First Day Of School/ Team Building
Skye hadn't officially told Coulson that she would join the team, but she had a feeling that Coulson knew that she was going to join, of course she had no proof of her claim, just a gut feeling. Either way she had only a few minutes to pack up her stuff from her van. Moving quickly, Skye was able to fit her clothes and essentials into two bags, and some equipment, doodads, papers, and a scarf into a box. Looking back into her van, she grabbed her little hula girl doll that Tony got her as a gag gift once. Satisfied she got everything, and making sure that her van would be safe, Skye walked up the cargo ramp, where she was meet by science duo Simmons and Fitz.
"Ah, Agent Coulson told us the news." Simmons said with Fitz coming up behind her, "What a wonderful surprise. Isn't it Fitz?"
"Yeah," Fitz said unenthusiastically. "Yes, it's a surprise."
"No, it's wonderful," Simmons said over him, "You must be very excited."
"Yep, first day of school." Skye said a little nervously, handing over her box to Fitz even though he wasn't expecting it.
"Okay, so… Just- Sorry." Simmons said as she tried to get through them to walk up the stairs, followed by Fitz and Skye.
"Officially, it's an airborne mobile command station. But we call it the Bus." Fitz stated as they walked through the bus, "We find it's best to use shorthand when in the field. But everything has to be just so, you know, because of the danger."
"Yeah, I've been up here before, but I didn't see much because of the bag that Agent Ward put over my head." Skye said, talking in all the sights around her.
"Yes, so sorry about that. Water?" Simmons said.
"You don't have to be sorry," Skye said talking the water, "It wasn't your fault."
"Wheels up in two. Lock it or lose it." May's voice said over the intercom.
"What's that mean?" Skye asked.
"No backing out now." Simmons said, "Let's find a bunk for our guest."
"Oh, yeah, there's only one left, and it's right next to mine." Fitz said, slightly jogging to the bunk and placing Skye's box of stuff on the bed. Skye followed him and dropped one bag on the bed and another on the floor. Suddenly there was a knock near her head.
"Hey," Skye said when she turned to see Ward, "I know we didn't really-"
"Might want to read that." He said, cutting her off, while handing her a pamphlet, "This isn't like other planes."
"You can say that again." Skye muttered.
"Say what again?" Coulson said, walking up to her. It was in that moment, Skye knew that privacy was going to be hard to find on this plane.
"Sweet ride." Skye said.
"I earned a little goodwill from Director Fury when I got hit right before the Battle of New York."
"You took a bullet?" Skye said, pretending not to know what happened.
"Ish." Coulson said, "An Asgardian stabbed me through the heart with a Chitauri scepter. The effect was similar. Got a few weeks R&R and this plane. Had it completely refurbished. Studs up. Spared no expense."
"Yeah, Agent Ward told me they sent you to Tahiti." Skye said.
"It's a magical place." Coulson said.
"You mentioned that." Skye mumbled.
"Here. Use a coaster." Coulson said, placing one on the table, "And buckle up."
"I don't even know where we're going." Skye said as she sat down.
"Peru. That's where the 0-8-4 was reported." Coulson stated
"And an 0-8-4 is?" Skye questioned.
"An object of unknown origin." Coulson answered then turned to her, "Kind of like you. Team goes in, determines if it's useful or if it poses a threat. Last one turned out to be pretty interesting."
"What was the last one." Skye said before taking a drink of water.
"A hammer." Skye nearly choked on her drink a bit.
As they finally got to the archeological dig sight of the 0-8-4, Skye got out of the Shield truck and looked around. This was her first time anywhere outside of the US and she was exhilarated. She saw Coulson walking toward the woods and followed him.
"We should warn the people who live around here if the 0-8-4 is dangerous." Skye said, "They're already dealing with anti-mining rebels and the shunting path guerrillas. I could post something."
"Remember the panic when that antimatter meteor splashed down just off the coast of Miami, nearly devoured the city?"
"No." Skye remembered finding information of that happening, but she couldn't let him know that.
"Precisely. Because we kept it quiet and contained." Coulson declared.
"So, what am I doing?" Skye asked.
"Well, if it gets out, I might need you to create some kind of diversion, put the public on the wrong scent."Coulson answered.
"So, the exact opposite of what I was doing before." Skye said.
"Yep." Coulson walked away to meet the professor.
Skye walked up behind him, listening to the conversation. Walking into the Incan temple, Skye was awestruck at whatever was stuck in the wall. She pulled out her cellphone and started to look for any information on the internet about this. She heard a beeping behind her, followed by a low whirring noise. Turning her head, she saw little drones flying around the temple, obviously being controlled by Fitzsimmons. 'Stark would love to see these,' She thought.
"There's nothing about this anywhere." Skye said after Coulson ushered the professor out, "It's amazing. I searched every data stream, twice. What do we got here, guys?" Skye went over to it and raised her hand up to touch it out of curiosity. It felt like it was almost quivering with energy of some sort.
"Whoa," Skye was snapped out of her trance by Fitz's stuttering, "Wouldn't do that."
"The objects placement in fossiliferous rock formations suggests it's been here for at least 1500 years. That pre-dates this temple by a millennium." Simmons said excitedly, "Maybe it's alien."
"Yeah, but the shape and the craftsmanship- it's almost German."
"Sir?" Wards voice came in over Coulson's walkie talkie.
"Go." Coulson said.
"We have a situation." Ward said.
"Lots of rebels in this area." Skye said.
"Not enough gunfire." Coulson pointed out. "Keep working," He said to Fitzsimmons and Skye before saying through the walkie, "I'm on my way."
"Are you seeing this?" Skye heard Fitz say to Simmons, "It's alive."
"What- Alive alive?" Skye asked.
"It has a functioning power source." Fitz said.
"Sleepy's reading radionuclides, but they don't match any known isotope." Simmons said.
"I get temporal matches, but, even then, they seem to shift. Is that even possible?" Fitz asked.
"Depends on what's causing the shift." Skye said, thinking back to when she would watch over some of Tony's lab experiments. She didn't understand around half of what he was saying most of the time, but every once in awhile something happened to stick. Skye looked over to Fitzsimmons to see the questioning looks they were giving her. Realizing she probably shouldn't interrupt the two's thought process, she said, "I'm… gonna go check on Coulson."
"We've got company." Ward said, walking into the temple, "National police."
"What?" Simmons said.
"Why are they here?" Fitz asked.
"They heard about this object. They're probably here to protect it." Ward said, "This area has lots of rebel uprisings."
"People are fighting against the government's mining policies." Skye informed them, then muttered to herself, "It's pretty kick-ass."
"Yeah, it's kick-ass, all the violence." Ward said.
"That's not what I'm saying." Skye said.
"No, it's what you're typing. In your van, alone- where it's safe." Ward said before turning to Fitzsimmons and asking, "How much longer?"
"Whats the hurry?" Simmons asked.
"Are we in danger?" Fitz questioned.
"Not if everyone does their job." Ward said pointedly, "What is yours, exactly?"
"I'm not quite sure what-" Suddenly there was an explosion outside of the temple, followed by the sounds of gunfire.
"Sounds like they're engaging the rebels, let's go." Ward said.
Skye grabbed one of the drones and handed it to Fitz so he could put it in their container.
"We need a containment case for the 0-8-4." Simmons said.
"There's no time." Ward said.
"But it has a fluctuating power core. Frequencies way above 10 exahertz." Fitz said.
"That's not good." Skye murmured under her breath as another explosion went off.
"Sorry. Science class is over." Ward said as he walked over to the 0-8-4 and started to pull it out of the wall.
"Whoa!" Fitz exclaimed, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait. You did not just pull that out of the wall. What is the matter with you?! Do you realize we do not know the amount of photon emissions coming out of this- okay," Fitz said as Ward shoved the 0-8-4 into a bag, and the bag into Fitz's hands, "We don't know what will happen if it gets excited.
"Stay close." Ward said, ignoring Fitz's protest.
"Fitz! Come on!" Simmons said.
The four of them walked out of the temple and into a line of fire. Ward shoved the other tree back in for some cover. Ward pulled out a long metal stick-like device, jumped down the small flight of stairs that lead up to the mouth of the temple, and stuck it into the ground. Out of the stick came a can shaped object that exploded in a wave of blue energy that knocked the rebels to the ground. Ward gestured to the other three to follow him. One rebel recovered enough to aim a gun at the three, and started shooting just as the shield truck pulled it's way in front of them.
"Get in! Get in!" Ward shouted to them.
"Move! Now!" May said.
Skye pushed Fitzsimmons ahead of her while they muttered in agreement. After they all were in, May bolted away from the camp, and down the road toward the Bus.
"Coulson's secure in PMPs truck." Ward said from the passenger seat, "Take the south route to the airfield."
"Gotcha." May said.
"Slow down!" Fitz shouted after they hit a particularly nasty bump in the road.
"You're joking, right?" Skye said.
"Ward, listen! We have to be careful." Fitz said, "There's a binding energy structure that could overheat."
"I could roll down a window!" Simmons said. Before she could Skye reached across Fitz and stopped Simmons before she could even move her hands.
"Do not roll down a window!" Skye bellowed.
"Stay quiet and keep your heads down." Ward shouted, "Head left. the ravine empties."
"But, Ward!" Fitz yelled.
"Quiet!" Both Ward and May hollered as they approached the bus.
"How fast can you have the wheels up?" Ward asked May.
"Fast." She responded before pulling the car into the bus and yelling, "Ramp," As she got out.
"On it." Ward said as he too got out.
"What are you doing?!" Skye asked as she and Fitzsimmons got out of the truck, "Coulson is still out there!"
"Get off the ramp. You're in the line of fire." Ward said.
Skye ran over to where Fitzsimmons was hiding and blocked them from the ramp entrance as Ward and some of the puerto rican soldiers fought back the rebels.
"Cut it pretty close, Sir." Ward said to Coulson as the ramp went up.
"Didn't want to leave anyone behind." Coulson stated.
"I got to say it. I miss my van." Skye said.
"Now, what was the problem?" Ward asked.
"As I said before, this device has a high-frequency, fluctuating, sub-material compression-"
"Fitz," Ward interrupted, "In English."
"The 0-8-4 is fueled by Tesseract technology." Fitz stated, "Hydra. World War II. Captain America. It's full of lethal amounts of gamma radiation."
"Gamma- you're saying it's nuclear?" Ward asked.
"No." Coulson began, "He's saying it's much, much worse."
Everyone took a step away from the 0-8-4. After contemplating it a bit Coulson ordered Fitzsimmons to move it to the lab, while he went to check in with May. Skye followed Simmons to the lab, to hear what else there was to say on the device, while Fitz and Ward went off the the
"Not to worry. The device is stable." Simmons said as she lifted the 0-8-4 out of the bag it was in, "Not that it couldn't explode at any minute, especially if hit with machine-gun fire. But things like this happen from time to time when in the field, and at first, it's very unpleasant, and you regret your decision to leave the lab at all."
"Are you trying to reassure me or yourself?" Skye asked.
"Are you mental?" Fitz said as he and Ward entered the room, "I did explain in great detail exactly what I meant, using the queen's bloody English!"
"I use normal English-" Ward interjected, "Words like 'Duck' and 'Run' and 'Might blow us to pieces'."
"Oh, wow! Well congratulations, Agent Ward. You managed to string three words together in a sentence." Fitz said.
The two of them started arguing against each other at the same time, steadily getting louder as the seconds dragged on. It wasn't until Coulson spoke that they finally shut up.
"Do we have a problem in here?" Coulson asked.
"No, Sir." Ward said after a moment, the tension palpable in the air, "Just working on our communication. Not everyone was prepared for a firefight."
"We got out, didn't lose anyone, saved a few of theirs. I'd say we did alright." Coulson stated, "Anything else?"
Skye rose her hand, saying, "I have a small question. Because I've been feeling like the tagalong hayseed rookie, but know I get the sense that Ward doesn't know which one's Simmons and which one's Fitz, and they've seen even less gunfire than me, and I'm no rocket scientist, but is this your first mission together?"
"No, Of course not." Simmons piped up, "It's our second."
"I was your first? That's sweet." Skye murmured.
"You're amused?" Ward asked snidely.
"I'm terrified." Skye stated, "I am in way over my head, but I have been on this team just about as long as any of you. One thing I have to point out, these guys do not like each other very much." She said to Coulson.
"This isn't about that." Ward said. "I'm a specialist. Today, I could have eliminated the enemy threat myself, if I was working alone. But I had non-combat-ready Agents-"
"Whoa, Whoa. Wait. You work alone?" Fitz asked.
"So typical." Simmons interjected, "Who do you think designs your equipment?"
"Or the polymers for your weaponry." Fitz added.
"Trygoingpeopleintothefieldlikewithjustusyoudoit bare bum." They said at the same time.
"See them proving the point I just made?" Skye said to Coulson.
"You're not wrong." Coulson said to Skye, "We still need to iron out the kinks. But, Ward, you can speak six languages. Simmons, you have two PhDs in fields I can't pronounce, and Fitz, you are a rocket scientist. So work it out."
"I'm good at stuff, too." Skye said as Coulson left.
A few minutes later Skye found her way back to her bunk, where her stuff was still sitting from earlier. Moving the bags and the box into the storage space below the bed, Skye got comfortably, lying on her stomach, with her legs against the wall and her head by the window. She pulled her hula girl out of the box and held it in her hand for a second before placing it on the windowsill. She took a breath and thought about the day's events. She considered calling Tony to talk about it, but then she remembered there were more people that the normal six that she'd have to worry about over hearing, and she hasn't even found a way around those six yet. She decided to go find Ward and offer him a drink.
"Hunger Games?" Skye asked when she found Ward reading.
"Matterhorn." He replied, "One of a hundred books my S.O. gave me that I'm just getting around to." Skye cocked her head to the side in confusion, "S.O.- Supervising officer." Ward explained.
"Got it." Skye said, "Hackers have lingo, too, but I'll pick yours up soon. I feel like you and me- wrong foot. Can I…. buy you a drink?" He gestured a yes, "What I said before, when I said the uprising was, whatever I said, A good thing. I don't want you to think I'm oblivious. What I was talking about was the tweets."
"Tweets." Ward said, "You trying to make things better or worse?"
"Peruvians have organized for the first time in decades. Thousands of suffering people who have never met uniting over a common idea? It's mind-blowing. See, usually, one person doesn't have the solution. But 100 people with 1% of the solution, that'll get it done. I think that's beautiful- pieces solving a puzzle."
"You and I see the world differently is all." Ward said.
"I've never been in a war zone during a war until today." Skye mentioned, "That was crazy. I take it you've seen that a lot?" Skye noticed something when Ward went to put his drink down, "Did you get shot?"
"Skin deep. Nothing to worry about." Ward said reassuringly.
"You got shot." Skye repeated, "Did that happen protecting us?"
"Said don't worry about it." He said.
"Well, no wonder you were so pissed." Skye said.
"I wasn't pissed," Ward stated, ''I was trained to be the whole solution, to eliminate variables. And today, they keep adding up." He said glancing at the soldiers.
"We're turning." Skye noticed.
"We've entered restricted airspace, so we have to follow certain flight paths. Regulation. This plane is capable of fully automated flight, but May has to be on the Stick herself tonight." Ward explained.
"You've got an S.O. May's got to be on the Stick. Lots of good lingo on this plane." Skye said.
"Yeah. We just can't seem to understand each other." Ward said, then after a few moments, he said, "Skye, hand me the bottle."
"Okay, Turbo," She laughed, "but you're still nursing the one you got."
"I'm not the only one." Ward said, glancing at the soldiers. Skye understood that something was wrong.
Without hesitation, Ward pushed Skye behind him and engaged the two soldiers in the same room as the two of them. Coulson came running down the stairs followed by Camilla. Ward, Coulson, and Skye all looked to the large screen which showed Fitz being held at knife-point in the lab as a hostage, with Simmons behind them. Another soldier came up behind Skye and grabbed her arms, holding her as she struggled. The soldiers moved Skye, Ward, Fitzsimmons, and a passed out May to the cargo bay, tying their hands behind their backs.
"I should have learned Kung Fu." Fitz said.
"But I shouldn't have pushed you into the field on the first place." Simmons argued, "You weren't ready."
"It was my job to make a proper threat assessment." Ward interjected.
"This couldn't have happened if Agent May wasn't on the Stick." Skye pointed out, "She would have busted out some of her Ninja know-how."
"Agent May?" Fitz asked, "No, no, no. She transferred from administration."
"Well, I've seen her destroy a guy, so…" Skye said. The Twins, as Skye's taken to calling them, looked toward Ward for an answer.
"You've heard of the Cavalry?" Ward asked.
"Yeah," Fitzsimmons said, with Fitz continuing, "Everyone at the academy talks about st-" He stopped in realization as both Fitzsimmons questioned, "She's the Cavalry?"
"I told you never to call me that." May said from her position on the floor as she awoke.
"I can't believe it." Simmons said, "Oh, we're sure to get out of here now. How do we get out of her?"
"We can't go through the doors." May stated, "They're bolted, tied to the pressurization lines. You two geniuses have nothing?"
"Yeah, well. It's hard to concentrate in these intense situations." Fitz said.
"Hey. Don't freeze up. Take a breath." Ward said, "You don't need to come up with the whole solution. Just part of it. Right?"
"Yeah." Skye said, "Pieces solving a puzzle."
They talked for a while about different ideas to get through the doors. They were at a stalemate where they can't get through the doors. Skye pointed out that they needed to get untied from the cargo door, too which May dislocated her wrist in response. Moving quickly, May knocked out the guard that came to check up on them. They were all united by May and quickly came up with a plan. By the time Skye, Ward, and Fitzsimmons finished talking, May revved up the truck, and slammed it into the Lab's windows, setting their plans in motion.
Swiftly, the five of them went to work on their portion of the plan. Skye went into the cabinet to grab some rope. Ward tied Skye and Fitzsimmons together by waist with the rope that Skye and Ward found. Fitz talked to Simmons about this being the moment they'd regret before he had one of his drones hit the 0-8-4, causing the whole plane to shake wildly. The light from the door went from red to green, signifying it was unlocked.
"It worked." Skye said relived.
"The drop in cabin pressure released the doors." Simmons said.
"I'll take care of the soldiers. You guys get to the 0-8-4" Ward directed.
"And Coulson?" Fitz asked.
"Let's hope he can handle himself." Ward responded.
They went through the door, with Ward in the lead. A soldier shot at them as soon as Ward walked through the door. He told them to get back while he ducked behind the half wall next to the door. Ward started to fight the soldiers, talking out three before telling them to go find the 0-8-4. Skye used the wall as leverage to lead Simmons to the 0-8-4, while Fitz stayed as an anchor next to the door. The plane started to dive forward briskly, causing everyone to lose their balance.
Simmons was able to pull the 0-8-4 out of the wall, then calling to Fitz to pull them back. At that moment, a paper flew into Skye's face. Skye pulled it off and looked at it for a second, before coming up with an idea. Unting her from their little chain, with questions from Simmons, Skye crawled across the floor of the plane. She got to the wall with the red box, opened it, and pulled out a yellow life raft. It took a bit of fiddling, but Skye was finally able to open up the raft, letting it inflate to full size. Just in time too, as the raft covered the giant hole in the side of the plane as Ward hit it. Relived, Skye leaned her head against the wood column she was next to. Getting up, she walked over to Ward and offered him a hand up, which he accepted.
"I read the safety pamphlet." Skye said.
"I think you might be the first." Ward commented.
"No other way in, huh?" Coulson asked as he, Skye, Ward, and Fitzsimmons gathered around the bar. he placed a glass on the bar, saying, "Was just starting to warm up to this place."
Skye grabbed a coaster and placed it underneath the glass.
"The 0-8-4 is cooling and stable." Fitz said, "But we should call H.Q. and get it to the Slingshot as soon as possible."
Coulson turned to Camilla and said, "Told you they were good."
They all had spent the next few hours leading up to arriving to the Slingshot and the unloading of the 0-8-4 for rest and recovery. Skye eventually found Coulson looking over his car.
"Not a scratch." She said, "but your plane's totaled. I hope Shield insurance covers hijackings"
"Sure. Under 'Incidentals'." Coulson said.
"What exactly am I signing up for?" Skye asked.
"Like I said- Front-row seat to the craziest show on earth." Coulson responded.
"Yeah, but I didn't expect the show to get this crazy this fast all for an object you're just gonna destroy." Skye said.
"Slingshot is protocol." Coulson said, "A weapon like the 0-8-4 is too dangerous for any person or country to have. People like Reyes would always be after it."
"What happened with Reyes, anyway?" Skye asked.
"She's being held at a Shield detainment facility. I expect the Peruvian government will negotiate for her release. She probably won't spend much time in jail." Coulson stated.
"No, I mean what happened with you and Reyes?" Skye asked, "You guys totally did it back in the day, right?"
"That's classified." Coulson said, walking away.
Skye leaned against Lola texting Pepper and Tony on secured lines about what happened earlier that day when Fitzsimmons came down with a cooler and a beer in each of their hands, talking about new experiences excitedly. Fitz invited them over for the launch of the 0-8-4. Fitz talked about how long it take for the 0-8-4 to reach the sun, and how they could have made it faster while Skye questioned the amount of beers they had. Coulson walked over to them, asking them who's idea was whose, and they took the blame/praise together. They all watched the liftoff of the rocket, with Fitzsimmons's commentary running in the background.
Hello. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
The title "First Day of Scool/Team Building" Is a combination of two songs from the Inside Out soundtrack. Title was changed because both of them fit better than the original title. And they sound better in general.
Couple of notes here. First, Thank you to all of you who have commented, favorited, and reviewed. I appreciate all of them. I love the idea's that have been pitched so far, and the suggestions. They all are taken into account, and they help me fuel my muse. If there are any problems with my grammar or spelling, please feel free to tell me. If you have any suggestions for how this story could go, feel free to suggest them.
I would like to say, I have watched Age of Ultron. Don't worry, I wont spoil anything. I may follow slightly with the movie, but it will most likely be altered to suit this story, so some or a lot of things will be different.
Also, on things that will be different, so far it is only slightly veering from the canon, and it might be like that for possible another chapter, but I plan on veering off of it more as time goes on. I do want you to know Skye's father will not be the same father that is on the show, but I don't know if I will keep her mother the same, or make an OC as her mother. Please tell me which one you prefer.
And finally (hopefully) shipping. I may open a poll later on in the story based on who you have suggested in the comments and who I personally like, and I may like. I must warn you though, I am not familiar with writing romantic relationships, but I do plan on practicing in some way, shape or form.
Review my mistakes or your suggestions, And I shall see you next chapter.
Goodbye.