A/N: Hey guys. Apologies for the delay in posting.
I don't own anything. Enjoy!
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Melinda had to admit, she didn't expect it to take so long.
Phil had always been one to forgive easily. Back in the academy, it was part of the reason she would play pranks on him frequently. Although they annoyed him to no end, he'd always give her that little smile and brush it off eventually.
But this….this was different.
Maria Hill called her as she was making lunch, or rather, reheating the previous night's dinner. She paused, fork in hand as the screen lit and her phone buzzed on the counter. Hesitantly, she picked it up and glanced at the caller I.D. Unknown
"Hello?"
"Melinda? It's Hill."
Of course it would be her calling from an unknown number. She was working for Stark, after all. And since the man didn't know that Coulson was alive, much less that Melinda even existed, precautionary measures had to be taken.
"I'm guessing this isn't a social call." Melinda teased lightly, moving towards the sofa.
"It's about Phil." Melinda almost dropped the phone. Hill's directness was something that still surprised her after all the years she had known the agent. But the last time she had gotten phone call like that…"He needs your help."
"Eight months. He's proven pretty independent, don't you think?" Her tone was dry, irritable. Maria could practically feel her seething through the phone. Melinda sat her food on the coffee table, suddenly not hungry.
"Melinda," Hill sighed irritably through the phone, "look, whatever feud you have with him, I don't want to get involved. He asked me to call you because he wants to meet."
"Meet?" Melinda sat up, interest piqued. "Why?"
"I don't know." Hill replied. "You in?"
Melinda frowned at the floor, gears in her brain going a million miles a minute. If he was willing to break a sixth month long grudge to call for help, something was very wrong.
"I'm in."
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"I found it."
Skye came jogging into his office, holding her tablet with a gleeful smile on her face. Six hours she had been scouring every kind of communication line she could think of, until she found herself back at old SHIELD communication lines. Or, more specifically, the ones that shouldn't exist.
"Well, I found something." She shrugged. "There's this grey area between SHIELD communications. I think it may have been how Hydra was communicating from within the organization." She spat out at a million words a minute.
"Good. Any idea what they are planning?" Coulson asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"There were mentions of Glenn Talbot." She sighed.
"General Glenn Talbot? Like, US government? What do they want with him?" Phil felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and moved to grab it.
"I don't know. But we need to get to them before Creel does." Her eyes narrowed as Phil frowned at the screen, and then his eyes went wide.
"Hello?"
"Coulson, you alone?" It was Hill.
"No. Hold on." He glanced up to Skye. "You mind giving me a minute"
She shrugged and turned irately away from him. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw the hurt in her eyes. Lately, with Theta Protocol as intense as it was, he had been leaving every few days and never staying long. The two of them barely had full, normal conversations.
He sighed heavily, lowering his head a bit.
May and Jemma were both gone now, leaving Skye to be both the only girl and the only original member of the team (aside from himself) who was able to go into the field. Phil could only guess how lonely the girl was. Plus, as good of a fighter as Tripp was, he was still not quite the Supervising Officer she needed.
Phil returned the phone to his ear, arms feeling like lead, and braced for bad news. "I'm alone.
"May said yes." Hill was never one to mince words. It took him a second to comprehend what she said. "I set up a meeting point and time. Luckily, you won't have to fly all over the place for this one."
"Where?" he asked, still not completely recovered.
"Virginia Beach. She's on a flight back to the East Coast now. I'll send you the address and flight details here in a second."
"Thank you, Maria." He sighed with relief into the phone, finally feeling the butterflies as they seemed to erupt from his chest.
"You're welcome. And Phil," she hesitated a moment,"Try to regain her trust, or at least make her an ally. You have very few of those right now. Bring her back into the field, consult with her. Hell, bring her onto Theta Protocol. But we need her back in some capacity."
Although her voice showed concern, there was an underlying warning. He had very few allies and many enemies, including the United States government and Hydra. Feud aside, he was desperate for help. Plus, Hill had been trained by Melinda at the academy, and the two had grown close. If he screwed this up….he'd have hell to pay.
"I will." He nodded to himself. "Thank you."
She hummed in reply and clicked off the call. He set his phone down hesitantly on the desk, and barely registered as it vibrated with her information.
To say he was nervous was a big understatement. The butterflies had turned into a swarm of bees, and circulated through him, a kind of nervous energy.
On one hand, he was thrilled to see her again. He and Melinda had been close since academy days, playing pranks, eating dinners together, sparring. Even after Bahrain, they had shared an easy friendship. Partnering was never a problem. They seemed to orbit one another, understanding the other's intentions without even speaking. She was his shadow and better-half.
On the other hand, this 'going-behind-his-back-to-Fury' thing had driven a deep wedge between them. It was mostly his stubbornness that caused the problem. She had tried to apologize, even sent him the TAHITI file, but he had dismissed her. Phil had ignored her calls, eventually kicking her from SHIELD altogether, to both Fury and Hill's disdain.
But he was desperate, and maybe he could even admit that he missed her a little bit. Her willingness to come had surprised him, but he couldn't deny that he was a little happy.
An hour later, he was changed had given his orders, and was making his way through the halls of the base towards Lola parked in the garage.
"Time to recruit the calvary." He muttered to himself.
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A/N: Apologies guys and gals. I've had fam in town which means no updating. Hope you enjoyed!
