Hey guys,
welcome to "Courage and Knowledge".
This Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fanfiction is starting during Season 2 Episode 9.
As I am adding an OC, I am altering the storyline but I will stick to the plot as closely as possible.
Reviews are always appreaciated, I could really need some feedback or constructive criticism, especially on this first chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.
Chapter 1: Manic Monday
"Those HYDRA bastards!", Skye murmured under her breath.
She had been trying to crack this bloody code for the last three days and still had no clue how to do it. All her programms were currently searching for something, anything that could help her, but there was simply nothing.
"Is it working?", Mack asked concerned.
"Do I look like it would?", Skye shot back, totally annoyed, "this is not just a simple hack, this is pure confusion. It feels as if there must be a system behind it, a pattern of some kind, but I can't quite grasp it. It's kinda like a language. But I am lacking vocabulary and grammar, so nothing makes sense. Also I can't contact other members of the Rising Tide, we don't know what kind of information HYDRA is covering up in their messages."
Mack nodded slowly.
"You should go and talk to Coulson. Maybe he has an idea or something in his Tool Box that could help us."
With that, he left to join Fitz who was training his "bad hand" by installing knew features on the holo desk. A bit reluctantly, the young woman went back to her task, but it still made no more sense than before. Skye didn't like it when things were that messed up. Nothing wrong with a bit of a challenge, but preferably not when you were busy trying to safe the world! So after a while, she started the way to her bosses office. Before she could knock however, there were voices to be heard from the inside.
"May, I know you try to avoid it and I assure you, I don't like talking about it either" - "Then don't do it!", Skye could hear the other woman hiss.
Her voice sounded commanding, but also very strained.
"Don't make me think about it, it keeps me from sleeping at night!"
Something had shifted in her voice, May was almost begging. Melinda May begging? That was something new. And it was scary. Because whatever the reason for this behaviour, it must be bad. Skye would have given a lot to be able to listen to more of this conversation, but in this moment, her nose started itching. Not good - only seconds later she had to sneeze. The echo was loud between the brick walls, no chance of disguising her presence. With a click, the door in front of her opened, May standing in the doorway, frowning.
"How long have you been standing here?", she asked sternly.
"I've just arrived", Skye lied quickly, "wanted to ask the director something about that HYDRA signal. Why? Was there anything classified I could have overheard? Then I should have arrived sooner!"
Apparently her joke was good enough to cover up her uneasiness, because the older agent stepped aside and let her enter. Coulson looked at the hacker curiously.
"So, have you found anything useful?", he wanted to know.
"I am afraid no, Sir", Skye admitted, slightly ducking her head, "the coding is incredibly complex. Sometimes I have the feeling as if I finally understand the system, and then there are those bits coming up screwing all my theories over again! My usual hacking tools don't work either, in short, I have no clue what to do."
It wasn't everyday that the young computer specialist admitted a failure and the others knew that. In an instant, their facial expressions went from hopeful to deadly serious. They simply couldn't afford doing nothing, having a unidentified code doing whatever it did out there - they needed a solution, quickly. Suddenly, Coulson's face lit up. It might not be the best idea ever, but it was an option and better than doing nothing and being left further and further behind by HYDRA.
"Alright, I might have an idea! You said the coding was so complex, so maybe we don't need a hacker here but a codecracker, a cryptographer. I'll look up all possibly capable agents and advisers and brief you in about 30 minutes. May, please get the team together by then."
The senior agent nodded and left, Skye on her heels. Even after the door had shut behind the two, Coulson stayed behind just to open the Tool Box and scan through various files, clearly dimissing one after the other. There was something wrong with any option he pulled up, either the experts were unavailable or had been compromised. With each passing file, his face became grimmer until in the end he went back to the start. Inside his head, two voices were arguing. One was telling him that this was definitely not a good idea, that he should leave her out of this, not getting her involved in all this mess. But the other voice, the desperate one, reminding him of their current situation, grew stronger and stronger. Finally, he sighed deeply and searched for a special file, secured by quite an amount of passwords, codes and PINS. He nodded to himself, trying to convince his own heart and mind that this was the right decision. After a minute, he picked up his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. The phone rang three times until somebody picked up.
"Hill", a woman said, curtly as always.
"Hello, it's Phil. Maria, I need your opinion."
30 minutes later, all members of the team were assembled, including the patched up Trip. Waiting for their director, they only talked in lowered voices, intimidated by an extraordinarily icy looking May. When Coulson arrived, everyone could see that there would not be good news.
"We have a big problem", he started right away, "Skye can't hack the HYDRA Code and all our very few former cryptographers within SHIELD turned out to be HYDRA."
For a moment, there was silence in the room. Skye's stomach cleched. She knew Coulson ahd not meant it like like that, but still, it was her fault, she should be decrypting the sgnal, but she had failed!
"Then what about taking in someone from the outside?", Hunter suddenly asked, "if we need a specialist and don't have one ourselves."
"We can't do this!", Bobbi objected, "it is too risky. We can't trust anyone, besides -"
"Yeah of course you are against my ideas Bobbi, you always are!", Hunter shot back.
A warning glare from May however silenced him in an instant. That woman was radiating something intense that day, a mixture between pain and fury, keeping everyone on edge.
"Unfortunately Hunter and Morse are both right", the director continued, "we need a specialist, but it is a great risk. I did some research and I think I found someone who would fit and keep the risk and trouble as low as possible."
He tapped on the table, bringing up a picture.
"But that is still a girl!", Agent Morse exclaimed what everyone thought.
"Actually she is very much of age", Coulson explained while scrolling through the file. "Her name is Alexandra Sophia Edvardson, Swedish passport, already has an Oxford degree in mathematics. Besides, she is an excellent cryptographer with publications about it, has worked for Stark and is friends with one of our field agents."
Silence followed, all the agents either too stunned or too uneasy to speak.
"What did she do for Stark?", Mack asked then, clearly impressed but also suspicious.
"Develloped a supertrouper algorithm or something of that kind, Hill could not exactly tell me. She just said that woman is extremely clever and one shouldn't underestimate her despite her girlish appearance."
Skye's brain was racing, that just sounded too good to be true.
"So were is the catch? Is she a psycho? Or at least difficult to work with? Because I mean, if she really is as good as we hope she is, why didn't SHIELD recruit her before? Like they did with FitzSimmons?"
"That's the thing", Coulson answered, "Edvardson actually met a Jessica North, her friend, during her time as an international student in New Zealand. North is now a specialist for field research and undercover operations. Alexandra's file states that North had suggested Edvardson as an asset, Agent Hand approached her afterwards, that was two years ago. She just blankly refused, said she felt honoured but it just wasn't her thing. After she had worked for Stark, SHIELD tried to approach her again, that time Commander Hill herself made the call. She refused again, but not as briskly as she did with Agent Hand. God knows, Hill was just a bit more diplomatic I guess. So everything considered, we have a young genius with no known ties to HYDRA who probably has no intention on helping us. I'd say we check her out and if she fits, try to bring her in. May, you'll be leading the operation. We need Skye to come with you, someone Edvardson will be able to relate to. And as third member of the party - Hunter. My gut feeling tells me they'll need you. You're going to fly to Munich right away. Any questions?"
"Why Munich?"
"Because I know that's where she'll be."
"Coulson, do you want to know her we are SHIELD?", May asked.
Everyone looked at their director expectandly.
"Scrutinize her first. Test her. If she is trustworthy, let her know who she is dealing with."
"And what if she is not?"
"Then don't blow your cover but let her be!"