"FitzSimmons, I need you looking through the DWARFS data straight away. Try to identify anything that might lead us to why the aircraft was targeted or what it was that took it down." Instructed Agent Coulson upon arriving back on board the bus. "Triplett, you stay here. May and Skye, you two are with me. We're going to question the witnesses."
Simmons sped off to the lab, ready to start work and Triplett decided to join her. Meanwhile May climbed back into the driver's seat of the black SHIELD SUV.
"What about me?" Bella asked, not particularly sure whether she'd prefer to stay or go.
"Can she come with us?" Skye asked, anticipating she would be better company than miserable May.
Coulson considered Skye's proposition for a moment. Skye was inexperienced as it was, adding another variable wouldn't make his job easier. "It'd be safer if she'd stay here." Coulson replied.
Fitz , who had been hovering around Bella since Skye suggested she leave, decided to add his opinion in support of Coulson. "Yes, probably safer here."
"We're just asking a few questions, how dangerous can it be?" Said Skye. Coulson still didn't look persuaded. "Please? I promise to stay with her."
Coulson let out a sigh, "Fine." He said, deciding to pick his battles, "Maybe she can keep you out of trouble."
"Awesome" said Skye, turning to Bella and offering her a smile. "Getting out's way better than sitting around here." Skye's gaze flicked behind Bella for a moment, spying a Fitz creased brow. "I think Fitz might want to talk to you. Meet me in the car when you're done."
Bella turned around again to face Fitz as Skye made her way back to the SUV, her eyes already glued to her phone, which had again seemed to come out of nowhere.
"I, I, just- Are you sure you want to go? I- We don't want you to get hurt or anything. It's probably going to be boring anyways. " He said.
Bella's brows furrowed in slight confusion at Fitz's behaviour. In her mind, this was not so much of a big deal; Coulson and Skye didn't seem to think so anyways. "Skye said it wouldn't be dangerous. These things aren't normally dangerous, are they?" Asked Bella, hoping for some sort of clarification from the peculiar engineer.
"Well, not usually. Maybe sometimes- "
"Right." Bella said resolutely, having now determined that the trip was no cause for alarm. "Then I shall go." She gave Fitz one last beaming smile, which he returned half-heartedly, before turning on her heel and joining May, Skye and Coulson in the car.
Bella stared out the window watching the scenery pass by, the plain landscape not catching her eye or distracting her wandering mind. Skye sat in the back seat across from here, intently focused on the small screen of her mobile phone. Coulson sat in the passenger seat, holding a quiet conversation with May who drove the car. They had already interviewed all three witnesses the local police had referred them to and had gotten much the same story from each of them.
The first witness, a weedy looking man somewhere in his thirties, instantly made Bella uncomfortable. His greasy, slicked back hair made his beady eyes even more prominent as they raked in her appearance. Every time his gaze flickered over to Bella, which was far more often than she would have liked, it sent a shiver down her spine.
Apparently, he was driving into town when he first caught a glance of the strange object it the sky. The man appeared to be deliberately evasive when May asked where he was returning from, instead unhelpfully informing us the object was fairly far off and he couldn't make out what it was so it didn't bother him until about two minutes later when it came crashing out of the sky. He said he hadn't seen what had hit and couldn't give any more details, having decided to continue on his drive. Bella was glad to have left, as the strange man made her uneasy.
The next witnesses were an older couple called Mr and Mrs Bynes, farmers who owned the land where the craft had crashed. The kindly pair invited the small party inside their old; two story farmhouse; offering tea and freshly baked cookies.
They had been out in a paddock a fair way off from the crash site, but both remembered distinctly a beam of bright light, tinted red, shine onto the craft just before it was taken down. When pressed as to where it had come from, they became slightly less reliable. Whilst they both agreed it had come from their property, just where on their property caused a bit of the debate between the two; each insisting on different places. Coulson had then stepped in and enquired instead if they had any idea who would have been on their land to shine the light.
"Could have been one of the farm hands dearie." Offered Mrs Bynes "I have their roster in the kitchen. Could grab it for you?"
"That would be very helpful, thank you." Replied Coulson, prompting the portly lady to make her way into the kitchen.
"Or, it could be one of those damn boys who keep trampling over all our crops." Added Mr Bynes, once his wife had left the vicinity.
"Do you know their names?" Asked May who had remained standing for the duration of their visit.
"Can't say who exactly, or else I'd have told their parents and got them in for a good whoppin'" Mr Bynes then adjusted his seating, leaning in closer to the group and briefly glancing in the direction of the kitchen before continuing on. "But if you ask me, one of those troublesome Jefferson boys'll know."
"Howard!" Said Mrs Bynes, returning from the kitchen and catching her husband in the act. "I know you're not spreading rumours about those poor Jefferson boys again."
Mr Bynes simply leant back in his chair again, folding his arms over his chest and refusing to make eye contact with his wife. Bella smiled to herself, finding the man's antics slightly entertaining.
"Excuse him. Can't get over those poor boys." Mrs Bynes apologised. She handed the list she'd collected from the kitchen to Coulson then took her seat next to her sullen partner.
"Thank you. Would you be able to tell us more about the Jefferson's?"
"Oh, troubled boys they are, but, if you asked me its not their own fault. It's their parents you see, like to think of themselves as some sort of inventors. Go off all the time with this or that to who knows where." Explained Mrs Bynes, before Mr Bynes chimed in again.
"Makes 'em undisciplined."
"Run all sort of a muck, no one to set 'em straight really. Although, nothing serious enough to get them in with the police. Well, nothing anyone can prove, anyway."
The conversation had wrapped up fairly quickly after that, pleasantries were exchanged and then the group packed into the car again.
Now they were on the move again, Coulson saying he wanted to check in at the Jefferson's before heading back to the bus for the night.
"Hey, check this out." Said Skye, bringing Bella from her thoughts. Skye passed her phone over to Bella, prompting her to look at what had been brought up on the screen.
"What is it?" Asked Coulson from the front passenger seat.
"It's a photograph of some blueprints." Bella replied, examining them more closely. "They look like… preliminary designs for that machine I was being kept in." Certainly, it was no where near as sophisticated as the contraption that had actually been built, but, to her shock, Bella could clearly see that the two machines shared the same skeleton and were designed to serve the same purpose. Only, across the centre of the document were big bold letters, declaring 'PROJECT TERMINATED'.
"I found them floating around the deep web. Couldn't trace where they came from, but look at this." Skye added before pointing a logo in the bottom left corner. It was slightly hard to make out, as it was only a grainy photograph of the original blueprints, the camera seemed to be quite old. But, nevertheless, you could still make out the tell tale logo.
"Stark Industries!" She read aloud. Maybe that's why the name had seemed so familiar to her; they must be the ones responsible for the mess she had found herself in.
"Let me see." Coulson demanded. Examining the image once the phone was passed to him he drew another conclusion. "This is old, probably even before Tony Stark's time. I'll pass it on."
"Pass it on?" Skye questioned indignantly.
"We were instructed to cease investigation into Ms Blunt, and to pass on any leads to headquarters." Said May, speaking up for the first time from the drivers seat.
Skye was quick to respond, "That's not fair, we found her. We should be the ones figuring out what the hell happened." She declared.
"No Skye, we pass it on. Trust the system." Coulson replied before returning the phone. "Forward a copy to FitzSimmions, they'll document it properly then send it onto the hub."
Skye let out a sigh before reluctantly complying with her superiors. Bella though, didn't pay the exchange to much attention. "Stark Industries" She thought to herself, a serious expression clouding her face. She made a mental note to look more into the callous company, in the hopes of tracking down specifically who was responsible. What she would do after that though, she wasn't too sure.
Once more, conversation lulled as Skye went back to her phone and Coulson and May took up a conversation of whispers again, leaving Bella to her own thoughts.
Twenty minutes later they had crossed to the other side of the city, and had arrived in a run down looking part of town. Dull paint peeled off of dilapidated houses that loomed over the cracked surface of the. Most of the windows they passed were broken, boarded up or covered over by makeshift curtains of yellowing newspaper. Suspicious eyes turned towards their black tinted windows from small groups of rough looking teens as the car cruised down the street.
"That's the one." Said May as the car came to a stop. The house she gestured to was not a stand out from the rest of the street. It was a simple brick structure of two stories.
"May, stay in the car. Syke. You're with me." Coulson instructed. He opened his door and swung his feet onto the cracked concrete before making his way towards the house with Skye in tow.
Bella watched from the car as Coulson knocked on the door and called out a couple of times. Skye decided to snoop around a little, peaking in the windows too see if there was anyone home. Their efforts were met with no success though as the house appeared to be empty. Turning away from the door, Coulson surveyed the street from the doorstep whilst Skye waited patiently. Apparently deciding there was not much more to do, Coulson began his way back towards the car. But before they could re-join their colleagues, someone called out from a little ways down the road.
A boy, perhaps only a little younger than Bella, approached Skye and Coulson and began talking to them. Not being able to hear the conversation, Bella became bored quickly and instead turned her attention to May.
She sat ramrod straight in the front seat, her eyes trained on the interaction in front of her. Bella could tell she was ready to strike as soon as an opportunity presented itself. In a holster at her thigh sat a standard issue S.H.I.E.L.D handgun. Seeing it, Bella immediately began to visualise ways in which is could be improved specifically for Agent May.
Bella bit her lip thoughtfully as she sat in the back seat. Her eyes flickered up to May's face and she thought she might quite like to ask May. Her gaze remained fixed on the older woman, trying to figure a way to approach a conversation, when suddenly May's eyes shot across a caught Bella's stare.
"Can I help you?" Asked Agent May in her usual reserved monotone, made only more intimidating by her expressionless face.
Bella, like a deer in headlights, attempted to form a response. The result was laughable and Bella was thankful when Skye, offering escape from the awkward attempt at conversation, pulled the door of the car open.
The brunette computer whiz climbed back in the car, with her superior not far behind. "Parent are out of town for the moment, apparently they are more often than not." Coulson announced.
"Can you blame them? I would be to with a house like that." Skye joked, referring to the run down house they had just been investigating. May sent her a cool look in response to the insensitivity.
"Apparently the boys like to cause a ruckus almost everywhere, but have been fancying farms lately." Continued Coulson.
"Looks like the Bynes were right." Said May.
"Looks like." Coulson confirmed. "But the real question is what have they got their hands on to bring down a government aircraft?"
"Are we going to pay them a visit and find out?" Asked May whilst starting up the car.
"No, it's getting late and our friend said they'll probably be moving on for the day. We'll head out there tomorrow, let's get some rest for now."
The group arrived back at the BUS quite late having bounced around the city for the day. When they pulled up Triplet was the only one still awake, saying he had wanted to make sure someone was active in case they needed assistance.
Bella, along with Skye, decided to head straight to bed. Meanwhile Coulson and May went off to have a hushed conversation in Coulson's office. Not that it bothered Bella at all; she had other thoughts on her mind such as Skye's little revelation today about the connection to Stark Industries. After changing into her matching yellow spotted pyjamas, Bella collected her tablet and crawled into bed. She ran her fingers over the Stark Industries logo on the back before turning it around and switching it on.
She began researching further into Stark Industries. She didn't find anything to ground-breaking though, considering her experience in computer science was no match for Skye's. Hitting another dead end Bella discarded the tablet, and decided to go to sleep.
A/N: Thanks for waiting. The final instalment of this mission will be uploaded next Friday (5th December 2014).