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chapter three

(March 22nd; 2017
The Playground, Classified)

     CLARA has spent this year so far and most of last year completely content in no longer being privy to missions, upcoming and constant threats. She went from being one of the favoured to the Director's side to just a casual medical doctor (with a definite dark side). And after what she did, she was happy with that. She understood, and she enjoyed it. But right now, she was faced with the first shake of her hands in realisation she had no idea what was happening. May was somewhere, in critical condition, and Clara could see the sky-rocket of her vitals and she had no idea where she was to help. Her heart was in her throat, leaping and crying out in desperation as perhaps the only real mother figure in her life was getting worse and worse by the second. And she wasn't privy to anything.

     Not to mention Mack and Fitz's adventure to Pasadena━'ghosts', an entity with a fire-emitting skull who could touch these smokey figures and burn them to a crisp. And Daisy, who had been following him, finally showing up after months ... Clara didn't know whether she was confused or angry. 

     And with major cities in the world experiencing severe blackouts from a group called the Inhuman Resistance, Clara was far more than stressed. The last thing they needed after the Sokovia Accords and the fear of enhanced beings was someone to spark up more fear and distress, let alone a whole group━

     May's vitals peaked again and Clara's heart shuddered with it.

     The entire base was in a frenzy. The lab was packed with techs, the halls racing with agents━everyone was on alert with this present threat. Clara's medical team was working inside the bay's to sustain Chen's life, as well as the others in the containment rooms, and Clara was doing her best to keep herself together with tears brimming in the corner of her eyes. 

     "Please," Clara tugged at her hair as she paced the lab, eyeing May's vitals on the screen with a racing heart. "I just need to speak to someone about Agent May━Yes, I have someone with clearence beside me━" she glanced briefly at Simmons, who wrung her hands, getting just as nervous and frustrated. "No," Clara was getting angrier and angrier with the woman on the other end of the line who was lying about May's condition straight to her face━well, phone. "I do know she's in a critical condition━I have remote feed from your facility, I'm looking at her vitals right bloody now! She is clearly not stabilising!"

     She passed Couslon who watched the montior, pained and as white as a sheet. 

     At the woman's next words, Clara exploded, "I'm not bloody asking where she is I'm asking what you're doing because it is clearly not working! Her heart rate is erratic, her breathing is by far uneven, her━her blood pressure is continuing to rise━" Jemma and Coulson followed Clara around in her pacing, "━she's at risk of going into cardiac arrest! Excuse me, do not tell me I'm wrong I can bloody see it━"

     The line went dead.

     Clara stopped, eyes wide. "Hello?" she called. No answer. She gritted her teeth. "Hello?"

     Still no answer. Agent Roy pulled her phone from her ear and threw it onto her desk. She turned back to the vitals, feeling Coulson's expectant gaze on her. "They hung up on me," she stated, furious. "They hung up━the wankers!" She took a deep breath and tried to control her breathing. Think, Clara, think. "Okay," a little more settled, she turned to Coulson gently. "They're absolutely clueless." Clara pursed her lips. "Not that I have a solution without actually getting inside her brain━" she shot a sharp glance at Simmons who sighed.

     Clara didn't mean to be angry at her best friend, nor to blame her for it. But she was the only one out of the three of them who actually even knew where May was being held.

     "Where is she?" Coulson demanded. "Who the hell's treating her?"

     Jemma set her jaw. Reluctant, she sighed and muttered, "I'm so sorry, but it's classified. Without the Director's permission, I can't━"

     "She's in Upstate New York."

     Director Mace's voice made them all spin around. He entered the lab with his entourage of his publicity and other managers. Amongst them was Leith, Fitz and Mack. Clara's brother stepped forward, glancing at the monitor with a pained expression. He didn't understand what it meant, but Clara knew he could tell it wasn't good. 

     Mace approached them. Clara reached a hand out for Fitz, desperate for some sort of comfort. Feeling the touch of his fingers, there was a part of her that calmed down immediately. 

     "Agent May is at one of the best CDC facilities in the country."

     Clara wanted to snap something along the lines of━Well, according to my eyes I say they are far from the best, but held it back for everyone's sake. 

     Coulson marched up to the Director, "Why keep that from me? I could be there now."

     "And would be," agreed Mace. "I know how much you like to make unauthorised trips, but I needed you here in case of a crisis, and now there's a cris━"

     The alarm from inside the medical bay sparked and Clara jumped. Brushing past Fitz immediately, she rushed in through the doors and to Chen who began to convulse, awaking from his sedated state to scream and cry━ "Hold him down!" she ordered. "Hold him down!"

     The medical team did as she asked and Clara raced for an injection. "It's okay, it's okay━" she tried to coax the man, but his yells were far too loud to even hear a word she said. The others stared from outside, huddled around with the same looks on their faces━shock and horror. She knew they were all thinking similar: May was going through this right now. And that fact almost made it impossible for Clara to keep her hands steady, but she managed. 

     "Heart rate's erratic!"

     Clara filled the needle, barely even hearing them. "Okay, okay━" she was at Chen's side, setting down the sedation and prepping the needle with quick and practised movements. "Keep him still━hold him, tight━!" Clara held up the needle, ready to inject ...

     The dreaded sound of the flatline made Agent Roy freeze. A long, contained drone of a beep she hated. Her breath hitched at the blood around Chen's eyes as if something inside had finally imploded. He stilled, and the medic beside Clara━a young man by the name of George━pressed his fingers to his pulse.

     Meeting her gaze, his eyes widened, "He's gone ..."

    Clara set down the needle, heart racing. Her eyes were fixed on Chen's still, dead body━still holding colour ... but wouldn't for much longer. She stared at him, and couldn't help but imagine May ... 

     "What happened?" Director Mace demanded.

      Looking over, she was breathless, "Exactly what's going to happen to May within the next twenty-four hours," said Clara. She stepped back towards them, trying to hold back tears that threatened to fall. She couldn't bare for May to die like that━she couldn't bare for her to die at all. "Sir, the CDC's at a dead end. Unless we take some kind of drastic measure ..." the crack in her voice was unavoidable. Clara felt that ache, expanding in the back of her throat that made her next words very hoarse, "... we'll lose her."

      Mace set his jaw. The others shared horrified, uneasy glances except for Couslon, who stared at Chen, possibly imagining the same thing Clara had mere seconds ago. "Do you have something in mind?"

     Clara was weak-kneed. "I ..." she was at a loss. "I don't even know if I could save her," they understood what she meant. "This is something strange a━and different━"

     "And could kill you instead," Fitz added, his gaze sharp in a strong, Not an option. 

     Director Mace didn't want that as an option, either. As much as they all disliked him in Coulson's role, he wasn't a horrible person. He wasn't going to force Clara to possibly die for someone else, even if she was ready to. And if Clara had heard right from the events of yesterday, he too, was an Inhuman (which she has yet had the time to fully register). "Anything else?"

      Clara went to shake her head, but then an idea struck her. And oh, did she hate this idea with a passion ... but she was ready to do anything for May. "I━I do," she admitted. "But it's a long shot. Maybe there might be someone who━"

     "Whatever you need," Mace cut her off, and she was a little suprised. "Make it happen."

     She nodded, beyond grateful. Rushing past, she called, "Simmons!" and Jemma broke out into a run to follow her. "We need to get a ride for May to Washington, and Nathanson━" the lab-tech looked up from his work, though he had been far too frozen in fear over May to really pay any attention to it, "━alert Doctor Radcliffe of our predicament. Tell him to be ready━now!"

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(March 22nd; 2017
Zephyr One, Classified)

     "IT WAS only a matter of time before this happened," Senator Nadeer was relishing in this, Leith kenw it. Glaring at the news discussion on the Zephyr, he crossed his arms. She was using this to her advantage for her campaign against the Inhumans━it was all she cared about. "We can no longer pretend like the Inhuman threat doesn't exist. Each and every one of them is a lethal weapon, and now those weapons are aimed directly at us. Make no mistake. This is an act of war━" Leith scoffed, turning to Fitz with a look of, can I kill her? He was not in a good mood. He was stressed━May was dying, he and Jemma were arguing, Miami was blacked out, and the other major cities were at threat, and now he was being told that he and other Inhumans were lethal weapons, like they weren't even people. "Unless we take a stand and fight back now while we can, we will be complicit in our own extintion."

     Coulson turned off the news, tabbing out and onto the map pinpointing the blacked-out cities. "She may as well start handing out the pitchforks and torches," he said, briefly glancing warily at Leith. He crossed his arms, trying to fight the urge to pace. "Four cities blacked out in five hours: London, Los Angeles, Moscow and Miami. You know what they have in common?"

     "Yeah, we relocated Inhumans to all of them," said Mack, "but do you think this is for real? They're organising an uprising?"

     The question wasn't aimed at Leith, but he felt obligated to answer. "Wouldn't blame them," he grumbled. "But it doesn't make sense━each Inhuman power is usually unique to the individual. These are cities in multiple states and countries. Unless there's a single Inhuman with an insane amount of power, then it's multiple, and that doesn't make sense, either."

     "Whoever it is," spoke up Fitz, "we'll flush them out when we turn Miami back on." Finished packing, he walked up to the monitor. "They're definitely using EMP devices. The blackout zones encompass the same amount of area in all four cities." He brought up the radius extent for all cities for them to see. "Now, the effect is randomly dispersed, makng it difficult to pinpoint the source, but I have everything I need right here to locate it, to disable it, and trace━"

    "Trace it back to whoever's responsible," finished Coulson and Fitz nodded. 

     "Exactly. So it should be quick and easy."

     "It better be━" Mack returned to the news feed, "━it's getting bad out there."

     Leith pursed his lips, scowling at the riots in Los Angeles. Soon, he sighed and looked down at his phone, hoping for a text from Jemma or Clara to give an update on May, but there was nothing. 

     They reached Miami in the cover of dark, driving closer and closer to the blackout zone. Leith could see the darened lights━like they were stepping out into the unknown; a maze, or hidden city of darkness and riots. It reminded him of The Purge, which wasn't really helping him get his courage back up.

     "We're two minutes from the blackout zone," stated Coulson from the wheel of the S.U.V. Leith looked away from the windows, leg jumping up and down in his seat, "and ten minutes from the hotel Agent Rodriguez called you from. We'll grab her first, then Fitz can do his thing."

     "It doesn't make sense," muttered Mack and beside Leith, Fitz was readying some scanner he didn't understand. "The EMP's only short-circuit electronics that have been turned on at the time."

     "Your point?"

     "Well, I haven't heard from her since," he said. "I mean, she━she can't find a phone that's turned off?"

     Coulson thought about this, "Does the backseat department care to weigh in on this?"

     Despite the situation, Leith took the bait that was hung out in front of him with an eager grin, "She's at a bachelorette party," he stated casually, but they all knew it was going to be a cheeky joke. "She's probably having a good time, dancing and drinking with all those sexy Latino guys." Leith held up his fingers as if he was a chef, winking. "I love Latino guys."

     "Thanks, Leith," stated Coulson. 

     "You're welcome," he grinned right at Mack who shook his head, scoffing.

     "No," said the engineer, but was grateful for Leith trying to cheer him up, "I'm not taking that bait."

       "I once had a Latino boyfriend," went on Leith, leaning back. Off-handedly, he muttered, "he wasn't as controlling..."

     Realising what he was saying Fitz sent him a look, "You haven't even talked to Simmons about it all. She isn't controlling, and she has a point."

      Leith knew this━of course he did, but he was still bitter. More with himself than her, really. 

      In under a minute to the blackout zone, Director Mace called them on the secure comm line. Leith leaned in closer to see his tense face on the camera, addressing Coulson with a straight to the point: "They've hit six cities now. It's getting messy. There's rioting, looting. People are demanding action."

      "I've got agents headed to every location," said Coulson, sharing a glance with mack. "We're just entering the blackout zone now. Give us time to━"

     "I need a win, Phil," pleaded Mace━all though, Leith wasn't really sure whether it was a plead and instead more of an order━, "With a capital 'W'. Been on the phone with the President. He says if we don't have answers soon, he's gonna do so━" scratch! The comms cut off.

     Leith sat back, suprised. Following it, the engine of the car slowly started to chug out, and the lights dropped off. They came to a stop, and when he looked out, he saw that no street lamps were lit from this point onwards. They had reached the blackout zone.

     "What the hell happened?" frowned Mack.

     "Oh, we must've got hit with another EMP pulse when we crossed into the blackout zone," said Fitz, watching Leith take off his belt and open up the car door. Stepping into the night, the wind softly blew at his jacket. "It's either that or..." 

     "No," Coulson cut him off, "that's it."

     Leith glanced back in and let out an, "Oh..." in seeing his prosthetic hand stuck clamped around the heel. Despite it all, he smirked a, "You got a real rigid grip on the wheel there, Phil."

      Couslon sent him a scowl, unamused. 

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(March 22nd; 2017
Radcliffe Residence, Washington D.C)

     SEEING and hearing May scream and thrash like Chen had sent Clara's heart into tumbles━like she was rolling down a hill and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. She tried to keep her still, doing her best to not cry as they raced her into Radcliffe's home, tied to the stretcher. Simmons was on Clara's otherside, helping her push their mutual friend inside.

     "May?" Clara was trying to calm her down, hand on her shoulder. The Cavalry was strong, yelling at her to get away━pale, sweaty and scared. Clara had a severe lump in her throat. "M━May, it's me━it's Clara. May, come on, fight it. You're okay. You're going to be okay..."

     "Stay away from me!" May screamed into her face, tugging at the straps keeping her down. 

      Roy took a shuddering breath, taken-aback at the sheer hatred sparked within those words. Simmons glanced at her, eyes wide━this idea was impossible. So impossible. But Clara couldn't lose May. She had lost her father. She had spent years without her mother, and then found out she was never who she wanted, only to watch her die, too. Clara couldn't lose May. 

     "It's okay," her voice cracked as they met up with Radcliffe, stopping the stretcher in the middle of the workshop of the home. Tiled floor, pristine while walls and square lights into the ceiling. Around them was high-tech, well-produced equipment━equipment Roy hoped would save May in time. "It's going to be okay━" Simmons passed her the anesthetic and it took multiple shots to keep May sedated. 

     But even then, she jolted and jerked, making short yelps and cries. Clara tried to calm her, brushing the hair out of her face and gripping her shoulder. 

     Radcliffe frowned, very confused. "Have you determined whether it's chemical, biological?"

     "We've eliminated every probable cause," managed Clara through a croaked and thick voice. May shuddered, and she bit back her need to cry. Come on, May. Come on, come on, come on━

     "Unless you want to consider Mack's theory," added Jemma, breathless in the strain of keeping May down and her worry. 

     Radcliffe arched a brow, "Which is?"

     "She was touched by a ghost."

     Incredulous, the transhumanist crossed his arms, "A ghost?"

     "It was definitely something of an incorporeal nature," stated Roy, reaching down to hold May's hand, feeling it jerk and shudder with the rest of her body. "When you eliminate the improbable━"

     "Then we've got to consider the impossible," finished Radcliffe and he pulled a trolley of equipment over. 

      "I'm thinking if we use the transcranial head apparatus you and Fitz recently developed, perhaps we could find some sort of━"

      "Well, with all our big brains examining hers," Clara sent him a look for cutting her off, but didn't say anything, "I'm sure we'll find a solution."

      She really was desperate heading here, especially when the sight of Radcliffe made her skin crawl with memories she wished to forget. But she had to remind herself: For May. 

      "Any idea how much time we have?"

      Roy and Simmons shared a look. 

     "Base on the other cases we've observed," said Simmons, "I'd say ..." she gulped, "... less than six hours until certain death."     

      Radcliffe sighed, meeting their gazes with a lift of his brows━yes, very impossible. But Clara had to find away. She wouldn't give up on May. She couldn't. She refused to. 

     It took a few minutes too long for the Framework to be set up. Clara paced the room, she and Simmons helping anyway they could, but they barely understood the workings of these wires. Radcliffe worked as fast as he could, but it was intricate, and as time ticked away, so did May's life. Roy remembered the way her heart had fallen when her mother died; right in front of her, and she had been unable to save her. May wasn't even her real mother, and yet Clara felt the same way. In fact, she felt worse. She felt helpless, and useless, and like a hamster on a wheel running and running and running ... looping and looping ...

      Finally, the wires were secure and Radcliffe set the head-piece around May's fragile figure. It wasn't right to see her so defenceless and scared. May wasn't supposed to be fragile. She was supposed to be unstoppable━the Cavalry. 

     "The Framework could create a nice pastoral scene to help her relax," said Radcliffe as he set up the simulation, "but who knows what her brain will make of it now. Could end up being the land of the dinosaurs. So, we're just gonna use it for feedback."

     Clara bit her thumb, walking up to her friend and standing against Simmons's shoulders. "It shouldn't give her any side effects?" she asked, worried. "No stress? No hyperactivity?"

     Radcliffe's gaze didn't ease her worries. Instead, he just tapped enter and the simulation expanded out into the room. An entire holographic projection of May's brain. Despite it all, Clara had a brief moment of awe to see it all mapped out in front of her━everything. Every lobe, every sector ... interactive like she was standing within. 

      Simmons let out a breath of amazement, "Perfect."

     "You know," mused Radcliffe, "it's a myth that we only use ten per cent of our brains. However, it is true that it's only a few neurons that make all the noise. The rest keep quiet..."

     Careful, Roy and Simmons approached May's brain, eyes wide and lips agape. It was alive before them━buzzing and blinking with movement and nerves, sparking from one end to another. Clara stepped into the centre, neck craning as she gazed around it all, her words taken from her lips. 

       Radcliffe stepped towards a sector of the brain━the hologram was flared in orange and reds, sparking with noise and static. "Look at this here ..." reaching into the mass, he pulled out a small egg-sized piece. 

     With his fingers, he expanded out the scans for them to see, and the girls made their way over. Eyes narrowed, Clara read what she could, turning the shape as if she was working the holotable. With a flick of two fingers, the inside immediately erupted with orange shards of small, branch-like canals. But there was a part━right in the bottom centre that was brighter than the rest; like a cloud of orange smoke.

     "This is the reticular activating system," she murmured as she did, trying to figure everything out while she spoke, "primarily involved in the sleep-wake transition━" Simmons reached in beside her and stretched the egg-shaped oval to an extensive size. So big the flared cloud within could be seen perfectly.

     It reminded Clara of a swarm of angry bees. Buzzing and spitting and hoaring with one another. "Extremely hyperactive ..." she breathed, quite shocked. 

     Radcliffe reached out and pulled the hoard of orange out, holding it to the girls with a set of his jaw. "I suspect this is what's causing her hallucinations━" he passed it over and Clara took it, peering at all the miniature holograms surrounding it, labelling anything and everything, "━vivid waking nightmares that are sending her adrenal system into overdrive, putting her in a state of extreme fight-or-flight."

     Hearing May suddenly gasp, Clara snapped her gaze around, passing back the hologram. May shuddered, twitching in her sedative state and Roy's stomach lurched. "She's scared," she said. "They were all scared to death."

     "Mm," agreed Radcliffe, paying attention to the holograph with the eye of a scientist, "precisely." Clara met Jemma's gaze, and found herself taking her best friend's hand, giving it a squeeze. 

     "Well, how do we stop it?" the girls asked in unison.

     Radcliffe looked up. With a twist of his fingers, the hologram dissolved, "How do you cure fear?"

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(March 22nd; 2017
Miami, Florida)

     IT TOOK a while to get Coulson's hand off the wheel. They had to unscrew it off, have Mack pry it away from the wheel, and then screw it back on━even though it was pratically useless. Once done, Fitz travelled to the boot of the SUV, searching through his equipment to see what was still working. But nothing was turning on━not even their ICERS.

     Fitz was growing frustrated. "That's worthless━" he threw them out of the case and into the boot. "Oh, that's worthless. Worthless. Worthless. Worthless━" chucking the last one rather hard, he spun around to Leith, Coulson and Mack. "It's all worthless, everything!"

     Leith sighed, watching him prop his hands on his hips and throw his head up at the night sky in exasperation. He didn't blame him. Their original plan was in the gutter━the dirtiest, never-cleaned, left-over gutter with all their hopes of getting this done quickly. 

      Coulson frowned, "What's going on, Fitz?"

     "It wasn't a second pulse," stated the engineer, furious. His eyes clenching in his frustration, "It's an ongoing series of them, which means it's a continuous-pulse EMP, which is extremely advanced, which means none of our tech is gonna work!"

     Leith knew this wasn't the time to make jokes. He sighed and frowned at the open car boot. "Well, come on, Fitz," he said, "you're brilliant, there's gotta be something we can do. I mean, might not be as quick or as easy as the equipment, but it is what it is. So?" he arched a brow at his friend. He held out his hands to him.

      It wasn't really a inspirational speech, but Coulson was hiding a smile at him as if it was. Leith decided to ignore it, even though it made him feel suddenly like he was in a spotlight. But instead, he watched Fitz frown and think about Lieth's words, his brain ticking away━until he came to a sudden realisation. "We do it old-school," brushing past him, he reached into the back of the SUV and grabed a black felt pencil case. Opening it up, was a set of pencils, compasses, rulers and a single protractor. 

     Coulson seemed to understand where he was going as he reached for the non-electrical lamps, tossing one to each of them. Leith caught his, grinning. "So, no tech, no transpo, no weapons, and our only hope is the Professor's Slide Rule?"

     "Yeah ... that about sums it up."

     Leith━however━rubbed his hands together. "Let's do this. For once I think it's good I was top in my maths class."

      Fitz frowned at him as they set off into the night. "I thought you were homeschooled at Afterlife?"

     Leith had been caught out. "Uh ... exactly. Top in my class ... the only one in my class."

     Even in the dark, he saw a slight, amused grin on Fitz's face and Leith smirked. It was a long-ish trek to the hotel Yo-Yo had last called from, but they reached it faster than Leith thought they would. The time really does fly when you're trying to avoid rioters and chatting lowly about Flaming Skull People (Leith is really upset he missed out on that. Flaming skull head? Brillaint). 

      But in the end, they stood outside the lobby. Leith could count a hostage situation. With the others covering his back, Leith closed his eyes and let himself sweep into the subconscious. When he opened his eyes again, he could step away from his still body and into the motel lobby. He brushed around the group, trying to pinpoint Yo-Yo. He saw her standing next to a girl in a Bride To Be sash━that must be her best friend. All of the members of the party were at gun-point, the leader demanding for the Inhuman to show themselves. 

     Leith winced, hoping to God Yo-Yo wouldn't step forward and let herself be figured out to save her friends. The small━but strong and fiesty━girl had a scowl on her face in a pretty leather jacket and red laced bodice with leather pants set up. The usual person might not be able to do much in that, but Yo-Yo was no usual person. Leith was sure leather pants won't stop her from running at the speed of each heartbeat.

      He swept in next to her and taking a deep breath, Leith manifested enough energy to whisper in her ear━loud enough only for her to hear. "Don't freak out, Yo-Yo, but we're right outside. Me, Fitz, Mack and Couslon."

     At the short hitch of her breath, Leith knew she heard and he swept the group again. One had stepped out in front of the others, sobbing in fear. He demanded he wasn't an Inhuman, just a magican, and Leith's heart jolted━how had he just realised this?

     "It's a sleight of hand, you moron," the magician told the man who had thrown him to the wolves, "not a superpower."

     The leader of these armed men smirked and crouched down to the magician's height. "Let's see if you can make a bullet disappear."

     Leith's gaze flared with anger. As the leader turned back to one of his men, he followed, slipping in behind the large guy in a flannel and white shirt. "You want to do the honours?"

     But before he could grab the gun, Leith reached in and picked it out of the holster. Yo-Yo saw the gun hover in midair, and in seconds, there was a flash, and the gun was taken from Leith's fingers and placed in a plantpot━no one from the group seemed to have noticed. 

     The man in the flannel groped for his gun, but when he couldn't feel it, he let out an exclaim, "What? Where the hell is it?!"

      Leith trusted Yo-Yo to keep her stealth going as he slipped back to his conscious. He woke up with a slight jolt, and Mack caught him as he went forward a little. "Yo-Yo's in there," he told him, seeing the expectant look on his face. "But we need to head in ... like right about now."

      Coulson shrugged and pulled out a flare gun. "Good thing I brought this, then."

      And like that, they broke through the lobby doors. As soon as the flare exploded, everyone's attention was pulled away from Yo-Yo and to the ceiling, frowning at the sparks and covering their eyes. 

       Leith ran straight into the fight. Ducking under a blow from one man, he slammed his elbow up into their jaw so hard they flung back. With a swift kick, the thug tripped over, hitting the ground. Running to the couch, Leith picked up one of the pillows and brought it across the next man's face. With him confused, he kicked his chest right into the thug behind him, and both of them tumbled down. 

      Spinning the pillow in his hand, Leith was surprised━new favourite weapon? Yes. 

      Mack and Coulson worked together to take out the bulk of the opposition while Leith had taken on the other half. May's training had taught him specialist work, which usually meant one against way too many with whatever weapon you could get your hands on. To the side, FItz blocked a few hits from one of the rioters, grabbing his arm and holding it down to the pillar base before bringing down his compass right through the centre of his hand. 

      "Stop or she's dead!" shouted the leader, holding one of Yo-Yo's friends in his grasp, a dagger to her neck. But Elena just smirked. Woosh! The dagger was out of his hands. She dangled it, grinning and Coulson slammed his prosthetic fist square in the face, hitting him flat off his feet. 

      One came up with a gun, and while it might be an awesome experiment, Leith didn't want to see whether a pillow could stop a bullet. So, holding the corner, he brought the material down against the barrel. The thug must be so surprised he was fighting with a pillow that his grip faltered and he dropped the gun. 

      Leith stopped a minute to wave the pillow in his face, "Bet you didn't see that coming━" thwam! He punched him in the nose, knocking him out. 

      "Leith!" Mack shouted. He spun around and was ready for the thug he sent his way with a bent crowbar. 

       Leith jumped up and finished the final thug with a kick mid-air. The thug probably had a few broken ribs when he hit the ground at Mack's feet. The mechanic glanced up, suprised at Leith's dramatics. He just shrugged, showing him the pillow with a mischevious grin. "I had a pillow fight," he joked. Mack chuckled, giving him a shove along to help tie up the thugs with zipties. 

     The group of them tied up all the thugs who were either groaning in pain or unconscious. A few had feathers in their hair from Leith's pillow spetacular. 

      After they dragged them all in a line, Leith stepped towards Yo-Yo, having seen the small exchange she had had with her best friend. It hadn't gone well. Rubbing her shoulder, it was all Leith could do to show that he was here for her at the moment. And he also knew that anything more would only annoy Yo-Yo. She sent him a pained, but grateful smile. 

      Elena had kept a secret from her friends━and then knowing that secret had ended that friendship. Leith sighed, knowing that for that reaction, they didn't deserve her loyalty, but Yo-Yo was miserable under the strong facade she held. They were her friends that all had family stemming from Colombia, and now that she was stationed in Miami, she must've been delighted to be in a community that was close to home. Now, she lost that. Leith knew that feeling of suddenly realising you were alone in something different, especially over just being who you are. Being an Inhuman changes everything━it puts you on a never-ending rockslide. 

     But Leith decided to change the subject, nodding to the thugs tied up. "Any idea who they are, why they're here?"

     "They're here for me," she crossed her arms, taking another deep breath and setting her jaw. "They knew I was in Miami in this hotel. How is that possible? I thought us registered people were protected."

     Leith frowned at that. He glanced at Coulson, concerned. The old Director sighed, as if he had been expecting this from the Sokovia Accords. "Search these guys," he told Mack and Yo-Yo. "I think my worst nightmare may have just come true."

     While Mack and Yo-Yo searched the attackers, Fitz was tasked in figuring out this continous EMP and where it was coming from. Sitting at the fountain, he stared at the ripples in the water, counting the time between each one: "One chimpazee, two chimpazee ..." ripple. "... One chimpazee, two chimpanzee..."

     By the couches, Couslon interrogated the leader of the group with a harsh: "How did you know there was an Inhuman here? Who do you work for?" as he did, Leith listened on, frowning with a scowl. He eyed the leader, trying to figure this all out. He glanced at their weapons piled away━he knew those guns. His past made him quite well-knowledgeable in all these sort of things. These weren't guns just picked up by thugs in a store, or stolen. They were expensive. Well-gripped, army guns; camoflauged. No thug just had these for a riot. 

     "I'm just a concerned citizen," replied the leader. 

     Coulson didn't realise Leith picked up one of the hand-guns, feeling it. He eyed the others━all of them wore loose shirts and jackets, ones bigger than their normal size. But they were still defined underneath, like they were covering something. Not so big that they were bombs ... no, something else.

      "Then we have something in common, because right now, I'm concerned about vigilantes who target Inhumans during a blackout."

     "Who's side are you on?"

     Leith checked the ammunition in the gun, clicked off the safety and held it out to the chest of the leader. He was sure. "Definitely not yours━" Bang!

     Fitz jumped, spinning around. Couslon was stunned, staring at Leith who wasn't fazed. Mack shouted, "What the hell are you doing?!" and ran to the man's aid, holding him up. Ripping the top of his short open, he faltered at the bullet proof vest that had kept him alive.

      His brows rose back at Leith. The Inhuman shrugged. "What? I know bullet-proof vests under clothing when I see it━" he winked at Mack. "I'm good at undressing with my eyes, if you know what I mean━"

     "Yes, the whole world knows what you mean, Leith," said Coulson. 

      "I also know my guns," Leith walked up to the thug as Yo-Yo and Coulson shuffled over to where they stood, both wide-eyes and concerned with this information. He crouched down and held the gun up, peering at it in the dark. "This is military issued, as is your vest━" he picked at the material behind his shirt. "Expensive, advanced ... not something a vigilante thug who waits until the cover of dark to scare people like cowards could buy themselves. Just like the EMP. This Inhuman Resistence was a set up."

      Leith placed the tip of the gun against the man's chest. It was out of bullets, but he didn't know that. Mack frowned at Leith, taken aback, but with a subtle look, he understood. Leith wasn't like he used to be━he was better than that now. "So, tell me, what's a fit thug like you out hunting Inhumans with this type of gear?"

      He didn't answer. Mack turned over the man's hand, and sighed at the black dog tattoo. He was a Watchdog. Leith's jaw clenched, trying to keep his anger down. "And guess who's doing the hunting ..." murmured Mack. 

      "The Watchdogs are behind this?" asked Yo-Yo, walking forwards to continue searching their pockets with Mack. Leith stepped back, chucking the gun into the pile. 

     "Or someone's behind them," replied Couslon. "This was an orchestrated worldwide attack. Their turf has always been domestic."

      "First the Chinatown Crew having Watchdog tattoos," muttered Leith, tapping his palm as he paced and thought, "next thugs having high-tech military weaponry orchestrating a worldwide attack ... this isn't just some sicko. Whoever's behind this has a lot of money. A lot."

      "Found something," Yo-Yo pulled out a piece of paper from one of the men's jackets. Passing it to Coulson, he read it and his face dropped in dread.

     "Asset numbers and addresses," he sighed. "This is what I was afraid of."

      Leith grabbed it to have a glimpse. "This is from the Inhuman Registration List. Look, it's got my name and Clara's on it."

      "And every time an asset's on the move, it's automatically updated. That's how they knew she was here."

     "How'd they get it?" wondered Yo-Yo.

     "Pretty sure it didn't come out fo S.H.I.E.L.D., but we're not the only agency that has it. Not to mention every nation that signed the Accords."

    "Well, no matter how tight security is, things have a way of disappearing," said Mack. "Lists, weaopns, meds," he gave a pointed look at Yo-Yo, and her gaze dropped. Ah, yes, Leith remembered. Yo-Yo has been stealing fast-pace healing meds for Daisy without telling anyone. 

      "And if they're hunting Inhumans here, they're hunting them in other cities," Coulson was not hapy. "With communication down, we have no way to warn them."

     "Yeah, well━" Fitz finished whatever he was scribbling on his notepad before he rushed over, "━might not be that much longer," he held up a long set of equations, "'cause I think I can solve this."

     Passing through them, he hurried to the table of wine and champaign bottles. He picked up the closest one, tugging out the cork with a satisfying pop! Mack frowned at him. "By getting tanked?"

     Fitz glanced back, confused, "What? No, I just need the corks. And I'm also gonna need some needles and some bowls of water." Seeing the looks on their faces, the scientist faltered. Leith arched a brow. "What, didn't any of you guys go to the Scouts?" they continuined to watch him blankly. "We're making compasses!" said Fitz. They were still clueless and he scoffed. "Oh, come on. It's rudimentary science!" he sighed, shaking his head. Grabbing the next bottle, he twisted the cork out. "Yeah, no big deal," he muttered to himself. "Just rudimentary science maybe saving the day..."

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(March 22nd; 2017
Radcliffe Residence, Washington D.C)

     "YOU want to kill her?!" 

     Agent Roy was furious. They were running out of time to find a way to save May's life. The hologram flickered behind the group of scientists as they argued. Clara was more than furious, really, she was livid. She gave Radcliffe a trusting chance to do the right thing━to give her a reason to trust him after everything he had done for Hive, but to kill May in order to save her? He was insane! Clara won't do it!

      Radcliffe sighed, holding out his hands to her in his best attempt to explain, "Think of her brain as a computer that's been compromised by━by bugs and glitches━"

     "She's not a computer!" exploded Roy. "She's a person! She's not some experiment, she's not some primitave, she's not something to make your ego bigger━she is a person. She's May!" 

      "If we shut it down," went on Radcliffe, gesturing to May's jerking body on the stretcher, her whimpering not helping Clara and Jemma's hesistancy, "and reboot it, then the parts of her brain that have been hyperactivated should reset back to default."

      "It's May's brain!" cried Roy, energy sparking from her fingers before she could stop it in her anger. Radcliffe eyed them warily. He knew too well what she was capable of. He had experienced it first hand. "Not a bloody computer! You can't reset a brain! It's an organ, okay? An organ, not a battery. I know it's hard for you to tell the difference, as a Transhumanist, and a sicko━but there is one."

      "I'm not a sicko," the Scottish in him was coming out in fumes. "You came here for the impossible because nothing probable was making sense━I'm providing the impossible."

      "And what if it doesn't work?" Clara's anger fell away slightly to be replaced with dreadful fear. "That means we killed May."

      Radcliffe sighed, exasperated. He turned to Simmons and she pinched the bridge of her nose, a little shaky as she tried to figure out all the possibilities. "This is crazy," she decided.

      "Without a doubt," said Doctor Radcliffe, "but we're out of time and out of options."

      Simmons glanced at them both, before her eyes settled on May writhing by the equipment and monitors. She shuffled her weight on her toes, unsure, before, with a grit of her teeth, she said, "Okay. Okay━"

      "What?" Roy stared at her in horror. "Are you seriously going to risk May's life like that?"

      "What other choice to we have?" snapped Simmons. 

      "But━"

      "That's an order, Roy," Jemma told her, pushing past. "Follow it."

       Clara clenched her hands into fists, trying to keep her anger down in hopes not to explode out with her power. She took a deep breath, and said, "Fine━fine! Once her heart stops," she propped her hands on her hips, breathing heavily in her distress, "we'll have approximately seven minutes before she has irreparable brain damage and can't be brought back at all."

      Radcliffe nodded, a little relieved she was on board. "Yes━yes━" he pointed to the screens behind them, "━during which time we monitor her brain activity, and once it reaches minimum threshold━"

     "We'll shock her back to life and hope that your crazed theory is correct," Clara walked up to the medical supplies Radcliffe had set up prior to their arrival.

      "Exactly," muttered Radcliffe as she did. "Then we'll go and have lots of drinks."

       Briefly glancing at Simmons, Roy didn't know how she felt being ordered around by her best friend. This was all new to them, but she always considered them equals. Being instructed into silence by Jemma was a little shock that left her a little ashamed, but when her friend nodded, she knew that all was forgiven. 

     Jemma passed her the lethal injection and Clara took it with shaky fingers. She took another deep breath, grabbing the needle and prepping it. 

     Radcliffe, ignorant to their feelings, clasped his hands together and called out, "Right? You ready?"

     The girls stared at him, annoyed. 

     "Hell, no, we're not ready," snapped Simmons. "We're about to kill May!"

     Radcliffe pursed his lips, "We're about to save May," he corrected.

     Roy narrowed her eyes. She didn't say anything, just placing the drug down onto the tray and walked up to one of the women who mean the most to her in her life. Clara placed a hand on May's trembling figure, hating the way her up-rolled eyes flickered and shot around under hooded lids. 

     "It's okay," she whispered, brushing her hair off her face again. "It's going to be okay, May," she moved her fingers down to her neck to feel the vein. Clara hesitated. She was just about to kill May. Roy suddenly felt like she was under the sway all over again. With a purse of her lips, she pushed past it and sunk the needle into May's skin.

      "I'm so sorry," she whimpered. 

      It was a rapid death━only seconds before the monitor's quick beeping turned flatline, and May slumped, her head falling to the side. Clara stepped back, quickly setting down the needle and holding her fingers to her lips. It was silent━horrible silence. 

      And now, they waited. 

     Clara wrung her hands, finding it hard to look at May. She glanced at the monitor, at the time on her watch, at Simmons, at Radcliffe, at the defillibrator━everything except for the woman she just killed.

     Seconds ticked away to minutes. None of them dared to speak, holding hitched breaths as they eyed the monitor and waited for the time to revive May and hope to God this worked. 

     Roy's breaths were shudders, her heart thundering and pounding in her chest and ears. She was brought back to when she thought Daisy had died when she gotten shot━Blimey, that felt like years ago, and it was. And now, May was lying on the bed, actually dead, and relying on them to help her with nothing but a loose theory. 

      And if May died ...

      No, Clara won't think of that. If she did, she knew she'd break, and then she'd be a help to no one. 

      Finally, the clocked ticked past the five minute mark. 

     "We have less than two minutes," said Simmons, clutching May's arm from beside the bed. 

     "Okay," said Radcliffe. "We're approaching minimum brain activity threshold," he informed, nodding at the monitor. He glanced at Clara. "Get ready."

     She nodded and pulled the tray over. How her hands were still steady, she had no clue, but with Jemma's help, she managed to connect May up to the defibrillator. Opening up the case, she warmed it up to ready for the shock. 

     It whirred and Clara grabbed the handles. Behind her, she heard Radcliffe start, "One, two ... now━"

     With a gasp, she reached in with the shock━

     The lights went dark.

     Roy froze, eyes wide as she realised what had happened. The whirs stopped, the monitors went blank, and they were shrouded in shadow. 

     Simmons shook a little, "What the bloody hell happened?!"

     "I don't know!" cried Radcliffe, trying to reboot his computers. "We've lost power!"

     "Oh, no, no, no━" Clara chucked the pads away and brought her hands together against May's chest. Why now, why here━why bloody here?!

       "I don't understand━the backup generator should've kicked in━"

      Clara paid no attention to him. The ache in her throat returned as she tried to revive May with rythmic pushes to her chest. "No, no, no━" her words were muddled with sobs threatening the break through. May's body jerked at each push, but her face was lifeless, her lips dry━even in the dark, she knew there was no colour to her face. "No, no, no━May!" Clara cried, desperate. Simmons was ready at her side for the swap, tearful as she registered what had just happened, but Roy was so zeroed in, she passed the counter, continuining even with aching arms.

      "Come on, May!" she sobbed, heart crying. Tears streamed down her cheeks━she did this. I did this. I killed May. Clara was begging, pushing for her powers to try and do something━but as much as she wished they could, even she couldn't revive the dead.

       "Clara━"

      "I don't understand━what happened to the bloody power?!"

      "May, wake up!" Roy felt like she was a child. Screaming and crying and pleading. Her voice cracked with each sob and each demand━as if by hearing her, May would spark back to life. "May, May━you're going to live, all right? You have to live! Come back!"

      She remembered what her mother said as she had died, bloody with a blade wound to her stomach. You can't heal what's meant to be dead. 

      Clara tried again, pushing the gold out of her fingers and into May's chest. But she felt nothing. No light, no energy━no movement. There was nothing to heal. Nothing to use. "N━No!" she kept going, even as her movements became sluggish. She kept trying, even when Simmons stepped back, hands tugging at her hair as they reached the last minute. "I'm not losing you━I can't lose you, too!"

      "We━we need ice!" she was desperate, clinging onto anything. She glanced at Jemma, who was crying. "We need to keep her cold!"

     Simmons croaked, "C━Clara━that won't━that's not a cyro━" she stopped, and hoarsly added, "...at this point ..."

     Radcliffe pulled at his skin saddly, "If we could only jump-start a battery or ..." his sentence fell away. He ran out of the room, but Clara didn't realise. She just kept going and kept going and kept going━

      Jemma took her arm━rather forcfully.

     Clara knew. She knew.

     She stopped and instead fell down to May's chest, clinging onto her shoulders and sobbing. "I'm sorry━" her body shook. Jemma held a hand on her back and the other against May's cheek, breaking down, too. "I'm so sorry..."

      But then, a light glowed in the corner of Clara's eye. She looked up, breath hitching with a tearful gasp at the green light Radcliffe carried━gently and gingerly towards the table.

      Roy couldn't speak, and so Jemma did for her. Pushing through her sobs, she managed, "W━what is that...?"

      "It's a self-sustaining, magnetically shielded clean-energy device," he said, setting it down and connecting it to the defibrillator. "It's a prototype of something I've been working on in my spare time. Might just do the trick."

      Clara didn't waste any time. Despite being tired, and tearful, and an absolute mess, she grabbed the pads and Simmons took to the charger. In the green light, the machine whirred back to life with just thirty seconds to spare. 

      "Go!" cried Simmons.

     May's body lurched up at the touch. 

     "Come on, May!" cried Clara. "Come on━come on!"

     She hit the bed again. Nothing.

     The whir returned. 

     "A━Again━"

     May shuddered again, "Wake up!" screamed Clara, her voice hoarse and strangled. "Wake up!" Again, and again━at each order, Clara acted, hoping for May to open her eyes━but nothing. Nothing.

     And then━like a miracle━

     May jolted to consciousness.

    Clara stood there, shocked as May coughed, not doing to well for the situation she had just been in. But she was alive━she was alive━

     Roy broke out into tears again and Radcliffe took the equipment from her since she could barely find the thought to put them down. 

     May━despite having just come back from the dead━managed to push herself to lean up against the stretcher and grumble, "What━oh━where am I━?" she felt the straps keeping her to the stretcher, "Get this crap off of me━!" she was cut off by two sobbing girls throwing themselves at her, arms tight around her chest and shoulders. 

     Clara held on as tight as she could, scared to lose her again. She buried her face into her shoulder━amongst the sweat but she didn't care. May was alive. 

     "Welcome back, Agent May," said Simmons through her tears, slumping in relief. 

     She pulled away, wiping the tears from her cheeks. With Clara still clinging on with her tight hug, May looked over at Jemma, incredulous. "Did I miss something?"

     Jemma chuckled, ready to break into tears again. She undid the straps keeping May restrained to the bed and with a careful hesitance, the Cavalry wrapped her arms around the girl still weeping into her shoulder. Melinda May gave Clara Roy a weak rub. 

✲══〖✰〗══✲

     a/n: god was this a long chapter, so the editing is minimal ahaha sorryyyyyy. 

     i actually was tearful writing clara trying to revive may, considering she already lost one mother and was starting to realise she had just killed another. 

     but may's alive! her daughters are estatic! and she's just like wtf when they hug her it's hilarious but also so sweet like--

     (and i love fitz. have i said that recently?)

     (i also love leith, too, as we all do).