It Starts With Letting Go
Disclaimer: Just playing with Jed and Maurissa's characters for no monetary reward.
A/N Thanks for the reviews and follows. I can't compete with the master authors, so I just try to keep the story alive for those who like that. Also, I have no idea what was on the chalkboard, just made it up!
Chapter 4.
May and Jemma sat on either side of Coulson as he wrote. Suddenly, he stopped and dropped the pen. May caught it as it went to roll off onto the floor. He seemed to come out of the trance, but grabbed his head instead.
"What is it, Phil?" May asked softly. He groaned and kept his eyes tightly shut.
"Headache, oh God, make it stop!" He got up from the bed and around Jemma on his way to the bathroom. They could hear him throwing up violently. May looked at Jemma for help.
"I'll get something." She said as she left for the lab. May cautiously opened the bathroom door to find Coulson slumped on the floor still holding his head.
"Phil, come on. You'll be more comfortable on the bed." She slipped an arm under his and pulled him to his feet with surprising ease. Then she pulled him into the bedroom and sat him on the bed. She got a wet towel and tried to run it over his face, but he was stubbornly still gripping his head with both hands. She got a look at his eyes for just a moment, and almost gasped in surprise. Though she knew for a fact his eyes were blue, she couldn't help but be a little distressed when she thought she saw green irises. Just then Jemma returned with a syringe.
"Sir, I know you don't like pain meds, but believe me, this will help." He groaned again and finally spoke.
"Oh, hell yes, Jemma. I can't even see from the pain." He kept his eyes closed while Jemma administered the shot and they laid him back on the bed.
"Still nauseous?" Jemma asked.
"It's getting a lot better." He replied.
"Good. I think it was the pain that was making you sick to your stomach. I gave you the best stuff, so you should be feeling pretty fine soon." She watched as he slid to a sitting position propped against the headboard and looked around.
"Was I writing in that again?" He asked when he spotted the notebook. May, relieved at the sight of his blue eyes, nodded. He frowned and shook his head. "I don't remember…" He looked so lost that May hugged him tightly even in front of Jemma.
"Remember what we talked about, Phil. We take this one day at a time, and we don't jump to conclusions. Just because you don't remember doesn't mean you're losing it. Okay?" She told him.
"Thank you. Both of you." Phil replied tiredly. His headache had settled to a dull throb as the medicine began to work.
Apparently, they had awaked everyone because the others were standing at the open door looking on in concern. Skye tiptoed in and took the notebook from the bed.
"You know, I think this is a sentence or phrase that keeps repeating itself." She showed the writing to Fitz. "See here is where it starts, then ends, and then goes back to the beginning."
"She's right!" Fitz exclaimed excitedly. "It is the same message over and over." He looked at Agent Coulson. "Sir, whoever put this in your brain wants to communicate this to us."
"But, what the hell is it?" Coulson sighed and abruptly got up, swaying just a little. "I…. can you all give me some privacy? I want to get dressed."
"Oh, sir. You really should try to get some rest…." Jemma began, but May took her arm and began to herd the others out of his room. She didn't have to argue with him to know his mind was made up, and unless he passed out on the floor, nothing would get him to rest now.
They made their way down to the control center. Skye started to fiddle with the holotable while the rest stood around running ideas back and forth. They were interrupted by Skye's outburst.
"Holy shit!" She exclaimed and tapped at more pads. "Look, you guys, look!" They turned to the screen which was showing pictures and diagrams with amazing speed.
"What is that?" Tripp asked.
"It's all the information from my drive." Skye answered him. "They must have reloaded the plane's computer with it." They watched for several minutes as the computer loaded, but then came to a stop with only a single picture of a monkey on it.
"And that would be?" May asked a little surprised, but Skye smiled.
"That would be my little surprise for them. I arranged the drive with not one, but two fail safes. This is the second one." She smiled at Fitz. "Dedicated to you, my friend." He and Jemma smiled while May just rolled her eyes.
"This means we have everything back?" Tripp asked expectantly. Skye typed in a new code and the holotable came live just as it had always been.
"Yes!" said Skye triumphantly. The scientists retreated to their lab to get their systems online, Tripp went to check out the weapons and plane in general, and May slipped out heading for Coulson's office.
He was dressed, but leaning against his desk when May entered. He looked up and that look told her all she needed to know. Now was not the time for pity.
"What was all the fuss downstairs about?" He asked.
"Skye got all our information back and the computer is up and running." May replied. She could see the slump of his shoulders as he took in the news. It was like the weight of the world had suddenly lightened.
"Phil, do you have any idea where we should go now?" She asked him gently. He had that open expression that she knew from experience was from fear and indecision. "Look, let's get somewhere safe to land at least. There is a small airfield on the outskirts of Kansas City that would not question us. I know the guy there. We could take the SUV and get some food."
She saw some light come back into his eyes. She truly didn't know how close he had been to giving up, but she had got him back and that was all that mattered for now. He nodded in agreement.
"I'll go tell the others." He said as May left to set a course. The intercom wasn't working yet, so he made the trip from room to room to tell them. They agreed it was a good strategy, and started making lists of what they would need. He ended up in the control center where Skye was working furiously on the computer. He stood watching her. Appreciating what she was doing. He didn't even realize that he sighed until she spoke.
"I am fine, like I said before." She told him, knowing where the sigh came from. It was easy to decode his nonverbal cues after all.
"You're not worried?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.
"Not about me." She told him and met his gaze. He looked down, but then right back up when she whooped in excitement.
"There! There it is!" She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at the screen. On it was a somewhat blurry view of a chalkboard with symbols sketched all over it. Skye fiddled with the panel and got a much clearer view.
"Do you see it?" She practically yelled, and soon the others came wandering in to see what the fuss was about. Fitz whistled when he saw the screen.
"Where did you get this, Skye?" He asked.
"It's the feed from Akela Amadour's eye." She said. "Remember when Ward went into that building where the scientists were working? This is what they were working on."
Fitz picked up the notebook that Coulson had been scribbling in earlier and held it up to the screen.
"I see it!" May said in awe. "Phil, it's the same writing that you have been doing. I think they have been trying to decipher it too." She turned to him. "You know what this means? This is an actual language that you have been writing. Not doodles or meaningless scribbling. This is something they programmed into you."
Coulson still could not let himself believe. If it was from the aliens, what did they want him to do? He didn't know what it meant. He continued to feel pretty helpless. Then Fitz spoke up.
"Oh, my God. Look over in the far right corner. Those are Egyptian hieroglyphs. Do you think it's possible?" He looked at Jemma. She nodded.
"I think that's how scientists would approach the discovery of a new language." She replied.
"Okay, I'm literally lost in space here." Tripp said dryly. Jemma swallowed and then explained.
"If the text of the alien message is the same as what we see in the hieroglyphics, we can attempt to decode it since we know what the words mean in the one." She looked toward Skye. "Can you get us the hieroglyphs and their English translation?" Skye nodded. It took a few minutes, but she punched an image of the Egyptian alphabet and logograms next to the English translation. Fitz and Jemma stood in from of the screen making comparisons.
"I'll be," Jemma said as they translated.
"What does it say?" Coulson asked. Jemma had written it down and she turned the paper for them to read.
THE QUICK RED FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY BROWN DOG.
"That's what the aliens are trying to tell me?" Coulson's face was beginning to turn red.
"No, no sir." Jemma spoke up immediately. "It's the alphabet. Every word in the English alphabet is in that sentence. Don't you see? If the alien message is the same, we now have their whole alphabet and can translate what you've been writing!"
Coulson stepped back and stared at them for a moment, letting his mind grasp the enormity of it. On the one hand, he needed to know what the aliens were trying to tell him. On the other, he felt his stomach sink at the thought that, once they knew, it could put his team in more danger. His head began to pound and he exited the room, grabbing the notebook off the table as he went. His world was spinning out of control, and he had to get a grip and make the right decision here.
tbc