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chapter nine

(April 13th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

     "DUE to recent events, S.H.I.E.L.D. is on high alert."

    Leith took a deep breath, trying to stay awake and at focus as Mace spoke. He hugged his stomach, rocking sideways a little beside Mack and May. As the usual days at S.H.I.E.L.D., after stopping one life-threatening nuclear bomb problem, they were dealing with another. Not as earth-shattering as the one yesterday, but it definitely had the potential to become one. 

     "This is a serious threat we're facing," went on the Director, "which is why I've assembled you all here today."

     "Oh, and I thought we were just here for some tea and biscuits," muttered Leith sarcastically. Mack nudged him, giving him a short look.  

     Mace ignored Leith's quip and continued his pace of his office, "It is absolutely critical that we safely dispose of the Darkhold. Phil," he turned to the old Director and he stepped forward to brief.

     "Once the Zephyr's ready," said Coulson, "Agents May, Roy and Mackenzie will accompany me. We'll transfer the Darkhold to an Agent who specialises in making items like this disappear."

    "How's he going to manage that?" asked Radcliffe, a little dubious. Leith arched a brow at him across the line where he stood next to Fitz. "Some sort of magic spell?"

     There were blank gazes. Leith smirked, amused at the way Radcliffe went red at the lack of humour at his joke. Fitz sighed, embarassed for him. They didn't like him, and so he didn't get the opportunity to make annoying jokes like Leith does (it made him feel quite good about himself, weirdly). 

     "Right, yeah," mumbled Radcliffe, "probably had your fill of dark-arts jokes, what with the flame-headed demon and all of that."

    "No, we just don't like you," Leith told him point-blank. Fitz threw his hand up a little, startled at his blunt words, and if not a little exasperated with his friend.

     "While we're handling the book," resumed Coulson, eyes fixed on Fitz, "your missionis to accompany Doctor Radcliffe and erase A.I.D.A.'s hard drive."

     The two scientists were immediately against this idea. They frowned, stood up striaghter, and let out many objects of, "What━?", "━I'm not━I'm not sure━", "━Seriously━?"

     "A.I.D.A. read the Darkhold," stated Director Mace. 

     "We can't risk having any of its contents in her memory," agreed Coulson. "It's too dangerous."

     Radcliffe nodded, though he did not seem like he liked this idea at all. Fitz pursed his lips and crossed his arms. He took a deep breath and looked down, shuffling. Leith believed Fitz understood, but he also held A.I.D.A. in high regard as a way to keep people he cared about safe ... or rather Clara.

    "Makes sense," he muttered under his breath, "although, does seem a little bit unfair to A.I.D.A., considering how many lives she just saved."

     Mack rounded on him, if not a little horrified by the revelation that Fitz was against this idea. "Okay," he said. "First of all, that thing is not a 'she', it's a damn robot━" before either of them could correct him, Mack continued, "━And second of all, what's the matter with you two chuckleheads? Have either one of you seen a movie in the last thirty years? The robots always attack."

     "Well," Radcliffe butted in, "technically speaking, A.I.D.A.'s not a robot, she's an android."

     "That's true," added Fitz, nodding. 

     Leith couldn't help but chuckle, finding this hilarious despite the tone of the situation. Just the look upon Mack's face and Radcliffe and Fitz looking like scolded children who tried to sneak their hands into their grandmother's sweets jar was enough to set him off. May shook her head at him, but even she held a slight smirk upon her face. 

     "Android, robot, it doesn't matter what you call' em," argued Mack. "The end result's always the same: they rise up against their human overlords and go kill crazy!"

     "Okay, okay," Leith forced his chuckles back down, holding a hand up in front of Mack, "what the big boy is trying to say in a less ... intense way." Mack frowned at him at those words. "Is that we saw what the Darkhold did to Eli and that. And yeah, A.I.D.A.'s an android, and runs by coding━or something technical. But we know practically nothing of what the Darkhold can do. We don't want A.I.D.A. to be affected. Think of it like a ... medical treatment, you know?" Leith felt strange talking about A.I.D.A. like she was an object. She was an adroid, but a very real one, and when did the line between human and robot cross? Does she have feelings? Leith felt bad to refer to her as it, like she didn't matter. She had bled, she had felt the pain━Leith could understand the strange circumstance. He believed A.I.D.A. needed to be respected; she was intelligent enough to pass as 'human', and that was scary to think about, but Leith found also important to not completely disregard her for that. "She's still saving everyone, still here, but we can't have the chance of something going wrong━to anyone, her included."

     Radcliffe sighed, but nodded. "I guess you make a fair point. Yeah━" he turned to Fitz who was still staring at the ground, "━I don't see any harm in replacing her hard drive." He shook his head, but didn't say anything. 

    Leith realised he tended to do that. When something went wrong, or against him, he took a deep breath and looked down, as if expecting to be yelled at and degraded. It made him frown, concerned. But Leith never asked. Fitz was open about a lot of things, but there was one thing he never talked about: and that was his past and his family. He mentioned his Mum with a smile on his face, but that was it. 

     "Better safe than sorry, as they say," finished Radcliffe.

    Mace smiled at him, "So happy you agree! 'Cause it's also an order." The smile dropped and he nodded to the door. "Now get to work."

     Leith let out a low whistle. He'll say what he wanted to say about the new Director, but man can that guy deliver sass━politicians and their many talents. As they all left, Leith passed by Fitz and gave his friend a pat on the back. "Hey, man," he said in a soft voice. He met his gaze and they walked down the stairs together, "don't stress over A.I.D.A. I think she's cool. But she's also like plutonium, you know? Can power a city, can also destroy it━literally."

     Fitz pursed his lips, "Didn't I teach you that analogy?"

     Leith just grinned, "Did you?" he left him, sending a thumbs-up. "See you soon, Fitzy."

     "Don't call me that."

    He stepped into the hallways of the Playground to head towards the armoury to arm up for the trip. He passed the lab where inside, Roy, Simmons and Daisy hudded around Simmons's desk. The lab wasn't too busy, and so they could peer at the person on the monitor━the same Inhuman who Clara and Jemma had seen, and his identy sure brought forth even more problems and questions. 

    Daisy's brows shot up. She had been staring at his face for a few seconds, and his name, unable to believe the irony they had before them. Finally, she glanced at Roy and Simmons to say, "A━are you sure this is the Inhuman you saw in the husk?"

     Simmons nodded, "Absolutely positive."

    Roy sighed, palms pressed agianst the cool stone of the desk in between Daisy and Jemma. It felt strange to be like this again━working as a team, in the Playground, all of them agents again ... but it was a nice strange, a better strange. Things were on their way to becoming normal again. "Yeah, we knew Senator Nadeer was connected to him somehow," she went on, "and in our reaserach on her, recognised him."

     "Vijay Nadeer," muttered Simmons, still shaking her head a little in surprise, "her own brother, if you can believe it."

     "Yeah, but there's zero evidence that he's been missing," said Daisy. She tapped up his Facebook account on one of the tabs to prove her point. "I mean, he's been posting on Facebook, Twitter━" she switched through the tabs and finally swiped up her own research; hacking into his bank account for transaction dates and activity. "Look, even his bills are paid. He even recently signed up for a Master Class in directing."

     "He does look like he could be a director," mumbled Clara, leaning in, too. "He's already got the whole knitted jumper look━but that's besides the point," she got back on track. "There's been no new photos of Vijay in the last seven months."

     Daisy nodded, understanding. "Right ... so, either he's suddenly gotten camera-shy or..."

     "Or someone's hiding him," finished Simmons.

     "Not someone," said Daisy, "the Senator, considering she's the country's leading anti-Inhuman hatemonger."

     "We'd have a much better idea where she was hiding him if the Director hadn't insited we wear hoods before going on assignment," muttered Clara, still bitter over the whole ordeal. The three girls turned around to cross their arms and lean back against the desk. 

     "Yeah," scoffed Jemma in agreement. "it was just awful."

     Daisy glanced at them. She mustered a small smile, "It's hard to breathe in those things, huh?"

    "Oh, definitely━", "━Bloody hard."

     The friends all shared smiles. Clara hugged her stomach, nudging Daisy beside her, "I'm sure I can speak for Simmons on this, but it is nice having someone else here to talk to again." Jemma nodded. Roy met Daisy's gaze and added, "You, specifically."

      Daisy arched a brow, "Someone other than Fitz and Leith?"

     "Oh, well, of course them," said Clara, rolling her eyes. "But ..." she shuffled against the desk, sighing, "you know ... Fitz━he's been rather distracted lately."

     "Distracted how?"

      Roy pursed her lips but decided to say, "A.I.D.A."

     Daisy nodded with a silent, oh.

     "Yeah," went on Clara. "Well, you know how boys can be with their androids. And not to mention it's mildly attractive, you know. Like, perfect skin, perfect teeth━lovely hair..."

     Quake opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped herself. She frowned at the saying━wasn't it how boys can be with their cars? But Simmons agreed with a scoff, and Daisy chuckled. But, no, she didn't understand and so she added, "A━actually, no, I really don't."

     Clara was ready to explain more, but then out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone enter the lab. She quickly reached back and got out of the tabs for Simmons who said: "Speaking of the Director, here comes his little Smithers now."

     The publicity agent walked straight up to them, wearing his annoying smile. They weren't amsued. 

     "What do you want, Burrows?" demanded Simmons.

     "The Director would like a word with Quake."

     Quake gritted her teeth. "My name's Daisy," she replied.

     Burrows just smiled, "Well, not according to the press release. Now, if you'd follow me, ma'am..."

     He started off. Daisy rolled her eyes. She met Roy and Simmons's gazes, all of them equally annoyed before she left and followed Burrows out of the lab. 

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(April 13th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

     THEY DIDN'T even get the chance to leave to find a place to hide the Darkhold before bad news reached the comms. Leith found it sort of absurd that Mack's predictions came true only an hour after he mentioned them. But did they all see it coming? Perhaps, but they just didn't think it would be so soon. Leith came bursting into the common room, cocking his gun. He was sure these bullets would have no use against a psycho-turned android, but he felt better having a weapon at his belt. 

     He was just glad Fitz and━yes━even Radcliffe got out of there alive. Nathanson wasn't so lucky. He hadn't come back since he went to get May, A.I.D.A and Radcliffe yesterday, and now they all understood why. He was dead. Neck broken with the snap of a robot's hand. The other agents that had accompanied the scientists to the transhumanists Washington home were either severely injured, or dead, and Leith cursed the universe for being so cruel. One of them barely even started his job at S.H.I.E.L.D. He had potential, one of the best new Operations Agents and was a good drinking buddy. 

     Already waiting in the common room were May and Couslon. They stood by the monitors, and Leith heard Coulson say as he entered: "It's like we've stepped straight into a comic series."

     "More like Westworld," Mack stormed in with his shot-gun axe.

     Leith frowned at him, confused. "West ... Westworld?"

     His friend stopped and gave him an exasperated glance. He threw his hand out and Leith recoiled back, startled. "See━this is why this stuff happens!" Mack shook his head, mumbling furious, incoherent mutterings to himself. Then, he spoke up again to say, "Y'all believe in murderous alien ancestors but never think that a robot would take over the world? None of you remember Ultron?"

     Leith raised a finger, "Well ... I was framed for my father's murder and locked in a cell in Afterlife by my own mother when that happened so ... no ..."

      May sighed at them, but turned to Couslon with her focus on the situation at hand, "Any luck finding A.I.D.A.?"

     "I'm checking locap APBs," answered Coulson, fronwing at the monitors. He had been ignoring the past conversations with a gave stiffness to his shoulders, "pointlessly. But Fitz and Radcliffe should be back any minute. Maybe they'll have some idea where A.I.D.A.'s headed."

     "This isn't some Johnny 5 we're talking about," grumbled Mack. "This is a bloodthirsty murder-bot on the loose. This thing really killed Nathanson?"

     "Yes," sighed Coulson. "Question is: why?"

     "If we catch her," Mack loaded his gun, "I'm sure we'll get some crazy-ass Roy Batty explanation."

     Leith held another hand up, "Mate, stop with the movie references. I don't get any of them."

     May crossed her arms, brows furrowed in thought. "Maybe Nathanson saw something he wasn't supposed to see..." she murmured, still thinking. 

     Coulson shrugged━they were all wondering this, but they didn't know what. "Guess we won't know 'till we find A.I.D.A."

     Just on cue, Fitz and Radcliffe walked through the doors.  Mack glowered at Radcliffe as they reached the table, looking a little beaten up, but otherwise oaky. "First, maybe we lock up the guy who created this mess."

     "Hey, don't━" Radcliffe held a hand out in his defence, "━don't be so quick to judge. A.I.D.A.'s programming was perfect. This is━is clearly the Darkhold's fault."

      "You're saying reading the Darkhold may have corrupted A.I.D.A.'s programming? Is that even possible?"

      Leith glanced at Couslon, "I mean, I kinda guessed it," he offered. 

     Fitz took off his jacket, throwing it over the back of a chair and massaging his shoulder, "Technically, no, but Leith was right━we're dealing with a book that can read people's minds and also reveal the hidden secrets of the universe, so..."

      May cursed herself. She stood off the edge of the seat she leaned back against to say, "I should never have let A.I.D.A. near that thing."

     "Don't be so hard on yourself, Agent May," said Radcliffe. "I━for one━am glad that A.I.D.A. read that book. Otherwise, both of you━" he gestured to Coulson and Fitz, "━would not be standing here alive at this very moment."

     Mack was not convinced. He continued to scowl, "Well, book or no book, you're still a big, dumb idiot for building that thing in the first place."

     "Let's save that debate for another time," cut in Couslon. "Right now, we need to find A.I.D.A., and the first step is figuring out what she wants."

     Radcliffe scoffed. They all glanced at him. At their expecting looks, he shrugged, "Well, that's simple," he told them. "She wants to live."

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(April 13th, 2017
Quinjet, Classified)

     CLARA KEPT silent at her seat on the quinjet. She wasn't sure about this mission with the Director. The last time she had been on a mission for him, he had a bag thrown over her and Simmons's heads (as Fitz would say, kidnapped them). But she was glad she also had Daisy with her this time, and the Director sitting across from them. They were in search of Nadeer's brother to rescue him━however they were meant to do that. She tapped her foot on the floor, watching it shuffle along the lines. Mace had sent her and Jemma in there to help Nadeer to protect S.H.I.E.L.D., and that told her his heart was in the job, but that didn't change the lack of trust she held for him. She now knew he could hide a lot of things behind that smile, and in unnerved her. 

     However, upon receiving information on A.I.D.A.'s killing of Nathanson, and attacking Fitz and Radcliffe when they went to erase her hard drive, the tense air only got worse. Roy was relieved to get a reply from Fitz to let her know he was okay, but A.I.D.A. was still out there. Clara felt a swirl of guilt in the pit of her stomach ... she should have told someone about A.I.D.A. in the first place, then maybe none of this would have happened. 

     Clara shuffled her legs awkwardly in the jet seat. "I'm sorry," she suddenly spurted out the Director. He frowned, a little confused at the arubt apology. Quickly explaining, Roy said: "I'm really sorry━about this whole A.I.D.A. situation. I should have never lied. If I had said something about it, maybe this would have never happened━"

    "It's not your fault," Daisy told her. 

     "Yes it is," mumbled Clara. "I know the risks that come with using powerful autonomous machinery. I knew the dangers, and━"

     "And you thought I was one of them," Mace cut her off and she faltered. Clara pursed her lips and looked back down at her feet. "You didn't want that technology to fall under the control of a Director you didn't know."

     "I also didn't know what would happen to Fitz if you did find out," Roy said softly, glancing at Jemma briefly. "He━his heart was in the right place, it always is ... he did not want this to happen. He's a good person━"

    "You don't need to tell me what I already know, Agent Roy," Mace sent her a strained smile. Daisy rubbed Roy's shoulder.

     "But now it's completely out of control," she continued, "and I'm really sorry."

     Jemma grasped her arm, squeezing it to say, "We both are." Roy met her gaze, grateful. They had both lied to the Director, and Simmons wasn't going to let Roy take the hit alone. They have each other's backs, ever since the Academy. "As head of Science and Technology it was my responsibility. We are both sorry."

     Director Mace took a deep breath, "Well," he said, fixing his suit jacket, "Agent Coulson will have to handle it. We have our own life to save." The girls nodded. Clara fiddled with her rings. "And, uh ..." they glanced back up, "I'm sorry I put the bags over your heads."

     "Okay..." Daisy didn't like the awkward tension of apologies, so she put them back on track, "what's the play here, Director? How do we find this Senator and her brother?"

    "Normally," he uncrossed his leg, "I'd use my contacts up on the hill, go in, rattle a few cages, see what drops out, but I don't want to draw too much attention."

     "Downside of being front-page news," muttered Agent Quake, giving him a sarcastic smile.

    "Which means we need to find a more covert way in," realised Simmons.

    "Well, seeing as you three have more experience in working in the shadows," Mace leaned forward, "I'm open to suggestions."

     And like that, Clara had an idea. She smiled, turning to Simmons and as if she knew exactly what she meant (and she definitely did), Jemma's shoulders slumped and she muttered, "Oh no ..."

    Daisy didn't know what they were talking about, but just the look on Jemma's face made her grin and say, "Oh, yes."

    Considering Simmons wasn't front-page news, nor was she an Inhuman under the regulations of the Sokovia Accords, it was safe to pick her to go into the office of Senator Nadeer. It didn't take long for Daisy to create a fake I.D for her, and with a quick professional dress-up, Jemma was sent in. 

     Roy had suggested Simmons for many reasons other than the ones above. First of all, she was far more capable undercover than people gave her credit for, and two, she knew an American accent. (All those times watching American shows with Fitz made them all switch into the syllables and twist of the tongue easily). 

     Back on the quinjet, Clara, Daisy and Director Mace listened on through comms as the door to the office opened and Jemma was met with Nadeer's assistant. 

     "Sorry for the wait, Miss Beaks," they heard him say, though they did not have a visual. "What can I do for you?"

     Roy smirked as Simmons began immediately with no hesitation in a rich American accent, "It is very important that I speak with Senator Nadeer about Bill Two-Four-Seven-Four."

    "The armed forces bill?"

    "That's right."

    Daisy made a quick face and whistled low under her breath, "Wow, that's a good accent."

     "Isn't it?" Roy put on her own, very proud of her best friend.

     Daisy stared at her, shocked, too. "Wait, you can do one, too?" She chuckled in her surprise. 

     "Fitz, Simmons and I all copied them from the American tv shows Fitz watched all the time," Roy explained quickly, smug. 

     Daisy remembered back on that train all those years ago when Fitz put on his accent, too. She shook her head, sometimes unable to believe the three scientists and their many secret talents. 

     "So, you're Margaret's replacement?" went on the assistant and Simmons didn't miss a beat:

    "As if anyone could replace Margaret."

     The man on the other end chuckled, though they were all sure this wasn't won yet. "Well, unfortunately, the Senator is away on business. Maybe we can schedule in for a conference call later this week."

    "Or," Simmons countered. Roy smirked again, "maybe I could just take the lobby's sizeable campaign funds to a Senator who's willing to speak right now."

     They heard the silence of consideration. Roy and Daisy shared a quiet high-five for their friend's ability. "Wait right here," he decided. "Let me see what I can do."

     Mace was pleasantly surprised by how quickly Simmons manouvered the conversation around and got what they wanted. "You know," he said, "I have to admit. Jemma is much tougher than I had originally given her credit for."

     "Yeah, well," Daisy shrugged, "being in S.H.I.E.L.D. will do that to you."

    Roy hummed in agreement, eyes set on the comms line. "And besides, Simmons always been tough━even back at the Academy. She's gone through a lot and made it out on the other end. She's also been kidnapped like━three times, now?"

     Mace's eyes widened, "Really?"

     She nodded, "Mmhm," then shrugged again. "Well, only twice on this planet ... it's the normal. I mean, I've been kidnapped around that many times, too."

     "Once with the both of us," added Daisy. "Though, that was intentional."

     "Yeah," Roy muttered as she remembered Ward. Mace stared at them, incredulous. "Word of advice, don't date a Nazi."

      Mace looked like he had just aged a few years. "A ... anything else I need to know?"

     The girls thought about it, then, Clara decided to say, "I once jumped out of a plane. Without a parachute. Well, actually, twice without a parachute. One was in a flying car with Daisy."

      "The Nazi boyfriend was connected," Daisy smirked. 

     (They always liked telling their insane stories with little context to those who don't know what had happened. It made the experiences surprisingly easier to deal with, and made them feel better about how they survived━especially when they saw looks of impressed bewilderment on people's faces, like Mace's right now). 

     Back to listening in silence, they heard the sound of Simmons leaving the floorboards outside the office into the pads of carpet━she must've followed the assistant into the office without him noticing. Clara leaned in closer to hear the conversation he had on the phone better. It was always a little harder hearing other people from comms because the microphone was planted on the receivers body, which meant she also had to hear past the ruffling of clothes and the feel of hair against the mic━even with a silicon implant such as the ones they used. 

     Luckily, this time, things were rather clear, and they could hear exactly what Simmons heard: "Mister Shockley," said the man, unaware of Jemma there with him. "I need to speak with Senator Nadeer." There was a pause before he responded, "Remember the scientist that helped the Senator's brother get out of that husk? Well, she's here right now. What should I do."

    "Bloody hell," whispered Clara. 

     Mace tensed, "We should do something━"

     "No," Daisy stopped him, "Jemma can handle this."

     And she did. They heard her ask, "I'm going to need your phone━" before there was a scufle on the other end of the line. A spike of grunts, shoves, thuds and objects shattering. Clara heard the sound of glass, Jemma's gasps of pain. She clenched her hands on the back of the chair, her heart spiking with the comms, but she knew her friend would be fine. She has handled far worse. 

    It was only just over a minute before the scuffling stopped. They heard a shatter of glass and Jemma's heavy breathing. Other than that, there was silence.

    Daisy shared a glance with Roy and Mace before she tapped the mic to say through comms,  "Simmons, are you there? Is everything okay?"

     "Yeah," she replied, breathless. "A little bloody and bruised, but I'll survive. We may have a bit of a political situation on our hands when he wakes up. But now we can trace that call."

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(April 13th, 2017
The Playground , Classified)

     "JUST SENT A.I.D.A.'s photos out to local authorities," announced May, returning to the Playground common room where the rest of them waited, exasperated and nervous. Leith looked up from where he scrolled on his phone, trying to distract himself as they all waited to be able to continue with the plan ... whatever plan that might be.

      Mack set his harsh gaze back onto Radcliffe, "Looks like your creepiness finally works in our favour. Shouldn't be too hard to find your beautiful Weird Science sex-bot."

     "Mate," Leith pressed his fingers to his temple, "seriously, the references, I have no idea what you're talking about."

     "That's unfair, Mack," said Radcliffe, defending himself in a quite awkward manner that made Leith arch a brow. He leant against the back of the chair, hands gripping the wood. "I've never had sex with A.I.D.A. we're just good friends."

     Across the table, Fitz was making motions with his hands to shut up, even more exasperated than Mack (and that was saying something). Radcliffe shrugged back at him, confused and Fitz turned around, muttering an annoyed, "Bloody hell..."

     Coulson frowned slightly, but decided to move on. "Uh ... Good to know. So, A.I.D.A.'s basically a walking smartphone, right? If a person loses their phone, they can track it. Why can't we do the same with her?"

     Fitz rubbed his face, tired and annoyed. "Yeah, well, normally, we can," he said, "only A.I.D.A.'s somehow managed to take control of her entire operating system."

     "Which," went on Radcliffe with a sigh, "unfortunately includes her tracking program."

     An awful realisaton hit Leith. He sat up, back straight and stomach churning. He set his phone down and locked gaze with Radcliffe, fearing the answer to his next question. "Wait━hang on, what you're saying ... Does that mean A.I.D.A. can read her GPS history?"

    Radcliffe nodded. He didn't seem to understand how terrible that was.

    Leith stood up, suddenly very sick, "The same A.I.D.A. who has been here, at this compound? Who knows our location?"

     The scientist faltered. His hand dropped and he awkwardly clasped them behind his back. "Oh..."

     "Yeah," agreed Leith, outraged. "Oh."

     Just as he said that, the lights flickered. They all looked up, knowing full well the cause, and yet slow to realise━but it all hit them, like a gunshot, when every single phone in the room started to ring. A melody of different ringtones, high, low, syncronised in a terrible song that startled Fitz so much he jumped.

     Mack shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment to mutter, "I should've quit."

     Coulson set his jaw and answered, placing his phone on speaker. As he did, the ringing stopped, and it was silent. "Hello, A.I.D.A."

     The monitor's all glitched, showing a haunting image of her name over soundwaves. "It's nice to hear your voice, Agent Coulson," replied A.I.D.A.

     Mack dropped his phone, stepping back and continuing to shake his head. "Okay. This right here? It's exactly how The Lawnmower Man ends."

     "The Lawnmower Man?" repeated Leith, managing a brief incredulous moment. "Who names these movies? Seriously?"

     "What is it you want, A.I.D.A.?" asked Agent Coulson, eyeing the monitors rather than his phone.

     Without a beat, the android answered like a script out of a thriller or horror, "The thing that gave me a soul."

     Fitz glanced back at them, looking pale.

     Coulson made a face, even though the android couldn't see━at least ... Leith glanced up at the security cameras ... he believed she couldn't, right...? "The Darkhold? Yeah, I'm sorry, A.I.D.A. You've been acting a little off lately, so that's not gonna happen."

      "I was afraid you'd say that."

     The static crackled. The glitching monitors snapped a bright white before them and every light in the base fused; a spark of blinding electricity before everything went dark. The emergency lights lit up, but it was a cool, spooky glow where the shadows were large and everything seemed to hide possible monsters. 

      Leith sighed. Great. He wasn't even surprised. He saw this coming as soon as Radcliffe mentioned her GPS.

     "She's in the system," Coulson stated the obvious, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Fitz, any bright ideas?"

     "Uh ..." Fitz was examining the blown lights above, hands on his hips, "Roy, Simmons and I have built a━a non-Internet sever to power the base in case we ever got hacked again." He spun on his feet to grab his tablet, adding a grumble of, "Which seems to happen all the bloody time, doesn't it?"  

      "At least once a year," agreed Coulson. He nodded to Radcliffe and then Leith, "Go."

     They raced downstairs to eletrical. Leith had his gun out, even though he was sure bullets could do nothing to a robot who doesn't actually get wounded, or feel pain anymore. But he kept an eye out, protecting the two scientists as they stepped into the room, in nothing but dim light not from the emergency bulbs above, but the blue system of the panel.

     As Radcliffe and Fitz worked, Leith stood guard, glancing back and forth over his shoulder with a grit to his teeth. He felt a little useless. For someone who was a product of a long line of powerful Inhumans who could put people to sleep, manipulate energy and create parasitic organisms to infect other Inhumans from that energy, Leith often felt cheated. Sure, to someone who didn't have his powers, they'd look at him and say, what are you talking about? You can literally walk through the unconscious mind, practically be invisible. But at a vulnerable cost, locked away not to fight, but to scout. Or to search for people, talk to them, be some tracking hound to come back obedient with answers. Even if he fought with it, what was that good against an android who would do more damage to him punching than to her? Right now, he felt human. Just human with a gun that won't do anything and his heart pulsing with fear. If A.I.D.A. decided to come here, Leith wouldn't be able to protect Fitz and Radcliffe at all. He'd be struck, losing the fight before he even got the chance to try. 

      The two scientists were having a conversation that Leith didn't slip back into now, but he knew it was about A.I.D.A. Fitz flipped through his notebook for some reason, probably to help find the right system he tagged, since everything else was down. "No," he was saying to Radcliffe, "there was something different about her. It was like she was actually angry..." he found the spot he wanted and stopped there, setting the book aside.

     "No, no," Radcliffe shook his head, watching Fitz fiddle with the wires and buttons. "I mean, that's just impossible. I mean, A.I.D.A., she doesn't feel anything. She emulates. Her reactions are nothing more than approximations of emotions. It's pure mimicry."

     Fitz grabbed the manual generator, he slipped the box into the panel. "Yeah, well," he said as he did, "that's just it. What if reading the Darkhold somehow made the emotions that A.I.D.A. was mimicking real?"

     "That's messed up," Leith decided to add, pathetically trying to insert himself into their conversation from down the hallway. 

     Radcliffe glanced at him briefly, "Well, I get how the book can pass knowledge along to its reader, but human feelings? I mean, that's like something from one of Mack's movies."

     Fitz sighed. He pressed something; it clicked the generator into place. Then, he rummaged through his trolley for the next part he needed. Leith really had no idea what it was, he just hoped it will work. "Well, it would explain why she's acting counter to our programming."

      "What, you're saying she's being overwhelmed by this━this flood of new emotions?" scoffed Radcliffe. 

     "Yeah, well, think about it. Fear, anger, they're━they're powerful feelings, feelings that make people kill, so you can imagine then being bombarded with them all at once?"

     "Fitz..."

     But the engineer continued, "I mean, we've had our whole lives to process complex emotions. A.I.D.A. would've had days. It would be overwhelming━"

     "Oh, damn it, that's enough!"

     Radcliffe's snap made both Leith and Fitz freeze, spinning around to stare at him as he slumped, head hanging low. He sighed, clenching his eyes shut tight. "Oh, who are we kidding?" Radcliffe lamented. "We know it was my fault. It was nothing more than hubris that led me to create A.I.D.A. If only I'd shown some bloody restraint!"

     "Yeah, okay," said Leith, "but there's no point dwelling over it right now. It's done, it's dusted. Get your redemption by helping stop A.I.D.A. That's the problem we're facing right now."

     "Besides," Fitz murmured, voice soft in understanding as he continued to work, "you were trying to save lives."

     "No, it was more than that," said Radcliffe. "I wanted to create an android that could pass as human. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine she'd actually become human."

      Fitz tugged a wire a little harsher towards the connector, "A.I.D.A.," he said, standing back up with a stubborn look in his eyes, "is still just an android."

     "Yeah, but is she?" Radcliffe stepped closer, taking Fitz's arm. Leith frowned at him. "She has her own experiences, her own thoughts. Now she even has free will. How, then, is she not a living being?"

      Fitz and Leith stared at him, both a little taken aback. Leith didn't want to take those words to heart, but it swam around him uncomfortably. As soon as someone started to talk like that, that made things complicated. Morality standing upon a thin line to decide what was human, and what wasn't━like they were arrogant gods depicting life and who deserved what. 

     "It's just a theory," breathed Fitz, though he didn't sound so sure. 

     "Yeah," nodded Radcliffe in the same tone, "a theory we know to be true. And we're supposed to━what, kill her?" His voice dropped into a low, dreadful whisper: "How does that not make us murderers?"

✲══〖✰〗══✲

(April 13th, 2017
Nadeer Estate, Classified)

    DAISY TRACED the call to a large, secluded manor on a wide property of plains and woodland. It was beautiful to look at: with multiple wings, a red brick exterior with white edgings and traditional balconies overlooking a fantastic garden. But Clara tried her best to ignore it's beauty, knowing what lied within━that was how it always was, wasn't it? The ugly was hidden beneath the pretty; a facade of chandeleirs and polished wooden floors, old vases and antique chairs. She, Daisy, Jemma and Director Mace walked up the stairs and through the doors with no introduction. They were met almost instantly by armed men; many guns pointed at them but with no movement. They weren't stupid, they knew the havoc the three Inhumans within this group could cause if provoked.

     Roy glanced around the hall. There was a large, grand double staircase leading up to the floors above, and she wondered whether that was where they were keeping Vijay. In one of the many rooms in this mansion. 

    Out of one of the side rooms, Senator Nadeer joined them. Her eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head, lips quirking upwards into a smile that was far from welcoming. "I'm surprised to see you here, Director Mace, especially in the company of Quake, a known terrorist."

     "Guess you haven't been watching the news lately," replied Mace. "Agent Johnson here is a national hero━" he gestured to Daisy beside him, "━helped save a lot of lives in L.A."

     "Really? Is that what they're saying?" Ellen Nadeer clasped her hands casually in front of her jeans. "Funny how easily the press can be led a false narrative."

     "Is that a hex mag?" Daisy narrowed her eyes in on one of the guns Nadeer's soldiers held. "It's not really something the secret service uses, but it's a favourite among the Watchdogs."

     Mace sent her a glance, a small smug smile tugging at his lips. "Guess it's not just a theory after all."

     Nadeer pursed her lips. "These men are simply providing security," she said. "The world has become a very dangerous place because of people like you. Why, even today, I had an aide attacked in my office━" her dark eyes fixed on Simmons, "━which is why I'm sure you understand my wariness to have S.H.I.E.L.D. agents show up uninvited to my private propery, especially if they wish me harm."

     Carefully, Mace took a few steps forward. "I can assure you," he told the Senator, "we want no such thing. But I do have reason to believe that your brother's being held here against his will."

     "At gunpoint," added Clara, quirking a brow. 

     She saw the flicker of Nadeer's eyes. Studying into micro-expressions really have become useful. "That's a serious accusation you're making."

    "Well, if you have nothing to hide," spoke up Daisy, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind us taking a quick look around."

     "Actually, I would mind," said Nadeer sharply. "Does General Talbot even know you're here?"

     "This operation doesn't concern Talbot," the Director clenched his jaw.

     Nadeer scoffed lightly, "It will once I return to D.C," she said. "Uness you have some paperwork from the U.N, I think it's time you leave."

     The Watchdogs around them held up their guns again and Clara pursed her lips. Her gaze was fixed on Mace, awaiting his instructions. She saw the tension in his shoulders━but he glanced back at them and nodded. They had to leave. 

     Frustrated, Roy stormed out of the entry hall. If Vijay died, she would feel that on her shoulders. She owed it to him to help. She promised she would. In glancing at Simmons, she knew her friend felt the same way. 

     "He's here," Simmons told Mace as they descended the porch stairs.

     "We don't know that━"

     Bang!

     They all froze. Nadeer's eyes widened and instantly, she was off at a run back into the house. Mace blinked in surprise at the wonderful timing. "Okay, now we do."

     Daisy nodded. Turning to them, she said, "Go find Vijay. I'll take care of them."

     And so she did. As Daisy distracted the Watchdogs, Roy, Simmons and Mace ran the way Nadeer left. Bounding up the stairs, Clara's heart was racing. She heard the sounds of Daisy fighting still, punches and kickes and tremors that shook the foundations and made dust fall from the ceiling. They didn't have much time. They needed to get to Vijay before the Watchdogs did.

     Roy saw an open door. Inside, she heard the shouts of a fight. She didn't need to alert the others━they all knew this was where they needed to go. They pushed their feet to run faster.

     Clara skidded to a stop in the room, her eyes wide. Her breath hitched to see Vijay phase in and out as he fought; almost like Yo-Yo, and yet different. Back and forth he went, like his body was delayed, and yet faster at the same time. 

      Mace's mouth fell slightly agape, "Did you know he could━?"

     "We did not," answered Jemma, rather in awe. 

     Taking the gun from the last Watchdog, Vijay moved like an automation, as if he knew every skill and move to fight from the book. Confused and afraid, he slammed the man's head against the table and fired a shot to the ceiling. It wasn't until then that he stopped and stared, terrified at what he had done.

     "Vijay!"

     He turned to the other door, gun held ready to shoot. But in seeing his sister, he froze. Roy shook her head, not sure what to do. Vijay's eyes welled up with tears. He stumbled out a flurry of words to his older sister. "I━I didn't know..."

     "Vijay," Clara quickly spoke up, softer, but gaining his attention just the same. His eyes widened, recognising her and Jemma straight away. She sent him a small smile. "Hey. Look, you need to come with us."

     Vijay lowered the gun, his dark eyes turning gentle at the sight of them. "Clara? Jemma?"

     He started to walk towards them, but Ellen's words stopped him, "They've seen what you are. That's why they're here. S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to make you their weapon."

     Roy shook her head vigoriously. She stepped past her Director. "No. No, nothing could be further from the tuth. Vijay, it's like I said when we first met━I'm just like you."

     He pursed his lips. He stepped back slightly. "A━are you an agent?"

     "Yes," she said truthfully. "But I'm also a doctor. I work in the lab. I'm not a field agent. You don't have to━"

     "She's lying," Nadeer cut her off and Roy sent her a scowl. She tried to argue, but she never got the chance. The Senator walked around the chairs and to her brother. "I trusted you. Now trust me. We're family. Please, we have to go now."

     She had won. Roy knew she had won. She shook her head. If he went with her, he would die━she won't be able to save him. Watching him set the gun down on the dresser as his sister walked out onto the balcony, Clara pleaded. "Vijay, don't do this. Please━" he started to follow.

     "Vijay!" Jemma tried. "You're making a mistake!"

     He gave them one last glance, before stepping out the open balcony door. Clara wasn't ready to give up. She was ready to rush towards him, starting forward━but Mace grabbed her arm before she could. Turning back to him, she said, "He's not safe with her!"

     "Clara ..." said Mace and she stopped, pursing her lips. She looked away, hating the weight that was falling onto her chest. "Vijay had a choice, and he made it. I'm sorry." He let go, but she didn't move. Instead, she stared at the floor, a lump in her throat. She felt like she had failed him. "You did everything you could."

      But it hadn't been enough. 

✲══〖✰〗══✲

    a/n: let's be honest, i was frothing watching these episodes back and really seeing the moments where radcliffe manipulated fitz. gIVE THE MAN A BREAK!!!! HE'S BEEN THRU SO MUCH AND HE'S STILL SO TRUSTING━

     anyway, new chapter!!! i hope you like it even if there's definitely mistakes (as there always is ahahah). 

     mack in this chapter:

       leith: how many robot movie references will you make?

       mack: yes.

    i had a bit of trouble with this chapter ngl, but we got here. i'm honestly super excited for the framework because angst is just *chefs kiss* one of my favourite things to write. especially fitz-roy angst, which the framework is definitely gonna be full of, we all know this hehehe. but we'll also get a return of clara and ward angst, which i missed writing tbh. some of y'all didn't like that, but i really enjoyed taking that choice in the plot. i'm also super excited for leith's story in there, but i can't tell you anything because unlike clara, his isn't based and expanded from the show plot line. it's his own experience, and it's real development for him.