13

"Get off! Coulson…What the hell?" May snarled, pushing and pulling away from the man snoring on her shoulder.

Coulson snorted a few times, pulling himself from sleep. He lifted his head and made a useless attempt to back away from the incensed woman. The large bulge against his side of the tent and the nylon material that comprised his sleeping bag made it more than difficult. He did succeed in bringing himself to a sitting position against May's side of the tent. She had managed to sit up herself and both sat staring at the strange shape at their feet.

Phil pulled a hand free of his sleep sack and ran it through his disheveled hair. He looked to May with a contrite expression and gave a sheepish shrug. May returned a scowl as she tore open the zipper on her own sack and pulled her legs free.

"What the hell?" She repeated, crawling forward and pushing against the large lump that was once the opposite side of their small sleeping quarters. May let out a long frustrated breath that turned into a low ferocious growl. "Those damn stupid morons! She hissed through her teeth as she slammed both hands against the base of their hovel. "I get my hands on the idiot who thinks this is funny…I'll…" She let the rest turn into a ramble of serious bodily harm threats as she crawled on all fours and yanked at the zipper that held the tent flap closed.

Coulson continued to attempt to extract himself from his own sleep sack. He couldn't help smile at the sophomoric prank the younger agents had played forcing him to almost lay atop his female partner. He quickly averted his attention to crawling out of the bag when May growled in his direction.

"Stop laughing like some stupid middle school punk and help me open this damn thing." She barked as she yanked at the zipper.

He crawled next to her and took the thing in his hands, calmly and easily taking the slide across the 'U'-shaped zipped closed 'doorway'. He half smiled at his success a second before enough snow to almost fill the tent tumbled in on top of them. He sat back wiping the cold surprise from his eyes and spitting out that which had landed in his opened mouth.

May let out a strangled scream. "I will choke everyone one of them!"

Before Coulson could speak or manage to snag her arm, May pushed herself through the barrage of snow and exited the tent. He scrambled to catch her before she made good on her threat. At this point he no longer saw any humor in this prank. It had to have taken all six of them to pile this much snow around their tent and it still would have taken all night. They had over three miles to hike today and then five back, if the weather cooperated. "What the hell," he grumbled as he pulled on his parka and grabbed May's before climbing through the path she had made in the snow.

What met his eyes was totally unexpected. May stood about two feet away, up to her waist in the white stuff that had apparently fallen through the night. Considering the amount of it, it had to come down at more than two or three inches per hour. He pushed his way to her, then draped her parka over her shoulders. For a moment they simply stared at the sight before them, picking out the three bumps that were the other's tents.

Apparently the others had yet to rise and meet the morning.

xx

Over two feet of heavy wet snow did very little to make the rest of the team's journey easy. Coulson and May crawled back into their small enclosure where they bumped and struggled to pull on heavier clothing and repack their sacks before pushing through the snow across the small field to the other tents. The six other agents were just as astonished and hurried to prepare for the weather.

"Sir," the leader of the junior agents approached Coulson who watched May plow through the snow toward the perimeter. He was almost certain her anger was melting the stuff in her path. "Sir," the young man began again.

Coulson turned toward him, still watching May. "Bradshaw," he answered.

"The target is a little more than three miles north." The man stated.

Coulson looked to the man pondering why he would make a statement that was already known. His expression told it.

"Sir," the man snapped to attention. "It's all uphill sir…higher elevation…more precipitation." The man cringed at the rhyme. "Sir, it gets worse from here, sir."

Coulson puffed out his cheeks and blew a long breath. He looked back to May who had moved little more than ten feet in the time he had looked away. "Get your men moving…" he replied without looking at the man and started toward the woman already forging a path.

xx

Three hours later the team had barely covered half the distance to their target. The snow, hip deep in some places, hindered their progress immensely. The extra energy used to maneuver in the white stuffed tired even the best of them. Moving in heavy clothing was difficult and the exercise caused perspiration that added to the chill. The team had to make more than the usual number of stops to save themselves from exhaustion.

Bradshaw had been right. The remainder of their journey was all uphill and the snow did nothing to make that journey easy. Not only did it hinder their progress but the deep covering hid the easier trails as well as dangerous hazards. Twice the team barely missed the edge of footholds that would send them tumbling back down the hillside. Snow squalls and wind that blew the snow that had landed on tree tops caused blinding white outs. Moving forward or going back made no difference. Either choice was just as difficult and just as dangerous. The team used climbing ropes to connect each of them to the other and walked in a line up the incline, mostly in silence since even with coms, voices were barely heard over the wailing wind.

Bradshaw stopped suddenly feeling a tug on his rope. He turned and squinted through his goggles to see Cooper, the last of the team to climb this section. He tugged back, resorting to the unspoken code the team had developed for communicating needs or cause for alarm. Cooper tugged back twice indicating he needed a short break. Bradshaw gave a nod the other man could not see and turned to tug on the rope that connected him to Carson, about ten feet ahead. The tug would be given from one team member to the next until all were informed. A similar tug would then be returned in reverse and all team members would pause for the time it took Cooper to take care of business.

Bradshaw felt the tug from Carson and turned to let Coop know everyone was waiting. Before he could tug the rope it was pulled roughly from his hand. He let out a growl. "Okay, okay…" he grumbled as he reached for the rope again only to be pulled face first into the snow. Before he could right himself he was pulled rapidly forward, sliding on his belly like a large clumsy penguin. The man's arms and legs flailed as he sought purchase to end his forward motion. He felt the rope connected to Carson pull taunt then go limp and knew that his teammate had also fallen and was quickly heading toward him. If one or both of them could not manage to anchor themselves on something, the entire team would… Would what?

Had Coop stepped over the edge of some precipice or fallen into some crevice…or was some predator lurking in the deep snow. Bradshaw ran through all he knew about the area. What kind of large animals might be foraging in the snow? Visions of Luke Skywalker being dragged into that ice cave flittered through his mind as he rolled to his back and continued his slide on his bottom. He pushed out his feet and attempted to dig them into the snow, managing to slow his ride as he leaned to one side and managed to wrap his rope around a bit of brush that stuck out of the white stuff. He let out a relieved breath a few seconds before Carson slammed into his back. Both men fell forward but managed to stay in place as the remainder of the team rapidly joined them.

May extracted herself from the team pile up and ripped off her goggles. "What the hell are you morons doing!?" She snarled, unsnapping the rope from her belt and storming toward Bradshaw and Carson.

"Coop…" was Bradshaw's only reply as he pointed to the rope that was still attached to his own belt and disappeared a few feet ahead.

"What happened?" Coulson demanded, out of breath, as he reached the man and held out a hand to help him rise.

The man turned and grabbed the rope sliding his hands along it as he followed through the snow. "COOP!" He called out, over the wind.

Coulson and May exchanged a glance, gave a nod and followed. Coulson ordered the others to stay put for the time being. Less than ten feet ahead, Bradshaw and Carson stood at the edge of a gaping hole in the ground.

"COOP!" Bradshaw called again. He turned back to Coulson and pointed down indicating he intended to investigate. Coulson gave a nod then looked to May who nodded in agreement. Each knew they would not leave a team member behind.

xx

The wind picked up making visibility even worse, if that were even possible. Coulson couldn't tell if the swirling snow was falling from the sky or being tossed by the squall. Even the layers of clothing he wore were pierced by the frigid temp made worse by wind chill. He could not stop the shiver that ran through him and knew the others felt the same. He tightened his grip on the rope that held Bradshaw and looked to what he could see of May a few feet behind. A quick tug on that rope took his attention back to the hole inches from the toes of his boot. A moment later the bright orange glare of a flare lit in that same hole, followed by another tug on the rope. Bradshaw's voice was staccato in his ear com.

"Down…sir…need…not…"

The sound was drowned by a ferocious blast of wind that threatened to knock the team off their feet. The storm was growing worse and their flimsy tents would not provide the protection they needed. There was little chance they would find the 'possible' castle before the worst of it hit. Coulson tugged the rope that held May once then again and felt her tug back. He turned and used both hands to pull her forward, trusting that the rope hooked to his belt would keep him secured to Bradshaw. As soon as she was close enough he pulled closer, inches from her ear.

"We need to drop down there," he screamed above the wind as he pointed down. "We have to get out of this weather and it's the only choice we've got."

May shook her head and turned to bellow in his ear. "We don't know what's down there or if we can get out." She stood back, trying to resist the shiver that kept her from giving him her best scowl.

Coulson pursed his lips and shook his head. "We're out of options. We can't take much more of this."

May let out what might have been a growl, then turned to tug the rope that led to Carson, Wu, Siaz and Lieu. As each member joined the small grow they were instructed to drop into the hole. Once all were secure Coulson held out a hand to May, motioning for her to do the same. She shook her head.

"No way," she shouted. "Not gonna have your sorry ass falling on top of me."

"R.H.I.P." Coulson smiled through his bellow, then pointed again to the hole.

May let out a real growl and dropped out of sight. Coulson laughed a real laugh then followed his crew into the crater, making sure he did not land on anyone.

xx

The team moved away from the large hole that was now allowing snow to pile in the dimly lit cavern. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust from the bright whiteness outside to the dark inside. The wind howled above them like some bean side in search of victims but inside the well hewn walls it was warmer and dry. Cooper sat against a far wall nursing a few bumps and bruises but otherwise unharmed. The rest of the team took in what they could of their new surroundings.

"R.H.I.P.?" May snarled as she pulled off her goggles and tossed back her hood. She pulled off her heavy mittens and slapped them against a large rock to loosen the balls of snow that had formed on them. "That's the best you can do?" She let out a frustrated growl and turned away before he could answer.

Coulson shrugged. "Rank does have its privileges, May."

She waved him off without turning back.

"Sir," Carson interrupted before he could follow. "I don't think this is a cave. Well, not a natural one anyway and this," he kicked at the litter on the ground, formed when Cooper crashed through. "This isn't either."

Coulson squatted down and picked up a large piece of the debris, turning over in his hand. "No, it isn't"

xx

Skye sat at the kitchen table nursing her tea while swinging her feet back and forth. She watched as William rolled dough in to long hot dog shapes then placed them in the hot oil he had on the stove. The kitchen filled with the scent of those wonderful donuts that May said they shouldn't eat every day. He smiled at her and motioned for her to drink more tea. Mrs. Gibbons had come for a temperature check and although all seemed normal both she and William felt another day at home would help the little girl's health.

William set the first batch of crullers on the table then stirred the thick cream before placing a bowl in front of Skye. She sipped her tea and stared at the tempting offering but remembered what May said about them. The little girl wasn't sure if she should disobey May or insult her new grandfather. Neither choice seemed right. She could say she was too sick to eat but she promised May she wouldn't lie. Well, to May anyway. Would Yeye count? She sipped more tea and rested her head on her hand with one elbow on the table.

"Yeye?" She started, waiting for him to look up from setting more donuts on the already full plate.

William sat on his chair and stirred his own tea. "Yes, granddaughter," he smiled. "I know May feels it is not good to indulge in this sweetness too often, but I think we need something to make us feel a bit happier."

Skye smiled a tiny smile and wondered how he knew what she was thinking. She nodded as he placed one cruller on her plate then broke it into two smaller pieces. Skye nibbled the edge of one half then set it down and watched her grandfather dip his own donut in the cream and take a large bite.

"Yeye?" She started again in a very small voice.

He finished chewing and took a quick sip of tea then set his hands together before him. "What is it, child?"

Skye hesitated, tapping her finger on the handle of her cup and avoiding her grandfather's gaze.

William smiled. "Do you want to say something?" He urged.

The little girl nodded but kept her gaze to the cruller on her plate. "I was just wonderin'…" she mumbled.

William reached out and placed his finger over the little finger that still tapped the cup. "You will need to speak up, airén. My ears are not as young as they once were." He smiled.

Skye let out a tiny breath, then drew it back. She stared at her grandfather's finger on top of her own, noticing how lightly he touched her. She looked up at him over her brows taking in his wide smile. "I…do you think we could go to the park with the big rock?" Picking up her head and looking at him she realized he was slightly confused. "The one where May looked at her mom's sky for her to see it the same." It all spilled out so fast it made no sense, not even to Skye. She slowly pulled her hand back and set both in her lap.

William did not speak for a moment and Skye knew that meant he might be angry that she knew about the rock and the special spot. She considered running to her room, but that might make him angrier. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly.

"Oh, no, no, no, child, you need not be sorry." He reached out and took her hand in his own. "It is winter, sunnu, the park is not open. There would be too much snow for us to make the trek to that special place."

Skye nodded slowly and felt William squeeze her hand just a bit. He tugged her forward until he gathered her in his lap. He rocked her slowly and kissed the top of her head. "It is a big sky and covers all the earth, sunnu. There is but one sun and one moon. When we look there," he nodded toward the large glass doors in the living room. "We see the same sun that our Melinda sees and when it sets we will see the same moon and the same stars."

Skye sniffled a bit and nodded against his chest. "Even when she's far away?"

"Yes, bao bao, even then." He hugged her closer. "You eat breakfast and drink all of your tea and we will visit a place where we can look at the same stars and the same sky that Melinda sees right now."

Skye sat up and looked into William's eyes. "Not the big rock under the snow?"

"No," William almost laughed. "This place is warm and dry and I have a very good friend there."

Skye leapt to her feet. "Can we go right now?" She turned to run toward her room but was caught by William's quick hand.

"First I will make a call and you will finish breakfast. Then we will tidy the kitchen and dress. I will send for a car and we will visit the planetarium. There you can see the same sky as your May is seeing." William smiled as he guided her back to her chair.

Skye smiled a real smile for the first time in two days, picked up her cruller and took a bite.

William smiled and tousled her hair.