Note: Because Melinda Freaking May is everyone's fierce mama bear and would never let Coulson go to a mysterious meeting without having his back.
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"Agent May."
May doesn't get startled easily. In fact, one would go so far as to say that she almost never startles, barring like, maybe three times. And the third one's iffy. So when she leaps away from the Bus's bar and whirls around with a flawless if hurried spinning hook kick towards the speaker, it's not because they've caught her off-guard.
Certainly not that.
When her foot passes harmlessly through the air and comes to rest behind her, she has already relaxed enough to recognize the voice as one she has heard before. But she keeps her stance guarded, because familiar rarely translates into safe. At least, in May's world. She eyes her visitor (less than an inch out of the range of her kick, and unruffled) with caution. "Mrs. Frederic," she identifies slowly. A brief flash of memory: shadowing Phil in a bar. The woman appearing and disappearing without a trace. Threat assessment uncertain. "To what do I owe the intrusion?"
"You have a good memory," Mrs. Frederic compliments, seeming impressed, "especially considering that you were not invited to that meeting. I apologize for coming in this way; but I did not think it would get me anywhere with you to try knocking. Nor would it have been feasible in-flight like this, and I do not have the luxury to wait until you have landed."
Fair assumptions. And May is positive that she should be more concerned than she is about how and when the woman even got onto the Bus in the first place. "But you wanted to get somewhere with me," she reads between the lines, deciding it would be counterproductive to fish for other details at the moment. "Why?"
Mrs. Frederic sighs, suddenly seeming much less threatening and very old. It's a neat trick. May's seen Phil do it. Hell, she's seen Romanov do it. It's not reassuring.
The old woman seems to read her mind. "I am not trying to deceive you, Agent May. And I am not a threat to you. I'm here to talk about Phil Coulson."
While she still doesn't trust this woman as far as she can throw her (which makes for a bad analogy, seeing as she could likely propel her a considerable distance), May relaxes her posture into something a little more neutral. "What about him?"
It takes another long moment for Mrs. Frederic to answer. She seems troubled. "Is he alright?" she asks finally. "I know that he seems fine on the surface, and he certainly did not give me any obvious reason to doubt him, but he was...different, somehow, in a way that I can't quite explain."
May had done some digging since Mrs. Frederic and Coulson met. The woman is her own entity with her own agenda, and certainly not affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D.. She has no security clearance. May has to tread carefully. "He did almost die," she points out, raising an eyebrow. "That changes anybody."
"True." Mrs. Frederic closes her eyes briefly as a shudder runs through her body. May spares a thought to wonder what she's been through. When she opens her eyes again, though, they betray nothing. "Still, I believe it is more complicated than that. I have seen my fair share of unlikely resurrections, and they are not without cost."
"If you want to know more, then you'll have to ask Coulson yourself. I don't have the answers."
"Alright, I can read between the lines, too; I'm on my way out." Mrs. Frederic pauses for a moment, eyeing May carefully. It's...unnerving. She feels like the woman is looking into her soul, reading her secrets. Which is ridiculous. "Look after him, Agent May. I don't know what is happening, but I feel that things are about to become very difficult for him. He is going to need someone strong to hold him together when that time comes."
May blinks, about to ask what the woman can possibly know of what's coming; but in the span of heartbeats that it takes for her eyes to open again, Mrs. Frederic is gone. Just like last time.
"Dammit," May mutters, feeling ridiculous. How is that even possible?
She recognizes and dismisses Skye's steps long before the girl opens her mouth. "Who was that?" she asks through a mouthful of cookies. May rolls her eyes. "I thought I heard you talking to someone. Is Ward around?"
To turn and engage would be pointless, so May doesn't bother. "You're hearing things," she mutters. Quickly, she heads for the cockpit (for solitude) to think, before Skye can ask any more questions.
fin.
Note: May is a grumpy mama bear, but a mama bear nonetheless. God bless her.
