Bella pulled herself to sit up in her bed. To her right, the neon blue lights of the bedside clock ticked over to 6:19am. As she tried to clear the dense haze from her mind, it became apparent that yet another restless night was beginning to take its toll.
Moving so that she sat on the edge of her bunk with feet dangling towards the floor, Bella contemplated pursuing another few hours of sleep. Likely to be cluttered by dreams of a forgotten past, a myriad of unanswerable questions and misfortunes she could only wish to forget, it was not a task to be taken lightly. But, hearing movement outside of her cabin, she decided against the struggle and brought her feet down to the floor instead.
A glance in the mirror on her way out of her cabin confirmed to Bella that her first stop should be to the on-board bathroom. When she emerged from the small cubicle ten minutes later she looked and felt slightly more refreshed. The next item on Bella's morning agenda was breakfast. She made her way into the kitchen was unsurprised to see subtle evidence of the presence of Agent Triplet and Agent May who were both very early risers.
Bella had come to know the routine of most of the plane's inhabitants by now, even if it was largely to be able to time her appearances so as to avoid them. Fitz would be next to wake up, then Coulson, followed by Simmons, and lastly Skye. Like Bella, Skye seemed to get out of bed whenever it suited her. Although, unlike Bella, it always seemed to suit Skye anytime after nine am as opposed to Bella's closer to six am.
"Oh! Good Morning!" Greeted a voice from behind her. Bella turned to see Fitz, as expected, adorned in his usual plaid, long sleeve pyjama set. He wore a variation of the expression he always seemed to hold in Bella's presence; an expression the girl couldn't name and that the boy was not particularly aware of.
"Morning Fitz." Bella replied, sharing a sleepy smile before turning her attention back to the task at hand. Namely, breakfast.
"Here, let me." Offered Fitz. He quickly gathered the fixings for two servings of Bella's favourite sugary cereal and laid them out on the bench.
Bella observed as Fitz hurried around the kitchen. He moved in much the same way as he did in the lab. As if his mind was twelve steps ahead and his body had to work overtime to catch up. Bella watched carefully after the Leo; milk from the fridge, cereal from the top cupboard on the far left, tea in the cupboard below. Bella resolved that tomorrow she would fix breakfast for Fitz. Perhaps she could even try to cook something; surely there would be such information on her tablet. The tablet! Of course she could not forget that she had to ask Skye about it, perhaps she might even know more about-
"Hey." Fitz said with a little more emphasis, bringing Bella back to the present.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Said Bella. Arranged on the bench in front of her, everything had been prepared. She blushed at how inattentive she'd become "I got a bit distracted then."
Fitz looked intently at her before speaking again. "Are you okay? You look like you haven't been sleeping to well. Is it the bunk? Sometimes they can be uncomfortable; I had some trouble with mine when I started. Or is it the flying thing, I could ask Simmons to give you some-"
"Leo!" Bella interrupted. "I'm fine. Really. Thank you though. Thank you for everything."
"Okay" Fitz replied sceptically. "But, um, you know… you know you can talk to me about anything." The warm smile that Bella then gave Fitz sped up his heart and made his palms sweat. "Just, if you want to. You don't have to or anything…" He began to ramble again.
Bella's smile continued to shine in Fitz' direction until she decided right then that she would quite like to feel the warmth of his hands. She thought perhaps they might be strong, from working so much on his various projects. Fitz' continued on as she tentatively stretched her hand towards his, dancing closer and closer despite the obliviousness of Fitz.
But, all too soon the two were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming their way. Bella snatched back her hand and quickly moved her gaze to the bowl of soggy cereal in front of her, intently focusing her energy on finishing the meal as quickly as possible.
Agent Coulson, dressed in a sharp suit as always, greeted the two as he entered the kitchen. He took quick note of the tension in the room, Fitz's slightly distressed expression and Bella's revived skittish nature. But he said nothing on the matter, choosing instead to strike up a causal conversation with the young engineer, whose eyes constantly flickered over to his friend. Bella slipped out of the room at this point, in the hopes of not having to engage with Coulson.
She retreated to her room, deciding to properly prepare her appearance for the day and then continue her work on the tablet. She made a mental note to ask Skye for something a little more powerful than the tablet. Whilst it had served her purposes so far, she wanted to dig a little further into Stark Industries, which required a more sophisticated approach than a Google search.
A little while later, a knock on the door from Simmons signalled it was time to emerge from her hiding place.
"Hello." Jemma greeted in her usual chipper manner. "Are you ready to head off? Coulson said you could tag along again."
"Oh okay, let me just grab my shoes." She shut the door behind her and the two of them made their way from the bunks down towards the cars.
"Are you coming as well?" Bella asked.
"Probably not this time. It'll just be interviewing some more suspects and the like today. I'll be of more use here."
"That's a shame. Do you know who is coming?"
"I think just yourself, Skye and Agent Coulson. I know Agent May headed out earlier this morning for some reason. It should be a fairly straight forward though." Simmons replied as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Bella! Come on!" Skye excitedly called out from by the SUV, which had already been driven out of the plane.
"I'll see you when I get back." Bella called back to Simmons as she began walking towards an impatient Skye.
"Yes, do. I was actually hoping to get another blood sample from you. Maybe run a few tests as well."
Not too keen on the idea, Bella only replied with a wave.
So far the morning had been much like yesterday, driving and asking questions that Bella wasn't particularly interested in. Although Bella was expecting it, as Simmons had told her, she didn't think things would be so incredibly boring. She had to stay in the car most of the time; Coulson saying that without May there as well he didn't feel comfortable possibly putting her in danger. Regardless, she made sure to ask him every time the stopped somewhere. The tedium of waiting inside the large black box was getting to her and she was sure she was wearing him down.
On the plus side, she had talked to Skye about a new tablet, but she was rather evasive in her answer. Bella suspected it had something to do with the stern look Coulson shot Sky from the drivers seat when Bella brought it up.
Towards the end of the day they pulled up to a rather run down looking old barn. The green paint was chipping off the sides and the roof and sides had some holes in them. The surrounding area was clearly unattended, the grass having grown tall and weedy. The spot itself was quite isolated, having taken them a good 30 minutes to drive there.
This particular location was towards the end of their list of potential hideouts for the Jefferson boys. Several others they'd spoken to had also suggested that a conversation with the infamous boys would be beneficial; the boys had been quite elusive thus far, but they were the strongest lead they had.
Coulson turned off the engine a little ways back from the barn. "Okay, Skye come with me we can check it out."
Bella let out a sigh and slouched down in her seat again, movements that didn't go unnoticed by the others. She should have expected as much, there'd been variations of the same plan all day.
Skye looked towards Bella, who'd begun to aimlessly flick through her tablet again. "Maybe" Skye began "Maybe we should bring Bella this time?"
"No, something could go wrong." Replied Coulson immediately.
"Come on, nothing's 'gone wrong' all morning. This will be just the same as the last creepy hideout we checked out."
"Skye-"
"Please?" Asked Bella "I promise I won't be any trouble."
Coulson stared straight ahead at the barn, not saying anything for a contemplative moment. "Fine. But, this is the last concession you get."
Bella beamed again, a sentiment that was becoming somewhat trademark, before following the others out the car and towards the barn.
Despite how mundane the impending task actually was, entering the building, clearing it and moving on, Bella couldn't help but feel excited. Even rummaging around the inside of a dirty old barn was an improvement on the day's preceding activities.
The closer she came to the building, the more evident its poor condition became. Gaping holes riddled the roof and sides, showing glimpses of its shadowy interior. The doors, which seemed to have been once shut for good, were wedged open slightly to allow narrow accesses to whoever saw fit. All in all, it looked like the perfect place for a few young troublemakers to hang out.
Whilst not dampening Bella's excitement, the ominous feel of the place had put her companions on edge. Coulson now griped his icer in his hands, senses on full alert, and prompted Skye to do the same. They stepped up to the door and Coulson entered first, ever regretting his decision to allow Bella to join them. Skye followed and Bella brought up the rear.
Inside the barn the trio moved quietly in an effort to match the stillness of their surroundings. The inky black of the dilapidated structure was redeemed only by soft rays of sun that shone through the various holes in the roof and wall. Nevertheless, visibility was limited. Coulson motioned for Bella to stay near the door and keep quiet whilst Skye and himself continued further into the building.
About half a minute later Coulson had done his best to sweep his section the building in stealthy silence, and needed only Skye's confirmation of her sector before they could go ahead and have a more thorough look for any clues. Before Skye could give the clear signal though, the sound of some old refuse toppling to the ground filled the barn, emanating from closer towards the door.
"Really? She can't even keep quiet for a couple minutes?" Thought the agent as he swung around to face Bella.
Bella stood right where she had been told to, only her excitement being replaced with the same expression Coulson had witnessed when she woke up in Simmons lab not to long ago.
A flash of blinding red-tinted light shone though the room bringing every corner and crevice into high definition. The rest of the room's contents or the beams target were not the focus of the two highly trained agents though. The illumination gave them a chance to locate its origin.
Three boys were huddled behind a pile of discarded crates, a few having fallen to the floor - clearly responsible for the earlier noise. Coulson was not afforded anymore time to determine any more information, but he didn't need it. Three shots from Skyes icer and two from his own had the boys incapacitated.
Coulson approached them, quickly assessing their condition. They were dirty, covered in scrapes and bruises and of course, were unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. What was evidently the source of the flash lay abandoned next to them. Coulson reached out and retrieve the gun like weapon, concealing it on his person for later inspection by FitzSimmons.
"Coulson!" Came Skye's distressed cry from across the barn.
Coulson was up and at her side in a moment, and was devastated to find what the beam had hit.
Bella's form was strewn across the floor in what Coulson prayed was only unconsciousness. The beam of light had struck her in the squarely shoulder. The fabric covering her shoulder and top part of her chest was burnt and blackened but the light of the barn made it difficult to see how her skin had fared. A puddle of blood had begun to form around her like a sick halo, running quickly from a gash that marred her forehead.
Coulson spoke quickly to Skye, who'd pre-emptively pulled out her phone and started to dial. "Call the rest of team, advise medial emergency and apprehension of three individuals."
His attention was focused on the girl in front of him, who looked all the more small and fragile in her damaged state. Taking off his jacket he attempted to stop the bleeding from her head, but there wasn't much else he could do.
The weapon used against her was new and unknown, possibly alien. There was no information on how they would affect human physiology and Coulson couldn't even be sure if Bella was entirely human. All he knew was that he had been entrusted with the safe care of the mystery girl, to the distain of many of his peers, and that he had not kept her safe.
The arrival of the rest of the team seemed almost instantaneous. They came rushing into the barn, pulling the doors open and flooding the area with light. Triplet and May turned their attention to the felons, apprehending them and then thoroughly searching the surrounding area.
Fitz hadn't come, Coulson wasn't sure why, but with the help of Skye and himself Simmons had Bella ready for transport quickly.
"You can go in and see her. If you like?" Simmons hesitantly offered to Fitz, who had been fidgeting outside their lab for the preceding 20 minutes. Without ceasing his actions, Fitz mumbled something incoherent in response.
Simmons reached out and placed a hand on Fitz' shoulder – fully capturing his attention and bringing an end to his movements.
"She's going to be okay. She's only resting for now, you need to stop worrying."
"Yeah. Yeah, of course she is. I'm not worrying; I just thought I'd give her a little space? You know, because she just got shot by some alien technology that went right through a military drone only a few days ago. So, you know. No need to worry." Fitz' fidgeting picked up again after he finished his quick fire dialogue.
Simmons sighed, but left the engineer to his pacing and instead made her way up the stairs to the awaiting office of Agent Coulson.