Agents of SHIELD: Agents of Redemption

by JFuzzyWraith0587

With dangerous change on the horizon, Director Coulson tries to stem the tide, but he can't do it alone. With his team still recuperating from the Jia Ying/InHuman assault and Simmons missing he has to recruit an old ally to aid him. Jaxx is a former soldier and a 0-8-4, but are his skills alone enough to help rebuild SHIELD, or will the secrets from his past make him a danger.

6. Ep1 Ch3 A Debt to be Paid pt3

1 hour and 47 minutes later

Much to Coulson's surprise, the Iron Wing VX-32 was a lot smoother flyer than he would've thought; especially with it being of a late 1940's design. Jaxx proudly explained that he had made some modifications to the original design of the plane, like adding some fluctuation dampeners allowing for a much smoother ride; as well as a thermal cooling unit to help keep them off the military's radar. Coulson had always admired Jaxx's mechanical expertise, so much so that he was tempted to have him take a look under Lola's hood, once this whole situation was settled down a bit. For most, it was a privilege to even look at her, but a chance to work on her; that was truly an honor for besides himself, Coulson trusted no one else to tune up his ride. As they're conversing continued, it was "The Director" who noticed that something was out of place; he felt as though, something was missing from the conversation…or someone.

He looked behind him and saw her, Skye, sitting there without saying a word, staring at the spot on the floor between her feet. To his knowledge she had never been this quiet, ever, in fact she was usually quite the opposite; she always had something to say, and is always willing to speak her mind. Always wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and to him it was actually refreshing; usually he dealt with May's inability to open up, or Trip's calm and cool attitude. But now, she's so quiet, so distant; he knew something had her distracted, and as his eyes focused on her face, he recognized the look of agony. Whatever conflict she was feeling at that moment, he was determined to find out the cause.

Coulson

She's been sitting there for nearly 2 hours, burning in the floor with her stare. Something, I don't know what, happened to her; it's hard to watch her go through such agony, such pain, and not know how it happened. Hopefully Jaxx can shine some light that. I turn to him, "Jaxx," I lower my voice enough to where she couldn't possibly hear me. Jaxx looks over at me, "Sup Coul?" he didn't lower his tone, and for a second I turn back to her, and she's still phased out. I turn back to him and ask "Did something happen that I should know about?"

He turns to me looking unsure, like he didn't understand the question, though I know he did. I tilt my head to the left, signaling him to look behind me. He turns, and sees her sitting there, just a few seats down the aisle, staring at the floor; he recognized that look on her face as well, and his expression went gaunt. He knew something, the question is what, he later turns to me he asks, "Do you remember your first?"

Huh? What? My first-where exactly is he going with this, "By first you mean…" he scoffs at me "Not you're first time Coul, get your mind outta the gutter; I'm talking about your first kill. Do you remember?" Oh I see, glad we cleared that up, and suddenly it all becomes plain as day; "How many, out of the three?" a simple question, though I suspect that I already know the answer. He leans back, and readjusts in his seat, "1; the other two were mine."

In our line of work there are two types of agents. The first are those like Garrett and Ward, who don't flinch when taking a life, hell there's probably some part of them that even enjoys it. But the other one, are those who are willing to take a life, but not lose themselves in the carnage;

The old adage remains true, it states that the first kill is and will always be the hardest. Skye isn't like them she wasn't trained to be a ruthless cold-blooded killer; I'd like to tell her that it gets easier, but I promised her that I wouldn't lie to her. And I keep my promises.

I glance back at Skye once more. "You gave her the talk right?" he catches my attention and I look over at him. When I don't answer he glances over at me, "You, did give her the talk, right?" "Which one; the birds and the bees or where do babies come from?" Couldn't help myself, sarcasm is my better half and from the look he's giving me, he half expected a sarcastic response.

"FU-UN-NY. But seriously Coul, ya'know what I mean..." Thanks Jaxx. Way to change the subject from a light-hearted to dark and ominous. However, he is right; I never did talk her about it, about what it would be like. I guess I just wanted her stay the same for just a little while longer. I mean, sure I've been busy trying to rebuild SHIELD from the ground up, as well as fight a never-ending war with Hydra, and not to mention fighting the urge to carve those strange symbols into anything I could find. Still, there's no excuse, I should've made some time.

"I'll take that as a no. Well in that case," he glances behind him at Skye, then back to me, "If you want I could talk to her.?" This is new. I must admit, I'm a little taken back. And for a moment, I'm almost at a loss for words…almost. "Sure appreciate it." He unbuckles himself, but I quickly grab his arm; he looks at me, perhaps a little confused, and I say "Just be nice. No flirting with the junior agent, ok." He gives me a look, like I insulted him somehow; he lets out a scoff and replies "I'm always nice…And no promises on the flirting thing."

Now I'm the one with an irritated look on my face, as he flips a couple of switches, putting the plane on auto-pilot. He shimmies out of the seat and walks cautiously down the aisle towards Skye. I take this time to look around before it hits me; it would've been nice of him to ask if I would like to fly; granted I'm-no, no, NO! Those damned symbols again, and here I thought everything was going so well. Closing my eyes don't help, as I see them there too. Even on the window in front of me I can see them, and that's when I remembered; my knife is in my pocket, all I have to do is…NO! I've gotta stay focused. Just gotta block them out, just for a bit longer…

Skye

It's like a damn movie reel in my head, one that's stuck on a loop. He appears outta nowhere, firing at me and Jax; I fire three shots, he slams back against the wall and flips over the railing. Why can't I shake it? "How's it going kid?" Jeez! Put a freakin' bell on will ya, you sneaky bastard. Damn near startled me outta my seat, I can't believe I didn't notice him just hovering over me. "This seat taken?" he points to the empty seat to my right, "Have at it." I say, giving him a shrug.

He sits down beside me and leans back, laying his head against the top of the metal frame of the seat. He doesn't say anything, nothing. He just sits there staring up at the ceiling, after a while, the awkward silence starts to get to me "So," I say, trying to break the ice "How's everything going up there?" he closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath before saying "Fine, just fine. We'll be landing soon." I nod a couple times even though he doesn't see it.

Once again, the awkward silence starts creeping in, so naturally "Sooo…How's A.C doing? Is he getting all fanboy over riding in Howard Stark's prototype jet?" he opens his eyes, and lets out a heavy sigh. When he lifts his head up and turns to look at me, I force a smile out into the open, but I don't think he's buying it. "No; in fact, he's more worried about you at the moment. And frankly so am I." Wow, ok, wasn't expecting that, which kinda throws me off my game.

I take a moment to regain my composure, and try to throw him off "What do you mean? Why is he worried about me?" that's it girl, you've got this. He looks me in the eyes, he doesn't even blink, "You know why? What happened, back in the alley?" damn! How'd he know, and for that matter how'd Coulson know? It doesn't matter Skye just, keep focused on the task at hand here.

"What about it? I mean, I'm fine I'm doing just fine; no need to worry bout little ol' me." He stares at me for a few seconds, after which he leans forward, turning his gaze to the empty seat across from him. I think he's buying it. "You're a terrible liar." Or maybe he's not. "What are you- I'm not-" He interrupts me, saying "It never gets easier."

Ok, not sure what he's talking about, but "What'ya mean? What never gets easier?" He looks up at me, and that's when I see a sort of, sadness plastered over his face "Killing someone. It never gets any easier. Not even a little. Some can handle the cost that comes with it, while others" he looks away "Not so much."

There's a hint of pain in his voice, and with him being a former soldier, I'm sure he's got a lot of experience with killing. I don't want to have this talk, I…I just can't handle it right now. I just need to stay focused on the mission at hand, it's more important than how I feel right now. "Look, I appreciate you telling me this but I'm fine. I'm doing just-" I can't…there's no point; he somehow knows that I'm lying, so I might as well get this over with. "*sighs* How did you know?" He looks at me with, giving a half-hearted smile, "I've seen that look plenty of times, during and after the war. The thing is, you shouldn't feel sorry for what happened, to him; it was-" he stops when I roll my eyes at him, because I know exactly what he's gonna say.

"If you're going to say that I shouldn't feel sorry for killing him because he was Hydra, then I don't wanna hear that, ok." I didn't mean to be so harsh, yet he doesn't look the least bit phased. He simply shakes his head and says "What I was going to say before you so rudely interrupted me," he flashes a smile; I guess that's his way of forgiving me for being so harsh with him.

"Was that you shouldn't feel sorry for killing him, because you didn't. It was the fall that killed him, not you." Somehow deep down, I knew he was going to say that, even though it's completely untrue. "Of course I killed him, I was the one who shot him, I was the one that caused him to…" suddenly I lose my voice, which is when I turn away so that the battle-hardened soldier doesn't see the shame that's plastered all over my face.

I close my eyes, and I wish as hard as I can, that things can go back to the way they were; before Hydra, before Fitz's coma, before Ward betrayed us, but I know that can't happen. Then suddenly I feel someone gently touching my chin, their fingers were smooth. I open my eyes and turn my head towards him, towards Jaxx. His fingers remain on my chin, my eyes meet his, and that's when I notice something I didn't before; his eyes are so warm, so kind that it's kind of eerie at first, but after a while you start to…

"I need you to listen to what I have to say, can you do that?" he snaps me back to reality, and not a moment too soon. I give him a nod, even though I didn't really hear the question. What's wrong with you Skye? You're acting like a school girl crushing on the football captain. Shortly after nodding, he lets go of my chin, "Firstly, if you hadn't shot him he would've most likely killed you, me and Coulson or they would've captured us; either way you had no choice."

He pauses a moment, I guess to make sure that what he's saying is actually registering, which by the way it is. "And secondly, you couldn't have known what was going to happen after you shot him, no one could've." He sounds so confident, even to the point where I start to believe that he's right. "I know it's just…why do I feel so guilty about it then, I mean why, should I he was Hydra and he was trying to kill us."

He leans forward, just inches away from my face; I don't know whether he's trying to console me or kiss me. "You didn't push him over, right?" he asks me even though he already knows the answer, but I shake my head "No." "Did you use your mind to make the fire escape shake, causing him to fall?" in SHIELD's line of work that wouldn't be unheard of, and yet I answer "No."

He leans back against the seat, and poses a question "So, that means what happened in that alley, isn't the cause of your pain. Which I guess, just leaves Ward." That name, every time I hear it I can't help but think about what he has done to us, to me. Every time I think about how he smiled at us, I want to throw up, and all the times he saved our lives makes me wanna just scream out.

Then there's FitzSimmons, what Ward did to them is unforgivable; now every time I see a picture of Fitz all I see is him lying there in that hospital bed, with tubes down his throat and Simmons by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up. When all of these memories and feelings rush me at the same time, it's like a constant explosion of pain, fear, and hatred all at once. Some people can be redeemed, but Ward; I'm not even sure if he was even a person to begin with.

"All that hate your feeling right now, it will consume you if you let it." As I look at him, I see him staring into my eyes again, but this time I don't flinch, "Did Hill tell you about him? About what he did to us?" I expected him to look away, but he didn't, instead he continued to look me in the eyes. "She did." this time I'm the one that looks away, turning my eyes back to the spot on the floor between my feet. "Then you know why I feel the way that I do."

I hear him sigh, and when I look over at him, he turns away. He leans forward again, resting his arms on his knees; he too looks down at the space between his feet "Yeah, yeah I do. And trust me when I say that all that hate, all that pain; the longer you hold to it, the more it changes you into something you don't wanna be."

From his tone, it sounds like he's dealt with the same problem that I'm dealing with now. Maybe…maybe I should ask him what to do, so that way I don't end up a psychotic basket-case like Ward. "How did you, get past it? How did you fix it?" He takes in a deep breath, then turns to me and places his hand gently on my shoulder, "There's no changing what happened, there's no fixing the damage that's been done; so all you can do is move forward, and take it day by day."

What I was really hoping for was a simple answer, like 'take a couple pills and call me in the morning' answer, but I guess his answer is as good as any to start with. And I must admit, I do feel a little better, not a whole lot, but enough. I look away briefly before turning back and flashing him a smile, my way of saying thanks for the talk. "You good?' he asks, I keep smiling as I nod "Actually, yeah; I kinda do. Thanks for the talk it really did help."

He smiles back at me and that's when I notice that he actually has dimples, which make him a little bit cuter. "Well, talking about it does help, believe me. It makes quite the difference. And if you need to talk, or have any questions, feel free to ask, 'kay?" Once more I nod, he sits back up and slaps his knees before saying "Well, guess I better get back to flying before Coul decides to try and land us in a corn field or something."

I chuckle a bit, and he does too, just as he started to get outta his seat- Wait a minute! This is your chance girl, you're chance to ask him about- "Um I do have a few questions, if you don't mind a little Q&A that is?" He pauses in mid-lift, then sits back down in the seat, he grins and says "Sure, but FYI, my safe word is Apples." Funny, but now it's time to answer some questions Mr. Funny-Man.

I turn to my left and pull out his file, as I open it I notice that I peeked his curiosity, "First off, how do I get a cool nickname, like you and May?" He looks confused by my question, "What nickname?" he says; I look down at the file and its right there, clear as day, "The Sword? It's right here under aliases." I hand him the folder, he takes it and begins reading through it. He appears to be agitated and shocked by what he's read.

"Seriously? I can't believe Barton actually told them that." whoa wait, is he talking about the Clint Barton, aka the bow-wielding Avenger Hawkeye? "Hold on a sec; you know Hawkeye?" he shakes his head as he continued reading the file; I'm hoping he doesn't notice that I'm totally geeking out here.

"Unfortunately yea, I've actually worked with him and Romanoff on a couple of missions," Wow! I can't believe it, any of this. He must be one badass soldier to be paired up with Hawkeye and 'The Black Widow'. No wonder Nick Fury and Coulson tried to recruit him. He continues shaking his head and says "That little arrow shootin' terd couldn't even get that right. Figures…" I look over at the folder, curious about what exactly he's talking about so I ask "What is it?"

He leans over showing me the page within the folder and points to his name in the top left corner, "It's Jaxx with two x's, not one." Apparently he likes his name spelled a certain way. Of course I don't really blame him, if I had a nickel for every time someone misspelled my name, I'd be richer than Tony Stark, well not really. Then I remembered that I have something that could fix that; I reach down into my bag, and pull out a white-out pen; I lean over and write another x on the end of his name. "There you go. Jax with two x's." He laughs a little bit, then looks at me and says "Nice."

I shrug smile back at him, "Don't mention it." The next few seconds seemed to slow to a crawl as we stare at each other for a moment, a very long moment. "Jaxx! We're coming up on the landing zone, eta 2 minutes." A.C shouting snapped me outta Jaxx's hypnotic gaze. I turn away briefly to try a pull myself together, and he too looked away for a moment before handing me back the folder.

"Well, I better go before Coul decides to land this thing himself." He chuckles a bit awkwardly before standing back up. "Right…" I say it under my breath, where he couldn't possibly hear me. As he starts walking toward the cockpit, "Jaxx!" he stops and turns around, a look of curiosity across his face.

"Thanks again for the talk. I really needed it." he flashes me another smile, showing his dimples and he says "Anytime." He turns back around and gets secured in the pilot's seat. I lay my head back against the metal railing, and close my eyes. For the first time in weeks, I finally feel calm, and relaxed all thanks to talking to a complete stranger. Wait a minute, he never did tell me how he got his nickname, or about his history with Simmons. Oh he's good, he's reeeaaaalllll good.

5 minutes later

Jaxx managed to land in a clearing just a few minutes away from their objective. Coulson seemed a little worried about the Iron Wing being left out in the open, but was reassured that they would be back before anyone would find it. They made their way through the local park; luckily there were very few people around to notice them. And even if they were noticed, they would seem like nothing more than a brother and sister taking a stroll with their father. After walking clear across the park, they could finally see their objective in sight; the house that they were looking for lay just across the street from them, and held within possible clues as to the location of Dr. Streiten, and the men who took him.

Coulson, Skye, and Jaxx took a moment to scout the area from afar, hiding behind some over-grown bushes, before actually approaching it. The house stood nearly 2 ½ stories high, painted sky blue, just like every other house on the block. There was no garage to be seen, which only meant that if Streiten did have a car, he would've likely parked it not too far from this location. Everything seemed in order except for one tiny detail, a detail that they should've perhaps accounted for. A single patrol car is parked just outside the house, with a patrolman walking the perimeter and another waiting in the car itself. They were most likely here to secure the crime scene and to keep any unauthorized visitors from tampering with any potential evidence left behind. Now, usually this particular situation wouldn't be much of an issue, but that was back when everything was more sensible. Back when all Coulson and co. would have to do is walk over to the patrolmen, flash their credentials and they would be let right in.

But that was then, that was when they weren't considered terrorists and branded as traitors, so they would have to find another more difficult way around this.

Coulson

It's always got to be difficult doesn't it? It can never be easy, not even just this once. Well, the good news is that there's only one patrol car and two officers, making this slightly easier. "Well, whatcha think A.C?" I wish I knew Skye, but I haven't exactly had time to cobble together a clear plan of attack here. We don't have many options, so I guess now's as good as any to strategize.

"Not many options available," which is true, if only the streets weren't so crowded, or if the property was less-exposed and so much out in the open that'd be nice. The stealthy approach isn't an option, there's no back alley to sneak through, which means we'd have to risk tramping through someone's yard. "We could always use these." I look over at Skye, holding up her 'Nite-Nite' pistol, "Knock'em out before they spot us."

I like her initiative, but we can't risk being seen shooting officers, we have enough of a poor reputation with the public as is. "Not an option, we can't fire on officers in broad daylight; there's a chance that someone could see and call it in. No we need another plan of attack…"

Then suddenly, it hits me, and I turn to Jaxx, the only other person here who knows the operational playbook as well as, well, me. "What about 'The Belgian Truffle'?" he turns around and thinks on it briefly, then shakes his head, "Don't have the right equipment for it." Okay, well what about… "The Milkshake Cowboy, then?" once more he shakes his head, then says "Unless you got a dress under that suit, and wanna go drag this time; then it's a no." Honestly I didn't think he looked that bad, and besides I don't exactly have the figure to pull off a backless dress. In that case, maybe "The Illuminating Gentleman, all we need is…" he tilts his head a bit before shaking it, "No, I am not doing that again, not after I dislocated my shoulder last time."

Yea, it didn't go exactly according to plan, plus; I don't think that Skye would go for it, considering what she'd have to wear. Damnit, there's got to be some way in there; think Phil, just think…

Skye

Ok seriously, who comes up with these names? The Belgian Truffle? Milkshake Cowboy? The Illuminating Gentleman? They all sound like titles to some old film nior movies, except the second one; that one kinda sounds like a porno. All that aside, I'm beginning to wonder if we should've waited and called in the cavalry before coming here.

Because I'm sure by now most of the evidence has already been taken in for processing by now, but what other options do we have left; if there's even a shred of evidence that could tell us where Hydra has taken Streiten then we've got to find it. There's a simple solution to this that we're just not seeing; often times it's the simplest solutions that often provides the best results…FitzSimmons taught me that one.

So, while A.C tries to figure out a way around the police, Jaxx and I continue watching the house. Which is when the patrolling officer comes walking around the side of the house, heading towards the car. He leans in through the passenger window and starts talking with the other cop, unfortunately they're too far away for us to hear their conversation. The one inside the car is starting to fidget around like he's looking for something, but what I'm not exactly sure.

"What's the he doing?" I wasn't expecting anyone to answer, but A.C always answers. "What's that?" I look over at him, then back at the cops, "The cop inside the car, he's doing something but I can't tell what." That's when Jaxx reaches into his jacket pocket, and pulls something rectangular out. "Here." He holds it out in front of me, while he continues watching them.

I glance over at Coulson, before taking, whatever it is from Jaxx. I look at it and it looks like…a pocket periscope. Nifty, the Boy Scout came prepared. I grab both ends and pull, and then I point it at the cop car to take a closer looksee. The cop in the car picks up a folder from between the seats; he opens it briefly before handing to the other. Whatever's in that file, it has them talking like a couple of gossiping school girls, I wonder what's inside.

"If only we had badges." I don't know why I suddenly blurted that out, or why that particular thought popped into my head. But I continue watching hoping that A.C and Jaxx ignore me. And yet, I can feel like A.C is about to say something "It's not exactly like they would do us any good here. To them, SHIELD is nothing more than traitors; we're no better than Hydra." That's not exactly what I meant Debbie-Downer, "No, what I mean is badges, like y'know, FBI or CIA; so we could impersonate federal agents, like on that one show?"

He doesn't respond, so I stop watching and look over at him, only to find that he's' now looking at me, confused, "Y'know, that show about the two brothers who go around hunting demons and other Supernatural things. They impersonate cops and government agents to get information about cases. They're played by…crap what are their names; Jared and Jensen…something-or-other."

Okay girl, you're getting off subject, and now not only is Coulson giving you a look, but now Jaxx is looking at you all bewildered too. Maybe it was a dumb idea, "Never mind, it was just—just a stupid idea." I turn my attention back to the cops, but I feel like they're still staring at me. After a few minutes the lingering starts to annoy me.

Once again I lower the periscope and this time I look at Jaxx, who starts to grin. Not a regular grin, it's one of them like, shit-eating grins that people get when they come up with a really bad idea. Jaxx turns to Coulson, "It could work…Tango and Cash." I look over at Coulson, who now appears befuddled. Wow, befuddled…I really gotta stop watching Dr. Who with Simmons.

"You sure?" A.C seems a little unsure about, well, whatever it is they're talking about, but Jaxx just gives him a shrug and says "What other options we got? The more time we waste the further ahead Hydra gets. Besides, it could be fun." A.C leans against the tree, thinking about our plan of action and after a few seconds he nods, "Okay, fine. We'll need a few things,"

7 minutes later

Skye

I'm so anxious, and can't help but fidget around a bit; meanwhile Jaxx just leans against the bus stop bench, as cool as a wallflower. A.C should've been back by now…where is he? "Calm down will' ya, he'll be here." I guess he finally got tired of me pacing back and forth, but I can't help it.

"I know, I know it's just," I don't want to say that I'm nervous, I mean if they're so called plan doesn't work then we're completely screwed. "Just what Skye?" I start calming down when I turn around to see A.C standing there holding a plastic bag. "And where have you been? We've been waiting for nearly 10 minutes." Needless to say I'm just a tish bit irritated at the moment.

He shows us a smile and says "Sorry for that," he looks down, and reaches inside the bag; "But I couldn't decide on paper or plastic. Besides they had a lot to choose from…" He pulls out two spray cans and holds them up, "Which do you think is more vagrant-e, Navy blue, or Hot Rod red?" "Hot Rod definitely. And also, vagrant-e is not a word."

It's like Jaxx read my mind, and stole my line; looking at A.C who has a little bit of a scowl on his face, "Yes it is," I hate disagreeing with my mentor and boss, buuuuut, "He's right A.C, that's not a word." He lowers the spray cans and replies "I'm pretty sure it is." Jaxx stands up, turning towards him, "Ok; if it's a word, then use it in a sentence." As much as I would like to see them throw down words, we do have a house to break into.

"Um guys," they both turn to me, which means it's time to focused the attention. "We do still have a time sensitive mission to get to, remember? Streiten, the serum, Hydra? Any of this ringing a bell?" they look back at each other, then A.C holds out the red can, which Jaxx takes.

"We'll finish this later." Jaxx threatens, but in a playful way. "Count on it." A.C always has to get the final word in. Whatever, what matters is that they're back on task. "Got ya cuffs?" Jaxx asks. Coulson smiles once more before reaching into his pocket. Seconds later he tosses his pair of handcuffs over to Jaxx, who catches them.

"I never leave home without them." I wonder how long Coulsons' been saving that one. Jaxx clicks the cuffs open, then turns to me "You ready for this?" Not really, I just hope everything goes according to plan, whatever it is "FYI, my safe word is APPLES."

Jaxx

I hope this works, and it should as long as Skye can act the part. Gotta admit, I'm a little bit nervous. But the girl looks a bit more nervous than I do, of course; she's the one currently handcuffed at the moment, and I'm sure it's not her first time either.

We turn the corner and see the cop standing outside the cruiser. I pause for a moment and look over at her. "You ready?" she looks up at me, a look of confidence, "I'm good." I give her a little smile, then a nod "Good, now get your game face on." A tiny smile comes across her face, just before I take her arm and start dragging her towards the boys in blue.

I know she's wondering how we're gonna pull this off, especially with no badges, but I have advantage the neither her or Coulson know about. That's the only reason why I believe we can pull this off, all she has to do is trust me…which might be easier said than done. We're getting closer, which is when I look down at her wrist, more specifically the cuffs.

I don't want to bruise her wrists, but it has to look convincing otherwise…we'll have to do it the hard way. The cop leaning against the car notices us; game time. "Can I help you sir?" He stands up, placing his hand on his pistol; he's prepared and well-trained, from his demeanor I'm gonna say former navy seal.

I can see the other officer stirring inside the car, waiting for his partner's queue. Kay Jaxx, try to sound convincing, "Well, you could help by doing your job officer…Hastings." The officer in the car opens the door, and steps out; he walks around the left of the car, and luckily he's holding the folder that Skye saw earlier. "What's the problem?" the one officer asks the other, who shakes his head and replies "Don't know," he then turns to me, with scowl plastered on his face "This guy just-"

"The name, is Special Agent Jack Monroe, FBI Quantico field office." I don't know who looks more shocked, the cops or Skye. The two cops glance one another, then the driver glances back at me, "You're Agent Monroe, of the FBI?" I dig into my jacket pocket, and a few seconds later, I flash'em my very own, and very detailed badge.

"That's what it says on my badge." I put it away quickly, before they took a closer look at it. Once more the two of them looked at each other then back at me. "Sorry sir, we weren't expecting-" I put up my hand, stopping him from talking. If it's one thing I know about the FBI, is that no matter who they are, they all act like dicks.

"Yeah, I took an earlier flight in the hopes of wrapping this one up early, but as soon as I get to the crime scene," I glance at Skye who looks at me, pretending to struggle away, "I find you two standing around gabbing like a couple of school girls at prom." The one officer looks flustered, while Officer Hastings looks like he wants to deck me…good.

"Sir, we just got on shift, and our orders were to keep an eye on the premises." I can hear the tone of irritation in Hasting's voice. I turned to him, gave him an asshole kind of smile, "Well, you two are doing a bang up job so far. Except for the fact that I just caught this one," She starts to struggle a bit, keeping up appearances, "Trying to sneak in, through the backyard of the lot behind this one and with this."

I hold up the red spray can, then I start to shake it which caused the ball-bearing to rattle around inside. I turn to Skye, who gives a shrug "I was just returning it, that's all." I nod, "Yeah sure, keep it up smartass." She turns to me "Why don't you go suck down a donut or something ass-hat." Ass-hat, now that's just mean.

I turn to the officers, who look at each other, confused, and then the other officer looked back at me, "So you want us to take her in sir?" I look at him and replied "No I got this, but I saw someone else run off when I cuffed her. He's wearing a blue blazer, and brown khaki's. I need you to search the block for him and bring him down to the station for questioning."

They look at each other, Hastings turns back and asks, "What about the house sir?" I glance at the house then back at him, saying "I already have a forensics team 3 minutes out. I take a look around before they arrive." They nod, as they're probably thankful for not having to babysit the house for the rest of the day. They were beginning to walk back to the cruiser when it hits me, "Officer…"

The driver turns around, just inches away from opening the door, "Mitchem sir." "Mitchem, what's with the folder?" He looks down at the folder before walking back over to me and the girl. He holds it out for me to take, "We were told to keep an eye out for any of these people, and that if we spot them; wait and call for backup." I don't look inside, not yet anyway, I give the officer a nod, "Mind if I keep this?"

Mitchem shakes his head, "Not a problem sir." I nod, then flash him fake smile, "Thanks, and good work sgt." He grabs the tip of his hat, and slightly nods. Finally he turns around, gets into the cruiser, and the officers finally drive off. As soon as I see them turn the corner, that's when the clock starts. I start to un-cuff the girl, cause the way I see it we've got about 7-10 minutes tops before they call they're station with an update.

"Ass-hat, really?" I say sarcastically as I finish un-cuffing her. She turns around, flashing me a grin "It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing, I didn't mean it, scout's honor." She starts to massage her wrists; I didn't put the cuffs on her too tight, "Were they too tight?" She looks up at me, and shakes her head, "Oh no, no not at all. I've just always wanted to do that, ever since I saw it on NYPD Blue."

Okay then, back to the task at hand. Coulson was already at the velvet colored door, waiting; the two of us made our way up the steps to Coul. The first thing I notice is the splintering on the doors' frame. I look over at Coul, who nods and says "Okay Jaxx, let's see if you still got it." Really Coul; alright if that's how you wanna play it…

I kneel down and begin examining the door further. I use the corner of the folder to open the door just a bit, where I could inspect it further. The frame of the door doesn't appear to be as damaged as it should be. I hand the file to Coul, who opens it up; shortly after he lets out a scoff "I don't believe this," I look over at him just as he lifts up a sketch mock-up of who the officers were keeping an eye out for.

"They made me look like I'm constipated." He mocks, while Skye looks at the picture, and tilts her head a bit before giving a shrug. "I don't know A.C; it makes you look like your auditioning for Spock." He looks at her, giving her a sly grin. I turn back to the door, because something about this isn't making sense and it's bugging the hell outta me.

I enter the house first; the front foyer is a wreck, with bullet holes riddled along the wall, desk drawers pulled out, and a broken vase in pieces on the floor. I head further in and find the living room, which seems worse off than the foyer. The two chairs and couch which occupied this area were nothing more that kindling now. Their white stuffing laying all over the place, I turn and look behind me to see Coul and the girl standing there.

Coulson shows little emotion when looking at the scene, while the girl looks around in horror. He turns to her, "Skye, go check upstairs, see if you can find anything the cops or Hydra might've missed." She nods, "Got it." He hands her a pair of disposable gloves, which she takes. She starts putting them on as she heads upstairs; Coul puts on a set of gloves, after which he holds out a pair for me.

"Guess I'm not the only one who came prepared, huh?" I say sarcastically as I take the pair from him. He looked at me, humorously "We're always prepared, and you should know that by now." "You weren't prepared for Hydra," I shouldn't have blurted it out like that. Looking over at him, I can tell that I hit a nerve, "I didn't mean-" He holds up his hand, "I know you didn't," he looks away, I guess to try and hide whatever shame he was feeling, "But your right, we should've seen it coming; we should've been prepared…this."

Great, now I feel like a douche for bringing up that sore subject. I'm such an Ass-hat right now, but there might be a chance that I can fix this. "How?" it's a simple enough question and yet, it's often the most difficult to answer. He looks at me, confused and perhaps a little antsy. I wasn't planning on giving out pep talk's today, but if it'll speed this whole thing along then so be it.

"How could you possibly have been prepared for this? They've been planning this since SHIELD's inception; infiltrating every level of its foundation and manipulating everyone around them." I pause briefly, waiting for him to answer, but instead of an answer, he just looks at me and says, "I'm assuming there's a point to this supposed pep talk?" I can hear a slight agitation in his tone, meaning that this is far from done.

"My point is that no one saw this coming, not Peggy Carter or Howard Stark, hell, not even Fury saw this one coming. And he's 'the' spy." He lets out a heavy sigh and pauses for a few seconds; either he's thinking clearly about what I just said or he's about to make a sarcastic-ass remark. "Well, in Fury's defense; he only has the one good eye." Sarcastic-ass remark it is.

"Listen, what I'm saying is that you can go and beat yourself up all day everyday about how Hydra manipulated all of us or…you can make'em rue the day that they ever decided to pick a fight with SHIELD." His demeanor's changed, which means that he's back to his old self again. He nods at me, and I in turn nod to him, before turning my attention back to the scene.

"Did you just say 'rue the day'?" Crap, I was hoping he didn't catch that, "Yea, there was a Doctor Who marathon on last night and, it just stuck y'know." And the sad part is, I don't even like Doctor Who, well, at least I didn't. I can tell without looking at him that he's grinning ear to ear, "Shuttup." I say. That's when Skye comes walking downstairs and soon after they start talking. I don't have much time, maybe only a few seconds to do what I need to do. I turn my back to them then I kneel down, close my eyes, and take in a deep breath through my nose…

Coulson

I can't believe he actually used the word 'rue', and I never figured him for a Doctor Who fan either. Guess he's just full of surprises. But he is right about one thing, I can't keep beating myself up over what Hydra has done to SHIELD, to us. I gotta move forward, we all do although that's easier said than done. I heard muffled footsteps from upstairs, so I turn to see Skye walking down, and from the look on her face the news isn't good.

"Well, find anything?" When she reaches the base of the stairs she tilts her head a bit to the right, and asks "Well, do you want the bad news or the really bad news first?" Crap, and here I thought everything was going so well, "What's the bad news?" she takes a couple steps towards me, then places her hands on her hips. "The bad news is that every room upstairs is completely trashed, broken pictures, busted walls; not to mention the bullet holes that now decorate the hallway walls."

I'm afraid to ask about the really bad news, but I've got to know "So how much worse is the really bad news?" "Hydra definitely searched this place, from top to bottom. The furniture is smashed, the bed and cushions were slashed open and I haven't found a single electronic, which means…"

She pauses briefly, but I know the answer already, "That they took everything they could find." She gives me a look, like she wants to say something, but she's hesitant.

"What is it Skye?" she takes a deep breath, "It's just…there's a lot of blood upstairs. It's not good A.C." That doesn't make any sense, if they really are after the GH serum they would want him alive, but from what Skye's describing to me…

Skye

I can see the gears turning in his head as he looks around for a bit. He looks down at the police folder in his hand, and opens it; I guess he's trying to find something that the police might've missed. A scowl suddenly washes over his face and soon after he shakes his head, "The report says that they found blood splatter on that wall," he pauses to nod towards the wall, but I don't look at. "But there's no mention of any upstairs, much less pools of blood…"

Kay, now that's got me a little bit concerned, and confused. I look back up the stairs, then back at Coulson, "That's not possible, it should be in there…" there has to be an explanation for this. "They could've missed it." I shake my head, "No way A.C; there's no way that they could've missed these, unless they're-" I paused when I turned to my left, expecting to see Jaxx going over the crime scene, but instead there's no one else in the room, but me and A.C.

"Where's Jaxx?" shortly after asking, Coulson turns to look, and after a few seconds of looking he appeared just as confused as I am. "Hey guys, up here!" I jump a little, as both me and A.C turn to look up stairs. How the hell did he get past us? And what's he doing upstairs anyway? I look at A.C, who gives me the same look of confusion as I'm giving him right now. He moves around me and starts heading upstairs, yet I hesitant. I'm not squeamish, but that was a lot if blood, a lot more than I'm used to seeing.

As A.C reaches the top step, I quickly snap back from my train-of-thought, and begin walking up the creaking stairs. As I turn the corner, there's Jaxx kneeling down next to the pool of blood. Coulson stands a few inches behind him, looking down at the dark red liquid which now stained the floor. Now I'm no doctor or scientist but, there's no way anyone could survive losing that much blood not even…

Don't think like that Skye, hell for all you know, that's not even his blood; "Something's off," he says, kneeling down beside Jaxx. You're kinda stating the obvious there A.C I mean, everything about this is off. "It's fresh…" for a minute there I thought Jaxx had lost his voice, since he hasn't spoken a word since we walked into this place.

"What do you mean fresh?" I ask, he lowers his hand down, just a few inches from the surface of the blood. Now that's kinda gross; what is he doing? "From the temperature, I say 3, no more than 4 hours." He quickly stands up, and looks up towards the ceiling. That's when I see what I missed when I was up here.

There was a latch to a crawl space, one which probably leads to the attic and to whatever or whoever is bleeding out.

Jaxx

I knew it. I could smell the stench of death all the way from across the park. I can also hear Coul and Skye shuffling for their guns, and when I turn around; they're pointing them at the crawl space. "You don't need those," I say, but they still have their Icer's trained on that one spot. "Why's that exactly?" with his training, Coul should know that no one could survive that much blood loss.

"Because," I say, while reaching up towards the latch. "That much blood, likely means that they bled out…" I tighten my grip on the latch, and slowly pull it towards me. Once it was opened a ways, the legs of a ladder slid out, slamming into the pool of blood splashing droplets of blood out just a few feet. The stench is more potent now, yet the other two have yet to smell it, of course, they don't have the certain skill set that I do.

I reach inside my jacket pocket and pull out a mini flashlight, not that I would've needed it, but for appearances sake I'll use it. I grip one of the steps, and slowly start to climb up; the wooden steps start creaking each time I put the slightest bit of pressure on them. Finally I make it up to where I could see inside the attic.

I lift up the flashlight and shine it off to my right first, only to find some old cardboard boxes covered in years of dust and cobwebs. Slowly I start to shine it counter-clockwise, yet all I seem to find is more of the same. Until I lift my left hand up to get a better grip; something cold, wet and sticky now covered my palm and when I lifted it off and shine the light on it…

It's blood, lots of it; I could see where it dripped through the seam of the attic door. Unfortunately, I found the body laying barely a foot away from the latch, and the subject's gun laid just out of reach of his cold lifeless hand. I could tell who it was, even though he'd been dead for a few hours, the smell of decay had yet to set in and shining the light on his face only confirmed my suspicions.

"Damnit Shaw…" I say it under my breath, hoping that if they didn't hear then it wouldn't be true. "Who is it?" I turn to Coulson, who looks a little concerned, but he shouldn't be; Shaw was one of the best, one of the good ones. "It's…it's Shaw." And after I say his name, that's when Coulson realizes who we just lost. He lowered and holstered his Icer, and the girl followed suit.

"Who's Shaw?" she asks, I don't have it in me, but Coul on the other hand, turns to her and says "He was one of Hand's agent's. He was one of the best we had." Even though she didn't know him personally, she still took a moment to grieve his loss. I lower my head briefly, giving him a small prayer and thanking him for all that he's done for us and his country.

Then I look up and over at Coulson, who looks back at me, "Bring him down, we'll give him a proper burial when we get back to base. I nod, thanking god that Coulson's one of the good ones, then I re-focus on the task at hand since we've only got about 7 more minutes left before the cops come back around.

I take his gun, holstering it in the soul of my back, and as I grab his cold pulse-less wrist I notice something. In his hand he's holding a, mini flash drive. I stop what I was doing, and go back down to the others, I look at the girl and say "Heads up." Shortly after I toss her the flash drive and she catches it, she looks at it in confusion. Coulson looks at it then at me and asks "What is it?" She shakes her head and replies "it's a 32 GB flash drive. No telling what's on though."

She hands it to him he takes it and looks closer at it, "Could be a clue to where they took Streiten." I take a deep breath, "Whatever's on there, Shaw gave his life to protect it." Coulson looks at me, his eyes brimming with rage and fury, nearly ready to erupt, but it won't; I know him all too well. He won't let his emotions cloud his judgment oh no; he'll save it. All that rage, all that anger he feels right now, he'll save for when he finally comes face-to-face with Hydra, and then he'll unleash it. They'll be sorry that they ever picked a fight with SHIELD, me and Coulson both will make sure of that. He looks back at the flash drive, and says "Then let's make sure that his death wasn't for nothing."