Friends and Foes

Lance Hunter wasn't sure as to what to make of their new friend even now. Maybe 'friend' was a bit too much to use, but 'enemy' wasn't a proper word to use either. He was certainly friendly enough to all of them, especially to Skye (or Daisy), but, well, Skye (or Daisy) hersef was lately subdued - and the big man clearly wasn't the sort of man to talk just because - unlike Lance himself.

Or Bobbi, but Lance had to admit that when it came to his not-quite-ex-wife, recently she wasn't very chatty herself - or Lance himself was, for that matter.

Mason, Bobbi's son... Bobbi didn't deny that he wasn't Lance's (he didn't look anything like Lance - he looked like Bobbi's son...from someone else), but that wasn't the point, not before and not now. Right now it was about the fact that she had lied to him, lied needlessly and pointedlessly - did it really matter just who the father was? (It wasn't Coulson, that's for sure.)

As for Ward himself...the man was an arse, but for a while now Hunter was confident that the man was also used regardless of this quality - wouldn't it have been better (including not just Bobbi, but everyone else, on all of the sides?) if the man just stayed in Mexico with his girlfriend and had a family - the end? Wasn't it what Coulson planned on doing to him afterwards in the first place? But no - first they get him in, then they don't want him...they were lucky that only Bobbi got hurt...and only agent 33 got killed...

Lance shook his head. He planned on going after Ward, planned on getting May to come along with him, but for now, apparently, Ward was off the hook - again, or rather - he was shelved for something more important...and because he had proven to be useful once more.

This was actually something that Hunter had a problem with - when an enemy is useful, they are no longer an enemy, are they? But if someone is an enemy then they cannot be useful, not really, so yeah, it's an oxymoron.

"What are you thinking about?" Bobbi decided to break the silence.

"All over the place," Hunter replied crossly. "Mostly about S.H.I.E.L.D., but also us - where are we going? I love you, Bob, but do you feel the same?"

"Lance," Bobbi visibly drooped, "how can you say that? I mean, we're in sewers, infiltrating yet another secret base, there are mutant rats stalking us, some sort of zombie alligators too, and you're not concentrating?"

"There's an opening just above us," Lance shrugged. "Hey, big guy, care to give us a boost?"

"Chuju here has a different idea," the InHuman man replied as he and Skye joined Lance and Bobbi. "Ready to vibrate?"

Before Lance could reply either for or against the idea, Skye had already joined them - and they were off.

As Melinda landed the quinnjet, Coulson surveyed the rebuilding settlement of Li Shi with a blank look of his own. The little (smallish) settlement was recovering from the face-off between Jiaying, her forces, and S.H.I.E.L.D. There were new buildings - some of them still under construction - and there were new streets, new pavements, new people...some of whom didn't look too InHuman to begin with - but most of them were giving S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plane a wide berth - not so much scared, but wary or even cautious. Overall, this wasn't as bad as what Coulson had feared; in fact, given the honest curiosity on the faces of some of the local children, he and S.H.I.E.L.D. could work with this...provided that their goals were matching and that Hudima was speaking the truth.

Hudima...Coulson wasn't sure what to make of him. The big man was clearly wary of the S.H.I.E.L.D. director himself, and while he was forthcoming, he didn't deny holding back some information from Coulson and the others either - or at least this was the feeling that Coulson got from him... but this was the issue when it came to gifted people, period: they just distrusted the agency, and Coulson, for one, wasn't sure that they (i.e. S.H.I.E.L.D.) could change that. For a while, Skye's family situation seemed something like a godsend, an in into the gifted community, but then Jiaying turned it around into a nightmare. Coulson would never admit it, but this act had hurt him - and his people - even worse than John Garrett and the rest of Hydra had: at least Hydra were just a pack of delusional madmen; Jiaying and her people didn't have that excuse, period. Hudima's revelation came far too late, but it also hurt: the idea that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s latest disaster had been caused by its' own past actions was an insult on top of an injury...

"Ah, director Coulson," Raina spoke up, startling Coulson out of his revelry. "It's so good to see that you've made it - and so soon."

"Yes, well, your friend did take his time - but we had good reason; we don't have too much spare time in S.H.I.E.L.D. to spare..." Coulson face-palmed as he realized that he was rambling (and May had elbowed him, too). "Can we try this again? We're very pleased at our end that you want to try again, but - why? For years your people existed independently from the rest of the world-"

"No, not really," Raina shook her head. "Jiaying tried to minimize it, apparently, but she did have mental issues - and I got the scar to prove it. Good thing that my anatomy had changed in the temple, otherwise I would be dead."

"Is that a joke?" Fitz poked from behind Coulson (the director wasn't a big man, but Fitz was even shorter, let's be fair here). "Because it isn't very funny."

"Agreed, and being at the pointy end of the punchline is even less humorous," Raina flashed her teeth before revealing the scar on her neck. "Where's your partner, agent Fitz?"

"This is why I am here," Fitz continued, ignoring Coulson (and May). "Do your people know about this Monolith? It, uh, ate Jemma-"

"Really?" Raina grew genuinely thoughtful. "I think I have some idea. But before we begin to do any favors to each other, maybe we should get down with the papers? The council of elders - myself included - would like something concrete." She honestly looked very apologetic here.

"Of course," Coulson said blankly, "but - why? Make no mistake, we're greatful, but-"

"Let's be fair, sir - S.H.I.E.L.D. is the devil we know and can trust, at least to a point, unlike agent Brand and her people," Raina grimaced. "There are rumors that Hydra is planning something big - like selling the entire Earth to some alien overlord or something. We don't like it. Yes, we got alien DNA in us, but we're no aliens, and with Hydra's major stronghold not too far away from us in Japan, we're really looking for allies."

"And you thought of us? I'm touched," Coulson looked askance, "but - did you say agent Brand?"

"Agent Angela Brand, yes," Raina nodded solemnly. "She's looking for new recruits for her so-called S.W.O.R.D. outfit, including us. Sir, we're mostly civilians here, so we're not overly excited or enthused by her offer."

"Interesting," Coulson grew genuinely thoughtful. "I remember her - she was a hard woman, though not an unreasonable one. Raina, why don't we begin on working out this deal of yours, shall we?"

"My thoughts exactly," Raina nodded in agreement.

TBC