Exams. Endless exams. Yeah, that's pretty much my reason why it took me this long to update. That, and I rewrote this chapter over and over again. Hope you like it :) Characters aren't mine except the OC

"What? When?" Coulson tried to sound professional, and hid his frustration from Ward and Skye well enough.

"Just a few hours ago sir, at least 3 Centipede soldiers broke out a former marine from a prison." Ward spoke up.

"Go get Fitzsimmons and head to the Command Centre." Coulson said, slightly alarmed.

"Yes sir." Ward went down, followed by Skye.

"They were so going to do it." Skye teased Ward quietly.

"Didn't need that in my head Skye." Ward said, and headed for the lab to get Fitzsimmons.

"Lighten up Ward, it was just 70 bucks." Skye smiled at him.

"We should head down, Coulson." May said as she was standing up, and walked towards the door of Coulson's office. But Coulson held her wrist and pulled her towards him and kissed her, and May's hand automatically went to the side of his face, and the other on his chest. They pulled apart after a few minutes, but still holding each other.

"What was that for?" May asked, with a tone of amusement.

"I just felt the need to do it." Coulson smiled at her, and May just smiled back.

"I love you." Coulson said as he pulled away from the embrace.

"I know." May said as she headed for the Command Centre downstairs.

"Edison Po. Former marine, expert in tactics. You guys can read the file about why he was sent to the prison, but now, we need to figure out why he was broken out of there. So, dig up what you can about him and the new Centipede soldiers, and see what comes up." Coulson said, and the team nodded at him.

"Also, HQ ordered Agent Richards to aid in our investigation, so he'll be staying with us a while longer. Are we clear?"

A chorus of 'Yes sir's' then everyone went to their own areas to prepare for the mission. Skye headed down to the lab with Fitzsimmons to do research on Po, while Ward went down to the cargo bay to train for a while. May headed for her bunk to change, and Coulson went to his office.

"I take it things went well with Coulson." Richards said as the both of them headed to the cargo bay, an hour after they landed. The only response he got from May was a 2-second smile, but that was enough for him.

"Thought so. Anyway, why are we in Ohio?"

"Coulson and Ward went to the University of Ohio, Skye discovered the identity of one of the Centipede soldiers, and tracked his sister, Laura Hayward. We were able to track him because of her."

They went down the stairs, just in time for Coulson's debrief.

"Centipede set up a base 8 miles from here. We will infiltrate, do minimal damage so we can get more information. Ward, May, you take the east entrance. I and Richards will take the west. Fitzsimmons, Skye you run back-end." Coulson ordered.

They all nodded, and prepared for the mission. Ward dressed up like someone from a SWAT team. Fitzsimmons and Skye transferred all the necessary equipment in the van. Fitz gave Ward and Coulson a night-night gun. And they left for the warehouse.

"No sign of anyone here." Ward said over the comm.

"We aren't picking up anything either. Just the 4 of you." Skye said calmly.

"Let's just check the entire warehouse, so we can be sure." Richards replied.

They all walked around the warehouse a little more, when Centipede soldiers appeared on both their sides.

"Sir! We picked up multiple Centipede soldiers in there with you." Simmons almost screamed into everyone's comm.

"We can see that." Coulson replied and shot the soldiers using the night-night gun, but it failed to sedate them, so he and Richards were forced to fight with their bare hands.

Same thing happened on Ward and May's side. They were doing pretty well, but were struggling to keep the momentum up against the soldiers. And the soldiers eventually knocked out Ward.

May continued fighting, using what she could pick up from the ground as weapons. But May saw something in the distance. Richards fighting two Centipede soldiers alone. Coulson couldn't be seen. And she saw the one of the soldiers get the upper hand and snapped Richards' neck. And she lost focus on her own enemy. And got knocked out herself.

"Richards!" Coulson screamed as he saw Agent Richards fall to the ground. Dead. And he could see in the distance the outline of May's body lying unconscious and was being picked up by one of them.

"May!" When he screamed out her name, the girl in the flower dress appeared followed by two more Centipede soldiers, and the one holding May's body.

"What are we going to do?" Simmons asked Fitz and Skye as she watched the scene unfold before them.

"We need to go in there." Skye said.

"Stand down." Coulson said over the comm. They had May, he couldn't let anything happen to her.

"What? No, A.C. we might be able to take them…" Skye replied.

"No! These are my orders. Stand down." He replied, glaring at the woman in front of him.

"Hello, Agent Coulson. I don't believe I've had the pleasure." She smiled at him.

"Who are you?" Coulson asked.

"Raina. The Clairvoyant has told me about you." She replied calmly.

"What do you want?" Coulson asked, trying hard not to let his concern for May show.

"We are going to make a little exchange with you." Raina said, and gestured towards May's unconscious body.

"We will leave her, and your other agent unharmed in exchange for something else."

"What would that be?" He shouldn't be negotiating, he should be thinking about a way to escape with both his life and May's intact. But he couldn't.

"You. The Clairvoyant is interested in you." Raina said calmly.

"You will leave them unharmed?"

"Yes." She replied with a smile on her face.

"Alright. I'll go, just leave her."

"Wise choice Agent Coulson." Raina gestured for the guard to put May down, and take Coulson. He was injected with a serum which caused him to sleep. And he was dragged to a helicopter that had just arrived outside the warehouse.

"We need to get them out of there." Skye said anxiously.

"Let's go." Fitz started the van and rammed the warehouse.

"Stop here Fitz!" Simmons screamed at him.

Skye and Fitz ran towards Ward's unconscious body, while Simmons checked on May and Richards. But Fitz noticed something peculiar, there were wires along the beams of the building and then he saw it. Bomb.

"We have to go!" Fitz said as he was dragging Ward's body to the van.

"Simmons, Skye we have to go! Go get May!" Fitz yelled.

"Fitz! Help me with Agent Richards." Simmons said frantically.

"Alright." Fitz ran to her side and carried the agent to the van.

"Skye! Start the van, this place is going to explode!" Fitz said.

Skye frantically hit the gears trying to focus on the task at hand. When Fitzsimmons made it the van, the made a run for it, getting away just in time before the warehouse exploded.

"Simmons, I can't feel a pulse." Fitz said alarmingly.

"I know." Simmons said sadly. She kneeled down Agent Richards' body and shut his eyelids.

May started to stir and bolted upright, Simmons had to calm her down.

"May, you're fine, we're in the van." Simmons said, trying to control the tone of her voice and fighting the tears that were around her eyes.

"Where's Coulson?" May scanned the van for him.

"He was taken, by Centipede. He exchanged himself for you and Ward." Fitz said sadly.

"Richards?" May realized that he wasn't breathing and pushed her way through Fitzsimmons to get to his body. She kneeled beside him, putting her hand on his chest, wanting to feel a heart beating there. But she got nothing. She couldn't stop the tears from falling, and she cried on his chest, clutching to his cold hand.

"No. You can't die. You can't die." May said these words over and over.

Fitzsimmons and Skye watched this unfold in front of them. Agent May was the strongest person they knew, and seeing her break down destroyed them, Fitzsimmons just kneeled down beside her. And Skye let the tears fall.

"I am going to get you back Coulson." May said furiously.

End of Chapter 9 :) Please send reviews, I'll update this weekend for sure.