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SOS Search for Answers Chapter 9

Leo Fitz looked up at the tree with a forlorn expression on his face. His kite was in a tree its multi colored tale flapping in the beach breeze. Jemma patted his shoulder sympathetically. Natasha Romanov looked over her shoulder then moved a little further away. She moved from the tree line so her kite would not join Leo's. Natasha was glad Melinda, Maria and Phil were not here. Melinda and Maria especially would not be pleased how long she had stood here with her shoulders extended. The redhead's kite was so high she had used up all of her string. Fitz had told her that the senior agents could probably see it from the other side of the island.

"I'm going to climb the tree," Leo Fitz decided trying not to think how high he would have to climb. The tree had multiple branches. Leo had plenty of handholds. "Give me a boost Jemma," Fitz begged. Jemma looked at him trying to decide if this was a good idea. "Please? Pretty Please?"

"Oh all right," Jemma finally gave into his puppy dog eyes. Leo knew how to influence her to do something. "But if you get stuck up there I am calling Coulson."

"Agreed!" Fitz shook his hand out and shook on it. "Now cup your hands together and I am going to stick my foot in it"

Jemma did as he ordered and the young man started up.

I wish I had taken rock climbing when they offered it as an elective at the academy, Fitz wished as he started up the tree.

Jemma watched anxiously worrying at any second he would fall. And what would I do? Jemma thought to herself. It's not like I could catch him. Leo is moving slow and thinking about his next move. That's good, Jemma thought. Jemma looked over at Natasha and smiled. The Russian had been quiet and was not much of a conversationalist. But she clearly had been having a good time and a quick study. It was only because how much fun she was having and the child-like joy that about matched Leo's that Jemma had not insisted she stop and rest her shoulder. Jemma was a softie and Natasha had experienced no childhood and lately her life had been very difficult.

Natasha Romanov felt her hair stand on her arms. She did not need to look around to know one of her companions was giving off a scent of stress. While it was not a scent in the sense of a shifter, Leo Fitz had started to perspire quite heavily very quickly and she could smell it. Natasha tied down her kite in the place Leo had set up for the three of them. The redhead moved to Jemma and took in the scene. Fitz was literally stuck in the tree. He had gotten to a point where he was losing his nerve. He had looked down and the poor boy shook in fright.

"Please don't call Coulson Natasha, could you just shift and go get my kite?" Leo begged the Russian who had not said anything. "We have had fun haven't we? If the senior agents catch us they will end our fun. Won't you help me please?" Leo sat down carefully in the tree and grabbed the trunk for dear life. "Just let me catch my breath and then I will start down," Leo told the two women. "Could you please just shift and climb up for it?"

"Natasha," Jemma told the Russian. "He does need help. Leo looks like a trembling kitten up there."

"I am not!" Leo voiced from above them. "The branch is moving a little in the wind that's all."

"I will help you Leo and get your kite. I will get the kite first," Natasha told Fitz going into the bushes and shifting in privacy.

The snow leopard shifter stretched her muscles out before running full speed and scrambling up the tree. Natasha's Leopard's shoulder protested but she pushed through the pain. Natasha's Leopard tale brushed against Leo's back as she climbed past him. She reached the tree limb of the kite and tried to decide how to do this. Natasha would have wanted to shift to human form grab hold of the string scale down the tree in human form. The tree limb she was on though would not support her human weight.

Natasha the Leopard moved out just a little and made a grab for the tale of the kite with her mouth. "Got it!" the Leopard thought proudly. I can get this down the tree go back for Fitz when some equipment in the yacht and nobody will be the wiser, Natasha thought to herself.

Jemma cursed to herself when she heard the sound of a S.U.V. coming through the island terrain toward them. Natasha's kite must have been a beacon.

"Fitz, you better try to start down. Coulson is coming," Jemma told her best friend.

"Jem, I don't know if I can. It seems so far," Leo whined clutching the tree tighter.

Natasha the Leopard started a much slower trek down the tree. She was trying to keep from getting herself caught up in the string. Natasha could hear the S.U.V. coming towards them. The engine ran slow and steady as she grabbed the kite in her mouth. But by the time Simmons warned Leo he best start down, the engine was moving much faster. They had been spotted.

Melinda May had been excited and in a great mood after touring the new facility that was coming together as a shifter base on the other side of the island. Stark had spared no expense with the technology and weaponry. Pepper had been decorating it in such a way it seemed more like a condo and a series of apartments then utilitarian bunks. There would be living space for all the shifters, Avengers, Fury, Hill and Kori, and Melinda and her family pack. When the Asian shifter saw a kite high is the sky, May had innocently suggested they check on the younger agents and suggest they come in for some lunch.

Melinda May did not expect to see a nervous Jemma Simmons pacing under a very large tree. Leo Fitz clutching to the tree's trunk three fourth's up. Natasha Romanov was in Leopard form with a kite's tale in her mouth. The snow leopard in the tree was having a difficult keeping the string of the kite from getting stuck in the leaves and branches. But it was Maria Hill that lost her temper first.

Hill rolled down her window and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Freeze!" Maria's voice carried an air that she expected no arguments. "Romanov get on a damn limb before you get that kite string wrapped around your neck. Fitz take a deep breath before you pass out!"

Melinda May nodded approvingly. It sometimes paid to have another senior officer on board. The junior agents may be used to Coulson and her voice. Maria Hill's voice could put the fear of God in you.

The S.U.V. pulled up to the tree and three less that pleased agents stepped out.

"Busted," Fitz whispered softer that a human could hear. Melinda May of course was a shifter and could hear perfectly.

"Agent Fitz you are as you said "Busted"," Melinda May spoke in her crisp alto voice. "But instead of leaving you here to figure out how to get out of the tree as we could do. We will get you out." Melinda looked at the leopard. "Let go of the kite Natasha!"

Natasha the Leopard had worked too hard to get that kite and decided she was not going to do no such thing. So she gave Melinda May a hard shifter stare and flicked her tail in challenge. Honestly it felt sort of good.

"Agent Simmons, unless you want to join your fellow agents in being punished for utter recklessness and poor decision making. I suggest you get in the S.U.V. and come with me to the yacht," Coulson spoke softly but in a voice that made it clear it was not a suggestion but an order. "You will take care of the babies and get them out of the car seats. I am going to get Lola and perform a rescue."

"I mean it Romanov, drop that kite and let it go!" Melinda told the leopard again.

Natasha knew if she looked into the Alpha's eyes, her instincts would get the best of her and she would obey so Natasha turned around in the tree.

"Melinda, she will fall," Maria told her fellow agent concerned as Leopard Natasha wobbled on the branch turning around.

"No she won't," Fitz said helpfully. "She is a cat. Cats don't lose their balance. And I asked Natasha to shift and get my kite. Don't punish her she was being a friend."

"Agent Fitz I am going to confiscate your other kite and take your rockets away if you do not shut your mouth," Maria Hill said in barely retrained anger. "Sit there and close your mouth."

Natasha the Leopard was starting to feel funny. She was suddenly scared that one of those episodes was coming on. Melinda May felt the leopard's panic. Her anger suddenly left and was replaced with concern.

Natasha Romanov did a quick shift, clutched the kite to her chest and jumped. "Catch me Mel. I am about to have a..."

Melinda was moving before she knew it. The Asian caught the naked redhead in her arms with a speed that would not be accomplished by normal human. Natasha's body had gone rigid and her muscles jumped slightly. Natasha's eyes were rolled back. She was having another seizure.

"Melinda put her down before she hurts herself," Maria told her friend. "I am timing now."

Leo Fitz shut his eyes. There was no way he was going to get in trouble for looking at a naked Black Widow. He did open them when he heard Lola pull next to him.

"I got you Leo," Phil Coulson used in a gentle voice. The angry voice strangely absent. "Take my hand. Don't let go of it now and slide into the seat. Its ok son, I won't let you fall."

The voice was so gentle and compelling, Fitz's anger slipped away. He took the offered hand and clutched it for dear life. Phil Coulson physically pulled him into the car and made a quick trip to the yacht.

"Take over for Simmons with the babies," Coulson told the young scientist in the same gentle voice.
"Simmons, come back with me. Fitz will watch Skye and Kori, Natasha is having another episode. Bring a blanket with you."

Jemma ran from the car and to Agent's May and Hill.

"What happened?" she asked in full doctor mode.

"She called to me to catch her and I think she was trying to tell me she felt a seizure coming on," Melinda May told the scientist concerned as she stroked Natasha's red hair from her face.

"What's the time?" Jemma asked.

"Two minutes and fifteen seconds," Maria Hill told the doctor. Maria already noticed that Natasha's muscles were relaxing. Her face muscles had lost that tight rigidity.

"Ok, she is coming back to herself," Simmons told the others taking the blanket and covering the naked shifter up. "She appears to have fainted this time. This was a stronger seizure than the one yesterday at lunch."

The four agents waited a few more minutes before moving Natasha back into the yacht. Simmons once again took blood work and did a brain scan.

"Her shifter enzyme is still in flux. This morning it was stable at yesterday's level at bedtime and now it is lower than after yesterday's seizure," Jemma told the concerned agents taking the wires off Natasha's head. "But don't be worried that she has not opened her eyes. Her brain pattern showed a sleep rhythm."

"Why?" Melinda asked taking a warm rag and cleaning Natasha up a little bit. The redhead did not stir.

"My guess would be two shifts in less than twenty four hours took a lot out of her. It made her levels fluctuate," Simmons answered Melinda's question. "I want to talk to Banner and Dr. Rivers. I am beginning to feel Natasha may need something similar to an insulin shot for a diabetic."

"Of Agent May's blood?" Maria inquired moving to the head of the table. Natasha looked so pale to her and sweaty.

"Yes. It would not need to be a transfusion. Agent Romanov does not need blood. She needs that enzyme and it can be injected into the vein for now. I think we could capture the enzyme out of a shifter's blood stream and create a shot for skin absorption." Jemma thought. "I want to hear what my colleague's think."

"Will it hurt if you give her a shot of my blood now into her veins?" Melinda inquired already reaching for the necessary supplies to draw blood from her arm.

"No Melinda. I just caution if it a clear medical conclusion. I don't have much to go on," Jemma told the concerned alpha.

"I am doing it. Natasha is getting my blood now and not after some discussion of doctors," Melinda May informed Hill, Coulson and Simmons. "You can figure all the science. You can figure a different way. For now, I am doing this!"