Episode 7: The Hub
Part One

Two soldiers led a man with a bag over his head through a long corridor. They took him into a room, sat him down, and took off the bag. Coulson took a deep breath, looking around.
"I don't mean to alarm you, but I think you may have a mold problem. That sink with the standing water seems especially concerning."

One of the soldiers punched Coulson in the face before turning to another soldier, speaking Russian to him.
"Just wait until the interrogator gets here. He won't be smiling then." They laughed.
"Looking forward to it," Coulson said. They turned surprised that he could understand them

Another figure walked down the hallway, stopping right in front of Coulson. He looked down at him. He picked a tool up off a tray, set it down, then picked up another one. He walked closer to Coulson. "You have the intel on you?" Coulson asked. The man cocked his head, confused.
"They know."
"They know?" the Interrogator repeated.
"We have three minutes, Agent Shaw."

With a loud yell, May rushed into the room. She knocked out one of the soldiers when she entered. There was a spark on Coulson's handcuffs, and they fell apart. Coulson, May, and Shaw worked to take out the soldiers around them. Ward walked into the room, his arms crossed.
"Time to go, Agents," he said.
"Exit?" Coulson asked.
"Follow me," May commanded.

The four of them rushed out.
"I was wondering what you guys had been up to," Coulson said. They ran through a hallway and passed by soldiers who were knocked out. May jumped up and grabbed a wheel on the ceiling, turning it. It dropped open like a port on a ship. Coulson looked up into the sky and waved to the others.
"Go."
"All right," Ward nodded.

Ward began to climb up the ladder. When he made it to the top, he shivered slightly at the cold. He bent down, helping Coulson up onto the surface. Once everyone was up, they jumped onto a sled.
"Um, where are the dogs?" Shaw asked.
"Don't be ridiculous," Coulson rolled his eyes. A cable under the sled was snapped tight and it moved forward. Shaw saw that the cables were attached to something inside The Bus, and they were being pulled directly towards it.

Inside The Bus, Shaw was looking at a tool in Simmons' hand with worry on his face as the end of the tool opened and closed.
"I bet you're usually the one holding something like this," Coulson remarked, smiling. "Don't worry, she knows what she's doing."

Simmons gave Shaw a smile.
"Whatever you do, don't breath." Shaw took a deep breath and held it. Simmons grinned at him. "That was a joke. You should, of course, feel comfortable breathing if you need to, just not through your nose. And very minimally through your mouth." She moved the tool towards his face.

On the monitor behind her, she watched as the tool went through Shaw's nose and into his sinus cavity. He groaned uncomfortably as she moved the tool around, looking for something. She grabbed a pill shaped capsule out of his sinus cavity and pulled it out.
"Ah, here we are."

Coulson was watching the screen with an uncomfortable grimace on his face. Shaw exhaled and panted after Simmons, who had a large, pleased smile on her face, removed the capsule.
"That's all the intel you recovered?" Coulson asked. Shaw was holding massaging his nose.
"I certainly hope so."

Simmons opened the capsule and removed a microchip for Coulson with a set of tweezers. Coulson took it from her.
"Well, thank you, Agent Shaw, for keeping it safe up there. We'll push this through at The Hub." Simmons looked up at Coulson with excitement. "In fact, we're headed there right now to drop you off. Get you a change of clothes, a proper meal, you'll be good as new." Coulson nodded at both of them and walked off.
"How exciting," Simmons gushed. "It's been ages."

She and Coulson walked up to the living room area of The Bus. Fitz saw them and he got out of his seat, setting down his coffee mug.
"Oh, good. Done with that paranasal extraction nonsense." Skye, who had been sitting opposite Fitz, looked over her shoulder and set down her tablet.

Fitz met up with Coulson, holding out his hand.
"Do you need me to analyze the data?" he asked. Coulson walked right by him.
"That won't be necessary." Skye took a step forward as well.
"If it's encrypted, I can mine the chip for him." Coulson walked past her as well.
"I'm afraid this mission's classified."

May, Ward, and Sara walked into the living room to listen to Coulson.
"Clearance Level 8," he said.
"Uh…" Skye looked confused, and Simmons nodded as if it all made sense.
"Ah." Coulson turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Fitz-Simmons also turned to head back to their lab.

Everyone seemed to go back to what they were doing, but Skye was still confused.
"Wait, what?" she looked at Sara. "He can just shut us out of the process like that?" Fitz-Simmons stopped and turned back to her. Even Sara and Ward paused just outside their bunk.
"Well, he did say the mission was Level 8," Fitz shrugged.
"And we're not," Simmons added. "So, we can't know about it."
"Right," Skye nodded. "But this is normally the part where we all stand around the holocom, and we learn about stuff. I mean, aren't we all on the same team?"
Fitz shook his head, "No need to get started on one of your socialist riffs."

May smirked at that.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s whole infrastructure is based on the hierarchy and compartmentalization of intelligence," Simmons said. She shrugged and they started off again. Ward nodded, looking down at Skye.
"Every agent can't have the intel on every mission. Makes the entire organization vulnerable."
"Okay fine," Skye nodded. "But if I just fought my way out of an underground Siberian prison, I'd kinda want to know what for."
"Coulson's got you used to the plane, the way we do missions here," May said. "The Hub is different."
"That Hub?" Skye asked. "What's The Hub?"

Skye's eyes widened as she stared down at The Bus that was parked inside a gigantic building.
"Wow," she gasped. She looked over to the side and hurried to catch up with everyone else. "I didn't realize Big Brother was this big," she remarked.
"Oh, this is nothing," Simmons dismissed. "Wait until you see The Triskelion."
"Everyone's wearing the same suit. Someone tell me why, please," Skye begged.

Sara, who was walking beside Fitz, turned and walked backwards carefully, keeping her eyes on Skye.
"Because we're spies as well as business working men and women. Dressing the same keeps us looking like we fit in. No one wants to be different. It puts a target on our back." Ward rolled his eyes, taking in her white shirt with black jeans as she spun around to walk normally.
"No one wants to be different?" he repeated, lightly pressing a hand onto the small of her back before pulling away.

A small smirk appeared on Sara face as they walked up to a reception desk. Everyone but Skye grabbed badges.
"Do I get one?" Skye asked. Coulson looked at her, pointing at her bracelet.
"That's your badge, which means you've got a long way to go to even make Level 1."
"Copy that," Skye nodded. "Does that also mean no access to any computers here whatsoever? I could run a search on the redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. file on my parents."
"Skye…"
"But it just, it seems like the place they'd keep them, right?"
"I'll look into it," he promised. "But right now we've got more pressing matters at hand."

They came to a stop in front of another man.
"Agent Sitwell," Coulson greeted.
"Agent Coulson. Good to see you feeling better." Sitwell reached out and they shook hands as they continued walking. "Agent Hand's waiting for you in the Situation Room."
"And she doesn't like to wait," Coulson said.
"So, you know her," Sitwell smirked.
"Only her reputation," Coulson nodded.

Coulson and Sitwell stopped in front of a doorway.
"After you," Coulson offered.
"Your Level 7s can join us in the briefing," Sitwell said. He leaned into a terminal on the wall which spoke in a robotic voice.
"Say cheese." He beeped and the doors opened. Coulson also go into the terminal, and it scanned him, allowing him to enter. Fitz-Simmons were at the back of the group, looking on with awe.
"Victoria Hand…" Simmons gapped.
"Is here," Fitz finished.

Skye walked to the door and her bracelet, along with her arm, was magnetized to a plate on the door. She looked up with confusion as Fitz-Simmons looked slightly embarrassed.
"Ouch," Fitz winched. The doors began to close as Skye tried to free herself. The doors opened again as Coulson appeared.
"Is this your subtle way of saying I can't come with?" she asked.
"We'll be back," Coulson said.
"Wha…?" She scoffed as he walked away and turned to look at Fitz-Simmons.

Fitz looked at Simmons.
"We should probably head over to the tech corridor." Simmons rolled her eyes with excitement.
"Oh, I can't wait to see the new chem-kit!" They turned and started off as Skye watched them go.
"I don't think it likes me here."

Inside another hallway, Sitwell, Coulson, May, Ward, and Sara were walking. There was another woman standing with her back to them inside a room with glass doors. When the five of them got close, the doors opened, and the woman turned around.
"Agent Hand," Coulson greeted.
"Agent Coulson," she smiled. They shook hands when he was close enough to do so. "Nice to finally put a face to the name," Hand said.
"Likewise," Coulson nodded. "These are Agents, May, Ward, and Reyes-Fitz."

Coulson's agents nodded at her.
"Well, now that we've gotten that over with, here's what you can know," Hand began. Sara and Ward shared a look at her abruptness. She clicked something on a remote and the screens behind her changed. "The intel you recovered from Agent Shaw, tell us that a separatist group from South Ossetia has built a weapon called Exbittometer."
"The Overkill Device?" Sara scoffed.

Hand smirked, nodding in her direction.
"A little dramatic for my taste as well. I imagine something was lost in translation. We've intercepted chatter that tells us that they plan to use the weapon in the next 24 hours to declare their independence from Russia and Georgia." She clicked another button on her remote and the picture changed. This time the picture showed wires nad perhaps some sort of powering device.
"We believe it creates sonic vibrations powerful enough to trigger weapons from a great distance. Anything from the missiles on a helicopter to a nuclear warhead sitting in its silo."
"So… if we move on them, they could use our own weapons against us," Coulson said.
"Exactly. That's why I need a two-man team to sneak across the disputed border undetected, break into the separatist stronghold, and disable the weapon in the next 24 hours. And you have several people who fit my bill."

Coulson turned to his three, who were looking at each other, silently conversing. Sara wore a look of disappointment.
"Not a problem," May finally said.
"I was in Georgia during the incursion in '08," Ward said. "I still have contacts on the south Ossetian border."
"And you'll have to use them. But we don't have specs on the device, so I need someone on the team who can identify and dismantle it on-site."

May and Coulson looked down at Sara, who's eyes had closed with a sigh. Even Ward looked suddenly tired.
"Do you mean…" Sara's voice was low as it trailed off. Coulson even turned to look at Hand with surprise.
"I think she does."

Fitz walked down a hallway with a cart. He stopped at some doors as they opened for him. He smiled at Simmons.
"I found a localized EMP," he told her. "Plus a few other party favors." Just as the cart was going through the doors, they closed on it. They continued to try to close as Fitz looked at them with exasperation. "Oh, come on. What the… open… It's stuck!"

Coulson, Ward, May, and Sara watched from a distance. Fitz had his hands on one side of the door, trying to pry them open. He grunted as he tried to push them apart. He got them open a bit and turned to go back to push the cart. They closed as soon as he let them go.
"What the hell! Who designed this! In The Hub, of all places!"

As Fitz strained with the cart, Coulson looked over at Ward with amusement. Sara took a deep breath before walking over to help Fitz. She pulled on the cart, and it moved between the doors. Fitz tried to walk forward, but the doors closed in his face.
"Oh, that's just perfect!" he yelled. Ward looked down at Coulson, who had a smile on his face.
"Seriously?" he blanched.

Simmons sat on Fitz' bed in The Bus. There was walkie-talkies, water, a watch, tape and a flashlight beside her.
"I just can't believe you're going in, dark, in hostile territory, without comms, lacking any real physical strength," she said.
"I'll be fine," Fitz promised.
"Did I give you an Antivenin Pack?" she questioned. She picked one up and held it out to him. "The Caucasus have a plethora of highly endemic spider species."

Fitz frowned at her.
"Jemma, stop. Stop worrying about me. I can do this." He took the box out of her hands and put it in his bag."Thank you," Fitz said. "And don't you do anything rash while I'm gone…" Simmons gave him a questioning look. "Like jump out of an airplane." She gave him a small smile and looked away. He reached to pick up the flashlight and she put his hand on top of his.
"Well, you be careful."
"Yeah, I've handled worse."

Picking up the flashlight, he tested it before packing it away.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I made you this." She had got excited, and he sighed, rolling his eyes before looking up. She held up something wrapped in white paper and then wrapped again in plastic. It had his name written on it.
"Your favorite sandwich, prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella." Fitz' eyes lit up. "With your homemade pesto aioli?"
"Just a hint," Simmons nodded.

Skye appeared at the door.
"Hey, is this what you wanted?" She held up a small black bag. "Also, what is this?"
"Oh, Fitz. A full sized mag pouch?" Simmons asked.
"Just one of the many tactical decisions I've already had to make," he shrugged.
"Hmm…"
"And Ward said we needed it." He looked challengingly at both of them, and they looked away.

In the Planning room, May worked at the holocom as Coulson and Ward watched on.
"We need to disable the overkill device by 0600 tomorrow in order to prevent the separatist attack," May said. Coulson looked at Ward.
"Once you signal S.H.I.E.L.D. the extraction team will get you both out… Take care of him."
Ward nodded, catching sight of Sara through the glass walls, "Of course, sir."

Sara was sitting in the living room, reading a book and he walked over to her.
"Hey," he smiled. She looked up at him, smiling brightly but it didn't reach her eyes.
"This isn't safe, Ward," she muttered. "I don't like it." He sat down beside her, pulling her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder as he hugged her tightly.
"It'll be fine," he promised. "I'll take care of Fitz." She nodded, pulling away.

Ward pulled her back, kissing her firmly. She kissed him back happily. Whenever they entered a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, they had to act indifferent to each other. It wasn't often two agents got together. Attachments were rare between S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
"More moving, less snogging my sister," Fitz called, causing the two to jump apart. Ward sent him a glare. "Time is not on our side."

Sara started laughing, pulling away from Ward.
"See you tomorrow afternoon," she called to her brother. Ward stood, following Fitz out of The Bus. Skye stopped beside Sara.
"Does this feel okay to you?" she asked. "Shouldn't we be going with him?" Coulson shook his head before Sara could agree with her.
"The people who put these ops together are the best of the best. They know what they're doing." He walked out, and Skye took a deep breath, letting out a sigh.

Ward drove a jeep with Fitz in the passenger seat. They pulled into a parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Ward was gritting his teeth, trying to ignore Fitz' constant need to talk when he was nervous.
"So, Simmons, by this point, doesn't have a bloody clue. You know, we're in the back, trying to contain our laughter. So, Simmons goes into the vacuum chamber wearing… wearing a-a bunny suit. Um, we just call it that because it, it covers your whole body. So, she's in the vacuum chamber, but when she takes her mask off to speak to me…" Ward parked and has got out, they looked at each other. "She sneezed all over the Faraday Cup…"

With roll of his eyes, Ward removed his sunglasses, leveling Fitz with an unimpressed look, then walked away.
"Which is funny," Fitz continued. He removed his sunglasses and hurried to catch up with Ward.
"Do you have the beacon?" Ward asked.
"Yeah," Fitz took it out of his pocket. "But it's funny because vacuum chambers are so dry…" Ward held out his hand, but Fitz was so into his story that he didn't hand over the beacon. "And this instrument was actually supposed to go into space."

Fitz was laughing as Ward took the beacon away.
"It had sensitive chemicals components." Ward, beacon in hand, knelt close to the ground and set it down. "Simmons actually tells it a lot better than I do." Ward stood and walked away as Fitz jogged to catch up to him.
"Listen," Ward said firmly. "My contact is Uri Dubrovsky. We'll pay him to get us across the border."

They walked around to the front of the building.
"We go back," Ward continued. "But he doesn't like new people. So, keep your mouth shut and your head down." Ward entered the building followed by Fitz. The outside looked like a gas station, but the inside looked more like a bar. There was a soccer game on the television as the men sat around a bar and at tables drinking beers.

Ward got a few looks from the locals when he entered. He found an empty space at the bar and leaned in to speak to the bartender in Russia.
"Evening." The bartender gave him his attention.
"Two vodkas, straight. One for me and one for my friend… Uri."

There was another man sitting at the bar in front of the bartender. The bartender looked at the man and he finished his drink, standing up. Ward prepared for an attack as Fitz walked up to him.
"Um, can you ask what beers that they have on tap?"

Shushing him, Ward pushed him back slightly and out of the way of the man.
"Uri is your friend?" the man asked in harsh English.
"Yeah," Ward nodded. Fitz nodded as well.
"Uri's dead." Ward's face betrayed just a little bit of worry. The bar man reached into the back of his pants and pulled out a handgun. He cocked it and aimed it at Ward, who turned his head when he heard another gun cock behind him. "You have no friends here."

Sara looked up as she heard a box set on the table. The man carelessly pushed the Night-Night gun away.
"No, no, no!" she exclaimed, rushing forward. She picked it up, holding it close to her chest. "Please be careful," she scolded. Nearby, Simmons nodded.
"Can you imagine what Fitz would do if the Night-Night gun was broken when he came back?" She sighed, "Surely he'll be okay out there, right?"
"Well, Agents May and Reyes-Fitz are Level 7," Skye shrugged. "Maybe they can give us an update on their mission."

May glanced at Sara before looking at Skye in irritation.
"Does that mean that you do know something nad you can't tell us or that you don't know anything?" Skye asked. "Which non-expression is this?"
"We know what we're supposed to know," May said firmly. Simmons lowered her shoulders in disappointment. "When we have more information, we'll react." May turned back to her tablet as Skye went back to working on the laptop she had in front of her. "All right, clear out," May ordered. "I need to run some diagnostics then reboot."

Simmons and Skye looked up at her as she walked past.
"That means you two. Off," she gestured towards the door as Sara hopped onto the tabletop. Skye closed her laptop and Simmons grabbed her stuff. Skye walked closer to Simmons.
"You guys may be okay with being in the dark, but I'm not into it. I need answers. And I know just the person who has them." Simmons gave her a worried look.
"Who?"
"Coulson. I'm obviously talking about Coulson."

Coulson stood in a room with Hand. The two of them were standing in front of a large screen that showed various locations.
"I'm going to need three more chalks queued up at the border," Hand commanded.
"And a fourth standby by in Armenia?" Coulson offered.
"Great minds," Hand smiled. Coulson laughed at that. "It must be nice to be off that plane," Hand remarked. "I understand you're almost through your recovery."
"The plane has nothing to do with my recovery," Coulson said.

Hand shrugged her shoulders.
"I only know what I've read. Seems Fury has a soft spot for his favorites. Not everyone gets sent to Tahiti."
"It's a magical… place."
"All I meant was it must feel good to be back in the big leagues."
"Two of my agents are the key to this operation," Coulson reminded her. "I never left the big leagues."
"Let's hope they're as good as you think they are," she said before walking away.

Inside the bar, Ward and Fitz were tried up in the back room of the building. Ward was looking around, trying to ascertain what was going on. Fitz kept his voice low when he spoke to Ward.
"What's happening?" he asked. "Why haven't they killed us yet? I mean, I'm glad they haven't killed us yet."
"They're waiting for their boss," Ward told him. "So, before he gets here, we need a plan."

Looking around, a thought came to him. He looked quickly at Fitz.
"How long can you hold your breath underwater?" Ward asked.
"I don't know," Fitz answered.
"You familiar with the term "slam and cram"?"
"No, and I d- I don't think I want to be." Ward took a deep breathing, seemingly getting annoyed.
"How attached are you to your pinkie."

Fitz' eyes went wide before darkening.
"Very, very attached. And before you ask another terrifying vague question, let me be clear. Any plan that involves even one of those scenarios isn't going to work for me." Ward attempted to shush him as he heard footsteps, but Fitz ignored him.
"As a matter of fact, I've –"

His words were cut off when a person, a woman, entered the back area where they were held. She walked in and stopped right in front of them.
"I heard you were looking for your friend Uri," the woman said. "And Uri was friends with separatists. Are you separatist?" Fitz watched Ward closely, unsure of what to say or do.
"No. We're here to stop them," Ward said.
"Definitely here to stop them," Fitz agreed.
"Trust me. If you could just help us get across the border –"

Ward's words were cut off when a loud cheer went up in the other room. The woman showed her annoyance, throwing her head back with a grunt. When she spoke, it was in Russia.
"Ah! I'm missing the game." She turned back to her two captives.
"You're wasting my time, so let me be clear. You've given me to reason to trust you, and trust is everything to me."

While she spoke, the man to her right pulled out his gun, aiming it at Ward. Just as he was about to shoot, there was a zapping noise and all the power in the building was knocked out. Fitz looked around with surprise. There was a lot of unhappy groans from the front of the bar.

Coulson walked down a hallway as Skye hurried to catch up with him.
"Hey. Fancy seeing you here." He shook his head.
"Skye, I told you I'd look into the file about your parents."
"No, I know," she shook her head. "That's not why I'm here. I wanted to know more about Ward and Fitz' mission. Simmons is seriously starting to unravel without Fitz… on the upside, I've never seen Sara calmer."

Glancing back, Coulson saw Simmons standing a few feet away.
"I know it's hard to hear, but you don't have clearance," he said tiredly.
"But I have eyes," Skye argued. "I saw six squads in full tactical gear, three crates of RPGs and a full crew of analysts head to operations. Are you really telling me that has nothing to do with Ward and Fitz' mission? If I'm right, give me a signal by not saying anything."
"Trust the system," was his final words before he walked away.

Skye watched him go with a shocked look. She sighed, crossing her eyes. Simmons appeared next to her with a smile.
"How did it go?" she asked eagerly.
"Nothing," Skye snapped. "He's acting like a robot version of himself right now." Skye turned away from watching Coulson to face Simmons. "If we want the truth, we've got to get it ourselves."
"Okay. How would you suggest…"

Simmons' face turned serious as she realized what Skye was suggesting.
"Oh, wait. No. No."
"Yes," Skye smirked.
"No!" the scientist exclaimed. "I can't be a part of your bad girl shenanigans. I like following the rules and do what's expected of me. It makes me feel nice." Skye rolled her eyes.
"Simmons wake up! Ward and Fitz went on a top-secret, two man operation and look."

Skye pointed at the men in tactical gear walking among them.
"There are more men. And either it's a bigger deal and they're not telling us, or something went wrong out there. And maybe, there's nothing we can do to help, but we got to know if there is. What if they're injured or being tortured somewhere right now?" Simmons looked at Skye with worry.
"Fitz. Tortured," she repeated. Skye gave her a pointed look and she sighed. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

Fitz stared down into an electrical box under some floorboards.
"Okay! Enough!" he called to the man lowering him down. "Okay. A little to the left, Vladimir… Gentle! Gentle." Vladimir slowed his movements. "That's it, okay." Nearby, Ward watched in concern with men holding onto his shoulders. "Can I get more light down here, Marta?" Fitz asked the woman from the back room.
"Of course, Mishka."

Waving her hand, another man turned on a flashlight and shined it down on the floor.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Fitz said. Ward gave Marta a questioning look.
"Little bear?"
"I like watching him work, that little bear," she answered. She smiled and laughed a bit.
"Okay," Fitz called. He hit a button and the lights in the bar came back on to everyone's cheers.

The television came on, the game causing more cheers and applause. Ward showed a tiny smile of appreciation for what Fitz had done. Vladimir lifted Fitz out of the floor and set him back down on his feet gently. Ward gave Fitz a look of respect and Fitz smiled.
"It's nothing," he said humbly.
"Really. I'm just a man." Marta laughed, "Get this man a drink!"
"Oh, no… Here we go," Fitz tried to get out of it before a shot glass was set down in front of him. He clinked his glass with another man and downed it.

Everyone laughed and clapped after he was done.
"Salty," he tried his best not to grimace. He looked up at Ward. The agent casted a glance to Marta then back to Fitz. Fitz turned to face Marta after Ward's glance. "So… let's talk business."

A big army truck drove down a dirt road. It reached a checkpoint and slowed as the gate was lifted for them and the guard waved them through. Ward was glaring at Fitz.
"Two million Rubles? We need to work on your negotiation skills."
"I thought they were like pesos. And anyway, you should be thanking me." He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Ward. "I shorted the circuit breaker with my localized EMP when we were tied up."

Ward stared at the little device in Fitz' hand with some amusement and a little bit impressed.
"Really?"
"Yes, and my plan worked because we're over the border now, aren't we?" Ward looked at Fitz as Fitz pulled on a baseball cap.

Suddenly the breaks squealed, and someone started yelling. Both Ward and Fitz got worried.
"We're stopping," Fitz stated. "Why are we stopping?" Ward lifted a finger and put it in front of his lips, shushing Fitz.
"Quiet." He started to move towards the back of the truck. "Stay here, I'll check it out." Ward stood up tall before instantly lowering himself back down at the sound of gunshots outside the truck. "Okay. Maybe we'll both stay here." They heard yelling and another gunshot.

Outside the truck, two soldiers with guns approached the back. When they got close, beer barrels were thrown from the truck. The soldiers' attention was focused on the barrels, so they didn't see Ward poke out from between the curtains at the back fo the truck. He fired at the barrel and hit ti and liquid was blow from it, knocking the soldiers back.

Another soldier got to the back of the truck and got the butt of a rifle to his face from Ward. Fitz looked out from between the panels of fabric to see Ward knock out the soldiers after jumping down from the truck. Ward glanced over as an army jeep entered the area.
"Fitz! More border patrol!" he yelled. He looked back to the truth only to see Fitz already headed away.
"Already moving! Hurry up!"

May stood just outside the Planning Room doing a round of calming exercises. Sara was asleep on the couch, curled up with her book lying on the floor beside her. Coulson walked up to them, taking a seat beside Sara. He picked up her book, setting it on the coffee table. May paid him no attention.
"Sorry. Am I disturbing you?" Coulson asked. May said nothing, she just continued to do her exercises with a peaceful look on her face. "You know, I know this plane," he told her. "I like the way we do things here. Everyone's on the same page, no red tape. So far, it's working for us."

Without breaking her stride, she shot him a look.
"Most of us," he corrected. She looked away again. "And, maybe I'm getting soft, but I don't like keeping things from our team. If you knew –" Once again May gave him a look. "No, you're right… Level 8. But –" He closed his mouth when she shot him another look. "I know," he sighed. "Trust the system." He looked unhappy to come to this realization. "May? Thanks." He got up and walked away. Sara started laughing, opening her eyes tiredly. May gave her a dramatic roll of her eyes before continuing her exercises.

Simmons walked in a hallway with The Hub.
"Say cheese," said a female robotic voice. Simmons' ID badge came up on the screen, revealing she was Level 5. A door popped open, and Skye was standing right next to her.
"Okay, you have the flash drive. Go." She motioned Simmons to enter through the door.

Skye talked to Simmons through an earpiece after Simmons entered and the glass doors closed.
"I programed it with a decoy crawler. It'll use my browser history to simulate my usual online activity. So while S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks I'm trolling Reddit and Facebook with the laptop they gave me –"
"You'll be hacking the files for Ward and Fitz' mission," Simmons finished.
"Right. And remember, once you plug it in, you'll only have about –"
"Three minutes before S.H.I.E.L.D. catches on."

Another person walked by Simmons, and she hit her face.
"Do you realize that you keep finishing my sent –"
Your sentences. I know, I'm sorry. Bad habit." She gave two people an awkward smile they rounded the corner and saw her standing there. "This is actually a bit thrilling."
"Ah, good. I'm glad. Now, we've just got to figure out a way to get the panel open."
"Don't worry, I made a special something. It's what we do."

Simmons held up some sort of device to the wall in front of her as she laughed. She moved the device around in a circle and a handprint appeared on the wall. With a quiet whirling sound, a panel opened up on the wall. "All done." "Really?" Skye asked, her voice slightly shocked. "Wow, okay. Uh…" "What are you doing, Skye?"

Skye spun around, seeing Sara standing with her arms crossed. She glanced into the room, seeing Simmons. She closed her eyes.
"Skye…"
"We just want information," Skye hurried. "On Ward and Fitz." Sara's eyes darkened and she walked into the room, holding up her badge.

Simmons was studying the panel and didn't notice someone standing next to her for a moment.
"Agent Simmons?" the person asked. Simmons turned and looked up to see Agent Sitwell. She gave him a panicked look.
"It's fine," Skye hissed through their earpiece. "Just play it cool."
"Hello, Mr. Agent Sitwell, sir. May I help you?" Sara sighed as she got closer. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

Ward and Fitz walked towards a large pipe.
"Drainage pipe," Ward said. "We'll wait them out over there."
"Oh, we can't wait too long," Fitz said. "If they use the Overkill device, everyone on the border's in danger."
"I'm aware," Ward nodded.
"That includes Marta and Vlad."
"Oh, you're on first name basis now?"
"Yeah, well, I'm just saying, their lives are on the line too, so let's not get too comfortable." They both entered the pipe and sat down. Fitz was panting hard as they heard people around yelling.

Sitwell stared down at Simmons.
"Call me Jasper," he told her.
"Uh, what brings you to this restricted hallway so late at night?" Simmons asked. Sitwell leaned in towards her, giving her a little smile.
"I could ask you the same thing…"
"Agent Sitwell," Sara called, joining them and coming to a stop beside Simmons.
"Agent Reyes-Fitz," Sitwell said coolly, pulling away from Simmons. "Do you have authorization to access that panel?" Sitwell asked Simmons.
"Uh…"
"Yes, she does," Sara nodded. "My authorization."

The two agents stared at each other for a moment, Sara quietly challenging him to question her.
"I don't believe you," Sitwell said. "You maybe S.H.I.E.L.D.'s princess, Reyes-Fitz, but I…" Sara jumped back as Simmons shot Sitwell in the chest with a Night-Night gun. Simmons covered her mouth.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Oh. My. God," Sara hissed. She grabbed Sitwell's feet and moved him away as Simmons plugged in the flash drive.

Grabbing Simmons' arm, Sara pulled her back to Skye.
"That was terrible Simmons," Sara groaned. "This is terrible. Go get May. I'll stay with Skye… NOW!"
"But May…"
"Will listen to me," Sara snapped. "Go!" She turned to Skye. "You have just under three minutes, get to work." Skye smiled with relief and opened her laptop.