"I made a list of the S.H.I.E.L.D. bases we believe are secure.", Skye said as she walked up to Coulson who was running the hub.

"How many so far? Seven?"

"Three."

He couldn't believe it. Three? He was in denial that the organization he gave his life to had fallen.

"Plus the hub."

"Including the hub."

She could see his hopes going down after she corrected him.

"Dad, relax. It's a preliminary list I'm sure more will turn up."

"You're right. I just can't shake this feeling- something's not right."

They watched the news reports. It was painful to watch what went down in Washington D.C. with Captain America. They thought they were invincible.

"You were right all along. Having all this out in the world makes it too dangerous, and now… there's no one left to protect it."

"There's us. We were lucky enough to make it through. The Triskelion, the Hub… those battles are just the beginning of this war. Hydra's out there now, but at least our team is still in tact. We can fight him and we will."

That was one thing that he thought about a lot. All around the organization, friends were being ripped being ripped apart from each other- but somehow, his team came out whole. He was grateful- at first. His past experiences have taught him not to get his hopes up right away.

And he could tell that Skye was worried too. He had to think about her. She finally felt like she was apart of something, she liked it at S.H.I.E.L.D. and she's never really liked it anywhere. But now that was gone. She talked to him before about how every time she'd start to get comfortable somewhere something would go wrong. He assured her that wouldn't happen here, but there they were, picking up the pieces.

Trip and Fitzsimmons were trying to repair the damages done to the Bus, May was trying to fix the systematic damage, and Skye was trying to find more standing S.H.I.E.L.D. bases. Coulson was all over the place. Him being the highest ranking agent on the base put him in a position of authority. Every agent acted on his order. Every few seconds there was someone coming up to him needing approval on one thing or another. When he got a second he went to check on how Skye was doing with her work.

"Good news. The Cube has been retaken. All hydra agents have been flushed out and are on the run."

"So that makes four."

"See, told you more would turn up."

More agents came up to him. He dealt with them all in a few seconds. Skye was impressed.

"Wow. Look at you- all in charge."

"Yeah I kinda like it."

May walked up behind them. She had a bruise on her forehead.

"Hey how are you feeling.", Coulson asked.

"I'm fine. The hull's almost completely repaired. Flight Systems are back online."

"And the cargo ramp?"

"Fitz assures me that it will be operational."

Then, suddenly on the big monitor flashed an incoming video call alert.

"This is Colonel Glenn Talbot, U.S. Air Force. I need to speak to whoever's in charge over there."

Coulson looked back at May and Skye.

"Thats you, dad.", Skye whispered.

"Colonel Talbot, I'm Agent Phil Coulson. I'm happy we could-"

"Mr. Coulson, it's a real mess your boys have gotten us into."

"Hydra caught us by surprise."

"Well, that's an understatement. It's troubling how deeply embedded Hydra was within your ranks."

"Especially troubling for us, sir. But I assure you we're going on the offensive. The Hub is secure. All remaining agents stand ready to assist you in whatever-"

"I think we've had about all the help we can handle from S.H.I.E.L.D I'm sending in a peacekeeping force. They're gonna take control."

"Understood, what should I tell my men to expect?"

"We just want to ask a few questions, get the lay of the land. Everything checks out, you and your boys can be on your merry."

"Sounds good."

He hangs up and turns to May and Skye.

"This doesn't sound good."

"He's lying, definitely, for sure."

The three of them made their way out to the Bus.

"If Talbot's leading the op, there's nothing peacekeeping about it."

"Base defenses operational, we could hold out.", May suggested.

"The last thing S.H.I.E.L.D. needs is to start a war with the U.S. government."

"Then what happens when Talbot gets here?", Skye asked.

"Best case scenario, we all get subpoenas, spend the next six months tied up in court hearings."

"And the worst case scenario?"

"Means they skip the subpoenas, move straight to bunker busters."

"Bombs. Big bombs."

"All the while, Hydra is still out there."

"Skye, get on the comms, we're enacting enacting Odyssey protocol."

"Odyssey protocol? What does that mean?

"It means Fitz needs to finish his repairs, we're getting the hell out of here."

He stopped walking and let the two of them continue walking until they realized he had stopped. May turned around first.

"Phil, what are you doing?"

He looked at them and smiled.

"We are one bad ass family aren't we."

May and Skye scoffed.

"You're just now realizing this, Dad?"

They continued to walk into the bus. Skye went straight to the briefing table to enact Odyssey protocol.

"A lot of agents are staying behind to surrender."

"I wish they'd reconsider. We need all the help we can get to fight hydra. How's the bus?"

"Fitz managed to Jerry-rig the ramp, but the Hub's fuel reserves were tapped out. We're running low."

"Talbot's landing in less than an hour. Can you get us in the air?"

"I'll have us wheels up in 10"

"Thanks. And after that go rest, you need it."

Trip stood up after May left him.

"So you guys are all set to go?"

"I appreciate your help."

"Enough to give me a bunk? Seeing as you guys are down a specialist, I was hoping I could hitch a ride."

"Not gonna happen. But feel free to commandeer one of Hand's vehicles."

He turns away but Trip isn't done.

"Is there a problem?"

"No problem. I'm just not letting you on my plane."

"Garrett had me fooled, same as everyone else."

"Everyone else wasn't at his side day in, day out."

"Friends of mine are dead because of him, good friends."

Simmons had been listening and finally felt the need to enter the conversation.

"I think he should come with us, sir."

"Duly noted, Agent Simmons. But this isn't a democracy."

"Isn't it? Under the circumstances, I think we should all have a say in this, and I witnessed Agent Triplett willing to die in defense of S.H.I.E.L.D. Respectfully, sir, I think he should come along with us."

"Okay. But Agent Triplett is your responsibility."

He walks through the lab to see Fitz looking at Trip and Simmons. Fitz doesn't even notice Coulson standing there. Coulson finds it amusing.

"Fitz!"

He drops the box in his hands and jumps.

"Oh um, sir, hi."

Coulson couldn't help but laugh. He looked over at Trip helping Simmons.

"You got nothing to worry about Fitz."

"What do you-"

"You like her. It's obvious. Everyone on the team knows it. Well except for Simmons."

"Okay…"

"Anyway, we need to disappear."

"Well only S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers have cloaking technology."

"Then how do we avoid detection?"

"We don't. Best we can do is stay out of other aircraft's radar and remain in flight for as long as possible. The minute we land, the harder it is to hide."

"Great."

He walks over to Simmons in the cargo hold.

"How are we doing on supplies?"

"We're all stocked up on medical, but I'm afraid our food rations will only last a couple of days at best."

"Perfect."

He turns around to check on Trip.

"Bad news."

"No kidding."

"Fuel line's busted. We're leaking."

"Can we fix it?"

"Sure as soon as we touch down."

"Awesome."

He walks up to Skye at the briefing table.

"Skye, please tell me something good."

"We have internet."

"Yay.", he said sarcastically, "And, boy, have I lowered my expectations."

"But all H.Q. support systems are gone."

"Well then, the internet it is. Find anything you can on our team, all personal records, photos, anything that proves we exist- then erase it."

"Uh, that's kinda the nuclear option."

"It's our only option. Every government agency in the world will be on our ass. We need to vanish."

"Once that's done, it can't be undone. We'll be ghosts. Not agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., just agents of… nothing."

He turns around without saying anything.

"What about Ward? Have you heard from him? He and Agent Hand should have dropped Garrett off at the Fridge by now."

He turns and walks back to her.

"Not yet.", he pulls out a cell phone from his pocket and hands it to her, "Here, give him a call. Hearing how Garrett settled into his tiny, windowless permanent home might actually cheer me up. When you're finished, collect everyone's badges. It's no longer something we want to flash around."

He left and walked up to the cockpit to talk to May.

"Any sign of Talbot's force's?"

"Not yet, but we've only got 8 hours of flight before we have to land."

"No more than four, fuel line's leaking."

He jumped into the seat next to her. He put his put back and closed his eyes.

"What the hell is happening."

"You're handling this well."

"Three days ago, we were in the air- waiting for the next mission alert from S.H.I.E.L.D.", his words started to mix with some laughter, "A perfectly stable S.H.I.E.L.D. it was a perfectly stable. Everything's perfect. And now look at us. On the run from the U.S. government because my friend turned out to be the Hydra nut who we've been trying to track down for the last six months."

May was concerned about him but she smiled because he was laughing.

"You're handling this… well.", she said sarcastically.

He stopped smiling, sighed and looked out the window into the vast open sky in front of them.

"I was. But I just got a call. Fury's dead."

May looked at him speechless. That man was their best friend. The one who rooted for them to get back together after a silly college fight. The one who encouraged them to take the leap into parenthood and keep their newborn daughter. He even got them back into the field after they lost their daughter. And now he was gone.

May was having a hard time finding something to say. Coulson knew what she was thinking. She didn't have to say anything.

"We'll be fine. Right, Melinda?"

Skye was in the middle of erasing their identities when she remembered to call Ward. She dialed his number and continued to tap away on the holotable.

"Sir? Is everything ok?"

Skye smiled at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, it's me. I just wanted to let you know that Grant Ward no longer exists."

There was a moment of confused silence.

"You wanna explain that, Skye?"

"Dad had us evacuate before he could lock us all up. Now I'm scrubbing our I.D.s while Coulson figures out our next move."

"Makes sense. Agent Hand picked up some Navy jets in the vicinity. She has us taking the long way to the Fridge just to be safe."

"Wow. You took that surprisingly well. Did you hear the part about you not existing?"

"Well, it's not the first time my identity's been compromised. Do you have any idea where your dad has us headed?"

"No idea. I'll keep you posted."

"Good. I'll catch up with you when I can."

"And when I see you next, who you gonna be? You've got a clean slate. You can be anyone you want."

"I don't know. Maybe… Tom Brady. I've always wanted to play quarterback."

"And date supermodels, you are so predictable."

"No, I mean the guy seems to have things pretty worked out.", they both laughed, "And besides, I'm already dating a supermodel."

"Aw you're sweet. You're no Tom Brady, but I think I'll keep you."

"Wow thanks.", he said sarcastically.

They stopped joking when they realized how much they missed each other.

"Be careful.", Skye said.

"I will. I love you."

"Love you too."

"K stay safe."

More incite into what Ward is doing during the next chapter.

Sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping I was gonna not make Ward Hydra. The point of this story was to see how May and Coulson being Skye's parents would change the story. That was the only major part of the story I wanted to change.

But if any of you would be interested in a fic with a non-Hydra Ward- let me know.

I'm really happy with how this story is moving and I hope you do too.

Questions, comments and suggestions are encouraged! Thanks for reading:)