Before My Time by J. Ralph featuring Scarlet Johansson (AKA Black Widow!) is the inspiration here. To answer your questions, it is always possible that the other Avengers could show up. I didn't plan on it though. But who knows? This fic has taken some surprising turns so far. Hoping to have chapter 13 up tomorrow evening! Thanks for the reviews, guys! Enjoy!
Fury had been pacing for the last fifteen minutes, his heartbeat thrumming in his head. The squad team would be at the crash site soon. He'd have an answer, one that would either curtail his night dramatically or send it on in an abysmally long pursuit of his trusted right hand man.
Fitz was still at the screens, monitoring traffic cameras of the area in an attempt to get a glimpse of the wrecked vehicle. He hadn't said a word but the quiet determination on his face told Fury that he was not going to give up on his boss just yet.
"Team Echo, what is your status?" Fury asked once more into the comm.
"Sir, we've made visual contact with the crash site."
The words made Fury's blood turn to ice. "Is Agent Coulson in the car?"
"We're closing in…" Seconds passed and Fury could barely stand it. Then the answer came, like a stone dropping into a pond. "Negative, sir, he's not at the crash site."
For a shred of a second, he could barely feel the ground beneath him as his elation lifted him up. Fitz gasped and relief spread over his perspiring face.
Then, it was all business. Coulson wasn't in the clear yet. He had to find him and get him back before Rickard tracked him down first. He knew of Rickard's determination, had read files about him from when he'd been in combat. He never missed an opportunity to bring down an enemy target and was known for being completely fine with the idea of civilian casualties, as long as their enemy was obliterated.
"Not much time for celebration," he said, making eye contact with Fitz. "We still have to find him." Fury turned back to his comms. "Scan the wreckage. See what your team can find that might tell us where he's gone."
"That won't be necessary," Rickard announced, walking through the doors.
"What do you mean?"
"I got a report a little over ten minutes ago that a couple of Coulson's lackey's paid a visit to Stark Tower earlier this evening. Ms. Potts said that Stark left shortly after."
Fury wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan. Tony Stark was a perpetual thorn in his side, always with a smart quip and always at the ready to break the rules. But he knew he also cared about Coulson and there was no one better to protect him from Rickard than Iron Man. Unfortunately, it meant that Coulson could be anywhere outside of the 50 mile radius that he'd implemented the search.
"I want S.H.I.E.L.D. tracking every wireless camera, every cell phone photo, every live feed out there. Search for facial similarities," Rickard ordered.
"Coulson won't come up for air that quickly. He knows we used this trick on Loki before."
"I don't want you to search for Coulson's face," Rickard rumbled. "I want you to search for Stark's."
Fury drew a deep breath. Coulson's greatest asset was about to become his greatest weakness.
Skye stared up from the darkened backseat of the car as May and Ward talked quietly in the front. Upon reaching May's location, she informed them that Coulson had escaped Rickard's attempt to kill him and Skye was once again able to breathe easier. It was also revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. now believed him to be with Stark. They were instructed to change their clothes and dispose of any tech on them. When Skye had lifted the bracelet and stared at May with a frown, the stony agent leaned in and said, "Deactivate bracelet."
"Really?" Sky grumbled, rubbing her wrist as May pulled it off.
"Coulson thought you'd like that."
And they were on their way, after confiscating a dinky little red Saab from a bohemian couple visiting the city for the first time. Skye picked through the junk in the backseat, quickly finding discarded joints, old soda cans, and a stack of music magazines that had slid under May's seat.
They'd been driving for what felt like hours. All she knew was that they had made it across the bridge and out of the city. She had been trying to keep eyes on all the signs that went by but she found she was exhausted. After everything that had happened, she just wanted things to be as they were. She wanted normalcy, craved some kind of peace. And she knew, judging by May's silence that she wasn't going to get any of that.
"What did Coulson tell you about the desert?" she voiced suddenly, her eyes watching May's in the rearview mirror.
The older agent's gaze met hers but she didn't say anything.
"Don't you want to know?" Skye asked Ward, who glanced back at her hesitantly. "Shouldn't we at least all be on the same page. That way we can actually work like a team and not feel like we're completely in the dark."
"You know what happened out there," May clipped. "You saw what happened to him on that table."
"But I want to know what he told you. What he pulled you into his office to talk to you about this morning."
"That was a private conversation."
"Private or not," Ward said, butting in before Skye could say anything else, "We should know. We're a team, aren't we?"
May took a deep breath, her shoulders stiffening.
Skye leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. "Guess we're not," she muttered.
"He told me Tahiti was a lie," May said finally.
Skye took a breath and couldn't release it. "A lie?" she repeated.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. covered it up, gave him some pretty pictures of being on an island thousands of miles away to try and mask the trauma he went through."
Skye found herself suddenly back in that room, staring down at Coulson as he squirmed on Raina's terrible table, bound by restraints. She clenched her fist, nearly feeling it crash into Raina's face again, that satisfying crunch as knuckle connected with the soft cartilage of her nose. But then his voice…it reached out to her and took hold of her, it made her falter for a moment, that terrible moment that seemed to be eternal.
"What happened in there?" Ward asked, completely out of the loop.
"He was begging to die," Skye whispered, trying to hold back the fresh slash of sadness.
"He said he'd visited the doctor who'd performed the surgery on him. He found out even more," May said through clenched teeth.
"Enough with the suspense, Mel. Just tell us," Ward said under his breath, clearly upset.
May slammed on the brakes. Cars behind them, honked and angry drivers swerved around them. She glared at Ward. "Phil was inconsolable before that operation," she said, her jaw clenched as she stared her lover down. "He didn't want to live. He started to remember that on the Bus. And it made him…" she drifted off.
Skye swallowed the lump in her throat. "He tried to hurt himself?"
"Dragged a knife up his forearm before Fitz walked in on him," May confirmed.
Ward stared down at his lap.
Skye put her hands to her mouth, not knowing what to say. She couldn't think, let alone understand the level of turmoil Coulson had been going through. It made her feel even worse about what had transpired last night. Breaking into his room wasn't the right thing to do. The thought that she might have escalated things for him only made her feel worse. But it had been Director Fury…he'd pulled them in. What she'd mistaken for worry hadn't been worry at all.
"Fury was suspicious about Coulson remembering?"
"I think he got that idea from Raina," May said, putting the car in gear and joining traffic again.
"Why do you think that?" Ward asked.
"Because he had no reason to be. And he only called us in after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interrogation with her was over. I think she gave him a reason to be concerned."
"Why listen to her though? She's a criminal. Doesn't mean everything she says is going to be true."
"When we were back on the bus, Phil mentioned that he "wasn't aware of what was happening until it was too late"."
Unconsciously committing suicide? Skye thought. "He's reliving it," she realized.
"Some kind of form of PTSD brought on by Raina's machine," Ward assumed.
"What if it was intentional?" May said, her hands gripping the steering wheel tighter. "What if this was part of Project Centipede's plan to find out about Coulson's revival?"
Skye's face blanched at the revelation.
"They're trying to force S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hand," Ward voiced. "They're making a bet that if Coulson comes close to dying again that they'll have no other choice than to bring him back again."
"And if they don't?" Skye asked, her eyes watering. "What if they can't?"
"They'll still try," May said sadly. "That will give Project Centipede a location. It'll tell them all they need to know."
"If you had a feeling that this was happening, why didn't you tell Director Fury?"
"Because the alternative is just as horrifying as the idea of Coulson dying," May took a shuddering breath, trying hard to keep the mask of determination up. "Whether S.H.I.E.L.D. can get their hands on Coulson sooner or later doesn't matter. Phil will still remember everything. It'll change him. It'll make him who he was before that surgery."
Ward leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his knees as he put his head in his hands. "They'll put him through it again; just to bring him back to who he used to be."
"But what if he doesn't?" Skye piped up. "What if he doesn't backpedal and become that person again? Coulson is strong. He can fight it."
May looked at her. "That's what I'm hoping. But I know Phil. I know what he's going to try and do. He'll try and expose S.H.I.E.L.D. in one of their lies because he thinks it will make it all end. He's just putting himself at more risk for Rickard to kill him."
"What do you mean?"
"Coulson is supposed to be dead. There are people who aren't supposed to know that he's alive. If he can let them know, he'll think he can barter with S.H.I.E.L.D."
Ward looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "S.H.I.E.L.D. won't negotiate. Coulson should know that."
"He's desperate," May said softly. "He's going to try."
Skye stared out at the night. Somewhere in the dark, Coulson was wandering, possibly injured. At least he wasn't alone. That slight relief kept her hopeful.
"Any idea who he's going to try and tell?" Ward asked May.
She took a deep breath and thought back to his text message on the Bus, their conversation when he'd woken up in the medical bay. "Yes." And I hope she won't have to see him like that.
Chapter 13 coming tomorrow evening! Stay tuned...