A New Rose
Disclaimer:
As always, I own nothing!
Rating:
T
Genre:
Romance/Family/Angst/Drama
Pairing:
Coulsye
Lyrics Used:
Jennifer Lawrence "The Hanging Tree"
A Dead Man Called Out For His Love To Flee
Are you, are you | Coming to the tree | They strung up a man they say who murdered three | Strange things did happen here | No stranger it would be | If we met at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, are you | Coming to the tree | Where a dead man called out | For his love to flee | Strange things did happen here | No stranger would it be | If we met at midnight in the hanging tree
Are you, are you | Coming to the tree | Where I told you to run | So, we'd both be free | Strange things did happen here | No stranger it would be | If we met at midnight in the hanging tree
Standing at the sink, Skye marveled at the spiral her powers created in the stream coming from the faucet. After rinsing the black residue off her hands and arms, she was startled out of her reverie when the shrill shriek of her cellphone pierced through the silence. Tapping the screen, she placed the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She greeted, quizzically, after no name appeared on the caller ID.
"Skye-" The voice on the other end of the line began, urgently, before Skye cut her off.
"May! What's happening? I couldn't connect to you guys." The hacktivist interjected.
"You need to get out of there!" May replied, urgently, disregarding Skye's interjection. "Now!"
"What?! Why?! What are you talking about?!" Skye asked, immediately on alert.
"There's a panel on the southwest corner of the compound." May replied, curtly. "It'll let you take down the laser grid fence!"
"May!" Skye injected, desperate for answers. "Stop!"
"You can do this, Skye!" May reassured her asset, urgently – in a hushed tone – knowing that she wouldn't have much time before the 'real' S.H.I.E.L.D. agents caught up to her. "I believe in you!" She added. "But, you need to run! Now! They're coming for you!"
"Who?! Who's coming – who-" Skye began, desperately, before every light in the cabin went dark. "May?!" Skye tried. "May?!" She added, panicking slightly when she realized the line had gone dead.
Knowing something had to be seriously wrong at the base for May to be ordering her to run, Skye hurriedly gathered her laptop before rushing out the door. Stepping outside of the cabin's front door, she looked to the skies where she saw the quinjets closing in – their search lights illuminating the woods around her. "Oh my God …" She muttered, taking off at a dead run.
"DO NOT APPROACH THE TARGET ALONE!" The team assembled by the real S.H.I.E.L.D. all listened as their orders were shouted at them over the roar of the quinjet's engine. "YOU SEE HER, YOU SEND UP A FLARE!"
"Remember!" Bobbi Morse declared, once the quinjet's engine died down. "Skye's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent like one of us! I.C.E.R.s only!" She warned. Deep down, she knew Skye would never intentionally hurt any of them. However, she remained unaware of the main guard behind her cocking a regular pistol by his side as the rest of the team filed out of the jet.
Firing her I.C.E.R. at Robert Gonzalez – taking out her target – Melinda May flicked open a knife as she approached Phil, preparing to release the zip tie binding his hands together. Catching another guard approaching her from the side, the pilot fired off another shot to her right as she returned to the task at hand.
"That's a really nice entrance." Phil Coulson greeted, clearly impressed with May's entrance to rescue him, as she cut the tie around his wrists.
"This should get you by for a few days." May replied, shoving a silver briefcase into the director's hands.
"What are you talkin' about?" Coulson questioned, unsure of where the pilot was going with this.
"You have to go! Now!" May insisted, opening up a hidden door Phil had never known about in his own office wall and unceremoniously shoving Phil into the hidden elevator.
"Fitzsimmons?!" Coulson questioned, briefly.
"I'll take care of them!" May assured him, quickly. "Without you, there is no S.H.I.E.L.D.!" She insisted, pushing Phil back into the elevator. "They know about Skye, Phil!" That sentence stopped Phil cold. He knew what danger she would be in. And, he knew he had to do something. "Find her!" Melinda May insisted, hitting the button, sending Phil speeding downward. Closing off the hidden entrance behind her, May turned to brace herself for the team preparing to infiltrate the office.
Racing through the woods, Skye finally managed to locate the panel May had told her about. Just as she approached the panel, she caught the pistol appearing over her left shoulder. Struggling with the guard behind her, Skye managed to push his arm back so that the pistol fired straight upward and away from her.
Hearing the shot ringing through the air, Bobbi and the main guard with her both spun around – chasing after the shot. "ALL AGENTS! CONVERGE ON THAT SOUND!" The guard shouted out to all the agents around them.
After disarming the guard and taking his weapon, Skye turned when she saw Bobbi and the main guard approaching. Before she could react, she startled back to reality when Bobbi looked over to the guard – stunned when she saw the pistol in his hand.
"No!" Bobbi shouted, desperate to stop the guard's attempt to shoot Skye. As she watched her orders go unheeded, she turned – panicked – toward Skye as the guard began to squeeze the trigger. "SKYE!" She screamed, desperately.
Before she even registered what was happening, Skye had dropped the other guard's gun and raised her hands, defensively, as her powers took over. Without even comprehending what was happening, an invisible barrier deflected the bullet – shattering a nearby tree in the process – sending Bobbi and the guard flying back several feet.
Surveying the scene around her, Skye couldn't even begin to process what had just happened, as she watched several other trees around them shatter in the aftermath. She may not have known what was happening. But, one thing was for sure. She had to get out of there. Taking advantage of the peace – with no one coming after her – she turned and deactivated the laser grid fence and took off into the night.
Phil eventually found himself sitting at a cheap, Hawaiian-themed bar on a beach, when the bartender set a tropical drink down in front of him. "That's a lot of umbrellas for one drink." Phil observed, dumbly. He couldn't even think knowing that Skye was out there – God knows where – and probably terrified. All he could think about was how much she needed him, right now, and he wasn't there for her.
"Lemme guess …" The bartender replied, removing one of the umbrellas from Phil's drink. "She got the house." He quipped, dryly.
Phil didn't even bother to respond as the bartender walked away. Soon after, he heard a familiar sigh as the A.W.O.L. Lance Hunter sat down next to him at the bar. "I'll take whatever he's having." Hunter stated, gesturing toward Phil's drink. "Sorry I'm late." He quipped, turning his attention toward Coulson. "An evacuation pod will wash up when and where it wants to." He reasoned, casually, before returning his focus to the bartender. "Maybe a couple of those little umbrellas, if you have them." He quipped, turning back to Coulson. "So … How've you been?" He asked, casually, picking a few of the peanuts from the bowl on the bar and eating them. "Anything new?"
"Same old, same old." Phil replied, his dry, dead, voice haunting even the rough and tumble Lance Hunter. "So, ya finished your vacation?" He asked, numbly, knowing he'd never find Skye, alone.
"Absolutely." Hunter nodded, staring straight ahead. He may not have known exactly what was going on. But, he knew he'd never heard or seen Coulson so desperate before. He had to help the man out. "Ya know, I never did understand the appeal of cruise ships." He quipped, hoping to lessen the tension somewhat. "Oh, I almost forgot …" He began, searching the bar for something to write with. Finally locating a pen and a napkin, he quickly penned his signature.
L Hunter
"What's that?" Phil questioned, curiously, as Hunter passed the napkin over to him.
"You offered me a permanent position." Hunter reasoned, simply. "Consider that …" He trailed off, tapping the napkin, with his fingertip. " … my contract." Watching as Coulson gave him a simple, silent, nod, he popped a few more peanuts in his mouth before speaking again. "So … What's the plan, boss?"
Author's Note:
I apologize for the short chapter. I considered adding more to it, but, this just felt a natural stopping place. That, plus it's getting late and my back is killing me. So, I'm gonna turn in. I hope y'all like this new chapter and will continue to read future chapters!
~Skye Coulson
