Operation: Shadow

Chapter 2

January 23th 2004

MARIA

The trials were going perfectly, their current volunteers were taking to their experiment brilliantly and with their alpha's, it seemed to be going much smoother than when all the alpha's were fighting for the comfort of one person.

Currently the beta's are on their third injection. Their minds have already been broken down and built back up again to handle the mental strain of the wolf inside them as well as their pack mentality. They've experienced the breakdown of their immune system, only for it to be built back up much stronger. They had enhanced senses as well as impressive healing abilities that they would unfortunately have to test out once the change was complete. Right now, the beta's were building their bond with their alpha and were curled around each other in the living area, watching TV. Natasha was sprawled out by herself on one of the couches and every so often she would glance over at her fellow alpha's with what Maria could only describe as jealousy.

Something she would have to keep an eye out for. She could not have Natasha go off the rails because she refused to pick a beta when the others managed to pick one.

Sighing, she finished the last of her report on her wolves and needed to head to the lab to get the technical information before she could pass the report onto Fury. She stood, stretching herself out with a small groan of appreciation as her joints cracked. She wasn't exactly sitting in the most healthiest of ways.

"I'll be back in five minutes, just going to get some data." She announced as she left the room.

She walked along the empty corridor to reach the labs, her heels clicking lightly with every step. The quietness of an empty S.H.I.E.L.D corridor always put her on the edge, she was getting more and more used to it however, you had to when working in an unknown floor. So when she thought she saw the shadows move, she simply put it down to being paranoid.

It wasn't until she reached the labs did she realise her mistake. Always trust your gut, she thought to herself, no matter how silly it seems because standing in front of her was the last group of agents, Group B-10. Well...what remained of them anyway.

There was five in total, all standing awkwardly as their limbs struggled to support them. Their eyes wide and twitchy as they snarled at her. Their skin was worse than when she last saw them. There were blotches everywhere and the skin was peeling in various places, she was almost sure she could see bone in some of the missing patches of skin.

Group B-10 were classified as a fail. They had managed to successfully transform into their wolf forms, however it came at a great cost. They were unable to shift back to their human form for an extended period of time without killing themselves. From what the scientist had been able to gather from them was that when they experienced the breakdown in their mind and nervous system, it never properly built itself back together. Leaving them vulnerable and weak to the outside world around them. They only way they were able to live without pain was in their wolf forms or stay inside forever, but even then, there were documents of pain being felt.

Essentially they were able to create super powered wolves, not super powered humans with the ability to change into a wolf. The exact opposite of what they wanted.

Maria walked cautiously into the lab and set the report on the table. She watched them warily as they struggled to hold themselves up and continued the god awful snarling. They weren't saying anything – not yet – but they followed her every moment as she prayed to every deity she knew that Peggy and the others would notice that she was not back yet, or notice that there were other people in here. They had enhanced sense, so hopefully it would not take them too long to notice.

It was daunting, Maria would not lie to herself and try to play down the situation she was in. She knew that unless the pack arrived within the next five minutes, there was a slim chance she would make it out alive.

"You, y-y-you did this to us." The man on the right snarled, Ben, she thinks. It was hard to tell who was who anymore. Most of their defining features appear to have disappeared.

"You volunteered." Maria corrected him "You knew of the consequences. All of you did."

All of them snarled in sync and took several steps forward, looking very much like a pack of wolves closing in on their prey.

"You never said this would happen!" The middle one roared, his eyes wide. Alex, she thought.

Maria took a small step backwards, a pathetic attempt to put distance between her and them. Where the hell was the others? They weren't exactly being quiet! She carefully thought out her answer, no point in trying to aggravate them more. "No one knew exactly how the serum would effect you, we tried to prepare you as much as we could for what could happen. We never foresaw this. We are sorry, we tried to make it up to you, tried to help you live this rest of your life in peace." Maria said, slightly pleading with them to understand.

"You call this living?" A women to the left scream "We can't see our families! We can't go out in public! We have to rely on S.H.I.E.L.D for food drops! You think this is living?" She raged.

It seemed to be the final straw for them as they launched themselves upon her, shifting half way through their jump and the next thing Maria finds herself doing is screaming in pain.

Pain. Pain. Pain.

She could feel the way their teeth easily slid into her muscles, gripping, pulling, tearing. The way her body all too easily gave parts of itself up, like the blood and muscles was not what kept it alive. She felt the way her nerves screamed at her, they way her brain pleaded with her to just move. They way she failed to respond to any of the signal other than screaming and begging for mercy. Even that was soon cut off as sharp claws swopped across her jaw, unhinging it and left only with the ability to make high pitched sounds in the back of her throat. Her screams forever trapped. Her pleads going nowhere and her brain shutting down.

Pain. It was all she could register. It was all over her body, engulfing every nerve, even after the teeth and claws had stopped.

Peggy head shot up as soon as the first scream sounded. She glanced at the others, looking confused, maybe it was a prank. Those thoughts quickly diminished as soon as the first smell of copper hit her nose. Blood was never involved in a prank and she quickly shot of her chair, following the screams that were coming non-stop now. The screams, which were undoubtedly Maria's.

The others followed her fast pace as she ran into the labs, the source of the screams and froze. For a second. The scene in front of her was horrifying, blood and bit's of flesh were everywhere, but she could not dwell on it. She moved swiftly, shifting into her wolf and easily tore the wolves off of Maria.

Thoughts seeping into her brain that were not her own signalled to her that the others had shifted and were taking care of the other wolves as she moved towards Maria. She dropped to her knees and she did not even know where to begin. The women was covered in blood, skin was hanging off of her in several places and her jaw was a mess. Judging by the pool of blood that both she and Maria were in, she doubted that the women would survive.

Peggy tried to stop the tears from forming as she placed her hand gently against Maria's face, only for her to whimper and slowly jerk away from her touch.

"Sh, shhh, it's okay Maria." She cooed, moving to stroke her hair, hoping that she would find that more comforting. "We'll get you fixed up, we'll make it better. I just need you to hang on, stay awake. Just fight for a few more minutes" She gently begged. She glanced up to a silent room with Natasha standing in the middle, staring at Maria in shock.

"Natasha." Peggy said firmly "Get me the first dosage of serum and an empty syringe. Now!" she commanded, making it easier for Natasha to respond whilst she was in shock.

The women moved stiffly, gathering everything that Peggy asked for and knelt down beside them and handed her the equipment.

"I'll take her." Natasha said quietly, reaching out with one hand to gently touch Maria's face.

Peggy nodded, gesturing for Natasha to hold out her arm in order for her to withdraw blood and then mixed it in with the serum. She held the needle near Maria's neck as the women's half lidded eyes focused on the syringe. If it was possible, more fear appeared on her face causing both Natasha and Peggy to give small reassurances.

"It's going to be okay Maria, I said we would make you better. We're making you better." Peggy cooed as she injected the serum into Maria, praying that it would work and fix the damages.

"We should move her." Natasha mumbled from beside her, her hands sliding gently under Maria and pulling her up with Peggy supporting Maria's head. "She's got to be in so much pain." She whispered, the protectiveness of an alpha already showing.

Peggy sighed as she helped carry Maria to the medical bay, placing her down onto a spare bed. She took a step back to fully survey the damage that happened to the women. Now that the pool of blood was gone, she could see the wounds more clearly now. Maria seemed to have had her legs broken, her shoulders pulled out of their sockets and the ligaments holding them together seems to only be a thread now. Her jaws was stiffly shut at an odd angle, indicating that it was broken as well. Her chest just seemed to be a mess. Those monsters gave no mercy and appeared to have literally shredded the women's chest, only just missing her vital organs. Or rather, was that intentional? Peggy frowned at that line of thought. Why would they intentionally miss her vital organs but cause this amount of damage?

She glanced over at Natasha, the women was cleaning Maria's wounds with a frown and wrapping them up. She gently pushed her thoughts to Natasha, to see what her thoughts were on the matter. Natasha's head snapped up and tilted slightly as she carefully regarded Peggy's thoughts.

"They might have done it to turn her into a wolf. They would have no idea that we have basically perfected the serum and would still thinking we are using the one they got and wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine. They couldn't exactly get to you, you've already been changed, so they only one they could really get revenge on would be Maria." Natasha theorised, looking at Peggy.

A frown seemed to permanently reside on Peggy's face as she regarded Maria, thinking of what to do. "Check her blood for how much serum is in it, and then give her another dosage of your blood, Natasha, just incase. We might have given her two doses of the serum by accident. That might be too much for her body. We need to monitor her closely over the next few days. I'll call Nick and the scientist, see what they have to say." Peggy said, leaning heavily on the wall near Maria's bed.

Maria was in for a rough ride.

September 14th 2013

SKYE

"Rookie. Get up, we need to talk"

Skye groaned and turned her head to face the stern face of Melinda May, her chestnut hair fell over her eyes, distorting her view. Another groan.

"Stupid hair can't even fall in the right way" Skye grumbled, pushing her hair out of her face before sitting up to view the agent in her doorway, "oh please, do come in Agent May" Skye remarked sarcastically, guesting to her tiny bedroom "make yourself at home"

May walked into the room, her eyes never leaving Skye as she sat down on the chair besides the next, Skye raised an eyebrow in an attempt to appear confident. She know she wasn't fooling anyone, she could feel the trembles going through her body as she waited to hear what was going to happen to her.

May felt a pang of sympathy for the girl as the nervous energy just rolled of off her, going through this procedure was not fun, you felt bare, like all your thoughts and feelings were laid out before you for everyone to see. She contained the shiver that threatened to appear at the remembrance of her own time going through the transformation. The worst two weeks of her life. Reliving every horrible memory and then reliving it with someone else watching them with you.

May watched Skye squirm under her gaze, waiting for her to demand an explanation.

"Alright, alright I give, what exactly is going to happen to me? Are I going to sprout another head? Leg? Arm? What?" Skye blurted out, her hands moving wildly with each word, her eyes wide and scared as she waited for an explanation. "Should have chosen jail" she muttered under her breath, running her hand through her hair.

"No" May replied calmly "now if you would calm yourself, I'll tell you exactly what is expected of you and of the procedure"

Skye nodded, biting her lip softly and got her self comfortable on the bed before giving May her full attention.

"The procedure involves a series of jags, one which you will get after we have finished our talk, you are to get a jag every two days; each jag provides a part of the genetic modification, doing this way is easier on the body and has given us the highest success rate-" May began to explain.

"Sorry, success rate? Do people die from taking this?" Skye asked worriedly

May stared at Skye with irritation, waiting for the rookie to acknowledge her own mistake before continuing. Skye lowered her head in apology before darting her eyes to May, May nodded, accepting the apology, musing in amusement that the girl would fit right in with the others.

"Now, as I was saying, this way provides us with the highest success rate, lowest death and highest full transformation" she said, stressing the last few words as an answer to Skye's questions "I'm not going to lie rookie, the procedure will make you feel like shit. You will feel naked, as though all your thoughts, feelings and memories have been on display for everyone and anyone to read and do as they please with them. You will feel sick as your immune system will be down after the first jag. The first jag breaks down several important systems in your body and rebuilds them up stronger and better, so this means take care of yourself for the first two days, eat properly and stay warm. Simmons will be monitoring you for these two days. Then the next 7-" Skye chocked, glancing up in surprise, mouthing '7' in shock, May continued as if nothing happened – "jags will be preparing your body for the transformation, adding and deleting parts of your mind to create the necessary link and then in two weeks the transformation will be complete and you will meet the...head of this... team" May finished, the edges of her mouth twitching at amusement of the description she gave.

Skye stared at her in shock.

"Okay, okay, okay, first of all, SEVEN jags? I hate jags, I'll begrudgingly take one jag but seven?" Skye moaned "This is going to be the worst two weeks of my life" she pouted, before sitting up straighter, signifying that she had some serious questions. "So you've explained what's going to happen to me but you haven't told me what I'm going to become? Why would I need a link? And meddling with my brain? It sounds like you are forcing a thousand year evolutionary process within two weeks" Skye questioned, shifting to fold her legs in a basket, leaning her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands as she waited patiently for May to answer.

"You will become a wolf and yes, that is basically what we are doing. We need to create a link between you and the pack you will join as well as create the wolf instincts in your human form so that when you transform you wont give into your instincts as you will be used to them already. You will need to practice calming techniques starting from today, I suggest mediation or Tai Chi, Simmons can help you with the mediation or you can do Tai Chi with me. Any more questions?" May enquired in a bored tone, she was not really looking forward to another person joining their pack, especially since she would have to look after them as well as Fitz and Simmons, who were already a handful with their experiments and arguing over the simplest things. She knew this feeling would not last, their alpha did not enjoy pack members not getting on and their instincts as a wolf is to accept anyone that joins their pack and have some form of affection for them. Natasha gave specific instructions to her once she was informed that there was going to be a new member of their pack

"Watch out for them, be their S.O, be a mentor, this girl isn't like the other agents. We have nothing on her and whilst I have no qualms about her joining our pack, I trust Furry to make the right choice, it makes me uneasy that we know nothing about it and it will be like pulling teeth to get any information from her. All we got so far is that she is an orphan before she turned one and you know how difficult they can be. Oh, and please look after Fitz and Simmons. Victoria is bitching and moaning that she is losing Simmons. So watch out for them and try and get them to stop doing those damn experiments."

Very specific instructions.

May watched as Skye processed all of the information that she had given her, she watched as Skye pulled her bottom lip between her teeth in worry, the way one of her fingers began curling a stand of chestnut hair around it. Every action the girl was doing screamed how scared and worried she was. Maybe she should get FitzSimmons to talk to her, May is not very good with comforting those outside the pack.

"Hey" May started softly, placing a hand on Skye's knee "I'll send you FitzSimmons after dinner, they are the most recent ones to go through the transformation in the pack and closer to your age, they will be able to help you more, especially if you have questions about the technical side of the procedure. Now jag and then dinner"

Skye nodded, moving closer to May, pointing to her arm with a questioning look. May shook her head; "wrist" she said and reached into the bag that she brought with her, pulling out a sterilised needle, a clear liquid, a vile of blood and a wipe. May carefully moved the wipe across Skye's wrist, pulling a band around her arm, making her veins more visible, quickly finding the right vein, May carefully slide the needle into Skye's wrist, ignoring the wince from the rookie and injected the serum.

"Done. You will begin to feel like effects after dinner" May said, standing up and gathering her things as she began to leave. Pausing at the door, she turned to Skye who was watching her leave "One more thing Skye, I will be acting cold towards you and FitzSimmons. It's part of an act, I suggest you play along or face some serious consequences. You have thirty minutes until dinner" and with that, May left Skye alone with her thoughts.

"What have I done" Skye groaned, falling back onto her bed, her arm draped across her eyes in defeat. The burning need for May's approval slowly seeping into her bones.

After dinner, Skye went straight to her bunk, her face pale and mumbled about not being well. She dropped onto her bed, ignoring the sounds of her door opening as she fought to keep her food in her stomach. She did not want to have to clean up her own vomit.

The bed dipped down in two different places as FitzSimmons sat down. A hand was placed comfortingly on her stomach, slowly moving in circles. Skye groaned out in appreciation.

"This is the hard part, physically anyways" She heard Simmons whisper "It will last for two days and you have to keep eating or the chances of the success of the serum will plummet."

Skye whimpered "How can I eat if all I can do is lie here and try not to throw up what I've eaten? And is it just me or is it cold in here?" Skye complained, shifting to dry and get under her covers.

Simmons and Fitz moved off the bed and silently began to help Skye get comfortable and warm. Simmons tucked Skye under her covers, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and looked at Skye in concern. They were not part of the same immediate pack, but everyone was technically under one pack, but she was still unsure of how much comfort the girl would accept for her. It was worth a try anyways. Despite this being a natural part of the process, she still couldn't help but worry about the girl.

Simmons turned to Fitz with an apologetic expression "I think I'll just bunk in here for the next two days and look after her, I know you hate attempting to care for people who are ill and vomit. You hate vomit"

"That I do Jemma, that I do" he mumbled, fiddling with his hands as he threw nervous looks at Skye "I'll be in the lab working on the night night guns then" he announced, reaching for the door.

Simmons scoffed "We are not calling it the night night gun! I created half of it so therefore I have as much right to name it as you do!"

"Whatever Jemma, it's night night gun until you can think of something better" He called behind him teasingly as he left Skye's room.

"Bring my stuff!" Simmons called, closing Skye's door and sitting at the edge of the bed.

She placed her hand on Skye's side "You're going to be alright Skye, I'll be here all night watching you" she whispered.

"If you're gonna creep, then do it whilst under the covers and providing me with warmth." Skye grumbled, pulling back her covers to allow Simmons in. Simmons rolled her eyes with a smile and kicked of her shoes, crawling under the covers and pulling Skye close to her.

"Like this?" She teased, Skye nuzzled her head against the crook of Jemma's neck

"Exactly like this" She mumbled, a yawn escaping her mouth, fighting to keep her eyes open. It was somewhat comforting to lie besides Simmons, she probably would rather it was May, despite not knowing the other agent that well. Something about her seem much more trusting that Simmons. But Simmons will do.

"Go to sleep Skye, I've got you" Simmons whispered. She could feel the slight connection forming already. It was not as strong as a direct pack link, but the family link was there, letting her know that this was someone who was family.

The first jag did more than kill and rebuild systems within the body, it started the blueprint of the link so that when the second jag was administered, there would be nothing to resist the new instincts.

Fitz appeared soon, entering quietly, sensing the need for quietness and dropped off Jemma's stuff at the door with a quick glance at the girls on the bed before leaving.

Fitz knocked hesitantly on the door of the cockpit. May had been awfully cold towards them since the team was put together, whilst he knew why it was necessary, he missed the comfort that the older pack member provided. She made him feel less homesick and was great company whenever he and Simmons weren't glued to each other.

"Enter" He heard her call and he opened the door slowly and sunk into the cockpit, hesitantly throwing himself into the co-pilots chair.

"You're acting like a child." She reprimanded him lightly, turning on auto pilot and turned to face him. He just pouted in response.

"What's wrong Leo?" She asked, smiling a little at his name. It was a running joke in the pack that he had a name the represented lions when he turned out to be a wolf.

Fitz sighed dramatically, he knew he was being childish, he just missed being in a base where he could visit most of his pack and experiment to his hearts content and not have to hide the fact that he was close to anyone in his pack.

Melinda watched one of her pups carefully, before deciding it was the new arrangement that was bothering him. Fitz never took to change that well. Which led her to be slightly surprised that he hasn't complained about Skye joining the pack yet.

"It's this new arrangement, isn't it?" she enquired, Fitz nodded.

"I know it's childish to be so...aggravated by this change, but I hate having to pretend that I'm something that I'm not, that I've never met you before and that I can't do half the things that I can. I can defend myself and I don't like the idea of going on a mission and having to act like I can't protect myself. I look weak." He ranted, sliding down further in his chair in his anger. " I don't understand how Simmons is dealing with this so easily. Even with Skye, she is just acting like Skye apart of her pack, not ours. Why is she so close with her? She's going to hate it once she realises that there are different packs." He complained, partly on Skye's behalf towards the end.

"Simmons is throwing herself into her work in case you haven't noticed, demanding physicals for us all. She is able to accept Skye so easily at the moment because she looks at it as part of her job. To care for the sick, even if Skye isn't part of her pack, she part of the job and it makes it easier on her." Melinda explained calmly, wishing that she could comfort the pup in the usual ways. She settled for placing a hand on his knee, watching as he visibly relaxed. "You don't appear weak Leo, you appear as a normal scientist, the same as Simmons, valuing knowledge over fitness" she teased lightly. Fitz looked repulsed at that thought

"If Natasha ever, ever heard me say something like that or thought that I thought like that she would have me doing laps via push ups" Fitz complained, shuddering at the thought of their alpha and her focus on being physically fit and being able to defend themselves.

"I will not have members of my pack being unable to defend themselves in a simple situation" Fitz said, mimicking Natasha's slightly higher pitched voice. Melinda chuckled, she couldn't wait to tell her mate about that impersonation, it was very good.

"Good impression Fitz" She smiled at the young wolf, she leaned forward slightly, signalling a slight change in topics "Now, how do you feel about Skye joining our pack?" She asked curiously, she was never one to beat around the bush when it came to her pack's happiness and wellbeing. There have been a few times she has been very blunt with Maria and her eating and sleeping habits.

Fitz tensed slightly "I have no problem with her joining, I trust Natasha's judgement and Skye seems nice enough. It's just that we know nothing about Skye, all we know is that she is an amazing hacker and an orphan. She could pose a threat to our pack dynamic's. She doesn't know how we work and she might never understand how we work and upset the pack because she comes from a different background than all of us...other than that, I think she will be a good addition to the pack." Fitz replied, scrunching up his nose a little.

Melinda smiled and stood up, motioning for Fitz to copy, she wrapped her arms around her pup and pulled him close, rubbing his back soothingly. She could feel Fitz purring, the sound filled her with amusement and happiness. This is how her pups should be, happy and relaxed, not tensed and worried about things they shouldn't be worried about. She pressed her nose into his curly hair, not quite ready to let him go yet.

"Don't worry little lion, things will get better soon." She mumbled, placing a soft kiss on top of his head, pulling away from him, ignoring the pang of guilt she felt when she saw him pout "Now, go to sleep. I'm not having you mess up your sleep pattern again" she said sternly, looking at him in the eyes. He nodded and complied reluctantly.

"Night May" he mumbled, leaving the cockpit.

"Night little lion" She said softly, attempting to block out the raw emotions she felt after dealing with Fitz. She attempted to get back into character of "The Calvary", the cold, hardened by battle agent who did not comfort her agents and certainty did not give them little nicknames.

This might be tougher than she thought.