Impossible — Chapter Three
It's been over a week.
A week and a half to be specific.
Lukian didn't know what was worse. The fact of his magical power has been a no show this whole time, or the fact of he was stuck in that room for probably the rest of his life.
He had gotten a few visitors. Lincoln came by every other day to help him with his powers. Dr. Simmons had come too, once, on the later end of the week to give him a physical, and unfortunately to take some blood. Mr. Fitz had come in to fix the pod thing, though he wasn't in the actual room and kept complaining that there was:
Absolutely Nothing Bloody Wrong!
And lastly Daisy and Mack had come a couple times to either help him with his powers, or play board games with him. Which has been nice. He also did find the remote to the TV, which was a big game changer.
But he can't complain too much, he shouldn't really.
Everyone at this place was extremely nice, especially Daisy. She had been the nicest so far, with playing board games with him, and trying to control his powers— that they claim he has. It hasn't been so bad, and so far, no school work. Which has been amazing and an excellent plus.
It was like spring break, only he couldn't go outside, or leave his room.
The only time he could escape his room was for training at the Cocoon, and he had to take a seductive on the ride there, because apparently the location of the facility was classified. One thing he had learned about these people, was that they were all so secretive about everything.
Specifically, the location of the stupid-little rigged explosion he was supposed to find. It was a device hidden somewhere in the room. It was supposed to make a sound, similar to a distant explosion, he had to listen for it, and locate the specific direction where it was coming from. Only the problem was it was such a small sound no normal person could hear it, and since he was an Alien— or Inhuman, he should be able to hear it. Theoretically.
And if super hearing actually was his power.
Which Lukian wasn't even sure that it was at this point, he had no signs of special hearing. Everything was the same, not too loud, not too quiet. It was fine. Unlike this stupid exercise.
"Did you do it yet!?" Lukian yelled with growing agitation in his voice to the person on the other side of the glass.
He was alone in the room. Just to make sure there were no distractions. Which was fine by him, he got distracted quite easily actually. After a couple seconds of just standing there in his own frustration; eventually a man did walk back into the room, Mr. Regio.
He was Lukian's Inhuman trainer. The guy wasn't actually inhuman himself, just someone who was fitted for the job to help people who were, to control their powers. According to Daisy, each inhuman gets someone assigned to them depending on their powers. And Lukian supposedly hit the jackpot, because to be honest, Lukian did not like Mr. Regio very much. The man seemed like he was in a constant mood of about to punch someone to the ground. He just had one of those faces, and the guy was like seven foot tall. It unnerved Lukian and kept him on his toes. Lukian kept scratching his arm nervously and swaying left and right on his feet as he waited.
"You hear anything this time?" The man asked with a thick Italian accent. They had been doing this exercise for a good twenty minutes— or at least that's what it seemed like. Lukian shook his head no.
"Hm." Is all the man could say.
Something in Mr. Regio's face changed, Lukian deemed it to be his thinking face. Though he wasn't really sure since he had only met the guy the twenty minutes ago. But something about the tone of it made Lukian's throat go dry, he contemplated asking for water but immediately decided against it. He'd rather not be a bother, or get on Mr. Regio's bad side.
Assuming there are sides.
So he just waited for the man to finish his thinking process, still nervously scratching his arm. It wasn't a habit of his, his arm was just really itchy and he didn't know why. The swaying helped settle some of his nerves, but not all of them.
"Let us try a different strategy." Mr. Regio said. "I'm going to clap my hands on the other side of the room. I want you to try and tune out everything, focus on nothing but the sound of your own breathing."
Lukian nodded. It seemed simple enough. While Mr. Regio walked to the other side of the room, Lukian started trying to focus on the sound of his breathing. Hoping that he could tune everything else out before the man started clapping, because once he did start clapping— Lukian assumed it would be twice as difficult. Unfortunately, as hard as he tried, he could still hear his own normal breathing, as well as everything else. Mr. Regio kept a steady beat of clapping, clapping once every second.
After a couple of seconds it felt like the sound was piercing through his skull.
No.
He was focusing on the wrong sound that's why, he needed to focus on his breathing, nothing else.
He had to do this.
He can do this.
Lukian closed his eyes hoping somehow it would help. He had his mind set on his breathing and the oxygen flowing in and out of his lungs.
Deep breath in…
Deep breath out.
Again and again.
He swayed to the left and breathed in, he swayed to the right and breathed out.
Again and again.
The sound of the clapping did not fade away, though the blow of his breath got louder and louder in his ears. Then another sound got louder, it was someone's else's breathing that he could make out. Despite being across the room from Mr. Regio, he could hear his breathing as if he was next to him. Lukian wanted to say that was impossible— or not human, which he guessed was right, it was inhuman.
It looked as if he did have a superpower after all, though it didn't matter if he couldn't control it. He couldn't do what was asked of him. In almost two weeks he had accomplished next to nothing.
The only achievement he's made was boosting the loudness of his breathing and hearing Mr. Regio's across the room, hearing it over the other sounds but not drowning it all out. Like it was on its own frequency, its own wavelength— like it had its own separate pair of ears. Though something started to change in the breathing.
His breathing.
A lump grew in Lukian's throat, usually that only happened when he feared something. At the moment the only thing he feared was not passing the tests, or assessments of his progress.
Because it was going terribly.
For some reason his breathing started to become different, almost difficult now. Like he had to struggle for it, force it through his throat and out his mouth. He started to wheeze, the restriction kept growing.
Out of nowhere Lukian suddenly coughed. It definitely caught him off guard, he didn't even have a chance to cover his mouth. Lukian became panicked as he grabbed his throat. It was as if it was his shirt that was choking him, though that was physically impossible, these clothes were still four sizes too large. The short sleeves tee-shirt he wore were three-quarter sleeves on him.
The urge to cough grew and grew. He was thrown into a coughing fit, desperately begging for air, or water.
Anything.
Lukian's eyes flipped open and grew wide, the fear settling in his stomach. The room was spinning. Immediately Mr. Regio stopped his clapping and scurried over to him. The man quickly said something into his radio while he kept Lukian up right, Lukian didn't catch what it was. All he could hear was the coughing. All he could focus on was the meager breeze of air that didn't seem to please his lungs. Within the minute people rushed into the room with bags and concerned faces.
His head felt like a brick and a feather at the same time.
Black spots started to cloud Lukian's vision as Mr. Regio set him down on the floor, they pushed him down to lay directly on his back with his knees bent. Seconds later he felt a warm blanket covering him. The coughing faded away as he had no more air in his lungs to cough. The worried voices faded away from him, seeming distant. Ringing filling his ears. One woman started scrounging the medical bag. She said something, her lips moved, but the sound didn't reach his ears. Regio stool there contemplating something, could possibly be all of life for all Lukian knew.
After a couple seconds the man shook his head.
One of the medics didn't seem to believe whatever that was said, he had a questionable look on his face. The same guy shoved an oxygen mask into Lukian's face. Much to his relief the mask forced a good breath of air into his lungs. The black spots were slowly disappearing after a couple gasps of air, and the voices started coming back.
Slowly, yet were still foggy.
The world still seemed so distant from him. It was so hard to focus on the woman who finally found what she was looking for, she pulled out an object from the bag. It looked like a really thick pen as far as he could tell, but it looked like there were three of them. She held them up in Lukian's eye-line.
"You're gonna be fine, kiddo."
One of the medic's said as he laid a hand on Lukian's shoulder. Lukian turned to him, his body all tense, and fear in his eyes. Just as he did he felt something stabbed his leg, and it hurt. Whatever it was that stabbed him made him feel all tingly inside. The urge to scratch his arms faded away after a minute, but the hives lingered he noticed. Slowly he could feel the pressure on his throat lessen, it still wasn't enough where he could breath on his own though.
"Hey, kid? Can you hear me?"
Lukian forced himself to nod, though it was quite difficult with the breathing apparatus being held up to his face. Plus the position of laying down did not make it easy either.
"I'm Agent Quaran," The woman said, then gestured towards her partner. "That's Agent Colin."
The two medics exchanged a glance. Silently having a whole conversation between each other.
"We should get him back to the base, there Agent Simmons can take a look." Agent Quaran said, she started ruffling through the bag again.
"I'll tell 'em to go prep a quin-jet," Mr. Regio stated as he walked out of the training room.
"What'chu looking for?" Agent Colin asked as he cocked his head.
"Sedative," The woman stated.
Agent Colin was about to nod but stopped himself halfway, he grabbed his partner's arm. "Wait,"
Agent Quaran paused her search to glance at him. "What now?"
"You heard Regio, he didn't have anything to eat or drink. Nothing to cause the reaction, except for the sedative for the ride here."
Mrs. Quaran's eyes widened at realization, she nodded. "It's a good hypothesis. Very unlikely, but possible. Better not to take the chance."
Lukian stayed where he was just waiting to be instructed to do something. He kept focus on his breathing, and the puffs of air being forced into him. It was very loud in his ears, he wasn't sure why. His heart was still beating probably at an impossible rate, and his nerves wouldn't settle. He started to sway his bent knee left a right, it did little to calm him but it gave him some comfort in the familiar motion.
"Is your throat less restricted now?" Agent Quaran asked. "How's it feeling?"
It took Lukian a second to process what she just said. Everything was still so crazy he could barely think. When he tried to speak he forgot about the breathing mask covering his face. He nodded instead. It wasn't worth the hassle of trying to speak with the whole gag going on.
"Good. That's good."
"Everything will be back to normal in a few minutes," Agent Colin stated. "The hives on your arms will go away in a day or two—"
"That is if you don't scratch— or pick at them." Agent Quaran added. Colin nodded in agreement despite being interrupted, he went on. "Back at the base you'll get something to help them heal and disappear."
After a few more minutes the silence was broken. "Hey kid, do you think you can stand?" Agent Quaran inquired, pulling him from his thoughts once again.
Without giving a response, Lukian tightened his grip on the oxygen mask with his left hand and with his right he started pushing himself up from the ground. The blanket fell off of him as he stood up. His legs started trembling in response, the room took a pace from his book and swayed to the left. His muscles felt suddenly weak and as if they suddenly couldn't hold him anymore.
Quickly Colin shot up and steadied him, catching his arm before he could collapse. Lukian tensed once again. Lukian didn't think his body would be so just— feeble, he was completely fine just a few minutes ago.
"Woah, take it easy." Agent Colin advised. "We'll help you."
After what it seemed like forever in Lukian's world, they eventually did reach the hanger to board the Quin-jet. He was absolutely positive that a tortoise could have beat them there. Had he been more friendly with the agents he would have bet money on it; that and if he actually had any money on him. By the time they did get there, his throat— while it still was desert dry— wasn't being restricted anymore. He could breathe con his own again, thankfully. His body was still weak, but now being sluggish more than anything, yet not tired. His mind was going a mile a minute, but his body was four miles behind.
It still wasn't until Lukian's plopped down on one of the Quin-jet's seats, that his body finally did relax. Suddenly he felt all his previous adrenaline leave his body causing a wave of exhaustion that hit him like a truck. There was his tiredness. Lukian glanced over to the cockpit and made eye contact with the pilots, they seemed confused about something.
"Why in the hell is the kid not sedated?" The pilot asked with a British accent.
"We're not sure what caused the reaction," Agent Quaran announced. "We have to be careful about what we give him."
"Okay, but shouldn't we at least do something?" The woman asked as she rose from her seat. "We can't have him knowing where the base is, plus what if he makes the plane crash with his bloody powers?"
"We'll be fine," Agent Colin eased her worries. "He's just a kid."
She didn't seem too thrilled by that answer; she looked at him once more before returning back up front.
"Prepare for take-off,"
Agent Quaran sat down in the seat next to him, while Agent Colin sat down across from them. The med-agent helped him strap in as the pilots booted up the plane. If Lukian wasn't so burnt out from the previous events, he would be genuinely curious about the take off process. But right now he just wanted to relax, a nap would be nice yet he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep here anyways.
His entire body flinched in surprise when the engine was fired up. The second the engines were booted up, it was like someone turned the dial for the white noise machine all the way up, and connected it to a gigantic speaker.
Then proceeded to put the speaker right up against his ear.
Lukian tensed as he grabbed his ears, stuffing his fingers in the canals. Instinctively he started to rock his knee back and forth while he pulled his other up to his chest. The sound was excruciatingly loud, and only grew exponentially worse as the jet shot out of the hanger and in the air. Lukian felt as if his ears were dying, the ringing was giving him a massive migraine.
The allergy reaction before— while it wasn't exactly a vacation— it was definitely nicer than this.
Lukian put more pressure on his ears hoping to tone down some of the noise but it was no use, his head felt like it was about to pop. He tried to use what little training or knowledge he had, and focused on his breathing, nothing else. Unfortunately for him that seemed to make it worse. Lukian squeezed his eyes shut trying to block out the whole world, hoping for the devil's sound to stop.
"Hey!" Agent Quaran's voice broke through his torment. "Woah, what's going on? Speak to me, kid."
Lukian could hear her voice normally, there was nothing wrong with it, it wasn't blowing-a-hole in his brain loud, or anything else weird. There was concern and confusion embedded into it, but other than that everything was fine. Despite the loud, droning, noise filling his ears, he could hear her as if all the other sound was non-existent and everything was normal. But it was far from the truth.
Nothing in this moment was normal.
"Did we ever check what the kid's powers were?" Agent Colin inquired.
"No we did not," She shook his shoulder. "Kid, you gotta tell what's happening."
Lukian slightly shifted in his seat to face the agent, his eyes remained shut. He just wished for it all to stop.
"L-Lo-Loud," Is all he managed to get out.
"Loud?" Agent Colin echoed, then he sighed. "Your power isn't super hearing is it?"
Lukian culled up into himself more. "That's what— they say," He groaned.
"Is everything okay back there?" The co-pilot yelled from upfront.
"Not really, just get us to the base as fast as you can." Agent Colin ordered.
"Hey at least this day can't get worse, right?" Agent Colin questioned with a hint of humor in his voice.
Agent Quaran only huffed. "If you get this plane shot down I swear to god—" She took a deep breath to compose herself, in that moment the sound got worse. "Can you find the soundproof headphones?"
The other agent must have nodded due to the lack of verbal response. As the plane's speed increased the sound did as well. Lukian whimpered at the escalated rise in sound. He could feel his nose start to run.
What the hell is happening!?
"Blood," Agent Quaran answered his question. "Steve, toss me a rag as well."
"Got it."
Lukian felt a breeze pass by near his right ear, he assumed that was the rag and the headphones. A second later could feel Quaran wiping away the blood which was now dripping out of his nose. She also carefully put the headphones over his ears. The headphones, while it made a significant difference to the white noise, his head still felt like it was gonna implode. He could no longer hear the agents anymore due to the headphones. Something was very wrong with him.
Lukian felt his eyes roll back into his head, then darkness.
"I'd like to meet with you somewhere," He cleared his throat. "In person."
"I would very much like that as well, Mr. President." Coulson responded.
Coulson knew this meeting was inevitable. He needed to speak with President Ellis to finally get S.H.I.E.L.D redified again. For the past year and a half they have been running around, unsanctioned, dodging officials, and playing in the dark. While in some ways it was used to their benefit, not having to worry about how certain things looked when used out of context, or portrayed the wrong way. He'd rather be legal, be supervised by the higher-ups; and not have complete control.
Last time he had complete control there was a civil war and two of his best agents turned out to be working for someone else.
He didn't want more traitors in his house because someone believed he held too much power under his belt. Plus people need to know that they are safe from these threats, from the Inhumans who don't share the same Protect and Guard motto.
"Do you have anywhere in mind?"
Coulson knew immediately just from him asking that, that the President would prefer not to have him over to his house. Which was fine, since Coulson rather not invite him to the base either. He's got trust issues now. Even if it is the president, you never know. Hell, even Talbot doesn't know where the base is.
Then again it's Talbot…
Coulson thought for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I do— in fact."
It probably wasn't the best idea. But if he could keep his emotions under check, he had too. He wanted the president to see where it all happened— and maybe he could use it to help get— either, information on Malick, or, get him locked up for good. Coulson was hoping for the latter, yet things don't ever seem to go his way nowadays.
"I'll send you the coordinates."
Was the last thing Coulson said before hanging up. Immediately he punched in the coordinates for the meeting, though he hesitated before sending them.
No.
He could do this, he had to lock down his emotions, keep them steady and make sure they didn't get in the way. He was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D dammit. He couldn't let his emotions compromise him, not anymore. Without giving it another thought he sent the coordinates.
There's no turning back now.
Just then there was a knock at the door. Immediately he knew exactly who it was.
"Come in,"
"Wassup, A.C?"
Coulson smiled at his nickname. Daisy hadn't called him that in quite a bit. Then again they've had a rough past year, her especially. He was glad that things were finally looking up.
"So why'd you call me here?" Daisy inquired as he walked further into the room.
Coulson leaned back against his desk. "I wanted to know how's it going with the newer Inhumans, what's their progress?"
Daisy folded her arms as she thought. "As to be expected. Learning that your part alien isn't always easy as falling off a log."
"Falling off a log?" Coulson eyebrows furrowed. He'd never heard that before.
Daisy's face grew slightly pink as she shook her head. "Don't even,"
Coulson suppressed a chuckle, dropping whatever it was she said. "How's it coming with their powers?"
"Good, mostly." Daisy informed. "Ashley Snyder is getting the hang of it. She's learning control and how to use her limbs properly again."
"What's her power again?" Coulson asked. They honestly have gotten so many Inhumans recently it was hard to keep up. Plus everything has been extremely crazy recently. He had reasons.
"She can stretch her arms and legs—" Daisy sighed. "She's essentially Elasti-Girl from the Incredibles,"
Coulson nodded. "How's the new kid doing…" He snapped his fingers trying to remember the boy's name. "Lucas?"
"Lukian." Daisy corrected. "He's doing pretty good actually. I'm pretty sure he's the only one who's actually excited about.. well everything."
Coulson nodded again. "That's good. I haven't heard anything about any accidents with him so far, I take it things have been going well?"
"Well there definitely hasn't been any problems with his powers." Daisy rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "In fact, they've been so good that they basically don't exist."
Coulson cocked his head at that. "Are we sure his power is super hearing?"
Daisy shrugged. "It seemed pretty obvious back in the containment pod. You saw him, it's like he was in pain from all the noise."
"Like you were with the monolith," Coulson stated. His concerned instincts took over. "How are you feeling by the way?"
Daisy gave him a look. "It's been well over a week, I'm fine. I've had much worse."
"You don't need to remind me." Coulson said. But his concern didn't leave. Daisy picked up on this, she tried to shift the conversation back to work. "Anyways… I'm honestly not sure why his powers started to play Houdini."
"Did Simmons check for the markers in his blood?" Coulson questioned. It was a possibility that the kid wasn't even inhuman, it would make sense as to why Lash didn't kill him. That was still a mystery as well.
Daisy nodded. "She did— And he does. He has the extra RNA strands just like all the others. I just don't get why they haven't done anything yet." She started pacing in agitation.
"Well it is possible, since he's so calm about everything that there's nothing there to trigger his powers." Coulson suggested.
Daisy stopped her pacing to look at him, she tilted her head indicating him to go on.
"Well as you said, he's the only one who's reacted positively to the change. Your powers are triggered by emotions, correct?"
Daisy nodded, then stopped herself after thinking for a second. "Usually, but not always."
"Well, let's say it is… for now." Coulson said. "If that is the case then there's no negative emotion to cause his powers to go haywire, and without that happening we have no way of knowing how they work to understand them."
"While you're right about that last part," Daisy agreed, she started pacing again. "Powers aren't always just triggered by strong— negative emotions. They can also be triggered by… p-positive ones too." She stuttered at that last part. Coulson could subtly tell she wished he hadn't picked up on that. Unfortunately for her case, he did. Coulson waited for an explanation for what she was implying, he raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"Sometimes," She started. "When I'm either really happy, excited, or laughing too hard I… buzz… like a running motor."
"Buzz?" Coulson repeated, trying oh-so-hard to keep the amusement out of his voice. "You mean you purr? Like a cat?"
"No!" Daisy's eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "I do not purr, alright."
"Got it," Coulson held his hands up in defense. "No purring." It took all his strength to not burst out laughing. Despite being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Daisy still found a way to make him feel the exact opposite. An alert went off on the tablet sitting down at his desk, Coulson picked it up and pressed a button to activate comms.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D sixty-six, requesting permission to land immediately." Agent Mason's voice came through.
"Permission granted." Coulson spoke as he gave the authorization code to open the hangar-bay doors. Coulson recognized that call sign for transportation to the Cocoon, and currently the only inhuman there was Lukian. Today was his first time going. They have a rotation between the Inhumans, that way there isn't multiple there at the same time. It's incase of if powers get out of control, or if the place itself gets attacked.
Safely measures, just in case.
He could tell by the way Daisy's face changed, that she recognized the call sign too. A small smile appeared on her lips.
"Speak of the devil," Daisy remarked.
"The devil?" Coulson echoed with a raised eyebrow.
Daisy put her hands on her hips and went into a defensive mode. "He cheated while we were playing UNO yesterday — I owe him ten bucks now." She muttered that last part.
Coulson smirked when he heard the fondness in her voice. "Can you— even cheat at UNO?"
Daisy only shrugged. She had started to head out of the office when the tablet got another alert.
Though this time it buzzed against his desk causing Daisy and him to both be more on guard about it. He had different alerts for different meanings. If it was someone trying to contact him, or request permission to land it was a beep. If it was a mission, or something suspicious it was a buzz. Like something out of place that was picked up through 911 calls, would be marked as a buzz. Then if it was someone who was trying to get in, physically, or digitally, then that would set off an alarm throughout the base. But that wasn't really part of his system. He had this system to know what to expect when he picked up his tablet. Plus it cut out the middle man.
"What now?" He sighed.
Coulson swiped the data up to the big screen. The display was suddenly filled with pictures of a burnt truck with a couple of barrels, and destroyed police vehicles, guns missing. There was a digital report saying the attackers were invisible to the eye; they went in, attacked, and went out.
"Where is this?" Daisy asked.
"Bogotá, Columbia," Coulson responded. "Could be an inhuman. And one that's gotten control of their powers."
"Invisibility… seems likely. It's worth at-least checking out." Daisy said thoughtly.
Coulson nodded. "Get everyone to the lab, we're going in."
"Copy that," Daisy said as she left the room.
Coulson shook his head. This isn't the best circumstances, considering he had someplace to be. Though this wasn't a big op, they didn't need everybody. Just enough to deal with this inhuman, and if worse comes to worse, they take them in— non-peacefully. Hopefully they could deal with them without violence.
Coulson took a deep breath to clear his head before heading out of his office.
He had a mission to prepare for.
"Well, if you could synthesize it…" Lincoln suggested.
It was a possible solve, this wasn't exactly his forte but… it is possible. At least he believed it was.
Simmons' eyes went wide in realization. "Yes, then it could work. Lincoln, you're a genius."
"Is he now?" Daisy said in a joking manner. Both Lincoln and Simmons turned around to face her as she walked into the lab. Lincoln made eye contact with Daisy, he could just get lost in those eyes forever. Lincoln was glad they were together— or at least whatever it was that they were. She made him whole.
He could stare into her eyes for eternity, but the seriousness of her face is what kept him grounded. Clearly something was up. Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter were on Daisy heels with them all sharing slightly confused faces.
Fitz glanced up from his work station. "Is— Is something going on?"
Daisy nodded. "We've got a mission, Coulson's meeting us here."
As if on cue, Coulson and May walked into the lab. "Sir," Bobbi greeted him.
He didn't beat around the bush. "There was a situation a couple hours ago in Bogotá, Columbia. A police shipment of guns was attacked when investigating a fire on route, the shipment of guns was hijacked."
Lincoln was confused. "What does this have to—"
"The attackers— or attacker— They were invisible, at-least according to the officers who were attacked they were." Coulson said, barely acknowledging Lincoln.
Simmons spoke up. "Sir, are we sure that they were actually invisible? I mean, last time we thought that, it was gravitonium."
"It's not gravitonium," Coulson stated. "We know that as a fact, Gravitonum couldn't have done this. We are assuming it was an inhuman— though," Coulson waved his hand through the air. "At this point who knows."
Simmons nodded in understanding.
"Who here speaks Spanish?" Coulson inquired.
Bobbi raised her hand immediately— Mack was hesitant to. "I took three years of Spanish back in High-School." Mack said, yet Lincoln could tell he wasn't really that confident in his abilities.
Coulson nodded. "That's good enough. Bobbi, Hunter, Mack— You will be checking out the crime scene for any clues or and leads on the perps. Daisy, you will check out the police precinct, see if you can learn anything and try to talk with the police in taking over the case. Take Joey with you. Zehpyr's up in ten, get ready. Bobbi you're flying, May you're with me, everyone else is staying here running back-end." Coulson gave Lincoln a glance during the last part. "Got it?"
"Yes, sir." Bobbi, Mack, Simmons, and Fitz all said.
Lincoln felt a little disappointed that he wasn't going on this mission. They were taking in an Inhuman after all, no one knew them better than him.
Well.. no one who was alive anymore.
They were about to disperse when suddenly people started rushing by in the hallway with a stretcher. Lincoln took a second to exchange a glance with fellow Dr. Simmons, then rushed into action. He ran up right next to the two medics who were bringing the stretcher into medical. The figure was quite small and had their knees in the air. As he got closer he realized he recognized the thin figure on the stretcher.
"Lukian," Lincoln breathed.
The kid looked extremely pale, and he had blood dripping down from his nose. Lincoln noticed hives peeking out from under his shirt on his neck and arms. He exchanged another glance with Simmons before asking:
"What the hell happened?"
One of the medics who Lincoln did not know the name of— spoke. "Back at the Cocoon, the kid basically went into anaphylactic shock because of what we're assuming was the sedative."
The other medic finished for his partner. "We gave him the Epi and he was fine for a while, that is until the jet took off. Then everything was too loud for him— We couldn't give him a sedative, he eventually passed out."
At this point they reached medical and were putting him down on the cot and setting him up to the machines.
Simmons clipped a pulse oximeter on his finger. After a second or two the steady beeping started. His heartbeat was a little under one hundred beats per minute— it wasn't the strongest one, but it was getting there. While ninety-eight was pretty high for a kid of his age as a resting heart-rate, that was due to his inhuman status. Still not terrible for someone who just had an allergic reaction and went into Anaphylactic shock, and had an extremely traumatic experience. The adrenaline that was administered into his system caused his blood pressure to raise back up, that was good. Lincoln set up a nasal cannula into the kid's nose.
"Did you give him any AUVI-Q?" Simmons asked as she was setting things up on the other side of the room.
The woman shook her head. "No, we only had the Epi. It seemed to do the trick though. I think we got there just in time before things got real bad."
"Okay, it doesn't look like he needs it anyway." Simmons stated. She turned to Lincoln. "Lincoln, could you run to get some so we have it on stand by? It's in the case on the other side of the lab. Here are the key's," She tossed them to him.
He caught them one handed before hurrying out of the room. As he was making his way to find some AUVI-Q in the case, Daisy ran up to him. She had a worried look on her face. "Lincoln, what's going on? Who was that?"
Lincoln started scanning the case. "Lukian had an allergic reaction to the sedative, he almost had anaphylaxis." Lincoln found what he was looking for; he quickly unlocked the case, grabbed it, then hastily made his way back to Simmons.
Daisy's face doubled in concern. "Is he gonna be alright?"
"He should be," Lincoln held up the vial. "This is for just in case."
He noticed her concern didn't fade away, and now she was now following him around like a duckling. He handed Simmons the vial.
"Thank you," She quickly took it and set it down on a table next to her.
Lincoln turned back to Daisy, she had her arms crossed and eyebrows knitted together in concern. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be alright."
"What's going on with the blood running from his nose?" Daisy inquired.
One of the medics spoke up. "After the Quin-Jet took off everything was too loud for him. We tried putting the soundproof headphones on him but it didn't work. After a few minutes the kid just passed out."
Lincoln had joined Simmons at the side counter. She was looking for the kid's medical file, Lincoln helped her find it.
"His power," Daisy said when realization hit. "It's sensitive hearing. It must have been too much for him, like with me back at the monolith."
"That would certainly make sense," Simmons stated then she turned back around to Daisy. "You have a mission, you have to go."
"But—"
Simmons started pushing her out of the lab. "Daisy, leave." But Daisy wouldn't budge, and Simmons was hardly strong enough to force her out.
Lincoln walked up to her, knowing she will at least listen to him. "I promise you he'll be fine. Now go. . . And don't do anything stupid."
She looked up at him. Eventually Daisy nodded with a smile. "I'll do my best,"
For a second Lincoln could tell in her eyes she was conflicted about something, then suddenly she pulled on the collar of his shirt down to her. They kissed for a good three seconds before Simmons cleared her throat. "Daisy, You still need to get ready."
Daisy seemed to be brought back to reality at that. "Right,"
Lincoln stared into her eyes for a few more moments before she finally left. Lincoln shook his head and got back to work. He couldn't have his thoughts wandering off about Daisy while he was treating a patient. Even if those thoughts were always pleasant, and incredibly hard to push away— he needed to focus.
For a second he was sure he almost imagined a sound coming from the cot, but when he looked over to it he could tell Lukian was starting to stirr. Hopefully the kid will tell him what happened on the jet, and how his power felt— so then Lincoln could help him find a way to control it. He took a glance over at Simmons who had gone back to her project beforehand.
"Simmons," Lincoln called. "He's waking up."
Lukian groaned softly as his hand immediately went to the tube sticking out of his nose. Lincoln took a step closer to him trying to stop him before he could.
"Hey, no. You need that." Lincoln gently grabbed the kid's hand and pulled it away.
Once Lukian's eyes flickered open suddenly he went into fight or flight mode and punched Lincoln in the stomach. Lincoln hunched over as some of the air shot out of him like a loose balloon. He wasn't gonna lie— it was a pretty decent punch from an eighty pounded kid. The steady beeping that filled the room was rushed up to a much faster pace. The kid's eyes were wide, but hazy; Lincoln could definitely see the fear in them. Simmons went to the other side of the cot and grabbed his arm before he could hit her too.
"Hey— Hey calm down. You're alright, just in the medical wing in the base. I'm Dr. Simmons, remember? I came in earlier in the week to check up on you."
By the time she finished speaking she was holding both of his wrists firmly in her hands. Even though the hazy look in his eye faded, the fear remained. Lincoln noted his body was full of tension, especially his arms and the arm Simmons was holding.
Simmons noticed this too. "If I let go will you not punch me in the stomach?"
"No promises," Lukian said through a tight jaw, yet Lincoln knew he was joking.
Simmons took it as he wouldn't, she slowly released his wrists. Lukian took them back immediately and rubbed them as he eyed Simmons, he took a look around the room. The panic almost returned. "Wh-Where am I?"
"You're in medical," Simmons clarified. "You had a really bad allergic reaction to the sedative you took on the ride to the Cocoon. Now I'm going to need to take some of your blood so I can see what exactly caused the reaction, and make sure it doesn't happen again." She started preparing the proper equipment to do that.
"We were hoping to do that when you were still asleep," Simmons explained. "But we've seemed to have missed our opportunity." She joked.
"Back on the Quin-Jet do you remember what happened after it took off?" Lincoln asked. Hoping to get some insight on his powers.
"Yeah… umm— It-It was loud," Lukian stated. "But then I-I could hear the voices fine, the white noise didn't drown them out at all."
"White noise?" Simmons glanced up from the table and exchanged a look with Lincoln.
Lukian nodded. "Yeah, it-it's the best way I could explain it."
Lincoln took this in, still pondering how it all worked. "Do you hear the white noise now?"
Again, Lukian nodded. "Hm-Hmm, it's decently loud, but not like on the jet. The sound gets slightly louder when somebody talks, though then it sounds a bit different. I-I just can't tell you how. Yet I can hear you fine."
"Is the sound bothering you?" Simmons asked. "Does it hurt?"
"It did back on the plane, I felt like my head was gonna explode. Now it just makes it hard to focus, and think." Lukian said.
"Have you heard the sound before today on the Quin-Jet?" Lincoln asked.
"Y-Yeah," Lukian said. "The first time it was really loud was when we were going up in the pod—prison thing. Now that I think about it, it's been there since I woke up. Just not as loud as it was then…. or now."
"In your room is it quieter— the white noise?" Lincoln inquired.
"P-Probably. I haven't really noticed it 'till now..." Lukian responded.
Simmons turned back around with gloves on her hands and proper equipment to extract blood. Lincoln went over to the counter and picked up a cotton-ball and alcohol to disinfect the area. He walked back over to the cot and rolled up the kid's sleeve, which wasn't very difficult considering how large and baggy the shirt was on him.
They really needed to send someone shopping.
After dipping some alcohol on the cotton Lincoln rubbed it over the vain, cleaning the spot. Once he was done he backed up and made space for Simmons. Lukian visibly gulped once he got a good look at the needle.
"Umm.. Is-Isn't— Isn't there oth-other ways you get some blood?" Lukian questioned. "How 'bout you just punch me in the face instead?"
"You'd rather get punched in the face than deal a needle?" Lincoln inquired.
Lukian only shrugged with a nervous smile, but his eyes were glued to the large needle. Simmons gave a light smile in return. "Don't worry, this won't hurt. But I do suggest you look elsewhere."
When Lukian's line of sight still didn't move, Lincoln put a hand on his shoulder— causing the kid to finally turn away. "So did you learn anything at the Cocoon? Well, before you went into anaphylactic shock,"
"Before I went into what?"
Lincoln chuckled. "A really bad allergic reaction,"
"Oh," Lukian said. "Umm— well... I-I could hear Mr. Regio's breathing from across the room over his clapping."
"His clapping?" Lincoln asked, trying to get the kid distracted on something else.
"Oh yeah, I was supposed to drown out the clapping and hear nothing but my breathing… I couldn't do it thou—" Lukian tensed up as the needle was put in him. Lincoln rubbed his shoulder while looking at Simmons for a second. "Keep going, how do your powers feel when you're using them?"
"Umm… Well… I, umm… It uhh… It-It was weird. My own b-breathing was amp-amplified— same as Mr. Regio's. But the clapping didn't get louder or softer and I could still hear it fine. It-It's— It's like I had a third ear or-or something… I don't know."
Somehow that explanation confused Lincoln more. He wasn't sure that the kid's power was just sensitive hearing— it's deeper than that. While yes, he could amplify certain sounds around him, it also didn't block out the other sounds or background noise. Or maybe he can, and just hasn't been able to do it yet.
Back at Afterlife he had never heard— or seen anyone with this ability so it was all new. With all these new inhumans, also came new powers that they have yet to understand.
At this point Simmons was done with taking blood, she held a cotton-ball on the area catching the blood. Lincoln walked around to cot and opened a band-aid, they quickly swapped and he applied the band-aid.
"So where's my lollipop?" Lukian joked.
Both Simmons and Lincoln laughed.
"Yeah, I don't think we keep those on base." Lincoln said.
Simmons eyed him with a smile. "Actually, you'd be surprised at what we have in the supply pantry."
"I'll check next time I have to do inventory." Lincoln replied dryly.
The ground underneath Lincoln started to tremble, at first Lincoln thought it was Daisy and he was about to run off to make sure she was okay…. but then he realized it was the Zephyr taking off.
On the cot, Lukian curled up into himself, lifted his hands to his ears and stuffed his fingers in them. Simmons glanced at Lincoln wondering what they should do, but to be honest he had no idea either. After a couple of seconds the rumbling stopped, it took a few more seconds after that for Lukian to relax.
Simmons took the blood vial over to her workstation.
"You could hear the plane taking off?" Lincoln asked him. He was slightly impressed, even if Lukian wasn't doing it on purpose. The hanger is about two-thirds of the base away from the lab.
Lukian nodded. "It-It wasn't as loud as it was on the jet though,"
"Did it hurt?"
Lukian thought about it for a moment. "No. I'm fine." He said looking Lincoln in the eyes. While he may not be a fully trained spy, or even an agent— But he knew the kid was lying.
"Okay... Well, now that we know a little more about your power, we can help you control it so you don't have to hear whatever it is that your hearing— constantly." Lincoln explained. "Stay here— get some rest." He said, then he pointed to the kid's nose. "And don't take the tube out, you need that."
Lukian groaned then slouched down on the cot. Lincoln hid his amusement as he walked away.
Simmons was looking through a microscope— likely at the kid's blood and it's reaction to certain chemicals in the sedative. That way they could find out what specifically it is that he's allergic to.
Lincoln glanced over her shoulder. "How's it going?"
"I've only just started, I need to wait to see if it creates the antibodies."
Lincoln nodded. "So… What do we do about Lukian?"
She looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not sure I'm following,"
"Every time a jet takes off he's gonna hear it, and it hurts him. He doesn't have control of his powers— he could knock himself out again." Lincoln explained.
Simmons' eyes widened slightly, she straightened and brought his hand to her forehead. "I didn't even think of that!" She groaned. Simmons took a deep breath to calm herself. "I suppose he'll have to stay here for now, despite the effects it may have. He needs to stay monitored for the next twelve hours."
"Alright," Lincoln agreed. He finally took notice of the bags looming under Simmons' eyes. "You should get some rest. I'll watch over Lukian— I call you if he has a second reaction."
"I'm fine, Lincoln." Simmons protested, she hunched back over the microscope. "But, thank you."
He eyed her carefully. "When was the last time you went to sleep? You forget, I'm a doctor too,"
Simmons sighed, she stood up again. "No, I didn't forget. It's just… I— Everything is so—" She was at a loss for words.
Lincoln rubbed her arm in comfort. "I get it— I do, really. Your mind's in pieces everywhere. But right now you need rest, take a break for a bit; pick up the pieces."
She had been working herself to the bone this past week. He knew the reason for it, and out of care for his fellow doctor and her being good friend of Daisy's— he had been making sure she still cared for herself. Everyone needs sleep and rest, even doctors.
He saw her contemplating it in her mind yet gave no indication that she was going to agree to it.
Lincoln tried again. "We have a little over six hours until they arrive in Columbia, it'll be fine."
Reluctantly Simmons nodded. "Alright— Just for a few hours."
And just like that she made her way out of the lab.
It wasn't until hours later that Lukian finally woke up again, he was out like a light. Which was nice— being free from the constant torment of whatever-the-hell that stupid sound is, but it was also concerning how heavy he slept. Usually he was a light sleeper— woken up by the house settling, or the spring of his mattress when he moved in his sleep, or the creak of the floorboard right outside his room.
Anything woke him up.
But surprisingly not the whatever-noise that wouldn't leave him alone. He couldn't explain it— the sound was coming from all around him, and in him… it was everywhere.
And he just wished for it to go away.
Lukian sat up groggily as he opened his eyes to the harsh bright lights of medical.
Dr. Simmons, and/ or, Mr. Lincoln were nowhere to be found. Unfortunately the tubes were still sticking out of his nose and the steady beeping in the background was driving him insane, along with the other background noise. The door to his little room was at a weird angle where Lukian had to lean to the right if he wanted to see out of it.
He was expecting to see a hospital environment with patients walking around in blue dresses and socks, and doctors in white coats.
Though when he actually got a good look there were no other patients, but there were people in white coats— or more of a light grey coat. He wasn't sure they were all doctors though. There was a bunch of equipment and computers laying around, and again— they all looked extremely expensive.
As he looked around the lab, he was hoping to see a familiar face. Maybe Daisy, or Mack.
Though he did recognize what he believed to be Mr. Fitz across the room. He was talking with someone else, their back was facing Lukian so he had no idea who it was.
Then there was also that two percent chance Lukian would have actually seen them before to recognize them. Whoever it was they were, they were wearing a black suit jacket, with balding hair. They were standing over Mr. Fitz while he was sitting down showing him something. Whatever their conversation was, it seemed to be serious, Mr. Fitz seemed to be explaining something to the other man.
While it was none of his business… Lukian was incredibly curious as to what they were talking about.
He studied Mr. Fitz and tried to read his lips, though he was having some difficulties. The longer he starred, the louder the whistling grew, the steady beeping increased as well. Lukian glanced at the monitor, his eyes widened when he saw his heart rate at two— forty two. Now he wasn't a doctor or anything but that seemed a little too fast.
He grew panicked as he tried to slow it down. Surely if it was going that fast he would be dead right now or something, there had to be something wrong with the monitor or the machine. He glanced back out to the lab to see if anyone was paying attention before he threw off the finger-scanner-thingy.
Suddenly the beep seized and the monitor went blank.
At this point if he was getting rid of the medical crap he might as well take out the breathing tube. It irritated his nose and he just wanted it gone. Carefully this time, Lukian slowly pulled out the tubes that were still out of his nostrils. He coughed and gagged before he finally got it all out. Then he pinched his nose and rubbed it.
Lukian focused his attention back to Mr. Fitz. Some whistling had stopped, but he could tell there was another source. It was starting to give him a headache, but it definitely wasn't as bad as it was on the plane. Lukian ignored it as he tried to read the lips again. Only this time he swore he would actually hear them. The whistling seemed to morph into whispers. He could almost make out actual words now. He couldn't believe it. They were on the other side of the lab yet he actually could hear them.
His powers weren't a damn myth after all!
"... It's going to be much more life like then the other one, Sir. Many more bells and whistles too, like the ones you've suggested." Someone in a Scottish accent said.
Mr. Fitz, Lukian realized.
"How long do you think it will take to be ready?" Another voice said.
This voice was much softer, yet held great authority. It seemed vaguely familiar but Lukian couldn't place where from. He just assumed the voice came from the guy who was facing the opposite direction.
"Well... All the schematics are drawn up. I've already ordered all the parts— they all came this morning. All I have to do is custruct them together, make sure they all work together, put the skin sleeve on and calibrate it." Mr. Fitz said. "Though that sounds much easier than it actually will be to do. I am going to need you for some tests to suit it to your liking later on—"
"Time-table, Fitz," The other man cut off his rambling.
"Umm…" He scratched under his ear. "P-Possibly the end of the day. It-It depends how fast I can get it all to work."
"Okay, good."
Right after he said that the man turned around and looked Lukian straight in the eyes.
Immediately Lukian quickly leaned to the left to no longer be in sight of the man. Lukian took a second to control himself, that was incredibly terrifying. It's like the man had eyes in the back of his head or something, and just somehow knew he was eavesdropping. Though to be fair, it was partly an accident. Lukian could still hear a chuckle from the man, he wasn't even concentrating on the conversation anymore.
"Call Dr. Campbell— Tell him his patient is up." The man said. "I should probably get going. Don't want to be late to my date with the President."
Okay... maybe he didn't have the control over his powers he thought he did, because Lukian swore that guy said President.
Like The President of America?
Who were these people? Lukian asked himself for the fifteenth time this week.
If they have a connection to the President likely they were with the government, it would explain their insane budget. And why everyone was called Agent, he could not figure that one out either.
Lukian wasn't exactly sure what exactly they were talking about... but it sounded tech related. Lukian was pretty good with tech, despite what others had to say about it. Could be a weapon, Lukian quickly shot that idea down. He much rather it not be a weapon.
Mr. Fitz mentioned a skin sleeve and calibrating it to the guy's liking.
Could be something mechanical that was being made specifically for the man. Could be a prosthetic, Lukian suggested to himself. But no prosthetic Lukian had ever seen had a skin sleeve. Usually they just showed the exposed wires and the exoskeleton of the prosthetic.
Then again Lukian thought back to their high budget and possible connection to the government.
If they were part of the government, or at least connected in some way, then it's also possible they have more advanced technology then the average citizen did.
He wondered if they already had the iPhone seven. He had basically been drooling over it and it had yet to even be announced yet. It was well away from September, it was still May. But it didn't matter when the new phones were announced, or released— Lukian once again would not be getting it. Or any phone for that matter.
Yes, that was correct. He was thirteen, was in eighth grade, did after school sports, and still had no phone.
What a los—
"Lukian," Lincoln called out for the third time— this time it did the trick and snapped him out of his thoughts. Lukian shook his head to get himself to focus then looked at Mr. Lincoln who was now suddenly in front of him.
"S-Sorry,"
"Don't worry about it." Lincoln smiled lightly as he eyed Lukian carefully. "You alright?"
"Yah, I just started daydreaming I guess." Lukian replied.
That's when Lincoln finally noticed it. "Hey, what did you do to the nasal cannula, and the pulse oximeter? You need that, it's to monitor you to make sure you're okay."
Lukian titled his head— not really caring that he was being scolded. "The what and the what?"
Lincoln sighed. "The nose tube and the finger clip,"
"Oh," Lukian just shrugged with a slight grin. "Eh, it was loud and annoying."
"Alright. But keep at least the pulse oximeter on for now, please." Lincoln begged.
Lukian was gonna make a remark but stopped himself when Lincoln motioned to put the finger clip back on, Lukian had flinched away by accident. He quickly got control of himself and forced his hand out again.
"Sorry," Lukian mumbled. Lincoln didn't say anything as he put the pulse oxi-monimeter— or whatever back on. The monitor blinked back to life and the seat beeping resumed, Lukian's shoulders sagged. That was gonna drive him up the walls.
If it hadn't already.
"What's the... Str— Strat-Strategic Ho-Homel-land Int— Inter-vent-eon," He had to start turning his head upside down to read the letters on Dr. Lincoln's lab coat. It was incredibly hard to read curved letters sideways. "En-Enforceme—ment Logic-sticks Divis-Division?"
Lincoln laughed. "S.H.I.E.L.D,"
"Shield?" Lukian obviously didn't get it. "What does a shield have to do with anything?"
"It's an acronym," Lincoln explained, he started to mess with one of the machines and turned it off. Lukian noticed how the whistling was almost fully silenced now. "So you don't have to say that mouthful every time." He finished.
Lukian eyes went wide in realization. He started running the words in his head again to see how they even got S.H.I.E.L.D.
"So, what came first— the paragraph or the word?"
Lincoln smiled. "That would have to ask probably anyone else. I'm still pretty new to the whole thing."
"So… What is the whole thing?" Lukian asked curiously while looking around the room.
"They help people— they protect, and they take down the bad guys." Lincoln stated. Lukian could tell he was trying to keep it to a minimum about what he said. He knew there were some bad people in the world, like world dictators. He couldn't name them, yet he knew they existed.
But when he said bad guys—
"Like the people who took me and pointed a gun at my head?" Lukian guessed.
"Exactly,"
Imagines of a large dark monster hovering over him clouded his vision. He could still hear the screams and gunshots ringing in his ears.
He quickly squeezed the bottle shut on that and the images disappeared.
Lukian subtly shook his head to clear it, hoping Lincoln wouldn't notice. He stuffed his slightly trembling hands under the covers. He heard the white noise get a smidget louder, he chose to ignore it.
Lukian took a breath to calm himself.
"What a-about— Who was the monster-under-the-bed guy?" Lukian asked.
He saw a flash of anger reach Lincoln's eyes at the mention of a monster, Lukian hurried to explain himself. "Be-because he ki—" He swallowed the new lump in his throat. "Killed everybody in the room b-but me."
He couldn't stop the quivering in his voice as much as he wanted to. Lukian looked down at the covers— scolding himself for sounding so weak. When he looked up to see Lincoln's face— Lukian could tell Lincoln was thinking over what he should actually say. He had seen the same face on adults multiple times before he was lied to.
He absolutely hated that face.
He knew it too well.
"It's complicated," Lincoln finally said, his eyes got dark. "But if you ever see him again— you run."
He tried to suppress the urge to eye roll. "Thanks, Captain Obvious," Lukian saluted with his left hand.
Dr. Lincoln was about to say something else when Dr. Simmons came into the room.
"They've landed,"
Lincoln nodded. "I'll be right there,"
This time it was Dr. Simmons turn to nod, and she did before heading back out to the lab. Lincoln recoced his attention back at him.
"How are you feeling?"
"Eh," Lukian shrugged. The effects of his self-statue— as he called it— definitely left him feeling different off. The fan inside him had now been turned down to a low. But the static noise and whistle blowing has decided to keep him company tonight.
Lincoln was about to ask another question no doubt, but Lukian beat him to it.
"Can I go back to my windowless prison and virtual view now please?"
Lincoln chuckled. "It's not a prison, it's containment room suited to—"
"Contain me," Lukian supplied. "That's literally the definition of a prison."
"It's for your own safety, and others." Lincoln explained.
Lukian smirked. "You know, that's probably what they say when you're taken to jail."
Lincoln sighed, obviously not going to be able to change the kid's mind. "I have to go help my team. You are to stay here, and keep being monitored. If anything starts to happen— dry throat, coughing, dizziness, itching, throat restriction— anything. You press that button over there." He pointed to the blue button that was attached to the little baby barrier walls for the cot.
"So basically if I breathe too much air at once— I hit the panic, life alert button?" Lukian said.
Lincoln huffed before leaving the room, yet Lukian could tell he was amused at least to a point. He laid back on medical cot secretly wishing his power could help in stopping that god-awful, stupid beeping.