A/N: It's been a while since I've written, so be gentle guys! As always, reviews, follows and favourites are forever appreciated, and I hope you enjoy my first Agents of Shield work.

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,

but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,

but
for the heart to conquer it.

- Rabindranath Tagore, Collected Poems and Plays of Rabindranath Tagore

TWO YEARS AGO

"Bloody hell, that was a close shave," Hunter groaned, dragging his hefty black weapon bag up the ramp of the Bus. "If we have to go on another mission only to find out there's no extraction team again, I will end you, sir," he continued, shooting a dark look in Coulson's direction.

"Good luck with that, buddy," the Director shot back without missing a beat. "But you should save trying to get your revenge for later. Agent Hand organised this mission, not me."

Bobbi chuckled, her diamond-cut silhouette emerging sharply against the light streaming into the landing pad. "We can test the effectiveness of T.A.H.I.T.I some other time. I'm going to get us a decent meal. Who's up for Mexican?" she asked, diffusing the tension in the room effortlessly. Daisy and Ward raised their hands, too exhausted to speak.

"Count me in, darling. Better get rid of all this 'hangry' before I skin someone," Hunter quipped, rubbing his eyes with fatigue.

Fitz glanced sideways at Simmons with a knowing smirk. Nothing gets between Lance and a good burrito.

"Anyway, it's not like there'll be a whole lot of skinning left to do after Hydra finds out they've lost their favourite naval base - and to an organisation that supposedly doesn't exist, too," Hunter muttered darkly.

"Has you always been this grim?" Fitz enquired.

The former mercenary shrugged, resigned to the fact.

"Only when it's been rough. And these past few days have been the roughest."

Silence fell over the plane as the Operations division of the team returned to their living quarters to shower and relax.

"Hunter's right," Simmons said quietly, resting her hands on the railing. "Someone could have died out there. With no plan of exit and limited contact or weapons for self-defence, anything could've happened. Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Coulson grunted in approval.

"I think we should take greater precautions in the future. Surely someone with a bit more experience than Daisy should be delegating missions-"

"We've been through this, Jemma. Operations trusts her, I trust her, and so should you. However, I can't deny that it was painful to watch you all escape by the skin of your teeth. May, are you up there?" he called towards the cockpit. The slim Asian woman clad in black appeared a second later.

"Get Hand on the line. This won't happen again," he assured them sternly. May nodded quickly and headed for the control room.

A few minutes later, Daisy poked her head around the stairwell.

"Guys, come upstairs!" she whisper-squealed, mischief glinting in her eyes. "You have to see what I did to Mack."

Fitz and Simmons exchanged looks and followed Coulson up the stairs. There lay Alphonso Mackenzie, all swarthy six-feet-something of him, in a silly blonde wig from the craft store and lipstick smeared across his face in a ridiculous grin.

Simmons threw her head back and laughed as the short curls of her hair danced around her face with mirth. Fitz' smile widened at the sight of her.

"That's a sound I haven't heard in a while," he observed affectionately, bumping her elbow with his.

Mack stirred slightly, rubbing a sleep-heavy hand across his face, further smudging the creamy red across his face with a peaceful expression. The team crept back down the stairs into their respective bunks in an effort to avoid waking the giant.

The agents woke the next day to the sound of May on their screens from the pilot's seat.

"Everybody up! I hope you've all rested, because Coulson wants you all in the control room. We've got another mission, and you're gonna need all the beauty sleep you can get."

The screens switched off automatically and Fitz groaned as he dragged himself out of bed and into the living area.

"Then why wake us up if we need more sleep?" he grumbled to Simmons. She shrugged in response as they traversed the plane to meet Coulson and the others.

"Scratch that, May. First order of business," the Director began, voice filled with dread as he rested his hands on the interactive table. "We need to get Agent Mack to T.A.H.I.T.I. Right now."