Chapter Seven

Ward and Skye sat in the room, their backs against the wall.

"Any brilliant ideas?" Skye asked, looking at Ward.

"None."

Skye's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Ward. He looked completely dejected at their inability to escape. She was sure that he had been in tighter spots than this. The question was, how did he always manage an escape.

"I'm sorry Ward," Skye said, turning to look at him. "If Fitz and I wouldn't have let ourselves get…"

"Whoa, wait, stop," Ward said, putting his hand on her knee and stopping her. "This isn't your fault, either of your faults. Don't blame yourself."

Skye stopped, tingles running up her leg from where Ward had placed his hand. She looked at him, a small smile growing on her face. At least if she had to be here, she had Ward. Even in the most terrifying moments of her life, he made her feel better.

Leaning her head on his shoulder, Skye sighed. They would find a way out. They had to.

The door swung open, the guards once again coming into the small room. "Her," one of them said, his voice gruff. Immediately, Ward was on his feet, rushing the guards, his powerful arms tearing through them.

A shot rain through the air and Skye screamed as Ward fell backwards. She looked at him, seeing blue tendrils veining out from the dendrotoxin bullet hole in his forehead.

The guard with the gun looked at Skye, his eyes daring her to try something herself. She knew if she did, she would join Ward on the floor. Her jaw set, she went still as two of the guards grabbed her arms and escorted her out of the room.


"I can't find any sign of them."

Coulson sighed as May shared the bad news. It had been way too long since they had heard anything from their team. First Fitz and Skye, then Ward and Simmons. Something big was going on, Coulson just didn't know what.

"Do we have any idea who is behind this?" he asked May, hoping that they had at least a small idea of what was going on.

"No," she responded. "SHIELD HQ has not had any news. There have been no demands and no indication that someone has them. If they are keeping them somewhere, they are keeping it to themselves."

"In the inn, what did Fitz bring with them?" Coulson had been with May when they went to the Inn to check out the room, but he needed to think out loud.

"We have their comms and the night-night guns," May replied, always there to help Coulson work through things.

"What about the DWARFs?" Coulson asked, turning to look at her.

"The DWARFs?"

"Yes," Coulson replied. "The DWARFs. Fitz always has those things with him."

They both moved, leaving the briefing room and entering Fitz and Simmons' lab. Coulson looked, knowing where the DWARF case was usually stored. It was gone. He looked over the lab and still saw no indication that the case was in the room.

"They weren't in the room at the Inn either," May said, putting into words what Coulson was just thinking.

"Do you think they took them?"

"You think Fitz grabbed the DWARFs?" May asked, a slightly incredulous look on her face.

"No. Not Fitz. Whoever took them," Coulson replied. "They may have been curious what they were, especially if they wanted Fitzsimmons for any scientific reason."

"And if they have the DWARFs?" May prompted.

"Well, they have trackers don't they? Couldn't they be tracked?"

"The tracker would have to be activated. Meaning they have to be able to get them." May looked at Coulson, the look of uncertainty on her face not making him feel any better.

"Well, it's a long shot. But it's all we have."


Hours of working had left Jemma exhausted. She slumped against the lab table, the mix of fatigue and fear wracking her body.

Fitz came to her side, his hand squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. "Jemma." He didn't ask how she was; he didn't need to. He handed her a bottle of water. "Drink. You need to stay hydrated."

Jemma accepted the bottle with a small smile. "Thank you," she said, turning to look at him. There were so many things she wanted to say in this moment, but couldn't find the words. So, she got back to work. "Have you finished?"

"Yes." He took her hand and led her over to his lab table. Sitting on the table was a large rod. It didn't have the same decorative look that the original staff had, but she could see that it was more than just a metal stick. He picked up the staff and turned it over in his hands. "It's made out of a vibranium alloy, so it should stand up as a weapon. This is the delivery point for your serum. It's not like the original staff. You can touch it anywhere, except there, without consequence."

Jemma listened and watched as Fitz continued to turn the staff over, showing her all of the different details that he had included. She could see the small smile of approval on his face as he talked about his device. Under any other situation he would have been over the moon at the creation of that type of device.

"Now we just need to finish testing on the serum…"

"Perfect." A voice interrupted Jemma.

Jemma's eyes widened as she turned to see Daecher and Mattsson again, this time flanked by a group of guards. They had Skye, tightly held by her arms. Jemma looked at Skye and back at Fitz, pure terror surging through her.

"I think it's time we give your little serum a try." Daecher nodded to Mattsson, who again made his way through the lab and over to where Jemma had been working. He grabbed a vial and loaded it into a syringe and handed it to Daecher.

"Time to see how you have done," Daecher said. He moved and quickly plunged the syringe into the side of Skye's arm, injecting the serum into her body.


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