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. My schedule is getting a bit busier, but I will still try and update weekly although future chapters might be a bit late.
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 :) Thank you if you have reviewed!
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: The team are back to doing field missions because other agents were getting killed by the missions intended for them. They are tracking the Berserker staff, and Coulson is worried that if May picks up the staff, it will kill her because of its side effects.
Brushing through dusty cobwebbed tunnels, she walked through the Spanish catacombs that was their latest lead on the location of the second part of the staff. She and Ward were going in to find the staff, while some of the others were searching the town for the first half. The long-abandoned tunnels were silent, so was the comms system they had set up. It was silent until it was filled with a horrible, wrangled scream. Ward. There was only one thing that could make him scream like that. The staff. Running back down the tunnel she was in, she found him squirming on the ground.
"Ward. Ward. Calm down."
"What's going on," she heard May say through the comms.
"Ward is acting weird. Its like he's having a panic attack or something."
"The staff. Get him back here."
"Anyone copy? We have a prisoner."
"We copy. Everyone meet back at the bus."
"So, we didn't get the staff?"
"No, the crazy people have it."
"Skye, you can't just call everyone 'crazy people'."
"But they are…"
"Drop the subject. We don't have the staff, but we do have a lead."
"We do?"
"I think Elliot Randolph is the berserker."
"That means that he will know where final part of the staff is."
"I'll go and find out; you keep track of Nystrom and Larson."
"Who?" Skye asked, confused.
"The crazy people."
"Any luck?"
"Set course for Ireland."
"Where exactly in Ireland?"
"Monastery on the coast, I'll come and give you the coordinates in a minute."
"Were you right?"
"He's been living on this planet for over a thousand years."
"Give you anything else useful?"
"Not much else to know. We just need to get there first."
"I need to go then," she pointed out.
"How long will it take?"
"On this plane, about two hours."
"See you then?"
"yeah."
The water lashed at the cliff, eroding away the cliff face. An old monastery lay sat right on the edge, as if the cliff had been disappearing around it and one day, it would just topple off the cliff. Obviously having been given the correct coordinates, they entered the building.
The walls were tall and stony, with tapestries lining the walls dark wooden furniture. They followed
Randolph, or as Skye was starting to call him, Their resident Asgardian, He led them through the quiet
building towards a large wooden cabinet. Opening the door, he reached inside to where the staff lay,
about to pick it up, when the other piece of staff entered his chest, pushing him backwards towards the
team. The others were there. Blood seeped around the wound as he lay on the ground.
To the team's horror, Ward gripped the staff and pulled it out of Randolph, before jumping over the
balcony, pulling both himself and Nystrom over the balcony. Both people having a piece of the staff,
they started a vicious battle below. As May had headed off to find Larson, Bobbi and Hunter were on
back-end, and Ward was dealing with Nystrom, Simmons, Fitz and Coulson were left to help Randolph.
"I have no idea what to do?" Simmons said panicking.
"He's an alien. He has a completely different anatomy!" Fitz added, also freaking out.
Coulson stuck his hand inside the wound, making a squelchy noise as he did.
"What in the name of god did you…"
"Sometimes you just need to go right in. Asgardians heal quicker than humans, so we just need to keep him alive until his body can heal itself. What am I looking for?"
"His heart."
Ward, having won his fight against Nystrom, was standing holding his part of the staff, the other section lying at his feet. As he was about to put the part, he was holding with the other one, about ten soldiers entered, and he was forced to pick up the other half. Letting out a vicious, angry battle cry, he ran towards them, cutting them down like trees in his anger. After the battle, he half collapsed, shaking vigorously.
"Ward, do you need medical?" Skye asked. "Ward. Ward!"
Completely unresponsive to Skye, he saw Larson, stood up and reached for the pieces of staff, only to be blocked by May.
"Let me." She said before picking up the two pieces of staff."
The blood drained from his face as he saw her pick up the staff. Why did she always have to be the hero? Why couldn't she just look after herself? Now she might die, and it would be his fault. He should have stopped her. Picked up the staff himself or distracted her while Ward did it. He should have kept her on the bus, brought Bobbi in her place. He should have been watching her. Now he could just see blood in the corners of her eyes in place of tears, and pain and terror crossing her face as she cut down the woman in front of her.
As her hand made contact with the staff, the glowing pattern, that appeared purely decorative, sliced through he like thousands of invisible lasers. Vision clouded with blood, mind fogged with memories, she let her body take over, automatically fighting her enemy. It was like unconscious action. They washed over her- some familiar, some less so, but almost all the feelings were new- Self-hatred from Bahrain, Los Angeles, New York, Lima. Pain from Phil's death, Jay's death, her parents' death. Those were the only ones she recognized. The space between was filled with screams, blood, and blame. When the third piece of the staff completed the weapon, the pain doubled. Her brain was now barely conscious, the agony, both physically and mentally was seconds away from putting her under.
He nearly screamed when saw her collapse. Within a few seconds of killing Larson. The room descended into silence. His mind processing the image in slow motion- like a moment captured in a snow globe. That was the moment he realized. Realized he couldn't live in a world without her. Realized that he couldn't let her die. Realized that he couldn't keep his promise. Reaching her crumpled form, he lifted her up and began carrying her towards the bus. As soon as they were all on board, the bus lifted up, but it felt wrong. It was her plane, she should be the one flying it home, not lying motionless in the medical pod on life support while they flew to Avenger's tower, where they had a chance of saving her. Picking up his phone, he dialed in a number.
"Phil?"
"Nat."
"Why are you calling?"
"Tell Tony to get the doctors ready for immediate medical. Melinda made contact with the alien staff and has stopped breathing three times. We have to save her."
"But you promised her that…"
"I should have known better than to make a promise that I couldn't keep. Just pass on the message." he said, hanging up the phone.
"So, is anyone going to explain what just happened?"
"I don't know anything," said Fitz, raising his hands in mock surrender when they turned in his direction.
"Hunter?"
"What makes you think I know anything?"
"Simmons, Skye you two look like you know something."
"I knew that she was dying, I don't know how this relates."
"You knew what?!"
"That's all I knew. I found out while I was eavesdropping on Romanoff, Stark, Barton, May, and Coulson. I made some pretty cool discoveries- May and Stark are siblings but then I felt bad after finding out like that, so I declined Romanoff's offer to read May's file."
"Simmons?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"It's. It's."
"Spit it out already!"
"Its classified," she said, cringing at the phrase.
"You can't just say that! She is dying, and you use the 'Its classified' excuse. You are unbelievable sometimes!" Fitz shouted.
"To be fair, I don't even know if the two are linked. I couldn't know without finding out what the effects of the staff are."
"Just tell us!" Skye moaned. "She's just as important to us as she is to you, so just spit it out. Classification doesn't matter when someone on your team is about to die!"
"That isn't a rule."
"The effects of the staff draw on anger and pain- drawing your darkest memories and playing them on repeat. It's torturous yes, but It couldn't kill you. She is just weak minded." Ward said snarkily as he walked past.
"That would explain a lot," Simmons said, finally realizing why It had affected May so badly. Simmons walked up to Ward and slapped him in the face.
"Don't make that kind of statement when you don't know the background. You just had a cushy life!" she shouted at him.
"I completely support that statement but is there a particular reason why that statement triggered you so much. I mean… The feeling of wanting to punch Ward is mutual among us all, and I am annoyed that he just came in to insult her, but you NEVER punch people."
"So, are you going to tell us now?"
"I don't really know her background, but I know, as of a few days ago, that she was brought in on a project after It was terminated. It was originally designed to block memories of trauma but after a few years, it became apparent that it had several side effects, including early death, memory loss and on several occasions physical pain. I don't know the specifics, but she was brought in on it years later when she was about twenty- her mental condition deemed bad enough to require the project to resurface despite its side effects. The staff would have severed the connection between her brain and the device, meaning that her body effectively rejected it, sending her into a coma and extreme physical decline."
"But can't you just remove the device?" Skye asked.
"She made Coulson promise not to do that."
"How do you know that!?"
"Coulson told me after she collapsed a few days ago. He was worried."
"Of course, he was worried!"
"I presume he is about to break that promise."
"I don't actually know. You'll have to ask Bobbi about that one."
"So, she's going to be fine right?"
When Simmons was silent, Skye looked up for confirmation, only to find an uneasy expression on the young Biochemist's face.
"Right?"
"I hope so, but even if the procedure is successful, she won't be the same. I've read her file. Judging by what it said, the most likely thing to happen is that she will push all of us away and…and…and."
"What? And what Jemma?"
"Leave."
The plane landed at the tower, but all of the exited buzzing chatter was gone. An empty silence washed over the team. Some of them had gone to bed, the time being about midnight, others, like Coulson, Skye and Simmons sat in the waiting area, indulging in coffee to keep them awake. It was a vicious cycle- He was injured, a few weeks went by, then she was injured. This time she had broken the system, if she survived, their lives would turn the corner onto a different path. A darker one.