Chapter Nine:
"As I said, all internal camera feeds were erased, but the hangar's landing assist system is separate." Fitz explained for what might have been the millionth time as he, Simmons, Trip, and Coulson looked at the monitors in Eric's office. "The camera tracks movement. So. After we left, everything's normal until this." He pressed a few buttons and the monitor showed May leaving a few hours earlier.
"An entry log has May leaving the base a few minutes later through the front door, only her." Jemma piped up.
"Then this." Fitz showed Ward and Skye entering The Bus.
"Hand in hand." Coulson commented.
"Soon after, the plane takes off." Fitz finished. "But that's all we've got."
"Where are they going?" Coulson questioned. "And Koenig? Selena?"
"They must've gotten on the plane somehow." Jemma supplied.
"There's no other way in or out."
"The blast doors and the hangar door are the only exits." Trip told them.
"And both are undamaged. So nobody attacked the place and they weren't running away. So why?" Coulson was growing concerned.
"Maybe Koenig got orders." Trip tried.
"From who?" Fitz asked. "Not Fury. Is there anyone left to give orders? Aren't we just improvising at this point? And none of this accounts for Selena. She doesn't show up anywhere on the feed."
And as much as it would pain him to admit it, Fitz was getting really worried about Selena.
Sure, she always pestered him while he was doing his work and rattled off about pure nonsense, but that didn't mean that he didn't love her.
Usually, she would be waiting for them to get back to greet them with a wide smile on her face, ready to tell them all about her day.
But that didn't happen today.
She was nowhere to be found. Not a trace left behind.
"You're right." Jemma agreed. "Still wouldn't explain why the communication lines were cut or why they left their phones or why May just…...left."
"May walked away because I told her to." Coulson told them regretfully. "I was mad and I was mean."
"Then we don't need her anyway." Trip was tired of this.
"Excuse me?"
"With all the crap we're facing, this is not the time to pull the rip cord, bail out."
"I'll make us some food." Jemma noticed the growing tension in the air and wanted any excuse to exit the room. "We have to eat…...and I'll look for Selena while I go."
"Let me help." Trip stood up to follow her, but Fitz stopped him, urging him to stay where he was so that he and Coulson could continue their conversation.
Selena fought to keep her breathing quiet and regulated. She had to have been hiding for so long, she had lost track of the time.
She had elected to crawl into an air vent close to the ground and scoot as far back as she could, so no one would be able to see her.
Her heart beat hard against her ribcage and she couldn't stop the sobs that were escaping her throat, as she thought about all the things Ward could do to her sister.
What if he hurt her? What if she needed help and she couldn't contact anyone?
She was so scared. She had never been so scared in her entire life. She had always been surrounded by someone, even if they weren't helping her.
Now she was alone.
Alone and scared do not make a good a combination.
She just hoped that the team would find her, because there was no way she was coming out of this vent.
"Simmons. For a minute there, in the field, I thought things were normal again, and then…..why do you think they left us in the dark?"
"I don't know." Jemma answered Fitz. "But something will turn up. We just have to stay positive."
"For Coulson yeah, I know. He's had a rough go of it."
"Yeah. Between Garrett and May, and seeing Audrey and….pancakes."
"Coulson's upset about pancakes now?"
"That's one way to cheer everyone up a bit, don't you think? I'll see if they have any in stock."
"Yeah, I'll fire up the griddle." Fitz moved to go in the opposite direction.
He turned a few corners in search of a griddle, stopping when he heard a strange noise in the distance.
It was soft, but it was there. So he followed the sound, which led him to another completely empty hallway with a vent in the wall about three and a half feet above the ground.
As he moved closer to it, the sound got louder.
It sounded like crying.
"Hello?" He called, bending down to tap on the vent, before noticing that it was quite loose, pulling it off to peer inside. "Selena?"
Selena's body had curled in on itself from the cold metal of the inside of the vent as she continued to cry, but her breath hitched once she heard his familiar voice. "F—Fitz?"
"What are you doing in there? What's wrong?" He reached a hand in there to help pull her out.
"F—Fitz…." Selena hiccuped and flew into his arms, bawling her eyes out.
"What's the matter? Where's Skye and Ward?"
At the mention of Ward, Selena cried harder. "I—I don't know!" She sobbed. "S—She told me to hide!"
"Why?" Fitz wasn't liking the way this conversation was going.
"W—Ward is H—Hydra!"
Before Fitz could even open his mouth to reply, he was cut off by a shrill shriek.
"Impossible." Fitz shook his head. "It can't be. No. No. I — I don't believe it."
He was having a very hard time coming to terms with the fact that someone he called 'friend' turned out to be the enemy.
"Take a deep breath, Agent Fitz." Trip glanced at him while keeping an eye on Selena.
She had stopped crying, but now she was staring off into space with a blank look in her eyes, sitting on a table with a blanket wrapped around her trembling form, while Jemma performed an autopsy on Koenig. And he didn't know which of the two was worse.
Jemma had said that it was the result of fear and shock which would wear off soon, but in the meantime, it wasn't easy watching her when she was like this.
She wouldn't even let anyone touch her, so they were forced to just let her sit there and deal with this on her own.
"Don't tell me to take a breath. Who are you?" Fitz snapped. "I mean, really. Come on. I don't even know who you are."
"I just went through this, remember?" Trip placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, but it was shrugged off.
"Don't touch me."
"My S.O. turned out to be a liar."
"Well, not Ward. Okay? Not Ward. Do you know why? Because he's our friend." Fitz wouldn't hear it. "And Simmons will find something. Go ahead, tell him Jemma."
"Let me work, Fitz."
"Yeah, but tell him that Ward isn't—"
"—Let me work."
"Something else is at play here, sir. Think about it. They're just trying to mess with our heads." Fitz tried again. "They did this to scare us."
"One step at a time." Coulson looked at Selena distractedly.
"We need to get out of here."
"Simmons will give her report. That's the next step."
"He died approximately ten hours ago of asphyxiation. After May left the premises. A thin wire was used to strangle him. His trachea is crushed, partially slice through, so it was done in a hurry." Jemma supplied stoically. "Based on the angle of the lacerations, the killer was at least 6'2..…" Her voice started to waver. "And strong enough to…..lift him into…..Ward did this."
Everyone in the room, save for Selena, jumped when Fitz banged a metal tray onto the table and threw a a container of utensils onto the ground.
"Fitz!" Jemma tried to stop him, grateful when Coulson rushed over to hold him still.
"Okay! Okay!" Coulson wanted to be the voice of reason. "We need to hold it together. Listen, all that anger, all that pain..…you need to hold it in and focus on Skye. She's alive. And she just walked about of here, hand in hand with someone she knows is a murderer, because she's playing him. Just like he played us." He continued. "We have to fix communications. We have to track that plane. Can you do that?"
Fitz let out a calm sigh before nodding his head.
"Good. If I know Skye, she's got a plan. And now we're gonna find her before Ward figures out what that is…..come on Skye…..what's your play?"
"Selena?' Trip brushed some loose hair away from her face. "Come on girl, you need to snap out of this. It isn't healthy being trapped in your own head."
"Perhaps some food will help her come to her senses." Jemma picked up a discarded plate she had been eating from, that was still full of food, and put it in front of her. "I imagine she had been in those vents for several hours before Fitz found her, so she must be hungry."
Selena didn't acknowledge the food that was placed in front of her at first, but when the smell hit her nose, she picked up the fork and began to eat.
"Good girl." Jemma smiled gently. "You're doing very well. Can you tell us what happened?"
"Skye and I were looking for Eric…..we were tracking him on her tablet and it lead us to the supply closet, but we couldn't see him…." Selena let out a shaky sigh. "And then we saw blood, and we found him above us…..gone…and Ward did it."
"How did you end up in the vents?" Coulson asked, coming over to hand Jemma some food.
"Skye told me to find a place to hide because she knew that he wouldn't hurt her. I found a vent and I stayed there until Fitz found me….." Selena shrugged, piling a forkful of food in her mouth, realizing how hungry she really was.
Coulson ran a hand over his face and sighed in relief.
At least Ward hadn't hurt her. But thinking about how many hours she had been cramped up in that vent, alone, it made him angry.
"Trip." He addressed the other agent. "A word."
Trip nodded and placed a hand on top of Selena's head, before he followed Coulson out of the room.
"Is Fitz okay?" Selena asked.
"He's going to be alright, we're a little more concerned about you and Skye at the moment." Jemma motioned for her to keep eating.
"I'm okay. I'm worried about Skye though." The young brunette continued. "She's alone with him."
"Your sister is stronger than you think. She'll be alright."
Selena just smiled and stole a cookie from a jar in the middle of the table, making Jemma roll her eyes.
At least she was back to normal.
"I wish this bunker had a bunker." Jemma took the weapon Fitz had just handed her, while they huddled near a wall.
"Those doors should hold." Coulson told her. "It'll take some major artillery to make a dent."
No sooner did those words leave his mouth, did the control panel on the door change from red to green.
"Hangar door deactivated."
"How?" Jemma questioned incredulously. "That's impossible!"
"Take cover. Let's go." Coulson led everyone back around a corner and watched as the door opened, allowing men in military gear to enter the base. "It's not Hydra. It's special forces."
"On behalf of the United States Armed Forces, I order you to stand down." A man who was completely covered by the sea of soldiers ordered. "I repeat, stand down."
"Colonel Talbot?" Coulson nearly rolled his eyes once he saw the man. "There have to be better things for you to do than chase four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents."
"I wasn't a huge fan before chasing you to the tundra, Coulson. I wouldn't push it."
"I'm flattered you came in person."
"Fury's secret base on North American soil? I just had to see it for myself."
"If I come out, will you shoot me?" Coulson asked. "Cause then I won't come out."
The ridiculousness of the entire sentence made Selena giggle behind her hand, catching annoyed looks from Fitz-Simmons.
"Hold you fire soldiers." Talbot ordered as Coulson gave his weapons to Fitz, before emerging from the corner he was taking cover behind.
"This is one of the most classified on the planet Colonel. How did you find it?'
"I told them."
Selena's eyes widened once she heard the familiar female voice and she dashed out from behind the corner, dodging both Fitz and Jemma.
"Don't!" Jemma hissed, but her request fell on deaf ears.
"Selena, I told you to take cover." Coulson scolded. He was losing more hair than normal with this kid.
"Hi, Selena." The woman offered a small smile once she saw the child.
"Hi, Miss Maria." Selena grinned, rushing right over to her, shocking everyone in the room.
"You two know each other?" Jemma and Fitz came out of their hiding places.
"We do." Agent Maria Hill nodded.
"You were the one who rescued me from the worst foster home I've ever been in." Selena spoke, maintaining eye contact with the woman everyone seemed to fear. "You didn't tell me you were an agent."
"That was classified information that you didn't need to know." Maria didn't miss a beat. "And you wouldn't have understood."
"Okay." Selena would accept that answer. "You said you'd come back…..was it Hydra you were saving me from?"
"I'm here now." Maria bent down to her height. "And yes, it was Hydra."
"And did you know I'd end up with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Kid, you're smart enough to know this was orchestrated. For your own benefit."
"Does that mean Miss Rushman is an agent too?"
Maria's smirk told her everything she needed to know.
Selena narrowed her eyes at Maria for a few more seconds, before smiling once again. "Nice to see you again anyways…..…Ria." She dropped the hated nickname and ran back to Fitz and Jemma before Maria could even think of retaliating, once again, baffling everyone who was present.
"What do you think you're doing kid?" Talbot questioned Selena, catching her with her hand in the cookie jar.
"Getting a cookie." Selena responded in a 'duh' tone. "You want one? They're really good."
"No, I don't want one." Talbot snapped.
"Maybe you should have one anyways." Selena closed the jar before looking at him with an innocent smile. "Cause with an attitude like that, you must be hungry."
"Selena!" Jemma gave her a look. "That isn't very nice."
"He's not very nice." Selena pouted, making Trip smirk.
"We're not criminals."
"Great. Then we'll take you in and you can tell us all about it." Talbot answered Jemma. "At the very least, you're fugitives. And running away puts a bit of a guilty stink on it, don't you think?"
"I told you." Selena muttered.
"Eat your cookies." Fitz rolled his eyes.
"We're not Hydra." Trip tried. "We're Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Alright, I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be. You give me actionable intelligence and I'll allow you to serve time awarded." Talbot suggested. "Your other options are..….pretty awful."
"Do your worst." Fitz challenged confidently, surprising Talbot.
"We've told you of a known Hydra agent. He's getting away, and your little intimidation speech is keeping us from saving the life of a fellow agent, a friend." Jemma was growing tired of the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Sister, you haven't seen intimidation and right now, I'm your only friend." Talbot leaned in threateningly. "I'd be careful not to tick me off. The word 'agent' implies that your corrupt organization still exists. Your leadership abandoned you for the private sector and we're gonna allow that in exchange for valuable assets like yourself. So right now, I'd be thinking hard and fast about exactly what it is that makes you valuable."
"I thought you didn't eat junk food." Skye looked at Trip with a relaxed smile.
It had been a really long couple of days. First they found out that Garrett was Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, then they found out Ward was Hydra, then she was kidnapped and rescued all in a matter of hours…..it was just…..a lot.
Relaxing by the poolside was a reward.
"I'm on vacation." Trip smirked, splashing Selena with water, making her squeal and run away. "Don't run by the pool."
Selena grinned and ran back to her sister, hugging her around her neck.
She had missed her more than she'd care to admit.
"Until…..?"
"Until that man tells me it's time to work." Trip pointed at Coulson, who just made his way over to the vending machine and was feeding it his dollar bill.
"Not tonight." Coulson approached them. "Live a little."
"In that case, I'm gonna go crazy. Maybe have another bag." Trip laughed as he went to get himself another bag of delicious junk food.
"Never been homeless before…" Coulson mentioned off hand.
"It's not fun." Skye replied. "At least we have a pool."
"Sometimes it was fun." Selena shrugged, attempting to braid Skye's hair, but it was so silky that it kept slipping through her fingers.
"How so?" Coulson looked at her in amusement, nearly laughing at Skye's incredulous look.
"You get to do what you want, when you want, whichever way you wanna do it."
"There'll be no more of that for you." Skye chuckled and took a sip of her drink. "You might be homeless, but you're not alone."
"I know." Selena smiled and flipped Skye's hair over her face. "It's way more fun this way."
"Why?" Skye whined playful while Coulson laughed. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You made me fall down in the snow." Selena moved so she could face her.
"I did not make you fall!" Skye fixed her hair before she was able to grab her sister. "You fell because your short little legs couldn't keep up with me."
"That's mean!" Selena gasped and tried to get herself out of Skye's grip. "Let go!"
Coulson just sat back in chair and watched the two with a content smile on his face.
He enjoyed when the two acted like normal sisters. They were still getting to know each other, but sometimes, it looked like they had known one another all their lives.
"Say you're sorry." Skye held the girl's arms still.
"Never!" Selena yelled confidently, before managing to escape, running to Fitz-Simmons and Trip on the other side of the pool.
"Don't run, Selena!" Skye's voice fell on deaf ears, but Trip saw her and grabbed her up.
"Didn't I tell you not to run?" He began to swing her over the water.
"Yes! Put me down!" Selena shrieked, not wanting to get her clothes wet. "Put me down!"
"Why? You're just gonna run again."
"I'll stay still!" Selena gripped his shirt in a tight fist.
"Promise?"
"I promise!"
Trip swung her one last time and set her down, watching as she sat right next to Fitz and poked his cheek.
"What do you want Selena?" Fitz grumbled.
"Nothing." Selena smiled innocently, waiting until her turned away from her before poking his cheek again.
Fitz grumbled something under his breath and splashed her with a ton of water.
"Fitz!" She shrieked and turned to look at Trip for help.
He just shrugged and offered no help. "You've had that coming for a while now, Curly Sue."
Skye and Coulson continued their conversation as they watched with identical smiles on their faces.
"We'll get him." Coulson told her, referring to Ward.
"I know. I left them a little present when I encrypted the drive. Should help."
Coulson just laughed and broke the candy bar he had just purchased from the vending machine in half, giving her a piece.
"Thanks."
"Nice night." He turned his attention back to Selena and her little antics.
"Hmmph." Selena pouted. "You're all mean. All of you."
"Don't dish it, if you can't take it." Trip bent down to her height to tease her.
But Selena wasn't having it. She just stared at the water in front of her before a lightbulb went off in her head.
The pout slid off her face and was replaced with a grin.
And as quick as lightening, she took two hands and splashed Trip with as much water as she could.
The man fell back in surprise and glared at her. For a second, Selena thought that he was really mad at her because she went too far, but when he shot up and snatched her up, she knew better.
But she was caught off guard when she felt herself flying before she hit the water.
The air was knocked out of her lungs and she didn't know how to swim, but she didn't panic. She just felt around for the wall and pulled herself up above the water, not even bothering to open her eyes. She felt a strong pair of arms lift her out and stand her on her feet, with someone wringing the water out of her hair as she coughed.
"My bad, girl, I didn't mean to throw you out that far." Trip took off his button down, to dry her face, leaving him in a t-shirt. "Are you okay?"
When she felt like her face was dry enough, Selena opened her eyes and found everyone crowded around her. "I'm fine." Another cough escaped her throat.
Skye continued to wring as much water as she could out of the child's head. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Uh huh." Selena nodded. "That was fun, I wanna learn how to swim."
"What?" Skye turned her sister around so fast, that the little girl swore she heard something crack.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh my goodness." Trip ran a guilty hand over his face. "I'm so sorry, Curly Sue. If I had known, I would never have thrown you in."
"Why are you sorry? It was funny." Selena didn't quite understand just how dangerous her situation could've gotten if Trip hadn't grabbed her when he did.
"You can't swim." Jemma began to explain gently, wrapping a towel she found nearby around the child's shoulders. "You were thrown into the deep end, Sweetheart. If Trip hadn't grabbed you, you wouldn't have been able to swim out by yourself."
"Oh….but I'm okay." Selena shrugged nonchalantly.
"Selena, look at me." Skye knelt down in front of her. "Promise me that you'll stop running by the pool and when we get back to the room, you won't come back down here to swim, unless someone is with you."
"Okay, Skye." Selena smiled. "Can someone teach me how to swim? I like the water."
"Yes, we'll all teach you how to swim when this is over." Coulson nodded, relieved that she was okay.
"Can we keep playing?"
"No." Trip smiled at the way she bounced back. "You need to get out of those wet clothes and get to bed….we all do."
"He's right." Coulson agreed. "It's been a long few days."
So with that, they all trudged to their separate hotel rooms. Jemma, Skye, and Selena were in one room, while Coulson, Trip, and Fitz were in another.
As soon as they made it inside, Skye had Selena take off her wet clothes, take a shower and dry her hair, before wrapping her up in one of the hotel's robes. She took the hotel's hairdryer and tried her best to dry the child's clothes, but only managed to get her undergarments completely dry.
That was fine. She could sleep just like that.
"Here." She said, handing her the clothes. "They're dry."
"Turn around first." Selena gave her a disgusted look.
"Thank you so much for making the effort to get my clothes dry, Skye." Skye rolled her eyes, but turned around all the same.
Jemma was in the shower, so they didn't have to worry about her.
"Okay, turn around." Selena gave her the okay once she was done.
"Hop into bed." Skye pulled back the covers for her to crawl into, pulling them over her once she was ready. "Sleep well, okay?"
"I'm not tired, Skye, it's too early." Selena deadpanned.
"Selena, it's midnight." Skye scoffed. "What time do you normally get to bed?"
"I don't know." Selena shrugged. "Whenever I get sleepy."
"Well, not today." Skye shook her head. "You're going to sleep—" She was cut off by the door opening abruptly.
It wasn't an intruder, it was just May.
"Why, May?" Skye let out a sigh of relief. "Knocking was just too much?"
May just smirked and entered the room, closing the door behind her.
"Hi!" Selena waved excitedly, but anyone could see that she was tired.
"Selena, go to sleep." Skye rolled her eyes and pushed her sister down.
"No. I'm not tired."
"Yes, you are." Skye sang. "Your eyes are closing."
"Nuh uh." Selena's fists flew up to her face to rub the sleepiness from her eyes. "I'm awake."
May just stayed quiet and watched on. She wanted to see them bond.
"Go to sleep." Skye spoke in a softer tone, sitting down on the bed next to her.
"No." Selena was stubbornly losing this battle and the odds were not in her favor once Skye started to brush her fingers against her head, using a hushed tone. "….n…nooo."
"Shhh." Skye continued. "I love you." She gently pressed a kiss to her cheek, finally sending her off to sleep.
It had been the first time she told Selena that she loved her, but it felt so natural. Like she had been saying it her entire life.
And it felt good. Like there was a piece of her that had been missing, and it left a void in her heart. But then Selena came and she didn't feel so empty anymore.
"You're good with her." May told her. "She feels the same about you."
"You and Coulson make up?"
"We did."
"Good."
A/N: So Selena can't swim...interesting...