A.N: To the guest who asked about a fic other than this one, PM and we'll talk.

A.N2: Sorry for the lateness. I was waiting for the OB season finale before I updated. Obviously this story is very AU but some plot points will be touched upon in the this fic.

Chapter 3

Skye was nearly bowled over by Cosima as she charged after Delphine after one last look at the inventory list from the Fridge. FitzSimmons dropped what they were doing and hurried after the two scientists while Skye followed at a slightly more sedate pace. As she reached their usual meeting room she was greeted with the sight of Cosima rushing at Delphine who for her part was muttering at her phone, clearly intent on a phone call before either one of them explained her sudden fury.

Sarah stood slowly, alarmed by Cosima's clear distress, "Cos?"

Cosima threw up her hands before she snarled out, "Why does S.H.I.E.L.D. have my genome Delphine!?"

Delphine turned on her whip fast and growled out, "I am trying to find out Cosima!" She punched at her phone again before she turned on Coulson, "I need a secure line to Hill now."

He shrugged his shoulders, "She wasn't answering my calls before, why would she answer now?"

Delphine stalked past him as she barked out, "General database search. S.H.I.E.L.D. access code, Cormier comma Delphine 6-8-3-Tango-Sierra-5." The computerized voice chirped.

"Welcome Agent Cormier, how can I help you today?"

Delphine's hand tore through her hair, messing up her riot of blonde curls as she asked, "Were there other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents embedded within DYAD? Assigned to monitor Project Gemini?"

The computer replied flatly, "Unable to answer query."

Delphine blinked, "What? What level clearance is needed to find out?"

The computer answered, "Level ten clearance is required."

Delphine's face went red with what could only be rage as she picked up her cell phone and threw it against the wall, "Fury!" She rattled off a string of French curses and the computer responded.

"Query not understood."

Delphine snarled out, "Computer end general database search." She leaned against the bar and for one horrifying moment Skye was sure Delphine was about to start crying as she placed her head in her hands.

Cosima took a stutter step forward as she spoke, "Delphine…" Her voice hardened, "Why. Does. S.H.I.E.L.D.. Have. My. Genome?!"

Delphine's whole body sagged, "Cosima…"

Sarah pushed past Delphine and grabbed her arm, "Answer the bloody question Delphine! Do S.H.I.E.L.D. and those Hydra bastards have information on all of us?! How much have you fed them?"

Delphine straightened and tore her arm from Sarah's grip, "I did not give them any genomes."

Sarah shook her head stubbornly, "Why should we believe that? If they have Cosima's then why wouldn't they have ours?"

Delphine exploded, "Because they have Cosima's!" She closed her eyes and took a breath before skewering Sarah with a look, "If it were any other one of you then yes, maybe you could make the case that I would hand over such precious information about you, maybe before... everything." She shared a loaded look with Cosima before she added quietly, "But Cosima?" She waved a hand, "I would never give them Cosima's genome. I did everything in my power to keep Cosima off of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar entirely." She scoffed, "Why am I even speaking to you about this, you won't believe me." She turned her back on Sarah entirely.

Coulson folded his arms across his chest, "So this team is compromised when it comes to Ward but you…"

Delphine nodded her head, looking miserable, "I am compromised because of Cosima, yes. I started protecting any type of information about her almost as soon as I was assigned as her monitor. Any information S.H.I.E.L.D. has on her didn't come from me. That means that the information leads back to a Hydra agent or another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent." She cocked her head, "The Hydra agent actually makes more sense. DYAD is a science branch of Hydra so why wouldn't they share information with agents inside of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Alison cleared her throat, "Um, yes, hello. Excuse me but is there information about all of us? I know you saw Cosima and panicked but is there info on Sarah and I?"

Rachel's hip cocked, "I'd like to know as well Dr. Cormier. Am I in this database?"

Felix's neck stretched as his eyes bulged, "And the Monkey?! Is Kira mentioned?"

Skye watched as all of the clones tensed almost as one and the hostility directed at Delphine tripled in less than a second while Delphine's eyes went wide, "I never shared any information about Kira. Not even with Leekie when I was trying to protect my cover." She shook her head firmly, "That little girl is too special to be used as some sort of pawn." She turned to Skye, "Can you get me the printed list so that I can see what sort of information is stored on them at the Fridge? And a red marker?"

Skye nodded slowly, "I could, yeah. It might be faster if I made a filter program to run the inventory list through."

Delphine shrugged, "I'll give you a list of parameters for the filter, but I'd still like to hand check the list. It will give me something to do while we change course."

Coulson cleared his throat, "Where exactly are we going now?"

Delphine stared hard at him, "You are getting your wish Coulson, we're going to the Fridge. Now."

Coulson scowled, "So charging in head first is ok when it's someone you care about?"

Delphine lost all traces of charm, "What part of that sounded like a suggestion Agent Coulson? I will infiltrate the Fridge and wipe any mention of Project Gemini from the systems there, and if I find your missing agent I'll rescue him too."

May hesitated as Coulson spoke, "You'll infiltrate the Fridge? By yourself?"

Delphine addressed May first, "Agent May, set a course for the Fridge." When May didn't move Delphine added, "That is a direct order Agent May." Finally the reminder of Delphine's rank seemed to jump start May into action as she turned on her heel and marched off to the bridge. Delphine returned her attention to Coulson, "I can move faster by myself." She shot a look at Cosima before adding quietly, "And no one here will mourn me if it goes wrong." She turned away from the group but not before touching Skye's elbow, "The list Agent Skye? I will be in the lab."

Skye nodded as she turned to watch Delphine leave as quietly as a ghost.

Jemma Simmons wasn't one to be quiet. When she had things to say she said them and she had many things to say to Agent Delphine Cormier. She had hundreds of questions to ask but the clear lines of stress that marred Delphine's otherwise beautiful face stayed her tongue. The French scientist was working quietly with the information from the Fridge that Skye had accessed for her. After an hour of combing the list Skye had printed by hand Agent Cormier had moved to the camera feeds from the Fridge. It prickled ominously against Jemma's spine that the feeds had obviously been cut, Hydra's effort to hide the identities of their traitorous agents just a while longer was galling to Simmons more than she cared to admit. She knew that Agent Cormier had some concerns about Ward and while Simmons would have liked to reply with the same vehement faith that Fitz and Skye seemed to have, she was a scientist first. She could view his actions with the same detachment as Agent Cormier could and she had to admit that he was ideally placed to spy on them.

She didn't want to believe that he might be Hydra but if he was... She blinked away the sight of Skye's blood still coating her hands that swam across her vision. If he was in league with the Clairvoyant then he had played part, no matter how small, in Skye being shot and nearly dying. She would have died too, had it not been for Agent Coulson's determination to find the miracle drug and Jemma's own willful decision to ignore his order not to use the same drug once he'd discovered its origin.

She still had nightmares that blared the sound of a flatline in her head so loudly that it woke her from a dead sleep. Sometimes she still felt the sticky redness of Skye's blood coating her hands, seeping from the two bullet holes faster than could be replaced. She could still picture Skye's pale face, still and silent, and for just a little while quite dead.

She frowned hard. She considered Ward a friend but if he was Hydra, if he was in league with Garrett, Garrett who had given the order to murder Skye to find a drug, then he was no friend of hers. He was meant to be a friend, Ward.

Skye was more than that.

She straightened and spoke softly, "Delphine?"

Delphine turned to look at her, her eyes tired, "Yes Jemma?"

Jemma shoved aside the instinctive pleasure that surged through her as her given name passed the lips of such an accomplished Agent and pressed on, "I'm going to make some tea, would you like some?"

Delphine looked almost ready to refuse for one long second before she finally nodded, "Merci Jemma. Oui."

Jemma offered her the brightest smile she could before she turned and hurried out of the lab. She was joined by Fitz on the way up the stairs to their little kitchen.

"What's she doing then?"

Jemma drooped a little, "Nothing science related Fitz." She couldn't help how put out she was by Delphine's preoccupation with the Fridge, "She's focusing on the Fridge."

Fitz frowned before offering her a shrug, "I guess I'll keep working on the fuel cells then."

Jemma shrugged, "She's still pretty to look at."

Fitz grinned at her before he nudged her shoulder, "Finally getting over your other crush?"

Jemma swatted at him, "Hush Fitz."

He beamed at her before heading of towards his sleeper pod, probably in search of some tools. Jemma hurried to the electric tea kettle Coulson kept for her and Fitz and busied herself with preparing two cups of tea for herself and Delphine.

Fitz had tinkered with the kettle so that it boiled much faster than it should have so in less than a minute she had a kettle full of boiling water. One day Fitz's impatience was going to lead to a face full of kettle shrapnel to the face but for now she wouldn't complain about almost instant tea. She considered the tea mugs she'd set out and her vast collection of tea and turned to the two clones sitting at the island.

"Do either of you know how Dr. Cormier takes her tea?"

The surly one replied with a mean smirk, "A dash of lying bitch and a spot of evil?"

Simmons tensed and turned to the other one, Rachel who offered her a cold smile but replied seriously, "Cream not milk, with two sugars."

Simmons offered her a smile before glaring at Sarah and speaking, "Would you like a cup Rachel? Or do you prefer Miss Duncan? Delphine mentioned your name was Rachel Duncan."

Rachel bobbed her head, "Rachel is fine Agent Simmons, and I would love a cup. Milk, no sugar."

Simmons hurried to prepare Rachel's tea, which she set in front of her still steaming and earned herself a scowl from Sarah.

"Oi? No tea for me?" Sarah's eyebrow was arched up so far Simmons was afraid it was going to jump right off her face.

Simmons gingerly picked up her mug of tea along with Delphine's and snapped back, "Make it yourself." She refrained from adding a choice expletive as she marched away from the little kitchen.

She set the tea down next to Delphine and murmured, "Your tea."

Delphine picked it up absently with a whispered thank you and took a sip.

She smiled after a moment, "How did you know how I took my tea?" She looked almost hopeful.

Simmons replied truthfully, "Rachel told me."

The hope that had flared in Delphine's eyes flickered out, "Ah." She took another sip, "Thank you again Jemma, it is perfect."

Simmons nodded and turned her attention the screen that held most of Delphine's attention, "What are you looking at now?"

Delphine sighed, "I was hoping to access the security feed in the Fridge but..." She waved a hand, "They appear to have been cut, Garrett's agents probably severed the feed on site."

Simmons stepped closer, "There aren't any backups?"

Delphine shook her head, "The redundant feeds are down as well." She closed her eyes for just a moment, and looked so painfully tired that Simmons flinched before she straightened and declared, "I will have to go in blind." She shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I have to go in."

Simmons cocked her head, "When it was just Agent Ward you weren't going to go in."

Delphine offered her a wry smile, "This is true. Given enough time I'm sure a man of Ward's training can get free by himself, but I have to go now if I want to protect any information about the clones from Garrett and Hydra, there is other information that Fury and Hill would want me to wipe if I could, I'm sure. They haven't been at the Fridge long enough to investigate most of the information there. They are probably most interested in the artifacts, but eventually Garrett will want to know about the different projects being run by both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D."

Simmons grinned after a moment, "So boys and their toys becomes an ally for now."

Delphine nodded with a real smile, "Oui." They shared a quiet laugh.

Simmons whispered a second later, "Going in blind though?" She shook her head, "It seems dangerous..."

Delphine nodded, "It is. I have to though."

Simmons perked up after a moment, "You could take May with you! I'm sure together the two of you would be quite safe."

Delphine shook her head, "I have to go alone Agent Simmons." She took another sip of tea and held the mug up, "Merci Jemma." She turned from the lab and walked out as Simmons stared after her, unable to shake the feeling of dread Delphine's melancholia caused to well up inside of her.

Skye came to Jemma's side as she fussed in the kitchen. Jemma's natural penchant for care taking was thrown into hyperdrive as she tried to figure out what to feed Delphine. Jemma's stellar manners and patience were being tested by the clones who were being unhelpful as they themselves ate the dinner Alison had prepared for them.

"If one of you could just tell me if she's allergic to anything?"

Cosima, the most likely to know, remained stubbornly silent while Sarah shrugged, "Haven't spent enough time with science bitch to know what she eats Agent Simmons."

Skye smoothed a hand over Jemma's back as she tensed at the disrespectful name, "Hey... take a breath ok? Obviously they aren't going to be helpful where Delphine is concerned."

Jemma turned to hiss at her, "She is a decorated agent and they are treating her like... she should be respected Skye." She shook her head curtly, "I'll look it up in her file, it will have a record of her allergies." She stomped off.

Rachel's tongue clicked, "Aren't we cold Cosima... are you hoping that Delphine will drop dead from an allergy?"

Cosima turned an angry glare on Rachel before she grumbled, "She isn't allergic to anything, and she isn't a picky eater."

Skye folded her arms, "And you couldn't just tell Simmons that?"

Cosima didn't reply, but Skye could see that the dreadlocked scientist was at least a little ashamed of her actions.

They were all quiet for a few minutes until Jemma came storming back into the kitchenette area and began making a plate up for Delphine, "She isn't allergic to anything, for future reference." She addressed Skye more than the clones. Once the plate was ready she turned to leave before she spun suddenly and set the plate down with a bang, "This mission that Delphine is going on? It's dangerous. She might die and the only reason she's doing it is because of all of you." She leveled Cosima with an intense glare, "Or more specifically you. She's going to go in alone to wipe information about all of you and you are all too petty to tell me if she might be allergic to anything. I understand you're all family, and you have to stick together, but S.H.I.E.L.D is a family too. If it were up to me I'd dump you all on an iceberg because you clearly don't deserve the care Delphine shows you." She snatched up the plate before she snarled at Sarah, "And if you call her 'science bitch' again I will use the Nitenite gun on you."

Skye waited a moment before following Jemma down the stairs and to the lab. She didn't go in but watched as Jemma set the plate next Delphine's hand on the lab table and spoke too low for Skye to hear. From Skye's position she's couldn't see if Delphine responded but she must have because Jemma spoke again a half a beat later. Finally Dr. Cormier accepted the fork from Jemma and pulled the plate in front of her, presumably to start eating. Jemma offered a beaming smile before quietly exiting the lab.

Skye spoke quietly, "She could really die?"

Jemma turned to look at her with a heavy frown before she nodded, "I think... Skye I think she expects to. The camera feeds have been cut and she's refusing any sort of help. She won't even consent to taking May."

Skye furrowed her brow, "Why wouldn't she want May's help? Two agents have to be better than one right?"

Jemma moved forward and to Skye's surprise Jemma wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged her tightly before she murmured, "She doesn't want to risk anyone else, because I think she knows she's going on a suicide mission Skye."

Wordlessly Skye wrapped her arms around Jemma as she peered over her shoulder at the slouched agent in the lab who had already pushed aside the mostly uneaten plate of food in favor of combing through the Fridge's inventory list again.

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