#micwrites

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Kong: Skull Island- Brothers

Pairing: Eventual Reg Slivko x Irene Conrad Brown (OC)

Jack Chapman x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

James Conrad x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

Summary: An ex-mercenary and his younger adopted sister get themselves into a mess because they want money from the US government

Warnings: cursing, crying, etc

Word Count: 2777

SAIGON, VIETNAM

I caught the ball as it bounced back from the wall. James had gone out for the night, and he refused to let me come with him. It was already enough that he had brought me out to Saigon with him. The hotel room was cramped, with one bed, a wooden chair, and a TV that didn’t work perched atop a large dresser with drawers that only pulled halfway out. James and I kept our stuff in bags anyway. I had finished reading The Time Machine, and only read halfway through The Island of Doctor Moreau because it was rather horrifying. James told me he’d be back rather late, so I was to lock the door and go to sleep at a reasonable time.

I sighed deep as I threw the bouncy ball again, only this time it bounced onto the floor instead of onto the bed. I let it go and rolled onto my stomach. James had been decommissioned for the past week and a half, but he didn’t want to talk much about the war. It was understandable. I had never been to war, but I had seen things as simple as photographs that had shook me to my core. I couldn’t imagine what being out there fighting would be like.

I realized my body was falling asleep while my mind was still running, which was unsurprising. James and I had spent the day exploring the city. He had almost forced me into picking something out from a store, because my birthday was coming up soon. I responded with a cheesy classic.

“All I want is for you to stay home.”

He ate that one up. James had basically been taking care of me since I was barely a teenager. That was when my father married his mom. My father had died a year or two after, and his mother three months after, of grief. I was thirteen by the time that happened, but James was much older. He could’ve taken me to an orphanage or left me on my own. He took me in instead. He joined British Special Forces three years after he brought me to live with him. He was decommissioned two years later, which brings us to today. I had been living basically on my own for that time, but somehow my brother always found a way to make sure I had enough of everything to get by.

I jerked up when I heard the door open.

“You didn’t lock it?” Blue eyes squinted at me.

“I was going to, I promise. I’m not even asleep yet, Jay.” I stifled a yawn.

He gave me a deadpan face, locking both locks on the door as loudly as possible. His face softened as he pushed me over, making room for himself to sit down next to me.

“What’s up?” I could tell something was bugging him.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach. He wasn’t going back to war, was he?

“Irene, listen … you know I’ve been decommissioned.” He trailed off, picking stray hairs off the blanket as he avoided my glances.

“Yeah, and?”

He sighed, contemplating something. I scratched at my finger, increasingly nervous.

“I’ve been offered a job.” He blurted.

I looked up. Why was he so slow about telling me that?

“Where?” I heard the weak sense of betrayal in my own voice.

He looked up to meet my eyes. I felt like I was on the verge of holding back tears as he stuttered.

“A-ah-an island. An uncharted island in the South Pacific.” He averted his gaze back down.

I paused before speaking, more aggressive than I wanted to be. “You’re ex-special forces, what do they need you for? Who even needs you?”

He sighed. “It’s a group of scientists, Ire. Look, they need me to be their tracker, essentially. It’s only supposed to take a week, and I could leave you wi-”

“No.” I stopped him, feeling my own face contort into one of despair.

“Irene.” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“You did not already say yes.” I felt the tears well in my eyes.

His face mirrored mine, sadness and what was probably regret on his features.

“Jay, you’ve only been back a week, and you’re leaving again?” I cried.

“Irene, I didn’t think it would upset you so much.” He pulled me to him, hugging me.

I slumped against him and whimpered. If he was going, he was taking me with him. I would guilt him into it if I had to.

“Irene, I’m so sorry.” He mumbled, rubbing circles on my back.

I curled up tighter. “James, please don’t leave me.”

“Bitsy, I-I…” He trailed off.

I pulled back far enough to look up at him.

“Take me with you.” I urged with tear-stained cheeks.

He met my eye, which was a mistake on his part. I frowned again, letting my shoulders drop. He sighed through his nose before finally breaking.

“Fine. I’ll tell them you’re good with jungles and animals.” He let his hand drop on the bed.

“And?” I smiled a little.

“And that we’re a package deal.” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I threw myself at him, hugging him tightly.

He hugged back with a grunt, taken off guard by my excitement.

“We’re leaving in a few hours, so pack up whatever’s lying around.”

I finally pulled away from the hug, ready to shove my toothbrush and two books into the bag.

“And the island might be extremely dangerous. So when we get there, stick to me, okay?” He was serious about that part, because he grabbed my hand and practically made me promise.

I nodded. “Okay.”

He broke into a smile. “Now pack and get some sleep, I have a feeling you aren’t going to like the plane ride.”

BANGKOK, THAILAND

“James Conrad. This is my younger sister Irene. I need her skill for the biological aspect of tracking.” James spoke to the blond man in a Landsat uniform.

“Oh, no. You can’t bring her with you.” The man answered rather snarky.

“I don’t think you understand. We’re a package deal. If she can’t go, you don’t get me.” James reached back to grab my hand, which I gladly gave with a squeeze.

The man eyed me before sighing. “Fine, whatever. You take responsibility for her.”

James scoffed. “Of course I will. She’s my sister.”

The man rolled his eyes, but James just pulled me past, pushing me ahead of him and holding onto my hand.

“Jay, I don’t know which way we’re going.” I mumbled back over my shoulder.

He pointed ahead, “Follow the soldiers.”

I caught sight of who he was talking about, the group of tall men dressed in army green. I followed loosely, but I stopped when they did. I looked back at James, then to the man that was standing at the start of the boat’s ramp.

James took my hand again, this time leading the way. I stood off to his side as we waited for the men to finish talking to him. As they began to walk away, and James approached the man, one of their hats fell to the ground. I bent down to pick it up before the wind could take it away. I realized how close I was to the guy who’s hat it was once I stood up. I bit my lip, suddenly anxious.

“Here.”  I pushed the hat in his direction.

He grinned toothily before taking it. “Thank you, miss.”

I felt my cheeks heat up, but I was sure that he couldn’t see considering it was dark and he was at least half a foot taller than me.

“Slivko, stop flirting with the girl and get! We’ve got things to do!” The man that James had been talking to yelled.

The guy, who was more likely my age than actually a man, winked before scampering off, following the rest of the army men. James pulled on my wrist, breaking my attention.

“You’ve just gotta stick with me, but other than that Colonel Packard over there don’t care that you’ll be joining us.” He explained.

I nodded, following him up the ramp and avoiding the glare of the colonel.

                                                            ***

I leaned against the same wall James leaned against. I scratched at my wrist, uncomfortable around all the Landsat people and the soldiers. I wasn’t sure what we were waiting on, and the loud cranking of the projector in the middle was making my skin crawl. James noticed this, and ruffled my hair.

“This should only take a few minutes, and it’s just a briefing. After this you can hole yourself up in the room if you want to.”

I scoffed and pushed his hand off, narrowing my eyes at him. “I don’t want to hole myself up. I’m just a little antsy.”

“Almost done, Bitsy.” He motioned at the man who had taken his place at the front of the room.

“Hello and welcome. I’m Landsat Field Supervisor, Victor Nieves.” He had an awkward posture, but smiled anyway as he pointed to the blond guy from earlier.

“This is my colleague Steve Woodward, our data wrangler.” There was a light chuckle from the Landsat team, but James remained stoic and I noticed a few soldiers roll their eyes.

The projector cranked again. “Our expedition takes us to a place every nautical trade route known to man has avoided for centuries.”

An image of an island popped up, shaped somewhat like a skull.

“As our satellites show, the island is surrounded by a perpetual storm system, allowing it to remain hidden from the outside world.”

That doesn’t sound right.

I felt James shift his posture, but my eyes remained on the projections as they changed.

“But with Colonel Packard’s helicopter transport, we will be the first to break through to the other side.”

My eyebrows furrowed. This sounded very much like something out of a twisted horror movie.

“We’re also pleased to be joined, for the first time, by the resource exploration team, led by Mr. Randa and accompanied by biologist Miss San and geologist Mr. Brooks.”

“Aren’t those the guys that hired you?” I whispered over my shoulder at James.

“Yeah.” He whispered back, eyes still narrowed.

He didn’t like this either.

Nieves continued, “Our focus will be on the island’s surface, theirs, what lies beneath. Mr. Brooks.”

The man with glasses stepped up to the front of the room.

“Simple, really. We’ll use explosions to shake the earth and create vibrations, helping us to map the subsurface of the island.”

The projection changed again.

“We’ll fly in over the south shore and then strategically drop seismic charges to better help us understand the density of the Earth.”

I hadn’t exactly gone through any type of geological science in high school, but I understood the words “seismic charges” and it raised some concern.

“You’re dropping bombs?” James spoke up.

All eyes turned to him, including mine. I would’ve never actually spoken aloud in a room full of people, but James didn’t care. And I trusted him to make sure things were safe before getting involved.

“Mmm.. S-scientific instruments.” Mr. Brooks countered.

“You hear that, boys? We’re scientists now.” A voice called from the rows of soldiers.

Even though he was sitting low in his chair, I could tell it was the one that had dropped his hat earlier.

Slivko, I think?

The soldiers laughed, but the Landsat people didn’t seem amused. I’m sure James would have laughed, had Mr. Brooks not dodged his question about the bombs.

“You guys are not scientists.” Steve muttered.

I rolled my eyes.

“We’ll then land and make basecamp for ground excursions led by Mr. Conrad and Miss Brown.” Nieves gestured our way.

I glanced up at James. He met my eyes, his face softer now. I shot a face at him, one screaming “I am definitely not a tracker!!” He only shook his head.

“Major Jack Chapman.” Nieves stepped aside.

My eyes snapped up.

Before my father had married James’s mother, he had dated a few women. One of those women had been Elise Chapman. They dated for a few years, during the prime of my childhood. Her son Jack had become my best friend. My dad moved me away after a few years, never really telling me what had happened between them. Jack and I would write each other letters, but after a few years he stopped answering. I hadn’t talked to Jack in two years.

But here he was now, about to tell us whatever it was he had to tell us about this possibly lethal island.

He stepped up and took the pointer from Houston, “All right, once on this island-” he caught my eye.

I shivered, seemingly unable to pull my eyes away. James clasped a hand onto my shoulder. He knew all about Jack, just like he knew about every detail of my life.

Jack snapped himself out of it and started talking again.

“Once on the island, the storm’s interference will block all radio contact with the ship. That means we’ll be by ourselves.”

The projector again. I swallowed hard.

“Three days later, the refuel team will meet us here on the North end of the island. That may be our only safe departure window for an unknown period of time.” He glanced back my way.

“So, tip for everybody. Don’t miss it. Please.” His eyes came back around, but it seemed that James caught him this time.

Jack looked away, and he didn’t look back again.

                                                           ***

“James, where are you going?” I asked as he turned to leave the room.

“I want to check something out. Why don’t you stay here, catch up with Chapman?” He tried to pull himself from my grip.

“James, I haven’t seen him since I was a kid.” I grabbed at his wrist again.

He sighed and faced me, hands on my shoulders. “It’ll be okay.”

I bit down hard and closed my eyes, sighing hard through my nose.

“Okay.” My voice was quiet.

“I’ll see you up in the room later?” He patted my cheek.

I nodded, slowly letting go of his wrists.

“Be careful.” I mumbled.

He kissed my forehead. “Of course, you too.”

I heard someone clear their throat from behind me. I breathed hard before turning myself around.

“Hey Irene.” Jack stood there, a gentle smile on his face.

I looked up at him. “Hey, Jack.”

“How’re you, kid?”

I broke into a grin, unsure of what else to say. He gingerly pulled me into a hug.

“I missed you, ya know.”

I hugged back, nodding even though I knew he couldn’t see it. “I missed you too.”

“Colonel told us ‘Conrad’, but I didn’t even think it could be your brother.” Jack finally pulled away, hands on my shoulders.

I only shrugged. “I didn’t exactly think I’d see you here either.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “You haven’t grown since you were twelve, have you?”

“Shut up.” I shoved him, laughing.

We both quieted down quickly. I sighed, twiddling with my fingers.

“How’s Billy?” I asked. Last time Jack had written to me, Billy was four years old.

Jack perked up at the mention of his son. “He’s doing good. Gracie’s sent me a few photographs. I can show you later if you’d like. He looks just like his momma.” He gushed.

“Well I would hope so. Jack, you’re uglier than a dog. I would feel bad if the poor kid looked like you.”

It was a teasing lie, of course. Jack was what I considered pretty, with dark hair that he always styled up at the front, tiny freckles that you could only see if you were close enough, and eyes that switched between shades of green like nobody’s business.

He narrowed his eyes at me. I narrowed mine right back before breaking out into another fit of laughter. He messed my hair up.

“Where’d your brother go? I was planning on introducing myself.” He hesitated on the word brother, but forced it out anyways, looking around the room.

I wasn’t exactly about to tell him that James had gone to snoop around the ship, so I just shrugged again.

“Not sure, he told me I should stay and talk to you. I don’t really think you need to formally introduce yourself, though. He knows all about you.”

Jack nodded. “I see. Do you wanna meet the rest of the boys? I’ve got a feeling they’ll just love you.” He extended his hand to me.

I smiled and took it. “Sure.”

Previous: N/A

Next: Photographs and Flirts

[michaelleepoetry]

From my poem New Year’s Eve, 2015. In my book 📖 The Only Worlds We Know! I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since writing this poem, chillin with @micwrite and playing marvel vs. Capcom and eating gumbo. Entering a decade I never imagined I’d live to see. I 2020 and my faith grows and grows in so many things. Feeling incredibly grateful as the year comes to a close. Also, if you haven’t seen: more signed copies of the book have been made available, only 15 left! Link in bio! Also, NYC come out next Friday I’ll be featuring January 3rd at @nuyoricanpoetscafe ! Come through, grab a book and give me a hug or high five or handshake or affirming nod, whatever fits your boundaries and comfort levels! See y’all soon 😀 . . . . . . #poetry #buttonpoetry #writing #literature #quotes #art #grief #recovery #addiction #spokenword #spokenwordpoetry #poems #poet #spokenwordartist #poetryslam #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetryofinstagram #slampoetry #michaellee #sober #sobriety #alcoholism #alcohol https://www.instagram.com/p/B6s_4juHuCd/?igshid=grjf0y8nyvjl

[meccacon]

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[winchesterbrotherstan]

hi guys!

so i was considering writing like little “sneak peeks” for each of my series. like just a snippet of a flash forward. like,

for teen wolf, writing something from season 5

for containment, a few episodes ahead

for prodigal son, a few episodes ahead

for gotham, something from season 2

for bones, something from like season 11

for supernatural, like when they meet jack cas

for kong: skull island (as if anybody cares abt that series oops lol 🤪) a flash forward to a few years

i dunno, i just don’t wanna do it and post it if you guys don’t wanna read them, so just let me know!

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Agents of Shield- 0-8-4

Pairing: Leo Fitz x Violet Ward (OC)

Summary: The gang finds a strange object in a South American cave, Grant and Violet mentally vibe, Violet gets shot, the side of the plane blows up!

Warnings: cursing, shoot-out, angry rebels, gunshot wound

Word Count:  11297 (she sorta long eek)

“S.H.I.E.L.D. 6-1-6, you have course confirmation. You are cleared direct to the Slingshot.” An agent’s voice came over the speakers. “Agent Coulson, everything all right up there? We heard you had a little dustup on the ground.”

“Yeah, we’re all good. It’s gonna be blue skies from here on out.” He replied shortly.

Then the side of the plane blew open, and wind rushed in, sucking things out and leaving Coulson clinging to the pole and struggling to hang on.

                                              19 HOURS EARLIER

I helped Skye take her last bag out of her van before she hopped out, dressed in a cute red dress with leather boots. I pulled the sleeves of Fitz’s green sweater down to my fingers as I lifted a bag for her and she took out a box.

“Hey!” She called to the agent who came to take her van. “No joy rides, okay? That’s my house.” She mumbled the last part.

“No worries.” He laughed and placed a gadget on it to turn the engine on.

She scoffed. “Where do they think of this stuff?” She smiled at me.

We walked up the ramp as it closed behind us. Jemma gave her a cheery welcome as we passed the lab. Fitz was hyperfocused on what seemed to be the dendrotoxin in the night-night gun. 

“Agent Coulson told us the news!” Jemma came with a smile. “What a wonderful surprise!”

Fitz followed her, hands fisted on his hips. He eyed me in his sweater, and his eyebrows shot up before he became stoic again as Jemma spoke.

“Isn’t it, Fitz?”

“Yes, what a surprise.” He nodded with a false smile, obviously disgruntled.

“No, it’s wonderful, you must be very excited!” Jemma cut him off.

“Yep, first day of school.”

“Alright, Jem, you can be best friends later. Come on, Skye.” I grinned at Jemma.

We walked up to the main floor, where I showed her the extra room.

“Do you guys just plan on having consults?” She asked, placing the box down on her bed with a laugh.

“No, I don’t think so. This was supposed to be my bedroom.” I placed the bag down on the bed.

“What happened, you bunk with big brother now?” She quirked an eyebrow playfully.

I tilted my head. “Agent Coulson tell you?”

“No. He mentioned it when he was under that truth serum. Is that real by the way? Because he said some real weird stuff. It was kinda freaky.”

“Uh, no. Truth serum isn’t real.” I squinted. “What kinda stuff?”

“Called your grandmother Gramzy.” She chuckled.

“Oh. Yeah, he’s good at lying.” I sighed.

She noticed the tension that came with the mention of Grant’s behavior and what he said.

“So. If you’re not sleeping here, and you’re not with your brother, where?” She sat on the bed and patted it.

I took the spot next to her. “Fitz and I share a bedroom. Coulson told us to take the bigger one, because we apparently ‘live stuck to each other’s hips anyways’.” I put quotes around that, rolling my eyes. “That, and he said he’ll probably spend most nights in his office anyways.” I smiled.

“You share a bedroom? Scandalous!” She giggled.

I chuckled. This was typical. Coulson had told me to gain her trust, get in her head. She was about my age, and I could probably read her fairly easily.

“We’ve been together for a few years now. We met at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. He’s the best.” I grinned.

Yes, I was playing a role, but anything I said about Fitz was bound to be genuine. I loved him with all my heart, and there was no easy way to lie about that.

“Cute, cute. How long exactly?”

“Uh well we met when we were like fifteen and sixteen, and we started dating when he turned eighteen, so like eight years.” I smiled.

“Aw! So, what does big brother think? About you dating the nerdy tech guy?” She wrinkled her nose, obviously joking.

“It’s uh… complicated. But I don’t really care what he thinks.” I shrugged, picking up the lag and closing the awkward gap. “Fitz is great, and I love him.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!”

I smiled, blushing. “Alright, come on. I’ll show you around.”

“So what exactly is this place?” She asked, following me through the halls.

“Officially, it’s an airborne mobile command station but we call it the Bus.” I saw Fitz-Simmons coming up the steps, joining us.

Fitz caught my hand in his immediately, falling into step with me. “Yeah, we find it best to use shorthand when in the field. But everything has to be just so, you know, because of the danger.” He seemed intent on scaring her.

I squeezed his hand and pulled on his arm, shooting him a look. He got the message that he was going to ruin Coulson’s plan and shut up, pouting like a child.

“Yeah, I’ve been up here before, but I didn’t see much because of the bag that Agent Ward put over my head.”

“Yes, so sorry about that.” Jemma smiled apologetically.

Skye turned to me, stopping in her tracks. “How do you handle that, by the way? Since there’s two of you?”

“Oh, everyone just calls me Violet.”

“Oh, that’s such a pretty name!” She took the water bottle Jemma offered.

Before I could reply, May came over the comms. “Wheels up in two. Lock it or lose it.”

“What’s that mean?” Skye looked at me with wide eyes.

“No backing out now.” Fitz smirked.

I glared at him very obviously before turning back to Skye with a reassuring smile. “Just means we should pack up your stuff before taking off so it doesn’t go everywhere. Come on.”

She started back toward her bunk and Fitz pulled me back by the arm.

“What is it? Why do you keep trying to scare her off?” I hissed in a hushed voice.

“I just don’t like new people is all. You know this. Come to our bunk once you’re done helping Skye, yeah?”

I rolled my eyes with a sigh. “Fine.”

He broke into a grin and leaned in to kiss my cheek before walking off. I rolled my eyes again, this time smiling. I went back to Skye, only to see Grant rapidly approaching her door. I cleared my throat and basically took a hop toward her door, leaning against the doorframe. Grant glared at me and knocked on her open door.

“Hey, I just shoved my bags into the drawers. I’ll unpack later.” She smiled at me and then turned to my brother, “Hey! I know we didn’t really-”

“You might wanna read that. This isn’t like other planes.” He shoved a paper in her hands and stalked off.

“Sorry about him. He’s got, uh, social issues.” I offered an apology.

“You could say that again.” She unfolded the paper, and I could now see that it was the layout and emergency exits for the Bus.

“Say what again?” Coulson approached now.

“Sweet ride.” Skye grinned at him.

“I earned a little goodwill from Director Fury when I got hit right before the Battle of New York.” He was referring to the Chitauri invasion that took place a year back, led by Loki Laufeyson and stopped by the Avengers.

“You took a bullet?” She asked, tossing the pamphlet aside.

“Ish.” Coulson said, and I turned tail and left.

I hated to hear his recounting of how Loki had stabbed him through the heart. Coulson believed that he had surgery and then was given a vacation in Tahiti. Only a few agents knew what had really happened, and we all had to pretend we didn’t. I passed Grant, perched on one of the bar stools.

“Violet.” He caught my attention.

I froze, plastered a smile on my face, and turned on my heel. “What’s up, Grant?”

“Come here for a minute.” He made a grabby hand.

I squared my shoulders as I padded over to sit next to him. He took a sip of his water before turning to me, eyes squinted.

“Why’s he bringing Skye?”

“She’s a fresh pair of eyes.” I spat out.

“Why’s he trusting her?” He fired.

“He’s got a plan.”

“What sort of plan?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you, Grant.” I smiled.

He paused, raising an eyebrow. This was an interrogation, and we both knew it. His face read a mixture of frustration and pride.

Give me the answers I want.

It was like I could hear him in my head.

Give up, Grant. I narrowed my eyes.

He wanted answers, but he was also glad to see I wasn’t easy to give them up. He switched subjects.

“You and Fitz. What is that? Friends with benefits? Are you guys secretly married, or—”

“He’s my boyfriend.”

“How old is he?” A silent he looks twelve followed, and I felt a small sense of relief at being able to read his facial expressions.

“Twenty six.”

“Is he good to you?” It didn’t seem to be coming from genuine brotherly concern, but some ulterior motive.

“Always.”

“How long have you been a thing?” His head tilted.

“Eight years.” I didn’t have to do the math again.

“Has he ever hurt you?”

“If you count shooting me in the forehead with a NERF gun, then sure.”

I got an eye roll. “How about emotionally?”

“Not on purpose.”

“Where’d you meet him?”

“The academy.”

“Have you guys ever done anything physical?”

I leaned in with a scowl. “None of your business, dad.”

A pause.

“Why are you with him?”

“How many reasons do you want?” I tilted my head.

“First one that comes to mind.”

“He’s cute.”

“Wow, anything less shallow?” He recoiled.

“He’s smart. Funny, makes me laugh, makes sure I’m okay, takes care of me, doesn’t make me feel stupid-”

“Okay, I got the message.” He put his hands up, but I had already set up the kill.

“Oh, and he’s always there for me. Real supportive too.” I sat up straight.

I watched his face change as he gulped and looked down. That was a hit that had hurt, and it was intentional.

Jesus, Vi. You didn’t have to go there.

I didn’t expect Grant to tell me everything. I didn’t expect a written biography or complete transparency. But I had expected him not to lie to my face and act like I wouldn’t figure out. I had expected for him to support my choices, even ones as simple as I like Fitz and I’m dating him.

I met his glance with arched eyebrows.

I wanted to.

“Any more questions?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Great! I’ll see you in a bit.” I walked past him with a slap to the shoulder, my confident facade falling once I was in the safety of my room with the door shut.

“Darling? You alright?” He was sitting in the arm chair, already buckled up for the take off.

I felt tears cloud my vision as I swallowed hard.

“Come here.” He began to unbuckle himself, but I looked up and shook my head.

The plane lights flickered and there was a beep. I rushed to Fitz, falling into his lap as he wrapped his arms around me, a hand in my hair and the other around my legs, holding me against him. The take off only lasted a few minutes, and by then I had cried myself to calmness. Fitz’s white shirt now had tear stains on it, and the collar of his green flannel was a tad wet, but he didn’t care.

“Talk to me, Vi.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and cradled me in his arms as he laid me down on the bed and sat next to me, kicking his shoes off.

I only climbed back into his lap with my head against his shoulder and he leaned against the wall, sighing. I wasn’t crying anymore, but I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to. He pulled his arms around me, pressing kisses to my forehead.

“He’s different. He’s so different.” I finally croaked.

“What happened?” He angled his head down to look me in the eyes.

I shifted, sitting up to face him.

“He was asking all these questions about Skye, an-and then about you and I just- I… He got so … pissy? God no, that’s not the word. I don’t even think there is a word. He just got so-”

“Attackative?” He offered with a gentle smile.

“That is not a word.” I shook my head.

“No, it’s not. But it’s the word you need.” He shrugged. “What was he asking, darlin’?” He brushed my hair behind my ear.

I sighed. “Why Coulson was bringing Skye along, why we were trusting her.” I shook my head before meeting his gentle gaze.

“You don’t have to tell me the rest if you don’t want. I know it’s all delicate.” His eyebrows were furrowed.

I shook my head again. “He started to grill me.” I rolled my eyes. “About you. About us. But it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t ‘I’m your brother therefore I’m concerned about who you’re dating’, it-it was more of a ‘I wanna know all about your relationship so I can pick it apart’ interrogation type thing.”

Fitz sighed, “Darling, I’m sure he’s just trying to get to know you better. Maybe he’s out of practice. You know how field agents are. Especially specialists.”

“No, Leo. He’s wrong. He’s not who he used to be.” I sighed.

Fitz cupped my cheek. “Who was he before?”

I felt my heart crumble. “He was my brother before, Leo. He was just my brother, and now he’s some stupid heartless solider.”

                                                          ***

The brakes screeched as May slammed them. We had to fit six people in an SUV with five seats, which naturally ended with me sitting in Fitz’s lap. He opened the door and let me hop out before following suit, everyone but May piling out.

“Tire tracks forty meters back. I’ll check them against the site’s trucks, make sure we’re alone.” Grant spoke.

“Too much exposure here. I’m gonna find a place to park.” May looked around.

Fitz-Simmons unloaded their gear, and May pulled off. We looked around as animals chittered in the trees. Fitz pulled me from Grant’s side, holding my hand tightly. Jemma offered me a smile. Fitz must’ve mentioned Grant’s approach.

“I would love to see a capuchin in the wild. Maybe even a yellow-tailed woolly monkey. You know, um, Peru has thirty-two different species of monkey.” He spewed excitedly.

I loved to watch him geek out over technological things, but him geeking about monkeys was a whole new level. I personally didn’t like monkeys, because I was scared of them at a young age at zoos, but Fitz knew so much that it warmed my heart.

“Yeah, and over two hundred species of snakes! The shushupe has a fascinating ven-” She was forced to back up as Fitz pulled his suitcase from the rack attached to a van he bumped into. “Venom. It’s neurotoxic, proteolytic, and hemolytic!”

“Oh, that’s fascinating.” Fitz forced out, now nervous.

“Oh! No, I’d be much more worried about earthquakes, malaria-”

I cut her off with a hand to the back of Fitz’s neck to kill a pestering mosquito. She turned to us with a smile.

“Ah, there’s no vaccine for dengue fever.” She turned and gasped at the sight of the Peruvian ruins in front of us.

“Look at that.” I mumbled.

Before I had gotten into psychology, and eventually S.H.I.E.L.D., I had planned on becoming an archaeologist. My mother and father had bullied me out of it, but my love for it still held strong. Fitz-Simmons knew this, and watched with laughing smiles as I stared in awe.

“Come on, let’s get a picture!” Jemma pulled us onto the first step.

“No, no, guys-” I tried to get out of it, but Jemma posed on one side of me and Fitz trapped me on the other, grabbing my face and leaning down to press a kiss to my cheek as Jemma snapped a picture. I was smiling widely, but I couldn’t help it. I loved them both, and they knew it. Skye caught my eye from behind Coulson and grinned wide.

“Good morning, professor.” Coulson spoke to the archaeologist that came out of the ruins. “I’m Agent Coulson, with S.H.I.E.L.D.. I understand you’ve made an interesting discovery.”

The man sighed. “I-I’m not sure how to explain it. This temple dates back at least 500 years. It’s filled with pre-Incan artifacts. One of them is … impossible.” He gestured. “And looks like it might be dangerous.”

“Well, that’s why we’re here.” Coulson nodded with a smile as the man led us down.

It was just a stone opening with steps down to the temple floor, but I couldn’t stop staring, eyes darting from one spot to the next. I scanned the walls, fascinated by the engravings and pictures, ignoring the large cobwebs and imagining what this place was like in its prime.

“It’s there. Exactly as we found it.” He pointed at a silver and blue contraption stuck in the wall.

It reminded me vaguely of the tesseract.

“Who else knows about this?” Coulson rushed to it, eyes wide.

“Just the ministry. I believe they are the ones who contacted you.” The man explained.

Coulson asked the man to evacuate the site as Fitz-Simmons set up their equipment and drones. Skye and I stood in the middle of the room, staring at the walls.

“Leave the man alone.” Jemma scolded one of the drones that stood at the man’s face, smiling politely.

“Now. For your own safety.” Coulson ushered him away.

“There’s nothing about this anywhere. It’s amazing, I’ve searched every data stream. What have we got here, guys?” Skye got closer, putting a finger up to it.

“Whoa, car- uh, careful. I-I- no, wouldn’t do that.” Fitz stumbled over his words of warning.

Skye took his advice and took a step back.

“The object’s placement in fossiliferous rock formations suggests it’s been here for at least 1,500 years!” Jemma exclaimed.

For once, I understood what she was saying. “That predates this temple by a thousand years.” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Ah! Maybe it’s alien!”

“Yeah, but the shape and the craftsmanship- it’s almost German.” Fitz looked up from his tablet.

“Sir?” Coulson’s radio crackled to life; it was Grant.

“Go.”

“We have a situation.” He grunted.

“Lots of rebels in this area.” Skye noted.

“Not enough gunfire.” I shook my head.

“Keep working. Violet, stay here, be vigilant.” He spoke into the radio. “I’m on my way.” He walked out and Fitz-Simmons picked up their pace.

“Why’d he make you stay here?” Skye asked me.

I pulled out my handgun and checked the safety. “‘Cause I’m the only one out of us four cleared for combat.”

“Are you seeing this? It’s alive.” Fitz spoke up.

“I’m sorry, did he just say that it’s alive?” Skye looked at me.

I shrugged. “Alien tech is weird.”

“It has a functioning power source.” Fitz explained.

“Sleepy’s reading radionuclides, but they don’t match any known isotope.” Jemma shook her head.

“I get temporal matches, but even then, they seem to shift. Is that even possible?” Fitz pulled his eyebrows together.

“Depends on the shifting of the temporal radio stuff, so…” Skye tried.

Fitz-Simmons only stared.

“It’s totally weird, right?” Skye gave a nervous laugh. “I’m gonna go check on Coulson.” She tried to slink past me.

“No, you’re not.” I caught her wrist.

“We’ve got company.” Grant popped through the opening, his radio in hand. “National police.”

“What?” Fitz-Simmons exclaimed.

“Why are they here?” I looked at him.

“They heard about this object, they’re probably here to protect it. This area has a lot of rebel uprisings.” Grant put his radio away.

“Yeah, people are fighting back against the government’s mining policies. It’s pretty kick-ass.” Skye scoffed.

 “Yeah, it’s kick-ass, all the violence.” Grant rolled his eyes.

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Skye argued.

“No, it’s what you’re typing. In your van, alone- where it’s safe.” Grant was taking a personal hit.

“Grant.” I warned.

“How much longer?” He turned to Fitz-Simmons.

“What’s the hurry?” Jemma groaned.

“Are we in danger?” Fitz looked straight up at me. 

“Not if everyone does their job.” Grant pulled his sidearm. “What is yours, exactly?” He looked to Skye.

There was a faint explosion from outside, and then gunfire. Grant perked up, gun still in hand. I grabbed Skye and pulled her between me and the wall, guarding her from the opening. The temple rumbled, and dust fell onto us.

“Sounds like they’re engaging with the rebels.” Grant shot me a look.

“Time to go.” I looked at Fitz-Simmons and they immediately called the drones back to pack them up.

“They’re coming for it, let’s move!” Grant shouted.

Skye went to help them pack, but Jemma ushered her away as politely as she could. “We need a containment case for the 0-8-4!” Jemma shouted.

“There’s no time.” Grant grunted.

“But it has a fluctuating power core, frequencies way above 10 exahertz!” Fitz yelled.

Grant and I looked at each other. He shrugged.

“Jacket.” I held my hand out and he rolled his eyes.

You’re not serious.

I jerked my hand out again.

Give me the jacket, dumbass.

He sighed before pulling it off and shoving it into my grip. I ran to the object, using his leather jacket like a glove and gripping it. I gave it a tug, but to no avail.

“Violet-”

“Shut up, Grant!” I placed my foot up on the wall and tugged again, this time with my body weight.

It came out with a crackle of the wall and more dust as the temple rumbled again.

“Violet!” Fitz shouted, and Jemma said something else, but I didn’t hear her.

“Let’s go!” Grant shouted, taking the object and shoving it into a duffle bag.

“I’ll lead, you pick up the rear!” He shouted, pulling the strap over his shoulders and putting his gun back up.

“You did not just pull that out of the wall! What is wrong with you? Do you two realize we do not know the amount of photon emissions coming out of this-”

I put my hand on Fitz’s chest and pushed, raising my eyebrows.

“Okay.” He put his hands up and filed behind Jemma and Skye, who was close behind Grant. “We just don’t know what’ll happen if it gets excited!”

“Stay close.” Grant ignored him.

They ran out, and Fitz hit his knee on the way out, letting out a groan. I bit back a smile at his clumsiness, urging him forward with my gun ready. The sunlight was blinding, and the gunfire was loud. Grant began to fire, but they returned it faster than the two of us could go.

“Get back!” I shouted, yanking Fitz by the bag, pushing Jemma and Skye back into the temple opening with him.

Grant was on one knee, shooting. I ducked behind him, his body covering most of my torso as I swept my gun over his head and fired.

“Cover me!” He shouted and stopped firing.

I shot an approaching rebel in the shoulder as Grant pulled something out of the pocket at my thigh, trying to twist around without losing the cover to my body. He pulled the thunderstick out and swung it, letting it go to full length.

“Grant, now!” I shouted.

He rolled over the steps as I fired again, scrambling back into the opening. Six hands yanked me in as Grant hit the button, and two pulled me into their chest as the explosion went off, leveling the rebels to the ground. We waited two seconds, and then were back on our feet. Grant pulled the thunderstick out of the floor and waved to me, backing up so he could cover Skye and Fitz-Simmons as they ran.

“Grant, 10:00!” I shouted, pointing my gun.

The rebel fired faster, but was blocked by our SUV, driven by none other than May. She opened the door and Grant shouted for us to get in. Jemma yanked the cases from Fitz’s hand and threw them into the backseat, helping Skye in. Grant bent down so I could easily jump onto his back. He straightened and I took another shot at the rebel, this time taking him down. I fumbled back onto my feet, and Jemma yanked me in, letting Fitz pull me into his lap, as she slammed the door shut. Grant got in and May hit the gas before his door was even closed.

May drove wildly, the car bumping and jerking. Skye shut her eyes tightly, and Simmon was clutching Grant’s seat from behind. My forehead bumped against Fitz’s, but we kept our noises to ourselves. I saw Grant turn around, trying to see the truck behind us.

Where the fuck is he?

“Coulson’s secure in PMP’s truck.” I told him, sensing his distress.

He nodded, turning back to May. “Take the south route to the airfield.” He ordered.

“Gotcha.” She swerved the truck and my head went backward to the window. Fitz grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me tightly against him, my forehead stuck to his neck.

“Slow down!” He shouted.

“You’re joking, right?” Skye yelled back.

“Ward, listen! We have to be careful! There’s a binding energy structure that could overheat!” He was frantic.

“I could roll down a window!” Jemma tried to help.

Bullets hit the side of the window, metal on metal making an awful screech. I leaned over and rolled the window back up.

“Do not roll down a window!” Skye shouted.

“Stay quiet and keep your head down!” Grant turned around, ordering over his shoulder like an angry parent. “Head left. The ravine empties.” He spoke to May.

She turned wordlessly, leaving the four of us in the backseat to tumble into elbows and knees.

“But Ward!” Fitz cried.

“Quiet!” Both Grant and I scolded, turning to face him.

“How fast can you have the wheels up?” Grant asked, hitting a button on the dash to open the cargo hold of the bus.

“Fast.” May replied, tires screeching as she braked hard on the ramp.

We scrambled out of the car, May barking an order for us to close the ramp. Grant got there first, smashing the button. Fitz and Jemma ducked out of the way, but Skye stood there, astonished.

“What are you doing? Coulson is still out there!”

“Get off the ramp, you’re in the line of fire.” He shoved her my way and I only bounced her off to Fitz-Simmons, who grabbed her by the legs and pulled her down.

Grant and I stood at the edge of the ramp, firing as best we could at the rebels without hitting Coulson or the other men. It took a few seconds to get them all loaded in, and it was enough for a bullet to skip by Grant and graze my shoulder. I cursed, gritting my teeth before shooting down the man that had hit me. In my focus to hit him, I took another one to the leg and crashed to the ground with a scream.

“Violet!” Grant shouted, not looking at me and not turning, but becoming stiff and shooting even faster.

The military men loaded in, followed by Coulson, as the ramp began to close. Grant ceased fire and holstered his gun, taking mine and lifting me in his arms, running past a questioning Coulson and to the lab, where Fitz-Simmons followed, clearing off a table.

“I’m fine!” I fussed, trying to get Grant off of me. I said it again, this time hitting him in the chest before pointing to the black duffle bag on the floor by the doors. “Focus on the 0-8-4, I’ll be okay.” I clutched my shoulder.

“I can start patching her up.” Jemma gently pushed him aside, helping me pull Fitz’s green sweater off and cutting the leg of my jeans.

He sighed. “Fine. Fitz, what was the problem?”

Fitz only stared at me, concerned as his lips twitched and no words left his mouth, only a tiny gasp.

“Leo, I’m okay. What was the problem?” I tugged the free scraps of jeans off, exposing the wound that was bleeding and gross.

He snapped out of it, “As I said before, this device has a high-frequency, fluctuating, sub-material compression-”

“Fitz. In English.” Grant cut him off angrily.

Jemma quickly cleaned my arm and wrapped it. It didn’t hurt as much as my leg did.

“The 0-8-4 is fueled by tesseract technology.” He gestured. “Hydra. World War II. Captain America. It’s full of lethal amounts of gamma radiation.”

I let out a gasp as Jemma pulled the bullet out of my leg with forceps.

“Tesseract. S-s-so, you’re saying it’s worse than nuclear?” I grunted through my sentence, trying to focus on anything but the burning sensation in my thigh.

Fitz only nodded, and everyone took a step away from the bag. Grant came to my side, pulling my matted hair away from my forehead.

“You touched it.” He scolded, sitting behind me to hold my shoulders steady.

Please don’t make me lose you.

“With your jacket. I’m fine.” I wheezed, feeling light-headed.

I’ll be okay, you won’t lose me.

“She’s lost a lot of blood, Ward.” Jemma’s voice was strained as she cleaned the wound again, and it felt like she was sticking a drill into my leg.

My chest tightened and I pushed back, my head thumping against Grant’s chest as he grabbed my shoulders, countering my force. “We’re the same blood type.” He yanked a sleeve up as soon as I stopped squirming.

“Can’t you guys get her anything for the pain?” Skye sounded so distant.

“She’s allergic to almost every damn painkiller on this godforsaken Earth.” Grant grunted and I could feel the vibrations in his chest.

“We could’ve just waited until I passed out.” I mumbled.

“Would’ve taken too long. Just a little pinch now, darling.” I heard Fitz and felt his hand over my arm, and then a needle being stuck inside.

I winced, trying to squirm once more, only to be stopped by Grant holding me down with one arm, the other connected to mine through a series of tubes.

“It hurts.” I whined, throwing my head back to hit Grant in the chest again.

He didn’t budge. “I know, Vi. I’m sorry.”

I whimpered again, forgetting that anyone else was in the room even though I could feel Simmon’s hands working on my leg.

“I know, ducky. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Shh shh shh. I know, I know.” He mumbled to me as pain took over in surges and I let my weight fall back against him, everything fading to black.

                                                            ***

“Yeah, well I use normal English, words like duck and run and might blow us to pieces.” I could hear Grant bitching.

“Oh! Oh, wow! Well congratulations, Agent Ward! You managed to string three words together in a sentence!” I heard Fitz snap at him.

They continued to argue, and I forced my eyes open, rolling my head to the left. Coulson’s army men friends were strung around our garage, packing their guns into a code-protected safe as Coulson spoke to a woman. I realized I was no longer in the clothes from this morning, but my pajamas. Fitz must’ve gotten them from our room.

“Can you guys shut up?” I asked, my voice hoarse and scratchy.

“Violet!” Skye perked up before anyone and came running, Jemma on her heels.

“Hey.” I smiled.

Jemma pulled out a pen and shone it in my eyes. I knew she was making sure I was okay, so I tried not to fuss. Skye sat at the edge of my bed.

“Why’s the bed in the lab?” I asked, turning to Jemma.

“Coulson wanted you in here, since there’s unknowns on the bus. Just in case.” She explained with a smile. “Your vitals seem good. We bandaged your leg, but you should wait at least a few days before putting weight on it. No major hits, it just skimmed your femoral artery.”

“Well, that’s reassuring. Are you two done now?” I leaned around her, looking at Fitz and Grant.

Fitz looked at me with a relieved smile, and Grant only looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

Well, you’re feeling better.

I rolled my eyes at him.

Shut up, dickhead.

They shuffled over, like two kids in trouble. Jemma moved aside and let Fitz stand at my side, kissing my forehead and hugging me tightly. I pushed my face into his chest and breathed deeply, hating to see him so worried.

“Hey. I’m okay.” I stroked his cheek as he pulled away.

He only nodded with a soft smile before stepping back to let Grant in. I smiled at him as wide as I could in my sleepy state. He instantly laughed, both amused and relieved. He rushed toward me, sitting on the side of the bed and letting me hug him at my own pace. My head fell onto his shoulder as his arms came around me, holding me against him as he breathed choppily. He hid his face in my hair, and I could feel him trying not to cry. I wrapped my arms around his torso and looked over his shoulder at Fitz, pointing to the door with a pleading look. He got the message, pulling Skye and Jemma out with him.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been covering you. You shouldn’t have gotten hit, especially not twice.” Grant’s chest heaved.

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” I rubbed his back.

He only sighed, letting his breathing even out over the course of a few minutes, still clinging to each other. He finally pulled back, wiping at his tears with the sleeves of his shirt before sniffling and looking back at me.

“I’m sorry.” This one was different.

He wasn’t apologizing for me getting shot. He was apologizing for his change in behavior. For being aggressive. For being unlike himself.

I nodded. “Grant, what happened to you?” I reached for his hand.

He let me take it, looking away with eyes closed and his lips in a thin line.

“Jail changes people, Vi. You know that.”

I squeezed his hand and leaned his way, trying to get him to look me in the eye. My own eyes began to tear up, and they stung.

“I meant after. After you …” I stopped and swallowed. “After they told us you died-” My voice broke, and half the word fell away into the air. “What happened then?”

He looked down, and then up at me, eyes sad. “My SO left me to fend for myself in the woods for half a year. I was alone, Vi. And I was scared.” His eyebrows were angled up.

I know I’m not the same. I’m so sorry.

I looked away, nodding once more. “I’m sorry. I put too much pressure on you.” I pursed my lips and looked back to him.

I just want my brother back.

He squeezed my hand this time, and I looked up to see him nodding his head.

I’m trying my best. I’m right here.

“No. You’re doing good. You’re keeping me in line. It’s a good thing.” He reached for my face and wiped my cheeks.

“Thank you.”

I nodded again, leaning forward for another hug. “You guys can come back in now.” I called, and Skye and Fitz-Simmons stumbled in.

Skye came back to my side, replacing Grant as he went on to continue his conversation with Fitz. They began to argue again.

“I’m just trying to tell you what you’re dealing with!” Fitz screamed.

“And I don’t understand anything you’re saying!” Grant screamed back.

The sliding doors opened and Coulson walked in, eyebrows raised. “Do we have a problem in here?”

Grant backed down and Fitz went quiet, working on his night-night gun.

“No sir. Just working on our communication. Not everyone was prepared for a firefight.” Grant looked around.

“We got out, didn’t lose anyone, saved a few of theirs. I’d say we did alright. Violet, how’re you doing?” He looked over at me.

I flashed a smile and a thumbs up. “Doing great, sir.”

He nodded. “Good, I’m glad. Anything else?” He looked around.

Skye’s hand popped up. “Yeah, I have, uh, one small question. Because I’ve been feeling like the tagalong hayseed rookie, but now I get the sense that Ward doesn’t know which one’s Simmons and which one’s Fitz, and they’ve seen even less gunfire than me, and he somehow managed to let his sister get shot, and I’m no rocket scientist, but is this your first mission together?” She leaned forward.

“No. Of course not.” Jemma frowned. “It’s our second.”

“I was your first? That’s sweet.” She scrunched her nose up.

“You’re amused?” Grant snapped.

“I’m terrified. I am in way over my head, but I have been on this team just as long as any of you. I might as well be team captain.” She scoffed.

I noted Simmon’s perfected eye roll, along with the glance Fitz and Grant were sending each other. Coulson remained stoic.

“I was joking, but maybe that’s not a bad idea, because these guys do not like each other much.”

“This isn’t about that.” Grant turned to Coulson. “I’m a specialist. Today, I could’ve eliminated the enemy threat myself if I was working alone,” 

I felt myself sink back into the pillows. I thought we had worked great together, considering we never had before. Jemma noticed and came to the other side of the lab table, shaking her head.

“...but I had non-combat ready agents-”

“Whoa, whoa, wait! You work alone?” Fitz cut him off.

“So typical. Who do you think designs your equipment?” Jemma looked at him with a scowl.

“Or the polymers for your weaponry? People like us do that.” Fitz pointed between Jemma and himself.

“Try going into the field with just your bare bum.” Jemma finished.

“Guys.” I pushed myself out of the bed, ignoring the shock traveling up my leg and the looks I got from the three of them. I forced my arms to do most of the work, half-limping and half-dragging myself to stand in front of them at the head of the table. “Shut up, and stop fighting. Because now you’ve proven Skye right, and Coulson’s doubting every single one of us.”

“You’re not wrong. We still need to iron out the kinks. But Ward, you can speak six languages. Simmons, you have two PhDs in fields I can’t pronounce, and Fitz, you are a rocket scientist. Violet, you keep being the buffer. And work it out.” Coulson had a firm tone, like a father scolding his kids before leaving.

I let out a breath and let my legs give out as Grant caught me with an angry look. He picked me up and plopped me back on the bed, checking the bandages on my arm and leg.

“I-I’m good at stuff too!” Skye called after Coulson.

                                                             ***

I was lying with my head on the pillow in Grant’s lap, a book falling from my hands as he rested his against my head. Fitz-Simmons were in the conference room with the holotable, and they had gotten snippy with each other. Grant and I stayed out of their way, holing ourselves up in the lounge. I let my eyes slip closed. It didn’t matter if I fell asleep, Grant would probably just move me to my bed either way.

“Hunger Games?” I heard Skye. “Oh, is she sleeping? Sorry.”

“She’s a heavy sleeper, it’s fine. And no, it’s Matterhorn. One of a hundred novels my SO gave me that I’m just getting around to.” He sighed.

There was a pause.

“SO. Supervising Officer.” He explained, probably not looking up from his book.

“Got it. Hackers have lingo too, but I’ll pick yours up. I feel like you and me? Wrong foot. Can I buy you a drink?”

I felt him chuckle and set the book aside, pulling the pillow further onto his lap so he could sit up straight without pushing me off the couch.

“What I said before- When I said the uprising was- whatever I said- a good thing. I don’t want you to think I’m oblivious.” I heard the clink of a bottle. “What I was talking about was the tweets.”

“Tweets.” Grant repeated, his hand coming up to rub my shoulder.

He knew I was awake, and he wanted to make sure I was taking mental notes so we could dissect this later.

“You trying to make things better or worse?”

“Peruvians have organized for the first time in decades. Thousands of suffering people who have never met uniting over a common idea? It’s mind-blowing. And I don’t want to bring it up because I don’t wanna see your hate face, but … that’s what the Rising Tide is all about.”

“Okay.” He sounded slightly disgruntled.

“Usually, one person doesn’t have the solution. But a hundred people- with one percent of the solution? That’ll get it done.”

Grant took a deep breath.

“I think that’s beautiful. Pieces solving a puzzle.”

Grant sighed and scooted closer to her, holding my head with a hand to keep me steady. I heard him take a glass from her and swirl it.

“You and I see the world differently is all.”

“I’ve never been in a war zone during a war until today. That was crazy. I take it you’ve seen that a lot?”

Another sigh from him, this one deeper. He didn’t answer her question, only grunted as he put his drink down.

“Did you get shot?” She grabbed him.

“Skin deep. Nothing like Violet here. Nothing to worry about.” He took his arm back.

“You also got shot. Did that happen protecting us?” She pressed.

“Said don’t worry about it.” There was a gentle tone, and I imagined he was smiling.

She was talking about the bit of blood on his side, where he had gotten skimmed while lifting me to shoot one of the rebels out from the other side of the car. Jemma took care of it after she took care of me, and she said he’d only need a bandaid and he’d be fine. He hadn’t bothered to change his shirt.

“Well, no wonder you were so pissed.”

He hesitated. “I wasn’t pissed. I was trained to be the whole solution, to eliminate variables. And today, they keep adding up.” His tone changed, and his hand moved slowly to shake me.

I feigned sleepiness again, opening my eyes and rubbing them.

“Vi.” His eyes remained in one place.

I sat up slowly, and he pulled me into his side, bringing his mouth to whisper in my ear. His grip on my arm was firm.

“When I say so, take Skye and get to the lab. Guard Fitz-Simmons, and don’t let them get the 0-8-4. They’re PMP, but they’re lying to us.”

I pulled back and leaned against his shoulder, nodding slightly so he would feel it but the officers wouldn’t see it.

“Morning.” Skye smiled at me. “We’re turning.”

Grant nodded. “We’re entering restricted airspace, so we have to follow certain flight paths. Regulation. This plane is capable of fully automated flight, but May has to be on the stick herself tonight.” He slung his arm around me again.

“You’ve got an SO, May’s gotta be on the stick. Lots of good lingo on this plane.” Skye laughed.

“Yeah. We just can’t seem to understand each other.” Grant smiled his charming smile, the one he used to flash when he was in high school that made all my friends, in their middle school glory, fall for him.

Skye poured herself another drink and Grant looked down at me with an eyebrow arched. I watched him as he looked back to the officers. He set his jaw and gave me a squeeze, kissing the top of my head.

“Skye. Hand me the bottle.” He smiled again, then whispered into my hair. “Go, now.”

“Okay, turbo, but you’re still nursing the one you’ve got.” She laughed and I pushed myself to my feet.

“I’m not the only one.”

She looked at me and I shook my head, reaching for her hand. “Remember how we had to talk to Fitz about the fan in your bunk? We should probably go now, before he turns in for the night.” I smiled.

She caught on and gulped nervously. “Okay.”

Grant smiled as the officer came over, then pushed us out of the way and smashed the bottle onto the officer’s hand, who let out a scream. I grabbed Skye and pulled her behind me, trying to move as fast as I could without letting the stitches in my leg break. We rounded the corner and I pulled my weight over the side of the banister, letting myself slide down it rather than running down the stairs.

“Violet!” Skye called out from the bottom of the steps, pointing at one of the officers, who had Fitz with a scalpel to his neck.

“Get in here and sit down.” The man growled.

I grunted as my weight fell onto my leg and I put my hands up. Skye grabbed me by the elbows, helping me stand before dragging me into the lab. Jemma tried to help lower me to the floor, but it only seemed to piss the man off more and he moved the scalpel closer to Fitz’s neck.

“I’m fine, Jemma.” I shrugged her off, sliding onto the floor and clutching at my leg, below the line of stitches.

“Stop squirming, pretty boy.” The man growled as Fitz tried to pull his arms away.

I could hear his hard breathing and I felt my head throb.

“You know, if you want a valuable hostage, you might wanna take someone else.” I started.

“What?” He hissed.

“I mean, it’s your choice.” I shrugged. “He is pretty, you got that part right.”

“Shut up.” The man grunted.

“But really, he’s just the tech guy. He’s like, oh I dunno,” I shrugged again, “glorified IT. That’s what he is. He doesn’t know anything. Coulson can easily replace him.”

“Shut up!”

“Listen, bud, I’m just trying to help you out. You want leverage against Coulson and Ward? Switch me out for him.” I glared, breathing hard and grabbing the same spot of my leg.

The men stared for a second, contemplating. “Fine. Nice and easy. Nobody try anything or I’ll kill you all.” He eased his arms off Fitz, who ran into my open arms, squeezing me.

“You’re an idiot!” He shouted loudly.

“Loop the cameras.” I whispered into his ear before kissing his cheek and letting the officer put the scalpel up to my neck.

I groaned in pain as he made me put weight on my leg. The man forced me down on it as I whimpered. He laughed, then shoved me against the table.

“Where’s it hurt?”

“Where do you think, dumbass?” I growled through gritted teeth.

He hummed to himself, putting the scalpel down and bending down, moving his hand across my thigh to move my grip. He grunted in satisfaction once he found the blood soaked bandage. He cracked his knuckles before resettling his grip on my leg, ready to dig his fingers into my wound. The spot I had gripped was an inch below, where the worst he could do was make it throb more. He pressed a thumb against it and I yelled anyways, letting him believe it. I heard Skye gasp. He jammed his thumb in further, his head in the crook of my neck. He smelled vile and he was breathing oddly.

I took the moment of his distraction to elbow him in the crotch. He fell to the floor, still gripping my leg. I turned around and kicked his face, fingers finding the scalpel and ripping it over his face, breaking skin on his cheek and forehead. Skye screamed as blood splattered across my shirt. I stabbed him in the shoulder and kicked his head again, this time to knock him out.

“Fitz, lock the doors.” I ordered as I pulled back and pushed the man aside, my leg pulsing.

“Are you okay?” Jemma was worried, her forehead creased and her eyebrows furrowed.

I nodded. “Went a few inches down, don’t worry.”

“Hey!” There was a harsh knock on the lab door and Fitz yelped.

I looked out to see another man with a gun to Grant’s throat. I glanced over my shoulder, glad to see his fellow officer out of sight.

“Open the door or he gets blown to bits.”

I could see Grant breathing heavily. They had done a number on him, his eye already swelling. He looked at me, frustration on his face.

Don’t you dare open those doors.

I sighed.

I’m not just gonna sit here and let you get shot.

“Open the doors.” I mumbled, falling back to the ground.

I could see Grant talking frantically to the guard, who only seemed to get angrier by the second. The doors slid open and I could finally hear my brother’s voice.

“Please. I swear I won’t try anything. She just needs help walking, that’s all. She’ll put up a fight against you if you touch her. Please.”

“Fine.” The officer snorted, pushing him forward.

Grant ran to me, scooping me into his arms and pulling me up. “You’re okay.” He whispered, the lines on his forehead a tell of how worried he was.

I only nodded as they tied us each up, and then gave me my own separate black eye along with a broken nose and busted lip for having cut their friend up. I spit out blood as they left, trudging back up the stairs with their bleeding friend. My nose was throbbing, as was my leg and every other part of my body. I leaned my head against Grant’s shoulder, exhausted.

“This is all my fault. I should’ve learned Kung Fu.” Fitz tried to joke.

“Yeah, but I shouldn’t have pushed you into the field in the first place. You weren’t ready.” Jemma sighed.

“It was my job to make a proper threat assessment.” Grant tried to take the blame.

“Uh, we- we weren’t ready.” Fitz argued.

“This couldn’t have happened if Agent May wasn’t on the stick.” Skye jumped in. “She would’ve busted out with some of her ninja know-how.”

“Agent May? No, no, no. She transferred from administration.” Fitz argued again.

“Well, I’ve seen her destroy a guy, so…”

“Can we stop the pity party? We have to find a way out of here before they kill Coulson, take the 0-8-4, and then crash this plane where nobody will ever find our bodies.”

“Okay, wait but Agent May?” Fitz-Simmons pressed again, this time looking to Grant.

He smiled. “You’ve heard of the Calvary?”

“Yeah, everyone at the academy talks about st-... She’s the Calvary?” They exclaimed.

“I told you never to call me that.” May’s voice was scratchy.

“Oh, well we’re sure to get out of here now! Um, how do we get out of here?” Jemma asked her as she sat up.

“Can’t go through the doors. They’re bolted, tied to the pressurization lines. You two geniuses have nothing?” She looked at Fitz-Simmons.

“Yeah, well, it’s hard to concentrate in these intense situations.” Fitz explained from beside me.

“Hey. Don’t freeze up. Take a breath. You don’t need to come up with the whole solution. Just part of it. Right?” Grant spoke calmly.

“Yeah.” Skye smiled. “Pieces solving a puzzle.”

                                                              ***

“Well that’s clearly the worst idea we’ve heard yet!” Jemma scoffed.

“Yeah!” Fitz agreed.

“Maybe, but it might work.” Skye shrugged.

“Guys, Reyes is gonna kill us once we land and blame it on rebels.” Grant insisted.

“At least this way we’ll have a fighting chance.” I offered.

“We’ll take it.” Grant spoke for the both of us.

“What’s first?” I asked Fitz.

“We can’t get upstairs without going in the lab.” Fitz answered.

“And the only way to release the lab doors is from upstairs.” Jemma added.

Skye rolled her eyes. “First thing is that we’re tied to the cargo door, so unless you guys can-”

She was cut off by a crack and I grimaced.

“What the hell was that?” Fitz jumped closer to me, worried, and I bumped my knee to his in reassurance.

“Her wrist.” Grant answered.

We watched as May snuck behind Lola, making her way up to the balcony in silence, where a guard stood watch with Grant’s sidearm. She was slow and quiet, inching her way across the bottom railing of the balcony on her fingers. The guard turned and stared straight at us before becoming confused by the lack of one of us. May swung up, her legs locking around his neck as she threw him over the balcony and he landed cold on the floor. She landed on her feet and popped her wrist back into place.

“What’s next?”

                                                          ***

“Okay, we’re sure, right?” Sky stood on Grant’s other side.

“Yeah, we’re sure.” He had his arm around my shoulders, keeping me balanced.

“We’re all on board.” Jemma’s voice was shaky.

“Yeah, let’s do this, fast.” Fitz was on my other side.

“Alright guys, let’s do it.” I was the last to speak, and probably the calmest besides my brother.

“No turning back, no freezing up.” He spoke.

“Because if we do, then…” Fitz trailed off.

“All of us die.” Grant finished.

“We know.” I patted his arm.

“Alright.” Grant nodded and gave me a look, to which I nodded.

You’re sure you’re okay to do this?

Positive.

He knelt so I could get on his back, like we were children at a fairgrounds and May revved the engine of the SUV. “You guys talk a lot.” She sat in the car and gunned it, barely giving Grant time to shove Fitz-Simmons and Skye out of the way. She crashed into the lab doors and I heard Fitz wince. Jemma climbed onto the table and started to unscrew part of the ceiling. Fitz got the drones out, firing them up as Skye and I raided the cabinets for cords. May snuck out, and Grant found other cords.

He handed me the link of chains and a few cords, and I got them together as fast as I could. He did the other two. Once he finished he grabbed Skye and Jemma. I tightened Fitz’s around his waist, pulling his tie over it so it wouldn’t get caught.

“Are you sure this’ll work?” He asked me, worried.

I nodded. “I’m sure.” I pushed him over to Jemma’s side.

Grant turned me around to hook my cord on, tightening it a bit more than was necessary. He scanned my face and I only nodded. This would work. It had to work. Grant and I worked fast, hooking the cords together and praying they would hold. Fitz held the tablet tight in his hands, with a view of what the drone was seeing. Coulson’s voice came over.

“It’s gonna be blue skies from here on out.”

“Simmons, forget what I said before. This is the moment we’re gonna regret.” Fitz took a deep breath before hitting the button.

The drone would activate the 0-8-4, which would hopefully blow the plane open and give us a shot. The panel beside Grant turned from red to green.

“It worked!” Skye shouted.

“The drop in cabin pressure released the doors!” Jemma smiled.

“I’ll take care of the soldiers, you guys get to the 0-8-4.”

“And Coulson?” Fitz asked.

“Let’s hope he can handle himself. Be careful.” He grabbed my shoulder before pushing the door open, leading the way.

There were gunshots, and Grant was shoving us to the floor, crawling toward the couch. He jumped over, taking on two soldiers, getting one out of the way before trapping the other against the couch and kneeling over him.

“Go, now! Find the 0-8-4!” He yelled at us and Skye started to move, forcing the rest of us to follow with her.

I watched as another soldier took on Grant, leaping onto him and taking him down. Things became quiet and I thought for a second that my ears were bleeding. Fitz pushed himself to his hands and knees behind me, saying something that I couldn’t hear. I sighed before pulling him by the cord and yanking Jemma back. I tied theirs together and ripped my own off.

“Violet, what are you doing?” Fitz screamed, but I was already moving over the couch, kicking one soldier in the face with my sock covered feet as another tried to drag me onto the floor. I felt the plane jerk downward and the man fell away. I grabbed at one seatbelt, pushing against the couch to give the other to Grant, who gripped it before kicking another soldier away. Another managed to grab my leg, his finger in the bullet wound on my thigh. I screamed, trying to get him off by kicking at his shoulders.

“Fitz! We got it! Reel us back in!” Skye shouted as Jemma pried the 0-8-4 from the wall.

I watched in practically slow motion as she unbuckled herself. Grant’s hand slipped from the seat belt and he cursed, fumbling to get a grip on anything he could. I tore my eyes from Skye and kicked a leg out, despite my entire body screaming in pain. Grant grabbed a hold of my ankle, grimacing when he heard my involuntary yelp. The soldier finally let go, his fingers dragging down my leg.

The plane slowly came back up, and both Grant and I dropped on the floor. The man that had been gripping my leg started to hit him, punching him in the ribs. One of the first men Grant had taken care of was now back on his hands and knees, crawling toward me with a shard of glass. I scrambled away, only to see another soldier cornering Fitz-Simmons. I jumped over the couch to help them.

“Cut him loose!” I shouted.

Fitz hit at his buckle until the man went flying, and I secured one hand on Jemma’s cord, the other catching Fitz as he fell.

“Sorry Ward!” Jemma shouted as the man fell onto him, pulling him toward the opening.

“Grant!” I screamed as he caught hold of a railing, trying to pull the man back inside.

His sleeve slipped from my brother’s hand, and as he looked down at it somberly, his grip came off the pole and he flew toward the gaping hole in the plane.

“Grant!” I shrieked, relieved to see, once again in slow motion, one of the liferafts coming to cover up the hole, Grant falling into the center of it with a heavy breath.

I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the searing pain in my leg as I ran to him, collapsing next to him with a sob. He practically pulled me into his lap, throwing his head backward and rubbing my arm. He jerked forward, and I looked over to see one of the soldiers crawling toward a gun. Coulson stepped in front of us and trapped the man’s hand under his foot. I felt my brother relax once more before pushing me off and grunting as he got to his feet. He bent over to pick me up, again onto his back. I watched as Skye sighed from the floor and Fitz-Simmons popped up from behind the counter.

“I read the safety pamphlet.” Skye came over to us.

“I think you might be the first.” Grant scoffed, slowly walking over to meet Coulson by the bar.

Everyone crowded around it, with the exception of Fitz, who was clinging to one of the columns with his eyes glazed over.

“No other way in, huh? I was just starting to warm up to this place.” Coulson sighed, picking up a broken glass off the floor.

Skye leaned over and placed a coaster under it before taking a seat.

“The 0-8-4 is cooling and stable.” Fitz was now calmer, one arm around the column and the other on his hip. “But we should call HQ and get it to the Slingshot as soon as possible.” He hugged the column again.

Jemma took a seat as Coulson walked over to Reyes, who was tied up to a pole. “Told you they were good.” He was proud.

“Why don’t you go hug your boyfriend? He looks a little scared.” Grant whispered over his shoulder, easing me onto the ground.

I laughed, pushing at his back with the little strength I had left before limping over to Fitz, who upon seeing my state, let go of the column and threw his arms around my middle without hesitation. I relaxed in his grip, sliding my arms around his shoulders and letting him hold my weight.

“I love you.” His voice was hushed.

I let out a laugh, tightening my arms around him, happy he was okay. “I love you too, angel face.”

                                                           ***

When we got to the Slingshot, the first thing that happened was Jemma insisting on stitching my leg back up after cleaning it, much to my refusal. Then, we took showers, and then, technical crew started to take care of our bus. Somewhere along the way, Grant and I had demanded coffee and Fitz-Simmons had begged for tea.

I watched as Coulson cleaned a smudge off of Lola, turning and talking to Skye.

“Looks like Skye might end up as more than a consultant, despite our reservations.” Grant was busy repacking weapons into their cases, letting me put my weight against his side.

May only nodded.

“She could turn into a solid asset. With some serious work.”

“Well, if she wants to be a field agent, she’ll need a supervising officer. Someone disciplined. Someone good.” She looked at Grant, who was only nodding.

I giggled, looking up at him. He caught May’s stare and made a face.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

I laughed this time.

“Just to be clear, you were talking about me. Right?” He asked, but she didn’t give him an answer.

“I was thinking, maybe even a pair. Two people who could… tag team?” She raised an eyebrow.

Grant and I looked at each other with identical grins on our faces.

“We blew up a plane!” I could hear Fitz coming down the stairs.

“I had a new experience, that’s for sure.” Jemma sounded content, as always.

“Eat that, Professor Vaughn.”

“You had a new experience, but it was new for all of us!” She had a beer in her hand, and Fitz had a cooler.

“They’re happy.” May noted and I smiled.

“Hey, come on, you guys don’t wanna miss this.” Fitz stopped and handed me his beer so he could help me up.

I hopped onto my toes to kiss his cheek before letting him lead us to the edge of the ramp, sitting down and passing beers around. Fitz pulled me to sit between his legs and I settled happily against him, glad to have his arms around my middle gripping me like a lifeline. Our legs dangled off the edge.

“So it’ll take about a hundred and eighty days to reach the sun. Now yes, of course, it would’ve been faster if they’d used hydrogen-fueled APUs, but they’re having fun.” Fitz explained as Grant sat next to us, taking a beer.

“How many of those have you guys had?” Skye asked with a laugh.

“Skye.” Jemma chuckled and May sat next to her. “It’s important when in the field to unwind from time to time.”

“Yeah, yeah, especially after a hard day of everyone almost dying.” Fitz continued.

“Which doesn’t happen every day, right? It’s an anomaly, an irregularity! Not … the norm.” Jemma exclaimed.

Coulson stood at the edge instead of sitting. “Speaking of not the norm, who’s idea was it to blow a hole in this plane?”

We all went white, looking down. Fitz gripped me tighter, now afraid of Coulson’s anger. Skye hadn’t sat down, so when she spoke it came from behind.

“May said that the doors were tied to the pressurization, so I thought-”

“So we thought it would be the only way to release them.” I cut her off.

“It was everyone’s idea, sir.” Grant jumped in.

“Yes, quite genius, really.” Fitz perked up.

“Nice work.” Coulson broke a smile and we all relaxed again.

Even May smiled and I leaned back against Fitz with a smile, laughing when Grant made a disgusted face at us.

“All clear for liftoff.” A voice came over the speakers.

“Oh, time for blastoff.” Fitz pinched his nose. “Launching in three, two…” He trailed off, watching as the rocket went up, leaving a gray trail.

“The trajectory will take it beyond the lagrange point so that it doesn’t hit Herschel.” He leaned over to explain to Grant.

“Yeah, and there haven’t been any coronal mass ejections, so it shouldn’t lose telemetry.” Jemma giggled.

“Guys, English.” Grant sighed happily.

There was no response as we watched it go up through the clouds. Grant patted Fitz’s back. He flinched and I laughed, looking from my brother to my boyfriend and then back up to the rocket, which was now out of sight. I curled up in Fitz’s lap, letting my forehead fall against his neck as I closed my eyes. Coulson excused himself, presumably to go get chewed out by Fury. Skye still hadn’t sat down. May and Grant slowly finished their beers, and then excused themselves to finish packing up weapons. Jemma soon followed, taking the cooler too. I caught Fitz giving her a look as I twisted around to have my side against his chest.

“Why are you making everyone leave?” I looked up at him.

He only smiled.

“Leo. Come on.” I pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

“Just want you and the sunset, nothing else.” He muttered, kissing my forehead.

I smiled. “Hey. I’m glad you’re still alive.”

He looked down at me, a wide smile growing on his baby face. “I’m glad I’m alive too. And to be completely clear, I’m overjoyed that you’re still alive.” His hand came to my face, thumb stroking my cheek.

I kissed the palm of his hand. “I think Grant sorta likes you.”

“Oh yeah?” He laughed. “What makes you say that?”

“You’ve been doing nerd-speak since we finished the fight, and he hasn’t wanted to murder you yet.”

“And how exactly do you know that?” He grinned.

“I can read his facial expressions.” I smiled.

He pulled me in to peck my lips. “That’s amazing, darlin’. I’m really glad for you. I guess you getting shot snapped him back to reality?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

“Well, glad to see I wasn’t the only one.”

“What do you mean?” I leaned into his arms, tilting my head.

“Nothing special.” He shrugged. “Just realized how much I love you is all.”

I smiled wider this time, sitting up and grabbing him by the neck. “God, I love you. Why do I love you so much?” I peppered his face in kisses, feeling him chuckle.

“What can I say, I’m a romantic.” He shrugged once I pulled back.

I rolled my eyes and suppressed a smile, letting him pull me forward to meet my lips once more.

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Kong: Skull Island- Photographs and Flirts

Pairing: Flirty Reg Slivko x Irene Brown

James Conrad x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

Jack Chapman x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

Summary: Mason breaks out her camera, Slivko and Irene flirt, and the entire gang spends a peaceful day before disaster strikes

Warnings: cursing probably, etc

Word Count: 3701

“They’re probably upstairs. You know how boys are. I think one of them’s your age, actually.” Jack told me as he led me around the ship.

“I think I know which one you’re talking about.” I answered, grabbing onto the back of his sleeve so he would slow down.

“Yeah? His name’s Slivko.”

“Yeah,” I nodded “He dropped his hat.”

“Here they are.” He opened up a door and led me inside, closing it behind us.

I suddenly felt awkward, especially when I caught Slivko’s glance.

“Guys, this is Irene. She’s the tracker’s little sister.” Jack grinned.

“Weren’t you Chapman’s sister for a while too?” One of the men asked, his face unreadable.

“Reles, watch yourself.” The oldest of the men called out, never looking up from his book.

“It was an honest question, Cole.” Another one defended his friend.

“Mills, back off.” Slivko mumbled, eyes wandering around Jack but not landing on me.

Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head as he pointed to each of the men - boys?- that were in the room.

“That one over there is Reles.”

“Hey, sorry for the oh so intruding question.” He grinned.

I grinned as Jack introduced the other ones, “That’s Mills.” He pointed to the one that had stood up for Reles.

“Cole.” To the older man, who was reading a book, and had finally looked up to meet my eyes with a heartwarming grin.

“And that there is Slivko.” Jack pointed to the boy I had already interacted with.

Slivko grinned the same goofy grin, brushing a hand through his hair as his leg began to bounce up and down. “You can just call me Reg. And you saved my hat.”

I only nodded, crossing my hands behind my back and looking down, feeling the heat creep up my neck.

Get it together, Ira. He dropped his hat and winked, it’s nothing special. It’s stupid.

I scolded myself, tuning them out as they spoke to Jack. It was dark outside, probably around two in the morning, and the lights inside the room were dim. The door swung open, hinges screaming. All heads perked up, looking over. James stood half in the doorway, scrutiny on his face as he scanned the eyes trained on him. He tensed when he made eye contact with Jack, but eased up by the time he reached me.

He gestured his head back, a silent Let’s go. I nodded, smiling at the soldiers as I made my way toward James. Cole kept the grin, which made him grow on me within a matter of minutes. Reles and Mills paused their card game to wave me off. Jack smiled back, and Slivko - Reg? winked.

I shook off the feelings that made my heart swell with and stepped out, standing at James’s side. He waved politely, muttering something about it having been a pleasure, calling them gentlemen, and then shut the door before Jack could say anything else.

“What’d you find?” I asked after a moment of quiet.

He led me to our room, eyes out for anyone who would also like the answer to my question. He reached for my hand and pushed me in first, shutting the door and flicking the lights on. I eyed him wearily as I popped onto the bed, going to untie my shoes.

“I don’t think this is what we thought it was.” He finally grumbled, sitting next to me on the bottom bunk.

“What do you mean?” I tugged off one boot and went to work on the other one.

He sighed. “We found explosives downstairs.”

My heart stuttered, and my mind itself buffered for a minute. I chose to pick at the lesser of two possible evils.

“We?” I pulled too hard at my other boot and it went flying, bouncing off the wall.

“Mason and I, yes.” He scoffed, already dissecting my fearful tactic of looking at what didn’t matter to avoid looking at what did.

“Mason, the photographer, Mason?” I inched off the bed, rummaging through our bag to find a shirt of his I could steal to sleep in.

“Mason Weaver.” He sighed, almost dreamily.

I snorted a laugh, but then he shot me a look.

“Oh my god, you’re serious.” I stared at him, doe eyed.

He only rolled his eyes, standing and shoving me away from the bag, pulling out his own clothing. I saw him pull out a grey shirt and I snatched it from him. He eyed me, looking disgruntled.

“Jay, do you have a crush?” I stretched out his name, shuffling back onto the bed and against the wall.

I got hit in the face with a folded pair of socks. I struggled to get a grip on them, but when I did, I hurled them back across the room, hitting James square between the shoulders.

“I don’t have any particular feelings, no… But let’s talk about you. Who’s the kid that keeps winking?” James picked his clothing and padded off to the bathroom to change, leaving the door cracked open so we could keep talking.

I became flustered at the thought of James catching onto any feeling I may or may not have had. I fumbled with my clothing before changing into the stolen grey shirt and a pair of shorts to sleep in.

“Don’t ignore me, Bitsy.” James called out.

“Are you talking about Slivko?” I found my hairbrush and sat down on the bed again.

James came back, having neatly folded up his clothing before setting it down next to our bag. He shoved at my leg so I would make room for him on the bed.

“Slivko, that’s his name?”

I rolled my eyes, dropping my hand down, hitting his knee with the brush.

“I literally just met him, Jay.” I scoffed, going back to brushing my hair.

I thought about Reg, with big brown eyes and soft looking brown hair and his height making up for his scrawny seeming build.

“Either way, he’s a soldier. You know I don’t go for that type.”

Soldiers were hard. It was already enough that my father was never around, but my brothers growing up had gone off to war. I had issues with male figures as it was, I didn’t need to add to it by dating a boy who would also go off to war. James knew all this, which is why I was a bit bothered by him insisting on Slivko.

“Ya never know, Irene. He did seem to be looking at you a special type of way.” James teased, leaning back on his hands.

I scoffed. “They’re all girl deprived. I’m sure Slivko would look at any girl like a piece of meat.” I leaned over to run the brush through his hair.

He grabbed my wrist softly, pulling it back down.

“Don’t try to brush the gel out of my hair. I’ll never get it back up tomorrow, and I want to be able to look around early in the morning. I’m sure you’ll want to get to know Slivko a bit better.”

I groaned, placing my feet against him and shoving as hard as I could. “Get off my bed, wake me up tomorrow morning.”

He let himself be moved off, laughing as he grabbed our toothbrushes from our bag and walked back to hand me mine. I rushed to brush my teeth before him not wanting to talk about Slivko anymore. I tucked myself in bed as he brushed his teeth, squinting at me. I rolled my eyes and turned my back to him, rubbing my hands together under the blanket. I always got cold at night, and blankets rarely seemed to help anymore.

James came back quietly, flicking both lights off before coming to kneel by my bed. I turned back around, confused.

“Just promise me one thing.” He reached for my hand with both of his, his tone serious.

I gave him a hand, squeezing. “What is it?”

He closed his eyes tightly, squeezing my hand. “You’ll stick with me no matter what happens.”

I nodded. I could read the regret in his eyes. He was wishing he hadn’t brought me with him.

“Okay? I can’t protect you if I’m not there.” His voice was small.

I sat up and threw my arms around his neck, nodding. “I promise.”

He patted my back and stayed like that for a minute. James usually didn’t have an issue crying in front of me, because his masculinity wasn’t fragile, but today he stayed stiff. He pulled back and kissed my forehead before mumbling goodnight and climbing up to his bunk.

I sighed as I settled back into bed. Maybe he would want to talk tomorrow. If anything, I could always try to bother Slivko.

                                                         ***

“Wake up, I want you to meet Mason and stay with her while I do some more investigating.” James tugged at my blanket.

I groaned, hit with the sudden remembrance that we were on a ship on our way to a likely lethal island. Then I remembered James teasing me about Slivko. I huffed into my pillow before sitting up and throwing the covers off. It took a second for the dizzy feeling to go away, and I shuffled to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth and change. I pulled on the green jeans, which I would probably regret later on. But hey, if it covered more of what mosquitos would want to target, then I was down for it. I slid a loose grey t-shirt on before shoving my feet back into my black boots and lacing them up.

“Good choice.” James stopped in the doorway.

I arched an eyebrow, clearly confused by what he thought was a good choice.

“It’ll be easier to be treated for something like dehydration rather than some kind of bug bite.” He pointed to the long pants and the high boots. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, following him down to the cafeteria.

“Now.” He stopped me, hands on my shoulders and looking me square in the face.

“What?” I asked, a bit weirded out.

He was acting as if nothing had happened yesterday, as if he hadn’t begged me to stick to his side for my safety.

“I know you won’t want to eat, because you don’t get hungry at this time of the morning. But, you have to eat something and you should probably drink some coffee.”

“I can do coffee, for sure.” I replied.

“Good. Now I’m going to introduce you to Mason and I’d like you to stay with her until I come back to get you.” He pulled me through the cafeteria.

“You’re just gonna leave me with her? What if something happens?” I asked, beginning to think that I had dreamed up last night’s situation.

“Nothing will happen. I promise.” He squeezed my hand before stopping at a table.

“Mason, this is my little sister Irene. Irene, this is Mason.” He gestured back and forth.

I dropped into the seat across from her, smiling. She grinned right back, a warm and reassuring sense to the air around her.

“I’ll get you coffee and something to eat and then I’ll be off.” James shook me by the shoulders and ran off.

Mason laughed. “He treats you like a princess, doesn’t he?”

I chuckled in return, letting myself slump forward and stifled a yawn.

“He’s only doing it because he knows I won’t do it myself. It’s too early to eat.” I rubbed at my eyes.

“You’re not gonna eat what he brings you then?” Her smile remained.

“Nah. Gotta stick it to the man somehow, ya know?” I grinned.

She laughed again, nodding.

Although James and I always took a few days before deciding how we really felt about people, Mason seemed to be the exception. James had already developed an affinity for her, and I felt safe around her. She seemed to be exactly what I hadn’t been able to grow up with. A kickass woman who was the perfect role model.

James slid a plate with food in front of me, followed by a coffee. I smiled sleepily as he kissed my forehead and waved Mason goodbye.

“Do you have any idea where he’s going?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

I was sure that James could get in serious trouble with all his snooping, and it was exactly what neither of us needed at the moment.

“I don’t know. We found explosives downstairs yesterday, but I guess that fits with the seismic charges they were talking about.”

Mason and I talked quietly while I drank my coffee. She managed to convince me to eat some of what James had brought over. She had a very maternal presence. I decided I liked her. Her eyes followed something as she spoke about photography. I turned around to follow her line of sight. The group of soldiers I had met yesterday, Jack’s boys, were walking out of the cafeteria, joking amongst themselves. I caught sight of Slivko, tall and messy haired, and my fingers went numb.

He must’ve felt my stare, because just as they were outside the doors, he turned around and gave me his seemingly classic grin. I giggled, biting down on my lip. He winked before being dragged off by Mills and Reles, who turned to wave at me. Mason snorted.

“You ready to go explore this ship?” She asked, breaking my attention.

I realized how stupidly public I had just been about whatever it was I was feeling for Slivko. The blush on my cheeks got worse, and my ears were burning. I turned back to Mason, nodding. She smiled.

“You like him?” She led the way.

I shrugged, rubbing my arm. “I barely know him.”

“Something tells me you like him. And I don’t just mean physically.” She spoke to me over her shoulder as we pranced down the stairs.

“Could be just physical.” I shrugged.

She stopped and shot me a look as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey.” I said defensively. “He’s cute.”

She made the face again, eyebrows arched like nobody’s business.

I sighed. “Okay fine, he winks at me every time I see him. It messes with my head.”

She chuckled, throwing an arm around me as we walked. The boys had set themselves up in the middle of the ship, music blasting as they danced. Reles was cutting Cole’s hair and Cole had pulled out a book. I searched for Reg, only to find him pulling his shirt off. My breath hitched in my throat. Mason noticed and laughed, pulling her camera up with one hand.

“Come with me, this is perfect.”

She dragged me along with her and I forced myself to close my mouth, which had been left hanging open. Mason started to photograph the boys as they danced. I made myself comfortable by Cole’s feet as Reles continued with his hair. Cole was the calmest of them all, which made sense, as he was the oldest.

“Your name’s Irene, right?” Cole spoke to me, eyes on me even though he couldn’t move his head much.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

I felt eyes on me. I glanced over to where I had last seen Reg, seeing him staring right back at me. He smiled softly before winking. I blushed hard, my mouth dropping open again ever so slightly. I heard the click of a camera, breaking my thoughts. I looked over to see Mason pull her camera back down, smiling widely.

“Mason!” I hissed, unable to hide the smile on my face.

She came to kneel by my side. “Trust me, Irene. There’s something going on between you two.”

I shook my head, negating everything swirling around inside my brain. He was cute. He seemed sweet. He was probably funny, considering he always had a goofy grin on his lips.

Stop it, you’re going down an endless rabbit hole.

I shook my head, as if that would clear my mind. My eyes darted back to Slivko, who was sort of dancing and talking to Mills, but he had his eyes on me. A small part of me felt like I could pass out then and there.

“You know,” Cole spoke to get my attention. I forced my gaze off Reg’s and looked up at Cole. “He wouldn’t shut up about you last night. Did you see how pretty she was? Do you think the name Irene means anything? Do you think she’s always so quiet? My god, he would not stop.” Cole smirked.

I felt my heart beat faster than normal. Was Cole telling me the truth or did he just want to mess with my head? I looked back at Slivko, whose eyes were wide. He was mouthing words at someone in this direction. I looked up at Reles, who was saying something back. I met eyes with Cole, who was still smirking. I heard footsteps coming toward me, but I refused to break eye contact with Cole. He was up to something. My head turned as someone sat beside me. I smiled shyly, breaking out into a blush for the fifth time today.

“Hi.” He whispered unintentionally.

Cole and Reles mumbled something to one another before leaving.

“Hey.” I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.

Reg leaned back on his hands, placing one behind me so he could lean closer. I bit my lip, knowing he was watching me blush harder with every single one of his movements.

I screamed at myself in my brain. Why couldn’t I think of anything to say?

Mason’s camera clicked again. Both Reg and I looked at her, eyes wide. She grinned at both of us.

“Why don’t you two get a little closer? For the photo, of course.” She winked at me.

I looked up at Reg, who was smiling wide. “For the photo, come on. Please?”

I still hadn’t found my words, but I nodded up at him, cheeks stuck red and in a smile. He scooted closer and rested his hand on my side gently. He looked at the camera, a cheesy smile on his face. For a second, I forgot that he had moved closer for Mason to take a picture. I gingerly leaned my head back against his bare shoulder, eyes closed and a smile on my face.

“How about a few more?” Mason’s voice broke through.

I felt mortified. Why would I just lean on him like it was nothing? What if I made him uncomfortable?

“My turn.” Reg whispered before letting go of my side and lying down, settling his head in my lap.

I giggled, a hand going up to ruffle his hair. He reached for my free hand and held it against his chest, holding his over it. His eyes held mine, a smile on his face.

Click.

“One more? Pretty please?” Mason’s voice came through but neither of us looked away from each other.

“How do you want us to pose?” Reg called out to her, hand still on mine, over his heart.

Pose. That’s all this was. Just a dumb little photoshoot for Mason to have against me forever. It didn’t mean anything.

“However you guys want.” Mason’s smile was evident in her voice.

I pulled myself back up, sitting straight.

“I’ve got an idea.” Reg pushed himself up and to his feet, holding a hand out to help me up.

I took it, letting him pull me onto my feet. He was definitely stronger than he looked.

“What’s your idea?” I asked, hand still in his. He took my free hand and slid it up to his shoulder before grabbing my waist.

“Well, it’s kinda intimate.” He pulled me against him, bringing our hands out to the side so it looked like we were dancing.

I heard Mason’s camera click, but we both pretended we didn’t hear it. Mason kept going too.

“How intimate are we talking?” I asked, letting myself be pushed out of the camera’s sight.

“Like, sit-on-me intimate.” He showed a hopeful smile.

I laughed, letting my hand that wasn’t trapped in his slide down to his chest.

“Sure.”

“Awesome.” He nudged his nose into my hair before letting go of me all together and sitting on the ground.

I covered my mouth as I laughed, and he wrapped a hand around my leg, gently pulling at me so I would sit down.

Click.

“Sit, come on.” He patted his legs, which were extended in front of him.

I grabbed one of his shoulders as I sat down on his thighs, my front to his. Reg was quick to pull me as close as possible, hands on the small of my back as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“You guys are adorable.” Mason smiled as she took pictures.

Reg laughed, his chest moving against mine in a way that set my skin on fire. I ducked down to hide my face in the crook of his neck, blushing and embarrassed once again.

“I think she’s just doing this on purpose.” Reg whispered into my ear, running a hand up and down my back.

I shrugged, keeping my face down against his cooler skin. He didn’t seem to mind. Afterall, the pose itself had been his idea.

“Okay, I’m almost done, I promise. Can I ask one little favor though?” Mason bent over to speak to us.

“What is it?” Reg asked, hand still on my back.

“Can you kiss his cheek?” She asked me.

My head jerked up so fast that my ear hit Reg’s. I glared at her, ears burning. Reg shrugged, causing my other arm to link tighter around him.

“I don’t mind if you don’t mind.” He whispered to me.

I let out a breath, still glaring at Mason. She smiled. I couldn’t help but crack a smile back. She was just trying to help me get Slivko, after all. I settled comfortably in his lap, one hand on his neck while the other arm remained around him. I leaned my forehead against the side of his face, breathing for a little before closing my eyes and kissing his cheek.

Click.

Previous: Brothers

Next: Family

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Agents of Shield- The Asset

Pairing: Leo Fitz x Violet Ward (OC)

Summary: An old man is kidnapped, Skye struggles with her training, Grant, Skye, and Coulson go in head-first, Violet is worried about everything

Warnings: cursing, fighting, an explosion, uh maybe some blood?

Word Count:  8786

“Is she coming?” I held the punching bag steady for Grant, trying to put equal weight on both my legs.

“She’s supposed to be. Hey, ease up on your leg if you need to.” He pointed, stopping his punches, noticing how I shifted from one leg to the other.

“It’s fine.” I shook my head.

“No, it is not. Listen to him.” Fitz scolded from the lab.

“Shut up, Leo.”

“I’m sorry, love, but the boys are right. Don’t put too much stress on it, or you’ll be back to square one with fingers through your stitches.” Jemma gave me a kind smile, hinting to a few nights ago when our bus had been attacked.

“Haha.” Grant taunted, sticking his tongue out.

I took a jab at him, only for him to step to the side and catch me in a headlock. He laughed as I shook loose, eyes squinted.

“That was uncalled for.” I stuck my nose up in the air, turning my head to the side and ignoring him.

He cleared his throat and I looked to see Skye coming down the steps. Grant put his serious face on and went back to punching the bag.

“You know you’re late.” He eyed her.

“I’m tired from this morning’s workout. I thought I was joining S.H.I.E.L.D., not 24 hour fitness.” She sighed, giving him her hands so he could check over her wrappings.

“It’s called relative strength training. Starting with the basics. And next time, you do fifteen push-ups for every minute you’re late.” He readjusted one.

“Fine, Mr. Fun Machine. Better than pull ups. I don’t ever wanna do another pull up again.” She stated.

“You find yourself hanging off the edge of a building twenty stories up, you’re gonna wanna do at least one.” He gave her a face before turning to instruct her.

I turned to watch Fitz-Simmons in the lab, working on some sort of laser or whatever it was. Fitz caught me staring and winked at me with a goofy smile before going back to his work.

“I’m sure Fitz-Simmon’s supervising officer didn’t make them do this muscle stuff.” She hit the bag with both hands.

“You said you wanted to be a field agent, like Coulson.” Grant shrugged. “But, if you’d like to switch disciplines…” He nodded toward Fitz-Simmons, still hard at work in the lab, then looked at me.

Is she being serious?

I gave her a once-over and smiled at Grant.

Let me take care of it.

“Vi, what did your SO make you do when you were in training for psych?” Grant looked at me with eyebrows raised and a smile on his face.

“Psychoanalytics, fill-ins for the DSM-5, brain parts, ethics… I can keep going. Hey Simmons. What did your SO give you guys for morning drills?” I called out to her from my spot against the wall.

“Oh! Atomistic attribute drills. Yeah, we’d name the mechanical, chemical, thermal-” She spouted.

Skye rolled her eyes at me and threw a lazy punch.

“The electrical properties of materials.” Fitz finished.

“Okay, okay, they made your point.”

“There will come a moment where you have to commit to this or bail.” Grant moved around the bag to hold it for her. “Every field agent has a defining moment. Ask Coulson. When you have to make the hard call to either dedicate yourself to this or to curl up in a ball and run.”

“How can you run if you’re curled up in a ball?” Skye gestured before going back to throwing punches.

“It’s my job as your SO to make sure you don’t die before then. Come on.” He fixed her hands and patted the bag again.

“So what was yours, Agent Ward?” She asked him.

“Ten minutes.” He dodged the question.

“Your defining moment?”

He ignored her.

“Come on, tell me. I wanna know. I could get Coulson to give you some of that truth serum. You could spill your little heart to me all over again.” She smiled.

“You mean my level one overshare that miraculously got you to cooperate? I hate to tell you this, rookie, but we don’t have a truth serum.”

“Changing course, briefing in three. Shield 6-1-6 with new orders, set for Colorado air field north.” May came over the comms.

“Ah, looks like we’re on the move.” Fitz pulled his lab coat off and hung it in the corner before coming to my side and taking my hand, leading the way up the stairs.

We settled on the couches in the main room, sprawled out as Coulson came through the hallway. Fitz pulled me into his side and I swung my leg over his, comfortable in his grip.

“A few minutes ago, a S.H.I.E.L.D. transport was attacked while carrying a priority red protected asset off route 76 near Sterling.”

“Priority red?” Jemma asked, and Grant let out a low whistle as he sat on the armchair next to Fitz and I.

“The asset was Canadian physicist Dr. Franklin Hall, known for his work-”

“Oh no! Not Frank!” Jemma gasped.

Fitz leaned forward, a sad expression on his face, “Dr. Hall? He was our chemical kinetics advisor our second year.”

“Yeah, he’s so enthusiastic about science, we just adored him!” Jemma sighed. “We can rescue him, can’t we?”

“He’s one of ours. We’re gonna try.” Coulson nodded.

“And the attackers?” Grant asked.

“Invisible.” Coulson walked off.

“Wait. Invisible? Cool!” Skye laughed, and Grant shot her a look. “But terrible.” She cleared her throat.

                                                             ***

“Dr. Hall was an asset?” Skye questioned as we walked down the road, squinting in the dark.

“One of a few select scientists S.H.I.E.L.D. has been protecting, people our enemies would love to get their hands on. We keep them hidden, we keep them on the move.” Coulson explained.

“Which is why Fitz and I were so lucky to have him.” Jemma spoke from the other end of the line, next to Fitz.

May, in the middle, stayed silent as usual. Grant and I exchanged a few looks, but he was soon focused on observing the street we were walking along for any potential threats.

“We don’t have him anymore.” Coulson grunted out.

“And what does priority red mean?” Skye asked again.

“It means security should have been…” he trailed off as we saw an SUV flipped over onto the side of the road. “Heavy.”

A fox scurried out from the bushes and to the road. Fitz jumped and Grant’s hand flew to his gun. I looked over to see the fox with blood stains on its white snout. I looked up to Grant again. His grimace matched mine.

Well, that’s just wonderful.

                                                            ***

“It was pretty damn scary, and I don’t spook easily, boss.” Agent Mack was the only one left alive, and even he was pretty banged up.

May had gone with him to ask questions while Fitz-Simmons did their usual rounds of inspection with Skye tagging along. Grant was surveying lord knows what and I stood off to May’s side, picking up cues from Agent Mack that he didn’t even realize he was giving off.

“Nothing in the air from above?” May asked.

“Nothing over our shoulder.” He shook his head, “But what’s scary is they knew our route. They were waiting for us.”

“Are you saying they were working with somebody inside S.H.I.E.L.D.?” I took a step closer to the van he was sitting in.

“Sorry to say.” He shrugged. “It had to be.”

“Fitz, what am I seeing here?” Jemma shouted, causing the turning of heads.

“Well, I’m not wearing the full-spectrum goggles I designed, so no clue.” He chuckled, walking over to her with his tablet in his hands.

Coulson gave me a nod of his head and I followed them, rolling my eyes with a smile at Fitz’s nerd speak.

“Let me have a look. Come on.” He held his hand out for the goggles.

“Whoa, whoa, wait! Wait, no! Don’t move.” She ordered, holding her hands out to stop him.

Skye stopped immediately, but Fitz, as always, was clumsy and almost took another step forward. I grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him backward.

“Wait a second.” Jemma whispered, kneeling to throw a fistful of dirt and gravel into the air.

It swirled, like a mini tornado.

“What the hell?” Skye took a step back.

“I think the electro-static field scanner activated some… thing.” She smiled.

A rock flew loose from the air pattern, flinging itself at us. I felt a hand on my head and I was forced to go down faster than I could duck myself. Fitz let out a yelp and Grant shoved me half behind him, staring at the thing with squinted eyes.

“Okay, can we deactivate it?” Coulson asked. “Now?”

She hit a few buttons on her tablet, and the swirl only seemed to gain an angry conscious, throwing more things at us. I ducked behind my brother, pulling Skye down with me. Fitz let out a second yelp before barking something about density at Jemma.

“I tried, Fitz!” She shouted, handing him the control.

I pushed out from behind my brother and tugged Fitz away from the swirl as he fumbled with the remote. I felt a thunk against my head and winced.

“Fitz!” May raised her voice.

He hit another two buttons before the remote shorted out and the swirling pieces dropped to the floor. Jemma bent down to pick up a twisted looking piece of metal and glass with a pair of tweezers, dropping it in Coulson’s outstretched hand.

“That did all this.”

“What is that?” Skye asked.

Coulson stared at it, rolling it in his hand. “Something big.”

                                                            ***

We stood in a ring around the lab table, with the exception of Grant, who had told me what he was off to do, but I hadn’t listened. Fitz had the object in some sort of a microscope, with lit up goggles on his head.

“Either someone cracked our comm system, or Dr. Hall’s movements leaked from inside S.H.I.E.L.D..” Coulson was quiet.

“You really think we have a mole?” May asked him.

Jemma and I stood at the side of the table, watching as Fitz worked.

“I think you should go through the communication logs, rule it out.” He said with his hands crossed neatly. “We’ll work the tractor tread that we found on the scene.”

“I can do that.” Skye popped up. “Instead of pull-ups. I can upload an image of the tread pattern, check to see if there’s any sort of-”

“Already done.” Grant popped back in.

Right, he had gone to do that.

“Matched it to a 2010 model. Found a list of purchases within a 500-mile radius, narrowed it down to those with priors, financial troubles, or propensity for risk-taking.” He set it up to show on the computer.

“Three suspects.” He pointed as the pictures appeared.

“Who may have sold their construction equipment to the kidnappers.” Coulson’s arms were now crossed. “We’ll ask.”

Grant nodded and pulled the images off the screen. He turned to look at me over his shoulder, and I followed him out of the lab.

“You feeling any better? How’s your leg?” He looked down, slowing his step.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to slow down for me.” I scoffed, secretly grateful that he hadn’t forced me to trot up the stairs.

“I know. There’s a lot of things I don’t have to do.” He sat down at the bar. “So. Give me a runthrough. Why would someone kidnap a physicist?”

I hoisted myself to sit on the counter and grinned. “Maybe their kid needed tutoring?”

Grant rolled his eyes and pushed at my knee with his foot, essentially kicking me. “I don’t remember you being this joke-y before.”

I laughed. “I use humor to mask my emotions now. Ya know, like an adult.”

“Okay, okay. But for real. Why would someone kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D. protected physicist? What good does a physicist even do?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Physics is actually pretty cool, you people just don’t think it is. Physics covers a lot. My best guess within reason? Some evil rich person has a half-hacked plan to take over the world but needs a professional to help him seal the deal.” I shrugged.

Grant sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I hate the fact that that sounds like a valid, logical, reason.”

I laughed. “Well, we do work for S.H.I.E.L.D..”

“Yeah, okay. But I’ll bet you fifty dollars it’s some weird organization and not someone rich.” Grant snorted.

“You sure you wanna bet on that?” I grinned again.

                                                            ***

“I just wanna know who paid you.” Coulson asked calmly as Grant and I crept around Lola, crouched.

The man paused, then yanked a gun out. “Paid me enough not to answer questions like that.” He aimed at Coulson.

Grant gave me a glance over my shoulder before moving, pulling the gun from the man’s hand and him along with it. I ran to grab the horse by the reigns, trying to calm it. The man landed on his back with a grunt, hands up as Grant pointed the gun at his head.

“Feels like the old west.” He turned to me with a faint smile as Coulson stepped closer to speak to the man again.

“They gave me money for my equipment, that’s all. I never saw a face. I never heard a name.” He had his hands up, eyes darting between Coulson and Grant.

“And how did you receive this money? They write you a check?”

The man sighed and pointed to the side pouch on the horse’s saddle. Grant looked at me and jerked his head in that direction. I patted the horse’s neck before moving over to open the bag, which was filled with gold bars.

“Paid you in gold?” Coulson picked a bar up.

I looked at Grant. “Now it really feels like the old west.”

                                                            ***

“It looks like this because it’s a doré bar. It means it was made in a mine rather than a refinery. It’s only about 92% pure, the cowboy got cheated a bit.” Jemma explained.

“Can you determine a mine based off the impurities?” Coulson asked.

“Oh, yeah, we’ve done that already.” Fitz went to the computer. “It’s from the dacey mine in Tanzania, which is owned by-”

“Quinn Worldwide.” I came to his side as I cut him off, glancing at Coulson.

“I’m sure you’ve studied the CEO in your chemical engineering classes or saw him on the cover of Forbes. Ian Quinn.” Coulson sighed and walked out of the lab, up to the steps.

“He’s a sociopath.” I scoffed.

“I mean…” Jemma tried to put her positive twist on it, but to no avail.

“Who is?” Grant came into the lab, looking at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“Ian Quinn.” I said as Fitz pulled up a picture and turned his monitor so Grant could see. “Spoiled, bratty, millionaire evil genius.” I quirked an eyebrow.

Grant sighed deeply and pulled out his wallet, handing me two twenties and a ten. I pocketed them with a smile, giving him a half-hug as a thanks before going upstairs with Coulson.

                                                            ***

“Darlin’, come downstairs. I’ve got a feeling you might wanna hear this.” Fitz came over the comms in our room and I rolled over in the bed, dropping my book onto my nightstand as I hit the button to answer.

“Are you sure I’m gonna wanna hear about it? I’m reading.”

“Well…” He paused and I could hear him clear his throat. “It’s a scientific breakthrough, darlin’.”

He knew he had me then. Any breakthrough was amazing, whether it was scientific or psychological or whatever else. I pulled one a pair of fuzzy socks and all but bolted down the stairs to the lab.

“Jeez, what’s the rush?” Skye asked, coming down the steps after me.

“Scientific breakthrough, come on.” I grabbed her hand and tugged.

“What is it, you guys?” I popped up to sit on the counter in front of the holotable, resting my chin on Fitz’s shoulder.

“Gravitonium.” He put his hands on his hips.

“What?” Skye asked, unimpressed.

“Holy shit.” I mumbled, wrapping my arms around one of his and leaning forward.

“It’s an extremely rare high-atomic numbered element.” He explained.

“It powers the device.” Jemma continued. “It’s so extremely rare that most people didn’t believe it existed, much less the theory that an isolated positive charge-”

“Yeah, would turn the flow from isotropic-” Fitz continued.

“Guys.” Skye interrupted them. “High school dropout here.”

Fitz looked at me, his hand frozen and his face confused. He didn’t know how to put many things into simple terms. I patted his back and tried to give him a guideline.

“How does the device work again?”

“Well, gravitonium distorts gravity fields within itself, causing an undulating, amorphous shape.” Jemma tried to explain, as Fitz was still stuck.

“Which causes these, um…” He pointed, trying to find an easy word. “Wiggly bits here! But when an electric current is applied,” he motioned with his fingers and I felt a goofy smile grow on my face. “The gravitonium solidifies. And those gravity fields erupt,” he continued to mime it and I held back my laughs. “Randomly changing the rules of gravity around it.”

Skye looked at me and I felt myself turn pink, trying again not to burst out laughing. Fitz gave my leg a squeeze before running over to the other side of the lab, now completely invested in his explanation.

“Well, so now you can imagine what would happen to a big rig at 100 kilometers per hour.” He rushed to sit at his computer, and then froze up a bit. “Or, well, you could just remember, ‘cause we saw it already, didn’t we?”

I walked over as he picked at his lips and then bit his nails as Jemma began to speak. I gently pulled his hand away from his mouth, linking his fingers through mine. He smiled at me softly and pulled our hands back to his mouth to kiss my knuckles.

“Come here.” He tugged me up to sit on his thighs with my side to his chest as he brought his arms around my middle and started to type.

I looked over to Skye, who winked at me.

“Guess which genius published every theory about gravitonium and possible applications years ago?” Jemma asked.

“Dr. Franklin Hall.” Skye answered.

“Correct.” Fitz-Simmons nodded.

“And Dr. Hall attended the University of Cambridge at the same time as Ian Quinn.” I looked at the files Fitz had pulled up on the computer.

“Violet, I think you might be off on this. Quinn’s a notoriously good guy.” Skye shook her head. “His charity endowment’s something like eight billion dollars.”

“Yeah, with money made from leeching the Earth of its resources. Looks like he’s dug up another.” Jemma scoffed.

“He’s textbook, Skye. Tries to give himself a good public image when in reality, dude’s only watching his own back.” I called without turning back to her.

“That’s my girl.” Fitz mumbled under his breath, still focused on the screen as one hand pulled mine up and he kissed it again.

                                                            ***

“The man’s a prisoner, and it’s up to us to get him out!” Coulson was growing more frustrated by the minute.

“We’ve checked the specs. There’s no way into Quinn’s compound without a large S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force, or a man inside. He’s got neodymium laser fencing surrounding the property.” Grant scoffed.

“They’ll never allow a strike force into Malta.” I shook my head. “Plus, this weekend, Quinn Worldwide’s got its annual shareholders gathering. We’d risk global outrage. But…” I trailed off, looking to Grant.

Not if we go it by ourselves.

He sighed, but nobody else seemed to understand the nonverbality. Coulson picked up the slack for them.

“If we go in alone, S.H.I.E.L.D. can disavow us, claim ignorance.”

“Without a man inside, it’s impossible, unless you’re immune to pulse laser emissions.” May leaned against the table.

Fitz sighed from next to me and Jemma held her hands against her neck, her nervous tic. Fitz stood straight, and I already knew what was coming, but the amusement it would provide outweighed my desire to stop him in his tracks.

“If we had a monkey, we could get in.”

“Ah, Fitz!” Jemma seemed annoyed.

“If we had a small monkey, he could slip through the sensors and disable the fence’s power source with his adorable little hands.” Fitz put his hands up.

I bit back a smile as Grant looked at me with a face. I grabbed Fitz’s arm and pulled him tight against my side, smiling up at him.

“Now’s not the time, angel face.” I whispered.

“I could go in.” Skye had walked in at some point, and was now leaning nonchalantly against the wall, phone in hand.

“Drop me in the hills outside of Valletta. I’ll spend a few weeks establishing a cover, gathering intel-”

“We don’t have the time, Grant.” I cut him off, shaking my head.

“And to restate, any agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. caught on Maltese soil can be shot to death with bullets- legally.” Jemma gestured.

“Not me.” Skye spoke again. “I could go in.” She now took a step forward.

“Skye, this is serious.” Grant brushed her off.

“No.” I stopped him. “She’s right. She’s not an agent.” I looked to Coulson, who seemed to agree.

“This isn’t something the Rising Tide can hack, Skye.” Grant said with a layer of disgust in his tone.

“Did you hear the deadly lasers part?” Fitz looked from her to me, hands on his head. “Without a brave monkey-” I clapped a hand over his mouth and looked to Skye, a signal for her to explain.

“You said you could go in with a man inside.” She shrugged.

“And you wanna be that man?” May’s eyebrows were raised.

“Fitz-Simmons loved the guy, and he needs help. They could be torturing him. Or worse, making him do strength-training.” She glared at Grant.

“She’s a hacker, she can easily apply that to playing a role.” I rolled my eyes at him, sensing his upcoming protests.

“But she doesn’t have the background or clearance or experience with any of this.” He turned away from me and walked toward her, growing increasingly agitated.

“I know.” She put her phone up. “But I’ve got an invitation. Well, technically, it’s an evite.” She looked to me with a smile.

I didn’t bother to hold back my grin. She was something, that was for sure. I trusted she could do it, and if anything went wrong, Grant and I would figure out a way to pull her out if necessary. Grant looked at me with a sigh.

This is a bad idea.

I shrugged.

It’s the only one we have.

And although I wouldn’t admit it, I much preferred this to him going undercover.

                                                            ***

“Grant!” I caught him coming out of Coulson’s office, fuming.

He turned to me. “It’s a bad idea. Actually, no” he began to gesture wildly, “it’s not just a bad idea, it’s the worst idea! She’s gonna get herself killed! She doesn’t know what she’s doing! And then what? We’re back at square one with one of our people down?”

“Hey.” I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled his arm down. “First of all, breathe. It’s gonna be fine. And secondly, we have a few days. You’re her SO.”

“Again. First on paper, but you’re on there too.”

I ignored him. “Keep training her. Get her ready physically, I’ll worry about getting her mind in the right state. We’ve tag-teamed before, let’s just do it again.” I looked up, eyebrows raised in the way Jemma always said was my ‘mom face’.

“Yeah, we’ve tag-teamed against a group of rebels shooting at us. Are you sure we can tag-team her?” He crossed his arms across his chest.

I threw my head back with an exaggerated groan and rolled my eyes. “Grant. We’ve tag-teamed Christian before. I think we can handle a hacker.”

I knew mentioning our older brother would be a risk, and I watched as his face changed and he became a few shades lighter. But it worked, because he was soon nodding and meeting my eyes.

“Let’s do it. I’ll head downstairs to do muscle memories. Come with, sit and watch. Let your little psych brain work some stuff out.” He held his hand out for mine and I stared for a second.

I couldn’t remember the last time Grant had held my hand. I knew that we always did when we were younger, because our family spent all our time out of the house and on trips, and Grant was the only one who had seemed to care that I didn’t get split up.

“Hey.” He whispered, leaning down to meet my eyes. “You’re okay.” He nodded, flexing his fingers.

I snapped out of it with a nod, slipping my hand into his and letting him lead the way down to the garage.

                                                            ***

“Now, again, slowly, what’s first?” Grant held the unloaded gun level with Skye’s chest as they went over the maneuver once more.

She gripped his wrist and pushed it up, twirling under his arm and pressing herself into his chest, the gun still in his hand but under her control.

“And then?” Grant followed up.

She paused and I shifted on the metal steps, trying to find some sense of comfort. This had been going on for an hour, and I was surprised that Grant hadn’t snapped by now. My neck ached, my hips were burning, and my leg was throbbing. This was the last day we had to train her. Mentally, she was ready. But that was worth nothing if she couldn’t evade getting shot.

“Then things are moving too quickly. I’m a proper Southern girl-”

I watched Grant throw his head back with an eye roll that looked like it hurt as she pulled on an accent.

“You’ll make me untidy.”

“Twist the thumb, palm the barrel.” He moved his hands over hers to repeat the motions, a bit harshly.

“Ow.” She winced, taking her hand back and shaking it.

“You’re gonna die and leave us hanging out to dry, you know that?” He tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans. “You’re going in with no self-defense skills-”

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” She cut him off, crossing her arms.

“That isn’t enough. You need muscle memory, fundamentals, the tools to turn yourself-”

“Into a whole bag of tools?” She cut him off.

“Okay Skye, how did you learn computer science if you didn’t fully commit to it?” I asked, trying to find a better approach on teaching her.

“C.S. comes naturally to me. I’m sorry I’m not naturally whatever he is.” She pointed at Grant with a grunt.

He looked at me, neck snapping like it was broken.

What the fucking hell?

I returned the look, trying to ease his tension.

It’s okay. Calm down, and explain it. Don’t lose your head.

The air tensed, and I watched Grant’s fist curl. One mention of our childhood was enough to last a few months. Twice in one week was a major overload.

“You think this came naturally?” He stood straighter, shoulders squared as he took a predatory step toward her. “I had a brother who beat the crap out of me- and Violet. For nothing, for eating a piece of his birthday cake. I had to learn to protect us. The way I am trying to protect you. That was my moment. You asked.” He was towering over her now, and I could feel what he was feeling.

Anger, contempt, sadness, fear, every other negative emotion that you could possibly name. I watched as Skye slouched a little, looking from him to me and then at the floor.

“Sorry.” She looked up again. “Didn’t mean to push. But… I did manage to take this.” She pulled the gun up with a smile.

Grant took it back, his emotions gone and the heartless soldier back at play. “Getting the gun is one thing. Pulling the trigger- that is another.” He put the gun back to her chest. “Now, again, slowly, what’s first?”

                                                            ***

“Skye will walk in the front door.” Coulson paced, trying to keep awake.

It was six in the morning, and none of us had gotten nearly enough sleep. I was leaning back against Fitz, who had his arm around me as he breathed deeply. May and Jemma seemed wide-awake, and Grant was taking a mental nap in the corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“The only external access point to Quinn’s underground facility is from a beach cove. A two-man extraction team could slip in there, but it’s not easy. Fitz-Simmons.” He handed it over to them and Fitz begrudgingly kissed my cheek before leaving my side and joining Jemma at the screen.

“The perimeter is surrounded by a twenty foot high neodymium laser grid. Touch it, and you’re toast.” He looked at me as he spoke, as if he were also struggling to stay awake.

“Dead toast. The only way to disable the grid is to crack the system and trigger a reboot. This would give the team three seconds to cross. Of course, Quinn’s too smart to allow any wireless access on his property.” Coulson walked through it.

“That’s where I come in.” Skye nodded.

“Yes.” Jemma opened the black case on the table.

I couldn’t see with everyone standing around it, but Fitz grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of him, squeezing my shoulders after I padded over.

“Working compact- holds up under X-ray.”

“Desert rose. To match your complexion.” Fitz pointed at the small mirror. “But oh, what’s this?” He picked it up, slinging his arms over my shoulders so I wouldn’t have to switch spots again. “A readout, okay? Turns green if you’re in close enough proximity to a computer to gain wireless access.”

“When it does, you just drop this nearby and walk out. We’ll do the rest. Easy as pie.” Jemma smiled as Fitz closed the mirror.

“Or it will be. If you stick to the plan.” Grant spoke for the first time since we had gathered in the conference room to review the plan.

“Got it. Plan, green, drop, walk… pie.” Skye smiled.

Fitz handed her the mirror and she took it with a small thank you, flipping it around in her hands as Jemma explained something to her. Fitz turned me around and pulled me to lean against him, arms over my shoulders as I let my head fall into its spot against his neck.

“Alright team. Suit up.”

                                                            ***

“Wife’s name is Nadrah.” May filled in the gap for Skye, swiping around on the holotable.

“Sir, are you sure you don’t want me to go in? Grant and I work really well together, and that way you don’t have to go out into the field.” I tried to reason with Coulson, who was gathering his gear.

“I’m sure, Violet. You stay here, keep Fitz-Simmons calm. You know they panic in intense situations. And don’t worry. I’ll keep your brother safe.” He patted my shoulder with a smile before brushing past me.

I sighed and looked up to the ceiling. Fitz walked in, handing me a bowl of popcorn and a water bottle. He gave me puppy eyes and I followed him to the holotable, where May was still directing Skye.

“How’s she doing?” Fitz whispered before shoving popcorn into his mouth.

“She’s good.” Both Jemma and May whispered back.

“I could get used to this, people. It’s like Siri if it worked.” Skye spoke. “Skipper to Bravo. I’ve got eyes on Top Dog. The Eagle is landing on it.”

We all looked at each other, and May let a small smile twitch past her lips despite her eye roll. I giggled and hopped up to sit on the table.

“What are you doing?” Jemma asked.

“Uh, sorry, I-I dunno. I see Quinn, I’m gonna go talk to him.”

Jemma smiled hopefully and May remained stoic. Fitz offered me popcorn. I only opened my mouth, letting him throw the pieces in and laughing when he missed horribly.

We heard Skye laugh over her comm. “Yeah, right? Ian Quinn. I’m your last-minute party crasher. Skye.”

“Oh. Wow.” We could hear Quinn too, albeit faintly. “Great to meet you. Um, this is Skye, a member of the Rising Tide. They’re a group of hackers. They’ve gotten some pretty big secrets out to the public.”

“I prefer hacktivist. I’m glad you’ve heard of our site.”

“I read it. We think very much alike. More freedom of information, less government infringing on everyone’s rights. I’m a fan.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed at Fitz’s tie, pulling him to stand between my legs so I could lean against him.

“That explains the invite. This is a tough party to get into.”

“Not as hard to get into as the encrypted back channel you contacted us through to request the invite.” His tone was annoying, and he was trying to flirt with her.

“That’s sort of where I live.” I heard Skye force a laugh.

“You’ve got to show me how you did that- I mean, if you sign on.”

She paused. “Sign what, now?”

“I’ve been known to turn a few black hats into white hats, not just for vulnerability analysis, but for very creative thinking.”

Skye hesitated and I rolled my eyes again, thumping my head against Fitz’s shoulder. He only rubbed my back.

“A-are you offering me a job?”

“Well I didn’t invite you here for your pretty face. I didn’t know you had a pretty face.”

I looked over my shoulder at May, who only shook her head and mirrored my eye roll. Fitz caught my look and tutted at me, pulling me back against him and kissing the top of my head.

“Yes, I wanna hire you, before someone else snatches you up.”

“That seemed to go well.” May noted.

“Yeah. It did.” She breathed out, and her tone seemed different, but I was tired beyond belief.

Grant and I had spent the entire night awake, sparring to try and blow off steam. The mention of our older brother twice in three nights had shaken us both to our cores, and then we were awake and angry. We had gone until three in the morning, at which point I realized the time and sent him to bed because he had to be alert to be the extraction tomorrow. I had spent another two hours on the punching bag. At that point, Fitz came downstairs with pajamas and sleepy eyes, looking for me. We hopped in the shower together because he was scared I’d pass out and drown if I were by myself, and I fell asleep afterward, with only half an hour left until we had to be up to start our day all over again.

The comm stuck in my ear crackled to life, and I was relieved to hear Grant on the other end.

“Hey Vi. We’re here. Keep you updated.”

“Sounds good, bubs.” I mumbled back.

I could hear Coulson over the comms, saying something about Grant’s personality setting Dr. Hall on edge. I scoffed a laugh and turned my head into Fitz’s shoulder.

“It’s locked, but there’s no lock.” I heard Skye.

Fitz grabbed another handful of popcorn. “Eh, check for a keypad.”

“Nothing. What, you can hack a keypad?”

“No, not over the phone.” He mumbled, bringing the bowl of popcorn over my shoulder and placing it in my lap.

“Is there a reception desk?” May asked.

“Okay, yeah. Well now what do I do?”

“What are you trying to do?” Quinn’s voice came over her comm and we froze.

“Just… looking for a pen,” she laughed nervously. “Here we go. Gotta write down all those good ideas, you know what I mean? Of course you know what I mean, you probably have like ten pens for all your ideas…”

“What are you really doing?” His tone escalated.

Skye took a long pause. We stared at each other and I pressed the comm in my ear.

“Grant? She might’ve just been made.”

“Noted.” He grunted back and then was gone as quickly as he had come.

“Alright. I’m busted. I was trying to get a glimpse behind your office doors, see how things really operate.”

“I invite you here as a guest, you treat me like another corrupt institution, looking for trade secrets to leak online. Security-”

“No, no, no, wait. It’s just… with all these la-di-da people, you have to be so guarded, so … careful. What you say. What secrets you reveal. And … I was hoping that you and I… could be honest with one another. If you know what I mean.”

There was another long pause, and then there was a creaking of doors and Skye was back to normal. Fitz had climbed onto the table to sit behind me, forcing me to swing my legs to the other edge of the table. The popcorn was still in my lap, and I was grateful, because that way the warmth of his arms never left my sides.

“My office had less space, more wheels. Wow. A view of the ocean and the pool.”

“Not a bad place to do business.” Quinn flirted back.

“Got the dispatch leaking Hall’s location. User’s an alias.”

“Oh, can you trace the DHCP server-”

May cut Fitz off. “Trace is running, but it’ll take time. How’s our girl?” She asked, referring to Skye.

“I thought she was done for, but she just sweet-talked her way into Quinn’s office.” Jemma exclaimed.

“Grant. She’s good. She’s in.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure, idiot.” I scoffed.

The line clicked off without a response.

“How’d she manage that?” May asked.

I sputtered, shaking my head. Fitz squirmed behind me, using his hands as he spoke.

“She probably just used her, um, uhh…” He stumbled as Jemma and May shot him glares.

I turned to see his hands cupping his chest.

“Uh, her uh… boobs.” He spat out.

I rolled my eyes and got off the table, leaving the bowl in his lap and standing at his side.

“Ugh! That’s the only explana-” Jemma was cut off by static.

I looked down to see Skye’s comm gone. “Shit, the signal’s dead.”

“Fitz, what did you do?” Jemma hit his arm.

“What- I didn’t do anything! She must’ve- oh lord.” He sighed.

May looked at me. “She’s double crossing us.”

I shook my head. “No, no, no, no, no. Stop. We’re not gonna jump to conclusions here, alright? She’s probably just got an idea.” I defended her.

“She’s supposed to stick to the plan!” I forgot my comm was on.

“She’s just offline. We lost audio and vitals.”

“Abort is not an option. But if she’s compromising-”

“She’s still your only way in to get to Dr. Hall. And you’re the only way out. Sit tight.” I rolled my eyes and clicked the comm off.

“Violet. Just think about it. Why else would she turn off her comm?” Fitz asked me, eyes kind.

“She’s got a plan. Just trust me. She’s gotta have a plan.” I clicked my comm back on. “Grant, just keep moving. This doesn’t change anything. I’ll keep you updated.”

He scoffed on the other end. “Since when are you so soft?”

“Can you put aside the bitch-fit for when you come back? Right now you have to focus on getting in and out, okay?” I rolled my eyes.

“Fine. Keep me updated.”

“I told you I would.” I rolled my eyes again, clicking my line off.

I looked around to see Fitz-Simmons and May blinking at me, eyes wide.

“What?”

“I just, uh…” Fitz trailed off, scratching the back of his neck.

“We haven’t ever really seen you like that is all, love.” Jemma offered a sweet smile.

“Your brother’s back and you’re acting different. It’s sort of amusing.” May shrugged, the most truthful.

“Hey, Vi?” Grant’s voice was calm and quiet.

“What’s wrong?” I perked up.

“We’re gonna have to take on this next patrol. Skye better hurry it the hell up or we’re dead. Just thought you should know.” He whispered.

I sighed. “Be careful.”

“Always.” It was followed by a grunt, and then the sounds of an unfair fight.

I sighed and watched as May eyed the holotable nervously. Skye was still offline. A few grunts later, Grant sighed.

“Guys, clocks ticking. Where’s Skye?” Coulson came on.

The holotable clicked, and her compact connected.

“We’re in!” May shouted.

“She’s done it!” Jemma squealed.

“Leo, you’re up.” I took the bowl from him.

“Oh, Mother of all things. Move, move! Move!” He all but shoved May aside, tie flying as he ran.

His fingers danced over the holotable, and his eyes darted around as he licked his lips. He was scared to screw it up.

“Vi, tell Fitz to hurry. They’re onto us.” Grant growled.

“Fitz is going as fast as he can!” I shouted back.

“Fitz!” Coulson called.

“Saying his name repeatedly does not increase productivity!” Jemma yelled, getting them to back off.

“Okay, go!” Fitz jumped.

“Or maybe it does.” Jemma tilted her head.

“Grant! Move, now!” I watched the three second timer on the screen.

“System rebooting in two, one, now!” Fitz counted it off.

There was a grunt and then silence.

“Grant?” The rise and fall of my chest became frantic.

I really hoped my brother hadn’t gotten cut in half by a twenty foot laser fence.

“We’re in.”

I sighed, letting out a breath. May had gone back to her computer, following the trace of the dispatch that had leaked Hall’s location. Fitz pulled me into a hug. I hooked my arms around his middle and buried my face into his shoulder, ignoring the itching of his cardigan against my nose.

“Oh no.” May was louder than usual. “Coulson. The leak came from-”

“Dr. Hall. Yeah, I’m getting that.”

There was a yelp and a grunt, and then Coulson’s comm cut out.

“Grant?”

“I’m here.”

“Coulson’s out. We don’t know what happened. Keep moving, get Skye. We’ll keep you updated. Be careful.”

“Always.”

                                                            ***

“Guys, we need to talk.” Coulson’s voice came over the comms.

“Lost you for a minute.” May sighed. “We’re aware of the problem, sir. Hall wanted Quinn to kidnap him?” She asked as we walked into the lab, where Fitz-Simmons were scrambling about.

“Yeah, why would he do that?” Fitz was disgruntled.

“What is wrong with him?” Jemma was distraught.

“Quinn built a gravity generator. Like the one we found but bigger. Hall knew Quinn would need him to control its raw power, but Hall just wanted to unleash it.”

“The one we found was only two point five centimeters in diameter. It stopped a semi.” Jemma shrugged.

“How big are we talking?” I asked.

“Twelve feet. It’ll definitely take down the entire compound.”

My heart clenched in my chest once more. Skye and Coulson were on there. And more importantly to me, Grant was on there. I had just gotten him back after eleven years. I couldn’t lose him to an element on the periodic table.

“It’ll sink the place!” Jemma was agitated.

“No, it’ll do more than that.” Fitz shook his head, working at something, tucking a screwdriver behind his ear.

“Work a solution. I’ll disconnect the power before things get … crazy.”

He was gone again.

“Vi.”

“What is it?” I asked, relief at hearing my brother’s voice.

“I don’t know where I’m going. I need you to pull up a map and talk me through this. Please.”

I only nodded. “Just a second.” I hit a few buttons on the holotable, bringing up the blueprint of Quinn’s mansion.

I took my comm out and tossed it to Fitz, who set the connection to the same as Coulson’s. Now we could all hear him, and he could hear all of us.

“Alright. This place is massive. Where am I heading?”

“Southwest corner.” May guided him. “Ward. Tell me you’ve got things covered on the ground. I can’t do a damn thing from out here.”

I caught a small gasp and perked up. It had come from Grant. I pulled up his vitals on the tablet next to me and saw that his heart rate went up. Something had happened that made him nervous.

“I’m working on it.” He replied.

We sat in silence, watching as the dot on the map that was Grant moved faster. Coulson’s comm clicked back on, and we could hear a loud whirring and a rumbling.

“... future generations ruined in his wake!” Hall’s voice was agitated.

“Like agents Fitz and Simmons, your former students? I’ve got them in my ear right now, telling me you’re not a bad guy. We could’ve worked with you on this.”

There was a crashing noise, and Fitz tensed in his seat.

“S.H.I.E.L.D.? S.H.I.E.L.D. is just as guilty of the same thing! Experimentation without a thought of consequence! Your search for an unlimited power source brought an alien invasion!”

“Fair point.” Coulson only sighed.

There was another crashing noise, and Coulson’s comm finally gave out. May cursed loudly, and Jemma put her hands back to her neck.

“She’s not here!” Grant screamed.

We paused.

“Grant, the pool.”

“What?”

“There’s a pool by the window. She must’ve jumped. She’s probably out in the front!”

“Are you sure?”

“Grant! We tag-teamed! Stop doubting me and listen!” I groaned, balling my hands in frustration.

He muttered a reply that I ignored. His dot was beelining down the steps and out into the main lot. He must’ve been sprinting. He reached the spot and took a deep breath. I braced myself, knowing what was coming. There were grunts and shouts, and the cracking of bones. Grant winced, but was quick to regain another breath and keep fighting.

When he finished, I could hear his breathing, along with Skye’s, which was even more frantic.

“You hurt? Follow my orders. I’ll get us out of here.” He was gone again.

Coulson’s line came back on, staticky. “Nothing. Fitz-Simmons? I tried to cut the power. It’s still going.”

Fitz-Simmons blurted out too many words at the same time, and the only thing I understood was ‘catalyst’.

“Something to create a chemical reaction in the core.” Jemma explained.

“It’s not too late to do the right thing! Help me find a catalyst-”

“I am doing the right thing. A completely selfless act. I know that history never celebrates what didn’t happen. They’ll call this a-a tragedy. They won’t understand the good I did here.”

“Vi?” Grant came on. “We’ve almost got Coulson.”

“Can you get him out?”

“Not yet. We need another minute or two.”

“You don’t have that long.” Fitz jumped in, looking at me with concern.

“Killing innocent people?”

“Saving millions. We have to live with the choices we make, but sometimes we have to die with them too.”

“I understand. You made a hard call… and now I have to make mine.” Coulson clicked his comm off, but we still heard the gunshots through Grant’s.

“Alright, we’re in.”

                                                            ***

Fitz-Simmons hadn’t taken the news well. Coulson had been the one to explain what happened. He shot the glass, and Dr. Hall got sucked into the gravitonium. He was gone. They were devastated, frustrated, and overall upset. Jemma had made a tea and fallen asleep on the couch, where Grant wordlessly draped a blanket over her and shot me a look when I smiled at him.

Fitz was in the bathroom, showering. He had left the door cracked open, and I got the feeling it was to reassure me that he was okay. The water shut off, and he got dressed rather quickly, coming out of the bathroom in boxers and nothing else. His hair had obviously been towel-dried, and he hadn’t bothered to fix it. He gave me a soft smile as he sat next to me.

“Hi angel face.” I whispered, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek.

“I love you.” He mumbled, wrapping me in his arms and dropping his head against my shoulder.

He was exhausted, and I couldn’t blame him. I ran my fingers through his damp hair and wrapped my arm around his shoulders, tracing shapes onto his bare skin.

“I love you too. Why don’t you try to sleep, Leo?” I asked once he pulled back, wiping at his eyes.

“Stay with me?” He gave me puppy eyes and jutted out his bottom lip. I couldn’t tell whether it was intentional or not.

I smiled and leaned forward, grabbing him by the cheeks and pulling him to me so I could kiss his pouty lips. “Always.”

He slid down under the covers and let me get settled against the headboard. I sat with my legs crossed. He rolled over and dropped his head into my lap, laying on his side and pulling the blankets up to his chin. I threaded my hand in his hair, tugging gently at the curls to untangle them. He sighed, content. My hand started to work by itself, long after his hair was close to dry and he was breathing steadily, asleep.

Skye had gone downstairs to work on her punches, and Grant had gone straight for the shower. I sat in the bed, fingers still mindlessly combing through Fitz’s hair. I hadn’t been the one to lose a mentor, and I hadn’t been the one with a gun up to my face, but I was still tired, and now emotionally drained. There was a knock on my door.

“Come in.” I mumbled, eyes focused on a spot on the wall.

“Hey, ducky. How ya doing?”

I shrugged, watching as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’ve had better days.”

He nodded. “I’m gonna go check on Skye. Wanna come?”

I nodded, working Fitz’s head off my lap and onto a pillow. I took Grant’s hand the moment he outstretched it. We walked in silence, and it was peaceful. We didn’t have to verbalize what we wanted to say to each other, we just knew what the other was thinking. It was all I’m sorry’s and I love you to death, please don’t forget that’s and I’m glad you’re alive’s. He went down the stairs first, sitting down and letting me lean onto him.

“Where’d you guys grow up?” Skye asked through a grunt.

“Massachusetts, mostly.” I answered.

“A house?” She asked again.

“You didn’t?” Grant cocked his head.

She stopped the bag, holding it steady as she panted. “One house.” She grabbed a water bottle and walked to our side. “The Brody’s. I was nine. Sent me back to St. Agnes after a month. Said I wasn’t a good fit.”

“Foster parents.” Grant deduced. “Your first?”

She scoffed. “My third. I had heard it before, but… this one was different.”

“‘Cause you wanted them to like you.” I spoke in a hushed tone.

She looked up and nodded. “Bad.”

Grant sighed and she looked back down, sniffling. I looked down to my brother. He gave my knee a squeeze.

“I called her mom once… tried it out.” She shrugged and sighed. “Guess it wasn’t a good fit.”

She shook herself off and returned to the bag. “Hoping for something and losing it? Hurts more than never hoping for anything.”

Grant and I exchanged looks.

She needs reassurance that we won’t leave her. She’s got trust issues.

Grant nodded and we got up wordlessly, each putting weight against the bag so she could have a more solid stance.

“We won’t turn our backs.” He spoke first.

“Doesn’t matter.” She took another punch. “I made my choice. I want this.” Another three punches. “Bad.”

“Well, good. Because you fit in. We like you. You’re a buffer, and a smart one.” I smiled, letting Grant put his full weight against the bag so I could take the pressure off my leg.

She looked at me with a grin. “And I know there’s a truth serum.”

Grant and I only looked at each other once again, each laughing.

“Whatever you say, rookie.”

[winchesterbrotherstan]

supernatural- additional cast

jensen ackles as dean winchester

jared padalecki as sam winchester

jeffrey dean morgan as john winchester

amber heard as everett richmond

jessica lowndes as sutton richmond

brenton thwaites as hunter richmond

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Hi. I am totally completely utterly OBSESSED with your Olive Wichester series rewrite, I love the relationship with Dean. I'm a total dean girl, and I love the little sister fics where he's her rock and him being the only one who can calm her down just 😍😍😍. Will there be more of it soon? No pressure love!!

🥺🥺🥺 ngl i’m abt to cry AT WORK ok thank you 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 i’ll write more as soon as i get home 🥺 thank you 🥺🥺🥺 so much 🥺😭😭

[winchesterbrotherstan]

taglists

might uhhh... fuck around and do taglists? if anybody wants to??

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Kong: Skull Island- Irene Brown

Irene Conrad Brown. Daughter of Robert and Betty Brown, step-sister of James Conrad. She’s always loved animals, and she could probably tell you more about the South American rainforests than an actual scientist could. She’s close to the average 17 year old girl in the 1970s.

But she never thought she’d actually ever like a soldier.

[winchesterbrotherstan]

i really do not know how i feel about my new take on my teen wolf rewrite.... as much as i love the concept of the stilinski triplets i already know its gonna complicate things and ngl i kinda liked what i had planned out with my other version... lemme know what you guys think

[winchesterbrotherstan]

Gotham- Gordon Family Ch. 01

Pairing: Jim Gordon x Barbara Kean, Freddie, Luna, and Nixon Gordon (OCs)

Summary: Tragedy strikes the Gordon girls and big brother Jim swoops in to save them

Warnings: Death of a parent, mentions of bad childhood, cursing i think, etc

Word Count: 1007

“Born, raised. And now dead.” Claire shakes her head, eyebrows raised.

The girls shudder, coats soaked through because of the rain. The funeral home has provided candles, but they won’t even light. The wind howls in their ears tugs at their hair. It’s the typical Gotham weather, dreary and dead. Freddie usually loves it, but at the moment it only makes her feel sick. Luna and Nixon say nothing as they look at their big sister with sad eyes. Each girl prays their aunt doesn’t expect a response.

“Aunt Claire.” A voice comes, gruffly textured but gentle in tone.

Three heads whip around to see the eldest Gordon, older than Freddie by fifteen years. Freddie cries out as she runs into his arms, sobbing into him. Luna follows behind, walking instead. She and Jim aren’t very close, but she won’t turn down the comfort of his presence in a moment like this. Nixon stays back. She loves Jim, but she isn’t one for affection, especially not from men.

“Shh shh shh. It’s okay. I’m here now. It’s okay.” Jim cradles Freddie’s head, rocking her back and forth.

“James. You’re here. What a surprise.” Claire speaks with disgust.

Jim holds Freddie in one arm as Luna squeezes her way into the other. Both girls shudder once more as they hold back tears. He squeezes them before kissing their heads.

“Babs is here. Go talk to her, yeah?”

Freddie sniffs. Luna nods. Nixon inches to their sides, hooking an arm around each sister and pulling them away from their brother. Their father had died when Freddie was five. Luna was three, and Nixon had just been born. While their mother devoted herself to Luna and Nixon, Jim spent his time with Freddie. When their mother got sick, Claire and Frank took them in. If Jim hadn’t left for the police academy, he would’ve taken them.

But now their mom is gone too, and it hurts more than any of them could’ve imagined. Nixon tugs once more, leading them to Barbara as Jim shuffles to Claire.

“Hi girls.” She smiles, extending her arms.

Luna and Freddie both accept, sighing against the fur of her white coat. Barbara is tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful. The air around her is soft and she’s gentle, with a cut-throat personality deep within. She always stays calm, which is the perfect balance to Jim’s insatiability. It’s no wonder they’re engaged.

“How’re you guys feeling?”

The three girls look at each other once more. Luna sighs, Nixon shrugs, and Freddie mumbles the answer.

“Pretty awful.”

“You aren’t serious?” Claire’s scoff is loud, echoing through the graveyard and sending crows flying overhead.

The two younger girls flinch, but Freddie is the first to turn. She seems Jim standing between Claire and the rest of them. His shoulders are square and his arms are crossed. Claire is practically snarling at him, but Jim stands his ground.

These are my girls, I’m going to protect them.

Luna and Nixon both look at Freddie, confused. They want a translation. Freddie understands him better than anyone, especially when he isn’t talking.

“I am. I think it would be best if they came with me for a while. I’m their brother. They need me.”

“Freddie! Luna! Nixon! Get over here.”

Again, Luna sighs, Nixon’s shoulders drop, and Freddie stands tall. The walk is like soldiers marching to their deaths, but the Gordon girls trudge through.

“James wants you two to stay with him and his fianceé for a little while. I think you should come back home with me.”

The three stay quiet. Panic sets in for Nixon. She doesn’t like being around men. Her father’s death left her with the biggest attachment issues in the history of Gotham. She swallows hard. Luna’s mind goes numb. She loves her brother, but they aren’t close and he’s no match for her mother. She’d rather live on her own than with him. Freddie’s heart begins to glow and her head spins. She loves Jim more than anyone on this planet. He was the saving grace, he could get them away from this once and for all.

“Pick one.” Claire scoffs.

Freddie only tilts her head.

“Are you coming home with me or are you going with them?” She throws the last word with venom in her voice.

The sisters meet eyes. Nixon hides her emotions. Luna is pale, terrified. Freddie understands them both, but to her, the answer is so clear that she feels safe. She feels secure. To her, it’s obvious. She looks to Jim. He gives his classic, small-but-powerful smile. Freddie turns back to Claire. She wipes the emotions from her face as she stands straight.

“We’re going with Jim.”

Their aunt scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Fine. Get your crap your of my house by the end of the night. And don’t come back.”

Nixon’s panic becomes clear. Luna’s face drains of the little color left, and Jim’s afraid she’s going to faint. Again, Freddie understands why. She knows her sisters. But she also knows her brother, and she knows him even better. If there’s anyone in this world who will protect them, it’s him.

“Ready, girls?” Barbara asks, trying her best to stay out of the way.

She knows how tense the situation is. She knows what Nixon and Luna are like, and she knows that Freddie adores Jim. Barbara knows this is for the best, even if it puts a strain on her relationship with Jim. She fakes a small smile as she starts toward the car.

Freddie looks back up at Jim. They don matching smiles. Claire storms off, lighting a cigarette on her way. She’s angry, but she also knows that Jim isn’t as confident as he seems. It’s a facade. He’ll break within a year of dealing with the girls. Freddie and Jim ignore her, and she leans back into his side.

“Thank you.”

He only shakes his head with a smile. “What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t come back for you?”

[nathanchase72]

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[nathanchase72]

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[nathanchase72]

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