A/N: Again, I'd like to say that I really appreciate all of the support you guys are giving this story. This is awesome :)

Into the Beehive

Grant, once he calmed down, joined the others in the meeting room. He could feel Melinda looking at him, but was in no position to look back. He took a seat on the other side of the table, next to Fitz. "How nice of you to finally show, Agent Ward." He could hear the annoyance dripping from Coulson's voice.

"I'm sorry, sir." He offered no explanation, because he felt that 'I was fantasizing about making love to our fair pilot/ass kicker' didn't seem like a decent excuse.

Coulson sighed. "It's fine. Like I was telling the others, Fitz and Skye found some notes made by MODOK," that name was still stupid, "and they contain a possible location from Rappaccini." He waited until Fitz fired up the holo-table before he continued. He motioned to the engineer, and he brought up the image of an island in the middle of the Caribbean. "This is Boca Caliente, an island purchased by Aldrich Killian some time ago. We believe that it has served as AIM's headquarters since its inception in the nineties, but that can't be confirmed, nor is it important. In the notes MODOK made, he noted that using the TAI to launch an assault against Rappaccini's forces that were holed up there. It isn't clear whether she's there or not, but it's as good a place to start looking. Even if she isn't, taking the place down will deal them a huge blow."

Grant nodded and, as the others separated to started preparing, approached Fitz. "Did you have a chance to look at that gun I found?"

"Ah did." He pulled up an image of it on the holo-table. "It was jist a gin wi' an advanced particle generatur providin' th' ammunition, insteid ay a clip foo ay bullets." He sighed through his nostrils and gave the holographic image a spin. "I've ne'er actually seen one 'at advanced afair."

"I have a feeling you'll be saying that a lot," Coulson said in a conspiratorial tone.

"Any way you can replicate it and make it nonlethal?" Ward asked. He had a feeling that they would be needing some more fire power to combat AIM. A lot more.

Fitz scoffed and got up to return to the lab. "Ya do remember yoo're talkin' to, reit? I'll hae one by th' time we gie to Boca Caliente."

Ward smirked after the leaving engineer. He started to leave, but stopped when Coulson called after him. "Yes sir?"

"Is there something bothering you, Agent Ward," Phil asked once the room was cleared and they were alone. He sounded genuinely concerned, as was evidenced by his facial expression.

Grant frowned. "No, everything's fine, sir. Why do you ask?"

Coulson powered down the table and then sat down in a stool behind it. Grant took a seat on the other side. He could see the wheels in Coulson's head turning, as if he was figuring out how to phrase his next statement. "I've noticed," he finally said, "that you've been spending a lot of time in the cockpit with May." Grant, to his credit, didn't react. "I know that neither of you are really the most… sociable, so I found that kind of… odd. Not accusing you of anything; I'm just making sure that your past isn't still giving you any trouble."

Shit shit shit. Grant held his true reaction in and pressed his lips into a thin line. "Well sir," he started, "I found out some time ago that sitting with Mel- May means that I'll have a quiet setting so I can think. I just like spending time with her because," she's the most amazing and beautiful woman I've ever been around and I can't stop thinking about her, "she's full of wisdom and that's what I find myself needing."

Coulson immediately nodded agreement. Grant mentally sighed in relief. "I can see what you mean. I've gone to her repeatedly when I need to get my head straight. Usually, I just figure it out without her having said a word."

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you about that."

Phil looked at his watch. "It won't be for another four hours until we reach the Caribbean, so I have some time. It's a long story. A really long story."

Four Hours Later

"ETA, ten minutes," Melinda announced from the cockpit.

"…and after that, I learned that the answer was in me the whole time, and by not saying anything, Melinda forced me to think for myself, thus me finding the answer without her saying a word."

After two hours, Grant had seriously begun wondering just how long the story was. Now, after four hours, he didn't think it would ever end. Finally. "Why didn't you just say that at the beginning?"

Phil shrugged. "It's a good story. Anyway, you, May and I will be infiltrating the facility, while Fitz, Simmons and Skye stay here. Fitz should be done with that laser gun, so I'd prefer if you used that. These guys wear full body armor, so I'm not sure if the Nite-nite gun will have any affect on them."

Grant nodded. While he was afraid he'd accidentally kill someone because he had the laser beam setting thing up too high, laser pistols were so much cooler than regular guns. "Sounds like a plan, sir." As he said this, Fitz strolled in, a smile across his lips and a sleek black gun in his hands. "Gentlemen, Ah present to ye th' Zap-zap gin." He handed it to Grant, unable to contain his unbridled joy. Grant turned it over in it hand to get a feel for it. "It has its very own positron generatur, plus thee settings; stin, incapacitate an', uh, whit comes efter incapacitate. Kickback is almost nonexistent. So, whit do ye hink?"

He nodded appreciatively. "Sounds good. Thanks. But, um," he looked at Coulson, "let's not call it the Zap-zap gun."

Fitz's shoulders slumped. "Och, come on! That's th' best part!" He walked out, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath. "Simmons! Ah tauld ye he wooldnae loch th' nam!"

Grant smirked. "Recon first?"

Coulson nodded. "Go get Skye and tell her to get ready."

Skye hacked into the security cameras and found that Rappaccini was indeed at the base. That was great. The bad news was that the TAI wasn't there, as far as she could tell. Phil shook his head. "We'll take what we can get. May, Ward, let's get a move on. You three know the drill. Keep an eye in the cams."

"And watch your backs got it. Um, there's not much as far as baddies goes. Don't know what's up with that."

Grant folded his arms over his chest to think for a moment. Hearing that didn't sit well with him at all. "Could be a trap, sir."

"Possibly," Melinda agreed. "But this could be our best chance to catch Rappaccini, before she knows we're after her."

Just hearing her voice sent sparks up his spine, and other places. Grant exhaled and forced himself to focus.

"May's right," Phil concluded. "We'll just have to play it by ear."

As they walked out, Skye turned back to her computer. "Be careful in there, guys."

Grant took up point, with Melinda and Phil close behind him. Covered in the cloak of darkness that the nighttime sky provided, they were hard to see in the black combat gear, and Phil's black suit. It would've been more than easy to sneak past and take out any guards that were patrolling nearby. That was, if there were any actual guards patrolling nearby, or anywhere around the three story beige building that looked more like an office building than a terrorist base of operations.

Besides the three of them, and the others back on the Bus, there was no one outside. "I don't like this," Grant reiterated.

"Me neither. Getting that feeling that you're walking right into a trap?"

May sighed. "I wasn't until you said something." She glanced around, and the hurried through the forest of palm trees until she reached the building. Grant rushed beside her and pulled out the x-ray mat that Fitz used during their suicide mission.

"Doesn't look like anyone's around. Got an entry point?"

"Right here." He turned his head and saw Phil standing by a barely open garage door. Just inside were a several dozen humvees with large and powerful looking cannons on the their roofs. The tires looked like they were double reinforced. "Preparing for something."

"Hey!" They jerked their heads up to see a lone guard running to the alarm. Grant drew his laser pistol and shot him in the head; set on incapacitate, of course.

"Huh. Not bad." Phil led them quickly out of the garage and into the hall once it was determined that the coast was clear. "Yellow and black," Grant groaned in complaint of the walls' color scheme. "What are these guys, bumble bees?"

=Reprog…ing the camer… so you guys … get pic… up,= Skye said through the comms. The reception had more than a little static. And then the comms cut off completely.

"Skye? Skye?! Damn it, comms are down."

Phil drew his handgun and took up the rear. The yellow and black walls were still empty, but there was the eerie feeling that something was about to happen accompanying it. Grant peeked his head around the corner and capped two AIM guards in the face. They slumped to the floor without knowing what happened. He hurried down the corridor, passing by what looked like the same scanner like thing from the base in Ireland. Melinda passed by it as well without a second thought, but before Phil could, five lasers shot out of one scanner and into the other, creating a barrier. "Damn. There it is. Wait, don't!" He held his hand up to stop May from touching it. "Could be dangerous. I'll find a way around and meet up with you guys."

"We'll meet you halfway," she said. "Be careful." They shared a quick glance before he nodded. Grant wasn't jealous.

"If you run into Rappaccini, don't hesitate to take her out. Quickly. She's too dangerous to prolong any confrontation."

May nodded and strode past Grant. He looked at her, and then at the quickly departing Coulson through the laser barrier. Nope, he wasn't jealous at all.

A/N: Can you guys understand what Fitz is saying? I'm trying to transcribe his accent as best I cam, but if you all are having a hard time determining what he's saying, then I'll switch to regular English with Scottish terms peppered in.