Safe to say, May was a lot of a better flier than what Grant had claimed to think. Not only were the team being thrown around but Grant was actually biting his lip in concentration which Jewel hasn't seen since he was trying to change Jasmine's diaper for the first time. Jewel grabbed onto the side of her chair as Grant tried to maneuver around some clouds in order to lose her but she was always one step ahead. She couldn't really understand what was going on between the two, now understanding that the original team was split in two obviously because of the new SHIELD. One thing she was at least grateful for that May wasn't trying to fire rounds at them like some of her colleagues.
"Coulson!" May's voice came through in the intercom, "I'm ordering you to stand down! Surrender and you won't face Gonzales' wrath!"
Jewel looked back, "At least she doesn't realize it's Grant flying, right?"
"Believe me" Coulson gripped onto his harness, "She's giving me more of a compliment that she means to"
"Who is Gonzales?" Grant asked, "The leader?"
"One of them" Hunter answered, "They have five actually and they prefer to put every decision to a bloody vote"
Jewel and Grant looked to each other in confusion as she said, "That solves nothing"
"You're saying that they can't make a decision until all five agree on something?" Grant asked, "Then let's give them something to vote on"
Grant suddenly slowed the quinjet to a stop as he maneuvered it around, giving everyone an uneasy feeling from the sudden change in direction. May had stopped her quinjet as she watched it turn to reveal Jewel and Ward sitting in the pilot's seat. She wouldn't be blind if she couldn't tell it was them from the setting sun shining blindly in their faces. Grant leaned over as he flipped on the intercom to communicate with her.
"Hey May" Ward said, "Long time, no see"
"Ward…" May said with gravel in her throat, "Is Coulson with you?"
"He is" Ward fixed himself in his chair, "As a hostage"
Jewel looked to him as May mumbled, "Impossible"
"You guys were so blind with your new organization with the same old name that you didn't realize that we slipped in took our advantage" Ward smiled, "Follow us and we will kill them"
"And if I don't think you will?" May asked.
"It's not your choice to make" Ward responded, "I'm sure you have some sort of… committee to discuss this with"
May didn't answer for a couple of seconds so Ward switched off the connection and turned the Quinjet and started to fly north. Jewel held her breath as she looked at the triangle that signaled May's jet but it didn't follow, it stayed there. No one said anything until Grant turned the jet on auto-pilot and moved to get up.
"Are you insane?!" Jewel yelled at him, "Now they think we kidnapped Coulson! Don't you think Jasmine-"
"I always think of her," Grant turned to Jewel suddenly, making her stop, "But I had to say what I did. May was charged in taking Coulson into custody but was not banking on us being here. She will have no choice but to turn back and report to their leaders, who have different views, I hope and will give us time"
"Jewel is right" Coulson said, "It puts your family in danger"
Ward crossed his arms over his chest, "Not unless we place you back as director"
"What?" Jewel turned to him.
"We help you get back into your former position, then we get to walk away in peace" Ward said, "You had no promise when you came to our home but you knew with our help that we could overthrow this new SHIELD"
Jewel looked to Coulson who seemed stunned but nodded at what he said. She never realized that Coulson gave an empty promise the second he came to Italy.
"So" Ward let out, "Let's start from the beginning… Why is there a new SHIELD?"
"An organization was formed because they felt the Director had too much power over something as powerful as SHIELD" Coulson explained, "They saw it in Garrett and… feared it in me"
"Why?" Jewel asked.
"Because I was infected by the same alien blood as him" Coulson hesitated, "I was doing carvings and seeing signs, some people thought I was becoming irrational"
"How did you recover?" Ward asked, "I saw the way Garrett was acting after he was injected, I could barely understand him before he…"
Jewel tried not to notice how hurt Grant was as she looked to Coulson with answers.
"I found a way to get rid of that itch" Coulson said, "But in turn, I lost Skye"
Jewel sighed as she went to lean on a console, "This is getting so confusing. So is this new SHIELD after you or Skye and her little band of misfits?"
"Both, actually" Coulson said, "The new SHIELD wants to label everyone but Skye says that these race of people just want to be left alone"
"Now they're a race of people" Grant ran a hand over his head, "What did we get ourselves into?"
"Now you're asking that question?" Jewel looked at him, crossly.
"We need to get to Skye and get her away from the crossfire" Coulson said, "Things are going to get ugly between these two and she doesn't know what's going on"
"What made her leave in the first place?" Jewel asked.
Coulson hesitated before looking over to Fitz who seemed just as guilty. Hunter sighed and looked away uncomfortably as even Peterson looked disappointed. Jewel's eyebrows furrowed as she looked over to Grant who seemed to have noticed the shift of tension in the room. Whatever he asked seemed to have struck a chord with this group as Ward waited for an answer from them. Coulson struggled or he probably struggled to see if Grant or Jewel would change the subject.
"It was my fault," Coulson said, "I pushed her away during a time when she needed me the most. Something happened when we followed those signs that I was craving… it was a map of some kind. Certain people go crazy and others either ascend or are cursed, given on what side you see things. When Skye started to develop these powers, we didn't handle her dealing with them properly-"
"And she left" Jewel finished, "Because you want to label her"
"I only wanted to protect her but others had different agendas" Coulson explained, "The new SHIELD already infiltrated our own and tried to put her down-"
"They wanted to kill her?" Ward let out, "Did they even know her?"
"Some she considered friends" Coulson said, "She was at a safehouse during that time when the new SHIELD revealed themselves so she has no idea that I'm not the one ordering these kills on her"
Jewel took a deep breath and sighed as she turned to Grant who started to pace the quinjet. She pitied Skye more than ever now as she wondered how confused the woman must be. She also didn't understand why May would want to be in a team that is trying to actively kill both Coulson and Skye. Jewel pinched the bridge of her nose as she was starting to develop PTSD from when Hydra infiltrated SHIELD.
"So what's the plan?" Jewel asked, "The actual plan? None of this need to know basis"
"Get Skye to understand that it wasn't me who ordered the kill" Coulson said, "Make her understand that I didn't want any of this to happen when she confided in me about these… Inhumans and if it would help, prevent an all out war from happening between the new SHIELD and the Inhumans"
"Who both seem to be pretty hostile to you" Grant pointed out.
"Exactly," Coulson nodded.
"I volunteered all of us to go to Mexico" Hunter waved up his hand, "Either let all of this blow over or the best man wins, it's all good as long as we keep our heads down. Plus, this is the first time the parents are away from their little angel"
"If this gets Grant back into the good graces then I'm all for the challenge" Jewel got up, "I just wished we knew who we were fighting in the very beginning"
Coulson nodded as he took that into consideration as Jewel turned and looked to Grant as he nodded. They needed to find a safehouse that's under the radar from this new SHIELD, fortunately, they made a couple during their first couple of months on the run. Jewel just hoped that they weren't being followed at a distance from May.
"One thing at a time" Ward sighed, "First, let's get Skye, she can be some sort of peacemaker between the two… I hope"
"If these people shot at us with real bullets then I highly doubt they're going to want to talk" Jewel said, "Even if they put up everything to vote. Why do they think that's better anyways?"
"Everyone wants to have a voice" Peterson said, "They claim they each are from different divisions"
"Still, five leaders?" Ward asked, "Sounds a lot like Hydra"
"I thought Hydra had only one leader?" Fitz asked.
"Hydra has six leaders; one for each tentacle on their symbol" Ward explained, "But they don't put anything to a vote because while SHIELD goes back and debates on what to do… Hydra has already pulled the trigger"