Heroes
Lincoln was walking by the medbay when he saw Fitz lying on the ground. He quickly rushed over to him and slapped him awake. Fitz jolted and sat upright.
“Lucy…” Fitz panted. “Lucy and Aida… they-they were here…” Lincoln helped Fitz up up but as they checked Ward’s bed, they saw he was nowhere to be found. In his place was a note that read, “Hand over the Darkhold and we will return your agents to you.”
---
Daisy slammed her fist into the medbay wall as the team gathered there. To say she was pissed was an understatement. She’d just gotten Ward back and now he’d been taken by Lucy Bauer.
“Is the Darkhold secure?” Coulson asked, his question directed at Mace.
“Yes.” Mace nodded. “After we learned May was an android I had that thing locked away. I’m the only one who knows where it is.”
“Good.” Coulson sighed. “In the hands of Lucy Bauer who knows what that book’ll do.”
“We’ve got another problem.” Kara stated. “While they were here, Aida and Lucy freed Yelena, the Black Widow we’d captured. Looks like they’re working with Taskmaster.”
“Ward was right.” Daisy murmured. “He said it was a bad idea to use that thing and he said not to trust Lucy.”
“Yes he did.” Mace nodded. “I’m the director. I made the call. And I’ll have to live with it.”
“Fitz what do you remember about the attack?” Coulson asked.
“Nothing just Aida and Lucy showing up and knocking me out.” Fitz answered.
“When was this?” Kara asked.
“Maybe thirty before Lincoln found me?” Fitz sighed.
“Alright.” Mace nodded. “Our enemy has a significant head start. We don’t know where they are or where they’re taking Ward. Anyone have any ideas how we can find him?”
“I do.” Simmons chimed in. “Lincoln and I put a microchip in his neck to help us monitor Ward’s brain activity while he recovered. We should be able to modify the signal into a kind of tracker and we can use that to track where Lucy and Aida are taking him. Hopefully it’ll lead us to Agent May as well.”
“Good.” Mace said. “Coulson, take Lincoln, Kara, Donnie, Fitz, and Simmons to recover our people.” Coulson nodded and everyone left to get ready for the mission. Once alone, Daisy turned to face the director.
“Sir why aren’t you sending me on the rescue mission?” she asked.
“Because you won’t be focused on the mission.” Mace stated. “We don’t know what they’re walking into and your head isn’t in the game right now. And since the last time this happened you ran off, I wanna keep an eye on you till they get back.” Daisy sighed and gave the director a reluctant nod.
---
The signal from Ward’s implant indicated that Ward was being held in a compound in Syberia. From the Zephyr they did recon to see what they were up against. On the cameras they caught sight of Yelena, Taskmaster’s right hand woman.
“Looks like we’re in the right place.” Kara stated. “This is Taskmaster’s hideout.”
“Hopefully we’ll get to put Taskmaster in the ground today too.” Kara said bitterly.
“When we find May and Ward, assuming they’re both in the Framework, we’ll need to be careful removing them.” Fitz stated. “Forcibly ejecting them from the Framework could be disastrous for their brains, especially Ward’s which is already muddled. And who knows what’ll happen to May’s after being in there so long.”
“Alright.” Coulson nodded. “We don’t know what we’re walking into here. What we do know is that they have our people there. Let’s bring ‘em home.”
---
Mace and Daisy were seated in his office when Burrows rushed in.
“Sir I have something important to tell you.” Burrows stated.
“What is it Burrows?” Mace asked.
“A group of inhumans just attacked Nadeer’s home.” Burrows answered.
“How many?” Mace frowned.
“Three sir.” Burros said.
“What should we do?” Daisy asked.
“We’re gonna go help her.” Mace stated, standing up.
“We are?” Daisy frowned. “Why?”
“Because SHIELD is supposed to protect everyone.” Mace stated. “Even our enemies and even criminals.” Daisy let out a long sigh and followed Mace to a Quinjet.
“She better thank us for saving her life.” Daisy grumbled. They flew to Nadeer’s house where ice surrounded the entire building.
“Guess one of them’s got ice powers.” Mace said. Landing in the front yard, Mace and Daisy disembarked and rushed to the open door. They got maybe ten steps in before a glowing orange golf ball exploded a few feet from them. Daisy and Mace looked around to see none other than JT James leaning on the doorframe.
“Quake as I live and breathe!” James laughed.
“Guess you used the terrigen.” Daisy noted.
“That I did yes.” James nodded. “Got these nice fire powers.”
“I see that.” Daisy replied. “What’re you doing here?”
“Oh this fella was puttin’ together a crew to take out the bitch who’s been goin’ after us and well I just couldn’t resist.” James shrugged. “I could use your advice on something though.”
“Well I think this is an idiotic waste of time.” Daisy said.
“Well that’s a shame but not what I was gonna ask.” James replied. “See I saw all your branding. The name ‘Quake’ and I thought I should get myself one. Wanted to run some of ‘em by you. I’m leaning towards ‘Hellfire’ but what’re you’re thoughts?”
“Sorry.” Daisy shrugged. “That’s my boyfriend’s.”
“Damn.” James muttered. “How ‘bout C4? Cause I mean just look at what I can do.” He picked up a candlestick and it began to glow.
“I’d rather not.” Daisy replied before blasting him against the wall, knocking him out.
---
“Communications room at sub-basement, Fitzsimmons.” Coulson ordered.
“On it.” Fitz nodded.
“Donnie, you're with them.” Coulson added. “The rest of us will fan out, search this place top to bottom for Agent Ward and Agent May. Stay on comms. Be sharp.” The team spread out to search the compound, dispatching Taskmaster’s soldiers as they went. Kara went off on her own in search of Ward and May when she came across Yelena.
“Agent Palamas.” Yelena greeted. “Our master has told us much about you.” The word “master” made Kara recoil in disgust. She dreaded to learn what Taskmaster had done to these women.
“And what exactly has he told you?” Kara frowned.
“Just how dangerous an adversary you'll be.” Yelena answered. “He’ll reward me greatly for killing you.” With that, Yelena lunged, attempting to land a blow on Kara. Kara quickly evaded and hit her with a seismic blast, slamming her against the wall.
---
Fitz, Simmons, and Donnie found a small computer lab containing several extremely old looking computers.
“This can't be Radcliffe's Framework setup. It's too low-tech.“ Fitz stated.
“Maybe we can still find something useful anyway.” Simmons suggested.
“I'll copy any data I find in the system.” Fitz nodded. “We should take some of this equipment back to the base for further examination, as well. Anything could be the key we're searching for.”
“We have an Aida sighting on the lower levels of the base.” they heard an agent on the comms say.
“Aida's here?” Fitz raised an eyebrow.
“You do this.” Simmons said pulling out her gun. “I'll find Aida.”
”What, you're gonna go take on a killer android?” Fitz frowned.
“I'll take Donnie.” Simmons shrugged.
“Concern lessened but I still think it’s a bad idea.” Fitz said.
“We can't let her escape.” Donnie spoke up. “She could be the lead we're looking for. Don’t worry I’ll keep Jemma safe.
“All right.” Fitz reluctantly agreed. “Just... be careful.” As Donnie and Simmons made their way downstairs, they received word from Kara that she’d recaptured Yelena while Lincoln and Coulson had found Ward. Suddenly the power cut out. As Donnie and Simmons made their way through the base, they arrived at a hangar where a plane was preparing to take off. They were joined by Kara carrying Yelena, Coulson and Lincoln carrying Ward, and Fitz carrying a box of equipment in time to watch the plane leave.
---
Daisy and Mace arrived in the living room of Nadeer’s house where two young men were standing across from a seated Nadeer. One of them had white hair and icy hands while the other looked a lot like Nadeer and held a pistol aimed at Nadeer’s face.
“Come on Vijay do it.” the white haired man ordered.
“Vijay please I’m your sister!” Nadeer pleaded.
“Your sister thinks you’re a freak.” the white haired man scoffed. Vijay’s hand seemed to shake with uncertainty.
“Don’t do it.” Mace spoke up. The two men turned around.
“The Patriot.” the white haired man grinned.
“That’s me.” Mace nodded. “And you are?”
“They call me Frost.” the white haired man smirked.
“Not a very creative name.” Daisy muttered under her breath.
“And I gather you’re Vijay Nadeer.” Mace said to Vijay who nodded. “Vijay I don't think you wanna do this. You know, kill your own sister.”
“She thinks we’re freaks.” Frost snapped. “If she had her way we’d all be gunned down just like this.”
“That doesn’t make it right for you to murder her in cold blood.” Mace replied. “Vijay you know what Frost is telling you to do is wrong. You can still walk away from this.” As he spoke he made his way closer to Vijay who’s hand was trembling.
“She stole money and gave it to people who wanted to kill me.” Vijay murmured.
“Yes she did and she’s going to pay for it.” Mace nodded. “But if you do this, you prove her right. You prove you’re the monster she thinks we are. But you don’t have to do that. Prove to her right now that we can be better.” Vijay’s hand trembled until he finally lowered the gun.
“Well if you want something done right…” Frost scowled. He created a massive ice wall blocking Daisy from intervening, causing Mace to whip his head around. Frost’s hands charged up with ice and just as he prepared to fire a flurry of ice shards at Nadeer, Mace dove between them. Several sharp icicles pierced through Mace’s suit. He landed on his back clutching his chest as Daisy brought the ice wall down and blasted Frost into a wall. Quickly, she rushed over to Mace and frantically examined his body to see if she could help.
“Hey Mace you’re gonna be fine.” Daisy assured. “We’re gonna get you help.”
“No I’m not.” Mace choked out. “I don’t think they’d be able to do anything even if they could get here in time.” The saddened look on Daisy’s face told him he was right. “You know I always wished that story about me in Vienna was true. I always wanted to be a hero. Like Phil. Like you.”
“You are a hero.” Daisy assured Mace, taking his hand. “I’ll make sure everyone knows it.”
“I never cared about recognition.” Mace coughed out. “I just wanted to do something that mattered.” Mace let out a final shuddering breath before continuing, “I need to tell you something. The Darkhold. It’s hidden in in a secret compartment in my desk. The passcode is the date of the Vienna bombing.” Daisy nodded and assured him she’d keep it safe as she felt his grip slacken. She let his hand go and watched it droop to the floor. In that moment she knew he was gone.
---
The press gathered outside Nadeer’s house as teams of SHIELD agents took Vijay, James, and Frost into custody. Daisy watched as Nadeer spoke to the press about the events that had transpired. How three inhumans broke into her house, attempted to kill her, and how Mace had given his life to save her. When they attempted to question her, Daisy brushed them off and made her way to the Quinjet to accompany Director Mace back home.
---
“Storm front coming in.” Fitz stated as he and Simmons began sorting through the tech they’d recovered. “You and I can just hunker down, pull all this apart until we find something that can help us get Agent May back, yeah?” Simmons didn’t respond, seemingly lost in thought.
“How long were we in that base?” Simmons asked.
“Pardon?” Fitz frowned.
“The timetable of this mission is bothering me.” Simmons explained Coulson says he came straight down to the hangar after rescuing Ward. And we heard the blast from Kara's battle with Yelena long before she met up with us again.”
“What are you saying?” Fitz asked.
“I'm saying... something doesn't feel right.” Simmons sighed. “There's a stretch of time in there that's unaccounted for when no one was in contact.”
“Now you mention it, it was pitch-dark when we left.” Fitz nodded. Just then Donnie rushed into the lab.
“Guys we’ve got a problem.” Donnie stated. “Director Mace had me install some systems to detect LMDs after we found out May was a robot. I put it on the blast doors. When we got back, I got this notification.” Donnie showed them a screenshot of all seven of them coming back to the base and the software indicating four LMDs detected.