured it was due to the fact that she technically wasn't a SHIELD agent anymore and that she wasn't a part of either team officially.

"I'd like a word in private with Agent Coulson and Katharine first," May requested, surprising Katharine in the best of ways. It was a silent fuck you, to the greying Robert Gonzalez as well as a way for her to escape the ever-growing tension between Ward and the rest of the room's occupants.

Gonzalez obliged and Coulson led the two women away and into his office. He let May and Katharine in first before entering himself, making sure to close the door behind him.

May walked in and stopped at the far end of Coulson's desk while Katharine stopped at the midway point, choosing to lean against the four-legged desk for support.

"What the hell are you thinking?" May questioned angrily the second the door was closed.

Coulson took strides so that he was standing at the opposite end of the desk, leaving Katharine framed in the middle between them. It was almost cinematic, how they naturally arranged themselves.

"I could ask you the same thing," Coulson shot back with the same amount of heat. "Since when did you become a high ranking member of Team Gonzalez?"

"Someone had to run the base while you were gone," May argued. "Having a seat allowed me to keep you safe."

"I was fine on my own."

"Seems that's how you operate best."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Coulson's demeanor changed. Katharine could tell he didn't like being the one on the opposite end of the interrogation. After all, what agent would?

May continued talking, "That you've been lying to me ever since SHIELD fell. All those overseas trips you were taking, they were never about recruiting new agents, were they?"

Coulson stayed silent. Katharine knew of course that SHIELD had technically fallen in the time between her leaving DC and returning from Ireland but she had been given a job to do and she sure as hell was about to complete it.

May pressed on. "Want to tell me what Theta Protocol is?"

"No," came Coulson's short reply.

"Because you don't trust me."

"Because you're not the director of SHIELD."

"Neither are you," May shot at him. "Not anymore."

She turns her back on him, in disbelief or in betrayal, Katharine couldn't tell. May had always been the kind of person she could never get a full read on. She was more closed off than a locked door and even a battering ram couldn't get her to open up.

"And you brought in a civilian that technically should be in hiding, Coulson," May continued her slander. "We might have always had our secrets and I might have had a secret line to Fury behind your back but at least I'm not putting other people's lives on the line. Katharine shouldn't even be here! You shouldn't have called her in, she's a civilian."

May shook her head. "This... is personal."

She glared up at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Coulson seemed to have caught on to what she was saying because he sighed lightly before answering her. "This is about Andrew," he deduced.

"He's my ex-husband," May said. "And you were working with him, behind my back."

"I went to him for counseling. He was the only therapist I could talk to about my alien writing impulses," Coulson excused, stepping closer to May.

May shook her head again. "You should've told me."

"You're right," Coulson admitted. "I should have, and I will apologize to you later, at length. And I will apologize for bringing Katharine back into this as a civilian. But right now, List has Mike Peterson and who knows how many other enhanced prisoners. Now can we put this behind us and go rescue them? Please?"

Katharine watched as May's features softened. She bit the inside of her cheek and crossed one leg over the other, balancing herself on one foot while leaning against the desk still. "I could have said no, May. I wanted to be here, helping rather than unemployed."

"You do know that after this you'll most likely have to go into hiding, right?" May asked. She wanted the younger girl to know what she was getting into after all.

Katharine nodded, pursing her lips slightly. "Yeah, but I can always trust you and Coulson to keep my secrets for me," she smiled lightly. "Besides, I have a few places to go after this. Trust me."

May returned Katharine's smile, which was a rare sight in itself, and replied softly, "Okay."

May left the office to inform Gonzalez on what she had voted, which left Katharine and Coulson in his office together.

"Why didn't you say no?" Coulson asked as the older woman disappeared around the corner.

Katharine gave the older man a bittersweet smile. "Nearly a full seven years I've been an agent and all those seven years you've had my back. I figured I owed you one last adventure before I left SHIELD for good."

"And where will you go?"

"A little birdie told me a long time ago that someone I know has contacts in the FBI. Contacts that'd be willing to give me a hand or two, you know, just in case the SHIELD gig ever fell through," Katharine replied, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head sideways ever so slightly. "I hope that offer still stands."

"It does," Coulson confirmed. He reached over his desk, picking up a tablet and a sealed envelope. He handed her the white #10 that had her name, Katharine Mae Morgan, scrawled neatly across the front of it. "Wherever you end up, I'll always have your back."

"Thank you, Coulson," Katharine pushed herself off the desk, accepting the letter. "I'll find a way to repay you, somehow... but right now we have some enhanced persons waiting on us to save them. So we better get to it."