Chapter 5
They sat in a nondescript van around the corner from their target. Men and women checked equipment, checking safeties on guns, ensuring that holsters were firmly secure. Coms checks were going on around them, the line to the Hub was secure and being constantly monitored. Normal missions would just have one person monitoring all transmissions but as Fury had taken an interest in this mission it had taken on a life of its own. Several level 9’s were overseeing the mission with anyone lower than level 8 being firmly told to leave. The only exception to this was Tripp who’d been given a free pass by Fury. Which was how he was sat beside Maria waiting to lead his team into the unknown warehouse.
“Listen up. We’re about to enter the target. Objective of this mission is to rescue friendlies and gather any information on who is responsible for this. Current investigations have revealed that there is two parts to the warehouse. The office is found towards the back, this is where we expect friendlies to be located. Thermal imaging doesn’t currently reveal anything but it is possible there is shielding in the building. Satellites haven’t been able to pick up any information from the building at all.” Maria led the briefing as the shuffling reduced to a minimum.
“You’ve seen the pictures of the friendlies. Their conditions are unknown as are any targets that maybe with them. Proceed with extreme caution. Alpha team will enter with me at the side door. Beta team will proceed with Agent Triplett through the front door and Delta team will secure the perimeter. I want a controlled entry so we enter on my signal once the perimeter is secured. Any questions?”
“Ma’am Agent Triplett…”
“I’m aware of Agent Triplett’s lower security clearance but he was confirmed for this mission by Director Fury. Besides he may be able to provide additional information others couldn’t. Anymore questions? No. Ok. No casualties if at all possible.” With that Maria checked her own weapon before exiting the van and leading her team into position.
Tripp waiting until they were all out before leading his team out and heading for his position. Reaching the target he held up his closed fist. Turning to the rest of the team he pointed to three of them and used his hand to signal for them to go left. Another three he signalled to head right. The rest were to follow behind him. Now all they had to do was wait for the signal. There was radio silence as not to alert any targets inside to their presence.
“Perimeter surrounded.” His radio announced.
“On three. One. Two. Three.” Although Maria was only whispering her orders he heard every order as clearly as if she’d been standing next to him talking. The newer coms had greater range with the ability to pick up even quiet whispers from the wearer.
On the signal Tripp burst into the warehouse with his team behind him. As he’d ordered the agents peeled off to secure the space. Further into the warehouse he could see Maria’s team doing the same. The main part of the warehouse was in darkness but using the night vision goggles he’d been give it was possible to quickly determine that it was empty apart from them. Heading down to the office he joined up with the remains of Maria’s team and waited beside the door. A small glow was coming through the crack below the door so Tripp eased up his goggles. They’d be no good in light, could be more of a hindrance than help. Following a signal from Maria a member of her team broke down the door before the team flowed into the office.
“Clear.” Someone announced from inside the room as they followed the team in. Glancing around the room Tripp felt his heart drop, the room was empty. But judging by the state of it somebody had left in a hurry, with papers and wires carelessly lying around the floor. They couldn’t have missed them by much.
“Damn.” He muttered.
Bending down he examined deep grooves in the floor, left by something heavy which had been dragged away. Judging by the marks on the floor there had been seven of the items all a similar size. What ever they were they had been in the room long enough to leave deep indentations.
“Wherever they are going they’re going to need a large space.” He informed Maria, diverting her attention to the marks.
Nodding she spoke into her coms;
“Sorry Sir, there is nothing here. Looks like whoever left went in a hurry though.”
“The team have been here though. Or some of them have.” Commented Tripp as he examined the room.
“Evidence?”
He strode over to the other side of the room and held up the Dwarfs that had been lying in a corner almost as if they’d been kicked out of the way.
“We’ll gather evidence and head back.” Maria reported her face grave. Turning to the rest of the team she ordered;
“Grab anything that looks useful then head back to the Hub for a full debrief.”
Grabbing a padded box from one of the team Tripp carefully packaged up the Dwarfs, knowing one of the tech guys might be able to get something useful off them. Plus Fitzsimmons would kill him if anything happened to them. He just hoped they would be able to provide a lead to where the team was.
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Coulson walked in the next morning to find Fitzsimmons already sat at the table having an intense discussion. Knowing he needed a drink before he even attempted to understand their arguments he headed into the kitchen. Grimacing at the state of the cupboards he settled on tea, as there was no coffee to be found. It was better than nothing plus it at least had some caffeine in.
“No coffee?” He asked, deciding it was better to break up their argument than be stuck into it.
“No sir. It’s rationed. Plus the British tend to prefer tea to coffee.” Simmons answered.
“Skye’s not going to be impressed.”
The science duo laughed and moved so he could sit down beside them.
“Now what were you arguing about?”
“We were discussing what to put in the letter to Fury. We were worried about what happens if we aren’t in the warehouse that we went to. We’d informed Director Fury where we were going in case anything happened. If time goes as it does here then they should have checked out the warehouse by now. As we found it I suspect Charlie will have moved us somewhere else. So we were trying to guess how to trace us. Fitz suggested using the Dwarfs but I don’t think that would work.”
“Why not?”
“We designed them ourselves and they look for anomalies in the environment but unless you know what you’re looking for and how to use them there is no way you could use the information.”
Coulson thought for a minute before replying;
“You maybe on to something with the Dwarfs. Does anyone else apart from you know how to use them? Agent Triplett maybe?”
“He maybe able to use the basic settings.” Mused Fitz. “We showed him the basics when he was interested in them. He suggested some minor improvements to do with how certain body fluids react in certain situations.”
“Oh Fitz. Not at the table.” Simmons scolded leaving him looking extremely sheepish.
“Then we maybe on to something. Agent Triplett was supposed to check-in with me around about the time we were taken. If he followed protocol he’ll have reported us MIA. If we mention the Dwarfs and him in the letter to Fury then we have a greater chance of them finding us.”
“True. But what can they track? They can’t track us as he Dwarfs won’t act on that scale and we could have been moved anywhere.”
“What about…”
“No Fitz. That wouldn’t work, we could try…”
“No. They don’t have the capability of doing that.”
Coulson watched as they threw ideas back and forwards not finished sentences. At times he swore they shared a brain they were so in tune.
“Energy!” They both exclaimed at the same time.
“Energy?”
“Sorry Sir. Just we’ve been wondering about how this was possible. As Ward says we are back in the past, which should be impossible. We’ve had a number of theories but none of them fit. Now we are still unsure exactly how we’ve been sent here but one thing that we do know is that to do this it would require an enormous amount of energy. I, we, think that the energy will have a particular signature. We probably recorded it when we found you. As there are now more of us here that energy signature should be even greater making it easier to track.”
“Simmons is right. Plus as we believe we’ve already recorded the signature all that would be needed is to isolate it in the Dwarfs and then use a satellite to find similar signatures in the area. As this only needs the results from the Dwarfs it should be much easier for them to access so Tripp should be able to do it.”
The science duo grinned at him before they both began writing the instructions, arguing about the best way to phrase the instructions. Coulson watched with fondness as they did this. His time in the past had shown him how much the team had become a family to him. He’d never really thought about the younger members of his team being like his kids. Him and May were slowly bringing them up though if he kept that description up he was fairly certain that incest was occurring. He should really talk to them about it but maybe that was something to do once they got back to their reality.
A little while later they passed the letter over to him so he could write the symbols that would identify that the letter came from him. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his team but they needed to be very specific so it was something he had to do himself.
“Is it done?” Questioned May as she walked back into the room. He still did a double take every time he saw her. He was so used to seeing her in her Shield suit that seeing her in a skirt was just weird.
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll take it and make the arrangements. Skye is going to get the shopping we need with Ward and Simmons. You’ve got a meeting.”
“I know. I’m going to go and pretend I know what to do as an air raid warden.”
“Guess your geekiness will come in useful then.”
Geekiness? So he liked history. Just because he collected some historical items and could explain details about certain battles didn’t make him a geek. He just liked facts.
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“So we just hand these ration books over and get what we need?” It seemed weird to Skye but she didn’t know much about this era.
“Yes. Should be relatively simple. We’ll not get much meat and what we get might not be good quality but it’s better than nothing.” Jemma replied.
“I doubt May would let anyone short changes us!” Both women looked back at the woman who was talking to Ward and walking behind them. “Anyway this must be strange for you.”
“Probably not any different to how it is for you.”
“But you know this area. Didn’t you grow up around here? In the future obviously but still. Some of it must be recognisable.”
“Well yes some of it is. The steel works are still there. As are some of the houses but the strangest thing is still being in the past.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you. Do you know why the guys are with us? Not that I’m complaining but I thought all the men would have been at war?”
“Fitz and I had a discussion about this. Coulson is too old hence he’s just an air raid warden.”
“God don’t tell him that.”
“You asked! Anyway from what I can tell Fitz has a specialist job as an inventor so was saved from going to the front.”
“What about Ward?”
“I’m not sure about him. It’s harder to tell as I can only see him as he looks to me, not what his actual body looks like. But from what papers I’ve found around the house I think he might have been injured. It’s probably why you’re living in the house, to get help.”
“Wow. I forget that just because I see him in front of me it isn’t what he looks like to others. We aren’t doing any damage are we?”
“To Ward? No. As long as he doesn’t get hurt here he’ll be fine from what I can tell. As for who he was taken over I’m not sure but I would guess no.”
“You’re conversation sounds serious.” May and Ward had caught up to them and had obviously overheard the last part of the conversation.
“You’ll drive yourself mad if you try to think of all of the possibilities. Try just to stay in the present.” Advised May as they stopped in front of a store.
She had a point. One thing Skye had learned being in the machine so long was not to over think things. A sudden memory flashed in her mind as she went to follow May into the shop.
“Skye?” Ward asked.
“I remember this shop ripping us off before. I can’t wait for them to attempt it with May.” Skye grinned.
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They were back at the Hub trying to decide where to go from here when they met Fury with a strange look on his face.
“Sir?” Maria questioned. It wasn’t a look she recognised.
“I’ve just received this letter from Coulson. It has all the symbols and recognition codes so it’s definitely from him. It tells us his team has been captured and they need rescuing. It then provides instructions on how to find them including using you Agent Triplett.”
“Then what’s the issue sir?”
“It’s dated from 1946 in England.”
“1946? As in…”
“Yes during World War Two.”
“Is there any chance it’s a fake?”
“Apparently the law firm that held this have had instructions only to deliver it on this day. As I said it appears to be from Coulson, though I don’t recognise this writing.”
“Director, I believe that’s Agent Simmons writing.” Tripp recognised it from some of the notes she’d left him.
“So it’s likely from his team then?” Maria looked between the two men. “It’s not like we haven’t seen stranger things.”
“Agent Triplett, follow the instructions in this letter. If you find something we’ll investigate if not we’ll consider this a hoax.”
“Yes sir.”
Tripp reached for the letter and headed out of the room. What the hell was going on?