I look up at the clapping. I see a girl. She appears to be looking and Donnie with contempt.

"Do you see that?" I ask Grant.

"What?" He asks.

"Over there." I use my head to point out the girl.

"Yeah, I see it now." He tells me.

I go sit next to Donnie on the steps.

"Hey," I say quietly to him.

"Hey," he says just as quietly.

"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?" I ask him, getting straight to the point. I know neither one of us want to talk. But it needs to happen.

"I don't know anyone." He says. I can tell he is telling the truth. He really doesn't know anyone here.

"Donnie." Weaver says walking up to us. "I'm going to have you escorted back to your room. You get some rest and stay warm." He gets up of the stairs and walks past Fitz-Simmons.

"Sorry I ruined your lecture. I was really looking forward to it." He tells them as he passes. My heart breaks for him.

"It's not your fault, Donnie." Simmons tells him.

"I feel horrible for the kid." I tell Grant. "No friends, ruins the one thing he was looking forward to."

"How do you know that was the only thing he was looking forward to?" Grant asks me.

"Because I've had that look before," I tell him sadly.

"No genetic materials or prints found on the device. The components are rare and expensive." Fitz says to us.

"Freshman pranks are tradition, but these are something else." Simmons says.

"Attempted murder." Weaver says.

"Freshman?" I mouth to Grant. I have no idea what Freshman means.

"So, Donnie was the intended target all along? He have anything in common with the cadets at the pool?" Grant asks them after mouthing me later.

"These kids were popular, Donnie was…"

"Not," Skye interrupts Weaver.

"Donnie hadn't made any enemies, but he hadn't made and friends either." Weaver says.

"Could he just be having trouble fitting in? When you know tings that other don't you tend to get ostracized." I say.

"He had a hard time adjusting." Simmons says acknowledging my comment. "How old is he?"

"18, youngest since you guys. 190 IQ and failing out of high school when we met him." Weaver says.

"Probably bored out of his mind," Fitz says. I know he feels for this kid as well.

"If things went well, we were considering graduating him early and assigning him to The Sandbox." Weaver tells us. I know what The Sandbox is. I have heard of it before.

"Wow, well he would love it there." Simmons says.

"But he doesn't like it here, so I'm afraid he'll wash out." Weaver says.

"Maybe that was the idea. Agent Weaver keep working with investigations. Interviewing cadets, instructors." Grant instructs.

"Of course." She says walking off.

"And us?" Skye asks.

"Their interviews won't bear fruit. We teach cadets to keep secrets." Grant says. He walks out of the hall, and we all follow. "Where did you guys hang out when you wanted to get away from the faculty?" Grant asks Fitz-Simmons.

"Can we tell someone from operations?" Simmons asks jokingly.

"Yes, because we need to conduct our own investigation." Grant says.

"The Boiler Room." I squeal excitedly. Skye and Grant both look at me funny.

"And when we get there?" Simmons asks.

"We mingle, low key. You and Skye get comfortable with the students see if you can get them gossiping. Skye looks young enough to blend in." Grant tells them.

"You're not exactly Old Man River and Fitz looks younger then us." Skye asks. "What about Hope?"

"I need her to stay with me just in case she has a vision like last time." He says.

"Time will come when you won't make fun of my for that. You'll be jealous. You'll be jealous, wrinkly old hags." Fitz jokes.

I roll my eyes at Fitz while Simmons and Skye shoot him a look.

"I think Fitz should go to talk Donnie." I say.

"Then Fitz you are going to talk to Donnie." Grant says.

"Sorry?" Fitz questions.

"Donnie's withdrawn, might know more than he's letting on. You're a hero here, Fitz. He looks up to you. Go hang out with him." Grant explains clearly understanding my reasoning without me having to tell him.

We all stop walking.

"Even if he has no clue who might be after him, he could use a friend." Grant continues. I smile at him.

"That is a wonderful idea." Simmons says smiling.

"Ward has them from time to time." Fitz says bugging him. Grant looks at him sharply. "I'll meet you later." Fitz tells us running off, quickly. I imagine to get away from Grant's gaze. It can be intimidating at times. We all look at Grant with a smile after.

"What? It's strategic." Grant says trying to cover his ass in vain.

"It's adorable." Simmons says.

"It's a lot more then adorable. It's extremely sweet that he would do that." I say.

"The tin man has a heart after all." Skye says, trying to swat him on the chest. He moves out of the way quickly by leaning into me. All of us start walking again.

"So, where are we going?" Grant asks. Clearly, he did not listen to me earlier. Oh well he shall learn the hard way then.

We walk through the building with Simmons leading us. "S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps careful watch of everything within their walls. So, in the late 60s to escape the cameras and the prying eyes of the faculty a few cadets started sneaking down to the boiler room to play cards, you know, exchange ideas." Simmons explains.

"My kind of people." Skye says.

"You weren't joking about the boiler room were you, Hope?" Grant asks me.

"Shhh, I'm listening." I tell him. She leads us deeper into the building.

"Some amazing breakthroughs have come out of here. So, the tradition live on." Simmons says.

"Hell, yeah it does." I say getting right into the story. Simmons laughs at my excitement.

"Of cramming onto the boiler room?" Skye asks a little confused.

Simmons pulls open the door and gives a smile over her shoulder. "Well, over the years, we have made a few improvements." She says as she heads in. we all follow her in.


Feel free to comment ideas you have. We might be thinking the same thing or I might really like your idea and add it in. Don't hesitate to reach out.

Thanks,