After The Fallen, I Can't Stop Thinking About You Ever Since
Hello, this is my first time ever writing about Agent of SHIELD. Enjoy!
I do not own Agent of SHIELD
Summary : Turns out Melinda May never came back after she left the Providence Base, and someone can't stop thinking about it ever since.
The New Headquarters
Location : Classified
"I need this to be done by the end of today Agent Dunn, We can't lose him anymore, this is our only best shot"
"I understand, Sir"
Coulson just got off from the chopper. He's been travelling to many places to check the situation after the fallen of SHIELD and Hydra's threat a year ago. Now SHIELD is still on progress, but the good thing is SHIELD has got the trust again from the Government all over again. Stark Industries is also helping SHIELD back on track. So, Director Coulson can step up from the shadow and rebuild SHIELD openly.
Coulson sit back on his desk. He always love the view from his desk, outside the HQ building is SHIELD research and development facility where Agent Fitz and Agent Simmons runs the department. Director Coulson still have their back. Jemma, Leo, Skye and Antoine have always been his first call if something major happen. It also been a year since Melinda May decided to left them.
The desk telephone rang.
"Sir, there's Agent Skye in line 2"
"Okay, shoot"
"Director Coulson, you're back already?"
"Yap, turns out, the team there can handle the situation itself, So yeah I'm back"
"Sir, can I go to your room, there's something I would like to talk"
"Come here, Skye"
"Okay"
Agent Skye been working really well since SHIELD fallen apart, she become the best IT on SHIELD. But everybody knows Skye, she doesn't want to work behind the desk or so. Instead, she choose to always working on the cafeteria with her own laptop and her own private wi-fi.
"Sir" Skye knock then entering and sit on the chair in front of Coulson's desk.
"Oh please, Skye, drop that manner, nobody's here"
"Okay then"
"What's the matter?"
Skye doesn't answer. She gulped and look at her laptop and tapping it. Coulson stand up, pacing back and forth.
"You found her, right?"
"Not that fast, but I got a lead"
Skye open up her laptop.
"As you know, I've been checking out and I found nothing. No records, no transaction, no trip under her name. So, my guess is, she become someone else. If she use other identity than Melinda May, It's a dead end for me" Coulson seems disappointed by her statement, he look worry and turn his face to the window.
"But..." He's now focus on Skye again. "I managed to pull all the surveillance camera from our partner countries all over the world. She's Melinda May, she knows how to being careful and not to captured. Still, I found this"
She click the button on her laptop, and 10 photos of Melinda May being captured in the surveillance camera appeared. All photos shows that May been traveled to different countries.
"This is 10 photos from 10 different country, and look at the time stamp. It was also in a different time. She's everywhere. Take a look at the clothes she was wearing, All different, I guess she was..."
"Doing undercover" Coulson cut the line of their conversation before Skye finished it.
"Yap, I think so"
"Did she work for private sector maybe, or even worse, did she work for CIA or other intelligence organization?"
"The think is, I think, she still work for us. For SHIELD"
"That's not possible. I'm the director of SHIELD Skye, I know what my agents doing out there, if Melinda May is still our agent, I'll know"
"Not that, This is just my theory, I think May become a replacement agent"
"What replacement agent?"
"I don't know how to explain it Coulson. You sent some agent out there to do the mission, sometime the impossible one. There are agents who doesn't have that too much guts to do it yet they don't have courage to disobey your order. So, Agent May on the other hand become the replacement. Because any specialist agents know her too well as The Cavalry. She's fearless. She got the job done, the Agent maybe maybe split the earnings, then real Agent come back home and reporting to you. Done. You will always know that your overseas Agents did their job well, while there's other person who do the job for them. I already made a list, some estimantion, Agents who using the Cavalry 'services'. I checked on their mission based on the surveillance footage that I found. You can pull them out and having them interrogate, just to know where she is now"
"Skye, your theory is unprovable"
"You know Melinda better than I do, Coulson. Think about it, Melinda is loyal to the organization. SHIELD is her life. She remain stay even after Bahrain happened to her. I don't know what happen there, but I know it really hurt her, but after all she stay. She must be heard about you became the Director, she's the person who always there for you. She must be know that rebuilding SHIELD is so hard, So this is the only way she can help you, since you don't want to see her face anymore"
"It was a year ago, Skye. I'm not mad at her anymore" Coulson sit again, he cover his face with his hands and he rub his can't say anything, he's too speechless. He is so glad that finally Skye found a lead about where she is. It's been a year since she went away from him, and since that day she asked Skye to help him find Melinda. But Melinda is too good, she's the expert of undercover. Maybe she don't want to be discovered. Maybe she didn't care about the organization again, especially maybe she doesn't care about him again. Suddenly his heart ache, his mind hurt. Skye finally found a lead, he know that he wait for this day to come, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he want.
"Skye, I don't know what to do" She look at Skye. Skye know that Coulson is hurting. Reality hits him, that she's out there. Skye close her laptop and speak again.
"Listen Phil, let me make this easy for you. I remember the day when you told me that Melinda left you, that she walked away from Providence base. I could see all the sadness in your eyes Phil. I remember the day when we used to live at the playground, when you couldn't sleep, you walked to your office, played the footage of Melinda left the base over and over again. And I still remember when you begged me to help you find her. I never stop until today Phil. Now that I found her, you do your part. Things are better be said Phil" Skye hold his left hand.
"Skye" Skye look at his hand then look into her eyes, then smile.
"Beside, I worked my ass off to pull that surveillance tape just for you, this is not our organization matter, this is personal and I dont have permission for that. You know, if this countries know that I hack into their system, I can be their prisoner. I put my life on the end of the line for you Director. So you better not screw things up. Do the right thing. At least, make all my hard work become worthy"
"I will" Coulson and Skye stand up from their chair. They hold each other "Thank you so much for this Skye"
"My pleasure Boss" She release the hug, before she go to the front door "Oh, wait, there's something strange about May's presence. All the footage I found, all happen in the Europe, Eastern Europe to be exact. Strange right?"
Coulson's mind goes blank, seems like he knows something. "I think I know where she is". Suddenly he pick his phone up and dial the number, Skye is still there, looking confuse.
"Antoine, I need you to drive the bus, I want to go to somewhere" Skye is smiling and she open the door and leave Coulson's room.
Bratislava, Slovakia
Sad Janka Kráľa Park, Petržalka
Sad Janka Kráľa Park is always her favorite place in Bratislava. After morning jog, she buy a breakfast and sit in this spot of the park. While enjoying breakfast she can actually facing the Danube river. Usually sun comes up from the river, the scenery that she enjoy every morning since she decided to live in Bratislava. But maybe not today. Winter is coming. The air become so cold, but Melinda doesn't care. Still here she is, eating peacefully. There are not too many person in the park that day, maybe because is so cold here. She stop chewing when she heard something crack behind her. Melinda has always been careful in her life. Feel that it's not a threat at all, she continue her breakfast without even looking back. She grab the last bite and tidy up her food.
"First thing that academy taught me to become an agent is, always watch out your step. Never step on a fallen tree limb" She open her tumbler take a sip of the water and place it beside her "You found me" She's now facing the person she wants to see the most. There he is. Wearing a winter coat. He place his hands on his pocket. Apparently it is so cold for him. He look so pale. Rebuilding SHIELD must be hard for him.
"Skye" He come closer and sit beside her. May clear out her trash and put them in a trash.
"I bet"
They are sitting in a silence. They used to talk about everything. They used to have a very good conversation. At the academy, they can talk until midnight, until the people next door had to knock their room because they were so loud. Now, they don't know how to start a conversation. Coulson become the first person who start the talk. He has to make things right, he promise that to Skye.
"It's been 7 years. Danube remain the same"
"Yap"
"How are you, how's the things going on"
"Great" Silence again. Now she starts to speak. "You already found out about what I'm doing, right?"
He open his mouth but nothing come up.
"That's not their fault to be fear, I have to do the job for that agents, so you can speed up you 'rebuilding' thing"
"I come here, not to talk about that"
"Oh, then why?"
He open his mouth again and nothing come up again, he examine her face, he can see that she's hurting by his presence.
"You're still mad at me"
"Oh I can't believe it, You come here to actually talk about that again? Me being angry with you? Come on!" May raising her tone."I'm not mad at you, I don't have the right to be mad at you, I'm the one who betray you, I am deserved to be kick out from the team"
"Why are you travelling this far?"
"So you can't see me again Phil. You have something bigger going on, You can't stay angry, You can't focus if I'm there. Because you're fucking mad at me. So I better off"
"Leaving me behind, that's better for you?" Phil is also raising his tone. "You said that you care, you said that you will always had my back, then where are you when i needed you the most?"
"You re the one who told me to go away Phil, remember?"
"Melinda..."
"You don't need me, Phil, You're too angry with me. But if you want me to apologize, that's not gonna happen. If I have to do it again, I'll do it again"
"Melinda..."
"You will never know how to got that job done Phil. Everyday, everyday, I thought, If you knew what I am doing to you, You're going to hate me"
"I can't live without you" He look down, He muffle his emotion, and said those things with a soft voice. That words silence Melinda.
"I have something bigger going on, yes, you're right, I have a very hard job now. But over a year, I can barely think straight. My mind is always somewhere. You know that rebuilding SHIELD, to be a part of something bigger to this organization is always been my dream, I can leave anything behind me for SHIELD, this is my life. I love SHIELD as much as I love myself. But, when you're gone, things change. I can't stop thinking about you every single fucking day Melinda. If you told me that you leave me because you want me to focus, Oh no you're totally wrong. Because you're not there, I can't focus on things. I kept thinking how I hurt you that bad until you won't come home. Apparently I love SHIELD when you become part of it. I can't stop thinking about you and you are nowhere to be found"
"Phil"
"Come home, come home with me please"
"Phil"
"I'm not mad at you, I realized, when you took that order from Fury, It must be hard for you. I kept thinking what if I might have this all backward? What if, it's not me that dead. What if all of sudden Fury showed up in front of apartment and say 'hey Melinda is alive, stop grieving but I want you to do something for me' I understand now Melinda. I don't want you to apologize" Phil grabs her both hand. "I want you to forgive me. It was not fair to you. You mean a lot to me Mel, a lot. I don't think that I can survive If you die on me" He rubs Melinda's hand, look at them at he's now looking at her eyes. "You know too well that my feeling towards you Melinda, it never change a bit. And I think you're still feel the same way for me"
"Oh come on, you know nothing about my feeling" Melinda rolling her eyes and let a single tear come down to her face. She stand up, have a little walk, she's hanging on the guard rail whose connected land and the river. Philip follows her and stand beside her.
"Skye didn't told me specifically that you're here, She just told me that you happened to be the replacement agent for agents who have a duty in Eastern Europe. When I heard that, I thought, how fool I am, not to realized that with everything goes south between us, you'll be here. You'll always be here. I immediately ask Tripplet to drive the bus here. I didn't have any second thought on you. I'm pretty sure you'll be here". Now May can't stop her tears anymore,she manage let her one hand to wipe it, after that Phil holds both her hand. "When I found you today, again, at Sad Janka Kráľa Park eating your breakfast facing the Dunabe river, I'm sure that you're feeling towards me remain the same" Phil move closer to her "I still remember, 7 years ago, here, in the exact same place, after our 14th mission together in this country, I said those things to you, and if you forget about it, let me say that again"
He wipe her tears with one of his hand while the other hand still hold her.
"Since the Academy, when we started and decided to become a best friend, I know from that day I will always depend my life on you. I love when I become the only one who can makes you laugh, I love the fact that we can actually have a long and good conversation. I love when you fall asleep in my arm after our movie night. I can't live without you. It become strange because i don't wanna loose you". He gulp "I love you. So much Melinda May. You don't have to say anything. It just me, right?" Melinda close her lips, she don't know how to react he said those things again. "I said that remember? Then all of sudden you"
She cut the line with kissing him, he shocked at first but he reply that kiss. A very soft and gentle kiss between them. The she release. She swallow and breathing. Both their forehead meets.
"I didn't answer you that night, remember? Instead I kissed you"
"Yeah I remember" Phil close his eyes.
"But I need something to tell" She searched for his hands and holds them. "I love you so much till hurts Phil" She's crying.
Again, he wipe her tears again, take her hands and kiss them.
"Come home" She nod and this time He kiss her.