Trick or Treat
It wasn't long before they reached the private industrial looking mini-estate that Quinn had been directing them to.
"Is there anywhere you don't own half of?" Simmons muttered, taking readings from the machines hooked up to Skye.
Quinn just chuckled quietly.
"You should be glad, Gemma. It's getting us all out of a big mess."
"Agent Simmons," she corrected him. "And yes, it is. You in particular."
With that she turned her back on him, reaching up to the shelf above them for a blanket.
"How's she doing?" Coulson had parked where Quinn had directed him to, and was now standing at the back of the vehicle with the double doors open.
"Better, actually. She seems to be improving. She's still not out of the woods, but I think they managed to repair any internal damage during the surgery. Her vitals are coming up by the hour and she seems to be fighting back." Simmons spread the blanket out and covered Skye with it, tucking it in around the edges.
"That's our Skye," Coulson smiled. Of course she wouldn't die on them. She couldn't. He wouldn't allow it.
Looking past Simmons, he glared at Quinn.
"What now?"
Quinn sighed, unbuckling his seat belt. Before he could say anything a black 4x4 came hurtling into view and screeched to a halt behind them. A furious looking Ward got out, closely followed by Fitz who almost fell out of the passenger side.
"Sir," Ward said, his voice urgent. "We weren't being followed by Centipede, it was S.H.I.E.L.D."
"What?" The older man looked at him, his face a mixture of confusion and unease.
"We got close enough to see the plates in detail sir," May said, joining them. "They were government issue."
Nobody said anything for a moment. Coulson turned slowly to look at Quinn, who smiled back at him.
"I don't understand," Simmons said, half stepping out of the ambulance.
"Why were S.H.I.E.L.D. after us? I thought it was Centipede..."
"It was Centipede at the hospital," Ward said, "But they were dispersed by S.H.I.E.L.D, who then came at us."
"But why are they chasing us?"
Coulson closed his eyes, coming to a moment of sickening realization. They knew. They were afraid of what could happen. Or intrigued by it. Knowing what he did about his own recent history with S.H.I.E.L.D Coulson secretly agreed with Ian Quinn on one thing- S.H.I.E.L.D weren't afraid who they trod on in order to advance and get answers. He turned away from the team, unsure of how much they should know. Quinn knew some of it, but he wasn't sure how much. Perhaps only the truth could help Skye now.
"Sir," May stepped forward. They all knew that he was holding back, and only she knew why. Sighing, he turned to face them. As if to confirm that he was doing the right thing, she nodded at him discreetly.
"There's something about Skye that you should all know," he began, looking at them all, deliberately excluding Quinn.
"I haven't told you before, partly because she asked me not to, and partly because it was so highly classified that even I had trouble finding out. I wouldn't tell you now if I didn't believe that it was relevant and vital to the fight we find ourselves in."
He sighed, wondering where to begin.
"Skye asked me to look into her background. She handed over a thumb drive to me which contained several documents that indicated that her family had had something to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. I agreed, and did some digging."
He paused, glancing at May. Best not to let on that she knew. It wouldn't do the team spirit any favours.
"What I found, I wasn't even sure I wanted to pass on to you, let alone her. Certain... events... changed that, and I thought she had a right to know."
Quinn sat stock still, staring at Coulson intently. Coulson hesitated. Could Skye hear him talking about her? Telling everyone her secret?
No, this was the right thing to do. They would work together as a much stronger team if they knew why they were having to. They deserved to be given a choice. The goal posts had moved- if they were effectively going to commit mutiny then they should get to decide whether or not they actually wanted to. His mind, however, was made up. Whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. were up to, he didn't like it. He'd been on the recieving end of their manipulation, and whilst being loyal to them, he couldn't watch Skye suffer as he had.
"There was a team, twenty three years ago, who were called to Hunan province, China to investigate an 0-8-4. When they got there, they didn't find an object."
Fitz sat down heavily next to Simmons. Coulson took a deep breath.
"They found a baby. A baby girl."
He paused. Fitz looked like his mind was racing- more so than usual.
"That's why she asked me..." he breathed. "On the train... whether 0-8-4s could be people..."
Simmons just looked plain shocked. May hadn't feigned surprise or anything like that, but in keeping with her character she just stood in silence, her hands clasped together behind her back. Ward shook his head in silent disbelief.
"Skye was the 0-8-4?" he half whispered.
"She was." Coulson looked at Quinn, who was staring at a still unconscious Skye, now breathing on her own. His expression was a mixture of sudden understanding, and something else. Something Coulson couldn't put his finger on. Whatever it was, it didn't give him a good feeling.
"The team of agents gave their lives- all but one of them- protecting her, running all over the world trying to keep her safe. Who from, we don't know, or why, but it was bad enough that it was hidden almost at the deepest level of security from us all. We... I only found out because of the final surviving agent who helped keep Skye safe made a mistake and appeared in a facebook photo."
May looked very uncomfortable- he had almost given away the fact that it had been her that had made the discovery.
"I tracked him down, and he told me all of this. He's still hiding today, and he's still scared. He and his partner dropped Skye off at the orphanage, leaving with her a protocol that detailed that she be moved every few months, for her own safety. Shortly after that, the other agent was killed, and it was messy. As far as we know she was never found by whoever was looking for her."
"And yet she still has to run." Quinn spoke for the first time, standing up slowly, his hands in his pockets.
"She's not running anywhere, is she? Look at her!" Fitz sounded about ready to punch him in the face. Quinn ignored him, staring instead at Coulson as he jumped down from the ambulance.
"It must be very disappointing for you, agent Coulson, that just like the other agents, you've failed to keep Skye safe. And what now? There's nowhere you can take her where they won't find you. YOU will lead them to her. And what about your team here? Are you going to ask them to commit mutiny?"
Coulson said nothing, his jaw set. Quinn was right. Everything he had just said was accurate. He couldn't ask this much of any of them, but if he didn't what on earth would become of Skye? He couldn't help her on his own.
"It's a good thing then, that I'm here." Quinn leaned against the side of the ambulance, smirking.
Acting out what the entire team was feeling, Ward snapped. He strode towards Quinn, grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and pinned him to the side of the ambulance. Quinn continued to smirk, looking past him at Coulson. Coulson swallowed. He had no choice.
"Ward. Let him go."
Ward did not turn, but looked at Quinn murderously, ignoring Coulson's command.
"Now."
A few seconds of silence passed, and the younger agent took a step back, releasing Quinn. Quinn rubbed himself down, adjusting his suit. He tutted patronisingly.
"Temper temper," he said, walking past Ward.
"Now, let's do business." He clasped his hands together, looking around at them all with a smile.
"We're standing in the middle of a property that is owned by me, and consequently is heavily protected. I'd say you have about ten minutes before S.H.I.E.L.D manage to find a way in, having tracked you, and during that small amount of time you have a big decision to make."
All five of them looked away, already knowing what he was going to say.
"So. What's it going to be boys and girls? Get caught harbouring a fugitive and hiding one of their little treasures from them?" he gestured at Skye. "Lose your jobs and end up in a nasty jail? Watch them take your little friend away to experiment on?"
"Or what?" Ward snapped, tired of Quinn's games.
"Or let me take her with me on a jet and be out of range within minutes. She survives, you all keep your jobs- say I and a team of my merry men came and stole away your precious 0-8-4 and there was nothing you could do about it- and everyone's a winner."
He smiled at them sickeningly.
"I could even throw in a free punch or two. You know. Add to the legitimacy."
Simmons buried her head in her hands, Fitz shaking his head and putting an arm around his friend. May looked at the ground, her arms folded. Ward slammed his fist into the side of the ambulance, tired of being helpless. Coulson just stood and stared and Skye, feeling sick to the pit of his stomach. Each and every one of them knew that Quinn was one hundred percent right.
"You know you don't have a choice, agent Coulson." Quinn stood with his hands in his pockets.
"Do you really want such loss on your hands?"
Ward turned to face Quinn.
"How do we know that you're not going to sell her off to the highest bidder as some scientific discovery?"
Quinn laughed.
"I have enough scientific discoveries under my belt to last me a lifetime, Agent Ward, and I certainly don't need the money. But you don't know, not for sure." His eyes seemed to twinkle, like a little boy playing a trick on his school peers.
A machine inside the ambulance beeped loudly, causing them all to jump. Simmons got up and jumped up see what it was.
"Sir," she said, panic in her voice. "Her heart rate is dropping. She needs..."
"I have a jet fuelled and waiting," Quinn said, his business face returning. "Complete with what Skye needs on board."
"How..." Simmons looked confused. They had taken his phone and all other forms of communication away when they had detained him.
"You think you're the only clever people in existence?" Quinn raised his eyebrows.
"Now agent Coulson," he said, seeing the other man's eyes close as sirens began to sound in the distance. S.H.I.E.L.D. were closing in. They were like rats in a trap.
"What'll it be?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
