A/N: A heads up to all my followers for this story: We are now entering the last ten chapters. I'm calling it done at 30 chapters. As a result of that decision, I actually have all ten chapters planned. They will probably be longer than usual as well. Also, sorry for this taking so long. I had major writers block on this chapter, even having it planned. Hope you still enjoy!
"It's… weird to think that Garrett was a traitor. I mean, he helped get the drug that saved my life. But I guess, it makes sense. He wanted to live. He wanted power." Skye leaned down, picking up the reports strewn about the old desk. She stood up and scanned the words, her breath catching on the word Deathlok. "You guys… I think you'll wanna see this."
Immediately, Skye was surrounded by her team as they all glimpsed the word that had caught her attention. When Coulson spoke, it was with a quiet horror as he put the pieces together. "Mike Peterson was under Garrett's thumb the entire time. Garrett was the clairvoyant."
Skye released a staggered breath as she realized just who had ordered Quinn to shoot her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she turned her thoughts to Mike, who they had not encountered since she was shot. "Do you think Mike is," She swallowed a choking breath before continuing. "…still alive?"
His eyes glazed over as he answered, his voice practically a whisper. "It's possible. Probable, even." Coulson shook his head as he continued to read the paper Skye held from over her shoulder.
Skye turned to meet the eyes of the rest of the team, her lips parted and her eyes sad. As she met May's eyes, they seemed to reach a silent agreement, and she abruptly turned to search the room, Melinda came up to a battered wall, placing her hand along it's smoothest area, feeling for any integrity difference in the material. Her hand paused over a spot in the far right corner before she stepped back and promptly punch her fist through the wall.
The spot she hit punctured like paper, leaving a keypad imbedded in the wall. The others watched silently, waiting with baited breath.
The slapping sound of papers falling heavily on the table broke the silence as Coulson took the short steps to the keypad. "It's ancient technology for SHIELD… It has to be World War II era security."
Fitz stepped forward, opening up the key pad to the wires inside and plucking at several while ripping some out altogether. Finally, he ripped out a grey, thin wire and the wall opened, revealing a series of screens, most cracked and broken, but one, operational, and giving a view of a park with kids playing.
Simmons leans towards the screen, squinting her eyes. "Is that…?"
Coulson nods, staring just as intently at the screen in wonder. "It is."
Swinging in the park shown on the screen was Ace, Mike's son. No sound came from the screen but they could see by the way Ace's mouth moved that he was laughing, oblivious to being watched.
"We have to go. Skye, try and hack the feed. We need to know where this camera is at all times." With a curt nod, Skye leaned over the buttons splayed under the screens, the panels put together like a mosh of modern technology and things so old they're covered in reddish rust and some of the buttons look close to falling off. Still, when Skye plugged a hard drive into a USB port, her hack began and transferred the feed from the mix matched computer to Skye's hard drive.
With a purposeful quietness, the team made their way back to the BUS, where May immediately prepared for takeoff.
…
From clues in the video feed, they found the park that Ace was at. By the time they arrived, the sky was darkened, an inky pool hanging over their heads.
They spend the night on the BUS, researching the town for anything peculiar, anything that could lead them to Mike Peterson.
…
"Have you guys noticed this? This city has a severely high crime rate. But, in the last three months, it's gone down. Not only has there been a decrease in successful crimes, but in attempts. It's like something is scaring the criminals into hiding." Skye met the eyes of all of them as she explained the weirdness surrounding the town.
Coulson hummed in thought, furrowing his brow and nodding slightly. "It's Mike. It has to be."
They all gave him hopeful, yet sad smiles, nodding before heading to the ramp, ready to find him.
…
While Coulson and May walked the city, Skye watched the park, speaking into her coms unit to FitzSimmons while Ward waited for any sign of trouble.
It wasn't trouble that came when Ace showed up with a distant relative, ready to play and enjoy the playground. It was a man in a large trench coat. It covered most of his frame, but failed to hide the ridged shape of his torso, where machinery laid under his baggy shirt.
He was hidden in the shade of a large tree, watching with rapt, heartbroken attention to the boy who played without his father by his side.
Skye took one look at him and knew.
"He's here. Tell Ward and Triplett to help me take him in."
…
Sneaking up on Mike Peterson would have been a lot harder if not for the way he only paid attention to his son, which in that moment, Skye was extremely thankful for, as she handed the syringe of heavy duty super soldier knock out serum to Ward, and let him empty the contents into Mike's neck.
As they dragged him back to the plane, Skye thought of the life she now lead, and how impactful certain choices were to her life, along with the lives of many others. A sadness filled her eyes as she pulled Mike's body up the cargo ramp on onto the BUS. It was impossible for Skye to not feel somewhat responsible for the way things had turned out, and the way they didn't.
…
A groaning sound alerted the team to Mike and his arrival to consciousness. His eyes blinked up at them, flickers of red in them from the monitoring camera implanted in him. At his rousing, Skye gripped his hand harder, a grimace on her lips.
It was Jemma's voice that rang out amongst the growing discomfort of the situation. "We're going to help you, Mr. Peterson. We're taking you to the finest SHIELD hospital and they will free you from the… attachments. They won't be able to do much about the internal mechanics, but they will be able to disconnect the camera and the kill switch, along with the weapons."
Mike was quiet, his eyes turned to his side. He didn't speak until Skye tentatively spoke. "Mike?"
His eyes flicked up to meet her eyes before moving down once more. He took a staggered breath before speaking. "I'm not so sure I deserve anything SHIELD can do for me. I did a lot of bad things to good people." At those words, he met Skye's eyes once more, obviously referring to leaving Skye alone with Quinn.
She gulped, but refused to let go of his hand. "That wasn't on you. That was on Quinn… and Garrett. We know about him, and everything he had you do. And we know that your son was constantly being watched by others. You were protecting your son. But Garrett's gone. He can't use you anymore."
Coulson stepped forward from his corner of the room, his lips pursed, and his hands behind his back. "You've been trying to make amends for everything, haven't you? This city used to be a cesspool of crime, but over the last three months, there's been a drop."
For the first time in a long time, Mike's lip turned up, just for a second. "I've contributed enough bad to the world. I think I owe it some good."
"And you will do some good. You'll go through a SHIELD review board and they'll decide what to have you do, and then, you'll go and be with your son." Coulson nodded to behind Mike, where a monitor was set up, showing Ace, still at the park. "We have some agents keeping an eye on him for you until you can be back with him yourself."
Mike nodded gratefully to them, his eyes locked on the screen.
Fitz cleared his throat, catching Mike's attention. "The agents will only be recording their monitoring for a few more hours, before they shut it off. They've already spoken with Ace's current caretaker about being around Ace."
He nodded again, satisfied in knowing that his son was protected. "I'll do what it takes to be worthy of redemption. I just want my son to be safe."
Skye smiled at him gently, nodding slightly. "He will be. He'll have you. There is nowhere safer than with your family."
The rest of the team focused in on Skye for a moment, thinking on her words.
…
Over the course of the next several hours, Mike was dropped off at the SHIELD medical facility. He left the BUS with a renewed sense of hope, hope that he could get back to the man he wanted to be, rather than the man that others made of him.
…
Skye sat alone, in the lounge, contemplating Mike's life, and her own. She thought of all the similar choices they made, and the circumstances that made them who they are.
"You look like you could use a drink."
Skye's head snapped up at the voice of Melinda, her brows furrowed in confusion at her sudden disruption of the silence. As May lifted a glass, Skye grinned, nodding. "Yeah, I guess a drink sounds good about now."
She got up from the couch and moved to the bar, sitting beside May and lifting a glass to toast. "To being good, even when the world tries to make you something else."
May smiled the barest of smiles, her eyes sympathetic. "Cheers."
For the next few hours, they sat together in silence, each drinking slowly and unhurried.
As Skye stood after several hours, May flicked a wrist in a small wave as she was left alone at the bar. Once more, she lifted a glass, outwards toward the direction of Skye's bunk. "Here's to heroes, in all their forms."