Chapter 58
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners.
AN1: IMPORTANT: So, I am finding myself struggling to write, I think I am not doing too well with this forced isolation, so as a treat I'm going to upload all the chapters of this and To make a better world that I have written. I will continue to attempt to write chapters and I hope I can get some out soon. All the chapters I have written will be uploaded over the next few hours.
While Daisy, Fitz, and Simmons are on the plane Melinda, Phil, and Ward have arrived at the firehouse that seems to connect all the victims. As there was a man who started to act suspicious Phil followed him to another room so that he could find out what he knows as he clearly knows something.
"That humming noise, you hear that?" The man, Mr Diaz asks.
"No, I don't," Phil answers, "Were you in New York with Mr. Cross and Mr. Whalen after the Chitauri invasion?" Phil asks.
"Come on, you don't hear that? It's driving me nuts," Mr Diaz admits.
"Mr Diaz are you with me?" Phil asks, and as he does electricity cracks and objects around the room start to rise, "Whatever you're doing, make it stop," Phil instructs, as he pulls his gun.
"I'm not doing anything!" Diaz exclaims.
"Where's the weapon?" Phil asks.
"The what?" Diaz asks sounding confused.
"Coulson, I found it. it's a Chitauri helmet," Melinda says, through the coms, sounding shocked, "Fitz-Simmons are you seeing this?" Melinda asks.
"It's not a weapon, yet it caused a cranial discharge," Simmons says, through the coms, looking shocked.
"What are you doing with the helmet?" Phil asks Diaz.
"What, the alien thing? It's a souvenir," Diaz explains, "Aah, not again!" Diaz exclaims as he notices the objects floating around him.
"Answer the question, Mr Diaz, what are you doing with the helmet?" Phil asks.
"What the alien thing? The first time anyone's touched it since New York was a couple nights ago," Diaz explains.
"Why?" Phil asks.
"It had rust all over it. we were cleaning it," Diaz explains.
"That wasn't rust," Simmons realises, "May, don't touch it!" Simmons exclaims and she quickly closes the case, "Sir, he's not using a weapon, he's infected. I think the helmet was the source of an alien virus," Simmons reveals, and as she does Melinda knows she has to contact Tony has he has run some tests on Chitari metal, but right now she knows they have other things to be concerned about.
"All we did was clean it," Diaz reveals, "Me, Frankie, and Adam, we were bored on the third shift, so we decided to clean it," Diaz explains, "Adam, and Frankie,"
"Mr Diaz, I'm putting the gun away now, okay?" Phil asks.
"Sir, he's a six hundred megajoules and climbing," Simmons explains, "Sir?"
"Clear everybody out, clear everybody out, now," Phil tells Melinda and Ward, both of whom are standing at the doorway, and looking quite reluctant, like she would rather, be with Phil, which she would, pushes Ward and follows behind him.
"I'm gonna wind up like them, aren't I?" Diaz asks, sounding afraid.
"Why don't you have a seat," Phil suggests, and they both sit down.
"You have any family, wife, kids?" Phil asks, "Is there anyone you want to talk to? Anything I can do?" he asks curious.
"Sir, you have to get out of there right now! He's going to…" Fitz starts to say, but before he can say more Phil takes out his coms device but because of the way he puts it everyone who is listening in on coms can hear what he is saying.
"Listen to me, I've been where you are right now," Phil says, "So please believe me when I tell you, you don't have to be afraid," Phil says.
"What are you… what are you talking about?" Diaz asks.
"Your job, gets pretty dangerous, doesn't it? Mine too," Phil answers, "I got hurt once, pretty bad," He says, and Melinda has to react hard not to react to that, "And I died. Some say it was only eight seconds, but I knew it was more than that," Phil reveals, and as he does Melinda tenses, as she knows that could be bad, "I know I wasn't here anymore, I was there" He says.
"What's it like?" Diaz asks.
"It's beautiful," Phil says, and the electricity pulses more.
"You better get going, buddy, go," Diaz says, and Phil leaves, doing so even though he doesn't want to and Diaz dies.
A little while after Diaz tragically died Melinda, Phil, and Ward have all been cleared, and the three of them, Jemma, Fitz, and Daisy are back on the bus on the way to a facility called the Sandbox, with the helmet on board.
"What's our ETA?" Phil asks, as he walks into the cockpit where Melinda is.
"Three thirty-seven West Africa Time," Melinda answers.
"Gonna be a long four hours and twenty-six minutes," Phil comments, checking his watch.
"You okay?" Melinda asks.
"Fine, I just want this alien thing off our plane as soon as humanly possible," Phil comments.
"You want to talk about your physical?" Melinda asks, asking not because she is supposed to be keeping an eye on Phil, but rather because of the fact that she is truly concerned about him.
"Nothing to tell," Phil answers, completely lying which Melinda can tell, "My physical therapist requested it. he's been updating his files or something," Phil explains.
"You'd tell me if something was wrong," Melinda says, and Phil scoffs.
"Of course," Phil responds and once he does they hear a beep.
"Sir, I think I've discovered something," Simmons says, through the planes coms system, "Could you come down to the lab?" she asks.
"I'll be right there," Phil says and he goes to leave.
"Phil, the fireman, you did everything you could for him," Melinda says, and once she does Phil nods and leaves.
After Phil leaves Melinda pulls out her phone and makes a phone call,
"Hey," Tony answers, sounding glad to hear from her.
"Hey. I can't explain why in detail over the phone, but if you have anything Chitari you need to put it in quarantine and not touch it when doing so," Melinda tells her husband.
"Okay, but what's going on?" Tony asks, as while he doesn't need an explanation to do what Melinda asks, he is still curious.
"I can't explain right now, but make sure you don't touch it, no matter what," Melinda requests.
"I will… are you okay?" Tony asks worried.
"At the moment," Melinda answers, "I love you, I'll call you later,"
"I love you too," Tony responds, sounding worried for his wife, but he proceeds to do what his wife told him to do.
A little while later Simmons has explained how the virus is spreading and it has been clear that she has been infected. While Simmons is quarantined inside the lab Fitz is sitting right outside the doors, and Melinda, Phil, Daisy, and Ward are standing a little way away talking.
"Simmons believes she contracted the virus approximately thirty-six hours ago when she received an electrostatic shock from the first victim," Phil explains.
"How much time does she have?" Daisy asks, sounding upset.
"Based on when the fireman was infected, how quickly their symptoms manifested, two hours at the most," Phil answers, looking at Daisy.
"That's enough time, right?" Daisy asks, "I mean, S.H.I.E.L.D has dozens of labs and scientists working on this thing, don't they?" Daisy asks, her voice breaking slightly as she looks between her mother, Phil, and Ward, and as she does Melinda puts an arm around her daughter, as Daisy thinks they should call her father so that he and Bruce can start to work on this as well.
"They do," Phil confirms, "How soon can you get us on the ground?" Phil asks, looking at Melinda.
"Three hours, our path to the Sandbox has us right in the middle of the Atlantic," Melinda explains, squeezing Daisy's shoulders slightly, as she can tell that her daughter is getting upset, not to mention the fact that things are getting pretty dangerous, truthfully this would be a great time for an Iron Man intervention but even though he has plans for new suits Tony hasn't made one yet so they are on their own.
"Sir, correct me if I'm wrong, but if we can't land in time…" Ward starts to say.
"Simmons will release a pulse that will blow this plane right out of the sky," Phil finishes.
"We can't just sit here and watch her die!" Daisy explains, tears coming to her eyes, "We have to do something!"
"There's only one person on this plane capable of finding a solution for this, and I'm willing to bet my life that she will," Phil says.
"She's just a kid," Melinda says, sounding upset, as ever since she met Fitz and Simmons she has been trying not to think about the fact that they are younger than Bobbi, Sharon, and Antoine, and not much older than Daisy, and Peter, but right now, all she can think about is the fact that Jemma is just a kid.
Not long after Melinda and Daisy left the cargo bay the two of them walk into Daisy's bunk.
"We've got to call Dad, he can do something," Daisy tells her mother.
"I'm not so sure he can," Melinda admits, as she is pretty sure that if Tony was on the plane then he could do more, but she isn't sure how much he can do from New York.
"He and Bruce can figure something out!" Daisy explains.
"Simmons is a genius too. It's likely anything they could do she's already trying," Melinda tells her daughter.
"I hate this! It's not fair!" Daisy explains.
"I know," Melinda says, before hugging her daughter and the two of them just stand in Daisy's bunk, hugging.
A little while later Daisy has calmed down a little and is walking into the command centre where Ward is watch a life feed from downstairs.
"Shouldn't you be down there?" Daisy asks curious.
"No, they don't need an audience," Ward explains, and Daisy goes to leave.
"You can stay, if you want," Ward says, and Daisy walks over to him.
"I really, really hate this," Daisy admits, "I feel so…,"
"Helpless," Ward finishes.
"Yeah," Daisy confirms.
"I want it to be a person, some superpowered psychopath, someone I could hurt, someone I could… punish," Ward explains, "That I could do, what I can't do is protect you guys from stuff I can't even see, or understand," Ward says, as he inhales sharply.
"So, what do we do?" Daisy asks curious.
"We wait, and get ready," Ward explains.
"Ready for what?" Daisy asks.
"For whatever it is we're called upon to do," Ward says, "That's what S.H.I.E.L.D means," He says, figuring this is a good chance to get on Daisy's good side, and hearing that Daisy nods and the two of them both continue to watch the feed from the lab.
While Daisy and Ward are in the command centre Phil is up in his office on a video call with Felix Blake.
"Coulson, nice to see you're not dead," Blake comments.
"Did you get our analysis of the virus?" Phil asks.
"We did, and S.H.I.E.L.D has no record of anything like it, no one does," Blake admits, "So it's imperative it reach the Sandbox without incident," Blake says, "In case of a pandemic, we're going to need it," he admits.
"I'm aware of that, but I don't need more orders or ultimatums, I need answers," Phil explains.
"I wish I had some for you," Blake says, telling the truth, "I'm sorry, Coulson, I've been ordered to inform you that if you have infected cargo, you need to dump it," Blake says, and as he does Phil turns away, "Do you copy me, Coulson?" Blake asks, "These orders are coming from up top," He explains.
"I'm sorry," Phil says, as he presses buttons on the tablet, "Bad connection, didn't get the last part," Phil says, before cutting the connection, and once he does he looks towards the door where Melinda is, "Don't even think it," he says, to Melinda.
"I don't have to. That's your job," Melinda comments, as she tries to think of everything that she can do to help Simmons, and unfortunately that list is very short.
Not long after Phil's conversation with Blake Phil has headed downstairs, and as he sees Daisy sitting alone on one of the couches he walks over to her.
"Daisy, are you okay?" Phil asks concerned.
"No, how can I be? How can anyone be?" Daisy asks, looking at him.
"I believe Jemma will figure this out, that she will be okay," Phil tells Daisy.
"You don't know that Uncle Phil? People aren't always okay, we both know that," Daisy says, looking upset.
"Yeah, we do, but I have to believe that this will work out," Phil explains, looking at Daisy, and as he does Daisy realises something.
"Fitz?" Daisy calls, and Phil turns to see Fitz running downstairs, carrying the containment case which has the helmet inside.
"FITZ," Phil calls and he goes running downstairs, Daisy, Ward, and Melinda all of whom realised what was going on, follow behind.
Over the next few minutes Phil, Melinda, Ward, and Daisy watch as Fitz and Simmons attempt to make an anti-serum to save Simmons, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work, and so Simmons walks over to the glass, where Phil is on the other side.
"Sir, I know the protocol in these circumstances, but could you please tell my dad first?" Simmons requests, her voice breaking, "I just think my Mum would take it better if it comes from him,"
"We're not there yet. They're still time," Phil says.
"Sir, please," Simmons says, it being clear that she knows Phil isn't telling the truth, "Would you mind if I had a brief moment alone with Fitz?" Simmons asks, and as she does Daisy starts to cry.
"Come on, let's go," Melinda says, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders and leading her upstairs.
About a minute later Melinda, Daisy, Phil, and Ward get upstairs, and while Phil and Ward walk towards the command centre Melinda and Daisy stand together.
"This can't be happening, she can't die," Daisy says, looking devastated, "Mom, do something! We've got to save her!" Daisy says, and having no idea what else to say or do Melinda walks the step closer to her daughter and hugs her.
"This is something I can't fix, Daisy," Melinda says, wishing she could not just for her daughter, but for Simmons too.
"But you can fix everything," Daisy tells her mother.
"Not this," Melinda admits, and as she does an alarm starts to blare.
"What the hell is that?" Daisy asks, as she and Melinda break apart, and Melinda hurries to the command centre, Daisy right behind her.
"Someone's lowering the cargo-hold ramp," Phil realises, and once he does Ward goes running out of the command centre and heads downstairs.
A while later Ward has jumped out of the plane, with a parachute, and saved Simmons with a injection of the anti-serum that ended up working. After Ward and Simmons landed in the ocean they were saved, brought back to the plane, and Phil has just finished talking to them.
"So, what did you think of your first time skydiving?" Ward asks Simmons curious.
"Honestly, I'd rather not think about it anymore," Simmons admits.
"I thought what you did was incredibly brave," Ward comments, and Simmons is touched by that.
"Oh, well, I suppose now's as good a time as any to tell you that, um, I may have misled you earlier," Simmons admits, and Ward gives her a look, "You see, when I gave you back the night-night pistol, I lied, it's still an ounce off," she reveals.
"I know," Ward says.
"You do?" Simmons asks, sounding surprised.
"Of course, after all," Ward says, putting his hands on his hips and putting on a deep voice, "I'm Agent Grant Ward, I just jumped out of a plane without a parachute on and saved your life!" Ward says, doing a very bad impersonation on himself.
"Actually, that's not quiet it. it's a bit more nasally than that," Simmons says, causing both her and Ward to laugh a little and as they do Simmons sees someone, "Oh, hello Daisy," Simmons greats, and once she does Daisy hurries over and hugs her tightly.
While Ward, Daisy, Fitz and Simmons are downstairs, all feeling glad that Simmons is okay, Melinda has headed up to Phil's office to talk to him.
"How's Simmons?" Melinda asks.
"Amazingly resilient, you'd never know she almost died," Phil admits.
"Experience like that, it takes a while to sink in," Melinda comments, and as she does she notices something, "That her medical report?"
"Mine, actually," Phil admits, "Blood work finally came back, I'm perfectly normal, little heavy on the iron, but don't worry, you don't have to start calling me, 'Iron Man'," Phil comments.
"I don't call my husband that, what makes you think I'm going to call you that?" Melinda asks.
"Good point," Phil says, being well aware that Melinda has never once called Tony Iron Man, "My doctors never requested any tests, I ordered them for myself, but you knew that," Phil says, and Melinda nods, "This piece of paper is telling me that everything's fine, but I don't feel fine. I feel different," Phil admits.
"Take of your shirt," Melinda requests, walking towards Phil, who gives her a surprised look, as he is very confused about what is going on.
"Excuse me?" Phil asks confused, and feeling like he can't have just heard what he thought he just heard.
"Your shirt, unbutton it," Melinda requests, and knowing Melinda well enough to know that she would have a purpose Phil moves his tie and starts to unbutton his shirt a little, revealing his scar, which Melinda puts her hand on, "Whether it was eight seconds or forty, you died, there's no way you can go through a trauma like that and not come out of it changed. You know how long it's taken me to…,"
"I know," Phil says.
"The point of these things is to remind us that, there is no going back, there's only moving forward, you feel different because you are different," Melinda tells her friend.
Downstairs Daisy has shut herself in her bunk, and wrapped an old blanket of hers around herself, and after a few moments of hesitation Daisy pulls out her phone, and facetimes her father, sitting in a way that the plane window, outside which it's night, can be seen behind her.
"Daze? What's wrong?" Tony asks, looking at his daughter in worry.
"I don't want to be here anymore," Daisy admits, "Can I come home? I want to come home," Daisy says, tears coming to her eyes.
"Of course you can come home, but Daisy what happened?" Tony asks his daughter, feeling worried about what has happened, "Talk to me, Tiny Toni," Tony requests.
"Things were bad today," Daisy reveals, "We almost died today, a member of this team was so close to dying," Daisy admits, looking afraid.
"Is everyone okay now?" Tony asks, as his heart breaks way to fast and he worries about his family.
"Barely," Daisy admits.
"That's good, focus on that," Tony tells his daughter, "It helps, even just a little, trust me,"
"I'm not sure I can, and I don't know if I want to," Daisy admits. "I want to come home Dad,"
"Okay, by looks of things it's night," Tony says. "So what's going to happen is you're going to get some sleep, and I'm going to talk to Mom, and we're going to get you home,"
"Really?' Daisy asks.
"Really," Tony promises. "And to help you sleep I'm going to get JARVIS to send you a file, of all your favourite episodes of TV shows,"
"Thanks Dad," Daisy says, looking relieved. "I love you,"
"I love you too. I'll see you soon," Tony assures his daughter, and Daisy ends the call.
While Daisy is in her bunk Melinda, who has left Phil's office is in the cockpit when her phone starts to ring and seeing the caller id she answers it straight away.
"Tony?" Melinda asks.
"Mel? What the hell happened on this mission? I just got a call from Daisy begging to come home," Tony explains, and Melinda becomes concerned.
"A lot of it I can't talk about over the phone, but I'll tell you when I see you," Melinda promises. "Things went bad on this mission. A member of this team who Daisy has become close to almost died, Daisy's struggling, I'm not surprised she wants to come home," Melinda admits, as this is everything she wanted to protect Daisy from.
"And you? How are you doing?" Tony asks concerned.
"I don't even know," Melinda admits. "The agent who almost died is so young, younger than Bobbi, Sharon and Antoine and I just keep thinking that if she had died it would be my fault,"
"No Mel, it's not," Tony says.
"It feels like it is," Melinda admits, "I'll bring Daisy home tomorrow," Melinda reveals, "But for now I should go check on her," She admits.
"Of course, give her a hug for me," Tony requests.
"Of course. Give Peter one for me," Melinda requests, and Tony knows their son is going to be thrilled to see his mother and sister again, and if he has his way it will be sisters as he plans to make a call to Bobbi, and the two of them end the call.
After ending the call with Tony Melinda heads upstairs, where Phil is still doing paperwork.
"May?" Phil asks confused, "What's wrong?"
"I'm taking Daisy home tomorrow, it's what she needs," Melinda reveals before once more leaving the office and heading straight to Daisy's bunk.
When Melinda gets to Daisy's bunk she knocks on the door.
"Come in," Daisy says, in a quiet voice, and Melinda walks in, "Dad called you," Daisy assumes when she sees her mother.
"He did. I'll take you home first thing tomorrow," Melinda reveals as she walks over to her daughter.
"Thank you," Daisy says. "This place is great, I'm just not sure I can handle staying,"
"That's okay. It's your choice," Melinda tells her daughter as she sits down next to her, giving her a supportive look, "What are you watching?"
"Dad had JARVIS send me all my favourite episodes of shows. First on the list was the Buffy musical episode," Daisy reveals, "Do you want to stay and watch it with me?" Daisy asks, and as she does Melinda can tell that that is what her daughter wants.
"Sure," Melinda says, moving so that she is comfortable next to her daughter, and once she is comfortable Melinda puts an arm around her little girl and Daisy snuggles into her mothers side, where she feels safe, and together mother and daughter watch tv together.
