This is part of an ongoing one-shot collection of stories I'll write after each episode. I will be going back and doing ones for the previous episodes shortly. Enjoy!

10/16/13 Another Lonely Day

The morning on the bus was still and quiet. The sterility of the conference room was a discomfort as files ran in little data strips across the air.

CONFIDENTIAL.

ACCESS DENIED.

UNAUTHORISED PASSWORD.

Each denial discouraged him more as the room went dark. Melinda had looked at him all night the day before, prying into his world like she was pulling back skin and muscle and sinew to see what secrets he held. He didn't understand. None of the other agents were remotely interested in him. So what did he have to hide that May was so intent on discovering? He didn't know and each search led to another dead end

He'd followed up on Amador. He'd read her files, her reports before going 'rouge'. Nothing harkened back to him but Amador had spoken to May before he left. Something had happened.

And he couldn't access his personnel files. It was like he was a ghost. Punta Antigua was sealed. Stark was sealed. The entirety of New York was also sealed. His medical files were the same. It was like nothing had happened to him but here he was, his chest hurting on a plane, and he knew if he unbuttoned his shirt, a long jagged scar would greet him.

Sun was beginning to dawn and he could hear the team beginning to stir. Skye ambled through with her laptop and a mop of bed head as she went and curled up on the couch. Ward was close behind her, a towel slung over his shoulder as he went to grab a bottle of water. May was next and their eyes met as she paused and nodded her own brand of good morning.

There was the look. In the briefest of moments before Fitz and Simmons came striding in and netting her, she was regarding him like she would regard a target. Her eyes were hard and searching and he had to look away from her inquisitive stare. Those brown eyes were trying to find his secret.

But what was his secret? Why did he suddenly feel so alone among his own team? And what had Amador meant when she said he had changed?

He was still Phil Coulson, wasn't he?