Resurrection - Chapter 11
It's test time. Skye and Jemma can only do so much.
Chapter 11
As Melinda taxied the plane to its designated parking post on the Air National Guard base, Skye and Jemma began to gather their things. They were traveling light since no equipment was necessary. They’d discussed their plan and Jemma had practiced her role. In her opinion, she had the easy part since all she had to do was open the door.
Skye, on the other hand, was largely going to be playing things by ear, taking her cues from Audrey’s responses. If she’d already seen the news Skye would do something different, but she couldn’t very well ask so she hoped Audrey would talk. From what Jemma told her she really didn’t anticipate a problem on that score.
As the ramp went down, a man dressed in an Air Force uniform waited for them at the bottom. “I’m Airman Hillgartener. The cars you requested are waiting for you over at the airport terminal, and I’ll be happy to drive you over there.”
Phil took one last look inside the plane, his eyes meeting Melinda’s as she smiled gently. She gave him a little thumbs-up and then winked. God, I hope I can get through this.
As the airman drove them out of the airbase gate, he offered some additional information. “I was told you likely wouldn’t be here long. When you’re ready to go, just turn in your cars and call me and I’ll pick you up. If you really need to leave in a hurry, just bring the rentals back here and we’ll take care of getting them returned.” It apparently never occurred to him to ask why they weren’t driving the SHIELD vehicle from the plane, and although he’d seen the corvette he’d also noticed that the top was down...or rather off...and after all, this was Oregon. It wasn’t raining at the moment, but things could always change, and regularly did.
After clearing the rental counter, Skye had one last conversation with Phil. “We’ll have to find her. I’ve got about a half-dozen likely locations, so give us a while. If she’s busy we’ll just wait. I’ll activate the signal on the tracker when we’ve located her.” It was late afternoon, or early evening depending upon how one reckoned time, and although the symphony didn’t have a concert scheduled there might well be a rehearsal somewhere.”
“Also, you can listen in...obviously, so you’ll know when we’ve located her.” She paused, and then in turn each of them give Phil a hug and a few quiet words of encouragement. “You can do this, A C, and you’ll feel much better after you do. Don’t worry. She’ll understand. Promise.”
As the girls drove off, Phil looked around the airport parking garage. It was just like every other car rental space in every other airport, busy, impersonal, and sterile. As the grey car carrying the girls turned out of view, he slowly settled into the red one…his choice…and slowly drove off to confront he destiny.
* * * * *
“So, tell me Davis, just what did you manage to bring with you?”
“I grabbed a neuralizer generator, and two of the Chitauri blast pistols. I’ve got part of the pulse jet system for the Chitauri Scrull-Class attack ship too, but I don’t think it still works. Could be useful in the right hands though.”
The man smiled. “Good. Good. I think we can easily find a place of importance in the organization we’re assembling.”
“Do we have a name yet?”
“Perhaps. Personally I’m rather fond of the Legion of Doom, but I have been led to understand that’s been taken by others. I also tried out Legion of Boom, but I’ve likewise heard that some sports team claims that one.” He shook his head. “Sad. I really liked both of those. I thought we could be the Legion of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but that’s too close to some other group, and I don’t much like them.”
“So, what have you decided?”
He told him.
* * * * *
“She was out jogging the last time,” Jemma offered. “Up on some place named Mt Tabor. It’s about that time now. We should look there first.”
Skye considered her words. “It will be better if we find her at home. Last time you had a space all set up, where you could take her and protect her. This time we don’t. Let’s try her home first. You have the address, right?”
“She lives on Ankeny Street. I put the address into the GPS.” Skye pushed the Go button and started driving again. A few minutes later she pulled into the quiet street, parking at the curb.
“Car’s here. I think she’s home. Let’s go see.” She punched the button on the tracker and then they got out, walked to the porch, and rang the bell.
Jemma took deep breath as they heard footsteps approaching the door. “Here goes nothing,” she whispered. Then the door opened. “Hello, Audrey. Can we talk for a moment?”
Initially Audrey didn’t respond, then her expression changed dramatically. “Is he back again?” she asked, the fear in her voice matching the terror in her expression.
“No. No, not at all. He...he can’t come back again. Not ever.”
“Then...what?”
“Audrey, this is my friend Skye. We’d just like to talk with you, to share some things that we think are important. Skye wasn’t with us when we came earlier. She’s part of our team, but she was doing other things. She has something she’d like to tell you.” Audrey turned to face Skye.
“Hello, Audrey. Jemma told me about our last trip here. It sounds like...well, at least it ended well.”
Audrey nodded, clearly curious about what was happening. “So, if he’s really gone am I still in some sort of danger, or...are you just keeping an eye on me for other reasons?”
Skye smiled. “Well,” she said, kind of bobbing around on the couch, “we actually...we did want to talk with you a little about that. You know about the attack on SHIELD. Now, we’re...we're rebuilding. As we do that we want to talk with people like you, people who have had contact with us before, just to make certain everybody is on the same page. Some people are afraid that the SHIELD agents they met were part of the Hydra thing.”
“In your case no one you have ever met was Hydra, but we feel like it’s important to let you know not everything you know about us is completely accurate.” Audrey was obviously curious. “We deal with a lot of secrets. I suspect you know that.” Audrey nodded. “In your case we had to keep a secret, and we even asked you to keep it too. Now, I think it’s time you were told the truth.”
“What...? What...secret? Phil told me to keep the story of Marcus Daniels to myself. He said that it wouldn’t be good if the story got out about what he could do. I never told anyone.”
“Oh, I’m sure you didn’t. No, that wasn’t the secret I’m discussing. You see, during the Battle of New York a lot of secret things got exposed. There really wasn’t any way for us to pretend the battle didn’t take place, and thousands of people saw and knew that the invaders, the folks who attacked the city, weren’t humans. Lots of secrets got exposed that day.”
“But some new secrets were created. SHIELD considered them very important, and for that reason certain things couldn’t be...well, they had to remain secret. That meant a lot of people were left wondering, or were, unfortunately, told lies. A lot of people got hurt because of that, and our new director wants to fix that.” Skye paused, waiting to see if Audrey would respond. When she said nothing, Skye continued.
“So, I need to tell you some things that you don’t know. After some consideration I decided it was easier if you heard them from somebody who can explain the whole story. If you have time we could do that now. Would that work for you?”
Audrey looked around, wondering exactly what Skye was talking about. She looked at Jemma, but for once her face gave away nothing. She was smiling, and it looked like a friendly smile, but revealed nothing else. “I...sure. I was about to make dinner, but...that can wait.”
Skye smiled. “Tell you what. Why don’t I get the agent who wants to talk with you, and then I’ll arrange for your dinner. Does that sound okay?”
Audrey was now completely confused, but she still harbored a blind trust of SHIELD and Skye seemed like a genuinely friendly person. “I…sure. That would be fine.”
Jemma decided to add something more to the conversation, although it wasn’t something she and Skye had discussed. She just thought things were going well and she could make things even better. “You told me that you still thought Agent Coulson…Phil…was looking out for your welfare.” Audrey almost automatically nodded, not really comprehending what Jemma might have revealed. “Well, in a way you were right. The protection that SHIELD provided for you never went away, even when Daniels was locked up. When he escaped we immediately acted, because we knew you were trusting us to provide that protection. The protection Phil promised you. But...there’s more to it than that.”
Skye smiled and then stood up. “Come on,” she said as she extended her hand. “Let’s go meet the agent you need to talk to.” As Audrey stood, Skye took her hand, gave her a big smile, and walked her to the door. Then, saying nothing more, she turned the handle and pulled the door open.
Phil had struggled to prepare for the moment. Should he be smiling? Grim? Just mildly serious? Should he say something? What? Hello sounded so flip, like his return from the dead was no big deal, but what words were any better? Maybe he should just let her speak first, but what if she couldn’t say anything? He knew she’d be shocked. Would she be mad? Would she sense deceit and react with anger? He certainly couldn’t blame her if she did.
He also considered simply walking in and hugging her, but despite their previous relationship that seemed much to presumptive. If she was truly mad, wouldn’t that just make things worse? Absolutely nothing he pondered seemed likely to work, but, of course, he was assuming the worst reaction possible to each considered action. In the end he decided a friendly smile, doing and saying nothing, would be as good as anything. He’d let her make the first move. So, as he heard Skye begin to turn the doorknob, he took a deep breath and smiled a little.
As the door cleared the opening Audrey gasped.
Chapter 11
As Melinda taxied the plane to its designated parking post on the Air National Guard base, Skye and Jemma began to gather their things. They were traveling light since no equipment was necessary. They’d discussed their plan and Jemma had practiced her role. In her opinion, she had the easy part since all she had to do was open the door.
Skye, on the other hand, was largely going to be playing things by ear, taking her cues from Audrey’s responses. If she’d already seen the news Skye would do something different, but she couldn’t very well ask so she hoped Audrey would talk. From what Jemma told her she really didn’t anticipate a problem on that score.
As the ramp went down, a man dressed in an Air Force uniform waited for them at the bottom. “I’m Airman Hillgartener. The cars you requested are waiting for you over at the airport terminal, and I’ll be happy to drive you over there.”
Phil took one last look inside the plane, his eyes meeting Melinda’s as she smiled gently. She gave him a little thumbs-up and then winked. God, I hope I can get through this.
As the airman drove them out of the airbase gate, he offered some additional information. “I was told you likely wouldn’t be here long. When you’re ready to go, just turn in your cars and call me and I’ll pick you up. If you really need to leave in a hurry, just bring the rentals back here and we’ll take care of getting them returned.” It apparently never occurred to him to ask why they weren’t driving the SHIELD vehicle from the plane, and although he’d seen the corvette he’d also noticed that the top was down...or rather off...and after all, this was Oregon. It wasn’t raining at the moment, but things could always change, and regularly did.
After clearing the rental counter, Skye had one last conversation with Phil. “We’ll have to find her. I’ve got about a half-dozen likely locations, so give us a while. If she’s busy we’ll just wait. I’ll activate the signal on the tracker when we’ve located her.” It was late afternoon, or early evening depending upon how one reckoned time, and although the symphony didn’t have a concert scheduled there might well be a rehearsal somewhere.”
“Also, you can listen in...obviously, so you’ll know when we’ve located her.” She paused, and then in turn each of them give Phil a hug and a few quiet words of encouragement. “You can do this, A C, and you’ll feel much better after you do. Don’t worry. She’ll understand. Promise.”
As the girls drove off, Phil looked around the airport parking garage. It was just like every other car rental space in every other airport, busy, impersonal, and sterile. As the grey car carrying the girls turned out of view, he slowly settled into the red one…his choice…and slowly drove off to confront he destiny.
* * * * *
“So, tell me Davis, just what did you manage to bring with you?”
“I grabbed a neuralizer generator, and two of the Chitauri blast pistols. I’ve got part of the pulse jet system for the Chitauri Scrull-Class attack ship too, but I don’t think it still works. Could be useful in the right hands though.”
The man smiled. “Good. Good. I think we can easily find a place of importance in the organization we’re assembling.”
“Do we have a name yet?”
“Perhaps. Personally I’m rather fond of the Legion of Doom, but I have been led to understand that’s been taken by others. I also tried out Legion of Boom, but I’ve likewise heard that some sports team claims that one.” He shook his head. “Sad. I really liked both of those. I thought we could be the Legion of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but that’s too close to some other group, and I don’t much like them.”
“So, what have you decided?”
He told him.
* * * * *
“She was out jogging the last time,” Jemma offered. “Up on some place named Mt Tabor. It’s about that time now. We should look there first.”
Skye considered her words. “It will be better if we find her at home. Last time you had a space all set up, where you could take her and protect her. This time we don’t. Let’s try her home first. You have the address, right?”
“She lives on Ankeny Street. I put the address into the GPS.” Skye pushed the Go button and started driving again. A few minutes later she pulled into the quiet street, parking at the curb.
“Car’s here. I think she’s home. Let’s go see.” She punched the button on the tracker and then they got out, walked to the porch, and rang the bell.
Jemma took deep breath as they heard footsteps approaching the door. “Here goes nothing,” she whispered. Then the door opened. “Hello, Audrey. Can we talk for a moment?”
Initially Audrey didn’t respond, then her expression changed dramatically. “Is he back again?” she asked, the fear in her voice matching the terror in her expression.
“No. No, not at all. He...he can’t come back again. Not ever.”
“Then...what?”
“Audrey, this is my friend Skye. We’d just like to talk with you, to share some things that we think are important. Skye wasn’t with us when we came earlier. She’s part of our team, but she was doing other things. She has something she’d like to tell you.” Audrey turned to face Skye.
“Hello, Audrey. Jemma told me about our last trip here. It sounds like...well, at least it ended well.”
Audrey nodded, clearly curious about what was happening. “So, if he’s really gone am I still in some sort of danger, or...are you just keeping an eye on me for other reasons?”
Skye smiled. “Well,” she said, kind of bobbing around on the couch, “we actually...we did want to talk with you a little about that. You know about the attack on SHIELD. Now, we’re...we're rebuilding. As we do that we want to talk with people like you, people who have had contact with us before, just to make certain everybody is on the same page. Some people are afraid that the SHIELD agents they met were part of the Hydra thing.”
“In your case no one you have ever met was Hydra, but we feel like it’s important to let you know not everything you know about us is completely accurate.” Audrey was obviously curious. “We deal with a lot of secrets. I suspect you know that.” Audrey nodded. “In your case we had to keep a secret, and we even asked you to keep it too. Now, I think it’s time you were told the truth.”
“What...? What...secret? Phil told me to keep the story of Marcus Daniels to myself. He said that it wouldn’t be good if the story got out about what he could do. I never told anyone.”
“Oh, I’m sure you didn’t. No, that wasn’t the secret I’m discussing. You see, during the Battle of New York a lot of secret things got exposed. There really wasn’t any way for us to pretend the battle didn’t take place, and thousands of people saw and knew that the invaders, the folks who attacked the city, weren’t humans. Lots of secrets got exposed that day.”
“But some new secrets were created. SHIELD considered them very important, and for that reason certain things couldn’t be...well, they had to remain secret. That meant a lot of people were left wondering, or were, unfortunately, told lies. A lot of people got hurt because of that, and our new director wants to fix that.” Skye paused, waiting to see if Audrey would respond. When she said nothing, Skye continued.
“So, I need to tell you some things that you don’t know. After some consideration I decided it was easier if you heard them from somebody who can explain the whole story. If you have time we could do that now. Would that work for you?”
Audrey looked around, wondering exactly what Skye was talking about. She looked at Jemma, but for once her face gave away nothing. She was smiling, and it looked like a friendly smile, but revealed nothing else. “I...sure. I was about to make dinner, but...that can wait.”
Skye smiled. “Tell you what. Why don’t I get the agent who wants to talk with you, and then I’ll arrange for your dinner. Does that sound okay?”
Audrey was now completely confused, but she still harbored a blind trust of SHIELD and Skye seemed like a genuinely friendly person. “I…sure. That would be fine.”
Jemma decided to add something more to the conversation, although it wasn’t something she and Skye had discussed. She just thought things were going well and she could make things even better. “You told me that you still thought Agent Coulson…Phil…was looking out for your welfare.” Audrey almost automatically nodded, not really comprehending what Jemma might have revealed. “Well, in a way you were right. The protection that SHIELD provided for you never went away, even when Daniels was locked up. When he escaped we immediately acted, because we knew you were trusting us to provide that protection. The protection Phil promised you. But...there’s more to it than that.”
Skye smiled and then stood up. “Come on,” she said as she extended her hand. “Let’s go meet the agent you need to talk to.” As Audrey stood, Skye took her hand, gave her a big smile, and walked her to the door. Then, saying nothing more, she turned the handle and pulled the door open.
Phil had struggled to prepare for the moment. Should he be smiling? Grim? Just mildly serious? Should he say something? What? Hello sounded so flip, like his return from the dead was no big deal, but what words were any better? Maybe he should just let her speak first, but what if she couldn’t say anything? He knew she’d be shocked. Would she be mad? Would she sense deceit and react with anger? He certainly couldn’t blame her if she did.
He also considered simply walking in and hugging her, but despite their previous relationship that seemed much to presumptive. If she was truly mad, wouldn’t that just make things worse? Absolutely nothing he pondered seemed likely to work, but, of course, he was assuming the worst reaction possible to each considered action. In the end he decided a friendly smile, doing and saying nothing, would be as good as anything. He’d let her make the first move. So, as he heard Skye begin to turn the doorknob, he took a deep breath and smiled a little.
As the door cleared the opening Audrey gasped.