I really appreciate that you are taking the time to read this, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.
Please leave reviews, with either positives or feedback and I will answer any questions here. Any ideas for the next chapter or recommendations for other fics are also welcome :)
For the purposes of this fic, Coulson knows about his death and May is level 8(so there are no secrets between them). I will also not be completely following the show-I might skip episodes and characters.
Disclaimer -I do not own Agents of Shield but I love it very much and have watched it multiple times.
Recap: May has set-up the first prank of the prank-war, Bobbi and Hunter found out about May and Coulson's engagement and Camilla Reyes and her team just gassed the plane.
Melinda stood up to leave the cockpit and found the door locked. After checking that it wasn't jammed, she set about trying to pick it open with the hairpin that she had kept in her jacket since the kidnapping incident but quickly noticed the gas, seeping in through the cracks in the door. She struggled for air as gas filled her lungs, but it was useless, the small area filled quickly, and she felt herself collapse.
She woke to find herself handcuffed to the cargo-door, along with Hunter, Simmons, Fits, Ward and Skye. At least she had the team, she thought, before realizing that neither Phil nor Bobbi where there. Panic crossed her face when she registered Coulson's absence, but it quickly disappeared when her training kicked in. Stay calm. She had to take control of the plain.
"What was that sound," Skye asked, sounding worried.
"Her wrists," Ward said, pointing at May who had just dislocated her wrists to escape.
"Doesn't that hurt?"
"It is a move taught at Ops to escape in and emergency circumstance. It is agony and I have no idea why she used it in such a low-risk circumstance," he told her.
"I do."
"Please share."
"Not my place to say."
"If it affects the mission like that, then as a higher-ranking agent, I order you to tell me."
"I can't do that."
"She's engaged to Coulson," Hunter told him.
"Hey! You shouldn't have told him," Skye said angrily to Hunter.
"She already hates me, how can it hurt?"
"She now had a reason to kill you."
Hunter looked slightly worried, and Fitz and Ward just sat with their mouths hanging open.
"You told them," May said to Skye when she returned from wherever she went.
"Hunter," Skye said, pointing an accusing finger.
May looked at the rest of the team for confirmation and they also pointed at Hunter.
"What the hell possessed you? Do you know how much danger you just put them in! I thought you were married to Bobbi! Now they will try and kill them."
"They better leave Bobs alone."
"I hope, for your sake that there is not a scratch on them," her anger almost, but not quite masking her pain.
"Get yourselves out" she said as she threw them the keys to their handcuffs, before heading through the lab window, which she had destroyed with a car, and taking out 3 guard that were posted next to Coulson's office. She had formulated a plan while semi-consciously fighting them, so headed into the office and gave herself up, letting them re-handcuff her, as well as tie her legs.
After they had unlocked all of their handcuffs, they sat back down and tried to come up with a plan. It wasn't going very well. Ward wanted a combat solution, whereas Fitz wanted a tech solution. Hunter was deliberately stirring up trouble between the already squabbling agents, and Simmons and Skye were desperately but unsuccessfully trying to break it up.
"Did May leave without us even realizing?"
"Yes."
"How did none of us notice her leave."
"She does that."
"No-one ever sees her arrive or leave unless she wants them to. Probably why she is so good undercover."
"If her skills live up to even 12% of the SHIELD legends, then she can probably do this onehanded with a broken leg."
"Agreed."
"It's probably best if we stay out the way."
"If she needs us, she'll come and get us."
"we should probably move somewhere where we can't get dropped off the plane at the click of a button though."
"Why don't we camp out in the lab. May has already cleared it of guards anyway."
AT THE MOMENT OF THE GAS BEING RELEASED ONTO THE PLANE.
Coulson felt himself hit the counter and felt a small stream of blood come from his forehead, where he had sliced it on edge. His last thoughts before he succumbed to the gas could have been heroic plans or beautiful things but instead, they were this- Why the hell did Fury build the bar with a sharp edge?
When he woke, he found 2 bodies slumped next to him- Melinda and Bobbi. Bobbi sat up against the wall but looked like she had been awake, and was just sleeping, Melinda on the other hand, was deathly pale. She had a deep gash running down the side of her face and several more, running along her arms but the most worrying thing was a small blade sticking in her stomach. He ran his fingers through her soft brown hair, which perfectly framed her face.
"This wasn't part of the plan," she said quietly from beside him.
"Linda, I need you to hold on. Stay with me. Please."
"I'll be fine," she replied, voice filled with pain as she removed the knife from her stomach and cut the bindings on his wrists.
"Wake Bobbi. Find the others. Take back the plane. Go, Phil,"
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to."
"I can't just leave you to die Linda."
"You have to. I'm sorry. They are in the lab. I'm sorry about the glass."
"I don't care about the glass. I just need you to be okay," he cried desperately.
"Go. Please. I love you."
"No. No. No. No. Bobbi. Wake up. We need to get her to Simmons now.
"What happened."
"Knife in the stomach."
"she's been awake longer than us. She secured the lab. The others are there. We have to save her. That is the priority."
"We need to carry her to the med bay, Sir."
"We can't just sit here and wait for May to get us out of this mess!" Skye said incredulously.
"We need a backup plan in case something goes wrong."
"If by something goes wrong you mean May is bleeding out from a stab wound to the stomach…," Ward commented.
"That is horribly specific."
"Simmons, I need you to stop the bleeding."
"You need to take back the plane," May said quietly, having temporarily regained consciousness.
"Reyes is still in the supply closet. Use her as hostage," she said as she gradually lost consciousness again.
"Why is Reyes in the supply closet?"
"Is that some sort of code?"
They all looked at Coulson, to interpret this strange statement.
"No. not code. May and Reyes hate eachother. May knocked her unconscious and locked her in the supply closet before we even knew they we hostiles."
"We need a gun and the cupboard keys."
"Simmons, you need to stay here and keep her alive, everyone else is coming with me."
"Who put you in charge, Ward."
"Nobody, Sir."
"Bobbi, you're in charge, Simmons still needs to stay here but I will also stay here to make sure no guards comeback to find us."
"You need to get the key."
"No, you don't, Sir. May already got it," she said, taking the key from May's hand and giving it to Bobbi.
"What was her plan? She had everything and could have taken those guards down easily but instead she let herself be arrested. Why?"
"We'll find out later, we need to take back the plane first."
Simmons handed Bobbi a night-night gun before the group left and headed for the supply closet.
"Put Reyes in the cage. Don't shoot her without May or she will be pissed. She has been trying to shoot that woman for at least 10 years."
"Tell Coulson to back out of the promise. He can't do it. I won't let him. In case this goes bad you have to tell him."
"You're going to be fine Agent May."
"But in case I'm not."
"You will be."
"Please."
"Okay, I will tell him."
"Only if I'm not Okay. If I'm fine, you can't tell him. I need it."
The key clicked in the lock as Bobbi unlocked the closet door. As expected, the unconscious body of Camilla Reyes fell out. She had clearly been knocked out hard, and a shallow cut ran the length of her forehead.
"What did she do to deserve such a hard punch?"
"Ask Coulson."
"Or me or Hunter."
"You guys saw? What happened?"
"She was flirting with Coulson."
"Okay. She totally deserved that then."
"There is probably a great story behind why May and Reyes hate eachother."
"we'll have to ask them sometimes. For now, we have a mission."
An hour later, the had Reyes's team securely tied to the cargo-door. Bobbi had been sent to pilot the plane to the sandbox, and they would take Reyes and her team there as well, were SHIELD would transport them to the appropriate place.
May was recovering in the med bay. She was fully conscious but on orders not to move. As soon as Simmons had told her that she was stable and would make a fast recovery, she had been waiting for a moment alone. She wasn't about to let Camilla Reyes off her plane without punching her a few times to warn her not to bother them. Coulson had gone to the bathroom and Simmons was talking to Fitz, so she pulled the IV from her arm and slid to the floor, bracing herself for the pain, but she could hardly feel it due to the pain meds that Simmons had given her. Leaning on the wall, she slowly made her way to the cage, where Reyes was.
Coulson entered the med Bay, found her gone and panicked. Why Couldn't she stay in one place for more than a few minutes, he thought exasperatedly. He knew exactly where she was headed but wished that she had Just stayed put. He found her, about to open the door to the cage. She was barely standing and grasping a gun in her fingers. He slowly took the gun from her fingers and watched her slide down the door, a look of defeat in her eyes.
"Why?" he said as he put the gun on the floor and kicked it away.
"December. 1990. Lima. She shot my partner in front of me. I was 18, she was 19 and Reyes killed her. Left her to bleed out in front of me. I watched the light leave her eyes and then I watch Reyes smile at me, as she signed a treaty with SHIELD. That image plays through my mind almost as much as Bahrain. That wasn't the worst part of it though. She framed my friend, who is to this date, locked in the fridge because nobody would believe me. Now look me in the eye and tell me I don't have every right to put a bullet through her head."
Pain was blurring her vision, but she new the route with her eyes closed. Her stomach was screaming but she had to get away. Be alone. Sliding into her sanctuary, she closed the door behind her and slid into the chair. She tried to focus on the tranquillity of her location, but the pain reminded her of Reyes and that replayed images in her mind that she had managed to block out for months. They now came flooding into her mind, like a dam had been broken. Her partner was dying. Blood was everywhere. There was nothing she could do. Tears of pain flowed freely down her cheeks, but she just stayed there screaming silently.
Thank you for reading, I really enjoyed writing this and I am glad my writing schedule is a bit more on track now. Please leave a review :)
I am posting this a bit early because I am thinking about writing another fic, so please keep an eye out for it. It might stay a one-shot, or if you guys like it, I could make it a multi-chapter.