╔═════════════╗

✧·ﾟ:CHAPTER TEN*:·ﾟ✧

╚═════════════╝

✧·ﾟ: *✧·ﾟ:* 　the bridge　 *:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧
date: 1st December 2013
location: The Bus, Classified

    ━━"At 0800 hours, three men infiltrated the Havenworth Federal Penitentiary."

    "Infiltrated?" Skye scoffed at the video footage they watched of men exploding down into the cafeteria, picking up a single man and then zipping straight back up through the roof. "more like cannon-balled."

    "They were in and out in less than two minutes," continued Coulson. "Left no prints at the scene. But, we do have one lead━" swiping up from the Holocom, the monitor on the wall zoomed down in onto one of the men who had jumped down, picturing a signature Centipede serum enhancement stuck to their arm. Roy crinkled her nose (ugh, these guys again?). "It seems they salvaged some of their research from Hong Kong."

    This caused Roy and Simmons to share an excited look. "So we were right!" said Roy, gesturing between her and her friend. "Chan's platelets solved their combustion problem!"

    "Now they can create super-soldiers with no fear of explosion!" Simmons shook her head, chuckling in disbelief.

    Fitz leaned in closer to them, muttering a quick, "Maybe don't get so excited about it."

    Both girls went red and muttered sheepish apologies.

    "Two of Centipede's labs have been destroyed," Coulson said. "But they keep popping back up. Now they have at least three of these guys. Maybe more."

    "Who'd they break out?" asked May, fresh from her work out.

    "Edison Po," Coulson brought up his mug shot. Roy furrowed her brows at the dead-space that was his gaze, glaring them all down. "Former Marine. Expert in tactics and rapid response. He fell off the grid in '08, reappeared eighteen months ago at a diner in Boston."

    "Where he stabbed a friend's eyes out," Ward muttered, glancing at the younger agents who all stared, gobsmacked at this news.

    "With a steak knife," added Coulson. "Then finished his meal."

    "That's funny," Skye narrowed her eyes at the picture. "Po doesn't look crazy━" everyone turned to stare at her, confused. What? Seeing this, she frowned, "I'm kidding. The guy is a walking mug shot."

    Coulson pursed his lips, but in the time they've spent on this plane, he has learnt not to dignify some of Skye's comments with a response. "Which means he shouldn't be too hard to track down. Finding Po and these Centipede soldiers is a top priority for S.H.I.E.L.D. We'll be running point, but we won't be working alone."

    "What team did HQ send for backup?"

    Coulson gave Ward a wry smile, "Not a team. A person. Someone who can help us fight fire with fire."

    Skye arched a brow, "Somebody we worked with before?"

    "Not exactly."

    When Coulson said: someone who can help us fight fire with fire, she━in all honesty━didn't really think that meant Mike Peterson. In their research of anything they could find to help them in their hunt for Po (and Centipede who had helped his escape), Ward became very vocal in his disagreement. Considering Mike nearly blew up the whole of Union Station (with everyone in it), Roy didn't blame him. He had been a human explosive, with a fiery temper. Mike Peterson working with S.H.I.E.L.D.━it didn't make sense unless they had found a way to stabilise the Centipede Serum, of which greatly intrigued Fitz-Roy-Simmons.

    Elbows on the Holocom, Roy watched the video of Mike jumping out of the burning window to save the (now dead) Centipede scientist with a curious frown etched on her face.

    "It's not good," Ward was saying, glancing at all of them. "At all. The guy was a ticking time bomb━literally."

    "HQ wouldn't have sent him if he was still combustible," muttered Fitz. "They must've found a way to stabilise him somehow."

    "They stabilise his attitude?" Ward crossed his arms, glowering. "'Cause it as pretty hostile in Union Station."

    "W━well," Simmons shifted awkwardly beside Roy, "it's not like we haven't opened our doors to other people. People with questionable track records..." her gaze flickered to Skye sheepishly, who gaped at her.

    "Not cool," replied the hacker. "But true. And don't worry about Mike," she met her S.O's eyes. "He's a good guy."

    "With some nice biceps..." added Roy, gazing at the video. Simmons agreed with her, right at her side while Fitz stared at his two friends, slightly disturbed. Seeing his look, Roy immediately stood back up straight, clearing her throat. "I━I mean, who's been in the Centipede Program."

    "Exactly," said Skye (not after a strange look on her face). "He can give us some super-power backup."

    "Oh, I'm sure he can do much more than that..." chuckled Roy with Simmons, the girls' laugh in the back of their noses. Fitz looked oddly betrayed, and they fell silent. "Oh, Fitz ... come off it ..."

    "Just saying," Ward propped his hands on the table, "this could easily go sideways. I mean, the last time we saw this guy, he was a raging, homicidal maniac..." his voice trailed off in seeing the flickers of their gazes to the floor. Ward pursed his lips, and closed his eyes for a second with a frustrated sigh. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

    Mike Peterson was looking very Men In Black. Roy tilted her head, taking in his broard shoulders under his nicely-fitted suit and the casual glare he was sending Ward at the words he had been saying. He looked much better than the last time they have seen him━he cleaned up very well!

    Coulson had arrived with him. Gesturing out a hand to Ward, an amused smile on his face, he said, "Mister Peterson, this is Agent Grant Ward━" the specialist turned around, and this was the first time Roy has seen Ward without confidence in himself, "━he's the man who shot you at Union Station. Fitz-Roy-Simmons━" Coulson pointed over to the scientists, "━designed the weapon he used," (all three of the friends simoultaneously sent an awkward wave as a hello), "and I think you remember..."

    "Kidnap victim," Skye had a smile on her face despite the words she said.

    Mike chuckled in disbelief, "You joined S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

    "Yeah," Skye followed with a tense chuckle of her own. "Turns out, guys in suits, not so bad."

    Glancing at each of them in turn, Mike Peterson awkwardly took a deep breath. "Look, I know Union Station could've gone another way. Another team might not have let me out of there alive. I owe you. All of you."

    "That's bygones," said Skye. "And water under a distant bridge. Far away. How's your son?"

    "Still with my sister," he said, his eyes lightening up ever-so-slightly at the mention of Ace. "He thinks I'm working construction, but he's good. Happy." The light faltered, and Roy's smile fell as well.

    Coulson stepped forward, "So," he addressed his team, "what do we have?"

    "Not much on Po," began Skye. "I checked his previously known addresses and old military contacts, came up empty."

    "We've been looking for where Po might be on the outside," said Coulson. "Let's look at his life on the inside. At the prison. See if that gets us any leads. Anything on the Centipede soliders?"

    "We found a facial recog match on one of them," said Simmons, and Ward pulled up his I.D on the monitor.

    "Name's Brian Hayward. Stationed in Afghanistan for three years, ten fell off the radar when he got back."

    "Only living relative," Skye brought up a second photo of a young woman with dazzling bright blonde hair, "his sister, Laura. A sophomore at the University of Ohio."

    "She's our best shot at finding Hayward," nodded Coulson, turning to Ward. "You and I will go talk to her. Have May set a course for Cleveland."

    ━━Fitz-Roy-Simmons were tasked in conducting many tests for Mike Peterson, checking everything that Sci-Ops would have already passed. But Roy took the chance for an exciting look into how he was stable, how he was alive, and how much he could handle. And to get a close look at well ... him ...

    Out of the suit, Mike Peterson stood before Roy and Simmons in a tight white shirt and sweats. As he talked, Roy pretended to listen, when rather, all she focused on was his large biceps that were showing through the materal. Gosh, they were ... they were huge.

    "I used to put away four times what I used to," Mike was saying as Roy used the excuse of needing to manually measure him to be up close and personal. She was always short, but he was tall━like really, really tall. She was on her tippy-toes to wrap the measuring tape around his chest, "just to keep my energy up."

    "Uh-huh..." Roy mumbled, pulling the tape tight and gazing at the number, "and say ... after you use your strength?"

    "Maybe ten times the food?" replied Mike. "Then I usually crash afterwards. It's really hard on my body."

    "Hard ... body ..." Roy would admit, her fingers lingered on his chest longer than they should have. She wasn't the only one! Simmons was beside her, gazing up and enjoying the show just as much as her! "Fantastic ... got it ..."

    Someone's shadow hovered over Roy, making her jump as they said, "You do know we have equipment that can take measurements. No need to do it manually."

    Glancing back, Roy's cheeks went bright red at Fitz's blank-face stare. Oh, trust him to go ahead and ruin it! Simmons let out a nervous chuckle, "Oh," she glanced at Mike, "our mistake. Well, no matter, we'll send the numbers to you straight away!"

    She nudged Roy into the side to get her moving. The young agent sent Mike a sheepish grin and hurried off, her whole face as rosy as her strawberry hair. Fitz rolled his eyes. As the two girls hid their red cheeks and embarassment in their tablets, he told Mike, "I need measurements to build you a diagnostic suit so we can monitor your vitals in the field. As for fabrics, how does a polymer blend with ten layers of treated composite material sound?"

    Mike had no idea what he was talking about. Fitz didn't make it any easier by having an edge to his voice. "Sounds ... great?"

    "Yeah," said Fitz. "It does, doesn't it...?" his voice trailed off in seeing the centipede serum attatched to Mike's under-arm. Realising how weird it must be for Mike to see Fitz just staring at his arm, he quickly said. "Sorry! I'm sorry. I was just looking at that ..."

    "Oh! No, it's okay," assured Mike. "I'm used to it. They tried to take it off me at the Sci-Ops facility. Realised they couldn't do it without killing me."

    "I'm afraid we're terribly curious━" at the mention of the Centipede serum, both the girls had returned to Fitz's side, like seagulls to chips.

    "Yeah," added Roy to Simmons words, her inquisitive gaze fixed on the orange substance within the small Centipede cells. "How did they stabilise the Extremis in you?"

    "And keep you from exploding?"

    "Yeah," finished Simmons, a little breathless.

    Mike frowned, "Oh ... that wasn't them. That was you three."

    Confused, the three friends shared a glance. "I'm sorry━"; "━What's that━?"; "━Come again?"

   "Your gun," explained Peterson. "It somehow froze me. Right at the moment I was about to explode. Helped my body absorb the serum, stabilise. Your weapon saved my life."

    At those words, Simmons crinkled her nose up, letting out a modest scoff and wave of her hand. "Wow━" she nudged Roy beside her, and they shared an awed grin.

    "All that, and it didn't even leave a scar, so..."

    "Well," Roy tapped his chest good-naturedly━wow, firm━(she tapped it again a few more times), "yeah, that's good isn't it━"

    "━Well, I should think not━" Fitz said at the same time, sending a few happy light punches to Mike's gut, and he chuckled.

    "━We couldn't have that, could we?" grinned Simmons, letting out a quiet snort of laughter in the back of her throat. "It would be a shame, especially when you're so well-formed and symmentrical in the..." she broke off, realising that she was alone in speaking, and she glanced at the two of them. "When did you stop talking?"

    Fitz dead-panned, "About three embarrassing sentences ago."

    Simmons kissed her teeth, her ears and the back of her neck going red. "Yes ..." she whispered. "Right." She shuffled off in horror.

    Morning passed over to afternoon. In that time, Fitz-Roy-Simmons finished the suit for Mike, each equally proud of their work. Skye and May found a lead towards someone called The Clairvoyant, and Miles's 'Girl In The Flower Dress' that Mike identified as Raina. Ward and Coulson's tracker on Hayward's sister worked it's magic, giving them location of Centipede's most recent location. May set course for Oakland, California and they all got ready.

    Working back-end, Fitz-Roy-Simmons and Skye need not worry about an amazing suit like Mike (all though, Roy did wish she had one━it was amazing!). Standing before their work like proud parents, they sighed and smiled while those around them suited up in tactical gear. Mike really did look like a super-hero (Roy feels like they owe him that). All dressed up in a wonderful black, insulated suit with dark blue accents, it was all so very sophisticated. The inner workings, however, of the suit, were what they were really proud of.

    "I think it's quite smart," smiled Simmons.

    Roy agreed, nodding with her hands clasped together tightly at her chest, grinning.

    Fitz propped his hands on his hips, sighing out a happy, "How does it feel?"

    "It feels good," Mike told them, flexing his arms back and forth to test the vest out. "Comfortable."

    "Having powers is cheating," Ward decided to call from the side, looking over his shoulder. Roy rolled her eyes. "But the suit's pretty cool."

    "It's perfect," Fitz corrected him without a glance, "for an array of tactical missions."

    "Yes, indeed," nodded Roy. "And it also measures your heart rate, systolic pressures and glucose levels."

    "All while providing state-of-the-art ballisitc protection," finished Simmons, and she and Roy shared a high-five.

    "Thanks," said Mike, and the three of them all shook their heads.

    "Oh! No, thank you━!"; "━We've never been so proud━"; "━Oh, please, we're ever-so-grateful!"

    Coulson's footsteps clanged against the metal stairs leading down from the catwalk above, and they all glanced up. Following him was May and Skye. "Hayward's cell phone has been traced to an abandoned factory about eight miles from here."

    "Probably Centipede's new lab," said Ward.

    "It's certainly been their M.O," the team leader showed them the satellite birds-eye-view on his tablet. "We destory one factory, they set up another, putting us back to square one. This time, I want answers."

    "It means we go in quiet," said May. "Do minimal damage to the facility and the people inside."

    "Ward, May, you'll go in through the west entrance," Coulson pointed it out on the map. "Mister Peterson and I will enter through the loading dock. You'll run the back end from outside," he told the remaining four agents, and Simmons nodded in understanding.

    "We're doing this just us?" frowned Skye, a little taken-aback. "We've been playing Whac-A-Mole with these guys since Ward first picked me out of my van. Shouldn't Big S.H.I.E.L.D. be sending in backup?"

    "Trust me," Coulson's gaze flickered over to Mike, "they already did."

    May nodded, "Let's move."

✧·ﾟ: *✧·ﾟ:* 　the bridge　 *:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧
date: 1st December 2013
location: Oakland, California

    ━━The factory looked scary enough from the outside. Broken-down, abandoned, and perhaps a little burnt from a fire two years ago. Roy was feeling the anxiety just sitting back end looking at a computer with heat signatures, she couldn't begin to imagine what it was like in there━or perhaps she could, considering the last time she dealt with Centipede was in Hong Kong (and they all know how that went down).

    Over comms, Coulson spoke up, "We alone here?"

    "It appears so," said Simmons. "The only heat signatures we're reading are yours."

    "But there's a weird electronic signal," added Skye from the other end of the van, typing away at her laptop. "I'm trying to isolate it."

    "Think we're too late?" then asked Ward.

    "Fitz," the engineer looked up at the mention of his name, "dial Hayward's number. Find out."

    With nimble fingers, Fitz did as he was told. Hayward's number lit up on the screen of his laptop. They waited a few seconds for a response━Clang! The comms peaked at the loud noise, making them all jump. Turning to the monitor, Fitz leaned in close to Roy to see the monitor. Fitz-Roy-Simmons all grimaced at the extra heat signatures dancing around their team. 

    "Uh, sir, you've got company!"

    "Yeah," he replied, "we do."

    "Coming your way!" called Ward.

    Thuds, groans and grunts echoed over the comms. Roy had her fingers to her mouth, her eyes darting from Mike's vitals on her laptop, to the heat signatures of their team against what she could count as at least six Centipede soldiers. She leaned in closer, hanging off the edge of her seat. 

    She wished they had placed body camera's onto the tactical gear for this op, that way she could hear what was causing pain━and to whom. So far, Mike's vitals were fine━some pressure points, but nothing too serious. 

    However, she had spoken too soon.

    The suit silhouette lit up in red, and Roy gasped. Oh, no, oh no, oh no━this was bad; more than bad. Reading what their monitors were saying, she shook her head. Hearing her, Skye spun her chair around, "What's happening?!"

    "His systolic and diastolic pressures are dropping," stated Roy, feeling a sudden temptation to run out in there and preform emergency medical treatement. 

    "Heart rate's plummeting as well," added Fitz, his eyes wide. 

    "Sir," Simmons called onto comms, "he's in bad shape! Between the physical extertion and this wound, his vitals are dangerously low!"

    There wasn't a response. Roy's legs were bouncing as she glanced back and forth from the monitor, and her emergency medical kit, and them up to the van door. She was torn, but not for long. In the end, she stood up, but Fitz stopped her with a hand encasing her wrists. "Wait━Roy, look..."

    She glanced back to the monitor. One of the opposing heat signatures fell still, and the others all ran, disappearing into nothing. The heat signature that was still was slowly fading away, until it suddenly dropped. 

    "Hayward's dead," Coulson spoke up finally, and the four agents shared a worried look. "The same bomb in Amador's eyes was in his. He's gone."

    That wasn't good. Fitz's grip around Roy's wrist slacked, his fingers brushing her's as his hand fell away━but she stopped it before he could, seizing his fingers tightly for comfort as they all realised just how terrible this situation was getting. 

    Rushing back to the Bus, Fitz-Roy-Simmons brought up comparative visuals of the prosthetic eyes for both Amador and Hayward after a quick retinal and X-Ray scan. Roy didn't like how all of this was connected. It seemed like it was some sort of extended universe of weird, terrible people. This wasn't Star Wars, but it honestly felt like it was.

    "The one on the left is Akela Amador's," Fitz began his explanation, pointing a figure to the left picture with a glance at the others in the room. "Hayward's is on the right."

    Behind, Roy removed her gaze from the monitor and instead back to Mike, delicately pinning the bandage around his torso. He was lucky to be alive━very lucky. She wondered whether it was the EXTREMIS in his blood, or perhaps they had just been fast enough to get him to medical attention before he lost too much blood. Either way, Roy was just happy that he was alive, and he'll recover. Hopefully with flying colours! Not that ... not that recovering from an almost mortal wound was a test for him, more so a test for Roy in the field ... but that was being selfish, wasn't it?

    "Now," continued Simmons from beside Fitz, "his prosthetic was slightly damaged, but based on digital reconstruction━well done, Fitz━" she tapped his arm cheerfully, "━we can now confirm that the technology is virtually identical."

    Fitz nodded, "Hayward's prosthetic is the same interal power source━" he brought up the digital reconstruction, showing the internal installation, "━backscatter capabilities and biomechanics as Amador."

    Roy fixed up the IV bag on the mobile IV pole, alert in making sure she didn't put Mike in anymore pain than he already was. When he winced, immediately she said, "Oh, sorry, did I move it too quickly?"

    "No, no, it's fine," he assured her. "You're okay. Thank you, Agent Roy."

    "You can call me Clara, it's okay," she smiled. 

    "So," Coulson crossed his arms, "Centipede also designed the eye implant?"

    "These guys are serious multitaskers," Skye muttered, leaning against the Holotable. 

    "Who's Akela Amador?" asked Mike as Roy placed up another IV.

    "A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," Coulson glanced back. "The first person we encountered with this eye technology. A good agent who was forced to do some bad things."

    "We helped her," Roy smiled at Mike, tilting his head slightly to check the bruise forming above his eye. 

    He nodded, "Kind of a pattern with you guys." With a painful groan, he shifted in his position on the table so he could see the monitor better. Roy's gloved hands flew out to help, hating that someone was in pain (she was a doctor for a reason). "So then these soldiers at the warehouse were forced to attack us? Through that eye thing?"

    "They were getting orders," Coulson walked over, driven. "When the tide turned in our favour, Centipede flipped Hayward's kill switch, told the other guys to run." Spinning on his heel, he clicked his fingers at Skye who looked up from her tablet, "Can you track the eye feed like before, find their location?"

    "Nope," she pursed her lips and shook her head. "They've upgraded since Amador. Their feed's untraceable now."

    "Their technology keeps advancing at a disturbingly rapid pace," Roy agreed with Coulson's words, kissing her teeth at the inconvenience towards them as she mopped an alcohol wipe across a graze on Mike's elbow. "They must have endless manpower, resources."

    "And someone with a fat wallet," added Skye and Simmons nodded, corresponding with a quick, "Yeah..."

    "Po's the strategist," proceeded Simmons, her brown eyes shimmering with a genius mind running on overdrive, "Raina's their recruiter. Perhaps this Clairvoyant's the money."

    "That makes sense," approved Fitz. "If I could see the future, I'd go straight to Las Vegas."

    Roy frowned at him, "I don't think that's what she meant, Fitz..."

    "Whoever's behind them may or may not be psychic, but..." Coulson sighed, "... they're one step ahead of us every time. I need to update HQ. This is bigger than we thought."

    Finishing up on Mike's injuries, she held him get his jumper on, and supported him back to the Cage where he was temporarily sleeping while on mission with them. Leaving him there, knowing full well he'll get up again and walk around without her (one of the most frustrating things about being a doctor is patients not taking her advice), she decided to just return to her own bunk. 

    Walking past, Roy faltered in hearing the soft, muffled whimpers of sobs in Skye's bunk. She frowned, wondering whether to knock or to just let her be. Glancing around, she guessed Fitz and Simmons were still in the lab, Ward was perhaps by the punching bag, Coulson in his cabin, and May up in the cockpit. Skye was alone in her tears, and Roy wasn't sure whether she liked someone to be there with her, or whether she wanted to get over it by herself.

    But if she just left her here, Roy knew she'd feel terrible. So, she tapped her knuckles three times on the bunk door. The sobs inside stopped, and slowly, Roy opened the sliding door, peaking her head through.

    Seeing Skye rapidly wiping away her tears and shuffling away ripped papers, Roy pursed her lips. "Hey..." she breathed out quietly. 

    "Hi, what's up?" Skye managed to say with a thick croak. 

    "Nothing much," stepping into the bunk, Roy closed the door behind her. "I just finished dressing Mike's injuries, Fitz and Simmons are busy, so I'm just looking for someone to hang out with."

    Skye sniffled, "I'm sorry," she told her, wiping away more tears. "I just━I'm sorry..."

    She knew why Roy was really here, and it made Clara fan out a small, sad smile. Stepping forward, she took the seat beside Skye on her bed, and held out her arms. Skye's eyes welled up with more tears, and she leaned into Roy's chest. Crying into her shirt, Clara wrapped her arms tight around Skye, catching glimpse of S.H.I.E.L.D. files. It wasn't a secret that Skye was trying to find out who her parents were, but it wasn't something they talked about. And Clara didn't ask about it that night. Instead, she just stayed with her, letting her toss it all out in trembling whimpers. 

    Roy rubbed her shoulder, not saying a word. Neither did Skye, but Clara knew she was grateful. 

    They were called back to the Command Centre not long after. Seeing the ashen look upon Ward's face, Roy's stomach immediately dropped. Standing up from the bunk, she silently asked what had happened━was someone hurt? Did they need her for some sort of medical emergency? No, the furrow of Ward's brows told her is was worse; much worse.

    The two girls followed him to the circular room in the middle of the main deck. Inside, the others were waiting for them, and there, sitting with his head in his hands, was Mike. Coulson stood beside him, his jaw clenched. 

    Roy settled inbetween Fitz and Simmons, like usual, feeling their shoulders brush against her own. Now that everyone was here, Coulson began the debrief with a foreboding: "They wanna trade. Ace for his father." Roy breathed out a shocked, no... "They've set a time and place."

    "Bloody savages!" seethed Fitz. 

    "They want to experiment on him," said Simmons, her eyes wide. "Determine how he still has his abilities."

    "And we're gonna let them?" Ward massaged ice on his bloody bruise on his cheek. "We've fought these guys before."

    "We don't have a choice," Roy frowned at Coulson's words, walking over to where Mike sat and crouched down beside him. "The instructions they gave Mister Peterson were very specific. I called HQ, told them to stand down."

    "Stand down?" May exclaimed.

    Roy gripped Mike's shoulder, hoping to provide some comfort. This was terrible━like Fitz said, savages. Roy couldn't imagine how she'd react if her child was taken (not that she has a child, but if she did, she knew she'd do anything to get them back. She would blow Hell, climb up to Heaven, whoever took her child would rue the day they did so). 

    "So we take them alone," nodded Ward, setting down his ice.

    "We should at least have a hostage rescue unit in support of this," declared May.

    "They said they would murder my son!" cried Mike, and Roy's grip on his shoulder tightened. Bloody savages━how could they do that? To a kid? An innocent child?! Roy wanted to make them rue the day they took Ace, and he wasn't even her son. "If we make one wrong move..."

    May breathed, her lips parted. Roy saw something cross May's face she never expected━understanding. She didn't think May had a child; no, she doesn't. But she still understood. Could empathise. Feel that motherly love for a child that wasn't her own, not because she had one ... the look on her face told Roy that she might've, and that maternal feeling was just as strong as Roy's who has never had the chance so far to have a child. Roy wondered what had happened to give Melinda May that look upon her face. 

    "Any electronics," Coulson told them, "any comms, any sign of surveillance, and they'll terminate the arrangement."

    "I'll give myself up, no problem," said Mike, his voice thick through his tears, "get him back. I can figure it out from there."

    "You're still recovering!" said Skye, her fingers pressed against her lips in her worry. "We can't just hand you over to them like that. Can we?" she turned to Coulson, who took a deep breath; they were in an impossible situation.

    "Fitz-Roy-Simmons have a non-electronic method of tracking him," he decided to say. 

    Fitz nodded, "Roy and Simmons have fabricated an odorless scent. I have an instrument which can detect it, works like a bloodhound. Can track someone from over fifty kilometres."

    "After we make the trade, we'll be able to follow Mister Peterson," continued Coulson. "Buy him some time to get his strength back. We'll find him."

    "I don't care what happens to me," said Mike, desperate. He stood up, and Roy was quick to follow in case he strained his sutures. "As long as my boy is ..." he couldn't finish, looking away with eyes welled up with tears.

    "I promise you," Coulson met him face-to-face, determined. "We're gonna get your son back."

    (But they all also wanted Ace to still have his father in the long run━and that was the silent agreement between all of them). 

✧·ﾟ: *✧·ﾟ:* 　the bridge　 *:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧
date: 1st December 2013
location: Queen Mary Cruise Terminal, Long Beach, California

    ━━The drive to the pass-over location was baked in a strong, tense silence. Roy sat in between her two best friends, her knees up to her chest. Outside, they were covered in the shadow of the night on a bridge closed for matinece━the perfect place for an exchange such as this. It made Roy feel sick. Ward wasn't with them, and instead was positioned in a place they made very sure to be completely unable to be noticed just incase the trade with Raina and Centipede went downhill.

    No comms, no electronics, no way to tell whether this was going in their favour except for their two eyes. Stepping out behind the large van, Fitz-Roy-Simmons were silent in applying the odorless scent on Mike's wrist. Skye watched over them, her heart in her throat. The night was cold━a soft breeze sending them all into small fits of chills up and down their spines. 

    Fitz was suprisingly calm in this situation, and in standing beside hm, Roy felt like she could be calm, too. Not for themselves, but for Mike. If they showed nerves about this not going well, it most definitely will not go in their favour. 

    "Once the swap happens," said Fitz softly, but casually, "I'll fire up my equipment. We'll be able to track you wherever they take you."

    "Just don't do anything that'll endanger my son," Mike told him, and Roy shook her head.

    "We won't," she promised.

    Skye nodded, agreeing. "But we wanna make sure Ace has his dad at the end of the day, too."

    Simmons peeled off the paper, her breath mist in front of her. It was done. She stepped away, just in time for Coulson to round the van and stand in amongst the small huddled group. Meeting Mike's eyes, he said, "Time to go."

    With this said, they quickly closed the back doors of the van. Mike followed Coulson to the front of their two vehicles, and Skye took a deep breath, her hands clutching the material of her jacket in the pockets. 

    Hiding back in the van, the four young agents huddled shoulder-to-shoulder so they could see over the front seats and out into the night as another sedan pulled up near the oil truck. May sat in the drivers seat, her face in a pernament frown (and yes, she always had that face━Roy would know, it's seriously intimidating. But tonight, it was even more ... if that was even possibe). 

    Out of the passenger seat, came Raina━dressed up in her signature satin flower dresses and heels. Walking down the tarred road with a super-soldier at her disposal and guard, she met Coulson and Mike halfway. Roy wished she could hear what they were talking about. Sitting here idily was terrible━she didn't know what was happening (whether it was good or bad) at all. 

    "Let me know when I can activate comms and the tracker," whispered Fitz to May, and she nodded in reply. Roy gripped Simmons's hand tight, holding it up near their faces. Both girls were in upmost worry over what could happen. Their throats were dry; their stomachs churning; Roy felt the need to vomit.

    A flash of movement made them lean forward. Mike had is hand clasped around Raina's throat. Their breaths hitched in their throats. What was happening? What did this mean? Did something bad happen?!

    There was an exchange of conversations between Mike, Raina and Coulson, and then, slowly, Mike let the girl in the flower dress go. Simmons squeezed Roy's hand so tight that she was most definitely cutting off her circulation━not that Roy could feel it. She felt numb from head to toe. 

    And then Raina turned back to the sedan. With a motion of her gloved hand, the back door opened. There, came running out a small figure towards Mike. Skye breathed out a cry of relief, "That's his son!"

    "Oh, thank God," sighed Simmons. "I have no stomach for this."

    Mike picked up his son in a desperate reunion. Roy's other hand was to her mouth, her foot tapping against the carpeted floor of the SUV. "On my mark," said May, "acivate comms and tracker."

    Fitz got his tablet ready, but faltered. Something was happening━something strange. Mike was running back to them with his son in his arms, leaving Coulson with Centipede and Raina. Roy gapsed when all of the sudden, Coulson collapsed, and the super-soldier beside him held him up over his shoulder.

    "What's happening?" gasped Skye. "What are they doing?!"

    "Activate comms," May told Fitz. "Activate comms, now!"

    He did as he was told to, and immediately, Ward's voice broke through. "What happened?! They took Coulson!" Skye opened the door, and Roy wasted no time in following her, pushing past Fitz to hurry outside into the chilly winter wind. "All right, call it in. We need backup."

    Fitz and Simmons soon made their way out of the van, too. Roy ran to catch up with Skye, taking her arm as they halted by the nearest roadwork cones. "I have a shot," Ward was saying, and May was immediate in her response of:

    "Do not engage! They'll kill Coulson. Stand down, I'll contact HQ!"

    Mike continued to run towards them. As soon as he reached them, he handed Ace over to Skye. Roy watched him crouch down, his hand on either side of his sons cheeks. "Ace, I gotta make something right. Daddy loves you so much, okay?" Something wasn't right. What was he doing? What was happening? "Stay with Skye. You remember Skye, right? Keep him safe!" he told her. "Take care of my boy!"

    "Mike━wait!" Roy cried out after him as he started to run back the way he came to where the super-soldiers were forcing an unconscious Coulson into the back of the Sedan. "Mike!"

    His figure grew smaller across the bridge. He ran as fast as he can, pushing through the roadwork signs. He jumped over the last sent of cones━

    BOOM!

    "NOOO!"

    There was an explosion of fire. Skye's screams were drowned out by the woosh of flames that engulfed Mike and lit up the night sky. She held Ace close, hiding him from the blast, making sure he couldn't see the death of his father. He would have been blown up━to bits ... to nothing but bits.

    Roy could feel the tears━even before she could comprehend just what had happened. The firestorm gleamed against her face in colours of orange and red, burning against her skin even all the way from here. 

    She stepped back, stumbling as she did so. Skye called out a weak, "Mike?" knowing full well he wouldn't answer. 

    "Where's Coulson?" asked Ward, his voice shaking ever-so-slightly. 

    There gazes flickered over to the Sedan only for that to explode too. Roy jumped, her stomach dropping. "No!" she cried out. "Coulson!"

    The scene before them was nothing but destruction and flames. Flickers made it hard for Roy to see any further than the few signs in front of her. Stepping back again, she found Simmons's arm and clung on desperately. She found it hard to look away, even if she wanted to. That couldn't be━Coulson couldn't be dead. They wouldn't do that. They said they needed him. That doesn't make sense ...

    Roy's knees were weak, but she stayed on her feet. Up above, she heard the distant sound of a helicopter, and so all of them glanced up. Amongst the fire and smoke━an abysmal, and dreadful colour of orange and red━a chopper swooped around to where Ward was stationed: Roy screamed once again at the crack of gunfire.

    And then it disappeared into the night. Coulson along with it.  

✧·ﾟ: *✧·ﾟ:* 　 *:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧

    a/n: chloe's acting in that scene when Mike *dies* her scream? omg. i remember watching that and having chills. like this show had me sold from the beginning. but episode 10 made me realise fukkkk this is getting good. and the episode seven i was like bITCH THIS PLOT TWIST I LOVE YOU. anyway, i'm saying this cos the epicness of that scene is so hard to accomplish and recreate in writing so i have produced a failure of a description i is sorry. 

    also this is me rn:

    me: *writes a chapter. stops halfway.*

    me: i should update thy rival

    my common sense: no. nO. you updated literally tHREE DAYS ago, give other books some lOVE! 

    me: imma update thy rival. *presses publish button with limited editing*

    my common sense: *facepalm*