They were hiking for two hours in almost complete silence and there was still almost 3 miles left to go. Coulson was at the front of the group focusing on getting to the location, Fitz, Simmons and Trip stayed close behind him, and May and Skye felt the need to give him some space. Skye was the most annoyed by the silence. Every once and awhile she would whistle or throw some snow at Fitz to annoy him, but nothing broke the awkwardness. Finally she remembered a topic she knew she could actually start a conversation with.

"Hi.", Skye said as she nudged her mom.

"Hi."

"So are you two ok?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You and dad. You were fighting earlier."

"We're fine, Skye."

"C'mon, I'm not a kid. I can tell when something's up. So what's up."

May looked at her any sighed.

"He should have told me when he found out but he decided to keep it from me."

"So are you mad at me? I knew and I didn't tell you."

"You were only doing what you were told to do. It was his choice to hide this."

"But he had a good reason. He didn't want to put you in any danger. He only told me because I'm already in danger with this stuff in me."

"That's true. But who was gonna look out for you two. Something could have gone really wrong and no one would know what happened."

"Nothing went wrong though."

"True, but right now he has us chasing ghosts in the middle of nowhere."

After that sentence the group stopped in front of them.

"This is it. There's gotta be something here. Stay alert, eyes open.", Coulson said as the team gathered around him.

"How long should we look before thinking about heading back?", Skye asked.

"We're not going back. Not until we find whatever Fury has waiting for us."

"What about the satellite?"

"It doesn't matter. The Bus used all its remaining fuel just to get us here."

Everyone looked at him in complete shock.

"Did you know that before flying out into the middle of nowhere?", Simmons said.

"It was the right play. Fury sent us these coordinates for a reason."

May let out a deep sigh. She knew he didn't want to hear what she had to say but she

was gonna say it anyway.

"And what reason is that?"

"I don't know! I don't know but there's got to be something here!", he holds up his badge to show the numbers under the logo, "This means something, this- this has to mean something."

No one said anything. They just looked at the ground and moved around a bit in an attempt to make it less awkward.

"The world needs us! Hydra is out there! We cannot let them win. We- we cannot let them define us! Do you understand that?"

More silence.

"We are not agents of nothing!", Skye looks up at the realization that he is quoting her, "We are agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and that still carries weight! It- it has to carry weight! After everything we've been through, that carries weight!"

Coulson realized how he sounded. He sounded like he was forcing it on them. He wasn't that guy.

"I'm sorry."

He angrily throws his badge up in the air only for it to be shot at with machine guns that came out of the ground. Everyone ducked and ran to find cover.

"Well, it seems like we found it.", Fitz said as he crouched behind a rock.

"Thanks, Sherlock!", Skye said sarcastically.

"Nobody move!"

"I really don't think that's going to be a problem!"

"This is a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.",Coulson stated.

"Shoot first, ask questions later? Doesn't sound like S.H.I.E.L.D. to me.

"It's not Hydra. It's Fury reaching out."

May, who was behind the same rock as Coulson, had to say something.

"Phil, there's no way you can know that for sure."

He looked at her as she tried to persuade him to give it up, but he had to do this.

"There's one way."

Coulson stood up from behind the rock and walked toward the gun.

"Dad!"

"Phil, wait."

He ignores them and continues to walk.

The gun locks onto him and speaks.

"Identify yourself."

"I'm Phil Coulson, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

The gun points toward the sky and lowers back into the rock.

"Welcome, Agent Coulson, we've been expecting you."

Doors disguised as rocks suddenly opened to a long underground hallway. If anyone was denying Coulson before, they certainly weren't now. The team followed as Coulson walked through the door. They shake the snow off themselves and look around.

"What is this place?", Skye asked.

"It's one of Fury's secret bases.", said a man as he walked into the hallway straightening his tie. "I call it Providence. Although, technically it doesn't have a name because technically it doesn't exist, it being a secret base and all."

The team just looked at each other in amazement. They were amazed that Coulson was actually right, that he wasn't crazy and that they didn't believe him.

"If everyone would follow me."

They followed the man through the top secret base into a cafeteria-like room.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"I'm sorry, who are you exactly?", Coulson asked.

"Eric Koenig, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., level six", he said holding up the badge at the end of his lanyard.

"Phil Coulson.", he said as they shook hands.

"It is an honor to meet you, Agent Coulson. And I apologize for the kerfuffle outside. The precision remote system was designed to destroy any rapidly moving metallic object."

"It was my badge."

"It was – okay. That's gonna be, tough to replace…but very soon you're gonna be issued your very own lanyard. Lanyards for others will be distributed on a case by case basis."

"What happened to director Fury? Is he alive?"

"Fury… didn't make it out of D.C.", Coulson was shocked, "We're all a little shaken up, especially now that the Fridge has fallen."

Coulson looked back at Skye who had a scared look on her face. She took out the sat phone and called Ward.

"Who is she calling?", Koenig asked.

"We had a man at the Fridge."

"Can I speak to you in private.", he said guiding him into a separate room.

"Skye?"

"Grant?", Skye said in a shaky voice, "Thank God."

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's just- we heard the Fridge fell and I knew you were there so… I don't know, I guess I assumed the worst."

"Don't worry, I'm still here. But it was one hell of a fight. I'm pretty beat. Where are you guys?"

"Dad found one of Fury's secret bases."

"Send me the location. I'll meet you there. I really need to see you. With everything falling apart around us- we need to stick together."

"I love you Grant. I do. Remember that."

"I love you too Skye. I'll see you in a few hours."

They hung up and Skye went to rejoin the rest of the team.

Meanwhile in the other room:

"What?"

"Hydra thinks they killed him but he managed to escape D.C."

"You just lied to my team."

"Well, I don't know them. And those are Fury's direct orders. Only a select few people can know that he's alive. Maria Hill, Cap, a couple of others, and now you and me."

"That's it?"

"Oh! Right- he said you can tell Agent May and your girl. I assume you know what that means?"

"Yeah I do."

The base was big enough for everyone to get settled into their own room.

After May finished parking the Bus in the hanger, she went to check on Coulson. She found him in his room sleeping. He must have been exhausted after everything that went down the past couple of days. She sat down on the bed next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked up at her.

"Melinda-"

"Phil, I'm so sorry. I never should have doubted you."

"No-", he sat up on the bed and grabbed her hands, "You were right to do that. I'm not- my brain was messed with. This could've just as easily been a trap. I get why you were concerned."

They shared a brief moment of silence to recognize that they were no longer on bad terms. And Coulson suddenly started smiling.

"Fury's alive."

"What?"

"Yeah Koenig lied to you guys. We're the only one who knows."

"Well, where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Does he wanna help us?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know anything?"

"Nope."

"So what's the point of telling me he's alive."

"Uhhh, he's our oldest bestest friend and we care about each other a lot."

"Oh yeah. Right. Sorry S.H.I.E.L.D.'s on the brain again."

"I can help with that."

He pulled her on top of him and kissed her. Luckily the base had been built with big, solid, bulletproof, soundproof walls because their daughter was in the next room.

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