A swirl of color surrounded them, a magnified rainbow blinding all senses as they fell further into the universe, whooshing past galaxies unknown back into one which they knew as home.
Darcy and Jane had made the choice of returning to Midgard with the intent to say. They knew the consequences would be large and heavy but it was the only place they belonged now. They fell into the earth, gracefully stepping onto the familiar ground. They were in the middle of some prairie, Jane decided near the west coast based on the taste of the air and the piercing sunshine. She squinted, looking around, smiling to herself. It was as if they had returned after a millennia but earth remained the same. As Jane smiled at the sky up above, Darcy was more concerned with the large circular mark their arrival had left on the earth.
"Crap," Darcy pointed at the mark they stood on, "Now they'll know where here."
She expected Jane to immediately suggest going back but instead was surprised by Jane's indifferent face, smile intact as she shrugged and tightening the straps of her backpack, beginning to walk towards a narrow road.
Darcy ran behind her.
"You know, immortality has changed you," she half-complained. Jane kept smiling.
"I was your first mission? That's cute," Skye scowled at Ward. Coulson's decision making Skye a part of the team was a risk that Ward didn't find worthy.
"Well we caught a member of our most pervasive enemy, that's a big deal," Simmons shrugged off Skye's jab.
Fitz was the only one who seemed to agree.
Despite his obvious disdain, Ward had offered to train Skye but his service was quickly rejected.
"I'm not a SHIELD agent, I'm a hacktivist," Skye ranted off, "I'm just a temporary consultant like Coulson said."
Ward rolled his eyes at her, pushing past Fitz to exit the lounge. After their mission capturing Skye, Coulson's team didn't have any pressing missions to attend to and May had predicted that HQ would be quieter after Hill's evaluation of the entire team which wasn't a good one. They were all far too different to function.
"Hey!" Fitz yelled after Ward. Coulson entered the room, shaking his head.
"What's going on?"
"Ward is being a brute as always and Skye's urban moodiness is destroying our working atmosphere," Simmons said matter-of-factly. Again, Fitz nodded, angrily shoving pretzels into his face. "At least in that secure lab we had some respect," he muttered.
"You had respect because no one even knew you existed," Coulson reminded him, not unkindly.
"Well this isn't recognition either. It's torture," Fitz scowled.
"'Urban moodiness'? Can you people stop being so thick-headed for once, did that academy you all went to turn you into freaking zombies?" Skye asked.
Jemma was about to respond when Coulson held up his hand to signal her to stop, unfortunately, Fitz ignored it and Ward picked that moment to return to the lounge.
"A zombie is a corpse historically believed to be revived through witchcraft, so no we're not zombies. That's the issue with your kind, you use words you don't even know the meaning to," the Scotsman said.
"Excuse me? 'My kind'?" Skye dared him to clarify.
"Yes, you kind, the type of girls who stick their heads into places they don't belong," Ward sneered, grabbing some of Fitz's pretzels.
"Hey!" Fitz began, his protest dying under Skye's words.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I join your overrated rendezvous?" she mumbled.
"Well, it was either this or jail," Simmons reminded her.
"Maybe jail would have been better," Skye pondered.
"Maybe. You should reconsider," Ward retorted, earning a glare from the hacktivitst.
"You don't get to say that. You kill people for a living," Skye pointed out.
"I kill bad people. Your kind, that Rising Tide lot, you are the ones that get people killed," he replied.
"Can you stop with 'my kind'? You know what are 'my kind' like? Normal," she yelled.
Simmons scoffed, "So what are we?"
"Two brain monkeys and a robot. Correction, an insufferable robot," Skye told them.
"You're the one who's insufferable," Ward countered, jaw clenching with mild anger.
"Brain monkeys? At least we're the ones actually qualified to be on this Bus," Simmons argued.
"Don't use monkeys as a derogatory term, they are our ancestors and totally adorable so by saying that you're not even insulting anyone but yourself!" Fitz yelled.
Soon everyone was standing, yelling at each other while Coulson stood watching the four kids argue.
"Enough!"
Coulson shouted and they all quieted down. He walked deeper into the lounge, sitting on a chair near the group. He sighed and crossed his hands.
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"The problem," Skye began before anyone else could, "is that this team isn't working out. Ward can't tell which ones Fitz and Simmons, and I have seen more gun fire then both of them. I might as well be team captain."
The SHIELD agents rolled their eyes and even Coulson raised an eyebrow.
Skye shrugged, "Just kidding…but maybe that's not a bad idea," she leaned towards Coulson, whispering the last part.
They almost started arguing again until Coulson said, "You're not wrong."
The agent got up, smoothing his suit. "Ward," he addressed the specialist, "You know six languages. Simmons, you have two PhDs in fields I can't pronounce. And Fitz, you are a rocket scientist. Sort it out," Coulson barked, leaving quickly.
"I can do stuff too," Skye said after him. She turned to look at the SHIELD agents, all of them looking a little ashamed.
Ward rubbed the back of his neck, loosening a knot there. "Sorry guys. I didn't mean all that," he muttered quietly.
"Yes, I'm sorry too," Simmons said, glancing at Skye, shyly, "I think I let my frustration get the best of me."
"Me too," Skye sighed, running a hand over her face. Fitz muttered a quick apology.
After a moment of silence, Ward spoke up again, "Sorry Fitz for taking your pretzels like that, know it was a little rough," he mumbled.
"Not a problem," Fitz lied, "Here, take 'em."
"You sure?"
Fitz nodded.
Simmons smiled at the exchange. Fitz rarely shared food. This was a good sign.
"Hey you wanna help me move some stuff from my van?" Skye asked Jemma.
"Sure. Anything's better than sitting around here, better to get busy until another argument starts," Simmons said and everyone agreed. They spend the next couple of days fighting of boredom in each other's company.
"I'm bored," Darcy said.
Jane had a map sprawled on the booth table they were occupying in a tiny restaurant in a rural part of California.
"Buy another milkshake then," Jane suggested, scribbling on the map while trying to wake up her neglected cell phone.
"Jane can you hurry and decided where we need to go? If I stay here any longer, I'm gonna eat this entire place," Darcy threatened.
"The wifi here is so rigid but I think there's a motel nearby where we can stay tonight. I'm trying to find one with sufficient internet services…"
"And a bed-in-breakfast," Darcy reminded her.
"Of course," Jane rolled her eyes, "Aha! Found one, it's five miles away, not too bad."
They left the restaurant, strolling on the sidewalk.
"Nothing's really changed," Darcy muttered.
"Except us," Jane nudged her best friend.
"So I'm guessing you have no plans of actually staying in Cali do you?" Darcy guessed.
"Nope."
"Where're we going?"
"I'm going to book plane tickets tonight."
"To…?"
Jane glanced at Darcy sideways, and then quickly looked away. Darcy knew the answer before Jane said it and groaned.
"Are you serious?" she yelled.
Jane just nodded, not knowing if this was the best way.
"We have to try Darcy. We have to clear our name if we want to stay in this world," Jane said.
Darcy just groaned and they both continued walking quietly.
"Man, this is going to suck," Darcy predicted wistfully.
"Yeah, it might," Jane teased her.
"At least now we're practically invisible," Darcy said, gaining some confidence, "We're pretty close to goddess. I mean I always was, but now more than ever. I can handle it."
Jane giggled at Darcy's sudden cheerful mood.
"New York will never know what hit it," Jane laughed as Darcy flipped her hair and jutted her chin up.
"Watch out SHIELD, here we come."
A/N: Thanks for reading :) also big thank you to JigokuShoujosRevenge for the cheeky review and really everyone who's reading this. I know the story has had a slow start but things will pick up now. If you're not acquainted with Agents of SHIELD, feel free to message me on any questions you have. I hope it'll make sense from this point on cause here's where it really gets "AU" if you catch my drift.
Please review, they're always helpful, so let your comments, questions, and/ concerns be known! Enjoy your day and do stay tuned!