The first chapter went well but as Afalstein pointed out in his review, SHIELD cannot drop everything for its agents to be taking care of personal missions. Agent May and Director Coulson will need to discuss this as we resume. In the meantime, Gideon and Trip begin their investigation...

Standard Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine. They belong to their respective networks and creators. The concept of the Recruitment Drive belongs to Afalstein and is used with his permission. This story is for entertainment purposes only (Hopefully) and not for profit.

Unfinished Business

Chapter 2: Evaluation

Former and formerly late Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury had the World Security Council to contend with. Current Director Phil Coulson had his personal keeper, Agent Melinda May. Of the two, the WSC was much easier to ignore, Coulson thought wearily as Agent May swept into his office.

"Phil? Did you authorize Gideon and Trip on a mission in Virginia?"

Coulson sighed internally. "Yes. Gideon had a possible new lead on an old case of his so I authorized for him and Trip to look into it."

May stood infront of his desk with her arms folded and face locked into her patented 'May is NOT happy' overworked mother look she reserved for him alone. "Phil... even supposing SHIELD was still a lawfully authorized agency, Agent Gideon's old cases are the purview of the FBI, not SHIELD. We hardly have the manpower to handle the missions that rightfully belong to SHIELD in the first place, let alone personal ones like this that we have no business getting involved in."

"I know May." Phil replied calmly. "But I also know what it's like to have something eating at you from the inside. So do you. And sometimes there's not a damn thing we can do but try to pick ourselves up and force ourselves to move on." Phil looked up with that sad expression of regret and then it firmed with conviction.

"But sometimes; if we're lucky, we get the chance to made the bad things right. Gideon has done wonders for us from helping Fitz and Barton to his analysis work that brought in Agent Mills. We owe him this chance to put this thing right."

"And then what?"

"And then Gideon needs to decide where he needs to be. With us... the BAU... or maybe in a logging camp, because you're right. We're SHIELD and we can't try to be everywhere and everything anymore. I think Gideon is that valuable that I'm willing to bend the rules a bit on his behalf, but only so far." Coulson noted with complete frankness.

"Of course, if things go well, then just maybe we can convince some of Gideon's former colleagues that we're not the bad guys. Maybe even keep a line of communication open." Phil suggested hopefully. "Some of the cases we look into will turn out to be run of the mill bad guys. And sometimes the FBI might find themselves dealing with more than they can handle. Are we just going to let the bad guys get away because the wrong agency got involved? You and Director Fury said it yourselves May. SHIELD is founded on the principle of protection. Sometimes living up to that principle means learning to trust and share with others." Coulson held out his palms as if weighing an idea.

"If there is one thing we've learned rebuilding SHIELD, it's that we didn't exactly have a great reputation with other agencies even before Hydra was exposed. The CIA, IMF, DIA, the FBI, and just about every other intelligence and law enforcement agency resented the hell out of SHIELD. And why? Because SHIELD didn't work with anyone. We walked all over everyone. We both know that interagency cooperation was pretty much a one-way street with SHIELD.

"It has to be different this time."

Western Virginia near Roanoke:

Gideon stared at the shallow depression where Tara Barnett's body had been found. Trip glanced around at the surrounding trees.

"All right. Trip, today you're going to be a profiler. Look around you. See with the unsub's eyes. What's special about this place? He's got a whole forrest and he picks this spot to leave the body of Tara Barnett. Why?"

The SHIELD agent frowned. "How does this compare to the bodies you found in '78?"

"Bodies posed the same way except for the other victims all had a dead sparrow placed in their hands."

"They were the same age as my mother..." Trip noted looking around. "What if she WAS the bird?" He gestured to the depession.

Gideon nodded as he considered the idea. No bird because she was different from the others. She made a different choice. "That's why the killing stopped in 1978. She was the girl he was looking for... And then she died."

"Meaning what? This guy is going to start looking for a replacement?"

"Definitely. And we have to find him before he finds his next victim."

"So how do we find this guy?"

"His signature. The birds mean something very important to him and he knows a lot about them. The birds he left behind were Nelson's Sparrows. They're interesting birds. They don't fly away in the face of danger. They sit still or walk away from danger... Completely passive in their own defense."

"Maybe that's why he didn't kill her." Trip suggested. "She didn't resist."

"So instead she spent thirtyseven years in a cage. Makes you wonder which fate was worse."

"Death or Life in a cage? Maybe we'll ask this creep when we catch him." Trip suggested.

"Maybe. First we have to find him."

"Any idea how?"

First we'll see if Skye can give us a push in the right direction." Gideon pulled out his cell phone and waited for the answer at the other end.

"You've reached Skye's house of chaos, confusion, and plausible deniability!"

Gideon chuckled. It must be something endemic about hackers he mused mildly. "Hello Skye. I need you to do a favor for me."

"Sure Gideon! What do you need?"

"I need a list of all the birding societies and all their members in a ten mile radius of Roanoke Virginia and going back to 1977."

"Birding?"

"Yeah. You know? Bird watching."

"Uh... sure. As soon as I have it, I'll download the list to your PDA."

"Don't have one. My cell phone does calls only."

"Okaay... I'll download it to Trip's PDA." Skye replied doubtfully.

"Thanks Skye." Gideon hung up. Doesn't anybody believe in notepads anymore? He wondered fleetingly, then turned to Triplett. "Skye is going to send the list to your PDA."

"In the meantime? Where next?" Trip asked.

"We're going to try and lure him out."

"Got a plan for that?"

"He's a creature of habit. I'm going to make myself at home right in the middle of his comfort zone." Gideon smirked.

"So you're going to what? Dress up like a porkchop and dance around the lion's cage?"

"I was thinking more like checking out a few books from the library and getting some pie. Maybe a milkshake."

"And hope we get him before he gets you."

"Preferably."