Previously: Graviton has attacked Rome, killing people for the Skrulls until Coulson's team gives Skye to them. While the team at the BUS wait for an item to charge in order to defeat him, Coulson and some of the field agents have gone to Rome to deter him.
Chapter Forty One
"How are we supposed to get anywhere near there?" asked May.
Triplett, Coulson, Ward and May stood just outside their SUV, a fair amount back from the Colosseum that was floating in the sky. But the only real reason for the stretch of distance between them was the police border.
Obviously a good idea, as Graviton was holding hostages inside of the piece of architecture. Even if he weren't it wouldn't be a good idea for civilians to get too close. Before, this wouldn't be a problem. As of late…
"SHIELD badges won't do us much good anymore," commented Ward.
"'Cept get our asses hauled off to the big house," Triplett said.
"You know, I used to… kind of get a thrill out of telling other government workers I was taking over the op," Coulson admitted. "I think I'm gonna miss it."
May breathed an exasperated breath. "Boys. Focus."
"Once we do get up close and personal with the guy, do we have any specific plans?" asked Triplett.
Coulson just shrugged. "Distract him? We know we won't be able to beat him."
Nice pep talk, Phil.
But it was the truth. They knew that coming in. Still, in order to keep them alive long enough for the others to get there- as they communicated that their device would be done in about two hours - they should have a semblance of a plan.
"I know what I can do," said Coulson.
Ward cocked an eyebrow. "You got a plan?"
The leader shrugged again. "Ish. Just cover the Colosseum as close as you can get. Use high ground, weapons armed, but not hot. If things do go south, a few bullets could at least serve as a nice distraction."
The team nodded, and Coulson began walking forward to the police line when May caught his arm. "What are you going to do?"
"Talk to him."
She exhaled and shook her head with frustration and annoyance. It was the same gesture she used whenever she didn't approve of what he was doing.
"He's psychotic, Phil. What makes you think he'll even give you the time of day?"
Coulson smiled. "The guy's calling himself Graviton and is throwing around one of the most famous buildings in Italy. That to me seems like he's craving attention. And if the reason he's hurting people is to get to Skye, maybe the Skrulls wouldn't mind him negotiating terms to get her back."
May pursed her lips, obviously not liking his plan(ish) he'd decided upon. But she saw the logic and nodded her head.
"We'll be watching," she assured him.
The field agents scurried into different directions, and Coulson began to head towards the police barricade. There were really only a few people they had to hold back. This was a big unknown threat, and after the battle of New York, people were more wary to be afraid if something like this happened. As they should be.
Coulson walked straight up to the police line, and was immediately stopped by multiple men yelling at him in Italian. Coulson knew very little of the language, though there was one phrase he liked to know in every language.
"Non… parlo Italiano," he told them uncertainly, in what was most likely a butchering of the accent. And the admission that he could not speak the language seemed to only anger them further.
One of the officers scoffed. "He is American."
"This is not a tourist event!" a younger officer shouted.
"It is a terrorist attack; you must leave," said the first again. "Back up-"
"I know what it is, and am most likely more familiar with the situation than either of you. I actually know this man. If you'd just let me talk to him-"
"Civilians leave," said the older man. "You are causing danger to yourself by being here."
"Actually, I think I may be one of the few ways you could get out of danger. I'm guessing you have some heavy artillery on the way to deal with this guy. Trust me when I say it's not going to be pretty."
The older officer was skeptically eyeing him. "How do you know so much about this person?"
"We used to work for the same company," said Coulson. It wasn't a lie, but it left out some history. "Just let me over there and I'll accept whatever happens. I know it's dangerous, but it's our best bet."
The officers glanced at each other. They were apprehensive, caught between doing what they were told and what they were starting to believe could be a good option to try.
Coulson sighed. "How many have died already?"
Younger hesitated. "Three."
"He is killing one person every hour, and he threw out a person that tried to leave in between."
"No one wants more casualties, and I can help. Just let me," Coulson pleaded.
The two officers looked at each other sadly. "Siamo disperati," said the younger, seeming to plead along with Coulson.
The older one sighed, but he took down the barrier and let Coulson through.
Coulson walked on with his head held high, but even he had to admit, the situation was a little scary.
He didn't try to avert his gaze when he passed the two dead bodies. Rather, he used their mangled images to remind him what was at stake here.
The Colosseum was big, and hovering about fifty feet off the ground only made it appear even more daunting. It didn't matter. Coulson kept moving forward, intentions to try and appease the man enough to not kill anyone else fresh on his mind. The consistent screams emanating from the building only served as a second reminder of the stakes.
"Dr. Hall!" Coulson shouted at the building as he began circling it, searching for the man. The building was huge, and he honestly wasn't sure of where he was. "I came to talk with you!"
A figure rushed towards him then, merely a blur in the air before hovering about twenty feet above his head.
Hall looked pleased as punch to see him, or perhaps to have been inflicting pain on people a few moments earlier. Either way, his face held a manic smile and Coulson feared just how many words he'd be able to get in before the man decided to squish him like a particularly bothersome bug.
"Agent Coulson," said the flying man, his right hand twirling its fingers to apparently keep the Colosseum in place. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up. I know how much you just love to rescue people. Well, at least these humans would at least welcome the aid. Too bad you're most likely going to disappoint them as well."
"I see you're still a little bitter about our other meeting," acknowledged Coulson.
"I told you, I told you the Gravitonium was too powerful to be in anyone's hands. It needed to be destroyed. Now look what you've done."
Coulson scoffed. "See, I think what you're not getting here, is that the only reason people would have died then is because of you. And now the only reason people are dying from it is because of you."
"Someone else, someone more power hungry than me would have gotten their hands on it. I only want to discover and seek out information. Can you imagine if people who wanted to take this world for their own were in possession of it?"
"But the Skrulls won't want you to stop until they get what they want. You must know that!"
"I do," Graviton admitted, smiling cruelly again. "So give them what they want. It's only one person, and then I shall stop."
"No," was all Coulson had to say on that subject, before redirecting slightly. "Why are you working for the Skrulls? They are making you kill people! You used to be a good person, interested in the well being of others. Do you know what they've turned you into, Franklin? A murdere-"
Coulson felt like he'd been punched in the gut, and soon he hit a soft bed of grass and rolled into it uncontrollably.
"That is no longer my name!" he screamed, making Coulson take a deep breath to keep his head as he lay on the ground.
He pulled himself up strenuously, an arm tenderly crossing his most likely bruised stomach.
"Ok, I get it," he rasped. "You feel different and you want to have a new identity. Most people get a flashy car for their midlife crisis, but a super villain identity works too."
"Don't test me…"
"I'm not," Coulson said, regaining determination and focus. "I'm really just curious. What are the aliens offering you?"
Hall's head cocked to the side and he hoisted himself up high in excitement. "Passage to a new world! There will be more discoveries to be made there than I have ever dreamt of."
"What's a few people that die in the process, huh?" Coulson asked. He was met with a lopsided grin from the other man, if you could still call him that.
"Exactly."
Coulson was becoming at a loss of what to say. Dang it. He didn't expect that to happen so quickly. He was forced to put the spotlight back where he wasn't entirely comfortable with it being.
"Do you even know what they want Skye for? They want to eliminate an entire species! You can't seriously think that's not too high a price for the sake of mere discovery."
"It's not a species I'm a part of, so to be honest, I don't believe I need to involve myself in their affairs. Besides, the Skrulls are worthy intellectuals. The Inhumans, as I hear it, are but vermin. Just like your agent that you're trying ever so hard to protect," he told Coulson tauntingly, and he even chuckled. "You must realize that the Skrulls are going to obtain her. That they will do the ritual on the correct day. And if it doesn't work because of the little caper she pulled, they'll take immense time ripping her to tiny pieces, so long as they can help themselves from killing her too quickly. Maybe I can arrange for you to come with me when I return with the Skrulls to their own world. I was going to kill you now, but it is perhaps worth it so you could hear the screams of the girl-
"If you think the Skrulls will take you with them after their plan fails, you must be delusional!" Coulson shouted over him, desperate to cut him off. "Actually, I'm pretty certain you are delusional, but, like, even more so."
Hall squinted his eyes, an angry puzzlement trying to shade curiosity etched on his face. "Why wouldn't they take me? I will have done my part."
"They are psychopaths!" stressed Coulson. "Harming a species for no reason and using an entire planet's residents as hostages. If they're pissed off, they'll be pissed off at anyone they can get their hands on. Including you."
He may have been flying twenty meters above Coulson's head, but he could see Hall's nostrils flare with anger at the statement.
"Paibok and I made a deal," he hissed with insistence.
"And he tricked my agent into believing he himself was her father," exclaimed Coulson. "Their trade as a birthright is deception; what makes you think he wouldn't deceive you? You're nothing but a human, and he obviously doesn't have high regards of those."
"I have ascended. Become something greater," Hall growled.
"A mutant. A half-human. Skye's made up of two species too, and you're saying they want to tear her apart. What does that mean they're going to do when this plan fails? If the plan succeeds, even? You're nothing but another tool to them, just like Skye. They are only putting up with you until the very last moment they have to. Face it, Hall."
"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" he bellowed, flying so close towards Coulson that the agent may have tried to duck out of the way if he was given even a moment of time to react.
Hall was seething as they almost touched noses, and Coulson could feel the hot angry breath of the man on his face. But he didn't move. Didn't flinch. Not so much out of fear or bravery, but worried any sudden movements would provoke the man.
Then Graviton turned, seeming to abruptly become calm as he floated a few feet away.
"Another hour has passed," he mumbled. "And that means it's time for another to die."
Coulson gulped.
Not good.
"But I think this time we could make an exception," Hall whispered. Had Coulson finally gotten through to him?
Phil realized what an idiotic whim that had been when Hall gestured around himself with his hand, and masses came flying towards them from multiple buildings. He could hear their cries of surprise as May, Triplett and Ward came forth from the places they had found surveillance on.
May tried to shoot her gun from the air, but Graviton waved it away, doing the same with Ward's. Triplett must have not been able to even keep a hold of his.
Coulson's dry throat tried to swallow again.
"How about we make it three deaths this time," Hall exclaimed, barely containing his excitement as rough chuckles tried to force through his throat. He kept them restrained in the air, unable to move more than small wriggles.
"No… Graviton," he forced out, trying to appease the man in his desperation, "no one else has to die. You can stop this!"
"It just insults me that you really thought I didn't know they were there. First you try to kill me, then you mock me, and then you think I won't notice the only life forms in a mile radius around here not trying to claw themselves away? You think I'm a fool!"
"You're not a fool. Just don't hurt them!" Coulson tried, the wit to craft a better sentence taking leave of him when he saw the fierce determination in all three of the field agents' eyes, even if he should be calm under pressure. But they weren't going to show this man fear. They weren't going to go down like dogs. If Coulson could help it, they weren't going to go down at all.
But it appeared that Coulson couldn't help it.
"Sorry, but my partners want bloodshed. Perhaps once Agent Skye sees the carnage remaining of a few people she cares about, she'll be more apt to turning herself in. Then we'll see just who the fool really is."
Coulson tried to bolt forward, but found himself unable to move as Triplett floated away from May and Ward, lifting high towards the sky. How could the man control so many different things at once? He only had two hands!
Phil was beginning to realize he was more powerful than he might have assumed.
"Hey!" came a shout.
It took Coulson a second to realize where it was coming from, as it wasn't the voice of anyone from his team or the mad scientist in front of them. It took Hall a moment as well, but he swung his head about, facing the sturdy blonde woman who held herself on one of the rafters to the Colosseum.
"Could we maybe talk? I think I'd like to leave. There've been one too many people falling to their deaths around here for my taste," she said, not a hint of fear in her voice. In fact, despite the loud tone she was using so he'd be able to hear her, she sounded incredibly casual. "I think you could benefit from some good old one on one with me, too. Did you know that you just showed around twelve signs that could technically classify you as a psychopath?"
"Hush, girl! Get back inside the building, unless you want to be next victim," he hissed at her.
Coulson noted that his three field agents had started drifting slightly to the ground and the hold on his own body slightly less pressure. Maybe Hall couldn't do too many things at once, if he was distracted.
The girl shrugged, and then smirked at him, as playful blue eyes lit up her face. "Yeah you're right. As much as I'm one for chatting, I'm thinking right now is a better time for action."
The blonde girl then reached surreptitiously down, causally bringing up one of the biggest guns Coulson had ever seen.
This woman was way in over her head. Unless she'd gotten a very specific gun, Graviton would be able to deflect the bullets just like he had everything else.
Then he'd probably kill her.
But she fired it, and though it seemed like it had a narrow shaft for bullets to come out of, a ray of what almost looked to be pure power sprang from it, traveling quickly towards Hall. He lifted his hand to deflect the blast, and Coulson waited for the energy to redirect out of the way.
This girl had known what she was doing though. His power did nothing to deter the blast, hitting Dr. Hall square in the chest as he began to tumble backwards through the air as his agonized screamed echoed through the air. Every lamp or building he got too close to would spark with electricity, as the lights in the vicinity went out along with it.
Coulson felt the pressure on his body release just as all his field agents fell in a great heap. He felt a pang of worry, but realized while she'd been distracting the scientist Coulson's agents had gotten closer to the ground. The drop wasn't bad at all. Phil immediately trotted over to inspect them.
Graviton was whipping himself through the air in a random and frantic fashion, screaming the entire time. Finally, he sped off into the center of the city. A wounded animal going to hide.
Coulson watched as all the lights in the city seemed to go out along with him. Out of a nudging curiosity, he took a small moment to check his phone. His walkie.
Both were off as well.
Phil's gaze redirected when a large tremor shook the ground, and his eyes moved over to see that the Colosseum had crashed back to its original position. More or less. People started pouring out of the doors soon enough, but Coulson could hear a few cracks from the now crumbling building. The civilians would need help.
"Who… the hell was that?" asked Triplett as Coulson came up towards them.
"I don't know," panted May. "But I'm going to take it she's a friendly."
"Definitely seemed that way," said Coulson. "Are you guys alright?"
Ward and Triplett nodded that they were, but May was uncharacteristically quiet. Ok, not so much uncharacteristically, but it was strange. She looked frustrated.
"May?"
"I'm ok," she said.
No she wasn't. Coulson stared her down, which wasn't that easy to do to a woman who seemed to have a part-time job glaring.
She sighed. "My knee injury from last week was irritated from the drop. But I can walk." She pulled herself up with difficulty, at first about to refuse the hands that Coulson and Trip had put out for her but quickly accepted them when she realized she could use them. "We have to help them," she insisted, gesturing at the Colosseum, when another piece broke off.
"They're going to be ok. Besides, your plate's full already."
All the field agents looked over to see the girl that had shot Graviton sauntering over to them.
"Someone needs to help the civilians," Trip insisted.
"Don't worry," said the woman. "Fury didn't just send me. The rest of my team is helping them out over there. We, on the other hand, have to work on getting this guy out of play for good."
"Fury?" asked Coulson, but the young woman didn't answer. Just gave him a small crooked smile, perhaps waiting for him to ask something of more substance.
But that's when he recognized her. He'd never met the girl, but she was a small legend. One of Fury's best agents. One of the best agents in SHIELD.
"Agent Morse," Coulson said as he exhaled with relief. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
She jerked her head back, moving the drape of hair that had fallen over her left eye backwards to rest on her shoulder. Her grin widened.
"Please, call me Bobbi."
A/n: Writing this was my first attempt at writing Bobbi, other than small bits in my other story. I think I've got her down a little better more recently, but hopefully she's ok. Graviton's not out of play yet! And where are those Skrulls...?
I swear this story may never end.
(dear god I hope I'm kidding. I am. Probably still ten chapters left though. sheesh.)