To say that the Doctor was angry upon finding out that his companion/girlfriend had been shot while on mission was an understatement. He was borderline furious. And it showed in the way he stormed up to the hospital where both Hayley and Sky had been taken. With his arm around a very worried Rose Tyler, Jack hurried after the fuming Time Lord.
The Doctor had plenty of angry words ready for Coulson but when he saw how distraught they all looked, he refrained from saying any of them. Instead he asked about the twins. "They're both in surgery right now", Coulson replied "they went in about an hour ago". He then snatched up his phone from the table and walked off. He had an important call to make to Director Fury. The Doctor, Jack and Rose settled down on the sofa for what was surely going to be a long wait.
And they waited…
And waited…
And waited…
Several hours passed and there was still nothing. At some point during both Fitz and Rose had fallen asleep. Ward and Jack were now both on their third cup of Coffee. Jemma was reading something on her tablet to keep her mind occupied. May sat in the arm chair fiddling with her hands. Coulson was still on the phone trying to get through to Director Fury. The Doctor leant against the wall and was reciting random facts in his head. Anything to keep him occupied and to keep his mind off of Hayley and Skye's current situation.
Finally one of the scrub wearing doctors that had taken the sisters into surgery appeared. Jemma nudges Fitz awake while Jack does the same for Rose. They all looked expectantly at the doctor.
"How are they?" Coulson asked having hung up when he saw the doctor.
The look on the doctor's face told them it wasn't good news. "I'm afraid it's not good for either of them", she said solemnly "We resected what we could but…there's been too much damage".
Rose grabbed hold of Jack's hand trying desperately to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. "So what's next?" Coulson asked.
"We can keep them comfortable, but you'll need to make a decision on whether or not you want to keep Hayley and Skye on life support", the doctor replied.
Upon hearing this, the Time Lord pushed himself away from the wall and stormed off. When he reached the TARDIS, he unlocked the door and shoved it open so violently that it banged against the railing that lined the ramp. However, the TARDIS didn't let out an angry hum at her pilot for being so rough as she could tell that he was extremely upset. The Doctor didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he had to let out his anger somehow. The room he ended up in was the kitchen.
He snatched up a cup and threw it against the wall. It shattered. "She. Doesn't. Deserve. To. Die!" The Doctor shouted throwing a piece of crockery with every word. He picked up another mug and went to throw it when he stopped. The Doctor lowered his arm and stared at it. The mug he'd picked up was cream coloured with the words 'Can you dig it?' stamped across one side. On the other side was a picture of a trowel. It was Hayley's mug that he'd picked up. Tears pricking in his eyes, the Doctor sank down onto the floor cradling the mug in his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world.
"She doesn't deserve to die", he whispered. He couldn't lose Hayley. Not now.
It was about an hour later when Jack stepped into the TARDIS to look for the missing Time Lord. The scanner flickered to life as he passed it and showed an image of the Doctor sitting on the floor holding a mug. The former Time Agent recognised the room he was in. It was the kitchen and luckily for him, he actually knew his way there despite not being on board the TARDIS that long.
When Jack entered the kitchen, he saw smashed pieces of crockery littered across the floor. The Doctor must've heard him enter because he looked up from the mug. "Doctor, I know this is hard…." Jack began.
"Its more than hard", the Doctor interrupted "she has her whole life ahead of her, she doesn't deserve to die".
"I know. Neither of them deserve to die", Jack said "I actually came to tell you that Coulson is planning on taking them to some trauma center in Bethesda. Apparently it's where he went after he was severely wounded on a mission".
"He really thinks taking them there will save them?" the Doctor asked getting to his feet still holding the mug in his hands.
"Yep", Jack replied "he wanted me to let you know and ask if you wanted to come along".
The Doctor gave him a look as if to say that it was a dumb question asking if he wanted to come along. Of course he did! If there was a chance that Hayley and Skye could be saved, he definitely wanted in. "Am I supposed to meet them there?" he asked starting towards the door.
"Coulson suggested it would be better if we all arrived together", Jack replied following after him.
"Ok, where's the Bus now?" the Doctor questioned. Jack told him exactly where the SHEILD plane was and was surprised when the Time Lord suddenly took off running. Jack chased after him. He had to quickly hold onto something when he reached the console room as the Doctor had already sent the TARDIS into the time vortex. As soon as the shaking stopped, the Time Lord dashed out of the box, Jack close behind.
The pair found the science duo in the lab reading something. "Where's Coulson?" the Doctor asked them.
"He's in his office I believe", Jemma said looking up from the file she'd been studying.
"Is Rose still with Hayley ?" Jack asked.
Jemma nodded "she hasn't moved from her side since we got the medical pods on board", she replied.
"And where are these medical pods?" the Doctor asked. He wanted to see the twins for himself and check on Rose before he talked to Coulson about the trauma center they were heading to.
"I know where they are", Jack said "come on". The Doctor followed Jack through a door at the other end of the science lab. They walked a short way before they came across the 'medical pods'. The Doctor's hearts clenched seeing Hayley and Skye lying there, very pale with various machines attached to them. Some monitoring their health, others keeping them alive.
In the furthest pod was Rose. She was sitting down by Hayley's bed looking at her sister sadly but she looked up when the Doctor entered. "Doctor", she said quietly, her voice trembling as she got up and went over to him. The moment she was close enough, the Time Lord pulled her into a hug.
"It's going to be ok Rose. The people at the Bethesda trauma center will be able to help Hayley and Skye", the Doctor assured her.
"I hope so", Rose sniffled "I can't lose Hales, Doctor. I just can't". The Time Lord rubbed her back as she started to cry. I can't lose her either he thought looking over Rose's shoulder at the brunette. He sincerely hoped the people at this trauma center will be able to save Hayley.
Coulson looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on his office door "come in", he called. The sliding door was pulled back and the Doctor entered. "I'm assuming you want to know why we're taking Hayley and Skye to Bethesda", he guessed as the Time Lord sat down in the chair in front of his desk.
"I do. Jack said you were treated there when you got severely wounded during a mission", the Doctor said. Coulson got up from behind his desk went over to the door and pulled it shut.
"I wasn't wounded. I was dead. Stabbed through the heart by Loki", Coulson said. The Doctor frowned at that.
"If you were dead… how are you here?" the Time Lord asked.
"I'm not entirely sure myself. FitzSimmons are going over my file right now trying to figure it out. All I could understand is that my heart was torn in half and somehow they managed to heal the damaged tissue. And my memories were altered so I wouldn't remember what I went through", Coulson explained.
"And you're hoping that the people at Bethesda can save Hayley and Skye like they saved you", the Doctor said and Coulson nodded.
"Yes, that is what I'm hoping. I'm not going to give up on them Doctor, not when there's a chance that they can be saved", Coulson said.
"What can I do to help?" the Doctor asked. He didn't want to sit around waiting until they got to their destination. He wanted to do something, anything to help.
"You can help FitzSimmons with my file", Coulson replied. The Doctor nodded, got up and left.
When the Time Lord got back down to the lab, he found FitzSimmons still reading something which he now knew was Coulson's file. "Coulson asked me to give you a hand with his file", he said.
"That's a good idea, you might know what some of these drugs are. I've never heard of half of them", Jemma said and pushed the file over to the Doctor. He picked it up and flipped through it. The more he read, the more worried he got. Some of the things they put Coulson through was horrible and the transcript of the procedures … the agent had begged to die several times. There was no way he was allowing Coulson to subject the sisters to everything he went through, no way. When he voice his opinion about it, FitzSimmons agreed with him.
"But we can't argue with the results Doctor. He's walking around", Fitz added. Jemma looked over at the monitor at the end of the table. It was showing both medical pods.
"Yeah, but at what cost?" she asked "we've all read the transcripts. He begged the doctors to let him die".
"This is different, Skye and Hayley are still alive" Fitz pointed out "We have to keep them that way". The Doctor picked up the file again and started to read through it once more. While he was strongly against putting Hayley and Skye through the same stuff that Coulson was put through, Fitz was right. Coulson was alive. There must be something in here that can help he thought carefully reading each page. There had to be something, anything they could give the twins that could help heal their wounds without putting them through all those procedures.
Jemma pulls her phone out of her back pocket when she heard it vibrate. "I've asked Dr. Streiten to advise us", Jemma said "He's the doctor who operated on Coulson", she added for the Doctor's benefit. Jemma answered the phone, putting it to her ear. "Hello?" Jemma said before smiling at something the person on the other end said "Yes" she listened to something for a moment and her smile faded "Are you sure? That can't be".
"What's wrong Jemma?" Fitz asked as Jemma hung up.
"Dr. Steiten's gone off the grid", she replied "in fact, Coulson was never treated at Bethesda".
The Doctor frowned at that "what do you mean he wasn't treated there?" he asked "his file says he was".
"His file is also classified as level 10. The only person with a clearance level high enough is…"
"Director Fury", Fitz finished.
"But why put false information into the file?" the Doctor questioned. Trying to ignore the ache in his hearts when he was told that they weren't going to the right place to save Hayley and Skye.
"Director Fury must've had his reasons", Fitz replied. The Doctor looked down at the file in his hands.
"I'm not giving up, there has to be something in here", he said before continuing where he left off. FitzSimmons exchanged looks, they could understand him not wanting to give up. Hayley was someone he cared about after all.
The Doctor rubbed his face as he walked back to the medical pods. He'd decided to check on Hayley and Skye and well… there was only so many times he could read Coulson's file. That didn't mean he was going to give up though. Hayley and Skye's lives where on the line. He couldn't give up. He entered Hayley's medical pod which was empty, save the brunette in the bed. Jack must've convinced Rose to rest or something he thought coming to a stop by the bed. The Doctor looked down at Hayley. "We'll find a way to save you and Skye, I promise", he vowed "I'm not losing you Hales. I can't".
Meanwhile in Coulson's office, he, Jemma and May were discussing what the scientist had discovered. "Quinn shot Skye for nothing" May stated "The place we were going, the doctors who treated you, they don't exist". She'd found all this out when she went to the lab to get an update from FitzSimmons. It was safe to say she was angry about it, even if it didn't show on her face.
"Or maybe they exist somewhere else", Coulson suggested "This is SHIELD, there are always secrets".
"That's my fear, sir", Jemma said "Your file is filled with secrets: experimental drugs, unknown surgical procedures we've never even heard of. Frankly Fitz and I only understand about 70% of what's in there. The Doctor filled in some of the gaps but he wasn't really happy about what he read".
"Even if we do find where they treated you and we were able to replicate the procedure, there's the other obvious question", May added.
"Which is?" Coulson asked.
"Whether we should", Jemma replied bluntly. That earned her a sharp glare from her boss "What you experienced, sir, if this file is even partially accurate –" she was unable to finish her sentence as Coulson cut her off.
"No one's suggesting that we submit Skye and Hayley to everything that I went through, but if there's something in here, a drug, a treatment that can save them, we need to find it. Figure it out", he said in a tone that told Jemma not to argue.
"Yes, sir", Jemma said. She cast a look at May before leaving Coulson's office.
"You disagree", Coulson stated looking at Agent May.
"No", May said "I think we need to do everything humanly possible to save Skye and Hayley . But we need to acknowledge that doing so might give the Clairvoyant exactly what he wants".
"It's a risk we have to take", Coulson said. May sighed deeply but didn't say anything.
"How are they?" Fitz asked as he walked up to where Jemma sat outside Skye's medical pod. She was once again looking through Coulson's file.
"Deteriorating, and I don't know how to stop it", Jemma replied "The only thing I found remotely interesting is something called "GH-325".
"Some kind of drug?" Fitz asked.
"Agent Coulson was injected with that and literally minutes later his wounds showed signs of cellular regeneration", Jemma answered looking at the file.
"I know that Time Lords can regenerate but a drug that can do something similar, it that even possible?" Fitz questioned. The Doctor had told them all about his species including the process that they go through when they're severely injured or dying. It had fascinated both scientists.
"Even if this miracle drug does exist we don't know where to find it. We have no coordinates, no logs of anyone's departure or arrival", Jemma said sounding defeated.
"I think maybe I can help with that", Fitz said. He touched her on the shoulder and walked away. Jemma stood up and started to walk away when she heard a sudden rapid beeping and the Doctor shouting. She spun around, raced past Skye's medical pod to Hayley's one.
"She's coding Jemma!" the Time Lord shouted with his hands on Hayley's shoulders to stop her from convulsing. Jemma went over to a table where a few syringes of Epinephrine sat. She snatched one up, rushed back over to Hayley and stuck the needle in her abdomen. The Doctor let go of Hayley's shoulders when she stopped moving. They watched Hayley's vitals improve but not by much. The pair knew there was a chance it could happen again. "Thanks", the Doctor said, his hearts still racing from his sudden scare.
"You're welcome. I think I may have found something promising in Coulson's file. There's a drug: GH-235. It seemed to enable cellular regeneration in Coulson's wound when he was injected with it", Jemma said.
GH235… The Doctor vaguely remembered reading about that in the file but he admittedly hadn't taken too much notice. "You think it could help Hayley and Skye?" he asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.
"It's entirely possible", Jemma replied "will you be ok here by yourself? I need to head to the lab".
"I'll be fine Jemma", the Doctor assured her. Jemma nodded and left. The moment she'd gone, he shakily sat down in the chair. He really hoped Hayley didn't code again because his hearts wouldn't be able to take it.
When Jemma got back to the lab, she saw that four metal poles had been set up in a square in the cargo hold of the Bus right next to the TARDIS. "You've set up the Echo Chamber?" she asked walking out to stand next to Fitz.
"Yep", he replied "I made a couple of calls. A buddy of mine works in the archives at the Triskelion" Fitz typed something on his table and a blue hologram cube appeared in the Echo Chamber "He agreed to let us access it from here". The pair walk up to the blue cube "Hard to believe, but this cube contains all of S.H.E.I.L.D.'s historical administrative data", Fitz said pointing at it.
"Yeah, but if Agent Coulson's operation didn't take place at a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility – " Jemma began when Fitz cut her off with
"We won't find any records of it here, I know. But this also contains all interoffice memos, travel arrangements, purchase orders. Maybe we can track down the location through a virtual paper trail of some sort or another"
"Yeah", Jemma said nodding in agreement. Fitz touches the bottom of the cube, it opens and sends hundreds of file flying all around the Echo Chamber. Jemma sighed seeing how many files they've got to go through. "Well, let's start with the travel memoranda from the date Coulson got stabbed", she suggested, reaching out with both hands and pulled hard. Columns of files go flying past the pair.
When the files stop moving, they didn't see anything useful. "Or, um, what about Dr. Streiten's departure from the Triskelion?" Fitz suggested "Maybe they have that".
"Yeah", Jemma agreed. The pair spent the next several minutes moving files around, opening some and having a read before either closing them or passing them off to each other.
"Here. This is interesting", Fitz said and showed Jemma the file he was reading.
"A World War II bunker?" Jemma asked reading the file.
"'Collapsed' bunker", Fitz corrected her. He used his fingers to highlight a section of the report "Definitely not a sanctioned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility", he said.
"'The Guest House'?" Simmons read aloud.
"Exactly. Guest House. GH. GH-325", Fitz said. Jemma looked at him with an expression on her face which said that she was understanding where he was going with this. Look at the file's access history", Fitz instructed. Jemma brought it up and saw that the only record of it being opened was by Director Fury.
"Fury's been to this place and he's the person who sanctioned the operations on Agent Coulson…." Jemma glanced at Fitz "and why aren't you trying to find the file?"
She collapsed the file and throws it away. Fitz reached up into the program, scrolled through some files and picks one out. He pulled it out and opened it. A wall of random letters and number appear before them. "Oh, damn. Encrypted", Jemma grumbled "Skye could crack this".
"What would she do?" Fitz asked. He stared at it for a moment before holding his hands up to the 'wall' and pushed it away from himself and Jemma. The 'wall' of numbers and letters expanded almost filling up the entire cargo hold. "It's not an encryption", he said, reaching up and turned the 'wall' on its side. Jemma smiled seeing that it wasn't a 'wall' of random numbers and letters at all. It was the location of the Guest House. It didn't take them long to pinpoint exactly where the Guest House was and after telling Coulson about their discovery, they were soon on their way to the facility.
Coulson stopped by Hayley's medical pod to give the Doctor, Jack and a now awake Rose the good news. "Do you need anyone else on the mission?" Jack asked wanting to help anyway he can.
"It would be best if you stay here. Simmons is going to need all the help she can get to prepare Hayley and Skye so that they can be moved to the facility", Coulson replied. Although he was disappointed that he wasn't allowed to go, Jack nodded. Rose glanced at her adopted sister feeling much more hopeful than she did a few hours ago. Just hold on a little longer Hales.
Jemma sighed as she stood outside Skye's pod, looking in at her teammate. "Tough when it's your team", Agent Triplett remarked coming to stand beside her. He'd chosen to stay behind while his SO, Agent Garrett went with Coulson, Ward and Fitz to the Guest House. He and Garrett were only supposed to be there to pick up Quinn to transport him to the Fridge, a SHEILD prison. But since Coulson refused to let Quinn go on the account of the twin's critical condition, he and Garrett came to an agreement to keep Quinn on the plane just for as long as it took to save Hayley and Skye. "You guys go back a ways?" Triplett asked Jemma.
"Not really, I've only known Skye for about a year. And Hayley I've known for just a bit longer. The three of us have nothing in common, couldn't be more different", Jemma said honestly.
"But you can't imagine your life without either of them", Triplett said.
Jemma looked up at him "Yes. You've experienced that, Agent Triplett?" she asked.
"I have", Triplett replied "Sometimes, a person takes you by surprise".
"Yeah", Jemma agreed looking back at the window of Skye's medical pod.
"They're both very lucky to have you", Triplett commented "I know anything bad ever happens to me, hope you're in my corner, too". Jemma looked up at up him again as May walked up to them.
"Comms are down", she told them "If I don't hear anything within the hour, I'm going after them".
Jemma nods, understanding. Suddenly there is a rapid beeping noise from Skye's pod drawing their attention. Jemma rushed into the pod "Skye's coding. Both of you, now!" she shouted.
"How can we help?" May asked as Jemma does chest compressions on Skye.
"I need a unit of Epi", Jemma replied.
"Got it", Triplett said picking up a syringe. He stuck it into Skye's abdomen as Jemma continues chest compressions.
"Jemma is she gonna make it?" Rose asked worriedly from the doorway. She, Jack and the Doctor had heard the alarms and came running.
"I don't know. She's barely holding on Rose", Jemma replied.
Jemma looked at Skye's vital signs worriedly. It wasn't looking good for her nor for Hayley. Over the last several minutes both sisters had nearly flat-lined at least twice. Jack had to take Rose out of Hayley's medical pod as she looked like she was going to pass out every time her adopted sister's vitals went critical. "Weak, erratic heart rate. Each time we save them I ask myself, 'is this what Skye and Hayley would want'?" Jemma said.
May looked over at Jemma "We didn't come this far to quit", she said. Suddenly they heard Fitz's voice over the intercoms, though it wasn't very clear.
"Get of – the ground immediately"
"They're alive. Maybe we can – " Jemma was abruptly cut off when Skye suddenly started to flat line again. As she and Triplett acted on keeping her alive, May rushed out of the medical pod.
Several minutes later Fitz rushed in "We found it", he said holding out a vial. Jemma took it from him and he ran out of the pod, darting into Hayley's one. "Doctor, we found the GH 235", he said holding out a second vial. The Time Lord wasted no time taking it from him, putting the entire contents into a syringe before injecting the whole lot into Hayley's arm.
"Come on Hales", he muttered watching the monitor intently along with Fitz. A smile appeared on his face as her vitals started to improve. It quickly disappeared when Hayley suddenly took a huge gasping breath, her back arching as she did so. The monitor started beeping rapidly as the brunette's vitals got too high.
"She's spiking!" Fitz exclaimed. The Doctor had to pin Hayley to the bed as her back arched even more. They suddenly heard the rest of the team shouting in Skye's pod causing Fitz to rush out. The Doctor stayed put holding Hayley down, his hearts hammering wildly.
"Come on Hayley , don't do this to me", the Doctor almost begged. Hayley suddenly went limp under his hands and the beeping on the monitor slowed down. The Doctor watched her vitals fall to what was considered normal. He breathed out a sigh of relief. The Doctor looked down at Hayley and placed a gentle hand on her cheek "way to go Hales", he said softly.