✲══〖✰〗══✲
chapter one

(March 19th; 2017
Zephyr One, Classified)

    "I WOULD stop now, Coulson, if you want to survive."

    Leith stared at the man opposite him, narrowing his eyes in his best intimidating face. He slipped his sunglasses to the tip of his nose, peering through the long tuffs of strawberry blonde curls he seriously needed to trim. Not moving his gaze, he pushed forward the chip.

     Phil Coulson tsked, shaking his head at Leith's move.

     Mack let out a low whistle, leaning back on the metal floor. The cargo bay of the Zephyr had become quite the spot for games when they were waiting for their next pit stop. It was quiet and familiar, and away from all the new agents that walked the corridors of the plane. He fiddled with the screw in his large fingers, watching the game with severe interest. Oh, they have been locked up on this plane for far too long at this point.

     "That's funny, Leith," said Coulson. "Really funny, 'Cause I thought I would just ..." he slipped over a chip from his side into a column and Leith let out a groan, falling back in his defeat.

     "No!" he cried, dramatically, hand on his heart. "You've killed me! I'm gone! I'm dead!"

     Mack frowned at him, but shook his head with a chuckle, "You done yet, Anthony Hopkins? Or should I call for the next scene?"

    "I would prefer you'd call for an OSCAR," muttered Leith as he pushed himself to sit up, sighing after his fifth defeat. "I guess I have to admit it, Phil, you are a master at this, and that seriously concerns me."

     Coulson just shrugged, giving him such a Dad face it made Leith scoff. "All right," he stretched, pushing his sunglasses onto his head to keep his hair out of his eyes. "I'm going to get a beer, you guys want one?"

     The others stared at him. Leith frowned, "What?"

   "It's six in the morning," chided Coulson. "What, are you Hemingway?"

     "He's a Brit," joked Mack, "same thing."

     Leith, however, was shocked. He glanced down at his watch and scoffed, "No bloody way? When did we cross the North Pole?"

     "An hour ago."

     "Agh, damn," Leith took off his watch to fix the time-zones for what felt like the millionth time that day. "You know, it's so bloody hard to keep track in this thing? We shouldn't have to stay on clock when we're moving through time zones. I want a beer, let me have a beer. It has got to have been ... what? Three continents in two days?"

     "If you count Berlin," Coulson reset the game. "We were only there three hours."

     "All right, Macky-poo, you're up," Leith swapped positions with the burly mechanic, sitting down and taking up the screw to fiddle with himself.

     "Yeah," muttered Mack as they swapped, "we knew that Inhuman call was a hoax as soon as we stepped foot in the apartment, saw that bong."

     Coulson let out a short scoff, "I could smell it from the hallway."

     "Ameatures," said Leith, leaning back against the metal of the cargo bay floor again. "I saw the signs from the look on the landlord's face."

     "Jokers," Mack shook his head, chuckling. "Hungry for attention."

     "And potato chips," said Coulson. "If the munchies was a superpower, they'd be signing the Sokovia Accords as we speak."

     "Crisps," Leith corrected automatically, chucking the screw up in one hand and catching it.

     "You are outnumbered, Sandman," Mack sent him an amused look.

      "But━but why would you call them potato chips?" Leith sat up, ready to go on a tangent. He waved his hands out, annoyed. "They literally have dents in them━crisps is the perfect word! They're crispy, in the texture, taste, feel━"

     "They're made from potatoes."

     "No, no, no, those are chips," exploded Leith.

      Mack shook his head, bewildered, "You Brits confuse me."

     "Because Americans don't have a brain."

     "Wait until you get to Australia," said Coulson, sitting back on his knees. "Everything is chips. Fries, potato chips, crisps, whatever━it's just chips to them."

      "Yeah, well, those guys are all muddled in the head from the amount of dangerous animals they have to live with." Leith leaned forward. "Did you know they have some of the most venomous snakes and spiders in the world? Simmons told me: they have the Funnel Web spider, the Red Back spider, the Brown Snake, Tiger Snake, too many taipans to count ... and then you have what's in the ocean. I have nightmares from that documentary."

      Mack and Coulson arched brows at him knowingly. Leith flushed and crossed his arms. "So," Mack spoke up, "you and Simmons ... is it going good?"

     "It's ..." Leith tried to figure out the right words, "complicated." that was an understatement, but he wasn't prepared to express all of his problems out just like that. "We're just taking things slow. Both ... both of us have had tragic relationships in the past ... so ... and since I'm stuck up here all the time," he tried to move the conversation along, quickly picking up a joking tone again.

     He really didn't want to talk about the slight guilt he felt over Jack, or how he was scared of repeating history. Leith really didn't want to talk about how he felt Jemma deserved better, or that he'll just drag her down into all the dark parts of him he did his best to hide.

     Mack seemed to understand, and Leith gave him a small smile as he changed the subject, leaning abck and around the containment module to the red Corvette parked on the ramps. He sighed, "You should let me work on Lola."

     Coulson shook his head, "I warned you. Everything in Lola is━"

     "Custom, I know. But it would be something to do."

     "You could let me drive her━"

      "Also a no," Coulson eyed Leith, who threw his head back for another childish, dramatic whine.

     Mack shrugged, clasping his hands togehter, "There's only so many times a guy can win cash off you ..." he looked like he might say their old superior's name, but couldn't. He stammered and landed on, "Sir."

     Coulson set his jaw. "You got to stop calling me that," he said sharply.

     Mack shared a glance with Leith. The older Roy thought about making some sort of joke, but was cut off when Agent Davis stepped into the cargo bay. He was a new cadet, fresh from Operations and learning how to pilot the Zephyr. Leith personally really wished he didn't pick this as a job when he had a wife expecting, but he didn't know the bloke well enough to say that. He hadn't experienced what they have all had. He didn't know just how much he was sacrificing━a happy life.

     "We're being called back to H.Q," he said.

     Coulson frowned, "They say why?"

     "We're not due for a restock for another ten days," said Mack.

     Davis shrugged, "No idea. They said it's classified."

     "Oh, everything is these days," grumbled the mechanic as he stood up. "All right, we'll need full inventory. Medical, provisions, fuel cells, and make sure you tell the crew they'll need to call ahead if they want off our next deployment. And Leith, I'm confiscating your sunglasses."

     Leith gasped, horrified. "What? No!"

     "You know the rules. They're against dress-code━" Mack swiped the glasses before Leith could protest. He stood up with the others, annoyed, but fixed his gun into his holster anyway.

     "Wonder what it's about..." he murmured, fixing his shirt over.

     "Oh, I don't know," sighed Mack. "It'll be good to see Fitz-Roy-Simmons, though."

     "And May."

     "Mate," Leith arched a brow at Coulson, "I feel like you're the only one who's not scared enough to be glad to see her."

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(March 19th; 2017
The Playground, Classified)

    LEITH put on his best smile when he saw his old S.O. She returned it with the usual peircing gaze as the ramp of the Zephyr opened down. Melinda May, the Cavalry, was small and terrifying. But she was also Leith's mentor, and so he got along with her better than others did ... sort of. But his smile was nothing compared to Coulson's, who's face beamed as if his whole world had just lit up with her scowl. Then again, love will make you do strange things.

     (Not that Coulson and May have admitted that there's something there yet, despite the bets held. Leith had twenty quid riding on the possibiity of their relationship with Davis).

     With pursed lips, Agent May looked at all of them in turn, "How long has it been?"

    Leith fixed his jacket. Too long. It's been far too long. "Six weeks in the air," stated Coulson as they walked up to her. "Only the quinjet touched down."

    May's eyes widened. "Is that a record for Zephyr One?"

    "It is," nodded Coulson. "It was supposed to be even longer." They huddled together at the base of the cargo ramp, signing in with a quick tap on the tablet with their lanyards. Leith winked briefly at the agent standing behind the desk. "You know who called us in?"

     "I do," passing over the tablet to Mack, May led the way towards the hangar doors. The three of them shared a glance, but followed anyways. The Playground around them━even the hangar━was bustling with people Leith didn't even recognise. That meant there were new agents in just the six weeks past.

    Coulson frowned at the Cavalry. "You? Okay, now I know something's up."

     "I got word from contacts in law enforcement, Los Angeles," reaching the halfway station, Leith passed his gun to the communications agent as May talked. "Two civilians were violently killed."    

     Mack frowned as he read the reports, "Mysterious burns, head bashed in, spine pulled out of his ... wow..."

     Leith peeked a glance himself and let out a, "Bloody hell..."

    They continued on. "Many conflicting accounts," nodded May, "but all agree ... it was odd."

    With a swipe of their lanyards, they all entered the halls of the Playground━just as busy as it was in the hangar, if not even more. Leith tried his best to keep up with May and Coulson, carefully brushing past the filled always.

    "Odd?" Leith arched a brow, clipping his lanyard to his jacket. "Don't we deal with that en-route?"

     "He's right," said Mack. "Why call us in? We could be headed to the scene right now to confirm the presence of an enhanced person, if there is one."

     "If it checks out," added Coulson, the three boys surrounding May in their strides, "we bag and tag. We handle these on the fly."

     They went up the stairs. "Didn't exactly want to send this out on the wire," muttered May and Leith arched a brow, curious.

     Reaching the main corridor, the group of them passed the lab. Leith's eyes flicekred across the many desks in hoping to see a familiar shine of brown hair, only to be disappointed. "May," Coulson replied in the same quiet, but urgent, tone, "you're not sharing again. Now would be a really good time to share."

     "The police also have another victim in custody," they turned the corner. "Critical condition." Stopping at a storage vault, each of them had frowns on their faces as May opened it up, egging them on inside.

     Okay ... Leith thought as he stepped inside. Something is definitely up.

    Once the door closed, May walked up to them amongst dimly lit lights. Leith propped his hands on his hips. "Under sedation," she continued, "he metioned seeing a girl, saying it was the one from the news. Quake."

     This caused Coulson's eyes to widen, and he glanced at his two work partners. Leith felt his stomach clench at the mention of Daisy. They had searched so long for her. So long. And she wanted nothing to do with them. Every time they had gotten close, she had slipped through their fingers, like smoke.

     "Which you didn't want to send over the wire ..." realised Mack slowly.

    "You were pulled off Daisy's case," said May.

     "The Director thinks she slipped through our fingers too many times," frowned Coulson.

     "The Director thinks you let her."

    "No, we pursued her," Leith told her. "She was a ghost."

    "Well, in his infinite wisdom, he says you're now forbidden to."

     "But, you're telling us this because...?" Mack's brows furrowed even more.

     "In case we want to do something about it," Coulson answered for him and May nodded.

     "Look, I can bury this until the official police report comes through," she said.

    "That'll buy us a few hours lead time," approved Coulson, turning to Leith and Mack. "Get to L.A., sniff around."

      Mack thought about this, "Yeah. We have an active Inhuman asset in Los Angeles that's due for a check-in soon enough."

     Leith grinned, "Damn right. I miss Yo-Yo."

     "It'll justify our presence there, but as soon as the report's filed, they'll pull us out."

    "And the armed forces will be sent in after her," sighed Leith, squinting his eyes as he thought of what to do.

    "With orders to kill," stated May, and they stared at her in shock.

    "To kill?" let out Coulson, alarmed.

    "If she's responsible for these bodies..."

    "That's not Daisy's M.O."

     "The world knows her as Quake, and Quake is an outlaw who takes down banks and bridges━"

    "Oh, come on, we both know she's hunting violent radicals━", "━I think she's doing the right thing━!", "━She's tracking these fanatics, the Watchdogs, trying to take down their funding, their ... their escape routes."

     May narrowed her gaze at their objections. "Regardless," she said as they fell silent, "you should fuel up and get back up in the air ASAP."

    "Find her before the military does something bad," sighed Mack.

    "Or Daisy does something worse," with those words said, May walked out of the vault, leaing the three men to share an apprehensive look. This was risky, but this might be the best (and only) chance they'll get at bringing her back.

     But Leith had one problem. He turned to Mack and Coulson with a pinch of the bridge of his nose. "You know I can't come, right? The Sokovia Accords ... if we do this, I'll be literally breaking UN law. I can't go on missions without government permission."

     Mack arched a brow at him, "And when do you care about laws? You were literally a criminal before you joined S.H.I.E.L.D."

     Leith tried to ignore how his insides lurched at the mention of his past. Or how much him joining this mission will make things hard for Jemma's position, which was the last thing he wanted to ruin. Instead, he just forced out an impish grin, because, despite all of that, he was ready to break the law willingly for this; part of him was scared to admit to that side of him still there, under the surface, "Good━just had to make sure we're on the same page here."

✲══〖✰〗══✲

    "HELLO?"

    Roy peered around the empty lab, brow arched as she took in the details. She was quite impressed, seeing the shine of the green tiles, she switch of the monitors and right down to the post-it notes on Simmons desk, or the messy documents that were on her own. Her voice echoed out, bouncing on the walls and in her ears. She blinked, surprised. "Hello?" she called again, and slowly, a grin formed on her pretty pink lips.

    "I hear my voice echo," she said, "but it sounds strange in my head. But the detail is gorgeous. That's Simmons handwriting to the exact!"

     She took a step forward, eyes twinkling in awe (and pride). But there was a little problem to be adressed. "However, darling, I am three feet off the ground."

     Clara Roy glanced down, chuckling to see her feet hovering over the holo-table. She held a foot out, peeking at the souls of her polished shoes under her doctor's lab coat.

     "Wait, what?" Fitz's voice filtered in through her ears and she chuckled, rather amused. "Hold on. Damn it. Uh, well, I did adjust the Y axis earlier for some reason..." as he spoke, Clara slowly floated down until her feet touched the ground. "What does that look like now, love?"

     "Better!" she stepped forwards, glancing at each detail; the smooth surface of the lab benches, the gleam of the lights━it was freakishly similar, right down to the slight cool breeze of the airconditioner. "The CPU seems to be handling the high poly count. Textures are wonderful! Impeccable even, as you work always is━oh!" her eyes lit up and she gasped as she thought of something.

    Spinning around, she had a little jump in her step as she said, "We should build a place to get away! A meadow or a cottage somewhere. You know, a home away from home━and away from all the noise, definitely."

     Reaching up, Clara pulled off the headset, blinking. When her eyes opened, the silent, empty lab was gone and filled to the brim with doctors, lab techs and agents. Fitz was in the front of it all, watching her with his fingers pressed to his lips, awaiting her final response.

    "Direct-current stimulation," he said. "Creates the other senses like touch and taste but also takes feedback. So━" he pointed to his monitor and she walked up, passing him the headset to look over his shoulder, reading all the diagrams, "━I've just mapped your brain's response━"

     "Response to the environment!" she grinned at him. "Of course. And I'm guessing Doctor Radcliffe came up with the architecture?"

    "Yeah," Fitz turned to her and she could see the way he played with the headset. Her grin turned to amused smile; he wanted a compliment for his genius but didn't want to ask for it ... the dork. "Yeah, he calls it The Framework. B━But all the transcranial apparatus, that's all me."

     She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Of course, of course," she nodded, and Fitz narrowed her eyes playfully to see her make fun of him. "And must I call you a genius, too?"

      "It would be appreciated..."

     Clara chuckled, stepping in to take his hands amongst the bustle of the lab. "You are brilliant," she told him. "Brilliant━an absolute genius, even though I was the one who got top marks back at the Academy━"

     "Okay," he cut her off there and she beamed up at him, "you and I both know that if I had studied all night, I would have gotten first."

     "Equal first."

      He tilted his head, "Well━"

     She scoffed, "What?"

     Fitz's eyes glinted, mischevious as he let go of her hand and picked up the headset again, "Because," he went on, "soon you won't even need the eyewear or the earwear, 'cause it'll all be inside your head. Top marks."

      Clara shook her head, chuckling. She turned to his desk, picking his loose pencils and putting them back in their container. "That's good. Because then May's strike team will be able to train virtually instead of May constantly breaking their ribs." She rolled her eyes at this, annoyed. "Most of my day is taken up by those poor recruits. I'm going to run out of splints and straps!"

     "Yeah," scoffed Fitz, agreeing. "So━hey━" he set the headset aside and leant against his desk to face her, "━you coming to Radcliffe's to see the Cup?"

     She made a face. Clara has gone a few times for Fitz, but she really disliked Radcliffe. Not only did it remind her of her time under the Sway, but he had been willing to experiment on humans to create the Primitives, even if it didn't end up the way he wanted. Fitz might've gotten along with him the past year, forgiving his mistakes, because he had the largest heart out of all of them, but Clara refused to. She had seen him with Hive. She had seen what he had been excited to do. She couldn't forget that easily.

     But this time, her excuse was a real one. "I would go, for you, love," Fitz sighed, realising where this was going. "But I have so much paperwork to finish━to the point I'm going to have to stay back. I'm sorry."

    "No, no, don't be sorry," Fitz said. "I get it."

    Still seeing the disappointment in his eyes, Clara stepped forward and peered up at him. "I love you."

     Hearing her say it never failed to make him smile. "Love you, too," he told her and pressed a quick kiss on her head. Clara's eyes fluttered close, heart leaping. Roy wished they were alone in that Framework together, just so she could kiss him and not worry about anyone else. But she couldn't. They had work, they were in work. And Clara was sure the new Director wouldn't like them kissing in the lab, even if it was the slightest peck. Ever since Hive, Fitz has been there, making her wake up everyday with a smile on her face. She was back in the lab, a doctor, and he was with her, holding her close as they slept and everything between them was going perfect. Even if the world around them changed, they were still together. And for the first time, Clara has been the happiest she's been in a very long time. And that was thanks to Fitz.

     "You know," she decided to say, stepping away and picking up her tablet she had left on his desk. She checked her list of jobs. Running the medical department put her and a good colour rank; not as high as Simmons, who was within the Directors inner circle in her attempts to keep their team safe and together with fear of them all being torn away, but high enough she receieved emails from him every now and then. Or maybe it was because she was a high risk Inhuman; signing the Sokovia Accords meant all government eyes kept a fix on her like she was some sort of Avenger, instead of just a doctor. "At least we're stationed in the lab together a lot," she smiled at Fitz. "These Sokovia Accords did that well for us. I'm not allowed to be on the field anymore unless they deem it neccessary. Which means I can finally just ... you know ..." she shrugged, still smiling, "be a doctor again."

     "Doctor Clarissa Roy," her boyfriend joked.

     "Yes," said Roy, mischevious. "And your boss, Doctor Fitz."

     Subtly, he leaned over to reach for his notes and whispered to her, "I'm okay with that."

     Blushing, Clara shoved him and he chuckled, liking the way her cheeks went bright red. "That was uncharacteristicly flirtatious of you."

     Fitz made a face, "What? No it isn't. We both know I'm the romantic one."

     Clara gaped, "I can be romantic."

     He arched a brow at her.

     She slumped, "You don't think I'm romantic?"

     Fitz froze. "Uh━" he stammered, trying to back-track what he said. "N━No, I just━I meant━you know━uh━"

     He was glad when Nathanson's voice brought their attention to the doors of the lab. He was a new agent, and was very smug in his role, determined to show off to the Director. "Hey, hey, hey━" he was rushing to the doors of the lab, blocking three bodies who wanted to enter, "━authorised personnel only, pal. No pass, no entry."

     Seeing the bodies he was stopping from entering, a bright grin broke out on Clara's face. Coulson, Leith and Mack stood by the doors to the lab, frowning. Simmons, hearing the commotion, quickly looked up from her work and hurried over as Leith stared at Nathanson, alarmed, "Who the bloody hell are you?"

     "Leave them be, Nathanson," said Jemma. "They have more reason to be here than you."

     Roy dragged Fitz over to their friend, the three of them standing in their usual line. "You're back!" she exclaimed in delight. "It's been ages! How are you?"

    "We're good, Rapunzel," Mack walked in and Clara welcomed the quick hug he gave her. "A little tired━"

     "A little jet-lagged," added Coulson as she hugged him, too.

     "Ew━don't touch me," Leith let out, joking as Clara kissed him on the cheek. She shoved him, scoffing a chuckle.

     "Which can be expected," she said. "Longest trip on the Zephyr yet━a record, I hear?"

     "Bloody hell it is," Leith hugged Simmons, lingering a little. Clara hid her knowing smile, turning to Fitz who bounced his brows back at her. "A lot of new faces."

    "Yeah, and it's good to see yours," said Jemma. Pulling away, Leith kept a hand on her back, and Clara was estatic to see it.

     "Six weeks," Fitz shook his head in disbelief, tapping Roy's arm as he spoke. "Definitely a record." He high-fived Coulson, who turned to Simmons.

     "Heard you got a promotion."

     Simmons shrugged it off, letting out a scoff. Leith gave her a little squeeze in celebration before letting go, propping his hands on his hips.

     While Jemma wasn't one to show it off, Clara was ready to nudge her and say, "Yes, she did! As well as a new title!"

     Simmons made a face, modest, "Yeah, Special Advisor to the Director in Science and Technology."

     "Or S.A.D.I.S.T.," joked Fitz. Simmons rolled her eyes while Roy smacked him. "Ow," he murmured, clutching his side as he stared at her.

     "They keeping you busy?" Mack asked her and she met his gaze.

    "Yeah," she nodded with a sigh, "with busywork, mostly."

     "And random state-of-the-art lie-detector tests," Fitz frowned.

    "So that's the cost of being in the Director's inner circle," Coulson arched a brow at her.

     None of them particularly liked the new Director. Clara felt especially miffed over it, perhaps because she had such loyalty towards Couslon. He was still her Director━he will always be the Director, even if he stood down so the new one could take his position in the first place. Coulson was S.H.I.E.L.D. But she never said anything, or went against orders, helping Simmons in her position as much as she could so she could keep them all together. And besides, Clara was quite happy being the doctor again, even if it was to keep her and her power detained. She scared the new Director, she could tell.

     "He's paranoid about what happened the last time S.H.I.E.L.D. was government-run," explained Simmons. "Calls it his Widespread Infiltration Monitoring Program."

    "Or W.I.M.P.," muttered Fitz. Roy sent him a quick look, knowing full well that Simmons didn't appreciate the quips.

     Seeing her warning glance, he quickly cleared his throat and decided to change the subject. "Hey, uh━" he gestured his hand out to Leith and the others (mainly Leith), "━you should join us 'cause we're gonna go to Radcliffe's and watch the Aberdeen-Inverness Caley Thistle League Cup final."

      Mack and Coulson stared at him, incredulous. Fitz frowned, "They're ... those are football teams."

      Mack shook his head and said slowly, "I'm not sure they are, Turbo."

     Leith threw his head back and muttured in despair, "Americans. But, unfortunately," he turned back to Fitz, "we have to be wheels-up in ten minutes, so ..."

     Fitz's grin faltered, a little disappointed. Roy couldn't blame him. While they could spend time in the lab, they never see the others these days. Clara herself was disappointed, too. She missed her brother very much, and she also missed Coulson and Mack. She hasn't seen them in six weeks, and now they could be gone for another. Simmons frowned as well, glancing at Leith with a tilt of her head. Clara's brother sighed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead landed with giving her arm a rub. Roy knew that look; he was hiding something. "Okay. All right. Well, strictly business, then."

     They travelled to his desk, and as he pulled out the fresh equipment, Mack let out an:

     "Aw, yeah. New toys?"

     Passing over the first object to Leith, Fitz said, "The exploding pen that you asked for. I can't imagine a use for it."

      Leith frowned, "Oh, come on, don't tell me you never wanted one? It's so secret agent."

     Mack recieved his new gun━an improved ICER that could hold more bullets in the mag than his old one, as well as with a finger-print activation, so no one could take his gun and use it when he was indisposed.

     Finally, Fitz reached down and picked up a large case. "And for you, Direct━" he clared his throat, realising his mistake, "━uh, Agent Coulson," he unlocked hte latches and opened up the lid to reveal a fresh new prosthetic hand. "With new bells and whistles. And the directions will be there when you boot it up." Coulson nodded. Picking it up, he high-fived his real hand with the new fake one. "Roy worked a lot on that one. Skin-tone's a better match as well as the artificial nerves; you should get better reactions with the messages down your nervous system, no lags this time."

     Clara grinned, proud of her work. Coulson sent her a small smile.

     "So," Fitz crossed his arms, trying to look nochalant. "What's ... uh ... what's the assignment?"

     Returning the hand and closing the case, Coulson picked it up and said, "It's classified."

     Fitz-Roy-Simmons all pursed their lips. "Right," muttered Fitz. "Everything is these days."

     Leith hugged Clara and Jemma again as he left with Mack and Couslon. He gave Fitz a salute and Clara managed a small wave goodbye, not sure when the next time they'll see each other will be. Turning to Fitz, Simmons winced, hesitant in her next words. "Fitz, sadly, um ..."

    "Yeah, you can't make the match, either," he brushed past her, and Simmons sighed, following after him.

     "I have to finish my reports."

    "Yeah, no, I get it," he said, giving her a smile.

     Roy shuffled along behind them, hugging her stomach. She could tell how guilty Simmons felt. They all wanted to spend time with their best friend, especially since he was taking the distance of the team really hard. But they couldn't help it. Simmons held up her hand for their handshake, a gentle brow arched, and Fitz chuckled. Fitz-Roy-Simmons brought their fists together. Once done, Simmons left, grabbing her mountains of folders and paperwork on her way.

     Clara watched Fitz sigh by his desk, picking up a file and going through it━though she knew he wasn't paying attention to what was inside.

      "Hey," she murmured, walking in to stand beside him. She took his hand, squeezing it gently. "There's going to be other chances..."

     "I know," he murmured, playing with their fingers. "Just a shame we hardly get to see each other━any of us."

     "Yes, well ..." Clara brushed her thumb over his knuckles, feeling her heart suddenly grow heavy as she thought about what she said next. "I think it's ... it's the best to come out of a ..." her throat tightened up, "... horrible situation ... At least it's better than the friends we'll never see again."

     The mention of Lincoln hung heavy in the air, as well as Hive. Clara found it hard to talk about━even if it was just as small as that. A year was good time to get her head back to a good place, but she still felt hollow sometimes ... still was scared to touch Fitz or hold his hand, worried she'd hurt him like she had all over again. Perhaps that was another reason she was content with the circumstances the Sokovia Accords put her in. She wasn't being given the chance to hurt anyone ever again like she had under Hive's Sway.

     Pushing through these thoughts, she gave Fitz a tight-lipped smile. "I have to get back to work. Talk to you later, love you."

     "Yeah, I love you, too," he said as she brushed past. He kept a hold onto her fingers until the last possible minute, watching them slip away. His face fell now that she couldn't see, in a much worse mood than he had been at the start of the day.

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(March 19th; 2017
Zephyr One, Classified)

    "THIS guy is missing━" Leith crossed his arms, frowning at the photos Coulson switched through on the large monitor in the Zephyr, "━the rest are dead." Around them, the command centre of the plane was bustling, much like everything else these days. He was focusing very hard on the screen to the point he was scared he might burn holes through it. It helped drown the guilt he felt about going against the law for this, knowing how bad it will look on Jemma's end. But he also didn't want to just sit down and play good-boy for the UN and these Sokovia Accords. And especially for the new Director.

     Mack scoffed, shaking his head, "Aryan Brotherhood," he muttered. "They're not my kind of brothers..."

     "They've been known to work for cash," said Coulson. "Burglary, assault ... sort of the value meal of hired guns. They're suspected in the recent theft of this big rig." He swiped along his tablet and onto the screen showed a large, yellow truck.

     Leith arched a brow, "They were able to steal that big thing?"

     Coulson shrugged, "Probably prepping for a larger score."

     "Yeah, but that's big, yellow and hard to hide," he gestured to it as the scan showed the schematics and length of the truck.

     "I think you're focusing on the wrong thing here," said Mack. "Are we looking for this thing?"

      Coulson nodded, "And if Daisy's chasing the same angle," he added in a murmur, careful of others overhearing, "maybe we get to the finish line first."

      Mack sighed, but agreed, "I'll greet her when she arrives."

     "Agent Coulson."

     They turned over to Davis who walked up to them, fixing his suit coat better on his shoulders. "Preparing for descent. Inhuman asset will be waiting on the tarmac."

     Coulson and Leith both turned to Mack, smirking. He froze, gazing at their knowing looks. "What?"

      Leith sighed, "Yo-Yo is so lucky..." he said, patting his large arm and walking off. He passed Davis with a wink, "How's the misses going?"

     "Getting bigger everyday," Davis replied.

     He made a face, "Oh, don't tell her that, mate."

      "Getting more beautiful everyday."

     Leith grinned, "There you are."

     It wasn't long before they found the truck━like Leith said, big, yellow and very hard to hide. They landed the Zephyr down in Los Angeles, and Leith was happy to have his sunglasses again as they stepped out of the black SUV infront of the warehouse. Hands in his pockets, he, Coulson and Mack approached the gate. The manager wasn't exactly happy to see them.

     Leaving a truckie, he marched up to them with an annoyed, "What are you, Feds?"

     Leith just smirked. "Something like that," he fixed his sunglasses better on his nose. "We'll be sealing the scene."

     The manager glowered, "Not for long, I hope." He nodded to the truck driver who stood watching. Latino with short, dark hair across his scalp and a sharp jaw. "I was just gonna have this guy two this thing away so me and my crew can get back to work."

     "Ah, well," they walked past him without another glance, "depends what we find."

     They were led in through the corrigated roller doors, "This warehouse usually sits empty," said the manager as they did. "We were gonna store some inventory today. Found the lock broken and this big, honkin' thing inside. Have at it."

      Stepping under a catwalk, Leith saw the large yellow truck parked in the shadow of concrete supports. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, walking up the side and craning his neck to gaze up at it.

    "Thank you," said Couslon and the manager left.

     Mack opened the door, examining the state of the drivers and passanger seat for anything suspicious. Leith peered underneath, looking at the workings. Beside him, Coulson stopped and peered at his new prosthetic hand. He tapped a few things before a blue light cascaded out. Leith stood back up, brow arched and impressed at the scanner that expanded a large square over the side of the truck, peering right in.

     "That's so unfair..." he muttered.

     Mack closed the door, having found nothing and peeked at what Leith was complaining about. Seeing it, too, his face dropped. "You have got to be kidding me."

     Coulson shrugged. "You want tech like this," he said as he walked the length of the truck, examining what was inside through the blue, holographic window, "you should've cut off your own hand..."

     He faltered, face growing pale. "Guys..."

     Leith and Mack walked up to him, frowning. When they saw it, their expressions matched his. Leith's stomach churned, seeing pale white outlines around full skeletons; unmoving, splattered around at stiff angles.

      Without another word, Leith grabbed his gun and ran to the trailer doors. His breath hitched, a little scared of what he might see before he gripped the handles and tugged them open with a grunt.

     Inside was something he had far from expected. Leith had seen some horrible things in his life ... but this...

     The entire trailer walls were splattered with blood, dripping down like someone had taken a bucket of red paint and chucked around it with no conscience. The bodies inside were the sight of a horror movie. Faces, limbs, stomachs━everything had been ripped apart. Claw marks from nails struck eyes, leaving them dangling out of sockets. Teeth marks had ripped ears, punctured throats, bitten off fingers ...

     Leith's hands trembled on his gun, feeling the sudden urge to throw up. He didn't want to step in, but he had no choice as they grabbed the bodies and pulled them out of the blood-coated trailer.

      He was sure to see these images in his nightmares for years on; until he died, for sure.

     "Looks like these guys tore each other apart," murmured Mack, horror-stricken.

     Coulson swallowed his bile and picked up one of the men's wallets, opening it up. He pulled out a licence. "Zhang Wei, resident of Montery Park. Organ donor."

     "He isn't going to be donating any organs now," Leith managed.

     "Say anything about him being a flesh-hungry rage monster?"

     "Uh, no," Coulson's words were sarcastic despite the situation━it was how they kept their heads sane, "I'm not seeing anything about that here, so we have to assume that he wasn't until he came in contact with whatever's in that trailer. Not much here that'll lead us anywhere."

      But Leith caught sight of something. Crouching down, he picked the collar of the man's suit back delicately. There sat a stitched figure-eight. He glanced back at the others. "Well," he said, "guess there's this?"

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(March 19th; 2017
Los Angeles, California)

    A SLENDER black sedan rolled into the warehouse Leith, Coulson and Mack followed the symbol to, flanked by two jeeps. They walked the alleyway just to the left, beside the warehouse, but also close enough to see what was happening. Mack was working on getting a sattelite connected, while Leith was trying to remove the images of those men from his mind.

     But he couldn't help but wonder what could have done that to them━turn the mind into a savage, killing machine. Making someone so scared, or furious, that they'd rip apart their own teammates. His heart jolted, hoping that whatever it was wouldn't affect them ... that would be a disaster.

     "They're walking in now, six," said Coulson from above.

     "Yep, got sight of them," replied Leith, watching the six silhouette's step into the large factory.

     Up above, Coulson climbed down the ladder of the side of the building. "Really convivial-looking fellows." He reached the ground and turned to the other two. "At least four of them are packing."

     "We should be tapped into surveillance now," said Mack, typing away on his tablet. Leith walked over from his station, peering around his large figure. "Let's see what we get."

     They walked down the corridor between two buidlings, finding a safe place to set themselves up and watch what would be going on inside. Up on Mack's tablet came a visual of a meeting. Leith frowned at the two men pulling a box out from the back of a smaller trailer, setting it onto crates for the men who arrived in the cars to see.

     "Wait," Leith tapped the facial recognition scanner Fitz added in. It focused in on the men walking up to the metal-cased box; squaring their faces before going through countless of identities. They fixed on a single picture; a mug-shot of a man recently out of prison. Mono-lidded eyes stared back at Leith and he read the name. He recognised it. "Chen," he stated. "Chinatown Crew. I ... I had a run in with them back when some men scouted the Chicago area ... What's in this box they want?"

     Mack shrugged, "Guess we're about to find out..."

     Chen and his crew stopped in front of the simple metal box on the crate. There was silence as he eyed the two men stepping away from the box. "Where are the other two men?"

     Leith couldn't see the faces of the men, but in the stagger of their steps, he could tell they were frightened. One of them were brave enough to say, "W━We had to leave them at the pick-up site."

     The smile on Chen's face wasn't friendly. "Explain," he demanded.

     The two men shared an uneasy glance. The same one who had spoken before went on: "Those guys were transferring the box into the armoured transport. M━Maybe they peaked inside or━or something. But they went berserk and tore into each other!" Leith, Coulson and Mack shared a knowing exchange, remembering the sight they had found. "There was blood everywhere! We put two bullets in each of them and locked them in the truck."

     One of the crew that flanked Chen stepped forward. The two men shuffled back. Leith felt his blood run cold. This didn't bring back good memories. He gripped the edge of the fire-escape ladder with a tight, shaking grip.

     "N━No, no," the man whimpered, continuing to shuffle back as the other approached. "Look, we were freaking out!" He was grabbed by his jumpshuit, hoisted up. His words became desperate shouts, "We had to get out of there! Please!" A hand wrapped around his throat and his words were strangled with gasps.

     Chen watched the scene, unblinking. "Did you burn their bodies or dump the truck in the ocean?"

    And that was their mistake. Leith knew they were dead men even before they shook their heads, terrified.

     "Because if not," continued Chen, "they can be traced back here."

     His guard let go of his grip of the man's throat only to backhand him so hard he fell to the floor. Leith hated how he winced, feeling something in him crawl up his throat.

     Chen neared the box, curious. He circled it, hands in the pockets of his suit pants. "They probably saw what was in this box," he mused, "and were fighting over it, you idiot!"

     The young man struggled back onto his feet, trembling. He was smart enough to not say a word.

     "I have been told it's powerful enough to bring our new enhanced enemies to their knees..." Chen's fingers hovered over the latchs, eager. Leith didn't blame him. After what they've seen, even he was desperate to see what was inside: what could cause such damage. He clicked open the latches.

     "We get on comms," Mack muttered as he did, "and call the Zephyr for backup, headquarters will know we're on Daisy's trail."

     "And not to mention Leith's here unauthorised," added Coulson, glancing at the Inhuman. "No orders to pull out. She's been tracking this sale, she could show up here any minute."

    "I don't know..."

    "Let's let this play out," decided the old Director, "see if anyone else makes an appearance."

     Leith didn't say a word. His eyes were peeled on the box as Chen twisted the lid, and there was a release of something inside; he could hear the hiss even from the cameras. With little hesitation, he pulled the lid off, and in the light that expanded out, his eyes widened.

     His shock of what slithered out didn't reach his lips. Leith's grip on the ladder tightened as ghostly, light orange mist reached out towards Chen like hands grasping. Then, it shot forward through their chests, making them stagger back slightly. Their hands flew to their stomachs and chests, confused.

    Leith had a horrible feeling over this.

    And then, the feed cut off.

   Mack frowned, and tried to regain connection, but it was nothing but static and white noise. "The hell...?"

     "We need to get in there━" Leith broke off at the sound of gunshot fire from inside the factory.

     The tablet whirred back to life, and rocky, static footage showed chaos. The two men who had brought the box in were on the ground, littered with bullet holes. There were screams, shouts of fury and fear. The Chinatown Crew were a mess of running, reaching for weapons and trying to defend themselves ... from each other.

     "It's going to be a massacre," Leith reached for his gun, heart racing. "Call for backup. I don't care about me being unauthorised, and we can't wait for Daisy."

     Coulson agreed, "These guys might kill somebody besides each other."

     "Yeah!" said Mack. "Us!"

     He grabbed his radio and tapped into the plane, "Z One, we got a situation. We need a little help here."

    Leith didn't see the Chinatown crew member race out and about to attack them until he was shot down with the bullet sound of an ICER. There stood May, her strike team with her. She glanced back at them, and gave a swift nod.

     Leith winced, "I'm in deep trouble with Jemma, aren't I?"

     She walked over, "That's the least of your worries," she told him.

    "That was efficient," Couslon joked.

     May just snatched up the tablet, glowering. She attatched a drive into the bottom and tapped the glasses she wore. They let out a whir; flashing blue for a moment. A chain reaction of the colour went from member to member of her strike team.

     "You guys know what to do," the Cavalry told them.

     They entered the building. Leith, Mack and Coulson watched from the tablet, brows furrowing in their impressed confusion at how well they worked to take down each crazed Chinatown Crew member. Not one was hurt; not one had a finger laid on them. They just went in, fired their ICERS and it was just seconds before May's voice echoed, "All clear."

     The box laid there, still open. But while it seemed so simple, so bland, there was something about it that unsettled the air. Whatever lied within had caused chaos; dangerous chaos of boodthirsty, flesh-ripping reactions. And of course, like always, Leith knew full well that this was far from over.

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(March 19th; 2017)
The Playground, Classified)

     RETURNING from Radcliffe's, Fitz stepped into his room with a heavy head. It was late, and he expected Clara to be asleep. But instead, she was sitting there, on the couch, still going through paperwork. He had spent the entire trip back to H.Q thinking of how to tell her about A.I.D.A. He wasn't sure how she'd take it, whether she'd be nervous, furious, or curious. He didn't know which one he'd prefer, because he wasn't sure how he'd feel about it, because right now, he wasn't sure what he thought of Radcliffe's idea.

     He closed the door behind him, all of those thoughts leaving as he saw the slump of her shoulders. "Clara?" he asked.

     She glanced up from her work, eyes a little distant. Fitz's stomach shifted, recognising that look. It had been the same look she held when she was in the containment room, straight out of Hive's sway.

      Clara put on a smile; she always did to the point it worried him. Hiding everything and keeping it locked away until it ate away inside her, and even then, she kept it in. Fitz was scared that one day, she'll explode.

      Some days, she was so exhausted, she didn't try to hide it. Sitting here, unable to stop herself from thinking back to Hive and everything that happened, and look just as hollow as she had been months back.

      Fitz didn't know what to say, or do. There wasn't anything he could say. He just set down his keys and walked over to her. Carefully, as her lips began to tremble and tears welled up in her eyes, he placed down her pens and helped her up.

      She set her head on his chest and he held her. Fitz's insides gnawed at him as he looked at the wall opposite. He decided he had to lie and keep this from her. She needed peace. Clara needed something good, something to not worry about. She deserved to be happy.

     He ran fingers through her strawberry blonde hair gently and she slumped, calming down. "I love you," he whispered to her, pressing a kiss to her temple. He closed his eyes, refusing to think about his lies and his deceit to just be here for her. To just hold her. To remind her that he loved her, and that she was worthy of love every morning and every night if he had to. Because he loved her so much.

     (You love her, the voice inside him chided, and yet you're lying straight through your teeth).

✲══〖✰〗══✲

     a/n: first chapter of season four done! fuq did i love robbie; ghost rider was *chefs kiss*. also already we have angst, sorry not sorry. clara is still dealing with the after effects from hive even though she's trying to dismiss it. fitz is choosing to lie about a.i.d.a. leith is still running from his past. *sigh*

    hope y'all liked it though!!! this one was long ahahaha.

    (let's be honest, there's most definitely weird spelling and grammar mistakes cos grammarly is shit on wattpad for me)

     UPDATE: I MESSED UP THE DATES LOL ITS MEANT TO BE IN MARCH NOT FEBRUARY LOL SORRY