There was another EMP surge, but this one was different. Instead of lasting for a few seconds, the electrical energy surge grew and the soldiers were hit with a massive blast.
"If you're going to set off EMPs..." said a familiar male voice. "Don't set them off near the Inhuman with extra electrically charged cells." Elena, Coulson, Mack and Fitz saw Lincoln standing behind the men, his fingers crackling with electricity.
Two of the men ran at him. Lincoln used his power to disable their guns then blocked and dodged punches before grabbing one of the men as a human shield, blocking the bullets from the others' guns. Elena used her power to disarm them and she and Lincoln fought and dodged them until the two Inhumans were standing back-to-back.
"How are you doing, Yo-Yo?" Lincoln asked.
"Not too bad, Sparky." Elena replied.
The men ran at them again but Coulson, Mack and Fitz intervened, the five of them fighting the men.
"Stop or she's dead!" One of the men exclaimed, holding a knife to Elena's friend's throat. Elena ran and grabbed the knife off him, waving it and grinning at him, then Coulson knocked him to the ground. Eventually, all of the men were either dead or unconscious.
"Estas bien?" (You ok?) Lincoln asked Elena, in Spanish.
"Sí." (Yes.) she replied, surprised that he could speak it. "Gracias." (Thank you.)
"De nada." (You're welcome.) he replied. Elena headed over to where her friend was sitting while Lincoln turned to Coulson.
"Agent Campbell." Coulson greeted him, nodding.
"Agent Coulson." Lincoln replied, nodding.
"It's good to see you."
"You too."
"Do I even want to ask how you're not dead?" Coulson asked, smiling slightly.
"I teleported." replied Lincoln, smiling back.
"You teleported." said Coulson. Lincoln nodded. "You teleported...all the way from outer space to Earth...with a bleeding wound in your side."
"Yep." said Lincoln.
"You know, it's only because I died and was brought back to life with Kree blood, and I've been at S.H.I.E.L.D. too long, that I'm not as fazed by this as much as I should be." said Coulson.
"Mack, Fitz." Lincoln greeted them, awkwardly, their last meeting not having gone well.
"Lincoln." Fitz replied. "Thank you for helping out."
"No problem."
"Did the EMP affect you?" asked Coulson, concerned.
"The first hit knocked me unconscious." replied Lincoln. "The second hit rebooted me. Eventually the hits would give me more power."
"Well, you are the only Inhuman capable of short-circuiting an entire city." said Mack. Lincoln smiled.
"Yeah, luckily that didn't happen." he agreed.
Whilst the men were talking, Elena approached her friend who was sitting to the side.
"You see?" asked Elena. "You don't have be scared."
"Stay away from me." said Maria, glaring up at her.
"Maria, it's still me." said Elena. "I'm still the same."
"No, you're one of them."
"Yes, but I'm still Elena, your friend."
"No." Maria got up and walked off. Elena sighed.
"You ok?" Mack asked, coming up to her.
"At least I don't have to wear a stupid dress." said Elena. She heard Lincoln laugh.
"Honestly, I can't really imagine you in a dress." Lincoln said. She smiled.
"Thank you, Lincoln."
"Any idea who they are?" asked Coulson, referring to the men. "Why they're here?"
"They were here for me." said Elena. "They knew I was in Miami in this hotel. How it that possible? I thought us registered people were protected."
"Search these guys." said Coulson. "I think my worst nightmare may have just come true."
"One chimpanzee, two chimpanzee." said Fitz. The water in the fountain rippled slightly as another EMP went off. At the same time, Lincoln closed his eyes briefly as the blast affected his body. Elena hugged him in comfort. "One chimpanzee, two chimpanzee."
"How did you know there was an Inhuman here?" Coulson asked one of the men. "Who do you work for?"
"I'm just a concerned citizen." The man replied.
"Then we have something in common, because right now, I'm concerned about vigilantes who target Inhumans during a blackout."
"Whose side are you on?"
"Not yours." Coulson shot him in the chest.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Mack, opening the man's jacket and seeing the bullet embedded in a bulletproof vest.
"Concerned citizens don't walk around wearing battle gear." said Lincoln.
"This isn't your average weekend-warrior vest." Coulson agreed. "This is advanced military tech. Just like the EMP. This isn't the Inhumans. This is a setup. They're being hunted." Mack held up the man's hand, showing Coulson, Fitz, Elena and Lincoln a familiar tattoo.
"And guess who's doing the hunting." he said.
"The Watchdogs are behind this?" asked Fitz.
"Or someone's behind them." said Coulson. "This was an orchestrated worldwide attack. Their turf has always been domestic."
"Found something." said Fitz, handing a tablet to Coulson. Mack, Elena and Lincoln looked at it.
"Asset names and addresses." said Coulson. "This is what I was afraid of. This is from the Inhuman Registration List. And every time an asset's on the move, it's automatically updated."
"That's how they knew she was here." said Lincoln. "How did they get it?"
"Pretty sure it didn't come out of S.H.I.E.L.D., but we're not the only agency that has it." said Coulson. "Not to mention every nation that signed the Accords."
"Well, no matter how tight security is, things have a way of disappearing." said Mack. "Lists, weapons, meds." With the last word, he briefly exchanged glances with Elena and Lincoln who were standing next to him. Lincoln glared back at him. "And if they're hunting Inhumans here, they're hunting them in the other cities. With communications down, we have no way to warn them."
"Yeah, well, might not be that much longer, 'cause I think I can solve this." said Fitz, pulling the corks out of champagne bottles.
"By getting tanked?" asked Lincoln.
"What? No, I just need the corks." replied Fitz. "And I'm also gonna need some needles and some bowls of water. What, didn't any of you guys go to the Scouts? We're making compasses. Oh, come on, it's rudimentary science. Yeah, not big deal. Just rudimentary science. Maybe saving the day."
"The EMP releases a pulse every two seconds." said Fitz. "And for that one moment, it becomes magnetic north, causing your needles to move a few degrees in that direction. Now, based on how much they move each time, I should be able to triangulate the source of the EMP or at least get in the ballpark."
"Ready when you are, Slide Rule." said Coulson.
"Yeah, ok. Ok, call them out as they move." Coulson, Elena, Lincoln and Mack did so. "Ok, here it comes again. Look alive." The four of them called out the rest of the degrees. "Ok, got it." Fitz drew the lines on a map and held it up. "There. X marks the spot."
"All right, let's go." said Coulson.
Coulson, Mack, Fitz, Elena and Lincoln travelled to the location, an empty warehouse, and as soon as they got out of the car Lincoln felt the energy from the EMP.
"This is definitely the right place." he said.
The five of them headed in, Coulson, Mack, Fitz and Elena holding glowsticks for light and Lincoln generating a ball of electricity in his hand. Eventually, they heard distant voices.
"Halt." said Coulson. The five of them stood by the doorway.
"Well, the good news is, Fitz was right. The EMP is here." said Mack.
"Yeah, the bad news is, we're out-gunned." said Coulson. "Any suggestions?" Elena and Lincoln looked at each other, smiling.
Lincoln put out the lights in the room then Elena ran in and stole all of the Watchdogs' weapons, giving Coulson, Mack, Fitz and Lincoln time to sneak in behind the Watchdogs. The five of them effortlessly took out all the Watchdogs in the room. Fitz and Lincoln then made sure that the EMP was powered down, making Lincoln relax.
"Ok. All set." said Fitz. "Let there be light." The lights came back on.
"So many people looking for an excuse to hate." said Mack.
"It's spreading." Coulson said. "Passports, visas. Somebody's taken the Watchdogs global." He got on his phone. "Yeah, this is Agent Coulson. Get me the Director. We have a solve."
Elena managed to persuade Lincoln to come back to the Playground with them and the two Inhumans were currently in the kitchen when Mack walked in. Lincoln sensed that the argument about he and Elena being in touch with Daisy and Elena stealing the S.H.I.E.L.D. meds was about to start again. Elena offered a beer to Mack, who refused.
"No?" she asked. "Ok." She took the top off the bottle and drank.
"I wish Daisy were here to see this." said Mack. Elena and Lincoln didn't respond. "Nothing? So you're not gonna come clean? We know you've been communicating with her, Yo-Yo."
"I gave her my word." replied Elena. "We both did."
"What? That you'd lie?" asked Mack. "You knew we were out there looking for her! You could've helped us. You could've made contact. But instead, you used me to get meds for her!"
"She's the one who makes contact." said Elena.
"And Daisy doesn't want to be found, so you should respect that." Lincoln added.
"Look, she's hurt and she's in danger and she's mixed up with that..." said Mack. "I don't know what the hell it is, but it ain't good."
"The man on fire?" asked Elena.
"You knew about this?" asked Mack. Elena brought up the picture of the man that Daisy had texted her and put the phone on the table.
"Angry looks good on you, Mack." she said. Lincoln had to suppress a laugh at that.
"Don't do that." Mack replied. "Don't shrug this off. There shouldn't be any secrets between us." Lincoln had a flashback to when he and Daisy were on the Quinjet after seeing James about Hive.
"I need the truth, or whatever we are ends now." Daisy had said.
"I don't want any more secrets." Lincoln had said a while later.
"Why not?" asked Elena. "There's nothing else between us."
"Alright, has everybody seen this guy but me?" asked Coulson, walking in with Fitz.
"I've only heard talk. He's a legend out there." she replied. "The, uh "Ghost Rider"."
"Eh, most people think it's folklore."
"Ah, he's real." said Fitz.
"We find anything else?"
"No, not on him." said Fitz. "I did get a list of faculty that worked at Momentum Energy Labs back when it was operational."
"Could be something to look into." agreed Coulson. He looked at the TV. "Oh, there he is." The five of them turned to see Jeffrey Mace announcing the revival of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Hello, everyone." he said. "I'm Jeffrey Mace, and the President has asked me to address recent events that have many of you concerned. You all know who I am. You know my work with international affairs, but most importantly, you know I'm a straight shooter. So let's set the record straight. The Inhumans were not responsible for the recent blackouts. They were caused by human extremists hell-bent on spreading fear...fear of these new members of our community. They want to turn us against each other, but I'm here to tell you that's not gonna work. And it won't work because there's an old friend back in town, here to deal with this threat and any other threat that comes our way. And last night, that old friend turned all the lights back on, saving countless lives. And that old friend...is S.H.I.E.L.D." The reporters went crazy, exploding with questions and photographers taking pictures as the curtain behind Jeffrey dropped to reveal the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.
"Hope we're doing the right thing." said Fitz. "I liked working in the shadows."
"Well, at least you won't have to live in them anymore." said Elena.
"Excuse me." said Jeffrey, trying to get the reporters' attention again. "Working closely with some of the smartest minds I've had the pleasure of knowing, hey. We're in the process of rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. So, let's set the record straight one more time. We're back, and we're here to protect you...all of you, human...and Inhuman alike. When others try to tear us apart, it only brings us together. We're all on the same team, because a team that trusts is a team that triumphs. Thank you." Jeffrey smiled and nodded to the reporters, and Coulson turned the TV off.
"Well, I guess we're back in the open." he said. He turned to the two Inhumans. "Lincoln, you and Daisy are free to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. if you want."
"I think it's best if Daisy and I stay away from S.H.I.E.L.D." replied Lincoln. "Daisy still needs time, and there are some people I've pissed off who would use my connection to you to get to me."
"We'll protect you from them." said Coulson. Lincoln shook his head.
"No, you can't." he said. "Ultra are just as dangerous as S.H.I.E.L.D." He realised that now he was going to have to explain about Ultra to Coulson, Mack and Fitz and crossed his arms; Coulson recognised the defensive gesture and could tell that Ultra bothered Lincoln a lot. "The Inhumans aren't the only enhanced species running around right now. There's another species known as Homosuperior, but they call themselves the Tomorrow People. They have the abilities of telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation, but two have shown the power of time manipulation. Ultra is like their version of the ATCU. To the public they're a biomedical research facility, but actually they're a paramilitary group of scientists who hunt the Tomorrow People. Ultra tracks and monitors every incident to locate Tomorrow People. They're captured and then either experimented on, killed or have their powers extracted." Lincoln paused as the memory of his own powers being extracted briefly came back to him before continuing. "Some of them become agents for Ultra. The Ultra agents are both human and Homosuperior and help track rogue Tomorrow People." He looked down at the ground. "Like me."
"Like you?" asked Mack. "You're a...Homosuperior?"
"Don't start on your anti-powered people shit again, Mack." said Lincoln, lifting his head and looking at him. The lights in the room briefly flickered.
"Elena." said Coulson, turning to her. "Did you know about this?" His tone wasn't accusatory, instead it was neutral.
"Yes, but not everything." Elena replied, looking him straight in the eye and ignoring Mack. "I only knew that Ultra was like the ATCU's anti-Inhuman mentality and HYDRA's capture, experiment and kill mentality." Coulson nodded.
"Ok." he said, then turned back to Lincoln. "Should I even try and give you a lecture about how it's dangerous out there for you and you should come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. for safety?" Lincoln chuckled.
"No." he said. "This isn't the first time I've been in hiding from Ultra."
"Ok." said Coulson. "Well, we're here if you and Daisy need a safe place to lay low."
"Thank you." said Lincoln. "Talking of Daisy, I should go make sure she hasn't completely wrecked herself with her powers."
"I'll come with you." said Elena.