Kaitlynn groans as she opens her eyes, looking around she realizes that she's strapped to a table. She bites back a scream of pain when the medication begins to wear off, looking down she sees her right hand looking a mix of colors. Obviously infected from never being cleaned, hearing a groan she looks over to see Max strapped to another table.
"Hey. You okay?" she croaks, Max nods weakly. Dried blood caked in his hair from the cut on his forehead.
"Son of a bitch" he groans when he shifts
"How bad?" Kaitlynn asks
"Concussion, dislocated shoulder and maybe a few broken ribs." He lists before looking over at her "You?"
"My hands worst…doesn't even look like a hand anymore." She says staring at the bloodied object before continuing on with what hurts "A few broken ribs and a busted knee" Max nods. This has become a routine for them, every time they wake up from a 'session' with James they list their injuries trying to use them as a distraction to the hell they are being put through everyday.
"Not as bad as the day before than." He says trying to be optimistic, Kaitlynn nods not even wanting to think about what these people did to them the other day.
"Good afternoon. How did you sleep?" Dr. James says as he walks into the room
"Fantastic. I had an amazing dream. I especially loved the part where you died with four gunshots to the chest." Kaitlynn says sarcastically, James grins before turning around and picking up a syringe.
"What is that?" Max asks
"Just a little something I cooked up." James says as he stokes the syringe filled with a pink liquid "I've heard its supposed to make the person injected feel like they are being fried from the inside out." James lets out a crazed laugh before walking over to Kaitlynn, injecting her with half the syringe before turning to Max and empting the rest into him.
Kaitlynn sits there for a moment, not feeling anything before the pain comes. She bites her lip to keep from screaming as it feels like a million bees are stinging her intestines. She lets out a pained filled scream as her body fills like its being shredded apart. Kaitlynn is vaguely aware of Dr. James laughing manically in the background as she and Max wither in pain.
_END OF DREAM:_
Kaitlynn gasps awake, looking around the room she realizes that she's back in her room and not with Dr. James. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she gets out of bed and puts her shoes on before walking out towards the cargo hold to workout, unaware of Skye's eyes following her. Having awoken from Kaitlynn whimpering in her nightmare.
After doing 100 reps of push ups, curl-ups and pull ups, Kaitlynn meets May to work on their Tai-chi. If May ever wondered or noticed how long Kaitlynn has been up she never mentions it. After they do their Tai-chi they separate to shower.
Kaitlynn sighs as she allows the hot water to run down her back, releasing the tension from her aching muscles. In truth, she's exhausted from the nightmares keeping her up at night but she knows from experience that even if she manages to fall asleep again the nightmares will return even worse than before.
Feeling the water start to get cold, Kaitlynn quickly washes her body and hair before stepping out. She dries herself off with a towel and changes into a pair of skinny jeans and a black tank top along with her combat boots. She makes sure the dark circles under her eyes are covered with makeup before joining the others in the kitchen.
"Morning." Kaitlynn says as she pours herself a cup of coffee, receiving a murmur of mornings back.
"There is nothing more unsettling, being apart of something so horrible, completely unaware." Jemma says as she looks at the device on her tablet "The cadet could of died."
"We drew up those concepts years ago." Fitz says as he pours him and Jemma some tea "We didn't know they'd be applied in that way." Kaitlynn grabs her own tablet and looks up the report to see what they're dealing with.
"Is this the device they found in the frozen pool?" Skye asks as she plays around with her cereal "Correction the instantly frozen pool."
"Seems like it was planted in the filter days before, like someone was waiting for those specific cadets."
"Well as far as they can tell, the device uses crystalline nucleation process she designed." Fitz says nodding towards Simmons
"And a delivery mechanism he invented." Simmons says, Kaitlynn chuckles at the two scientists as she sips her coffee. "That's why we're being asked to consult on the investigation."
"So we're going to the academy?" Skye asks
"Science and technology division." Kaitlynn says
"Cadets are pretty shaken up over what happened." Ward adds "Agent Weaver asked if you two could speak to the student body about potentiality to calm them down."
"Of course. The talk." Simmons says "We've all heard the talk."
"I haven't." Skye says
"I guess you will." Kaitlynn says "And don't worry you're not really missing out on anything exciting, just some boring speeches" she says before turning to Fitz-Simmons "No offence."
"Well, I've heard a lot about the academy. I'm excited to finally see it." Skye says
"Me too. Never been to Sci-Tech before." Ward says
"Never? Huh." Skye says "The different S.H.I.E.L.D academies don't interact?" Fitz scoffs
"Not much." Kaitlynn says with a smirk already seeing the tension between Ward and Fitz-Simmons.
"Academy of communications does, but they're the biggest and focused on data analysis." Ward says
"Boring." "It's the easiest to get into." Fitz and Simmons say at the same time
"That's where you'd be Skye" Fitz says
"Thanks." Skye says sarcastically
"Operations is the most aggressive program." Kaitlynn says "More people wash out of operations than the other academies."
"So which ones the hardest to get into?" Skye asks, Jemma gives her a smug smile "I'm picking up on the rivalry between sciences and operations" she says, Kaitlynn chuckles
"You have no idea." She says as she sips her coffee
"Are you and Coulson past all that, or you gonna help Ward steal their Mascot?" Skye asks when she sees May.
"We're not going. After we drop you off, Coulson and I have other matters to attend to." May says before walking off, once she's out of sight they all crowd around the counter to talk.
"Coulson hasn't come out of his office in awhile." Skye says worriedly "Do you think he's alright?"
"We saw him at a low. Its not easy for anybody." Ward says "But Coulson's tough as they come. He'll be good. Just give him time."
"May says he's working through some stuff" Kaitlynn says "I'm sure after this it'll all blow over." She assures "And while he takes this time its on us to figure out what's going on at the academy." She says, the group looks at each other before departing.
-TIME SKIP: ACADEMY-
"This was the SSR facility." Simmons says as they all stand looking at the campus "Before S.H.I.E.L.D. was even founded. 'SSR' stands for-"
"Strategic scientific reserve." Skye says "Yeah I know, is this where you got all your PhDs?"
"Oh no, you need at least one to get through the door" Simmons says
"Is Science and Technology what you imagined Agent Ward, Agent Robinson?" Fitz asks, Kaitlynn smirks
"Yep. No uniforms, no rope course, no define muscularity on anyone." He says as he looks at the students.
"No marching in place, No I.Q.'s in double digits" Fitz says making Kaitlynn snickers at the two bickering.
"There they are. So good to see you." Agent Weaver says as she walks over to them.
"You look as lovely as ever." Jemma says as she shakes her old professor's hand
"I concur." Fitz says shaking her hand
"Thank you." Weaver says before turning to the rest of the group, she freezes when she sees Kaitlynn.
"Agent Weaver." Kaitlynn says politely giving the woman a small smile
"Kaitlynn. I heard you were dead…my apologies I must of heard wrong." Weaver says as she stops in front of the blonde.
"You heard correctly. Until a few days ago S.H.I.E..L.D. thought I was dead." Kaitlynn says "Its good to see you Anne." She says as the two woman hug "I apologize that it has to be under these circumstances." She says as they pull apart
"You two know each other? Simmons says shocked
"Agent Weaver tried to recruit me for the academy…I was more into the physical aspects of being an Agent rather then the science though." Kaitlynn says with a smirk
"It's a shame to…you would have been an amazing engineer." Weaver says
"You? In Science and Technology?" Fitz says shocked, Kaitlynn nods
"Did you even have a degree?" Simmons asks
"Nope. I was just that talented." Kaitlynn says smirking before turning back to Agent Weaver "Back to the case, this is Agent Ward." She says
"Agent Ward, Pleasure to have you sir" Weaver says as she shakes Ward's hand
"Agent Weaver." Ward says "Is there a list of suspects?"
"Based on the level of intelligence it would take to put a device together like the one we found, we narrowed it down to the top 10% of our cadets." Weaver says "I'm worried there's a bad seed."
"Ops and Sciences have differences, but both have to be careful about what we call 'Bad Seeds', people who want to use the tools we give them for-" Ward says explaining it to Skye
"-Bad seed isn't a S.H.I.E.L.D term, Ward, its just a term" Skye says, Ward glares at Skye making Kaitlynn snicker
"We know you already questioned the victim, but I have a few questions I'd like to ask him myself" Ward says as he turns away from Skye and back to Weaver.
"I'll arrange for you to talk to Seth Dormer when he's out of class" Weaver says "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get Agents Fitz and Simmons settled into the lecture hall." She says before looking at Kaitlynn "It was nice seeing you again" she says before leading the two agents away from their group.
"Look at them. The popular kids." Skye says when she sees Fitz and Simmons gets crowded around by students "Who knew?"
"I did." Ward says
"While we have a minute, I think there's something you'll want to see." Kaitlynn says before leading Skye and Ward into the building.
"The wall of Valor" Skye says as they walk inside to see the wall, Ward disappearing somewhere to find a bathroom.
"So you've read about it?" Kaitlynn says, Skye nods
"Every S.H.I.E.L.D facility has a memorial to the agents lost in the line of duty" Skye says "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history can be traced on walls like this." Skye says as she walks over to the wall "Huh. Bucky Barnes." She reads
"Puts it in perspective. What we do." Kaitlynn says
"This make you guys proud. All this history." Skye says "Just wish I was a part of it." she says, turning around she continues when she sees Kaitlyn's face "Its not self-pity really. I'm just saying everyone here has earned this. They deserve it. I hacked my way in. Like I cheated."
"All you need to join is a dedication to the greater good." Kaitlynn says "And knowing Coulson he saw that in you the moment he met you."
"How can you be sure?" Skye asks
"Cause he saw it me." Kaitlynn gives her a small smile "Come on. We should probably catch up to Fitz-Simmons" she says seeing Ward walk out of the bathroom.
-TIME SKIP-
"Today we're welcome back two of S.H.I.E.L.D academy's finest, our youngest graduates to date." Agent Weaver says introducing Fitz-Simmons "You know their names. Please join me in welcoming Agent Leopold Fitz and Agent Jemma Simmons." The crowd claps as the two scientist walk up to the podium.
"Thank you Agent Weaver." Jemma says "Its nice to be back. Unfortunately, it has to be under these circumstances."
"If you don't know the history if S.H.I.E..L.D by now, there's no excuse…" Fitz says "Unless you fell asleep in Professor Vaughn's class that's a perfectly acceptable excuse." He says making the crowd chuckle, Skye looks around awkwardly.
"Our instinct as scientists is to move forward, advance quickly, push the envelope." Simmons says "But given recent events, it makes sense to reflect back in our history."
Kaitlynn sighs as she sits down in the empty seat next to Skye
"What I miss?" she says
"Nothing…besides some jokes that I have no clue what they're talking about." Skye says bitterly before changing the subject "Shouldn't you be helping Ward question that kid?"
"Ward's a big boy. He can take care of it himself" Kaitlynn says giving Skye a smile before they both turn their attention back to their friends.
"And S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded after the SSR was able to defeat the nearly indomitable force known as Hydra." Fitz says
"We tend to forget that these organizations Hydra, Centipede, A.I.M. were also made up of extremely brilliant scientists, men and woman who started with the same unlimited potential as you or I."
"Potential can sometimes be dangerous. Plutonium has the potential to power a city or a nuclear bomb" Fitz adds
"Today we'd like to share a few stories from the field in which we learned this lesson up close and faced the consequences when untested technology or biology lands in the wrong hands." Simmons says "And don't worry we brought pictures." She says the crowd laughs again.
"Oh God!" A kid yells before standing up from his seat "Oh GOD! What is this?!" he yells as ice travels from his feet and up his leg "Hey, what's happening to me?! Help me! Help Me! Get it off!"
"Fitz-Simmons!" Kaitlynn yells as she moves past the crowd to the kid whose whole body becomes frozen in ice.
"Find exposed skin." Jemma says as her and Fitz run to the kid. "He needs glucose to raise his body's natural freezing point."
"Simmons I need something to break the ice." Fitz says, Simmons hands him a small flashlight. Fitz grips it in his hand before hitting the ice.
"Jemma ready?"
"Yeah" Jemma says as she gets next to Fitz, hitting the ice one last time exposing the skin. Jemma quickly injects the glucose into him.
"What do I do?" Kaitlynn asks wanting to help
"Something's doing this to him. Find it." Fitz says as Ward comes in, Ward and Kaitlynn search around for the object.
"Ward there it is." Kaitlynn says spotting it under his chair
"What now?" Ward asks
"Smash the damn thing!" Fitz yells, Ward stomps down on the device causing the ice to break around the boy.
"Its okay. Its okay." Fitz says trying to calm the shaking kid down. The crowd claps, both in happiness and in awe that Fitz-Simmons got Donnie out.
_TIME SKIP_
"And you can't think of anyone here who'd want to hurt you?" Kaitlynn asks Donnie, whose rapped up in a blanket.
"I don't know anyone." Donnie says
Donnie I'm gonna have you escorted back to your room." Weaver says "You get some rest and stay warm." She says, Donnie nods before standing up and walking over to Fitz-Simmons. Skye and Kaitlynn behind him.
"Sorry I ruined your lecture." Donnie apologizes "I was really looking forward to it."
"Its not your fault, Donnie." Simmons says before he walks away.
"No genetic materials or prints found on the device." Fitz says "The components are rare and expensive."
"Freshman pranks are tradition, but these are something else." Simmons says
"Attempted murder." Weaver says, joining them
"So Donnie was the indented target all along?" Ward says
"Did he have anything in common with the cadets at the pool?" Kaitlynn asks
"These kids were popular. Donnie was-" Weaver says
"Not." Skye fills in
"Donnie hadn't made any enemy's here but he hadn't made friends either." She says
"He had a hard time adjusting? How old is he?" Simmons asks
"18 youngest since you guys." Weaver say "190 I.Q. and failing out of high school when we met him."
"Probably bored out of his mind." Fitz says
"If things went well, we were considering graduating him early and assigning him to the sandbox." Weaver says
"Wow. He would love it there." Simmons says
"But he doesn't like it here, so I'm afraid he'll wash out." Weaver says
"Maybe that was the idea." Ward says "Agent Weaver keep working with investigations. Interviewing cadets, instructors."
"Of course." Weaver says before walking away
"And us?" Skye asks
"Their interviews wont bear fruit." Ward says "We teach cadets to keep secrets."
"Where did you guys hang out when you wanted to het away from the faculty?" Kaitlyn asks
"Can we tell someone from operations?" Simmons asks
"Yes, because we need to conduct our own investigation." Ward says catching on to what Kaitlynn is saying. The two scientists lead their team out of the building to where the hangout spot is.
"And when we get there?" Jemma asks
"We mingle, low key." Kaitlynn says "You and Skye get comfortable with the students see if you can get them gossiping."
"Skye looks young enough to blend in." Ward adds
"You're not exactly old man river, and Fitz looks younger than us." Skye says
"Time will come when you wont make fun of me for that." Fitz says "You'll be jealous. You'll be jealous wrinkly old hags." He says making Kaitlynn chuckle.
"Fitz needs to go talk to Donnie." Ward says
"Sorry?" Fitz asks
"No he's right." Kaitlynn says "Donnie's withdrawn, might know more than he's letting on."
"You're a hero here, Fitz. He looks up to you." Ward says "Go hang out with him. Even if he has no clue who might be after him, he could use a friend."
"That is a wonderful idea." Jemma says
"Ward has them from time to time." Fitz says with a nod "Ill meet you later." He says before walking off to find Donnie. As soon as Fitz is gone, Skye and Simmons turn around and look at Ward with a smile.
"What? Its strategic." Ward says
"Its adorable." Simmons says
"The tin man has a heart after all." Skye says, Kaitlynn chuckles as she watches the group. Ward shakes his head before walking past the girls.
"So where are we going?" he asks, Skye and Simmons follow him with Kaitlynn walking in the back.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps careful watch of everything within their walls, so in the late '60s to escape the cameras and the prying eyes of the faculty, a few cadets started sneaking down to the boiler room." Simmons says "To play cards, you know, exchange ideas."
"My kind of people." Skye says
"Some amazing breakthroughs have come out of here." Simmons says as she leads them to the basement "So the tradition lives on."
"Of cramming into the boiler room?" Kaitlynn asks
"Well over the years we made a few improvements." Simmons says as they walk into the boiler room to see a room packed with people, a few pool tables, some lazar lights and music. "So you have one of these at operations?" Simmons asks
"No." Ward says
"Did not think so." Simmons says with a smug grin
"Drinks are on me." Skye says as she walks down the stairs to join the party.
-TIME SKIP-
Skye laughs at something the bartender said before thanking him for the dinks and walking back over to where Kaitlynn and Ward are sitting.
"Bartender seemed chatty." Kaitlynn says
"He's in computer sciences." Skye says as she hands Kaitlynn a drink "Didn't take long to convince him I was a level 7 CS operative. And guess where I am stationed. The sandbox."
"Good thinking." Ward says
"Did you find anything?" Kaitlynn asks, Skye nods
"I asked if any of the cadets had hopes of getting assigned there." Skye says before nodding behind her "Behind me. The curls." She says, Kaitlynn follows her gaze to where Callie Hannigan is playing pool. "Callie Hannigan. Ambitious, gunned hard for getting assigned to the sandbox. And apparently word's gotten around, she's lost the top spot."
"She was at the pool." Kaitlynn says
"But didn't want to go in." Skye adds, Ward nods before going to ask Callie a few questions about what happened at the pool. Kaitlynn follows Skye over to a table where Simmons is sitting.
A few minutes later Ward walks over and tells them what he learned. Simmons quickly dials Fitz phone and tells him that Donnie and Seth staged the attack to get them here and take them off their radar of being suspects.
After they retrieve an unconscious Fitz from Donnie's dorm room, Fitz-Simmons and Skye all head back to the B.U.S. to meet up with Coulson and May. Kaitlynn and Ward staying behind to help Agent Weaver search the campus for the missing Cadets.
_TIME SKIP_
Kaitlynn sighs aggravated that they haven't found anything to lead them to where Seth and Donnie are.
"Anything?" Kaitlynn asks when she sees Agent Weaver and Ward outside.
"Not yet." Ward says as they begin walking to their next search location. They stop when they see the dark storm cloud form above the school.
"We need to get everyone inside. Get everyone to the boiling room." Katlynn orders "Now." She says before running off, knowing one place she knows they haven't checked yet.
Kaitlyn stops knowing she wont get there fast enough by running, looking around she sees a black motorcycle, sighing in relief she runs over to it. Quickly hot wiring the vehicle before taking off towards the north campus parking garage.
"I'll be damned! We did it!" Seth yells happily as he picks up a ball of ice "It worked." Kaitlyn skids to a stop by the truck.
"You need to shut this down! Now!" she yells
"Its too late!" Seth laughs "Once Quinn sees this! He'll be begging to buy our product!" he says, Kaitlynn opens her mouth to yell at him but is cut off when it starts to hail harder. They quickly duck down and run into Seth's truck to get away from the ice. They watch, scared, as the ice cracks the windshield. Coming down in bigger and bigger blocks.
"I did it." Donnie says as he watches what he created destroy their surroundings.
"The ice stopped. So its ending?" Seth asks a few minutes later when ice stops falling out of the Sky.
"No. Its just the beginning." Donnie says
"We're in the eye of the storm. Its going to get worse." Kaitlynn says looking up at the sky
"Strom?" Seth asks "But crystalline nucleation should only create ice-" he says
"-It did." Kaitlynn says cutting him off as she points to the sky "Up there. You seeded the clouds."
"The most effective way in history." Donnie says
"You created a super-storm." Kaitlynn says as she turns to Donnie "Donnie. You need to stop this…People are going to get hurt." She says, Donnie nods as he jumps onto the bed of the truck.
"What are you doing?" Seth asks
"I have to try to reverse the process." Donnie says
"Look Quinn specifically said he needed a working apparatus to come and pick us up." Seth says
"All the money in the world wont matter if your dead." Kaitlynn says
"Please. Please help me." Donnie says, Seth nods before they both start to work on the machine trying to find a way to reverse the process.
"Kaitlynn can you hear me?" May's voice says through the com
"Yeah. Yeah I can hear you." Kaitlyn says "I'm with Donnie and Seth. We are trying to figure out a way to reverse the machine."
"Stay put. We are coming to get you." May says
"What!? How? The storms to- May?" Kaitlynn says only to have the storm cut off their connection. "How we coming guys?" she asks
"Think we almost got it." Donnie says before turning to Seth "Seth hold barium hydroxide chamber is in place!"
"Okay!" Seth yells doing as he's told
"Okay. That should do it." Donnie says "Now take-" he says only to be cut off when the device short circuits sending both boys flying backwards.
"Holy sh-" Kaitlynn says, before running over to where Seth is laying on the ground. "Donnie you okay?" she yells behind her
"We're gonna have to try to get underground ride it out till the storm passes." Donnie says as he gets off the truck. "Seth!?" he yells seeing his friend unmoving. They look up when they see a plane coming. When the plane is low enough Coulson, Simmons, and Fitz jump out.
"Seth's down!" Kaitlynn yells
"Can you help him?" Donnie asks hoping his friend will be okay. Coulson and Fitz carry him onto the plane.
"He's going into cardiac arrest! Skye get a blanket for his head!" Jemma orders "Lay him down here! Sir I need the A.E.D.! Fitz Oxygen." She says, everyone runs around getting what Simmons asks "0.4 millimeters of epinephrine."
"I got it." Fitz yells as he runs back into the room with the oxygen. Simmons begins to do CPR on him before taking out the A.E.D.
"Get ready to clear." Simmons says as the plane rumples due to the storm causing them to fall over "Charging!" Simmons says as she sits back up, Coulson orders everyone to back up "Clear!" she yells before putting the paddles onto Seth's chest. "Pulse?"
"Nothing." Kaitlynn says feeling for a pulse
"Charging." Simmons says before placing the paddles on his chest "Clear!" she yells "Pulse."
"No." Kaitlyn says sadly, Simmons goes to charge again but stops when Coulson rests his hand on hers
"He's gone." He says sadly
"No Seth." Donnie says "Seth! Seth!" he yells begging for his friend to wake up but it having no affect.
_TIME SKIP_
After the storm passes, they land the plane down. Kaitlynn watches as Fitz leads Donnie off the plane to where Agent Weaver is waiting for him, Kaitlynn sighs before walking up to where the rest of the team is.
"Hey ready to go?" Kaitlynn says when she sees Skye
"Yeah." Skye says, Kaitlynn nods before following the brunette to one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. cars to drive her back to the academy.
"So why'd you request a moment alone on campus?" Kaitlynn asks
"I found what I was looking for" Skye says, Kaitlynn nods not really understanding it but trusting that if it was truly important then Skye will tell her on her own time. The two girls drive back to the campus quietly, not saying a word to one another. Once there Skye walks into the building and to the wall of valor.
Kaitlynn stays close enough to where she can see Skye incase she needs her but far enough so she's not invading Skye's moment.
Skye looks at all the names on the wall, silently thanking all the agents who lost their lives in the field to protecting her her whole life. Her eyes linger on where Agent L. Avery's name is carved, her finger tracing over the name. She goes to turn but stops when she sees a familiar name on the wall.
Skye smiles as she traces the name Agent K. Robinson. Thinking back to what she told Coulson about her story just starting. She turns and starts to walk back to Kaitlynn thinking that her story does start here, and maybe its not to late to start it with someone else.
"Ready?" Kaitlynn asks, Skye smiles and nods
"Yeah. Yeah I think I am" she says before following Kaitlynn out of the building.