Chapter 3

Sorry for the long wait. Had surgery on my hand and was out of commission. My therapist thinks typing will help with the healing and of course my school work so after watching 7.08 I took a chance and opened the keyboard. I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to do it that I wouldn't try. It's not very long because my hand whimps out quickly and I hope there are not too many errors, but my very twisted fingers are slowly straightening after a year. Hopefully it is the start of something good.

Day 34 It's been pretty busy around here for the past couple days and I've been so tired I fall asleep before I even know it. Twice Coulson carried me to bed after I fell asleep at the table and I don't even want to think about how I ended up in PJ's.

Everybody's in a twist with this Hale person. She's got in it for us for some reason and wants the whole bunch of us in jail forever. She's a real bitch. She's some kind of army general with a big stick up her ass. Boy I bet May could clean her clock.

The cyber school program is pretty cool. I breeze through the coding class but I've gotta hold back a lot so they don't get suspicious. The history of martial arts is a bit of a pain but I came across a couple ancient methods that I shared with May and she said we could try them out. At first I thought she meant when I got big again but she said she'd tone it down. She said she started training when she was twelve and didn't know a thing. I've got a head start so she said we'd give it a try. She thinks it might help with the nightmares too. I don't see how cuz you can't roundhouse kick a damn dream. She says we can start next week after she makes some adjustments to the gym. Score!

I told Yoyo about the kid that was checking us out in town the other day. She said I was too suspicious and maybe a little paranoid. But that kid showed up almost everywhere we went. I was sure he was gonna follow us right into the warehouse so when Yoyo made a quick trip to the ladies room I pulled a double agent move on him. When I asked what was so interesting about us he almost dropped his jaw. Couldn't even talk…well, it was probably because I had him by the throat or at least by the collar. Yoyo yanked my hand away and gave me a look that really resembled May. After the kid coughed for like twenty minutes and Yoyo bought him a soda, he tried some dumb line about it just being a coincidence. HA! I told him he was a crummy liar. Then he told us he just wanted to see what we were doing cuz we were new in town and he never saw us and where was our car and where were we staying. Yoyo told him he asked too many questions and sent him packing. Then she laughed and said the kid was really just watching me. Ugh, creepy…like he could be MY kid. Yoyo said it didn't matter. I was cute and he liked me.

I told her I wanted to go home and never set foot in River's End again.

Day 37 Coulson's been gone for three days and nobody will tell me where he is or when he's coming back. They told me on a need to know I didn't need to know and May told me if I hacked into anything I wouldn't sit until I grew back into myself. Apparently he's gone dark because there's been no sign that anyone has had contact with him. It's driving me nuts.

I bet it has something to do with that Hydra Hale lady because that's been the buzz and that name I've overheard a lot even though I've been banned from command. I think it's really bothering me cuz my head is aching like there's a nail between my eyes. I couldn't even do anything cyber wise today. I just wanted to sleep cuz then I didn't feel it. I don't even want to write because I just want to close my eyes and make it stop.

Day 41 I can finally sit up and write today. Simmons says I was probably exposed to some bug in town. I bet it was that damn kid. I mean he coughed all over me. Yoyo got sick too, but not like me. She was sniffly and miserable for a day but me…no, I never do anything small.

Simmons said my fever was over 103 for two days and May never left my bedside. She said she was pretty worried. And Coulson's back! I thought I was dreaming that he was talking to me but he's really here. Simmons says he showed up the day after I got real sick but she doesn't know how he found out. I'm pretty sure it was May. I don't think they ever lose contact with each other.

I got this rash all over me like sunburn. Simmons says it's from the fever and the medicine she used to help me get better. She says we have a couple more days of meds before she thinks I will be completely better. I figured it was some kind of pill or gawd awful liquid gunk but she just smiled. NOOOOO! It's a damn shot and guess where she's been stabbing me. We she said she needed to check my fever I wanted to fling her across the room and head for the air vents. Then she pulled one of those little things out of her pocket and just touched my head with it. Huh… She told me she made sure May knew it was extremely reliable.

But 100 doesn't get me out of bed and she won't let me have my laptop so I can write…or read and guess which one I picked. They do let me get up to go to the bathroom and I drank an ocean of tea so I go a lot. I don't get to go alone cuz someone always has to walk me across the room and back. Ugh! Luckily I don't have a shy bladder or we'd be in…no I'd be in big trouble. At least Coulson lets me close the door. May just stands in the doorway and waits like I'm gonna flush myself or forget to wash my hands. Yuck!

They kept giving me soup and Jell-O – ugh I hate Jell-O. I begged for a bologna sandwich or anything I could put my teeth in. They finally gave in. Bad idea…I puked for hours. I think it was every ounce of soup and every color Jell-O they gave me for days. There was a damn rainbow in the toilet and that just made me throw up more. So now I'm back to tea, broth and that damn Jell-O. I'm about to pee my kidneys dry…but Simmons says if something else doesn't move by tomorrow she'll have to help it along. I do not even want to think about what that means and I told her if they'd give me real food there probably wouldn't be a problem. She reminded me of the sandwich incident and I told her it was probably bad and gave me some kind of food poisoning. Nobody fell for that and I heard her whispering to May that she would come prepared in the morning.

I swear I am busting out of here tonight and raiding the med bay for a whole box of exlax or the kitchen for a gallon of prune juice.

I hate being sick and after the whole incident with being clogged I didn't want to do anything. I tried to be mad but May saw right through that. She just looked at me and the damn broke. I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk and she just knew. She hugged me real tight and told me it wasn't that bad and that everyone just wanted me to be well. Then she took me right out of bed and carried me to that little living room space where Coulson took over and we all sat on the couch just being together until I cried myself to sleep in his arms.

When I woke up May had more tea for me but she said it was special. It smelled like licorice but tasted like it was made from the ick they pull out of a lawn mower. I really thought I was going puke all over again but she said I had to drink the whole cup and even honey didn't make it taste any better. I finished it and snuggled back into Coulson. He pulled out a book and started reading. I love to listen to his voice and all the characters he does. This one was about a spider that was trying to save a little pig. Hell, it was a little kid story and I couldn't get enough of it. An hour later May came at me with that gawd awful tea. I saw her smile funny at Coulson as I drank the whole damn cup.

I guess I fell asleep again cuz I woke up in my bed with an urgent need to get to the bathroom and I mean at Yoyo speed. May was sleeping on the little settee in my room and was up before I got my leg out of the covers. She scooped me up and dashed me to the bowl. ALLELUIA!

Whatever was in that tea did the trick! The damn was broken and everything, I mean everything was headed down stream. I sat there for what seemed like a half hour then made three more trips before Simmons showed up in the morning and was just as relieved as I was that the problem was solved.

Day 43 I am finally fever free and the last of my rash is where no one can see it. Simmons gave me some rash cream for it. It smells like spice cake but it takes the itch away. It's kinda embarrassing that May has to help put it on but it's either that or spend more time in bed until it goes away on its own. They gave me the rest of the week to be 100% better so I've got no studies for the next six days.

Coulson is keeping tight lipped about wherever he was but Hale's name is still floating around the base. I'm still banned from my computer. Jemma thinks it's bad for my eyes right now so I had to revert to subterfuge…the old fashion kind. Yep, made my way into the air vent and had a good listen inside Coulson's office. I can't believe that not one master spy knew I was there. Good thing because if they did May would be putting more than ointment on my bare butt.

Apparently they located Hale's base but have no way to get in without being seen. It's got some kind of field around it that they can't get through to hack her systems. Someone's got to get inside to plant a program in there allowing them to see what she's up to and why she's so hell bent on crushing what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I sat and listened to them argue over who that someone should be and just how difficult it was to get in and hopefully get out. Nobody had any real good ideas…except me. I thought about that kid and how Yoyo never noticed him because yeah, he was just a kid. Who notices a kid? What could a kid do? Hell, I was a kid…well not really but Hale wouldn't know that. I could get in and out and she'd never know what hit her.

I could see the diagram of her base through the screen on the wall and the map where it was located. I knew exactly how to get in. I knew exactly what ploy to use. All they had to do was get me there.

All I had to do was convince them, share my plan and hope my ass cooled off before we put it into work.