Playground – Director's office

Coulson's team had returned from Hawaii with good news. The director had said they had find out the exact location of the mysterious city, which was pointed out by the alien symbols. Coulson said he would inform everything in a large briefing but before that, he wanted to know what happened in his absence, and for that reason, Leon, May and Bobbi reported to Coulson of what happened to Bakshi and the discovery of Whitehall's real identity.

Before they left, Coulson asked Leon to find Skye, who he had not been seen since they returned from Hawaii. Leon searched the base for a few minutes until he found Tripp and Jemma, who told him that Skye was sleeping on the Bus (which was not unusual). When he entered the big plane, Leon saw Skye asleep at a table. As he moved closer to wake her, Leon noticed that the young woman seemed to be having a nightmare, which was noticeable by her uneasy face:

"No…please, don't leave me…please…"

"Skye." Leon gently touched the hacker's shoulder, but that didn't work out, then he raised his voice a little more, still with his hand on Skye's shoulder, who woke startled and with her eyes full of tears.

"Nightmares, huh? I know how it is." Said Leon, sitting next to Skye. In fact the agent has had his share of nightmares after the Raccoon City incident and after president Bendford's death.

"it just seemed so real." Skye shook her head, rubbing her eyes with her still trembling hands

"If you want to talk about…" Continued Leon, resting his face in one of his hands. "It helps to exorcise the nightmare."

"I dreamed I was alone…that everyone had abandoned me. And then I turned to stone after touching that damn obelisk." Leon had noticed that Skye's voice trembled more when she mentioned being alone, which was more fearsome for her than the obelisk.

"Come on…" Leon smiled, gently pulling Skye in a hug, placing her head on his shoulder and smoothing her hair: "I always did this with my younger sister when she woke up with nightmares, when she was a kid."

Skye smiled, closing her eyes for a few seconds as she spoke: "You're good at this. Your sister is a lucky girl." With her eyes still closed, Skye assured herself that she was not alone. That S.H.I.E.L.D was her family. And in that context, Skye could easily see Leon as a big brother.

"Come on, Coulson is waiting for us." Said Leon, smiling, as the two stood up and left the bus towards the meeting room.

When the two agents entered the room, Coulson smiled and started the briefing: "Let's start with the bad news: HYDRA has the obelisk, and a person who knows how to use it. And we can't let them use it. We know the obelisk is a powerful weapon, but I am not referring only to the fact that it can turn people into stone. Our Intel confirms that it is a weapon of mass destruction."

"We're talking about a biological weapon? Chemical? Energy based?" Asked Mack, with his arms folded on his chest.

Was Fitz that replied: "Who knows? It can be any one of those. It's alien."

"When Simmons and I were infiltrated in HDYRA, Whitehall was planning an event that would kill thousands of people. It wouldn't be wrong to assume that the obelisk has everything to do with it." Bobbi completed.

"Luck us, it will not be that easy. We learned that the obelisk must be "activated" in a specific place." continued Coulson as his sentence was completed by Leon:

"And let me guess...this activation place is within our mysterious city?"

"We know this exact location?" Jemma asked, with a somewhat distressed voice.

"Good question! No. But it's inside the mysterious city. And what is better, HYDRA doesn't have a clue of where it is. Fitz?" said the director, pointing to the engineer, who pressed a button, that cause the appearance of a holographic 3D projection in the middle of the room. Skye then took the initiative and began to turn the projection as she spoke:

"In our previous mission, we managed to hack into a powerful military satellite, then we made a multispectral scanning of the earth, looking for geographic formations deep in the ocean that correspond to our mysterious city's model. And we found it!" Said Skye, smiling as she pointed to a spot on the globe.

"It's not in the Bermuda Triangle, right? It makes sense if it is." Said Tripp.

"Nah, we solved that in the 80's" Coulson said, shrugging.

"What? Skye, we can include the Bermuda Triangle in our list of mysteries to check when we had time for vacation, right?" Said Leon, smiling at Skye, who winked one eye and said: "Noted!"

"The city's location is close to Puerto Rico, but most of the entries are already submerged, except for one, in San Juan, in the city's underground levels. An inspection team will check the integrity of the tunnels and try to found a way in." Coulson completed.

"And then, sir?" Asked a unsure Jemma.

Coulson's response was quick and confident: "We blow everything up."

A few hours later, Coulson had divided his members into two teams. May, Skye and Leon would go to Canada, to rescue a woman named Raina, who had worked for HYDRA for a long time, but was now being stalked by her former employers and had valuable knowledge of the obelisk. The second team, which consisted of Coulson himself, Bobbi, Mack, Tripp and Fitz-Simmons would depart to Puerto Rico. Coulson's team would use a Quinjet, while May's would use the Bus to go to Canada.

Leon and Skye followed Coulson to the Quinjet's boarding ramp when the director stopped and turned to the two agents as he spoke: "Okay. I'll see you both in San Juan" Leon and Skye nodded positively, but Coulson remained still, smiling at them, for a few seconds, until Leon broke the silence: "It's everything cool, Phil?"

"It is. I'm just remembering the day I recruited you both, with more than 10 years apart. You two had grown so much, and I'm proud to see how good you both are in this job. And more than this, I'm glad to see that you're practically partners now. Take care of each other's backs. I'll see you soon." Said Coulson as Leon and Skye bumped their fists together, as they routinely do and watched as the director boarded the Quinjet. In the background, Leon could see Bobbi smiling at him, who replied with a broad smile of his own, as his lips moved, and though there was no sound, Bobbi could easily read the message: "See you soon, gorgeous."

Some hours later – Canada

May's team was already on site where Raina and the twin agents Sam and Billy were hiding. May would take care of the enemies outside the building while Leon and Skye would extract Raina from the building. The pair climbed the stairs at a quick pace, both agents dressed in field mission gear and tactical vests. Both could hear May's voice on the radio saying "Two down. Are you guys in place?"

"Yeah." Said Leon while Skye knocked on the door and a voice asked them to use their badges at a nearby scanner, and seconds later one of the twins opened the door (Nor Leon or Skye could distinguish both.)

"C'mon Sam, why don't look at the peephole?" Asked Skye while entering. Leon stood outside, watching the hall.

"I'm Billy, Sam is the short one." Said the agent.

"We have to go. Soon HYDRA goons will be here." Said Leon, as he laid eyes on Raina for the first time. Definitely not a person that would inspire any trust. She had the eyes of a sly fox.

Once the group began their walk to the elevator, a woman appeared on the corner of the hall. She had May's face (with a large scar on one side) and a gun. Leon recognized her as agent 33, an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D agent who had been kidnapped by HYDRA and subjected to brainwashing, turning her into an obedient asset. HYDRA made her use a synthetic mask with May's appearance in order to deceive Coulson's team. An later accident sealed the mask on agent 33 permanently.

Skye reacted quickly, holding 33's hands as she tried to disarm her. Leon was about to help her, but noticed two HYDRA agents coming up, towards him, the first one trying a low kick and the second a side kick, trying to hit the agent at the same time. Leon somersaulted back, avoiding the two kicks. Whoever these HYDRA guys were, they were good. Skye was going to have to hold herself against 33 for some time.

Skye was still trying to disarm her opponent, trying to keep the gun away from her, Billy and Raina. The gun went off twice, but no one was hit, while the two were fighting to take control of the situation.

"Go down the stairs!" Said Skye and from the corner of her eye, she could see Leon holding one of his opponent's arm, twisting and using him as a shield against the second opponent's punch. Skye finally managed to make 33 let go her weapon, and with a quick hand movement, Skye shoved her opponent's face against the wall, and immediately received an elbow to the nose in response. 33 was good, but Skye had learned a lot from May and Leon. Both attacked and defended the blows of each other. Punches and kicks were blocked with dexterity proved that Skye was fighting like a veteran agent.

Leon, in turn, was holding himself pretty well in the fight against his two opponents, who despite being skilled fighters, were inclined to try fancy moves, with somersaults and flying kicks. Leon took advantage on one of said kicks to hold the man's leg, turning it and making him hit the wall, taking advantage of the surprise impact to hit him with two punches to the face and a powerful kick in the guts, knocking him at the same time that Leon was hit in the ribs by the other man, having to quickly defend a second kick that went centimeters from his face.

Leon then heard a bang and saw Skye and 33 flying through the apartment door from which they came, but soon had to turn his attention to his opponent, who at the time was jumping on the floor, trying to confuse the agent.

"I think it's time to finish you off, Bruce Lee." Said Leon, this time taking the lead of the attack with a roundhouse kick, ducked by his opponent who tried to take advantage of his position to sweep Leon with a low kick, but the man didn't expect Leon to jump, hitting him with a powerful air kick, not unlike his enemies were trying to moments ago. The kick hit the man in the face, with full impact, causing him to spin on the floor and fall unconscious. Now it was time to help Skye.

Inside the apartment, the struggle between 33 and Skye was still tied up, with both defending some of the other attacks, trying to seek the opponent's immobilization. Taking advantage of an elusive move, Skye took 33's arm, hitting her opponent's chin with an open hand, as she seen May make several times, and then kicking 33's ankle, making her drop to her knees, a characteristic Leon kick.

"Surrender 33! We can help you!" Said Skye, holding 33's arm, trying to get the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent to give up.

Skye's only response was a violent punch in the stomach that made her retreat. She had to admit, 33's stamina was incredible, maybe part of the brainwashing process. Skye was still holding 33's arm and the HYDRA agent took advantage of it, running towards the wall with Skye and using the momentum to take two steps up, actually going up the wall and turning in a somersault, falling behind Skye and using the movement's force to twist the agent's arm, throwing her violently to the ground.

Skye was still trying to get up, when 33 applied a kick on her face, leaving the agent stunned. When Skye finally looked up, 33 had the gun pointed at her face, with a triumphant smile.

"I don't need your help." Said 33 as Skye closed her eyes, preparing for the bullet's impact. With eyes closed, the agent couldn't see when Leon entered the room and kicked the 33's hand, causing the gun to jump away and taking advantage of the surprise to hit an elbow to the woman's face.

"Go Skye, escort Billy and the target to the extraction point, I'll meet you there!" Said Leon, moving into combat position, at the same time 33 rose.

Skye thought to stay and help her partner, but she knew that Leon could take care of 33 and didn't like the idea of Billy and Raina are alone down there, so she nodded and ran out the door. 33 tried to go towards Skye but had to dodge one of Leon's kicks.

"Sorry sweetheart, your fight is with me now." Said the agent, already starting to attack again, with a high and low kick with the same leg, hitting 33's ankle and face, making her stagger. Skye had done a good job, 33 was more tired and bruised than Leon, and had much more difficulty blocking the agent's attacks. Leon heard May's voice on the communicator:

"Skye, Billy and the target are safe, where are you?"

When Leon was about to knock out 33 and answer May, he heard several footsteps coming from the hallway. An HYDRA assault squad, and probably well armed.

"I need you to come with the van as close to the building as possible...I'll need to improvise a way out of here." Said Leon, taking a smoke grenade from his belt and throwing on the ground, obscuring the visibility of everyone in the room, and preventing them from shooting.

"We'll finish this fight another time, sweetheart." Said Leon, after he saw the black van stopping under the building's window. The agent put his arms over his face and jumped out the window, feeling the impact of the glass shards.

According to his calculations, Leon's jump from the third floor window would put him on the van's roof, and he got it right. Unfortunately, once he crashed into the vehicle's roof, Leon felt the impact on his shoulders and rib, which hindered his landing and made him slid to the ground. Once he got up to his feet, the van's doors opened and Skye and Billy pulled him inside while May started the car, leaving behind a visibly irritated agent 33, who was looking out the window.

While driving, May checked Skye and Leon through the mirror. Skye had dried blood on her nose and mouth, while Leon was tending his ribs with a F-Aid Spray. "Good job, you two." Said May, while Leon and Skye smiled, bumping fists.

"Now…why Whitehall want to capture you? Last time I checked, he wanted your head on a plate." Said Leon, while Skye was cleaning the side of her mouth and nose with a tissue given by Sam. Raina was silent, so it was May who spoke:

"He must think she has any information about the obelisk, probably. Maybe how that stuff works."

"Are you telling me that Whitehall has the Diviner? So they don't want to kill me...they need me." Said Raina with a confident smile.

"And why the hell they need you for?" Asked Skye.

"I can touch the Diviner. He reads your DNA and react to it. So, some people are turned into stone. Some people are worthy of their power, others not. You will see when you hold it." It was Raina's response.

"Uh…no, thanks. Don't wanna die without checking the new Monty Python tour." Said Skye said with a sneer.

"According to your father, you'll not die." Was Raina's response, and although the other agents waited for her to continue on, the woman remained in silent for the rest of the trip.

Two hours later – The Bus

While the big plane was heading to Puerto Rico, Skye was interrogating Raina, but in a conversational manner, along with two coffee cups on the Bus's dining table. Leon watched from afar, as Skye seemed to be getting Raina to open up to her, and the agent would not want to get in her way. At the moment, they are talking about Skye's father. What Leon knew is that he was a doctor who searches for his daughter in a way that borders on insanity and that he's been leaving a trail of bodies along the way.

After some time of conversation Leon realized that Skye stood up abruptly, almost knocking her coffee and practically ran toward the couch where Leon was sitting, with a worried expression as she said:

"We have to stop them, Leon! Coulson and others are in danger!" Leon quickly got up and asked Sam to keep an eye on Raina and the two ran to the planning room, where May was.

"We have to stop them May!" Repeated Skye, with urgency in her voice.

"Calm down. Raina may be lying to you. You know that." Was May's answer.

"Still, I don't know if I would bet Phil's life on it. We should warn them." Argued Leon, staring at May.

"Raina told me that the Diviner serves to guide those who are worthy to the temple, in the city. If those who are not worthy attempt to enter the temple…something really bad could happen!" Skye seemed to have complete confidence on what she said and Leon was already with the communicator in place when May gave the signal and the agent began his communication with Coulson's team.

It was then that a strange interference began to disrupt the communicator's signal, and then a voice broke into the speakers:

"S.H.I.E.L.D 6-1-6, don't activate your defenses, or you'll be shot immediately."

"HYDRA" said May, while the team returned to the central room of the aircraft.

"HYDRA jets on both sides. We're surrounded" Said Billy, looking through the windows. The voice in the communicators continued:

"You have someone on board that I want. A woman, Raina. I will send my men to extract her. Any attempt to escape or retaliation will be received with hostile fire."

May led Leon into a corner and said something in his ear that made him leave the room and soon after joined the rest of the team in the central part of the plane, everyone with their guns drawn. Skye asked, as soon as May approached:

"Where Leon is goin'?"

"He's our surprise element. Trust me. Let's prepare for the delivery. Raina's not worth sacrificing everyone on this plane for."

"How they tracked us?" Asked Billy

"Probably by the tracer that we implemented in Raina months ago.." Answered May.

Minutes later the agents in the room were perplexed by Grant Ward's arrival, along with a HYDRA team, to make Raina's extraction.

"First you give us Bakshi...now you ally yourself with HYDRA again? Choose a side Ward!" said Skye, with contempt in her voice.

"I did, you can bet on that. You, with me." Ward said, pointing to Raina, who just smiled and went on her way with the HYDRA agents. "You too." Ward continued, pointing to Skye.

"The hell she's leaving with you!" Said May, squeezing the handle of her gun.

"She comes with me, or HYDRA will destroy the plane..." Ward said confidently.

May remained silent for a few seconds, but when she realized that Skye seemed ready to surrender herself to avoid the plane to be shot down, put her hand on one of her ears and said:

"They will not, not with Raina here. Kennedy, extraction plan. NOW!"

Before anyone else could say or do anything, two stun grenades went rolling on the room floor, leaving all momentarily blind. Skye then felt a pair of arms grab her, but before she could do anything, she heard Leon's voice on her ear:

"It's me, come on!"

Leon pulled Skye by the hand and together they ran to the airplane hangar where the vehicles were. Leon stood next to one of them, covered with a black cloth, while Skye spoke at his side:

"We cannot abandon them here! HYDRA will take Raina and shoot the plane!"

"May's orders! And you know if there's anyone that can prevent this, is her. She gave me orders to ensure your survival, and that's what I'll do. May have a plan, I know that. And you have to trust me. Do you trust me, Skye?"

Leon held Skye's hand and the woman could not help but notice how his eyes exuded trust. And trust was the only thing left to her, trust in Leon and May. Skye then squeezed Leon's hand and nodded positively.

"I trust you! What...what's the plan?"

As Skye finished her question, Leon pulled the vehicle's black cloth, revealing Lola, a red 50's Corvette and director Coulson's pet car. No one drives Lola, nobody touches the Lola, but this was an emergency.

Leon and Skye got into the car and Skye pressed the button that opened the hangar's doors at the same time that two HYDRA goons appeared at the door. Leon quickly drew his handgun and shot the two, knocking them down, while he started the car and let it slide down the ramp, out of the plane.

Leon left the car fall for several seconds before trigger Lola's flight module (and if S.H.I.E.L.D could make an aircraft carrier fly, a car was a piece of cake.), and with a button press, the agent triggered the convertible's retractile roof and activated the camouflage system, leaving the car invisible, preventing it to be detected by HYDRA's jets.

Leon and Skye were saved, but the two agents could not avoid the thought that, unless May's plan was a very good one, they surely left their comrades to die inside the bus.