Justice Is More Important Than Peace
Disclaimer:
As always, I own nothing!
Rating:
T
Genre:
Family/Hurt/Comfort (with a dash of romance)
Pairing:
Coulsye
Lyrics:
Snow Patrol "I Won't Let You Go"
I Won't Let You Go
I won't let you go | (This is what you really want) | So don't let go of me | (This is what you asked for) | I wanted something more | (This is what you really want) | I wanted this right here | (This is what you asked for)
"He deserves to die!" Agent Melinda May cried out, storming through The Bus with her dear friend and boss, Agent Phil Coulson hot on her heels. "Not her!"
"Agreed." Phil replied, curtly. It was true. He did want Quinn dead for shooting Skye. But, at the moment, they had bigger fish to fry. Like saving his beloved hacker. "But, right now, Quinn doesn't matter. Only Skye does! And, I need you to pilot the plane!"
"You heard what the doctor said!" May shouted, tears still clinging to her cheeks.
"She said there's nothing more they could do for her." Phil fired back. "But, there are people that brought me back from the dead." The senior agent powered on, cryptically. "If they can do that, I'm betting they can save Skye."
"You sure about this?" Grant Ward questioned, standing next to his mentor outside their hacker's medical pod. "Taking her all the way to Bethesda?" The specialist prodded, eying the senior agent suspiciously.
"It's where my file says I was treated after New York." Phil replied, in a haunting monotone as he never once took his eyes off of his beloved hacker.
"I understand." The specialist conceded. "But, what makes you think the doctors there can do anything different?" He asked, hating the helpless feeling he just hadn't been able to shake from the moment he'd seen Skye cradled lifelessly in Coulson's arms. "I know they saved you-"
"They did a lot more than save me." Phil interjected, sharply, before finally turning to look up at the specialist. "It's time you know the truth."
"That can't be." Jemma argued. "What you're describing … It's medically impossible!"
"Except for the fact that I'm standing here." Phil countered, cleverly. "Proof that it's not impossible." Slamming his rather lengthy file down onto the table, he added "And, here's more proof. My file. Describing how they brought me back. The doctors … The treatments … The drugs …"
Looking at the file on the table, Leo Fitz couldn't not notice the Level Ten security clearance on the cover. "Sir …" He began, cautiously. "It's against the law for us to read this."
"I don't care about your clearance level." Phil countered, sharply. "I'm ordering you to read it."
After a tense silence, Jemma timidly reached out to open the file. "Death … And Recovery Report."
"It was only recently that Director Fury gave me access to this." Phil explained. "I've gone over it dozens of times. I need you to decipher the medical parts of it I didn't understand." He added. "Feel free to reach out to Dr. Streiten. He should be eager to answers any questions you may have."
"Yes." Jemma replied, still trying to wrap her mind around everything that was being thrown at her. "I'm sure I'm going to have quite a few."
"Sir, what about … Tahiti?" Fitz asked, carefully, unsure if he really wanted the answer or not.
"Turns out …" Phil replied, cocking an eyebrow sarcastically. " … Not so magical … Just memories planted to cover up what was done."
"Sir …" Jemma spoke cautiously. " … It says here … Your heart was perforated … Torn in half …"
"That much of it, I understood." Phil replied, shortly. "And, yet … Somehow, they managed to heal the damaged tissue, completely. We need to understand how."
"So, we can do the same for Skye." Leo concluded.
"That's what I'm counting on." Phil replied, with a earnest expression in his piercing blue eyes unlike anything either of the science officers had ever seen before.
"We'll get right on it, Sir." Jemma assured her mentor, firmly.
"Thank you." Phil replied, quietly, as he made his swift exit.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. 616, this is tower Michael Tango. You are in direct violation of S.H.I.E.L.D. directive 1297. Respond immediately." The warning coming over the PA system in the cockpit set both Agents May and Ward on edge.
"Disobeying a direct order." Ward spoke. "We didn't hand Quinn over for interrogation."
"Right …" May drawled, reluctantly, as multiple quinjets surrounded them. Finally picking up the radio, May responded. "This is S.H.I.E.L.D. 616. How do we proceed?"
"Prepare to be boarded and relinquish command." The other voice ordered.
"Really?!" Phil demanded, once Ward had informed him of the situation. "All the war and chaos in the world and S.H.I.E.L.D. sends a plane after us?!" He snapped. He had far bigger fish to fry at the moment and he had neither the time nor the patience for this.
"Three planes." The specialist corrected. "One small transport to dock and two F-15s to make sure we hand over Quinn." He elaborated, curtly.
Looking up as the plane jarred with the motion of the transport plane docking on their roof, Phil glared in the general direction of the transport plane as he muttered "They scratch my paint, I'm gonna be pissed!"
"Caelynn?" Phil questioned, curiously, watching his former protege descending the stairs into the cabin of his plane. "The hell are you doing here?"
"As opposed to the level eight jackass I'm lookin' at?" Caelynn Harmon replied, grinning wickedly as she moved to stand before Phil. "Same as you." She admitted. "Trying to save Skye."
"And, what about Quinn?" The senior agent questioned, cocking an eyebrow, curiously.
"Oh, don't worry." Caelynn replied, an evil grin spreading across her face. "I have something very special planned for him." As the grin disappeared, she added. "But, right now, the name of the game is to help Skye." She spoke, switching conversational gears. "I understand you're headed to Bethesda."
"That is where I was treated." Phil countered, silently wondering where the specialist was going with this.
"Bold move." Caelynn replied. "You know the factions aren't going to be happy about S.H.I.E.L.D. invading their turf unannounced." She added, a slight warning tone to her voice, as she folded her arms over her chest. "I still recall the last time you and I were there, together – before your treatment. During all the conflicts …" The specialist added, reminiscing over the time of the faction civil war. All five factions were at each other's throats. Abnegation couldn't keep up with it all and had reluctantly asked S.H.I.E.L.D. for their assistance to restore peace to the faction community.
"I'm well aware of that." Phil replied, confidently.
"Is your team?" Caelynn questioned, knowing full-well that Phil had yet to read his new team in on the Faction Society. Watching Phil remain silent was all the answer she needed. "I figured as much." The specialist mused. "Why do you think I issued that order for you to turn Quinn over for interrogation?" She asked, grinning mischievously. She'd known from the start that Phil wouldn't relinquish Quinn. And, she knew that'd be her ticket in the door. "I know you, Phil. I know you follow your gut before you follow S.H.I.E.L.D."
"What would you have done if I'd obeyed the order?" Phil questioned, snidely.
"You know me." The specialist countered. "I would have found another way in."
"This is Special Agent Caelynn Harmon." Phil greeted, walking into the conference room with Caelynn at his side. "She's here to escort us to Bethesda."
"What about the orders to relinquish Quinn?" Ward questioned, suspiciously.
"They're bullshit." Caelynn replied, bluntly. Taking in the astonished looks all around her, she added "What? I don't have time for tact." Folding her arms, proudly, she added "Yeah … I know all about Skye and her injuries. Just the same as I know all about Phil and y'all takin' her to Bethesda."
"You disagree?" May chanced, trying gauge where the new specialist was going with this.
"Exactly the opposite, Agent May." Caelynn replied, uncrossing her arms. "I agree with Phil. I think Bethesda's the right move." She added, taking a moment to appreciated the baffled looks all around her. "However, I never said anything about it being the easy move."
"What d'you mean, ma'am?" Jemma questioned, curiously.
"Drop the 'ma'am'." Caelynn ordered, curtly, turning to face the bio-chemist. "My name is Caelynn." She corrected, before getting back to her original point. "And, I mean that … Bethesda has now become better known as – among S.H.I.E.L.D., anyway – as the Faction Society-"
"Faction Society?" Leo questioned, brow furrowing in confusion. "What's that?"
"The entire population is divided into five separate factions.
"After my death in New York, Caelynn was named something of an ambassador between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Factions." Phil interjected, by way of explanation.
"Which is exactly why I'm here, now." Caelynn added. "To try to ease your entrance into the society. Now, the factions are as follows. Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite." She explained. "Each faction dedicates their entire lives to a different trait."
"What traits?" May questioned.
"Well, Abnegation – the governing faction – is dedicated to the practice of selflessness." Caelynn elaborated. "They live their lives in the service of others. And, they believe that all of the human nature errors in the world can be attributed to selfishness." She added, before moving on. "Next, we have Amity – the peaceful. Amity is dedicated to peacefulness, kindness, forgiveness, trust, self-sufficiency, and neutrality. Their bread actually has a serum in it to prevent the members from becoming combatant or instigating fights."
"Sounds more The Brain-Washed than The Peaceful." Fitz muttered under his breath.
Gracefully skipping over the engineer's comment, Caelynn continued on explaining the different factions. "Candor is the faction dedicated to the practice of honesty. They believe that duplicity and deception are the key faults in human nature."
"Really?" Coulson questioned, cocking an eyebrow sarcastically. "People like Quinn run around shooting down innocent people – people like Skye, who are actively trying to save the human race – and, they're worried about people being dishonest?"
"They believe that people like Quinn do the things they do – including shooting Skye – all due to dishonesty." Caelynn replied, shrugging disbelievingly. "But, back to the matter at hand … The next faction is Dauntless – the Brave. They believe that justice is more important than peace and that true peace is fought for and hard-won. They believe in – and, I quote – shouting for those who can only whisper."
"People like Skye?" Jemma questioned, hopefully.
"Exactly." Caelynn replied, warmly. "And, finally, we have Erudite – the Intelligent. In addition to blaming ignorance for all of human nature's errors, they also believe that they should be the governing faction – as opposed to Abnegation."
"Abnegation can't be too happy about that." Ward muttered.
"Happy about it?" Caelynn replied. "No. But, they also won't actually do anything about it. That's Dauntless's job. Dauntless acts as security and a form of military for the faction society – they're really sort of like the Factions' version of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"And, here I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. had no equal." Coulson muttered, mischievously.
"So, what's our play?" May asked, anxious to do whatever it took to save Skye.
"It's not gonna be easy." Caelynn admitted. "The Factions possess a serum – S.H.I.E.L.D. calls it GH 325 – which was used on Coulson immediately after his death in New York. Literally within minutes of being injected with the serum, Phil's injuries started showing signs of cellular regeneration-"
"That's not possible." Jemma countered, quietly.
"Possible or not, it worked." Caelynn argued. "But, getting your hands on it won't be easy. The serum is guarded by this guy – Caleb Prior." The specialist explained, loading an image of the man she'd been referring to. "Now, Prior's been confirmed as The Clairvoyant you've been searching for-"
"You mean he's the bastard that ordered Quinn to shoot Skye?!" Coulson snarled.
"Yes." Caelynn replied, gently, placating her former mentor with a gentle touch of the arm. "Prior has been confirmed as having genuine clairvoyant abilities which is why the factions dubbed him the keeper of the serum. They couldn't risk it falling into the wrong hands." Catching a derisive snort from Agent Ward, she added "I highly doubt they're aware of what's happened to Skye. If they were, Prior would already be in Dauntless's custody."
"So, how do you propose we go about getting this serum?" May questioned.
"My suggestion is to go after Caleb's sister." The specialist replied, loading a new image. "Meet Tris Prior." She added. "Formerly known as Beatrice Prior – she changed her name after her choosing ceremony, where she chose Dauntless as her faction."
"Choosing ceremony?" Jemma questioned, curiously.
"Once a year, all sixteen-year-olds – in the faction society – are required to take an aptitude test. The test determines which faction each person is best suited for based on their characteristics. The day after the aptitude test, a choosing ceremony is held where the sixteen-year-olds all choose which faction they will serve for the rest of their lives. They can choose to stay with their families or to leave. However, they only get one choice."
"Harsh terms." Leo muttered.
"If you think that's bad …" Caelynn interjected, snidely. " … If an initiate in any given faction fails to complete their initiation period, they are shunned – forced to live out the rest of their lives, factionless. With no home, no family … Nothing."
"Damn." The engineer muttered.
"We can infiltrate Dauntless and talk to Tris and – hopefully – she'll lead us to Caleb and convince him to turn himself in and give us the serum." Caelynn added, laying out their plans.
"And, how do we get into Dauntless?" Ward questioned.
"You're not gonna like it …" Caelynn replied, vaguely, mildly frightening the various agents all around her. "But, first, I need to have a word – in private – with Phil." After exchanging a questioning glance with the aforementioned senior agent, Caelynn took her leave with Phil right behind her as they left a room full of baffled spies in their wake.
Author's Note:
Well, there's chapter 1. If y'all want me to continue, ya gotta read and review.
~Skye Coulson