Seeds (Part 1)
Tony’s POV
I banged my head repeatedly on my desk as I growled loudly in frustration. Several months had passed and still no sign of my soulmate but a fuzzy video of her saving people down in LA. And then several more months of silence. It was driving me crazier then I already was! I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up for.
I was Tony freaking Stark for crying out loud! I should have been able to locate her by now! And if it wasn’t a bad enough hit to the ego, the emotions I had been receiving from our bond were just as bad. Anytime she was feeling any strong emotion I would feel it, and knew that the others did as well. It pained me whenever I sensed her feeling scared or upset and the other half of the time I spent in a constant state of desire as I felt her thoughts drift towards the gutter late at night or sometimes during the middle of the day.
I pulled at my hair as I leapt to my feet and strolled upstairs to the bar to get a drink.
Skye's POV
"There is nothing more unsettling, being a part of something so horrible, completely unaware," Simmons was saying. "A cadet could have died."
"We drew up those concepts years ago. We didn't know they'd be applied in that way," Fitz added.
"Is this the device they found in the frozen pool?" I clarified. I looked over to see Ward nodding. "Correction: the instantly frozen indoor pool."
"It seems like it was planted in the filter days before. Like someone was waiting for those specific cadets," Ward commented.
"Well, as far as they can tell, the device uses a crystalline nucleation process she designed," Fitz pointed at Jemma.
"And a delivery mechanism he invented. That's why we are being asked to consult on the investigation," Simmons pointed at Fitz.
"So, we're going to the Academy?" I said excitedly.
"Science and technology division. Cadets are pretty shaken up over what happened. Agent Weaver asked if you two could speak to the student body about potentiality to calm them down," Ward confirmed.
"Of course, the talk. We've all heard the talk," Simmons said.
"I haven't," I pointed out.
"I guess you will," said Ward.
"Well, I've heard a lot about the Academy. I'm excited to finally see it," I said, happy.
"Me too. Never been to Sci-Tech before." I looked over at Ward.
"Never?" Huh. The different Shield Academies don't interact?"
Fitz scoffed.
"Not much," Ward explained to me while Simmons also scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Academy of Communications does, but they're the biggest and focused on data analysis."
"Boring," Fitz spoke up.
"It's the easiest to get into," Simmons declared.
"That's where you'd be, Skye." I glanced at Fitz, half of me was okay with that and the other affronted. I think I could easily get into the one Ward had gone to. And I wasn't that dumb about science! Sure I didn't have any degrees or anything but only because I'd never gotten the chance to go to a real school. Hmm, that's something to think about adding to the list...
"Thanks," I mumbled.
"Operations is the most aggressive program. More people wash out of operations than the other academies," Ward supplied. Sounded a lot like Hydra boot camp to me.
"So which one's the hardest to get into?"
Simmons looked at Ward and gave him a smile. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm picking up on the rivalry between sciences and operations." While I spoke, May walked past me, catching my attention. "Are you and Coulson past all that or you gonna help Ward steal their mascot?" I asked.
"We're not going. After we drop you off Coulson and I have other matters to attend to." I frowned after her as she walked off.
"Coulson hasn't come out of his office in a while. Do you think he's all right?" I asked Ward worriedly.
"We saw him at a low. It's not easy for anybody. But Coulson's as tough as they come. He'll be good. Just give him time. And while he takes that time it's on us to figure out what's going on at the Academy."
We all nodded then broke apart our little meeting.
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"This was the SSR facility before Shield was even founded. "SSR" stands for –"
"Strategic Scientific Reserve, yeah I know. Is this where you got all your PhDs?" I asked, cutting Jemma off.
"Oh, no. You need at least one to get through the door."
"Is science and technology what you imagined, Agent Ward?" asked Fitz to Ward.
"Yep. No uniforms, no rope courses, no defined muscularity on anyone."
"No marching in place, no IQs in the double digits," Fitz retorted.
An older woman walked up to us with a smile.
"There they are. So good to see you."
"You look as lovely as ever," replied Jemma with a warm smile and shaking her hand.
"I concur," Fitz agreed, also shaking her hand.
"Thank you."
"Agent Ward. Pleasure to have you, sir."
"Agent Weaver. There's a list of suspects?"
"Based on the level of intelligence it would take to put a device together like the one we found we've narrowed it down to the top 10% of our cadets. I'm worried there's a bad seed."
Ward leaned in toward me to explain. "Ops and Sciences have differences, but both have to be careful about what we call "bad seeds". People who want to use the tools we give them for –"
"Bad seed" isn't a Shield term, Ward, just a term," I told him with a roll of my eyes.
He gave me his blank stoic face as I gave him a little grin, it looked like Weaver had a grin too.
"I know you've already questioned the victim, but I have a few questions I'd like to ask him myself," Ward said to Weaver.
"I'll arrange for you to talk to Seth Dormer when he's out of class. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get Agents Fitz and Simmons settled into the lecture hall."
She started off with Fitz and Simmons following after leaving Ward and I behind. The two of us watched Fitz-Simmons and Weaver get surrounded by other cadets.
"Look at them, the popular kids. Who knew?" I joked.
"I did. Come on. While we have a minute I think there's something you'll want to see."
I rose my brows questioningly but followed all the same as we walked inside one of the buildings and up to some sort of large plaque in the center of the large room.
"The Wall of Valor," I commented in awe.
"So you've read about it."
"Every Shield facility has a memorial to the agents lost in the line of duty," I recited as I walked closer to the memorial. "Shield's history can be traced on walls like this." I reached out and touched a name.
""Bucky" Barnes." Could that possibly be the same Bucky as the Bucky I knew as the Winter Soldier? It would make sense, considering the world had thought both him and Steve were dead until recently.
"Puts it in perspective, what we do."
"Must make you guys proud, all this history. Just wish I was a part of it," I said sadly. I could see Ward taking in my words as I turned to look at him. "It's not self-pity, really. I'm just saying everyone here has earned this. They deserve it. I hacked my way in, feels like I cheated."
"All you need to join is a dedication to the greater good. Coulson saw that in you the moment he met you." I couldn't help but blush and lower my head. Thinking that Coulson hadn't known the truth about me when he'd first met me. Then again, he knew now, and didn't seem to be angry with me anymore about it.
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Coulson's POV
"You want to tell me why we're flying to Mexico City?" I asked May as I sat in my office flipping through the pages Fury had finally given me with the details of my death.
"To get your head working on something else. I've been looking into Skye's past, like you asked, into the agent who dropped her off at the orphanage," May explained.
"Agent Avery. She was killed," I said.
"But her partner wasn't. He disappeared."
May handed me a tablet and I took it from her looking at it, there was a Shield identification on the screen.
"Agent Lumley," I read.
"Went off grid 25 years ago, day after Avery was crossed off."
"He's resurfaced?"
"A few days ago, a Mexican teenager posted a selfie on his Facebook page," May replied, taking the tablet and pulling up the photo before handing it back to me. "Managed to capture our guy leaving a grocery store in the background."
"If he's good enough to avoid Shield all these years he'll know," I pointed out.
"And he'll be on the move," May said. I nodded. "We have a short window to intercept."
"He may have killed Agent Avery," I commented.
"Or wanted to avoid the same fate," May shot back.
"Find him, we find out. How long till we touch down?"
May smiled. "40 minutes." She started walking out. "I'll gas the car."
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Skye's POV
I listened and laughed along with the students as Fitz-Simmons gave their lecture on potentiality. It was interesting to watch them in this environment, to see the entire audience listening eagerly to their every word. It really made me want to go to school myself.
I had to admit though, I thought Jemma was being a tad hypocritical considering half of her time was spent talking about wanting to experiment on people with powers.
"Oh, God. Oh, God!" one of the students cried out during the middle of their lecture; standing up quickly and looking down at himself. "What is this?!?"
I stared in shock at the ice forming around his feet spreading up his legs. Quickly enveloping him before anyone could even get to him. One of the cadets screamed when Donnie was entombed in ice.
"Find exposed skin! He needs glucose to raise his body's natural freezing point," Simmons directed as she and Fitz ran over to the poor boy.
The cadets moved out of the way as Ward entered the lecture hall; helping me to try and locate the device that was causing this.
I finally managed to spot it tucked under the seat in front of Donnie.
"Ward, there it is. Fitz, what now?" I exclaimed as I pointed to the device.
"Smash the damn thing!"
Ward kicked down hard on the device breaking it. I heard it powering down and when it did the ice on Donnie began to break apart. He groaned then collapsed but Fitz was there to catch him and lower him to the ground.
"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's over."
The cadets, all still standing, applauded Fitz-Simmons.
I made my way over to Donnie half an hour later as various people walked around the lecture hall with different instruments testing things.
"You can't think of anyone who'd want to hurt you?"
"I don't know anyone."
"Donnie, I'm going to have you escorted back to your room. You get some rest and stay warm," Weaver said as she approached our spot on the stairs.
Donnie got up off the stairs and walked past Fitz-Simmons. "Sorry I ruined your lecture. I was really looking forward to it."
"It's not your fault, Donnie."
"No genetic materials or prints found on the device. The components are rare and expensive," Fitz informed us after Donnie had left.
"Freshman pranks are tradition but these are something else," Jemma added.
"Attempted murder," commented Agent Weaver.
"So, Donnie was the intended target all along? He have anything in common with the cadets at the pool?" Ward asked.
"These kids were popular, Donnie was –"
"Not," I interjected.
"Donnie hadn't made any enemies but he hadn't made any friends either."
I listened as Fitz-Simmons discussed Donnie's level of intellect/social interactions with his peers. I couldn't help but see the resemblance in my own life; not about being a super uber genius; but the part about not fitting in. Hydra hadn't been all too worried about teaching me good social skills. I frowned, not liking the idea that I might end up that way forever. I definitely needed to try and make more of an effort to be social and make new priends; I just had no idea how I was going to do so when the team and I were always hopping from one place to another. I guess I could start by reaching out to Steve, Clint, and Natasha. I just had no clue what to say to start up a conversation.
"But he doesn't like it here, so I'm afraid he'll wash out," Weaver was saying when I finally clued back into the conversation.
"Maybe that was the idea. Agent Weaver keep working with investigations. Interviewing cadets, instructors," said Ward.
"And us?" I inquired.
"Their interviews won't bear fruit. We teach cadets to keep secrets." He turned to walk out of the hall and we followed him. "Where did you guys hang out when you wanted to get away from the faculty?"
"Can we tell someone from operations?" I chuckled at the look on her face.
"Yes, because we need to conduct our own investigation."
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Coulson's POV
"Dario Marquez's dress shop. Marquez doesn't do the best papers in town but he also doesn't use a computer," I commented as May and I sat in Lola scoping out the street.
"So if Lumley's gonna make a run for it your guess is he might pass through that door."
"It's worth a shot, so we wait," I said with a shrug.
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Skye's POV
"And when we get there?" Simmons asked.
"We mingle, low key. You and Skye get comfortable with the students see if you can get them gossiping. Skye looks young enough to blend in." Was that a compliment or a diss? I couldn't quite tell.
"You're not exactly Old Man River and Fitz looks younger than us!" I pointed out.
"Time will come when you won't make fun of me for that. You'll be jealous. You'll be jealous, wrinkly old hags," Fitz said. I rolled my eyes as Simmons and I shot him a look.
"I want Fitz to go talk to Donnie."
Fitz turned and looked at Ward. "Sorry?"
"Donnie's withdrawn, might know more than he's letting on. You're a hero here, Fitz. He looks up to you. Go hang out with him. Even if he has no clue who might be after him, he could use a friend."
"That is a wonderful idea," Simmons said with a smile.
"Ward has them from time to time," Fitz commented. Ward looked sharply at him while I grinned.
"I'll meet you later.'' He walked off and both Simmons and I turned and looked at Ward with smug looks on our faces.
"What? It's strategic."
"It's adorable," Jemma said.
"The Tin Man has a heart after all!" I exclaimed as I swatted him on his chest. He rolled his eyes then started walking again.
"So, where are we going?" he asked, clearly trying to avoid responding to my comment.
Simmons and I laughed as we followed after him.
"Shield keeps careful watch of everything within their walls. So, in the late 60s to escape the cameras and the prying eyes of the faculty a few cadets started sneaking down to the boiler room to play cards, you know, exchange ideas."
"My kind of people," I said with a smirk.
"Some amazing breakthroughs have come out of here. So the tradition lives on," Simmons said as she lead us deeper into the building.
"Of cramming into the boiler room?" I asked, confused.
Simmons pulled on a door and gave me a smile over her shoulder. I could hear bass bumping and see flashing lights giving the boiler room more of a bar feeling. It reminded me very much of when I worked at Nights.
"Well, over the years, we made a few improvements," Simmons said with a smirk.
Skye laughed as we entered on a catwalk overlooking the scene. Now that we get a good look it looked like a Shield nightclub. There were people dancing, drinking and playing pool and on the wall was the large Shield logo.
"Do you have one of these at operations?" asked Simmons smugly.
"Nah."
"Did not think so."
"Drinks are on me!" I said, wishing for the hundredth time that alcohol had an effect on me.
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Coulson's POV
"All right, what's up?" I asked suspiciously.
"You tell me," May responded.
"You're talking, more than ever," I pointed out.
"Cause you're not."
"And you suddenly became active on the Skye investigation?" I prompted.
"She's proved herself, stepped up in a big way, for our team, for you," May answered.
"Is that it, or is it just to distract me?" I said, not quite believing it.
She let out a deep sigh.
"Both. I know you're having a hard time believing what –"
"They changed my memories. Who's to say they didn't change more?" I cried out frustratedly.
May sighed once again.
"I say. I know you, Phil, and I knew you before. You know I'd be the first to go down that road if I thought it led somewhere. Do you believe me, at least?" I paused, it wasn't that I didn't trust her, more that I didn't trust myself. "Do you –"
"Yes."
"Good."
We looked at each other a moment.
"But I'm tired of secrets, so I'm glad we're here. We need to root out all the secrets."
"Agent Ward and I have been having sex –" I closed my eyes briefly, trying to pretend I did not hear what I thought I had. When I opened them again, I thankfully found something to distract me.
"I got him!" I spoke up, spotting Lumley and quickly getting out of Lola.
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”Cyanide? What did you think we were gonna do to you?” I asked Lumley once we were back on the plane and sitting in the main lounge area.
“What they did to her,” he said pointing down to the picture of the dead agent.
“Agent Linda Avery?” I confirmed.
“She wasn't the first one to die. We were headed to the Santorini Island in Greece. A senior agent had called in an 0-8-4.”
“An object of unknown origin. We've dealt with those before,” I commented.
”He said the entire village had died trying to protect this one. Avery and I were just fresh out of the Academy. And there were five of us just running the back end, until we lost communications with the first team. We went searching. We found the senior agent under a bridge. He – he managed to escape with a gunshot wound to the neck but he bled out. He was still holding on to the 0-8-4.” He scoffed and shook his head as I gave him a confused look.
“Poor thing was covered in blood. We thought she was dead, too, but sh – she was just asleep in the dead agent's arms.”
I leaned forward.
“I – the baby? The girl was the 0-8-4?” My eyes widened as I gave May a side glance.
“If she had powers or something, we never witnessed it. The five of us helicoptered the kid off, headed home. After we landed, we started getting crossed off.”
“Executed?”
“Tortured, heads bashed in. And when it came down to Avery and I we realized the only way to keep our people and the kid from being hunted –”
“Was to erase her from existence,” I said with a nod, starting to understand, but still baffled at the idea that Skye was an 0-8-4.
”Avery was smart. She used a lead agent's credentials to fake a Level 8 clearance. She set up a nearly invisible protocol. The foster system was ordered to move the child around every few months.”
“But they still got to Avery,” I pointed out, not bothering to mention that unfortunately for Skye, she had not lasted long in the foster system before getting kidnapped by Hydra. The foster system was not always perfect, but compared to being trapped by Hydra, she would have been better off in the system.
“She died protecting that secret.”
“And you left town.”
“Oh, I left everything. I mean, whoever killed that kid's family and all those agents was a force to be reckoned with.”
“And that girl –” May started to say.
“Don't tell me a damn thing about her. I don't want to know. You understand? Just tell me, is she okay?”
“She's safe,” I reassured him.
“Then maybe it was all worth it. You taking me in?”
“Yeah,” May said with a nod as she started to walk to the cockpit.
“No,” I countered. “I'm not sure Shield is the safest place for you right now. We'll get in the air and drop you somewhere along the route.”
“Thank you. Bit of advice, stop digging, and stay the hell away from that girl. Cause wherever she goes, death follows.”
May and I shared a look then continued to walk away.
“It's best no one knows about this, for Skye's safety and for ours. You can never tell her,” she said giving me a grave look.
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Author’s Note
- Hope y’all liked my latest chapter! Sorry bout the wait! Added a little Tony POV to help make up for the slow update and I’m planning to add some phone convo between skye and her soulmates in the next chapter. If anyone has any suggestions on conversation topics please let me know!