Chapter 1
“Phil. This is a mistake.” Melinda May’s voice did not tremble, though she had to force the words out one by one. Coulson ignored her. He stood over the holotable, gesturing at the flickering screen and giving orders to the staff people buzzing about with clipboards. Agent May allowed herself to feel the humiliation. One moment was enough, one moment to thicken the skin. She swallowed and spoke again, louder this time.
“You need to listen.”
The buzzing came to an abrupt stop.
“This is a bad op. I understand what you’re dealing with right now. But this plan? This op? Your emotions are getting the best of you. You are making a mistake.”
Agent Coulson brought his eyes to meet hers, his face a mask of anger and disgust. His voice rang out in the silent room.
“Oh really? I am? … I guess Bahrain would make you an expert in making operational mistakes.”
Agent May felt his ridicule hit her in the face. She felt a dull ache spreading in her chest. Familiar sensations to her by now. It was a long time that he’d been angry. She responded with a slight, involuntary wince. But she did not look away.
“Yes. I am an expert. In my expert opinion this is a bad call. We are playing right into their hands.”
Coulson held his hand up. “I’m not interested in your opinion.”
May took two steps forward. She lowered her voice.
“Phil, this is a trap that they have set for us. And you are walking the team straight into it.”
“I’m not —”
“We should wait for orders.”
“You want some orders to follow?” He was shouting now. “Follow mine. Or find somewhere else to be!”
He looked away and at the crowd - standing frozen and embarrassed.
“That goes for everybody here.”
He did not glance back at her. He turned to the field tech standing beside him, eyes already wrapped with tactical glasses. The crowd returned to work. The room quickly filled back up with noise. But all was quiet in Melinda’s head. Deep inside, she felt herself drowning.
[…]
“Why are you - what are you doing?” Simmons found her in the back of the plane. Her parachute was nearly on. May rolled her eyes as she finished with the straps.
“I’m finding somewhere else to be.” Bewilderment passed over Simmons’ face. Then desperation.
“Agent May, please. Coulson has said some very unfair things to you. Cruel things, really.” May snorted. She turned and walked away from Simmons, moving down the ramp. The biochemist followed her.
“But he doesn’t mean a word of it. He’s just upset.” May stopped. The woman’s voice was breaking. “Everything … is just …all upset. It’s all wrong.” May turned and looked at Simmons. She saw the tears shining in her eyes and felt a pang of pity. She reached out and gave her arm a squeeze.
“Listen,” she said. “I know everything’s wrong. That’s why I’m going to fix it. I’m going to fix the problem.”
[…]
“All-call. Meeting in 2 minutes.”
“Yes, Sir.” Coulson put down his paperwork and brought his finger to his temple. A pounding headache. A wave of nausea. He thought of the hundred operations that came before this one. Their stakes seemed meaningless in retrospect. They were all leading him to this one day. “Today is another operation,” he murmured. Today, Audrey lives or dies.
“Sir, we have 3 specialists waiting on-site. And 5 of 6 are in the room.”
“We need all hands on this, Lieutenant. Who’s missing?”
“Agent Melinda May.”
“Find her,” he said, irritated. He spotted his engineer at the far end of the room. “Fitz, I want May here now. I want to know where —”
“She’s gone.” A voice called out from outside the open doors. The room was crowded with people waiting to be briefed. Simmons had to push her way in.
“What?”
“She took a chute. I saw her.”
Skye stood up, mouth open, incredulous. “When was that?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Coulson looked down and cleared his throat. “Did she say where she was going?”
“No. She didn’t.” He lifted his eyes and saw that Simmons’ face was red and full of accusation. “She said she was going to fix the problem.”
Fitz gazed at Simmons, confused. “What the hell does that mean?”
Skye shuddered. She looked at Coulson - watched him swallow, hard. The air between them was suddenly heavy with dread.