Undisclosed Location
23 December 2015, Part III
Jemma and Dr. Avery walked down the hallway slow enough to not draw attention, but fast enough to get to the hangar bay with all the possible haste their loaded packs allowed. They didn't dare stop until they reached the access door.
Avery carded the door, expelling a sigh of relief when the light flashed green. She peeked in to confirm the coast was clear before lightly tugging Jemma's arm forward.
The hangar bay was surprisingly quiet. The only obvious sign of recent activity was to their left, where a few empty pallets leaned against the wall.
Jemma frowned. She'd expected Leonard to meet her near the door, or barring that, at least to provide clearer directions as to which plane he'd selected for the rendezvous.
It was oddly nostalgic, seeing a full hangar like this. But the quinjets were subtly different. Perhaps they were older models, decommissioned from Shield's assets. She wished, not for the first time, that Fitz were here too to see all this. He'd know the nuances of the specs far better than she had bothered to retain.
"Jemma." Avery's voice pulled her mind back into focus.
Avery stood behind a pallet of boxes, gesturing for her to follow.
"I think we don't have too much time. Someone will be up to move to these boxes off to the mess hall quite soon." Avery peeked over the top. "You should try to message Dr. Smith again."
Jemma nodded as her fingers flew furiously across the keypad, telling Leonard of their location and asking for better information on where to go. Pressing send, she and Avery ducked back down out of sight.
They sit anxiously waiting for a few minutes, alternatively watching the phone and checking for any unexpected company. Until finally, "SMITH" appears on her phone with instructions to watch for the dropping ramp on the right side.
Jemma let herself breathe as a ramp some fifty feet away descended right on queue. She re-adjusted her pack and headed off with Avery right on her heels.
Smith was walking down the ramp towards them, hand proffered to help with anyone's pack. "Need any help?"
Jemma sped past. "Let's just get moving."
Leonard squinted at Dr. Avery as she marched up the ramp, unsure just what to make of their fourth wheel.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to process it.
The bay door slid open with a hiss, revealing the Commander and a handful of armed guards, who took up position on at her side.
The Commander took quick stock of the quinjet in the final preparation stages for departure and the intended passengers. "Dr. Smith, you are well aware that you have not been granted permission to leave the base after your last trip. Neither has your guest for that matter."
Leonard placed himself in front of Jemma, shielding her from the weapons pointed at them. "Please," he begged, his blue eyes shimmering. "You must let me save my son."
The guards flinched, a sure sign that the shock of his admission had broken through a portion of their otherwise rigorous training. He'd made a point to stay private all these years to keep his family protected.
"I gave up a life with him to keep him safe, please don't let all those years go to waste. Let me be the father he needs me to be right now." Instead of the Commander, he appealed to his long time colleagues.
"Jennings, what would you do if you were me? What would you do if they had your Addie? Or Johnson, what would you do if it was your twin nieces?"
He could see he'd struck a cord, as a few in the group lowered their weapons, if only a fraction of an inch. He glanced back at Jemma, who was blinking back tears in her eyes. He shot her a pointed look and she moved her hands towards her stomach even as she strapped in. "If not for me, do it for her, for their baby. Don't let that child grow up without his father because of paranoia and greed.
I joined here because my research made me dangerous for the world at large. I left my son and his mother to protect them." He hesitated briefly, clearing the lump of guilt. "I put my faith in this agency well over a decade ago and have been diligently working to the mission ever since. However, the security here has been compromised somehow, and now he is directly at risk."
The Commander scowled back at him. "We discussed this. This is not a SWORD mission. We cannot afford to lose your research." She looked pointedly back at Jemma. "Or Dr. Avery's for that matter."
"Which is why this is a rescue mission," he countered. "I fully intend to come back once my son is safe. But it is my name on the hostage exchange. We can't very well set a trap without the appropriate bait."
Callen set her jaw, nodding to her gunman. "We can't allow you to sacrifice yourself in what amounts to be a suicide mission. Your research is far too valuable."
Leonard felt the sharp stab of betrayal, as Jennings and Johnson trained their pistols back up to his chest. He opened his mouth to try to appeal to them again, but was startled by an odd sound and a sudden burst of gas that sent Callen and her goons into a coughing fit.
A hand came up and covered his face, jerking him back from the ramp forcefully as it started to close, the hum of the engines rumbling beneath their feet.
"Get strapped in," Jemma shouted.
Avery coughed through the cloth covering her face, racing back to the seats beside Jemma.
Leonard blinked only a moment but was half strapped in as the plane lurched forward.
Avery raised an unapologetic brow. "Marquez said she'd get us out in a hurry. I told her we only had a minute or two to move before the visibility cleared."
Jemma smiled. "It seems like that unit was effective."
Avery chuckled. "Yes. It's just too bad we can't stick around and monitor the effects. Also, it was the only one I brought."
Leonard finally pulled the belt tight before asking, "Why?"
"Callen wasn't listening to reason." Avery stated matter of factly. "Besides, you don't really have the time to waste."
"Wait." Leonard was suddenly anxious. "Once the visibility clears, they will be right on our tail."
Marquez's voice buzzed over the speaker. "Already took care of the rest of the jets in the hangar while you were puttering around the base."
Avery and Leonard were hard at work, assembling a litany of old school communication headsets and an assortment of dispersal units that looked like a combination of a grenade and-oddly-a pokeball. Once Avery set the chemical in place and depressed the first button, the unit would be primed to aerosolize the contained compound 10 seconds after an external pin was removed.
They were simple and effective, but lacked the elegance to which Jemma had grown so accustomed while working with Fitz.
Shifting in her seat, Jemma reached inside her bag for her phone. She desperately needed to be productive for her own sanity and there was only so much space at the small table.
Avery paused in reaching for an empty dispersal unit and looked up as Jemma started to dial. Without a word, she situated the containers that were ready and labelled into the case and moved towards the cockpit. She only glanced back over her shoulder for a moment. "I'm going to sit with Marquez for a bit."
Jemma sat straight up in the seat, bouncing her foot anxiously and waiting for the call to connect.
"Jemma?" The familiar voice at the other end of the line brought a wave of relief she didn't know she needed.
"Mack," she half-cheered. "Where are you at?"
"Sitting above the coordinates Bobbi gave us. How are you holding up?" He asked, his voice laced with concern.
"I'll be doing better once we have Fitz back." Her eyes shifted to Fitz's father. "Dr. Arnold saw to it that I was treated well."
Silence descended over the line for a moment. "We know who he is, Simmons."
"Good. That will make this all easier." Jemma eased back into her seat in relief before continuing. "Is Daisy there, too?"
"Yeah. But she's looking into something for Bobbi at the moment. We're waiting for them to phone in with a sitrep with recon on Fitz's and the kidnapper's location. They're a bit late, but the location is up in the mountains and they only took cell phones along, so service may be the issue."
A frisson of fear chased up her spine, as her fingernails dug halfmoon imprints into the faux leather of the jumpseat. "Mack, the kidnappers are expecting the Doctor to approach alone. In fact, they were explicit that he come alone or they will kill Fitz."
Leonard dropped the communications device he was working on, the terror evident in his eyes. Terror that they were so close and then could lose it due to Shield's poor timing.
"Jemma, I'll relay it as soon as I can reach Bobbi. You've got my word on that. We will never do anything that would endanger Turbo further." Mack assured.
Smiling, she breathed a fleeting sigh of relief, before Leonard caught her eyes.
"Jemma. The time table." he reminded, glancing down at his watch. He was getting more anxious with every minute that ticked by.
"Oh yes. Mack, they also moved up the original time table for the exchange. I'm not sure how soon we can get there, but our pilot is moving like May does. We may need some help with stalling the actual exchange-without being obvious that we are stalling. If that makes sense?"
"I'm sure Tremors and I can come up with something."
Jemma was about to respond when she heard a somewhat muffled "Is that Jemma?" over the line.
She raised her brows. "Daisy?"
There was a rustle as Mack handed off the phone.
"Now. What's this about a new addition to the team?"
Jemma's jaw dropped. Especially when she could hear Mack rumble in the background. "Think I heard it was a lion."
Daisy chuckled. "Coulson's already getting a nursery ready for you two but you've got a lot of explaining to do. Gotta admit, I wasn't sure you both knew how that worked..."
Mack burst in. "Does Fitz know?"
"No, he doesn't know," Jemma thought bitterly, not even deigning to respond to Daisy's jab. He couldn't know because some bloody cretins with a vendetta had whisked him away from her. And yet another secret agency seemed to be gearing up for some sort of powers struggle when this was all over.
Jemma pressed her fingers to the hollow above the bridge of her nose and sighed. When they got Fitz back, his reunion with his father might be tainted by the trouble this little white lie had wrought. "I'll have you know I was blindsided by that, too. And once that cat was out of the bag, I had hardly a moment's privacy."
"Then you're alone now?"
"Not entirely." Jemma's eyes slid to Leonard's contrite gaze. "Although present company is trusted enough to work out the details of the rescue."
"We're currently staged above the extraction point Bobbi indicated." Daisy's fingers flew over the touch screen. "We want to be able to provide aerial support where we can, but we're still waiting for Bobbi and Hunter to make contact from the the location they suspect is where Fitz is being held."
Mack added, "The town isn't big and the cell reception seems to be awful. But they both were already able to get actionable recon."
"That's good." Jemma breathed. "We only have an hour before the designated time of the exchange."
Leonard spoke loudly enough to be heard on the other end of the line. "We were unavoidably detained, and could use assistance with stalling. But no one should make a grab for him before I go in first. I do not want his safely compromised and I will not lose him now. Not when we're so close."
"Not to worry," Daisy assured. "We've got the skies covered and will relay to Bobbi and Hunter as soon as we can. You both just work on getting Fitz. Just make sure to watch your backs."
As Shield already had agents on the ground, it was clear to Giyera that his agents would need to go undercover. He had done his due diligence and found the delivery company that delivered to the diner. His men efficiently divested the normal drivers of their vehicle and their uniforms and proceeded up the mountain road.
The truck pulled into the town and backed into an alley. Giyera hid back behind the corner in the shadows of the truck. He was far too identifiable to any lurking Shield Agents, and from what little he did see on the way in, the people occupying this town seemed to be particularly-not diverse.
He ordered his men to start unloading the truck as if this were a usual delivery and phoned his two contacts to meet him at the diner immediately.
He was anxious to get the assets into his personal custody. His contacts were sloppy, which didn't bode well for them or their future within Hydra. Giyera could chastise them for being careless, but it would be so much more satisfying to watch Malick strike fear in them first. For now, it was in his best interests to ensure the younger Dr. Fitz was in his far more capable hands.
The assassin allowed himself a small smile. Shield's best assets could only do so much here. He had put together a tremendous amount of research on the Shield team with Mr. Ward's assistance. He knew that the two young scientists were easiest to handle when separated. He knew that he had at least a slight advantage with his powers against any single person on the team with hand to hand combat. And he knew that they very rarely worked alone, a fact which would have prevented the tall blonde's previous victory during their first meeting in the ACTU main complex. They were a team that became even more dangerous when one of their own was in danger.
He needed to keep Shield separated and in town where the collateral of innocents was high. But perhaps most importantly, he needed to keep them off balance and hold his advantage on the timing. There were definitely two there, but Shield rarely seemed to travel so lightly.
Tucked into an alcove further up the sleepy street, Hunter crouched behind the low brush with binoculars. The windows of the tiny house were boarded up on the first floor, and he couldn't get a decent angle to try to look through the blinds on the second from this side of the street. Considering the bit of chatter they overheard from the shady man at the diner, this could very well be the house where construction or periodic sounds of a struggle could be heard.
Bobbi stood the in shadows of the house beside him, spending the past few minutes trying to find the best signal on her comms. She blew out a slow, calming breath. It would be best to strategize with Daisy and Mack away from the minimal crowds they might find up here, but that option seemed to be off the table. They would probably have to wait until they got closer to the diner to even try to call for an update. The service in the small village spotty at best.
"Hunter," she whispered.
"Not really seeing a thing, love." Blinking, he pulled the eyepieces away from his face for a moment. "Although, I question the wisdom of giving the binoculars to the one of us with a rather dashing shiner."
She rolled her eyes. "I've seen what you think passes for strategy."
Hunter treated her to a cheeky grin before reapplying himself to his task. "It has worked out for me often enough."
She rolled her eyes and pocketed her cell. "I think having Mack landing on the hill or in the valley will be the best option. I figure that they will try to head back down the mountain to the plane they stashed there. With Fitz out in the open, they will need to keep him out of sight of the residents. This may be a sleepy little town but they don't seem the type that would allow someone to be hauled around tied up against his will."
"Don't think we can actually do much to flank using only the containment pod."
"True." Bobbi murmured as she hunched down to get a similar vantage point and confirm what Hunter was seeing. "But I don't want them to have any idea what the unit can do. It might be the only real surprise advantage we have right now."
The turnover of the engine drew both of their eyes from the house, as the rusted, vintage blue truck barreled down the otherwise sleepy street.
Bobbi only caught a glance at the cab, but was half certain she had spotted two men dressed in black and a figured slumped between them.
Grabbing two bottles so she could continue her work and moving towards the cockpit, Avery narrowed her eyes. She had never gotten the chance to read Agent Marquez the riot act for her poor treatment of her former student. While the girl was kidnapped and pregnant no less.
But Marquez had also been listening in to prepare for the best time for take off. In the moment, it had been a boon, but Marquez had also been a bit dodgy earlier when she had dropped past before take off with an update to the escape plan.
For someone whose actual job was the direct protection of Dr. Smith, it was startling just how scattered she appeared to be when she thought no one was watching.
She arrived up in the cockpit, unsurprised to find Marquez's phone again up on the dash. It seemed she was actively waiting for some sort of call or message. Though now at least she was not listening in on Jemma's own cell phone contact. Dr. Smith could certainly ensure she didn't compromise the SWORD base location for now.
Avery made a bit of noise and set the second water bottle into the holder beside Marquez. "How much longer do you think we have?"
Marquez cycled her attentions across all the instrument panels, darting her eyes to the still dark phone screen before looking back out onto the horizon. "I figure about 45 minutes to get there and perhaps another 5 to land."
Avery held onto the doorway unsure whether it was best to take that information back or give Jemma a few more minutes of privacy. When Marquez's eyes darted back to her phone, her own curiosity won out.
"Waiting for a call from back home?"
Marquez rolled her eyes and gripped the stick a bit more tightly. Unable to keep the look of contempt from her face at the intrusion, she muttered, "Something like that."
Avery cracked open the other bottle and slid into the co-pilot's seat. For a while,she was silent, sharing the view of the horizon for the precious few minutes before they would land.
"I did mean to ask you-"
Marquez sighed. "Is this really the time? You all can play in the back with your little toys all you like. But I'm the only one with combat training. I need to make sure I have a plan to bring all of you back to the Commander. Though I should remind you that while my sole purpose is to protect Dr. Smith, you and the girl are still expendable to me. So if you want to get back to the base you will give me time to set something up."
"Oh." Avery said quietly before steeling her voice. "It is true that none of us has had formal training, but Dr. Simmons and I both had to survive through the fall of Hydra. It isn't exactly fair to claim we are untested."
"Regardless. I still need time to plan and enough quiet to hear myself think."
Setting her jaw, Avery countered. "Then think about this while you plan. The Commander gave that girl special access and special detention rules while she has been in SWORD custody. I would not put great faith that the Commander will be satisfied with your mission performance should you continue to consider Jemma to be expendable."
Leonard tried to keep his head level despite his growing anxiety. Everything was happening all too fast yet not fast enough at the same time. He kept his hands busy with the prep work, but the only thing holding him together at the moment was awareness that Jemma herself seemed to be taking queues from him on the anxiety front.
He needed a distraction. Before they knew what they were up against, worrying would only sabotage their confidence. They had to approach the plan for Leo's rescue with fresh eyes.
"It can be quite intimidating having a child who is more clever than you. How ever did your parents manage it?" He asked, needing to fill the otherwise overbearing weight of the silence.
Her startled eyes drifted to his, before relaxing into a slight smile. "They were always clever in their own way. Not mention both of them were extremely patient teachers. They indulged my curiosity, and even helped look up the answers where they could until it was beyond their power to help me."
She quickly grasped the implications for his situation and watched his eyes grew distant. "I'm sure you would have done the same for Fitz if you could."
"I was always worried for him, you know. For their safety, I spent all those years in relative isolation. I know all too well how it wears on you. Leo was always clever, but it didn't always equate to common sense or playing well with other children-at least not when he was young. I've spent years trying to collect whatever bits and scraps of information I could. Trying to follow his time in school and his work in SHIELD. Early on, Fury even sent me a few of his blueprints for items that were also given to SWORD. I had them up on my room like a kindergartner's drawings on the fridge.
The best hope I had for him was hearing about his partnership with you. In retrospect, it was odd that they neglected to mention your full name. Just Doctor Simmons or Agent Simmons. Until we met, I had no idea that you were female.
Honestly, it wouldn't have mattered to me who you are, except that you have been a rather excellent partner and collaborator with my son." His eyes gleamed as he smiled. "Although, I think my son would mind quite a bit."
Jemma's eyebrows rose, although she chose to be deliberately obtuse. "Meaning?"
Leonard smiled, as he busied his hands with preparing the old school communications equipment. He was far too practiced in hearing dodges like that in his two decades within secret agencies. "I've seen that face before. It's like jumping back in time 30-some odd years and looking into a mirror. Or looking at myself in my wedding pictures."
She had a deceptively serene smile and the barest hint of a blush on her cheeks.
"I was reasonably sure even before I inadvertently saw you both making out in the hallway."
Serenity was gone in an instant, hidden behind her hands, which she'd drawn up to cover her face.
He barely managed to hear her muffled, "Oh no!" before he pressed onwards. "Which is probably as fun for you now as it was for me to see it happen, and to walk back to the cockpit."
"Stop!" She pulled her hands from her face, now red all the way to the tips of her ears. "Stop please."
He guffawed loudly. "I suppose there is no use asking you for your intentions towards Leo after all this."
"It's all still too new. The romance side, anyways." Jemma moaned, flipping over her phone in her hands as a distraction. "We'd made plans for dinner that got horribly derailed. It has only been in the last few weeks that everything has started to come together again." She looked up with a wry smile, "We were terribly put out you interrupted us earlier...must have been making up for lost years of parenting there."
His smile faded rapidly. "And the odds are that I won't ever have the opportunity to do it again. Jemma, I need you to promise me you'll tell him everything I've told you. Promise me you'll help him understand that I did this because I loved him. And promise me you'll take care of him for me."
She shook her head, grabbing his hands tightly within her own. "You'll get to tell him yourself once we get him back. Shield already has agents in position on the ground, both of whom I would trust with my life."
Leonard had long since lost his trust in hope. "Jemma. Please." he begged, needing to know that Leo would be taken care of and that his father cared for him more than his own life.
She sighed in defeat. "You have my word, but it's not going to come to that. I won't let it."
Standing quietly in the doorway, Avery cleared her throat. "Not to interrupt, but we have about 30 minutes left before we land. I figure now is the time to finish the dispensers and get our game plan in order."
Giyera tapped his foot, impatiently waiting for Adams and Jackson to appear with his hostage. His crew had almost finished unloading the truck, and they wouldn't have much time to linger without drawing suspicion.
Respect was something to be earned, and he certainly had more of it for his crew than these two lackwits. There was hardly any time before the exchange and it was essential that he hold the upper hand.
He drew out of the shadows briefly, looking for a sign of an old truck Jackson had described, grimacing as he was spotted by a pair of construction workers. Frowning suspiciously, they monitored him for a few minutes before heading into the diner.
These fools were wasting precious time and the escape advantage. They must be ready to knock out the elder Doctor Fitz and get everyone onto the truck as soon as the man revealed himself.
Gritting his teeth, he willed the time on his watch to slow until he heard the telltale rumble of gravel beneath tires.
Adams jumped out of the side to help Jackson back the truck into the alley.
Within a few minutes, his crew had provided an extra hand to help haul the still drugged younger Doctor Fitz out of the tiny back seat.
Adams ran inside to grab a coffee. "It wouldn't do to have the car park so close without stopping in to see the waitress. She's nosy and she'll notice we came past."
Once the still cuffed young man was loaded onto the delivery truck, Jackson grumbled as Adams finally, conveniently, re-appeared.
Adams walked slowly, sipping his coffee until he was far enough down the darkened alley for the shadows to conceal him. "We appear to have an issue."
Giyera quirked a brow.
"A few of the yokels are up sitting at the counter. It seems that they spotted you lurking about, and they were talking about heading to the sheriff to run you out of town."
Giyera shouted back for his crew to finish loading up, and started walking out of the alley.
"Wait!" Adams shouted. "Where are you going?"
Giyera grinned, wolfishly. "To grab a cup of coffee."
In less than a minute, Giyera stood in the doorway. The few men along the counter grew silent when they spotted him.
The waitress was surprisingly quick on her feet for a woman her age, looking up from where she had been bundling silverware into napkins. "You sit anywhere you like, and I'll be right with you."
Giyera scoped out the entirety of the mostly empty diner before he walked over to the booth closest to the door.
The waitress brought over a mug and a mostly full pot of coffee. "The coffee is on the house. What else can I get for you?"
Giyera offered her a smile, shifting his gaze to the three men hovering by the counter. "I have a bit of a sweet tooth. A slice of pie would be lovely."
"Well now, we've got apple and pecan."
The crowd at the counter sneered back him, daring him to stay.
"I believe I'll take the apple."
"I'll be back with it in just a few." She smiled sunnily, before bustling towards the kitchen door.
The moment the waitress had gone back into the kitchen, one of the men at the counter grew brave and stalked towards his booth, before his friends joined him.
"I'd advise you to move along, buddy. Or else we'll be asking the sheriff to tell you the same."
Giyera took a sip of the coffee, and looked pointedly at the unbundled silverware in the grey bin. "I'll leave once my business is complete. And not a moment before."
One of the men grabbed his arm. "You'll leave now."
Giyera's eyes grew hard for only a moment, as a distinct whizzing sound pierced the air. When he blinked, each of the men slumped to the floor where they stood.
The sound of a woman screaming in terror broke through the fog muddying his mind.
'Jemma!' he mentally screamed but his mouth would not cooperate.
He could at least listen, registering the clomping of boots heading away from him. Not that he could pry his eyes open to confirm. Fitz strained a bit against the cuffs at his wrists.
"What the hell is he doing?" An unfortunately familiar voice shouted.
Fitz stilled in panic. The shout echoed in the space above
Jackson sounded far more calm. "Taking care of a problem."
"Remind me not to get on his bad side," Adams said, the edge of panic in his voice only slighted dulled.
Fitz wracked his brain, trying to come to terms with his situation. The cuffs bit into his wrists, egging him on to sharper focus. He was desperate to he reach the kit stashed in his boot and try to make a break for it, unsure if he'd get another opportunity.
His hands didn't want to listen to commands, only twitching slightly where he needed them to reach several feet away.
He felt like screaming in frustration at the futility of it all-until heard heard the voice of the man who joined them.
"Hello, Dr. Fitz."
Fitz was suddenly glad he couldn't scream aloud, as he was wrenched upwards by his metal handcuffs.
Notes:
We're finally gearing up for the end here, although I still am uncertain on the total number of chapters at this point.
Feedback is always greatly appreciated! Your lovely comments really have helped me to make this the longest work I've written to date.
Status updates can be found periodically on my tumblr (overworkedunderwhelmed). I do have a few other projects with tighter deadlines this summer, but Path is my favorite and I will absolutely sneak in the remaining chapters as I can.