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.

7. Ep1 Ch3 A Debt to be Paid pt4

When Jaxx and Shaw first met, it was during Jaxx's 2nd tour in Iraq; he was loaned out to a joint military/government task force in pursuit of 3 high ranking members of Al-Qaida. Shaw was serving as the liaison between the Military and S.H.I.E.L.D; it was him who had personally requested Jaxx due in no small part to his unique ability to track any target no matter the terrain or distance as well as being able to get in and out of known hot zones without leaving a single trace. During one of many operations, their convoy was ambushed on their way to an extraction point. After losing many men and all their vehicles, they managed to find cover in an abandoned housing complex, and were later pinned down and surrounded by dozens of enemy forces.

For days they fended off wave after wave of opposing forces, and with each passing day they lost another soldier, and in Jaxx's mind, another brother. With both ammo and supplies running low, and unable to evac the injured to safety, the situation became more dire. On the 12th day of the standoff, there were only 4 men out of 24 left and still able and willing to fight. With very few options remaining, both Shaw and Jaxx came up with a desperate gambit. It was on this day, that a permanent and unbreakable bond was forged between the two; one forged in blood, sand, and bullets and with it they made each other a single promise. If the other was ever in trouble or needed help with anything, all they had to do was ask.

However, this promise didn't take into account the one flaw within Shaw's own persona; Jaxx knew that Shaw's stubbornness is what kept getting him into trouble, but he never thought that it would get him killed. Jaxx would continue thinking about his missions with him as he slowly carried the former agent down from the attic, gently laying him at the base of the stairs. He took in a breath as he removed a portion of the sheet that he was wrapped in. He stared into his friends' pale, bruised face; as he continued to stared, a sudden wave of emotion rushed over him. This emotion did not fill him with anger, nor rage; oh no, those he would save for those responsible for this, no instead he felt remorse.

The last time they had spoken to one another was a few weeks before Hydra came back from the dead. Shaw called him, talking about something going within S.H.I.E.L.D. and that he was going to investigate. Meanwhile Jaxx was having problems of his own, and found himself in no position to help anyone. And now, he blamed himself for not making time, even though it wouldn't help anyone, and yet who else was there to blame? He covered Shaw's face back up, and placed his hand on Shaw's forehead; in his own way, he prayed for his friend's safe passage and gave made him a promise. To find those responsible, and then, show them the true meaning of pain.

While he paid his respects, Coulson and Skye were busy securing a vehicle, one that they could use as cover to get back to their transport. It wouldn't be easy, but they were determined to cover their tracks and bring their fallen agent back to the Playground. Skye drove up to the house and looked at Jaxx standing in the doorway; she could tell that he was far beyond upset, as he looked down in agony at his fallen friend. With Coulson's help, Jaxx was able to place Shaw within the trunk. Coulson did not want his remains to be handled like this, but the truth was according to Jaxx that is; it wouldn't have matter to Shaw, not now at least.

With the remains were secured, Coulson closed the trunk while Jaxx went inside to destroy any evidence that they or Shaw were ever there. The combination of bleach and various other chemicals helped to destroy any way of identifying Shaw's blood. Skye and Coulson waited anxiously in the car, counting down the time before the patrol car come speeding back.

Jaxx quickly joined the two in the car, and soon they would be back at the Iron Wing. The atmosphere was deathly silent when they finally arrived; Jaxx removed the body from the trunk while Coulson drove the car somewhere it could be disposed of. Jaxx slowly carried body into the plane, and laid him gently on the floor. Skye managed to find a body bag inside one of the compartments scattered throughout; under normal circumstances, she'd be questioning why there was a body bag on the plane in the first place yet she knew now wasn't the time to ask. She just looked at Jaxx, who seemed to be staring off into space. Skye didn't personally know Shaw, of course she only met him a few times at the HUB, but in her mind, he seemed like one of the good guys. When she rolled out the bag, Jaxx snapped back to reality; Skye offered her help, which he reluctantly accepted and the two gently and respectfully placed Shaw into the bag.

Jaxx slowly zipped up the bag, and took a moment to reflect on the good old days; the days before gods actually existed, before aliens invaded New York, before Hydra, before the whole damned world got flipped upside down. The two of them secured the body afterwards they waited for Coulson to get back; the atmosphere got tenser and tenser with each passing second. Jaxx started powering up the plane while he waited; meanwhile Skye was trying to figure out what to say to him. She felt like she needed to say something, anything so that he knew that she was there for him; as a shoulder to cry on, but the words never came and instead, she just sat there in silence. Her mind wondered with endless questions, like for instance, how exactly did he know Agent Shaw? Did he know him from before SHIELD fell, or after?

Each second yielded a new question which only made her more and more curious about this stranger; a stranger that she didn't even know a few hours prior. But she knew this wasn't the time to ask such questions; then, Coulson finally arrived and after securing himself in one of the seats, Jaxx initiated takeoff procedures, pulled back the throttle, and in mere seconds they were off. In just under an hour, they would be back at the Playground, where hopefully, they'll be able to answer some unresolved questions. Because at the moment, Hydra is three steps ahead of them, meaning they desperately need to pick up the rest of the Dr. Streiten's trail.

Coulson hoped that Simmons could find something on Shaw's body to point them in the right direction. Meanwhile, Skye opened her laptop and started working the mysterious flash drive that Shaw was clutching when he died. The drive of course was encoded, but Skye has cracked and hacked past her fair share of encrypted and encoded files; all that was needed was time, which she had plenty of until they arrived back at base.

The Playground

Those who know Agent Melinda May well enough, know that she is not one that likes to be kept waiting, which did not bode well for Coulson and Skye who, as of nearly an hour ago, have yet to contact her about their progress. She never liked being kept in the dark about anything, especially when she knows that something is amiss with her new Director; Phil (as she called him on occasion) was hiding something, but what exactly? She thought that it might be the stress of trying to rebuild SHIELD and trying to rescue/help those still loyal to SHIELD's ideals, fight Hydra for control over the other secret bases. That is why she asked Coulson to stay behind, watch over things at the Playground, while she and Triplett did the heavy lifting. That's why Coulson's been cooped for the last few weeks, but now, maybe that wasn't the right move she thought; it was possible that he was stressing over Fitz's current condition, but who wasn't, especially Simmons.

May's been trying to keep busy as she waited for an update; checking on the survivors that they rescued just a few minutes ago. Walking into the med bay, she took in every detail; Triplett was helping carry one agent to a couch that he and Billy Koenig brought in minutes before. Meanwhile Agent Simmons examined the wounded, patching up those who crucially needed it. For Agent Jemma Simmons, life before Hydra and the fall of the Triskellian was an average one; well, as average as the life of a SHIELD agent could be. She held multiple degrees, but her main interest and expertise was in Bio-Chemistry and was the youngest to graduate from SHIELD Academy. But nowadays, thanks in no small part to Hydra, her bio-chemistry skills have been put on the back burner.

Instead she's the resident medical resident, and for that she has seen more than her share of broken bones, bullet wounds, and stab wounds, etc. Within recent weeks, there have been very few agents brought in who didn't have some sort of wound or injury that needed to be treated, which left little time for outside interests. The only upside to this, is the fact that she could monitor the vitals of her friend and…partner Leopold Fitz. Whenever she's not in the medical bay tending to the wounded, she could be found sitting at his bedside, watching, waiting for any sign that he's still in there, still alive. But the part of her that relies on science, tells her that he might never wake up, thanks in part to his brain being deprived of oxygen for nearly 20 minutes.

She has many regrets, but this…not being able to save Fitz, is probably her biggest regret of all. But as of now, she had just finished wrapping gauze around one of the wounded's arm when she noticed May standing in the doorway. She looks over at Agent Triplett and asks if he could finish here, so that she could give May her report. He nods, and walks over to finish what she began; Simmons expresses her thanks and walks over to her current superior officer.

Melinda May

She looks like she hasn't gotten any sleep in days, which means she has to be running on fumes. "Agent May…" I can hear the exhaustion in her tone. "How are they?" I ask; Simmons lets out an energy deprived sigh, "Well they're all a little banged up a bit, and god only knows what they've been through."

Unfortunately we all know what they've been through, hell; we've gone through the same damn thing. "Anything serious?" I'm trying to focus on the task at hand, but I keep wondering what Coulson and Skye are up to, and why they haven't checked in yet. Well, for now I have to focus on the newest recruits. "No internal injuries thank goodness; but I have counted over a dozen contusions, a handful of broken bones, 2 concussions, and a broken collar bone at least. They'll be fine within a few weeks give or take."

I nod, knowing that it could've been worse…much worse. I look behind her at Trip and Billy working together patching up the rest of the wounded. "How are Trip and Billy?" She turns, glancing at them while they worked. "Trip's field training is a blessing, and Billy's eager to help however he can," she turns back to me "They make great nurses if do say so myself." I smile a bit, "I don't think we have any nurse uniforms in Trip's size. Billy on the other hand…" she smiles just a little, and then in an instant it disappears. It's good to see her really smile again, even if it was briefly.

Suddenly the door behind me opens, and she looks straight at it. Her eyes fill with hope, and I know the reason why; she expects him to walk through that door, smiling at her, but he won't, which makes what comes next even harder to watch. I turn to the door just in time to see our newest member, Mac walk through. I quickly turn back to Simmons, only to see the hope fade from her eyes; it's hard to watch, even harder to know it firsthand.

"Hey guys, how's it going here?" Mac's words fall on deaf ears with Simmons, who looks down at her feet. "Fine Mac," I say. He looks at me then at Simmons, who's still staring at the floor. He tilts his head a bit, looking at the wounded, "How bad?" I turn to him, "Hydra wasn't expecting us, but it didn't make it any easier. We were lucky to get them out alive." A look of disappointment encompasses Mac's face, "Damn; well, at least you got out of there in one piece." I nod, and then look at Simmons who seemed to be staring at her watch insistently, as if she had somewhere else to be. "Simmons," I say, she looks up at me and asks with uncertainty "Yes Agent May?"

"Go on, go see him." She looks at me, shocked, as if she thought I was reading her mind. "Are you sure ma'am?" I nod, and say reassuringly "I'm sure, Trip and Billy have this well in hand. If they need anything, they'll know where you'll be. Now go." She seemed relieved by my response, and I could tell that she wanted to hug me, but she didn't because she knew I don't do hugs. She tears off her gloves, and rushes out of the room, but not before saying "Thank you Agent May. Thank you."

After she leaves the room, I look at Mac, who looks surprised by what I just did. "What?" I say sternly, he throws his hands in the air and shakes his head "Nothing ma'am, nothing at all." Alright, time to change the subject, "Any word from Director Coulson or Skye?" He nods, looking down at his pad, "Yeah just got word from the Director, they're on their way back now. ETA, 2 minutes." Well, at least there's some good news coming out of all this, but that only means that the really bad news is going to hit us like a brick to the face.

"How's their investigation going on Dr. Streiten? Have they made any progress?" his expression changes drastically, which means the news isn't good. "They said that they've made some progress, but not the good kind agent May." I hate it when I'm right.

Hallway to Recovery Room A-1

Jemma Simmons

Every day I seem to grow more and more anxious, all the while everyone around me seems to be surprisingly calm; Agent May for instance, she's been surprisingly kind and friendly towards me. It'd be refreshing if it wasn't a little disconcerting.

She's been extremely nice and patient with me, and only ever asked how Fitz was once…Damn. Every time I think of Fitz, my mind flashes back to that same moment; stuck in that med pod at the bottom of the ocean, him and me figuring a way out. And him telling me that he…Well, he never actually said how he felt about me, so instead, he showed me. The concussive blast was not near as bad as watching him float there, unconscious and near-death.

Why? Why did he do that, we could've figured out another way, we could've…Damn girl, all this constant badgering and you nearly walk past the recovery room; but instead of going in, I hesitant and peek through the tiny glass peephole in the door. I can't stand seeing him like that, laying there motionless, tubes shoveled down his throat; it's the only way, he couldn't breathe on his own anymore, thanks to his brain being deprived of oxygen for too long.

All this, all that's happened, is because of him, Ward. We trusted him, Fitz trusted him, even at the end he believed in Ward, believed that there was still good in him, but I know better. I've only been allowed to see Ward once since we brought him in. Coulson wanted me to treat his wounds given to him by May, after that I've only seen him on the monitors in on his cell.

Guess he doesn't trust me not to kill him, and he's not wrong on that part. Regardless, I need to push those feelings aside and go in check on Fitz's vitals; who knows, maybe today is the day he'll wake up. One can hope, right?

I reach for the door handle, gripping it firmly and I twist it and start to push open the door. "Simmons!" I freeze for a moment, before I turn to my left and see Agent Triplett running down the hall towards me. I quietly close the door, and turn my attention to Trip, who barely sounds out of breathe. "Agent Triplett, what is it?" He points behind him and says "We need you in the lab; Coulson and Skye just got back; and they brought in a body."

Oh dear, I wonder who it could be? "Who is it?" I ask. Now Triplett looks a bit broody, "It's Agent Shaw." He says. "Oh my, I remember him, from the HUB." He seemed nice enough, but then again I never really knew him, not personally anyway. "Yeah, he was responsible for pushing back Hydra at the HUB. He helped keep them from gaining control. He was a good dude." Oh, poor Trip; it sounds like he knew Agent Shaw better than most here. This must be especially hard on him.

"I'm sorry. But…what happened? How'd he die?" and more the pertinent question is, where has he been all this time? I know that Coulson was desperate to find him, but there was no trace of where he was or where he'd been. "That's what Director Coulson would like you to find out, the body's being taken to the lab; he didn't want any of the injured to see one of their brothers like that."

Completely understandable of course, "Understood, I'll head there immediately." It's an awful thing to think about, given the circumstances that have just come up but; I really need a vacation. "You need some company?" so polite and chivalrous. I give him a nod and soon we're off to the lab and hopefully we'll be able to find some answers as to what's going on here.

Landing Bay

Skye

We're here already? Damn, I was hoping to have this USB drive cracked by now, but after nearly an hour I haven't even come close. UGGGHHHH. Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong, maybe it's not the coding that I need to hack, but…I pause briefly and look over at A.C, and from the lack of expression on his face he's trying to focus on landing rather than the elephant in the room or dead body to be more precise.

He's been eerily quiet ever since we left Maine; Jaxx also seems quiet, but distant too, like his mind is somewhere else entirely. The humming of the engines along with Coulson flipping switches made more noise than the two of them put together. The only time that anyone ever spoke was when Jaxx asked A.C to take control during mid-flight. Now, under normal circumstances, A.C would be all excited, like a little kid at Christmas, about flying this one-of-a-kind, fully-restored, 1940's spy plane; especially since it was created by the Howard Stark, but today was anything but normal.

It seems like both Coulson and Jaxx are taking Shaw's death pretty hard. A.C seemed to respect and appreciate Shaw and his loyalty to SHIELD, even after everything went to crap. Yet after what happened to Agent Hand and the HUB falling under General Talbot's control, he seemed to just disappear. There was literally no trace of him anywhere, not until today; Coulson had wanted to recruit him back to SHIELD, but with no way to get in touch with him or even find him for that matter, it was next to impossible.

He didn't have'ta say it, because I knew from the emotionless expression on his face, that he felt somehow responsible. Whether he feels like he didn't try hard enough or didn't use all resources at his disposal, he won't ever live down his decision to stop looking. I know this because he felt the same way when I got shot by Ian Quinn, he felt responsible, even though it was my decision to go in.

I lean forward a bit just in time to see the hidden bay door opening up, like it was welcoming us home. I let out a quiet sigh of relief, even though this mission is far from over. Out of curiosity, I look behind me and see Jaxx just leaning against one of the passenger seats, staring at the body bag. He looks a bit out of phase; like he's looking off into the distance somewhere, or…it's as if he's remembering something from his past, something that involves Shaw.

I don't know what his connection to Shaw is, but I'm sure I'll find out one way or another. Meanwhile, A.C starts flipping switches and turning knobs, getting us ready to land. He lands smooth after which he starts shutting down all systems. I unclip my buckle, and leave the cockpit; I stop in the doorway briefly to put my laptop in my bag and shove the USB into my vest pocket. When I look over at Jaxx, he was like a statue, unable to move or not wanting to. And from his near emotionless expression, I know that he must be feeling the same way that A.C is.

I kneel beside him, but with his eyes closed he doesn't seem to notice me; it's almost as if he's off on his own little world, trying to get away from…everything. I gently place my hand on his shoulder, and his eyes opened, bringing him back to reality. He looked over at me, and…it was almost too much to take. All that pain, all that anger in his eyes, I've never seen anything like that before. He must've known what I was seeing, because he turned away quickly, without saying a word.

"Are you okay?" it's a stupid question I know, but still, I figured it's worth a shot, right? "I've had better days," he says. He looks back at me and this time the anger and pain are gone, almost like he's hiding it; saving it for later use, like how May does it. "But I've also had worse." He stands up, and I follow suit. Coulson lowers the ramp before joining us, "We all have," I had no idea that he was even listening, but then again… "Unfortunately, unless we can find Dr. Streiten, it's going to get much worse."

Ain't that the truth AC. "You're telling me," after which Jaxx turns to me and asks "Have you cracked that US…TV-drive-thingy yet?" Seriously? I couldn't help but smile a bit before pulling out the drive hidden away in my pocket and showing it to him. "It's USB, not drive-thingy and no, not yet. It's heavily encrypted and near impossible to crack." Both AC and Jaxx give each other a less than pleased look, meaning that they didn't like my answer. AC turns to me, "So you can't crack it?" Wow, okay now I'm insulted, and can't help but show it. He knows me better than that, I mean c'mon, computers are my thing.

"I said it was "near" impossible to crack AC, give me an hour." He seemed happy by my answer; I just hope I can deliver. Once the ramp is lowered both Coulson and Jaxx grabbed the handles of the body bag. They were almost synchronized as they carried their friend out of the plane. I take my time following them; I figured that they needed some space; once all of us were off the plane we were came face to face with Agent May and our newest recruit Mac.

They had a gurney set up and ready to take Shaw's body to the lab, hopefully there's something on him that could give us a clue as to where Hydra could've taken Streiten. May looks down at the body bag, curious, "Who is it?" Coulson looks at Jaxx, who nods, then back at the bag; he unzips it just enough to fold over the flap, revealing Shaw's face. He was a lot paler now than before, almost ghost-like; I couldn't help but turn away for a sec, I haven't yet gotten used to seeing dead bodies. Agent May tells me that it never gets any easier, and she should know being "The Calvary" after all.

Mac's expression is just as somber as everybody else's, "Damnit Shaw, what did you get into this time?" Coulson looks up at him, "I wasn't aware that you knew Agent Shaw?" The big guy looks up, "I did; in fact, me and him were recruited around the same time. We even bunked together at the Academy. He was a good man." May looks over at me, then Jaxx, then finally at Coulson; all in one smooth motion. "Where'd you find him?" she asks.

"Hidden inside an attic of a house in Maine," AC stopped for a moment to fold the flap back over and zip up the body bag. "The same house that Dr. Streiten was last seen in, before he was taken." May looks over at Jaxx, then back at Coulson, giving him a look in the process. "I'm guessing that you didn't find the good doctor then?" Coulson just stood there, with a little scowl and shook his head. Jaxx took a step forward, "We did find a Drive-thingy that may help us track down where Streiten was taken or at the very least-"

"What he was up to." May finishes his sentence; afterwards the two of them share a glance. Mac looks a little lost; he points at Jaxx and looks over at me and Coulson, "Who's this?" Jaxx looks up at him, but doesn't say a thing, instead I do. "This is Jaxx, he's-" "A consultant. I did some private work for Fury on occasion." AC just cuts me off; I don't know why though it might have something to do with the fact that he doesn't quite trust Mac yet. Which given recent events, I can understand why he's keeping some of his cards close to the vest.

Mac

Something's off, like they're not telling me the whole story. I mean one minute they're off tracking down some former S.H.I.E.L.D. surgeon and the next they come back with Agent Shaw's corpse, and this "Consultant" guy. I've never heard of Fury using any consultant besides Stark. I can tell from looking at the guy that he's former military, probably army, definitely not a seal. But there's just something about this guy that's seems off; I don't know what it is, but I'm definitely going to find out what.

"Skye, why don't you and Mac take Shaw's body down to Simmons in the lab; and take Jaxx with you, he'll might just be able to brighten her day up a bit." Seriously, just like that? No checking him for weapons, or checking for trackers, nothing *sigh*. What is it about this guy that would have Coulson just giving him the keys to the Playground? "You got it AC-I mean, Director." Director Coulson lets a smile slip just briefly, before he and May turn around, and head off to his office.

Whoever this guy really is, I'm going to find out what his agenda really is, but for now I'll play along. Hopefully Skye can decrypt the drive, and afterwards I'll forward a copy of it to Gonzalez and the others. Maybe then they can shed some light on this Dr. Streiten guy, and hopefully tell me what all the fuss is about with this "Jax" character.

Skye looks at Jax, then motions her hand towards the elevator and says "Elevators' this way." He nods and the two head over to it, while I start pushing the gurney. Once at the elevator Skye presses the button, as we wait, I glance over at this "Jax" guy. Seconds later the doors open and I push the gurney in first; I have to maneuver towards the back of the elevator so that we can all fit inside, which we're barely able to do.

Skye presses level 3 buttons, for Lab and Medical, then looks over at Jaxx and says "AC must really like you…" He appears confused when he looks over at her, "How ya figure that?" "Usually you have to go through a weapons check then you have to get checked for a tracer. After which you'd be given a lie detector test." He turns to her, letting a grin cover his face, "They're still using that thing?" "So, what's your deal?" I ask, interrupting they're conversation. He turns around, "My deal?" I nod and ask again "Yeah, your deal. Why are you here? Why are you even helping us?"

Skye turns around and gives me a look, one which shouts me that she doesn't care much about my questioning our new friend here. Regardless, I don't trust this guy. "You Shaw, right? You were close?" he asks, I nod a little "Yea, we were buds back at the Academy and after." He nods a bit, and then turns back around, facing the elevator doors.

"So, I'm guessing you know about his time in the military?" I can see Skye's eyes ping-ponging back and forth, "Yea; he told me that Fury himself sent him to Afghanistan as part of a joint Military-S.H.I.E.L.D. task force or something." Once again he nods, which makes me where exactly is he going with this? He turns around, "Did he ever tell ya bout Falusia?" Falusia…what's does that gotta do with any...wait a sec. Damn! He's that "Jaxx".

30 Seconds Later – Medical Bay/Laboratory

Skye

As soon as the doors open, Jaxx and I step out, while Mac pushes the gurney out. When the elevator doors close, he turns to Jaxx; from the look on Mac's face, I'm guessing he wasn't expecting to Jaxx to say what he did. "So, you're Captain Jaxx, 1st class." Jaxx just nods, which I guess confirms Mac's suspicions. Then out of nowhere, a smirked appears on Mac's face, "*scoffs* Thought you'd be taller." Jaxx chuckles and looks down for a bit. When he looked back up at Mac he replied sarcastically "Yea, I'm guessing I'm supposed to be 8' foot tall, breathe fire and shoot lighting out my ass too huh?"

Wow; I was not expecting him to start quoting Braveheart, which is like, my favorite Mel Gibson movie. I thought about this for a moment that is until I noticed Mac grabbing the ends of the gurney. He turned to Jaxx again, but this time, he looked extremely serious. "That was, a pretty hairy situation," And Jaxx wasn't smirking anymore, "Yea, yea it was." "He told me that you saved his ass a more than once out there."

Mac seems to have mellowed a bit, but Jaxx; he seemed a lil bit antsy, like he didn't want to talk about what happened there. "I was just returning the favor; that's all." His tone seemed distant; I think Mac could tell that he wasn't feeling comfortable talking about it, which is why me and Mac just dropped the subject all together.

Even leaning down, the big guy seems to overshadow both me and Jaxx; "Sorry about my questioning back there, it's just…with all that's happened recently," Jaxx put up his hand, stopping Mac in mid-sentence, "I understand, you gotta be careful with whom to trust nowadays." Mac simply nods, and a few seconds later, he holds out his hand, which Jaxx grabs.

Wow, I never thought that they would make up this quickly, and yet here they are, shaking each other's hands. Well, at least that's outta the way, which means we can get back on to the mission at hand. Mac leans down and starts to slowly push the gurney again, leaving Jaxx and I to follow. Okay, I know I told myself to just leave it alone but, I just had to ask. "If you don't mind me asking; what exactly happened in Falusia?" I could tell that he didn't want to really talk about it.

I should've just dropped the matter, I mean it's not like it's any of my busi- "What happened over there," I'm kinda surprised he said anything, I figured he just change the subject or something. "It was complete and utter FUBAR." Now I understand, and now I feel like I really should've left it alone. But despite my good conscious I keep prodding for more Intel "That bad huh?"

He slowly nods, "Yeah, that bad. Lost a lotta good men." His tone is just so…somber; "Sorry to hear." I know my condolences won't help much, but I had to at least try, right? Once again he nods, and replies with a lowly "Thanks." the lab is just around the corner, where Simmons is waiting on…AWW crap, I almost forgot. Now might not be the best time to ask this question, but, you know; no time like the present.

"Umm, can I ask you another question?" He looks at me, and a grin forms "Do I have a choice?" his sarcasm/grin combo causes me to smile a bit, "No, not really." We both chuckle a lil bit, after which he shrugs, "Well then, since I don't have a choice; shoot." Now's my chance; ok girl, stay on target and don't waver.

"Well it's just, from what I've been told; you and Simmons know each other pretty well." He continues to smirk, "Yeah well, I should seeing as how she's-" "Hey guys, we're here." SERIOUSLY MAC! I was this close to getting an answer, this close; another 3 seconds and I would've had my answer, geez. There still might be time to get an answer; when I look over at Jaxx, he turns to the shatter-proof window and walks over to it. He just stands there staring through it, just watching Simmons gathering her tools in preparation for Shaw's body.

She's so focused on what she's doing that she doesn't even notice him standing there. It's been almost a minute and he hasn't moved from that spot; standing there like some sort of statue. It seems kinda creepy him just to stand there, but then again; I don't know the whole story between them two. Well, if Mac hadn't so rudely interrupted me I would've, that big jerk.

The lab doors open and Mac pushes the gurney inside just as Simmons finishes gathering her tools; I'm half-tempted to wait for Jaxx, but choose to follow Mac. I find Simmons waiting, and when she forces a half-hearted smile onto her face, it's just…painful to watch. "Hi Skye, good to see you, how are you?" I wish I could say it was going well but, well, it's not. So I shrug, "Could be better but, not too bad I guess," she nods while still smiling and says "Well I'm glad to hear."

She looks down at the bag, grabs the zipper, and then starts to unzip it; she stops about halfway to flip the flap open. Her half-hearted smile quickly disappears, "Agent Shaw, aww you poor thing…" it's hard to ignore the despair in her tone, hell, the entire room feels somber. And having a fellow agent lying on a gurney in front of us doesn't make it any easier. "What happened?" she asks, as she unzips the bag a little more; I guess so she can examine the body further.

"No idea; we found him inside the attic of a house that Dr. Streiten was hiding out in." she looks up immediately when I say his name, "Dr. Streiten, he's alive?" I give her a nod, "Well he was, and still is a far as we know." I look up from the body and I notice the look of concern in her eyes as they shoot back and forth between me and Mac. "Who exactly is this Dr. Streiten guy?" His question is straight forward, but makes Simmons straightens up nonetheless.

Simmons and I give each other a concerning glance; I mean, only Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and apparently Jaxx know the truth about Dr. Streiten and his serum outside of the original team. Mac is a great guy and all, but this is way too sensitive and way too close to home for me. "Oh my, yes," she smiles, but seems to be a bit flustered; just hold it together for a bit longer Simmons. "He worked with us before…as a…consultant. On a case, that is."

From the look he's giving me and Simmons, I could tell that he was suspicious of her answer. She never was really good at lying on the spot, "A consultant huh? On what case, if you don't mind me asking?" Simmons just stands there, frozen by Mac's question; her mouth starts slowly moving, but no words come out. I can almost see the wheels and gears going into overdrive, trying to figure out what to say; it doesn't help any that Mac just stands there staring at her with his arms folded across his chest. "Which case? The case it was…um," she's being overwhelmed, and flustering, but lucky for her I don't have a problem with lying on the spot.

"Dr. Streiten was our consultant on the Mike Peterson case." He looks taken back a lil bit. Guess he wasn't expecting that answer, "So this, Dr. Streiten, consulted with your team on Deathlok?" I hate that name, and I'm not afraid to tell him so, "No not Deathlok, Mike Peterson." He leans against the counter behind him, and says sarcastically "There's a difference?" okay that's it, I mean, I'm sure Mac has his reasons for being a little douchey right now but that's no reason for taking shots at Mike. "Mike is a good guy who, was forced into working for Hydra. They had his son for crying out loud."

He puts his hands up, as if he's surrendering or something "Okay, okay I get it. Sore subject, sorry." Great, now I feel like a bitch, but it's just…this day has just been exhausting. Well, the good news is that I think Mac bought our story, for now at least. "So Simmons," we need to focus and get back on the task at hand, "Coulson wants you to run a full workup on our friend here," I only look down at Shaw's face for a second, because it's all that I can take.

"Am I looking for anything in particular?" she asks. I look up at her, and shrug, "Anything that could tell us where Hydra could've taken the doc." She smiles briefly and nods "Got it. Now then, let's see what we've got here…" she turns around to the tray table behind her and grabs a pair of latex gloves; she starts to put them on, while I look over at the observation window to see…nothing. Where the hell is Jaxx? Where could've he-*snap of latex* Simmons startles me as she snaps her glove.

She grabs Shaw's chin and forehead gently and slowly turns it towards me. I don't know why I took a step back; guess I'm not used to seeing this part of the job and I hope I never do. She leans in close; examining his face and neck first. "There's some bruising which started to form around his cheek and left eye. Meaning the attacker was most likely right-handed. There also a slight laceration above his right brow. There's some slight discoloration around on his neck but, this stippling pattern around his neck is very interesting."

Mac and I lean in for a closer look; can't believe I didn't notice that before. "So he was choked from behind?" Mac said what I was thinking, "That would be probable. But I can't determine what the attacker used, yet." I hate to say this but, it's nice to see her working again. It's been almost a week since I've seen outside of Fitz's recovery room; hell, I remember a few times when Coulson and I had to bring her food because she forgot to eat. It's never going to be like it was, before; but for right now at least, it feels like nothing has changed.

She turns Shaw's head back to its original position, and then she gently lifts up his arm. There's cut's on his jacket sleeve, and it looks like there's some blood on the cut's too. "Curious," she says, laying his arm back down on the table. She turns around and grabs some fancy looking scissors, and starts cutting up it. After cutting to the shoulder, she puts the scissors back and opens up the sleeve and…Oh my God! His arm is…it's like he was attacked by, something…something not human. "Oh jeez," I couldn't help it, and from the looks on Mac's and Simmons' faces they were as shocked as I am.

"Oh dear…" she says, lifting his arm up again; Mac looks the worst outta all of us, as he walks over to next to Simmons to get a closer look at the wounds. "What the hell…did this to him?" it doesn't take a top-notch agent to hear the fear and uncertainty in Mac's voice. Simmons doesn't look up, instead she continues examining, and "I cannot say, but from the angle of the cuts, I can say the attacker was between 5'10 to 6' foot. And from the position of said wounds, it would appear that he had his arm over his head; as if he was-" "Shielding himself from the attacker." I almost jumped a bit when I heard his voice.

All three of us turn to the doorway to see Jaxx standing there, seconds later he takes a few steps forward and stops just a few feet away. I look over at Mac, who seems just a little fazed, but Simmons looks like she's just seen a ghost. Her lips slowly move, but only one word comes out, "Jaxx?" she almost whimpers his name, meanwhile he takes another step forward and gives her a smile. "Hey, how'ya been?" Her eyes start to well up, but before the tears could flow, she walks over and hugs him. He wraps his arms around her, holding her tight.

He plants a kiss on the side of her head, while she starts crying; "Hey now Jemstone, what'ya crying for?" he whispers, but she continues crying. I gotta admit, I'm starting to get a little emotional; I haven't seen this part of Simmons in a long time, not since…Well, I look over at Mac who seems unfazed by this very emotional scene, but I know that he's just a big ol' teddy bear at heart. They keep hugging for about a minute before releasing each other. She starts to wipes the streaks of tears from her cheek, trying to regain her composure.

He laughs a little, "I missed you too Jemstone." She chuckles a bit, while wiping her eyes, "Oh bloody hell; I must look like a mess." "You look fine Jem." He explains, gently grabbing her shoulders; "What are you doing here?" she asks curiously. He shrugs, and says sarcastically "I was in the neighborhood." Well, I don't know about Mac, but I'm completely speechless. Guess they're really, really close; "Sorry to interrupt this, reunion, but-" I give Mac a swift punch in the shoulder for interrupting their little reunion.

He looks at me, a little surprised that I did that, for which I give him a look and mouthing Shut it. "What Mr. Teddy Bear here is trying to say; is that, Jemma never mentioned you, like, ever?" Jaxx's smile is quickly fades; he looks at me with a confused look. "Really?" he says. He then looks over at Simmons "Never, ever mentioned me? Really?" Simmons looks like a doe caught in the headlights as she shrugs "It, never really came up." He stands there, nodding slightly for a few seconds, before she looks at him.

Now she looks agitated, "Oh don't give me that look, like you tell all your friends about me at'tall." Wow, go Simmons. Out of nowhere he breaks into a laugh, and holds his hands up as if he's surrendering. "Just kidding, just kidding, damn. It's good to see that you haven't changed Jemmy." She rolls her eyes and scoffs, "You know I don't like it when you call me Jemmy." He continues to chuckle for a bit. Mac leans close to me and whispers "So, what exactly is the deal with them two anyway?" "Apparently they have 'history'." I whisper back.

I can tell from his new expression that he's thinking the same thing I am at this point. Then all of a sudden I hear something that I haven't heard in a long time; both Mac and I turn to see Simmons nearly falling over from laughing. Turns out that AC was right; Jaxx did manage to brighten up her day, and I'm glad that he was right. However, now that the two of them are so chummy-chummy, the curiosity is killing me and I just have to know.

So, I take a couple steps forward, while make keeps a step behind me, "I haven't heard you laugh like that in a long time Jemmy." She stops laughing and gives me a look, one that tells me that she really doesn't like that nickname. She turns to Jaxx and slaps him across the shoulder, "You see what you started with that?" He just stands there, giggling, which makes her slap him again, "It's not funny!" she says, raising her voice slightly. He stops giggling for a minute and replies "Actually it kinda is…" the look she gives him…well, let's just say is looks could kill.

He wasn't laughing or giggling anymore, but he did clear his throat and mouth the words I'm sorry to her. Okay Skye, time to go for the kill; "I guess you two are really close huh?" Simmons looks at me, "Well of course, given our history Skye." So, they admit that there's history there; phase 1 complete, on to phase 2. "History, interesting…" now she looks so confused while Jaxx; seemed to know exactly what I was implying.

"Wow Skye just…it's nothing like that." Now I'm confused, but glancing over at Simmons, she just looks lost. "It's not like what?" he turns to her, leans in and whispers something in her ear. From the look on her face, she was disgusted by what he told her, after which she turned to me and said "For crying out loud Skye! You think…I mean…the two of us as…eww!" Wait, I just asked a simple question and now all of a sudden I'm the bad guy. "Whoa, whoa, I never said anything like that, I just-" as I throw my hands up like I'm surrendering, I find myself at a loss for words.

I literally can't figure out what to say; huh…that's a first. Jaxx just smiled, "Relax, its ok. But it's nothing like that, in fact she's actually my-" "He's my brother Skye." Brother!? She did just say brother, right? Huh…that explains… "If he's your brother, then how come-" Mac starts to ask, but then Jaxx interrupts him, saying "I'm adopted." Well, ok then…that explains a lot actually.

Director Coulson's Office

Philip Coulson and Melinda May have known each other ever since their days as recruits at the academy. To those around them, it would seem that they know every aspect of each other's lives; from their habits to their combat prowess to their ongoing relationships, and at times, it was almost as if they knew what each other were thinking. Even their trust in one another seemed unbreakable, but during S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse, certain unknown truths were brought to light which seemed destined to break said trust. In the end, it seemed as if they managed to come through another trial by fire, a little scorched, but seemingly unchanged; at least in agent May's mind.

But for Coulson everything has changed, for not only is he now Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a now branded terrorist organization, but he's also been keeping a secret from those he trusts most; the very people that he considers, family. John Garrett, before his ultimately yet well-deserved death, started carving strange symbols uncontrollably spouting things that no one understood all because of a serum. The very same serum which, not only courses through his veins, but now exists in the blood of who some would consider, his surrogate daughter, Skye.

But unlike Garrett and himself, she has yet to display the same urge to carve those strange symbols, or any other side-affects that Garrett had and that he himself now have. For weeks now, he's been carving those very same symbols; in secret, he's been trying to figure out why this is happening now and if it could be stopped. Yet, by investigating this in secret, away from those who could in fact help him discover some clue to this, illness; he has hindered himself and has started to wonder. How long can I keep this up, can I find a cure to this, and if not will I become like Garrett?

He ponders on these questions even now as he sits in his office, staring off into nothingness while a clearly irate Agent May, who words of concern, seems to fall on deaf ears. It was like he was asleep, yet his eyes were open, as the symbols seem to appear all around him; then it hits him, that sudden and uncontrollable urge to carve them into anything. His finger started to twitch, and him looking out of the corner of his eye to find his knife, just lying there from before. The temptation seems almost too great, as his hand slowly inches over to it, until that is, he hears something which snaps him back to reality…"COULSON!?"

May

"Phil!?" his eyes snap to mine, it seems raising my voice snap him out of whatever haze he was in. But when I look into his eyes, I see something, something I don't recognize. He looks confused, like his mind is somewhere else, someplace else. "Are you even listening?" I know the answer, even before asking; he crosses his arms, which tells me that he's keeping a secret, from me, from the others. "I understand your concerns May I really do, but we needed to move on this. The longer that Dr. Streiten is in Hydra's possession, the better the chance they have of recreating GH. 325."

He's deflecting, and he always deflects when he's hiding something, but I'll play along, for now. "Believe me; I know what's at stake if they manage to recreate the serum." He looks down at his shoes, I haven't seen him do that since…Damn, I can't believe I didn't see it before; "But this isn't about Dr. Streiten, or Hydra; is it Phil?" he back up at me, and his face goes pale; "What do you mean? Of course this is about-" he pauses; he's on the defensive, and despite every, I have to remain calm or he could close himself off even further.

"This is about what happened to Garrett; about what happened when he took the serum, the very same one that was given to you and Skye." His eyes widen, and he goes pale; hopefully once the truth is out in the open, he'll finally let me in, finally let me help him. "You think that what happened to Garrett will happen to you and Skye." He lets out a sigh, I'm guessing because someone else besides him knows about his secret. "I'm sorry May, I know I should've come to you with this but I just," his arms un-cross and grip the edge of his desk; he lowers his head, as if he's trying to hide the shame.

I take a couple steps forward, and gently grab his shoulder, "Phil, you're worried for nothing; it's just the stress, and with everything that's happened in the last few weeks, I'm not surprised. But I promise you, there's nothing wrong with you." He raises his head, and looks straight ahead, as if he's looking straight through me. "Coulson?"

Coulson

That's just it, I'm not fine, and I'm sure as hell far away from okay. She thinks it's the stress, but it's not; it's the serum, it's changing me like it did Garrett and I don't know how long I can hold on. All I want to do is tell her what's really going on; tell her about how all I dream about is those damn symbols, and that I've barely gotten any sleep because of them. But I need her focused on the mission at hand, on finding Streiten; because maybe, just maybe he might be able to help, make the symbols go away or something.

"You're right May, with everything that's been going on, maybe I need a moment to just…unwind. But it'll have to wait, at least until we get Dr. Streiten back from Hydra." She nods, removing her hand and standing at attention. "Understood, Director. I'll go check and see if Skye has cracked that USB drive." I nod in agreement; as she walks over to the door, I'm still tempted to tell her the truth and then suddenly, like she read my mind or something she stops, just shy of opening the door. She turns around and I feel like I know what she's going to ask, "You'd tell me if there's anything else going on, right?" I stand at attention and force myself to lie, "Of course." I hate forcing a smile on my face, but I'm just hoping that she buys it. There's a feint hint of concern on her face, for just a second, before she nods one last time, then she opens the door and walks out.

I take a couple of deep breaths after the door closes, and walk around my desk and flop down in my chair. I look over at the desk pad, and slowly move it over, re-revealing the symbols I carved early. Brushing my fingers across it, and I can feel the urge slowly begin to fade. And for a moment I'm relieved and feel at ease, but like so many times before; it won't last, it never does.

I've been fighting this urge for a few hours now, but I don't think I can anymore. That's when I remembered; my knife is in my inner jacket pocket, all I have to do is…my hand shakes as it reaches into the pocket to retrieve the knife. It's like someone else is controlling my actions, and I'm just along for the ride. I flick the blade open, and stare at the tip; it's a little worn from all the carving, but it's still usable.

Flipping the blade downward, I watch as it slowly descends to the unfinished symbol; the tip just touches the oak top, and…please, I just wanna stop, I just- "Director Coulson sir." I flinch, like a fresh faced recruit straight out of the academy. I haven't done that in years; not since the Destroyer paid us a little visit. Although in my defense, I wasn't expecting Billy Koenig to call, regardless, it stopped me from carving more symbols into my desk so, I'm thankful.

I press the receiver button, "What is it Billy?" I might've sounded a little agitated, but I'm hoping he didn't notice. "Everything alright sir?" crap, he noticed. "Everything's fine; what do you have to report?" just try and keep it casual, relaxed. "Simmons needs to see you down in the laboratory, she has an update on Agent Shaw." Hopefully she's found something that could tell us where Hydra is holding Streiten. One could only hope, "Understood, I'm on my way." I press the end call button, after which I look down at the symbols.

The urge is still there, but it's not as potent as it was before. I click the knife closed, and put it back in my pocket, "You'll have to wait." I don't know why I'm taunting the symbols, but it does make me feel better. I stand up, and button up my jacket; time to go to work, Director.

Medical Bay/Laboratory

5 minutes later

Skye

"*under her breath* Damnit, that should've worked. Okay then, let's see if this will…NO NO NO you stupid freakin, UGGGHHH!" WHY, WHY, WHY can't I crack this stupid USB drive? It's been sitting here over an hour, and all that I've manage to accomplish is getting pissed offed! Stupid freakin…*shakes the laptop violently*. "You, stupid piece of-"

"Whoa there girl," I was so focused on trying to kill my laptop, that I didn't even notice Trip standing there. "How long have you been standing there?" I ask. "Just a little while ago; before you started going all Bruce Banner on that laptop there." HAHAHA that's so not funny. But he's right, I am losing my cool, and it's all thanks to this stupid thumb drive. "That's because this freakin drive is pissing me off." He kneels down next to me, "You don't say?"

I give him my don't-make-me-angry look, which lean back a ways. Trip's a great guy and all, but today has been so hectic that I'm almost at a loss for words; which almost never happens. "Sorry Trip it's just *sighs*," "Been one of them days huh?" god Trip, if you only knew. "Yeah, something like that." I start banging my head against the wall behind me, only to stop after the 4th hit. "I'm not much of a hacker, but i do know that banging your head against the wall; isn't going to help anyone."

Yeah I know that Trip, it's just—oh great, now the back of my head hurts; "Well at this rate, I'm not going much help to anyone, much less Dr. Streiten." I look back at the screen in front of me, seeing the same Access Denied staring back at me. Trip taps my leg, and when I look at him, he gives me that reassuring smile of his, "Don't worry about. You'll figure it out; you always do." Sorry Trip, but your charm isn't going to help this time; but he's right, I have to figure this out, I have to.

"I have one last thing left that I can try *types into the keyboard*. *mutters to herself* Please work, please work." I hit enter, and wait; waiting to see if this is the end of the road or *bing sound* "YES!" FINALLY! I nearly jump to my feet when I see those sweet freakin words Access Granted. And it only took me over an hour and a couple of meltdowns to crack it; I can't help but let a smile slip. "Wow," I'm still smiling when I look up and see Jaxx standing there, smiling back at me. "I'm guessing that that beautiful smile of yours means that you've finally cracked that thumb drive, right?"

"Yes, yes I have and it only took me," I look at my non-existent wrist watch, and then back up at him "Over an hour and a half." He continues smiling, which is when I notice his cute dimples; whoa girl, get your mind back on task and not on him. "I'm glad, cause for a minute there, I thought you were going to pop a blood vessel or something." FU-UN-NY. Now, without any further delay, maybe I can finally find out what Shaw was hiding in here.

I hear Trip introducing himself to Jaxx; "The names' Antoine Triplett, but everyone round here calls me Trip." "Jaxx." He replies. "Jaxx…?" Trip asks, I guess he was expecting Jaxx to give him a last name. "It's just Jaxx." He replies. Jaxx turns to me, and holds out his hand, "Need a hand." I reach up, take his hand and I hoist myself up. Crap, my legs must've fell asleep, my butt too for that matter. "Legs asleep?" what the…how does he keep doing that; it's almost like he read my mind.

"I…*stammers then scoffs* no." Wow, I don't think I could sound any less convincing, even if I tried. I've been off my game since I met Jaxx; for some reason, there's just something about him that's so familiar, I just can't put my finger on it. "Well, hopefully now that you've cracked that thumb drive we can finally figure out where they've taken the good Doc." Oh Jaxx, if only. "It's not going to be easy." Both the boys have the same confused look, but only Trip says "Why's that?"

"Because," time to explain, "According to the drive there's well over 12 terabytes of information here. It's gonna take some time; time that we may not have." Trip looks less confused and more concerned, while Jaxx just scoffs. "Don't worry; we'll get it done." Wait a sec, did he…that's what it is. All this time and I should've seen it; he's like a less twisted-mirror version of him, of Grant Ward. A chill rushes over me, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I look away to try and gather my thoughts and to think about something, anything else besides that murdering traitor.

"You okay?" I look up to see Jaxx looking concerned, and suddenly without meaning too, I meet his eyes. They're so different from Ward's, in so many ways. The last time I looked into Ward's eyes was the day they threw him in that cell. All I saw was cold, emotionless-death, but Jaxx's; god girl stop looking into his eyes for crying out loud. "Earth to Skye, this is ground control; are you there?" Focus girl, and change the subject, "Yea, no it's just…I was just thinking of a question I asked you earlier." He folds his arms in front of his chest, and smiles a bit "What question was that?"

"I was just wondering…how can I get a cool nickname like yours and agent May's?" his smile fades quickly. Maybe I should've just-"What do you mean?" Trip asks. "You know. May is 'The Cavalry' and Jaxx here is 'The Swor -" Jaxx shushes me, multiple times before turning around to look at Simmons. "*whispers* Wha…are you telling me that your own sister doesn't know that your 'The Sword'?" his eyes widened and the look of…fear on his face gives me my answer. "*whispering still* How could she not know?" I ask, "*growly whisper* Because, I haven't told her that's why, now shush okay."

Wow, talk about awkward; I can't believe he hasn't told her about his other life. "Hold on a second. Are you telling me that your 'The' Sword?" from his tone I'm guessing Trip didn't know about Jaxx's secret either. Jaxx's eyes darts over to me before darting over to Trip. He slowly nods, which gives Trip his answer. "Whoa. That's…I thought you'd be taller and…less pale." Jaxx mutters something under his breath, before shooting him the "Evil Eye". Couldn't help but crack a smile, which, he notices, unfortunately.

"So, are any of the stories they say true?" Trips question makes Jaxx fold his arms once again. "Depends on the story I guess." He replies with no virtual hint of emotion in his tone. I've seen that look on Trip's face before; that look tells me that he's not through asking questions yet. "What about Barcelona? Any of that true?" "What's the story with Barcelona?" I ask, trying my best not to sound like some S.H.I.E.L.D. groupie or whatever.

"Well you see; our boy here supposedly infiltrated an enemy militia compound that was trying to sell of weaponry stolen from Stark Industries. The story goes that he not only destroyed all the weapons, but also managed to take out over 75 heavily armed militia fighters. With nothing more than a backpack, full of C4 and a sword, hence the name." Wow that's…I gotta admit I'm having a hard time believing all that. "Okay, there's no way that any of that is actually true I mean, c'mon. You took out over 75 guys, really?"

Jaxx smiled and shook his head, "I know right," see I knew Trip was just yanking my chain. "It was only 35, not 75. I swear that number gets bigger each time." Wait, what? "And it was a Kukri not a sword, plus I wasn't alone; it was a small 3 man infiltration team, Barton, Romanoff, and myself." Is he joking right now?! He spent time with "The" Black Widow and Hawkeye? As in The Avengers?! "Whoa, whoa, whoa go back a sec. You were on a mission with both Black Widow and Hawkeye? Seriously!?" my voice breaks a little and he gives me the same look he gave me before; I whisper "Sorry it's just…it's freaking Widow and Hawkeye man."

He shrugs, "It's not a big deal. Hell it wasn't even my first op with Romanoff or Barton." Okay wow, I'm just…I'm almost at a loss for words. "How many ops have you been on with them?" it seems that Trip is finally as curious as I am, which seems to be aggravating Jaxx even more; win-win. "I dunno, maybe 5. 6 if you count Barcelona." Wow, I don't know what's more shocking; the fact that Jaxx here has worked with two of the Avengers or that he's being just so glib about it. "You might not think that this is a big deal, but it is, a very big deal." I say.

He just stands there, sighing and shaking his head, "Let's just move on…please? Before Simmons overhears-" "Overhears what?" Damnit Simmons, give a girl a little warning next time before you ninja-up on someone, jeez. I look over at Trip who glances at me briefly before looking back at Simmons. "Nothing, nothing important we're just, uh *stammering*…" I can't believe I'm seeing this; Jaxx is flustered. Why doesn't he want her to know about his connection to S.H.I.E.L.D.? Part of me kinda wants to tell her, mainly because no good can come from keeping a secret like this; but the other part, keeps telling me that he must be keeping it from her for a good reason.

"It's nothing really, Trip here was just telling Jaxx some of S.H.I.E.L.D's tall-tales and legends." I hate lying to Simmons, but unlike her, I can pull it off. "Really, what sort of tales has our agent Triplett been telling my brother here?" Crap, should've known that she'd ask that; it's okay, it's fine, I just gotta come up with-"Just some that involve our very own agent May; why they call her the Cavalry and all that." Thank god for Trip, because I was drawing a blank.

Simmons has a nervous smile plastered on her face, and she leans over to Jaxx "She doesn't like to be called that by the way. And you definitely don't want to get on her bad side," she tensed up all of a sudden, and now her nervous smile has turned into a full-blown nervous look, one which she aims my way. "She's not…behind me, is she?" okay yea, I get it. I'd be nervous too if I was talking about May. "You're good girl." Trip says. Simmons exhales, like she was holding her breath for days.

Wait a sec, I wonder…how much does she actually know, about the Sword? "Yea Trip here was just about to tell us about another supposed bad-ass S.H.I.E.L.D. player; someone named 'The Sword'?" I didn't think Jaxx's face could turn any paler and yet, Simmons on the other hand; from the look on her face, she definitely wasn't expecting me to ask about Jaxx's other, secret persona. "Oh my; now that's a name I haven't heard since I was a freshman at the Academy. Some of the seniors would tell us some pretty interesting rumors about that one."

"Reeaaallly," just when I couldn't get any more curious; of course, Jaxx looks even more aggravated than he did before. Normally at this point, I'd stop aggravating, but it's just; I have to hear more about Jaxx's SWORD persona. "What sort of rumors?" I ask, and Simmons didn't seem to mind answering, "Well, granted this are unsubstantiated rumors, but the one thing they all have in common is that The Sword; isn't human."

Jaxx rolls his eyes, and shakes his head a little; "You can't be serious?" he says. Simmons looks at him, innocent, throwing her hands up "I'm simply repeating what I was told. However, there are some who say that he is a work of pure fiction." Oh Simmons, if only you knew how wrong you are. "Well, no one believed that Thor existed, or that aliens would invade New York, until they came knocking." Score one for Trip, "Trip does make an interesting point." I say. Simmons sighs, "I'm not saying that he doesn't exist, but the problem is that there are too many variables."

"What do you mean?" I ask. Simmons shakes her head, "What I mean, is that there are multiple stories running around out there about who or what he is, and where he comes from…for instance; one story states that he was adopted and raised by 'The' Nicholas Fury and trained to be the ultimate assassin." Really, I don't get that vibe from him of course; it's hard to tell with that scowl-ly look on his face. "I heard that he was a part of a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. program to recreate the super soldier program."

Now Jaxx shoots that scowl of his at Trip, who just looks and smiles; Jaxx sighs and shakes his head, rubbing his forehead. "Or how about the one, where he is the sole survivor of an alien world *scoffs*?" Trip laughs a little "Yea I heard that one too." Both Trip and Simmons start laughing, but Jaxx; he stops leaning against the cabinet and gives Simmons and Trip a look, "You've got to be kidding me?" Jeez Jaxx, relax a little.

Trip just smiles and replies "Relax man, it's just a story. Right?" Simmons nods, "Exactly; just a story. But if it were true; one would have to imagine what such a person would be like? I mean from a scientific standpoint." Just wow; leave it to Simmons to turn a running joke, into some science analogy. "Really, Jemma…" Jaxx sounds less annoyed and more exhausted with each new tale that Simmons and Trip tell. "I'm serious, for instance; would his physiology even be compatible with our atmosphere? And if so, what sort of abilities would he have? Highly dense skin? Super Strength? Flight?"

Lame, been done, and wouldn't mind having that. "Maybe he could breathe underwater, or check this…he has a magic ring." All three of them at the same time look at me, giving me the that's-the-stupidest-thing-ever-said look. "*mutters under her breath* Just saying…" Jaxx shakes his head, and face palms his-self. "Skye, a magic ring…really? It's far more likely that he would gain significant physical attributes such as Hyper hearing or Super breath." Okay yea like being able to hear a quarter of a mile or being able to Hulk-like super breath is any more plausible than what I just said.

"Jaxx help me out here," I even ask nicely, but he just looks at me, somehow even more aggravated. "Don't look at me, you're the one who brought it up." "Brought what up?" FOR CRYING OUT- I turn around and see AC standing there in the doorway, trying and succeeding at scaring the ever loving crap outta me. The guys' like a freakin ninja.

COULSON

I love doing that. It's one of the perks of being trained by Fury, that and all those sweet gadgets. Everyone seemed startled by my suddenly appearing out of nowhere; everyone except Jaxx, I never could get the drop on him, hell; I don't even think Romanoff could either. "Okay, firstly DC, don't ever do that again, and secondly," Skye starts on one of her-wait, did she just say DC? "When do I get to learn how to do that ninja stealth stuff?" Well, it all depends on ones' CO, and in Skye's case, well; "Level 3 Stealth and Tactics. It's in the handbook."

Don't worry Skye, you'll get there, it just takes time. But right now we need to focus on the mission at hand, "So, have you managed to crack that drive yet?" Skye nods, "Yes, and I'm already running a search algorithm on the most recently accessed files; but with over 3 terabytes worth of data on here, it's gonna take some time." Well, it's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but she's doing the best she can. "Simmons, anything jump out at you during your examination of Agent Shaw?"

I recognize that grim look on her face, which means I'm not going to like her answer "Actually sir, there are a few things that you need to see." Her tone confirms it; I'm not going to like what she shows me. All of us gather around Shaw, and for a second, everything goes quiet. I can't say what everyone else is feeling at the moment, I know Agent Triplett is mourning a friend. Skye and Simmons are probably feeling the loss too, but not as much; Jaxx on the other hand, he won't mourn his fallen friend.

No, he'll do that after, after we finish the mission that Shaw started. Sometimes I wish I had his mentality, being able to push all the pain, all the anger aside and focus on the mission. That's what I should be doing here, but I'm not able to focus partially because I'm worried that any second I'll lose my mind and become psychotic like Garrett.

"Sir?" What? Looking around I see the concerned looks on everyone's faces, even Jaxx. I must've gotten lost in my thoughts, and didn't even realize it. It's been happening more and more lately. Regardless, I have them suspect anything, so it's imperative that I focus. "I'm fine it's just… Agent Shaw was a good man; he didn't deserve this." I think everyone buys it, well, everyone except Jaxx; he can always tell when someone is lying, he's like a human lie-detector. He's pretty much a spy's worst nightmare, according to Romanoff that is.

Lucky for me I'm merely deflecting from the real issue; because in truth, I really do hate seeing Shaw just lying there, skin as pale and cold. Just like I was, before Fury put me through the T.A.H.I.T.I. program and turned me into whatever I am now. Skye puts her hand on my shoulder, and rubs it gently, "We'll get'em Coulson." I appreciate Skye's reassurance, "I know," but, what we need right now, is a lead. Which leads me to Simmons; hopefully she has something, "Simmons, what did you find during your exam of agent Shaw?"

"Quite a few things sir," she pauses to turn on the overhead lamp, and shines it on Shaw's face.

Coulson and company listened intently to Agent Simmons and her report on Agent Shaw. Per Director Coulson's request, Simmons left nothing out of her report; she started by showing the various bruising around the orbital sockets, which only showed in the late stages of decomposition. She also noted that he had a hair-line fracture to both his left orbital socket as well as the left side of his jaw. It seems like everyone except for Skye knew what this meant; Coulson later explained to her that this meant that the attacker was both right-handed and very strong.

Simmons moved everyone's attention down to Shaw's chest, where she stated that he had a crushed sternum and over 8 broken ribs, but also explained that this was in fact not the cause of death. There were also at least 7 stab wounds to the stomach, but they too were also as she stated, not the cause of death. Shaw's true cause of death was massive internal hemorrhaging; both lungs were punctured by his broken ribs, essentially causing him to drown in his own blood. Jaxx walked over to the table behind Simmons, to take a moment. All Skye could think of, was how that would be a horrible way to go; drowning and alone, no friends, no family, no help.

Her mind raced backwards, to the time where Ian Quinn shot her, twice, in the stomach. How she felt so cold, so alone, thinking is this it? I can't go out like this, not now, not when I'm so close to…She snaps back to this moment, and stares at Shaw's pale, expressionless face. All that was going through Trip's mind was what he was going to do to the person responsible, when he finally gets his hands on them. Simmons imagination got the better of her; she couldn't help but imagine the events that lead to agent Shaw's death.

She unknowingly held her stomach when her mind recreated the scene of Shaw getting stabbed. Luckily, she too managed to snap out of it, although the situation currently, wasn't much better. Coulson on the outside looked calm, cold, and even calculating, but on the inside; he was a man who rarely lost his temper, or at least kept it in check until whatever predicament they were in was over. But at the moment, seeing his agents, those he thinks of as family, standing there wondering how this could've happen, infuriates him. Even so, he remains cool and focused not because he doesn't care, or because he wants to; he does so because deep down he knows, that it's what's needed from him, at least for right now.

Jaxx didn't need a moment, for him, mourning of a fallen friend comes after, not before. To him this wasn't about his ill-conceived notions of right or wrong, or even Justice. For him, Hydra took away one of the few friends he has in this world, no; this is personal, this is all about revenge. But with the examination yielding no results, and Skye's program running, his vengeance would have to wait, which didn't sit well with him.

Jaxx tries to take a moment to collect himself; to get his thoughts in order, but he couldn't. There was something deep in the back of his mind chipping away at him, keeping him from focusing on the mission at hand.

Jaxx

This is taking way too long; we should've found something by now, some sort clue, instead we've got nothing. Damnit, every moment I spend here among them, increases the risk of them finding out my secret. If any of them knew how dangerous I really am…well, that would be a problem. At least for now everyone seems so fixated on finding this Dr. Streiten guy, which gives me more time to cover my tracks. I've taken some time to watch everyone closely, in order to see where I stand with them.

I know for a fact that Coulson and Jemma both trust me, well enough not to ask too many questions. May has always had her suspicions about me, but she's become much more lax since staying on with Coulson and this new S.H.I.E.L.D. The only other variables I can see is agent Triplett here; a specialist, Garrett's protégé, and could pose a problem later on. The girl Skye on the other hand, I'll have to keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't go snooping where she shouldn't. If any one of them finds out my secret…no, I can't think like that. I've managed to fool everyone for this long… (Jaxx looks over his shoulder at Simmons, Coulson, Skye, and Trip) I can keep it up a little longer.

(He turns back to the table, and sees the bag with Shaw's personal effects sealed inside.) Since I'm here, I might as well be useful. (He turns around, looking at Director Coulson, who's still next to Skye as she continues searching the drive.) "Hey Coul," (Coulson looks over,) "You mind?" (Coulson nods.) "Be my guest." Thanks Coul. (He grabs the bag, and slides it in front of him.) Hopefully Shaw has some clues hidden somewhere in here, otherwise we're out of luck. (He opens the bag, reaches inside and pulls out Shaw's wallet,) Let's see what we've got here. Okay so, no cash, no credit cards. (Jaxx remove Shaw's social security card and a driver's license from the wallet. Almost immediately, he could tell that they were both forgeries.)

This is beyond sloppy workmanship, which means they were done in a hurry. This social security has way too many numbers, but it looks passable from a distance, his Driver's ID on the other hand; there's no holographic stamp, the picture is blurry, and the color is off. I never knew Shaw deal with such shitty credentials. (Coulson walks up on his right side.) "Find anything yet?" if I did, I would've told you. "Nothing besides a pair of really bad forgeries," (Jaxx hands them over to Coulson, who takes a closer look at the Social.) "It's not like Shaw to do such shoddy work." Coul squints his eyes a bit, while I nod, "I know. And if you think that's bad, check out the name on the ID." Coulson's in for surprise. (Coulson shuffles the social security card to the back and looks at the name on the ID.)

There's it is, that expression, that disbelief, "It can't be, this has got to be a joke, right?" I can see him trying, resisting the urge to smile, "Nope." He gives in and lets that smile show, "John Spartan, really?" he shakes his head as I shrug. "Yeah, I know," I chuckle a little bit, while Coul scoffs. "Wow, just when you think you've seen it all. Someone decides to go all Demolition Man," I look at him, and give him another shrug. "Look at it this way, at least he didn't choose Rambo, or Balboa this time." Coulson's smile is more prominent, and for a moment it was like old times. Unfortunately it's not, which means we need to get back to business; (Takes a closer look at the wallet.)

Nothing here either. I was kinda hoping that he had something sewn into the lining. But there's not a damn thing. (Jaxx hands the wallet off to Coulson, who takes a closer look at it as well. Jaxx then pulls out Shaw's jacket, and spreads it out on the table. He starts to feel around, seeing if there's anything else hidden within. First he checks the sleeves, and then he searched the outer pockets, then the inner.)

There's nothing here either, nothing except blood. I could smell it, even with it sealed inside the bag; you son of a bitch, why didn't he tell anyone, tell me. Even if Shaw had managed to survive his wounds and get patched up by Coulson's team, it would've only prolonged the inevitable. Simmons is great at what she does which means sooner or later she'll check his blood and come to the same conclusion. From his platelet count and the lack of drugs found on him or in his system, I'd say he had maybe 2 months, 3 max. Leave it to Shaw to go out swinging; better this way I guess, it ended quicker this way, instead of the cancer killing him from the inside. Part of me, wants to tell Coulson about this, but if I do; there'll be too many questions to answer, and eventually he'd get me to slip up and then…it'd be over.

No like I said, Jemma's good at what she does, I'll let her tell him; I just gotta make sure I look convincingly surprised when she does. (Jaxx focuses back on Shaw's effects and sees his boots inside the bag; he reaches inside and pulls them out, and starts examining them.) There's hardly any scuff marks here, (He turns the boot over to look at the soles.) The treads are worn, and the left shoe looks like it's starting to crack in the arch. Why wouldn't he just throw'em away? (He slowly turns the boot, looking for specs of dirt, or any other evidence. As he does this he sees something barely noticeable on the heel and feels around it. A look of disbelief splashes across his face,)

"No way, he wouldn't…" there are two worn impressions on either side of the heel. There's no way he would… (Coulson looks over in time to see Jaxx press in both impressions, which popped open a hidden compartment on the heel.) "Ha, and here I thought you were the only one into spy-craft." I set the boot down on the table, and slowly pull out the compartment. "Hey, don't knock it till you try it." Coulson replies. (Jaxx finds a small envelope inside. Jaxx and Coulson glance at each other briefly, before Jaxx hands it over to Coulson. He opens one end, and holds his other hand out as he proceeds to tip it. An SD card splotched with blood drops into his palm, and almost instantly the two shared a surprising look.)

I need to check the other boot, to make sure there's no other hidden prizes…Where did—Damn Coul, I haven't seen him move that quick since Baton Rouge, hell; I look away for just a second and he has already rushed the SD card over to Skye. "Skye, I need you to drop what you're doing," from the look on her face, I'd say Coul caught her by surprise. "New priority." He hands her the SD card, and without hesitation or question, she spins around on her stool, and grabs the tablet that was lying on the table behind her. "What's on it?" she asks, while inserting it into the tablet. "No idea, which is why I want you to find out." It seems like this whole 'Director' thing suits you Coul.

(Skye taps the screen on the tablet a few times; meanwhile Jaxx walks over and stands on Skye's right side, while Coulson stands on her left. A loading icon pops up, and stays up for a few minutes.) This part is the worst; the waiting, it makes soldiers like me feel useless, which is why I hate it. (A new screen appears, with just a single icon, a box in red with the words play in it.) Bout damn time, now maybe we can finally get some damn answers and stop playing catch up.

The tension in the room was at maximum threshold. To everyone, this could be the clue that finally leads them to Hydra and more importantly; to the good Dr. Streiten himself, hopefully before it's too late. Skye had sent the video to a local monitor, after which she handed the tablet over to her Director. He looked around the room, and took in everyone's expressions, before he looked down at the tablet; his finger hovered just above the screen as hesitation slowly creeped in. Suddenly, a multitude of thoughts and questions swarmed through his mind; what if this leads to another dead-end or another dead agent for that matter? What if Dr. Streiten was already dead and Hydra has begun mass producing GH.325?

He knew not the answers to these questions, or the other questions which streamed through his mind; all he knew is what was that this video could hold some answers or none, and yet it was still better than the alternative. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he pressed the play icon and looked up with the others at the monitor in front of him. Seconds passed before the video actually started. At first the screen was black, and for a moment; some thought that perhaps the SD card itself was damaged somehow. That is until, Shaw entered into view, staring into the camera, as if he was the one watching a video of Coulson and company. He looked tired, worn, and beaten; there was a clear signs of bruising around his left eye, the same place where Simmons had found a hairline fracture.

Not only that, but Shaw himself seemed, almost as if he was struggling to breathe. From the looks of him, this was shot just before he died, making this his last testament. Shaw said nothing for nearly a minute, as he looked down from the camera. Then, once more, he looks straight into the camera, "Agent Coulson or Director; if you're watching this right now, it means *grunts out in pain* that in all likely hood, I'm dead. Which also means (video breaks up) failed to stop Hydra (video breaks up)…