Trust
Two Days Later – 1:45 PM
The Triskelion
Maria Hill's funeral went about as well as Coulson expected it to. Which, admittedly, was very well. Her bastard father was nowhere to be found, and there wasn't any unnecessary commotion or dramatics and other stuff that no one could deal with.
He gave a wonderful, in his opinion, eulogy; one that didn't leave a dry eye in the building once it was over. Even Melinda shed a tear or two in front of the others. That was okay. It didn't diminish her reputation. If anything, it endeared the younger members of his squad to her. And, of course, Ward was right there to comfort her. They held hands the entire day – discreetly, obviously.
The only thing that didn't feel right was that Fury was nowhere to be seen. It was true that his termination from SHIELD wasn't under the best of circumstances and wasn't handled well, but he knew Fury cared about Hill, enough to at least show up to her funeral. Maybe he knew something that they didn't.
After the service, as people were filing out, several of Maria's family members were being consoled by various agents. Coulson made his way to her grandmother and gave her a big hug, and said a few comforting words he had learned from his years of experience in life. The same with her niece and nephew. In his mind, he kept focused on the picture of Joseph Hill, and scanned the family to try and find him.
The only blonde man was her sister's husband.
Coulson frowned and scanned the entire auditorium where the funeral was held. A multitude of blonde men were scattered here and there, but none matching the description. Damn it, where is he?
Joseph was the only man who knew what happened, what really happened that night. It was him and him alone who possessed the knowledge that could put the entire mystery to bed for good.
Yet, he was nowhere to be found.
Sighing in frustration, he approached her sister and prepared to do what he really didn't want to. "Excuse me, hi. Ah, could you point me in the direction of Maria's cousins? I'd like to say a few words to them."
Her older sister, Robin Scherbatsky, pointed them out one by one, unable to speak between sniffles.
Coulson nodded his thanks and gently patted her on the back. "Oh, ah, and Joe?"
Her lip quivered. "Who?"
Coulson frowned, but inside he was seething. "Her cousin? Doesn't she have a cousin named Joe?"
"No, we don't. I don't know anyone named Joe."
Coulson quickly said his thanks and left before she got even more agitated. "Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath.
As he left, a man in a blue suit pulled out his phone and sent a text message to a number listed simply by 'Jones'. 'Coulson knows.'
Three days later
The word came that Coulson and his team were finally cleared to continue their prerogative – that was, flying around the world and handling the assignments that other agents were incapable or unwilling to do. While it was nice to be around the others, Coulson had to admit that it was nice to finally be back on the Bus.
Not only because being at the Triskelion brought back memories of the Level 3 dungeon that he didn't care to remember, and also memories of Maria that he cared even less to remember.
Plus, he had plenty of business to contend with, including the potential conspiracy brewing within SHIELD.
Within the sanctuary of May's cockpit, he ruminated over the various assumptions he made in the days after Hill's funeral. SHIELD was the one investigating her murder, meaning that they made up Joseph Hill. But why? Who were they trying to protect? And to what end? Just how far were they willing to go to protect this person's identity?
Apparently not far enough to bother risking her family revealing the truth. If they were bold enough to lie about something this significant - and he was there as a key witness and victim, so it was significant - then they should have known that someone was going to start asking questions, seek him out to give condolences. Unless they knew not to.
What if more agents besides those in on the investigation, Bakshi and Jones, knew about the cover-up and knew what questions to ask and which ones not to? What if Trent was in on it? Was he? Someone high up would have had to order it, and Hand wasn't the Deputy yet.
Did she know? Was she in on it? She was much too willing to just accept the schlock that Bakshi and Jones fed SHIELD when their investigation was complete. She was there watching the interrogation of Hamady just like he was. He knew that she was good enough to know bullshit when she saw it. He knew that she knew that something was amiss with that entire show.
She was Trent's second in command, and she obeyed orders. To the letter. Without question. She believed in the system, even if that system was proving to be corrupt. He knew that she wasn't blind to that fact. Quite the contrary, in fact. He knew that she knew it was growing corrupt.
If Hand was in on this cover-up, then why? What did she have to gain from Hill's murder? The position? The respect? The authority? Hand was a control freak, and control freaks needed authority, more control to sate their hunger for order. If she wanted to be Deputy for who knew how long, then Hill was standing squarely in her way. She needed to be taken out of the equation, for good. Getting the woman fired would have been a fine and dandy way to accomplish that and set herself as first in line to be her replacement. All she needed was a way in, and Hill, uncharacteristically, gave her one when she hacked into Trent's server. Hand, being the good, honest agent she was, reported her to Director Trent, knowing that hacking into Level Ten files was a terminable offense.
What she didn't expect was Hill being murdered for what she knew. But, she couldn't say anything because she was the reason the woman was dead in the first place. Maybe that was why she decided to keep quiet and go along with everything.
Coulson breathed heavily and scrubbed his face. He knew the pitfalls of ambition. He knew just how dangerous a game playing to that ambition for prestige was. He knew the damage the actions one made to gain that prestige had on a person's soul, even one as damaged and blackened as a SHIELD agent's.
He didn't like this. He didn't like any of it. He didn't like being privy to the truth and becoming paranoid because of it. He didn't like suspecting that his friend was in on a conspiracy. He didn't like that the job he devoted three decades of his entire life to may have been corrupt.
He didn't like a lot of things about this.
He wanted this all over and done with. But, who could he go to? Not Trent or Hand – he didn't trust either of them. Sitwell? That was one. Fury? Who knew where he was at any given moment. The New Avengers? What use would they be? This wasn't a situation where they could just burst in and start punching people.
The truth was, he wasn't quite yet sure who to trust. Hill may have been killed because she knew too much. He didn't want to suffer that same exact fate. He did, however, trust the woman sitting to his left. He trusted the four agents - well, three agents and hacker - currently flying within his plane. These five people were the ones that he trusted when the chips were down.
He finally looked away from the starry night sky and looked at Melinda. So quiet, yet so strong. He knew the tempestuous turmoil raging within her. He had seen how damaged she was on that stormy night in Bahrain. Still, despite it all, he trust her. "I trust you," he stated. "I trust everyone on his Bus."
May didn't say a word, but dipped her head in an acknowledging half-nod.
A/N: I think the general consensus is that Trent is either behind or involved in the maybe conspiracy, but what about Victoria Hand? Let me know what you all think.