Resurrection - Chapter 2
I'm tempted to say the story continues, but in fact, the story is just beginning. Once again the disclaimer applies, and a reminder that this ignores anything that has happened in Season 2. SHIELD has fallen prey to Hydra and Fury has charge Coulson with the job of rebuilding.
Chapter 2
S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Phillip Coulson, who still thought of himself as Agent Coulson, looked around the space. His team’s bus had been shattered, attacked by the forces of Hydra and left in shambles. It would require significant rebuilding before it could fly again. Then he looked at his team, or rather the remnants of his team. It too had been shattered, broken asunder by lies and deceit, stretched beyond the breaking point by attacks from without and within, and now sitting in pieces.
“Two months,” he said quietly. “It will take two months repair the bus. But, it’s going to be repaired. It’s going to be better, stronger, faster, and more able. The broken pieces will be replaced.” He cracked a slight smile. “They’ve even found a new windshield for Lola...and it’s an original.” The team smiled. “That’s important.”
“We’re going to be split up for those two months, but we too will come back together. We will be stronger, we will be more able, and though we will grieve we will move on.”
There were touchy issues he knew he needed to address, and after the battle for the heart of SHIELD he couldn’t very well ignore them. “When we began we had to learn how to be a team. We were a lot of individual pieces, and each of us had our own agendas. Though we didn’t know it, we had different missions. We kept secrets from each other, and in turn, others kept secrets from us. We suffered for those deceptions, and we continue to suffer.”
“I’m not going to pretend that isn’t true. We all, regardless of our original personal missions, have been hurt.” He looked at the empty chair, and everyone in the room knew who should be sitting there.
“Ward is gone. We can deal with that. It hurts that he deceived us, but that’s done. That problem has been solved. Fitz isn’t here, but he’s not gone. We cannot as easily dismiss his absence. He was, and still is, a part of our team.” As the tears began to flow from every eye, he forced himself to continue. “Don’t try to pretend we won’t miss him. We will. We know he’s still alive, but we also know that he’s not the same Fitz we knew. Maybe in time that will change.
“We’ve all seen and witnessed first-hand that miraculous recoveries are possible. Our best doctors are doing everything possible to help him. Maybe in time…” he said, allowing his words to drift through the air.
“Although I know it sounds cruel…and abrupt…and utterly unfair, but we need to move on. It’s okay to remember, to think about him, even to miss him. He was a part of us, and should remain so. But, he’s not here, and won’t return anytime soon, so we need to continue on, dealing with the dangers and confronting the enemy.”
“There is one way we can best honor or memories of his time with us,” he said, looking directly at Skye and then shifting his gaze to Simmons. “When Skye was shot, and my medical records were found to be fabricated, he came up with the idea of searching travel records to find the answer. When he faced an encrypted file, he left his own world behind and asked a simple question: ‘What would Skye do?’”
“From time to time, in the future, we will face similar situations…unknowns that require us to think outside the box. Way outside the box. It will be in those times that Fitz will return as a member of the team, for we can ask another simple question: What would Fitz do?”
It was clear that his words hit home. Simmons was almost openly sobbing, but the response from the others was similarly emotional. Even May, who rarely displayed her emotions, couldn’t blink away the tears, and Triplett, hardly a real member of the team, was similarly affected. He and Fitz hadn’t remotely been best buddies, but he still respected the missing man and his contributions.
Coulson returned to the business at hand. “For now, I am splitting up the team.” There was a unified gasp. “It will take two months to repair the bus, and as you know I have additional duties now. I have an agency to rebuild, and sadly that means sitting at a desk and doing necessary, but totally unproductive, stuff! I’m not good at that, but it’s got to be done. I have to do some things I really rather not do.”
“Just so you are aware, every continuing member of SHIELD will be required to go through…erm…orientation. I don’t necessarily trust that machine, but it seems like an appropriate way to search for any remaining pieces of Hydra.” May and Triplett both nodded, while Skye and Simmons were working to regain their composure.
“Since I’m going to continue to ride this bus…with all of you…I need to find some capable people to control the various functions and departments. I have a couple in mind,” he added, looking directly at Simmons. “I’m going to appoint Agent Weaver to oversee the operations of all the academies, not just Science and Technology.” Simmons forced a smile, nodding her agreement.
“Now, for the next two months you’re going to be busy too. Hopefully none of the escapees from the fridge will raise too much hell in that time. If they do, we’ll have to figure something out. Skye, you and Simmons are headed to Science and Tech. Simmons, you’re going to spend some time with Professor Younger, sharing what you know about viral propagation through electrostatic discharge.”
Simmons smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile she’d shared since her return. “Skye, you're going to spend some time in class.” Skye’s smile started to waver. “No, not as a student, although I’m sure you’ll learn things…because that’s what you do. However, in this case, you’re going to assist Professor Underwood, teaching her students how to mine data and search in something they call the Deep Web.” Skye started to laugh, largely because Coulson obviously had no idea what the deep web actually was.
“Trip, you get some time off, a little R & R, but I want you to start working up some ideas to find the folks who disappeared from the fridge. The FIRE department has compiled a list of weapons and artifacts that likely were removed from the fridge, so we need to start tracking them down too.”
Coulson paused, and somewhat predictably, May spoke up. “What about me?” she said, her voice sharing a slight edge the might have been some lingering distrust or fear.
“May, you’re coming with me. I need somebody who’s seen the administrative side of this mess. I also need another mind, a good judge of character. The people that I put into positions of authority need to operate without me looking over their shoulder.” He looked directly at her and started to grin. “Ward told Maria that she only got the job because Director Fury needed some eye candy, and Romanoff wasn’t available.” His grin widened. “So...for a couple months you get to be my eye candy.”
The entire team, May included, broke into laughter. It was funny. In fact, given the team’s relationships, it was hilarious. But for May it was even more, because in that moment she saw the emergence of “the old Coulson.” All was forgiven. Maybe, in all the disaster of Hydra and his quest to discover the truth he had finally put to rest the demons that had haunted him. Maybe, she thought, Fury was exactly right when he said it was time for the heart to become the head.
Chapter 2
S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Phillip Coulson, who still thought of himself as Agent Coulson, looked around the space. His team’s bus had been shattered, attacked by the forces of Hydra and left in shambles. It would require significant rebuilding before it could fly again. Then he looked at his team, or rather the remnants of his team. It too had been shattered, broken asunder by lies and deceit, stretched beyond the breaking point by attacks from without and within, and now sitting in pieces.
“Two months,” he said quietly. “It will take two months repair the bus. But, it’s going to be repaired. It’s going to be better, stronger, faster, and more able. The broken pieces will be replaced.” He cracked a slight smile. “They’ve even found a new windshield for Lola...and it’s an original.” The team smiled. “That’s important.”
“We’re going to be split up for those two months, but we too will come back together. We will be stronger, we will be more able, and though we will grieve we will move on.”
There were touchy issues he knew he needed to address, and after the battle for the heart of SHIELD he couldn’t very well ignore them. “When we began we had to learn how to be a team. We were a lot of individual pieces, and each of us had our own agendas. Though we didn’t know it, we had different missions. We kept secrets from each other, and in turn, others kept secrets from us. We suffered for those deceptions, and we continue to suffer.”
“I’m not going to pretend that isn’t true. We all, regardless of our original personal missions, have been hurt.” He looked at the empty chair, and everyone in the room knew who should be sitting there.
“Ward is gone. We can deal with that. It hurts that he deceived us, but that’s done. That problem has been solved. Fitz isn’t here, but he’s not gone. We cannot as easily dismiss his absence. He was, and still is, a part of our team.” As the tears began to flow from every eye, he forced himself to continue. “Don’t try to pretend we won’t miss him. We will. We know he’s still alive, but we also know that he’s not the same Fitz we knew. Maybe in time that will change.
“We’ve all seen and witnessed first-hand that miraculous recoveries are possible. Our best doctors are doing everything possible to help him. Maybe in time…” he said, allowing his words to drift through the air.
“Although I know it sounds cruel…and abrupt…and utterly unfair, but we need to move on. It’s okay to remember, to think about him, even to miss him. He was a part of us, and should remain so. But, he’s not here, and won’t return anytime soon, so we need to continue on, dealing with the dangers and confronting the enemy.”
“There is one way we can best honor or memories of his time with us,” he said, looking directly at Skye and then shifting his gaze to Simmons. “When Skye was shot, and my medical records were found to be fabricated, he came up with the idea of searching travel records to find the answer. When he faced an encrypted file, he left his own world behind and asked a simple question: ‘What would Skye do?’”
“From time to time, in the future, we will face similar situations…unknowns that require us to think outside the box. Way outside the box. It will be in those times that Fitz will return as a member of the team, for we can ask another simple question: What would Fitz do?”
It was clear that his words hit home. Simmons was almost openly sobbing, but the response from the others was similarly emotional. Even May, who rarely displayed her emotions, couldn’t blink away the tears, and Triplett, hardly a real member of the team, was similarly affected. He and Fitz hadn’t remotely been best buddies, but he still respected the missing man and his contributions.
Coulson returned to the business at hand. “For now, I am splitting up the team.” There was a unified gasp. “It will take two months to repair the bus, and as you know I have additional duties now. I have an agency to rebuild, and sadly that means sitting at a desk and doing necessary, but totally unproductive, stuff! I’m not good at that, but it’s got to be done. I have to do some things I really rather not do.”
“Just so you are aware, every continuing member of SHIELD will be required to go through…erm…orientation. I don’t necessarily trust that machine, but it seems like an appropriate way to search for any remaining pieces of Hydra.” May and Triplett both nodded, while Skye and Simmons were working to regain their composure.
“Since I’m going to continue to ride this bus…with all of you…I need to find some capable people to control the various functions and departments. I have a couple in mind,” he added, looking directly at Simmons. “I’m going to appoint Agent Weaver to oversee the operations of all the academies, not just Science and Technology.” Simmons forced a smile, nodding her agreement.
“Now, for the next two months you’re going to be busy too. Hopefully none of the escapees from the fridge will raise too much hell in that time. If they do, we’ll have to figure something out. Skye, you and Simmons are headed to Science and Tech. Simmons, you’re going to spend some time with Professor Younger, sharing what you know about viral propagation through electrostatic discharge.”
Simmons smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile she’d shared since her return. “Skye, you're going to spend some time in class.” Skye’s smile started to waver. “No, not as a student, although I’m sure you’ll learn things…because that’s what you do. However, in this case, you’re going to assist Professor Underwood, teaching her students how to mine data and search in something they call the Deep Web.” Skye started to laugh, largely because Coulson obviously had no idea what the deep web actually was.
“Trip, you get some time off, a little R & R, but I want you to start working up some ideas to find the folks who disappeared from the fridge. The FIRE department has compiled a list of weapons and artifacts that likely were removed from the fridge, so we need to start tracking them down too.”
Coulson paused, and somewhat predictably, May spoke up. “What about me?” she said, her voice sharing a slight edge the might have been some lingering distrust or fear.
“May, you’re coming with me. I need somebody who’s seen the administrative side of this mess. I also need another mind, a good judge of character. The people that I put into positions of authority need to operate without me looking over their shoulder.” He looked directly at her and started to grin. “Ward told Maria that she only got the job because Director Fury needed some eye candy, and Romanoff wasn’t available.” His grin widened. “So...for a couple months you get to be my eye candy.”
The entire team, May included, broke into laughter. It was funny. In fact, given the team’s relationships, it was hilarious. But for May it was even more, because in that moment she saw the emergence of “the old Coulson.” All was forgiven. Maybe, in all the disaster of Hydra and his quest to discover the truth he had finally put to rest the demons that had haunted him. Maybe, she thought, Fury was exactly right when he said it was time for the heart to become the head.