A/N: Here we go!
Phil approaches Melinda inside the plane. She is sitting down quietly. Phil sits down beside her. "You nervous for this? This isn't new for you." he points out. Melinda looks at him and raises an eyebrow and sighs.
"I just have a bad feeling, that's all." Melinda tells him. "It's like something bad will happen today, here in Bahrain, I…I don't know."
Phil gently puts a hand on her shoulder and gives her a small smile. "We'll be okay. Remember what I said earlier, just a friendly chat, and if it doesn't go well, we have backup. This won't be like Sausalito."
Melinda chuckles and nods. "Let's just hope things don't go south." Phil nods and stands up. Melinda stands up as well and follows Phil to a car.
Bahrain is a very hot and dry country. As they drive around Manama, you can see all sorts of animals everywhere, being sold to various market vendors. People are all covered up, and Melinda observes that mostly the females are the ones who are covered up the most. She notes that it must be for cultural purposes but she couldn't help but wonder about the heat and how the women can handle the heat when they are all covered up.
Their car stops and all passengers in the car exit, including Melinda who scans the place. "Faisal Ahmed, may I introduce agents Coulson and May." Phil and Melinda nod at the man in a gray suit. He is probably in his late forties. Melinda closes the door of the car. "Faisal is with Bahrain National Security."
"Pleasure, sir," Phil replies. "Your people have been tracking her?"
"Yes, we followed Miss Belyakov to a cafe in this market," Faisal says, his accent quite strong yet his diction distinctive. "This is a very dangerous area. Black-market importers, thieves... not a place for tourists."
"So she didn't come for falafel. She could be meeting with anyone." Phil says, looking at Melinda who nods at him.
"Whatever she wants, it's not good. Unless she leave with you, our military will take her." Faisal explains, looking at Hart, then Phil.
"This is our window," Hart whispers to Phil. "Fury will have our asses if an index candidate ends up in government hands." Melinda hears this and looks at Phil. Phil nods shortly after.
"Okay," Phil says, looking at Faisal. "We'll make this work." The group walks over to the cafe and everyone positions around the area, leaving Phil alone to walk over to Eva, who is drinking something from a small cup. Melinda, before leaving, grabs hold of Phil's hand and squeezes it before going to her position. Phil takes a deep breath.
"Hello," Phil greets. Eva looks up at him. "May I?" He gestures to the chair in front of Eva. Eva nods and continues to look at him. He takes a seat in front of Eva.
"My name is Phil Coulson, and I'm here to help," he starts. Eva looks at him intently. "My group specialises in helping people like you, who have gifts."
"And why should I trust you?" Eva asks, her Russian accent strong.
"Because I could take you somewhere safe." Melinda, in her position, sees a little brunette girl running, laughing and tapping people on their backs. She smiles as she watches the little girl play with the people around.
She couldn't help but think of her own daughter, wherever she is. She is more or less older than the little girl but she couldn't help but imagine that little girl as her daughter, playing and laughing, running. She couldn't help but think of the future children she and Andrew could have. A small smile plays on her lips as she thinks of coming back home to Andrew again.
Melinda sees the little girl run against a group of people, thugs maybe. She frowns and begins to speak in a low voice against the comms. "Locals incoming. Gun. Blue shirt."
Phil looks at his left and sees the group Melinda is talking about. Hart calls for O'Brien, commands him to make sure the group does not interfere. Phil looks back at Eva.
"Why don't we go somewhere more secure?" Phil asks Eva, who looks at the group of people who are in front of O'Brien. She smirks and looks back at Phil.
"No," she replies. "I like it here."
"Coulson, we're running out of time." Melinda warns against her comms, looking back and forth from the group of locals and Phil and Eva.
"These men can't help you. Let's talk somewhere calmer. What is it you're looking for?"
Eva leans closer to Phil. "Pain." she says. Eva stands up and flips a table, which goes very far from their location. Phil stands up all of a sudden.
The group take their guns out and so does O'Brien and Hart. Phil raises his hands and tells everyone to calm and stand down. Melinda sees the girl running as one of the men in the group starts to grab her, the little girl looking frightened. "No!" Melinda shouts, walking closer and carefully to the group who has the little girl with them.
"Stand back! Do not follow us!" the man who has the little girl says, and Hart and his team stop walking. Faisal attempts to talk out of the man but is shot by the same man. Melinda, Hart and Phil run over to Faisal and the men close the door to the warehouse.
