Chapter Text
As S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities go, the Clubhouse was the most massive. Set just outside the city of London, it was the premiere research and development center, and only the best and brightest worked there. Which is exactly why Dr. Jemma Simmons and Leopold Fitz were in charge of the Science division and Engineering division respectively.
The two field agents followed the rookie agent through the building to a conference room on the fifth floor. After a gesture and nod, he left them in front of the closed door. May glanced at Skye, knowing how nervous she truly was, despite her many denials. No matter how much she had grown up in last few years, glimpses of that kid May first met sometimes surfaced. "Just breathe," the older agent murmured.
In through the nose, out through the mouth, and repeat. After two deep breaths, Skye's posture straightened. She was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She handled whatever the world and beyond threw at her daily. Without further ado, she opened the door and entered.
And then promptly crashed into Jemma Simmons.
Skye vaguely registered a voice, strange, but somewhat familiar, raised in alarm on the far side of the room, "Oh, dear." Not that she cared at that time.
They were a tangle of limbs on the carpeted floor. Jemma leaning back on her elbows as Skye hovered above, one arm holding her weight, their legs intertwined. As if shot by a freeze ray, neither woman moved a muscle. A plethora of emotions flickering across their faces as their eyes remain locked in an extreme staring contest.
The moment broke when Fitz pushed Skye off to free Jemma and help her up. Skye huffed indignantly before getting up. May reached out a hand to steady her when she was back on her feet.
"Are we sorted, then?" asked the voice again, familiar, but British. A short, slightly tubby, man stepped forward. "Brilliant. Allow me to introduce myself. Percival Koenig." He reached for Skye's hand, shaking it exuberantly.
The brunette could never fully get over seeing the different "Life Model Decoys". She had met a few of the others since originally meeting Eric, then Billy. Each one seemed to have adopted the accents and mannerisms of whatever country they were based in.
"Agent Melinda May, Agent Skye," May stated as Percival shook hands with her.
"I know. It's an honor." He gestured them further into the room. "Brilliant," he said under his breath as he watched them. Skye would later call the look "fangirling".
May and Skye settled in at one end of the long table. Simmons had claimed a seat at the opposite end, Fitz hovering over and throwing the occasional glare Skye's way. He absentmindedly fiddled with a gadget, some things never change, but Skye noticed the slight tremor in his hands, leftover from his near drowning years ago.
"We are just waiting on one more, then we can begin the briefing," Percival explained as he fussed at the coffee maker, obviously not noticing the tension in the room. He continued chatting, "I finally reached him on the comms. He had been on a call with Director Coulson. Dr. Simmons was originally leaving to retrieve him when you two, uh, well, you know." He slapped his hands together, and made an crashing noise. He failed to notice the multiple eyes rolling at him. "So once Agent Tr..."
"Triplett," a deep booming voice announced. Antoine Triplett strutted into the room with his usual swagger. "Not that any of us need introductions here." He grinned at the new arrivals. "May, Skye. Bad circumstance, but good to see you both."
May and Trip nodded at one another while he received a fist bump from Skye. "Coulson really is getting the band back together here," she remarked with a bemused smile.
"Well, high priority retrieval. Coulson wants his best working on it," he explained, adding gently, "and we take care of our own."
"Yes, yes. I'm involved," Simmons exclaimed in agitation. "My fiancée has been kidnapped. Let's get on with this!"
Skye had read the file Coulson had given her. She knew Jemma was five months engaged. Still, it felt like a gut punch to hear it mentioned again.
"Alright, Simmons," Triplett placated. He grabbed a remote off the table. Hitting a couple of buttons, a picture of a handsome 34 year old man popped up on the screen. "We know 56 hours ago, Simmons' fiancée, Dr. Edward York was kidnapped."
A picture of several masked men hauling the struggling doctor into a white van appeared on screen. "Snatch and grab. We assumed they wanted information on his latest project, which involved regeneration." The next few images show York treating some lab animals with minor disfigurements. Followed by another set of images, the same animals, whole and happy. They appeared miraculously repaired. "Apparently they haven't gotten the answers they wanted. Three hours ago while you were en route, we received this video."
Dr. York staggered into view on screen. He straightened slowly with a groan. Shirtless, his body showcased a multitude of bruises. His left eye was severely swollen. His voice gruff, he started speaking, "They want the formula to the regeneration serum. They said if S.H.I.E.L.D. wants their scientist back...alive...then you have 48 hours from the time you receive this message to get them the formula."
Skye's gaze drifted to Jemma while the video played. The scientist resolutely looked anywhere but the screen. They even made eye contact for a second before she shot the brunette an annoyed glare and shifted away.
She knew her presence in an already complicated situation set Jemma even more on edge.
"Who's they?" May asked after the screen cut to black.
"Cerberus, a splinter cell of Hydra took credit. Apparently Hydra is wanting to keep up with the Greek mythology crap," Triplett explained, tossing the remote onto the table.
"He doesn't know the formula to his own serum?"
A throat cleared, and everyone turned to a guilty looking Simmons. "It's actually my formula," she admitted, briefly glancing at Skye.
Regeneration...miraculous healing...Simmons... Pieces of a puzzle coming together in Skye's mind. The brunette's expression fell to one of incredulity. "You told me you dropped that research!" Her hand slammed down hard on the table as she jumped to her feet. "You weren't gonna pursue GH-325 after what happened to Coulson. Jemma, you promised me!"
"Yes, well, you know all about broken promises, Skye," Simmons retorted, fire in her eyes.
"What the hell..."
Trip whistled loudly, stopping any further argument. "Not helpful at the moment."
"Director Coulson was aware of my renewed interest," Simmons explained, her jaw clenching. "He even gave me the file containing the previous research classified by former Director Fury." She took a deep breath, thankful when Fitz laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I finally worked out a similar serum that so far had no ill side effects. We were in the 6th round of testing when Edward was kidnapped."
"We know what they want. Obviously, we can't give it to them," Trip said to the group. "Skye." Still standing, she crossed her arms."I'm pretty sure they need your hacker skills in Data Analysis running down leads. Not much has surfaced so far." She shrugged her shoulders in agreement. "May and I will check in with a few contacts. FitzSimmons, take a minute, if you need." The pair opened their mouths to protest, but Triplett continued, "Then I want to see all the research and data for your serum." Simmons sighed, tilted her head once. "Alright, then."