Episode 22: Beginning of the End
Part Two


Inside the facility lab, Ward walked over to Mike and Garrett.
"The compound's been hit. Raina and Quinn took off, we need to act now. What are my orders?"
"That's up to you, son."
"Wake up!" Ward snapped. "Come back to reality, John! What do you need me to do?"
"You've already done it."
"What?"

A cellphone rang and Garrett picked it up as he glanced at Mike.
"It's your handler. Probably to tell me what the soldiers are seeing." He put the phone to his ear. "Yeah?"
"Hi, John," came Skye's voice. "Just calling to catch up."
"Skye. You sound different on the phone."
"Are you curious why I'm calling from your control center?"
"No, I'm not too concerned. You see, if anyone but the assigned handler gives a directive to one of my men, well, kaboom."
"Ah, darn it. Coulson didn't think of that. You outsmarted us again."
"Phil's around? Great?"

At his excited tone, Ward rolled his eyes. He frowned as Garrett mentioned Fitz-Simmons.
"Oh, and I wanted you to know—your scientist friends, they were brave until their last breath." The line was cut and Garrett leaned in close to Ward. "You want orders? Get Skye."
"Yes, sir." He took off, pulling a gun from the waist of his jeans. Garrett rolled his eyes, turning to Mike.
"You don't need to be set to default. You haven't left me alone all day."
"I was told to never leave your side, sir."
"I love you, too."


Fitz held out the defibrillator.
"We have to do this soon. There has to be enough oxy—"
"Oxygen to ignite. Yes." Fitz nodded, walking over to Simmons. She was setting up bottles of alcohol along the seals of the glass.
"Yeah, okay." He took a deep breath, the two of them turning to face each other. "Now, when I press that power button…"
"The window will blow in and water will rush inwards."
"Yeah, which is gonna be like one-hundred punches to the stomach okay? The wind's gonna be knocked right out of us."

For a moment, Fitz turned away, picking up a handheld oxygen tank with a face attachment.
"Now, this is near empty, but I've rigged it to let out a burst of very high pressure, should force a breath into your lungs, but you have told hold onto it, okay? Hold on tight." She did as she was told, but the her face fell in understanding. "Should be enough to get you up the ninety feet or so."
"One breath? But there's two of us."

With tears filling his eyes, Fitz nodded again.
"Yeah, I've done the math. That's why you're taking it. You're a better swimming, anyway."
"No!" Fitz' eyes closed for a moment.
"Jemma—"
"No, I'm not leaving you here! That's ridiculous. We need a new plan." Fitz shook his head.
"We're not discussing it, okay? You're taking it, end of story… I couldn't live if you didn't."
"What? I feel the same way. There has to be another way!"
"You're taking it."
"Why? Why would oyu make me do this? You're my best friend in the world!"
"Yeah, and you're more than that, Jemma."

He took a shuddering breath as more tears pooled in his eyes. It dawned on Simmons what he meant. Fitz looked away again.
"I couldn't find the courage to tell you. So please…" He looked back at her, a tear sliding down his cheek. "Let me show you."

Simmons let out a sob, wrapping her arms tightly around Fitz' neck. She began to cry against his shoulder as he held her tight.
"It's okay." "No." Simmons kissed up his neck to his cheek and across his forehead to the other side of his face. "Jemma, Jemma," Fitz said. "Jemma, we have to hurry." He tried to push her away, but she clung to him.
"No. NO!"
"Take it, Jemma."
"No." Fitz pushed her away, wrapping his hand around hers, making her hold tight to the canister. He quickly turned to the defibrillator and pressed the button. "NO!"

The explosion was quick, and Simmons managed to take her breath as she pulled herself and Fitz up to the surface. When they broke the surface, Simmons took a large gasp of air. She pulled Fitz' up beside her, trying to keep his head out of the water. His head flopped onto her shoulder as she started screaming.
"Help! Help!" Her head went under water, and she sputtered when she surfaced again. Her hand flailed out and she gasped when someone grabbed it.
"Hold on!" yelled Sara, adjusting her grip. Simmons held on tight as she and Fitz were pulled onto a helicopter.

When she awoke, she found herself inside a glass tube. She looked around anxiously, but relaxed when she saw a familiar face.
"You're in decompression on a jet back to the mainland," Zoë Aetos told her.
"Where's Fitz?" She tried to sit up, but Zoë put her hand to the glass.
"Easy. Easy." She settled, staring up at her in worry. "His heart's still beating, just barely. There is a full med team with him, including Sara. But you have to remain in his chamber, okay? His brain was without oxygen from a long time, but you saved him."
"It was the other way around. How did you find us?"
"That makeshift beacon of yours, good thinking. Led Sara right to you. Now, sleep. Okay?" Simmons nodded, closing her eyes as she forced herself to relax.


Skye sat across from Zeller, the man she had been speaking to earlier. He had the backpack strapped to his chest.
"Looks like the back entrance to the factory floor is on the south side," Skye spoke into her walkie-talkie.
"Roger that," replied Coulson. She lowered the walkie-talkie and frowned at Zeller. She held up her phone.
"I have to hit snooze on this every minute to keep that from blowing."
"I will die before talking, but there's nothing to tell. There's no way of controlling the soldiers unless there's an actual handler at the machine."
"I'm not interested in that. I'm more interested in why you're willing to die for HYDRA." He scoffed, turning away from her. "Are you a true believer? Is HYDRA the plucky little family you never had? Or are you here because of the incentives program?" He quickly looked up at that and Skye almost smiled.
"She's not going to kill you."

She spun around to see Ward standing in the doorway, his gun trained on her.
"She couldn't kill me and she hates me."
"Nah, I was ready to kill you, Ward. It was your fiancée that couldn't do it. And I don't hate you. I feel sorry for you. Betraying the only people who gave you a chance at being a decent human being. Fitz was a hero because he still wanted to give you that chance after everything. But, some people are just born evil, I guess."
"Yeah. Yeah, maybe they are. I've learned things about you, Skye, history, things you'll want to know." He started walking closer to her. "You and I aren't that different." She laughed at him.
"You're not the evil I was referring to. Garrett is evil. You're just—weak—doing anything you're told. I hope Garrett orders you to walk into traffic."

He practically snarled, holding gun up higher against her face.
"I'm not afraid of you, Ward."
"You're not going to kill us with the bomb. You'd go too."
"No. I have a weapon much better than a bomb that will absolutely destroy you." She gave him a smirk as hie raised his eyebrow in interest.
"And why's that?"
"Because you basically kidnapped her only family member." Before he could digest her words, May appeared, throwing a punch against his face. Skye turned back to Zeller.
"Let's talk incentives."


Garrett paced the lab, waiting for Coulson, freezing when he heard a voice.
"Hey-ho, friends! The enemy approaches!" Garrett turned to Mike.
"Check the perimeter." Mike nodded, walking away.
"Careful, now, or they'll win the day."
"Hi, John," Coulson said. Garrett spun around to find Coulson standing behind him. Coulson punched him in the face and his head jerked back a from the hit.
"Hi, Phil." Garrett hit Coulson in the abdomen, sending him flying a good twenty feet back. Coulson landed hard, dropping his gun.
"Well, that's new."

He pulled himself over to his gun but found a set of feet standing next to him. He followed the feet up to see Fury standing there, hands in his pockets.
"Sir?" Fury shook his head.
"You don't have to call me "sir", Coulson. Look at me. I'm dressed like I live under a bridge." Coulson frowned, staring up at him in confusion.
"What are you doing here?"
"Sara got ahold of me through Aetos."

In front of them, guns started going off, but they were safe momentarily behind giant tanks.
"I went through great pains to make sure you didn't die the first time." Coulson scrambled to his feet.
"Well, now's probably not the best time, but I'd like to have a lengthy conversation with you about that… It might get loud."
"And I owe you that. But right now, we owe Garrett a punch in the teeth, wouldn't you say?"

From behind him, Fury pulled out a very large weapon.
"This… packs a pretty good punch." Coulson grinned, taking the gun away from him.
"I know what it does." He walked out from behind the tanks and fired on the guards who appeared. He took out all the guards, but then the gun appeared to run out of power. Fury appeared at that moment, emptying the clip of his gun into Garrett's torso. Garrett stumbled backward with each shot. He fell to his knees and Fury stopped firing. Then Garrett looked up with an evil grin.
"Fury," Garrett said, getting to his feet. "Well, hell… when the last time anyone saw a tag team wrestling match with four dead guys?"
"I only see one dead guy in here," Coulson said.

Garrett shook his head, looking to Mike.
"Oh, the power's all on this side of the room, fellas." He turned back to face Coulson and Fury. "Phil, I'm surprised you'd try and stop me. Of course, I don't blame you, Nick. You haven't seen the big picture, the big bang, the timeless frozen ocean, but Phil here has. We share a bond. We're blood buddies." Fury and Coulson just stared at him, Coulson with a soft smile and Fury with a confused expression.
"You didn't tell me he'd gone this crazy."
"He's really stepped it up a notch."


Across the building, Skye took Zeller at gunpoint into a hallway. She bent down to a guard that was out cold on the ground. She took his keys and walked pass Zeller to a doorway and opened the door. Inside was a woman lying on a bed. She sat up when the door opened. Zeller looked in, his face lighting up in excitement.
"Kyle?" the woman asked.
"Oh, baby!" He hurried inside, giving her a kiss and a hug. "I'm sorry for what they did to you." She hugged him tightly back as Skye hurried to open more doors. "Who are you looking for?" Zeller asked. Skye opened a door, smiling in relief when she saw Ace Peterson.
"Our Ace in the hole."


Garrett grinned at Fury.
"You remember that speech you used to give us, Nick, about how one man can accomplish anything once he realizes he can be something bigger. Well, now I am."
"A part," Fury corrected. "A part of something bigger."
Garrett frowned, "Is that how it went?"
"Not a great listener," Coulson said.
"If you tell me this whole HYDRA path thing that you took is because you misheard my damn "one man" speech…"
"I am the key to the future of the universe. I'm the origin of all things." Fury rolled his eyes, turning to Coulson.
"You got it, right?"
"Totally. Loud and clear." With a point of his finger, Garrett made a sweeping motion with his arm, and it landed on Coulson and Fury. Mike focused on them, his eye glowing red as he lifted his arm, the missile launcher appearing.


Standing from Ace, Skye faced Zeller. His eyes widened as he squeezed his wife together.
"No, come on, please, I—" Skye unzipped the backpack, pulling out a Hulk toy. Zeller looked at it and rolled his eyes. "Aw, man." Skye gave the figurine to Ace and knelt before him.
"Here. Okay, Ace, I need you to give me a message, okay? Something your father would know could only come from you. I need to prove I have you."
"It won't matter," said Zeller. "I've already told you, there's no way to communicate with Deathlok from in here."
"I don't need to," Skye said. He held up her cellphone. "I've been communicating with him the whole time." She held out the phone to Ace. "Please." He nodded, taking the phone. He typed into it and Skye read it over his shoulder.

Dad, what are we? We're a team.


Coulson and Fury stared at Garrett and Mike.
"Fury was teaching us something you didn't want to hear, John," Coulson said, "'cause you only think about yourself." Garrett gave him a big grin. "That's the difference between your side and our side, and why we're always gonna win."
"What lesson, Phil? Please enlighten me." While Garrett spoke, Mike turned, and fired one of his missiles at him. It hit Garrett's chest, sending him flying backwards and hitting the wall hard. He sat up and coughed out smoke. His face and body were bloody and singed. "You can't do this, Mike. I order you to stand down!"

Mike walked towards Garrett. Garrett looked along the floor and saw a gun in his hand of one of the downed soldiers. He started to try and pull himself towards the gun. "
You must obey me! You need me to translate the words of creation. You don't want to do this, Mike." Mike now stood right above him. "Tell him, Phil!" Garrett begged.
"Mr. Peterson's free to do whatever he wants." Mike glared down at Garrett and with a grimace he lifted his right foot and brought it down hard on Garrett's head. The mechanics in his leg whirled as he did so. Coulson and Fury looked away and Fury leaned in close to Coulson.
"You think he learned his lesson?"
"He learned something."


Coulson stood beside Trip and an Navy Officer as S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers took Centipede people into custody.
"Without regular injections, they're just men. Once doctors remove their cybernetic eyes they'll be essentially back to normal."
"Minus an eye, of course," Trip added. The two frowned as Ward was Ward was walked up to them. His arms were cuffed behind his back.
"You got a chance to express all of your feelings?" Coulson asked.
"Is he still breathing?" Coulson looked to Ward.
"Guess she kept some of it to herself."
"I saved something for Sara."
Coulson shook his head, "No. She's not to know he's alive. He was killed."
May nodded, "Understood… he's having trouble speaking. I think I fractured his larynx."

As she grinned, Coulson looked over at her.
"Oh, good." He took a step closer to Ward.
"Your attempt to cross of Fitz and Simmons failed. But Fitz may never be the same again. Neither will my daughter. So, I'm going to invent new ways to ruin the rest of your life. And we will do whatever's necessary to get HYDRA intel from you, but your torture—it's going to be internal."
"And a little bit external," May added.
"Sure, some of that. But you devoted your entire life to a deranged narcissist who never gave a damn about anyone, and now he's dead. You've got the rest of your life to wrestle with the question—who are you without him?" Ward lowered his eyes in response.


Outside the building, Skye walked over to Mike who was watching Ace run into his aunt's arms.
"Why don't you go to him?" Skye asked. "I don't want him to see what I've become."
"He won't care about your burns."
"That's not what I mean." He looked at her and they shared a long look before he lowered his head and walked away.
"Coulson said to bring you in."
"You can access my hardware and watch my every move. Go ahead. I'll only be making amends for my actions."
"Whatever you did, you did it for Ace."
"And what I do now? That'll be for him, too."


Coulson paced in front of Fury on The Bus as it flew towards a new location.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, and cruel, and very stupid!" Fury lifted his hand to stop him.
"I think you've made your point."
"Why bring me back to life in the first place? Clearly, I didn't think it was the best idea. I warned you about people losing their minds."
"Agent May was on top of the situation." Coulson shot a look to May. "She says you're fine." She nodded at that. "Aren't you?" Coulson shrugged at the question. "It was a "break glass in case of emergency" situation."
"Yes, but that emergency was supposed to be the fall of an Avenger."

Fury leaned up in his seat, focused on Coulson.
"Exactly. And I'm damn I glad I did, too. When you want to build something you need a strong foundation. Now, you know how few people I trust, Coulson."
"You can count them on one hand."
"And I'm not afraid to cut off fingers. The principle S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded upon was pure."
"Protection," May said.

Without taking his eyes off Coulson, Fury pointed at May.
"Protection—one word. Sometimes to protect one man against himself—other times to protect the planet against an alien invasion from another universe. It's a broad job description."
"No need to tell me."
"But the belief that drives us all is the same, whether it's one man or all mankind."
"That they're worth saving."

Nodding, Fury stood.
"That truth lives inside you, Coulson. Before it was torn about S.H.I.E.L.D. was a lot of moving parts. Guys like you were the heart. Now…" He held up a small black cube to Coulson. "You'll be the head." Coulson took the cube from Fury.
"What is it?"
"A toolbox to help you build it back up."
"You want me to start over, rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D."
"From scratch. Take your time and do it right."

He walked past May, speaking to her as he did so.
"You'll still have his back?"
"Of course," May agreed. Fury glanced back at Coulson.
"There's no one else I trust with this."
"Thank you, sir. How do you—how should I proceed?"
"That's up to you." Fury held out his hand. "Director."

In slight awe, Coulson shook Fury's hand.
"And you, sir, where are you heading now?" May asked.
"Well, I'm trading my bird's eye view for two solid feet on the ground. This is the last time you'll be seeing me for a stretch."
"You're gonna disappear, nowhere to be found."
"Nowhere?" Fury chuckled. "You know me better than that, Phil." He walked to the doorway and stopped inside of it. "I'll be everywhere."


When The Bus finally landed at the new base, Trip, Coulson, May, and Skye all stood nearly shoulder to shoulder. The ramp lowered and a head appeared, followed by the sadly smiling Jemma Simmons. May spotted her and stood up straighter. Skye was the first to move, rushing down the still lowering ramp to embrace Simmons tightly.
"Fitz, is he okay?" Skye asked. "Please tell me he's okay."
"He's alive," called Sara. May turned to see her "daughter" standing there. She walked over to her, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Sara sagged into her, eyes closing in exhaustion. Fitz might never be the same again and it worried Sara. And upset her. Upset her that she couldn't do what he deserved.
"What is this place, Coulson?" May asked.
"First thing I found in that box was these coordinates." He glanced at Simmons. "Another secret base?"
"Actually, I call it The Playground, although, technically, it doesn't have a name because technically it doesn't exist."

Everyone turned to see Koenig walk towards them. Sara could have laughed at the absurdity of it if she wasn't so tired.
"Eric?" Skye asked.
"Billy… Koenig. Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." He held up his lanyard proudly. "Although, I totally understand the confusion. Eric passed away, sadly, but it's great ot have company, finally, and I didn't mind minding this place."
"Agent Coulson," greeted Coulson.
"I know. I know. And it's an honor to meet you, sir." He shook Coulson's hand firmly. "I'll get your lanyard shortly." He looked at the rest of the team. "For the rest of you, lanyards will be handed out on a case-by-case basis. Can't be too careful with all those HYDRA threats still out there causing trouble. That's why we're here. Get you up and running and back fighting the good fight, which is gonna be cool." Smiling, Coulson chuckled at Koenig's enthusiasm. "I know we don't have much, but what we do have is yours, sir."
"Thank you."
"So… where would you like to start?"


A few weeks later, Sara found herself sitting in Fitz' room. He was still hooked up to machines. She didn't know when she'd be able to disconnect him. Soon, she hoped. He showed signs of waking. His brain activity was all over the place, but that was normal for now.

She looked up as Simmons slipped into the room, taking the seat beside her.
"Coulson's sending me under cover," Simmons whispered, staring at Fitz. "He says I can handle it. But I can't imagine leaving Fitz like this." Sara leaned into her friend's side, head resting on Simmons' shoulder.
"What a sorry bunch we make, huh?" She passed a small device to Simmons and Simmons looked down at it.

If it hadn't been for their present circumstances, Simmons would have squealed.
"How long have you…"
"I don't know… I had a suspicion before. Remember that test I had you run?"
"You thought you had food poisoning. I gave you the results before we left you and Skye." "
Turns it was just morning nausea. Then Raina tried to poke some questions."
"This determines it. I'll stay."

Sighing, Sara lifted her head to look her friend in the eye.
"Simmons, do you want to go."
"I don't know. I feel useless just sitting here, waiting for Fitz to get better."
"And he will," Sara promised.
"But what if he needs me?"
"Then I'll make sure to set up a secure channel if you go."
"But you'll need me."
"I have May. And Trip. And I think Mack is gonna be showing up soon. You know how he is." Simmons laughed, wiping at her eyes.
"Are you sure you'll be fine without me?"
"I'm going to miss you. And Fitz will miss you."

With a sigh, Simmons stood, pressing a kiss to Fitz' forehead.
"Goodbye." She left the two siblings alone again.
"You hear that, Fitz?" Sara asked. "You're going to be an uncle. And I think you'll be the best one there is."


End of Season One


Hi!
We are now at the end of season 1. We will venture for a bit in season 2, but not for long. I have plans for Sara that I hope you all will enjoy. I too am upset about Ward. I thought I could make him good in the end, but it seems as though he has let Sara go and she went. I'd like to give you all a heads up for the next few chapters.

As we begin to wrap up this story, I will be changing how I do chapters. For the next few episodes, only places where Sara is present will be shown. If Sara is not in a scene, that scene will not be added. This will make for shorter chapters, but also reflect on my current writing style. In the beginning I enjoyed writing out the full episodes for shows, but now that I have developed more as a fanfiction writer, I have decided to change that style. Thanks! I hope to see you all in the next chapter.
-Amy Thorton

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