Peru
"Oh, oh yeah. There's only one left and it's right next to mine," was the high-pitched words that managed to pull me out of my deep sleep. But what really woke me up was feeling as if something was thrown on top of me. I let out a loud groan and opened my eyes to see Fitz towering over me with a confused expression on his face. "Ashleigh? I'm sorry. I didn't- what-what are you doing here?"
He at least had the decency to remove the box as I sat up, registering Simmons and Skye behind him with bags of her own. So Coulson was letting her join us after all, just like I expected. Well, it would certainly make things more fun around here for Ward especially. And I always wanted to make sure Grant Ward had fun. But for the moment I turned my attention back to Fitz, running a hand through my knotted and crazy hair. "What does it look like I'm doing, genius?"
"But your bunk's the one they had to install- the high one across from Ward." Wow. Someone doth protest much. Fitz seemed a little too eager when it came to Skye, but I knew calling him out in front of her wasn't the way to go. He didn't react well to that type of stuff.
"I don't like heights," I responded with a shrug. "I thought that I could handle, but after nearly falling out of it last night I though a change of scenery was required. I didn't know it made me susceptible to having boxes thrown on top of me; otherwise I might have considered a bit more." He looked apologetic, but I made sure to convey with a wave of my hand I was only joking. "What time is it?"
"It's actually almost been a day, Ashleigh," Simmons answered kindly. "Coulson said to just let you sleep as much as you wanted after yesterday. How are you feeling?"
I took stock for a second. Fitz was staring at me like he was uncomfortable and I didn't know why. That was weird. Focus, Ashleigh. My head still had a dull throbbing, but it wasn't nearly as awful as yesterday. I could live with it. "Doing better, thanks. I suppose I should get up and seize the day though." I pulled the covers off and rose to my feet, glad there was no dizziness to accompany it. I gave Skye a sincere smile. "Welcome aboard. I'm so glad you could join us."
"Thanks. I'm looking forward to it."
"I'll clear out my old bunk and you can have that if that's alright," I told her as I made my way to my old bunk. She just nodded, clearly not wanting to step on my toes, and I quickly gathered up my clothes and pictures. "See you guys in a few." They waved me off as I dropped my stuff on my new bed, picking out a pair of clothes for the day. I perhaps should have found out where we were going, but it would always involve long sleeves so I guess it didn't really matter. As I emerged I almost ran straight into Ward who was clearly heading straight for Skye and still not happy with me judging by the harsh elbow I received. But unfortunately it was his big, fat, muscular elbow so I nearly lost my balance.
"Seriously?!" I shouted after him, but he merely ignored me to thrust something in Skye's hand. "Real mature, Grant Ward!" I started around the corner to track down a shower when I nearly ran into Coulson. He went to say something, but I decided to save him the trouble. "I'm feeling much better, sir. Ready to get going and see what today has in store."
He stood there for a beat. "I was going compliment your improvement in your relationship with Ward… sarcastically, but as what probably should have been my first questions that's good to hear."
"Sweet ride," Skye joined in from behind us, taking the plane in. Coulson smiled with pride as he glanced around as well. I was meanwhile was finally waking up and coming to the stark realization that I was standing in front of my supervising agents in a long-sleeved yellow pajama shirt and a pair of polka dot shorts Maria Hill had provided me. No wonder Fitz had been giving me an odd look back there. Not exactly the image I think I was supposed to be getting across.
"I earned a little goodwill from Director Fury when I got hit right before the battle of New York," he explained as I hurriedly tried to sneak around them to find wherever the shower was on this plane. It had to have one right? They had to expect us to be clean. Or at least get to the bathroom so I could put on some pants. I'm pretty sure an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. should always be wearing pants. "Crawford," Coulson caught me before I could round the corner. "That'll have to wait until we're up in the air. Buckle up," he ordered, taking a seat on one of the couches. Skye followed suit and I awkwardly did the same, trying to find a point in the room with no windows in my vision. I needed to keep my wits about me and not completely humiliate myself any further.
"I don't even know where we're going," Skye confessed, obviously still a little out of sorts. I decided to donate a little more of my dignity to make her feel better.
"I don't either, honestly. Just woke up, actually. Not exactly on the ball." She turned to look at me and I just gave her a smile. Luckily, she seemed to pick up on what I was doing and slowly smiled back. I felt like Skye and I were starting to become friends slowly but surely. She was somehow cooler than me, the supposed Agent. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from her in terms of poise.
Coulson let me comment slip without comment, and I guessed he had guessed my purpose as well. Probably chalked it up to my special skill… which was actually what I was attempting weirdly enough. I didn't have too much time to dive into it mentally before he answered a more burning question. "Peru. That's where the 0-8-4 was reported," he explained with a significant look to me. I realized quickly enough it was because I was supposed to know what that meant and gave a nod that hopefully reflected knowledge of the right degree. I could only hope Skye would-
"And an 0-8-4 is…?" Skye asked, looking between the two of us. Whew. Skye had delivered just what I needed. I gestured for Coulson to go ahead and explain, hoping I didn't look too suspicious to him.
"An object of unknown origin," he explained, clearing up absolutely nothing for me. I felt the plane start moving and desperately tried to focus on him. "Kind of like you. Team goes in- determines if it's useful or if it poses a threat. Last one turned out to be pretty interesting, though from what I've read you've seen a few yourself Crawford."
No. No, no, no, no, no, no. She didn't. She didn't actually put that in my fake background. Goddamn you, Maria Hill. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? I could already feel Skye turning towards me to ask the obvious question. Otherwise known as the one I had no idea how to properly answer without betraying everything. The plane lifted into the air and I desperately tried to keep my eyes away from any windows as well as their faces. I was running out of places to look fast as my ears started ringing. I realized then I was literally holding my breath in anxiety over the situation. "What kind did you see?" Skye asked and the plane might as well have dropped out of the sky the way my stomach felt. Why didn't I just stay in bed?
I needed an out that didn't just involve me sprinting down the hallway screaming at the top of my lungs, which was what I felt like doing with this whole situation. I was in a tin can in the air being given what felt like the third degree. I was pretty sure my mouth was open dumbly and Coulson and Skye were starting to look concerned.
Concern. Play off the concern. I grabbed my head and let out a hiss of pain, trying to appear as if I was steadying my breathing through gritted teeth. Skye's hand was instantly on my shoulder with worry and Coulson looked ready to get up the second we were stably in the air. "I'm sorry," I muttered, weak but not pathetic. It was a fine balance. "I'm sorry, but I think the altitude… it's like someone just slammed a hammer into my skull." I took a deep breath as Skye placed a cold water bottle she had to my head. It was actually an incredibly thoughtful gesture that moved me a lot. She had a big heart for certain. "I'll be fine. I just think I need a minute."
Once we were at out altitude, Coulson got to his feet and came back moments later with a handful of pills. "These should help." I nodded as he dropped them into my hands. I could see he looked torn. "I need to make some-"
"I'll be fine. I promise. Go." He was really worried about me. I tried not to let that be a sledgehammer of guilt coming down on me, but it was hard not to feel bad that I was deceiving him to save my own skin. Being a spy sucked in that regard. I would make it up to him somehow I promised myself- whatever it took.
"Make sure she eats," he told Skye. "That might help some as well." He started down the hallway, but looked back over his shoulder. "But don't let her cook." I would have laughed if I weren't faking a headache.
After checking to make sure I wasn't big on germs- I didn't think I was but I could never be sure at this point- Skye let take a sip of her water bottle to take the pills. We sat for a few minutes with her just rubbing my back before I decided it was safe to get up and say I was getting better. "I can cook you something while you're in the shower," she promised. "It's the least I can do since your concussion is my fault."
I shook my head. "Don't think of it like that. I was doing my job to help my friend and I wouldn't change that." I got to my feet and grabbed my clothes from where I had casually dropped them. "I really appreciate it, Skye. I'm glad we got to keep you."
"I'm glad too."
With that, I made my way through the hallway, avoiding looking at any windows, and managed to track down the shower. I tried it to make it quick and efficient though as an Agent would and as I had perfected from my weeks in my cell. Plus my stitched arm was irritating something fierce when the water hit it. I made a mental list of ways I could make up things to Coulson and Skye that didn't involve meals and desperately trying to avoid thinking about my nightmare from last night. Obviously I wasn't very successful. I dried off and threw on my outfit for the day: a pair of khaki shorts with a belt, laced boots with socks, and another long-sleeved button-up sweater over a grey cami tucked in. The top would suck royally for Peru, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I hastily put my hair up in a ponytail and made my way back to the kitchen.
"Wow," I couldn't help but say as I noted a stack of pancakes waiting for me. I took a seat at the table and Skye slid me the syrup bottle. "This is pretty impressive."
"Thanks," she shrugged. "Fitz-Simmons already blew through here and took a bunch, but I made sure you had enough. Eat up." I took my first bite and was floored. It was by far the best thing I had eaten since waking up. I started shoving them in my mouth in a very un-ladylike manner, but I didn't care.
"These are seriously amazing," I complimented. "I might need to take some lessons, my friend."
"Well, I'd be happy to show you… but you might be beyond help is all I'm saying. Especially if you're planning on wearing long sleeves in Peru."
"Ha. Ha. Ha." I finished up and rose, destination in mind. "It's an Agent thing. I have to go check in with May. Thanks again."
May was flying the plane with her shades on and didn't even make a note of my entrance. I fell into the co-pilot seat facing her, feet dangling over the armrest. "So I know Maria Hill thought she was doing me a favor by making up this past history for me, but it keeps trying to screw me over. Skye asked me about the 0-8-4's I've encountered in front of Coulson, and I have no idea what the hell that even is. I managed to cover, but soon enough a shoe's going to drop. So as the person reporting her, could you please sometime convey my… frustrations with these circumstances?" She merely reached one hand in the bag next to her and held a tablet out to me.
"I was going to give this to you yesterday, but then I had to stitch you up instead." I took it from her and the screen flickered to life. "Bio-encoded and no one can trace your history. It has information on any S.H.I.E.L.D. file Fury thinks might be relevant- including your supposed past deeds in detail. I recommend you start studying so we can avoid 'shoes dropping'." Her tone was icy and really off-putting honestly. It rubbed me the wrong way a lot.
"You make it sound like it's my fault I got a concussion yesterday." She said nothing, but I could tell I was right. I felt this need to defend myself, stick up for how I was managing. "He's going to put me in those situations. It's what I'm on here for to him. And it's also what I'm on here for according to Fury. I'm doing the best I can considering I have no training and about a month of my life in my brain. So excuse me for not noticing the flying door in time. Coulson did."
"Coulson doesn't need you here taking his focus off the missions. You are going to keep putting yourself out of your league and getting hurt," she argued, voice rising just a touch. It was terrifying, but I was pissed now.
"Well, Agent May, that's just how things are going to be. I don't think you're worried about Coulson. You're worried about yourself and how it's going to look to Fury if you keep letting me get hurt. I don't see you offering to put in the effort to train me yourself though, just saying. But I'm not going anywhere. I'm here on Fury's orders. Coulson likes me. Deal with it." With that, I turned my attention to the tablet, pulling up my personal files. She didn't say anything and I started to feel immense pride at having the last word, but this was May. So instead I was mostly unnerved at the whole development as the cockpit was eerily silent. She was saving the battle for another time and I needed to look out for that.
Instead, I buried myself in learning about my two 0-8-4 missions, including the fact that I was apparently there when we found Thor's hammer. Coulson and I never encountered one another- of course- but I had been in the background with my supervising agent to help out. That soon led me to spending the rest of my flight once I memorized details researching and learning more about these Avengers. And no offense meant to Coulson- Captain America seemed cool- but I was for Iron Man all the way. What girl wouldn't fall for a snarky tech guru who made his own stuff after all?
XXX
We landed on the local airstrip after I managed to make my way through Bruce Banner's available info and I left my tablet on my new bed as I made my way to load up so we could head to the dig site. I picked the white Jeep with Coulson, Skye, and our guide to lead us to the dig site-desperate to avoid Ward and May at the moment. After assuring the two I was doing much better since the amazing pancakes, we spent the ride discussing the area and I offered some details on the two 0-8-4's I had encountered.
"It's just weird to think we were both there, sir. That Agent Barton was as well was a bit of a let-down too," I told a smiling Coulson. "For a little Agent like myself who was only a couple years in, it was thrilling to be in the company of giants."
"Did you get to see him?" he asked. "The God of Thunder?"
I shook my head. "Not personally. Maybe one day." The Jeep came to a stop with tents on either side of us and we proceeded to climb out of the car with the others coming out of the one behind us. Skye took in both Ward and Mya before nudging me.
"And here I thought you were kidding about the long-sleeve thing," she whispered. Indeed, both were sporting black and Ward was even in his suit- which seemed like the cherry on the unbearable sundae. I was already sweating from being out here a few minutes. I noticed Fitz-Simmons making their way through the brush towards our destination and took off to join them- too curious to see what was on the other side to wait longer.
"It's neurotoxic, proteolytic, and hemolytic," Jemma was telling Fitz as I came up behind the two of them, causing him to chuckle nervously.
"Seems like I walked in on a great point of the conversation," I cut in. "I hope she isn't scaring you too badly, Fitz."
"No. No. I'm fine," he said in a very unconvincing manner. We continued carefully through the jungle, Jemma practically bouncing up and down at all the plant life.
"You shouldn't be. I'd be much more concerned with earthquakes, mala-"An insect landed on Fitz's neck without his notice and in a small bout of panic I proceed to slap it dead before he even had a chance to notice. At first he didn't understand why I was slapping him, but the moment he did I could tell he was beyond thankful of my intervention. Jemma was getting to the both of us it seemed. She had witnessed the moment and proceeded to a new topic as Fitz now scratched at his neck. "There's no vaccine for dengue fever."
"Not helping," I uttered. She was about to say something else that was probably horrifying, but we all came to a screeching halt at the site of the monument before us. It was enormous, constructed of bricks and showing its age with vines and grass growing all over it. It was easily the most impressive thing I had ever seen, and I felt smaller just standing near it. "Whoa."
"Look at this," Jemma said in awe before scrambling up the steps to the first landing where a hole had been made into the structure. Fitz and I just looked at each other before following. Jemma was practically glowing with excitement as she examined it. "Just look at it." She pulled out her camera and turned to Fitz with a large smile. "We need a picture. Our first real adventure out in the field." He instantly agreed and moved next to her as she held the camera up. I took to looking around as I waited for them to have their moment, taking in just how grand the whole experience was. I wondered if I knew I was going to be seeing things like this, or if I had even seen it before. Where had I been in my past life?
I heard someone clearing their throat and I turned to Fitz-Simmons. "I asked if you wanted to get in one with us, Ashleigh." Jemma repeated.
"Oh, I don't want to-"
"Nonsense," she urged, gesturing for me to join them.
"Yeah. Come on," Fitz agreed with her urging. I awkwardly held my ground, so she stuck her hand out for me to take.
"You're a part of this too. You're going to be just as big a part of our memories." I made my way over, desperately trying to contain the surge of emotion I was feeling towards the two scientists, and smiled brilliantly at the camera as I moved in. She snapped a couple, arm wobbling to fit us all in. My first real picture. It was almost choking me up how much this meant to me. My new life was really starting now and it was going to turn into memories that I could keep this time. "I'll make sure to print you out a copy when we get back." I nodded in thanks, unbelieving at just how kind and welcoming she was and how excited she was about this whole adventure. I was really starting to feel like I was making friends. Like maybe I stood a real chance at fitting in with these people… well, some of them. The ones that mattered.
Coulson and Skye had caught up to us and made their way to a man who had just emerged from the opening with a head carved above it. "Good morning, Professor," Coulson addressed the man. "I'm Agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D. I understand you've made an interesting discovery."
The professor nodded, looking almost haunted in a way. "I-I'm not sure how to explain it. This temple dates back at least 500 years. It's filled with pre-Incan artifacts. One of them is impossible and looks like it might be dangerous."
"Well, that's why we're here." The professor started into through the opening and the rest of us followed single file, myself behind Fitz and before Skye. We proceeded down some stairs and through another opening, I was extra careful to keep my footing about me, to enter a larger room. I instantly noted what appeared to be a metal object buried in a wall decorated with some design. It had bits of blue that were glowing, and overall looked like it very much did not belong in this place at all.
Coulson moved closer to the object as I did, while Fitz and Simmons knelt down to open the case he had brought along. "Exactly as we found it," the professor told us.
"Who else knows about this?"
"Just the ministry. I believe they are the ones who contacted you."
Coulson nodded, looking at it again. The object seemed to be half-way into the way horizontally, like someone had been trying to shove it in there. "Sir, I need you and you team to evacuate the sight until we determine the risk associated with this object."
Whirring started from behind us and soon small, flying droid objects were making their way past us. I immediately guessed they had to be a Fitz-Simmons creation, though it didn't stop me from jumping at first, and that was confirmed when I saw Jemma tapping away at a control panel she had unfolded. One hovered in front of the professor, who seemed much more put off than I was. "Leave the man alone," Jemma warned the droid, and it then proceeded to scan the object while the others went to walls and places of their own in the room.
"Now- for your own safety," Coulson re-iterated. The professor quickly and efficiently exited as I made my way to look over Jemma's shoulder at what the droids were seeing.
"This is pretty spectacular," I made sure the two of them were aware. They merely smiled at me in pride and kept going about the room.
"Nothing about this anywhere," Skye told us from where she was typing on her phone. "It's amazing. I searched every data stream." She put the phone down and made her way towards it, fingertip extended. I could instantly tell that was a bad idea. "What do you got here, guys?"
Fitz spoke up before I could and with more authority than I could have probably had. "Whoa, car-uh, careful. I-I-no, I wouldn't do that." Though he certainly wasn't more elegant.
Jemma as usual cut in to clean up a bit on her partner's part. "The object's placement in fossiliferous rock formations suggests it's been here for at least 1,500 years. That pre-dates this temple by a millennium." Well, that was interesting. "Ah! Maybe it's alien," she exclaimed, clearly excited at the prospect. Alien. I had actually forgotten I might be dealing with alien.
"Yeah, but the shape and craftsmanship- it's almost German," Fitz pointed out as he examined his own screen. I continued to look over Jemma's shoulder for another minute as the droid called Sleepy apparently continued its examination. She actually seemed to welcome me in her space, making room so I could look on. I almost wondered if she thought I was Fitz for a moment, but then she gave me a look of pure glee as if to see if I was as excited as she was. It honestly raised my curiosity just to be next to her.
The Ward's voice came through Coulson's walky-talky. "Sir?"
He picked it up, eyes never leaving the object. "Go."
"We have a situation." And just like that my high came crashing down and my body was instantly put on high alert. I turned towards the entrance, but saw no sign of anybody thankfully.
"Lots of rebels in this area," Skye told Coulson as if she was reminding him.
He shook his head. "Not enough gunfire. Keep working." He then stepped towards the exit, nodding at me to follow him. "We're on our way," he told Ward as I fell in line behind him. "Be ready to talk to them. We need to keep this situation from turning violent." I nodded; trying to be the person I was yesterday afternoon who embraced this. I could do this.
We stepped out to quite the scene: May had two guns pointed defiantly at half a dozen men with guns pointed at her, Ward had a man in a chokehold, and a lot of men with guns were crouched behind a few Jeeps that must have pulled up. It was very intimidating as a few of them then were pointed at the two of us.
"Buenos Dias. Soy Agente Coulson," he began calmly in Spanish. "Estamos aqui por un asunto de la seguridad internacional." At his words, a woman with dark hair in a ponytail had made her way forward, flanked by two men. She was looking at us in disbelief for some reason.
"Phillip?"
"Camilla?" he questioned, recognizing her as well. "Do you mind?" he looked the situation.
"After you," she said almost playfully. Coulson gave the nod and both May and Ward eased up on their weapons. Soon she shouted at her guys in Spanish and they took the guns off us, which to me was a major win for our team. She made her way up to us, big smile on her face. "And now for a proper hello." She kissed him on both cheeks and I could tell from a glance at Ward that he wasn't a fan of this development. I didn't know quite how I felt either, but I trusted Coulson enough to go along with his obvious trust of her.
"Agent Melinda May, Agent Grant Ward, Agent Ashleigh Crawford," Coulson grabbed my attention, "this is comandante Camilla Reyes. She's with the Policia Militar del Peru." She looked my way and I made sure to give her a polite nod. "We used to work together back in the day." And there was something about the way he said that which piqued my curiosity and judging from May's scoff she felt the same way. "Let the team know everything's okay." Ward and May moved up the steps to go past us, but I stayed rooted in my spot. I wasn't quite leaving him alone with her yet, trust or no trust. May's nod as she passed seemed to indicate she agreed with me, but she seemed like the paranoid type. Ugh, I hope I wasn't. That would be exhausting.
"I know you've found a strange object on Peruvian soil," Reyes spoke up. "We should have a conversation about how to proceed."
"Of course. But an 0-8-4 supersedes all national claims." See, I had actually known that one. Learned it while I was studying.
"You look good." I rolled my eyes slightly at the change of topic. It felt to me like this woman was trying too hard.
"Yeah. I work out."
She put an arm around him and led him down the steps. "Come. Let me show you something." I didn't wait to be invited and instead merely followed them, intent on keeping myself as close to Coulson as possible. He had his guard down now, which meant mine needed to be sky high.
And with that I realized I was indeed a paranoid person. Spectacular.
We started through the jungle back to the road, neither either noticing me or telling me to buzz off and go back. I just kept my eyes glancing around as I listened to them chatter about chocolate for some strange reason. Yeah, they had totally been a thing. You couldn't convince me otherwise in the slightest. It was slightly cute but mostly gross, especially when she brought up the device again like she was trying to use it to bargain with him. I was being really harsh on this woman I had just met, wasn't I? I needed to chill out-
Boom! The shacks behind us exploded up in flames, derailing any playful nature. Both Coulson and Reyes pulled out their guns as firing started, myself getting yanked behind him roughly. "Rebels. Both of you stay close. Camilla, on my six. Crawford, behind me." They started forward and I moved with them, wondering how the hell I was supposed to protect Coulson with no weapon. Instead once again he was looking out for me because I was in a situation I had no idea how to cope with. I was now officially 0 for 2. I would have to take my bow from May and Ward's standing ovation later.
Both of them were firing as I was practically glued to his back, slightly afraid for my life but trusting him to have my back. A truck also exploded and this time I barely flinched. Should I be concerned this was starting to grow ordinary? We simply kept running, the both of them firing every which way before they kicked over a table by one of the tents. I ducked behind it, head and back pressed against the wood as I tried to control my breathing, as the two of them kept firing.
"Your men need to fall back now, or we'll never make the runway." They both reloaded in the instant we had before I felt a hand on my knee. "Stay with us, Crawford." I nodded, completely ready for the next round so we could get the hell out of here. "Now-your truck! Let's go!" They both rose and I followed, staying between the two of them and trying to keep up as they worked flawlessly to cover one another, spinning and picoting in a dizzying manner. I didn't even have time to register the bodies or the chaos- I just kept moving.
We managed to make it to the temple once again, only to see Skye, Fitz, and Simmons were basically pinned in the temple with no one to help them get out but Ward. Maybe I should have gone with them. They seemed to need more protecting than Coulson did right now. Had I screwed this whole thing up with the wrong choice after all? They were being fired on heavily, and in a moment of decision Ward clicked a long staff that Coulson seemed to recognize. "Tell you men to get down," Coulson told Reyes, who repeated the same in Spanish. We all hit the ground and a minute later a pulsing blue light flew out over all of us, knocking those on their feet to the ground with efficiency.
We seized the moment to make a run for Reye's truck and I had no shame in jumping in first as the two of them somehow took the moment to be cute with one another. Men, smelly men, piled in on either side of me and we were off, ducking to avoid the bullets that came at us from the back window. The men in the car fired back at the car behind us while I just kept as close to the ground as possible. Deep breaths. It was going to be alright.
We made it to the Bus with no casualties, and climbed out just as the ramp started to go up. I heeded Coulson's words and stuck right behind him as we made our way up the ramp just in time with Reyes and her men behind us. I cannot convey how lucky I was with all the bullets headed my way, but Coulson trusted me to be behind him and protected me to the best of his ability since I was. It was honestly all a big blur and when I finally was safe in the Bus I proceeded to go to my knees and take several wheezing deep breaths. I looked to see everyone but May was there, all in states of pure panic and disarray. "I got to say it," Skye wheezed. "I miss my van."
I almost laughed, but was too out of breath. Instead my attention was drawn to Ward. "Now, what was the problem?" he said very snippily, addressing Fitz in particular.
Fitz pointed to the black bag we were all now gathered around. "As I said before, this device has a high-frequency, fluctuating, sub-material compression-"
"Fitz, in English," Ward snipped again.
"Just let him talk, Ward," I countered, glaring at him. "Please proceed, Fitz."
Fitz was pretty fed up as well and it showed in how he addressed our teammate. "The 0-8-4 is fueled by tesseract technology. Hydra. World War II. Captain America." All terms I now recognized, not to toot my own horn and steal the moment. Which meant I was grappling what bad news this thing was. "It's full of lethal amount of gamma radiation."
"Gamma- you're saying it's nuclear?"
Ward obviously wasn't taking the hint, but Coulson decided to help him a much more polite manner than I would have managed. "No. He's saying it's much, much worse." And with that, we all almost in sync took a worried step or scooch away from the black bag in fear.
XXX
I stuck by Skye's side, you could practically feel the fear radiating off her, as Simmons opened the black bag we- not me- had moved to the lab after taking a few minutes to gather our wits. She gently lifted the device up and could see the both of us were clearly very tense. "Not to worry. The device is stable. Not that it couldn't explode at any minute, especially if hit with machine-gun fire." She was clearly trying to calm herself as well as us, and it seemed to be working for absolutely no one. "But things like this happen from time to time when in the field, and at first, it's very unpleasant, and you regret your decision to leave the lab at all." I took the moment to make my way over to her and just rub her back to try and calm her down. I don't know if it worked, but she seemed to appreciate the gesture, taking a deep breath.
"We're going to figure this out," I reminded her, trying to sound confident. I looked at Skye as well. Somehow I had become responsible for holding the room together. "It's going to be fine."
"Are you mental?" we heard Fitz exclaim as he and Ward entered the room, deflating the moment of calm I had worked so hard to create. "I did explain in great detail what I meant; using the Queen's bloody English!"
"I use normal English- words like 'duck' and 'run' and 'might blow us to pieces'," Ward argued back as Fitz began to mess with some sort of normal gun. The tension was back in the room again as Skye and Jemma watched on.
"Oh. Oh! Well, congratulations, Agent Ward. You managed to string three words together in a sentence." It dissolved to pure bickering from there, each of them on either side of the 0-8-4 while Skye had one corner and myself another. I tried to get words in to get us to stop and probably take Fitz's side, but it was no use. They were both clearly letting out a lot of feelings about… each other's accents apparently and it wasn't my fight. Didn't mean I wouldn't pick one at the earliest opportunity though.
"Do we have a problem here?" I flinched at the sound of Coulson behind me, and the two gentlemen immediately stopped.
"No, sir," Ward clearly lied. Jemma rolled her eyes and I was kind of itching to punch him. "Just working on our communication. Not everyone was prepared for a firefight," he admitted, glancing pointedly at the four of us.
Coulson looked us over too. "We got out, didn't lose anyone, saved a few of theirs- I'd say we did all right." He took a beat before addressing the now somber room again. "Anything else?"
Skye's hand went into the air and I put my hand on my forehead. This wasn't going to be good. We all just needed to be quiet and get to work. Otherwise we were just going to have more fights. "Uh, yeah. I have a small question." Her attitude told me we were going right back to square one. "Because I've been feeling like the tagalong hayseed rookie, but now I get the sense that Ward doesn't know which one's Simmons and which one's Fitz, and they've seen even less gunfire than me, and Ashleigh seems to have no combat skills as the person in the middle of a firefight without a gun needing your protection, and I'm no rocket scientist… but is this your first mission together?" Yeah, she had offended everyone in the room with one go. This was not going to end well. I was even offended. It was true, but I was offended.
"No," Simmons countered with an attitude I hadn't seen on her before. "Of course not. It's our second."
"I was your first?" Skye smiled. "That's sweet."
"You're amused," Ward went at her now. I just tried to hold my tongue. It was nigh on impossible at this point, but Coulson was in the room. I had an image to maintain and slightly fix actually. If I started throwing punches or dicing word it wouldn't help that.
"I'm terrified," she countered, voice breaking a bit. I felt for her in a way, because I felt exactly the same way. "I am in way over my head, but I have been on this team just as long as any of you. I might as well be team captain." Jemma scoffed and Coulson just stared her down in a way that drained all her bravado instantly. "I was joking, but maybe that's not a bad idea. Because some of these guys do not like each other much."
"This isn't about that," Ward disagreed as he turned his attention to Coulson. "I'm a specialist. Today, I could have eliminated the threat myself-"
"Sure you could have," I couldn't help but join in the mayhem. The straw had broken the camel's back. "You are just so full of yourself it makes me sick."
He ignored me and kept going. "I could have eliminated the threat myself if I was working alone, but I had non-combat-ready agents-"
"Who, whoa," Fitz now took his turn. "Wait. You work alone?"
Simmons joined in from his side. "So typical. Who do you think designs your equipment?"
"Or the polymers for your weaponry?" He then then said, "People like us do," at the same moment Jemma said the much more preferred, "Try going into the field with just your bare bum."
"No man is an island," I sent his way as Skye made her way next to Coulson. "We all need each other to-"
"Don't you start your talking bullshit on me! You may have everyone else here fooled that you have a skill that makes you an Agent, but I see right through that. You're nothing but a liability that distracts us from our jobs by making sure you don't manage to kill yourself. I don't even know how you got the job."
"See them proving the point I just made?" Skye inquired of Coulson as Jemma and Fitz held me back from jumping over the table. I was furious, mainly because it seemed like he saw through everything. Grant Ward was not fooled by my act and that was very scary indeed. I don't know what I hoped to accomplish, but maybe I could punch it out of him. And it was the second time that day I heard I was nothing but a distraction to them rather than the help I was meant to be. It was getting very frustrating in my ego.
"You're not wrong," Coulson admitted. "We still need to iron out the kinks. But, Ward, you can speak six languages. Crawford, you talked a man down from blowing up all of Cairo single-handedly." That was a lie, but I got what he was going for. "Simmons, you have two PhD's in fields I can't pronounce. And, Fitz, you are a rocket scientist. So work it out." And with that, he was gone, leaving us all in the silence of having been chewed out. I didn't exactly feel better, but that may be because mine hadn't been true. Not that anyone else knew that.
"I-I'm- I'm good at stuff, too," Skye called after him, making me chuckle. "Shut up," she said playfully to me before we all stood for another moment in silence.
I took initiative and clapped my hands, earning everyone's attention. "You heard the man. Let's get to it." And with that and not another word Fitz-Simmons got to work- going into their zone while Skye, Ward, and I went to leave the lab. I was personally planning on grabbing my tablet and doing some more studying while we had a calm moment. I knew it wasn't going to last long.
XXX
I quickly grew bored with hanging out in my bunk, nerves on edge and honestly not wanting to be alone, and tried to decide where to go after grabbing one of the TV dinners in the fridge. I didn't want to go up front with May, Ward was reading and as fun as disturbing him would be I was trying to grow as a person, Skye was taking a personal moment, Coulson was with our guest, so that left the lab. I made my way back in, enjoying some soggy green beans as the two of them were looking over holograms on their table and barely paying me any mind.
"We're lucky the drones didn't trigger while we were taking electromagnetic reading," Fitz was brainstorming with Simmons. "This is a weapon, powerful enough to-"
"Enough to melt through 50 feet of solid rock to bury itself," she finished, earning my attention. I made my way over to the display behind them and stared at the blue square. "Imagine what it could do to a person."
"Yeah, or an airplane," Fitz added nervously. He seemed to smell something and turned towards me. "Is that mac and cheese?"
"Yes," I said with my mouth full. "And I will be happy to share some with the starving scientist if he repeats in a way I can understand what's going on."
"Basically, this thing is a laser and really strong one too. We need to be really careful."
"That's it? That's all I missed?" I quipped with my mouth full. She shrugged as he nodded. "You guys use so many words you make it sound a lot more than that. But a promise is a promise." I handed my fork over to him with a bow.
"Thank you," he said, before basically eating the whole thing in one bite. I turned to see Simmons looked a little grossed out by our behavior.
"What? I don't have cooties."
"But did you check the expiration date before you heated that this time?" Fitz stopped mid-chew, but I did my best to look offended.
"Yes… this time. You're fine Fitz. It was impossible for even me to screw this up." He seemed satisfied by this and kept chewing as I turned my attention to the mashed potatoes, grabbing the fork back. Simmons moved behind us to one of the computers, giving us our moment. Our moment. Fitz and I were having a moment. A nice, fun moment as friends free of-
I noticed him before the other two did and a second before the lab doors sung open. And I instantly got a shiver down my spine that told me what bad news this development was. They were with Reyes and she was handily distracting our leader right now. Others were probably by Skye and Ward plus going after May. I had been right about that bitch. Yeah, I could put the pieces together. And I knew Fitz-Simmons didn't stand a chance. This was my moment. I had to do my damn job this time.
I thrust the dinner into Fitz's hand as he looked puzzled. "Stay behind me," I whispered just as the doors opened. He made his way toward us and I immediately charged, trying to have the upper hand. I managed to give him a good punch in the gut and duck under the knife he swept out with the little I had been taught back in my cell days. Fitz-Simmons backed into the corner as another man came from the other door. I gave my guy a punch in the jaw, which really hurt my hand, and sprinted to the other guy before he could take his knife to Fitz. "No!" I collided into him hard, shoving to try and get him off balance. I was moderately successful and kicked him for good measure. I then took the dinner from Fitz and threw it at the other one, coating him in mashed potatoes. I would have laughed if he didn't start right for me.
I would like to say I then pulled out my ninja moves and defeated both handily and without a scratch. But I was me and they were them. Once they both reached me, I managed a hit or two on either before one was behind me with a knife pressed right up against my throat. "Ashleigh!" Simmons shouted, but the other guy kept them from taking a step by standing between us. They just looked on in horror as I was brought before the camera in the room, the bargaining chip Reyes would use to get Coulson to surrender. I struggled, but it only took the knife pricking me to stop that. I had to play this smarter than that.
But for those of you keeping score at home, I was now 0 for 3. Fitz may be safe behind me, but the entire Bus was going to be royally screwed over because Coulson was a good guy. He was going to surrender because of me.
Seriously, I expect a standing ovation anytime.