I'm On My Way
Disclaimer:
As always I own nothing save for Scott & Brynna Harmon and Tien-Hou Wang.
Rating:
T
Genre:
Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Pairings:
Coulsye
Caskett
Lyrics Used:
Zedd "Find You" [feat Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant]
If You Lose Yourself, I Will Find You
Silent love is calling faith | To shatter me through your hallways | Into echoes you can feel | And rehearse the way you heal
Make them dance | Just like you | 'Cause you make me mo-o-ove | Yeah, you always make me go
I'll run away with your footsteps | I'll build a city that dreams for two | And, if you lose yourself | I will find you
Open up your skies | Turn up the night | To the speed of life | Turn up your night | Put your love in lights | Turn up your night | I will find you
"Sir, I'm afraid you can't be here." Special Agent Grant Ward warned, sternly, as Richard and Kate boarded The Bus.
"Actually, Agent Ward..." Special Agent Brynna Harmon began, smugly. "They can."
"Who are you?" Ward asked, daring Brynna to challenge him.
"Special Agent Brynna Harmon." Brynna introduced herself, proudly.
"And, just what the hell do you think gives you authority to say who can and cannot be on this plane?" The other specialist challenged.
"Well, her level ten clearance is a good start." Phil interjected, smugly. "Agent Ward, Agent Harmon is an old friend of mine...she and Mr. Castle, here, are..." He paused, to release a heavy sigh before adding "Well, they're Skye's only living flesh and blood relatives."
Shifting his gaze back forth between his commanding officer and the new visitors on the plane, looking at each of them as if they'd lost their minds. "What are you talking about?"
"Mr. Castle, here, is Skye's father." Brynna elaborated, steadfastly keeping her voice at an even, clinical tone. "He is also my half-brother. The lovely young woman with him is his fiance, Detective Kate Beckett from the NYPD homicide-"
"Dad!" The entire group turned their heads to see a young twenty-something redhead run up to Richard, throwing her arms around him, with an older redhead following closely behind her.
"Oh, Richard, dear! You've no idea how good it is to see you!" The older redhead exclaimed. "And, Brynna, darling, so lovely to see you as well!" She added turning to the younger blonde with Richard.
"It's great to see you again, too, Martha." Brynna smiled at her half-brother's mother, a woman who had very much become a motherly figure in her own life as well.
"Aunt Brynna, do you have any idea why those men brought us here?" Alexis asked, turning to her aunt with a frightened expression in her bright blue eyes.
Turning to her half-brother, Brynna suddenly realized the startling truth. "You never told her." She surmised.
"Told me what?" Alexis asked, looking up at her father with a confused expression.
"Oh, dear..." Martha Rogers muttered, suddenly realizing what Brynna was referring to. "Richard, dear. Is this about that Chinese woman?"
"What Chinese woman?" Alexis asked, backing away from her father, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I didn't want to say anything until we found her." Richard sighed, turning to his daughter. "Alexis...you have an older half-sister-"
"WHAT?!" Alexis screeched. Sensing that the author and his daughter really needed to have this discussion in private, Phil turned to Agent Ward before lowering his voice to a level that only the specialist would hear.
"We shouldn't be here..." The senior agent whispered.
"Agreed." Ward muttered, turning to follow his superior out of the room to allow the family a private moment.
"What do you mean, I have a half-sister?" Alexis demanded, her voice somewhat more level.
"Twenty-four years ago, I was in China for a book-signing. While I was there, I met this woman-her name was Tien-Hou Wang." Richard explained. "We talked and one thing led to another...and we ended up spending the night together. I returned home the next day expecting to never see or hear from her again. Nine months later, I received a letter from her with pictures of her newborn daughter. In the letter, she explained that she couldn't have the baby exposed to the spotlight and that she'd disappeared with the baby and I never saw or heard of either of them, again." The writer explained, misty-eyed. "A few months later, there was a huge massacre in the village where Tien-Hou lived and the entire village was wiped off the map. But, the baby's body was never recovered. So, I always clung to some small shred of hope that the baby could still be alive."
"Your dad first reached out to the CIA, in hopes that our father could find something." Brynna interjected. "But, when they proved to be worse than useless, he turned to me." She added, proudly.
"Why you?" Alexis asked, curiously. "I mean, if there wasn't anything the CIA could do, what could you do differently?"
"Well, for starters, I actually wanted to help." Brynna replied. "Secondly, with a level ten security clearance, I have access to files that the rest of the world doesn't even know exist." She added, causally. "So, I agreed to help my brother – under the table, of course – in between assignments, to help him find his daughter."
"And..you found her?" Alexis asked, carefully. She couldn't believe she might be meeting the half-sister she'd never even known she'd had until today.
"We did..." Brynna smiled, briefly, until the smile fell, as she released a heavy sigh. "But, before you see her, you need to know...She's currently in a coma, right now."
"A coma?" The younger Castle questioned, worriedly. "Why is she in a coma? What happened to her?"
"She was shot twice in the abdomen. The bullets perforated her stomach and punctured her small and large intestines. Now, fortunately, Phil and the team have managed to heal most of the injuries. But, she is still in a coma – probably for the best as it will allow her body a chance to rest and recuperate."
"Can we see her, dear?" Martha asked, wrapping her arms around her granddaughter's shoulders.
"Of course." Brynna replied, warmly. "Right this way." She added, leading her family in the direction of her niece's ICU pod.
"Is that her?" Alexis asked, staring through the window at the young Chinese-American woman in the bed inside the pod.
"That's her." Brynna confirmed, gently. "Her name is Skye."
"What else can you tell us about her?" Rick asked, staring at the unconscious form of the daughter he'd never been allowed to know.
"Well, she's one hell of a fighter, I gotta give her that..." Brynna replied, recalling Phil's counts of the times they'd nearly lost her after Ian Quinn had shot her. "She also grew up being shuffled around the foster care system in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempts to protect her from who or whatever wiped out the village where she'd been born. For the first twenty-four years of her life, she'd felt like she just wasn't a good fit - unwanted by every family that ever took her in - until Phil found the truth about her. She's also quite talented with computers." She began, turning her attention to her brother. "You see, Rick...She became a hacker – and, a damn good one, mind you – all so that she could find whatever information she could about her parents."
Snapping his attention to his sister, Rick's eyes widened in realization. "She was looking for me?" He breathed in sheer awe.
"Yes." Brynna smiled, gently. "She was. She even had Phil helping her, as I said..."
"Wait a minute?" Kate interjected, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why would Agent Coulson be involved with her search?"
"Phil has been crazy about Skye ever since he and Ward kidnapped her out of her van in LA-"
"'Kidnapped'?" Rick demanded.
"Recruited." Phil corrected, as the rest of the group whirled around to face the senior agent.
"Phil, ya threw a bag over her head!" Brynna snapped, playfully. "I don't know about you, but - where I come from - we call that kidnapping...But, getting back to my original point...Shortly after she joined Phil's team, Phil got the sense that she was hiding something from them, and gave her one chance to come out with it or he would be 'done with her'. That was when she told them about her search and how it had led her to a single document which had been redacted by S.H.I.E.L.D." The specialist began, recalling what Phil had told her of the hacker's story. "Phil warned her that she might not like what she found and agreed to help her."
"A few months later, I managed to dig up the raw file of the document your daughter had found." Phil added, picking up where his protege had left off. "It told me bits and pieces of the story. It told me that Agent Linda Avery and her partner were sent to the village where Skye had been born to investigate reports of an 0-8-4."
"As I already told Rick and Kate..." Brynna interjected, turning her attention to Alexis and Martha. "Skye was the 0-8-4. Shortly after they brought her back to the states, Agent Avery and her partner's team started being picked off, one-by-one, until they finally realized that the only way to keep Skye - and, themselves - safe, was to completely erase her from existence." She elaborated before her mentor picked up.
"Agent Avery used a senior agent's credentials to fake a level eight security clearance before dropping Skye off at an orphanage with explicit orders for them to continually shuffle her around so that she never spent more than a month or two with the same foster family." Phil explained, his voice taking on a heavy tone. "It was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s way of keeping her safe."
"From what Phil told me of Skye's reaction when he told her all of this, she's one hell of a resilient young woman." Brynna observed, watching said hacker through the window. "To use Phil's own words 'What I told her...shattered her world. Her entire life's search led to stories of murder and, now, it's too difficult to continue. Her search was over. Her story ended here...'..." Brynna added, reciting her mentor's own words.
"But do you know what she told me?" Taking all of the confused expressions around him, Phil added "She said 'No...Her story started here.' That's what she took away from that story. Not the family she believed she'd never have. But the one that she's always had." Smiling softly at the fond memory, the senior agent added "That's the thing about Skye...Here I am telling her something that could...destroy her faith in humanity and, yet, somehow, she manages to repair a little piece of mine."
The rest of the group was stunned by the story the two agents had just told. Rick couldn't believe his daughter had been subjected to that kind of life. I should have fought harder to be there for her...He told himself. Finally, the author's younger daughter was the first to break the silence.
"What's an 0-8-4?" Alexis asked, curiously.
"An object of unknown origins." Brynna replied.
"How is Skye 'an...object of...unknown origins'?" Alexis questioned, trying to work the puzzle in her head.
"According to what Brynna recently told me...Her mother was Asgardian." Phil explained.
"'Asgardian'?" Alexis repeated, confused. "What's that? Like...some sort of alien?"
"Basically, yes." Brynna conceded. "They're people from another realm."
"Wow..." Alexis breathed, taking in all that the agents were telling her. "I can't believe it." She muttered, before turning back to Brynna. "Is that why she was shot?"
"No..." Phil sighed. "That was because of me."
"You?" Alexis asked.
"The man who shot Skye is millionaire Ian Quinn." Brynna interjected, coming to her former SO's aide. "He was working for a mysterious terrorist known only as 'The Clairvoyant'. Evidently this 'Clairvoyant' can see anything and everything." She added, pausing as she gestured toward Phil. "Except...for how this dumbass came back from the dead." She added, only half-joking.
Staring at Phil in wonder, Alexis asked "You came back from the dead?!"
"Yes." Phil sighed, heavily. "That was why Ian Quinn shot Skye." He added, feeling the guilt stabbing at him much like Loki's scepter had once done. "'The Clairvoyant' ordered Quinn to shoot her in order to force me to figure out how S.H.I.E.L.D. brought me back so that he could finally see that process for himself. It was the only thing they couldn't see. So, my choices were...save Skye and give 'The Clairvoyant' exactly what they want...or let her die."
Stepping over next to the senior agent, Rick gently clapped him on the shoulder before speaking. "I know this whole situation put you in a difficult position." The author conceded. "But, I want to thank you for saving her."
"New orders." May spoke. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is detecting massive energy readings in the skies above the California-Nevada border."
"Where's Agent Coulson?" Ward questioned, curiously.
"Taking personal time." May replied, slightly irritated by the interruption.
"It's been a couple days straight." The specialist argued.
"These are the same readings as Dr. Selvig and Dr. Foster picked up in New Mexico and in London." Jemma interjected, analyzing the data on her tablet. "They herald the arrival of an Asgardian."
Realization dawning on his face, Leo interjected "Thor!"
"Not sure." May countered. "Either way, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants us to be the Welcome Wagon."
"Oh." Leo stuttered. "Oh. Okay. No cause for concern. Right? Asgardians are allies."
"Loki wasn't." Ward countered, tersely.
Driving through the Nevada desert, Ward called over his shoulder to the engineer in the back seat. "Fitz?"
"Eh...We're definitely getting close, but, it's still a bit of a crap-shoot." The engineer replied. "This is still science that we don't completely understand."
"Seems to be a lotta that goin' around, lately." Ward mused. "So Coulson hasn't talked to you?" He asked, leaning over to the pilot in the driver's seat. "About why he changed his mind about giving Skye that drug?"
"No." May lied. "He's keeping it to himself."
"Whoa! I'm getting a massive energy surge." Fitz interjected. "Three times the level of the one before."
"How close?" May questioned, before the energy surge blasted the ground directly in front of them. Swerving to avoid the blast, May slammed the brakes as the rest of the convoy stopped around them, creating a barricade in front of the blast site.
"Yeah..." Ward mused, stepping out of the vehicle. "Definitely Asgardian." He noted, taking in the sight of the crouched woman rising to her full height as the rest of the convoy crouched into position, with their weapons drawn.
"Running facial recognition..." Fitz interjected, staring at the data on his tablet. "Okay...I don't have a name, but, I can confirm that she was in New Mexico fighting with Thor and his mates." He added as the visitor took in the sights of their vehicles and their emblem. "She's on our side."
"Stand down, she's a friendly." May ordered, instructing the other agents to hold their fire before she approached the woman.
"You are of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" The strange woman demanded.
"Yeah..." Ward drawled, unsure of what to make of the visitor.
"I am Lady Sif of Asgard." The woman introduced herself. "Your world is in grave danger."
"She's a warrior." Coulson mused, watching Sif follow Fitz and Ward into the lab area. "I saw her fight in New Mexico with Thor. Climbed a giant metal killing machine, speared it with her double-bladed sword. Was pretty bad-ass."
"Says she needs S.H.I.E.L.D. to help her find someone." May replied, getting back to business. "You up for this?" The pilot questioned, carefully.
"I'm fine." Phil replied, dismissively.
"'Fine' doesn't look like this." May countered, suspiciously. "Not on you." She added. "You've been gone more often than not. " Stepping in closer to the senior agent, she added "Whatever's bothering you...I'm here..." She offered, hoping provide the senior agent – one of her closest friends – whatever support she could.
"I know." Phil replied, simply, before taking his leave. Following Phil down the stair case, she joined him in entering the lab with Sif and his team.
"What dark magic is this?!" Sif demanded, seeing Coulson enter the lab, gripping the handle of her sword in preparation for any unexpected attacks. "Thor said you perished at the hand of Loki!" She snapped as the senior agent stepped closer.
"He was right." Phil replied, simply. "For a while, anyway..." He elaborated, before switching gears. "But, Loki wasn't the only one with some tricks up his sleeve. Turns out, S.H.I.E.L.D. had a few of their own."
"Thor will be pleased to hear it." Sif surmised, studying Phil's form carefully, for any signs of deceit. "He considers you a friend." She added, more sincerely, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
"I feel the same." Phil replied, gratefully. "Which is why I prefer he hear it from me, if that's okay." Silently nodding, Sif realized that would probably be for the best. "I understand you're looking for someone." Phil added, getting back to business.
"I am hunting her." Sif corrected. "Lorelei. Six hundred years ago, she used her powers to wreak havoc across the nine realms. To command armies. Bring down kings. Empires." She explained.
"What kinda powers we talkin' about?" Ward questioned. "Strength? Speed?"
Turning to face the specialist, Sif shook her head as she replied. "Sorcery. She bends and shapes the will of men to her own purpose." The warrior explained.
"Only men?" May questioned. "Her powers don't work on women?"
"No." Sif explained, stepping in front of the table in the center of their group. "Men have an inherent weakness we do not share." She added as the pilot stared at her, knowingly.
"I can't imagine what she's talking about. " Fitz mused, quietly, turning toward Ward.
The specialist could only shake his head and contort his face in confusion.
"The very sound of her voice can ensnare most." Sif interjected, clearly overhearing the private conversation. "For the rare man that can resist, it's her voice joined by her touch which can overpower his will."
"So, how do we stop her?" Coulson questioned.
Holding up a golden collar, Sif simply replied "With this." Setting it down on the table, she elaborated. "It prevents her from speaking. She wore one like it for centuries while locked in prison. She escaped when the dark elves invaded Asgard and came here using one of Loki's secret pathways between worlds.
"We know where she is now?" Ward questioned.
"All I know is the bi-frost delivered me to her last known location." Sif explained, frustrated with her lack of knowledge as to Lorelei's whereabouts.
"It's mostly small towns out that way." Coulson surmised. "Let's start looking for unusual activity in a couple hundred square mile radius. Burglary, theft, assault...This woman's used to ruling over empires. She's gonna be hard to please."
"All this time..." Rick muttered, staring through the window at his daughter. "She was looking for me the whole time I was searching for her."
"You had no way of knowing-" Kate offered, warmly, wrapping her arms around her fiance from behind.
"No, I realize that..." Rick muttered. "I just...I always wondered...If I ever did find her...Would she even want to meet me? Would she understand why I was never there for her?"
"Dad..." Alexis interjected, gently. "At least, now you have some of the answers. And, you'll get the rest when she wakes up."
"I can't believe I almost lost her without ever getting a chance to get to know her." Rick muttered, helplessly.
"Thankfully, she's lucky enough to have a Phil Coulson in her life." Kate replied, thoughtfully.
"I think we're all lucky, in that respect." Alexis smiled, looking through the window to her new half-sister.
"These are police reports from within a hundred miles of where you arrived. Everything from the last forty-eight hours." Coulson elaborated as Sif looked over the information on the table in front of them. "When you want to sift through the -" He began, instructing the warrior as to how to use their technology before being interrupted.
"I'm familiar." Sif interjected, swiping through the files before her as if she'd been using the technology all her life.
" - you...just...touch...the...Oh!" Phil muttered, watching the file open up before them.
"It's an antiquated system we had in the other realms ages ago." Sif replied, dismissively.
"You've...visited other realms." Phil mused, watching the warrior work. "Seen different...species..." He added. "Aliens..." Finally, he got to the question weighing on his mind. "Have you ever...encountered any that were...blue?"
"Yes. Of course." Sif replied, thoughtlessly, turning back to her search.
"Which ones?" Phil questioned, carefully.
"Hahhhh...Mentodites...Levians...Fairgotts...Krees..." The warrior began, a little taken aback by the question. "Sachs...Centaurians...The Frostgiants tried to conquer your Earth a millenia ago, but, Asgard drove them away..."
"Oh...Thanks for that..." Phil replied, processing everything that was being thrown at him. "And...the others...Have any of them been here, recently?"
"Rest easy, Phillip, Son of Coul..." Sif replied, reassuringly. "None of the others have ever, visited Earth." As reassuring as that was meant to be, it only raised more fears and questions for the senior agent. "There!" She declared, finding what she was looking for. "A robbery of jewels."
"And, there." Coulson added, spotting a robbery at a gun store. "A gun store robbery. By guys on Harleys."
"It's happening faster than I feared." Sif breathed. "She's amassing men...gold..weaponry...Lorelei's building an army." She added, turning to Phil.
"We traced the men to a biker bar named Rosie's Desert Oasis." Ward explained, following May down the stairs into the lab. "Probly where Lorelei's hiding out." He surmised. "Meeting a S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy there in ten."
"Good." Fitz replied, smiling proudly. "Then, you can show off these beauties." He added, waving his hands over the table of guns he'd displayed for the agents.
Impressed, Ward whistled as he replied "Wow. These all Night-Night guns?" He asked, curiously.
"Based on the same technology." Fitz conceded, with a smug smile. "But...We're not calling them that, any more..."
"'Bout time." Ward replied.
"They're called 'I.C.E.R.S.'" Leo added, smiling excitedly, as May and Ward played with their new toys. "Incapacitating. Cartridge Emitting-"
"They're great." Ward interjected, testing out the new weapon in his hands. "And, ya lost the ounce." He added, impressed, clapping the engineer on the back.
"And, I tripled the stopping power!" Fitz added, unable to stop the smile on his face as he clapped Ward on the back in return. "But, I did realize – after our run-ins with Mike, and Centipede - " He added, pausing to lift one of the larger machine guns into his hands, apologizing as May turned the gun away from her. "Sorry – We needed something stronger." He finished, passing the weapon off to Ward. "Better."
Cocking one of the smaller pistols in her hand, May turned when Ward questioned her. "Thought ya didn't like guns?"
"No. I always say, if I need a gun, I'll take one." The pilot corrected, examining the weapon in her hand. "We'll need these." She paused, her voice taking on a strange tone. "When you're up against people who are being controlled...Sometimes it's hard to distinguish friend from foe."
"This way, we can take out either." Coulson interjected, thoughtfully, as the group turned to face him.
"Where's Lady Sif?" Leo questioned, only to watch the aforementioned warrior drop down behind Coulson before he could even finish the question.
"Shall we?" Lady Sif asked, suggestively.
"Lorelei's tastes usually run toward palaces, castles..." Lady Sif observed as they arrived at Rosie's Desert Oasis. "This place is far more humble than her usual abode." She added, unsheathing her sword.
"Draw wasn't the place." Ward deduced. "It was the man power."
"How many men does she have in there?" Coulson called to the police officers surrounding the bar. "Have you seen the suspect?"
"Yes, we have." One of the officers replied, cocking his shotgun. "And, she's beautiful." He added, opening fire on the S.H.I.E.L.D. team.
"What is that?" Lorelei questioned, bored with the gunfight outside.
"Well, it seems we've caught the attention a the law..." Her new main man, Rooster, replied.
"You swore...to fight for me..." Lorelei replied, reminding Rooster of the vow he'd made.
"And, I will." Rooster countered. "But, they got a lotta firepower out there." He argued to which Lorelei simply snorted as if to say 'So what?' "I mean, hell, they even got a medieval times chick out there. She's got a sword and everything." He added, finally catching Lorelei's attention.
"Sif." Lorelei snarled, as she realized who Rooster was referring to.
"They're on us from both sides." Ward growled out, covering Coulson from behind. "Be hard to get off a clean shot."
"Lady Sif!" Phil called out, over the gunfire. "Can you give us a little cover?!" Nodding at Phil's request, Sif kicked a trailer over to block the officers shooting at the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. "That's a very literal interpretation." Phil mused, before turning his attention back to the Asgardian warrior. "Thank you!" He called out.
As he and Ward took out two more officers, the specialist called out "All clear!"
"May!" Phil called to their pilot. "Stay outside! Let Sif take Lorelei!" He ordered as the Asgardian took off inside the bar in search of her prey. "Ward. Head around back." He added as the specialist took off around the back of the building.
"Lorelei..." Sif greeted, barging through the doors of the bar. "Still manipulating men to do your dirty work, I see..." She taunted.
"And, I see you're still a step or two behind." The seductress taunted, in return, never missing a beat.
"You know how this ends, Lorelei..." Sif warned. "So, come willingly."
"You mistake me for someone who fears you..." The seductress taunted. "I've bested you, before..." She added, as Sif steadfastly kept her face neutral against the taunting. "Or have you forgotten?" Lorelei asked, knowing all too well that the warrior, indeed, remembered. "Tear her apart." She finished. Directing the order to her new-found men.
One of the bikers fired a shot at the warrior with his shotgun which was easily blocked by the armor on Sif's arm before she effortlessly threw him through the glass on the doors. The rest of the bikers were just as easy for her to dispense with as one-by-one, they flew through the air.
Creeping around the back wall of the bar, Ward found the leader of the bikers – Rooster who knocked his weapon out of his hands with a chain. "Look..." Ward spoke, calmly, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm sure you're a reasonable guy..." He added, dodging a swipe from the chain which he reciprocated with a punch to the biker's face. "Rooster..." He finished, noting the name on the biker's jacket. "Rooster? Really?!" He asked, sarcastically.
While Lady Sif was busy with the bikers, in the bar, Lorelei took advantage of the distraction as she quietly slipped out the back of the bar. Watching Ward disarm her 'Rooster', Lorelei smiled as she realized she could utilize a man with such talents. Leaping quietly from her position on the roof of the bar, she watched as Ward whipped around – gun drawn – to face her. Staring at the man before her, Lorelei slowly and carefully rose to her feet as she spoke. "You're a fine warrior." She observed, smiling subtly.
"I am." Ward countered, unwilling to fall prey to her tricks. "Put your hands behind your back and get on your knees." He ordered, firmly.
"Men kneel before me." Lorelei corrected, closing in on the specialist. "I do not bow to them."
"Gonna need some backup over her." Ward called over his shoulder, never once taking his eyes off the seductress.
Reaching out to lightly grip the specialist's arm, Lorelei spoke again. "That is not what you need." In that moment, she knew she had the specialist exactly where she wanted him as he lowered his weapon.
Revving the engine of a motorcycle, Ward smirked to the beautiful woman on the back of the bike. "Take me somewhere grand." She ordered, smiling seductively. "Deserving of a ruler. Queen."
"I know just the place." Ward replied, taking off down the open highway.
Punching the wall of the plane in frustration at Lorelei's escape, Sif grunted as she attempted to work out a way to track the seductress down, once more. "Lorelei's treachery remains unchanged no matter the world!" She snapped, walking around Coulson's back.
"We'll find them." Coulson replied, confidently, turning to face the Asgardian. "Every agent in the area's out looking."
"To what end?" Sif challenged. "Hm?! The collar -" She paused, slamming the aforementioned accessory down on the table before her. "- is broken! Short of death, we've no means to end her enchantment!"
"Let me worry about that." Coulson offered, confident in Fitz's ability to repair the collar. Stay here." He ordered. "And try not to punch a hole in my airplane." He added, taking his leave to give the collar to the engineer.
"So, Ward's like what – a pod person?" Brynna demanded.
"No." Coulson replied, bluntly. "According to Lady Sif, the men Lorelei controls don't forget who they are or what they know...She just becomes the embodiment of all their desires."
"So, when we find them we can break her...mojo...or whatever and get Ward back, right?" The senior specialist replied.
"Yes." Coulson confirmed. "Once the collar's back on Lorelei's neck, the enchantment ends. But, that's the problem. The collar caught a shotgun blast back in the desert." He added, passing the collar off to Fitz. "You think you can fix it?" He asked, curiously.
Examining the item in his hands, Fitz replied "Well...the metal, the weight...similar to the berserker staff..."
"But, it presents its own set of countless unknown variables." Jemma interjected.
"Got a couple hours." Coulson shrugged.
"Yep." Fitz replied, taking off toward the lab.
"What can I do?" Brynna asked. "And, so help me God, Phil, if you tell me 'nothing', I will kill you and – this time – there ain't gonna be nothin' left to bring back!" She warned, half-glaring at the senior agent.
"Ward's gonna have safe houses and drop boxes all over the world..." Phil offered. "They're filled with currency, weapons, IDs...He's gonna use aliases, cash, anything to keep Lorelei off the radar. Short of Skye, you're the best radar we have..." It was true. Phil remembered, all too well, how much Brynna was like a dog on a bone when searching for someone.
"Gee...thanks, Phil..." The senior specialist replied, snarkily.
"Find them." Her former SO replied, completely unfazed by the snark.
"I'm fortunate to have found you..." Lorelei observed, walking through the doors of Caesar's Palace with Agent Ward in tow. "You're quite...resourceful..." She decided.
"I'm well trained." Ward countered, simply.
"No. You are worlds apart from those men in the desert." Lorelei countered, stopping to look directly at Ward.
"I'm not an idiot." Ward argued. "I know you value me no more than those bikers back there." He added. "The truth is...I don't care."
"Because of what you feel..." Lorelei countered.
"I felt something before..." Ward replied. "For someone on my team...Seems foolish, now." He mused. "I would die for you. Any man would."
"But, I don't want them." Lorelei argued. "I want you. You're stronger. A real man with the rage of a berserker inside." She mused, sliding her hand up Ward's shoulder as she ordered "You will present me with an army. And, I will give you a gift...in return..."
"Aren't you gonna come see Skye?" Alexis questioned, curiously, watching her aunt staring intently at the computer before her. "I mean, she's your niece as much as I am -"
"I'm sorry, Alexis." Brynna inadvertently snapped at her young niece. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just in the middle of an investigation and it's imperative that I find Ward and Lorelei as soon as possible." She elaborated, before returning her attention to the computer. "God only knows what kind of havoc that little whore could wreak with a man like Ward by her side."
"Is there anything I can do?" Alexis offered.
Smiling up at her niece, gently, Brynna rose from Phil's desk as she crossed the office, guiding the redhead into the sofa in the office. "Sweetheart, the best thing you could do, for any of us, is to just stay with Skye." She replied, softly. "God knows Phil's got enough shit on his plate, right now. He doesn't need to worry about Skye, too." She added. "And, I know that...knowing that Skye's not in there, alone...Will go a long way toward that end."
"I understand." Alexis replied, softly. "I won't leave her alone."
"That's my girl." Brynna smiled, wrapping her niece up in a brief hug. "Now...Get outta here...I got work to do..." She added, jokingly shooing Alexis out of the office.
"Security cameras just caught sight of them..." Coulson greeted, approaching Sif and May. "If Lorelei wants an army of wealthy, pliable men...She may have just hit the jackpot."
Kicking the door to the Las Vegas hotel room, Lady Sif took the lead as the S.H.I.E.L.D. team followed her through the entry way. Scattering throughout the suite, the warrior and the agents all determined that Agent Ward and Lorelei were already long gone. "Clear!" Agent Melinda May called out.
"She's gone." Sif declared.
"Turn this suite upside down." Coulson ordered, curtly, as another agent confirmed the order. Approaching the pilot, Coulson lowered his voice for a private conversation. "I know you said you and Ward wouldn't be a problem." He began, carefully. "But, I also know that you wouldn't tell me if it was."
Raising her phone to her ear, May stared directly at Coulson as she spoke. "Fitz. There are cameras all over this town. Track them all." She ordered, curtly, as if to prove herself to Coulson.
Returning to The Bus, the team was met with Agent Fitz. "There's no sign of them on any surveillance around the city." The engineer spoke.
"It was a long shot." Coulson conceded. "Ward knows how we work. Knows to avoid cameras."
"Yeah, well..." Fitz began. "I expanded my search. Got satellite support running. We'll find them." He added, smiling excitedly. "I do have a bit of good news. I fixed Lorelei's neck collar." He announced, proudly.
"Let me inspect it to be sure." Sif replied, needing confirmation that the collar was, in deed, in working order. "Asgardian metal is much different than ore of this planet."
"Sure." Fitz agreed. "But, I think you'll find it's up to snuff." He added, still unable to wipe the smile off his face. "It's in your room." He added, leading the Asgardian warrior to her bunk.
Watching Fitz and Sif leave, Coulson turned to May. "You and Ward have the same training." He began. "Cut from the same cloth. If it was you...Where would you run to?" He asked.
Approaching The Cage, Fitz spoke excitedly. "Asgardian metal is so dense, it's just a matter of finding the right tools, really. But, you'll see...Not a scratch on it." He added. "Because, yes...I am that good."
Picking the collar up off of her bed, Sif examined it, closely. "Well done. You really are quite clever." She admired, not even noticing the door to her room closing. Whirling around to face her closed door, she unsheathed her weapon, preparing for any attack. When none came, she charged at the door only to find it locked. Frustrated, she stabbed at her mattress before pounding against the door, in futility.
Hearing the banging from the lab, May turned to Coulson. "If I was Ward...I wouldn't run." She stated, vaguely. "I'd take out my main threat!" She hissed as they took off upstairs.
"We're taking off." Jemma observed. "Why are we taking off?"
"And, what is that pounding?!" Brynna added, trying to place the source of the offending sound.
"I'll go investigate." Jemma replied. "You stay here, with her..." She added, gesturing to the unconscious hacker in the bed between them.
Finding the door locked, the bio-chemist turned to the specialist. "We're locked in." She realized.
"Phillip...Son of Coul..." Lorelei drawled, zeroing in on the senior agent whom she'd cornered all alone in his office as she gracefully slid the door closed behind her. "I've heard quite a lot about you..."
"I'm sure you have." Phil conceded, steeling himself against her enchantment though – intellectually – he knew it to be an exercise in futility.
"The first man I have ever known...to return from death." The seductress drawled, stepping directly in front of Coulson as she backed him up against the wall. "That certainly is quite an accomplishment." She added, while sliding her hand up and down Phil's chest. "You will serve me well..." She commanded, seeing her enchantment taking hold in the senior agent's piercing blue eyes.
"I vow to serve and protect you until my final breath." Phil swore in a haunting monotone.
Lorelei smiled, victoriously. She knew she had the agent precisely where she wanted him. "Excellent." She drawled. But, she knew that the agent's heart lay with another. The wounded, young woman downstairs. The temptress needed to know that woman would not be an issue. "But, first...You must demonstrate your loyalty to me."
"I will do whatever you ask of me." Phil replied, in the same haunting voice.
"I know you once cared for the young woman downstairs..." Lorelei began.
"Once." Phil confirmed. "She is nothing next to you."
Stepping in even closer to Phil, Lorelei caressed his chest with her hands as she commanded "Kill her." One look in the agent's eyes told her she had nothing to worry about. "Kill her and I'll know where your loyalty lies."
"Consider it done." Phil replied, eager to please the beautiful woman before him.
"Where is everybody?" Alexis questioned, as she remained with Jemma, Brynna, Kate, and her grandmother in Skye's ICU pod.
Looking around, Brynna had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation. "I don't like it..." She replied, pulling her gun out from behind her belt, cocking the pistol sharply.
"Is...that really necessary?" Kate questioned, nervously.
"When you don't know what the hell you're walking into..." Brynna began, positioning herself next to the door – just out of view of anyone entering the pod. "It's completely necessary." She added, raising her weapon, waiting.
"Richard Castle." Lorelei drawled, smiling seductively. "The very name speaks of grandeur."
"Uh. Oh. Well...thanks?" Rick stuttered, clumsily backing away from the temptress. "I think?"
Smiling triumphantly, Lorelei stared directly into the eyes of the writer as she spoke. "You're with that...woman?" She questioned, referring to Rick's fiance. "The constable?"
"Uhh...yes? I think?" Rick replied, unsure of what Lorelei meant.
Stepping in closer to the author, Lorelei smiled as she lay her hand on Rick's chest as she spoke again. "And, you prefer her to me?"
"She's no one compared to you." Rick replied, fully entranced by the Asgardian temptress. "I solemnly swear to protect and defend you forever."
"That woman – the constable – and, your daughters..." Lorelei began, turning on her best victim face. "They're just as bad as Sif. They'll never stop coming after me. I'll not know peace."
Smiling darkly, Rick replied. "Then, I'll take care of it." Caressing the seductress's face, he added "Don't worry, beautiful...I'll never let anyone hurt you..."
"Agent Coulson!" Alexis greeted, relieved.
"Alexis..." Phil smiled, crossing the room to draw the redhead into his arms. That action, alone, sent up red flags in the senior agent's former protege's mind. The Phil Coulson she knew was not the touchy - feely type.
"Hold it, right there!" Brynna demanded, aiming her gun directly at her former SO's head. "What's goin' on, here, Phil?"
"'What's going on'?" Phil taunted as he whirled the young Castle in his arms to press the cold hard steel of his pistol into the flesh of her temple. "What's going on is that you're going to walk out of here. And leave me alone with Skye." He demanded. "Or you can stand there – impotently watching your niece die, right before your eyes – knowing you didn't do a damn thing to stop it."
"Phil, this isn't you, okay?!" Brynna replied, attempting to reason with her mentor and only father figure. "This is just Lorelei talking! You've gotta fight! Fight her, Phil!" Chest heaving from the adrenaline, she realized that Phil wasn't backing down as she shifted her gaze to the detective and her half-brother's mother. "Go." She ordered, softly. "Get outta here."
"No, Brynna-" Martha began.
"We're not leaving you, here, alone-" Kate added, eying Phil and Alexis.
"She's right." Phil taunted, never taking his eyes off of Brynna. "You should go. This could get messy." Finally seeing reason, Kate ushered Jenna and Martha out of the pod before pausing to whisper in Brynna's ear.
"I'll bring back help." The homicide detective whispered, quietly, before scurrying out of the pod.
"You got what you wanted, Agent Harmon." The senior agent taunted. "Your soon-to-be-sister-in-law and your surrogate mother of sorts are safe and sound...for now, at least..." He added, in the same haunting voice that he'd used with Lorelei. "Why don't you make the smart choice? Save your niece – and, yourself. Because, I don't want to hurt her. I really don't. That's not what Lorelei wants, either. She's not the one that has to die. Neither are you."
"Nobody has to die, Phil." Brynna corrected. "You know that as well as I do. Just put the gun down and we can take care of Lorelei – together – just like old times. And, we can free you."
"You're wrong." Phil argued. "Lorelei already has set me free." He added, before swiftly removing the pistol from the younger Castle's head and taking his aim directly at Brynna before firing a shot.
"Aren't you the brave one?" Lorelei taunted as she encountered the pilot in the galley/lounge area.
"You took my plane." Melinda snarled, fists raised, ready for a fight. "I want it back."
"Well..." The temptress taunted, closing in on the pilot. "We can't always get what we want..." She added, before her face took on a feigned contemplative look. "Actually...I can." She teased, launching the pilot across the room with one swift punch – effectively knocking the wind out of her lungs.
Scrolling through the options on the menu on plane's control system, Ward paused when he found the access panel for The Cage. Tapping the selection, he opened The Cage's access panel.
Watching the tiles fall away in the roof above her head, Sif's eyes widened in horror as she shifted her gaze to Lorelei's neck collar. Just as the collar rose into the air – drawn into the wind created by the opening in the plane – the Asgardian warrior reached out to catch it just before it disappeared. Fighting against the pull of the wind, she fought with everything she had only to fall prey to the suction as she was drawn out of the plane.
Dodging the shot, Brynna lunged for her niece, wrenching her free of her mentor's grasp. "Go!" She barked at the redhead. "Get outta here! Go get help!" She ordered, all but throwing the younger woman out of the pod.
"No, I can't leave you-" Alexis began to argue before Brynna gripped her by the biceps, staring straight in her eyes.
"Alexis Rose Castle, you get the hell outta here, right now!" The specialist barked. "Go get back up! I'll be fine! This is what I do for a living, remember?" She asked, smiling slightly to assure her niece.
Realizing that Brynna was right – the best way for her to help would be to go get the rest of her aunt's team. Nodding, she exited the pod, taking off at a dead run.
Watching her niece take off running, Brynna turned back to her mentor. "It doesn't have to be this way, Phil." She argued, trying – once again - to reason with the senior agent.
"Oh, but, I'm afraid it does." Phil argued, raising his weapon, once more.
All right, then...Brynna, thought to herself, steeling herself for a fight. If that's the way it has to be...Acting on instinct, she raised her foot into a high arch, kicking the weapon out of the senior agent's hand and sending it flying across the room – bouncing off of the opposing wall. Gotta even out the playing field...
Losing his weapon, the senior agent resorted to brute strength as he charged at the specialist, thrusting her against the wall, slamming his fist into her face. Unwilling to go down without a fight, Brynna jerked her knee up to collide with Coulson's groin. Groaning in pain the senior agent collapsed to his knees. Taking advantage of his weak moment, the specialist back-handed him with a closed fist. Rising back to his feet, Phil landed one lucky punch to her face, sending her crashing to the floor, unconscious. "Ya never could keep your nose outta things that didn't pertain to you, now could you?" He taunted, crossing the room to reclaim his weapon, before standing over the bed in the middle of the room.
Looking down into the face of his unknowing victim, Phil couldn't help feeling the slightest twinge of guilt at what he was about to do. Cocking the gun in his hands, Phil whispered, quietly. "I'm sorry."
But, before he could pull the trigger, the lights in the room flickered as every electronic device went haywire. The only eye of the storm was the unconscious hacker in the bed before him. The next thing Phil knew, some unseen force ripped the gun out of his hands as it crashed into the opposite wall. Staring at the hacker before him, the senior agent sensed that the ruckus all started with her. Reaching out, he attempted to grip her throat in his hands in an attempt to strangle her, manually, only to be jolted with an electric shock as a golden light encircled the hacker until he jerked his hands away. Before he could mentally recover, the agent felt some invisible force slowly lift him off of his feet before violently throwing him against the wall, rendering him unconscious.
With the threat eliminated, the chaos around the room suddenly stopped as Brynna slowly came to. Groaning, she struggled to her feet before she registered the sight of Phil's unconscious body on the floor. "Phil..." She breathed, shakily, crossing the room before kneeling down at her mentor's side. "Phil." She called to the man before her, receiving no response. "Oh God..." She breathed, pressing her fingers to the agent's neck, finding an admittedly thready pulse. "Shit..." She cursed, before something else drew her attention. As she heard a groaning noise coming from the bed, Brynna whipped around to see Skye stirring in her bed. "Skye!" She called out, careful not to touch the hacker, for fear she might frighten her.
"Who are you?!" Skye demanded, weakly. "What are you doing here?!" She added, before her frantic doe eyes landed on Coulson's unconscious form. "Coulson!" She cried. "Oh God...What the hell did you do to him?" She demanded.
"Sh-shh..." Brynna cooed gently. "Calm down, Skye -"
"How the hell do you know my name?!" The hacker demanded. As her fear rose, the chaos among the electronics returned. "What's happening?"
"I need you to calm down, Skye!" Brynna ordered. "Just calm down and everything will stop...Just take a deep breath." At a loss for any other alternative, Skye did as Brynna told her to do and calmed herself – watching in wonder as the chaos died away, just as the stranger with her had promised. "There ya go..." Brynna added, breathing her own sigh of relief. "Now...To answer your first question...My name is Special Agent Brynna Harmon. Phil's a friend of mine – he trained me when I first graduated the Academy-"
"Wait!" Skye interjected. "Coulson was your SO?" She asked, trying to wrap her mind around everything she was being told.
"Yeah, he was." Brynna smiled fondly at the memories of when Coulson trained her. "Look...I don't know what happened to Phil. But, this whole damn plane is in trouble."
"What?" Skye questioned. "What do you mean the whole plane's in trouble?"
"We've been investigating a woman named Lorelei." Brynna began, carefully, steadfastly keeping her voice calm in order to keep the hacker calm. "She's from Asgard. Another Asgardian – she calls herself Lady Sif – followed Lorelei here to Earth to hunt her down and bring her back to Asgard."
"Okay..." Skye drawled, attempting to figure out where Brynna was going with all this. "What does that have to do with any of this?" She asked, waving her hands around the ICU pod. "Or Coulson? Or the whole plane being in trouble?" She asked.
"Lorelei is a seductress. She uses her powers to bend and shape the will of men to do her bidding." Brynna began, recalling the events of the investigation as she knew them. "She started her collection with Agent Ward – turning him against us. From what I can tell, she got to Coulson as well – he said he had come to kill you -"
"Bullshit!" Skye cursed. "Coulson would never do that! He would never hurt me!" She argued.
"Not in his right mind, he wouldn't." Brynna corrected. "But, that man on the floor, over there is not the Phil Coulson we know. As for what happened to him, I don't honestly know..." She conceded. "He knocked me out – that's the last thing I remember before waking up to finding Phil on the floor." Suddenly, something struck Brynna. "Wait a minute..." She spoke, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "That camera up there caught the whole thing!"
"Lemme see that!" Skye interjected, reaching out for the phone in Brynna's hand. At the questioning look in the specialist's eyes, Skye explained. "I've hacked S.H.I.E.L.D. before with less than that...I can hack that camera from your phone!" Brynna had to admit, she knew how good the hacker was from Phil's own accounts. Passing the device over to the hacker, she watched as Skye worked her magic with the phone. "I'm in!" Skye cried, triumphantly. Though her triumph soon turned to horror as she watched Phil reaching out to strangle her before his entire body was lifted off the floor before crashing into the wall before slumping to the floor. "Oh my God..." She breathed, shakily, dropping the phone into her lap.
Curious, Brynna reached out to pick up the device. Rewinding the footage, she saw what had Skye so upset. Looking over to the trembling hacker, Brynna dropped her voice to a warm and comforting tone. "Listen, Skye..." She spoke, gently, testing her own mental theory as she tentatively reached for the hacker's trembling hand, relieved when she wasn't shocked as Coulson had been. "I think there's something you need to know about your past..."
Author's Note:
Wow! 21 pages! That's gotta be a new record for me! I've decided to break this up into 2 parts so that it's not so over-whelming to read all at once. I hope y'all like this chapter. I know it's pretty much a carbon copy of "Yes Men", but, I hope I added enough of my own elements to make it enjoyable! I'll try to complete part 2 tomorrow! In the meantime, don't forget to drop me a review!
~Skye Coulson