Phil had to keep repeating, "Trust the system," to himself as he waited for everyone to gather in the bullpen. Of course, trusting the system didn't necessarily mean you had to follow instructions blindly. His two senior agents had the clearance for intel on this mission but Fury had been explicit, "None of your crew is to know the identity of your passenger until said passenger sets foot on the plane."
He could picture their reactions. Skye would be her terrier with a bone self, tenaciously curious, rattling off nervous questions like a Gatling gun. Especially when no one answers her and they wouldn't, at least not right away. Fitz/Simmons would stand in awe for a few moments and then start whispering to each other all the facts and rumors they knew about their new guest. May would be stoic on the outside, but Phil knew for a fact the two had a connection ever since Bahrain. Ward, well Ward would be interesting. He'd go one of two ways, either he'd not acknowledge the person or he'd walked away and then confront Phil in private. Both of these reactions depended on their guest arriving solo. If their guest brought along another body, then all bets were off. Phil couldn't help but wonder if he should've stayed in Tahiti (that was something to explore at a later time).
Phil watched as his team assembled. Fitz/Simmons approached the command center, still talking about their latest project in the lab. Ward and Skye were both sweaty and out of breath. Their training session must've been taxing today. May had her attention focused on her tablet, probably trying to find a way to increase the efficiency of the bus. All eyes focused on Coulson at the same time as if they felt his tension. They were really coming together, sort of.
Per usual, Ward spoke first, "We have a new mission, Sir?"
"Yes. We've been tapped for an R&R but we have to make a stop first. We're going to need some help with this one."
"So a usual assignment then," Ward pointed out.
"What's an R&R and who's the help?" Skye asked.
"Research and Recovery," the rest of the team answered in unison.
"Wow, in stereo, even," Skye snarked. "So what about the person?"
Phil shook his head. "We"ll find out who our help is when we land . We're to redirect our flight in order to meet up with the heli-carrier for pick up."
May nodded then punched in some commands into her tablet. "Coordinates are locked in. Do we know the location of the R&R?"
Phil looked at her directly. "We'll be informed after our passenger arrives."
Skye could barely contain herself, "Seems like there's a lot of unknowns here."
Ward answered his underling before Coulson could, "Security requires secrets, Skye."
Skye rolled her eyes, "Yeah, remember the last time we were all kept in the dark. That went so well."
"We'll have more help this time," Coulson assured her.
Simmons couldn't contain her excitement at the mention of the flying city. This would be her first visit to the heli-carrier and her excitement couldn't be contained . "Sir, will we have any time on the carrier? There's a couple of things I'd liked to do."
"And I could procure a few things for the lab as well," Fitz jumped in.
"Not this time. It's a straight stop, resupply/pick up and departure. Time is of the essence," Coulson reluctantly replied. He felt a twinge of regret as he caught the twin looks of disappointment. It was going to be a long day.
"ETA to the carrier, four hours," May interjected.
"I'll let them know," Phil acknowledge the decree.
Skye trailed behind the departing scientists, throwing in small comments to their conversation of how exciting this was, the mystery of it all. Ward and May continued to stand by the table.
"Sir, is there something you didn't want to share with the whole team?" Ward asked.
Coulson's deep breath belied his words, "No, that's everything for now."
"Okay, then. I'll just go prepare for everything then," Ward stated. May followed him out.
Coulson headed to his office to transmit their ETA. He couldn't help thinking that sometimes protocol sucked. He should at least been able to give a heads up.
Three hours and forty-six minutes later, May calculated the settings for a vertical landing in the middle of the Indian Ocean. At least this time the heli-carrier was masquerading as an ocean going vehicle and not an airplane. It was a bitch to land on the massive ship when it's in the air. She spared Ward a quick glance when he slid into the co-pilot seat. He knew better than to interrupt her concentration with idle talk. He did take a second to admire the way she gently put the bus down in the middle of the runway. There was barely enough room for the giant plane and May's piloting skills were impressive.
"Am I the only one who's uncomfortable about this assignment?" Ward muttered.
"No," May answered.
The flight deck crew surrounded the plane the minute the engines powered down. Though they didn't know it, they were both thinking the crew looked like little ants attacking a sandwich that had been left on the ground after a picnic. Coulson instructed everyone to stay in the interior of the plane, only reporting to the hangar bay thirty minutes after they landed. Both agents glanced at their watches, perfectly in-sync.
Restless, Skye paced the main living area, peeking out the windows every couple of minutes, trying to get eyes on their mystery guest. Fitz/Simmons reigned themselves in by puttering with projects they'd brought up from the lab.
"I can't see anything," Skye sighed.
"Oh Skye, I'm sure you can see the deck, the bridge and the crew," Jemma commented causing Skye to shoot her an exasperated look as she flopped down into a wing chair, "This sucks."
Well acquainted with Skye's dramatics, the two ignored her.
Ward walked through the bullpen, heading towards his bunk. When Skye attempted to impede his progress he growled, "Not now, Skye."
The three team members shot each other questioning looks but refrained from commenting.
Grant pulled out his personal laptop, going immediately to his photos folder. He flipped through several pictures before clicking on his Skype link. There was only one id listed. He waited several minutes, but received no reply. Grunting in frustration, he slapped the cover closed and punched his pillow. It'd been several days since he'd been able to make contact and he was worried. He thought about asking Coulson for help before he realized it was time to greet their visitor. He sighed at the delay.
Like a litter of kittens, the team gathered, on time, at the edge of the loading bay, trying unsuccessfully to hid their curiosity. Like the old adage, Coulson wondered if this just might metaphorically kill one of them.
The bay door opened to a golf cart full of people and luggage. The luggage quickly found its way onto the floor of the plane while the people seemed to linger. The team eagerly waited for one of group before them to give some sign of being their passenger, to set him or herself apart from the group. As the group moved about, one person finally separated from the others, a collective gasp came from the team with the exceptions of Coulson. Fitz/Simmons' tones were excitement, Skye's was astonishment, May's disbelief and Ward's hard to pin point. The woman they were staring at was an exceptional beauty. Skye was just about to rib Ward on his reaction when a child-like squeal pierced the air. The woman had turned around to help a little girl out of the car and said child was wiggling to be let go.
"Daddy, Daddy! Is this the surprise? I love this surprise!" the raven haired little beauty shrieked as she ran straight towards Ward. With obvious practiced ease, he caught her and tossed her into the air before settling her on his hip. Her small arms wrapped quickly around his neck and her head tucked into his shoulder.
All the S.H.I.E.L.D agents within hearing distance turned towards the dark haired man holding the child in his arms. It was a toss up as to who was the most surprised. The woman followed the girl up the ramp at a more sedate pace. She locked eyes with Ward as she approached the pair, sparing a brief glance to May, standing next to him, before looking at Ward again.
"I approve, but be careful" she said for Grant's ears only. Louder, she gave a directive, "Let's get this bus on the road. We're burning daylight."
Coulson and May immediately turned to do as told. Ward followed the woman into the bowels of the plane, keeping up a running chatter with his little girl. When Fitz/Simmons started towards their lab, Skye tried to follow her S.O. but Fitz firm hold on her arm stopped her. To her dismay, she watched Ward disappear up the stairs and barely waited until the lab doors closed before she pounced on her teammates.
"Woah! Ward has a kid? Did you two know this? How many other secrets is the guy keeping? Who's the mother? Is that woman the mother? Who is she anyway? I thought we were only picking up one passenger. Come on guys, you gotta give me something here."
Use to the agent-in-training's prattle, the two scientists waited until she wound down before even attempting to answer.
Jemma tried first, randomly picking a question to answer. "I'm sure Agent Ward has many secrets, as do the rest of us."
Skye shot her a bewildered look. "At of all the questions I just asked, that's the one you chose to answer first."
Jemma smiled apologetically, "It seemed to be the easiest one."
Fitz, with a slightly pained look on his face, kept his head down and pretended to have great interest in his computer screen letting Jemma handle most of these questions.
Skye undeterred, directed her attention to him. "Hey, help me out here, Fitz."
"She's the Oracle," he stated, not elaborating.
Throwing her hands in the air from frustration, Skye persisted, "What the hell? Who's the Oracle and what does that even mean?"
Fitz looked up, "Just exactly what you'd think Oracle would mean."
Upstairs, the woman, Phil and May headed directly for Coulson's office. Ward stopped in the common area long enough to settle his daughter on a couch with a color book he'd pulled out of the backpack she'd been wearing. He made her promise to stay on the couch and went to join the others.
There wasn't a sound coming from the room as he approached, not even idle conversation. He was a bit surprised they'd waited for him. He wasn't sure what he was feeling or even thinking. This was a dirty trick so he went on the defensive, crossing his arms across his chest, he stop barely inside the room glaring at the occupants.
Coulson turned to May, "You've been given the coordinates?" At Agent May's nod, he continued, "Then we'd better get on our way. Time is of the essence. There'll be a briefing in thirty."
May raised her eyebrow, but left the room without comment. She knew she'd be able to speak with Coulson privately later and more than likely Aishani too.
"You could've given me a hint," Ward snarled at Coulson.
"It was classified," the senior agent replied sheepishly.
"I don't like being blind-sided."
The woman, Aishani, finally spoke, "You of all people should know how delicate the situation is. We couldn't run the risk of anyone intercepting our communications."
Ward pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. "This isn't the way I wanted everyone to find out I have a child. In fact, I would've preferred they didn't find out at all."
"Grant, we had no choice. My help was requested for your mission and there is no one else to protect her," Aishani told him.
"It was part of the arrangement that I be informed of any and all changes that directly affect my daughter," he stated, the concerned, angry dad coming out.
"We don't believe any of this type of information was leaked when the Rising Tide hacked us, but the bosses felt it would be best to be over cautious, make sure our assets aren't left vulnerable," Coulson said. Poor choice of words.
"I really hope you are talking about Aishani cause I don't appreciate my daughter being referred to as an asset," Grant barked.
"Grant, you need to calm down. You know full well where I go, Charlotte goes. I'd give my life to make sure she is safe," Aishani stated, hoping to placate the man. His anger wasn't unjustified. She'd felt the same way when the plan had first been presented to her but she'd come to see the reasoning behind the secrecy. This was the best option.
Ward shook his head. "I'm gonna go spend some time with my daughter." He turned, taking a couple of steps. "I want my objections noted," he tossed over his shoulder as he went through the door.
"Well that went better than expected," Coulson sighed.
"You and I both know this isn't over, Phil," Aishani returned.
"I was afraid you'd say that," he acknowledged.
"Wow, wait a minute," Skye exclaimed, her brain finally processing the entire conversation. "Did you just say oracle?"
Simmons turned to look at her, "Why, yes, we did."
"But there's no such thing as a clairvoyant. Coulson said they were myths," Skye retorted.
Fitz rejoined the conversation. "They are. She's not a clairvoyant, she's the Oracle."
"Forgive me for sounding stupid here, but isn't that one and the same thing?" Skye's impatience was showing.
The scientists shared an exasperated look. "You tell her, Jem," Fitz stated.
"Well, see, a clairvoyant can see the future where an oracle is more about prophecy and infallible authority," Jemma did her best to keep the explanation simple.
"Prophecy is seeing the future," Skye persisted.
"No, prophecy is telling the future, clairvoyance is seeing the future," Fitz tried again.
"Well, that's a fine line don't you think?" Skye stated more than asked.
Fitz shrugged. "A line is a line."
Realizing she was going to get nowhere with these two, she changed topics. "So, Agent Grant Ward has a daughter." When neither of her companions replied she pushed on, "I wouldn't have thought it was possible."
Finally Simmons gave in, "Of course it's possible. He's a healthy male of the species. His physicals have never indicated that his sperm was incapable of aiding in conception. There are no records of any debilitating injuries to his …"
"Okay, okay!" Skye interrupted, "You can stop right there. I don't need the details of Ward's private," she hesitated, "well, his stuff. What I meant, is that he's not exactly the epitome of a father figure."
Jemma stopped what she was doing and smiled. "She sure is a beautiful little girl. Very graceful and that long dark hair."
Skye had to agree," Yeah, Ward is easy on the eyes, but her mother must be very pretty. Do you think the Oracle is her mother?"
"Highly improbable. The child has no characteristics to suggest she is of partial Indian decent." Fitz/Simmons answered.
Skye couldn't help but take a moment to think about how creepy it actually was the two could do that. "When do you think they'll fill us in on our new mission?"
"When we need to know," they again answered as one.
Skye rolled her eyes. "Well, since I have nothing pressing to do in the lab, I think I'll go to my bunk and oh, I don't know, do something."
"Wheels up in ten. As this is an airborne take off, I suggest you buckle up," May's voice came over the intercom.
"Then I'm definitely going to my bunk," Skye exclaimed.
"I think you should stay with us until we're called," Simmons remarked. Fitz nodded his head in agreement while seeming to randomly move between Skye and the doors.
Realizing the two scientists knew more than they were letting on, she gave up and settled onto a nearby stool. She could wait the pair out.