The Flu

"A monastery?  You aren't Catholic."  Phil said as he looked at John in confusion.

"Guess I'll have to convert too, then."  John muttered under his breath, not even looking away from the pictures of Vic.  She would probably want to kill him when she realized he had seen her like that, looking small, sick and vulnerable, but seeing as we had thought that he was going to be seeing her in a coffin, he would gladly take whatever she wanted to throw at him.  "It's probably not to hard to convert, right?  And surely there's a monastery somewhere that's hiring.  "She's alive, Phil.  I promised if Fury would be wrong, if Vic would make it through this, that I would change, that I would be better."

"And you think joining a monastery is the way to do that?"  Phil asked.

"What trouble could I get up to in a monastery?  They pray all the time.  I can do that."  He certainly had prayed enough on the way here, praying that what Fury had heard was a mistake, that the doctors he had consulted had made a mistake, that Vic was alive and still herself.  "And is that bagpipes I hear?"

"Here's a hint.  Never let Fitz make modifications to your phone if you don't want an interesting ringtone."  But where was his phone?  He didn't see it on the ground, so he forced himself to move slowly, following the sound of the bagpipes blaring.  Not on the floor.  He didn't see it anywhere on the floor.  But there was the hole they had pulled Skye through and…  He reached in and there was his phone, Fury's name on the screen, along with a message flashing for 974 missed calls.  "Director?"

"Coulson."  Fury sighed with relief when he hear his voice.  "Could I ask why I have been trying for two days now to contact you and your team without an answer?"

"We've been trying to take care of 300 sick people, and a few phones might have gone missing along the way."  As far as he knew, May and Skye were actually the only people who still had their phones on them, and May had been using hers to receive or make calls to her mother for advice every time they ran into yet another issue in nursing the sick agents.  And did anyone at Shield even have Skye's number?

Fury didn't even bother asking for details about the lost phones.  "I was wanting to let you know that John Garrett might be heading your way."

"I know.  He's here.  And he told me something interesting."  How to tell Fury about Victoria?  The only way that he could think of to do it was fast, like ripping a band-aid off.  "Victoria, she's not dead.  You might want to see about getting a refund on that coffin John said you bought for her."

"What?"  Fury looked up as he heard two gasps from the doorway to find Maria and Jasper standing there.  How in the world did Jasper keep sneaking up on his door, even after having a bell stuck around his neck?  "I heard that hacker of yours taking, the day this all started.  She said fever of 106.2 and possible seizures.  I talked to the doctors here.  I talked to the doctors at the Fridge and the Treehouse.  I talked to Bruce Banner.  They all said that a fever that high, that fast was a sign of a cytokine storm, and that there was nothing that could be done for it.  They said she didn't have a chance!"

"And I can see that, but the temperature wasn't just from the fever."  Coulson said.  "Victoria was trying to lock down the labs, and she managed to get trapped in one of the labs where some sort of heater was malfunctioning.  Her temperature went as high as it did from a combination of the infection and either a heat stroke or something close to it.  We got her out of there, Simmons got her on an IV and wrapped in cooling blankets.  Her temperature came down.  She's fine.  She's sleeping in her office right now, under light sedation."

"She's alive?"  Jasper whispered to Maria.  At first he was thrilled by the news, but then the worry about brain damage hit him again.  Did it matter what had made her temperature shoot up so high?  Infection or heat stroke, no matter which one, wouldn't the risk of brain damage be the same?  What if Coulson and his people had saved Victoria only to condemn her to a life wasting away in a hospital bed?

Fury was thinking along the same lines.  "No matter what caused it, a temperature that high….  Has she been conscious at all?"

"She was semi-conscious at least until Simmons sedated her.  Sick from the fever, and it didn't seem like her hearing was working the best, but she seemed like she knew we were there and knew where she was."

That was a bit of a comfort but still, Fury waved for Maria and indicated that he wanted someone from medical up there yesterday.  Maybe with a bit more information, they could get something close to a correct diagnosis this time.  "How bad?"

"A lot better than what I was expecting when you asked us to come to the Hub and take care of everyone."  Coulson said.  "Temperature's hovering around 101.  Simmons has her under light sedation, light enough that they've been able to rouse her a few times to get her to eat a little.  She's going to be isolated in her office for eight to ten days because of the risk of secondary infection.  Her temperature going that high, and how she was fighting to stay awake took a lot out of her."

"But she's alive."

"Definitely alive.  Do I need to send you pictures?  John needed pictures."  Coulson said.

"Pictures would be good."  And maybe if they could actually see her, the doctors could get things right this time.  "What about the rest of the agents?"

"They're sick and miserable, but nothing worse than you would expect with the flu.  We're managing, although it hasn't helped that one of Victoria's level 4 maintenance men hasn't been doing his job, and nearly turned the building into a fire trap.  Do you have any idea when we can get people in here?  We're seriously low on supplies for repairs, and two thirds of the building is without power at the moment."

"We're still working on the issues with the shots, but Captain Rogers, Banner and Stark finally found the man responsible, so hopefully we'll be able to get the shot issue worked out sooner rather than later.  What happened to Victoria's building?"

"You don't want to know, and I'm glad that she's in isolation for eight to ten days.  Hopefully we can have things fixed before I have to tell her what's wrong."  Coulson said.  "Do you think I can let John in?"

"Not until we figure out the shot issue.  Tell him he's going to have to camp out."  That was the only option Fury could see and it would serve Garrett right to have to sleep on the ground for a couple of days or more, after how he disobeyed orders and escaped lock-down.

"Right.  But even if you can't let anyone in, is there some way you can have parts delivered?  We're having to feed these people based on what we can cook on the BUS.  We're set up to cook for six people on there, not 300.  What about asking Stark?  Surely he could come up with some sort of automatic parts delivery system."

"Maybe.  But everyone there is stable?  No sign of complications or any other problems?"  Fury asked.

"Not that I can see."  Having two people dispense medical treatments based on information provided over the phone by one of the people's mother didn't count for a complication, did it?  "But if you can work out a way to get us more supplies, and the food stores are going to be running low soon since the kitchen lost power."

"Food.  Supplies.  I'll see what I can do about getting something set up.  Maybe Stark has some employees who actually got a flu shot that works that we can borrow for a supply run.  I'll call when I know more so try not to lose your phone again?"

"Victoria's alive?"  Maria said as soon as Fury hung up the phone.  Even hearing Coulson saying it, after what the doctors had said about her condition, it seemed unbelievable.  "Are we sure that Coulson isn't finally losing it?"

"Why would Coulson lose it?"  Jasper asked, just as his phone beeped.  "Felix?"

"Jasper, were you the one who did the write-up for Victoria that was in the paper this morning?"  Felix asked.  "I have to say it's very good.  I'm sure she would have been pleased with it."

"Write-up?"  Jasper paled.  He had put together Victoria's obituary the night before, but surely he hadn't been so tired that he accidentally clicked send!

"Her obituary's in The Washington Post.  It's a fitting tribute to her, and the picture's a nice touch."

He had clicked send.  Oh, boy.  "Felix, we have a little problem.  Phil just called.  Turns out Victoria's alive."