Hey

Bobbi had been less than keen to land the Zephyr on land that had seemingly appeared out of thin air beneath them. Their undetermined destination had made the flight seem all the longer, and Phil found himself almost physically itching to have his feet on solid ground by the time they touched down. Bobbi had set them down in the first clearing she had seen, not wanting to time waste by searching for any alternatives amongst such unfamiliar territory. Mack had initially voiced his concern about landing so close the cluster of houses on the edge of what appeared to be a small village but by they quickly realized that any alarm caused by their presence was fortuitously outweighed by the chaos already ensuing on the mysterious island.

‘I’ve got eyes on the teleporter – everyone seems to be headed towards the town square, he’s taking them one by one – it looks like some sort of evacuation protocol has been triggered’.

The need for said evacuation became apparent as Bobbi’s voice from their comms cut out as the earth began to shake violently beneath them.

‘Alright folks – we need to move fast! ICE the teleporter on site but the rest of these people are to be considered civilians, we don’t –‘

Another distinct rumble from the ground beneath them did nothing to mask the silent thunder that clapped through the air, Phil had heard it before – had felt it – just before Melinda had disappeared from base. The sound was directionless – seemingly happening inside his head and all around him at once but it was immediately followed by the heavy crumbling of stone against stone and his eyes were immediately drawn to the other side of the clearing and the large stone monument that stood there.

‘I’ve heard that thing before, back on base, it has to be – ‘

‘’Everybody fan out, follow the locals towards the town square’, Mack shut him down almost immediately, addressing the group and spares him a stern glare as Coulson starts to protest, before turning to Elena as he continues, ‘Yo-yo, scout the temple up ahead – check for our people and then retreat – any sign of hostiles and you report back to me before engaging – we came here to find our people, not risk losing some more, understood?’

Yo-yo was away in an instant, her agreement only the briefest of nods before she sped towards the temple. He would only slow her down – Phil had to make himself believe that – putting what little faith he could spare in the young inhuman as he started off in the opposite direction, following the others towards the chaos of the village up ahead.

***

He made a silent promise that as soon as this mess was figured out he would start training with May in the mornings. His lungs were burning as he races through the narrow streets of the impromptu village; an unflattering reminder of exactly how long it had been since he was a field agent.

The quakes came in waves now but the earth beneath them trembled in a constant low vibration, like the island itself was shaking apart. He scans the surroundings for Daisy as he advances, really trying to follow Mack’s orders, but he can’t help that his mind is automatically filtering through the crowd to find the one thing he really wants to see. For a moment, he thinks his thoughts have conjured an apparition. A familiar small frame darts from between two buildings, her dark hair falling loosely over one shoulder. He reaches for her instinctively, long before common sense could kick in, and he’s sure his own face mirrors the shock of the unsuspecting woman he had unceremoniously snatched from the street. It wasn’t Melinda – of course it wasn’t. The woman pulls out of his grip, stumbling as she scrambles away from where he stood, momentarily frozen. She is just beyond his grasp when Gordon snaps into existence beside her. Dammit. The shot leaves his weapon before he really registers that he’s fired it and maybe it was stress or a small stroke but instead of the round hitting his target he stares dumbfounded as a flash of steel whizzes past his head and knocks the projectile from the air. If Gordon is as stunned as he was, he was at least faster to recover and disappeared on the spot with not-Melinda as he spins to face the advancing figure behind him. His heads spins, his disbelief and chances he is having a stroke mounting as his childhood hero and former colleague raises his shield and with a sharp thud, his vision fades to black.

Elena skidded to a halt at the entrance to the crumbling stone structure, taking a moment to catch her breath as she looked up at the towering monument. Another sharp rumble from the earth vibrates beneath her feet, the sound chasing its way through the stone as a large crack splintered the stone archway above the entrance. Her legs are quicker than her thoughts and she immediately curses herself as she dives through the entrance just as the stone arch caves behind her, settling a pile of tumbling rock between her and the outside world. Mierda.

She was only momentarily blind in the freshly sealed tomb, her eyes quickly adjusting to the sudden darkness, searching out the slivers of lights that filtered down through the crumbling ceiling of the temple. The dim light dances over a large pool of water she really wanted to be able to ignore, scanning the darkness for any signs of an alternative entrance or exit. She can hear something – running water – hopefully the pool fed into some sort of stream or river at the back of the temple.

A quick stumble in the darkness immediately disproves her theory as Yo-yo comes crashing to the damp ground. Her eyes following the path of the large fissure she could now see extending from the blocked entrance of the temple into the body of water before her. From here, she could see the water draining slowly into the rocky void. Phobias aside, she was well trained enough to realize an impromptu swim was much more favourable than potentially being crushed to death as she waited for the small pool to drain.

Dashing forward into the dark water with the best of intentions left her almost paralyzed. Pain seared through her from all sides, pressing in on her with a force that far outweighed the gentle water lapping innocently against her skin. The water is like fire and she barely has a chance to regain her breath before the stone above begins to crumble as the earth tremors and quakes once more. A heavy slab of stone plumets into the water somewhere to her right, sending a wave of liquid fire crashing over her, stealing what little air she had left in her lungs. This is what she feared – what she feared more than anything – more than death itself, more than simply drowning; to be lost beneath the ocean, far from all she loved, forever forgotten by the world above.

Her body sank slowly beneath the water until it finally met something solid. Solid but soft – too soft to be stone. Her gut twisted as the realization hit her just before the world went dark – she was not alone beneath the water.

“If Wanda doesn’t get her ass back here soon she’s going to be riding on the OUTSIDE of the Jet, I swear”

Natasha looked more amused than bemused as he emerged into the Jet with an unconscious body slung over his shoulder.

To spite the tension and the earth rattling the plane around them, Steve couldn’t help but spare her a wry smile at her playful demeanour. He’d been trying not to do that – smile at her like an idiot too much. She had let him into her life and he had been the one who insisted that it was just as a friend but he couldn’t really be blamed for the fact that the more he got to know her, the more reasons he found to love her.

‘Whatcha got there Cap?’

‘A dead man’, he huffed as he deposited him in the nearest seat as Natasha made her way to inspect his unexpected cargo.

‘Well I can see from here that your ‘dead man’ is still breathing, or did you drag his sorry ass this whole way as some sort of gift –‘

If she was shocked she did a good job not showing it; Phil Coulson had made a habit of popping up in their lives unexpectedly over the years, but still, the man’s reappearance amongst all the other weirdness unfolding was unnerving at the least – considering he still remember burying the man.

‘A dead man it is – I’m pinging Wanda and we’re getting the fuck out of here’.

Steve knew better than to push; the look on Natasha’s face was all the warning he needed that one wrong word at the moment could result in another 70 years in the ice.

Their quick ascent into the air was well time; whatever mysteries the island held would likely soon be lost as it seems the earth was shaking apart beneath them. Peering out the window, Steve didn’t know whether to be worried or annoyed that Wanda was exactly where he had last seen her; standing in front of a crumbling stone ruin.

As Natasha lowered the jet just enough for the young Witch to boost herself into, Steve quickly slammed the door shut behind her as they began rapidly ascending once more, up and away from the chaos beneath them.

Steve peered into the distance, there had been civilians heading for some sort of shelter back in the village, but they didn’t know enough about this place or those people to interfere. To his left, Wanda’s gaze was still transfixed on the hillside ruins.

‘Was there anything in there?’

The silence stretched uncomfortably between them until Wanda finally shook her head;

‘My magic couldn’t move the stone – I could feel something beyond it but then it was just – gone’.

‘Gone?’

‘Whoever – whatever – drew me here, there’s nothing alive beneath that rock. So yeah, gone.’