72 - I Could Fall Right Through the Ground
Mack pushed the two young scientists the last few feet up the ramp of the Zephyr and Elena slammed a hand against the com and ordered Davis to close it. Fitz and Simmons gasped for needed breath as then leaned against the crates netted to the floor.
"Get us the hell out of here," Mack growled between breaths.
The plane rocked violently, shaking all loose items bouncing across the deck. The ramp raised as the engines roared into action. It rose a few inches from the floor of the hangar and wobbled in the small space before dropping down then rising again.
Elena pulled herself to her feet from the seat she had dropped into and once again hit the com button. "What are you doing?" She bellowed.
Davis's voice cracked through the speaker, fading in and out in spurts of unintelligible syllables.
"Say again," Mack ordered, having made his way to Elena's side. "Davis!" He barked when the agent did not respond.
Jemma staggered across the wobbling aircraft and tapped at the keys on the panel that mirrored those in the cockpit. She scanned the screen as it too blinked in and out then tapped again, falling forward then back again as the large plane dropped hard back to the hangar floor and the hum of the engines fell silent.
"DAVIS!" Mack growled again, looking from one team member to the other. The com crackled once then sputtered and released no further sound.
Jemma tapped a few more keys and squinted at the screen. "It seems the hangar door has not released." She turned to Mack as if apologizing.
A second later Davis skirted around the containment pod kept in the plane's hold. He stopped suddenly wobbling a bit before gaining his balance. Running a hand over his sweating brow he exhaled, "door's not…" The man stopped as Piper crashed into him, sending them both forward a few steps.
"Hangar door's stuck!" Piper barked as she grabbed the back of Davis' jacket and steadied him. He rose and threw her a frustrated glare.
"Carajo!" Elena slammed her hand on the consol. "Es como si el diablo nos tuviera en su mano!"
"It's got to be the hydraulics." Fitz calmly stated, staring at the schematics of the large hangar on one of the computer screens. He pointed one of his heavily bandaged hands toward a blinking red light.
Mack hit the release and the plane's ramp began lowering. He stepped toward it. "All of you stay here. I'll take care of this." He took two more steps and stopped again when Fitz followed. He pointed a finger in the smaller man's face. "I said…"
"You are the best mechanic on this base, Mack, but I know this system better than anyone." Fitz stated simply.
The large man let out a frustrated sigh and continued down the ramp with the young doctor a few steps behind.
xx
"Move to that place?" Daisy repeated. "Everything there is gone. We've got no place to return to." She let out a defeated sigh.
Coulson moved toward her and tapped a finger on the laptop that lay closed on the table. "We've still got this. All we have to do is connect Dr. Liu to Fitz. He can walk the doctor through getting us back." He smiled as he wrapped an arm around Daisy's shoulders and gave a small squeeze.
Daisy shook her head. "No…no, Coulson…it's gone. It's all gone…the connection…the program…the base…they're…I don't even know what they are."
"What are you saying?" May stepped in front of the girl quelling her anger in an effort to keep everyone calm.
Holding out a hand toward the laptop, Daisy took a shaky breath. "It just stopped. I don't even know if they got out. I tried everything but it's just gone."
Coulson and May exchanged glances. He tightened his grip on the girl's shoulders while May took Daisy's hands in her own. No one spoke. No one had the right words.
"My mommy and daddy…" Skye did not contain her panic. She sobbed heavily. "Daisy? My mommy and daddy are gone?" Her voice squeaked with the terror.
Daisy stared through her tears. She didn't really have an answer. If Fitz's program was what brought them together and it was destroyed it only stood to reason that that in-between place was gone as well. If it was gone then so were Phil and Melinda. They'd come full circle. In trying to regain her own parents she'd made this little girl an orphan. Now they were the same…each living the other's worst nightmare.
William was quick to embrace the little girl. He shook his head and attempted to quiet her as the doctor once again spoke.
"We cannot solve anything here. My team is hard at work and it is from there we can attempt to send you back to your own time and place." He turned and smiled at Daisy. "Remember that time here and there does not move the same. It is likely you can save all of your friends if we move quickly now."
May nodded toward the window and the blizzard that swirled outside. "And how do you propose we do that? Unless you've got a dog sled we're not going anyway."
"Dog sled," the doctor chuckled as he reached for his jacket. "We have something better than a dog, agent. We have a Cat and it can hold all of us, but visibility is growing less. We must hurry."
Within the next half hour William had secured warm clothing for all of the adults and bundled Skye into the suit she wore when snowmobiling with Phil. The group made its way across the deck and through the waste deep snow to the large bright yellow vehicle in the driveway. Dr. Liu pressed a button on his key ring and a ramp dropped low enough for them to enter. Once everyone was secured and buckled in he revved the large machine and plowed through the towering drifts into the street and toward his team.
xx
The grinding sound in the large hangar was deafening. The door that amassed the ceiling heaved up and down as if breathing, scraping the interlocking teeth against each other with each move. Inside the cockpit Davis motioned that he had tried but could not stop the action. What ever was keeping the doors from opening was also keeping him from controlling the open/close network.
"It's got to be the hydraulics." Fitz shouted over the clamor. "There are four that control the doors." He pointed to each with his bandaged hand then looked at both hands. "I'm afraid I won't be much help." He mumbled softly.
Mack moved the first panel, yanking off the color with a crowbar. There was no need for finesse. The base would be nothing more than a pile of rock…hopefully after they made their way out of it. He stepped back scanning the inside of the circuit. A green light blinked rapidly at the top of the long hose that ran from the pumps that drove the door mechanism to the motor below. Mack gave a thumb's up to Fitz then moved to the second panel ten feet away. A soft rumble ran across the deck of the hangar and slowly faded into nothing more than a stifled hum. The large man ignored it as he pulled off the panel and found the second pump in working order.
Fitz had already crossed beneath the plane and stood before the third panel. There was no need to remove the panel, it had already been bent and twisted off its base slicing deeply into the hose that ran the hydraulic fluid from the motor to the mechanism. The floor was slick with the sludge that oozed out like a mortal wound. Fitz knew that each pulse of the door's attempt to open wasted more of the very thing it needed to find success.
They'd have to turn off that circuit in order to repair or replace this hose.
xx
The powerful snow-cat ate its way through the snow covered landscape. Daisy stared out the frosted window wondering if they actually followed the road or if the vehicle just made its own path. She all but ignored Skye's banter about how the thing moved and sounded as it plowed through. Twice Dr. Liu stopped to clean the windshield of the snow that piled up faster than the large wipers could swish it away. The journey seemed to take longer than it should and despite the vehicle's ability to chew through the weather it felt like it moved in slow motion.
Other than Skye pointing out the shapes and sizes of the snow covered environment there was little conversation between the adults. The hum of the giant motor made that difficult, the hum that Skye ignored and bellowed in order to be heard over as they crawled along.
"Yeye, I never saw so much snow. I think its over my head." Skye squeaked with delight. "I bet there's no school til summer." She bounced up and down in her seat as the snow-cat overtook a large drift. William reached across the little girl to tighten her seat belt harness.
Daisy swallowed hard as the repeated bouncing churned her insides. She stared sat the backs of her parents' heads. Her parents…her real honest DNA proved positive parents… She berated herself for putting them here in danger. She'd waited all her life for these people. She loved them more than she thought she could ever love anyone and for some crazy reason they loved her back. Dr. Liu said that they had one small chance to fix this and even then it was risky. She would take that risk and make sure they made it back, even if she couldn't. She'd make sure they were safe.
The snow-cat bounced again tossing Daisy against the metal window sill. She felt it dig into her hairline and the warmth of her blood trickled along her cheek. She brushed it away quickly. A moment later the world went dark and the hum of the vehicle's engine changed its tone. The enormous headlights pierced the blackness before them and the change in air pressure told the young agent they had entered some sort of garage. Slowly the dim lights along the floor and ceiling came into view and a few workers moved on the far edges of the path they took. It opened into a large open area where the vehicle came to an abrupt stop sending the occupants forward then back with a hard jar.
"I apologize." Dr. Liu sighed as he cut the engine and the vehicle slowly geared down. "I am afraid the breaking system is made for the snow and not so much for underground pavement."
May growled something under her breath and Coulson wisely coughed over his chuckle as William released Skye from her seat and warned her to stay close. Daisy unbuckled her own harness and once again swiped the dribble of blood from her cheek. She waited for the doctor to release the door locks then stepped to the mobile stairs the garage workers had pushed against the vehicle. She hadn't realized how far from the ground they'd been. The snow in the Coulson's driveway reached midway up the large tires allowing them to enter it without assistance.
A few moments later the group followed Dr. Liu down a long very white and extremely bright hallway that ended at a large double door. The doctor stopped and turned toward them.
"I am sure what you are about to see is not what you have left behind. It is the product of many years of research." He turned to Coulson and May and continued. "For safety I would have both of you accompany the interns to the quarantine room. I am sure you will find it quite comfortable." He held out a hand toward two young white coated doctors who had appeared outside a second door to their right.
Coulson nodded his understanding as May hesitated but took a step in that direction. Daisy moved to join them. The doctor held up a hand.
"No, no, young lady." He smiled. "I need you to follow me into the lab. There is much we need to discuss."
May turned back, quickly stepping between the man and her adult daughter. "She goes where we go." She snapped, moving into a defensive position.
Coulson joined her, keeping Daisy at his back. "We stay together, doc. We've been separated too many times and it just didn't work out well for anyone."
The doctor nodded and held up a hand to stop the interns who moved to forcibly take the couple. He shook his head and took a breath. "Perhaps, William, you would like to take Skye into the commissary. I am sure she could use a small snack. It was a long journey." He nodded toward his friend who immediately understood.
William nodded. "Yes, I think I should like a nice hot tea after all that snow." He shivered once then took the little girl's hand and led her through the double doors before she could protest.
Daisy swallowed hard and watched until the little girl and her grandfather disappeared behind the doors. "You don't want her to know she's lost her parents." She almost whispered to the doctor.
That was it. Now they were the same. She never really admitted to herself how much she wanted to be like Skye, to have that kind of childhood in a house with two parents that adored her. Instead she'd cursed the little girl to be just like her…without those loving parents and forever aching to know their love. Yeah, she still had her grandfather (and that grouchy grandmother) but that would never replace Phil and Melinda Coulson.
"On the contrary, young lady," Dr. Liu smiled. "Phillip and Melinda are quite safe and the reason your own parents cannot enter the lab at this time. As you have seen they cannot exist in the same space simultaneously."
"They're okay?" Daisy raised her brows in disbelief. "But, they were…the…how…"
"Ah yes, I believe you and the little girl call it the in-between place." The doctor spoke as he began walking toward a narrow door to their right. The interns preceded them. "I am afraid that is as far as our technicians were able to reach and unfortunately…" he paused and smiled at Daisy, "or perhaps fortunately, it is where you sometimes found yourselves. Although it still mystifies me how any of you arrived there without the assistance of any technology or systemology."
"Are you saying that void was your doing?" Coulson was intrigued. May…not so much and she expressed her feeling with a disgusted huff, content to listen only to the conversation.
Dr. Liu pushed the door open and waited for the group to enter. "It was as far as we reached after the first crossing…well, in all honesty the only crossing."
"You've been to our…" Coulson stopped, unsure of what term to use.
"Dimension," Dr. Liu smiled. "Or world…either term is acceptable. Dr. Everett used the latter."
"So Fitz didn't just accidentally tap into this world bouncing nonsense," May snarled. "He'll love that." She hissed under her breath.
Dr. Liu motioned for the trio to sit as the interns exited through another door. "We can provide amenities. Can I offer some tea? Soft drinks? Or something more?" He offered.
May and Daisy shook their heads. Coulson held up a palm.
"Are you the ones that sent Skye and I flip flopping back and forth?" Daisy accused more than asked.
The doctor shook his head. "No, no I am afraid that was not intentional and despite our attempts something we could not control. When we realized your young Fitz had solved the method of bridging the worlds we began tracking his signals. We are still analyzing our data in an attempt to determine how you and the little one were able to, shall we call it, interchange existences."
"Fitz'd like this guy," May huffed. "They speak the same language."
"I was quite young when Dr. Everett and I worked together. He was adamant in his belief of alternate worlds or as he called them Daughter Worlds." He raised his brows toward Daisy. "I'm afraid that has nothing to do with this situation, just the man's term." He drew a deep breath as if recalling an old friend and started again. "Everett believed these worlds evolved out of the choices that each of us can make. In your world," he nodded toward Coulson and May, "you chose to pursue your careers and forget your worst nightmare. While here in this world's version, Phillip and May chose to marry and raise a family together."
May and Coulson exchanged a quick glance and shared one of apology toward Daisy. She merely looked at her hands, embarrassed to be part of their pain and the decisions they had made.
"I am getting ahead of this story. You need to know it all before you can fully decide to take this risk."
"Risk?" May repeated. "I thought…"
"With what we have secured from your Fitz's program and salvaged from our own, we are positive we can purposefully send a subject across the bridge." Dr. Liu explained.
"Salvaged?" It was Coulson's turn to repeat the man's words.
"As I said, it was a number of years ago that Dr. Everett and I pursued this theory. Many of our colleagues thought us fools and the organization refused to fund or support our work. We spent many hours and the bulk of our own fortunes on what we believed. After a decade we were able to send only what I believe you now call a droid across the bridge."
The trio exchanged astonished glances.
"Our sensors were virtually undetectable and sent back limited data before they were lost and we were unable to retrieve them." Dr. Liu let out a long breath. "Everett felt we needed to send someone who could see for himself and bring back first hand information, but I did not feel it was a possibility at the time. We had had no success in retrieving that which we sent." He removed his glasses and wiped his brow with a handkerchief retrieved from his pocket. Replacing the glasses he continued, "We argued for days until Everett slipped into the machine we had created and disappeared. I tried for weeks to retrieve him, but only succeeded in bringing him to what you call the in-between place."
"What happened…" Daisy began.
"I could not bring him further." The doctor shook his head and paused, looking into the distance before continuing. "It was a difficult time for all. There was much controversy in our world and so much unrest. A colleague shared the information with those who would use this technology to promote disaster for our world and all others. Everett chose to cross the bridge and then burn it." He paused again for a moment. The others remained silent. "We destroyed our work and all the data we had collected in order to keep it from them. It took many more years to absolve our world of these forces. But it was not until your presence was detected that I believed there was a chance of duplicating our efforts." He shook his head with a smile. "And yet even with all of the new information your young physicist has unknowingly provided, we fear we still can only send a subject in one direction."
"You sent Skye…" Daisy rose to her feet, furious that the doctor hand endangered the child. May was next to her in an instant.
The doctor let out a sigh and shook his head. "We have sent nothing but have only observed and attempted to duplicate what we could draw from your works. Although I do admit to responsibility for that damned in-between void that is neither here nor there."
Daisy was not ready to back down until Coulson raised a hand. May urged her back to her seat but remained on alert.
"I believe the child became entangled in that which is you." Dr. Liu nodded toward Daisy. "We watched carefully to be sure you would not experience the same phenomenon of your parents earlier." He waited for a reaction that did not come. "It is apparent that all of you cannot exist in the same physical space. Eventually one entity will absorb the other making them one." He slid his fingers together into a tight two handed fist.
"But Skye and…" Daisy objected.
"You are not the same person…yet." The doctor sighed. "All we can ascertain is that she is not the child you were and you were not the child she is. There is something different within you. We have yet to discover what that may be. Some of our researchers believe it is due to the fact that she has not grown into the adult you have already become forming a barrier that protects your individuality. Therefore you remain safe in each other's company."
It sounded like a lot of science babble to Daisy. May was restless. All this talk was getting them nowhere and if Daisy was correct the rest of the team was facing insurmountable danger. Coulson could sense her unease. He opened his mouth to speak but the doctor leaned forward and slapped his hands against his own thighs then stood.
"All of this is not helping to remedy this situation, so once again Miss Daisy, I ask you accompany me while your parents wait for my technicians to ready our chamber to return them to your version of the world." He motioned toward the door.
Daisy looked from May to Coulson and then back. There was something this guy wasn't saying and it pretty much looked like he had no intention of saying it until he got her away from them. She let out a frustrated huff and stood. May did the same.
Dr. Liu smiled as he moved toward the door. "I assure you Agent May, she will be safe and will return to you as quickly as possible."
"It's okay," Daisy turned to May and looked at Coulson as he too stood to face her. "Whatever he wants me for I can handle. Trust me."
"Always," Coulson nodded. May squeezed her arm and with only a look let the girl know she felt the same.
"Again, I offer amenities." The doctor waited but both shook their heads. "Should you change your mind, my staff is at your service." He nodded toward an intercom on the far wall then pushed open the door and waited for Daisy to enter.
xx
Skye sat at a large round table sipping orange soda and munching peanut butter filled crackers. She swung her feet under the table. "Mommy would never let me have this stuff, Yeye." She spoke more to the cracker in her hand than her grandfather who stood at the large window with his hands clasped behind his back. The little girl tapped the top of the aluminum can. "Especially this…she never lets me have this." She took a long drink, let out an 'ahhh' and set the can back on the table.
"When I'm done can we find Daisy? I wanna tell her I got to have this." She tapped the can again.
"I think Dr. Liu would prefer if we stay here at this time, sunnu." William spoke softly as he turned from the window and joined Skye at the table.
"I don't really like it here, Yeye." Skye crunched another cracker and chewed. "It's kinda like a hospital without all the medicine smells."
William smiled. "It is very much like a hospital." He nodded. "But there are no patients or medicine. The doctors here are studying."
Skye scrunched up her nose and cocked her head. "Like in school? Why do doctors gotta study?"
"They need to find answers and that takes much study." William smiled again.
"I thought they already knew them, cuz they're already doctors." She held up a cracker and examined it closely. "Mommy says ya gotta go ta school a long time to be a doctor…like fifty years." She crunched the cracker and took a long sip of soda. "Boy, that really tastes good together." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "You wanna try it?" She held out the can to her grandfather.
William shook his head. "Thank you, but I think I shall stick to my tea."
Skye shrugged her shoulders and chomped another cracker.
William stared at the door that led to the lab. Dr. Liu had assured the little girl her parents were fine and would be returning very soon. He almost implied he'd spoken to them himself. Those reassurances did not quell William's anxiety. His concern for his daughter and her husband was growing. He was doing all he could to keep that from Skye.
xx
Dr. Liu led Daisy through a busy lab where technicians moved back and forth from computers to drawing boards and schematics and then back. So many conversations mingled together she could not comprehend how anyone could understand anyone else. At the far side, the doctor opened another door and motioned for Daisy to enter a small but neat office. The laptop on the dark wood desk was familiar.
"I told you it doesn't work anymore. It won't be any help." Daisy nodded toward it, wondering when and how the doctor had taken it from the Coulson's kitchen.
"Sadly, that is true." Dr. Liu spoke as he sat behind the desk. "My best computer experts have gone over it and have found no trace of the program that allowed you to communicate with your world. It will make things difficult but not impossible."
"What…" Daisy wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer but needed to ask the question. "What about Skye's parents? If the program is gone…is the between thing gone with it?"
"It is." The doctor answered flatly and Daisy let out a shaky breath as she sunk into a large chair. "The Coulsons are safe, Daisy. Once the field dissipated they appeared in our chamber room." The man shook his head. "We were hoping the laptop would provide the reason why but I am afraid we are left with more mysteries than we can solve."
Daisy wasn't listening. After hearing Phil and Melinda were safe nothing else mattered. She was on her feet at the doctor's desk, interrupting as he spoke. "Where are they? Are they safe? Does Skye know?"
"They were not injured but are slightly disoriented from their experience. We are allowing them time to re-acclimate before reuniting with their daughter. Until then she will be kept entertained elsewhere in the facility." He explained.
Daisy paused for a moment, digesting the man's words. "Can I see them? I want to see them." She started toward the door not really knowing where she'd look but if they were here she'd find them.
The doctor stood stopping her exit. "I will take you to them. Perhaps you can provide that which we have not yet attempted." He opened the door and led her down another long hallway to yet another set of double doors.
xx
The room was wide and cold. Daisy shivered with the change in temperature. The soft whooshing sound was familiar. She'd heard it on more occasions than she cared to remember. She walked slowly and quietly toward the two figures across the room.
Phil and Melinda lay on beds parallel to each other. Wires and leads ran from both to a multitude of monitors that swooshed and beeped in tandem. The younger version of her parents seemed in peaceful slumber but their color was that of porcelain. Their chests rose and fell with the rhythm of the whooshing she noticed upon entering. Doctors…the medical kind monitored their vitals and moved from machine to machine noting subtle changes.
"You said they were okay." She breathed, laying a hand on Melinda's cold fingers.
"I said they were unhurt." The doctor corrected. "We can find no injury and no reason for their condition."
Daisy shook her head. "Slight? This is a hell of a long way from slight."
