Providence (Part 1)
Skye's POV
I walked into the command center of the Hub and held my tablet up as I went to stand next to Coulson.
"I made a list of Shield bases we believe are secure," I told him as he continued to watch the news report playing on one of the monitors.
"How many so far? Seven?" He asked.
"Three," I told him as he turned to stare at me.
"Plus The Hub," he said.
"Including The Hub," I corrected him.
"It's a preliminary list. I'm sure more will turn up," I assured him as he stared at me, his face filled with worry. I hated seeing him like this. I had only been a Shield agent for a day and it felt like my world had just turned upside down but Coulson had given his entire life to Shield. I couldn't imagine what he must be going through.
Coulson turned away from me and focused on the newscast again.
"Members of Congress are calling for an investigative panel but it's still unclear who should be held accountable. Many of its leaders have vanished, leaving Shield fractured and powerless," the reporter was saying.
"You were right all along," I told Coulson with a sigh as he turned to look at me. "Having all this out there in the world makes it too dangerous, and now...there's no one left to protect it," I said.
"There's us. We were lucky enough to make it through. The Triskelion, The Hub...those battles are just the beginning of this war," he told me as he walked back over to me. "Hydra's out there now, but at least our team's still intact. We can fight them, and we will," and with that said he walked out.
*****
“Good news. The Cube has retaken. All Hydra agents have been flushed out and are on the run,” I informed Coulson as he walked back into the command center a few hours later.
“So that makes four,” he said.
“See, I told you more would turn up!” I told him cheerfully. Trying to make him smile. I celebrated my small victory when he managed to send me a small grin.
“The hull's almost completely repaired. Flight systems are back online,” May told us as she walked into the room.
“And the cargo ramp?” Coulson asked.
“Fitz assures me that it will be operational.”
Suddenly the large monitor in the control room flashed red and the Shield logo appeared on screen.
“Sir, incoming transmission,” one of the agents said.
The screen showed a military man speaking to us.
“This is Colonel Glenn Talbot, U.S. Airforce. I need to speak to whoever's in charge over there.”
Coulson walked to stand closer to the screen, May and I flanking him.
“Colonel Talbot, I'm Agent Phil Coulson. I'm happy we could –“
“Mr. Coulson, it's a real mess your boys have gotten us into,” the man said. I didn’t like his tone of voice but could understand where he was coming from.
“Hydra caught us by surprise,” Coulson replied.
“Well, that's an understatement. It's troubling how deeply embedded Hydra was within your ranks,” Talbot said.
“Especially troubling for us, sir. But I assure you we're going on the offensive. The Hub is secure. All remaining agents stand ready to assist you in whatever –“
“I think we've had about all the assistance we can handle from Shield. I'm sending in a peacekeeping force. They're gonna take control,” Talbot interrupted.
“Understood. What should I tell my men to expect?” Coulson asked, though I could tell he wasn’t happy about this.
“We just want to ask a few questions, get the lay of the land. Everything checks out , you and your boys can be on your merry.”
“Sounds good,” Coulson said but once the feed had cut off he spun around to stare at May and I. “This doesn't sound good.”
“He's lying, definitely, for sure!” I said as we walked out of the command center.
“If Talbot's leading the op, there's nothing peacekeeping about it,” Coulson said.
“Base defenses are operational, we could hold out,” May suggested.
“The last thing Shield needs is to start a war with the U.S. government,” Coulson told her.
“What happens when Talbot gets here?” I asked.
“Best case scenario, we all get subpoenas, spend the next six months tied up in court hearings,” he replied.
“Worst case scenario?” I prodded.
“Means they skip the subpoenas move straight to bunker busters,” he answered.
“Bombs. Big bombs,” I predicted.
“All the while Hydra's still out there,” May pointed out.
“Get on the comms, we're enacting Odyssey protocol,” Coulson told me. I stared at him not knowing what that meant.
“Odyssey protocol? What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means Fitz needs to finish his repairs. We're getting the hell out of here,” he said.
*****
“Skye, please tell me something good!” Coulson said as he walked into the command center on the Bus where I was busy tapping away at the holo table.
“We have internet!” I told him.
“Yay. And, boy, have I lowered my expectations,” Coulson said sarcastically.
“But all H.Q. support systems are gone,” I added.
“Well then, the internet it is. Find everything you can on our team, all personal records, photos, anything that proves we exist – then erase it.”
I looked up at him in surprise.
“Uh, that's kind of the nuclear option!” I said.
“It's our only option. Every government agency in the world will be on our ass. We need to vanish,” Coulson said.
“Okay, but...once that's done, it can't be undone. We'll be ghosts. Not agents of Shield, just agents of...nothing,” I reminded him, inwardly feeling wrecked about what that would mean to him and the rest of the team. I didn’t feel like I deserved to be as upset as they were seeing as I hadn’t been an agent for more than a day.
He didn’t say anything, just turned and walked to exit the room again.
“What about Ward? Have you heard from him? He and Agent Hand should have dropped Garrett off at The Fridge by now,” I asked.
“Not yet. Here, give him a call. Hearing how Garrett settled into his tiny, windowless permanent home might actually cheer me up. When you're finished, collect everyone's badges. It's no longer something we want to flash around.” I frowned at the last part but decided to focus on calling Ward. While I got started on wiping all of his information.
“Sir? Is everything all right?” I heard him ask when he picked up. I smiled. It was nice to hear his voice.
“Hey, it's me. I just wanted to let you know that Grant Ward no longer exists,” I told him.
“You want to explain that, Skye?” He replied. I chuckled.
“Some trigger happy Colonel threatened to pay The Hub a visit. Coulson had us evacuate before he could lock us all up. Now I'm scrubbing our I.D.s while Coulson figures out our next move,” I explained.
“Makes sense. Agent Hand picked up some Navy jets in the vicinity. She has us taking the long route to The Fridge just to be safe,” Ward told me.
“Wow. You took that surprisingly well,” I said. I figured he would have been upset to hear that I was erasing his entire history. “Did you hear the part about you no longer existing?”
“Well, it's not the first time my identity's been compromised. You have any idea where Coulson's has us headed?”
“No idea. I'll keep you posted,” I told him.
“Good. I'll catch up with you when I can.”
“And when I see you next, who you gonna be? You got a clean slate. You can be anyone you want,” I told him inwardly thinking about my latest identity. I had done some research and realized that Steve’s birthday was coming up and in my free time was working on coming up with my first album that I was hoping to dedicate to him as my way of a gift. It was the only thing keeping me sane in the middle of all of this chaos.
“I don't know. Maybe...Tom Brady. I always wanted to play quarterback,” Ward said with a laugh.
“And date supermodels, you are so predictable,” I told him as I rolled my eyes.
“No, I mean the guy seems to have things pretty worked out,” he said.
“Be careful,” I told him.
“You too,” I heard him say before he ended the call.
*****
I walked into Coulson’s office and sighed heavily as I set down the team’s badges on his desk.
“This wasn't easy. Simmons got choked up when I asked for hers.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my new badge. I opened the wallet one last time and stared at it with a sigh. “This was big for me. Finally felt like I was a part of something, and now...” I closed it and threw it on top of the others. “It's worthless.”
With a sigh Coulson reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his own wallet and threw his down as well.
“I'm sorry. I can't imagine what this is like for you. You gave your life, literally gave your life, to Shield,” I told him as I watched him stand up.
“I was younger than you when Fury recruited me. Just out of high school.” He turned toward the wall behind his desk and removed the picture hanging there to reveal the wall safe. “Some days, it feels like only yesterday. Other days...” He reached over to his desk and gathered the badges. “A lot longer.”
I watched on as he entered the pin for the safe and put the wallets in when it opened. As he removed his hand I noticed one of the wallets light up yellow for a second and I frowned.
“Is that your badge?” I said pointing out the lights.
Coulson looked back inside the safe and sees the wallet glowing. He took it out and opened it and there were numbers written on it: 49 27 41 -80 3 40
“They look like coordinates,” he said in surprise.
“Coordinates to where?” I asked.
“I don't know yet. But there's only one person who could have sent these. And this is totally his style,” Coulson said and I could tell that he was thinking about Fury.
*****
“So, Director Fury's alive?” Jemma asked as we all gathered in the command center.
“What did he say? Does he have a plan?” Asked Fitz.
“He only sent coordinates,” Coulson replied.
I tapped on the holotable and the picture is fed to the large monitor, it showed an expanse of nothing – trees and snow.
“The coordinates should put us somewhere in the Canadian wilderness,” I told everyone.
“What exactly are we looking for here, sir?” Said Fitz.
“It's unclear. Maybe a rally point of some kind?” Coulson conjectured.
“Sir, have you and Agent Fury used this form of communication before?” Jemma looked uncertain.
“Never.”
“Then how can you be sure that –“ I frowned at Jemma. I understood she was trying to be cautious but this was the first time I had seen Coulson look genuinely hopeful since the events at the Hub.
“Cause this is how he operates,” Coulson told Jemma.
“Could be a trap. So far, everything has been a trap. Am I wrong?” Trip pointed out. “Hydra could have sent you those coordinates.”
Coulson walked closer to Trip pulling his badge out and showing the glowing numbers. “Nick Fury...Gave me this badge. When he did, I swore an oath. We all did. To serve when everything else fails, to be humanities last line of defense, to be the shield. These coordinates mean something. I'm certain of it. Fury also gave me this plane. Anyone wants off, chutes are in the bay. Help yourself.”
He walked out of the Command Center with May looking after him as the rest of us all share a glance. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would follow Coulson anywhere.