Skye used Trip's pilot skills to access the dash, grimly working out what the hell their trajectory was. She didn't like this. Not one bit.

"Hey," Trip said softly, visiting, "You okay?"

She shrugged him off. "No."

Trip sighed. "Yeah." He said, "I get that. We're here, if there's anything you wanna talk about."

Skye slammed her hand down on the dash. "She's not our enemy!" She snapped. "I know that! I can feel it! Coulson can feel it, but he's just..."

Trip put a hand on her shoulder and Skye sagged. "They're different to you and her." He said. "May's always kept things from you, you're used to it. But they've known each other a long time. Maybe he's not used to secrets."

"He's a SHIELD agent."

"Yeah. But secrets from your friends is different. Secrets from someone you trust, who you didn't know was keeping secrets," He sighed. "It's hard to deal with."

"He shot her." Skye said, "A-and I don't even know if he was wrong."

Before Trip could reply, a blaring signal came screeching from the dashboard. Both of them clutched their ears. "What the hell did you do?!" Trip asked, shouting over the noise.

"I don't know!" Skye said, looking at the controls, "I didn't touch anything! It's- it's a signal." She suddenly felt nervous. "Coming from somewhere else."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"Tori what the hell is going on?!"

"How am I supposed to know?" She snapped back, "I'm not the one controlling your plane."

"Well you must be able to find out who is!"

"Yeah, but I'm busy Phil, try fixing your own problems for once!"

Tori had just arrived at the Hub and immediately been swept away by Maria Hill to the conference room, attempting to decode the message. Before Phil could say another word, she put up her walls, firmly and effectively blocking him out.

Coulson sighed. "Izzy?"

"Hey, don't look at me." She said, holding up her hands. "I don't know anything. But feel free to shoot me anyway." And she turned back to the Iliad.

Phil rolled his eyes, going to the conference room. Skye must have figured it out by now.

"It's an audio code on a loop." She said, "I need to figure out the key that'll unlock it."

"Good." Coulson said, "Any idea where we're headed?"

She nodded. "The Hub. We're getting... beamed right there."

He swallowed. "Jemma and Trip are there."

Skye nodded again. "And Tori."

"Anyone else we know?"

Skye glanced at her tablet. "Maria Hill? I heard you two know each other."

Phil nodded, then got a sinking feeling. "Maria." He muttered.

Skye looked up. "What?"

He looked down. "Ever since Bobbi showed up we've all had our theories about who's in her cluster. Factoring age, how well they know Bobbi, that kind of thing."

Skye frowned. "What, you think she's sensate too? With Bobbi?"

"I think," Coulson murmured, "That Bobbi's cluster trying to stay secret might be for different reasons than we thought."

Fitz arrived from the stairs, "What, you think Maria Hill is the clairvoyant?"

"It would make sense!" Coulson said, starting to pace. "She always seems to know more than she's letting on, she's a high ranking SHIELD agent, so she could find this information even if she isn't sensate, and her being in Bobbi's cluster? It's more than possible."

"But why do this now? Why give up her position?"

"Hey," Skye interrupted, "I think I got it."

The flickering letters on the screen started to settle. "Out of the shadows, into the light." Coulson read.

HEIL HYDRA

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Melinda woke with a start, wincing in pain. "Damn icer." She cursed, the memories coming back to her.

"Mel." Izzy crouched beside her. "You okay?"

She looked down. "I'm fine."

"Don't give me that look." Izzy reprimanded. "I'm not mad at you."

"Why not?" May spat. "I've been lying to you for months."

Izzy stopped herself before she made the mistake of trying to touch her. "I don't own you." She murmured. "You don't owe it to me to always tell the truth. All you've ever owed me, owed any of us, is your best."

Melinda refused to look up.

"Melinda." Izzy said, "We love you. You've saved my ass a hundred times, and maybe they weren't all in ways that I agreed with, but I'm alive because of you. Tori and Phil are too. And maybe you're alive because of us too. I like to think we've helped each other. And none of us are gonna just throw that away."

"You sure about that?" May said coldly. "Because Coulson was..."

"I know." Izzy murmured. "He's hurt, and he's angry. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't care. You know that."

May sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Izzy, I-" Before she could finish, the door opened.

Izzy flickered away when she saw that it was Phil. "You wanted a chance to prove you're on our side, fine." He said, "Fitz repaired the hardline."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Phil still had his gun on her. She didn't care. "I'm under orders not to do this when anyone else is around." May said, ducking her head at the sound of gunshots outside.

Coulson's head twitched at the sound of the agents cutting the hydraulics to the ramp. "We're under attack from our own people." He said, "Get Fury on the line or I'll send you down there first."

"The hell you will!" Tori said, outraged.

Coulson ignored her, and May spared her a glance before picking up the phone. She'd lied to her too. She pushed Tori back.

The phone rang, twice, three times. That was odd. It had never rung before.

They picked up. "Hello?"

Despite everything, Coulson met her eyes, confused. "This is an emergency direct line to Director Fury." May said. "Where is he?"

There was the longest pause on the other end before the voice replied. "Director Fury is dead."

Before May could react there was the shattering of glass from the cockpit window. She screamed in pain as a bullet punctured her arm. Phil instinctively pulled her back, away from the window, shielding her with his body. For once, she let him. Melinda let herself be pulled back, let herself stay with Phil's arm around her, because this might very well be the last time.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Jemma stared in horror as Agent Weaver vanished from her video call. Her words echoed in her ears.

'Don't trust anyone.'

Trip took a step forwards. "We should barricade ourselves in." He said.

Jemma backed away. "I- how do I know I can trust you?"

Trip frowned. "Come on," He said, "You can see everything, remember?" He tapped his head. "See any snakes in there?"

Jemma sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry." She muttered, "I- suppose I forgot."

"It's not a good spot to be in." Trip said, "Something's wrong. Think you can track that signal?"

Jemma nodded. "With Skye's skills? No problem."

She had been typing for less than a minute when the doors were kicked open.

Four heavily armed guards ran in, weapons drawn. "Hands up!" One cried.

Jemma immediately did so, her heart hammering. Trip looked at her, trying to calm her nerves, before looking at the guard. His eyes narrowed, but he also obeyed.

The next thing they saw, Maria Hill walked into the room. Trip straightened up at the sight, Jemma stared. "Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD," She said, "At the highest level. We have the support of all surviving level nine and ten agents. Any who resisted have been crossed off. Including Director Fury." Trip's face twitched. Jemma could feel his denial. "I'm here to offer you a choice. Swear loyalty to Hydra, right now, or you can give your life for an organisation that was never what you thought it was."

Trip could feel Jemma's fear. He could feel how scared she was, how she wished that this was all a bad dream. He wished that too, but it wasn't. He muttered an apology to the three of them, and pulled the knife from his belt, managing to get his arms around one of the guards' necks. "You kill us, one of you goes down too." He said grimly.

To his surprise, Maria smiled. "Good answer." She said, the other guards relaxing. "Sorry for the dramatics, it's been a tough day."

Tori walked into the room, approaching Jemma. "You're okay." She said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Jemma gasped for air. "Th-that was a test?"

Tori nodded. "One very few have passed, so well done."

Trip let the guard go, putting his knife back. "Well thanks for the vote of confidence." He said sarcastically.

Tori rolled her eyes. "I'm not giving anyone my trust today." She said. "I've had enough friends try to have me killed."

Maria stepped forwards. "We don't have many people left we can trust." She said, "Hydra's trying to take the base, so we decided to use their own methods against them. Hide in plain sight." She nodded to the door. "We have to go, now. We've reinforced the control room."

Jemma hurried after them. "What about Coulson and the others?"

"They'll have to get themselves in." Tori said. "Easy enough if Phil can accept the obvious."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Melinda grunted in pain as Phil dug around in her arm for the bullet. It hurt. He knew it, hell, he was literally hurting himself almost as much. It didn't look like he cared though. "That was his direct line Phil."

"So it's real." He said, gripping her arm firmly. "That means it's just you and me. Unless you were reporting to anyone else."

"I wasn't-" They both grunted in pain as he twisted the tweezers. May sighed when he succeeded in pulling the bullet out.

Phil threw down the tools angrily. "Then come out with it. There's no one else to report to, Fury's dead, SHIELD's Hydra. Orders don't mean anything any more."

He could feel her apprehension. Even now, May didn't want to tell him. Even after everything she still wouldn't let him in. Because he knew that she was still hiding something.

Melinda clenched her free fist. "He knew you'd want me to join up. He wanted me to keep an eye on you."

"Looking for what?" He asked, winding bandages around the bullet wound.

May shook her head. This was it. He'd hate her now. "Signs of physical or mental deterioration. To keep him updated. It's simple."

She felt the realisation come over her and prepared herself for the gut punch.

"Did you know about Tahiti?"

She looked away.

Phil stared. "How could you do that to me? After how much time we've spent together, our years as partners, decades with this connection, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Phil he said you couldn't know! That it could do more harm."

"I was giving you a chance when I assembled this team-"

"I assembled this team!" May snapped, tired of his self-righteousness.

That made him stop. "What?"

She swallowed. "It was a double bluff. Best I could do. I assessed what was needed and gave Fury the parameters for the team. He doesn't know about the kids. That was your call. To bring them on the plane." He looked so lost and betrayed. It hurt more than anything else. "But I didn't do it for Fury, I didn't do it for the kids, Phil, I did it for you, to protect you! I-" She broke off, frantically blocking him from seeing what she was about to say. Melinda swallowed. "You mean a lot to me." She murmured. "A lot. You don't know what it was like to know you were dead."

"I would if you'd let me in."

"I can't Phil." And it was true. Because she knew exactly what would happen if he saw what she did. He would hate her, he would be disgusted, see her for the monster she was.

Phil could feel her self-hatred and guilt and fear. He sighed. "I want to believe you." He said, "But you've used that against me this whole time."

Skye ducked into the med bay. "They've stopped firing." She said, "Fitz cut the hydraulics to the door to hold them off."

"It won't stop them for long." Coulson said, "We need to get off the plane with everything we can."

Skye nodded. "Trip and Jemma are with Tori and Maria Hill. They're not Hydra, but the guys outside are."

"I'd hope so." Coulson said, "Otherwise I'd be kind of confused."

It didn't take them long to make their way through the hordes of Hydra agents. Skye had never been more grateful to be in a cluster as when she and Fitz both utilised Trip's combat and shooting skills. Not to mention her being able to use May's martial arts, though she felt her shrink away.

She was going to give Coulson a piece of her mind when they got out of this. There was no point in cuffing May. None at all. It was putting all of them in danger just because he had trust issues.

May felt Skye's anger and frustration. It was okay. It was the time for it. Even if she knew that most of that frustration was aimed at her.

She deserved it.

When the four of them fought their way to the control room, they found multiple guns aimed at their heads. Coulson held up his hands. "We're not Hydra." He said, totally worn out and bloody, like all of them.

Maria rolled her eyes. "I never would have guessed." She said sarcastically, opening the doors. "Get your ass in here Phil."

He coughed as they made it into the room. He gave Tori a nod, but she ignored him in favour of breaking May out of her cuffs. He got it. She was mad at him. But he wasn't going to apologise for being rightfully angry with Melinda.

He turned to Maria. "How far does it go?"

Her look spoke horrifying volumes.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Skye spent her time with her cluster, doing her best to help them get the Bus working again. She couldn't take the tension between Coulson and May. She hated it, and she knew that May knew.

It was the quiet to her that killed Skye the most. May had always blocked them out, but she did so firmly. She placed her walls like a line in the sand, which no one dared cross. Now she shied away from any contact. Mental or otherwise. The last think Skye had ever thought May could be was meek.

Skye didn't know who Talbot was, but she could see the others' worry, as well as veiled annoyance.

Tori approached the four of them as they worked on the plane. "You're leaving."

Trip glanced at the others, then stepped forwards. "That's right ma'am." He said, "Coulson gave us orders to get ready."

Tori nodded. "Got room for one more?"

Jemma beamed, and Fitz banged his head on the Bus as he looked up. "Of course!" Jemma said warmly.

Tori nodded. "Good." She said, "I'll clean up the broken glass."

Skye watched her walk up the stairs and, after a moment, followed.

She shuffled behind Tori for a moment, trying to work out what to say. Out of everyone in their parent cluster, she knew Tori the least.

"Are you getting anything from Mel?" Tori asked, surprising her.

Skye shook her head. "No. I- she's blocking me out."

Tori sighed, sweeping some of the glass from the conference table. "Not surprising. She always does this when she's upset."

Skye swallowed. "I wanna help her." She said softly, using the broom to sweep some pieces into a pile on the ground. "I just... I don't really know how. I don't know if she wants to see me."

"She does." Tori said. "I can tell you that much. She likes you."

Skye bit her lip. "If it wasn't for me- none of this wouldn't have happened."

Tori rolled her eyes. "You didn't bring Hydra back. You're not that good."

Skye looked up briefly. "You know what I mean."

Tori shook her head. "Secrets have a way of coming out eventually." She said, "It's not your fault Skye. You just did what you think was right."

Skye emptied the dustpan into the bin. "I just feel bad." She muttered. "I-I wish I could help."

Tori sighed. "I think you can." She said, "But give it a little time."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Skye opened the door to the cockpit, coordinates in hand. "We've got somewhere to go." She said breathlessly, "Coulson's badge was... well, we've got coordinates."

May nodded. "Let me see." She said quietly.

Skye silently handed her the notepad. "It's in Canada." She said after watching May stare at the page for a minute.

May nodded, reaching for the controls. "Should take about four hours."

"Cool." Skye muttered, quickly visiting Coulson to tell him. After taking a second to think, she slipped into the copilot's seat.

Melinda glanced at Skye out of the corner of her eye. Her chest felt tight. "You can go." She said.

Skye nodded. "I know." She said, "But... I'd like to stay. If that's okay with you."

May said nothing. She didn't know what to say. Skye clearly felt bad for her, but she didn't have the energy to snap at her for it. She didn't want to argue. She didn't need anyone else hating her right now.

Skye took a deep breath. It hurt that SHIELD was gone. Every time she had just become a part of something it seemed like it was taken away. She knew that she shouldn't be surprised at this point, but it still stung. She just hoped that she hadn't lost her friends too. Her cluster. May.

May could feel the turbulence in Skye's mind. She wanted to help, but she knew that she couldn't. She didn't deserve to have this connection. With Phil, Tori, Izzy. Skye. She didn't deserve any of them.

Skye twitched as she felt another wave of pain wash over May. She couldn't let it happen any more. Perfectly content with getting shouted at, Skye gently untangled the matted strings of May's thoughts and worries. She was slow, she was soft, and she hoped that May wouldn't notice.

She could see May's countenance change ever so slightly. Her shoulders relaxed, her breathing became slower. Skye withdrew carefully. She didn't know if May wanted her to know she was upset. She knew May didn't want her in her head, but she was just worried. Skye knew that that was okay. She was allowed to be worried about her friend.

Melinda swallowed the lump in her throat. Despite everything, the lies, endangering her, Skye still cared about her. She took a steady breath. "Thank you." She murmured.

Skye held her breath as she felt their connection open that tiny bit. May was opening the door, just a little. She smiled. "No problem."