Ch. 2

The next morning, Coulson awoke to the buzz of his cell phone. He had slept almost eleven hours straight, although he could have slept even more. He frantically tried to find his phone before it went to voice mail.

He got it before the last ring. "Coulson here," he answered breathlessly.

"Agent Coulson, this is Agent Navarro out in New Mexico. I'm stationed near Puente Antiguo. We had another Bifrost incursion last night."

"Were any Asgardians found?" Coulson asked, standing up and struggling to dress quickly while awkwardly holding his phone.

"None, but there was something strange when Linguistics came out to decipher the inscription that the Bifrost left behind."

"Yes?" Coulson asked, his heart in his throat.

"It read, 'Son of Coul, your petition has been heard. You have one day to return to this spot and you and your charge will be granted safe passage to the Realm Eternal.' Now what does that mean, Agent Coulson?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Coulson lied glibly.

00000

A half hour later, Coulson, May, Ward and Simmons were all standing around the debriefing table as Coulson explained the situation. Fitz had taken over for May in Skye's room as none of them were willing to leave her alone for even a moment.

Coulson looked around the table at the anxious faces that peered back at him. "Okay team, as you know, Skye's outlook is bleak. And despite my best efforts with S.H.I.E.L.D., they have refused to authorize any 'experimental' treatments for her." He took a deep breath. "So, I took it upon myself to look into alternative methods."

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Ward asked.

"When Thor was on Earth, he mentioned, on more than one occasion, how advanced Asgard's medical achievements were compared to Earth's. So, I made contact with Asgard to petition to bring Skye there to be healed."

May looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "Sir, with all due respect, are you suggesting that we take Skye to another planet to receive medical treatment?"

"Not we, me. I am the only one here who is authorized to come with her. I am the only one here who knows Thor personally. It is Skye's best chance at the moment. I'm not saying it isn't a bit unorthodox, but frankly, I don't think we are blessed with an overabundance of options at the moment," Coulson said.

"So, we're going to break Skye out of S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility and fly her to the New Mexican Bifrost portal?" Simmons asked nervously.

"Exactly," Coulson said nodding. "Ward and May, you two will need to come up with a tactical plan to spring Skye from the S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital and to get us past the S.H.I.E.L.D. security detail set up at the Bifrost inscription near Puente Antiguo. Simmons, I need you to work with Fitz in order to make sure that we can stabilize Skye enough to transport her to Asgard."

He looked at his team as they all nodded. He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to lie. This little caper of ours goes against every S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol that exists. I just can't see another way of helping Skye. However, I won't think any less of you if you back out."

"We're in," Simmons said with a fierceness that surprised Coulson.

Both May and Ward agreed and Coulson smiled at his team. "Alright, let's go break some regulations."