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chapter six

(April 6th; 2017
Zephyr One; Classified)

    LEITH SHOULD be used to everything going to shit by now; they try to fix one thing, it ends up worse than it had before. They try to save Eli Morrow, he ends up getting taken by Lucy Bauer.

     And now seeing the dead agents at Momentum Lab, Leith was dragging his hands across his cheeks and into his overgrown strawberry blonde curls, grabbing and tugging in his stress. He had made the decisions in that mission to the prison━he couldn't help but blame himself. What could have he done better? What could have he fixed? Changed? It was like he was going over his and Jemma's argument all over again.

     Speaking of Jemma, she still hasn't replied to his text. Perhaps she was so angry she had left him on open, but he knew her too well. She was too nervous to leave something on open; always feeling like she had to finish the conversation. Whether it be a simple 'okay', or a smiling or thumbs-up emoji, her leaving with nothing said was completely out of character. It only made him worse. What if her lie detector test went wrong? And if her's went wrong, what about Clara's?

     "Lucy Bauer was here," May said over comms, showing them her view from the visual of her glasses, "but she's long gone." Fitz told Leith they stemmed from Deathlok technology━the original Deathlok technology; or at least the Cybertek eyes they came across before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. He had taken the glasses he first manufactured for Ward all those years ago and turned them into this crazy-smart headwear.

      The Cavalry walked the distance of the room and Fitz quickly stammered a, "W━wait━Hold━" he pointed to the screen. "Uh, Agent May, can you go back and give me another look at where the cables connect to the chamber?"

      "Sure."

     She back-tracked and Fitz tapped his fingers against his bottom lip, eyes narrowed in thought as he examined the sight. Then, he nodded as if what he had suspected was correct. "Yeah, okay, that's━that's━that's definitely different from before. Uh━there's a number of pieces missing. She must have taken them."

      Coulson sighed, "She already has the book, the power cells ... my guess is she's trying to replicate the experiment and reverse the process. Un-ghost herself."

     "Is that why she took Eli Morrow?"

     "He's part of her original dream team," shrugged the old Director. "Maybe she needs him to do something she can't."

     "What? Show her face without scaring children?"

     Fitz propped his elbow up onto the back of the chair, lips pursed. He glanced back at Leith and Coulson. "The Momentum facilities are controlled by us now, so she needs a new place to work."

     "Evil lair," murmured Leith.

     "We need to find her before someone else gets hurt," stated Coulson before marching off to set up the satellite scans. Once he was gone, Leith pinched the bridge of his nose. With a deep sigh, he spun to Fitz and said:

     "Mate, this is off-topic, but━you haven't heard from Jemma, have you?"

      Fitz looked away from the monitor to arch a brow, "No ..." he pulled out his phone to double-check. "Nope," he said again. "Haven't heard from Simmons or Roy. They're probably busy."

      He was probably right, and so Leith nodded. "Yeah, yeah." But the frown wouldn't leave his face or the twist in his gut. Perhaps it was because of the fight, but there was something that made him extra nervous over Jemma's wellbeing at the moment. 

      He couldn't focus on it at the moment━not when they had these problems at a height, and yet his head wouldn't let it be. Leith glanced at his phone one final time before locking it and slipping it into his back jeans pocket. He tried to keep the smirk on his face, walking up to Fitz's chair and falling into it roughly, letting it spin. The engineer rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. He was used to it, after all. 

       Despite the situation at hand, things were rather calm in the Zephyr as they searched for the location of Lucy Bauer. They made a pit stop above Los Angeles to snatch up Robbie's younger brother Gabe for safety measures incase he'd be targeted as leverage before going ahead and drifting along cloaked as they awaited the tracking system to hit a target. 

       That was━until Leith saw something spike up onto the radar. He leaned forward with a frown on his face, pulling is feet off the desk. "Er ... Coulson━is that me or is a quinjet heading straight for us?"

      Just as he said those words, the comms lit up and a voice echoed into the command centre of the Zephyr; Director Mace was not happy, at all. 

     "Agent Coulson, this is Director Jeffrey Mace." Fitz looked over at the sound, going a little pale in the realisation of how bad this might just be. Leith met his gaze and kissed his teeth with a grimace. "You're harbouring two fugitives ... the Inhuman known as Quake and an enhanced individual who can control fire. I'm here to take them into custody. Prepare to be boarded."

     There was a tense silence that settled after the comms shut off. Leith winced, "Well, this will be a lovely reunion. Shall I go make some tea?"

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     "SO, what's different now? Why does Lucy Bayer think she can succeed this time?"

    "She has the book," said May. Fitz shook his head, running a hand through his short curls in frustration. The Cavalry arched a brow on the monitor. He wasn't in a good mood. First, he had a fight with Roy, and he was really terrified he screwed it all up. Second, the whole Darkhold thing wasn't making sense, and neither was Momentum Labs, or why Lucy Bauer━well, just be in the state she is. And three, Director Mace had stormed the Zephyr in search for Daisy and Robbie━oh, and there was also the fact that Clara was yet to return his messages and calls. Not even Simmons sent him anything. He had tried to act casual about it when Leith said something, but the fact that he was worried made Fitz even worse. He doesn't want to be that boyfriend that has to know where his girlfriend is at every point in the day, but they recently had a domestic and their fair share of near-death experiences. He tried to tell himself to be patient and wait an hour at the least, but with all the stress on his shoulders, his constant fear of something happening to Roy (like for example, her being tortured, kidnapped, jumping off a plane without a parachute ... just some examples, really ...) was really clawing away at him at the moment. 

     "Yeah, but she had it back then, too," he said. "Didn't stop her from getting ghost-toasted." Annoyed, he grabbed his tablet to search through the inventory May sent him. "There must be something ... something new."

     "Did you get my inventory from Momentum Labs?"

    "Yep. I'm looking at it just now. It seems like they took everything crucial, apart from the main━"

     The lab door opened, cutting him off. Fitz spun around, letting out a groan of annoyance and surprise at the full tactical team that stormed into the lab (guns and all). "Hey! Hey! What the hell?!" snapped Fitz, throwing his hands out. 

      "Directors orders," said one of them.

     "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry," Fitz clamped his hands together in a sarcastic apology. "Well, in that case, you should check under the microscope and in the fridge, 'cause those Inhumans can be tricky bastards." May sighed, shaking her head. He was not helping the situation, but he didn't care. Who's idea was to search the lab? Bloody idiots. "Yeah, you can tell the Director this is one giant snark hunt." As they left, deeming the area clear, Fitz called after them: "That's British for a bloody waste of time!"

     The door closed and he pressed his hands against the cool table, glaring at the floor. He rocked a little to try and control his head and breathing━the last thing Fitz needed was his words to mumble up due to his stress. May watched him, her scowl faltering slightly. "Feel better?"

     "Nope," he answered. "Not in the least. 'Cause I don't like the way they're hunting down Daisy like an animal. I don't trust the new Director, and if Roy doesn't call me back soon━" he spun around, hands clenched, "━I swear, I'm gonna━" he brought them together, flowing his anger out in a punch to his palm. 

     "You worried about her safety, or are you two going through something?" asked May and Fitz snatched up his tablet. 

     "Not sure," he mumbled. "Maybe both. Simmons hasn't replied to anything either━" a thought suddenly crossed his mind, and his tablet grew laxed in his grip. "Power," he realised with a breath. "Yeah. It's power."

      Fitz turned back to the monitor, "Momentum couldn't produce enough energy at their lab so she needs a place with more power." He was already off at a march. "I'll start looking into it."

      May ended the call on her end, not that he noticed. He surged through the hallways and up to the command centre with a determination. On his search for Coulson, he found Mack leaving the centre. Fitz was quick to stop him with a, "Oh, hey, hey━uh━Coulson?"

      "Uh, he's still escorting the Director around," he replied, a little rushed himself.

     Fitz tried not to get frustrated, but he already was. "I need to access some redacted SSR files."

     "Well, I can't help you," he frowned. "Doesn't Simmons have clearance?"

     "Yeah, probably," said Fitz, taking a deep breath. "Except she's not answering her phone, not to me, not to Leith━and no one seems to know where either she or Clara are, so━" he clenched his eyes shut, already feeling his head get jambled. He swung his head, pressing his chin against his chest to try and think everything through. Another deep breath. "Uh━M━May's found some equipment at Momentum Lab which was originally manufactured by a company called Isodyne."

     Mack's frown deepened. "Never heard of it."

    "Right," said Fitz. "Well, that makes two of us. But May has, so might point us in the direction of Lucy Bauer." He went to continue on his way, but another thought hit him and he swivelled back around. "Oh! Uh, the Director hasn't found you-know-who and you-know-who?"

     "I don't know what you're talking about," answered Mack, telling him that no, he hasn't.

     A breath of relief washed over him; he needed it. "Right," he quickly caught on. "Me neither."

     Stepping further into the busy command centre, Fitz wasn't surprised when Leith got to his feet from his chair and making his way over. Maybe his face could read his stress, because Clara's brother frowned as soon as he was close enough. 

     "Hey, mate," he stuffed his hands on his pockets. "What's up━you found anything?"

     Fitz sighed and held up his tablet, "Unless you have clearance to unredact these files?"

     Leith only took a glance and went, "Nope━" with a comedic purse of his lips and a shake of his head. "But I'm pretty sure Coulson does."

      Fitz wasn't too sure whether he wanted to interrupt Coulson's tour with the Director━it probably wasn't the best time; Mace wasn't stupid, he knew they were here, and he was right. But they weren't exactly on the plane ... not really. (So were they really lying?)

      But Leith didn't seem to think this. He just clasped Fitz's shoulder and led him downstairs━he has a feeling Leith has been begging to do something the past hour to keep his mind off things as he always did. Everyone could tell though━everyone could tell when something was on his mind, and Fitz had a feeling it had to do with what was going on between him and Simmons. 

     (You and me both, he thought bitterly; and he was back to worrying).

     Clara once told him that whenever they were separated, something bad happens. Whenever she, he and Simmons were away from each other, that was when they're torn through Hell again and again. Fitz couldn't help but believe her. Every single time: even before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell to HYDRA. And now they were gone, and Fitz could feel the dread of something terrible happening thick in the air. 

      He always said he and Clara were cursed, but it wasn't just them that always got torn apart; Simmons was, too. Fitz-Roy-Simmons were always torn apart, and Fitz could use simple math to know the common variable ...

      Perhaps it was him that was cursed. Just him. 

      After everything: his father, Ward, the bottom of the ocean, Maveth, Hive ... maybe he was the one that caused it. The universe held a grudge against him, no one else; and anyone close to him just got drowned in the wake. And yet he was too selfish not to push them away. What was going to happen next? What was the next chapter in Fitz's loop of a life; the next pit-stop on the carousel?

      He had to push these thoughts away━he couldn't let himself think these things, especially now. So, he caught up with Leith and the two of them climbed down the steep staircase into the Zephyr cargo bay ...

      And it was a troubling sight.

     The containment module was back; returned through the opening beneath it's thrusters. Daisy, Robbie and his little brother Gabe were stuck inside, watching the Director and Coulson stare each other down with stiff, polite smiles. This wasn't good━at all. Fitz shared a look with Leith, not sure whether to continue. But lives were at stake, and so they marched up to Coulson, breaking up the tense━about to be argument━conversation between he and Director Mace.

     "Sir, I know the timing isn't great," started Fitz quickly as he and Leith approached, "but I need you to authorise clearance so I can access redacted SSR━"

     Mace grabbed the tablet from his hands before Coulson could even take a chance to even glimpse at it, "I'll take that, Agent Fitz," said the Director. "We have a more pressing issue." He gestured back at Daisy and the Reyes siblings in the containment module but Fitz shook his head.

     Clasping his hands together, he felt himself stammer━don't do this now, he scolded his head. But no matter what, when he felt the brink of stress, Fitz felt as though he had never improved from the days he couldn't speak at all. "I━I━I know, I know," he managed, "but it's just a few signatures. I━I believe it could lead us to Lucy Bauer and Eli Morrow."

     Coulson nodded, "Finding those two are our top priority. If Fitz can determine where they are, we have to act immediately━" he faltered as Mace handed Fitz's tablet off to Burrows, and he group of them stood there, taken aback. No, he was not in a good mood. 

     Robbie only made it worse. He slammed his palms against the window of the module with a shout of: "You know where my uncle is?!"

     Mace glance back, his gaze hardening even more at the Ghost Rider, "You'll get a fair trial."

     "What about my uncle?!" Reyes instead demanded.

     "We'll take every appropriate action once we've landed," stated the Director. His gaze returned to Coulson. "Turn your plane around. We're going back to H.Q. where these people will be detained and charged."

     Fitz clenched his bad hand, glancing at Leith and Coulson. He felt his chest tighten. They couldn't let that happen━they didn't have the time. 

     Leith tilted his head, his own anger flaring. But he was wise to keep it contained. They all knew his anger━it might just rival Robbie's when put to the test, "Sir━if I may speak on the matter━" he didn't wait for Mace to answer, "━but these two people represent an extreme threat level━"

      "Securing a known fugitive and a killer is more important than rescuing an escaped convict, Agent Roy," Mace told him, and his nostrils flared.

     "Yeah, but it's not just Eli Morrow who's in danger!" let out Fitz. "I believe that what Lucy Bauer is trying to achieve could theoretically affect thousands of people!"

     "Jeffery," Coulson tried, his voice softer, "I'd argue that Daisy and Robbie are already secure. We should listen to━"

     "It's Director Mace!" Coulson's lips snapped shut. "And I'd be more amenable to your suggestions if you'd be honest with me from the start. But by wasting my time, you've wasting my goodwill. Now, turn the plane around and return to H.Q.!"

     THUD!

     The four of them jumped. Looking over to the containment module, Fitz heard Daisy shout, "Robbie! Don't give them more reasons to be afraid of you!"

     Robbie Reyes had started slamming his fists at the containment door, desperately trying to get out. Oh, bloody hell, Fitz's throat turned dry. 

     "It's not me they need to be afraid of!" Thud! "It's the other guy!" THUD! "AND HE WANTS OUT!" SLAM!

     "Will it hold?" asked Mace, his jaw tight. 

     "No one's broken out yet," said Couslon, "and it's held some pretty potent individuals."

    Well, Fitz didn't say anything, Giyera broke out, so ...

     "Robbie!" cried Daisy. "STOP!"

     He grew more aggressive. Each thud turned into a deadly slam━one hit after the other until his knuckles were raw with blood. Through the window, Fitz saw smoke lift off his face. Leith shook his head, "Oh ... that doesn't look good," he whispered, but his joke was dry. 

     Robbie Reyes skin burnt away to ash, showing the Ghost Rider underneath━a flaming, deadly skull with eyes that were the window not to the soul, but to the dephts of Hell. To the Devil; and the Devil wanted out. The slams got louder and louder; the whole containtment module shook with Daisy and Gabe still inside.

     "Is he an Inhuman?" Mace was worried, but he hid it very well.

     "Claims he made a deal with the devil," said Couslon.

    "Which is nonsense," added Fitz, but even he wasn't fully convinced━not anymore. Not at the sight of the flaming skull that used to be Robbie Reyes roaring in the module.

    "You know," the old Director sighed, "the rationalist in me wants to agree, but ... skull on fire presents a pretty compelling argument for 'Hail Satan'."

     Leith looked pale━terribly pale. He was frozen at Fitz's side, watching each slam! bang! and thud! the module shook with like he was staring his own death in the eyes. He looked like he wanted to run for it━run as far as he could and never turn back. His gaze darted to the stairs, to the chutes, to anything ... 

      "Fitz?" Coulson sent him a nervous glance. "We still good?"

     It took him a moment to answer, "Y━Yeah, absolutely. The module's poly-adaptive material is the most sophisticated compound that S.H.I.E.L.D.━"

      He jumped at the ear-splitting crash!

     The door to the module crunched at the impact of hitting the Zephyr walls. Out came the Ghost Rider, flames flickering out of Robbie's leather jacked and around his skull, dancing a deadly routine that made the whole room heat up around them like a sauna. 

      "That's not possible..." mutterd Fitz, heart racing. 

     The Ghost Rider threw himself towards them. Mace's agents fired their ICERS, but they were harmless. Fitz grabbed Leith's arm and tugged him out of the way for he wouldn't move; he was rooted in this pale sight, petrified. Mace pushed Couslon to the side with them and the three fell to the ground. Mace grabbed the Ghost Rider's arm and threw him over his shoulder. He nose-dived in between Lola and the SUV, tumbling over. 

     As he stood up, Mace fixed his black blazer. "Stay back!" he told the others. "I've got this."

    Fitz really hoped he did.

     Before a punch could hit him square in the face, Mace grabbed the gloved fist of Reyes and delivered a hit to his gut that made him stumble back. The Ghost Rider ducked Mace's swipe, whacking him in the side. Fitz, Leith and Coulson stood up, their eyes wide and their throats tight. Behind them, Daisy tried to wheel Gabe out of the view of his brother, but he hit her away with his hands, "No! I have to see this."

     The Ghost Rider slammed Mace against the metal stairwell, and the railings collapsed at the weight, bending in on themselves like a preztle. Pinned, he took multiple hits to the face. Fitz shuffled back and forht on his feet, trying to look for a way to help, but guns wouldn't do anything against a flaming skull who wasn't really alive. He turned to Leith, but Clara's brother looked in no shape to do anything.

     But that didn't stop Couslon. He ran to the Director, grabbing the Ghost Rider by his shoulders and heaving him away. "ROBBIE! That's enough!"

     The backhand sent Coulson flying. Fitz rushed to him, helping him back up. He was unable to breathe as he watched hit after hit bruise Mace's face. This wasn't Robbie Reyes━he was gone. Enveloped in the flames that swallowed him as it burnt away his flesh. 

     "Stop!" shouted Coulson. "We'll do what you want! Robbie━no!"

     Fitz's eyes wandered back to Daisy and Gabe. Robbie's younger brother watched on, his brow eyes a copper with the reflection of the flames of the Ghost Rider. He looked horrifed━more than horrified. "We'lll find your uncle!" Coulson continued to try, growing desperate. "Stop!"

      "Robbie!" then cried Gabe as Mace fell to his knees, unable to hold himself up any longer. "Robbie, look at me! Stop! ROBBIE!"

      Finally, the Ghost Rider faltered. His hand still raised, the burning skull turned around to look at Gabe. For a second, perhaps Robbie was still in there. Seeing the horror on his little brother's face, he stepped back, and the flames dampened in realisation of what had happened; what he had done.

     Mace hit the ground. Robbie slowly returned, the skin reforming around the skull; ashen, but without any blisters━fresh and almost as good as new. Those dark eyes turned solemn, watching his brother shake his head, whimpering out a hoarse: "Get me out of here."

     Daisy pursed her lips, but did as the boy said, rolling him back and out of the cargo bay. Robbie sighed, breathless. His graze dropped to the floor, ashamed. Fitz hesitated, but soon he rushed to their Director, brushing past Robbie who didn't even care he was there. 

     Finally, Leith moved. His breath hitched, but that was all; slumping a little in the pure relief that washed over him. 

     (He was safe from his past; for now). 

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April 6th; 2017
Zephyr One; Classified)

     LEITH WOULDN'T talk about what had happened to him in the cargo bay, not that Fitz expected him to. But the haunting vision of Robbie beating Mace non-stop against the stairs became rooted in Fitz's head even more to see Leith excuse himself to the bunks and not come back. 

     He had a bad past, Fitz knew that━a past that probably should have him behind bars, but he managed to escape. He had a feeling he knew what he was thinking: that the Ghost Rider, who went after those who deserved it as veagance, was waiting for the right moment to come after him; burn his sins away. 

     Fitz sighed as he stared down at the file he finally managed to unredact. He hoped that━while he didn't like Mace━he was okay. He might be an Inhuman, but he was still a man, and that many hits to the face even with inhumane strength would leave a lasting mark.

     To make things better (worse) Roy and Simmons still hadn't replied to his messages, or calls━or anything. And now he was really getting worried. Hearing footsteps, Fitz glanced up at Mack's voice that followed. "You find anything?"

     He slumped back in his chair, "Yeah, but I tell you though. Whoever created this tapestry of security nonsense is a total wanker," he ran a hand down his face. "Honestly, even with Coulson's signiature, do you know how hard it was for me to find someone with a ROY-G-BIV clearance just so I could unredact these files?"

     "Uh ... do I have to pretend to be outraged, or can we get to it?"

     Meeting his gaze, Fitz pursed his lips. With a sigh, he decided to say truthfully: "Frustrated that nobody seems to know where Roy or Simmons is ..." Mack furrowed his brow, understanding. He patted him on the shoulder in his way of comfort and Fitz apprecaited it, even if it didn't help. "Anyway, it looks like Agent May was right about Isodyne," he tapped the monitor and it zoomed forwad onto the document to multiple mentions of the company. "Peggy Carter and her team encountered them back in the forties. They were conducting experiments on something called 'Zero Matter', or 'Dark Force'."

     Mack shook his head, "Who names these? Are there focus groups for evil things?"

     "Isodyne doesn't exist anymore," continued Fitz. "Its assets were acquired by Roxxon Corporation in the fifties. And guess who holds all the land deeds to Momentum Lab faciliies?" he looked up at his friend when he didn't answer. "Are you gonna guess?"

      He rolled his eyes. "Well, seems like kind of a no-brainer, but is it ... Roxxon?"

     Fitz snapped his fingers in celebration. "It's like you're psychic," he brought up sattelite imaging. "The Roxxon power plant closed down years ago because of safety violations. But if Lucy Bauer can get it operational, it's got more than enough power for her experiment."

     Mack nodded, "Let's reroute the Zephyr and send the coordinates to May's quinjet. We can rendezvous there."

     He went to leave, but Fitz called him back. "Uh━shouldn't we wait until Coulson convinces the Director to go along with the plan?"

     "No," Mack assured him. "Mace is a reasonable guy. You seen Leith? He'd be good on this."

     Fitz pursed his lips. He remembered the look on Leith's face in the cargo bay and muttered, "I think he needs some time alone. The incident with the Ghost Rider got him ... pretty shaken up."

     The burly mechanic sighed, seeming to know the reason, too. "Well," he turned around to set off again. "Leith can't run from his past forever. One day, he's going to have to face it."

     In the end, it would seem that Mace was reasonable. While Fitz was sure he would send them all crashing back to HQ, Director Mace let Mack reroute the Zephyr to the plant to rendezvous with Agent May. As they waited, Fitz chekced his phone once more, and sighed to see that Clara still hadn't replied back.

      As May walked up the open quinjet ramp, Coulson said, "They're definitely here. The plant started producing energy about an hour ago."

     "The stats are high and very unstable," said Mack. "Turbines can blow and destroy the whole building, or the dam could break and wipe out everything in its path."

    "So," Coulson shrugged, "no pressure."

     Standing up from one of the jet seats, Robbie Reyes narrowed his eyes at them, "What are we waiting for?" he tugged on his gloves.

     Fitz threw on his jacket, and May said: "Remind me why he's here after what he did to Mace?"

     "Mister Reyes wants the safe return of his Uncle as much as we want the power plant shut down," explained Couslon calmly.

      "And I'm gonna stop that lady the way I stopped the other ghosts," said Robbie, finding it hard to meet the Cavalry's icy glare.

     "And who's gonna stop you?" fired back May and he pursed his lips. 

     "Hey, guys?" Daisy's voice through comms broke up the tense air, and May clenched her jaw. "I've got some big, fat, disappointing news. I can't hack in and shut down the plant's operation system from here."

     "Well, you're out of practice," muttered Fitz. He was glad she was here, and is on her side━even when he wished he wasn't, but he still harboured hurt feelings for what she did. He couldn't help it. "Too much punching, not enough hacking."

     "Very funny," she replied sarcastically. "No, I can't hack in because their system isn't on a network. It predates the Internet. Coulson, how did anything ever get done in the old-timey days?"

     "I ask myself that all the time," he answered before turning to the others. "Okay, you heard Daisy, we're gonna have to do this from the inside. Fitz and Mack are the engineers. Focus on shutting the power plant down. We'll rescue Eli Morrow━" he gave Robbie a pointed look and he nodded.

     "Got it."

     "Okay, then."

     And they were off. Daisy led the team through the power plant. Fitz stayed close to Mack, his ICER ready (but he trusted a big guy like Mack to take out anything that came their way). He tried not to show his nerves, but the distant whirring and sounds within the walls made him jittery━they were not good sounds. They were plant-could-blow-up-and-kill-them-all sounds.

      But he had to admit, there was a little bit of relief to hear Leith join the comms beside Daisy with a snarky joke━he was back; most definitely pushing down his problems, but back on their side after a breath of air by himself. "Wow, what am I looking at, the Stone Age?"

     The plant was rather dull━looking like any other power plant. The walls were a grey concrete with some old piping in the roof and cyllinder pillars that reminded Fitz of those in underground parking lots. There was barely any light, the corridors dark and manky, making his nose itch with the smell of old piping and water. Maybe Mack was right, they never do investigate light and happy places, do they?

      "West and down another level to the control room," Daisy was saying and they followed her directions, the two teams splitting up. Fitz and Mack went right, while Couslon, Robbie and May travelled down the dark corridor on the left.

     "Woah," then added Leith, "these power surgers are growing way more frequent and intense━Mack, my eulogy will talk about your handsome biceps, I hope you know that."

      Mack made a face, "Please don't━" but he was amused and happy; happy that Leith was here. 

     Coulson sighed, "You guys are just full of good news today, aren't you?"

     "You're welcome from the bottom of my heart━"

     "If it makes you feel any better," Daisy cut off Leith. "I'd rather be there with you than up here on ... injured reserve."

      "You know, Daisy, injured reserve is supposed to stop you from getting more hurt, right? I mean, unless you want to shatter every bone in your body, I guess that's your choice..."

      Fitz and Mack ran as fast as they could to the control room so they could power down this place. Making it, Fitz frowned to see a whole panel filled with many controls━he hates the fifites. With an annoyed sigh, he and Mack started to work. Lights flickered━colours of red, green and orange. He caught on quickly on how the system flowed from one point to the other, and so he followed the signal to where he was sure it would be coming from. Turning that off, his stomach dropped to find that it kept going.

      "That should have worked," he said, glancing back at Mack. "I don't get it, that should have worked."

     "Try something else, Turbo," Mack worked with the main panel in the middle of the room━he seemed to be getting just as frustrated. 

     Fitz did. He thought that perhaps he had counted wrong, so he travelled to the opposite side and powered down from there. The machine kept going. "Oh, this is bad, very bad."

     Mack gritted his teeth and couldn't hold his frustration in any longer. He lammed his hand against the panel. "Why won't this power down?!" He spun back to Fitz who rushed around, starting to get distressed. "It's not like we're idiots. I've built boards like this before. I understand what's supposed to happen."

     "Yeah, well, maybe they did something to it with that book they have," Fitz walked up to the timer━or what he guessed to be a timer━and fiddled with some of the buttons and levers. 

     "What? Like put a spell on it?"

    "No, no, of course not," Fitz rolled his eyes. "But the book could've showed them a different way to power it. I mean, think about it," he turned to face his friend, "their power cells are full of quantum tech that we might never understand." Sweat started to appear on his brow, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

    An idea struck Mack and he hurried around the centre control board, "Wait━what about one of those, uh━those perpetual EMPs from Miami? Maybe it would disrupt all this without blowing us to Kingdom Come."

    What other choice do they have? So, Fitz nodded, breathless, "Yeah, let's do it."

     "All right, there's one on the Zephyr. I'll have Daisy and Leith send it down in the containment module━" he tapped his comms, "━Daisy, Leith? You copy?" he received no reply, and Fitz frowned. He checked his own receiver, only to hear white noise. That's not good. "Coulson?" Mack gritted his teeth, muttering a quick, "Damn it━" he pointed at Fitz, "━all right, hold down the fort. I'll be right back."

     Mack ran out of the room and Fitz prayed that their idea would work in time. As he waited, he continued to try and power this thing down━working every theory, every command in the book. None of them were working. 

     He kicked the panel in his anger, "Oh, come on!" Fitz was sure if Roy and Simmons were here, they'd come up with some fantastic genius suggestion that would stop this━or at least remind him of something he had forgotten. But how could something run like this without even the power points on? That defies way too much ...

     But Fitz was alone in this; alone until Mack got back, and he was afraid it wouldn't be quick enough.

     Gripping his hair at the nape of his neck, he took a deep breath, spinning around and peering at each panel and board. "Come on, come on, come on..."

     The lights turned red. A siren echoed around the room, spinning and spinning. Fitz froze. Looking down at the controls, his stomach churned. "No ..." he raced to it, desperately trying to do anything━anything!━to stop it before it was too late. "No, no ..." the room around him suddenly lit up, like the sun was blaring through the door. "Oh, no..."

     Through the walls, a blast of white energy exploded. It flung through his body. He shouted, trying to cover his face. It felt like wind━very strong wind━sending him stumbling back. He fell to the ground. 

     And when Mack returned with a tactical team, he saw that Fitz, Coulson and Robbie were nowhere to be seen.

✲══〖✰〗══✲

     a/n: hai guys!!!!

     usual: it is edited, but there's definitely gonna be a lot i missed so please ignore the weird spelling mistakes that show up.

     also i wanna have a chat about clara. so, no one has gone off or gotten annoyed, which is amazing, because i'm pretty sure all of you understand the references to wanda came up from the unintentional similarities, and i just went along with it and tried to make a joke out of it all.

     but i feel like i have to explain that i'm not trying to make another wanda in this series. i just wanted to explore the complexity in writing a very powerful character but still making them seem human and vulnerable in which it balances it all out. there are alot of differences between clara and wanda, but the references are just me laughing at my own unintentional influences. i also feel like i need to say something about it because i tried to joke about pietro through leith and someone got upset. 

     i'm not trying to recreate characters already in this universe or in any other; i just like referencing, and finding similarities and making inside jokes through the characters. if any of you read my other books, you'll see that a lot. like leo and savreen hold a lot of references to mal and alina, and estrid references yelena and amy march. 

     referencing characters and such also helps me for visualisation; especially when it comes to powers and fight scenes. and it also helps you guys to visualise the way clara's powers work by having that link to wanda, but also knowing that they are different, and the references are all just for fun.

     anyway, hoped you enjoyed this chapter!!!

     (let's take a moment to realise how clara's going to feel when she finds out they think fitz and coulson are dead...)