Back From Hell
“Thomas! Rose! Fitzsimmons!” Coulson called as he, Kara, and Daisy looked around the house. They scanned around corners guns drawn in an effort to find them until finally arriving in the living room where Thomas and Rose Ward as well as Fitz and Simmons were tied to chairs. Thomas’ prosthetic leg lay mangled on the floor as the metal had been warped. Mack lay on the floor with burns across his shoulder. And in the center of the room stood David Kebo wearing Grant Ward’s face.
“Finally.” Kebo smirked as Coulson, Kara, and Daisy filed into the room. “The gang’s all here.”
---
Twelve Hours Ago…
“Absolutely not.” Mace insisted.
“Sir please this is Ward we’re talking about.” Daisy begged.
“That’s exactly why I’m keeping you off this mission.” Mace stated. Since Kebo had escaped in Ward’s body, SHIELD had been doing everything they could to find him. However Mace had made the executive decision to keep Daisy as far away from the case as possible, much to her disappointment.
“Sir with Lincoln and Donnie on the mend Kara and I are the only ones who can go toe to toe with Kebo in Ward’s body.” Daisy argued.
“You’re also the least objective person for this mission.” Mace countered. “Look Daisy you’re a great agent and you’re incredibly powerful but Agent Ward is someone who matters a lot to you. Can you honestly say you can separate your personal feelings about this being Ward from the mission?” Daisy couldn’t answer and Mace took it as a confirmation. “Look I promise we are going to do everything we can to get Agent Ward back. But with someone like Kebo, I need objectivity.” Daisy reluctantly nodded and turned to leave.
---
Coulson, May and Mack gathered their team of agents on a Quinjet as they prepared to hunt for Kebo.
“So what’s the play here?” Mack asked.
“Kebo came back to hurt Ward.” May stated. “And we know where he’s going. We’ve contacted Ward’s siblings to let them know what’s happening and we’re having them stay at Rose’s house as it’s easier to surveil. But since this is Kebo we’re talking about, we can’t guarantee he’ll do what we expect. Which is why Coulson and I are gonna follow up on some of Kebo’s old drop boxes to see if we can track him down.”
“Thanks to Radcliffe we know how to stop him.” Coulson added. “Demons can be hurt by salt and holy water. So instead of our typical firepower, we’re going in with shotguns loaded with salt shells as well as the cold gun. Any questions?” Nobody said anything. “Good. May get us in the air.”
---
“So what did Mace say?” Kara asked Daisy as they met in the hallway.
“What I expected.” Daisy answered.
“So we’re going through with our plan?” Kara said.
“Yep.” Daisy nodded. “Have you reached out to Bobbi yet?”
“Yeah.” Kara replied. “Lucky for us they’re not being surveilled as closely anymore and I was able to get in touch without sounding any alarm bells. She said Kebo’s not gonna do what we expect him to so he’s not gonna be going after Thomas and Rose right away. She’s gonna meet us at a diner in New York where Kebo’s got a dropbox.”
“Okay.” Daisy nodded.
“Don’t worry Daisy.” Kara assured. “We’ll get Grant back.
“I know.” Daisy nodded. “And when we do I’m going to make Kebo pay.”
---
“This doesn’t feel right.” Simmons said as she and Fitz walked down the New York streets. “I mean with what’s going on with Ward us taking this New York trip feels a bit tasteless.”
“Well the Director isn’t letting us help because he says we won’t be objective.” Fitz sighed. “And it’s not like we can do anything just sitting around the base. Besides Ward would want us to.”
“I guess you’re right.” Simmons conceded.
“Why don’t we-we kick of this day trip by visiting Avengers Tower.” Fitz suggested. “We can get a look around before they sell the place.”
“Not a bad idea I suppose.” Simmons nodded.
“I have a better one.” The two scientists whipped around to see Kebo with Ward’s face standing behind them.
“Kebo…” Fitz gasped.
“Hey guys.” Kebo smirked. “Long time no see.”
“Why are you here?!” Simmons demanded.
“Well if I wanna take away everything ol’ Grant loves I can’t just go for his brother and sister.” Kebo shrugged. “Now you two are gonna get in the car without making a fuss.” He gestured to an SUV parked a couple feet away.
“Why would we do that?” Fitz frowned.
“Because I’ve got two people in there and if you don’t get in peacefully I’ll shoot them both.” Kebo answered.
---
Daisy and Kara arrived at the diner and sat down at a table across from each other.
“Of all creatures that breathe and move across the earth.” A woman behind Kara said.
“Nothing is bred that is weaker than man.” Kara replied.
“What have you found so far?” Bobbi asked, not looking up from her menu.
“Nothing much.” Kara answered. “We know he’s gonna go after Grant’s siblings but that’s it.”
“Like I said that’s definitely not gonna be his first stop.” Bobbi stated. “He’s gonna try to draw SHIELD out.”
“How come?” Daisy asked.
“Well he wants to hurt Ward right?” Bobbi said. “Well Kebo’s always been a go big or go home kind of guy. If he’s gonna hurt Ward, it’s not gonna be his brother and sister he goes after. He’s gonna go after everyone Ward’s closest to, both of you included.”
“Guess his games are gonna backfire this time.” Daisy said coldly. “If he’s coming to us it’ll make our job a lot easier.”
“Don’t be so sure.” Kara said, her eyes going wide. Daisy turned to see Kebo standing in the doorway to the diner with a fireball in hand.
“Get down!” Daisy shouted as Kebo hurled the ball of fire towards them. Bobbi, Kara, and Daisy hit the deck as the fireball hit the wall.
“Come on guys this doesn’t have to get messy.” Kebo chuckled. “Just come with me and I’ll let all these people walk away.”
“Not a chance Kebo!” Kara shouted. She tapped on her watch to send out an SOS. She then received a message from Coulson saying he and May were five minutes out. “Keep him talking.” she said to Daisy and Bobbi.
“What’s your endgame here?” Bobbi demanded. “Pain and suffering for Grant Ward?”
“Pretty much yeah.” Kebo shrugged. “I mean Ward’s in here right now and he can see everything I’m doing. I want him to watch as I turn everyone he loves to ash.”
“You’re an obsessive psychopath you know that.” Bobbi chuckled. “This fixation you’ve got on Ward really isn’t healthy.”
“Well if you’re feeling left out, once I’m done with Ward I’ll dole out some pain and suffering to you too Barbara.” Kebo replied. “Maybe remind you of old times too. All the fun we had together on that boat. Out in the middle of the ocean, days on end. We had some wild times.” Bobbi made to get up but Kara stopped her.
“He’s goading you.” Kara said. “And if you do use lethal force you won’t kill Kebo but you will ensure we can’t get Ward back.” Bobbi nodded and stayed her hand.
“Nobody’s gonna give themselves up?” Kebo laughed. “Fine. Guess I’ll have to start with those two scientists I got in the back of my car.” Daisy’s eyes widened in shock.
“Once we have you in custody I am going to enjoy hurting you.” Daisy snarled. Suddenly May and Coulson burst in brandishing shotguns and unloaded several salt rounds into Kebo, causing him to cry out in agony.
“I see you figured out what makes us demons tick.” Kebo snarled. He launched a fireball at Coulson and he dove out of the way. May rushed him and they traded blows. Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere, black smoke rushed from Ward’s mouth into Coulson’s. Before May knew what was happening, Kebo pulled out Coulson’s gun and shot her in the head. Then he quickly jumped back into Ward in time for Daisy to tackle Coulson. Kebo created a massive wall of fire separating the SHIELD agents from the exit and rushed to make his escape, finding the Quinjet and shoving Fitz and Simmons inside as well as dumping two charred bodies on the sidewalk.
“Coulson you alright?” Daisy asked as she helped him up.
“Yeah.” Coulson nodded. He looked down at May’s dead body with sadness in his eyes.
“We gotta go.” Daisy said softly.
“Not without her.” Coulson replied. He picked her up and carried her through a portal Kara had created outside. Bobbi and Kara guided the people in the building through the portal and out into the street.
“Thank you for helping us with this.” Daisy said to Bobbi after they’d finished dealing with the civilians. “It means a lot to me.”
“So what now?” Kara asked Coulson.
“Now we get to Chicago.” Coulson answered. “He’s probably already on his way there since he stole the Quinjet.”
“Not to mention he took Fitz and Simmons.” Daisy added.
“What about the two bodies we found?” Kara asked.
“That’s not them.” Bobbi stated. “Kebo wants to torture them. He’s not gonna just kill them.”
“Not exactly comforting.” Daisy sighed. “What about May?”
“We’ll take her back to SHIELD and get her a proper funeral.” Coulson replied. Daisy placed her hand on his shoulder.
“This isn’t your fault.” she insisted. “Kebo killed her not you.”
“I know.” Coulson nodded. “And I’m gonna send him back to hell if it’s the last thing I do.” Just as Kara was about to open a portal to SHIELD and take her back, May’s eyes shot open.
---
Mack sat in Rose’s dining room looking out the window when he saw a Quinjet land in the front yard. A few moments later he heard screaming and fire coming from outside. He quickly grabbed his shotgun as Kebo blasted the door down.
“Mack.” Kebo grinned. “Good to see you.” Mack fired a salt shell, hitting Kebo square in the chest and knocking him down. Kebo got to his feet and hit Mack with a fireball, launching him through the wall into the living room where Rose and Thomas were seated. Kebo strolled in and met their faces.
“Grant?” Rose whispered.
“Nope.” Kebo smirked. “Grant’s unavailable at this time.”
“You’re Kebo.” Thomas said. “That guy SHIELD’s looking for.”
“Yep.” Kebo nodded. He launched a blaze of fire at Thomas’ prosthetic leg, melting it and causing him to cry out in pain.
“Tommy!” Rose exclaimed.
“I have come a long way to meet the two of you.” Kebo grinned.
---
“Thomas! Rose! Fitzsimmons!” Coulson called as he, Kara, and Daisy looked around the house. Bobbi was outside drawing symbols on the house. According to Aida, they would keep Kebo from smoking out into a different host. The team scanned around corners shotguns drawn in an effort to find them until finally arriving in the living room where Thomas and Rose Ward as well as Fitz and Simmons were tied to chairs. Thomas’ prosthetic leg lay mangled on the floor as the metal had been warped. Mack lay on the floor with burns across his shoulder and Kebo was in the center of the room with a look of satisfaction on his face.
“Finally.” Kebo smirked as Coulson, Kara, and Daisy filed into the room. “The gang’s all here.”
“What did you do to Mack?!” Daisy demanded.
“I was coming to set myself up here.” Kebo replied. “He got in the way.” He ignited a flame and held it up to Rose’s face. “Now, unless you want Ward’s baby sister here to look a lot less pretty, I’d put those guns down.” The team looked at each other and reluctantly placed their guns on the floor.
“You’re going back to Hell.” Daisy snarled. “I will drag you there myself.”
“Such venom coming from someone who’s unarmed especially when I’m in your boyfriend’s body.” Kebo laughed. “You upset about the bullet I put in Agent May’s head? I admit I was planning to do to her what I’m gonna do to the others but it was satisfying to make Agent Coulson here shoot his beloved right hand woman.”
“Yeah I gotta hand it to you you really are a sadist.” Coulson nodded. “Except for the fact that you messed up.”
“What?” Kebo scoffed. “How did I mess up?”
“Why would I tell you that?” Coulson scoffed. Kebo glowered and stalked over to Coulson, holding a flame in front of his face.
“Tell me Coulson.” Kebo snarled. “How did I mess up? You killed May and Ward’s about to torture everyone he cares about. I got you all here. I win.”
“No you don’t.” Coulson replied. “You’ll find out why soon enough but you’ve lost.” Kebo slammed his fist into the wall next to Coulson’s head.
“I think I’ll start with you first.” Kebo spat. But before he could bring his flaming hand down on Coulson’s face, Daisy shot him with a salt shell, launching him across the room. As Kebo scrambled to his feet and rushed Daisy in a blind fury, she ducked out of the way and barrelled right through a portal Kara created behind her, sending him outside onto the driveway. He scrambled to his feet and attempted to run back into the house but there was an invisible barrier preventing him from getting into there. When he looked down, he saw a red circle painted on the ground with symbols on and inside it. Bobbi strode up behind him holding the cold gun.
“Sorry Kebo.” Bobbi smirked. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“What is this?!” Kebo demanded.
“Something called a Devil’s Trap.” Bobbi answered. “Keeps demons like you from going anywhere.” The team came out of the house with Rose helping Thomas and Daisy helping Mack. Coulson strolled up to Kebo and looked him dead in the eye.
“I didn’t kill May.” Coulson stated. “We’re still figuring out what’s going on there but May isn’t dead. And because of that I finally realized how to beat you. Your narcissistic mind can’t handle losing. It’s the same reason you hated Ward for so long. You could never hande Ward being better than you. All I had to do was play into that narcissism enough to get you to make a mistake. Which is exactly what you did.” Kebo fixed Coulson with a hateful glare.
“You think I’m done?” Kebo snarled. “You still need to know how to send me back to Hell without killing Ward. I’m going till the bell rings.”
---
“Thanks for helping us out today.” Coulson said to Bobbi once Kebo was safely locked in one of the containment cells.
“It was no problem.” Bobbi smiled. “It was good to see you guys again.”
“Come on.” Kara said. “I’ll give you a ride home.” As Kara and Bobbi strode off, Mace and Lincoln approached Coulson.
“We’ve got a problem.” Mace stated.
“What’s up?” Coulson asked.
“Agent May.” Lincoln explained. “I was doing my examination to figure out how she’s still alive and I found out that…”
“What?” Coulson pressed.
“She’s a robot.” Lincoln said. “Like Aida. Whatever that is, it’s not Agent May.”